The princess was supposed to be alone in area 1, because it was reserved for royalty like herself, and people who directly served the king. When she got there she didn’t have anything else to do for a while, so she sat on the floor with her legs together and enjoyed the alone time. When she heard someone approaching, she was surprised. Her eyes opened and she looked at the tall boy with white hair. He wore simple clothes which weren’t too pricey, but they were better than rags. The first thing she noticed was that his face was a little flush and he was staring right at her, admiring even.

After a few seconds something changed, the admiration was gone and it was replaced by a look of shock. I know him. The familiarity was bothering her. Where had she seen someone like this? Why can’t I figure out why I know him? All of the sudden she had a flashback to her birthday. The scene of a boy writhing in agony was imprinted in her mind. But shouldn’t he have black hair? Her memory was hazy due to the exhaustion of her magical power right after forging the contract. The only thing she could remember after the end of his ceremony was the fierceness of the dragon tattoo, and the fear her contracted beast felt.

“It really is him.” The griffin confirmed. “My dear Lux, you should take this opportunity to get on his good side. It’s likely that at the moment he’s being restricted by his secret, and is very paranoid. What a perfect opportunity for you!”

“What secret, Salus? Why would he be paranoid about it?” Lux didn’t understand why being contracted so such a powerful beast could be seen as a negative.

“My dear, I’ve lived a long time and have made many contracts, the consensus was always the same whenever there was a hint of darkness magic left after a failed ceremony. It’s… unnatural, and unstable. There’s a high chance for the king to order his execution if he ever found out.” Salus’s words carried pity. Instead of fearing the boy, she felt bad for him.

“Isn’t he a threat to everyone? Why wouldn’t we want him dead if he could end the kingdom?” Lux couldn’t wrap her mind around wanting to keep such a dangerous existence around. But the more she thought about it the more it made sense. He doesn’t seem to be evil, or capable of slaughtering everyone like a demon. Did I just say he should die because of something that was out of his control?

A mix of shame and regret left a complicated expression on her face. After a few seconds she looked right at the boy and said “Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me. I am Lux Justitia, 5th princess of the Kingdom, pleased to be re-acquainted with you.”

A look of relief washed over his face. He immediately got down on one knee before speaking. “I am Noctis. I appreciate your highness’s consideration about this matter. And I thank you for saving my life that day.” She began to walk towards him as he spoke.

“Please stand, you’re embarrassing me.” She offered her hand to him and continued, “Since you’re in area 1 you’re guaranteed to enter the academy. We’ll be classmates in the future, so I would like you to address me as such. No more of this ‘your highness’ stuff while we’re at the academy. Simply call me Lux.” I wasn’t treated like royalty for most of my life anyway.

He accepted her hand and stood up. He continued to hold her hand afterwards, causing her to blush. “... Could you let go now?”

Noctis quickly retracted his hand. “Ah! I’m so sorry, your high-” She started to glare at him. It’s always your highness or princess. Am I a person, or only a title holder? Is my name only for show? “S-sorry… Lux.” When she finally heard her own name come out of someone else’s mouth she smiled.

Another set of footsteps entered the area, drawing the attention of both teens. It was the proctor that lifted the boy by the face earlier, Alicia. “Little Lux it looks like it’s just you and -” She stopped in her tracks as soon as her eyes fell on Noctis “I guess not.”

“Don’t look so sad, Alicia, this is Noctis, he’s… a friend.”

“Why did you hesitate? Is he threatening you? No, such a weak looking kid won’t be able to do anything to you. Hey, you, why are you so close to her? It’s a little improper to stand that close to the princess, don’t you think?” She continued to bombard him with question after question while approaching slowly.

She’s in complete mother bear mode. Lux was horrified, just when she was finally able to talk to someone her age and convince them not to call her princess or your highness, here came Alicia to scare him away. She stepped in between her and Noctis. “Alicia, he’s really not threatening me. He’s really my friend it just felt weird to say. Alright?” She turned around to Noctis. “This is Alicia, she’s been teaching me how to fight for the past couple years. She’s also going to be our proctor for the test we automatically pass.”

Alicia didn’t move anymore, but didn’t stop glaring at him. “Proctor Alicia, it-it’s a pleasure to meet you. I watched what you did to that noble bra-kid earlier. I thought it was cool.”

“Save it kid, flattery won’t get you anywhere, especially since you’re already here.” Noctis would have died yet another death if looks could kill. It was clear she didn’t like him all that much for taking her time with the princess away. “Well, since this seems to be all that’s going to be in this area, we might as well start the test. Since your entrance is guaranteed, this is just to measure where your current power is. First I’ll get someone to generate two earth dummies, and then after that…” Her eyes rolled back, trying to think of something that could entertain her for a bit. “You two will spar.”

“What? Spar? What if I hurt her?” Noctis didn’t want to be executed if something went wrong. Alicia promptly responded by bursting into a fit of laughter.

“Hah, phew, it’s been a while since I’ve laughed that hard. Oh boy. Listen kid, if you’re able to touch a singular hair on her head, let alone land a hit, I’ll ask Lieutenant General Gaius to personally oversee your one on one combat training.” She wiped the tears from her eyes and turned around to leave. “I’ll be back in a minute. Don’t run away now.”

After she exited Lux looked right at Noctis. “I know you can’t use your magic in front of anyone, but I can’t let my teacher down by holding back. I hope you understand.”

“Huh? Oh right. Yea. Uh, are you really that strong princ- Lux?” He couldn’t believe the girl who was over a head shorter than him was about to kick his ass. “Don’t feel bad, my body is pretty strong after all.”

After a few moments, Alicia returned with a masked soldier. “Alright, do it.” She gave the order, and the soldier slammed both hands on the ground. The earth started to shake a little, and 10 feet in front of him two pillars of rock started to rise up. They started to form into a shape that resembled a person.

“That will be all.” The soldier saluted and left. “Lux, you’re up first. Do your worst.” She pointed at the dummy on the left.

“Okay!” She slammed her hands together and parted them slowly, between her hands a rod of light was starting to form. When her hands were about three feet apart, a spear of light was revealed. She lifted it into the air and then let go. It was just floating there, until she pointed at the dummy. It shot out at a breakneck speed and stopped just as it was about to penetrate it. Lux spun her hand around, causing the spear to rotate around the target, leaving multiple copies of the spear around it. Finally she clenched her fist, and all the spears pierced it.

“Fatal damage. Nice job. You’re up next kid.”

Noctis walked up to the dummy. He’d have to physically hit it since his magic was off limits. He stood in front of it and put his hands in front of his face, ready to fight. Jab. Nothing happened. Jab. Nothing happened. Right hook.