Advent of the Three Calamities

Chapter 199 The Five Phases of Emotive Magic [1]

The moment I entered the classroom, I noticed a strange atmosphere.

All eyes were on me.

I was weirded out at first, but then I realized that they were probably staring at me because of my specialty.

Emotive Magic.

Given that this class was tailor-made for me, it was understandable that everyone was looking at me.

….Well, most people.

I could feel two different gazes on me. They seemed to be especially intense today, and as I frowned to meet their gazes, my heart twitched.

'What's going on?'

This had been going on since our return from the Mirror Dimension.

At first, I had thought it was becuase of Owl-Mighty, but that no longer seemed to be the case.

'Is this possibly related to the quest failure…?'

The thought made my heart race.

I wasn't exactly sure what it was, but judging from their gazes, it didn't seem like something good.

'Should I confront them later?'

Perhaps, I'd be able to find the reasoning behind their looks, and the penalty for their increase in experience.

With that being said, there was something peculiar about the situation.

Turning my head, my eyes fell on a familiar set of purple hair.

She…

'Why is she acting normal?'

As opposed to Aoife and Kiera, she looked completely unbothered about what happened. At the very least, she didn't seem to have a bone to pick with me.

'It makes sense when taking into consideration that Kiera was the same during her first time, but…'

What about Aoife?

Was the increase in % going to bring a different effect to each of them?

I pursed my lips at the thought.

"It looks like almost everyone is here."

My attention was immediately grabbed by a quiet voice. Turning my head, my eyes fell on a short woman with pigtails. Her hair was orange, and freckles marred her face.

She wasn't exactly the prettiest of women, at the very least, compared to most of the cadets in the class, her looks weren't anything special, but…

I wasn't sure how to describe it. There was a certain something in her voice that felt extremely intoxicating.

Bang—

That feeling lasted for a brief moment before it was shattered by the sound of her dropping her bag on the podium.

It looked rather heavy.

Looking around me, I could see the startled and confused looks of the cadets.

'Seems like I'm not the only one that felt that way.'

Everyone's attention was now on her.

"Keum… Keum…"

Clearing her throat, her eyes scanned the classroom as dimples appeared on her cheeks.

"Hello, everyone. My name is Fay Evenhart. You may call me Professor Havenhart. As you may know, I'll be the one in charge of teaching you Emotive Magic."

No magic was restricted.

Everyone could learn whatever magic they wanted. That was Emotive Magic included.

The same was true for me and other types of magic, but talent was important.

It would dictate how hard the learning path was.

Everyone could learn Emotive Magic, but progress depended on who was talented enough to understand emotions.

"As you know, Emotive Magic isn't exactly the easiest of subjects. Emotions can be very hard to understand, and it can take over a decade for someone to even reach the next tier. There's a reason why there's so few of us."

Her gaze suddenly paused on me.

So did a few others.

I remained calm and stared back at her as her smile widened slightly.

"But like some say, the harder one path, the more rewarding it is down the line."

She happily drummed her finger against the wooden podium before calling out for me.

"Julien, is that correct?"

"…..Yes."

I answered as my eyes narrowed slightly.

"Would you mind coming up here for a second, I would just like to test your skills. Don't be alarmed. I won't bite you."

Though she said that, her gaze said otherwise. She currently looked like a shark that was ready to pounce on her prey at any second.

I still decided to agree to her request.

I was genuinely curious about what this class would entail.

How much was it going to benefit my emotive magic?

Getting up from my seat, I walked down the flight of stairs and arrived by the podium.

"Thank you."

As her eyes traced my body, she smiled more brightly.

"I've heard a lot about you. You're rather famous. From acting to your performance in the mid-terms… a wonderful talent."

"….Thank you."

Where was she going with this?

"But you see, none of that really interests me. What I'm really interested in, is your Emotive magic. I've heard a lot about it. How about you show me?"

I raised my brow.

"As in…?"

Professor Havenhart extended her arms.

"Apply it on me. Do your worst."

I opened my mouth, unsure of how to reply.

It wasn't that the request shocked me, but it was the eagerness in her tone and voice that took me aback.

However, I was quick to snap out of it and complied.

"….Okay."

This was going to benefit me, so I didn't see the need to be reserved.

Extending my hand, I pressed my finger against her forehead.

