Arthur wasn’t quite sure what he was looking at. “Hey, Arthur! We have to get to class!” Alyssa in a ridiculous green beret and green and white robe ensemble tried to pull Arthur out of his apartment door, but he skillfully dodged.

“First, what the hell are you wearing?” He took another step back, dodging another attempt by Alyssa to latch on. “And second, you still have another hour before your first class. Why would you get there this early?” Alyssa stopped and shot Arthur a disgruntled look before collapsing on his bed. “I looked it up online. This is a wind mage outfit, right? I think it’s cute.” Arthur couldn’t help but laugh, “That’s just impractical. How do you expect to move around in that during a fight? And announcing you’re a mage and what type is just giving away your element of surprise.” Quickly realizing he may have gone too far, Arthur tried to recover the situation. “It does look nice though. I’m sure your Instagram followers loved it.”

She sat up suddenly with a smile, “Damn right! I already have close to three-thousand likes. You really should get an Instagram account. I could give you a shoutout. It would be fun!” She had been trying to get him to set up an account for the last week. He refused every time. He couldn’t find the appeal of social media like others could. He didn’t want to put so much of his life out in the public eye. Not that his complaints stopped Alyssa from posting a few pictures of him on her Instagram.

“I’ve told you dozens of times now. I won’t.” He then noticed the object she had thrown into the corner of his room after barging in. “What’s that?” Arthur asked. It looked a whole lot like a staff, but he wanted Alyssa’s confirmation. “It’s my new magician’s staff. I thought it looked cool.”

Arthur was more disappointed in himself that he hadn’t mentioned it before. He sat down next to Alyssa sinking into the comforter. “I blame myself for not mentioning it, but most magical items are scams. A lot of shops around the school exist to prey on new students. You probably won’t be able to return it at this point just be very careful from now. Magical tomes and items just aren’t that common.” It was Alyssa’s turn to laugh at Arthur now. He always took things so seriously. “I’m not that stupid. I had it for a few photos I was taking. Who would believe the shit those salesmen say out there?”

Arthur grinned sheepishly. He had fallen for it his first time visiting the Academy. He had been taught a lot of things during his childhood, but common sense was not one of them. “Good. You’re not as dumb as I thought.” He got a quick punch in the arm from Alyssa for that.

Taking advantage of the lull in the conversation, Arthur stood up heading to the bathroom. “I’ll get changed real quick and then we can head out.”

“Hurry up!” She called out after him. She was already trying to conjure up the wind blade they had been working on over the last week. She had only been successful once, but that was all it took for her to begin proclaiming she would be the best magician in the school. Caleb and Sarah had been joining them every day as well. Not always for wind magic specifically, but Arthur was glad Alyssa was making friends her own age. It wasn’t good for her to be spending so much time around him.

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It only took him a few minutes to change and the two of them were off. The muggy morning air had a way of sapping Arthur’s energy. By the time they reached the classroom, he was ready to fall back asleep. “Are you falling asleep? How can you keep me safe when you can’t even keep yourself awake?” Alyssa had noticed his eyes drooping. He whispered back, “I don’t think you’re in any real danger here. This is the safest college campus in the world.”

She just sighed before turning back to face the front, “Just try not to fall asleep.” Arthur nodded trying his best not to let his eyes shut. To be honest it wasn’t just the weather making him tired. He had been staying up late ever since getting back from Paris studying the god artifacts. He had been coming up short. There wasn’t a lot of solid information on the found artifacts and their locations.

Lost in thought, Arthur hadn’t noticed the teacher walk in and welcome the class. “So today is just going to be for introductions and to judge where each of you is with your magical ability.” She paused to look out over the class, a look of annoyance flashed across her face when she noticed the half-asleep Arthur in the middle row. “When I call out your name please come to the front of class, give us a small description of your hobbies and magic preference, and then cast your strongest spell if you have one.”

This is how the first class went. There were only twenty kids in the class not including Arthur. Since he was just a bodyguard he wouldn’t be listed as a student. Normally, he would have been almost collapsing from anxiety related stress. Any sort of activity that involved standing in front of a class, even a first-year class, would cause him to freeze up. Luckily, he was no longer a student. He leaned back in his chair slowly blinking off to sleep.

“Arthur Montale.” The teacher’s voice cut through his daydreams. He hadn’t expected this. He tried to respond, he really did. He only managed to get out two words, “No thanks.”

The words seemed to echo through the now silent classroom until one of the students started laughing. Who turned down a teacher on the first day?

Alyssa had been looking at him strangely since his name was called, and after his response, she stood up in his place. “Hi everyone. I’m Alyssa Corbyn, daughter of Nigel Corbyn, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Arthur is my bodyguard and I’m afraid that if he performed any magic he might destroy the classroom. I know a little bit of wind magic though” With that, she tried performing the wind blade. With a loud bang the gust of compressed air shot into the ground creating a large divot. It was by far the strongest spell that had been cast that day. The teacher looked impressed as Alyssa sat down with a grin.

“Very good, although I don’t think your name is Arthur.” Alyssa’s smile faded. The teacher then addressed the whole class, “I expect everyone here to fully pay attention during class. No matter why they happen to be here.” She then glared at Arthur before stopping at the center of the classroom. “After Alyssa’s introduction, we should all know each other a little more. Now let’s begin studying the intricacies of wind magic. If you could all turn to page three in the textbook.” Arthur leaned over to Alyssa, “Thanks for that.” Instead of replying she slid over a note.

‘You owe me one ’

He stuffed the note in his pocket and laid his head down on the desk. He couldn’t stay awake for much longer. It’s not like the classes would be information he didn’t already know. In this way, Arthur found himself a student once more.