The Hunter Mage

CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX

Vernon managed to finish his meal without losing any part of it as the rest of the students gathered around Marvis and he gave them tips. "Where are you going?" He asked suddenly, Vernon would have sworn the temperature in the cafeteria went down by a lot of degrees.

"I am hungry." A tired voice said. It was Boy and from the sound of his voice, one could tell he was nowhere near the crowd.

Vernon stopped whatever he was doing and paid attention. How did Marvis know exactly where Boy was? Apparently, he was not the only one who made the discovery as excited gasps erupted from all sides and questions were thrown at him.

"How did you know where he was?" One of the students asked.

"You can see him?" Another asked, this was way louder than the first.

Marvis laughed, "No I cannot. I can only sense and see his mana which gives me an idea of where he is."

"Can you sense my mana too?"

"Yes, I can."

"Oh, how can you tell it is mine?" She pestered, enjoying the attention.

"Because each Mana feels and looks different. A couple of times the difference isn't too much but there are always distinct traits that set aside one's Mana from another."

"Really? What's the difference between mine and his?" She asked and pointed to a random boy that stood right next to her.

"Yours is denser," he said with a smile.

Vernon jerked his head up. Denser? Denser did not make much sense to him. He was just about to voice his confusion when someone else beat him to it.

"What do you mean by denser?"

Something flashed across Marvis's face but Vernon couldn't read it and as Marvis opened his mouth to answer, Boy's voice echoed in the cafeteria. "Marvis," he called. "We have to go."

Marvis did not answer immediately instead he looked down and smiled at the student before he began walking away. "It was so nice to meet you all," he said when he got to the door.

He gave a mock now before the three of them made their way out. Of course, Vernon was only guessing that it was the three of them for all they knew Boy could have stayed behind.

The bell that would signal they could leave the cafeteria did not ring immediately the Unmagic left and Vernon figured it was to give them enough time to leave the premises before the student flooded the halls.

There was no doubt that it was already way past the usual time they go for training. Vernon had barely completed his train of thought when the bell rang out. Vernon jerked in fright even though he knew it was coming but for some reason, he thought it sounded louder than usual.

The rush that followed at the bell was instantaneous. The clashing of plates and creaking of wood as people rushed out of their seats as they tried to make their way out to the door.

Vernon did not rush, he had learned the hard way that there really was no point trying to rush out first except for the sole reason that you rushed out first. There was no penalty for being the last to leave yet, the rush was a constant phenomenon irrespective of the day.

He gave the rush a full minute before he stood up from his table where he alone remained and began to slowly make his way out of the cafeteria. Usually, the boys go out at the same time as him or at least Nevil and Dev but today it was just him. He figured they were all trying to catch the Unmagic but even he knew the chances of that were very slim.

He eventually got to the courtyard, too fast in his opinion. Everybody was already in their place and he joined them. Not long after they started their usual routines, he heard excited shrieks from the people in his groups.

The shrieks were followed by pointing and Vernon looked in the direction and there he saw the unmagic literally a couple of feet away. They were in the other group next to them and there was no doubt they were the next.

Vernon tried not to think about their presence and he had so many questions. One being, why now? And the other was to what end? He had been at the academy for a while now and today was the day the Unmagic chose to prance around. It just didn't make any sense to him and it made him think if there was more to it.

They soon arrived at their group in a short time and the crowd went wild. Girls screaming and the boys literally doing the same thing. Vernon just stood on the edge as he usually did. He wasn't much help to the group and considering his magic skills had not expanded much he was literally just shoved aside.

Marvis gave a long speech that Vernon tried listening to but found that he zoned out just before he could get the message. He finally stopped trying to concentrate and just studied Marvis and the rest of the g**g that he could see of course.

Lae was pretty tall, for some reason Vernon could tell she was the tallest of the group. She had long hair which was tied up in a ponytail, she was also pretty slim but there was no denying that she was pretty.

She had freckles on her cheeks and eyes that seemed to stare into your soul. She was the most quiet of the lot, he did not think he had heard her say a single word even when she was being introduced all she did was wave.

Marvis on the other hand was broader and hit some reason Vernon could tell he was older too. He was not as tall as Lae was but Vernon would not call him short. His hair was the strangest thing about it. It looked unkempt and stood out in strands.

His face on the other hand didn't stand out, there was nothing distinct about it except his cheekbones which seemed pretty high. His fair was dirty brown and it matched the color of his eyes though Vernon was not close enough to tell for sure but he had caught a glimpse of it at the cafeteria. It was some pretty dark brown.

Thankfully, Marvis did not speak for too long and he was on to the next group. According to what he had grasped, Marvis had basically given tips on magic and how to preserve Mana. It had taken a little bit of scolding from Pam to get the group back in order but eventually, she succeeded.