The academy was a castle-like building that partially went into a mountain. Some of the rooms were viewable from outside, but the majority of them were hidden by the rock of the mountain. There was a crack in the center of the mountain and the arena of the academy lies in the cavern beneath it. Legend has it that a dragon used to live in the mountain. Most of my classes were above the mountain, but there were a few deeper inside, one of which was the practical combat class.

Ariel, Kori, Me, and one of Ariel's friends all shared the class, so we made our way together. The sunlight shone through the large crack in the side of the mountain. There was a stadium in the middle of the class, and many seats around it. There were quite a few students already in the class, along with the professor. He was standing by a board and desk. His ears were like Akais, pointed at the ends, but his were much longer. His hair was short and curly. His eyes were an enchanting green, they complemented his blonde hair. He carried a thin sword at his waist.

“That’s Professor Curtis.” Ariel said, noticing me looking at him. I didn’t respond, something about him was familiar, I was trying to figure out what it was.

“Alright students!” He shouted, all the small conversations stopped. “Now that the break is over, it’s time for the pre-examination matches. You all know what that means, time to draw lots.” He grabbed a cup with sticks in it. A line formed, and one by one, students each took out a stick. When I grabbed mine, the professor spoke to me. “Don’t worry about this too much, you’ll be fine even if you get hurt.” I guess he could tell I was worried about fighting, it probably was all over my face. Once I drew the stick, I looked down, “3” I was going third.

I was glad I didn’t have to go first, It gave me a chance to get an idea of what to expect. Ariel was unlucky, she was in the first match up. She seemed rather upset about it. “It just had to be him.” She grumbled. I looked over at her partner. It was a guy of roughly the same age as me. He had short black hair and gray eyes which were nearly as striking as Ariels. Ariel let me know that he was the only other dark magic user at the academy. It turned out dark magic was a lot more rare than I assumed. After a few minutes of preparation, the first match started.

I watched as Ariel formed her golden bow, and as the boy unsheathed his dagger. I looked over at Kori, who had been sitting next to me and Ariel, she was intently watching Ariel, hardly blinking. I started to think about Kori more. Her situation was strange. Ariel said that the headmaster told her it was probably just slavers. They had a reputation for abducting children and women of other races. Beastmen, along with demons and elves, were among the highest counted victims.

This answer just wasn’t satisfactory to me. They felt less like a rag-tag team of slavers and more like a fully functioning corporation. Akai shared her theory.

“They feel like a cult.” She said while I thought about it. “The cloaks don’t really help them be inconspicuous.” Deciding to think about this more later, I focused on Ariel's match. The two of them were evenly matched, and it began to drag on. They both had precise control of their magic, and neither was better than the other. Eventually, the professor stepped in and ended it.

The next match was rather one sided. It ended much faster with a clear winner. Which meant it was now my turn. I casually walked up, attempting to hide my nerves. My opponent was a rather well built guy. His hair was short and spiky. He gave off an honest and straight-forward energy. His fists were wrapped in bandages, so I assumed he would fight with his fists. Once we were both in the arena, I grabbed a wooden sword.

“So you’re the one Ariel has been assisting.” He said as we waited for the match to start. “Yeah.” I responded. He smirked and made another comment. “You don’t seem that strong for someone who survived the Labyrinth.” I felt kind of offended.

“I -” I started to speak, but the match start signal was given. I readied myself, and time seemed to slow. I saw his knee headed for my face, I could clearly see it, but I couldn’t react. My eyes were way ahead of my body, so I couldn’t do anything as his attack connected. I was flung back several feet as blood began to rush out of my nose. I quickly went to get up, but he was already in front of me.

“You’re still awake? I’m impressed.” He said with genuine astonishment in his voice. He then stomped on the back of my head, knocking me out immediately.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

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The man woke up. He had a headache, and his entire body was still sore. His eyes were damp, he had a few nice dreams. He had dreamt of the past. He remembered how happy he was. Now, those feelings are gone, replaced with a dull and empty feeling. He got out of the stiff bed and left the room he was in. As he left, he began removing his bandages. Most of his wounds were now closed, so they were useless. Once he left the room and Kori saw him, she immediately spoke to him.

