Magical Beasts

"Welcome class. I am Professor Granger and I will be your teacher for the Magic Beasts class. The other teachers must have gone over expectations and what not so I will skip past that and begin the lesson. My first question to you all is: What are magical beasts? I will award 5 merits to whoever gets this right." A young but mature lady in her mid 30's stood in front of the lecture hall. She wore a long robe covering her body and occasionally would push up her spectacles. Long, blonde hair was messily tied up into a bun.

The students straight away put their hands up including Peter. Who wouldn't pass on such an easy grab of merits?

The teacher scanned the room before pointing at a girl causing the other students to drop their hands.

"State your name, then answer." Miss Granger ordered.

"My name is Bella Hunter. The answer is that Magic beasts are mutations of nature, they are peculiar beasts that have adapted to the mana in the air, allowing them to have mana cores like us. Different beasts also have different bloodlines, the stronger the bloodline, the more attuned it will be with the mana in the environment. Although Magic Beasts don't actively cultivate, instead they grow stronger by consuming other magical beasts."

"Satisfactory answer. I'll give you your 5 merits. Magic beasts are indeed peculiar in nature and in this course we will be covering the different types of beasts and the most common types along with the most dangerous ones mages like us should avoid ever interfering with." Miss Granger replied, before continuing her lesson.

Peter listened with his interest piqued to its highest level. He had learnt the first couple topics of the magic beast book already; he had found that everything about magical beasts interested him. Although he knew most of their basic physical features and abilities, it would be hard for him to identify one in real life as he couldn't match his knowledge with the beasts. It was simply almost impossible for him as he was blind.

"Magical beasts are split into 8 categories; the first six are ranked as tiers. Tier 1-3 include the weaker gaseous stage beasts. You all would definitely be killed by a rank 3 beast at the peak of the gaseous stage. Rank 3 beasts are equivalent in our cultivation ranks as a mid Proficient Rank mage, so avoid them if you can.

"Ranks 4-6 cover for the liquid stage beasts. These beasts are more attuned with their elements and are normally the leader of their own groups, if they're beasts that work in a pack.

"This raises another question. Can anyone tell me what the last 2 stages of ranking a beast are?" Miss Granger smiled, scanning the class once more.

Peter's hand shot up straight away, causing the professor to eye the blind boy oddly.

"You with the bandage around his eyes. State your name and answer." She said, looking at the handsome boy with curiosity.

"My name is Peter Magtris. The answer to your question is The Legendary and Mythical Ranks. Those 2 ranks hold the fewest number of magical beasts but each of their powers is equivalent to hundreds, if not thousands in the numbered ranks." Peter answered. He didn't want to show off too much but at the same time he wanted to indicate to the professor that he was interested in her subject.

'Peter Magtris. Interesting. I shall remember you, blind boy.' Miss Granger thought.

"Correct. 10 merits to you."

Peter heard a sudden chime from his bracelet, signaling that he had received the merits. Everyone looked at him in distaste, hating to acknowledge the fact that the 'cripple' knew more than them.

"The Legendary and Mythical beasts are powerhouses that have been able to reach the solid stage in their mana cores. Each of them is thousands of years old and they are also peculiarly intelligent. Anyways, that will be all for this lesson.

"I know we still have a lot of time left for this lesson but I have a meeting to attend to. Last notice before I leave, I do want to inform you all that next week, we will be visiting an enchanted zone.

"Enchanted zones are special ecosystems that can be accessed via portal devices. The one we will be visiting will harbor interesting plants and low-tier Rank 1 beasts. I believe it will be a perfect experience for you all to truly understand the beauty behind studying magical beasts and magic herbs. Prepare yourselves thoroughly and see you all in a week." Professor Granger announced briefly, before snapping her fingers and teleporting elsewhere.

**

"Hello and welcome to Alchemy!" A poof of green smoke exploded from in front of the small classroom and a ragged man in his late 40's appeared. His hair was extremely greasy and messy and his stubble beard also looked untidy and needed immediate care. Not only was his white lab coat dirty with different colors tainting the white, but his hands were also all dirty too.

