Alexander hastily clacked and typed in numbers and letters into the silver device he held in his hands. "Why the hell did they put letters in coordinates?" he grumbled to himself.

Archibald had given him the transporter just a week prior, so Alexander had no time on learning how to use it. It wasn't like the transporter he had beforehand; this one could travel anywhere instead of the limited amount of specific locations the previous one had.

And so, it was much more complicated than just pressing a button on the side.

"Hurry up," Emilia told him.

"Shut up."

"Hurry up or we'll be late."

"I'll drop you in the Atlantic Ocean if you keep talking."

She sighed.

They had both been enrolled in the New York District Magecraft Academy, one of the branches of the Norteon Union's most prestigious institutions of magic. And today was the first day of school.

Alexander was already stressed about that concept, and that feeling had been worsened with not knowing how to use the transporter.

The silver device began to beep. Quickly and loudly.

Alexander's eyes widened. "Oh God, it's beeping."

"Is it supposed to be beeping?!"

"I don't know!"

And from there, a blinding flash of light burst from the device. Their surroundings shifted.

They now stood on a stone brick walkway, surrounded by grand buildings of painted wood, glass, concrete, steel, and bricks. And at their side stood a lush, seemingly endless forest.

"Well, that was unexpected," Alexander muttered.

"Whoa..." Emilia said, letting out a soft gasp and swallowing her saliva. "Is this really New York?" she asked.

"This isn't unusual for this part of Manhattan, actually," a voice said.

They turned to Anastasia Velda.

"Oh, hey," Alexander said, a thin smile growing on his face.

She smiled and waved as she approached them.

Emilia swallowed her saliva. She was finally meeting one of the Virtues. And so, all she did was stare at Anastasia as she and Alexander talked.

She concluded: Anastasia Velda wasn't special.

Those intrustive thoughts of her were simply because of the slight sense of envy that she had to the Virtues. Emilia spat out a sigh.

Alexander turned to her as if he had forgotten she was there. "Oh. Yeah, this is my sister, Emilia. Or cousin. It's complicated. But not really."

Anastasia chuckled. "Yeah, you've explained it to me before. Nice to meet you," she said to Emilia.

Emilia smiled and nodded. "Likewise."

They fell silent.

'Why did she say likewise?' Alexander thought.

"..."

"..."

"So," Anastasia said. "Are you... Emilia Lane, or..."

She shook her head. "No, I'm Emilia Barnes. Plus, our mom's last name is Cortés. So, you know how it be."

Again, they fell silent. Until Alexander began to speak. And from there, the conversation continued and flowed.

Emilia stared at Alexander and Anastasia as they chuckled. She squinted.

A bell began to chime from one of the towers, clanging and echoing into the surrounding area.

"Well," Anastasia said, looking up at the white bell tower. "Looks like that's the bell. See you around," she said with a smile, once again waving as she began to walk away.

Alexander smiled and swallowed his saliva. He kept waving even after she had turned around.

"You're weird."

Alexander turned to Emilia. "You're weird. Just get to class," he said, walking off.

Emilia followed him. "What was that?" she asked.

He stared at her in confusion. "What was what?"

"That. You. Flirting. With her. How? And why?"

"Why can't you just talk in regular sentences," he spat out with a sigh. "Besides, I wasn't flirting. I just said hi."

"Uh-huh."

Alexander reached into his pocket and took out a folded and crumpled sheet of paper. Again, he spat out a sigh, muttering as he stared at his class schedule.

Aside from the regular classes that Alexander usually found boring, such as language arts, science, history (of Midgard, of course), and math, four of Alexander's eight classes were magic related.

General Studies, Conjuration and Magic Control, History of Magical Warfare, and finally, Demonology. Alexander stared at the paper.

"Well, then."

As for his classes of that day, he only had one magic-related class. General Magic Studies. At the very end of the day.

Today would be boring. That was the conclusion he had reached.

Emilia was still staring at him.

"Why are you just standing there?" he asked.

She smiled and sighed. "Try not to get lost," she said, walking away from him.

"Just go before you're late," Alexander said.

