It was due time for me to arrive for morning classes, but with everything that happened along the way, arriving on time was looking unlikely. Nevertheless, I sprinted my way towards the gates of the school, while passing through the huge garden of the academy, seeing all these beautiful flowers put me somewhat at ease.

But the calmness was short-lived, as I approached a star-shaped fountain close to the gates, the water abruptly ceased to flow, and on top of the fountain, there stood a black-haired girl, staring right into the sun. Her hair danced against the wind as she spoke to me:

“It’s an honor to meet you, Illyanna Celestine,” she gazed into my eyes at that moment.

The strange girl jumped from the fountain, going right over me, and landing on a single foot, all without breaking her balance. “It’s unusual to see you around here,” she said while smiling at me.

‘I’ve heard rumors of a girl who hangs around the fountain right by the outskirts of the academy, she calls herself “The Oracle” because her ability supposedly allows her to predict the future.’

“Pop Quiz,” she suddenly shouted, “Why are the people who able to draw powers from so-called, ‘Crystals’, called ‘Stars’?”

This was a random question to ask, it was our first-time meeting and I had yet to properly greet her, still, she skipped the introductions and went straight for a question. It did not bother me though.

“The crystals that grant us our powers are made from extra-terrestrial materials coming from outer space, the name ‘Star’ is given to us to symbolize this fact,” I answer her question while we stood back-to-back.

“Huh? Is that what you think?” she asked while sounding disappointed. “Well, it doesn’t matter. You will find out the answer to this question soon enough.”

Her demeanor made me uneasy.

She slowly walked back towards the fountain with both hands behind her back while keeping her skirt down. “Well, you answered my question. Don’t you want to ask something?” she invited me to ask her a question in return. ‘I don’t believe this oracle non-sense, but if she does have the power to answer any question…’

“Let me make this easier on you, what if I give you the answer to a question that you have yet to think of?” she proposed me something ridiculous, but this caught my attention. “Can you do that?” I asked her as she immediately starts to grin. “Well, it’s up to you. Will you believe whatever I say?”

‘It’s not as if there aren’t cases like these, abilities able to manipulate information are very common. However, how is she going to manipulate something that hasn’t taken form yet?’ I thought to myself, but I accepted her proposal nonetheless, “Sure,” I told her.

I felt both of her hands touch my cheeks, she pulled my head towards hers and they eventually connected. With eyes closed, she seemed to mutter something to herself, but I could not understand anything.

Her warm hands left my skin as she turned around and walked towards the fountain.

“I was right to come here today and meet you after all. Your future looks very interesting, wish I could just let things play out and watch from afar, but I did say I would answer any question,” she said while holding her index finger next to her right cheek.

This conversation was turning into a topic of the occult, so I tried to laugh it off and slowly backed away from her.

“Here is your answer, Celestine- no, I think I should call you Illya,” she sat down on the fountain with legs crossed while looking at me. ‘Very few people call me by this name.’, “Here is your answer, Illya: follow your heart and not the pledge you made to this school,” her words unexpectedly resonated with me, so much so that I lost track of time while thinking about her answer.

“You better be grateful, knowledge doesn’t come cheap, you know. There is a price for everything… Think of this as a loan of sorts, I expect you to pay it back in the future.”

The sound of the ringing bells of the academy brought me back to reality.

“You better get going, your childhood friend, Aoi Angelite, is going to go crazy if you make her wait any longer.”

‘She also knows about Aoi, which means that she either likes to stalk people or she does have the ability to predict the future.’

“Can I ask you something?” I just had to ask her, I felt like it was the most rational thing to do.

She turned her head in my direction and said:

“Sure, this time it’s going to cost you though.”

I was not sure if the person sitting before me was a friend or a foe; the girl that calls herself The Oracle claims to be an information dealer and appears to be neutral towards teachers and students alike, however, I had my methods to assess her intentions.

“Will you duel with me?”

She looked at me with a surprised expression and probably did not see this coming, ironic for someone claiming to be able to predict the future. “Sure,” she agreed to duel with me, not asking for any conditions or rules.

Leaves from the artificial trees of the academy fell into the fountain, making the water ripple. The self-proclaimed oracle stood up and walked away from the fountain, the water started to flow once again as the distance between them gradually grew.

‘Now, what are you going to do, Oracle?’

“It is an honor to duel against the Ace of the academy. You will find that I am not as strong as one would think, but I hope to at least entertain you, Illya.”

Although I proposed no conditions, she did not call for her weapon, instead, she just stood in front of me with eyes closed. “The duel starts in five seconds,” I told her while trying to figure out how she was going to handle the situation. Nobody had ever seen her fight; I have nothing to look out for.

“Five… four… three… two,” I began counting down in hopes that it would prompt a response from her, but she barely even moved despite me trying to pressure her. “One!” I shouted and ran towards her at a speed no normal human would be able to pick up, but she somehow managed to see through my movements and dodged at the last second.

‘So, charging directly at her will not work, then maybe if I punch her…’

With my right fist clenched, I threw it in her direction hoping to land the hit, but she again was able to predict this movement, without even opening her eyes, she used her left hand to shake off my attack.

‘I guess she was being serious about predicting the future after all. But this is not what I was hoping to confirm!’

All I could focus on was her smiling face as I put all my strength on my legs and successfully delivered a kick to her arm, this should have hurt her quite a bit, she backed away from me while holding the arm I had just kicked. “That was a very strong attack, I must admit,” she complimented me.

“You probably saw it coming though, why did you choose not to dodge? Maybe your ability isn’t so reliable after all!”

She let go of her arm and opened her eyes for the first time since we began sparring, they were glowing in a very familiar manner, the glow was so intense that I had to avert my eyes from the light.

“You are correct, my ability isn’t 100% reliable. I cannot see the immediate future, but I can predict up to 11 possible futures with the information that I already have on someone, therefore I always do my research before engaging in something dangerous.”

‘The way she acknowledged me as the Ace of the academy means she must know a lot about my fighting style already. If I want to win this fight, I will have to fight in a way she will not predict,’ this time I grinned at her while thinking to myself.

“Seems like you got something in mind, Miss Ace of the academy, but can you prove my predictions wrong?”