"Hey, are you ready yet?" A strained voice appeared from under the loft. "It's just about time, Mathias."

A youth snored peacefully, head carefully tucked away under the blankets, unconsciously dodging the rays of light from the attic window.

"Mathias...?"

The voice continued, grumbling. A soft, feminine sigh came from below as she softly chanted, "Water Bullet."

A fist-sized sphere of liquid rose up from her outstretched hand. The other was impatiently pressed against her hip, occasionally casting glances towards the vegetables frying above a dull-flame.

The tell-tale burst of water appeared above, just outside of the woman's view. However, the snores intensified.

"... I don't even know why I bother."

After stirring the vegetables once more, so as to ensure they wouldn't get burnt, she climbed up the loft by means of a rickety ladder.

The loft, covered in dilapidated hardwood, animal furs, and rusted weapons, was far above most commoners' own houses. In fact, it could be said to be somewhat luxurious to some of the less talented in the ways of magic. Income opportunities were scarce for those without. However, considering how little time they spent in the building, it was not really a priority to fix even if they had the resources to do so.

One of the reasons was because the house was just bought for temporary lodging for their eldest daughter that had since left about two years ago in the city. The entire family much preferred to be out - working or, if resting, out in the country. The other reason was the building clearly visible from the attic window as the woman finished climbing the stairs.

It was a parlour in name but clinic in function. A clinic that served to combat ailments, physical and psychological; so-and-so's emotional suffering could be alleviated just by being granted a new look - which helped the physical if that wasn't in their budget.

Considering the licensing costs of the latter, it was just as well to work under the constraints of the former.

And it was run by the woman who stared down at the sopping wet youth who, for some reason, seemed oblivious - or even indifferent - by the spray of water adhering the cotton blanket and furs to his body. They even began to rapidly dry as the water condensed around his body instead.

Rather, it just added to what was there before.

She wrenched the blanket and furs off by hand.

"Mathias, it's already morning." She said, with a slight yawn herself. Seeing no movement, she shook his pale shoulder at first, then dragged him four-feet from the mound of furs.

Only as soon as his arm rode over a rusty mace did the youth's eyes flutter open.

"... It's too early..." he groaned, reaching for the furs. There were none there, which made him panic. There wasn't even a blanket to grab onto.

She knew how to deal with the child years ago when she had more important schedules in the morning - which was rare in her line-of-work. It had been at least a year since the last time it was imperative to wake him up. Yet, this time it was actually important for him to wake up early. She was lenient on him otherwise. "Today's the day you..." she sighed with a worried expression. "Today's the day you move out... We'll be here, but that was the deal when you applied to the Majin, right?"

"... Applied for what?" His eyes were hazy.

She sighed and dragged him another few feet to the edge of the ladder. "Get dressed and we'll talk. If you don't, you're not allowed to take any of the furs with you."

His eyes opened questioningly while the haze drifted off. Then it opened suddenly. "Eh? Wouldn't that mean...?"

"Yes, that fur stays and itchy wool blankets that give you...?"

He got up right away and hurriedly looked around for his clothes.

The woman, his mother, smiled gently and made her way back to the small kitchen. She was by no means used to making breakfast herself, but today was an exception she, too, had to deal with.

It took a lot of effort on her part, too.

"Your father already left with his company and your sister, so they probably won't be back for a month or two, unless there are other circumstances. Until then, I expect you'll be well-behaved there... and get up on time. Or don't be too late all the time."

"Uh... sure," Mathias said from atop the loft. His hands ran across his hair, and the water-logged floor, in part seeping below shifted into several streams and washed his face, hands, and chest.

Discarding the water through the attic window, he yawned and reached for a shirt.

It was probably fine.

"Breakfast is ready."

"... Eh, since when was that a thing? I'm not hungry?"

"Neither am I, but I have to at least this much. I'm forcing myself to eat so you have to do it too," she said with a smile, hiding her own complaints about the time.

It was clearly a small breakfast. Half a cup of various, fried vegetables, but both struggled to pick at with any interest. Normally, they would eat breakfast six hours from now, between an average person's lunch and dinner.

In fact, technically speaking, they ate just a few hours ago, around dawn. It was noon right now. Old habits died hard so sleep did not come to either easily.

