Ascension Of The Failed Mage

"No way! No way! I'm screwed!" Her mind rang as her trembling hands made for her toothbrush.

"Why would I oversleep? Ahhh! This is bad!"

Suddenly, a memory hit her, causing her to freeze on the spot. All the things that had happened the previous day came rushing in.

She remembered it all, how she exposed her Tier 3 Status and defeated the bullies that surrounded her. Upon realizing this, her hands no longer had the strength to wield her brush.

The energy she once had dissipated, as her body trembled.

"N-no... what have I done!?!" She gasped.

It was at this moment that Ciara left the bathroom and crashed back on her bed. There was no need to go so early or try so hard anymore. After all, her life was practically over.

Ciara remembered Richard and the promise he made to her. However, she wasn't brave enough to leave her room and face the other students.

'I trust Richard... but, is it really possible? Maybe he tried his best, but things still didn't work out...' She thought to herself.

Any moment from now, the authorities would contact her and forcefully promote her.

Upon thinking about all this, Ciara took a deep breath and asked herself a question.

"Ahh, Ciara... what the hell are you doing?!"

Even though things had gone awry, there was no way she had any justification to stop now. Even if she got promoted, it wasn't over. Even if everyone ostracized her, she still had friends who wouldn't.

"This- this is no big deal!" She encouraged herself.

Ciara couldn't forget that she was the daughter of a Duke. While she had done her best to hide the fact and not rely on her noble lineage, if push came to shove, that was a backup.

"I'm not going to break down now!"

Clenching her fist and gritting her teeth, Ciara stood up once again from her bed and headed to the bathroom to get ready for school.

"I really am late, though!"

*

*

*

Ciara rushed to class, meeting no one on her way there. Of course, this was only natural since all the students were most likely in their lecture halls.

"It's nearly break time. I'll sneak in during that period!" Ciara muttered under her breath as she picked up her pace.

After some moments she arrived, and just as estimated, it was already break time.

'Gulp!' Ciara shuddered as she stood in front of the closed door of the lecture hall.

Her hands shook as she tried opening it, wondering what everyone would be talking about and how they would look at her if she showed herself.

"Come on... Let's just get this over with!" Ciara gritted her teeth, shutting her eyes as she pushed the door open and proceeded to enter.

However, the first word she heard stopped her in her tracks.

Among the noise of the students that leaked out while opening the door, her ears picked up something.

"... Ciara..."

'They're talking about me!' Her eyes instantly bulged.

However, it was too late to stop the momentum she had built up as the creaking sound of the door attracted the attention of all the students within the hall, and in no time at all, all eyes were on the latecomer.

"U-uhh... s-sorry I'm late everyone... Haha..." Ciara's voice broke as she tried acting as naturally as she could.

For a second, there was silence, and only Ciara's nervous laugh echoed across the hall. Then came the floodgates of her classmates' voices.

"Ciara!"

"Oh, it's Ciara!"

"I thought she wouldn't come today!"

"Ciara, are you alright? Serah said you were not feeling too well!"

"We were planning on checking on you once school was over for today!"

"Have you been overworking yourself again?"

"Hehe, I'm surprised though. This is the first time you've come this late."

"I suppose you're still human, after all!"

"Ciara!"

As their high-pitched voices rang in her ears, and her eyes witnessed the sincere and happy faces of the students, Ciara realized that they hadn't caught wind of the incident that occurred yesterday.

They weren't looking at her with fear or distrust, rather it was that of relief. The unrelenting noise of her classmates' as they advanced to her in their multitude made her nearly tear up.

"I-I'm fine, guys. I was just a little tired is all." She laughed, finally responding to the myriads of questions posed by her friends and acquaintances.

Among the crowd, her eyes caught Serah and Sam who gave her warm smiles. They nodded and gave a thumbs-up, making her nod in response.

Everything was fine!

As she looked around the classroom, her eyes caught another person. It was Mia, who sat by the edge at the forefront of the class. She could have sworn that the girl's eyes were on her for a slight second, but as soon as Ciara focused on her, Mia turned her face away.

'What's her deal?' Roxanne thought.

Perhaps Mia was feeling a burning rage within her, or a sense of frustration that things didn't go according to her plans.

'No matter what you do, Mia... you're not going to win!'

With this, Ciara enjoyed her break with everyone as they conversed and shared meals together... just as usual. Everyone except Mia.

*

*

*

"Ahhh, class is finally over!" Serah groaned in a loud voice as she flexed her arms while cracking her bones.

"It's always the same with you, Serah. You're always so impatiently waiting for us to finish." Sam smiled, shaking his head.

Ciara smiled as she sat beside her friends, waving the students who were leaving goodbye.

Ciara was not quite ready to leave the Lecture Hall yet.

"Are you still worried about what happened yesterday? I told you, neither of us heard anything about you on our way to class. I don't know how, but no one's talking about it." Serah said, looking at Roxanne with a reassuring face.

"It's true. I was quite surprised myself." Sam added.

Ciara wondered how that could happen. If it did, then there was only one person who could be responsible for it.

"Richard! He actually did it!"