Isa’s calm analysis was like a stone cast into the still surface of a lake, sending ripples through Clareya’s heart.
She was startled to realize that her long-neglected, almost forgotten fourth disciple seemed to be shrouded in a mist she herself could not see through.
“You must understand,” Isa’s voice remained steady, yet carried an undeniable weight, “even your prodigy, Sara, could never have completed so many missions—without a single failure—when she had just stabilized her rank as a Tier Two Mage. I remember it clearly: she once suffered a terrible setback during a mission, and if not for the life-saving magical artifact you gave her, triggered just in time, she would at the very least have been seriously injured.”
She paused, her sharp gaze fixed on Clareya. “Even your most accomplished first disciple left traces of mistakes on her path of growth, but Ize’s record is spotless, as if polished like crystal. That alone is the greatest abnormality.”
Clareya fell silent, her gaze turning once more to the Magic Crystal Ball hovering in the air, now calm again, as if she were trying to see through to Ize’s true nature.
After a long pause, she finally spoke, her voice carrying a barely noticeable heaviness: “You mean… Ize has been hiding his strength all along? Does he have some ulterior motive toward our Starlight Academy?”
Isa merely shrugged, noncommittal. “Whether or not he has a plan, I can’t say.
But he is, after all, your student. By rights, you should be the one who understands him best in this world.”
“Ahem…” Clareya coughed twice, looking a bit embarrassed.
Raised freely? No, it was more like forgotten. If not for this incident in the Raymond Territory, where she needed someone with enough “Principal’s personal disciple” status—but who wouldn’t draw excessive attention from other academies (or rather, even if he did, it didn’t matter)—she probably wouldn’t even have remembered Ize at all.
She quickly adjusted her mindset, putting on an air as if everything was under control. “To be honest, I have always kept a watchful, even skeptical eye on Ize. That’s exactly why I haven’t invested too many resources in him all these years.”
She paced over to the window, looking out over Starlight Academy’s scenery, searching for a reasonable excuse for her “negligence.”
“Besides, I noticed over the years that Ize’s ways in the academy are… peculiar. He always keeps to himself, deliberately avoiding deeper contact with others, especially steering clear of me and the other senior disciples. If he truly were a hopeless mediocrity, Starlight Academy is large enough that keeping a layabout isn’t an issue. But if he’s hiding something…”
Clareya turned around, a cold, steely glint flashing in her eyes—the mark of a strong one. “Then this investigation into the Raymond family’s territory is the perfect test.
The imperial army has already stationed itself around the area, so the basic investigation work shouldn’t pose any real danger to life. If he has nothing to hide, he should go without hesitation; but if he tries everything to refuse, even at the risk of revealing something, that means he’s hiding something in his heart.
When it comes to those who could endanger the academy, I, Clareya, will not hesitate to put righteousness before family.”
Yet her tone suddenly shifted, tinged with a trace of genuine disappointment and regret that even she herself hadn’t noticed. “But… to tell the truth, I really didn’t expect that after entering the academy, he would persist so thoroughly, even doggedly, on the path of ‘mediocrity.’ I really can’t figure him out now.”
Isa seized on the key point. “If that’s the case, then why did you insist on taking him from Angelica back then and making him your disciple?”
At this, Clareya seemed to perk up. She walked back to the table, her fingertips tapping absent-mindedly on the desktop.
“I remember when I went to Moonfall Academy for an academic exchange, I happened to see that crazy woman Angelica, up to who-knows-what again. She actually threw a civilian child into that Spirit Magic Array of hers, the one she uses to torture people. You know, she’s best at using those illusions and psychic pressures that seem harmless but are actually revolting to break a person’s will. Even some of the Empire’s Most Wanted Criminals have suffered mental breakdowns and confessed under her techniques.”
Isa’s brows twitched ever so slightly at that, evidently not approving of Angelica’s methods.
“Yet,” Clareya’s voice rose, tinged with a hint of her past amazement, “that boy Ize, after being left inside for quite a while, was pulled out a bit mentally drained and his eyes a little dazed, but he was… completely sane, thinking logically, with not the slightest sign of collapse!”
For the first time, Isa’s face revealed undisguised shock. “He came out of Angelica’s Spirit Magic Array… completely fine?” This simply overturned her understanding of a low-ranked mage’s mental endurance.
“Absolutely!”
Clareya confirmed, as if reliving the decisive moment, “So, put yourself in my shoes: facing a boy who could endure Angelica’s mental torture unscathed, wouldn’t you think he had extraordinary potential? Sometimes, resilience of mind is even rarer than elemental affinity! That’s why I didn’t even bother testing his talents—practically on impulse, I claimed him for Starlight on the spot, forcibly taking him from Angelica.”
