The will show who's pov it is. I would take it off but I feel like it's too much apart of me now to change it, I felt empty when I took them off before.d.

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I wonder to myself, why didn't my master put me into a class for learning the sword and magic? At Renard Academy, classes are available for swordsmanship and magic. I don't understand why he wouldn't put me in the swords class, I get to learn both there. Those who become magic swordsmen lose out a bit on magic but get to practice their close combat skills. Before I learned magic, I trained my body and worked hard under my master to be able to fight without magic.

Renard Academy does specialize in raising mages though. Created after the empire's court mage brought it up as another way to get talented recruits for the empire, it's been raising the future magicians ever since.

My master tells me that the original purpose was intended to have magicians on standby that the empire could use anytime war broke out. During that time, the empire still lacked magicians compared to say, the elven race, so the academy was built to cover that need. Of course, the school itself has never sent a nongraduate student to war.

And, as it turns out, the empire has quite a good relationship with one of the eleven kingdoms.

Nobles send their children here, instead of hiring personal teachers at home, though, some still prefer that their kids get educated in their own homes. After growing so much in size, the academy expanded, allowing enough room for around two thousand people. My master sometimes gawks at the size of the empire, I've heard that humans before they awakened their magic, were able to, uh, reproduce much more quickly.

Continuing on from before, the academy only started allowing other races this year. That's because there're not enough students. Many peasants can't get in either because they don't have the money or their affinity with magic isn't high enough. To accommodate for their new size, other nonhuman races were allowed in.

My master thinks that they made the renovations because they wanted to let other races in. From what I've heard from him, he says that some nobles wouldn't let the school permit nonhumans without a good reason, even though the school's directly under the empire's control.

I think that my master was always planning on sending me here, I had that suspicion when he told me about it last year. Most of the time, I can't read the man, his body language might as well be alien. But, ever since the incident around two years ago, he's been getting more obvious. He's rushed daily routines and has been tiptoeing around the subject of the incident for a long time. Sometimes, while he thinks I'm not looking, I can catch him staring at me, his confident face full of concern.

I don't like causing him so much trouble.

Currently, I'm walking to the school after meeting with him. I feel the gaze of adults and children beating down on my back as if it were the summer sun. I imagine it's because of the uniform, sadly, unlike what they might be thinking of me, I only got in because my master knew the headmaster. Can't say that I'm proud, but I can't say that I'm not glad in a sense. I wouldn't have been able to get in with the level of magic I have right now.

I approach the school gate which is guarded by two fully armor plated guards, it's unusual for anyone other than a knight to be wearing that much.

Both of them shake their heads when they spot me. A groan escapes the smaller man's lips.

"You're late too?" they both ask.

"Yeah," I reply looking into school grounds. "were there others?"

"Three girls." the taller black man says.

"Oh, I see." that's good for me. Now I don't have to be embarrassed about being late. "May I pass?"

"Go ahead."

With that, they lean their spears against the wall and place both hands on the gate. Slowly, it opens. Both use great force. it's evident by their heavy steps and shaking arms. I nod to show my thanks. Having to open such a heavy door and wear that kind of armor must be hard.

I pass both of them but come to a sudden stop.

"You're not going?" the shorter stockier man asks.

"I don't know the way to the first year classes." I say.

"Which group?"

"A."

"First hallway you see when you enter. Go all the way down until you reach a split path, it should be on the left side, room 14."

"Thank you." I say while walking up the steps.

The sheer amount of them amazes me. Three sets of stairs each with a little over twenty steps. It's like I'm making a journey up a mountain to where a shrine or temple is. Apart from the stairs, if one chose, they could probably go up the steep hillside, only a small section in the middle was cleared out for stone to replace, the rest stayed as earth and grass.

As I get closer to the school entrance, I pass by a water fountain which adorns the resting area after the second set of stairs. Water spurts from the top falling down onto the smaller bowls under it until they overflow, finally dripping down to the base. Two benches sit opposite of each other, both sandwiching in the fountain. I wonder if couples fight for this place. From here the city can be seen in all its glory.

