A Lesson In Magic

Despite the fact that the main aim of the program was to foster unity between the factions, invitees were still expected to behave accordingly with the rules of the academy. In other words, attending lectures and tests were a given. Supernatural or not, they had to participate in certain activities so as not to stand out among the student population.

Most of them found this arrangement annoying. Having been spent years learning various complex branches of magic, it was a bit of a bother to have to repeat the same in an even less motivating manner. The only upside to this was the fact that they still received magic lessons every week from their original teachers. Every other day was spent with actual professors alongside other normal students since as first year students, everyone had the same general classes.

If the witches and vampires found this annoying, one could only imagine how the Hunters felt about it. Michael in particular had begun considering straight up leaving the class he was sitting in at the moment. The only reason he had not done so already was not only to maintain their cover but because the lecturer was one of the Exorcists assigned to preside over the program. If the witches and vampires had their cover as students, then the two Exorcists had theirs as members of the staff.

Several rows of seats below, Diana Stone explained the history of some of European countries to the class while Michael looked on, his boredom visible on his face. Sometime during the lecture she seemed to have caught onto his lethargic expression and took a moment to flash him a small smile. As one of the very few people in the entire school aware of how old the Hunters were, she certainly understood how tiresome the lesson most have been to Michael.

Eventually the bell rang to end the lesson and thankfully liberate Michael from this mind numbing experience. The other students thronged out but he remained back in the class until it was empty. At least that was until he realized that one person was still in the class with him. A few seats behind him, Mia finished packing up her books and followed him down to where Diana was putting away her lecture materials.

"Well you certainly took this job seriously," Michael commented.

She sighed weakly and offered then a small smile. "One of us has to. And I don't know if you noticed but Vincent doesn't exactly do well in these sort of situations."

"Mm," Michael agreed and glanced around to ensure they were alone before turning back to Diana. With a single thought, he released his power to surround the three of them and isolate them from any magical observance. Then he recounted the findings of Lee's investigation the night before. Both women listened prudently until he finished.

"That's eerily disturbing," Mia muttered at the end.

"I could not agree more," Diana concurred. "I suppose you want me to look into it now?"

"If you would not mind. We'd do it ourselves but since they are aware that someone is looking into their activities, they'll definitely be watching the Hunters intensely.

"You guys on the other hand are members of the staff," he continued. "Even if they realize who you are, they won't be able to do much unless they have footing in the upper levels of the school management as well."

There was sense in what Michael had said and Diana realized that. As a professor, whether true or not, she had the right authority to look into the affairs of the students. That would be enough reason to quell any suspicion.

"Alright, I'll see what I can do," the woman acquiesced. Once she was done putting away the rest of her materials, she turned to Michael once more. "Hey for what it's worth, the lecture was just as boring for me as well."

Michael laughed softly. "Yeah. Well you might want to tone it down a little. Some people in the class already think you're hitting on me."

The woman simply shook her head softly in amusement before sending them off. As the two of them wandered down the wide hallways of the school, Mia used the opportunity to broach something that had confused her back in the class.

"What did she mean by that? The lesson wasn't boring."

The Hunter just smiled and kept his eyes ahead. "These kind of things tend to lose their appeal when you've been around long enough to watch them happen."

Mia did a double take in surprise as she took a moment to process what Michael had said. When she realized that the boy had no intention of waiting for her, she sped up to catch up to him.

"Wait a minute. How old are you guys anyway?"

He did not give her the answer she wanted. "Let's just say that we've been working with the Roman Catholic Church for a long time."

Seeing that he would not be giving her a definite reply any time soon, Mia huffed in mock annoyance and pouted. Deciding to change the subject, she latched onto a part of his last statement.

"Yeah, that reminds me of something. I remember Vincent saying that you guys used to work with the Church. Why'd you stop?"

This time it was Michael who stopped. She approached him slowly and was slightly surprised to see what looked like anger and resentment flash across his face. But as quickly as the emotions came, they vanished and were replaced with a smile that seemed a bit forced.

"We uh, just had a difference in interests," he answered and continued moving. After a few steps, he stopped again and turned his head to look at her. "Do me a favor? Don't mention this to Olivia."

"Okay?" She replied unsurely. When he continued walking, she hurried up once more to walk by his side.

"So I was talking with Whitney the other day and I managed to convince her to let me off on some days so you could give me training lessons. Would that be okay with you?"

"I can't see a problem with that, since we're supposed to be spending time together anyway," he replied as they left the building. The sun shone brightly overhead with enough heat to make some of the students outside to seek cover under the shade of the trees planted everywhere in the campus.

"Although," Michael continued as their walk slowed to a leisurely stroll beneath the rows of trees. "I don't see why you shouldn't continue with Whitney. Her affinity works well with your Variant magic after all."

