Never has my days dragged so long before. Sitting here at my desk while cramming in equations and definitions was not how I envisioned I would spend most of my time in Liken. I look out my window only to be met with the darkness of the night. I should take a break. I let go of my pen, my hands covered in new calluses and old ones tearing. My eyelids are heavy from the exhaustion yet when I shut my eyes, my mind wanders beyond my control. Another sleepless night. The second in a row. I refuse to spend another sleepless night staring at equations and paragraphs of information. I won't remember them any better. Stepping away from...everything seems like a good idea now.

I reach out under my bed and pull out my blood-stained tome and start another nightly reading. Nights where sleep escapes me, are always the nights that I escape to the stories and promises of this book. The tales of us mortals being saved and assisted by an all-powerful entity we can never see. How his or her messengers are gifted with powers never before seen. Powers that could only be considered miracles. A tale of God and his or her meddling with humankind. Oh, the jail time this book carries. Freedom of belief is 'allowed' in Raekoft yet the book in my hands is deemed as enemy propaganda. The blood forever stained into the tome, a lesson in the consequences of having such an item. A lesson I'm too stubborn to accept.

I'm not going to get anywhere with this...too many words. I'm not sleeping the rest of tonight so I guess I'm going for another walk. Technically, I'm not allowed to leave the dorm areas past lights out but I haven't been caught yet. Besides, sneaking around hs always been a speciality of mine. I summon a black mist to encloud me as I very quietly click the door open and meet face to face with a red-eyed Leyna.

"What are you doing?" she questioned, her arms crossed in front of her. I look back into my room and up at the clock to realise that I have lost track of time. It is in fact, much earlier than I had anticipated. I must really be out of touch with the world at this point. "Why use your magic so late? You got a good reason to send a chill just as we are all trying to sleep?" she continues to interrogate.

"Well, why were you listening in?" I countered.

"I can't help it. And, you're not hiding it well either." I take a double-take at myself and realise that my magic is clouding up, doing its job a bit too well and making it much more obvious than it should be.  I retract my magic to prevent my grip on it from slipping any further. Looking back at Leyna's bloodshot eyes makes me realise how much worse I must look right now. "Well? Are you going to explain what you're doing?" What am I doing? Just trying to stall for time? What's the point in me even trying if I know I'm destined to fail the physical trial? "I'm just...taking a walk. I can't sleep."

Leyna creases her eyebrows before letting a sighing. "If that's what you what." Leyna turns to return to her room but I call out to her. "How about you join me? If you're going to be listening anyway." She turned around with a raised eyebrow. Clearly, it didn't make much sense for me to ask her to accompany me but I don't want to be left alone with two days of uncontrolled thoughts. I mean, Leyna and I could be considered friends right? She's talked to me a few times about training tactics and strategy. She's helped me out with my training when I asked. Maybe this will be a good opportunity to get to know her personally. 

She visibly hesitates for a moment before closing the door behind her. "I'll come with you...but you owe me some answers." I simply nod, fearing that whatever word escapes my mouth might ruin my entire relationship with this girl. I start making my way to the outside of the dorm with Leyna following silently behind me. We made our way to the back of the dorm building where I dropped onto the grass, leaning against the walls of the building. Leyna looks around for a moment before relenting to sit next to me. I only say relent because Leyna looks so confused throughout that whole journey. 

She clears her throat and adjusts her position, resting one leg on the ground and propping another one up all cool like. We stay in awkward silence as I'm assuming, Leyna is expecting me to say something but I'm too exhausted to remember whatever I did want to say. "So...what's with the sudden burst in effort Dravus? I get that you're not strong enough to compete with the other people in 1-A but you're practically killing yourself at this point. How long has it been since you last slept? Two days? Three?" I hold up two fingers for her to widen her eyes at before giving her the answers she so desires. "I uh...I'm getting expelled about...four days from now."

"What?" 

