Chapter 95: Difference between Mage and Knight
Vlad’s eyes slowly opened as something kept poking him on the cheeks. The lavender hair was the first to become clear through his blurry vision, followed by a serene face with pale lavender eyes. At the background, the sun was glowing brightly, cascading his face in shades of golden through the canopy of leaves. The morning light filtered through the foliage, casting dancing patterns across his skin.
"Chloe?" Vlad murmured, rubbing his eyes to make sure he was seeing it correctly. His voice was still thick with sleep, the remnants of exhaustion clinging to his words.
"Exhibitionist Vlad," Chloe muttered, her index finger digging into Vlad’s cheek.
Vlad’s eyes lowered at his body, finding it covered by the shirt placed over him like a blanket that he had removed while exercising last night.
"Why are you here already?" Vlad asked, now completely awake as he rose to a sitting position. The grass rustled beneath him, cool and damp with morning dew. "You should have returned by evening. Have you already formed the core? How did it go? That Principal did not do something weird right?" His each question came faster than the previous one as he bombarded her before she could even answer one of them, his voice laced with nervousness.
"I formed the core," Chloe answered in an even tone, her chin resting on her folded knees as she sat beside Vlad. "Do not accuse principal wrongly. She helped us greatly."
"Only if you knew what she did to me," Vlad shook his head before fixing Chloe with an intense gaze, a smile spreading across his face, "Congratulations! I knew you would succeed with your talent."
"Now I will become strong and leave you in dust," she replied, her face neutral although Vlad could clearly see the smug hidden beneath it.
Vlad pressed her head with his wide palm, his fingers gripping her skull tightly as he muttered, "Not even in hundred years, you lazy piggie." He ruffled her lavender hair with affectionate roughness.
"You call me that again!" Chloe said, pinching his forearm with both hands, forcing him to retract his hand. Her grip was surprisingly strong, her fingers digging into his skin with vengeance. She opened the buttons of her blazer and held her waist covered in the tucked-in shirt as she continued, "Pigs are fat. Where is fat?"
Vlad gazed at her slim waist, leaning closely. "How peculiar. When I bathed you six years ago, you definitely had the belly of a pigie."
The memories of bathing naked with Vlad flashed in Chloe’s mind, her ears turning slightly pink. A faint blush crept up her neck, though her expression remained carefully composed.
Meanwhile, Vlad, after giving one more intense look at her waist, let his intrusive thoughts win and pinched her waist, grabbing a fingerful of skin. "Haha, look it’s still there. The fat of a pig—"
Before he could finish his words, Chloe grabbed him by the hair and struck his face square to her knee.
Thud!
The impact echoed through the quiet morning, followed by Vlad’s muffled groan of pain.
---
He wanted to talk more about the change she felt after absorbing the core, but he held his curiosity back since he was already running late for class. He went inside his dorm, took a quick shower, and returned in the academy uniform.
The first lecture they had was Aura Awakening by Victor. The lecture was in the same hall where they had dueled with Victor.
The students were a quarter the size of the last lecture, making their voices echo in the large hall.
As soon as Vlad and Chloe entered the hall, the other students looked at them with widened eyes and shocked expressions.
"Chloe pushed the professor back in the duel. Vlad even forced him to counterattack. So why weren’t they allotted Section A?"
"Must be because they’re commoners. The academy preaches equality yet suppresses the commoners this way."
"Or perhaps they somehow offended the professor. We should stay away from them."
The students chattered and gossiped with the energy of teenagers, glancing at the duo, who could clearly hear them.
Yet the pair paid them little mind. Vlad was already aware of why he and Chloe had been allotted Section B. Looking at the other students from this section only confirmed his assumption.
Most of the students in this section were commoners who had a firm grasp of basic combat but lacked the ability to use mana in combat, or more accurately, did not possess a mana heart.
A moment later, Victor entered the hall with his usual charismatic presence, filling the room with the students’ energetic greetings.
As he climbed the stairs of the central platform, his gaze fell upon Vlad, a flicker of surprise crossing his face.
’How is he still standing on his own two legs, even after becoming the Bloodbound of Lady Seraphina,’ he murmured inwardly.
Last night, he had seemed ready to turn the whole academy upside down to capture the boy who’d become Seraphina’s Bloodbound. Strangely, as soon as he learned that the person in question was none other than Vlad, he grew strangely calm.
It was only then that Victor remembered how Vlad had actually enrolled in the academy: through the recommendation letter of the Pyro Tyrant.
There was definitely something more to Vlad than just a D-Ranked commoner. He shook his head slightly, clearing those thoughts, and turned his focus back to the class.
"Good morning, my lovely students," Victor said, reaching the central platform. "Today is one of my favorite lectures!"
His face formed a proud smile as he revealed, "If you follow my instructions closely, you will be promoted to Trainee Rank."
His words stirred faint murmurs among the students as mixed reactions of confusion, surprise, and excitement erupted.
"Before we begin, can anyone tell me what distinguishes a knight from a mage?"
Vlad instantly raised his hand, standing with Chloe a few meters away from the other students, or more accurately, the other students were the ones keeping their distance from him.
"Yes, Vlad," Victor said, along with the other students, turning his focus toward him.
"Knights can use mana to materialize the elements they have an affinity for, but they can only manipulate the elements they themselves create," Vlad explained in a firm tone, his deep voice echoing through the hall. "Mages, on the other hand, can not only conjure their own elements but also control the same element already present in their surroundings. For example, a Pyro Mage can manipulate the flames of flowing lava, whereas a Pyro Knight can control only the fire they have personally summoned."
"Doesn’t that mean mages have an advantage over knights?" Victor asked, raising an eyebrow as if he were a confused student posing the question to a professor.
"It does not," Vlad shook his head. "The amount of an element a mage can conjure is less than that of a knight at a similar level. Moreover, mages can suffer mana backlash if attacked or disturbed while casting spells, but knights can freely use their power without facing that setback. Furthermore, knights possess an ability that bridges the advantage mages hold over the surrounding elements."
Vlad’s fist clenched instinctively with excitement as the words left his mouth, "The ability to use Sword Aura."
"Splendid explanation," Victor exclaimed with a light clap. "Five credits to Vlad."
He turned to the other students and continued the lecture, "Now that your Crownbearer has made it clear the difference between a mage and a knight, you must be wondering what actually makes them different."
Everyone knew the answer. It was the most obvious fact in the world, after all. Yet the students kept their silence, letting Victor finish his words.
"Humans are inherently incapable of using mana. Mages form mana rings around their hearts to channel mana, while knights form an artificial mana heart beside their real one that circulates mana through their bodies and out," Victor explained, pacing back and forth on the platform, the sound of his boots on the marble the only noise besides his firm voice.
"What we’ll learn today is how to form a mana heart!" he revealed.
As soon as he said it, a hand rose from among the students, causing even Vlad to snap his head toward it in shock.
"Yes, Chloe," Victor said, raising an eyebrow, clearly intrigued. She was the least expressive and most introverted girl in the entire first-year batch. What could have made such a shy girl raise her hand in class?
"I have already formed a mana heart," Chloe revealed. "Could I sleep if that’s all for today’s lecture?"
Vlad’s mouth hung open at her revelation, his eyes wide as saucers as he stared at Chloe with a dumbfounded expression.
