The prince is planning something. He has to be. Why else would he suddenly approach me of all people? And telling me that I can ask him for help at any time? I never thought something like this would ever be possible. I hold my arms close to my chest to keep them from shaking. I agreed to the prospect at first but can I really trust him? In my situation, I really shouldn't. But, if he was to actually help me, he could end up being the solution to my current problem.

That current problem being, I am very, very weak. I couldn't do the very first aptitude test and I was barely five minutes into the first lesson. The searing pain in my arms now serves as an excruciating fall from whatever grace I wielded. Fortify barely helped at all...

"Is the pain too much?" says the Prince. I correct my hunched position and clear my face of any sign of possible weakness. I cannot let my guard down around him yet. "I think you did quite alright. Usually, people outside of the capital rarely ever see a poly orb, let alone train with it. Despite having the method all wrong, you still got a split second of success which was...quite impressive." for someone like you. It really felt like he was going to end it like that.

"Thank you for the kind words, my Prince," I reply. I mean, how else am I going to reply? I can't just deny his kindness, he's the prince. Who knows how he would choose to deal with me?

"No worries. You can call me Malik, by the way. Keeping formalities as a fellow classmate is a bit embarrassing," he says with an awkward laugh. Losing formalities already? Should I test this? "Of course. Thanks for the help, Malik," I reply with a smile of my own. The Prince gives a more sincere smile in response which caught me a bit off-guard but I maintain my cool. The pain in my arms starts creeping back in as I become increasingly aware of the red streaks on them.

"You don't need to worry about those. The White Wings should be able to handle it."

Maybe I can see Emmi again. It would be nice to see Emmi again. As we close into the infirmary, the voices on the inside become a lot more apparent. Maybe it's not so unusual to have poly orb related issues? The Prince opens the infirmary door as we both walk into the weirdly active infirmary. The White Wings are buzzing with activity, taking down information and treating the five other patients here. Five out of almost two hundred got injured....and I'm part of the five.

One of the White Wings turns to see both me and the Prince enter the infirmary and he quickly turns pale. He runs to a supervisor to very quickly came to the Prince's side.

"My Prince, what brings you here today? Are you injured?" she says with a small bow. The Prince gives her a smile and points to me. "My friend here has a poly orb injury. We both need to be back to class in a few minutes. Can we have a healer please?" asks the Prince. As innocent as the question sounded, the White WIng supervisor gulped and quickly left to find a free healer. Poor her.

I take a look around the infirmary and spot a familiar tuft of silver hair bobbing around under a cute little cap. She looks around the corner to see what the new commotion is about, only for us to lock eyes. I try to give her a small wave but recoil almost immediately. I relent to merely smiling instead. She smiles in response before cautiously walking over to both of us.

"Hello, my name is Emmi. Do any of you need any help?" She is very brave, I can say that.

"I need some help. It's my arms again." I jokingly reply while showing her my magically scarred arms. Emmi gives a little snicker before composing herself before the Prince. "I think I can help you with that. If you could-"

"Emmi. Are you done with the files?" The supervisor struts back to the Prince with a more senior White Wing by her side. The Prince looks between both the supervisor and me but returns his attention back to Emmi.

"It's okay Ms Hik, I think Emmi would be able to help us. I wouldn't want to bother you too much." The supervisor, Ms Hik, looks shocked for a moment before clearing her throat and pulling the senior White Wing away with her as she returns to her duties. The Prince put a hand on my shoulder and tells me he's waiting outside, leaving me alone with Emmi. I might have been a bit too obvious with my disappointment.

Emmi gestures for me to follow which I obediently do. I follow Emmi to an empty bed and take a seat. She takes a seat across from me and slowly caresses the length of arms again.

"Ooh...that's pretty bad. You shouldn't push yourself so much. If you can't handle it, you should stop."

That's...not the best advice for me right now. I must have let my discomfort show because I look up to see that Emmi's expression has soured. I can't even fully tell what her expression is supposed to mean. Is she worried for me or is she angry that I wasn't listening? Did she also think I did not belong? I try to defuse the situation with a smile.

"Yeah...maybe. Oh, I have to go to class in about two minutes. No pressure."

"Right, right, of course," she replies with a roll of her eyes.

