“Ugh, I knew I shouldn’t have agreed to this.”
Scarlet Mage’s red hair bounced springingly as she stomped her way through the halls of the Academy; she could fly if she wanted to, but that would be breaking one of the rules they have set up in the Academy: Using of powers is not allowed in the hallway except otherwise permitted to.
Of course, she, as a teacher, is exempted from that rule. But what kind of example will she bring to the students if the one supposed to guide them breaks the rules?
And so, she walked. It would have been fine if the hallways of the Academy were like any other normal hallways, but no.
The width of the path is almost six times wider than that of normal, and its length reflects that as well. It was made like this as a contingency– you can’t have superpowered teenagers confined in small areas. Besides the 3-meter thick gate and fence, the Academy looked just like a prestigious and expensive school on the outside, built with a lot of tall windows–
–Windows which were made of a meter thick of reinforced polycarbonate plastic. But even the building was actually just made for guests and appearance; 80% of the Academy was actually underground, with enough oxygen in the reserve to last centuries.
Truly, an architectural and engineering marvel.
But right now, that very same marvel was being ‘used’ to torture the superhero known as Scarlet Mage. As a minor telepath and an elemental controller, Scarlet Mage was used to just floating around using her powers– and walking the lonesome and unnaturally long hallways of the Academy proved to be an annoyance to her.
“Well, a pay is a pay,” her sighs once again echoed throughout the empty hallways, “I swear, we should be exempted from taxes right now since–“
“Excuse me, ma’am. Can you tell me where the class assignments are posted?”
“Eek!”
Scarlet Mage could not help but shriek as a voice suddenly whispered behind her. She almost used her powers as soon as she saw the young man behind her, but as soon as she realized who it was, she forcefully tried to calm herself down.
“You’re… student Riley Ross, right? What are you doing here?”
What is he doing here indeed? Scarlet Mage looked at her phone, and the entrance ceremony should still be ongoing, or at least just ended. She was currently underground, and none of the students should be here yet.
But since the student in front of her is literally a special case, she did not really react violently.
“I am lost, Scarlet Mage.”
He… is lost? She would understand if they were above ground, but for him to be lost to the point that he found himself here– just how bad was his sense of direction and awareness?
It truly was such a waste, Scarlet Mage thought. If Riley wasn’t diagnosed with autism, then he would surely be popular with the ladies. Perhaps one could even say his albinism amplified his facial features, causing him to look like one of those solemn elves in Lord of the Bangles that she used to watch as a teenager.
But alas, beautiful beings are always cursed with the most beautiful of imperfections.
And so, with a sigh, Scarlet Mage could only grab the papers that were flying in the air one by one, “Come, I’ll take you back up. Just where on earth did you pop up from?”
“I believe from my biological mother, Scarlet Ma–“
“No, I meant which door did you take to get here.”
“The metal door.”
“You know what, never mind,” Scarlet Mage shook her head as she gestured to Riley to follow her, “I’ll lead you to your class, you’re actually under my supervision so I’ll take this as fate. Is that alright with you, or do you still want to go back up?”
“It is perfectly fine by me,” Riley then smiled as he proceeded to follow Scarlet Mage. There was an awkward silence that persisted in the air, prolonged by the unusual long hallway.
Scarlet Mage did not really find it hard to converse with Riley during the interview, but now that the two were left alone, she realized she had no idea what to say to him. But finally, after a few more minutes of walking, the two finally reached their classroom.
And as is with the other parts of the Academy underground, the room was also spacious– with the block of seats directly implanted on the floor in several rows. The front of the room was also designed as a stage, for the teachers to be able to freely move.
Scarlet Mage then asked Riley to choose any seat he wished; Riley, however, remained standing in front of her on the stage.
“…”
“…”
A second.
A minute.
Almost an hour.
“…How did the entrance ceremony go, was it fun?”
Almost an hour had passed and Scarlet Mage could no longer endure the awkward situation and decided to strike a conversation, which she knew she would regret.
“No. It was boring and unnecessary, Scarlet Mage.”
