2.12.

Sequencee was brought to the office. It was a nice place with a unique, seamless interior design which reminded Sequencee his room. The functionality of each element outweighed the artistic value of it. Every professors had their own space and workstation to do their paperwork, the temperature was nice and cool, potted plants could be seen here and there.

Cursorily, some of the professors wondered why a student was being dragged in by two instructors. Judy and Grian ushered Sequencee into a private room and told him to take a seat. When the soundproof barrier was up, Judy stood up and walked towards him.

"Let me touch your ears for a bit."

"Huh? Why?" Sequence stiffened.

"I want to check if you're a half elf."

"Your report says that you've put your race as human," Grian followed up.

Judy, without waiting for a reply began to grope his ears. It was too late.. she had already touched his horn. Sequencee couldn't reject her either as Grain himself looked like he needed Judy's subjective assessment to proceed. He could've asked her to touch his left ear but.. that would be suspicious.

"You're not a half elf either.. there's no way you could've achieved that level of proficiency at your age. Do you have a gift related to magic?" Despite noticing the abnormality, Judy chose to not speak about it.

".. Does [Passive Trait: Growth Multiplier] count?" Sequence tried to act natural.

'Is she trying to hide it on purpose?'

"A growth type gift? Elaborate," her eyes seemed to glow slightly.

[Unique Trait: Eyes of Mana]

"The description just says that it's a gift that increases growth in all aspects," not realizing that she was using a gift, Sequencee spoke as he would. Judy didn't find anything wrong with what he said, though she was able to faintly see traces of mana which kept leaking into the surroundings. He was using magic at this sort of time too.

"I know many friends who've had growth type gifts but the effects aren't to your degree. What do you think, Sir Grian?"

"If that's what he says then it's likely the truth," Grian replied simply, crossing his leg, "You're also quite robust with your small physique. I'm rather confused as to why it is that you failed in the scholarship appraisal."

'Yeah.. don't want to talk about that.'

Sequencee sulked to Grian's words. He thought it was better not to dig further.

"Are you using magic right now?" Judy asked.

"Yeah?"

"Is this how you practice?"

Sequencee looked around, then revoked a portion of his [Illusion Magic: Universal Haze] to reveal a few of the beads. The amazing thing about this gift is that it masks not only sight, but most other signs such as sound, wind pressure and most importantly, mana traces.

Judy snickered to herself. As an elf who has lived a hundred years, someone like Sequencee shouldn't be impossible every few hundred years.

"He's a genius. That's the only reasoning I can come up with," Judy sighed and returned to her seat.

"Congratulations Sequencee. You were just pronounced a genius by one of the most prodigious mages in the entire empire," Grian joked.

"I'm being honest here. With the bleak future arriving, we need a capable mage to drive away the darkness. I think you should meet up with the heroes and team up with them. In a year's time, I can imagine that you'll grow into a mini monster capable of going against a demon general or demons of a similar rank."

'To join the hero huh? Feels like the wind is blowing at the back of the sailboat right now.'

"Is that what you think?" Grian turned to Judy, a little dismayed.

"He has talent, skill and grit. There's no way you're practicing magic for the mere sake of it, am I right?" Judy narrowed her eyes. "What is your wish Sequencee?"

'My wish. My goal… if I took the chance here would I be able to take one leap forward?'

Sequencee felt his heart squelch at the question. A burning desire swelled, and in concise words he spelled it out–

"I want to kill the Sovereign."

"And why is that?" Grain questioned further.

"He killed my mother."

"You're a victim from Estia?"

Sequencee nodded.

"Wait, hold on a moment, don't tell me you're–" Judy's memory flickered. She caught onto something and examined Sequencee one more time.

'Estia Barony– the death of..'

She remembered meeting Anna the Rending Wind during one of her visits at the Magic Ensemble. Anna wasn't taught the conventional manner of magic, and didn't have your typical magic foundation. Her magic was more instinctual than was calculated, leading to the creative evocation of some of the most insane spells she had witnessed till date. Though Anna only specialized in wind magic, she was able to push it to the absolute limits and squeeze out every ounce of possibility. Judy remembered vaguely, brown hair and blue eyes, she also brought with her a young son similar to this person in front of her–

".. You're Anna's son?"

