All mages ranked abecedarian and above are free to leave the Academy and take on jobs and requests elsewhere as they see fit. For those who remain at the Academy or those seeking rest from their journeys, the Academy supplies for all of their needs in exchange for teaching or other Academy business. Abecedarians usually remain at the Academy to try and achieve master status before venturing out.

The next morning when Chad got to the kitchens, Master Sanders was showing two apprentices and a novice their way around the kitchens.

“Oh, Chad, it's good to see you. Lucy told me you would be coming in this morning. This is Amelia, Sheldon, and Daisy,” said Master Sanders, as he pointed at the two apprentices and the novice. “They are starting work in the kitchen today. I know that you haven't been here for that long yourself, but would you be able to show them around? I have a couple of things I need to take care of.”

“Um, sure.”

“Great! When you are done, the four of you can start preparing the vegetables for breakfast. Thanks, Chad. See you later,” said Master Sanders as he left.

Chad turned to the other three. “So... I'm Chad. It's good to meet you.”

The only response he got were bored looks from Amelia and Daisy, and a poorly disguised glare from Sheldon. In the awkward silence that followed, Chad thought, “now what did I do to deserve a look like that?”

“Okay...” Chad said, trying to break the awkwardness. “Then how about I finish showing you around the kitchen? What all have you seen so far?”

After a very awkward tour, Chad was getting the impression that the other three didn't really care for him. The four of them started preparing the vegetables. At one point, Chad found himself working alone and he overheard the conversation of the other three.

“I can't believe I am actually working here this early in the morning,” Amelia was saying, “but this was the only time for me to work if I wanted to make it to Prince Lance's class.”

“Like you have the right to complain,” put in Daisy, “at least you get to go to the prince's classes. I got dragged along just because I am your roommate and I can't go to his classes because I'm a novice.”

“So why am I here?” asked Sheldon, “I don't have any interest in the prince.”

“Why, to protect me from weirdos like that Chad guy,” replied Amelia. “I had no idea it was him until you said something. I still can't believe they let someone like him into the Academy.”

“I know, I don't trust him at all,” said Sheldon. “I seriously expected him to be expelled and imprisoned after he interfered with the Princess's apprenticeship celebration.”

“What?! This is the first time I have heard about anything like that,” said Amelia. “I mean, I didn't even know that Princess Magnolia was studying magic, much less that Chad got tangled with the royal family.”

“Yeah, rumor has it that the princess has been studying here under an alias for the last year and just became an apprentice this quarter. Apparently, the Overseer was the only person in the Academy that knew who she was or even that she was here. It would have stayed that way too, if Chad and his Shadow Men buddies hadn't interfered with her secret celebration.”

“No way! Chad is a shadow man?” said Daisy, starting to look a little scared.

“No, he just works for them,” replied Sheldon. “Anyways, the Shadow Men infiltrated the castle on the Solstice. Well, they were discovered and when the alarm was sounded the royal family was escorted to safety from a private party. While they were being escorted, someone saw Princess Magnolia in formal Academy apprentice clothing. That's how it got out that she was a student here.

“As for how Chad was involved, when the alarm was sounded, the Shadow Men made a run for it. The royal guards were about to catch them as they were leaving the city gates. However, Chad and his cronies, the Miller siblings, had positioned themselves by the gate to help in the escape. Because of them, the guards were only able to catch one of the Shadow Men. Before Chad's group could get away, reinforcements came from the Academy led by Selena Yellowborn and they were caught and brought in for questioning. I even saw Selena escorting them and the Shadow Man into the guard house myself.”

Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

“Oh my goodness! You're right, I can't believe they let him stay here. How is that even possible?” asked Amelia.

“I hear it is because his father is some big shot and paid the Academy a lot of money to babysit his spoiled child.”

“I wish I could have seen Miss Yellowborn capture him,” sighed Daisy. “She's my hero.”

“I thought Prince Lance was your hero,” said Sheldon.

“Well, he is also my hero. But wouldn't it be great if those two got married? Then they could be my heroes together! I mean, she is practically royalty already. They would be the most beautiful couple ever!”

That was all that Chad heard before he had to go get more potatoes from the cellar. “Well, I guess I know where that glare came from earlier, and I am guessing I can expect a lot more,” Chad thought to himself as he descended the stairs.

