Ch27: Year 6 Begins P2
Chapter 27: Year 6 Begins P2
~27.2~
*****
Dozens raised their hand, and Kye began teleporting them to the stage. The first made a guess, “It is because you’re the Goddess of Light!”
Kye smiled, “I only earned that title through my deeds. It is a result, not the cause.” She teleported him back to his seat and selected the next.
“It is because you’re a prodigy, Lady Kye!” one girl said enthusiastically.
Kye smiled, “I appreciate the compliment, but no, that is not the case. I am no prodigy. You’ll see soon enough.”
That’s a damn lie, Sanae thought as she watched Kye’s theatrics.
The next person she selected was her friend Louise. “Greetings, Kye.”
“Hello, Louise. I trust you have a good guess?”
Louise smirked. “Less a guess and more a step toward the right answer.”
Kye giggled. “Alright, go ahead.”
“You once trained with my mother’s sister when you were young. We met in our first year at the Aristide Academy.” Kye raised an eyebrow, and Yami and Zen stood up from their seats upon hearing the name of the academy. “I speak not of this life, of course. My mother’s name was Zoey Campbell, and my name was Lisette Campbell. It’s a pleasure to see you again, Lady Elise.”
“That’s quite the wild answer, Louise.” Kye narrowed her eyes. “How did you come to that conclusion? And what makes you think it’s okay to make such information public?”
Louise grinned, “I know you well. I extrapolated that you meant to reveal this information yourself with more details.”
Kye smiled. “Quite right. You never cease to amaze me, my dear friend. Your guess was not only correct, but your reasoning was as well.” Kye turned her eyes back to the crowd. “You heard her correct, everyone. She speaks of a past life we shared together. I and many other souls across this world came from other worlds.”
She paused for a moment and looked to Alethea, Adele, and Michelle, almost as if asking their permission. Each only smiled and nodded. She looked at Allison next and received the same approval.
“This world is governed by a system created many eons ago by a certain individual. I have recently discovered that there are stories about this written by people who have dreamed of the distant past.” Kye closed her eyes for a moment and held a hand to her chest. “Many long years ago,” she waved her other hand in front of her and casted a grand illusion to show everyone an aerial view of the Athas Palace, “I lived as my true self.” She did not hide the world pillars in the far distance.
Murmurs and such sounded throughout the crowd, but Kye quickly silenced them.
She stood tall and introduced herself in full, this time with no bow, nor curtsy. “I was going to keep this to myself, but after some thought, I do not wish to hide my identity, since I mean to stay here indefinitely.” She paused a moment and waved a hand in front of her. “I-” She removed the illusion on her hair and allowed her white hair to flow freely. “-am Elysia Athas, King of Elysium.”
*****
That morning, Kye brazenly announced to the student body, “I am Elysia Athas, King of Elysium.” That afternoon, the entire empire was buzzing about what she said. She explained everything, hiding nothing. She explained the system, Elysium, the greater civilizations, her true identity, everything.
The next day, Kye was standing in front of the class with her children and Sanae, and their classmates were spouting questions left and right. She got annoyed quickly. Recalling the spell Atalante used, Kye formed a magic circle and suppressed all sound in the room, except her own voice. Sanae was silently giggling the entire time.
“Okay, that’s enough. It’s time for class. Questions about me or what I’ve said can wait. Okay?” She removed the spell and created a portal to the training grounds. “Let’s go!”
On the other side, Kye formed her aethersteel weapon. “I want to do something a little more practical this year. I need a volunteer... that is not one of you...” She glared at the small group of her children. How did I end up with so many kids...
“But, mom! I want to-” Kaylie started.
“Mom?” said one of the boys.
“Yeah, Lady Kye mentioned them in her announcement!” said one of the girls.
Kye buried her face in one of her hands. “Kaylie, and the rest of you... while we’re in class... don’t call me ‘mom’. You know how to address an instructor.”
“Yes!” Rei said enthusiastically. “Instructor Akari!”
“Yes, okay, but dial it back a little. Good grief.” Kye shook her head. “Anyway... I need a volunteer that doesn’t live under my roof.” She glanced around the class and saw a blonde boy stepping forward. “Ah, you are Louise’s brother, Charles. Thank you for volunteering.”
“My pleasure, instructor.” He bowed.
Kye nodded and began explaining the exercise. She wanted everyone to fire a blast of raw mana at her. She could test multiple aspects in one go like that. Control, density, total output.
“Go ahead, Charles.” She held her hand up to receive the mana blast, but remembered she had transformed her weapon. “Oh, I don’t need this. <<Convert: Bracelet>>.” She transformed it back to a bracelet and gave Charles the go ahead.
He nodded and held his hand up, forming a concentrated ball of lightning mana. He loosed it and Kye blocked it with her left hand. “Well done. Your control is quite good.”
“My sister has been working with me since she started learning under you, Instructor Kye.”
Kye smiled. “That’s wonderful! I’m glad to hear people are passing on my lessons!”
After the demonstration, she started testing everyone, one at a time. Most of the class did not pass, but they weren’t meant to. Even among her own, only Joey passed, and of course Sanae passed. They were all still getting used to their bodies and were having trouble with control.
“Don’t worry, this isn’t going on record. If everyone had passed, you wouldn’t need to take this class this year.” She smiled, then glared at Kaylie. “Your time magic spell worked, but your mana control is very poor. Lucky that spell doesn’t need fine control, huh, or you might have aged yourself right into retirement.”
“Hehehe...” she gave a hesitant smile.
“Alright, first lesson. I’ve already reviewed your scores from yesterday, and with the test today, I have all I need to get you started.” She started to form a ball of mana to begin the lesson, but noticed an unusual number of excited eyes. Normally she’d be happy to have that many students excited about class, but it was unusual for almost the entire class. “What?”
One girl excitedly asked, “Miss Kye, would you show us your power?”
*****
Revision: 2024-9-1