Alexander walked towards the brick building and sighed. "Okay," he muttered to himself. "I'm definitely gonna end up getting lost."

And from there, he got lost.

Over the span of three classes and five hours, Alexander had spat out countless sighs. Like usual, school was a hassle. And now, going to a new, massive school, everything he disliked about the prospect of school was multiplied.

Finally, the only class of the day he thought was relevant had come. General Magic Studies.

This time, he wasn't late. Nor did he get lost. And so for a second, he stared at the carved wooden door. He smiled at that. No other classroom he had seen had a wooden door. It was a simple fact, but it somewhat entertained Alexander nonetheless.

He smiled as he entered and noticed how most of the Virtues had already arrived, each of them sitting at the room's end.

Leonard was standing and talking to others, Gabriel had his feet up on the desk, and Liam seemed to be asleep. Lumiel smacked the back of Gabriel's head and scolded him for having his legs up. And Giovanna simply sat in silence.

Other than them, there were over a dozen other students in the class. All sitting and waiting for the teacher to arrive.

Alexander took a single step inside. The wooden floor creaked.

Half of the students turned to the sound, turned to Alexander.

He swallowed his saliva. And it was then that the Virtues noticed him.

Again, Lumiel smacked Gabriel's head, before smiling and waving at Alexander.

It was a simple classroom where nearly everything was built of wood. A large wooden desk sat right under a chalkboard. And standing before that, were the desks.

The classroom was arranged as an auditorium. Each of the multiple rows of desks increased in height.

And on each level, there were only two wooden desks. They were long enough to cover the distance, fitting nearly five students to each desk, and only being split up across the stairs.

Still, there were less than two dozen students present, each of them scattered across the class.

Alexander walked up the short steps that led to the top row of desks where the other Virtues sat.

Over the past few months, ever since the battle against Belphegor, they hadn't gone on as many missions as a team. The occasional missions were individual, or even sometimes with only two or three others.

Even so, they were still friends of sorts. Or as Lumiel put it, friends.

Alexander smiled and sat down.

It was then that he noticed. The only one of the Virtues that was missing was Anastasia.

"Don't tell me..." he said. "She's late?"

Lumiel laughed. "Hopefully. It'd be hilarious if she is. Considering how she's always going off on being punctual."

"And where's the teacher anyway?" Giovanna asked. "I doubt someone who works here would get lost."

"Honestly..." Leonard interjected. "I wouldn't be surprised."

The door slammed open. Anastasia burst through.

She swallowed her saliva and calmed herself down. Not ten seconds after she arrived, the bell began ring.

Anastasia took in a sharp breath and sat down next to Alexander as if nothing had happened.

"Well, well, well," Alexander said with a smile.

"Shut up."

"Almost late."

"Shut up."

His smile widened as he let out a sigh.

From there, the class fell silent as they all waited for whoever the teacher was.

Until... Emilia Barnes had walked through the door.

Alexander's eyes widened and his face turned to confusion. He didn't know they had this class together.

Emilia smiled and waved at him before walking off to a random seat at the room's end.

Alexander simply waved back.

Even though what had happened was nothing short of normal, Alexander couldn't keep himself from smiling as he stared at her. She was late.

Leonard stared at her as he sat down behind Alexander.

"Do you know her?" he asked.

Alexander nodded and turned to him. "Yeah," he said. "She's my sister. "

"You have a sister? "

"Technically, she's my cousin. But she's pretty much my sister."

"Your sister, huh? ...Well, she's cute."

"Leonard, I will murder you."

"...Fair enough."

And from there, the quiet chatter of the classroom halted as a man entered. He wore a long trenchcoat, although he immediately took it off and threw it to the wooden floor. "Good morning, class," the man muttered, his voice tired and stale.

It was an hour past noon.

"My name is irrelevant."

"But more accurately," he continued. "My name is Mukuro Tucker. Some information about me, I guess."

Tucker let out a sigh. He began to speak quickly as if he was being forced to talk.

