I hope there are some interesting people joining this year. Rellitha thought to herself as she stood staring out the window. She had a full view of the thousands of youngsters who had already begun lining up for admission.

I heard there is some Noble guy from Delovan that has reached high Bronze. I wonder if that’s true.

It was still quite early in the morning, and the admission wouldn’t begin for a few hours. But there were still well over a thousand men and women gathered outside on the plaza. Rellitha noticed how some people were approached by elders from the Academy and asked to leave. Probably because they hadn’t reached Bronze yet, or were too old or too young. There were always a few people who wanted to try their luck.

I’ll have to keep an eye out. If I can make Soaring Souls take the top rank from the Shields during my last year, I’m sure it will do wonders for my reputation. I didn’t gather all those credits and take on the position of Head of the House just so we could remain second.

“How long until they close admissions?”

Rellitha turned to see that her younger sister had joined her in looking out at the gathering crowd.

“Before midnight,” Rellitha said, “Some special cases can arrive before noon tomorrow. You have plenty of time.”

“Right,” Sell muttered with a worried look on her face.

“What are you so worried about? Your test? You’re a high Bronze mage. You’re more than guaranteed to enter the diamond class, probably at rank 1 after the tournament,” Rellitha said.

“I’m not worried,” Sell said, turning away from the window and going back to lie down on the couch again.

You’re obviously worried about something.

“Is it that Graton boy? You also heard he has reached high Bronze?” Rellitha asked.

“How could I be worried about someone so weak?” Sell looked at Rellitha like she was stupid.

He is as strong as you…

“What are you so worried about then?” Rellitha asked.

“I already told you I’m not worried,” Sell said.

Rellitha didn’t believe it, of course. Her younger sister had arrived at Cyalis two months ago. At first, Sell had been in a very bright mood, which wasn’t so strange as she had always looked forward to going to the Academy, but she had been acting very strange in other ways.

Rellitha had heard that her younger sister would go out at a specific time every day, always heading for the plaza and waiting there for an hour before leaving again. Rellitha had tried asking her why, but she would never answer.

She doesn’t trust me. Not that I can blame her. I wouldn’t trust me either.

Eventually, Sell had changed from being in a bright mood to getting angrier and angrier with each passing day, until the past week when she had stopped being angry and instead begun having this worrying look on her face all the time.

I heard she has been standing at the plaza for almost all hours of the day this past week. What is going on with her?

“Are you expecting someone?” Rellitha couldn’t help but ask.

“What?” Sell asked.

“I hear you’ve been visiting the plaza every day since coming here. It seems like you’re waiting for someone,” Rellitha said.

“I didn’t know you’d been keeping tabs on me,” Sell said, looking over at her with an accusatory expression.

“Sorry,” Rellitha said, feeling a little angry at herself for saying something like that in front of her sister, “I’m the head of the family here in Cyalis at the moment, so people tell me things. I wasn’t trying to put my nose into your business.”

“Right,” Sell muttered.

“Will you tell me? I’ve been a little worried,” Rellitha said.

“I can imagine,” Sell said without much conviction, “Don’t worry, there’s nothing going on.”

“I wasn’t…” Rellitha didn’t know what to say. She only had herself to blame in the end.

I’ll make it all up to you, Sell. I’ll show you what your big sister can do.

A knock on the door brought Rellitha out of her thoughts. The room they were in wasn’t their family’s; it belonged to the Academy. But it was allocated to the student council, and as the student council president, she could use rooms like these at her leisure.

“Come in,” Rellitha said.

The door opened, and Aiden stepped in. He pushed some of his blonde hair from his face, revealing his green eyes. Rellitha tried to calm down her heart as it started to beat faster just from looking at him.

“Aiden,” Rellitha greeted with a small smile, “You want to grab some talents for your House before the tournament as well?”

“Temev wanted me to take a look to see if I could spot someone interesting,” Aiden nodded, “You’ve heard about the Graton one, I assume?”

“Mm,” Rellitha nodded, “I’ll have to have someone test his character though.”

“He’ll probably join you or the Shields,” Aiden said, “But I will give it a try.”

Aiden turned to look at Sell. She was still sitting on the couch, looking at Aiden with a weird expression.

“Right,” Rellitha said, “This is my little sister, Sellitha. She has just turned 17 and will enter the Academy.”

“A pleasure,” Aiden said and gave a slight bow.

“No, no. Don’t bow or anything,” Sell said and got up from her seat in a hurry.

“Oh,” Aiden looked at her with a confused look.

“Sell?” Rellitha asked.

