Twenty

Yesh Academy

Luna Gaea Solar system

Milky Way Galaxy, Charlie Quadrant

Neutral free Zone

January 30th 2019

 The idea of being a teacher was something Emily never thought she would explore, not once in her life. She had been a student, being the one who received lessons, and now she was about to impact the lives of people with her knowledge, a knowledge that could shape the essence of their lives. She was outside the door, the class of the first year. Although she was getting used to the idea of teaching since she had been here in the academy for over a year now, Emily had only taught the upperclassmen. They were already knowledgeable when it came to the Arcane arts, and all she did for them was to help polish their skills. This time she was going to mold them from the beginning. Emily was a warrior, a reaper of life, and yet she found herself nurturing a generation of people who didn't even belong to the same race as her. Damn you, Leon. This is all your fault. She sighed as she opened the door to the classroom. It was a square-shaped room with enough space to fit a lot of people, but there were only fifteen students in the class. Seated in the front was Henry Goldsman, Sam's boyfriend, but Sam herself wasn't there. Emily was surprised that Phoebe allowed Henry to attend her class as he wasn't attending any other courses the Academy offered. I guess he just wants to learn Magic. He was going to be disappointed. Learning the Arcane art for humans was not as easy as learning the Mystical arts. Unless you belong to a race like the Fae or Elven or were an Awakened Mystic like Emily, the Arcane art was difficult to learn. As Emily was about to say something, a noise from the door distracted her. She turned to see it opened, and two people fighting to get through.

After the debacle that had seen Sam and Leon transported to an unknown place, the rest of the combat training had gone pretty smoothly, with time resuming like nothing had happened. Leon said nothing, continuing his classes without once glancing at Sam. And while Sam had returned with a new sense of vigor, her performance had pissed Trynr for some reason. After the combat training, Sam had a free period as there weren't that many courses that she had. The Academy offered mostly four courses for the first years as the second years and third years were when each student began their specialization courses. Sam decided to use her free period to meditate and evaluate the phenomenon that had happened to her. The only conclusion she had ended up on was that for some reason there was a connection between her and the goddess, Asha. That was what Phoebe had called her. Sam bore the Celestial seal of the goddess, and for some reason, the goddess summoned her to some weird place to impart some knowledge to her. That was the only thing she could come to. After meditating, Sam took a shower to freshen up and then got ready for her next course. Arcane Practicum. A course where one learned to wield the esoteric forces of the universe. She finally got to wear the uniform of Yesh Academy, a red blazer dress with a white shirt-symbol of a rising sun signifying the dawn with two swords crossing an x-on the chest pocket, and a black skirt and black leggings. Sam was still getting used to going from one place to another, so even though she had a map on her Zodiak, she still managed to get lost.

"Are you lost dear," A voice said behind her. Sam had gotten to the eastern building, but she was having a hard time finding where she was supposed to be. She wondered if her face was so easily read as she spun around to see who spoke to her. Her eyes rose as she saw Professor Cessian from her former University. He was dressed in a green robe, and his curly brown hair was a mess, but he had a warm smile on his face. He was her Music performance teacher and the only professor she had liked from her Freshman year.

"Professor Cessian, It's you," Sam said.

"Yes, Samantha, it's me. And yes, I'm a Mystical human." He said. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Sam thought. Callum and Rosa, two people she knew at Yesh University had been connected to this place. Was it shocking to find that her professor was also involved? "Are you searching for a class,"

"Uh!... Yes, I'm trying to find the Arcane practicum," Sam said. He gave me a knowing smile as he pointed to her left side.

"Turn to the right corner, then go straight, it should be at the end of the line," Professor Cessian said. "It was nice to see you again," He walked away without saying much. Sam watched him leave before taking the route he had described him. On her way to turn right, she bumped into someone. 

"Ow! Ow! Ow!' Trynr said as she nearly tumbled down. Sam was quick to catch her. The fox-ear girl shoved her hand away from Sam, glaring at her.

