Ch1:(Back to School, and a Catastrophe)

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“Adults are useless or nonexistent.” It's one of the oldest tropes in the book that’s often included in franchises geared towards adolescents and teenagers. However, consume enough media with said cliche and it gets boring.  

“That will be all for today's lesson, don’t forget to study for the Ancient Runes test that’s next week.” I stated. Finally I got out an eraser from my desk to wipe the various chalk scribbles from the board. 

My handwriting had always been messy so I had set out to improve my eligibility. That way the students that I had for this semester wouldn’t have to deal with reading my poor chicken scratch.   

To make a long story short the odd occurrence happened as if it were yesterday, or rather the predicament I found myself in started last week. The entire situation sounds crazy but I woke up in the body of a fictional character. 

Elias Paleard, a man who should have met all the checkmarks of a perfect mentor figure. Yet since he wasn’t a student the narrative rendered him useless. 

“Have a good weekend Mr. Paleard!” The last student to leave said, their heavy textbook was slammed shut while loose papers and pens were shoved into a bag.     

Jeez that was a mouthful, maybe I should have told them to just call me Professor. However now that I think about it, doing so would make very little difference in the long run.   

Once again the Alchemy classroom was empty. I let out a tired sigh as I drank the last sip of a lukewarm coffee. Thank god it was Friday!

Sure my old self had taken the occasional tutoring gig but now I had a small lecture hall to lead. The attendance records were under a hundred students but the numbers above forty. 

Meanwhile the other alternative was to return home to a family I had no memories of. One would think that reincarnation would go smoothly but for me it did not.

Therefore I simply went with the flow of the situation and faked it until I made it. As Elias Paleard, now age twenty-four it was early enough into my career for anyone not to notice any inconsistencies.  

Within the universe of the book that I was stuck in called [True Sorcerer Restoration] an event called the Great Incursion happened nearly five hundred years ago. Magic had become rejuvenated on Earth.   

Dungeons hiding riches and artifacts of legends started popping up all over the globe. Exploration of these mysterious pocket spaces was dangerous because of the monsters that lurked within. 

While the most dangerous of these creatures were the Harbingers that had the power to level mass civilizations. For once humanity had a common enemy to unite against. 

Magic may have entered mainstream culture, but a vast majority of the population lacked the aptitude. Hence the reason for lucrative statistics on magic users.

The two main class categories are Wizards and Mages. Suffice to say magic has a price, and the more powerful the spell the more a person loses something in return. 

Wizards utilizes inner personal Aura, which in technical terms is to deduct a small amount of life energy off of the user’s lifespan to cast a spell. They often require a magic conduit such as a wand, staff, ring, sword, etc to transfer their Aura to the physical plain of existence. 

On the other hand a Mage is known to capitalize on outer wild Aura. After enough time, dubious bodily modification that's used to anchor Aura to a person such as Mystic Eyes that are mostly heredity or a Spiritual Crest or tattoo that's self inflicted will take its toll. 

Although a loophole kinda existed. Those with mixed blood of mythical beings were somewhat impervious to those negative effects.   

Of course there are also many subfields such as Summoners and Necromancers. Due to their rarity, more or less these types of people tend to live on the fringes of the magic community.  

Meanwhile the main protagonist hadn't shown up yet. As the only known Sorcerer he defied the natural order by wielding the four arcane elements without any drawbacks. 

Then there are unique abilities, individuals with an absurd amount of Aura are the only people that have them.

For those that are ordinary they usually settle on refining a common skill like pyromancy, healing, etc. Alchemy by design is an obscure field of study anyone can learn that falls under that branch.

Another thing of importance that I should mention is that there were ancient and powerful magic families that crawled out of the wood frame like cockroaches. Can’t say I got along very well with those types of people.    

Since I taught at Clocktower Technical College of Magic, such a parent-teacher night event was unlikely ever to come up. Likewise, I dreaded the prospect of having to meet any of my student’s parents.

Give or take a few weeks if things went according to the original plot line a dragon was set to attack the school. With ideas of prediction in mind the future was certainly looking bleak.      

In the mean time I was just an ordinary professor that dabbled in Alchemy and had a stupid amount of papers to grade.

Although… I’m pretty sure I heard the makings of an oncoming headache strutting around the corner. There was only one college of mine that I knew of who wore heeled boots. 

The old floorboards made from an ancient elder tree creaked under the foot of her bold entrance. 

“I see you're sitting in the office like a lazy house cat again. Which is why Elias I’m challenging you to a duel!” Instructor Epsilyn the combat teacher demanded.

“Listen here Renee, I’m sorry but it will have to wait until Sunday. There are important deadlines that I have to meet.”

My fellow coworker’s appearance truly matched her personality. It was as if Renee’s subdued fiery personality was an extension of the orangish-brown locks of hair upon her head. 

The one visible eye she had was blue like the cold Atlantic, while the right side was covered by a medical patch. Renee had no major accidents that I was aware of; so it was probably a Mystic Eye that was kept hidden.

“C’mon fight me just this once! All buy you a coffee after then never bother you again.”

“It’s a tempting offer but that’s what you said two days ago.” I replied with a shrug. The giant pile of essays on my desk wasn’t going to grade itself. 

“Professors, I hate to interrupt your alone time together but the Headmaster’s away... Also Emmett and another boy are fighting a giant lizard that almost destroyed the protective barrier!” A girl named Diona Kysinde cried.

She was a pale thing, the type to avoid going out in the daylight. Despite that Diona had locks spun of gold and a piercing red glare. Nonetheless the only thing I cared about is that she turned in her assignments on time.           

Together Diona, Emmett Alberhyt, and the main character Luke Vanitas made up a trio that were the central protagonists of the story.             

Honestly I was having a brain aneurysm over the fact that the stupid dragon decided to show up early which cut into my marking schedule.   

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The Epsilyn family had roots that traced back to the Greek pantheon, more specifically tied to the constellation Libra. For they were judges of destiny, but fate had not been kind as the house was now on the decline. 

Henceforth the only one left to inherit any of the remaining wealth was Renee, a daughter who was the result of a love affair between a maid and a disgraced noble. 

Thus Renee’s parents were out of the picture, and it was her last grandparent alive that raised her. Years passed and an opportunity had come up that the prodigious institution of Clocktower decided to hand out employment opportunities.   

Sure the pay was decent but she needn't ever have to worry about money due to her background. Therefore the reasoning behind Renee becoming a teacher was much more complex than initially thought.

Defenders of the public, the Magic Association acted to serve those in need who did not wield magic. Ironically its founders were the Twelve families of the Greek Zodiac. 

Meanwhile in opposition to that goal was the Arcane Alliance. They sought to bring Sorcerers, the source of all magic back and eradicate non-magic users. 

Criminal evidence existed that suggested Clocktower’s Headmaster was up to something nefarious. Whoever was the real Headmaster of Clocktower happened to be unknown.

Therefore Lady Renee of house Epsilyn was on the case. Either premonition would end up being useful or only hinder to cripple.

Where even to start on examining the supposed cold hearted Elias Paleard? For one he was more friendly than he looked but a no nonsense type of guy. 

Clearly Elias was a decent teacher and yet most people stayed away. Although it was for a good reason. 

Three years back the Arcane Alliance tried to awaken the Harbinger Cath Palug for nothing to happen. While around the same time Elias Paleard entered the public eye as a competent magic user.    

Renee had many intricate details to consider but then just her luck because a dragon decided to show up! It couldn’t be a mere coincidence...