Chapter 282: An Explosive Situation

Late Afternoon - Mid Winter : Atlas, Bahamut

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"You know, the students have been begging me all day to have you teach even though it is your first day here." The professor smiled as he stroked his short white beard. "But I can certainly see why." Slowly getting up from his desk, he walked over to me and held out his hand. "My name is Vlastári Palaiós, a rune and magic theory specialist."

-Oh, a Palaiós?- I quickly stretched out my hand and gripped his. "My name is Vasilias Whyte."

The Palaiós family was an extremely old noble family I had actually heard about back when I first came to Bahamut. In short, they were a scholarly family at the forefront of draconic magic development, but around thirty years ago, there were some inner conflicts that made the family disappear from the scene.

-But it's not like their downfall was from a lack of prowess...- "I didn't expect to see someone like you teaching the first years."

With the academy being the most prestigious in Bahamut, it made sense for countless well-known noble families to be a part of it, but from what Evodiá said, they almost exclusively taught upperclassmen, with the only exceptions being classes outside their specialty. -But this is certainly his specialty... So, why...-

Noticing a bit of my skepticism, he let out a chuckle. "Hoho, I was originally going to teach the eighth years and up, but I got transferred to this class because of some.. last-minute complications." He paused before letting go of my hand. "In any case, if you wish to teach, you may. Here is the lesson I had planned for the day, but if you wish to teach something else, feel free. The class will start in 20 minutes."

Quickly taking a paper from him, I started skimming through it. -'Water and fire magic's interactions with lightning magic'? This should be a fun one to teach, actually.- From what I could tell, all of the theories were extremely basic and self-explanatory, but that, of course, meant I could simply ask the students 'why' and get their brains going. -I need to think of how to stump Krystallo though...-

I quickly started falling into thought, but before long, the professor's aura pierced mine and approached my ears. "Those two people in the hallway... I hope you can explain why they were with you..."

My curious expression darkened instantly as I looked up from the paper and met his hostile gaze.

Although he wasn't thoughtlessly releasing bloodlust, he was clearly suppressing it.

-To not even wait till after class...- I squinted my eyes as I pierced his aura like he did mine. "Do you know who they are?"

He hesitated for a moment as he sneakily injected some mana into a rune beneath the floor from behind his desk. "I don't believe you are in a position to ask questions."

-How audacious...- "Oh, but I am." I immediately slammed my aura into him. *VWOOM* "Sit back down."

*crackle* The metal legs of his chair instantly splintered as he slammed down onto them.

But his hostile expression didn't change until he saw the students looking at him. "Professor, are you alright?"

He quickly forced a smile. "Yes, I apologize. It seems I pushed myself too hard yesterday."

Seeing him turn back to me the moment the students started gossiping, I forcefully cut off his mana flowing into the rune. "If you don't want to create a scene, I would recommend you start talking."

His expression quickly turned troubled before he finally relaxed his aura and clicked his tongue. "Tch... So my brother finally sent a spy to take care of me, huh..."

-Hoh?- It was quite an unexpected response. "Your brother?"

"He goes by Michalis Logios."

A smile came to my face almost instantly. -My luck is really on point today...- After having just spoken to the headmaster about him, the deputy headmaster's truly ironic name was still fresh in my mind. [1] "You seem quite hostile with him."

"Of course!" His anger started to appear on his face right away. "He was the bastard who ruined our family, and you bastards were the ones who manipulated him into doing it!"

-Hoh?- Finally confirming he had some information I needed, I quickly cleared the misunderstanding. "Don't lump me in with them. After all, they were just some random people who had been following me since this morning."

He immediately froze in place as his anger vanished.

"However, to call me a spy who works under the deputy... I hope you are willing to elaborate." Freely walking over to him, I leaned against his desk with a carefree smile, only using a bit of light and wind magic to keep the students from seeing or hearing anything.

He was quick to notice it as well. "Just.. who are you..."

"Just think of me as a janitor giving the academy a 'deep clean'."

He hesitated before looking me in the eyes. "Then, I take it that my brother is one of the people you plan on cleaning..."

-Hm?- Seeing his look, I wasn't sure how to feel. -Don't tell me he is gonna try to protect him...- "He was someone I planned to look into."

A serious, determined look immediately came to his face. "In that case.. I will save you the time; however, I want you to do me a favor."

I gave him a quizzical look before he finally continued.

"I want you to let me speak with him before he is killed or taken by the authorities."

I instantly tensed up a bit. -Well.. that's not what I expected...- I gave him an odd look for a moment, but his determination didn't fade. "Alright. But I can't guarantee anything if it isn't related to what I'm looking for."

He quickly nodded. "That is alright."

I hesitated momentarily as he lowered his head, but eventually, I pulled my aura off him and let him start.

He immediately started with the story of his brother, explaining that it all began around a hundred years ago when his brother left for the Holy Kingdom on a sightseeing trip.

Originally, it was only meant to last around 3 years, but every time the day he said he would come back came, the family received another letter saying he was going to stay for a bit longer.

At the end of it all, he had stayed in the Holy Kingdom for nearly 60 years, almost half of which were after he stopped sending letters.

When he did eventually return, most of the family thought they were seeing a ghost since they all believed he had died, but he acted like he never left in the first place.

The family all considered the behavior quite odd, especially for him, but most of them managed to look past it and simply be thankful he was back.

The issue was that they could only look past it for so long.

"Over time, he slowly started getting more extreme and pushy with his new-found beliefs and attempted to get us to go back to the Holy Kingdom with him, but after we declined, his character changed entirely. He essentially became a stranger living under our roof, and unbeknownst to everyone except a couple maids, he even started pushing things related to the Holy Church onto my grandchildren... And before we even knew it was happening, he vanished with them..." 

