"Are you sure you know what you're doing, Markus?"

Markus turned to his childhood friend and flashed a bright smile. “Of course I do, Lily.” He projected optimism into his voice, though it did nothing to relieve his friend’s worried gaze.

It was hard lying to a friend, even if it was for a good reason. He must not have been very convincing, since she pouted for a moment longer and turned to look at the southwest portion of the academy. Glancing at the shadows, she hesitated but walked away briskly.

Markus waved goodbye and turned toward his other friend. Tyler's gaze was more leveled, though he thought he spied a hint of concern as well. “Was I not convincing enough?”

“We all read the same student manual. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what’s going to happen. Need help?”

Markus shook his head. “No, you go and escort Lily to her classroom. Yours is near there too, so you should have plenty of time. Unless you need help moving?”

He looked down at his friend's waist and mentally cringed. He could already see tiny blood spots forming on his uniform. Undoubtedly, his wounds were already starting to bleed again from just simple movements. Usually, that wouldn’t be a problem, but now...

Tyler shrugged and turned to follow Lily. “I’ll calm Lily down. Just don’t make too many enemies the first week of school.”

Markus chuckled as Tyler jogged to catch up to Lily. ‘Not make enemies. This whole system is designed to make enemies.’

There was still time before the bell rang, so Markus started walking randomly in the same direction as Lily and Tyler. He mentally eyed the campus and nodded to himself as he found good sleeping spots practically everywhere he looked. Rolling hills, shady trees, and clearly marked paths; this matched what he though school would look like. Of course, the buildings should be closer in his personal opinion, but that didn’t matter much overall.

He stopped by a grove of trees and a small trickling stream. He blinked as he felt the mana in the air. It felt reminiscent of the forest. A large boulder sat in the middle of the stream, and he mentally marked it as a great place to doze. Reading a book there would also be good, but since he hadn’t figured out how to access the Library yet, he promised himself that he would use that spot one day..

Still, even with the school buildings spread apart, there were plenty of students meandering about. No doubt most of them were heading to the coveted free classes, or perhaps they were heading to do missions. After all, he spied a few older students in full gear wandering the campus as well.

He walked back to the main path and adjusted his gait and slowed to a more comfortable pace. Adjusting his shield and sword belt, it was time to get to business. ‘...let’s see. Five, four, three, two, one…’. Walking past a grove of shade trees, he pulled his mana into a thread and hid it in the shadows of the tree, and quickly pulled it tight as he adjusted his shield straps on his shoulder.

He knew it wasn't the most covert application of the skill, nor the right way to use [Mana Shaping], but while his Aunt Zenith only taught the theoretical applications of it, Aunt Paige and Uncle Nick had quickly found some unusual, yet practical, applications for his skill set.

A slight tug on his core told him that his mana had indeed interacted with something and a crash behind him told him his plan had worked. Quickly releasing his mana, he turned in mock surprise as papers floated to the ground behind him. A girl, probably a few years older than Lily, was sitting on the ground, her hands covering her knee. Her blue hair was tied into a simple ponytail, while her uniform was not the standard Mage outfits, rather instead of a pure white shirt, it was tinted a sky blue instead, and her dress went down to her feet. Books were sprawled out around her, no doubt the ones she had been holding just moments ago. And yet, he idly noted, her hand was still grasping a metal wand.

Turning around, he grabbed the papers out of the air as he watched his surroundings. It didn’t seem anyone noticed his little trick, which was good. And yet… hardly anyone was helping her either. Grabbing what was clearly a cover page to a report out of the air, he spied the girl’s info, Alice Matthes, year four, written across the upper right of the paper.

‘Thank god! A senior mage!’ Markus cheered in his heart as he scored big. She would definitely have the information he needed!

“You okay?” Markus asked with about as much emotion he could fake.

Alice looked up and carefully scrutinized him, looking at or for something he didn’t know. It was odd, and very awkward, but she soon blinked and broke out into a smile, her words tinged with relief. “I’m good. Thank you for your help.”

