After his Astrum class with Professor Davani, Noah had the mandatory Elemental Manipulation class with Professor Al-Amin.

Najah Al-Amin was a dark haired and tan skinned woman in her early forties, who looked at the handful of newly contracted students with scrutiny. They were the last batch of students for the day until she can finally go home and rest. 

She told them not to die and mounted her staff before flying above them. They looked like tiny ants from her vantage point. Professor Al-Amin adjusted the cloth wrapped around her head and started her patrol around the island.

The Elemental Manipulation class wasn’t one where they required theoretical knowledge from the professor herself. She was mostly there to supervise them and give advice when necessary. One would think her job was much easier than the rest of her peers, but the amount of times she had to save a student from drowning or choking on thin air begs to differ. If the pay wasn’t so good, she’d have quit by now.

“You alright here, Mr. von Vinter?” Professor Najah Al-Amin asked politely after she completed several rounds. She approached the young man who gave a nervous smile. “Where’s your uniform?”

Noah was wearing the tight white sleeveless inner robe that came with his uniform. He had initially taken off his outer robes and pearlescent cape, because the heat from the fire had him sweating buckets under the spring day sun. He folded them neatly beside him and began his training.

That was what happened before a burst of uncontrollable fire ignited in front of him. In his panic, he grabbed the outer robe and aggressively hit the fire with it until it suffocated.

That action ended up ruining his uniform.

A sigh escaped Noah when he inspected the damage he had done. Not only was the uniform singed at the edges, it was also filled with holes that charred the white clothes. There was no way he could use this now.

“Yes, ma’am, everything is under control,” he replied with a smile.

“And your uniform?”

“A koi fish ate it,” he said. It wasn’t a lie. He was cooling off in the water when one of the giant koi fishes approached him with a hungry glint in its eyes. The fish jumped up and tried to swallow him, but he managed to run back into the sandy beach on time. 

The stupid fish beached itself trying to get to Noah and out of the goodness of his heart, Noah pushed it back into the lake water. While it was struggling on land, it somehow managed to swallow his tattered uniform. However, Noah was more worried that the school would blame him for damaging property, even when said property tried to eat him. 

Professor Al-Amin looked at him skeptically. “Right. Don’t go near the waters until you get your outer robes again, and please don’t hesitate to notify me in case of an emergency.” There were far too many students who were sent to the infirmary because they were too embarrassed to call for help.

She flew away once more to continue her rounds.

Noah watched as she disappeared in the distance before flopping down on the sandy ground with a tired sigh. His first time at the Elemental Manipulation training grounds was certainly a memorable one. This island was smaller than the one where the Holly and Lily buildings were built on, but it was large enough for students to let their magic loose during training.

Surrounding the eyot was the lake for the water elemental students to use. A couple of steps away from the white sandy beach, was a tall rock garden shaking every couple of seconds. Beyond that a lush forest full of purple and blue trees.

Everyone was training in their own unique way since they all have different types of contracted guides.

“There certainly are some interesting people around here,” Noah thought.

Noah can see one of his classmates digging a hole with her bare hands near the forest. It was faint, but he could hear her muttering to herself about broken nails and earthworms. Another was swimming in the large pond by only moving his feet and keeping the rest of his body still, while another was continuously  poking a rock with their index finger and wincing every couple of seconds.

Their guides couldn’t possibly be trying to humiliate them, right? Compared to them, Noah only had to light up a torch.

“Why is it so hard to cast a simple fireball and actually have it land on the damn torch?! My mana is dissipating before it even reaches the target!” he pouted.

“I don’t see why you’re being stubborn and not using your staff as a conduit for your mana. I know you have one, you summoned me here with it after all and you wouldn’t be incompetent enough to lose something that important, right?” Azrael said. He was floating next to Noah and leaning on the air as if he was resting on a lounge chair.

“You broke my staff when I summoned you.”

“You act as if you do not have a replacement for it already.” Azrael reaches out a hand to touch one of Noah’s earrings, but his fingers phased through them.

