The next morning, they found out there were other mages who had arrived before them. Their group consisted of Seers from the nine starisles subsidiary to Humusi. But Humusi was itself part of a set of starisles subsidiary to Ira. And apparently, High Mystic peers of Purattu had been sent to all of those other places to recruit Seers. Five of the other groups had checked in. Four hadn’t.

Even still, there were already well over a hundred conscripted Seers.

All of them were present for the morning assembly in the main courtyard. Xerxes saw a wide mix of individuals. There seemed to be a slight majority of males, but he wasn’t completely sure. There were short and tall people. Fat and skinny. All sorts of hair colors—the majority dark, but a few with lighter hair like Purattu, or even fair hair like people from Od—and a host of different skin complexions. The only thing uniting all of them was that they were young.

The Humusi mages followed the example of the others and arranged themselves in ranks. Back home, the Academy had been a supposedly prestigious location. And yet, on the entire planet, there weren’t even fifty Seers total, with only a small portion of them being students at the Academy.

Seeing so many magic practitioners in one place, Xerxes muttered, “This is crazy.”

“I know,” Gandash said. “There are more mages here than on all of Mannemid. And we’re all students.”

“Newcomers from Humusi, welcome,” said a man who stood at a podium at the front of the square. It was the same gray-haired man from the day before. “I’m High Archon Kingallu, the headmaster of this school.”

Xerxes’ mind spun. A High Archon? In his entire life, the most powerful mage he had ever known prior to meeting Purattu was Mystic Aban Saddi. He had always thought of Aban Saddi as an all-powerful expert, yet Purattu had killed a massive Abhorrent with a single spell. But compared to a High Archon, lowly Mystics and High Mystics might as well be called weak.

“Humusi Seers,” the gray-haired man said, “please pay close attention, as I’ll give you a very brief summary of the situation, and what will happen today. All of the previous students at our establishment were deployed to deal with the Abhorrent invasion. You’ve been brought here to form a new student body destined to be battlefield mages. We still don’t know how the Abhorrent got from the Nightmare Cove to our part of the starsea, the Great Reef. Regardless, we need to have more qualified mages ready to fight the enemy.

“We are still waiting for more Seers to arrive from Harmu, Sin-Masu, Al-Ga, and Dumusi. Those from Dumusi should be arriving sometime this morning. In the meantime, you’ll attend lectures before lunch and general training classes in the afternoon. You will devote evenings to rune study and meditation.

“Once the other Seers arrive, assessments will be held to further identify your strengths and weaknesses. Until then—”

The sound of metal creaking interrupted the Archon, and all heads turned in the direction of the main gate.

As a group of carriages entered, Archon Kingallu said, “Ah, the new recruits from Dumusi. Seers, turn and face the newcomers. We’ll greet them properly. Humusi Seers, accept our apologies for not offering you a similar greeting, but you arrived late in the evening.”

Xerxes turned along with the other Seers to face the newcomers. As the carriages trundled to a stop, he stood a bit straighter as he realized he would likely be one of the first people the new Seers saw. That was, until three of the school staff hurried out to meet the newcomers, similar to the way they had met the Humusi mages yesterday.

It didn’t matter. Xerxes still felt proud to be part of this group. Yesterday, he had been a nobody, but now he was part of this new class of Seers at the Sin-Amuhhu Institute of Military Magic. He didn’t know a damn thing about how the school worked, but he was wearing the uniform and these new Seers weren’t.

Clasping his hands behind his back, he threw his chin up a bit and looked at the carriages.

The doors opened, and mages began to climb out. As expected, they were young. And of course, they were clad in traveling clothes. There were men and women, with different skin tones and hair colors. But they all looked similar to average folk from Mannemid.

Then, something caught Xerxes’ eye. A flash of color completely different from anything else present.

Red.

It was a bright, fiery color that swirled out of one of the carriage doors, almost like a wisp of fire, or a swirl of leaves from the deepest part of autumn.

At first, Xerxes was confused. Then he realized the red color was someone’s hair. Fascinated, he focused on the person stepping out of the carriage, and realized it was a young woman. Her hair was alive around her, a crimson mass that caressed her shoulders and, at the same time, seemingly defied gravity as it floated around her. However, it obscured her face, such that Xerxes craned his neck in an attempt to glimpse her eyes.

As she stepped onto the paving stones of the courtyard, she brushed her hair aside, and he saw her face. She had a long, straight nose and pink lips that were curved into a permanent smile. He couldn’t tell the color of her eyes from such a distance, but they were light. Perhaps blue. Regardless, in all his recent travels, he hadn’t seen anyone else like her.

I’m going to marry her, he thought. Even after the concept popped up in his mind, he didn’t think it strange. There was something about this young woman that struck him to the core. He cared about her. Right away. Instantly.

More Seers emerged from the carriages, but he wasn’t looking at them. He was staring at the girl with red hair, his mind swirling with a thousand thoughts. What’s her name? Which order of magic does she study? What kind of food does she like? The thoughts eventually ran together until his mind was a mush, as if he’d been knocked out while standing straight up.

She wore traveling clothes, including knee-high leather boots, sturdy trousers, a brown outer garment, and what appeared to be a homespun cloak. Every single piece of clothing accentuated her perfectly.

I don’t know who you are, but I love you, he thought.