Mathias took after Irina, his mother; whereas, his older sister, Erin, took after his father, Claude.

Even the discard weapons upstairs were from Erin's 'training'. Of course, many had chips and scratches, but that was because his father was a combat instructor and mercenary. His magic was specialized in the manipulation of iron and steel, and Erin was no different. Conversely, Mathias concentrated on his attribute, water, like his mother.

And where his father and sister had normal schedules, using the light of the sun as a guide, Mathias and Irina much preferred moonlight in their daily lives. Which was why even her parlour only opened long after the mid-day sun started its descent.

Seeing both mechanically eating would cause complaints from their other kin, but Mathias and Irina accepted the actions of each other. "... So you'll be leaving too," she said with a sigh, only after managing to swallow the last carrot. "... Say, you'll still visit, right?"

Mathias poked his own three carrots disinterested but nodded, grateful for an excuse to delay the inevitability of eating. "There is still the weekends and the Academy isn't too far away..."

He covered his mouth. The yawn still escaped and echoed in Irina's own expression.

"... It should be fine. I'll stay here over the holidays and help at the parlour if I can. Even so, I'll probably be busy," he said tiredly.

Irina nodded. "That was the agreement, but don't stress out about helping. We have enough money, after all."

It was true. Though they were not 'rich' by the standards of the wealthy merchants and nobles, they had more than enough to drop everything and live out the rest of their lives in the country peacefully. But that wasn't all that interesting to any of them. Both Irina and Claude were exceptionally skilled in their own respective fields, and the fact that their house was somewhat shabby was more a consequence of disinterest than lack of resources. As well as other similarly neglected property. They also had no real qualm about working, if only it adhered to their interests and schedule.

Mathias and Erin inherited their talent, but it still had to be refined. Which is why Erin, two years older than him, transformed her combat training from her youth, and subsequent experimentation, into training others and herself in grander venues. It was a challenge that benefited her as much as it did others around here.

She was disinterested in magic except insofar as it could be applied to techniques for fighting. Conversely, Mathias, while trained similarly (usually begrudgingly), was disinterested in martial techniques and preferred the more peaceful, healing techniques (typically those that bordered on superficial since 'healing' was not within his area of talent).

A thought formed water from the air, and it stood at ease by his face as he forced down the last few vegetables. Using it as a means to avoid the unpleasant feeling of eating so early, he washed it down so he could dull the sensation of semi-crisp carbon intermixed with olive oil as much as possible.

"You know, you'll have to stop that if you want to get better. It's too slow and weak for the Academy's standards," Irina chided him gently.

Mathias shrugged. "I just need to pass, right? I have no interest in fighting to be the best or whatever," he said as he got up and stretched.

The bags were still under his pale blue eyes. A stream of ice hefted up his bag he forgot he packed the night before. Since he did not want to be without it, on account of the valuable goods - the good blankets and, more importantly, the fur - he made sure to use his earnings from the parlour to buy extra good blankets since he couldn't quite afford to buy something else he wanted more.

The sky was already dimming from the oppressive heat of noon, so he begrudgingly grabbed the other gear he stashed away.

Irina, too, grabbed the dishes, chanted a quick "Clean" and set them on a drying rack.

It was too much effort for either one of them to dry them this early. The humidity did not bother either of them.

"... Well, then. I'm heading out," he said, grabbing the strap of the heavy bag and hefting it over his shoulder and putting on his boots. The ice that dragged it forward coiled around his waist for no other reason than he did not immediately know where to dispose of it.

The window was closed because it was too bright.

Irina nodded then turned to stop him. She gave him a brief hug, a kiss on the cheek, and yawned. "Make sure to make some friends over there. If you do get lonely, you know where to find me though, Mathias."

He nodded tiredly, infected by the yawn, and walked forward with unsteady steps.

