"Is there something wrong with you, Geisler? Why would you shout something like that? Now everyone thinks we're the weird team. Couldn't you just be excited on your own?" Alexios had his knuckles pressed against Jonas's forehead.
"Let him be, Alex," Cara said, arms crossed. Behind her is Bella, still hiding from Jonas.
"Don't call me that." Alexios grumbled, "Gods damn it! I wish my friends wouldn't think I hang out with you, Geisler!"
"My bad," Jonas caressed his temple, "When I heard that we could win a spellbook, I got excited. That's all."
"Gods!" Alexios flailed his arms up, "What a nerd!" he walked away from the group, muttering words Jonas couldn't even understand.
"Don't listen to him, he worries too much about his friends," Cara chuckled, "They only follow him around because he's a Komnenos, I bet after this, no one would care or remember him."
"Is that what you want, to be forgotten and no one remembering who you are?" Jonas looked at her with dismay.
Cara rolled her eyes, "You still mad I cast my spell?"
"Of course I am! You made me look stupid in front of Master Luwin yesterday. They thought I was crazy. I can't believe they didn't even care today that you're actually a real person, I was right the whole time!"
"As I said, these people don't care."
Jonas shook his head, "What is your Damnation affinity anyway?"
"I don't know. But my first spell messes with your memory. I guess that's neat, except I can't really use it for combat. So, when it comes down to it, I could make a vault monster forget that I exist?"
Jonas scoffed, "I could use that. Make everyone forget that I got excited over a spellbook."
"I bet you do. But the spell only lasts depending on how strong my constitution is. It's all about that, really. Your constitution will tell you if you can resist my spell or not. I've tried it on stronger Mages, I've tried it myself."
"So that's how I suddenly remember you when I was taking my bath last night."
"You think of me when you were taking a bath?" Cara grinned. Behind her, Bella turned red with embarrassment.
It soon dawned on Jonas as well, realizing what he had said, "Not like that!"
Cara gestured to Bella, held her hand, and put a distance between them, "I should probably get that knucklehead back, Master Luwin might say something important once he returns."
Jonas looked around. He noticed that the teams were just loitering around, chatting, and whatnot. They were left in the field on their own, without Master Luwin's supervision.
"Where did Master Luwin go?" Jonas asked. But, Cara had already disappeared, and Bella was the only one with him.
"Oh," Bella stammered, "I think Cara left," she added. She had her eyes away from Jonas.
"Did I do something wrong?" Jonas built up his courage to ask.
"Huh?" Bella quickly glanced at him, "What do you mean?"
"Back when Master Lucy released the waspling, did I do something to make you ignore me?"
Bella tilted her head, "You think I'm ignoring you?"
"Are you not?"
"I'm not." Bella was relieved that Jonas was clueless. "I was just… Thankful that you saved me from that waspling."
"Oh," Jonas said, "You're welcome. But, I didn't get to kill it, though."
"You didn't have to kill just to save a life." Bella put her hands behind her.
Jonas paused for a moment. It gave him a sense of newfound realization about his role as a Mage. His guilt has been secretly eating him up inside, and he has been desperate to conceal and control his powers.
That's right. I don't have to use my powers to be a Mage, he thought to himself.
"You're right." Jonas smiled, "Thank you."
Bella was caught off guard by his smile. She quickly turned around and fiddled with her fingers, trying to hide her flushed cheek.
"You're welcome," she said quietly. "I think I like you," she said even quieter.
Jonas didn't hear what she said at all. But he figured it wasn't a big deal anyway, so he paced around to look for Cara and Alexios. He felt that there was something off-putting about the open field Master Luwin left them in.
After only a few seconds of worrying, Jonas finally saw Cara and Alexios approaching. He and Bella waved at them to get their attention.
When they got close, Jonas immediately raised his concern, "I think something is about to happen."
"You think?" Alexios scoffed, "We were left alone in an open field, far away from the campus, and you think it was just a coincidence?"
"I thought so too." Cara said, "Master Luwin just disappeared."
Bella held on to Cara's arms, "Isn't he supposed to teach us about something?"
"What class are we even on?" Jonas asked. Veins throbbed on his forehead as he sank deep in his thoughts.
Alexios huffed, ready to make fun of Jonas, but he quickly realized, too, "We're not in attributes class, aren't we? "
"No. But he's responsible for announcing to us the details of our midterm." Cara answered, "Bella, do you know what class Master Luwin was supposed to be teaching us today?"
"Well," Bella said, she had her hand cupped her cheek, thinking, "Yesterday was Master Lucy's affinity class, then we had lunch, then attributes class, but we were allowed to skip that one. The Spellcasting class was cancelled. So, we got an early dismissal."
"To think the finest school for Mages in the Empire only had one class per day is just wrong to me. Back in Lygos, our Mages are being taught better than in the capital. I should've studied there instead!" Alexios said.
"Well, it's never too late to ask for a transfer." Cara knelt and touched the ground. She grabbed a handful of soil. "It's breathing." Her voice quivered.
"What?" Jonas was flabbergasted to hear what Cara said. What do you mean by breathing? He thought to himself.
"Oh, I remember!" Bella abruptly said with a joyful tone, "Today is Master Luwin's monster class!"