Xander took out a metal dragon from within his inner pocket to look at it once more. He turned it over in his hand and stared at the intricate pattern that made up its scales.
"Prince Alexander, the class is about to end, and yet it seems like you haven't heard a single word from your professor," said Mordecai who sat to his right.
"I just noticed," Xander replied, ignoring his comment. "Dorin works on metal by thinning it out and striking it at one side. Much like stamping on a sheet of tin."
"Mm... I guess he doesn't actually manipulate the metal then," Mordecai answered absentmindedly.
"Johan, on the other hand, melts the metal and changes its shape with his magic. The trait of a true metal master."
"As there is no doubt, he is."
"So... is Dorin really the Golden child we are looking for?" Xander said thoughtfully.
"I believe he simply haven't awakened his true powers to its full potential, yet." Mordecai replied.
"That may be true. But he also said that he can't actually manipulate water, he simply uses what is already there and controls it with the use of his wind magic. I haven't seen him heal anyone as well."
"Then shall we test his abilities?" Mordecai asked, looking at Xander with a small smile on his face.
"How? They are still suspecting us, especially Sebastian. They might view any act of magic from us as an attack."
"And that is the end of our class for today..."
The professor in front took his satchel and left the room together with most of the class.
Xander and his retinue remained in their seat, though.
"What if I 'accidentally' hit that fire bastard to the brink of death?" Venet suggested with an ugly smirk. "That fool Dorin would be forced to do something to heal his friend."
"That would only make them hate us more," answered Boulvar.
"True. Besides, they have their own medic now," said Mordecai.
"Then let's target their medic first!"
"Keep Bennette out of it." The young prince almost snapped. His companions looked at him. "Only cowards target prey that cannot fight back," he added.
"I beg your pardon, my liege..." Venet mumbled, embarrassed.
"There's no reason to do that as well," added Mordecai. "I have heard a report from the military department that something similar happened to Sebastian when an elemental riffle malfunctioned. They said that Dorin simply stared as his friend fell to the ground."
"He has no power over life, then," Venet piped in once again. "It means that he is not the one we are looking for."
"...yet he has all the characteristics of a Golden Child... he is a genuine sourceror, his unlimited magic is a testament to this." Xander frowned.
"Like I said, he may not be aware that he is one, yet. He still needs to realize his full potential," Mordecai insisted. "As reports implied, he was left in the wilderness to fend for himself. His mother simply gave him books to read and left him to discover his powers on his own. A child on his own would only learn the skills he needs in the situation he is currently in. How could a hunter in a desert learn to dive the deepest ocean if the only place he swims in is a shallow pond?"
"Point taken." Xander gave as sigh and finally stood up from his seat. "For now, all I could think of is to challenge Dorin to a friendly match to see how capable he is at manipulating all the elements, but the only element I can use is fire, and the 2 of us challenging him alone would be too suspicious."
"Two?" Venet asked, counting the four of them.
"Since we already know he's proficient with the element of wind..." he looked at his two wind mages. "Tell me, Boulvar, if Dorin turns out to be a child of the Heilig royalty, would you honor him as your king?"
The bulky wind mage seemed to be taken aback by his question.
"Why do you ask me this, my Liege?" he asked.
"You and Venet were taken from the kingdom of the East when you were children, as with all the other children who showed any proficiency in magic, after the Lightning king's revolt," Xander went on. "You are the sons and daughters of Heilig nobles and royalty, yet you are now reduced to soldiers whose sole purpose is to become fodder to our – the Alcione family's flame. Would you not rather serve your own blood and bring back the Heilig kingdom?"
"We would never do such a thing!" Venet hissed as he stood up.
"My master is and will always be you, my Prince Alexander." Boulvar stood up as well and knelt in front of Prince Alexander. Venet did the same.
"We have long severed our ties with that traitorous family. We will forever serve as fodder to the Alcione's flame, if need be!" Venet's shrill voice hissed.
