Chapter 6: The Brave and Honest Mage

Acrylis got back to his teaching grind. A few days ago, he was all about letters, but now he was diving into words. He started with the easy stuff, like mountains, oceans, and trees. Those were a piece of cake; he could just point to them or show pictures. But man, the abstract nouns like time, space, and magic? Those were a real pain. How was he supposed to explain that to Gelis?

Three days flew by just like that.

Gelis was picking things up super fast. Most stuff only needed a one-time explanation for him to get it. Still, after three days, Acrylis was pretty stressed, especially when Gelis started asking about verbs like eating and peeing. Everyone knew Skeletons didn’t need to eat, drink, or hit the bathroom, so there was no way Acrylis could show him those actions.

On the evening of the third day, before bouncing out of the lab, Acrylis looked up at the ceiling and said, "The weather’s gonna be nice tomorrow. I’ve got some stuff to handle, so you’ll just be reading books for the next few days." Then he walked out without a backward glance. For the next few days, Acrylis was MIA.

Left alone in the spacious lab, Gelis had nothing to do but read. In the Undead World, he was always solo, and now in a safer spot, he had even less to worry about. Even without Acrylis’s guidance, Gelis would kill time by reading when he was alone. After a few days of crash courses, he had already picked up the meanings of some simple words, at least he wasn’t as lost as he was at the start.

He cracked open the book about Skeletons again and started flipping through it page by page.

The reason this lab was one of the no-go zones of Belkin Royal Magic Academy was because it stored a ton of important experimental data and precious magical materials. But more importantly, it had this small library. The library didn’t have a lot of books, nowhere near the public library of the academy. But every book here was pure gold, with many unique handwritten copies, some passed down from way back, and some were personal magical notes of famous Mages in history.

Any book taken from here could make the Mages outside lose their minds. Just the magical notes of Acrylis and his teacher could make many Mages desperate for a peek.

Gelis, of course, had no clue he was sitting on a goldmine. He just stood there, casually flipping through the precious books with his bony fingers.

Ever since he found out he was the Skeleton described in the book, Gelis had developed a bit of interest in it. The first time he read it, he couldn’t even get the word "Skeleton." Now, after a few days of intense teaching, Gelis could barely understand parts of it. Each time he read it, he could connect the dots from the parts he got, gaining new insights into the parts he didn’t.

Acrylis had every right to be blown away; this Skeleton was sharp as a tack. Over the next few days, with nothing better to do, Gelis flipped through that book dozens of times, practically reading it cover to cover. He even picked up on some words Acrylis hadn’t taught him. That’s when it really hit him how freaky the world he came from was. Not being able to go back? Yeah, that was probably a good thing. As he put the now worn-out book back on the shelf, that thought crossed his mind.

In the days that followed, Acrylis was still MIA, and Gelis kept himself busy with more books. Then, out of nowhere, a childish shout came from outside the lab: "A man should be brave and fearless. Come on, the brave and righteous Jimmy will never be afraid of you."

The voice came from the direction of the balcony, clear but hard to tell if it was a boy or girl.

Curious, Gelis moved towards the balcony and quietly peeked through the curtain.

Just then, another equally childish voice, dripping with disdain, chimed in: "Brave and fearless, brave and righteous are qualities of a Knight. You’re just a little Mage Apprentice, trying to act tough."

"Yeah, Lord Bax, he’s probably scared stiff and just talking big to boost his courage. Once you cast your spell, he’ll cry," said another voice, trying to sound all grown-up but failing to hide the childish tone. Gelis looked down and, sure enough, saw a bunch of kids around eleven or twelve years old.

There were two balconies and windows on the left side and directly opposite the main entrance of the lab. Usually, the windows and doors in these spots were open, with thick curtains blocking the light and nosy eyes. But don’t think this made it unsafe; even if the lab had no walls, it was still the safest place in the whole academy. No thief, no matter how slick, would dare mess with this top-notch Mage training ground.

The lab was on the second floor, and below the balcony was a lawn, usually empty. Who knows why these kids were here today, looking like they were about to throw down.

This was the first time Gelis had seen other humans besides Acrylis, and he curiously stood on tiptoe to get a better look.

There were four kids in total, all around eleven or twelve years old. Three of them stood together, decked out in fancy clothes, clearly from rich families. The other kid had short, clean-cut blond hair and a face still full of youthful innocence, but his expression was all serious and ticked off. His clothes weren’t shabby, but definitely not as posh as the other three.

"I’m not a Mage Apprentice; I’m already a Level 1 Mage, and a brave and righteous one at that. If you two lackeys have the guts, come at me," Jimmy shouted, his face red with anger, cursing at the kid who called him scared, and dragging the other silent one into it too.

"How dare you insult me..." The two kids who got called out turned red with anger and rolled up their sleeves, ready to charge.

"Bring it on!" Jimmy taunted, taking a couple of steps back and pulling out a Magic Staff from his pocket, chanting a spell: "Omnipresent spirit of fire, heed my call."

Hearing Jimmy start chanting, the two kids who were about to charge immediately stopped and whipped out their Magic Staffs too.