"I'm Japanese. I'm a Grade 2 magician. And yes, Tucker, as in Sophia Tucker, the Paladin. She's my wife. I took her last name. No, I don't care for it. Which brings me to my next point... I do not care for names. So, I won't be memorizing your names."

A student raised their hand. "What if we move seats? How'll you remember who we are?"

Tucker smiled, saying, "No, I can remember. It's fine if you move around. I have a great memory."

"So why don't you memorize our names?"

"...No."

He cleared his throat and began by pointing at a student. "You. You're one."

The class sat in silence and confusion until Tucker continued.

"I'm just going to refer to you all with numbers."

Still, the class sat in silence.

Tucker paused, pointing at the next student. A smile crept up on his lips. "You guys seeing this? This kid's like ten years old!" he said, laughing.

"I'm twelve," the boy corrected.

Mr. Tucker continued laughing. "No, you're number two. That's what you are. Number two. Like poop." He gave him a thumbs up and cleared his throat, continuing to point at students and saying numbers.

"You, black hoodie, number seven," he said to Alexander. "Emo girl right next to him, number eight."

"I am not emo," Anastasia protested.

"Well... You're wearing black."

"So is he!" she said, pointing at Alexander.

Alexander sat in silence and tried to avoid eye contact with Tucker.

"Yeah. But somehow... You just look emo. You're still number eight. Congrats."

And so, Tucker continued until he had finished calling every single student and assigning them a number. He clasped his hands together and let out a sigh.

He sat down on his desk.

"Alright," Tucker said. "Let's begin."

"If you're in this class, or rather, in this school, you're one of two things," he said, holding up a pair of fingers. "One, you have incredible talent and that has been recognized. Or two, you were born into a family that has some serious connections. It's always one. Never both. And frankly, I don't care."

Alexander didn't know which one he fit in.

"So-" he said, standing up and moving to the chalkboard behind him. "Let's talk about magic."

"This is general magic studies, after all," he said. "So. Does anyone know what the hell magic really is?"

"..."

"Like, seriously. What even is it?"

'Number Two' slowly and hesitantly raised his hand. "The energy of life?"

Tucker stared at the black-haired boy. He snapped his fingers. "Exactly."

"And," the teacher continued. "We live on a realm of magic itself. Midgard. Because... thousands of years ago, a bunch of magicians just said: 'Why not?' And bada bing bada boom, they constructed a realm of magic, all based off of Earth itself."

He smiled. "That's pretty cool, huh?"

Resuming, he sighed and finally picked up a piece of chalk. "And because of this... Magic energy is the basis of all life in our realm. This results in-" He began writing on the board. "-something."

He underlined the word Something.

"I think that's a good place to leave off for today. I'll see you all next class. Class dismissed," he muttered. He collapsed on the spot.

Everyone sat still in silence.

Alexander stared at his watch. Class had started twelve minutes ago.

"Is he okay?" someone asked.

Still, silence. Some students had already begun to leave.

Gabriel shot up from his seat. "Alright. Virtue meeting. Ten minutes. Training hall."

They all stared at him.

"Huh?"

"We have a meeting?" Liam asked, finally raising his head from the desk.

"Since when?"

"Since now."

Anastasia stared at him with stale eyes. "Where do you just get the authority to do this?"

Gabriel let out a sigh. "Can we just- Can we have a meeting? Is that too much to ask?"

The Virtues collectively let out sighs and groans.

"Fine," Alexander said. "Not like we have better things to do."

"Thanks, Demon-Born."

There it was. Gabriel was still calling him 'Demon-Born'. Still, it kind of balanced out considering how he also called Alexander by his name.

With a sigh and a thumbs-up, Alexander forced himself to mumble, "No problem."

It wasn't long before the others let out mutters and mumbles of acceptance and agreement.

"Again, the training hall," Gabriel said, before walking away and exiting the room.

Where the hell even was the "training hall"? Alexander let out a slight groan at the thought of having to find it among the entire school.

"So, Alexander," Leonard began. "Your sister, Emilia..."

Alexander spat out a sigh. "Don't-"

"How old is she?"

"Goddammit."

