When we arrived at the dining hall, Leon made his way towards a large table standing next to the windows, near the far side of the hall. Four others dressed in Academy uniforms were already sitting, three young men and a woman, and they seemed deep in conversation. As we walked closer, one of the men noticed us, before standing and smiling brightly at Leon and Sophia, though his expression cracked a bit when he saw me.

“Leon, Sophia, glad you made it! I don’t recognize your friend though, care to introduce me?” the man said, looking at me with a smile still on his face. He was tall and widely built, though it was hard to tell if it was from hard exercise or overeating, likely both if previous nobles were any indication.

“This is Vayne, a sponsored student from my father. He will be in our year as well, though I doubt we will share too many classes with him. He’s been spending a little too much time with his nose in books, so I dragged him down here.” Leon said, placing one hand on my shoulder as he spoke.

“Pleasure to meet you, my name is Theo Barclay.” the standing noble said, with a ringed hand extended. Gripping his hand, I winced a little when Theo squeezed tightly, confirming at least some of his mass was muscle.

As I took a seat, the other two men introduced themselves as Nicolai and Gunnar, while the woman was Grace. After ordering dinner, most of the table began discussing their expectations for classes, though I noted that Theo and Leon dominated most of the conversation.

After several minutes, I had begun to figure out the rough social structure of this group. Theo seemed to be the unofficial leader, in part because his father was a Marquess while the rest of the group descended from families lower on the noble hierarchy. He clearly felt slighted by Leon and Sophia, though he was careful to disguise his feelings behind a somewhat overly friendly demeanor. Theo seemed to make a point of cutting off or contradicting Leon, which I idly wondered was a representation of his envy for the Estton's position above him.

Nicolai was mostly neutral in his actions, deferring to Theo but still polite and friendly with none of Theo’s prideful demeanor. I learned quickly that his father was a simple Baron and he expected to become an Enchanter when he graduated, with no dreams of grandeur. Gunnar meanwhile seemed nervous and I suspected his subservience was due to fear and sycophantic loyalty. Likely he hoped Theo would help protect him, if he stayed close to the larger man.

Grace was a bit of an unknown, although I noticed she directed several glances towards Leon whenever she spoke that told me her motives were interested mainly in getting closer to the Duke-to-be. Most of the time, she spoke quietly with Sophia, though I did notice a sharp look in her eyes that suggested she was more observant than she let on. I also noticed with interest her hands had several thin scars on the fingers, though I had no idea what would have caused them.

“I’m most looking forward to Spell Casting and Dueling myself. I’ve heard that they start us off with practicing against targets, but the best students get a chance to compete for privileges in future semesters. That sounds much more enjoyable than alchemy or enchanting in my opinion. Sitting in a stuffy lab or library sounds much too boring for my tastes, though I suppose some of us don’t have much of a choice.” Theo said loudly, glancing in my direction for a reaction after the last sentence.

I suppressed a snort at that ham-fisted attempt of an insult. I had heard far worse from the Estton’s guards growing up and was more than capable of brushing off his words. Theo clearly was the type to use his hands as much as his brain and I knew better than to rise to his challenge. Even if I was a noble of equal standing, I was months away from being capable of fighting with either sword or magic and I had no interest ending up in the infirmary over a petty duel.

Instead, I smiled at his words and said “Truthfully, I am glad for the opportunity to repay the Esttons for their generosity. If they had not found me, I would likely be stuck on a farm, struggling to make enough money to weather the winter. By becoming an advisor for the Esttons, I will live a comfortable and honest life, without the risks most commoners face.”

Grace broke the tense silence that followed, saying “So, you haven’t seen your parents in years then? From what I’ve been told, sponsored Apprentices are taken away from their homes, right?” I noticed her tone was warm, at least compared to Theo’s, and she had a genuine smile on her face.

“Yes, the last time I saw them was over ten years ago, when one of the Duke’s men came to offer me a sponsorship. After my parents agreed, I was taken onto his estate to prepare for my time here at the Academy. I can only assume that they still live in the same village where I was born. I doubt they would have raised the funds to go somewhere else.” I answered, poking my food with a fork as I spoke.

I was already looking for a way to escape this conversation, and hoped desperately that the topic would turn away from me. While I had the ability to talk politely, I was introverted by nature and preferred to not be the center of attention. Thankfully, Leon seemed to sense my discomfort and interjected smoothly when there was a lull in the conversation.

“So, has anyone else gotten the chance to find their Mana yet? I have been practicing meditation like the Masters recommended, but I haven’t had any success so far. It’s more than a little frustrating, I don’t suppose any of you have done much better, maybe have some tips?” Leon said, looking around at the table.

Most of the table shook their head, but after a moment Sophia leaned forward a little and held out one hand. Closing her eyes, her face tightened and her lips pursed as she seemed to focus deeply. After a few seconds, a small amount of purple mist rose from her hand and hovered over her palm for a moment in a loose sphere, before dispersing into the air. Gasping, she opened her eyes and looked at her hand with a clenched jaw as the energy disappeared.