Judy's disbelief reached its peak when Sequencee nodded.

"No way.. no way.. you can't be kidding me?! You're Anna's son?!"

"Yes."

"Anna of the Rending Wind?" Grain turned to Judy.

"Yes! That one. If you're his son then that would explain why you're so talented! We have to make arrangements to join the hero's party. There's no way we can leave out her son," Judy knocked her staff on the floor a couple times.

Grian pondered deeply.

"Oh bless the heavens you're alive! I'll make sure to not let you down. We'll practice magic till we drop dead tonight– just kidding," Judy's tension fell like like a dead bird. Nevertheless, the discovery was big news that could potentially shape the fate of the world. She turned to Sequencee and looked at him sternly, "Your reason for being. It's revenge, isn't it? "

"It's revenge," he reaffirmed with a serious voice.

Sequencee was once again reminded of his goal. The true reason why he enrolled into this academy. This was the turning point for him.

"It's not that I'm against it entirely but I must warn you. There is no prize at the end of this road."

"I'm aware."

'That's not it.'

Sequencee knew well what he was seeking. A goal so far out that it could almost be said as impossible.

'It's an excuse.'

But deep down he knew, it was merely a justification to keep living. A reason for moving forward, a reason to live.

Judy closed her eyes and pondered.

"I'll see what I can do to get in touch with the hero. Will that be alright?"

"That was my plan to begin with. I came to the academy so that I can fight the demons with him."

"I like your steadfast attitude. Right then, I'll leave the rest to you Sir Grian."

"Understood."

Judy left the room. Left now were the two guys.

"To think her son would be you. My apologies for not realizing it sooner. Things are starting to make more sense now."

"No. It's alright. I don't wish to borrow her name for arbitrary reasons either and.. if she were still here, I think she'd scold me to no end if she knew of my goal. That's why.. I have to stand on my own two feet," Sequencee felt a bitter taste in his mouth saying so.

'This revenge is mine. It serves no altruistic purpose whatsoever.'

Grain stood up.

"As Judy said earlier, be careful not to let the flames burn you."

"I understand."

"Either way, I'm glad that you're alive. And.. my condolences. I hope you find peace within the hate."

'Father..'

"Thank you."

"You may leave now."

'..I'll definitely kill you.'

===

A week has passed since then. Class was as usual except that Sequencee was taking both Judy and Grian's classes. With Judy assigning him different assignments from the rest, Sequencee was to come up with new fusion magic. The problem Judy realized about him was that despite his incredible foundation, he doesn't have anything he could call his own. Most of the spells he used were textbook examples. She wanted to build his creative casting, an aspect that he lacked.

As for Grian, Sequencee was told to spar with as many students as he could to get his skills honed. Similar to magic, he had the fundamentals screwed into his mind. In this case however, the fundamentals are what disallowed Sequencee from advancing. His movements were too predictable, lacking the minute control, feints and the instincts one would need to fight against an opponent of a higher standard. In the physical class, Sequencee was only mediocre, being bested by many other users of close ranged weapons.

Double up the practical classes with Iona's coaching at night, Sequencee was able to constantly push against the wall that had been hindering his growth all this time. It would take some time for it to borne fruit, but he was confident that it would be a sweet one.

Schwii, Lilian and Ro were staring at the beautifully plated rib-eye steak whipped up by Iona with blank eyes. Sequencee felt a little awkward being the one here least affected by class.

Schwii picked up her fork and stabbed it into the meat, the fibers broke up and succulent juices leaked out into the surroundings, fusing with the thick gravy pooling on the base of the plate. The steak had been specially cooked in a way that made it soft while retaining most of its flavor.

Schwii brought a small piece of the meat into her mouth meanwhile Ro and Lilian mimicked her and slowly cut into the meat. The moment she bit down, her expression loosened up.

"How is it?" Iona asked.

"It's delicious, thank you."

"I'm glad to hear."

"How was your day?" Lilian spoked in a tired voice.

"I could barely stay awake after lunch," Ro said.

"I can relate to that," Schwii said to Ro.

"We have to do it again tomorrow and the day after tomorrow and then the tomorrow after tomorrow, and.. oh my gawd what is this taste," Lilian's rambling was ended by a bite.

