That was more than enough for a fresh spark to ignite in Zavier's eyes. Was Harry actually about to do what he thought he was about to do?
Apparently he was. Harry assumed an even more serious outward expression as he divulged the information;
"…in my honest opinion; I think her attack is very scary, you need to be wary when fighting her."
"Are you serious? Was the best you could come up with?! Come on!"
"Hold on, here me out," Harry answered patiently. "I observed her closely and I believe her weak point should be in her spiritual power. That's right, her connection with that basket of flowers is key. If you can deceive her physical senses by casting a strong illusion on her, I think you might actually stand a chance of winning."
Zavier didn't say anything immediately, Harry had actually made a very solid point.
"I have seen your potential, and I believe I am not far from the truth when I say that you have knack for casting illusion." Before Zavier could get his hope too high, he swiftly added; "But you have a lot of work to do. It's not automatic you know. It is impossible to learn advanced illusion in a short time, no matter how talented you are."
Ruling out the possibility of learning it so quickly, he concluded his analysis; "There is no way you can beat Sabrina at this point. You might actually stand a chance if you tried in a few months from now. But as of this moment…" he shook his head slowly, "…you can't."
Getting Harry to give his professional advice on this matter had never been Zavier's intention. But he was glad that he had gotten it anyway. So, surprisingly relieved, Zavier turned his back to leave without even as much as saying a single word.
Behind him, Harry was shocked that Zavier was simply leaving just like that. His plan had been to lure in Zavier with the possibility of winning by dangling the carrot of advanced illusion magic before him. Shockingly, Zavier didn't take the bait.
Still astonished, Harry called out after him; "Don't you want to learn advanced illusion from me?! You know I'm the best at it right?! They don't call me 'The Illusionost' for nothing you know!! Better ask me now before I go on to change my mind!!"
But Zavier ignored the hell out of him. He didn't even as much as glance back or something. He simply hurried his steps on as he began to descend down the hill. Harry continued to call out to him repeatedly until Zavier completely vanished from his sight.
Finally, it was just him alone again. So, after turning aside to confirm that there was no one else in sight, Harry continued with his unsolicited spying. Unfortunately, the girl in the bathroom was just rousing up her showers. Harry watched in annoyance as she covered up herself in her bathing robe and exited the bathroom. Little did she know that she had disappointed someone somewhere.
The novelty of the whole escapade wore off after the girl finished showering. There was no need to hang around any longer. Dusk was approaching really fast, so Harry hurried along downwards from the hills. The middle-aged illusionist wasn't afraid of the dark. In fact, for a mage whose primary attribute was light magic, he was a little to comfortable with the dark. On several occasions, Harry had spent many a night crouched in the shadows- waiting.
It would be astute to say that he was a mage that was now in tune with the darkness.
But this evening was way different. The lazy moon hovered in the horizon, right over the edge of the opposite end of the sky where the setting sun had bathed the entire western firmament in a dull orange. At a time when he would normally wander about in the streets of the university, Harry found himself heading indoors. He had a lot on his mind this time. Zavier had given him a lot to ponder on. The young lad was something of a mystery himself.
And Harry sure loved mysteries.
With a sinister smile on his face that more than suggested that he was up to something, Harry entered the building on the one person he could truly be himself with, it was also the one person he could have an actual conversation with and who wouldn't suffocate him with the worshipful stares that came along with stardom.
As usual, Harry slipped into Galen's office through the window instead of using the door like any other regular person.
Galen, as was habitual of him, was huddled over at his desk. The paperwork that came with such an important office was something that he had done grudgingly for over two decades. The dim candlelight in his office didn't seem to deter him at all. This was just another evening of work for him- at least until Harry stepped in unannounced.
With the bolt of sharp rebuke that was ever ready in the old man's tongue, he was about to reprimand his protege when he noticed the mischievous smile on his face.
"You creep, you've done it again haven't you? You've found another poor naked beauty to spy on haven't you?"
Still with that same achieving smile, Harry shook his head mildly and replied Galen in a deep voice; "NO. Not this time Galen…not this time…I found something much better."
His tone obviously hinted that he had more to let on, so Galen indulged him. Squinting his eyes in a manner that showed how suspicious he was, he questioned him saying; "What else could possibly have you grinning from ear to ear like a Hyena if not one of your perverse hobbies of catching naked women in their private moments? We both know that is all you live for."
"First off, I really doubt you've seen a Hyena before…" he eased himself into the seat closest to him, "And as I said earlier on, it's not random naked beauty that has me riled up like this Galen, I found something even scarcer- I found an unparalleled talent."
...............…
Some few miles away from Galen's office, within the timeframe of that same hour, another important conversation was being held. Before the discussion between both parties had begun, prior to that moment, Zavier had been trying his best to get Calista alone to himself all evening. The lead teacher had been so swamped with ensuring the betterment of her hospitalised students that Zavier had to quit waiting around an pull her away for a few minutes.
A little surprised by his state of urgency, Calista asked unsurely; "Are you alright? You look a little bit on the edge."
"Pardon me ma'am, but I have been doing a whole lot of thinking, and I need to run it by you if you don't mind."
One would have thought that that would be enough to put Calista's mind at ease. But she immediately assumed the worst and tensed up.
"What's this about Zavier?" She asked in a low voice. "Have you discovered something?"
Zavier simply stared at her with a blank expression for a few seconds, making Calista all the more worried. He didn't give her a direct answer. Instead, he chose to reply her a four worded sentence in a very grim tone;
"We need to talk."
In a very hush hush tone, both of them conversed in their secret corner. Zavier was careful enough not to allow the details of their conversation spill out into the open. In fact, there was little to nothing in the way of evidence of what they were actually talking about. It was that important. Calista listened with a deep frown on her face, taking mental notes at an amazing speed and at the same time trying to see things in a completely objective light.
Eventually, after about fifteen minutes of some really cloak and dagger-like discussion, the two peeled away from each other and went their separate ways. Not even ghosts who might be hovering around would have gain said them. They had been that careful, especially Zavier. The traces of the discussion disappeared into the air, much in the same manner of the conversants long after they had dispersed.
Calista went on like nothing happened. She was an expert at that. But Zavier however was a little bit overwhelmed. The day had held a whole lot for him. He did like to admit it, but Shiranui's case had him a little bit on edge. She was still unconscious. She was still laying still like some modern day sleeping beauty, waiting for her Prince Charming to come along and set her free from the cold chains of mental incarceration.
There was also the fact that he had witnessed the strangest form of attack and defense that he had never seen before. It had all been so exotic. If he wasn't on the lineup to fight the cute looking girl who had been nice to him before, Zavier might have actually wanted to shake her hand or something. It had been a truly marvelous display.
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