Sunlight shone down; illuminating the room, waking me up from my sleep. I was sure that the curtains were closed right before I slept.

I opened my eyes and saw Roxanne engrossed in her morning exercises. Threads of light fell from the ceiling, condensing into an ethereal figure. She was mirroring its movements.

Remembering what she did yesterday, a dangerous glint flashed through my eyes. Sneaking, I went behind her, gathering as much strength as I can.

A resounding smack swept the room, accompanied by a loud cry.

Roxanne jumped, holding her behind, turning her head and glaring at me. “What the fuck are you doing?”

Smiling smugly, I rubbed my hands together; feeling the residual heat. “Just a little payback, now we are truly even.”

Roxanne suddenly smiled sweetly, leaned closer and whispered seductively, “I always had the hunch you were one too, we’ll really enjoy our time together.”

I froze, not knowing the meaning of what she was saying. Alarms were ringing in my head. I must read about life in the capital as soon as possible.”

She turned around and continued with her exercises. Seeing that, I went to the bathroom and mushroomed, dressing up the same outfit as every day; white shirt, black skirt, knee-high stocking, and black shoes.

Leaving, Roxanne took her turn and entered the bathroom. I leaned on the window, gazing at the scenery in front of me.

Three days passed in the capital, I met Kyra, the Old Man, Roxanne, President Azahl, Elder Agrus, ate tasty food, almost died twice due to nightmare, another Old Man, a stinky Old Woman, and learned how to read. Not what I would expect for just wanting to attend the academy. Also, too many old people!

I sighed, lamenting my luck and focusing on today's’ events. Roxanne and I should be entering a guild, afterward, I will go to the library to educate myself a little bit. It is not a pleasant feeling that I am in the dark about so many things. Maybe I can find out a little about myself.

Roxanne left the bathroom, wearing matching clothes to me. I wondered if it was intentional or not. She took my hand, linked our arms together and pulled me outside. I felt helpless but followed her bidding.

We left, heading towards the Student Affairs Buildings. I noticed that alot of weird stares were directed at us, making me feel that something is amiss. Roxanne took a detour, showing me natural sceneries, only couples were present there. What made me surprised even more that there were couples similar to us. A foreboding feeling arose from my heart.

I never heard of two women becoming a couple back in my town, nor men. It shouldn’t even be possible as they can’t have babies. Unless…

Turning my head toward Roxanne, I noticed that she was staring at me with burning eyes. We were mere inches apart and could feel each other breaths. I could no longer hold it any longer and left her grasp.

She looked at me, shocked; her gaze betraying her sadness. Shaking her head, a bitter smile surfaced on her face. “It is fine, we can take this slowly.”

“Roxanne, we are both girls, this just feels wrong…”

“As long as I can make you love me, it won’t matter.”

I was stunned hearing her reply, and also guilty seeing her look. If I knew this from the start, I wouldn’t have entertained her. “It is not possible, we can not have babies or build a family.”

The moment I finished speaking, Roxanne body shook, a wide smile blossoming on her face, her gaze intensified even further. ‘Something is wrong’ is what I thought.

“That is not a problem at all; there are the pills called [Genetalia Growing Pills], they enable men and women alike to grow organs which helps them birth children!” Emotions were visible in her voice as she spoke.

I felt the world grow dark and fell on the ground. [Genetalia Growing Pills], she said; men and women alike, she said; birth children, she said! Why didn’t I hear about such a thing in my town? Why does this even exist?!

Roxanne held me up, a concerned look on her face. My face distorted thinking about what she just said. I can imagine pregnant women, but men? She did say she has a father though...

I took deep breaths to calm myself down. I opened my mouth to speak, wanting to say anything, but no words came out from my mouth. She really did have a valid point, we can really have a family…

“Cassandra, is there anything wrong?” She said with a worried tone, concern visible in her eyes.

My mouth twitched, I took one last breath and said, “I am sorry, it is the first time I heard about such creation.”

Roxanne tilted her head. “It is very popular in the capital, but it is understandable considering President Kyra protective nature, she wouldn’t let you know about them.”

My body shuddered at the mention of Kyra. I now realize the real meaning of my promise to her, but I was still confused as to why she wants me, and who will be doing the deed.

‘Library, Library, Library…’ I kept muttering to myself, reminding me that I need to go there as soon as possible.

“Cassandra?”

Roxanne’s voice brought me back to the present, I looked at her with a weird look, missing my life at the town for a second.

“It is fine, let us go and enter a guild first. I need to visit the library afterward.” I said, resigning myself to reality. As long as I can mother a child, it is fine regardless of gender.

*We did not even start the academy and you are going to the library?” Roxanne shouted, “Bookworm!”

I laughed awkwardly, I really couldn’t tell her that I just learned how to read yesterday.