'Her reaction was weird. Intuition?' Markus thought to himself. “I’m Markus. I just got here.”

“I know. You’re one of the new freshmen on campus this semester. I heard from the information brokers that you’re pretty good with a sword,” Alice said.

That set alarms off in his head. He hardly liked the idea of someone recording his movements and abilities. Still, it was inevitable on some levels. Holding his hand out, he helped Alice up before stooping down to grab the books on the ground. He stopped to read the title of one of them. “Force Multiplication of Mana Compression? What does that even mean?”

Alice grabbed the book gently out of his hands. “It means, you haven’t advanced enough to recognize a good topic from a bad one.” Alice eyed the shadows around her and impatiently held out a hand for her stuff.

“Cut me some slack, I’m an Apprentice Swordsman, not a Mage,” Markus grumbled as he handed her the books and papers. “What teacher teaches that, anyways?”

“Educator Myra Eyler. She’s one of the foremost experts on amplifying attacks for large scale conflicts.”

“...meaning?”

Alice rolled her eyes. “One can change a simple [Fireball] into a [Firewall] with the same mana consumption. She’s on the forefront of this research.”

That sounded like a great thing, but Markus just rolled his eyes. Just like with any magic that was powerful, there was probably something detrimental about it. With how many people learned [[Mana Compression]], Markus could already guess it was a one-spell-per-battle kind of spell.

Now, if it was as good as his aunt's spell, he'd have to start rethinking how to fight Mages in the future.

And every teacher was probably the best on some topic here. Still, there was no sense being snarky, and he needed to be polite to get information. He eyed her posture and looked into her eyes. “Well, it sounded like a hard fall. Is your knee in bad shape? How about I carry your books and you can tell me how to get into that Teacher’s good graces.”

Alice hesitated, but only until Markus calmly stated, “You’ll probably be late if you don’t run, and it’ll be hard for you with that much stuff in your hands.”

“What about you?” Alice said, her voice laced heavily with suspicion.

“I’m an Apprentice Swordsman. I’m used to carrying stuff. And my class is being held in the south eastern testing grounds, Obstacle Avoidance 101.”

“...why would you need to take that Class?”

That question hurt. “My base Class is Swordsman. I’m hoping to improve my focus during close combat engagements. It seemed like an obvious choice.” Markus sighed as he saw Alice’s doubtful face. It was like most people didn’t bother with the basics. Why was it so hard to lie about stuff? Still, he had signed up to take that class, so it wasn’t a total lie.

Alice hesitated, but shoved her supplies into his hands and took off at a slight jog. He was glad that he hadn’t hurt her too much. After all, it wasn’t his plan to get other people involved.

“Okay, I suppose that class is relatively closeby,” Alice said with a huff.

“My friend says it’s right outside the Magic Theory building. I’ll just jump out of a window and I'll practically be there. No big deal.”

Markus lied and transitioned toward his preset questions. “So, how do you get into the good graces of the Magic Teachers here? My girlfriend said most Teachers wouldn’t let her get a spot in the Classes she wanted.”

Girlfriend. Ha! His aunt would kill him if he tried fooling around. But from what he remembered with his Uncle, it all came down to semantics. Make it broad enough and any lie was able to pass intuition based Skills. Hell, half his party was girls, which made it that much simpler!

Alice took her time answering, a frown on her face. “Well, there wasn’t a whole lot of information from the information brokers about the magic test results. The Educators in charge put a gag order on it for some reason, and threatened expulsion.

“But, if your party member had a recommendation from an upperclassman, it would be a good start for her around here.”

Markus nodded. It was a good start. “Mhmm, and what about the Library?”

Alice stayed quiet and turned her head. He measured her breath and found she was starting to heave with exhaustion. “You have an awful lot of questions for a new student.”

Markus shrugged. “Call it payment for goodwill.”