"Leonard," Liam interrupted. "Stop trying to get with your friends' sisters."

Leonard sighed. "Liam, you got any sisters?"

Liam only stared at Leonard.

"Okay, okay, I get it. I'm sorry."

He continued, "But... It's not even a bad thing. If any of you started liking my sister, I'd probably be fine with it."

Lumiel laughed at that. "Isn't your sister like 25?"

"She's 22. Oh, that's illegal, anyway."

"Hey, I've met your sister," Lumiel said. "I'd break the law to be with her."

"..."

"...I stand by what I said."

Alexander let out another sigh and turned to Emilia. She still sat on the opposite end of the room, and she was already talking to Giovanna.

He smiled at the prospect of them being friends. And with that, Alexander left the room.

It took him six minutes to find the "training hall". And he only found it because he saw Anastasia walking in its direction.

The building itself was separate from all others, nearly hidden behind organized, linear rows of trees. It was a strange blend of wood and steel for both the structure and infrastructure. Just like most buildings in the school, Alexander's eyes widened for a second.

Once they entered, it became clear how grand the building was.

Its main feature was the massive pit of sand at the center. With the size of a football field, it spread across the building. Just a few meters stood between the sand and the dozen rows of stands that spread across the same length and width.

As for the ceiling, it was pure glass with a lattice of steel beams that spread across it. Golden sunlight cascaded down onto the sand.

Gabriel cleared his throat as they entered. "There are other rooms here, y'know," he said. "For fights and training on a smaller scale. Apparently, duels have happened here. Y'know, the ones that result in death."

He stepped onto the field of sand.

"So then why are we here?" Alexander asked.

"Just wait."

"This isn't a love confession, is it?"

Gabriel stared at him with stale, azure eyes.

Alexander sighed. "Damn, can't even joke around here," he mumbled to himself. "Why are we even here?"

"You lifted Excalibur. That's one," Gabriel said. He took in a sharp breath before he continued, "You activated Avalon's magic and directed it through Excalibur. That's two. You killed Belphegor. That's three. You forcibly broke some seal on your own magic energy. That's four."

Alexander swallowed his saliva. "What are you talking about?"

"Uncle Charles called you an anomaly. It makes sense, after all. Only one person per generation should be capable of lifting Excalibur. Somehow, both of us can. Avalon's magic only works for the person in possession of it. That was me. Somehow you forcibly used it for yourself. You killed Belphegor with barely any experience. You should be dead. We all should be. As for your seal... Somehow you broke it and now have even more magic energy."

He pointed at Alexander. "You, Alexander Lane, don't make sense."

Alexander sighed. "Okay... But you still haven't answered my question."

Leonard came rushing into the room, with three sheathed swords in his arms. "Got the swords you wanted. Gimme the 20 dollars."

"...No."

He spat out a sigh. "Honestly, that's on me for believing you."

Gabriel stared at the others. "Where's Liam? And Giovanna?"

"Giovanna's hanging out with Emilia," Lumiel informed him. "And Liam said this would be boring so he didn't bother to come."

"Well, that's just great," Gabriel muttered as he let out a deep sigh. "Alright, Leonard. Pass me the swords."

Leonard smiled and launched the sword at Gabriel.

His eyes widened before he thrust out his hands and caught it with his palms, just inches from his face. "Jesus Christ, Leonard!"

"You said to throw it!"

"I said to pass it!"

Gabriel simply brought down the sword and clenched his fist, silently grumbling to himself. "Just give one to Alexander," he said.

This time, Leonard walked over and handed Alexander the blade.

"Thanks," Alexander said, holding the sheathed sword in his hands. He removed the sheath, revealing a thin blade made of polished brown wood.

Gabriel slid his finger across the edge of his wooden blade. "It's made of Yggdrasil wood. Incredibly magic conductive," Gabriel said.

"Never even heard of it."

Gabriel stared at Alexander as he tossed his sheath to the side. "So to answer your question from earlier," he said. "We're here to test your abilities. Again, you don't make sense at all. I'll make it make sense."

"I'll make you make sense," Alexander said.

