Chapter 2, not a master of discuise.

(Reskeme)

Professor Nijel of the Sauren academy leaned on his desk, watching the empty seating waiting for his next review. Nijel took in a deep breath, straightening his aching back. Two figures strode inside and took a seat, two young men, one tall and lanky and the other short and wiry. Nijel scratched the stubble on his face as the two new applicants filled out their paperwork in near record time.

The terms and rules of the Sauren academy filled nearly ten pages. Nijel sighed. Two more kids that hadn't even bothered to read the first two pages. Nijel paused as he recognised the face of the tall lanky young man. That was Mr Tanes, the eldest son of the western county. Nijel's heart raced as he glanced at his fellow professor. As if noticing his eyes on him, Remmy glanced over to the new applicants.

Remmy's eyes narrowed at the young Lord as the lanky boy rose from his chair in record time and strode down the stairs.

"I see you haven't even bothered to read the rules and regulations." said Remmy, as Tony Tanes approached. Tony rolled his deep brown eyes and placed his arms behind his head in a nonchalant attitude.

" Good evening Professor Nijel, Professor Remmy. I hope you are doing well this fine day." said Tony nodding his head respectfully.

" I am doing well Tony, who is your friend." asked Nijel, in an effort to deflect Remmys' ire.

" This is my new friend, Adam Caddel." said Tony, waving his hand at the young man on his right. Nijel eyed the young man beside Tony with slightly more interest. That was a big deal for Lord Tanes' son to proclaim a commoner as his friend, and yet this Adam Caddel was pretending like he didn't care. Adam's shoulder length black hair and bright green eyes were a stark contrast to the scar crossing his right cheek. It was as though a hot shard of metal carved its way through the muscle of his cheek, only to then be healed by magic. Nijel paused as he examined the scar. He smiled. Magic did not heal it. From the faint presence of mana, the boy was using his power to hide the scar and make it seem less terrible.

" Nice to meet you, Adam. Please follow us." said Nijel as he turned to the testing room. All the while subtly probing the boys' illusions. Nijel Grinned, the boy did fine work. His layers were tight but lacked focus, disguising the scar but leaving enough to be noticed. Nijel examined each layer. There were five in total, disguising the boy from top to bottom. Unlike most mages, Nijel could study Adam's mana structure without even looking at it. He could sense the layers of mana, like the complexities of a fine wine.

Nijel took a seat, sighing as he sunk into his soft chair. Both young men handed over their forms to Remmy. Remmy brought them over and placed them on Nijel's polished desk top before seating himself next to the desk.

" Tony, please place your hand on the pedestal." said Nijel, leaning back so he could make out the numbers up the inside of the silver relic in the center of the room.

Nijel's heart skipped a beat as Remmy went over Tony Tanes' registry. The numbers on the pedestal ranged from one at the bottom to one hundred at the top. It appeared like a lectern with a steel book at the top open towards the ceiling. Tony smoothed his blue silken doublet and placed one manicured hand on the smooth steel. Out of the nine symbols on the book, two glowed, both earth and fire. The combination could devastate in combat, but based on the young man's first year, he might never see combat on the front lines. Not that the son of a count needed to.

The pedestal glowed with an inner light, brightening the room with a soft incandescence. Shimmering, the glow stopped at the low level of twenty and Tony removed his hand. The relic itself returned to its normal silver luster, settling down.

" Only twenty, below average. I see you haven't been working to better yourself this summer."said Remmy, his moustache twitching like an angry caterpillar.

" Dont you say anything." said Nijel, glaring at Remmy.

" But he hasn't progressed at all this summer. It will make us look like poor professors." said Remmy in a hiss.

" No, he progressed just fine during the school year. What he does in his off time is none of our concern." said Nijel, glaring into Remmy's eyes. Tony stepped from the pedestal and Adam stepped forwards. Nijel watched with interest as the power rose on the pedestal until it reached just under twenty. This Adam Caddel was already almost caught up with a second year in mana progression. That could be both good and bad. Hopefully, Adam had done nothing stupid. Like attempting to create his monster's heart on his own.

Three lights flashed on the pedestal, life, soul and illusion. That was a rather unique pairing of powers. Nijel stare at the boy as he removed his hand from the pedestal. Soul magic was usually paired to create higher tiers of battle runes. Nijel shook his head. He was going off on a tangent again. This boy didn't posses a strong enough body to use runes of that power or a monster's heart strong enough to contain it.

" Eighteen, above average for a first year." droned Remmy, writing the information into the school records.

" Please ignore my colleague, he can be snappy occasionally."said Nijel smiling apologetically at Tony. Tony shrugged his shoulders.

Remmy strode over with both packets of information and Nijel signed, each verifying that they would be accepted.

" Adam is promising, but cannot we just remove Tony? He will give our school a poor reputation if he keeps slacking off." said Remmy in a low voice.

Nijel's heart skipped a beat as he glanced across the room to Lord Tanes' son.

" No, we can't kick him out, he is the son of a count." said Nijel, raising his voice so Remmy would get it through that thick skull of his. Remmy twitched his nose, scrunching up his moustache in a scowl. Nijel rose, his heart racing, and gave each of the young men a signed package while keeping a copy for himself. He hoped Tony wouldn't take offence, the man's father could cause the school a lot of trouble..

" Here are your papers. Return to the receptionist at the front to confirm your registration." said Nijel.

" Thank you, Professor Nijel. Have a pleasant day Remmy." said Tony before he whirled on his heel and left the room.

Nijel turned on Adam, and before the boy could leave, placed a hand on his shoulder.

" Can i help you?" asked Adam, his green eyes staring back at Nijel curiously.

" I couldn't help but notice your illusions." said Nijel.

" What about them?" asked Adam, taking a step back, his face a mask of first confusion, then a slight tinge of concern.

" Well, you must have already had a teacher to come this far, haven't you?" asked Nijel.

" I guess." said Adam shrugging his shoulders.

" Well, I teach the mana manipulation class here at the Sauren academy and I specialize in illusions myself. I wanted to suggest you join my class." said Nijel.

" Will there be others in your class?" asked Adam guardedly.

" Yes, two others, actually. With you joining there will be three illusionists in my class." said Nijel grinning.

" Alright, and you can help me get better at creating illusions?" asked Adam.

"Of course, I can." said Nijel, smiling at the young man.

" Alright, I will enter your class, but don't go groping me or anything, I don't like sleezy old men." said Adam before he turned and strode from the room.

Remmy burst out laughing as Adam left the room.

Why in the nine hells would Nijel grope Adam? Nijel scratched his head at a loss, and he wasn't even old, only in his sixties. For a mage that was still like their late twenties. Nijel leaned back in his chair, staring up at the ceiling. What an odd encounter. When the boy came to his class, he could get a better look at his illusions as well. Classes this year were going to be interesting, thought Nijel as he glanced over to Remmy.