"Where are you going," Sam said.

"My next class...not that it's any of your business," Trynr said.

"Is it Arcane practicum," Sam asked.

"Yeah," Trynr said.

"You're going the wrong way," Sam said. "It's this way," Sam pointed to the end of the hallway that Professor Cessian had described. Trynr blushed, her face turning red, as she turned behind to the direction she was walking away from.

"I know that," Trynr spat out. She humphed and began walking beside Sam. Sam stared at the Demi-human girl. Since she met her, Trynr had some kind of vendetta against her. Sam had also noticed that Trynr was one of the few who didn't seem enchanted by Leon's good looks back in combat training. Does she have some kind of issue with Pleiadians? Wait...why was she lost? She had been close to the classroom, and yet she had gone the opposite of it.

"Trynr, are you one of those characters with no sense of direction" Sam asked.

"Shut up," Trynr said. Sam couldn't help but smile at it. She secretly loved characters like that. She got rid of the smile as Trynr glared at her. They finally arrived at the door to their class. Sam's hand went for the knob at the same time as Trynr. They stared at each other, with Trynr frowning at her. That was all she did. Scowl! Sam's hand touched the knob but Trynr tried pushing Sam out of the way. The old Sam would have let her get away with it but since her fight with those Golems...no since her awakening, something within her had changed. As Trynr opened the door, Sam elbowed her out of the way. Trynr snarled, revealing deadly fangs.

"Are you guys going to just stand there," Emily said. Sam and Trynr jumped up in fright at Emily's cold voice. Sam entered the room followed by Trynr. Emily raised an eyebrow as she examined Sam. She had just awakened not long ago, and yet her Odic was flowing smoothly. Emily could sense the amount that she had as a reserve which was more than the average awakened mystic. Sam sat down beside Henry as the fox-eared girl also sat in the front but a couple of seats away from them. Henry was glad to see Sam. It had been a while since he saw her and all the weird things that had happened. The only reason he was here was for Sam. He knew he was lucky to be able to be close to her, as ordinary he had no qualifications to be here. But Phoebe Yesh, the CEO of Yesh Institute had given him special permission to be here. He had no idea what was in store or what he was going to learn, but he was willing to give this opportunity a chance.

"Alright class, now that everyone is here.." Emily's eyes fell on Sam and Trynr before she continued. "Welcome to Arcane practicum. I'm Emily Legens, your interim instruc-" Trynr shot her hand up in the air, glaring at Emily. "What is it," Emily could already sense the hostility coming from the Demihuman. In fact, she already knew the question.

"Why do we have a Pleiadian, an Offworlder of all things, teaching us our kind of magic," Trynr said. Wow! Maybe I was right. She doesn't like Pleiadians. Sam could feel the anger Trynr was exuding, and it was directed towards both Sam and Emily. Emily felt it too but she ignored it. A part of her understood where the Demi-human was coming from.

"You're a half Reginhard," Emily said. 

"What of it," Trynr said.

"Nothing. I'm here because your High Guardian requested my assistance." Emily said. "As for the type of Magic used by you Terrans," Emily raised a finger and began to make some kind of weird gestures. As she did that, a line of light formed around the finger creating a geometric arrangement of symbols. These symbols...no...runes etched on the shape of light glowed with power. A ball of blue flames snapped into existence above Emily's palm. Sam's eyes widened at it. She had concentrated on Emily's Odic flow and had sensed nothing of it. She didn't seem to have infused Od and instead accessed some sort of different power. The flames disappeared when Emily squeezed her fist. "In the end, Magic is Magic. The only difference between me and all of you is that we use a different Magic system. My kind uses the Arcane Star system while you Terrans rely on the Magic Circle system. Am I right, Miss Fairborn," Emily said to the Demihuman girl. With a scowl still on her face, Trynr was forced to nod.