While some familiar neighbours, merchants, and housewives waved towards him or glanced at him curiously, he shambled forward. Several even offered a laughing salute with open bottles of liquor. His bag was much too large for it to be something easily dismissed, but since he was sixteen, well-trained physically, and it was largely filled with fabric in some form, he did not struggle with the weight. In fact, a third of the bag was allocated to a new, prized giant lynx fur that was so soft and light that it cost him a year's full-time earnings in the parlour. The other third was a large, thick, heavy blanket. Despite it being summer right now, it would be necessary for the fall and winter, as he made sure to bring a thinner one as well. The last third was just filled with day-to-day clothes and other things his mother deemed essentials, such as the extra good blankets. He was told that it was not necessary to bring anything significant as there were uniforms to be provided.

"... Weird, was it always this big?"

The dorms he would be staying in abruptly appeared. And by abrupt, it was because he nearly walked into the wall beside the gate. Considering it was a half-an-hour walk, he was pleasantly surprised he did not have to deal with any strange encounters. He even felt that dealt with the heat without thinking as the ice started rolling across his neck and arms.

Since it felt nice, he was glad he did not just throw it away as he decided to use the gate this time.

Except there was a voice he finally registered. "Stop! Show me your admission letter!"

The guard growled as he pointed his spear at Mathias.

The boy blinked, quirked his head before looking up. "... Was there such a thing?" He said aloud and dropped his bag.

"Of course, now show it to me, boy!"

The guard was evidently angry as Mathias just walked through the gate of the complex. It had security for the safety of the students, but it seemed that they did not think much of the shambling boy - until he ignored their calls for the tenth time and walked several dozen feet inside.

Mathias was finally waking up a little so he started to recognize the things inside his bag. He grabbed a scrunched up piece of parchment, half-torn, and carelessly handled, and extended it forward without thinking. "Is this it?"

The guard scowled at the boy. "It is, but do you realize what this letter is worth?"

"... I'm guessing a lot? Sorry."

"If you feel bad then at least act like it."

"... They give out cards or something later, don't they? Doesn't this mean this thing is meaningless afterwards...?"

"It is signed and sealed by the Archmage Bishtek himself! Don't callously ruin it."

Mathias blinked and shrugged. He had no goal of becoming a first-rate mage. He just wanted to get the accreditation so he could work for himself without (as many of) the many caveats that his mother dealt with. It did not matter much whose signature was on the paper.

"... Can I go in now?"

"Yes, but you're already late," the guard reminded. "The letter explicitly says to come in the morning for the orientation and then you'll be permitted to pick from the open rooms. You'll have to make do with whatever is left."

He looked to see that there was still plenty of light. Whether the sun was still rising or lowering, he honestly had no care to summon the energy to discern. "It's already early though...? Whatever. That's fine. I'll figure it out," he said with a shrug and walked forward with his bag lazily carried over his shoulder.

He thought he could hear, "... another water mage, huh?"

But he chose to ignore it.

Instead, he re-evaluated the building. It had four floors from his memory, he recalled that the first floor was a reception area, common room, baths, laundry, and kitchen, whereas the other floors were for the students to reside in.

The building alone had three main wings, each with dozens of rooms on each floor. At one point, according to the half-hearted remarks of the evaluator's gloats about the Academy, it was said that there was room for five hundred students in the building alone. Of which, while the rooms were shared, they were each created by the most renowned builders in the country, showcasing the latest construction techniques of stone, steel, glass, and wood to create something that rivalled any merchant clans' or nobles' mansions. There was even a full balcony, separated by stone walls, for each window, with several larger areas with casually-dressed students talking and laughing on them after getting ready.

Of that demographic, more than a few were pointing and whispering amongst themselves as they saw Mathias.

And considering that was just the dorm, it was likely that the school proper would be much more grand.

Mathias, however, was not interested in the material wealth of the Academy. In fact, he thought, 'it's a little gaudy, isn't it?' before shrugging and walking towards the door.

The steel and glass door opened on its own volition, surprising him momentarily. "... Some sort of new artifact? Or... wait, no, that Guild installed one for the Association, too, techically...?"

He kept walking when he saw the receptionist look at him strangely.

"Hello, may I help you?" She asked politely.

It did not look like she was much older than him. Her dark brown eyes and matching eyes even seemed to have a youthful vigour that many people his age just did not possess, and her skin seemed more glossy than would be expected. She was probably from a good family that could afford the services of a private parlour, he thought. Granted, there were more than a few scars on her but nothing compared to his sister.