Nothing of note happened again during the rest of his time in the kitchen or during his first two classes. His third class for the day was magical staff at 11:00. He decided to take a shortcut behind some buildings to get to the dueling grounds a little early. As he was passing a barn, he heard a voice coming from the end of it.

“...brother here, can you!” said a mocking masculine voice, which was followed by a muffled grunt. “You two think you are so special.” Another grunt. “Well, he might be, but you definitely aren't.” Grunt. As soon as Chad heard the second grunt, he started running.

As Chad was nearing the corner, he heard a second voice chip in. “We don't want your kind here. Hurry up and quit. Stop holding your brother back.” As the voice finished, Chad came around the corner and finally saw what was going on.

Jet Miller was standing with her back flat against the barn and her mouth slightly open. Surrounding her were five apprentices and an abecedarian drifter. As Chad took in his surroundings, the abecedarian swung the bottom of his staff up towards Jet. Even though she was several feet away it looked like the blow hit, and she grunted again as her torso was slammed against the side of the barn. It was then that Chad realized that something was pinning Jet's arms and legs to the barn and it seemed to be gagging her as well.

Chad rushed towards Jet's side. As he ran, he raised his hand to his mouth and shouted, “Help! Behind the alfalfa barn!” When he shouted, the others finally noticed him. Chad was amazed by the reaction speed of the abecedarian. Just as he was finished shouting, he was lifted off his feet and slammed against the barn in a similar manner to Jet.

“Darkness,” said the abecedarian, causing a shadow to fall over Chad.

“Well, if it isn't the little shadow man.” said the abecedarian as he approached Chad, showing himself to be the first voice. “How fitting that you are under a shadow.” He stopped his approach a couple of feet short of the shadow covering Chad. “Did you really think anybody would hear you? There is a reason that we are where we are. It's so nobody CAN hear us!!” His voice got gradually louder as he spoke until he shouted the last three words. As he shouted, he started the same motion with his staff that he had used on Jet earlier.

When Chad saw what the abecedarian was planning, he said, “uncover.” The shadow above him disappeared as the staff came up. “Shield!” There was a loud whoosh as the air aimed at Chad hit an invisible wall about half a meter in front of him.

“What the...!” shouted the abecedarian in disbelief, causing his concentration to be broken, releasing Jet and Chad from their bounds.

Chad had been amazed by the reaction speed of the abecedarian, but it was nothing compared to Jet. As soon as she was free, she pushed off the barn like an arrow towards the nearest apprentice.

Chad didn't really want to get involved in any brawling, partially because he didn't think he would be of any help. However, he did want to help Jet out, so he said “shadow.” One giant shadow appeared over everyone there. It wasn't as complete as the one he had used on Quartz the first day they met, but it was overwhelmingly big. Because the shadow even covered himself, Chad couldn't do much without dispelling it, which would defeat the purpose. So all he could do was watch.

By the time the shadow was up, Jet had already reached the first apprentice. She made quick work of him with a strike of her palm to his jaw, knocking him out cold. The next two apprentices were together and had a little more time to prepare for her. She tried the same jaw strike as before on one of them, but he dodged it. Taking advantage of his loss of balance, Jet followed up with a kick to his knee, knocking him off his feet. As his companion fell, the other apprentice reached out to grab Jet's shoulder. Jet grabbed his wrist, spun around and pushed him to the ground with her other hand pressing on his elbow.

Seeing one of his minions knocked out and two others grounded, the abecedarian charged at Jet and swung his staff at her head. Jet stepped towards him and a little to the side and redirected the staff with her forearm. As the staff moved away from her body she grabbed it and yanked it out of her opponent's hands. While he was still recovering from having his staff pulled out of his hands, Jet slammed it into his stomach, knocking the wind out of him.

Having seen their leader fall, the remaining two apprentices turned tail and ran. But Jet wasn't ready to be done yet. Dropping the staff, she dashed after the two.

“Stop this foolishness immediately!” A magically amplified voice stopped Jet in her tracks.

“This is quite an impressive shadow, but it has to go. Dispel!” came a woman's voice from the opposite direction, dispelling the shadow.

“It looks like we have found ourselves some troublemakers,” said the first person again, as he stepped out of a gap between buildings.