"Good! So how many of you are inheritors," Emily said. Three people in the class out of the seventeen raised their hands. Emily wasn't surprised to see that. In the Hidden World of Terran, Nine families had the ultimate power. Four out of those nine serve as the ruling faction of each of the explored areas of the Hidden World. Their factions were known as the seasonal courts. And then the remaining five families were the ones who formed the first generation of the Golden Dawn organization. Three of these families were still in power as it was believed that the remaining two had died out long ago due to their loss of Odic power. The three families that were in charge of Golden Dawn were of the human race while the ruling clan of the seasonal courts were part of the eight race. Emily was surprised to see Trynr's hand among the three people.

"You're an Inheritor Miss Fairborn," Emily said.

"Yes, I am," Trynr said. "Though I'm the second child of my family, I inherited the crest of my Father's bloodline from my sister after she..." Trynr turned red, her fox ear perking up, then she kept quiet raising her hair down. Sam felt a crushing rush of pain that Trynr was trying to keep in check, and she was surprised at how well Trynr kept her pain from showing in her face. From the moment that Sam had met the fox girl, she had shown great hostility to Sam, and usually, Sam would have done everything in her power to avoid the Fox girl as she did back in high school, Sam couldn't help but be curious as to why Trynr despised her.

"What is an Inheritor," Henry asked. 

"Hmm! An Inheritor is a concept humans use regarding those who inherited a Bloodline Magic," Emily said. "When a Magical family gives birth, the eldest child is given the right to inherit the Family's Magic. This is done by passing down what is known as Magic Crest to the Inheritor. Miss Fairborn, can you show us your Magic crest? You don't have to if you don't want to." Trynr proudly stood up, raising down her right arm sleeves. She concentrated on channeling her Magical energy through the Magic channels in her body, and into the Crest that her Father engraved into her body. A pattern of light formed from her elbow to her wrist and an array of runes were etched on Trynr's arm. Sam could feel that the essence of the markings on Trynr was the same as the Magic circles Emily had shown when casting her spell. After a second of everyone gasping at Trynr's Crest, she turned it off and sat right back down.

"Magic crest. The crystallization of a Wizard's magical capabilities. It serves as an archive of all the knowledge, experience, and power a Wizard obtains in their lifetime. Long ago, the five Great Magical Family of Terra formed this system of using Magic. They did so because the Mystic abilities one gained from Odic power were not enough to make them equal against the Fae and Elven races who were superior when it came to Magic. The five great magical families pass on their crest to the eldest child, who in return updates and strengthens the Magic crest, and then passes it on to their child. On and on it goes, to the point that the magic crest reaches a singularity point."

"A singularity point," Henry said.

"Yes, a mutational change that occurs in one's body that allows them to wield Magic on the same level as the Faes and Elvens," Emily said. To be honest, she found that part to be ridiculous. The Faes and Elvens were creatures of nature as such it only made sense that their kind was more sensitive to the natural energy of the planet. According to the doctrine of Annunaki, each of the nine races was created with a purpose...or a function...Yeah, a function would be the right word. The Faes and Elvens were the gardeners of a planet, the Giants were the builders, the Daemons were the watchers, the Beastkins were the hunters, the Dvergar were the craftsmen, the Automatons were the Operators and the Pleiadians were the Protectors. The only race that was not included was the humans. Emily had no idea why. She wasn't well versed in the mythos of the Annunaki religion. In the end, Emily didn't see how the Magic crest could alter the nature of humans to become like the Faes and Elvens. Thousands of years had passed since the gods abandoned Terra and the Magic crest was developed, and yet no mutational change. "Anyway for an Inheritor to use magic, they have to use the Magic channel that powers the Magic crest. This makes it easy for them to master Magic. For the rest of you that lack a Magic crest, well, it's gonna be difficult learning the Arcane art." Hmm. Sam wondered if she was going to have to form her own Magic crest. Emily came over to Sam with a book in her arm.

"Since you're an Awakened, Magic crest doesn't apply to you," Emily said to Sam like she had read Sam's mind. "This is one of my own personal Grimoire. It should help you " Sam took the book, her eyes wide open at Emily's action.

