The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, the streets are bustling! What a beautiful day! Unfortunately such a lovely atmosphere is wasted on these disgusting people. I leaned against the window frame of my inn room, watching the street below with a mild-mannered smile. A week had passed since the interview, and during that time I’d attended the induction session as required. It was rather dull, with the old man from the interview showing Burg and I around and droning on and on about the various college rules. If I was to be entirely honest, I don’t remember the majority of what that decrepit, old heretic said.

I did store away what was essential to know of course. My classroom would be located in the Combat Department Building, to the east side of the college campus. I got to have a look around on the day, and I must say, while nothing in comparison to the church of Sol, back at the capital, it wasn’t too shabby. Big hall for some practical battles, and desks lined along the back for when studying the theory of magic.

I must say, I can’t get my head around why this wretched kingdom would allow for the National College to exist. A place that gathers talents and trains them, but then requires no obligations from them after their period of study. Certainly there would be gratitude to country’s royal family for paying for their tuition, should they come from a poor background, but there’s no guarantee. Back in the land of the righteous (Sol), almost all education is associated with the church. If you gave a large enough donation, then your children would be allowed to study at the church facilities. Almost every educated official in the kingdom of Sol is bound by their religion, and the vows they made before Sol, to the prosperity of our kingdom. A far better system than this messy College nonsense.

Well, at any rate I can’t spend my time relaxing here. Today I begin my first class. I’m actually rather excited. This last week has been lovely, spending time chatting with Serenity and Silk, but I need a change of scenery. Speaking of Silk, she’s grown increasingly clingy. The effort it requires to pry her off of my body is definitely substantial.

Having gotten into the grey uniform provided by the old man along with the mask from the interview, I strode to the front door. As I reached out and opened it, I felt two small hands grasp at my jacket firmly. Looking back I met the round, grey eyes of Silk as she anxiously clutched onto my coat tail. Yes… I’ve been too soft on her, and now she has developed this peculiar attachment.

“You can’t come with” I told her. It was simply how it had to be, after all I couldn’t afford for her to be recognised somehow.

“please…” she asked in a small, shy voice.

“Even Serenity can’t come, and neither can you.” I replied. Serenity is unique, and I can’t afford the heroes recognising her and blowing my cover. It all needs to be covert! Should they come running into my arms with grateful tears in their eyes as soon as they realise I’ve come to rescue them, then everything would be ruined. I can’t take on an entire country by my lonesome.

“disguise…” she insisted, a glimmer of determination present in those previously lifeless eyes. Maybe I should just let her come along… As long as no one sees her face, it’ll be alright, right? Then again, she may be recognised via her grey cloak. How to solve this conundrum. Sol grant my guidance!

Silk looked visibly excited as I pondered how I could make this happen... Well she was expressionless but having spent some time with the petite former heretic, I’ve improved my ability to read her body language. She is under my care after all, and she has certainly taken to the guidance of Sol like a fish to water, after casting aside her previous allegiances. I looked around the room for inspiration.

The white bedsheets caught my eye. By Sol, that’s it! As long as it isn’t a grey cloak, everything will work out. After all, I’m only trying to fool a few heretics. They believe in a ‘moon god’ so they’ll probably believe anything. I grabbed the sheet, and cut two appropriately sized eye holes.

Silk looked blankly at the scene until I eventually draped the white sheets over her. With my good eye for measurements the eyeholes fit perfectly, allowing her sight to go relatively unhindered. In front of me stood a small figure draped in a white sheet, only her grey eyes showing. I nodded approvingly, before motioning for her to follow my lead as I walked over the door. Wait… should I do the same for Serenity? No… an owl draped in a scrap of bedsheet would look too suspicious.

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The journey was short, and despite Silk’s peculiar appearance, nobody took too much notice. With all the variety in this Sol forsaken city, no matter how ridiculous the garb, it was very unlikely for anyone to make a fuss about it. Silk hadn’t let go of me the entire journey as per usual. At first I was worried that the cloth may have been hindering her breathing, what with her drawing in unusually deep breaths of air, but when queried about the matter she looked uncomfortable and even embarrassed. At the very least, it didn’t look like there was a problem with the bedsheet… although maybe I could have had it washed before draping turning it into a garment.

At any rate, after a short walk we got to the main campus of the college, located relatively close to our inn, in a more affluent district. Seeing my uniform, I wasn’t stopped by the guards/college law enforcement officers (blue woman’s lackeys), but they did stop poor Silk. The matter was resolved by saying she was a teaching assistant… that and I may have threatened to break their legs… and did break one… but only one… I’m not a violent person after all.