I release a held breath as her light magic relaxes my muscles and clears my mind. The red streaks on my arms slowly fade as my pain subsides completely. I could really get addicted to this feeling. People have. Though, I don't mind coming to Emmi for that. I let Emmi finish her procedure and try to turn my charm up to the max.

"So, just in case I ever need any sort of healing whatsoever, I can just go to you, right?" I ask with a smile. "Of course, it's nothing. Obviously though, it's better if I see you less, " she jests with a laugh. I can't help but laugh with her. I would love to just stay here and chat with Emmi but it's clear that I can't afford to skip my classes. I thank Emmi and quickly leave the infirmary, meeting back up with the Prince as we head back to class.

It's only the first day. If I just follow the classes accordingly and properly, I should be able to survive. How bad could it get?

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

My back hits the floor with a loud thud, like a sack of rocks dropping off a cliff and onto the hard floor below. Landing on the hard mat back first really puts into perspective how far I would be willing to go for such an unrealistic goal with...with...

Everything hurts. Why is it so hard to breathe.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

It was all too much. I've only been in this school for a week and it's all too much. My classmates are so much stronger than me that I have never won a sparring match. I'm barely able to cling on for magical theory even with all the notes I've been taking. The teachers talk too fast, they all expect the glorious class 1-A to always know better. Well, I apparently know jack shit. Staring at the ceiling of the dojo has become a common occurrence.

"You're done for today, Ritz. Someone help him up."

Like usual, everyone hesitates, waddling around uncomfortably before I slowly, eventually, pry myself off the floor. The steps of someone getting closer, however, put a tiny inkling of hope in me. It might be the Prince but I doubt it. He's been keeping me close, putting up his smiles and laughs but nothing of substance. Nothing too personal. I contemplated finally asking him for the help that I desperately need but whatever pride I have left won't allow it.

The footsteps stop and I open my eyes to see an extended hand from...Leyna. I take her hand and she unceremoniously pulls me up, completely ignoring the amount of pain I'm going through. No words were said between to two of us as she left immediately.

...What's with that? What's different now. Why did she...

Well, if anything in the past two weeks has shown me, Leyna hasn't been included in most things either. Leyna's case, however, feels more like choice compared to the condemnation I've been facing. The Prince being my 'friend' has not helped my friend prospects either. I've tried to reach out to her multiple times but she actively avoids me at this point. I try to give in to my curiosity but my own difficulty breathing brings my attention back to myself. Took a full concussive blast of solid light to the chest. My breathing is laboured and-

"Ritz. Do you need another infirmary visit?"

Yeah, I must look terrible. It's almost routine for me to go to the infirmary at this point. At this point, Mr Ruikan asks me after every practical lesson. Then again, going to the infirmary is not always a bad thing.

"Yes. Thank you for the lesson, Mr Ruikan," I reply. Mr Ruikan nods his head as I make my trek over to the-

"Oh, and Ritz. I need to speak to you. Come to my office after the break."

That can't be good. This...this can't be good. My heart starts pumping quicker than during the actual battle I had earlier. Steady your hands Ritz. Your fear is showing again. Can't give these guys more reason to avoid me.

A little of Emmi's magic will help. I've been meeting Emmi more often due to my visits. She always manages to brighten up a bad day with her mere presence alone. With how things are going, every day has been a bad day. I try to hide my growing crush on her but my emotions are not always the most controlled. If anything, her magic is having an effect on me. I keep wanting to go back for more. I had to stop myself from going to the infirmary out of fear that I would get addicted. Light magic withdrawal seems to be a common occurrence in the richer areas of Raekoft.

I struggle my way to the infirmary and peek through the door to find my favourite healthcare professional. Sure enough, I find her usual bubbly self laughing away while talking a...taller, more handsome man. It's the older White Wing from the exhibition match, looking a lot cheerier than when we last met. I walk further in an approach the two of them.

They look so engrossed in their conversation as if the world around them had no meaning. As if they weren't surrounded by the sick and injured. Why is he here now?

I walk up and try to surrender some control of the situation.

"Hello Em. I'm back here again." I say with a smile. Emmi turns to look at me with and rolls her eyes endearingly.

"Third time this week, Ritz. Are you even listening to me?"