"... I was told I'm a bit late, but I'd like a room. Right, here," he passed the crumbled letter forward.

While he noted her frown at the condition, she did not explicitly chide him for it. In fact, as she saw the water unconsciously shifting around him, she nodded knowingly.

"Since you're a first-year, you'll be staying on the second-floor. There are two rooms still available, one is-"

"Ah! Elise! Me and Jedd are registering Room 142," a boy half-shouted as he ran up. "Oh, a late-comer? Huh, well, good luck with that room," the boy laughed.

Elise, the receptionist, nodded professionally. After marking it on her list, she said, "well, there you have it. One room left. It is Room 143. Currently, it is unoccupied, but-"

"Hello!" A voice shouted from the entrance, half-sprinting. "Is there anything left?!"

"Ah, Lisanna O'Clair, nice to finally meet you," Elise said with a terse smile. "There is, but why are you so late?"

Mathias glanced over to look at the figure. She was rather tall, nearly his height, but her skin was well-tanned, making the platnium blond hair look white in comparison. She had flashing amber eyes, upturned to appear a little more wild that her frantic appearance would have otherwise suggested.

"I was late because of some personal business. I couldn't get away until now."

"Well, I suppose circumstances do arise," Elise said easily as she turned to nod towards Mathias. "It seems you're here to meet your roommate," Elise said, reading his name from the offered admission letter, "Mathias Vandiese. I seemed that some of the girls have voluntarily picked male roommates so I apologize if this is any inconvenience."

"Huh? Wait, wait! Why is that even allowed?!" Lisanna shouted, stalking forward as she slammed her hands on the desk. "And why are you saying that to him and not me?!"

"I had no reason to stop them, did I? Some childhood friends, a new relationship, a few of engaged couples, but it seemed like there was an odd number in the end. Valid enough excuses."

Lisanna glared instinctively, sharpening her gaze on Mathias, "hey, why didn't you show up earlier to kick out one of the guys?!"

"... I could ask the same," he said with a yawn - not intentionally arousing her ire, but the effect was the same. "Anyways, Room 143, right?" He turned to face the two whispering boys. "Jedd, is it? What was so bad about the room, anyways?"

The boy with slicked back, black hair snapped to attention. "I'm Thomas. A pleasure. That's my brother, Jedd. As for the room, I, uh, well, I don't know. It seems like someone last year was doing experiments or something. Anyways, it smells like an alchemy lab - and not in the good way. Plus, half of the room is burned beyond belief. Ours isn't too much better which is probably why a couple of girls opted to get the better rooms and shared with a couple of guys if they could switch things around."

"... Huh? Is that even allowed?"

Elise said tiredly rubbing her temples, "it is not, for reference. A suitable punishment was given to the student, but she is the type to keep acting regardless. We've found evidence of other... workshops around campus, too, but that is not within my scope of responsibility. The damage to the room is because of her, I'd imagine. Anyways, since it was not discovered until just recently, we have not had much success in finding someone capable of dealing with the more significant portions of the issues - damage included."

"Is it wood, stone, or metal?" Mathias asked.

"It is predominately stone in that wing, since it is in the corner where we didn't feel the need to renovate as much a few years prior. There is a large balcony which is normally quite enviable, but even that, too, is somewhat... well, yeah, I will take the rumours as it being unpleasant."

Lisanna's eyes twitched, "so you are expecting me to room in a lab - with a guy I've never met before?!"

Mathias shrugged. He shared a room - including that loft, on-and-off, here-and-there - with his older sister for about five years now, when his family decided to move to the city for their children's convenience. It was no different to him, especially working in a parlour whose clientele rarely included anything except the opposite sex. Men actually were more often than not turned away by both of them.

Turning to Thomas and the other boy, he extended a hand. "Mathias. Nice to meet you. You mind showing me where the room is? Ah, right, and you are?"

Lisanna jumped forward, abandoning her luggage. "Hey?! Are you really okay with living there?! We should just make them find another couple of rooms so we can actually concentrate on our studies!"

He blinked. Then shrugged. "If that's how it is, so be it, but," he said looking at a troubled Elise. "I doubt it'll work, right?"