Gelis watched from behind the curtain, totally confused. Jimmy's spell was taking forever, and with the short distance between them, why didn’t they just rush him and beat him up? Gelis couldn’t wrap his head around this whole fairness thing among kids.

Finally, Jimmy finished his chant and yelled, "Fireball Spell." A tiny fireball, no bigger than a finger, shot out from his Magic Staff, aimed at the kid who had echoed the earlier taunt.

The kid was also chanting a spell but hadn’t finished. Seeing the incoming fireball, he freaked out, stopped his chant, and dropped to the ground to dodge the slow-moving, weak, and non-homing fireball.

After casting the fireball, Jimmy had to catch his breath. No wonder the others called him a Mage Apprentice; even a small fireball wiped him out.

The other kids weren’t much better off, but they had the numbers. One kid’s spell got interrupted, but another managed to cast a small fireball at Jimmy.

Having just cast his own fireball, Jimmy was out of magic and too slow to dodge. The small fireball hit him squarely, setting his clothes on fire.

Jimmy screamed, frantically trying to put out the flames.

These kids were all at a similar level, so there wasn’t any real danger of anyone getting seriously hurt. After a chaotic struggle, Jimmy finally managed to put out the flames, but his burnt clothes left him looking pretty rough.

At this point, the kid called Lord Bax stepped forward. He was clearly the ringleader. With an arrogant expression that seemed almost funny, he said, "With skills like that, you dare call yourself a Mage? From now on, don’t call yourself a Mage, or I’ll beat you every time I see you." The first part of his speech was all pomp and circumstance, but the latter half showed his true childish nature.

"You guys are bullying me because you outnumber me. If you have the guts, let’s have a fair duel," Jimmy shouted angrily.

"Dueling with you would dirty my hands. You’re not worth it," Bax said with disdain, then waved his hand and walked away with his two lackeys without looking back.

Jimmy, still fuming, punched the air in frustration. Seeing his burnt clothes, he quickly became dejected again.

To anyone else, this would just be a boring kids' fight, but Gelis watched intently until the end. After all, these were the first humans he had seen besides Acrylis, and it was his first time witnessing offensive magic.

After stomping around and cursing for a while, Jimmy also left.

Gelis walked to the bookshelf and pulled out "Principles of Magic." Even though he had only seen two basic Fireball Spells, it was enough to spark his interest in magic.

Opening a new page, the book began: "Magic is a general term for the methods of utilizing the omnipresent magical elements in the world. Magical elements are everywhere—in the air, in the human body, in the earth. The methods of mobilizing these magical elements to serve humans are called magic."

"Principles of Magic" was exactly what it claimed to be. The whole book didn’t dive into specific spells but broke down magical terms and concepts in a way that was supposed to be simple and easy to get. Of course, "simple" was a relative term. For Gelis, who had just started learning to read and didn’t know a lot of words, it was still pretty confusing.

But Gelis had a plan. He memorized everything he didn’t get, figuring he’d ask Acrylis to explain it when he got the chance.

Days rolled by like this, and Gelis nearly wore out "Principles of Magic" from reading it so much, but Acrylis was still a no-show.

On the eighteenth time Gelis cracked open "Principles of Magic," he suddenly heard some muffled sobbing from outside the balcony.

Gelis pulled back the curtain but couldn’t spot where the sound was coming from until he leaned out and finally saw Jimmy crouched at the base of the wall.

Jimmy’s clothes were different from last time but still burnt with a bunch of small holes. His golden hair was singed in spots, and his exposed skin was covered in ash, making him look even more pitiful than before.

With his head buried in his knees, Jimmy was quietly sobbing.

Clearly, he’d been bullied again.

Listening to the pitiful sobs, Gelis, being a Skeleton, naturally felt no sympathy or compassion. He was just curious. Unfortunately, he couldn’t speak, and Acrylis had forbidden him from leaving the lab. After waiting for a while and seeing that Jimmy wasn’t getting up, Gelis turned back inside.

After a moment, he returned with a broom used for cleaning. He had nailed a piece of wood to the top of the broom, on which he had written a few words: "What are you doing?"

Gelis leaned out and poked Jimmy with the long broom. Acrylis had forbidden him from leaving the lab, but this way, he technically wasn’t leaving.

The sudden poke made Jimmy stop crying immediately. He rubbed his eyes and looked up, clearly not wanting anyone to see him crying.

When he looked up, he saw the question on the wooden board. The straightforward question was purely out of Gelis’s curiosity, but to Jimmy, it felt different. In his sorrow, even a simple inquiry felt warm, and his eyes reddened again. But when he followed the broomstick up and saw Gelis’s face, his expression changed dramatically. His eyes widened in terror, and he opened his mouth, making a sound of fear that he couldn’t quite vocalize.

At the same time, Jimmy, who had been crouching and only turned his upper body, fell back onto the ground, his legs giving out from fear.

It was already dusk, and in the setting sun, a ghastly Skeleton head peeked out from the window above, its hollow eye sockets glowing eerily. Holding a wooden board asking what he was doing, this sight would terrify any ordinary adult, let alone an eleven or twelve-year-old kid.

Jimmy felt a wetness between his legs; he had wet himself.