In Alterian, a string of events had occurred. One of the top professors at the Central Mage Academy, the biggest academy and best in the world, had been fired.
Due to his achievements in the magic field as well as his many years of service, he wasn't imprisoned and was only let go.
Around a month had passed since these events had occurred for Raze, and currently, with a black hood over his head and a beard that had grown around two centimeters in length, he was walking through the rain.
The neon lights reflected on the pools of water as Raze continued to walk. He could see couples walking hand in hand enjoying their company.
Others buying gifts for loved ones, and some children just playing with magic spells they had learned.
With his hood up, at least no one knew who he was. It was a way of life that he had to get used to in the city.
Heading back to his apartment block, he had finally arrived home. On the 11th floor, he got off and looked to his door to the right.
It was covered in crude words written all over them. Marked in a type of red paint. Messages telling him to leave, to get out of the city, that he was sick, and that he should just go ahead and kill himself.
Walking forward, Raze lifted his foot before planting it on the floor; he could see a magic circle had been placed. With a twirl of his finger, he broke the magic circle.
'How could people go so far as to even plant something like that? If I didn't see it, or didn't know how to disrupt the magic circle, that could have hurt.'
Placing his hand on the door, it eventually opened, and a faint glow of a magic circle could be seen on the door. An enchantment that Raze had put himself, to stop people from getting in.
Walking through the door, immediately a strong scent of food wafted into his nose. Yet, Raze had next to no reaction as he walked through the living room and went to the kitchen.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})Here he sat at his dining table, in his soaked clothes, and stayed sitting in place.
"You're coming home later and later every day," Sabrina said as she placed the food on the table and walked behind Raze.
Placing both of her hands on his shoulders, the water moved out from the clothes and gathered, floating to the sink and draining away.
She then sat opposite him and looked directly at him.
"Were you investigating again?" Sabrina asked.
Raze looked at his wife's eyes. They were golden-colored to him. Perhaps they were actually a hazel brown and his affection for her made them glint a slight gold, but to him, his wife was more precious than any type of gold.
She had light-colored brown hair that complemented the look in her eyes, and everything about her was soft. Her voice calmed Raze down in an instant.
Her gestures, her mannerisms, everything just made him feel at ease, and now, he started to feel bad as tears rolled down his cheeks.
"It's because of me that you have to live a life like this," Raze said, wiping his tears away. "It's because of me… if you were with someone else, then you wouldn't have to go through all of this."
"Raze," Sabrina said, grabbing both of his hands and pulling them forward. A soft glow started to occur, giving Raze a tingling feeling.
This was the power of Light magic, a sensation that made anyone feel at ease.
"None of this is your fault. I know you didn't do what they said. I've known you for years. If anything, now it's better than before because without you working so hard on your job, the two of us can spend more time together."
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})"But, you've been going out all night, investigating. Trying to find out the real person behind those illegal substances!"
Sabrina was right. After losing his job, the first few days Raze had spent it grieving. He had lost his passion, his research, and the joy of teaching others magic that had saved him.
Most of all, he was betrayed by a dear friend. After the grief period was over, Raze instead was overcome with anger.
What reason did Ibarin have to lie? It was clearly to gain the position of principal, but even more so than that, the circumstances of the whole thing were suspicious. So much so that Raze needed to get to the bottom of it.
Who was behind selling the illegal substances in the school? If he could gather evidence then all of the pain that they had gone through would disappear.
"If I find out who did this, then we can go back to how things were. Right now, I can't even go out on the street without my hood covering my face!" Raze shouted back. "Our home, every day there are magic traps and writing all over the outside."
"Even today I found a magic circle; what if you got hurt, then what would happen? Not just that, but you lost your job as well, all because of your relation to me!"
Not even Raze could have predicted that things would have turned out this badly for them. After losing his position as Professor at the university, the principal promised to keep the matters under wraps.
The old principal. It was a bad look on the Central Academy in the first place, so it was the best option for both of them.
It was why an official trial in the Mage's court never occurred either. Yet, somehow news had gotten around.
Reports were made that spread over the entirety of Alterian. It became a serious matter.
Many top officials, government powers, and mages sent their children to the academy. Thinking that he was the one behind such disgusting acts, many wanted his head.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})They wanted him to be executed for his crimes. After word had gotten out, his wife had lost her job as a magic tailor.
Raze as well, no matter where he went to try and get a new job, everyone would reject him. There wasn't a person in the whole of Alterian that didn't know what he looked like at the moment.
Sabrina had said that with time these things would pass, that there would be a new piece of news that they would find, but that never happened.
The reports continued, and the rumors were getting out of hand, exaggerated. People found out where they lived and worse.
Raze knew the type of person the old principal was, at least he thought he knew what he was like. He didn't think he would do this, which was why now he was obsessed with finding out the truth instead.
Right now though, it was hard for him to trust anybody, apart from his wife.
At that point, Raze didn't touch any of his food as he stood up and looked at the door.
"I'm sorry everything is my fault, but I'm going to fix it."
As Raze went to rush out the door, Sabrina stood up and hugged him tightly from behind.
"No Raze… we are married, we're family which means we do this together. Your problems are my problems as well. I'll help you with all of this."
It was hard for Raze to say no in the past; it was his number one weakness, and when his wife would say something, it was even harder for him to say no.
How he wished so much that day, he would have just said 'No' to her.