"Wow, this tastes amazing?!" the flavors of the meat and gravy exploded in Ro's mouth.

Most of the day's fatigue was wiped out the moment they had a taste of Iona's cooking.

'Did she put some medicine in this?'

Sequencee poked the bony part, having yet to try a taste. He looked at Iona, and as if she understood what he was getting at she looked away.

'Yeah.. definitely some special medicine.'

Sequencee took a mouthful.

"If anyone wishes for seconds, you may request for it," Iona said.

"Yes please!" Lilian gobbled up the plate and held it out to her.

"Do you exercise a lot Sequencee? You don't look tired at all. Even with my system trait I'm struggling," Ro asked..

"Yeah. I work out sometimes."

"I don't see it though?"

"It's not sometimes. He does it every late evening when everyone is asleep. I can't coax him to stay put," Schwii muttered.

"Seriously?"

"It's like that time when we were out on the carriage right? Sequencee is always missing in the car," Lilian recalled.

"Yeah, then Leticia had to go out and see what was going on and then.." Ro trailed off.

"Here you go," Iona slid a new serving in front Lilian.

"Yay!"

"Iona, may I have another please," Schwii dabbed her cheeks with a handkerchief.

"Hold on me too," Ro finished the last piece of meat overflowing in sauce.

The portion of the steak wasn't at all large, so Ro had four servings to eat his fill, Lilian, Sequencee and Schwii had three.

"Are you not going to eat Iona?" Lilian asked.

"I've already eaten my fill earlier," she responded with a flat tone.

"Are there any leftovers?" Ro asked.

"I plan to turn them into stew for breakfast tomorrow morning."

"Iona is so wonderful.. thank you," Liliah patted her belly in satisfaction.

"It's my duty."

"Yeah, thank you for cooking. It's seriously good," Ro said.

Knock. Knock.

"Who's that?" Lilian turned to the sound.

"I wonder– I'll go open it?" Ro asked.

"Sure."

Ro approached the door and pulled it open. On the opposite side was a limpy Nynim who looked like she had been traversing the desert for years.

"W-What happened?!" Ro exclaimed in shock.

"Sequencee. Your presence is needed.." she said in a languid voice.

"What? What's going on."

"It's.. Leticia. She's in a bad spot right now. She's not eating at all."

'Leticia? Why would she...'

It was an undeniable truth that the first class course was much more difficult than the second class course. Seeing how even Ro and Lilian were already struggling to keep up, and considering Nynim's desperate condition, the likelihood of Leticia's state being worse..

"Where is she?"

"Locked up herself in her room. You're our last hope."

'Damn it.'

Sequencee cursed himself. Her inferiority complex and lack of self esteem was something that affected her greatly. He was aware that he was the reason why Leticia joined the academy wasn't because she wanted to do so, but that she wanted to follow him. Through all the challenges it took to get here, Leticia was somehow granted the opportunity to take the first class enforcer course which was likely beyond her.

Sequencee turned around and looked at Schwii. She sighed and gave an expression of consent, reluctantly.

'Our relationship is really complicated, isn't it?'

Leticia and Schwii. One he cared for because he was her mentor, the other he cared for out of guilt and need.

Sequencee followed Nynim into their unit.

The moment he entered, Nynim locked the door behind her and giggled.

"You're so easy to trick hehe."

"..."

Nynim fixed her hair and put on a smile. The dreary expression from before, now replaced with a self-besmirching smile.

"Ah, but Leticia does wish to see you. She's in her room, go, go. Don't waste her invitation."

Dorry who was sitting at the dining table with a bottle of alcohol acknowledge Sequencee's presnce with a nod. Quora and Daizo was nowhere to be found.

"Nynim, do this one more time and I swear I'll kill you."

"Should I say the same to you mister boyfriend who abandoned his girlfriend for another girl boo–"

'Is she drunk? Can I punch her?'

Reeling in his anger, Sequencee was at least relieved that nothing bad happened to Leticia. This being a prank rather than it being real was much lighter on his conscience. Nynim directed Sequencee to Leticia's room.

"Leticia, he's here," she knocked.

"Give me a moment–" the door opened.

"..."

"..."