Picking up my pace, I rush inside through the lobby and hallway. As I inch closer to the door, the rant of the teacher grows louder. Uuuu bad timing. I want to turn back but is it better if I go in now? I run my fingers over my forearms but realize that my bracers aren't there. I grab hold of my pendant and steel myself, opening the door, I step inside.

My eyes immediately bounce around to grasp the scope of the room. Just like everything else here, it's large, almost ridiculously so. It would take me more than fifteen grand, full length, leg stretching steps to make it to the other side where an almost full one story window pane lies, letting the sun's rays illuminate the room.

Left of me are three columns of desks, each split by the steps that lead up them almost touching the ceiling. Five rows in each, adding up to hold around eighty students, five students in each desk.

The students sit back on simplistic but comfortable looking chairs, the desks are more like tables glued onto the floor, no separation, just one large desk for five, yet the space is suitable. None look crowded.

"AHEM! You there. Why are you late?"

I break from my observation of the room to turn to the voice. Her short hair curls up right before touching her shoulders. A young, sharp featured woman stand in front of me. I freeze for a moment at her question. Did I make her mad by not responding right away? It looks like she's had to call out to me a few times already.

"I was at Treant Park to meet with my guardian." I explain. Maybe I can still save myself.

"Why is that?" she asks.

I'd like to think that it's personal. But of course, I don't say that.

"Ahhh, well that's, umm..." I can't find the words to say. It's like when my master asks me to explain a question I have to him. What else is there? Isn't the question good enough?

She sighs, "Next time please come up with a better excuse." she points over to the chalk board. "Now come over here and stand next to these three young ladies."

I know better than to say anything, it'd only make matters worse. I walk quietly towards the three girls with their heads down but I stop when I see the roluk.

"What's she doing here?" I wonder aloud.

Her lowered head falls another inch. Ack! I might've said something insensitive while not thinking, my bad. This day isn't starting off well at all, and I mean it.

"If you can't get along with other students then leave my classroom." the teacher stares daggers at me and the students chuckle.

I stand next to the blue haired girl and lower my head as well.

The four of us say nothing as the teacher goes on to talk about the importance of staying diligent and coming to class on time.

"This academy's reputation is high! Students represent this academy. If people think that we allow our students to slack off and attend whenever..."

It's been going on for quite a while and my neck's starting to hurt. I've never had to hold it down this long. I crane my head to the side and look at the girl next to me, blue hair. It's the first thing that I noticed about her, I'll call her that for now, I think that it makes for a decent nickname. Not that I'm going to call her that when I talk, or if I talk, to her or someone else. I wonder if she misunderstood my words earlier.

"The four of you, speak your names!"

Following her command, I fire up my vocal chords.

"I'm Rainen Weaver."

The next one to speak is the blue haired girl.

"I'm Ellar Wholehart"

"I'm Iris Bellard."

"Elis Annar."

"Go take your seats."

The four of us take to the stairs, they go right while I go left. I choose a seat in the third row, part of the middle column, by the end. My position's closer to the door than theirs.

"With that ov-"

She's interrupted by a wisp.

"Everyone, please make your way to the battle gym." it announces.

The teacher wrinkles her nose and stares questioningly at the wisp.

"I don't remember any plans or talks about a battle today." she mutters as she waves us down. "Follow me, we'll be heading to the gym."

Sliding from my seat, I make my way down the stairs. My master's words echo through my head. "Be wary of the headmaster. He'll be watching you."

-------------

"What's she doing here?"

When he said that, all I could do was lower my head even further. I wanted to go back to my room and hide behind my books. If I were detested, if I were disliked here, I don't know what I'd do. Where would I go? Back home to my "family?" If anything, I'd rather stay here, where they'd, at least, acknowledge me to some extent.