They stayed quiet as they rounded around a bend in the path and headed for a building set away from the main path.

The students were thinning out now, from what Markus could tell. Of course, if his memory served him correctly, that building was mainly for more advanced classes. A slight tug at his feet slowed him for a fraction of a step, but he soon regained his usual stride. He looked at the shadows on the ground and frowned for a split second before schooling his expression. “So… library access?”

Alice slowed to catch her breath. They would make it inside the building before the bell rang, at the rate they were going. “You need to be at least a second year student. Or have an Educator’s access card. And those are usually only given to their own Students.”

“Hm, tough.” Markus halfheartedly said. That wasn’t really a problem for him. He just had to get his Aunt to give him permission. Heck, he hardly had to go through this whole charade if that was the solution. Now he just felt bad for what was about to happen.

"Well, this was a fun excursion, but we really should be heading our respective ways. If you need any help with anything, just ask around for 'Tempest Mages.' You'll find me eventually."

He eyed the shadows and sighed. 'Sooner than you think, really.' Handing her books over, he looked around and counted the people around them. This was going to be tougher than he thought.

Alice looked at the shadow and walked toward the door. "You'd better get going, kid."

"Hey, how'd you know I was an official student? What were you looking for?"

Alice reached for the door and turned her head back. "Secr-" The doors shut with an audible bang as she reached for it. The large bell overhead rang aloud. Alice stood in shock as she tested the now locked doors.

"Well, well. Look who's out after the bell. Hello, Alice."

Markus sighed to himself as the ambush closed in. By his count, it was twelve people against one Mage and a Swordsman. No, he amended, since they had known her name, they were twelve fourth year students by the feel of it.

According to the student handbook, he only had to fight twice a day to skip all the rest of his classes. So he had mentally prepared to fight a few people, maybe even ambush a team to start the fight… but not a well coordinated group like this. And definitely not out in the open either.

He could hear Alice dropping her research notes by the locked door. "Jerome. I heard that you got a Dark Mage on your team…. [[Shade Curtain]] then. So he also did that trap, huh? And I told Matt just yesterday that was a stupid Skill to learn," Alice said quietly. Markus could feel the ambient mana started to flow toward her steadily. In fact, it was slightly on par with Lily, which was weird to see.He narrowed his eyes as he felt the mana moving. 'It's not [Mana Sense], but the way it's gatheri-'

The mana around him suddenly stilled as he stepped away. '...compressing, not gathering. So that's what [Mana Compression] feels like!'

It was fairly noticeable to anyone who was sensitive to mana. Even worse, her hair was starting to glow too, a sure sign of mana leakage. Or maybe it was compressing so much she started to lose control over it?. Either way, he eyed Alice and adjusted his battle plans. Either her mana core was pathetically small for a Mage, or she was holding onto an excessive amount of mana.

Markus turned to evaluate the two parties surrounding them and furrowed his brows in frustration. All of his Aunt's lessons in identifying opponent's Classes left him unprepared here. Sure, some of it was straightforward, like the crossbow held on a few people's hand, but even some Warriors had a wand, or three! His eyes stopped on who he thought was Jerome and shook his head. 'How troublesome!' A tower shield in one hand, and a large blunt club in the other, he was clearly a close combat class, and yet… he was wearing a Mage outfit! '...well, Aunt Zenith said a Mage should always equip themselves to harness more mana. Could that club be a staff in disguise?'

He stepped to the side and eyed Alice to his side. "Hey, uh, Alice. Is that Jerome guy a Mage or a Warrior? Cause his entire outfit is a bloody mess."

He might have said it a tad too loud, because everyone looked at him oddly. He could hear the mirth in Alice's voice as she answered nervously. "He's trying to become a Mage Knight."

Markus looked back and shook his head in disbelief. 'What is everyone's deal with advancing like that? Does no one even bother to master their actual Class?' That went against everything he was taught. And yet… it still highly tempted him to try that as well. Just imagining the possibilities, especially with his particular ocean of options, was making his heart beat faster.

