Chapter 28

The afternoon class was scheduled to take place in a large lecture hall a little distance from the school building.

We were divided into several classes based on our entrance exam scores, but that didn't mean we always had classes with the same group of people.

For magic practice classes, we chose the attributes we wanted and attended them, and occasionally, like today, the entire grade would have a class together.

So, Iefa and I were walking along the path from the cafeteria to the lecture hall.

With various buildings scattered throughout the campus, there were quite a few paths.

It was a struggle to remember them all since they weren't laid out in any particular order.

I looked up at the clear sky.

The mild spring weather today was very pleasant.

"Hmm?"

As we approached the school building, something strange caught my eye.

A pot was floating.

It was hovering near a window on the third floor of the school building.

What's that...?

I watched it silently, and just as we were directly below it, the pot started to shake ominously.

I had a bad feeling.

I pulled Iefa, who was standing next to me, closer.

"Kyaa, w-what?"

In the next instant, the pot tipped over.

It spun wildly, spilling a large amount of black liquid into the air.

Just as it was about to rain down on us,

I swapped our positions with two dummies about six meters away.

A few seconds after the transfer, the liquid poured down where we had been standing, staining the path black.

A foul, pungent odor wafted through the air.

Whoa. I don't know what that was, but it was dangerous.

The blackened dummies were probably unusable now, but I collected them just in case.

Iefa was standing there with her mouth agape.

"Eh, eh, what just happened?"

"Hey, you two! Are you okay!?"

A teacher with round glasses rushed out from the school building.

The teacher looked at the black-stained path, then at us, and wore a puzzled expression.

"Huh? I thought you were just walking there..."

"Ah, Professor Corder."

Iefa called out.

Professor Corder, walking up to us, adjusted his round glasses and said,

"It's you two. I'm sorry to have startled you. Are you hurt?"

"We're fine, but what was that?"

"It was a medium I was planning to use for research. It's a mixture of monster blood, herbs, and minerals that I boiled."

No wonder it smelled so bad.

"I was trying to move it to the upper floor, but I couldn't find Professor Karen, who was supposed to help me. I had no choice but to do it myself... Now I have to start over. Sigh."

Seeing Professor Corder's shoulders droop, I asked,

"Was that pot floating because of you, Professor?"

"Yes, but I'm not very good at it since it's not my specialty."

I recalled that gravity magic was a dark attribute.

I learned in class that the dark attribute was related to gravity, and closely associated with time, space, and light attributes, which controlled lightning and light itself.

However, it wasn't just that; dark attributes included attacks using shadows and the creation of cursed items, while light attributes included barrier and healing magic. Essentially, they were just categories for dark and light magic.

I now understood why I had been confused before.

The classification was inherently vague.

Incidentally, very few people had an aptitude for dark or light attributes.

There were actually six attributes, but they were often referred to as the four-element magic because of their rarity.

Professor Corder specialized in ritual studies but was also a user of light attributes, so being able to use dark attribute gravity magic made him a rare talent.

"Oops, were you on your way to class? I'm sorry to have detained you."

"No, it's fine."

Come to think of it, the next class was supposed to be taught by Professor Karen...

She said she couldn't be found, but I hope she's okay?