"Exactly," Boulvar nodded. "We know how the treacherous king conspired to overthrow your father and rule the kingdom as their own. We know how they corrupted the students of the university into thinking that the Alcione family were making foul experiments on their own people. They insisted on such things without even proving their claims, they just conspired with the Black Lands so that they can have the whole Empire for themselves!"
"Or so they say..." the prince mumbled. Mordecai stayed silent.
"What do you mean?"
"We should go to our next class," Xander interrupted Venet. "I believe our last class is in the military department and that we would be joining Johan and Dorin there!" he said with a smile.
"That is correct," said Mordecai. "We should leave now if we don't want to be late."
"I guess I could just ask Dorin about his abilities. What do you think?" Xander asked his retinue as they left the lecture hall.
"Y-yes, that would seem to be the best solution," said Boulvar.
"The simplest one and the easiest as well," Mordecai said with a laugh.
That is why the first thing the young prince did as soon as they got to their magic Defense class in the military division was to look for the members of the Special Class Sphere.
He saw the tall fire mage, Johan, first, surrounded by other students, and shortly saw Dorin by his side. He was surprised to see that Dagon was with them as well. The girls were gathered around the small child, offering him sweets that the young dragon whelp readily accepted.
"What do you say to them?" Johan would remind the child every once in a while.
"Thank you!" Dagon would reply with a grin, showing his sharp canines to the girls who would giggle at the adorable kid.
"So how old were you when you got him?" a student in military garb asked from behind. Sarcasm was evident in his voice, but Johan simply answered him back.
"I was eight when I found his eg– ow!"
Johan frowned at Dorin who handed him some of the snacks the girls gave Dagon.
"You aren't really father and son, are you?" he asked the fire mage.
"Of course not!" Johan's frown disappeared as he looked at the group of military students who are now snickering behind them.
"I'm his uncle. He's just really attached to me," he hurriedly said.
'That must be what they decided to tell the other students,' Xander thought to himself as he made his way to the center of the field where the two mages were standing.
"Good afternoon, Dorin, Johan, isn't it a nice day to spend outdoors?" he called out to the two.
"Oh, hey there Xander! Did you know that Dean Alcione will be our teacher in Magic Defense? Is he related to you?" Dorin asked.
Some students around them mumbled amongst themselves upon hearing this.
"Doesn't he know who he's talking to?" they asked.
"Just where did that kid crawl out from?" they jeered.
Dorin didn't seem to be affected by this, he simply kept his clear gaze at Xander, a friendly smile on his face.
"Yes, as a matter of fact, he is my uncle," the young prince replied. "He's a cousin of my father, their fathers are first degree cousins as well."
"I guess it's true then, that all royalty are related to each other, one way or another..." Dorin said thoughtfully.
"So, how is Dagon doing?" Xander asked to change the subject.
"I'm a good boy!" Dagon said proudly, raising a small fists to show a red star stamped upon it.
"We just finished a GMRC class, almost fell asleep through it..." Johan said with a yawn. "I hope this outdoor class can help clear my sleepiness."
Xander gave a hearty laugh.
"Why don't the three of you join us in what ever exercise we shall be undergoing today?"
"Four," Johan replied, pulling Bennette from behind him, as if he was conjuring a white rabbit out of thin air.
The medic is now wearing the long gray cloak of a Magic Department student, with the matching white uniform and pale blue vest underneath. It looked brand new and fit the medic much better than the stuffy looking white military uniform he used to wear.
"Why, hello, Patrice, I didn't notice you there!"
"Yeah, this person has the presence of a brown snake in a pile of dry leaves," said Dorin.
"S-sorry..." the young medic mumbled.
"Isn't the class starting yet?" Xander asked as he looked around the open field they were gathered in.
"They said the Dean is busy in an emergency meeting. He got called just a while ago," said Dorin. "He told us to do some drills or go to out next class, but this is our last class for today, so we're just hanging around here doing nothing."
"Then why don't we do some drills on our own?" Xander said with a smile.