She sighed, spreading her hands, her tone helpless.
“But who could have known… subsequent test results were utterly disappointing. His elemental affinity was shockingly low. And after joining the academy, his slacker attitude—never striving, always lying down unless absolutely forced to sit—wore away all my patience. In time, I simply couldn’t be bothered to invest more effort in him.”
She paused, gaze falling again on the mission record book, her voice softening. “Still, now that he’s proven himself in some respects… hmm, such as mission performance, maybe he’s got other talents. If his work in Raymond Territory satisfies me, he is, after all, my student—I might consider re-planning his future.”
Isa considered for a long moment before speaking. “If the boy’s background is clean and his character sound, I suggest you nurture him properly. Elemental affinity is important, true—it determines the starting point and limit for learning traditional magic. But it’s not the only measure of a mage’s potential. Willpower, wisdom, fortune, even mental resilience like his, all can create the extraordinary.”
Recalling the improved potion formula that had caused a stir, Isa added, “As for him keeping secrets and acting low-key… I’d wager it’s tied to what he suffered under Angelica. A teenager, having endured such inhuman spiritual torment, would naturally become cautious and guarded as a matter of survival. In that sense, the child… is rather pitiful.”
Clareya nodded in agreement, a vengeful glint flickering in her eyes. “That wretch Angelica treated my student like that—I won’t forget it! One day, I’ll make her taste heartbreak… Her precious ‘little brother,’ Rhea, isn’t bad. If I find a chance…”
She stopped herself just in time, shelving that dangerous thought, and turned to another topic. “Right, your prized student—Luke just got back from training outside, didn’t he? Did you tell him about going with Ize and Emma to Raymond Territory in three days?”
Isa nodded. “He’s been informed.”
Clareya clicked her tongue, making no effort to hide her envy. “You really taught Luke well—always top of the internal exams for his tier.”
Isa’s expression didn’t change. She replied indifferently, “He only dominates among his peers. If he were up against your Sara or Dio, he wouldn’t stand a chance.”
Then, with a hint of suggestion, she added, “If they perform well in the Raymond Territory mission, maybe… we could let Ize and Luke co-lead a group of sub-third-tier students to the ‘Land of Law’.”
The Land of Law was a mysterious trial site within the Empire. Every mage who had not yet reached the third tier had a chance to enter and seek enlightenment.
Rumor had it that with enough luck and strength, one could comprehend rare spells there, even obtain powerful magical treasures. Yet opportunity went hand in hand with danger—the Land of Law was filled with perils, so the leaders of the group had to be highly capable.
Clareya frowned, looking worried. “Ize is still only a second-tier mage. You think he can lead a team…?”
Isa didn’t seem concerned. “That’s why we’ll see how he does on this Raymond mission. But from his conversation with Emma, it seems he hasn’t entirely given up on the path of the apothecary.”
“Let him choose his own path.” Clareya was open-minded in this regard. “Our Starlight Academy always emphasizes letting students develop freely. I’m not like Angelica, that control freak, interfering even with what paths her students walk.”
Isa shot her a look as if she were an idiot, her voice full of disdain. “I think your second disciple Emma is pure to a fault. You heard that conversation just now—when Ize casually made up that ‘mysterious old man,’ she believed him almost completely! What’s the difference between that and being a fool?”
She commented mercilessly, “Future star of the Empire’s apothecary world? With a mind like that, she’d get swindled and cheerfully help count the money for her own sale!”
Hearing her student slighted, Clareya’s protective instincts flared up at once. She put her hands on her hips, firing back, “Isa! Stop slandering my student! Don’t think I don’t know about all those ambiguous things between you and Emma in the past! You lily girl, you took everything from her, tricked her feelings, and now you want to play the victim?”
Isa showed not a shred of shame at Clareya’s accusations—if anything, she just gave a cold laugh.
“Heh, we’re all adults here. The future will have us face monsters ten times as cunning as humans. If she can’t even see through basic human nature, with such a naïve heart, how will she survive? As for you and me, it was mutual—how is that trickery? Principal Clareya, instead of blaming me, why not focus on improving your precious student’s mental cultivation!”
With that, the space around Isa rippled with magic. Her figure blurred, and in the blink of an eye, she disappeared from the office, leaving only a brief shimmer in her wake.
Left alone, Clareya stomped her foot in frustration and yelled toward where Isa had vanished, “So what if my disciple devotes herself to apothecary and is pure of heart?! That means she’s focused! Sincere! What do you know!”
In the empty principal’s office, only her indignant yet helpless voice echoed back.