"I have a theory test tomorrow and a physical trial three days after that. A physical trial that I probably won't pass." I watch as Leyna juggles this information in her head for a moment, hopefully thinking about how to console me. "Yeah...you probably won't pass whatever they try to throw at you." Well, that's another hope crushed. "LIken Academy is very strict about performance. You might be able to pass the test but if they have you blacklisted...they'll probably toss you a physical trial you can't pass at your level." she bluntly explains

"Right...thanks." 

"Uhm...no problem." was her reply. Was she just socially awkward this whole time? "You're pretty shit when compared to the rest of us. When people here get expelled, it's usually from the shame of drastically losing a fight which with your skills, is almost guaranteed. You have been making an effort though, I can see that." Nevermind. I never thought I was that hopeless but then, of course, I was already way out of my league from the start. "Are you Raekol always that serious about fighting?"

She groans loudly and rolls her eyes. "Do you really have to group all of us as 'Raekol'? Why do you people always use that slang for us?" I hold my hands up in surrender. "Sorry, it came out as a reflex. Just call it...a tradition of the lower class." Leyna glares at me for a short moment before simply sighing. "Well, consider fighting as part of our tradition as well. We always gained our position in the world through our prowess. It's part of our culture." Culture, huh? The air between us drops silent again as my gaze wanders back to the starless night sky with a bright moon. The city of Halsana, alive and active, bright lights shining all over the place.

"Hey, Leyna. You ever look at the sky and think that something...something might be out there?" I ask, hoping to satisfy a curiosity I've had for years. "What do you mean?" she asks. "I mean, do you look at everything out there...everything we can do and think that...something has to be behind it right?" I shouldn't be this careless, spewing out illegal thoughts but I'm too tired to think it through. Maybe she'll think of me as just, incredibly naive. Just like the rest of them. She stays silent, trying desperately to hide her frustration but failing miserably. "No. I don't. The world came into existence from magic and magic is part of everything around us. It's stupid to think that this all came from...' something'. Why are you thinking about things like this anyway? How are you going to even think about passing your theory test while saying shit like that?" I guess I should be lucky that that's all I get. A stern talking by everyone's favourite general's daughter.

"Okay, okay...I'm sorry. I'm just...very tired." Leyna slaps the back of my head to really hammer in her point before gently placing a hand on my shoulder. "You should go to sleep. You have a big day tomorrow."

"What's this? You're being a lot more gentle than usual." That...was not meant to be said out loud. She creases her eyebrows and tilts her head at me, no doubt confused at my complete alpha move. Her continued silence makes me regret the choices I made this night.

After a few agonizingly silent moments, she sighs deeply before giving a light tap on the back of my head. "I'm like this most of the time. You just happen to be one of the few people I talk to in this school." Right, now that I'm thinking about it, this is the first proper conversation that I had with Leyna. I guess I really can consider her a friend now. The second prince of Raekoft and now the daughter of a ruthless general. At least I managed to keep interesting company during my time here. 

"Well, I guess we should retire for today." I push myself off the wall and straighten myself out the best I can. In one last bold gesture as an attempt to bridge the massive gap between us, I hold a hand out for her. In my few interactions with Leyna, including this one, it's hard to determine if she has had any ulterior motives for helping me. In fact, this conversation showed me exactly how blunt she usually is. She might just be a good person, helping out the underdog of this story. And yet, I know exactly how few and far between people like her exist.

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I know what the Raekol say about people with my background. I know what they think of us, what they wish they could do to us. Even the person I thought I could trust looked at me like he had a personal vendetta to settle. I just hate that I couldn't see exactly how shallow our relationship was. No matter how much I told myself to dissociate from these people, I have to admit that it's taking a toll on me on top of everything else. 

I...I want a friend here. Anyone. Please. 

Leyna looks up at me for one short, sad and painful moment before she reaches up and grabs my hand.

<................>

"No, stop putting your back behind every attack! Go for jabs!" instructs Leyna as she continues to block my every attack with an insane level of precision. I might be putting too much force behind my attacks but that's because I'm not in the best of moods either. The theory test was difficult but in all the wrong ways. Too many questions that are long and complicated in unnecessary ways. A test designed not to test my knowledge, but to confuse me and without nearly enough time to properly digest each question. A test to prove exactly how 'dumb' I was. A fucking prank of a test. I hated it. I was lucky enough to recognise that or I would've turned in an empty piece of paper. 