She extended her hand, waiting for me to lock mine with hers. Sighing, I did as she wanted and we continued on our way.

***

We arrived at the Student Affairs Building, what greeted us was a chaotic sight. Students wearing tabards embroidered with different symbols everywhere, rushing to anyone in sight to bombard them with information about their guild.

A man which I assumed to be in the second year wore a tabard with a flaming bird symbol, the moment he saw us, he ran at full speed; coming to a stop in front of us.

“Did you hear about the Phoenix guild?” he said

I was frightened by his actions, as did Roxanne. I could feel her hand tighten, veins popping on her forehead.

“FUCK OFF!” She shouted, trying to kick him away but failing to do so. He was much more agile than he looks.

“I apologize for my actions, it was rude,” He replied, trying to defuse the situation.

“We are not joining the Pheonix Guild, please leave,” I said, noticing the anger boiling within Roxanne.

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His mouth twitched upon hearing this, and said with a threatening tone, “We are ranked third in the academy, you’ll re-”

A fair hand appeared, clutching the man’s head and throwing him before he could finish his words. She was a young girl, around nineteen to twenty years old, sharing similarities with Roxanne.

I couldn’t help but compare them; Roxanne was similar to me in height, but the other person was a head taller; Roxanne lost in the chest department and won in the bottoms department, the inverse was true for the other woman; and finally, Roxanne had fiery red hair, similar to her temperament, while the other woman had snow-white hair, similar to her cold and aloof demeanor.

I realized that they were sisters, polar opposite in everything. Roxanne suddenly beamed and jumped into her sister embrace, snuggling happily while her sister recuperated the feeling. It made me envious, I wanted to have a sister like her.

The crowd suddenly murmured, I heard a person saying, “It is the Coldnut Witch.” Men especially reacted violently, keeping quite a distance from her.

Roxanne whispered something in her ears, light flickering in her eyes as she gazed at me.

“I am Ezra Sherwood, nice to meet you, Cassandra,” Ezra said, extending her hand.

I shook her hand, meeting her gaze. “The pleasure is mind, Ezra.”

Roxanne locked hands and looked at me into the eyes. “My sister is the Frozen Heart Guild President, we’ll join it. I assume you do not mind, right?”

I was helpless against this girl, in the end, I nodded, saying to Ezra. “I’ll join your Frozen Heart Guild, I hope that you can take care of me in the future.”

“That’s good, even though we are not strong overall, we are the strongest guild in terms of average strength of members. It’ll change by both of you joining our ranks though.” Ezra said, waving her hands, indicating for us to follow her, “I’ll introduce you to the rest of our teammates, they are an interesting bunch.”

“Interesting bunch?” I repeated.

“You’ll see soon enough.”

Ezra, Roxanne and I headed to the Guild Hall, I just now noticed that she did not wear any tabard showing the symbol of her guild. It felt as if she really did not care at all about whether she recruits anyone or not.

Stepping into the building, I noticed that only students were here, nobody wore the official academy outfits, giving this place a casual atmosphere. The floor tiles were black and white, walls were decorated with symbols, representing various guilds. Seniors were sitting everywhere, groups of freshmen around them, chatting and giving them advice.

Ezra led us to the third floor, we arrived in front of a door carved on it an Ice Mountain. I knew that this was the symbol of our guild, where I shall be staying for quite some time during my academy life.

A loud bang resounded as Ezra kicked the door. A couple of seconds passed till we heard a voice shouting loudly. “You animal! Can’t you be more civilized?”

“I am an animal, got a problem with that?.”

The door slowly opened, and a man around eighteen years old came into view. He was a tall man around 177 centimeters, with golden eyes, arched eyebrows, chiseled face, and well-toned muscles. What attracted my attention however were his fox ears, grey hair, and tail.

He looked at Ezra and rolled his eyes, shrugging. “Maybe become an enlightened animal and stop with your bullish ways?”

“You should go down and recruit some freshmen instead of slacking off, only then will I consider changing my ways.”

“If everyone goes, then I shall go.”

“Everybody says that and nobody goes!” Ezra screamed,

“Your problem, not mine.” He shrugged and entered the room, leaving an angry Ezra behind.

Ezra stomped down angrily on the floor, pure-white ice crystals surrounding her foot. I gasped, a restrained stomp was able to form ice crystals, making me wonder the extent of her strength.

Taking a deep breath, Ezra calmed herself down. “That fellow is called Lorenz Lester, he’s a pure Soul Artifact user, a ranger to be exact. He is an extremely powerful fellow.”

“Strong to what extent?” I asked

“The strongest in the entire academy in his field.” She replied nonchalantly, “His [Elemental Bow] can shoot out arrows formed from the basic elements.”

“Come, let us enter, I’ll introduce you to our remaining members.”