The rest of the table broke into congratulations for Sophia, and Leon himself was smiling brightly at his sister. I made a point of placing a small smile on my one face, but internally I swore fiercely as I thought back to my own attempts at controlling Mana. I had hoped I would be further ahead of the rest of the Apprentices, but Sophia was already at least as far along in her cultivation as me, maybe farther. She seemed to be able to externalize Mana consciously in seconds, a stage I had not yet reached.

While I was sure her Core and Channels were far smaller and likely weaker than my own, her control and focus was far beyond my own. It was likely Sophia was unusually skilled with Mana, but I had to assume there were more students than just her already at this point. I was already behind the rest of the Apprentices, and I could not allow that to continue, not if I wanted to escape the Esttons.

Looking at Sophia, I decided to try and carefully probe her for details on how far she was along in her training. Part of me knew it was a bad idea to compare myself to her, when I had entirely different strengths and advantages, but my curiosity got the better of me.

“I wish I was that skilled, I still have no idea where my Core is even after days of practice. How long did it take you to find your Mana?” I said, focusing on my initial failures to try and ground my lie in some truth.

Sophia glanced over at me with slightly widened eyes and I realized it was the first time I had ever directly spoken to her. After a moment, her eyes returned to her normally neutral expression and she replied.

“It took me two days of meditation to find my Core and another four to control my Mana enough to shape it like that. Try tea made from peppermint or chamomile to relax, it helped me center my mind.” Sophia said, and I noted with surprise her voice was softer than I would have expected.

Her suggestion was not particularly helpful, since I had abandoned meditation as a viable method to find my Core but it told me she was likely not much more advanced than me. I nodded thankfully at Sophia and finished my small meal in silence as the rest of the group began gossiping about nobles. I half-listened as they spoke and occasionally pitched in, but my thoughts kept turning to my own Mana cultivation.

After finishing my meal, I said my goodbyes to the group and instead of returning to my room, I decided to take a walk around the grounds outside the Academy. I needed some time to think and some fresh air may help me clear my head and focus my thoughts. Besides that, returning to my room would mean continuing my training and my annoyance at Sophia’s success was a distraction that I was unable to get off my mind.

As I walked, I considered my future and what was coming in the next few days. I would begin my official training soon and could actually start learning under the watchful eyes of Master. I felt a small shiver as I thought about it, though I was not sure if it was from excitement or fear. Despite my worries about my future, despite my concern that I would fail and suffer the same fate I saw in my visions, part of me was thrilled to be fulfilling a dream I had from when I was a small child.

Breaking me out of my musing was a small meowling sound, from the ground below me. Glancing down, I saw a pair of tiny golden eyes staring back at me from inside a thick ball of fur. Leaning down, I found myself face to muzzle with a tiny black cat, sitting calmly in the grass and looking up at me. The cat was young, likely still a kitten and appeared to be extremely thin and unhealthy.

“Well hello little buddy, now where did you come from?” I said gently, as I reached out with one hand. As soon as my hand came close, the kitten suddenly turned and bolted off into the grass at a surprisingly fast pace. Pausing for a moment as I debated with myself, I straightened up and started after the creature. While I was not an animal lover, I felt a bit of sympathy for this possibly starving animal.

I noticed as I jogged after the kitten that the edges of the Academy’s grounds had clusters of trees and bushes, likely the remnants of a forest that once stood where Volaris was built. As I came closer, I saw that the ground was covered in a dense coating of fallen leaves and dead branches. The kitten had stopped a few dozen feet away under one particularly large tree, and was now daintily licking one paw, without an apparent care in the world.

I slowly approached the ball of fluff, with my hands raised and said “Easy there, no need to go running off again.”

I moved at an agonizingly slow pace, getting within ten feet, then five until eventually I was within arms reach of the kitten. As I reached down and picked it up, I could see a small depression in the ground a few feet ahead of where I knelt. Leaning closer, I suddenly heard a muffled crack and I felt my feet begin to slide down into the darkness below me.

As we fell, I felt my back be torn open from sharp rocks embedded in the ground and did my best to shield the kitten in my arms and closed my eyes tightly. When we came to a sliding halt, I opened my eyes and found myself in a large cave of some sort, dimly lit by the waning sunlight above. Staring back the way we came, I could see a hole at the top of a steep slope, fifty feet long at least. My new friend began meowing and squirming, and after it’s claws dug into my hand I dropped it onto the ground with a wince.

“Last time I help out an unfamiliar animal.” I said with a grimace as I looked at the scratches covering my fingers.

The black cat began to walk forward, deeper in the cave towards an opening a few dozen feet away.I knew there was no chance I could climb back up to that opening, and I doubted anyone would find me down here before I died of starvation or water deprivation. My only real choice was to head forward, and hope there was another way back up to the surface that way. After a minute of agonizing indecision, I began walking after the kitten and into the darkness in front of me.