“R… right?” Scarlet Mage could only let out a chuckle, “Did you leave before Prophet finished with his speech?”
“No, I finished it before coming here, Scarlet Mage.”
“I see.”
“You do.”
“…”
“…”
“Wait… what did you mean before coming here?” Scarlet Mage then blinked a couple of times as she realized what Riley just said, “I thought you were lost?”
“I was initially, Scarlet Mage,” Riley then responded as he slowly took a step towards Scarlet Mage, causing her to slightly back away, “But then I finally found you.”
“Found… me? Did you need something from me?” Scarlet Mage could not help but take in a gulp as her back was soon blocked by a wall. She tried her hardest to try and read the beating of Riley’s heart; but found that it was the same as it always has been– still.
“W… what are you doing!?” Scarlet Mage did not really want to hurt a student, but Riley’s hand was already slowly reaching towards her face. If he continued any further, then she would have to react violently, “This is very inappropriate behavior, Riley! I can still forgive you if you retract your hand!”
“Forgiveness is not something I need, Scarlet Mage,” Riley calmly said as his hand gently touched Scarlet Mage’s neck, “What I need is you–“
“Holy shit, even the rooms are huge!”
“!!!”
With the door suddenly sliding open, Scarlet Mage took this chance to push away Riley’s hand and move to the side. She quickly fixed her hair and dress as she looked at the student that just barged inside the room.
“…” The male student could not help but squint his eyes as he saw Scarlet Mage and Riley on top of the stage, awfully close to each other. But as soon as his eyes reached Riley, he quickly let out a light gasp.
“It’s you!”
“It is.”
The male student was none other than Gary, the examinee that Hannah had an altercation with during the entrance exams.
“Dang, I thought I would be the first to arrive. So you’re in this class as well, R… Rocky?”
“Riley.”
“Right– Ah dibs!” Gary then suddenly ran towards the front-most seat and jumped on it, “This spot shall be mine!”
“You may take your seat as well, Mr. Ross.”
Scarlet Mage then took in a long and deep breath as her voice became deeper, the warm tone she was using towards Riley, completely gone.
“…” Riley only nodded his head as he proceeded to sit beside Gary, the closest seat that had access to the stage where Scarlet Mage would be spending most of her time during class.
Seeing this, Scarlet Mage could only let out a sigh, before finally taking a sit on her desk and closing her eyes.
“It seems Scarlet Mage is strict, huh?” Gary then whispered in Riley’s ears, “Here I thought she was quite welcoming during the interview.”
“No, she is very kind. Kinder than most,” Riley quickly replied, “It truly is such a shame that I have to kill her.”
“Hm? I didn’t catch that,” Gary, whose eyes were busy exploring the huge classroom, could not help but blink a couple of times as he did not hear Riley’s words clearly.
“What are you trying to catch?” Riley also blinked a couple of times as he looked around the room.
“No, it’s…”
The two continued to chat as they tried to wait for the other students to arrive. As for Scarlet Mage, she could not hear anything clearly as her heart was beating too fast.
Just what was that? She thought. What did Riley mean by she needs her? Did Riley suddenly gain an obsession with her? She had researched people with autism as soon as she met Riley weeks ago, and she knew that most of them held some kind of obsession over something.
Is that it? But they were student and teacher; wouldn’t that be problematic? Was Riley even capable of feeling love?
Scarlet Mage could not help but furrow her eyebrows as all sorts of thoughts race through her mind. No matter the case, what happened earlier was truly inappropriate and unhealthy and must not be repeated again.
Scarlet Mage then slightly glanced towards Riley, and found that he was no longer paying attention to her– on the other hand, the almost 30 students that were already seated in front of her were.
“!!!”
Scarlet Mage quickly stood up; just when did all of these people arrive!? How deep were her thoughts that she didn’t even hear them coming inside!?
“G… good morning,” Scarlet Mage quickly stood up as she scanned the students.
“Good morning, Scarlet Mage.”
And as she did so, most of the students also stood up.
Their greetings, led by none other than Sylvie Savelievna– chosen representative of the Class 1-V.