At the same time, Abel was alone in the underground training room, running. He had already been running for two hours. This was nothing more than his usual daily routine.
The training room was empty and quiet on a holiday. It gave him a vague sense of something. Modern mages seemed to have completely neglected physical conditioning.
Just then Ted came hollering into the room, having tracked him down at last. Abel felt a flicker of resignation. His peaceful retreat had been discovered.
Ted excitedly asked whether he had decided which research club to join. Abel only then recalled having heard something about it during enrollment, but he admitted honestly that he had no interest in it whatsoever.
Ted eagerly explained that research clubs were voluntary after-school groups. There had even been cases where club findings received national recognition.
Abel was privately unimpressed. That was still just student-level work. He had learned through countless years of experience that researching magic was something that had to be done alone. Working with others, in his view, served little purpose.
But Ted refused to let it go and kept insisting there might be something that would catch his interest. Abel found himself wavering. It was hardly fair to dismiss something as trivial without even seeing it first. And beyond that, Ted's eyes were full of nothing but pure, earnest expectation. In the end Abel let out a sigh and gave in. Ted burst into a cheer.
He brought Abel along to where the clubs were recruiting. The place was buzzing with noise. People kept stopping Ted enthusiastically, hoping he would join their club. Abel observed quietly, noting that the clubs were divided into two broad types, magic-based and athletic. But there were simply too many of them to look into each one properly.
Just then a low voice came from behind them. Standing there was a towering figure in full armor. It gave Ted quite a fright. The figure laughed and removed the helmet, explaining it was just competition gear. He then praised Ted's build and invited him to try armored ball.
The string of technical terms left Ted completely baffled, but Abel beside him understood perfectly. It sounded very much like an ancient sport similar to rugby.
Ted turned to invite his master to go have a look with him, but the senior student's expression became awkward as his eyes landed on Abel. He tactfully suggested it would be a little inconvenient for a student with amber eyes to participate.
Abel was long accustomed to being treated as someone incapable of wielding magic, which suited him fine. It gave him a natural reason to leave.
Just then the captain of the club came over in his armor. The senior leaned in and quietly explained the situation. Upon hearing it, the captain burst out laughing without the slightest attempt to conceal it. He declared plainly that letting someone with inferior eyes join would drag the whole club's reputation through the mud.
Abel sighed, wanting no part of any further confrontation. But Ted's brow had already furrowed tight. Abel gave Ted a light flick on the ear, signaling that it wasn't worth getting worked up over. He had no interest in ball sports anyway, so leaving was no loss.
What he hadn't expected was that those words would accidentally ignite the captain's fury. The captain suddenly flew into a rage, announcing that being looked down on was the one thing he couldn't stand. The sheer hypocrisy of that left both Abel and Ted without words.
Before anyone could respond, the captain grabbed the ball and came charging straight at Abel, shouting that he was about to show him this was far more than just ball sports.
Abel ducked nimbly to the side and swept the captain's legs out from under him. The captain stumbled on one foot. The ball flew out of his arms and sailed into the air. He barely managed to steady himself, but the humiliation had consumed his last shred of reason. And so he charged at Abel a second time.
Abel resigned himself. This wasn't going to end cleanly. He leaped lightly into the air and caught the falling ball with ease. From midair he called out casually that the ball was coming back to him. But he had quietly applied a material enhancement spell to it.
The ball came down carrying a staggering amount of force and drove straight into the captain's face. A dull thud, and the captain hit the ground hard.
The sudden turn of events instantly drew every pair of eyes in the area. Abel realized he had gotten carried away once again. While everyone rushed toward the captain, Abel and Ted slipped quietly away from the crowd.
They went on to visit many other clubs, but still couldn't find one that felt right. Ted, on the other hand, was welcomed everywhere, while Abel found himself thoroughly uninterested in all of them.
He was on the verge of giving up when a burst of passionate chanting reached his ears. A group of people in black robes had gathered in a corner, calling loudly for a peaceful world. Abel looked more closely. What they wanted to cut from the world was magic itself. He found that baffling. If they were against magic, why come to this academy?
Their leader raised a fist and declared that the age of revolution had arrived.
Abel looked again and stopped cold. The one leading the group was none other than Bors, whom he hadn't seen in a long time. He had known Bors was at the academy, but he had never expected to run into him like this. Bors didn't look well, and yet his eyes were frightfully sharp. A wave of unease rose within Abel.
He called over the green-haired student to ask what was going on. The other student looked at him with surprise, as though he had asked something everyone already knew. He explained it was a radical anti-magic organization. They preached peace on the surface, but had caused no small amount of trouble for society.
Seeing that Abel was in the dark, the student's tone slipped back into its usual condescension. He sneered that it figured. No research club would want to take in someone with inferior eyes.
Abel had no interest in arguing. He turned to leave, but the student called after him, saying he had just the place, the perfect club for someone like him.
They stopped in front of a quiet, deserted booth. A blue-eyed girl sat alone under a canopy, reading in silence. Everyone who passed by gave it a wide berth, as though it were off-limits.
The green-haired student called her the Ice Queen Noelle. She possessed overwhelming ability, yet she never spoke with anyone. He said that in that way she and Abel were very much alike, both unfriendly outsiders. Perhaps they would get on well. With that, he turned and left.
Abel observed her carefully. Those blue eyes were indeed the mark of water element magic. Her magic was noticeably stronger than that of the average student. The sign at the booth read, "Ancient Magic Research Club." It carried an air of mystery.
Abel lightly knocked on the table in front of her. Noelle finally looked up and regarded him with cool indifference. Abel stated that he was interested in ancient magic and wanted to hear more.
Noelle said nothing extra. She simply closed the thick book in her hands, then placed a square wooden box on the table, and told him to open it first.
Abel recognized the object immediately. It was a labyrinth circuit, a mysterious device used to test ability through the deciphering of complex runes. And this particular one, so finely made, had very likely been crafted by her own hand.