A normal mage would have been in trouble if their staff broke, because they were extremely expensive and hard to create. As the young master to a filthy rich family, Noah had no problem procuring a new staff of the highest quality. His family sells and produces the best magical items in all of Al Tierra after all, it was expected of him to use one of their products.

Noah, being one of the best students in the Enchantment class, naturally inscribed his own glyphs and runes on his staff. 

“I do, but I need to master how to cast fire magic without a staff fast. It’s a requirement if I want to be the lead dancer for the summer solstice.”

“I thought you were not interested based on the conversation you had with your friend this morning.” 

“I changed my mind,” Noah replied simply.

“Why stress yourself out with this? Can you not dance in another year when you’ve got better control over your element?”

Noah huffed in annoyance. “I can’t. This year is a special year. The three Planets of Fates will be aligning at the solstice and it’ll be another 333 years until it happens again. I have to get the role for this year.”

This was information he found out while he was flipping through his book during the Astrum class. It was just a small foot note on a single page, but it caught his attention none the less.

“Ah yes, the planets of the Moirais’. I’ve forgotten about that,” Azrael said while tapping his lips. “It makes sense now, how I was able to hear you all the way from the Demon Realm. You were very loud in your desperate attempt at summoning a spirit guide, by the way. It made my ears ring.” 

“And?” Noah said. “It worked didn’t it? You’re stuck with me now.”

Azrael smiled. “And I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Noah raised an eyebrow as he sat up to face the demon fully. “What was that? Are you flirting with me?”

“No, but do you want me to?”

“No, of course not,” Noah answered with his nose up in the air to hide his embarrassment. 

“Is there a particular reason why the Moirais are important to you?” Azrael asked.

Noah’s eyes flickered to the side, as if a memory flashed through his mind. “I don’t think it’s any of your business, to be honest. Just teach me how to control this.”

The demon eyed him with understanding in his eyes and Noah wanted to refute whatever thought that came through Azrael’s mind. “As you wish, my dearest.”

Noah rolled his eyes. 

Azrael floated behind him and leaned down. He whispered in his ears while trailing his fingers down Noah’s shoulders, down to his wrist, guiding them forward to point at the torch. Even though Noah knew the demon wasn’t touching his skin, he couldn’t help but feel a tingling sensation upon the act.

The demon’s voice tickled Noah’s ears and he fought down the blush trying to creep on his cheeks. Azrael’s teasing was getting too far for Noah’s taste.

“Imagine yourself as the sun. Always burning and shining light onto the world. You are heat itself. You are passion, you are destruction and you are life. You flicker with the wind and dance through the crowds, leaving nothing but ashes behind. The strength of your fire is your emotions, now unleash it.”

Noah closed his eyes and followed Azrael's soothing deep voice. He thought of how he would feel once he hit his target. Elation will swell from deep within his stomach and bubble into a loud cheer. The sound of laughter, tiny clapping hands and silent praise emerged from his imagination.

He cast a spell–the same simple fireball spell he’s been casting the whole time–and launched it at the target in front of him. The torch burst into flames and the air surrounding it flickered from the heat. 

Noah stumbled back at the impact, landing on his behind as he looked at the blazing fire.

“I did it!” Noah announced joyfully as he grinned up at Azrael.

The demon returned the smile, his fangs peeking through his lips. 

“You have talent, little one. Well done,” he said.

Noah wanted to jump around in joy, if it weren’t for the concerning height the fire was growing and the speed it was consuming the torch. The wood embedded into the sand slowly ceased while the flames continued its way downward. The heat was so immense it caused Noah to shuffle back as it turned the sand into liquid glass.

“Uhm, Azrael. The fire ate through the torch,” he said while pointing weakly at the fire.

Azrael looked at him as if he was dumb. “Well, the torch IS made of wood.”

“I’m well aware,” Noah replied while staring at the spreading fire blankly. “But that torch is MAGICAL. Fire is not supposed to eat through it.”

“I guess you’ve put too much mana and intent behind that spell.”

“Well fuck, how am I supposed to put that out?”

He can’t possibly be expected to strip off his last piece of clothing, right?