Cæ heaved a sigh as he left the cafe, heading back to the Elendir Institute of Magic after a long, good talk with Feidin Norton. Cæ was fortunate enough that the man was willing to meet up in the central districts that housed the massive campus at its center, it made travel easy.
His eyes grew hazy as he fell into thought on the conversation that he had just had.
Admittedly, the offer was spontaneous.
And along with it came a choice that he had thought he would make much later. The choice to become the sole party in the business venture. In other words, he would not outsource the production and distribution of his goods to other companies and he wouldn't be partnering with other companies on the venture.
He wanted complete ownership and agency over the matter.
And for that, he needed someone like Mr. Norton to work under him.
"Well, it's unlikely he will accept it."
He already knew this. He had already made his case as best as he probably could. It was all up to Mr. Norton whether he wanted to take the offer or not. He simply shook his head lightly as his mind returned to more immediate and pressing affairs.
"Tomorrow is the first day of the semester."
He was admittedly looking forward to it.
For one, he was finally going to begin his magical education. He was going to blaze past as fast as he could without drawing suspicion on him for hiding his true power. Fortunately, he didn't he would have to hold back in this regard. While his Acquired Savant Syndrome did turn him into a true mage, it didn't do much to help him with conventional magic.
Of course, he had a far greater memory than before, but it wasn't enough to get him in trouble for being dangerously good. At most, it would reaffirm his image of having exceptional talent.
"On top of that, I know that there are some who will also complete the apprentice program at extremely fast rates," Cæ narrowed his eyes as he thought back to Silian and his cronies attacking him with magic. "I won't stand nearly as much."
Of course, the fact that Cæ wasn't supposed to have the advantages that got silian and some other wealthy students to at least be able to cast one spell would not be missed. Still, he could chalk it up to exceptional talent.
Thus, from the first day tomorrow, he would immediately start grinding.
The Elendir Institute of Magic allowed for more free scheduling of exams and tests for passing on to the next semester within the apprentice program, so he could theoretically take all the exams that he needed to in the first week.
"That would be too absurd and impossible even for me." He shook his head. "Regardless, I will take it at the earliest possible."
There were some that he has already made considerable progress on.
History of Magic was one that he has found himself surprisingly immersed in. His immersion allowed him to absorb it much quicker than some of the other courses that he found himself absorbed in.
Regardless, when the official semester began the next day, he would be swamped with work.
"Speaking of tomorrow…" he muttered to himself. "I almost forgot that I had that…"
The Honor Student Address.
The student with the highest rank in the Institute was tasked with giving a speech to the entire student body.
In the case of the Colohen Campus, that was him. It appeared that Lisha Pyrosche, the student who scored rank one with genius-level talent in magic in the magic aptitude test. It was unfortunate that she was not on this campus, else he would have been spared with this pain in the ass.
"Whatever, I will just wing it."
If it wasn't directly relevant to his goal or his interests, he simply didn't care to put too much effort into it. At most, he wanted to make sure that he avoided giving a bad impression to the teachers and potential investors for his business.
"ID, please." The guards at the gate demanded, when he returned to campus, allowing him to return only after confirming that he was a student of the Elendir Institute of Magic.
Cæ directed a sweeping gaze across the expansive campus of the Institute. Yet, his eyes didn't linger on the beautiful, colorful gardens or the exquisite architecture of the campus.
"Looks like all the freshmen have finally arrived, cutting down on the ruckus."
The past three days had been hectic as a large number of students from across the city, country, and even foreign nations shifted to the Elendir Institute of Magic in the span of just a few days to make sure they didn't miss the first day of the semester. The Elendir Institute of Magic strictly prohibited early transfers, so all students needed to complete their transfer in the three day period before the Elendir Institute of Magic.
The return of some degree of peace in the campus estate was a sign that this had finally concluded.
As he made his way back to the apprentice dormitories, he found himself gathering attention from various freshmen. There were roughly three strains of attention.
Positive, fearful, and contemptuous.
"Don't soil this pristine school with your filthy presence."
A clique of girls curled their mouths with disgust as he passed by them, almost reflexively insulting him.
He couldn't be bothered to retort.
And yet, he didn't need to.
"D-Don't insult him!"
"His presence isn't filthy!"
"Who do you guys think you are?!"
His eyebrows rose as three familiar voices erupted in defense of him. It was none other than the three acquaintances he had made on his day of arrival at the Institute.
Natasha indignantly pulled her skirt down as she stared at them with apprehension and anger. Sorenon looked nervous as he tried to put a brave front while Kelton looked like he was all but ready to throw hands then and there.