My expression turned serious as his darkened. 

"It was what caused our family to essentially implode... We used every ounce of our family resources and even abandoned our research to search for them, but we didn't even find a hint until just three years ago when I was about to halt the search to try and rebuild some of our lost wealth... Somehow, he had become the deputy headmaster here and was living under a completely new identity..."

-Geez... So, he really destroyed his own family and took up a new name...- To be frank, it was disgusting. "What are the odds he was already within the academy before coming back and wrecking the family?"

He glanced at me before letting out a quick breath. "After figuring out he was the deputy, I used several old connections to get the headmaster to appoint me as a professor so I could investigate things further, but when I eventually asked him about my brother, the headmaster said he had been here for almost 50 years and earned the position. The headmaster didn't even believe me when I said the deputy was my brother and showed me his paperwork, which was without a flaw, meaning he has someone in the court that's backing him as well."

"That won't be an issue." -It must have been Holcyon or one of his subordinates...- 

While it could have also been someone in the Elder Hall, risking their position for something so simple would be stupid. -Plus, even if it is, I have more than enough authority to handle it...- 

I fell into thought for a moment before noticing him staring up at me. "I will see what I can do." Looking at the mechanical clock over the door, I saw that it was about time for class to start. "For now, just help me gather names of people in the academy you think could be connected to him. Or if you know a way to lure him out with his subordinates, that would be even better."

His gloomy expression quickly turned serious again. "I will do the best I can."

I quickly nodded as I stood up. "As you should." *vwoom* Quickly dispelling the magic around us, I immediately caught the attention of the students and put on a smile. "It seems like it's time to start class. Are you all ready?"

Wide smiles instantly swept across the class, with only a few exceptions. """Yes!"""

"Good, in that case, I will get started... Today I will be teaching you all about the interactions of lightning and the environment. How much have you guys already learned about it?"

Krystallo's hand immediately shot into the air. "We have learned that water can extend the range of lightning magic and greatly increase its power, while also improving accuracy and precision!"

She was as proud as could be. -But that is quite a combat-oriented response...- "Does anyone know why it works like that?"

Krystallo immediately jumped up again. "Because water conducts the lightning!"

I quickly looked around the room but only saw people nodding in agreement. "That is a good guess, but it's not entirely accurate. Does anyone else think they know the answer?"

The room stayed silent as I looked around and only saw confused expressions.

Looking at the professor, I saw him wearing an equally interested look. -Hmm...- "Alright, in that case, how about I do a demonstration."

*vwoom* Quickly creating a thin string of water and a small metal ball, I placed the ball on a table and held the end of the string just a few centimeters from it. *tap*

"This is a string of water, and that over there is a metal ball. When I put lightning magic into this end over here, you all believe it should conduct to the other end of the water and leap to the metal ball, correct?" Everyone immediately nodded. "Then let's see." *vwoom-zap* The moment I put lightning magic into the water, it arced from the other end to the ball.

Everyone's expressions only became more confused.

"As you can see, it acted just as you all expected. Now, what if I remove everything in the water that isn't water?" Several specks of fine black dust immediately fell out from under it. "Does anyone have any guesses?"

This time, the young girl next to Krystallo, Fterá stood up. "It won't do anything?"

"Okay, and what will happen if I only increase the amount of lightning magic until it does something?"

She wore a puzzled look but didn't shy away. "Well, wouldn't it just jump to the ball without the help of the water?"

I immediately smiled. "Well, let's see!" Quickly moving my hand to the end of the water, I started accumulating the lightning magic, and eventually, a bolt arced straight from my hand to the floor. *ZAP*

The looks of pure confusion on the students' faces were honestly beautiful.

"As you can see, it arced to the ground. Does anyone want to guess why it didn't go through the water?"

I quickly pointed to a different student in the middle who stood up. "Does it have to do with the impurities that were in the water?"

I immediately smiled. "Precisely... Now, does anyone know what is an excellent conductor of lightning?"

A few students quickly stood up before I chose one. "Metal!"

"Haha, yes. Now, what if I was to add small bits of metal to the water? Will it differ from the first test I did?"

I immediately got a mix of nods and shaking heads.

"Fterá, what do you think will be different?"

She immediately jumped up. "If metal is a better conductor than the dust that was originally in the water, wouldn't it conduct the lightning better?"

I quickly nodded. "Yes, and what would the difference in outcome be?"

"I-It would maintain its potency over a longer range, right?" She seemed a little unsure of herself.

"It would indeed. Now, would you like to come give it a try?"

She was a little hesitant at first, but after a short moment, she came up to the front of the classroom.

"Alright, for this demonstration, we will use this fruit." I quickly pulled a peach-like fruit off the professor's desk and held it a few feet from her. "From where you are, I want you to hit this fruit with pure lightning magic."

"O-Okay!" She quickly held out her hand and accumulated electricity before finally letting it go.

*crackle-ZAP* It instantaneously charred the fruit's skin.

-Perfect...- "Now that we have a benchmark of what to expect, I am going to set the fruit at the very end of the water." *tap* "This time, use the exact same amount of lightning magic, but release it straight into the water."

"Okay!" With a mix of curiosity and enthusiasm, she turned back to the water and accumulated enough electricity for it to arc between her fingers before finally putting her palm on the end of the string of water.

*BANG* The string of water and the fruit exploded nearly instantaneously, launching the center pit of the fruit through the wooden table and into the strengthened flooring.

I looked over the class with a satisfied expression seeing their jaws hanging open and looks of shock on their face.

But when I glanced at the professor to see what he thought, I saw an expression that was just like the students.

-Huh?- It caught me a little off guard. -Isn't he from one of the most advanced magic families?-

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[1] - The name, Michalis Logios, essentially translates to 'Scholar close to God/the Gods'.