“Just…Nice to meet you,” Sell said.

“Mm,” Aiden nodded with a polite smile, “A high Bronze mage already. That’s very impressive.”

“Right…” Sell said, staring at Aiden’s face.

“Sell, what’s going on? Why are you acting so strange?” Rellitha asked.

“I’m not strange,” Sell said, looking back to Rellitha.

“Okay…Anyway, this is Aiden Remori, vice president of the student council,” Rellitha introduced.

“Remori family, you say? I haven’t heard of it,” Sell said, turning to Aiden again.

Why is she so curious about Aiden? She hasn’t taken a liking to him, has she? No. Sell would never give that sort of stuff any thought. So why the sudden interest?

“It’s just a small family clan based in Valis, so it’s not strange you haven’t heard about it,” Aiden explained.

Please don’t ask more about his family.

“I see,” Sell nodded thoughtfully, “Anything special happen lately? Any happy news?”

“Er, what?” Aiden asked, confusion written all over his face.

“Never mind,” Sell sighed. She then walked over to the window again, scrutinizing the people gathering there.

“What’s going on, Sell?” Rellitha asked.

“Nothing,” Sell murmured.

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

I’ve never seen her act like this before. What’s happening?

“Sorry,” Rellitha said to Aiden with an awkward smile.

“Don’t worry about it,” Aiden said, shaking his head, “I have a weird younger sister too.”

“I thought I said I wasn’t weird,” Sell said.

“Right, sorry,” Aiden said with a smile.

Rellitha caught Sell staring at Aiden’s face a little too long again.

I know he’s handsome, but this is ridiculous.

Sell finally turned away from Aiden and looked through the crowd below again.

But I can’t imagine Sell ever having an interest in a boy.

“I can just show my high Bronze strength and then win at the tournament to gain my rank, right?” Sell asked, “No need to show off more than that?”

“I guess,” Rellitha said, “But it would do you well to impress the elders as much as you can.”

“Mm,” Sellitha nodded absent-mindedly.

“Will you join your sister’s House, Sellitha?” Aiden asked, stepping up to join the two by the window.

“I haven’t decided yet,” Sell answered.

“You should join us,” Rellitha said, “I can help you out a lot.”

“Maybe,” Sell answered.

“Or you could join Eternal Fire,” Aiden said, “I heard you have a fire core.”

“How did you hear I have a fire core?” Sell asked.

“Your sister told me,” Aiden answered.

Sell turned to look at Rellitha.

“Was it a secret?” Rellitha asked, a little nervous.

“No,” Sell said, “So you have a little boyfriend now and everything. Good for you,”

The room turned quiet. Rellitha's brain felt frozen.

…what?

Realizing what her sister had said, Rellitha could feel how her cheeks flushed in embarrassment. She looked away from Aiden, making sure he couldn’t see anything.

“Wha-What are you saying? Stop being ridiculous. What’s going on with you today?” Rellitha asked.

“I can see what Sahra meant,” Sell said with a small smile.

“Who is Sahra?” Rellitha asked, completely stumped at her sister’s sudden shift in personality.

“Never mind,” Sell said, shaking her, “I’ll go prepare.”

Sell left the room, and Rellitha scrambled for any ideas to get rid of the awkward atmosphere she had left behind.

“Sorry about that. Sell is usually very polite, but she has been acting strange lately,” Rellitha lied. Sell had never been the least bit polite, but she had never been acting like this, either.

“It’s nothing,” Aiden said.

They stood side by side in silence for a while, staring out over the ever-growing crowd below.

“Do you know what you will do after graduation, Aiden?” Rellitha asked.

“I’m not sure,” Aiden said with an awkward smile, “But I will stay in Cyalis until Ailera has graduated, at least.”

“That’s nice,” Rellitha said.

“How about you?” Aiden asked.

“You might not know it, but you have made me realize a lot of things for the past four years, Aiden,” Rellitha said with a small smile.

“I have?” Aiden asked, confused.

“Mm,” Rellitha nodded, “So, I’ll go back to Amyss after we graduate.”

I have some changes to make.

----------------------------------------

“Ganta, I can see the walls from here! They go on forever!” Perk yelled as he leaned out the window of the moving carriage.

“It’s the biggest city on Shiora,” Adion said, “It will probably take years to see all of it. You have a lot of work ahead of you.”

Even if the city walls of Cyalis were still distant, it felt very much like they had already arrived. The busy street and the buildings facing the road gave Adion the impression that they were very close to the city center, but it was still a long way there.

“Work?” Perk asked as he took a seat again.