"We've already contacted some teachers to help clean it up, but they've been busy with preparation for the school year so it'll be about awhile before one can be sent to fix it. Just deal with it until then."

"... See?" Mathias said. "Let's go."

The other boy interjected with a whisper, "I'm Jedd; we're twins. But are you really okay with dealing with her?"

"Ho, ho? Does my reputation precede me?" Lisanna said with a glare, looking around as if trying to hunt down a particular face amongst the scattered teens in the building.

Mathias thought it clearly did if Elise knew of her. Whether it was for good or bad, he did not know. However, from Jedd and Thomas' yelp, it was clear they were intimidated nonetheless.

It didn't really affect him, however.

"... Uh, l-let's go show you the room," Thomas offered hesitantly. "Ah, Elise! You got our registration, right?! No take-backs! I don't want to be staying in the other room if they try something sneaky!"

"Sneaky...? You expect that I, of all people- "

Elise said, "it is done," and the exchange was broken before it could be intensified.

Mathias, all the while, was curious. Somewhat about the room and white-knuckled Lisanna, but more so about how comfortable the bed might be since it had been years since he slept in one. Technology must advance in all realms - a sentiment he wanted to see if it applied to such furniture, too.

He wondered if the danger of falling off was addressed.

Since Jedd was already retreating ahead of Thomas, Mathias chose to start following the black, messy, near-spiked hair and darker skin of Jedd.

While they walked up the chiselled stone staircase, resting hands on the mahogany wood railing, and seeing marble sheets and exquisite paintings decorate the walls, Mathias reaffirmed that the place was a little gaudy.

Unnecessarily so. Granted, maybe it was designed to appeal to more shallow people.

However, once they stopped at the second level, he noticed a strange lip leading up to the slightly elevated floor. Impeccable red carpet divided by a three-inch raise. There was an entire wooden slat that was larger than a wall in his house with accompanying benches on the landing. Thomas and Jedd quickly took off their shoes, motioning to it easily.

"Nobody really said anything about it," Thomas said, referring to the shoe rack, "but it seems like the girls' side is on the right, and the guys' is on the left. It isn't a rule I'd want to be the first to break, though."

Jedd nodded.

Mathias did not have the habit of wearing his boots indoors anyways. Well, it wouldn't have mattered much were the place less gaudy, but apparently they thought the carpet to be necessary. And a clean variant was required to keep the image of the institution - or something to that effect.

Since he was not partial to them enough to consider their theft or tampering a significant enough reason to contest, he did as the other boys had done and put his boots beside the pairs' own.

Lisanna, behind him, grumbled. "Hey, do they make sure they're safe? I don't want to wake up one day to find that it's gone."

"... They didn't say in the orientation, but then again, we just caught the tail-end of it anyways. It seemed like the other students expected people to be late so we got lucky, I guess?"

"Either way, I'm curious about the room... how are the beds?"

Thomas grinned, "they're a lot better than the one I had! It's proper and there isn't even anything cheap like straw!"

"... Why would there be straw?" Lisanna asked.

Mathias, too, quirked his head. He assumed furs were far more typical for beds, anyways. Though he knew enough people complaining about straw so he imagined that most people had a weird fixation on their sleeping materials.

"Uh? Because."

"... I don't get it."

"Nevermind, it's getting late so you should set up your room," Thomas said motioning them forward. Jedd was already a few steps ahead.

Mathias followed for a few minutes, passing by dozens of rooms, weaving around a few corridors, before finally reaching a wall with a separate door leading outside in the corner of the building.

A slight, acrid smell seemed to invade the area, and there were scorch marks on the wall that housed the room labelled "Room 143" in faded brass plates.

"That door is a patio, but... well, we haven't seen anyone go out there yet." Thomas murmured, motioning to an unlabelled door directly adjacent to their room. "I mean, it's cool, but we have our own anyways."

Mathias nodded. The two boys waved and said, "well, it's been a long day, so we're going back in. If you need anything, let us know."

"Ah, okay. I should be fine, though."

Lisanna interjected, "but where are the baths, the laundry, and the dining room?"

"Talk to Elise. She's a third-year, so what we know if pretty much because of her anyways."