"Thanks,' Sam said. A beginner's guide to Magic. So generic. But Sam was grateful to her for her kindness. 

"OK, guys," Emily said. She moved to a shelf and opened it, white steam coming out of the shelf. "These are transmutational potions, which will help convert some of your Odic Pathways into some magic channel. Henry, this will also help open up your Odic node and allow your Od to begin flowing. But it comes at a cost in converting most of your Od into Magical energy. Which means you won't be able to learn any Mystic art technique."

"I'm good. I'm only interested in learning more about magic," Henry said. The other students stared in surprise at Henry's words. Even Sam was surprised. If Sam was honest with herself, she was not ok with Henry being here. She had no idea why Phoebe was letting Henry learn Magic. She had no idea what the Yesh family was thinking.

"After your Magic channel is formed, we will begin the next phase in the Magic circle system," Emily said. Sam opened the book and began reading it. 

First channel Odic energy into one's Soul Realm. Infusing Odic energy will convert it to Magical energy also known as Mana- the power of the mind. Hmm! Alright, she was excited to give it a chance. She watched as the rest of the class began drinking the potion Emily had given them. Henry sniffed his own, his face frowning in disgust. He then gulped it down, and I waited to see if anything would happen. A second passed and then nothing happened- Henry gasped, grabbing his chest as the veins around his head began to bulge. The others began to do the same as they all fell on the floor gasping in pain.

"Henry..." Sam tried helping Henry but Emily stopped her.

"They'll be okay," Emily said. There were no concern or emotions in her cold eyes. "You should focus more on your task." Sam didn't want to do as she said but her eyes held no room for argument. Sam turned to the book, sighing as she tried her best to concentrate. She could feel her Od within her and she began trying to circulate its flow deep within her consciousness. Like before, she felt herself falling into a deep abyss but this time she could feel the presence of her Od rushing along with her consciousness. When she opened her eyes she was back in that sea of darkness underneath the plain purple sky, alongside her soul. This was her soul realm. It still felt weird being able to see her soul. The light was from her soul was very bright, almost like a sun though it wasn't bright enough that Sam could see through the sea's surface. Gathering in the sky was a mass of energy that Sam had brought with her. She had infused them like the book had instructed so they weren't Odic energy anymore. So this is magical energy. Sam thought. It felt different from Od. So now what? Sam thought. What was she supposed to do with the mass of energy? She had channeled her Od into her mind and converted it into Mana. What was the next step? Unlike her body which had a system for channeling Od, Sam had no idea on how to wield the mass of energy. Maybe if she concentrated...She tried focusing on the energy, tried drawing it toward her but all it did was wobble, like jelly. And then nothing happened. This isn't turning out the way she thought it would. Sam returned to the real world. Some of the other students were still on the floor, while some of them had recovered. Henry was of the latter, no sign of pain or injury was on him. Instead what Sam saw was a halo of light around Henry's head.

"I have to say I'm impressed Henry," Emily said. "You were able to finish the prerequisite to use the Magic Circle system. How did you do it?"

"I don't know...After the pain began to fade, I felt this rush of energy enter my body," Henry said. "It inspired me....gave me the urge to paint. I've never felt an inspiration like that before. I didn't want to put it to waste but I didn't have any utensils to use."

"So you used your mental force," Emily said.

"Mental Force," Henry said.

"It's the energy that allows you to project part of your consciousness as Internal sense," Emily said. "Mental force is the power behind the calculative and deductive ability of the mind." Emily had felt the formation of the Magic circle within Henry's soul. The newly formed Magic channel had converted the Od into mana which he had then channeled into his Soul Realm where his soul was located. With his mental force, he had been able to use the Mana to paint a Mana circle within his soul. As a human, Henry's soul core was dormant, so he had no issue forming a circle within his soul. The Mana circle then began to process the mana in his soul realm, stabilizing it. There was no doubt that as a human, his artistic nature made him possess an affinity towards Magic. Was Phoebe aware of that?

