10.55 cycle seven, Ca’thir, of calendar Moonrachia

  What just happened…?

  After my vision distorted, it returned to normal almost instantly

  Reflexively, I let out a shaky breath

  I could feel all of my body turn cold

  The students were still acting as they had before; some were writing notes hurriedly, while Bastian and Eiryn still stare at me with their surprised faces

  Exactly how much time has passed?

  Why did I feel it was longer than just a few beats of the heart?

  After taking a deep breath, trying not to look obvious, I could feel my senses coming back slowly

  Then I raised my palm to cover my mouth and let out a deliberate cough

  I felt liquid on my palm. I placed my hand back on the table with my fingers slightly arched to avoid staining the surface

  And somehow, I could taste some iron in my mouth

  “Since no one is going to ask a question, I will take a bathroom break for a minute.” Then I clench my palm before stepping up from the podium and leaving the classroom

  On my way toward the toilet room, I glance into the palm of my hand

  There’s a stain of blood on it

  I couldn’t help but swallow hard down into my throat

  What just happened?

  How am I bleeding?

  There are just too many questions for now

  After entering the toilet room, checking the surroundings, and even checking with mana detection to make sure no one is here, hiding, or even close by

  When I'm already sure it's safe

  I walked straight toward the mirror and stare deep into my own reflection

  Black hair

  Average face

  Lean body

  And red pupils’ eyes

  Nothing had changed and nothing looked strange, except for the color of my pupils

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  Ever since that night, I have always wondered, was my pupil color always red? But why do I feel it was not?

  Was the distorted vision caused by the fact that I’ve been using mana frequently?

  But I’ve been using magic again for more than a month

  A flood of questions rose in my mind, giving me a slight headache

  Leaning forward near the mirror to see my eyes in more detail and infusing it with mana to see if there was a reaction

  And after a few blinks, I realized it wasn’t because of that, but rather something else entirely

  What, why, and how?

  *****

  11.07 cycle seven, Ca’thir, of calendar Moonrachia

  Exactly 10 minutes have passed now since Kaleth went to the toilet

  Then I realize my mistake and slowly shake my head

  I should call him Mr. Kaleth

  I’m pretty sure he was the top graduate in the Metamagic major in the last generation, but I only heard it as a rumor, since he was working as Ms. Millenia's assistant

  When I look at my own notes, there’s more than I usually write for one lecture

  Something like, chain magic = linked magic circle, combined magic = singular magic circle (that’s combined into one structural circle)

  And a lot of graphs, descriptions, and things

  His teaching style is entirely different than Mr. Haelm's…

  He explains all of them in the simplest explanation, without getting absorbed in the book as his guide

  Sadly, he’s only a substitute teacher

  The classroom was still in dead silence

  Slowly, I glance around and check my surroundings through my glasses

  I guess all of them were also shocked by Mr. Kaleth's teaching, even though I could see in the corner of my eyes that Bastian was rechecking all the notes he had with a serious expression

  I wonder why Mr. Kaleth hurriedly went to the toilet?

  Then the classroom door opened slowly, with soft creaking sounds

  Slowly, a tall figure could be seen walking onto the podium

  A black hair

  Handsome yet serious face

  And @#$%^ pupil color

  *****

  11.07 cycle seven, Ca’thir, of calendar Moonrachia

  “Alright, everyone, let’s continue our class.” Clapping my hand once

  “Before I explain how to chain 2 opposite-element magic without a 1:1 ratio, which requires rapid and complex calculations, there are way simpler methods to link them together.”

  “It is creativity.”

  When I raised my palm around my chest level and instantly cast a fireball and a water bullet once more

  I expanded the water bullet slightly and hollowed out its center, then reduced the mana in the fire bullet, making it smaller and less hot

  After that, I combined the two spells, placing the fire within the hollow water core, allowing it to function as a heat source rather than a direct attack

  Before I pour more mana to make the fire bullet hotter, and just enough to keep the water boiling without getting all of them to turn into steam

  “This is enough to give a burn scar, a fireball could do it, but over long distances, its temperature gradually fades as it loses connection to its mana source.”

  “With this chain magic, it will give you a longer distance while still maintaining the same damage output.”

  Then I dispel the magic

  The students, even Bastian and Eiryn, were taking notes hurriedly

  After around 5 minutes or so, all of them finally finished with whatever note they were currently writing and are now watching me from their seats

  “Again, does anyone have a question?”

  Then just like that, the rest of class is nothing but answering all of the questions

  *****

  16.33 cycle seven, Ca’thir, of calendar Moonrachia

  On my way home with Rheya, both of us were talking about how busy today is

  With the teacher shortage, those of us who stayed behind had to give it everything we had to fill the gaps

  Since there are still many assistant teachers. Maya sends them to teach lower grades, while the teacher who stayed behind fills the major classes

  “I feel like I'm on my deathbed.”

  “If this continues for a long time, I’m going to quit in the next few days. I would rather open a small restaurant than force myself to overwork.” While Rheya stretched her arms above her head

  Well, Aronn should have listened to your advice for once, rather than killing himself

  “At least I got bonuses,” While shrugging my shoulders

  “I’m pretty sure you’re the only one who thinks like that. No one is going to work overtime for a bit of bonuses.”

  “Overwork leads to exhaustion, and exhaustion leads to illness—“

  And then I just shut my ear off

  The sun slowly disappeared from the sky, and the street lamp turned on at the same time, while slightly delayed from each other

  “-And after that.”

  How long is she going to keep yapping?

  “Rheya,” As I turn my gaze to her

  “Huh? What?” While staring at me and frowning a bit because I cut her off

  “Could you describe my appearance?”

  She then raised one of her eyebrows in suspicion. “What’s wrong with you suddenly? Did you eat something weird?”

  “Not really, just do it. Let's say that I’m interested in how my appearance is.”

  Both of us now stopped walking, and Rheya touched her chin while observing me from the top of my head to my toes

  “Well, average looking, average height, average weight—“

  Shaking my head, I was in disbelief at her description, “I mean specifically—like my hair or eye color.”

  “Oh,” Rheya said with a blank face, without feeling a bit of guilt, after describing how average I am

  “Black hair,” While looking at my hair

  “@#$%^ pupil” While staring at me

  Huh?

  My thoughts, actions, and breath were completely stopped

  The way she described my pupil color sounded distorted, as if her voice were layered with thousands of different sound effects

  “Care to repeat that…?” While clenching my hand without looking too obvious

  “What’s wrong with you suddenly?” While she let out a heavy sigh

  “Black hair and red pupil”

  It changed…

  Something intervenes…

  What the f**k is happening right now…

  I was pretty sure my pupil wasn’t red—wait, was it?

  ---END---