Zoella

Part 17

Zoella fiddled her fingers unable to look straight at Edwin. Sweat dripped from her whole body like crazy.

'Why did he call me here? Don't tell me. Is he going to punish me because I opposed those nobles?'

"Do not worry child. I didn't call you here to punish you."

"Yes? Yes."

Zoella startled.

On the other hand, Edwin still stared at her while smiling with Hayes beside him. She looked away.

'It's as if he could read my mind.'

"And I absolutely can't read your mind."

'You just did!'

She was absolutely astonished. First, it was Hayes and then him. At this rate, she needed to be aware of everyone in this world if they all could read her mind.

"Cut it out now. Zoe, this old man is the Academy's principal and a 5th-grade mage, Sir Edwin Owens. Also... my teacher."

Hayes seemed reluctant to say his last words.

Plakk!

Edwin smacked the back of Hayes's head effortlessly. Even so, the sound was quite loud. Hayes looked at his teacher with annoyance on his face while rubbing his head.

"Has this punk been treating you well? I was worried since his personality is awful."

"Yes, he never gives me a hard time."

Honestly speaking, Zoella had so many things to say but she decided not to. It was refreshing enough to see Hayes being smacked right before her eyes.

She couldn't do it herself because despite everything Hayes was her teacher. And she needed to respect him.

"That's a relief. Now that I look at you, I understand why Hayes kept you hidden until now."

"Yes?"

Edwin's soft stare turned sharp. Zoella felt as if he was staring at the deepest part of her.

"The amount of mana you have is certainly big. No wonder he asked you to be his disciple."

Zoella remembered the day Hayes asked her to learn magic he said the same thing. Even though she still don't understand, she was grateful that she could learn magic now.

"By the way, you remind me of someone."

"Right? I thought about him when I looked at her."

"Come to think of it, he certainly..."

"It's still a suspicion but..."

"Also, the color of her eyes..."

"Not to mention..."

Zoella was bewildered. She couldn't keep up with the conversation of two people in front of her. She wanted to ask but she didn't brave enough to interfere.

It was also disrespectful since they both were older than her.

So she decided to keep quiet not wanting to disturb.

"I think it's quite late now. Hayes, make sure to escort the child safely to her dorm."

"I know that. Come on, Zoe."

Zoella stood up and bowed to Edwin.

"Child, you can come here anytime you need."

"Thank you, Sir."

Zoella bowed one more time before catching up to Hayes.

"From now on you need to be extra careful, Zoe."

Hayes said as he speed up his pace. Zoella who didn't understand started to run a little.

"Since danger can come especially when it's dark."

They both stopped. A shriek could be heard from a tree on the side of the road. A man wearing a black outfit from head to toe suddenly fell down.

There were no visible injuries in his body but he was surely dead.

Zoella grimaced when she saw that lifeless body. It wasn't the first time Zoella saw it since Hayes always seemed to have someone after his life. But she still couldn't get used to it.

'Internal attack.'

Since mana was something that could pierce anything, then it would also be no problem for it to pierce a human body causing damage without any visible wound.

Zoella was sure he got some really severe wounds inside his body. It was a really difficult technique she still needed to learn.

"How did you know?"

"It was easy. Tonight when you trained your mana control, try to spread it."

***

Shhhaaa~

Zoella came out of the bathroom feeling refreshed after such a long day.

She should be resting now but Hayes told her to train her mana control and the other thing.

She locked her door before sitting on the floor and closing her eyes. She took a deep breath and began to focus on her flow of mana.

"Fyuuuuhhh. Now, the other one."

Zoella closed her eyes again and imagined some light spread to her surroundings.

"Gasp!"

She opened her eyes while gasping. She was quite surprised the moment her mana spread.

"One more time."

Zoella spread her mana again and this time she managed to get a clear feeling. She could feel people and even the plants with it.

"If I can feel the presence of people with mana, then can I hide my presence with mana too? Or maybe even make myself invisible."

She started to envelop her body with mana. Zoella walked to test it out. No sound. Her feet felt so light.

She closed her eyes again. Now, she imagined her body faded and turned invisible. She strode to the mirror and saw no one. There's no reflection in the mirror.

Zoella released her mana and she was back to normal.

"It was pretty exhausting. I should sleep now."

That night, Zoella sleep so soundly that she overslept the next day.

***

"Yawn. Margaret, where do we go again?"

Zoella and her classmates were on their way to their next class which was not in their classroom.

Herbology class.

"We are going to the greenhouse. Did you sleep late, Zoella?"

She shook her head. She looked really sleepy as she yawned over and over again.

'That damn training really drained my energy away. I won't use it if it's not urgent.'

The invisibility magic she tried last night seemed to be the cause. It was even worse than the flight magic.

"We're here."

"Ah, come in."

A gentle-looking woman greeted them and asked them to take a seat.

She put her book down and tidied up her clothes.

"Welcome to herbology class. I'm your teacher, Sadie Rankin."

Zoella rested her cheek on her hand while trying to focus on her teacher.

"In this class, you will learn about plants. Their name, characteristic, and function."

Zoella's face brightened up as she straightened her body up. She has always been interested in plants since she was a little girl.

"You need this basic knowledge before learning about the potion."

She grinned at her teacher's words. Zoella never thought there would be this kind of lesson in this academy.

"Sweet."