Jerome stepped forward, his face set in a grimace."Boy. How about you drop your weapon and give up peacefully. No reason for you to be beaten close to death on your first day. Especially when you aren't in an allied party."

Allied party? New terms, new information. Markus frowned. Just how much did Aunt Zenith neglect to teach him? "Hey Alice," he asked quietly, "how much can they get away with?"

Her mana was holding steady, though he knew it would start decreasing within minutes. He had to have more information before the battle started in earnest. She sidestepped away. "Well… he'd be right at the limit. Why? You scared to fight?"

Her hands were shaking, Markus noted idly. But he shrugged. "I'm a realist. What do I get from repelling them?" Alice's look of disbelief was uncomfortable, but he wasn't here to fight senior students. Not when he didn't know anything about them. Or, as Aunt Paige aptly put it, 'No gains, no pains.'

"...three spells, of any element. For your girlfriend."

"Hm?" Markus turned.

"Three spells. Battle tested against Lesser Monsters and below to at least maim."

That might have been a tempting option, if he wasn’t a Swordsman; had a typical elemental affinity; and actually had a girlfriend. And if his aunt wasn’t a Magic Teacher herself either. But it was Jerome’s offer that was surprising.

"I'll let you keep your status as a student, boy. I'll even swear it on my Party's name. Just walk away. This here…" Jerome said with a sneer, "is personal.”

Jerome’s eyes were only on Alice. The air was distorted around him too. But his hair wasn’t glowing. He must have had more control over his mana than Alice.

Markus narrowed his eyes as he glanced at the Mages. It was hard to notice standing close to Alice, but only a few of the mages were gathering their mana. In fact, as he mentally calculated the distances between his opponents, it was clear that most were just there as moral support. Markus’s eyes narrowed. ‘Is that what he meant by allied parties?’

In a situation like this, there was only one thing to do. Nodding to himself, Markus raised his hands and walked forward. “Okay. Well, I’ll just stand over here then.”

“W-what!” Alice panicked behind him. Jerome eyed him oddly, as though he hadn’t expected Markus to actually take his offer.

“It’s too troublesome to fight this many people at once. And his deal sounds solid...Sorry?”

“Hmph. No one to save you this time, Alice. And your precious Mentor is having class right now. Let’s see you get out of this one.”

Markus stopped and turned, his eyes wary as he scanned his surroundings. Not all Teachers taught during the same period. His mind raced furiously. ‘That must be why they are so confident about beating us close to death. The teachers must step in if we are in danger. And if that is the case, then... That means Aunt Zenith could be watching. And if she tells Aunt Paige what I just did…’

Markus screamed a curse as he jumped back towards Alice. It was one thing to step aside when there were no witnesses to report back to his family, but he knew there would be “training” in store for him if word of his actions got around to the wrong person.

Reaching into his sleeves, he flicked his hand forward and furiously pushed his mana out of his core. The small bone dart flashed through the air… right into Jerome’s shield.

He was good, Markus realized. The bone dart was aimed at his knee, though how he had tracked the dart was unknown. Markus tsked in displeasure as he flicked more darts toward the other ranged combatants.

“Get ready to ru- shit!” Markus rotated and crouched low as the first fireball slammed onto his shield still strapped to his back. He staggered as the blow lifted him off his feet and onto the cobbled stone. Curling his shoulders, he winced as he fell wrong and twisted sharply, dodging the crossbow bolt that sparked on the stone streets. He knew that he had to get rid of Archers’ line of sight before even more crossbow bolts started flying! Feeling his mana in the air, Markus dodged once more before he flung his arm out. A beam of blue appeared before him, and he instinctually shoved his cloud of mana surging ahead. “[Dark Mist]!”

The world darkened for a moment before he turned and ran, hoping that his allied partner hadn’t moved.