"That doesn't make sense."

"You don't make sense."

"...Shut up."

"No, thanks."

"Hey!" Lumiel shouted. She was already seated in the stands alongside Anastasia. "Just shut up and fight already!"

Gabriel let out a sigh. "I genuinely hate to admit it... but she's right. Get ready," he said, holding his sword with both hands as he raised it.

Alexander swallowed his saliva and did the same.

With a burst of speed, Gabriel dashed to Alexander, cleaving his sword down at him, all within seconds.

Alexander slid to the side, evading the strike and following up with his own.

Gabriel reversed his grip and blocked the blade. And from there, it had begun.

Their fight continued.

Gabriel's movements were swift and rapid. Each of his movements were precise, just as each of his steps were placed with power.

By contrast, Alexander was weak. His footing was enough to support him in the battle. He was forced back against the sand with each impact of weapon against weapon.

Gabriel cleaved his sword across the air.

Alexander ducked. He was struggling.

He recalled back to his fight against Belphegor. If anything... it was easier.

Now with each breath, Alexander had to anticipate what he could. And if he couldn't, he got hit. And so, he fought. Or rather, he tried to. He dodged and slashed, and tried to cleave and deflect. Until...

Gabriel's sword crashed down on Alexander's.

And with that impact alone, Alexander fell flat on the ground.

Gabriel stared at him with confused eyes. "I thought you were better than this. Get up."

Alexander stood up. He twirled the sword in his hand. "Alright then," he said with a smile.

This time, Alexander was the first to charge.

But it wasn't long before Gabriel's sword crashed against his chest. It wasn't long before the wind was knocked out of his lungs and he fell to the ground again.

"You're swinging your sword like an ape. Get up."

And so, Alexander got up again.

And so, he was knocked back down again.

"Alexander, do you not know how to use a sword?" Liam asked.

They all turned to him.

"Dude, when did you even get here?" Leonard asked, his eyes wide as he stared at Liam. Liam was sitting just a meter away from him.

Liam stood up and walked down, stepping down onto the stands before hopping off onto the sand. "I understand that you didn't know magic at the time. But you didn't even know how to use a sword against your fight against Belphegor?"

Alexander swallowed his saliva and shook his head.

Liam spat out a sigh. "Gimme the sword," he said.

Letting out a sigh, Alexander handed the sword to Liam.

"No, I'm talking to Gabriel."

"Huh?" Alexander and Gabriel asked in unison.

Liam simply grabbed Gabriel's sword as he let out a sigh. "Alright. Both of you. Pay attention. Swordfighting is a dance. A complicated dance. Like something the Spanish would come up with."

With a deep breath, he twirled the sword in his hand, before lifting it and ramming it into the air.

He thrust the sword just inches from Alexander's face.

"Be honest," Liam said, his dark hazel eyes glaring at Alexander. "Did you see that coming?"

"...Barely."

"Good."

For a second, Liam's eyes glistened with an orange hue. And the second after, that hue spread through his body.

Alexander had barely ever seen Liam in combat. And ever since their first mission, he had always wondered and questioned how strong he was.

That was the instinctive answer to Alexander's question.

As of now, Liam was far stronger than Alexander.

He swallowed his saliva.

Liam continued, "So let's get started," he said, once again, twirling the blade in his hand.

"You see," he said. "Combat involves many factors. Primarily... it's not even physical. It's mental," Liam said, bending his knees and lowering himself as he readied himself.

"Focus, Alexander. Focus."

And with that, Liam rushed to him.

Alexander cleaved down his sword within the instant Liam came into his range. But his blade never struck.

The only impact was Liam's blade against Alexander's ankles.

He crashed onto the sand.

"Up," Liam said.

"Got it," he muttered, pushing himself up once again.

It continued just the way it had against Gabriel. Alexander would struggle and fall. He would get back up and fall.

Such is life.

And on the fourth or fifth or sixth match, Liam aimed his blade right at Alexander's face.

In that instant, his eyes widened. He rolled down to the ground as Liam's blade thrust through the air.