Roxanne held me even more tightly that it started to hurt. I couldn’t bear it any longer and looked at her, as if understanding, she relaxed her grasp a little. It seemed as if she was nervous, looking a little cute.

We entered the room, my jaw dropped upon seeing the scene inside. Lorenz was reading a book called [Best Ways to Catch Men], a stone golem a head taller than Lorenz was striking a pose, showing off his muscle and lastly, there was a person covered by a blanket in the corner of the room; sleeping peacefully.

“You already know Lorenz,” Ezra said, pointing at the stone golem, “That guy is called Stonetinus Stonninton, an expert using earth magic due to his racial advantage, even though he is only a tier eight mage, he can contend with most of tier one wizards in terms of mana capacity.”

"Mana Capacity?" I tilted my head.

"Mana Capacity is the amount of mana your body can store," Ezra said, "It also determines your circle, as long as you can control it."

"You can think of it as a glass of water," Roxanne said, "The more you can put, the more you can use. However, if you overflow..."

"What happens?"

"You explode." Lorenz continued, "Circles are an indicator of Mana Capacity and endurance. It does not represent your potential like those fools who rush to become higher ranked. They end up dying without a corpse," FInishing, he smiled brilliantly.

I shuddered at this thought, not wanting to speak further, I asked, “What about his Soul Artifact?”

“Golems are unable to use Soul Artifacts. They are blessed with elemental advantage and mana, only heroes that are chosen by the gods can have ones.”

"What is Elemental Advantage?"

"Did President Kyra not explain anything to you?" Ezra looked at me suspiciously.

"President Kyra?" Lorenz shouted, jumping to his feet.

"She is her sister," Roxanne clarified.

I noticed a misunderstanding brewing, but didn't bother to clarify. It felt uncomfortable enough seeing his gaze.

A loud smack resounded, Ezra shouted, "Behave yourself, you'll scare her!"

It felt awkward hearing this. Do I really give the impression of a child?

"Sorry," Lorenz laughed awkwardly. "Golems who are attuned to certain elements can command more power."

I looked at the stone golem flexing his muscles and his chiseled face. He really did look like a piece of art; contrary to the power hiding within, making me wonder the origin of his race.

“That guy is Aurelius Barton, he can see through the dream and attack using ethereal lightning. It is nasty if you do not focus on strengthening your dream. He’s a tier nine mage.” Ezra pointed at the roll in the corner. “His Soul Artifact is his eyes which enables him to see through the dreams; a rare one indeed.”

I could not see any features of the man as he was covered from head to toe, making me wonder how he looks like.

“As for me, I am Ezra Sherwood, a tier two witch. I guess you already saw my element, my Soul Artifact is a greatsword.” Ezra said. "Now that you know everyone, it is your turn to introduce yourselves.”

Roxanne stepped forward, saying, “I am Roxanne Sherwood, my element is Fire and my Soul Artifact is a spear. I hope you can take care of me in the future.”

“Nice to meet you, Roxanne,” Lorenz smiled. “Please excuse the others, they rarely talk.”

“It is fine, my sister told me beforehand.” She said.

“Your turn, Cassandra.” Ezra looked at me.

I took a deep breath, sorting out my thoughts. “I am Cassandra, my elements are Spatial, Blood and Dark Ice. I yet to know the true form of my Soul Artifact, it is assumed to be a pair of claws. I hope you can take care of me in the future.”

“Spatial, huh?” Lorenz muttered, “Pretty rare. Welcome to our guild.”

I opened my mouth to speak, but Ezra interrupted me. “Okay, since everyone is introduced, we’ll take our leave now. Later boys!” Waving her hands, she pulled me and Roxanne out of the room.

We left the guild hall, Ezra then asked me, “What will you be doing in the upcoming days?”

“I’ll be visiting the library, there are alot of things I want to read about.”

“Alright, we’ll be meeting in the dorms later. I’ll be stealing Roxanne for a while.”

“Sister! I want to stay with Cassandra!” Roxanne protested.

“Stop being clingy and follow me!” Ezra said, “Later Cassy!”

'Cassy?' I mumbled, looking at the Roxanne being dragged by her sister, disappearing into the distance. I sighed, finally free from her clutches. After they left, I turned back and headed towards the library.

***

“What do you think about Cassandra?” Lorenz asked, looking at Stonetinus.

“Weak body.” He replied, unmoving.

“What do you think, Aurelius?” Lorenz asked.

“I’d rather not talk about it.”

“That is not like you, is there something wrong with her dream?” Stonetinus asked, looking at Aurelius.

“It is no longer a dream…” Aurelius said, covering himself even more. “Please do not ask me anymore about this, I would rather not talk about it.”

Lorenz and Stonetinus looked at each other, their mouths curving into a smile.

“I guess this year will be much more interesting,” Lorenz muttered, continuing to read his book in peace.

The stone golem resumed his original posture, as if he never moved.