Chapter 90: Professor, Thomas Lowe
Tom had a relaxed expression on his visage as he walked towards the Academy entrance with his head held high.
“Good morning, gentlemen,” Tom greeted as he waited for a different pair of guards to open his way to the academy.
“Professor Neliel,” One of the guards acknowledged, without making any move to open the gates.
“We were informed that you would be returning in a few hours, which should have been yesterday evening. Is everything alright?” The second guard asked, his expression stony as he faced down Tom.
“Ah,” Tom muttered under his breath, feigning forgetfulness the best he could. “Yes, yes, I had some personal matters to attend to. Now, gentlemen, if you would let me pass— I have a class to prepare for,” Tom dismissed their concern with an air of casualness.
“Forgive me, Professor. New orders call for a quick sweep to be done on any anomalies. Arriving half a day later than you originally told us falls under this criteria. Would you allow us to do a quick sweep?” The guard that originally greeted him asked, his tone polite but firm.
Tom’s flickered with realization, though he let none of his surprise show on his face. “By all means, good man. I have nothing to hide. But please be quick with it, as I really do have a class to prepare for,” He offered, stretching his arms wide to show that there were no weapons or the like concealed on his person. New n0vel chapters are published on n0ve(l)bi(n.)co/m
Three cards were pressed against his chest in quick succession and then withdrawn with similar quickness.
Both the guards saluted him, before moving to open the gates.
Appreciating that they had actually listened to his request, Tom politely nodded to them in acknowledgement before moving towards the Academy.
‘That sure was a close call,’ He thought. ‘Well, I knew that they wouldn’t see through the Fool, but my own facial expressions... I suppose I did well enough.’
Tom had deliberately chosen to arrive an hour earlier for many reasons. The first was of course, to get things in order for the class. The second was to prepare for the ambush. Only one of the four students Aleph believed capable enough to know the Greater Control Glyph was in his class, but he was grateful enough for that coincidence.
He took classes for the first and second years, while three of the four students were already in their third and fourth years.
“Heading for class?” She asked, eyeing the pulled elevator lever before refocusing her attention on him.
“You caught me,” Tom raised his hands in mock surrender. “I’ve got quite the lesson planned today, so I need to prepare early for it, you see.”
“Oh? Do tell me more, please,” She asked, her eyes gleaming with curiosity.
The chime of a bell interrupted their conversation, their attention turning to a construction of a dark, eye-catching wood, stained glass and glowing runes.
“After you, Professor Shiel,” Tom gestured with his hands.
“Awfully formal today,” She replied as she strode past him.
Tom joined her in the magical escalator and watched as she pulled the lever back to the corresponding angle where the number ‘3’ was written on it’s base.
“Well Shiel, this new teaching methodology I’ve been experimenting with has me a little on edge,” Tom sheepishly admitted. “Do forgive any faux pas I make today, I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night.”
“Is being a tease part of those faux pas?” She asked, more playful than annoyed.
“It’s centered around tapping on the students’ inner potential over imposing my understanding of Arcane Histories on them,” Tom explained as the chime of a bell saved him from further small talk. “I’ll explain it to you in more detail tomorrow, I promise. Well, if it’s not a complete disaster, anyway,” He explained, before stepping out of the magical elevator.
“I suppose I have no option but to settle for that. Disaster or not, I want to hear more about this experiment of yours. Oh and good luck, Nel,” Professor Shiel offered him another one of those genuine smiles.
Tom offered her a friendly nod in return, before deciding to make his way to the class.
