23 The plan (1)

"The first perfect ten was to be expected from you," the professor said, looking around, observing all the students seething with envy while small murmurs were heard very softly. "Anyway, you did very well, taking advantage of what you saw to strengthen yourself. You truly are a true mage."

"Thank you very much, professor. I'm looking forward to what you will teach us next," Amelin said, bowing and returning to her place, stopping and looking at Edward with a thoughtful expression, 'It might have been a simple trick, but it was enough for that lazy professor to remember his name.'

Amelin moved her hand, feeling a slight recoil due to the overload. "It doesn't hurt, but it's a bit uncomfortable."

"Well, it's normal, after all, you're still human, right? It was an overload," Mine said thoughtfully, continuing, "I didn't expect you to come up with such an idea, Edward."

"Well, I just thought about increasing the shot's exit speed, and it ended up working better than I expected," Edward said, then hearing the professor addressing Michael.

"Alright, professor," Michael said, walking to his side.

"Will we see another failure?" Sillian mocked.

"Do you have any doubts?" the professor asked.

"No..." Michael took a deep breath, pointing his finger at the target at the end of the room. The vortex quickly formed in his hand, and when he shot, the bullet exploded in the air. "Huh?"

Just like Michael, everyone in the room looked at him in surprise. "What the hell happened?"

"Can this happen?"

"How can something like that just explode?"

"Silence!" The professor shouted as various hands made of black mass appeared in mid-air, covering the mouths of the students who couldn't stop talking.

"Hum? Hum?" One of the students was trying to remove the hand from his mouth, but with no success. 'Why is the professor doing this?'

The professor put his hand on Michael's shoulder, who was immobile with wide eyes, starting to speak. "Don't worry; nervousness can interfere with mana stabilization."

Litty, who had been silent until now at Edward's request, felt a strong energy coming from the professor's mouth. "He bewitched his own voice..."

"Does that mean he's saying something else, then?" Edward asked.

"Yes, but not much different from the original... What he said was, 'Don't worry, even if Treakt may interfere with your mana flow, just concentrate and erase everything from your mind,'" when Litty finished speaking, she felt something looking at her, but its existence was so low that she simply ignored it.

"I think I understand, so this is our protagonist's problem. It makes sense now," Edward said when he noticed Michael trying to shoot again.

"Alright, professor..." Once again, the vortex quickly formed, but this time when he shot, the black bullet only went a meter and a few centimeters before falling towards the ground.

"What are you doing? There are still nine other targets. Come on, shoot," the professor said, looking coldly at Michael, thinking, 'Is this the best he can do? It's disappointing.'

The hands covering the students' mouths disappeared, and shortly after, when everyone saw Michael trying one worse shot after another, they didn't say anything and just looked at him with insignificance.

"There's something wrong with this kid. How can he still be in the special class?" Mine wondered, then turned to Amelin.

"His potential is the only reason... But looking at the professor's expression now, you can see he doesn't like it either," Amelin said, sighing deeply.

"A rough diamond that refuses to be cut, would that be his case? Haha," Saellin said, chuckling.

"Being terrible at fencing and not even being able to control his mana, something a child could do... The next classes will be even worse," Mine said, shaking her head.

"Being in the special class is practically a curse for him," Edward said, seeing the three agree with him.

So, the three continued their conversation while Edward remained silent.

"Was that your plan? To draw their attention to him?" Litty asked with a disgusted expression. "Even if it affects your life and all, they deserve something better than that scum."

"What? No, not at all. Just listen again to their conversation. It won't take long, and Saellin has already started comparing me to him," Edward replied, watching Michael return to his place after missing all ten shots with his bullet, not even passing or being able to fly for more than a meter and a half.

"Ahh, I see. So should I start calling you a scoundrel now? For wanting the three of them?" Litty said, provoking Edward.