Chapter 20

The teacher finally started the class, her voice cutting through the chatter.

"Everyone, calm down! Let's go through it all once again, okay?"

"Yes, ma'am!" the students shouted in unison. I hesitated for a moment but quickly followed the queue, mimicking their enthusiasm.

Talia smiled at the class. "Now, before we dive deeper, we need to understand what magic is. You must have a basic understanding of magic before you can ever hope to conjure it. So…"

I leaned forward, curious. This was something I wanted to hear—how this world perceived magic.

"Long ago," she began, her tone lowering to match the gravity of her story, "in a distant part of the Eastern world, a devastating war broke out. A war between numerous nations. Soldiers fought and died endlessly, but no matter how much blood was spilled, the war never came to an end. Decades passed, and it seemed like the fighting would never stop."

The class was mostly quiet, but I noticed a few kids yawning or glancing around, clearly uninterested. Unlike them, I found myself drawn in, eager to hear what came next.

"One day," she continued, "a man in a rugged robe arrived on the battlefield. He looked frail, old, unremarkable. He demanded to know what the soldiers were doing, desecrating this sacred land bestowed to us by the gods.

"At first, the armies ignored him. Why would a lone old man matter on a battlefield? But when the next attack was about to begin, something extraordinary happened. Massive walls of light erupted from the ground, separating the lands and preventing the soldiers from fighting."

I blinked, intrigued. So far, it sounded like a legend humans would craft—mystical, dramatic, and steeped in divine intervention.

Talia continued, "The old man demanded an answer to his question: Why were we fighting for greed instead of cherishing the land our gods had given us? He warned of a calamity that would befall humanity if we didn't believe in the gods. The leaders of the civilizations, humbled and terrified, finally heeded his words. And just like that, the old man vanished, as if he had never been there.

"From that day forward, our faith in the gods allowed us to harness magic, a gift bestowed upon us for our devotion."

The classroom was now buzzing with low murmurs, most students clearly bored by the story. To me, though, it was fascinating.

To think humans here managed to weave such a detailed tale about magic… If I didn't know the truth, I might have believed it myself.

I stared at Talia in astonishment, marveling at the creativity of mortal minds.

But then she raised her voice again, quieting the class. "Hush! Calm down, everyone. The story isn't over yet!"

I leaned back, settling into my seat as though preparing to watch a performance. A part of me wanted to enhance her tale with an illusion spell—showing the battlefield, the light walls, the hermit—but that might draw too much attention. Still, I could do something small.

Raising my hand slightly, I cast a spell of mental numbness on myself. Almost immediately, I drifted into a light trance. My mind sharpened, allowing me to visualize everything as though I were there.

Talia's voice became the thread that wove my vivid imagination.

"After the world was blessed with magic," she said, "new realms began to open. Realms teeming with monsters and mysterious creatures."

I gasped softly, my trance immersing me completely. I could see the battlefield, the warriors clashing, and the monstrous beasts spilling into the world.

"These monsters were relentless," she continued, "attacking our lands without pause. It was then that the first warriors, later called heroes, rose to defend humanity. They fought bravely, pushing back the tides of beasts. But the attacks only grew stronger, more frequent.

"Eventually, monsters began to be born directly on Earth, and our planet became infested. The Eastern world, blessed with magic, fought valiantly, but in the Western world, where no such blessings were received, they turned to technological advancements to survive. When the world finally united, the East and West shared their knowledge, magic, and technology, forging the society we know today."

The story painted an epic tapestry in my mind. I felt as if I were standing on the battlefield, witnessing the rise of heroes and the unity of civilizations. My trance made everything seamless, almost too real.

But on the outside, I must have looked strange—motionless, silent, my eyes slightly glazed over.

When Talia concluded her story, the classroom erupted into chatter. The sudden noise shattered my trance like glass breaking.

"Ahh!" I gasped, clutching my head. A sharp pain stabbed through my mind, and my vision blurred. Memories, unbidden and raw, surged to the surface—memories of my past, of friends I had lost, of loneliness that once consumed me.

"Ouch… it hurts!" I mumbled, my hands trembling as I tried to steady myself.

The weight of those memories crushed me. Thoughts spiraled out of control. Would I lose everything again? Would I be alone, forever? No… I didn't want that. I couldn't bear it.

"Aleena?" Talia's concerned voice broke through the chaos in my mind. She was standing near me now, her gaze soft but worried. "Are you okay?"

"My… head…" I barely managed to whisper, my voice weak and trembling.

Before I could say anything more, the overwhelming pressure of my thoughts dragged me under. Darkness swept over me, and I fainted.