They had stormed forth, placing themselves between Cæ and the clique of wealthy girls who had spat insults to his face. Their defense of him earned them the focus of the girls' ire, making them targets.
"My, the plebeians rise to defend the slum mongrel." The ringleader of the clique sneered, stepping forward as she directed a contemptuous once-over Cæ's newest trio of defenders. "Perhaps you should take a look at yourselves before you jump to defend slum bastard."
She even brought her hand up to cover her soft but venomous laughter even as the fancy ringlets of golden hair spiraling down from her head gently bounced with her motions. Her attire was strangely fancy and extravagant semi-formal despite being in the dormitory, as were those of the cronies of her little clique.
It was a sense of fashion that was beyond Cæ's fathoming.
And yet, it drew a clear line between them and three that had stood up in defense of him who wore normal and simple clothes.
The air grew tenser as the girls' derisive laughter only stoked their anger. Cæ simply watched impassively from the corner of his eyes. He didn't understand why they were getting worked up for him or over the worthless chatter that the clique of girls' directed towards them.
Kelton, in particular, was the most worked up over their words in his juvenile immaturity. So much so that that even the girls noticed, picking on him in particular to provoke him.
"Ah~ this musclebrain blockhead is giving me a dirty look." The ringleader directed a contemptuous sneer at him. "What's the matter?"
She stepped forward before him with a sharp gaze, confronting him head-on.
Cæ glanced around as more and more people gathered around them in the dormitory, drawn by the commotion. And yet, they weren't merely limited to spectating. There were many who joined in on one side or another.
"You dare glare at Lady Delilah?!"
"You should know your place, mutt!"
"Back down before she ruins your life!"
On the other hand, many of the non-wealthy students found themselves rising up in indignant anger, jumping in to side with the opposite side.
"This magicademy prohibits discrimination!"
"You rich assholes!"
"You don't have to be so mean just because your parents are wealthy!"
It soon began snowballing more and more as a simple verbal insult and a clapback began boiling into something far more than Cæ had expected. He had to remind himself that they were juvenile adolescents.
With hormones running amuck, they were unreasonably volatile. The immaturity on display was rather stunning, making him feel out of place as perhaps the only one who had retained his composure.
He had intended to ignore Delilah's comments and simply return to his room. He couldn't be bothered with gracing her nonsense with an acknowledgment. But he felt the need to stop when the three kids he had gotten acquainted with jumped in with their unnecessary intervention to save him.
In fact, he knew that this had nothing to do with protecting him and more so to do with their resentment against wealthier students who came from affluent backgrounds. They were simply waiting for a fitting opportunity to jump in and lash out Delilah.
Unfortunately, it was shaping to escalate to be much worse.
"What's the matter?" Delilah growled. "Are you just going to stand there like a spineless fool, quivering in fear? I called your mother a plebeian whore and your father a dog, and you're just going to stand their paralyzed in terror?"
A shocked wave of murmurs spread through the gathered crowds while Cæ heaved a tired sigh.
Yet, it was not Delilah who had caught his attention.
It was Kelton.
"You bitch, I will fucking kill you!" his face crumpled with anger as he snapped and lost control.
CLASP!
Cæ smoothly caught his powerful swing at the crescendo of his wind-up where he had the least leverage. Kelton's eyes widened as he realized he couldn't even pull against the grip without straining his back due to the position.
"Let me go!" he vainly tried to throw an attack with all his body weight while Cæ simply kept him where he was with a single hand.
"She's trying to get you suspended for assault."
Kelton froze as this simple and transparent truth became evidently clear to him the moment Cæ plainly told him as much.
The crowd quietened down by the quick attack and the equally quick counter.
Cæ's eyes sharpened as they pierced into Kelton's green eyes.
"Did you come to this magicademy to fight, or did you come to this magicademy to learn how to fight?"
Kelton stirred at those words as he lowered his head with gritted teeth.
His goal had been to go on to become a magetant, a combat mage.
"You won't be able to achieve that goal if you get suspended for things like this," Cæ's tone was sharp. "It may even cause harm to your family. Do you want your parents to suffer just because you couldn't control your anger?"
His body deflated at those words. "…No."
"Then go." Cæ huffed. "Forget about this goofy drill-haired clown doll."
"…Pfft."
"Drill-haired…"
"Clown doll…"
A wave of laughter spread amid the students as their immature and juvenile sense of humor was powerless before his earnest description of the girl.
Delilah was not pleased.
She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists. "Stop… Stop laughing!"
Unfortunately for her, that only flamed the laughter on as the scholarship students did so with vindication.
She stormed off with teary eyes, throwing one last dirty glare at Cæ.
Cæ heaved a tired sigh.
"Kids."
He genuinely couldn't wait to move to the senior program.