“I still don’t think your condition is good enough to be walking around.” She said, clearly expressing concern for the man, but her pleas fell on deaf ears. “I need to go and look for her.” He said, grabbing a bag and ignoring the pain in his abdomen.

“Kage, please stop. You’re going to get yourself killed.” Kori said as the man gathered items. Rations, bandages, a dagger, potions, water, and a photograph. Once they were all gathered into the bag, the man headed for his boots. Kori was still pleading with him, but he stopped listening. He put on his boots, which took a bit more effort with one arm, and then a shirt and cloak.

“Kage.” Kori said, getting the man's attention. He looked over to her. “If you walk through that door, I won't be here when you get back.” She was resolute. The man could tell she was serious. “Kori, just come with me.” He asked, but she didn’t respond. A few minutes of silence passed, and the man turned and walked through the door.

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I woke up in the infirmary, the dream faded from my memory. My head hurt. I could feel tears coming from my eyes. My heart hurt. I felt like I made an irredeemable mistake. I looked around the plain white room. The man who knocked me out was sitting in the seat next to my bed, reading a book. He looked up once he noticed me looking at him.

“Ah, you’re awake.” He said, putting the book away. “I was asked to wait here since I’m the one who fought you.” He said, noticing my confusion at his presence. I made a noise of understanding, and he sat there looking at me. “Can I help you?” I asked. “Your eyes.” He said. “They could keep up with me.”

“Yeah.” I said, “But my body couldn’t.” There was a bit of irritation in my voice. I hated the helplessness I felt. “That can be changed,” he said before getting up and leaving. Once he left, a nurse came in and cast healing magic. “Can’t you just do that while I’m asleep?” I asked.

She looked at me confused for a second, but then answered. “If healing magic is used on someone unconscious there will be side effects.”

“That’s inconvenient.” I said. She laughed and then left. I was left alone with my thoughts and my ghost.

“That was one of the best moments of my life.” Akai said, “It was hilarious watching you fly across the arena.” She was cackling. “I’m glad my pain amuses you.” I responded before getting out of bed. I walked back to the classroom and sat down next to Ariel. Kori was mid-way through her match. While she was fighting, she looked more feral, her claws were longer, and her hair partially stood on end. The fight ended with Kori's loss, but it wasn’t a painful one like mine. The rest of the day flew by. I was starting to get pretty tired. One of the side effects of healing magic is that it makes the recipient tired faster for a few hours because the body is more focused on healing.

Before I knew it, the day was over, and I was sitting in my chair at my desk. “Blindness.” I was making no progress with the spell. “This is weird, since it’s localized in the body, It should be easier to control.” Akai was just as confused as I was. “How about this, try a different element.” She said. “Which one should I do?” I asked, I still was pretty new to magic. “Try 🝲.” I understood this to be “Solar Flare.” A small ball of blackish light formed in front of me. “What is this?” I was confused. “Shit, I didn’t think this would work.” “Huh?” I noticed a tiny white light form in the center of the ball, which quickly grew in size and intensity. I was suddenly blinded.

I canceled the spell as quickly as I could. I was surprised at how much easier the mana was to control. “What was that?” I heard Kori ask from behind me. “Ah, I’m just testing some magic, you can go back to sleep.” I heard her mumble an okay and lay back down. I still couldn’t see, it was worse than blindness, because at least blindness didn’t hurt. I checked how much mana I still had available to use, and I normally had half left after using blindness, but I still had almost all of it after using solar flare.

“So we have an issue.” Akai said, breaking the silence and startling me a bit. “What?” I asked. “You can’t use that spell in front of other people.” She said, suddenly shattering my happiness. “Why not?!” I nearly yelled out. “Normally, only the royal family is able to use sun magic, but you can for some reason, so you’ll be arrested for treason if someone sees you using it.”

“Why even get me to try it then?” I asked, very confused. “I just wanted to mess with you.” She said with a tinge of guilt in her voice. We argued until I fell asleep.