She blinked a couple of times at the spot where I chose to touch her, but I didn't pay any attention to her face and heavily focused on my internal feelings.

I recalled the memories and emotions that I had undergone in the illusion back in the Mirror Dimension.

From the Silent Eaters to Crimson Shade.

I recalled the raw and innate fear that I felt during those times and poured it all into my mind.

Once I had accumulated enough, I silently mumbled to myself,

'Fear.'

I poured everything that I had into my finger, and the moment I did, I turned to look at the Professor.

"….."

The lack of reaction came as a shock to me as her big eyes continued to stare at me.

We stood like that for several seconds before she took a step back.

"Hmm, not bad not bad… the intensity was quite nice, but you don't particularly have great control over your emotions. All I felt was an endless torrent of fear pouring down my mind. Very tense, but that's about it."

Her words didn't come as a surprise to me.

I had previously heard Delilah mention the same thing to me.

I wasn't disheartened.

This was after all still a learning process.

"Alright, I more or less know where you're at with your skills."

Professor Havenhart clapped her hands in satisfaction.

"You're around the second level of Emotice Magic. Not bad. An insane achievement if we take into consideration your age."

"…..Thank you."

I could only accept the compliment.

Just before I turned back to head to my seat, she spoke again.

"It's now my turn to show you something."

Suddenly, her expression changed. Her previously lively eyes turned hollow, and she lost all semblance of emotion from her face.

I stood frozen on the spot while staring into her eyes which seemed to want to suck me whole.

Before I could even get a word out, she began to speak.

"As you know, there are five phases to Emotive Magic or any magic. The first phase…"

She brought her hand forward and pressed it against my shoulder.

"It's touch."

My mind blanked.

Drip…! Drip!

When I came to, tears were falling down the side of my cheeks.

'What- what's going on…'

A familiar pain engulfed me at the same time.

But the worst part was her eyes. Staring at them, I could see my very own reflection in them.

I found myself unable to move.

"The next phase…"

She continued,

"Voice."

Her voice layered and the tears dripped with even more ferocity.

Drip...! Drip!

The pain in my chest also increased, and I struggled to keep my mind collected.

"The next phase, you can affect someone with your voice."

I wiped the corner of my eyes and took a few breaths to ease the pain. Thankfully, she was going easy on me.

I could tell...

And it was because I could tell that I felt chills run down my body.

"Then comes the third phase…"

Her eyes turned even more hollow.

Chillingly so, and for a moment I forgot to breathe.

"Collective effect."

Her voice layered again. This time, as if everyone was in sync, tears started to stream down the faces of everyone in the room.

"Once you reach this phase, you will be able to affect not just one person with your voice, but more than one simultaneously. It's a phase that takes a lot of concentration and control."

Her words seemed to be directed towards me as I took a mental note of what she was saying, despite the intense pain that I was feeling.

"Then, there's to fourth phase."

As if the very air had been sucked out of the room, everyone turned their attention towards the Professor who turned her gaze to me.

I felt my heart pause the moment our gazes me, and before I could do anything, she touched me.

"….!"

I somewhat expected to feel something at her touch, but much to my surprise and shock, nothing happened.

"Uh?"

I wasn't the only one surprised by the situation as everyone looked confused.

That was until the professor's voice echoed again.

"The fourth phase. Emotive tag."

'Emotive tag..?.'

Before I could understand what was going on, she raised her right hand and snapped her fingers.

Snap—

The snap echoed loudly within the classroom, and my mind immediately blanked before an overwhelming pain entered my chest and tears started to pour down uncontrollably.

"Once you reach this point, an emotive mage will be able to place a secret tag on a person and activate it whenever they wish. So long as they are in range, and the tag is active, it will activate at the person's will."

Following her words, she blinked her eyes, and clarity started to return to them. Then, shortly after, a smile graced her lips as dimples appeared on her cheeks.

"And that's it for the demonstration."

She clapped her hands, all semblance of the person she previously was disappearing like that.

"There is also a fifth phase, but I'm nowhere near that phase and there's hardly anyone who has ever reached that level. It is said that once you reach that phase you'll be able to read someone's emotions."

Turning her head to look at me, she patted me on the shoulder.

"Thank you for coming up for the display. I apologize for making you the victim of my demonstration, but you see.."

Her smile widened as she turned to look at the entire class.

"Everyone else would've broken down had they been in your position."