Releasing my anger on the general's daughter probably isn't a good idea but she's been receiving it pretty well so far. I go in for another hit but this time she dodges and punches me in the chest. Hard.  "Dravus! Are you even listening to me?" I can barely breathe. "I'm sorry. I still got the test on my mind." 

"Well, snap out of it and stop wasting so much time. Your practical test will almost definitely be a fight according to the prince and at the moment, your fighting skills are about as good as any average guy working in the markets."

"Hey, those guys can be pretty strong." My snark gets rewarded with a kick to the knee. While I'm on the ground, of course. I sneak a glance to the second prince of Raekoft as he continues to brood in the corner. Upon the realisation that my magic will never be strong enough by the trial, Malik 'asked' Leyna to help me with my training with only three days to the trial. Surprisingly enough, Leyna seems to quite okay with the idea. In fact, she seems to be very energetic while watching me fail to hit her and fall to her hits. 

"Alright, stand up already. We're doing this again." Leyna helps me up as we go back to training. "With your magic style, it would probably be best if you stay mobile. Use your smoke to distract the enemy while you get close and take whatever shot you can get. Do you have any other commands?" 

"No. I'm trying a new one but I doubt I have any time to perfect it."

Leyna grits her teeth and bites her lower lip. "Only having two commands is way too little...I'm going to try something. What's this new command you're working on?" I look back at the prince and he pushes himself off the wall, no doubt thinking he might finally be able to do something. I turn my attention back to Leyna as I contemplate telling her about an incomplete command that doesn't properly work in the slightest. What would she think if she looks at even more evidence of my utter inadequacy?

"Uhm...I call it 'Smokescreen'."

"Alright, well what does it do?"

I take a deep breath and wave a hand down my face, muttering 'smokescreen' as black smoke leaks out of me. Soon enough, the smoke starts to crowd around me, distorting my shape. "The idea is that any person that chooses to hit me would have considerable trouble landing any sort of hit. The problem is that I have not mastered the command so it doesn't last long and...well..."

"You still need to physically dodge hits, don't you?"

I feel an intense heat invade my cheeks. I shouldn't be embarrassed that I wasn't trained as a soldier as a young teen but both Leyna's and Malik's gaze seem to say the same thing. Didn't think that through huh? "Okay...I can work with this." Leyna tosses her arm guards to the side and gets into the standard military fighting stance. Usually, when police go into this stance, you're supposed to fear their power. Over here, in front of Leyna, I fear her power even more than the police.

"This command is perfect for your current style and strength. You're pretty smart eh?" The comment earns a smirk from me but one glance at the Prince and we're both back to serious faces. Leyna was a much needed breath of fresh air but the prince attitude has changed entirely. Gone is the friendly facade and the smiles of encouragement. It's all business now which is undeniably odd considering this business has nothing to do with him. Is it a pride thing? Why else would he watch my training so closely while very clearly not doing so for my own benefit-

"Dravus! Focus!" Leyna instructs as I get socked in the nose. I'm getting ahead of myself. Focus on staying in the school first before unravelling the mysteries of its inhabitants.

Leyna and I stare each other down before she moves too quickly for me to react. She closes the gap almost immediately and punches up where she sees my head. Sure enough, she whiffs her hit, clouding her fist in black smoke. That fist is way too close for comfort. I should use this to my advantage. Leyna is close. I go in for a jab to Leyna's ribs but Leyna catches the other flaw in my command. She grabs my fist before it makes contact. 

"So your cloud can't catch up to your motion hm?" I go in for another punch with my free hand which she dodges while painfully twisting the arm she caught. At least the test is not in my mind anymore. "That was dirty Ritz. Good work." Was that pride I heard? Odd. She kicks in the back of my knees as my knees drop to the mat. I can't continue to shoulder this pain and the stress from holding using an unfamiliar command. I can't continue to fight. I...lost already. 

