Can't Let Others Know

"But, they were mistaken and I was adopted by a nice couple and their family." Lotus explained with a wide smile, "I learned alchemy of this world from them and snuck some of my biological family's possessions with me to study off from. So, while those old guys think I'm dead, I'm actually very much alive. But, because of my ability to cultivate, I naturally draw the attention of the guardian sealed away in Heartslabyul dorm. I helped save it from dying and ended up learning of the existence of the dorm's guardian from them."

"Wait. If you have the ability to cultivate, then wouldn't that mean..." Raaji paused in bewilderment as it finally sets in, "Technically, you are capable of using magic! How can you be known as someone without magic? If you can manipulate mana, then the dark mirror should have been able to see that-... No, wait. Could the reason be that you aren't from this world?"

"You are pretty quick with your thinking. Not bad." Lotus smirked mischievously, "You're not wrong. One of the reason is that I'm not from this world, but another is because the flow of the mana in my body is creating a mess that the mirror needs to see through first in order to see my soul, but, even then, he won't be able to decipher the shape exactly since my shape and color combination might not exist in this world."

"How do you know that?"

"Because, as cultivators become stronger, they have the chance to gain the ability to see their own souls and mana inside their bodies without needing dubious procedures or medical equipments. I can tell what the mana in my body and the shape of my soul is like without needing to do any of that." She responded, "I've been studying medicine of my birth world for so long it's almost as simple as breathing as long as you can manipulate mana the way I can, unless there are other ways to help you see it. Some are born with special characteristics that helps them otherwise. Those guardians realized that I was a cultivator and knew that something was off, so, of course, some began to show their presence before me with their own motives. I've yet to find one unpleasant, so there's nothing wrong so far."

She paused for a bit before stating her worry, "Although, it is a little strange that the guardian of Ignihyde dorm didn't do any to prevent this hound from leaving their dorm... I may have to check up on that later..."

"It's suppose to be winter break, but it now feels like an education school trip right out of a fantasy novel!" Raaji groans a loud in disappointment and disbelief, "What my luck that I had to get involved with something this big! What am I going to tell the vice-dorm leader and dorm leader?!"

"All you have to do is tell them that I dragged you across the desert in search of an oasis that never existed." Lotus shrugged, "Then, I gave you a bunch of ointments as an apology for dragging you around and to lessen the burden of making it on your own."

"It isn't that simple..." Raaji groaned in dismay, "Most of the dorm members don't know this, but the vice-dorm leader is capable of making others do as he wishes. If he demands the truth out of me, I may even tell the truth without realizing what I've done!"

"Hm? Is that so?" She looked up in surprise when it dawned upon her, "Could it be... I see, so it's his unique magic at play, then... Why not explain it to the dorm leader instead?"

She has yet to hear of Jamil's unique magic and, generally, unique magic aren't shared information for some who wishes to keep it private or some who are falling behind having yet to manifest their unique magic. Ace and Deuce are one of those who have yet to bring out their unique magic and is still in the process of discovering it. Those who have discover it may find the functions or contents a little uncomfortable and kept it a secret or have bad memories with it and dislike mentioning it. Then, they have those, like Riddle, who does not shy away from their ability and uses it appropriately or those, like Azul, who is proud of the unique magic and flaunts it but without creating too much blot. Jamil's unique magic may fit into the initial category where he is either uncomfortable with it or have bad memories about it. Hence, she have yet to hear of his unique magic.

"He's used the ability on the dorm leader before..." Raaji answered hesitantly catching her attention instantly, "I just couldn't tell the others about it, otherwise, who knows what Jamil-senpai could do to me..."

"Stop acting so pitifully." Lotus sighed in dismay, "If you act pitifully, others can easily use that to their advantage even if you try to use it for your own advantage. So, what does he do to perform this magic?"

"He makes the dorm leader stare into his eyes and he says some weird stuff, then the dorm leader would start to act a little weird."

"I see..." Lotus heaved a sigh of relief again, "That's fine. I have a way around that..."

"Eh?" He looked to her in bewilderment.

She reached out and said, "Give me your hand."

Hesitant yet curious, Raaji took out his right hand over to her, which she took and then began to trace onto the underside of his arm. With each trace, there was a warm feeling tingly on the skin of his arm. He watched in disbelief as the strange markings began to glow onto his arm. He looked up to ask her something, but he couldn't bring his voice out when he realized how focused she was in her actions. It was as if everything that they had been going through hardly fazed her from the start. There was no rush of hurry or hesitation in the movement of her finger across his arm as strange character appeared on it. When she was done, she looked up and said, "There, that should do it."

She pulled back and admired the work she had accomplished releasing the arm as those words disappeared. It would have been a dream to Raaji if he didn't feel the fading warmth from earlier.

"What was that?" He asked in confusion as he noticed the light markings have vanished from his tan skin.

"A charm I've used in the past." She responded, "If Jamil tried to pull something, the charm will prevent that and make him blackout for a bit. This charm is very effective against cultivators, so the effect will also work against a magician. Normally, the charm is written on a talisman and carried around, but there was no danger to putting this sort of charm on the body. If it was any active charm that physically harms others, that's something that would be too dangerous for me to do for you."

"But, won't making him black out make him feel a little suspicious of me?"

"It would only be suspicious if you tried to run away from him all the time." Lotus smirked, "There are times you run and times you don't. If you stay with him for too long or he does something in response to your movement, it's best that you stick to him. If not, then walk away as long as others didn't notice the two of you were walking together. Eventually, he'll understand that something isn't right, but he can't do anything or threaten you as easily if you explain that you just got your unique magic recently during this event. Just say that you messed up on an experiment with magic and managed to deflect the force of the explosion with magic."

"Deflect?"

"That's what this charm mainly does. It deflects incoming attacks created by magic." She explained easily, "So, when Jamil blacks out, it's basically his ability cancelling each other out and making himself blackout just as he had the dorm leader blackout from his hypnosis. You can say it's a taste of his own medicine, but I advise you to avoid him when necessary so he doesn't get too suspicious too early."

"But, what about you? You can clearly use magic." He grumbled in dismay, "And all this time everyone believed you can't use magic..."

"Oh, I can't let the others know that I can use magic yet." She replied bluntly with a wide smirk on her face.

"Huh? What do you mean? Don't you want to avoid getting pushed around by others? After you reached third place in the last exam, so many students have been gunning after you..."

"Well, sure. But I can't reveal that I'm different from other magicians yet." She answered with a pout.

"Why is that?"

"Cause I'll attract too much attention."

With a foreboding feeling, Raaji struggled to ask, "Whose... attention?"

"Those guys that hired that man in white earlier to get me." She responded with a playful smile.

"B-By 'get', you can't mean..." Raaji stammered with an awful feeling in his chest.

"They want to kill me."

"I thought so!!!"