By the time they reached the little classroom, Thops was already teaching inside, and Skyl's roommate Doniel was starting to get cold feet again.
"No. I can't do this."
Skyl asked what his problem was now.
"You don't understand how much of a shock it would cause throughout the Academy if an accomplished Twinsage sorcerer joined an obscure Conspectus. Just imagine tomorrow's gossip headlines: 'Why Does a Genius Keep Making Terrible Decisions?', 'The Bluntstone and the Genius: An Intimate Encounter,' 'Fallen or Deluded? Youngest Twinsage Sorcerer Goes Astray.' Everyone will be talking about it. They'll mourn my decision. This will be remembered as a mistake in the history of sorcery and recorded for generations to come."
Doniel wasn't joking. The utterly serious tone he used only made it far more entertaining for Skyl.
Skyl kept his face straight and thought, This guy has a slightly inflated opinion of himself.
What he actually said was, "Come on. As a sorcerer, you shouldn't care about what ordinary people think. Geniuses are always lonely, right?"
"Hmm... you do have a point. Fine. I suppose I've already come this far. There's no backing out now."
Standing outside the classroom, Doniel knocked on the door while calling, "Professor Thops. Professor Thops. Professor Thops."
Skyl stared at him. "Are you Sheldon or something? Do you seriously have to knock three times?"
"The first knock is notification. The second gives them time to prepare. Also, who's Sheldon?"
"A weirdo. Take that however you want. Just remember to be polite once we're inside."
The classroom door opened, and Thops's gleaming bald head appeared like a beacon showing travelers the way. When he saw Skyl standing beside a Twinsage sorcerer, surprise immediately crossed his face.
"Mage Skyl, may I ask who this is?"
Before Skyl could introduce him, Doniel quickly placed a hand over his chest and bowed. "Doniel, of the Twinsage Conspectus, as you can see. Professor Thops, I've come to discuss certain academic matters with you."
Skyl turned toward him and drew out his name. "Doniel... why don't you just tell him the truth?"
Thops looked confused, but he was delighted to have visitors and hurriedly ushered them inside. It was a small classroom tucked away in an isolated corner, with terrible lighting and the faint smell of damp mildew. Most of the desks and chairs had been stacked in a corner. Aside from the lectern, there was only one long classroom table.
The only apprentice in the room was a child.
Skyl was somewhat surprised. She was one of the Juvenile Scholars from the Raya Lucaria Grand Library. After spending years immersed in Rennala's magic and undergoing rebirth over and over again, her body had been left impaired and her mind remained extremely childlike. They were among the most neglected groups in the entire Academy.
The little scholar was adorable. She wore sorcerer's robes and a four-cornered cap, making her look almost like a comical little wizard doll. Combined with her vacant expression, she reminded Skyl of a soft white rabbit.
The moment she saw Skyl and Doniel, she broke into a foolish grin so innocent it could melt anyone's defenses. She raised both hands over her head and clapped excitedly.
"Oh! New classmate! New classmate! Egghead Teacher found a new classmate!"
Thops scratched his head in embarrassment.
"Moli, they're not new classmates. They're friends of your teacher. Mage Skyl, this is my apprentice, Moli. Moli, this is Mage Skyl."
Moli sounded more like the sort of name someone would give a small pet, and the young scholar's intelligence wasn't much beyond that level.
Skyl later learned that Thops had found the young scholar wandering through one of the corridors. She had promptly attached herself to him and refused to return to the Grand Library. In a strange way, perhaps the two really had been destined to meet.
Skyl kept a cautious distance from the child and studied her like a wary pediatrician giving a particularly suspicious patient a thorough examination.
His first thought was, Children are just like dogs. Terrifying. You can never guess what ideas are brewing inside their chaotic little minds. There could be something truly sinister hiding beneath that cute exterior. She might spit on me.
Moli tilted her head, giggled at him, and muttered, "Skyl... Mage... new classmate..."
Without realizing it, Skyl moved closer and greeted her.
"Hello there. My name is Skyl. It's truly an honor to meet you."
Then he reconsidered.
Most children might be terrifying, but this one looks harmless enough. A little dumb, but friendly. Come to think of it, I might've beaten her up the last time I visited the Grand Library. Hah. Hopefully she doesn't hold grudges.