I...shouldn't let this get to me. I wasn't going to win against Leyna anyway. She's not the target. Get up, Ritz. You're not done yet. You haven't completed your mission. I pat Leyna on the hand and she releases my grip. There's no time for banter or relaxing anymore. Get back into your stance and continue fighting Ritz.

Leyna continues her harsh training, tossing punches and kicks at me while I try to retaliate. My command works in distorting my shape with Leyna missing many of her hits. Trouble is, Leyna recovers quickly, and she can easily predict where I would be next and almost perfectly guess where I actually am. But, improvement is being made. Leyna is hitting me less and less. So many ideas in my head to refine my command. The adrenaline from being in a fight in setting in from every hit I take, every hit I dodge and every punch I throw. This must be what the Raekol want to feel. The feel of constant magic flowing through you, energising you, making you feel powerful. 

I could get used to this but I must not. I know what you have to do to get this high and most of the time, you don't need to. You rarely need to and yet the Raekol seek it anyway. They seek it far and wide. Upon meeting Kolden however, they hit a wall. A big, powerful and weirdly pacifistic yet wall. At least from what I know of their culture. I don't know much, however. I only know about a book's worth.

<...............>

"Hah...how are you feeling Dravus?" I'm exhausted. No words come out of my mouth, however. My body is weak and shaking on the ground at this point. A thumbs-up is all I can muster. We're both drenched in sweat as Malik walks up to the both of us, He looks down at my broken frame and smirks. "You look like a mess." A thumbs-up is all I can muster. That earns a chuckle from him and maybe even a snicker from Leyna. I can't tell. 

It's at this time that most of the other students have left the dojo, leaving only the three of us to hear someone else enter. Malik is the first to notice and his expression drops completely. He doesn't even try to hide his anger as he grits his teeth. Ruikan must be here. 

"I see you've had a very fruitful training session."

"This is none of your-"

"My Prince, I only need to talk Mr Ritz Dravus."

Once again, Malik backs off. The relationship between them is strange but I have no time to think about that. The teacher wants to talk to me. I push myself off the ground, clutching onto my chest. Fruitful training session indeed. Another look from Mr Ruikan and both Leyna and Malik slink off into the background. Mr Ruikan walks up to me with a smile on his face. "You did well on the test. Congratulations. You looked incredibly exhausted in my office however so I hope you remember that your trials are not over." I'm well aware.

"Well, I'm sure the prince has shared with you that your physical trial might be a fight. He's right. Granted he wasn't supposed to share that information with you." He wasn't? "Yet, I'll excuse it. He's the prince you know? He can do whatever he wants." Another, more snarky smile forms on his face but I know this one isn't directed at me. Not in the slightest. "Your opponent would be Rosa Junil. Another reminder, you have three days to prepare. Please meet me in my office on the day after your classes. I'll see you soon."

Ruikan leaves the dojo and as soon as he does, Malik stomps over to me. "Who's your opponent?" he demands. "Rosa Junil." 

"Rosa...Rosa...ice magic user. Back in the specialisation matches, he specialises in sending ice walls and spikes from a range, completely dominating the battleground...Fuck." He kicks the sweaty training mat in a fit of rage. "A perfect counter. Fucking Ruikan." He continues to kick the mat as Leyna and I watch the unravelling of the second prince of Raekoft. This is all...strangely refreshing if my expulsion wasn't almost guaranteed. 

"W-wait, my Prince. There's a way for Dravus to win."

"What?" he commands, his voice raised to a volume we've never seen from the Prince. Leyna flinches from the aggressiveness in Malik's voice as did I. 

"Malik, relax. If anyone knows what to do, it would be Leyna." Malik looks at me with a feral look in his eyes and his gritted teeth before he takes a deep breath. "Well, Relqis? What's your plan? Remember, we have three days." Leyna takes a deep breath to calm herself.

"We just need to take advantage of Smokescreen."