Ascension Of The Failed Mage

"W-wha—?!"

Ciara's eyes widened with utter shock, but she wasn't the only one who expressed surprise.

Everyone in the class was surprised by this matchup. However, more than they were surprised, the ones who qualified appeared grateful. They were relieved not to be the ones in Ciara's shoes.

"For the second grou—"

"E-excuse me, Mr. Novo." Ciara raised her hand in objection, her eyes clearly showing how much she despised being stuck with Mia as a team member.

"Yes? What is the matter?"

"Well, um… wouldn't it be weird if the first and second place in this competition got placed in the same team? Shouldn't we try to spread out the power so each team has a better chance of victory?"

Ciara knew that whining would get her nowhere with Noir. If she wanted to convince him, she had to prove that her assertion provided some sort of benefit… and it did.

Logically speaking, it was weird that Noir would concentrate two of the class' powerhouses in the same team. Wasn't that some sort of biased action?

"Hmm… I see. You make a fair point." Noir rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

In response, Ciara's face gave a somewhat relieved grin. Noir saw her rational point and gave it merit. Since it was like this, there was a chance he would change his mind.

Ciara was so caught up in her discourse with Noir that she failed to notice the expressions and grumbles of the other students who qualified.

Their reactions weren't pretty at all.

"What do you all think? Should I change my mind and put Mia with another one of you?" Noir turned toward the remaining eight qualified students.

It was only when he did this that Ciara realized one critical element…

"W-what? Come on, Mr. Novo, you've already made up your mind, right?"

"Y-yeah. I mean, you can't be wrong about our matchups."

"You know better than all of us, after all."

"I think it's good just the way it is."

"Y-yeah…"

… No one in the class wanted to be paired with Mia.

That's right! Ciara didn't take this fact into account before complaining about her situation.

Even Serah and Sam would rather support Noir's decision than accept Mia as their team member. Besides, who could blame them? Mia was an object of fear and scorn. If Ciara couldn't tolerate her, who would?

"As you can see, Ciara… the class has reached a consensus that this is indeed the optimal decision. Would you go against what the class feels to be be the best choice?" Perhaps it was just her imagination, but Ciara noticed Noir give a sly smile.

'Damnit! He tricked me!'

If she kept pushing her opinion to Noir, it would make her appear to be an insensitive jerk. At the same time, she didn't want to be Mia's partner.

'Unlike my suggestion, Noir has already set the matchup. If I opt for it being changed, it will be like the class has to make an exception for me.' That would make everyone turn against her—or, at the very least, make some people dislike her.

Ultimately, Ciara knew the only choice available to her.

"I-it's fine. You know best…" She spoke, completely deflated.

He gaze went to Mia, and their eyes met for a moment.

This had been happening a couple of times, and usually Mia would look away anytime they found themselves in such an awkward situation. However, this time, Mia didn't look away.

She just kept staring.

Ciara didn't sense any malice from Mia, mother did she feel anything particularly undesirable about her. Her gaze was just unassuming and normal.

Too normal.

'Tch!' Ciara looked away, folding her hands in disapproval.

Noir ignored all of this and continued grouping the rest of her classmates.

After Ciara got placed with Mia, everyone was literally grateful for whoever else they ended up with. The group that seemed to contain the most satisfied members was Group 4. Both Serah and Sam wound up in the same team, causing them even greater satisfaction.

Once the group was created, Noir addressed the entire class once more—encouraging them as well as making an announcement.

"I'll personally train these ten students in preparation for the competition. After school hours, and during the weekends; we'll practice for the competition."

The ones who didn't qualify were obviously jealous of those who did. After all, they would get stronger due to their guidance from Noir. And, this was completely within school policy, so it was justified.

However, once Noir admonished the students and told them of the chances they would also get to become stronger, their pained hearts were soothed—even if it was just a little.

With that, Noir teleported all the students back to their classroom, thus concluding a rather long homeroom.

*

*

*

[One Month Later]

"Mr. Noir Novo, how is your preparation going?" One of the many teachers in the staff lounge asked in a cheery voice.

Currently, Noir was hanging out with his colleagues in one of their usual social functions.

In order to cement his role as a teacher, he had to attend these things once in a while. If he didn't he could be seen as a snobbish newbie to his seniors, and he was avoiding something that would damage his reputation as well as their impression of him.

'Besides, this is a good place to gather information.' Noir thought to himself.

He gave a calm smile and replied the teacher in a friendly manner. Even though it wasn't really any of their business, he still ended up telling them a little about it.

"The students show promise. I'm glad to be their teacher." He concluded with a slight nod.

The lecturers in the hall burst out in cheers and laughter. For good reason, most of them liked Noir, while a few others were indifferent. However, he knew one or two lecturers didn't like him.

Fortunately, with most of the teachers on his side, his haters didn't have much ground to express their dissatisfaction with him publicly. As such, they hid under the facade of indifference—one even pretended to be friendly.

'Well, whatever.' Noir thought to himself.

As long as no direct approach was taken by them, he wasn't particularly concerned about their disposition.]'

"Noir, you've gotten really popular on campus, right?" Speaking of the devil, a teacher approached him with the question.

He had a friendly smile, but Noir knew full well what was hidden underneath.

This guy was the teacher of the Foundation Class, Beginner Stage. He had tried many times to show Noir 'the ropes', and had a cheery personality that made everyone think he really liked Noir.

'In actuality, however, he doesn't like me one bit. Is it because of my sudden appearance? Or the fact that I'm popular than he is?'

The Foundation Class was home to many rumors and gists. A couple of teachers were often mentioned—most especially Noir Novo and Trevor Netherlore, both of whom were teachers in the Intermediate and Expert Classes respectively.

The campus was currently abuzz with stories of him and Trevor, while this teacher was hardly mentioned at all. He lacked the popularity that accompanied the other teachers in the Foundation Class, enough to make him salty.

'What was his name again? Fabian Durez?' Noir kept up a straight face as he made this thought.

"Yeah, people often compare you and Trevor in terms of looks and strength." Fabian Durez grinned widely.

Frankly, Noir thought he looked like an idiot, but he made sure to keep his opinion to himself.

"We gotta know… have you guys ever settled the score?"

Gazes fell on both Noir, as well as Trevor—who had been silently sipping his drink in the room.

Both Noir and Trevor stared at each other awkwardly—neither knowing what to say. Should they tell everyone how they had fought in the past, and how Noir was able to foil Trevor's plans? The two men sighed in response.

"Personally, I think they're pretty equal in terms of looks—both simply have different charms." A female lecturer grinned toothily.

Even though she said this, Noir wondered why her gaze rested especially on his face. Was there something on it, or…?

'Well, I don't care.' He finally decided, choosing instead to laugh awkwardly.

"I'm no match for Noir, honestly. Hahaha!" Trevor laughed too, trying to shift the focus to Noir in his usual cunning way.

"Oh, come on. You have more experience than I do. You're also a Tier 8 Mage. Clearly, you're more superior." Noir returned the burden to Trevor.

Both of them laughed, of course, but it was clear what they were trying to achieve.

"Oh, stop teasing Noir. We don't even know what your Tier is… ah, my apologies. You wanted to keep it private, didn't you?"

"Hahaha…" Noir gave a friendly smile, but swiftly gave a sharp look to Trevor, letting him know where to end his jokes.

Unfortunately, it was too late.

"That's true. We still don't know what Tier you are, Noir."

"Come on, tell us."

"Yeah! We're curious."

Noir sighed. He was trying to avoid this, but now he had no other choice.

"Fine then… I'll tell you."