And here I am, sitting at my desk, in my classroom. Silk had taken it upon herself to drag a chair over and sat directly next to me… she was quite close… close, as in making contact close. Ignoring her peculiar habit, I idled, waiting for the students to arrive.

To my knowledge, all students are required to attend language classes and basic arithmetic, and beyond that they were allowed free rein. They could choose any class available, and needed to gain a certain number of credits to pass the year. I as a teacher would be responsible for handing out such credits.

“Excuse me?” sounded out a familiar voice from the doorway. I looked over and saw heretic princess standing in the grey student’s uniform; grey knee-length skirt, grey stockings, grey shoes & a pale grey collared shirt.

“Hello.” I replied with a smile. The princess gave a smile back and walked to one of the available seats and sat down. The small, individual by my side appeared to be staring at the heretic princess a bit too intensely. I gave her a small pinch, after all we can’t go rousing suspicion.

The glare stopped, but Silk decided to take it upon herself for whatever reason to switch seats from the chair to my knee. Now I looked down at her, my smile straining. This was getting a bit ridiculous now. The princess sat quietly and didn’t mention my small companion’s odd behaviour despite sending some curious glances. Good etiquette… for a heretic.

As a few more minutes went by, the students slowly started to trickle in, taking seats close to the front. They all seemed around the same age group; 14-15 years of age. Once you start a course with a particular teacher, you can’t change till graduation, so there was a week to allow students to try out different classes before making their final decisions. In all likelihood, the thirty-odd people who came to this lesson would likely be reduced by the next. Oh, would you look at that, time for class has started.

I stood up from my desk and glided over to the centre of the front of the room. Silk kept pace, making sure not to be further than a foot away. I gave a large welcoming smile and began the class.

“Hello students. My name is Cyne Wight, and I’ll be responsible for the teaching of this class. What I will be teaching is how to fence with light swords, in addition to combat oriented light-magic. Today I thought we’d start with a little chat about magic!” I began. My words were greeted with no complaints, and the children were nice and polite. Shame they’ll all inevitably be burned by Sol’ righteous fires.

“Now, magic allows you to influence the magical power within your body to produce various phenomena, depending on which attribute you are aligned with. I am assuming you all are light-magic attributed?” I asked. The class nodded. Their eyes were focused and attentive, what a lovely class.

“One’s soul purity affects the limits of your achievements in the field of magic. Those with high soul purity are increasingly rare. What I am going to emphasise and teach is how to use your magic wisely and intuitively in combat scenarios. Regardless of how weak your magic may be, it can still give you’re the upper hand, depending on how you use it.” I said.

“Teacher!” called a student from the back.

“Yes?”

“What about heroes? What’s their soul purity?” asked the child. Wonderful, absolutely wonderful! I was hoping to steer the conversation towards this.

“Heroes? They have no limit to their magical abilities. The limitations we have on our souls, don’t exist within theirs. Why do you ask?” I asked, feigning ignorance.

“Well, there’s heroes supposed to be coming to the academy sometime this week. Didn’t you know teacher?” asked another child.

“Oh, I was unaware. I do fail to keep up with such events. Will they be attending classes normally?” I asked.

This time the princess answered my question.

“Yeah, they’ll be joining our year, although they’re a year or so older. There companions will also be joining in a higher year” She answered.

“Oh? You seem quite sure of that.” I probed.

“Well, I was there when father sorted out the details. I even got to meet them for a short while.” She replied, a little smugly as she looked around at the class’s amazed facial expression. It looks like she’s got a bit of a bragging side to her. Thought she was overly polite for someone of her age, but then again that may just be in front of authority figures.

“Yes, well that was enlightening. Thank you for that Grace. Now, before we move on are there any other questions?” I asked. So the heroes will be coming, and soon… It’s been a while. And, not only them but Deane, Catherine and maybe even Melissa. I can just imagine the heart-warming reunion now. Of course, I may have to put them down if they are too far gone down the path of a heretic.

“Teacher, I have a question” called out a student, breaking me away from my train of thought.

“Yes?” I asked.

“Who is that, and why are they staying so close to you?” asked the student, pointing at Silk. Oh… I see… Their eyes were never focused on me, the teacher, but on the peculiar fellow by my side. I didn’t respond for a moment as I suppressed a sigh. These damn heretic children, leading me to believe that they were genuinely enthusiastic to learn…

“Teacher? Anyone? I’m not the only one who sees it right?” called out the student again, sounding a bit agitated. I waved my hand and calmed him down.

“This is Silk.” I replied succinctly, and continued with the lesson. The students didn’t seem overly happy with the curt explanation, but they were here to learn! Not to interrogate me over who I associate with.

In the back of my mind I began to plan how to approach the heroes and co, without looking too suspicious.