Taking a turn from the hallway, Raze had entered one of the large teaching rooms. There was the ascending stand of seats to his left, and on the right, a large empty canvas screen along with a desk in the corner.
It was nothing special; it looked the same as the other classrooms that Raze had been in today, but the feeling when he stepped in, the slight difference in smell, the slight orientation of the seats above, it was his classroom.
This was the classroom, and the academy, to which he had practically given his life to, having spent over 20 years teaching here.
"Learning magic back then set me free from my old life. It was thanks to magic that I was able to change my fate and get out of the slums that were said to be so impossible to escape," Raze reflected.
Back then, when he left, he never tried to look back at what had happened with his father. He never went back to that place again, leaving it all behind, and tried to live a life above.
Thinking back to that time, life above was more difficult than he had imagined. It seemed that those who lived under were right about one thing: Raze had quickly realized that although he might have been considered special down below for knowing magic, it was the opposite above. The world was filled with magic, and it was a part of their everyday lives. Even magical tools were used to store their currency, to get to places, and to perform the simplest of jobs. However, there was one thing that Raze had that was better than those his age, and that was determination.
Being thankful for magic, he studied harder than anyone else whenever he could. He did whatever jobs he had to support himself and study magic further than any others. While others his age would be distracted with friends, family, and games, he only had one thing, and that was magic. As he progressed in magic, it allowed him to get better jobs, and this relentless studying of magic, of putting all his devotion into the field from a young age, allowed him to step above the others.
Raze stood in front of the large blackboard, and then in his hand, he summoned a chalk piece from his hidden robe. He could hold it steady, but making contact with the object was using more of his mana.
On the large screen in front of him, he started to draw what looked like a magic circle. Here it was, his magic vault, hidden in his old classroom.
"And then, I finally got a job as a professor at the Central Academy, after making my achievements, and that was when I met you, Ibarin, another professor at the academy, who shared the same love for magic as me."
Raze tightened his grip on the chalk piece slightly when he mentioned Ibarin's name, and to think that he was currently in the same building as well.
"Come to think of it, when we first met, the Grand Magus had just been established. The academies were also part of the same project, so we both joined as teachers. Back then, the Grand Magus were only three."
"Idore, who had crafted legendary items that were able to change the magical world. Gizin, who owned pharmaceutical companies, and was able to create medicines that changed the lives of mages and those outside it."
"And as for the third, it was Trubin, a mage that was completely focused on strengthening magic as a weapon. It was rumored that he was the strongest of the Grand Magus because of this, even though everyone treated Idore more like its leader."
In Raze's opinion, one had never seen the true strength of Idore, since the magical items he crafted were more for general use, but what if he crafted items that were used for combat? Surely that would increase his strength above the others.
"Ibarin joined the ranks of the Grand Magus after he had become principal. The old one was a government figurehead for a while, and the Grand Magus didn't like that."
"Instead, they wanted to recruit a new one into their ranks. I still remember that day."
Raze had been a professor at the academy for a while now, and he was well known for his classes. Even while teaching students, he had continued to study in the field of magic and had brought out a couple of studies related to certain magics himself.
If he wasn't teaching, he would be researching or reading others' studies, and he was almost better than the internet itself. When the other teachers would have a problem, they would often head to Raze to ask about it.
After classes were done for the day, Raze was called to the tower. It was the highest point in the academy, a room where the current principal sat.
Arriving into the room, Raze peeked in, seeing the large desk at the back as well as the glass-paned window that looked out toward the front of the school. An older man dressed in a black suit gave them a smile as he gestured for Raze to come in.
He did as he was told and sat in one of the open seats. When looking to his right, he could see his fellow colleague sitting down as well. An older man with curly light brown hair, almost a dirty blonde that went down his sides. This was his fellow colleague, Ibarin.
"I don't think it's too much of a surprise as to why I have called both of you to this room," the man in the suit claimed. "My position was always a temporary one, yet I had kept this position for many years.
"I have to say I quite enjoyed staying at this academy, but it's not right for me to be at the helm of all of the Mage Academies when I am nowhere near as talented as you two.
"Which is why I am here to congratulate you two on a promotion because you have been selected to be Principals of the Central Mage Academy."
Both Raze and Ibarin looked at each other. They couldn't believe it. The Central Mage Academy was Alterian famous. The principal was as well, being on news reports, meeting with the Grand Magus, and more. It was one of the highest positions a mage could ever dream of having.
Even Raze, who had a love for magic, it would have been an honor for him to receive this position. But that's when they noticed there were two of them, but only one principal position.
"Yes, I can tell what you are thinking," the man in the suit said. "There are two of you but only one position. Well, one of you will be vice-principal, while the other will be principal.
"Now, I, myself, don't think I'm in a position to decide. So I have a proposal."
Ibarin's leg started to move up and down as he heard this because he was worried. Worried that it might go to a vote, and if that was the case, then the more popular Raze would have certainly been selected.
But what the former principal had suggested turned out to be a far worse situation for Ibarin.
"Now that I think about it," Raze smiled to himself, doing the finishing touches on the magic circle in the classroom. "Maybe that whole thing was rigged from the start."
