The next day, Haku prepared something, hoping perhaps foolishly that it might actually help the students. It worked in all those fantasy novels with transmigrators, so why not here?
He'd spent the night memorizing student names and family backgrounds. It was a long shot, but bluffing had worked so far. And if this latest scheme failed, he already had fallback plans: claim the students needed more time to "fully internalize the concepts" to get results. That should buy him at least a week.
He stood before his class, a mix of teenagers and young adults. Some were slouched in their seats, others whispered among themselves. One was definitely picking their nose.
"Hello, students," Haku began, voice solid and calm, immediately cutting through the chatter. "My name is Haku, and I'll be your instructor for... uh... Practical Applications of Magic."
'Comeon, you practiced this in the mirror all night—don't choke now.'
A girl with sharp eyes and dark curls raised her hand, unimpressed. "What exactly does that mean?" she asked. Her voice had that polished confidence only an old family name could breed. "Isn't that just spellcasting? We're hailed as some of the best in the Empire. We know how to cast spells."
Haku swallowed. "You must be Isabella. Lyra mentioned you. From an old line of mages, right?"
She didn't react, but Haku noticed a flicker of surprise at her name being known.
"Great question," he continued smoothly. "What this class will focus on isn't how to cast, but why magic works. We'll be digging into that 'why' and using it to make your spells more efficient, more powerful."
He turned to the blackboard behind him and, with a theatrical flourish, drew a familiar chart.
"This," he announced, "is the Periodic Table of Elements."
A groan rolled through the class like a wave. Eyes were rolled. A noble-looking boy in the back, eyes black hair, perfect posture, snorted.
"Some kind of math assignment gone wrong?" Ricardo muttered.
Haku forced a smile. "Not garbage, Ricardo. This is the blueprint of the universe. The building blocks of matter. If you don't understand these, how can you hope to understand the magic that manipulates them?"
He pointed to the 'H' symbol. "Hydrogen. The most abundant element in existence. Think of it as a unique force, very reactive, eager to bond. Then we have Carbon, the backbone of all life..." He kept talking, trusting in muscle memory from half-remembered high school lessons.
Isabella leaned back, arms crossed. "So you're saying magic is just... chemistry?"
"Not just chemistry," Haku said quickly. "But understanding chemistry enhances your magical control. It refines intuition into precision." Total bluff. But it sounded good.
'Please let this work. I'm in way too deep now.'
He pressed on, explaining atoms, reactions, and magical interfaces. More people trickled in, teachers, curious to see the rumored transfer instructor from "who-knows-where."
Snide comments whispered from the back didn't stop Haku. He focused, voice steady.
Among the observing crowd stood Lyra, watching intently. Haku didn't see her, but she noticed something the others didn't: the pattern behind his madness. If what he was saying was even partly true, then he was offering a framework that could potentially unravel the current understanding of magic itself.
"As you can see," Haku said, casually, "these are just basic principles. Nothing unusual."
A few instructors exchanged looks of curiosity, creeping in where there had been scorn. Professor Lyra was the first to speak.
"Are you suggesting that understanding these elements can enhance spellcasting?"
Several faculty turned sharply to hear his answer, their expressions blade-sharp.
"It depends on the caster," Haku replied with a confident smirk. "But it certainly won't hurt."
'Looks like they bought it.'
Among them, a woman with a tight bun and an even tighter scowl stepped forward. Professor Elena. Haku heard of her, the Transfiguration instructor, famous for her talent and infamous for her envy.
"What's going on here?" she demanded, voice brittle with contempt. "This class is supposed to be practical, not theoretical. Where's your proof?"
"Just wait, Elena," Lyra said with amusement. "It's his first day. Haku's setting up the foundation."
"Exactly," Haku added. "You wouldn't expect someone to write a book before learning the alphabet."
He turned back to the board and began outlining the basic requirements to create a controlled fireburst: the right fuel, the stable oxygen ratio, and a method to stretch burn time without increasing fuel consumption.
"Alright," he said. "Someone tell me what happens when oxygen reacts with fuel?"
A long silence.
"Umm… air?" a student ventured.
Haku blinked. "Close. But not quite. Let's walk through it."
Bit by bit, he led them to the answer. Then came the assignment: use what they'd just learned to generate a controlled spark.
Thirty minutes passed.
Nothing.
Professor Elena's lips curled, clearly ready to strike. But just then..
"I did it!" someone cried.
A girl with blond hair and intense eyes stood up, sparks dancing across her fingertips.
"Oh! Sorry, professor. I'm Sofia. I did what you said, focused on the ratios and the elements, and… it worked."
'Thank the gods of terrible transmigrator novels.'
Sofia flexed her fingers. "It's… smoother. Not forced like normal magic. Like it's flowing."
Gasps followed. Even Ricardo was now fully engaged, brows furrowed in concentration.
Professor Elena looked like she'd tasted something bitter. She muttered something about luck and placebo. But Haku saw the ripple he'd started.
He exhaled.
It was working.