“Mm,” Adion nodded, “While you will mainly focus on getting stronger, I will count on you two to get to know the city for me. I don’t want to go around asking for information when I have two capable subordinates.”

“We will get it done,” Tib nodded.

“Just don’t forget to practice,” Adion reminded, “You should make the most out of every day.”

“Mm,” Tib nodded.

“How will we know what to do when you’re at the Academy?” Perk asked, “We won’t be allowed to visit there, will we?”

“Not the Academy proper,” Adion said, “But there is a public part of the Academy where we can meet from time to time. You can send a letter whenever you need help or to inform me of something.”

“How do I send a letter?” Perk asked.

“...I’m not sure,” Adion said.

“I’ll take care of it,” Tib said.

Thank Ganta for Tib.

“Good,” Adion nodded, “I’ll get you a place to stay when we get into the city. I’ll visit there and bring you up to date once I’ve settled within the Academy.”

“Aren’t you in a hurry?” Perk asked.

Adion looked out the window to see the sun’s position in the sky.

“I’ll have time to book an inn on the way. But I’m really cutting it close. I’ll have to head straight for admissions. But at least the people there might know where my family is.” Adion said.

“Are you looking forward to seeing them, boss?” Perk asked.

“I am,” Adion nodded with a smile.

“And your girlfriend, too, right?” Perk asked.

“Her too,” Adion nodded.

“You won’t forget about us, right?” Perk asked.

“Of course not,” Adion said, “I’ll try to find a way of getting money. That way, I can buy a place for you to stay. It would be nice to have a place for ourselves to work, like sort of a headquarter. I could go there whenever I need to hide something from the Academy, too.”

“Really?” Perk asked, “How will you get money for that?”

“I’m thinking of selling an Elixir of Life,” Adion said, “It’s not much use for me. I could use the absurd amount of money it would sell for a lot more. But it would be risky to reveal that it comes from me, so I need a way to sell it anonymously while still getting my money.”

“Should we look for a trusted auction house?” Tib asked.

“That could be useful,” Adion nodded, “But these are things that are incredibly valuable. Even if an auction house has a good reputation, a look at the Elixir of Life could mean that all bets are off. So make sure never to mention it. But look into if something of equal value has ever been sold around here. It might work.”

“Leave it to me, boss,” Tib said.

“Good,” Adion nodded, “But remember that you aren’t even a mage yet, so be careful.”

“I will,” Tib nodded.

“I can’t believe we’ll have our own headquarters,” Perk said.

“Should we look for more people to recruit?” Tib asked.

“Recruit?” Adion asked.

“It’s a big city, and an even bigger world. We will need more people eventually, no? Or were you thinking of just having me and Perk in the organization?” Tib asked.

You’ve thought so far ahead, Tib? An organization, huh?

“It’s not a bad idea,” Adion mused, “But it will have to wait. You would have to become stronger first. I don’t want someone stronger than you joining for a good while.”

“Okay,” Tib nodded.

“What is our organization called, boss?” Perk asked.

“I don’t think we have a name. Do we need one? It’s just us three so far,” Adion said.

“A name would be good,” Tib said.

I’m not very good at naming things.

“Well…” Adion thought about it. “At our core, we would be an organization that works for the destruction of Heavenly Light, right? So if they are ‘heavenly,’ we will be something even higher than heaven. We’ll be celestial. And if they are the light, wouldn’t we be the shadow?”

Adion looked at the two brothers with a small smile, “How does Celestial Shadow sound?”

“I just got chills, boss!” Perk said.

“I like it,” Tib said with a smile.

“Then it’s decided,” Adion nodded.

“This is so exciting!” Perk got up from his seat and clenched his fists, “Our name will be known by everyone soon enough. And your name will resound all over Shiora, boss!”

“Hold on, hold on,” Adion tried calming Perk down, “Let’s wait for a while before revealing ourselves. We are Celestial Shadow, after all. And don’t ever mention my name in association with it. I don’t want to bring trouble to my loved ones, so I will remain anonymous.”

“Oh, that makes sense,” Perk nodded, taking his seat again.

“So, who should we say our leader is?” Tib asked.

Adion almost instantly had a name appear in his mind. He reached for his backpack and pulled out his Ash Willowin mask for the first time in a long while.

“What’s that, boss?” Perk asked.

“It’s a mask,” Adion said, “A masked leader that no one knows who it is sounds cool, right?”

“Very cool,” Perk nodded vigorously.

“Mm,” Tib agreed.

Adion smiled at his two subordinates, “And the name of this leader will be ‘Atao.’”

End of Book 1