After that, the two boys retreated back into their room. The door slammed behind them quickly. Mathias had not even opened the door yet, but apparently the boys did not want to be there when it happened. At least, that was his conjecture as he braced himself.

"... That's it?"

He said curiously, not realizing that there were retching sounds behind him.

Three-quarters of the walls were burnt black with soot, and there was the scent of acrylic, formaldehyde, soot, sulphur, mould, and something else he couldn't place. It was bad, but it was not insufferable. His father's company smelled much worse when they stopped over at the parlour. His mother would use the entire square in front of their house to just hose them and her daughter off depending on how long their expeditions were.

However, as he did not want to deal with the scent contaminating his prized lynx fur, he set his bag outside the door and felt for the water in the air.

It seemed like it was already quite humid, but it worked well for him as he formed scalding hot water, scrubbed the external walls and door before moving towards the inside.

There was a charred desk that seemed to have vague imprints of objects that once stood there - shielding an explosive flame and casting negative shadows on the wood.

Yet, in only a half-hour, he cleared the walls, drastically reducing the scent, and discarded the blackened water over the balcony.

He did not realize it at the time, but the four corner rooms of each wing were actually highly sought after. That was because they were built especially luxuriously, with large closets, work-spaces, and storage areas.

Since it seemed to be a pain to get new furniture, he asked his apparent roommate, "is it okay if I just clean the desks, too?"

There was no response.

He stuck his head out of the room, even looking on the common patio, but there was no response.

Sighing, he just did it anyway.

The desks were scrubbed to such a degree that it was no longer flat; it was peppered with the uneven damage of the flames and experiments conducted on its surface. However, it was clean. Flames didn't burn all parts equally.

He even cleaned out the closet, floors (especially those under the bed), and then the balcony.

He had discarded soot, mould, and dust in such volumes that he struggled to control the tainted element. But, conveniently, he could just throw it out the window towards a decorative patch of trees outside in the back courtyard of the dorms.

He even cleaned and dried the beds in their entirety several times, sniff-testing the oddly new pillows, sheets, and bed-frames. He even made his bed. Though, he expected that would be the one-and-only time such things would happen.

Someone tried to dress up the room, it looked like, but they could not do much more. Perhaps it was above their paygrade but within their responsibility?

However, after an hour, once he was done and content with his work, he began settling in.

"... I'm telling you, we'll deal with it later," a voice said with a resounding sigh from outside. "I do not see why I must be brought here."

"I asked every room on this floor to see if they'd let me stay there until it's cleaned - and they said no! I don't think you understand how unacceptable it is!"

"... I admit I have not gone there myself, but there is little I can do. The rules have been set by those far above me. I can't change them or allow exceptions on my own. At the very least," The voice began as she turned to the open room. "Is this it?"

Mathias was energetically laying out his fur, his blankets, and claiming his spot. He had already put away his clothes in the obscenely spacious closet, following the left for guy's and right for girl's principle. As he did with the beds since it wasn't exactly an oppressive rule.

"... Hey, Elise," he called out from inside, hearing the familiar voice. "Got a minute?"

"... You too?" She asked with a sigh and walked in. "What is it?"

The room seemed normal, so much so that its previous, rumoured state failed to register for her despite her previous conversation.

"I was wondering when we'd get those uniforms? I'd prefer having them now instead of having to deal with it in the morning."

"Well, there is an office on the first floor for sizing, tailoring, and the like. You can go there now if you'd like, but hurry as it does close in a little bit."

"... Understood," he took one of the two keys that were sitting on the beds. They seemed to have some strange crystal imprinted on them, which he took to be a security device - of which, he hadn't a clue about its technicalities. "I'll see you later then."

"See you," Elise said easily, making room for Mathias to leave. Turning back to Lisanna, she asked, "so, what is your dissatisfaction with the room?"

"Err, uh... nothing... I guess..." she stammered before adding, "I swear it wasn't like this before!"

"Right, right... well, the rumours seem to have gotten excessive. Maybe you picked up on it, too. It happens. Either way, if there is nothing else-"

"No, no! Wait! Lisanna hurried knocked on Thomas and Jedd's door, for them to verify her side of the story, obliging Elise to stay and listen.