One would ask how he was even allowed in such a high-end academy?

Of course, Peter didn't care as he simply couldn't see the sorry state of the professor in front of him but he could only smell a malodor radiating from the man's body.

'Not necessarily a bad thing. I think he's probably too focused on his alchemical experiments to give a crap about hygiene.' Peter thought.

"My name is Professor Odling and I will be your alchemy teacher for this year. Oh what a wonderful class." The professor said ecstatically, eyeing the 30 or so students in front of him.

'Well. This class will be a nice one…' Peter sighed. He had read up on Alchemy too like for his other subjects and he wasn't interested in alchemy at all. Almost all of the processes required skills he was never going to pull off unless he learned intricate mana control, which wasn't happening anytime soon.

Measuring a liquid to 50ml, like how the h*ll was he going to pull that off?

Maybe if he got Friday's help every time, it would help a lot but he really didn't care about Alchemy as a whole to go through all that.

Peter simply nodded the whole lesson, paying slight attention to the important theory behind what the professor was teaching, so he could at least pass.

After an hour of torturous boring lecturing about different coloured liquids, Peter made his way out of the classroom and towards the canteen.

He sighed, sitting down on a bench that was empty and began eating his food alone.

It wasn't till a couple minutes later that he heard a girl's voice resound from next to him.

"May I sit here?" She asked.

Peter could hear her rapid heart beat and he didn't know what to make of it. Was she being forced to sit next to him? Is she being threatened to do this?

'Just let her sit, then we'll see plus you really need some friends.' Noah advised.

Peter faced the girl and nodded. She sat down hurriedly, placing her tray on the table.

"M-My name is Uriel and I have a fire affinity. I saw you sitting here alone, so I decided to talk to you." She stuttered at the start but found her voice after.

Uriel was a normal teenage girl except most would class her as one of the less popular girls. Her hair was bright red, causing her to stand out and she even had emerald green eyes. Light freckles could be seen under her eyes on her white cheeks and her skin complexion was pale, as if she was always in a state of shock and fear. These features would class someone as unique but unique wasn't always good, not for her at least.

She was what you'd call an outcast.

Uriel pushed her round spectacles up and stared as Peter nonchalantly ate his pasta. For some reason she could feel herself become more anxious.

'Why isn't he answering? Did I mess up?' Uriel looked down at her food, fiddling with her fingers.

"I'm Peter Magtris and I… don't have an affinity." Peter finally spoke, breaking the awkward atmosphere between them. He had been listening to her heartbeat and analysing her body's changes the whole time.

He could tell she felt nervous and anxious but also relieved?

"What rank are you in our class?" She asked, finally digging into her own food.

"Last, why?"

"Nothing. I'm just… interested." She replied shyly.

'Come on Peter, put in some effort. The poor girl is suffering out there. She could be your soul mate!' Noah teased, smiling.

'For all I know she could be trying to make me lower my guard and stab me in the back later on. Come on, think about it. Out of everyone, why would she come and sit next to the blind kid?' Peter sighed.

'You are too stiff my bro. You need to socialize more.' Noah chuckled.

'I'll socialize when I have enough power to protect myself. This world isn't as fun when you're weak like me Noah.'

Peter abruptly, got up taking his tray with him.

"W-wait! Will you be going on the trip to the enchanted zone next week?" Uriel asked, raising her voice to try and stop him from leaving.

"That's none of your business." He replied shortly, before walking away.

'I'll take that as a yes then.' Uriel thought, looking at the blind boy navigate passed hundreds of people without help. Once Peter was finally gone, a group of boys surrounded her sitting on her table.

"So how did it go? Is that peasant going to come? What did you find out?!" One of them spat, glaring at her.

"Y-Yes. He said he would be coming." She cried.

"Good. We can finally mess that guy up for touching our Ice Queen." The leader of the boys grit his teeth in anger.

'That cripple will pay for his sins.'