When he opened his eyes, the morning light had already filled the room from the gap on the window’s curtains. The young man blinked rapidly several times before getting up from the bed, trying to ascertain whether it was real or not. What happened during his dream was so real he had trouble discerning if he’s still sleeping or not.

“That dream…” he muttered as he sat down on the side of the bed. Hanging his head down, he’s still trying to process what he just experienced in his sleep, and the questions that arose from it. What is that sphere of light, and why did it appear in front of him again? And just who is that girl? How did she know him?

But he has no time to continue on his pondering, for he knew he had no time to do that as he had something very important to do today, the first day of the school. Kayrus gets up and readies his uniform, the uniform that he will continue to wear for a long time aboard this ship. He sighed, anxious, and stepped out of his room.

*****

Kayrus is already fully dressed in his uniform by the time he went downstairs, and the first thing that greets him is the cheerful Emma.

“Ah, there he is, our special boy!” she shouted, surrounded by Max and Stefan who turned their heads to Kayrus as well. All three of them are wearing their military-like uniforms, but Emma is wearing a silver armband in place of Max’s blue.

Kayrus was stunned in his walk by her words. Have Charleone told her and the others about the result of his Trial then?

As it turns out, he hadn't, for Max suddenly ran up to him and hugged him, saying to the startled youth "Hahaha, I never thought you would be a Bea just like me." he patted Kayrus’ shoulder.

“Wh-What?”

“Yeah, Bea, that’s the result of your Trial, right? Charleone told us about it last night. Still, I can't believe you turned out to be one of my juniors, you rascal.”

“O-Oh, right…yeah, it’s a surprise for me as well.” said Kayrus. In his heart, he breathed a sigh of relief that Charleone hadn't told them anything about the eight Affinities that he has.

“Oh, right, almost forgot.” said Emma, reachin for the inside of her military coat. She then pulled out a blue armband and a pair of leather gloves, handing them to the former thief.

“What’s this?” he asked as he received them.

“The armband is for your Collegiate, wear it every time you’re wearing your uniform or on official business of the Magus Society. Treat it with utmost respect, some people consider it very important, for some reason.” explain Emma.

“As for the gloves?”

“The gloves are from me.” Max seemed proud when he answered it. “It’s my old Conduit gloves I used when I was a student like you. I think it will suit your style.”

“Conduit huh? Interesting…”

He'd read about Conduit. Every Magus needs one to use their Magic more easily. And it came in various shapes and forms. Now that Kayrus thinks about it, gloves would be a nice Conduit for him indeed.

Kayrus tried on the passed down gloves, and it fit his hands perfectly. The gloves are made from black leather, but the inner side of it is made from cotton. It’s strong, comfortable, yet still gives his hands free reign of movement.

“See, I told you it will fit.” said Emma.

“Yeah, it does. Use it well, it could last you a lifetime.”

“I’ll try not to break it.” Kayrus said back, smiling.

“It’s nice that you’re in Bea though,” said Emma afterwards, “You’re going to have Irinna as your Professor. With Charleone as your Sponsor, things could be hilarious, or awkward.”

“What do you mean?” ask Kayrus.

But before the woman could answer him, the sudden appearance of the Archmagus himself interrupted their chatting party.

“Is everyone dressed up?” said the man in his full official robe attire. Kayrus noticed that it was different clothes, but still identical, with the one he wore the day before. “Let’s go then, we have to go early.”

“Right on.”

“Yes, Archmagus.”

“Roger…”

The Archmagus looked at the new student before him.

“Your armband,” he points at the blue armband on the young man’s left hand, “Here, don’t forget to wear it.”

He took the armband and put it on Kayrus’ right arm. “Remember what I said before, good luck.” he patted Kayrus' shoulder. For a moment, the young man thought the Archmagus’ eyes looked filled with genuine warmth and care. For that short of time, the Archmagus looked…vulnerable.

“Right,” The Archamagus returned to his regular self in just a split second, “time is valuable. Let’s move out now.” Says Charleone walking out of the house followed by the others.

*****

There is only a sea of people as far as Kayrus can see. Young men and women of his age or younger wearing the same kind of uniform as him. People dressed in nice and important-looking clothes that definitely would cost a bit of fortune to even have. Magus and other officials wear either the military uniforms like Emma or Max, or the simpler version of Charleone’s robe. And all these people-perhaps thousands of them-are walking towards the same destination as Kayrus’, the brain of this flying city, the Main Academic Building of Zennardi Magi Academia.

It looked old and grand from afar, but from how close Kayrus is now to the building, it looked even more majestic than before. Built like floors upon floors tiered on top of each other in an easter design, the stone and brick facade made the building as if built by panels and logs of dark wood timbers interlocking each other in intricate and elaborate geometric patterns.

The road leading straight out to the building is a wide paved road flanked to each side with rows of cherry blossom trees, their pinkish red flowers blooming beautifully on that spring morning. That road is clearly not wide enough, however, as people are packed there like a can of sardines, all walking towards that building.

Kayrus is alone in that suffocating experience, unfortunately, Charleone sent him alone on that route, while he and the others took another route because he had some “Faculty obligation to take care of”. He can only sigh as he got pushed around by some impatient people behind him, accepting his fate. He can kind of understand why there are so many people here that day. Today is the first day of a new Academic Year, which means that there’s going to be a huge ceremony and assembly involving not only students, but also people that have some “investment” in this school. Or so Charleone explained it to him as they left his house.

And so he walks on, and after quite some time enduring the suffering, he finally arrives at a place where he will spend years of his life training to be a Magus…