"Well, I-"

"Oh wow, someone who actually doesn't listen to you." cuts in the older White Wing.

"Shut up, Landen!" retorts Emmi with a laugh. She playfully shoves Landen and they both laugh together. So happily in sync. This atmosphere is...disconcerting. What is their relationship?

"Oh yeah, Ritz, this is Landen. He's my White Wing senior."

"Aww, that's it?" Landen chirps. My eyes shift to their individual movements. Landen is close, leaning into her while Emmi seems to encourage it, reciprocating the gesture. They have similar- no, the same ear studs on and they can't pry their eyes off of each other. My heart sinks even lower than before. I guess I should have expected this.

"I'm finally on the same shift as you and this is what you do to me, hm?" Landen says, lifting Emmi's chin up by his long, snake-like fingers. Emmi seems entranced for a moment before vigorously shaking her head and turning her attention back to me.

"What's the problem today, Ritz?" were the words that came out of her mouth. I think I'm losing focus. I don't know. I smile and mumble out a reply.

"Just a little trouble breathing."

Emmi moves on with her process and I find myself struggling to relax as easily anymore. Her magic forces my body to relax and I take this time to properly gather my feelings.

I should have seen this coming. Emmi's a beautiful girl with a great personality. What's there not to love? I know I did.

There's nothing I can do about this now. Better to move on. I look up at Landen and see his vicious eyes staring me down as Emmi has her hands on my chest. I do the most civilised thing and muster up a smile. A most civilised smirk is his reply.

I...I didn't lose Emmi. She's still here. So what if she's attached. I...I can move on from this. It's not like the only person nice to me is...

"Ritz? Is there something wrong?"

Have I seriously been so short-sighted these past nine years? I've been losing ever since I started school here. I can't keep up with my studies. There's so much information I have no basis on. Everything is so new. It's so unfair. Then, comes practical studies. I get beat up left and right. I can't even manage the poly orbs right. It's always too much. I can never handle it. 'Ritz, do you want to go to the infirmary?' again and again and again. It's unfair. It's so unfair. I can't have one damn thing in this school.

"Ritz?"

"I'm good. I have a meeting to attend"

I stand up and refuse to listen to Emmi's comments. I know I'm being selfish. What's so wrong with that? I've had enough.

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

I walk out of the infirmary with my head held low. Next is the stupid bloody meeting with Mr Ruikan. I walk through the uppermost gate and head over to Mr Ruikan's office. It wasn't particularly hard to find, he was standing outside, waiting for me.

"Get in here Ritz, I have something important to tell you."

What now? Why now does he want to talk to me? I didn't do anything wrong. I did everything to this school's stupid fucking standards. Is one of the nobles behind this? I could be framed and kicked out of here. I wouldn't be surprised.

I walk into the office and Mr Ruikan gestures for me to sit at the chair across from him. I comply and steady myself for the oncoming assault.

"Ritz, I'm just going to be frank. Your current performance is not up to standard. You are just barely hanging on for your theory studies and your practical skills are severely lacking."

I know this. Why is he telling me this?

"I've given you the best I can but, a full week into school and you show no signs of constant and or significant improvement. As you may know, we have a very high standard for the students in this school. They are supposed to be the best in the capital. Unfortunately, you currently don't meet that standard. There is a very high possibility that you might be expelled."

What?

"I've seen the effort you're putting in but it's not enough."

Nine years...down the drain.

"Since you haven't quit on your own accord, tradition dictates that you will be given one final aptitude test for both your theory and practical. These tests will be next week. Your theory test will be on Tuesday while the practical test will be on Friday. Please prepare for them accordingly. I recommend that you find another student to assist you. Your classmates are more than capable."

I...

I nod. Ruikan dismisses me. I leave.

I leave and walk back to my apartment, ignoring all the gazes from the other students. Class 1-A dorms are usually so far away but I'm suddenly here. I walk into my room and slump onto the floor. I usually read the book at night but today is...special. I turn the crusty, blood-stained pages and find a...familiar page.

"Contact was successfully made. 3 more in. Ritz and Lin played again. She's really been taking a liking to him. He's very mischievous though."

I closed the book as a sigh escapes my lips. I can't just lose now. I...I can't. I need to continue this. To the very end.