I, I might be getting a little bit ahead of myself here. Iris and Elis have been kind to me so far. They're both good people in my eyes. They seem close too, I'm a bit jealous, I want to be close to someone like that. I wasn't ever really close to my friends... former friends.

Looking at him now I see short black hair. Out of everyone in the class, there isn't a single person, other than him, who has black hair. I'll call him that, Black Hair. I hope that he won't mind if I do it in my head.

He's relaxed, confident in himself. He has broad shoulders, but not largely so. When I caught a few glimpses at his face I could only wonder what kind of face it was. Friendly? Unfriendly? It certainly wasn't a bad looking face. His intense eyes left the biggest impression, not hard nor cold, not soft nor warm, but... objective, calculating eyes.

After walking for a while, we reach the gymnasium. It's huge, from pictures I've seen it looks more like a battle arena, a Colosseum, than anything. Hundreds, no, thousands of seats, more than enough for all the students in the school are placed into neat tidy rows with enough leg space to not get cramped up.

"AH!" Elis taps Iris's shoulder and pulls on my sleeve. "Isn't that the old guy who helped us earlier?"

"H-huh?" I say while following Elis's finger. It does look like him.

"He's at the headmaster's spot." Iris's face falls into her palm. "What's he going to think of us, the three girls late for the first day of school." she groans and shakes her head.

"Eh? D-don't worry. I'm sure that he forgot about it already, r-right?" Iris groans again. I, I think that my poor attempt to cheer her up only brought her down. I can't say I'm very good at these things ehe.

"Oh!" Elis jumps up and swings her arm wildly in the air. "He's waving at us!"

Iris and I slowly raise our hands and return his gesture while letting out nervous laughs. It's good to be recognized by the headmaster but I don't want to stand out too much. When there are too many eyes on me, I start feeling anxious.

"OOF!"

I stumble forward a few steps, just barely able to catch my footing, I turn around to look at the culprit. Without paying any attention to me, the boy with blonde hair and fair skin passes me by, ignoring the fact that he just sent someone else flying into a few seats. I want to pull on his ear and tell him it's rude like one of the heroes in a book I read does but I don't have the same gusto. I think it's best if I stay anonymous for now, yeah, that's a good idea.

Miss Ein, our teacher, ushers us towards the front row. I fiddle with my fingers and my eyes sweep across the room before sitting down. I feel really exposed sitting in the front.

"I wonder who'll participate." Elis says while swinging her feet. "I hope that he picks volunteers. It's been so long since I've been able to practice my magic." she rubs her hands together with a grin on her face.

I can feel her excitement from here.

"Too eager Elis, too eager. The headmaster would never pick someone so likely to cause a ruckus to fight on the first day of school." Iris shakes her head. "Besides, I'm sure he's already got some students in mind. It'll probably be just a show for us first years. We won't be participating, and if we do it'll only be a short sparring match."

The headmaster stands up and clears his voice, "AHEM! Now everyone. The reason you are all here today is for a first-day match."

"I don't remember one for MY first year." a student shouts.

"Are you going to pit the new races against us?" another asks.

"Send the first years." Elis cups her mouth and shouts. "Choose volunteers!"

The students start murmuring to each other.

"Okay! Everyone, please be quiet." after waiting for the students' chatter to die down he goes on.

"Good, good. The first participants will be..."

I start fidgeting with my hands again. Time slows as my eyes switch their focus between him and my fingers.

"Abelard Boyat of the fourth year and Rainen Weaver of the first year. Please take the stairs to get into the arena. You two will be the first participants. It will be a magic only battle."

My shoulders instantly drop and I slouch back into my seat. My gaze wanders over to black hair. He's been put on the spot. I can't say that I don't feel bad for him, whether he likes other races or not, being the first match and being a first year going against a fourth must be tough.

My first impression of him wasn't good but I still hope that he won't die out there. I'm just, just, just a little relieved that I don't have to hurt anyone out there.