"Yes, something like that," Henry said. Some of the students began getting up, though none of them had succeeded in forming a mana circle like Henry. Even Sam had no idea what to do with the mass of mana within her Soul's realm. She turned to the book to see if there was any explanation.

After the Mana has settled within the Soul realm, begin to form a Mana star to stabilize the Mana and prevent it from reverting to its original form- Wait! Prevent it from reverting to its original form. She had left the mass of energy in her Soul realm without doing anything to it. Does that mean it's now just Od. Sam quickly perceived her Soul Realm without going in, and she couldn't sense the mana. Instead traces of Od led to her Odo where the Od was stored in her Odic core. Damn it. This was harder than she thought. Wait a moment...The system. She could just rely on it, right? She summoned the status window and her stats showed up like before-

Status:

Name: Samantha Sinclair

Rank: Beginning stage Heroic [Tier 1]

Stats - Strength: 59 Agility: 56 Endurance:60 Stamina: 63 Charm: 100 Intelligence: 100 Magic power: 40 Odic power: 85

Combat arts: Adamantium fist martial art- Five-star rank(Early minor realm of mastery)

Bloodline Ability: ???:

Unique technique: ???: ???, ???, ???, Música Conductor

Música conductor: A unique technique that allows one to be able to peer into the soul's frequency and wavelength.

Sam focused on the Magic power which was the lowest of all her stats. Fuck it. So she sucked at the Arcane art. Even though she had summoned the status window, Sam had no idea how to communicate with the system. She knew that somewhere within the system was a collection of knowledge locked away. If only she could access it. The status window just glowed, nothing else appeared. Sam sighed swiping it away. Of course, it wouldn't be that easy.

"For the rest of the class, take your time to try and form your Mana circle. Hopefully, by the time we meet again, you will have already achieved the 1st Circle. That's it for today," Emily said. Sam watched as all the students left the classroom, Trynr was the first one out while Henry tried to wait for Sam.

"You can go ahead. I have to talk to Instructor Legens," Sam said to Henry. He gave Sam a weird look before leaving. Sam walked up to Emily who seemed to be waiting for her in the front of the class.

"So how's your day been so far," Emily said.

"Leon told you about Combat training didn't he," Sam said.

"He did," Emily said. Emily had found it difficult to believe what Leon had told her about Sam's mastering of the Adamantium fist style or the weird place they had been transported to. Yet, when Sam had entered the class, Emily had felt something different about her. 

"I thought it might happen again. Help me with this Magic stuff," Sam said.

"Can you show me the... Status window, right," Emily said. Sam summoned the Runic Screen again pointing at it to see if Emily could see it like Leon.

"I don't see anything," Emily said. "Hmm, weird. Leon said he saw it but he couldn't read it."

"I think it's Asha's way of communicating with me," Sam said getting rid of the screen.

"Asha's...Who's that? " Emily said.

"It's one of the nine gods from the coliseum," Sam said.

"Ha! One of the pagan gods of Terra," Emily said. She didn't know much about the gods of Terra even though Emily had tried to research them while here in the Academy. But there was no text, no book on them. The only source of knowledge about these pagan gods was oral stories about them that the members of the Hidden World passed down. If there were books on them in Golden Dawn, they must be kept locked away somewhere that Emily couldn't get her hands on. The only thing Emily knew about them was that there were nine of them.

"It's a strange way for gods to communicate, even if they're pagans," Emily said.

"Wait! Pagans...why are they Pagans?" Sam said.

"Because they aren't included in the Annunaki pantheons of gods," Emily said. "Starlight doesn't recognize any gods outside the established religion of the Federation," Emily looked at Sam's arm where the strange Celestial seal was. "It's a good thing Phoebe didn't recommend you to Starlight. As a Pleiadian with an unknown Celestial seal, Starlight will see it as a Stigmata. A Heretic's mark."

"Is that a bad thing," Sam said.

"Yes. Very bad. Starlight doesn't tolerate the existence of Heretics" Emily said.