Triad, Part 1

"Paradis, as it was written in the many old history books found in the Royal Library of Atmos, hosted several humanoid races in its lands, seas, and skies hundreds of years ago. Some of them are more sentient beings, too. The goblins, for example, were fancy little individuals…"

Mariana jotted down all the important details in her newly purchased notebook. They were having 'History of Paradis' under Professor Darkwind. Mariana thought her subject would be difficult for her to handle, but she didn't expect that Professor Darkwind was a really excellent teacher. She blamed all of her misunderstandings on Ignis.

Mariana couldn't help but shake her head in her seat. It was almost three weeks since she, Ignis, and Professor Darkwind paid Oceana Clearwater a visit on the first day of the new term, and every single passing day that Goddess Invidia created, she heard insults from Ignis about their Elven professor. Ignis called her names such as the long-eared woman, the greatest grandmother, old hag, and so much more she couldn't remember.

Naturally, Mariana chose to ignore all of it. Not that she found the insults childish, of course. She just deemed it a waste of time, and she had little of it after she had become Ignis' classroom key.

All the students soon found out that the answer to enter their classrooms without getting thrown several meters away lies in their ring. Every classroom door had a hidden ring slot that only showed up once it sensed nearby mana. Once a ring was put in there, the door would stay open indefinitely. The problem was, they could only use a ring on their corresponding element's door. So if one used a wind ring to get in an earth door, it wouldn't open no matter how long the person stood in front of it. It was the same when Ignis' ruby ring was slotted in Water Class 2's door.

So, solving Ignis' entry problems, Mariana became his 'key'.

It was fun at first. Mariana was glad that she finally had a chance to repay Ignis for saving her life. It wasn't of equal value, but she thought it was better than nothing. Eventually, though, it became annoying. Ignis would call her every single time he needed to go somewhere and sometimes, he wasn't even going to some important place. He once asked her to open the door for him since he said that he couldn't sleep inside the classroom due to all the noise — he needed to find a quieter place.

The worse part of it was that Mariana had to sit outside her classroom's door, otherwise she wouldn't know if Ignis had returned. Fortunately, he always returned when before a new class was about to start, but she didn't want to spend half of her time in Arcanus, sitting in the hallway of the Tower of Elements. Even the other students — mostly nobles — had noticed that she was always slumped on the hallway floor and started making fun of her.

"That concludes our lesson for today. Don't forget to study in advance for our next topic. See you next week," said Darkwind.

Mariana watched as Celeste removed her Master Ring and slotted it in the waterfall door. This ring — as the name suggested — was only available for professors, so they could enter every classroom without worries.

'Ah, I wish they could give sir Ignis that ring… I don't want to have my lunch in the hallway—'

"Oh, I almost forgot…" said Darkwind. "Most of the students probably already knew about this, but we are going to hold our annual Triad's Tournament next month."

Waves of cheers echoed across the entire room. It was so loud that it woke up Ignis, who was asleep for the entire duration of the class.

"If you have any questions, please head to the announcement board. The tournament's details should've been posted there as of now. Now, is there anything else I need to say… I guess that's it. Good day, everyone." Darkwind smiled at everyone before she stepped outside the room and vanished behind the waterfall door.

The cheers grew even more violent as soon as Professor Darkwind left. Everyone was evidently excited about the upcoming event — almost everyone, as Mariana didn't have any idea about the said tournament.

Curious, Mariana asked her seatmate, Lilac Amberwood, regarding the said tournament. Lilac was also a noble, too, but unlike the others, she never looked to a person's status.

Mariana noticed that all nobles that were water mages never really treated the commoner students horribly. Noble water mages were also few in numbers, as most of them were commoners. It was a relief for Mariana, as she didn't think that it would be fun to study in a place where literally everyone mistreated her just because she wasn't born with royal blood.

Lilac visibly gasped in confusion at Mariana's question. "What?! You never heard about it?"

Mariana shook her head sideways.

"That's terrible, Mariana! My, you should join me! I'm heading to the announcement board right now."