Mia's look turned quizzical. "Variant magic? What's that?"

Michael paused for a second to glance down at her in disbelief. "You've never heard of Variant magic before? Jade told me you were capable of utilizing both Fire and Wind magic."

She shrugged. "Yeah? So? I've always been able to do that."

"Exactly. That's what I mean."

"I still don't understand."

Michael sighed and ran his hand through his hair before looking back at the girl with him. "Alright, let me ask you a question. What is your magic affinity?"

"Fire and Wind," she answered easily, although a part of her was a bit confused as to why he would ask such a question.

"You're wrong."

She blinked twice. "Huh? But that's what they told me –"

"A magic user may be able to learn and practice multiple forms of magic, so long as they have the aptitude for it. But they can only ever have one affinity," Michael explained. "You on the other hand have two."

"But you just said it was impossible to have more than one."

The two of them rounded a corner into a lane that was surrounded on both sides by a low hedge of vegetation. People relaxed on spots on the low cut grass beside the lane, engaging in various activities.

"Tell me something Mia. How do you think magic is used?"

Mia's lip went in between her teeth as she tried to recall everything she had been taught on the theory of magic after she had joined the Arcane Circle. "Magic works by utilizing the world around us right? I don't really remember the specifics but–"

"Actually you're quite correct. Normal magic allows the caster to tweak or manipulate the laws of reality to suit the caster's taste. But Variant magic is different. Where normal magic is able to bend the laws of reality, Variant magic ignores those laws altogether."

The two of them had finally settled underneath a large oak tree that stood in the middle of one of the lawns in the school. Michael sat near the base of the tree, his back leaning on the rough yet strangely comfortable trunk. A few feet to his left, Mia was seated on an overground root that was sturdy enough to support her weight. There was an eager expression on her face that made her look like a child waiting on the prospect of being offered their favorite piece of candy. And it might as well have been the same considering the girl's intense interest in magic.

"And you're saying I have this Variant magic?" She asked slowly.

"Most likely. I suppose it could be said that your Variant magic offers you two magic affinities. It's quite tame when compared to some other ones I know of."

"What do you mean?"

"Variant magic is a type of magic that comes from one's soul. It is somewhat unique and because of its connection to the intricate nature of the soul, it is impossible for a Variant magic user to use any other kind of magic except the one he or she is born with."

"Hmm, okay. Earlier you said my Variant magic was 'tame'. What did that mean?" She pressed on with another question, unwilling to let the insightful conversation die.

"Most Variant magics are strange and unusual, normally existing outside the range of regular magic spells. They cannot be reenacted by a non-Variant magic user, which is fair considering even the most mundane of spells would be beyond a Variant magic user."

"'Existing outside the range of regular magic' eh?" Mia murmured thoughtfully as she stared down at the ground. "I've never seen anyone back at the Arcane Circle capable of using Space-Time Manipulation like Jade did last week. Is she a Variant magic user?"

"Yes. All of us are Variants. That's what makes us different from the rest of you."

Mia's admiration filled her voice as she relentlessly pelted Michael for with more questions. He answered her with the patience of an adult dealing with a child.

"What's your Variant magic? I've seen it in action but I didn't really understand it."

Michael held up his palm and focused a part of his power into it. A small sphere of gray colored energy formed above his hand. Though tiny in size, the sphere gave off a distinctly uncomfortable sense of nothingness that made Mia's skin shiver.

"Erasure magic. Just as its name says, it allows me the ability to remove anything from existence so long as the power behind the item is not greater than the power behind my own spell."

"That's really cool. Is there a limit to how much you can erase?"

He closed his eyes thoughtfully for a few seconds before shrugging. "There are very few things that I've encountered that I haven't been able to erase completely. Even then I've always found a way to compensate."

"Okay then. What about the rest of your team? What are their powers?"

"I'm afraid I cannot tell you that. You'll have to ask them yourself. A Variant's greatest power is the advantage of surprise they have in the uniqueness of their abilities."

The girl nodded in understanding before she realized something. Despite what he had just said, Michael had willing told her about his power without hesitation. Whether it was because he trusted her enough or out of sheer confidence that the information could not be used against him, she had no way of knowing. Although she would like to think it was the former. The thought of having someone trust her with such sensitive information was pleasant in a manner.

Before she had been introduced into the supernatural world, her life had been unfocused due to the kind of foundations she had her childhood around. Not having had many friends during her early years made her value the new ones she had made recently. For the first time in her life, she actually felt like she belonged somewhere. If that came with the condition of hanging around with some very dangerous people, then so be it.

A few minutes later, Michael's cellphone buzzed repeatedly inside his pocket. He pulled it out and read through the text on his screen. Once he was through, he pulled himself to his feet and dusted his clothes. Calling Mia up as well, the both of them set off towards the direction of the dorms with Michael in front.