Ascension Of The Failed Mage

Noir was lost in thought, sighing as he remembered his conversation with Ciara.

As expected, the young girl didn't take it too well when he gave her a cold shoulder and told her the things she didn't want to hear.

Noir would have loved to say he did all those things unintentionally, but it would be far from the truth.

'Ciara... this is for the best.' He thought to himself.

Keeping her at arms length was what would be best for her safety—as well as the completion of his mission.

'Besides, I am a teacher here. It's against school policy to actively give you an unfair advantage over everyone else...'

That said, Ciara was plenty ahead of the rest of her classmates.

'If she wants to get stronger, should I train all of them together? That way I have an excuse?'

No that would be work. Since Ciara wasn't in their level, it would only be a waste of time for her. If he chose to custom-design training regiments for the students, then wouldn't that expose Ciara's status as a Tier 3 Mage?

'I need reasonable justification. Then again, the competition is getting close. Maybe I can...'

Noir was so deep in thought that he almost didn't sense the two students who entered his office.

Both had white hair, and their crimson eyes gleamed like rubies as they ventured into his office.

Male and female, the two were, and they had doll-like expressions on their pale face. With elegant, unwasted steps, they approached the seated lecturer.

It wasn't until they reached a certain distance that Noir finally picked up their presence.

Jumping to his feet, he sharply greeted them, though he soon realized that was unnecessary.

"A-ah, welcome. Please have your sea...ts..." He stopped right at the end of his statement when he stared at the two students.

A few seconds passed, and he was still looking at their faces. It was almost as though time was still, even though the clock by the wall was ticking.

"Noir Novo... greetings."

"It seems we do not need to introduce ourselves to you."

Noir was struck out of his daze by the confident, utterly cold response made by the two—who seemed like identical siblings. His dark eyes wavered slightly as he returned to his seat.

"What are you doing here?" His tone instantly turned sullen as he maintained his gaze on the two.

A bead of sweat fell from Noir's brow, and he struggled to keep his composure in check. Something as easy as controlling his facial expression suddenly proved difficult.

"Why shouldn't we be here? We're students, and you're a lecturer." The boy replied defiantly.

Nothing in his tone indicated he respected the status quo that existed between himself—a student of the institute—and the man he spoke to—a lecturer in said institute.

His eyes were simply full of disregard, and his tone displayed it perfectly.

"We both know this isn't a students' call. Besides... aren't you two the new transfers I heard about? You fit the bill... Foundation Beginner Class, right?" Noir did his best to remain calm.

When he heard of transfer students coming into the Institute, he had thought the coincidence was too unlikely, given the timing. However, after hearing the class and description of the students, Noir had let his guard down.

Who would have thought that would end up being a fatal mistake?

"Well, we wanted to blend in. Being an underdog is the best way to achieve that. Of course, you should have lots of experience in that department... Homunculus #00: Zero." The girl spoke, her lips curled up in a very condescending grin.

Noir's teeth clenched even further, and his brows tightened more, when he heard the name.

"So, you know my identity. I see..."

Noir's head gears began turning as he wondered what he was supposed to do in such a confrontation.

"... H.E.L.I.X knows I'm here, don't they? That's unfortunate." He strained a smile.

"Isn't that pretty obvious by now? Besides, you shouldn't bother trying to feel us out for information."

As he expected, they were going to be tight-lipped about their mission and purpose within the Institute.

'If it was simply to eliminate me, then why would they reveal themselves to me in such a blatant way? H.E.L.I.X. is not that sloppy... no.'

Noir felt even more confused.

There were a variety of ways this entire thing could play out, but he just wasn't certain of how far or which route in particular his former organization would take for the current dilemma.

"What are your intentions? Come to bring me back?" Noir finally spoke up, ending the tense silence in the office.

The students had already taken their seats—each exchanging glances before giving the lecturer a cold expression.

"Like we said earlier, you shouldn't bother trying to pry us open for information."

"We owe you no explanation."

"Then why did you come to my office, to begin with!" Before Noir knew it, his hand was smacked against the office table, and a loud noise permeated the room.

Both siblings remained undaunted despite this development. They just kept staring at Noir.

"Perhaps we're here to observe you... or to see your reactions when we reveal ourselves to you. Perhaps we're here to simply mess with you. Who knows?"

"I doubt an agent of H.E.L.I.X. would do that." Noir interjected.

"Well, the organization also doubted that one of its members would escape and become a merchant, turned bodyguard, turned teacher. How regressive is that? Disgusting." The girl made a snide comment, her rude undertone telling Noir exactly what she thought of him.

"Let's be nice. After all, we're students ourselves. We wouldn't want to be found disrespecting a lecturer." The boy added, though his smirk didn't make it appear as though he genuinely felt any consequence would develop from their lack of respect to their lecturer.

No, it seemed like the opposite.

The behavior of the two made it seem like they were daring Noir to make a move—any move.

"I should be preparing for my next lecture, so I'd need the both of you to leave... now." Was what the lecturer finally settled for.

More sweat dropped from his face to the table, and his fingers slightly stuttered in impatience.

He was simply awaiting their exit.

"Alright then. I guess we've overstayed our welcome." The male rose first, followed by the girl.

Noir was surprised by how easygoing the two were being. Not only did they rise from their seat, but they were now on their way to the exit.

His last meeting with 'Truth' made it certain that H.E.L.I.X members weren't particular fond of runaways.

Sure, 'Truth' was different from these two, but...

'Don't overthink, Noir. Just observe and watch!' He thought to himself, straining his eyes to see every single detail of the students before him.

"Ah, yes... one more thing." The boy paused before exiting the opened door.

He was smiling now—an innocent, boylike smile. His sister was also giving a gentle grin.

"The Foundation Stage Competition is in a few months, right? That's interesting, don't you think?"

Noir's eyes widened, and a sudden revelation befell him.

"You... you wouldn't!"

"Wouldn't what? We're just asking, you know?'

"Yeah. We're not in your Class, after all. Were simply Beginners."

Noir could feel them taunting him, but he maintained his calm. On campus grounds, these two were very formidable.

If Ciara was a cut above the other students, then these two were a hundred—if not more—cut them.

"You..."

"You should train your students well. Our homeroom teacher says he'll train us well too. We don't want any accidents to occur when the competition starts.... now do we?" The two said at the same time.

Something about their doll faces and inorganic- sounding voices made them appear far creepier and more intimidating than usual.

Noir felt suck on his seat, thinking and rethinking his options. There was one that seemed particularly appealing to him.

'Magic Territory. Should I use it?'

"Don't even think about it." The boy's voice broke through Noir's hesitant thought, and his confident grin told the lecturer how well he was reading the situation.

"The consequences of that... can you handle it?"

Two against one was somewhat if an unsporty odd, but that wasn't what bothered Noir the most.

He could only keep thinking about more and more countermeasures as he watched both students leave the class.

"Pathetic." He heard one of them say, before the doors were finally slammed and he could see the two siblings no more.

"Haaaa...." Noir heaved a huge sigh—both of relief and of a deep sense of foreboding.

"This has progressed faster than I thought." Noir murmured.

He knew H.E.L.I.X. would make its move, but this was too fast.

'Did Truth sell me out? No, I doubt it...'

In the end, he still had himself to blame for these surge of activities from H.E.L.I.X.

If only he had stayed hidden, then he would have kept eluding them.

'If Truth could find me, the others should catch on eventually... I expected that.'

Still...!!!

'I'm not prepared. Not yet!'

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[A/N]

The past slowly catches up to Noir. What will he do now?