"Ah, sorry, I can't…"

Lilac immediately understood why she disagreed. 'Key' duties.

"That's fine…" Lilac rubbed her shoulder. "Just go there before you go home." Lilac ran to the door and waved at Mariana before heading out.

Mariana sighed.

With heavy steps, she, too, rose from her seat and went to Ignis, who was seated in the far corner of the room. Mariana's seat was in the front, and she couldn't understand why anyone would want to sit at the back — unless their purpose was to sleep in class, of course.

Mariana wiggled Ignis' body. She was pretty sure it would backfire on her someday, but she didn't care at all right now. She did not want to even fake a smile because sitting alone in the hallway while every noble who saw laughed at you and called you 'Hallway Girl' wasn't fun, to say the least.

"Hey, Sir Ignis, wake up."

"Hng…"

'Can I just smack his head? Just one, please…'

Mariana clenched her fists. Her grandma wouldn't her hurting even a fly, so she stopped her mean thoughts.

"It's already lunchtime. Are you not going to your tree?"

Mariana followed Ignis one time to see where he was heading every time he left. Behind the Tower of Steel, there was a giant tree that provided a comfortable shade, and there he slept soundly for the duration of lunchtime. He never even ate that day, so Mariana got worried for a while but it immediately dissipated when some Steel students figured it was the right time to pick on her because — as they mentioned — she contaminated the fresh air they were breathing with her commoner odor. Mariana would've splashed them with cold water if they didn't have their training swords with them.

'Did they really think that they smell like fresh sunblooms, wearing all that armor under the sun?!'

Ignis finally got up from his desk before Mariana had gone far with her thoughts. He just ignored her as he went straight to the door.

'Calm down, Mariana. He saved you, remember?'

With her notebook in one hand and her packed lunch in the other, Mariana opened the door for the two of them and they separated as soon as they stepped out without a word.

"So I don't even deserve a 'thank you' now?!"

Mariana whispered her complaints bitterly to herself while she blew the dust on the floor. Despite her mood, she still didn't want to dirty her uniform. However, just as she lowered her body to sit on the cold marble floor, someone called her name.

"A pleasant afternoon, Mariana."

She turned around and saw the charming Siren Professor standing behind her with a troubled smile.

"Ah, it's you, Lady Theresa," said Mariana. She silently hoped that Theresa didn't notice that she didn't return the greeting. Her afternoon didn't feel pleasant, after all. "Did you need my help with something?" Mariana added when she noticed Theresa's smile.

"Nothing, actually. However, I heard some comments from the other students that a certain someone was always having her lunch in the hallway of Water Class 2. I didn't expect it to be you. Why are eating there, anyway?"

Mariana explained her predicament to Theresa. Afterward, Theresa said she would do something about her situation.

"I do remember that we have some spare Master Rings in our office. I'll talk to Principal Clearwater about it, alright?"

Mariana's face beamed. "Really?! Thank—"

"But I'm afraid that you have to find a different spot to eat today. I don't want to hear the pathetic laughter of those arrogant nobles anymore," said Theresa with disdain.

Mariana wanted to protest since she didn't know where she would be staying for the rest of lunchtime, but she thought it wasn't needed anymore. Theresa made her a huge favor — she could finally join Lilac and the others! There's no way she would try to demand anything else.

Mariana, almost teary-eyed, thanked Theresa in response. She just laughed at her before she left.

'Okay. Where should I eat?'

Mariana hadn't had her lunch anywhere else, so she didn't have any idea where to go. She could go to the dining hall, but most of the nobles were there, so that wasn't a good option.

'Maybe I could find where Lilac went?'

She could, but… no. Lilac said she would be heading to the announcement board but didn't mention where she would be going after. Since she regained her appetite after receiving Theresa's blessings, she didn't want to lose time looking for Lilac, as she might not even find her for the entire lunch.

Then she thought about Ignis. He was just sleeping there, so maybe if she stayed quiet, she could join her. Also, he wouldn't be troubled to look for her once the class continued.

Mariana finally decided. "Onward to the Tower of Steel!" she said as she marched her way outside the Elements building.