5 Introduction

After classes dismissed, it was getting a bit late, evening was slowly coming upon the academy.

I was out of the beautiful historical building of the class sector, and now walking down the road that had numerous lush gardens and beautifully scented butterflies. It was honestly the best part of the academy seen so far.

On my way to the boy's dorm concerns as to the composition of my roommate came to mind, there was no apparent clue on who it was or how they'd act.

Belitha wasn't present, the first time since entering the academy a week ago on orientation, it was time to get fully accommodated into the school. As such, she searched for her lodge, while I did mine.

Looking closely at a paper which had the details concerning my dormitory, where exactly was I now? No reliable answer for that, then a possible clue in terms of this elusive dormitory popped up, whether or not it was a red-herring needn't cause bother.

From walking, to running with excitement. The cause for excitement anent to who the roommate might be.

The paper was crumpled up into a ball and and my bag occasionally bouncing up and down whilst I ran like the wind.

Dashing past a girl caused air in motion to lift up her skirt a bit. However, she wore long stockings that protected her decency.

A watering can was in her grasp, and after her quick but not so dramatic gasp came forth, the running stopped which prompted an abrupt halt. There were dust trails similar to a drifting car ceasing motion.

Sorry about that, she deserved an apology, one politely conveyed. "My apologies, I didn't see you there.." perfect.

But the damsel in uniform didn't take any offense, rather she smiled gently saying that it was all right.

She also expressed how impressive it was to be running so quickly, commenting my physique that is to say.

She possessed flowing blonde hair that reaches down to her shoulder blades with her bangs covering her left eye.

She had a lot of feline features, having yellow eyes with vertically slitted pupils and pronounced, cat-like teeth. Wearing a standard Excelsior uniform but without the tie.

She also wore a beige sweater under her uniform coat. The cuffs of the sweater poked out of her uniform jacket and covered the palms of her hands.

"Are you an incoming student?" it was only natural she'd ask such, since she was also in the senior division but gained admission a year ago to the day, it was obvious.

I replied to her formally by placing my right hand on my thorax, before telling her my name with a rigid voice. "Oh! You're Nyx Besimios?" she sounded like she'd heard of me, which prompted the question of how this came to be.

But naturally, it was the answer anyone would expect. As the academyʼs first Cross and someone who passed the written exams with a 0, it brought a disreputable image.

Inspite of that I vividly expressed how honored I was when she said this, bowing my head for a short while.

She introduced herself as Grendeeny Steiner. Feel free to call me "Grendeeny." is what she said if I remember correctly. I did just that, to which she reciprocated the favour by referring to me as Nyx.

We parted ways right after but on very good terms, honestly, I was admittedly astonished as to how down-to-earth the elegant lady was. She in no way undermined me simply because of my magicless situation. Instead, believing it was a sign of uniqueness.

Meeting her some time soon won't be bad.

[ Some few hours later... ]

Although late, I finally made it to my dorm room. "Pardon me." I uttered, making my way into the dimly lit room. Behold, a ginger haired boy doing push-ups.

We were the same age, but he was endowed with muscles that were impressive enough to shame a man early into his thirties.

He only wore a black tight underwear in which the part covering his buttocks sunk into his butt creek. It was later discovered that he'd frequently called them "butt huggers" which was a bit unpleasant.

The muscular fellow paused, "I've been waiting for you, Nyx Besimios." he stood up to take a swig of his protein drink, wiped the few that trickled down his jaws and exhaled a sigh of satisfaction.

Sweat ran down his chest, proof that he'd been doing these push-ups for a while now. He looked so serious, and this made me a bit nervous but my face was incapable of showing that. I closed the door behind me having walked in.

Unfortunately, this was infact the right dorm.

"You're Alaric Stronghold?" I had to be sure, that was my only reason for asking. All of a sudden, he requested I call him "Al". Oh? What a pleasant surprise, the second time someone's been so welcoming since I've been here, I appreciated his invitation.

Still, he was wearing that very serious look on his face. "I'm not like those noble kids. I don't care if you're a Cross." he took strong energetic steps towards me. Expressing that there was only one thing he believed in, before extending his arm for a handshake.

I only wasted a second before accepting his handshake. As our hands tightly grasped each other I witnessed him smirk for the first time, "I knew it! That's a nice grip you got there soldier!" is what he told me.

I was just as impressed and because of this I took off my shirt and we stood there smiling at each other in silence, "Men!" we both said in unison with a slightly bass voice. "You've got some nice bulk." I told him, and Alaric replied "Not so bad yourself, Soldier." it looked a bit weird, but when in Rome, acts like the Romans.

It was such a quick and warm welcome into the dorm room, that night I didn't just gain a friend, I'd also gained a brother. Brotherhood! It's simply beautiful!

[ The next day... ]

In uniforms, discussing an encounter I had with a certain beautiful lady in lush gardens, Alaric and I were heading for classes.

"Steiner? That's one of the top three noble families!" I didn't know much of Nobility, I was adopted so that privilege is barely given to me by others. My confusion as to what he meant by one of the three noble families was obvious.

He didn't fail to give a good response although he was surprised I didn't know of them to begin with. "Lunette, Steiner and Zelgrydn. Those are the three families as powerful as the royal family, with just as much influence over politics, the economy and everything else in the country." a concise explanation of who they were.

It also meant Rosemarie was one of this powerful nobilities. The eldest daughter of the Lunette House, the highest of the three.

She's got spotless integrity, high morals and first-rate magic skills. She's a genuine born-and-bred lady. That much I could tell.

Our pace increased, first period was practical weapon control.

We'd have to change, so getting there early saves us time in between.

From orientation we'd already learnt that our teacher [Aleksander Kazamir] for practical weapon control was no pushover so punctuality was key.

We were almost there, at the training field where students, boys and girls as a whole would meet and commence first period. We had no idea what was waiting for us, but it was going to be a treat.

After we changed, and made our way into the training field, some students were ready for class and Aleksander himself wasn't even present.

It already made students have low expectations of him. Wasn't he the one who said punctuality should be valued? And now he isn't here? That's an absolute bummer.

Somehow, I reacted first to the somewhat sinister energy we sensed, there was something intimidating that approached us.

This caused worry among the students, having sensed it five seconds before they did, was by no means a small feat. 'What is this energy?' I asked myself, because no one else knew the answer.

There was a surge of energy across my body I'd never sensed before, a feeling of life for a moment.

My eyes could perceive a leyline of mana, something that shouldn't be possible, even the difference in mana as they varied by colour and the different people who had it. How come?

It was like a quantum understanding of mana, my eyes could see what the normal eyes could not, the purest form of mana, but why was this?

No idea, but still, the sinister energy drew closer...