"What the hell was that, Liam?!" he shouted, as he shot back up, grabbing him by the wrist.

"I wouldn't have done that if I knew you couldn't dodge it," he muttered, ripping his wrist from Alexander's grip.

"Not the point. If that had hit me in the eye or something, that would've-"

"But it didn't."

"Not the point," Alexander repeated. "You can't just go around almost killing people."

Again, Liam spat out a sigh, almost as if he was annoyed at the prospect of being there. "Listen, Alexander. You're a strong kid. You're quick, too. Plus, you're able to accept fear. It's not that you're not afraid when you're in combat. But you accept the fear. And you don't let it control you. That's admirable in itself."

"Let's try it again," Alexander said.

Liam stared at him. Not once had Alexander initiated it.

A thin smile grew on Liam's face. "Alright, then. Let's start."

Alexander spat onto the ground. He had already taken too many hits. The attacker would be him this time, he decided. He readied his blade.

And from there... They dashed at each other.

But while Liam ran to Alexander... Alexander ran past him.

And for that single fraction of a second where Alexander was behind him, he smiled to himself.

Liam was far too fast to fall for that. In an instant, he had already turned and thrust his weapon at Alexander.

But Alexander never aimed his sword at Liam.

Alexander simply ducked the rapid strike. And as he dropped to the side, he slashed his blade against the sand with rapid ferocity. The sand blew upward, clouding the immediate area.

The cloud of sand surrounded them for just long enough for Alexander to spin to the side. He smiled as he spun around and plunged his blade.

But it never hit Liam.

The only sound to be heard was Liam's sigh. "Listen," he said. "Blocking your own field of vision never makes sense. And it's even more stupid to do it against an opponent that's faster than you."

Liam slammed his blade against Alexander's. The wooden sword crashed to the ground and Alexander let out a sigh.

"That's just warfare 101, man."

"Got it," Alexander said.

They stood in silence.

"...So," Liam said. "You wanna try again?"

Alexander raised his sword and smiled. "What do you think?"

- - - - -

The Virtues spent nearly an hour in that building.

In other words, Alexander spent nearly an hour getting hurt.

From there, he walked and spoke with Anastasia as the school bell began to chime once again. Officially, they were out of school.

They walked down the grey brick walkway from which Alexander had arrived.

Alexander spat out a deep sigh. "Everything until now... It's all been a fluke. The entirety of the past hour proved that. If I can't get strong on my own... I'll probably die."

Anastasia chuckled.

"Y'know," Alexander said as he stared at her. "I don't think it's proper etiquette to laugh at the prospects of someone's death."

That only made her chuckling grow louder. "You'll be fine," she said. "But y'know what, you should show me that energy attack tomorrow."

"Huh? Which one?"

"The one where you wrap your entire arm in magic energy. With the... How is it? With magic energy at the end of your arm that you push down for a double impact."

Alexander smiled. "I love that one."

"It does seem pretty cool," she muttered.

"Bit of an understatement."

From there, they could see Emilia standing just a few dozen meters away. She waved at them from afar and they waved back.

Alexander smiled and reached into his bag. "Guess I gotta go," he said, pulling out the silver rectangle as they continued walking.

"Must be nice. Spatial magic, I mean. Y'know, not having to type in coordinates. Or not having to charge this thing's battery."

"It's... It's alright," she said. "I don't really have enough magic energy to use it freely. Not at that stage of efficiency yet," she muttered, letting out a soft chuckle as she spoke.

"Well," she continued, waving at Emilia. "See you both tomorrow." For a second, she smiled, before turning and walking away.

Alexander let out a soft sigh as he smiled. He turned to Emilia, confused. "So where have you been for the past hour?"

"The cafeteria serves food all day long," she said. "It's... It's beautiful."

Alexander laughed. "That does sound pretty beautiful."

"Well, what about you?" she asked in return.

Again, Alexander chuckled. "Kinda sorta got beat up," he muttered as he typed in coordinates into the transporter.

"Wait, what?"

"Oh, look at that, it's ready."

With another blinding flash of light, the transporter activated and they disappeared.