On the other side of the room, Thops was asking Doniel what academic subject he wished to discuss.
"Anything at all is fine," Thops hurriedly added, almost as though afraid his guest might lose interest. It had been far too long since anyone had voluntarily visited his classroom. "Please, have a seat. I'll get you a chair."
He hurried to the back of the classroom and fetched a chair that had been placed upside down on top of a desk. After blowing away a little dust, he carefully wiped it with his sleeve.
The chair was actually quite clean. Thops meticulously cleaned every corner of the classroom each day.
"Please, sit. Ah, would you mind waiting a little? I haven't finished today's lesson yet."
Doniel gave a reserved, courteous nod, but didn't sit down. Instead, he glanced toward Skyl.
Skyl was currently playing with the little girl. A ball of silver flame floated in his hand, and Moli happily stuck her hand straight into it before bursting into giggles.
"What's wrong?" Thops asked, confused. "Are you in a hurry?"
"Professor Thops, as you can see, I think it's best if we speak plainly. I didn't actually come here to discuss academic questions with you."
"Huh? T-Then why are you here? Did the Twinsage Conspectus send you to evaluate my theories? There's nothing wrong with my theories. Or... are you here to shut down my Conspectus? I know I don't have many apprentices right now, but I promise things will get better."
Sweat poured from Thops's bald head until he looked like a freshly boiled egg pulled straight from the pot.
"I came here to learn from you."
Doniel's answer left him stunned.
"My roommate told me you've mastered a number of advanced theoretical tools, so I came here specifically to study them. But I need to see what you're actually capable of before I decide whether I want to join your Conspectus."
Thops looked almost dizzy.
Happiness had come far too suddenly.
He stumbled over his words. "Of course. Mage Skyl is always right. I do know a few things. Though you could simply learn from him... No, never mind. Come study here. If Mage Skyl told you to learn from me, then come. Forgive me, I'm just a little excited. Ha, haha. Things really are getting better, aren't they? Even the wind blowing across Liurnia feels fresher today."
Having finished entertaining the child, Skyl turned around and said goodbye to Thops.
"I'll leave Doniel with you, Thops. I have class."
"Of course, of course. Take care. I'll walk you out."
"No need. Get back to your lesson."
Doniel joining the Thops Conspectus really did qualify as news, but the Academy's reaction was nothing like Skyl's narcissistic roommate had imagined.
Nobody mourned his decision.
Whenever people discussed the two of them, they mostly thought Doniel and Thops deserved each other. Birds of a feather flocked together, after all. The famously eccentric Doniel and Thops the Bluntstone had finally ended up in the same place, where they could marinate in each other's peculiarities until everyone else had even more reason to stay far away.
The sorcerers of the Twinsage Conspectus, however, were genuinely angry. They believed Doniel had disgraced their Conspectus and demeaned himself. One Twinsage sorcerer who had previously thought highly of him even went to his dormitory personally to demand an explanation.
By then, Doniel had already learned some of the Tower of Tomes' knowledge from Thops.
True to his brutally straightforward personality, he told the visitor outright that the Twinsage Conspectus was no longer up to his standards. A smart man went where he could grow, and from now on, he belonged to the Thops Conspectus.
When the instructors of the Twinsage Conspectus heard what he'd said, they nearly exploded with rage. They immediately joined forces with the other three major Conspectuses and launched a formal faculty qualification review against Thops to evaluate the results of his teaching.
Conveniently, the following day was an examination day.
If Thops's apprentices participated in the exam and failed to achieve at least a seventy-percent pass rate, the four major Conspectuses would jointly petition Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon, to strip Thops of his status as an instructor.
Thops was the only instructor in his Conspectus. If he lost his qualifications, his entire school of thought would effectively exist in name only. It would become almost impossible for it to develop within the Academy in the future, unless many years after Thops's death another sorcerer eventually picked up his research and revived the study of forcefield sorcery.
Academic battles could be every bit as ruthless as real ones.
They simply didn't spill blood.
When Thops received the news, a bitter expression spread across his face.
Of his two apprentices, only one was guaranteed to pass the examination.
The other was a little Juvenile Scholar who could barely even speak properly.
"It's over. It's all over."
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