The three men - the mountain-haired Master Thomas Dejarum, the stone-faced Sensei Akira Kiichi, and the violet-eyed Spencer Jackson - emerged from the subterranean dormitories of the Noruhito Academy's trainees. The air of the corridors connecting the dormitories was somewhat damp, and the coolness prickled Spencer's skin. The corridor was empty: it was lesson time.

Dejarum and Akira had shown him to his dorm, bidding Lois to return to her lessons. Spencer's room in Block Laetus, while small, had been very comfortable and cozy, furnished with a wooden bed, a table and chairs, and a sink. The coolness of the corridor outside had seeped under the doorway, but Spencer judged by the thickness of his striped duvet that it wouldn't be much of a problem.

'All that is left now,' said Dejarum as they strode from the dormitories. 'is to introduce you to your classmates.'

Akira nodded. 'Here, I will leave you both. Marris tells me I have another lot of potential students trying for a place who I need to test.' He bowed and walked away.

As he went, Spencer eyed his cane nervously. They're going to have a fun three months - that must've been the longest I've stood with him without him striking me with his cane!

After a trip up a spiralling staircase, they came to a wooden door with a golden plaque. Emblazoned on the plaque were the words: "Mistress A Geldrine". From behind the door came the sound of a voice - a loud and jolly voice.

A small smile crept over Spencer's face. The voice sounded so much like his mother's.

Dejarum glanced at Spencer, knocked on the door, and after the jolly voice answered, stepped inside. After a quick exchange between Dejarum and the owner of the jolly voice, Dejarum reappeared.

'I'll leave ya 'ere, lad. Yar in good hands wi Mistress Geldrine.' He smiled. 'In the meantime, I've got ta finish that scarf I was workin' on for Akira.' And with that he left; his mountainous hairdo and neon-pink socks soon disappeared down the stairs.

Spencer sighed and turned to face the door. Dejarum had provided him many answers to the rumours that Lois had mentioned - but so many questions too. Most pressing was the question of why the Potion of Luxus had remained so still. Maybe my potential isn't one of those "world truths" Dejarum was talking about? Maybe it's still something to be determined...

'Come in!' called the jolly voice from behind the door. 'Come in, dearie. I don't bite!'

The door creaked as Spencer pushed it open. He stepped into the room - Mistress Geldrine's "History of Khai" classroom.

Mistress Geldrine - the owner of the jolly voice - was stood on a dais at the front of the room. Even with her stood on the two-foot high dais, her head barely reached the height of Spencer's shoulders. She had brown skin, pearly eyes, and a massive smile that seemed to take up at least half of her entire face. Her frizzy black hair clouded around her head. Her white kimono, striped with green, was bundled around her round frame.

Spencer turned to look around the classroom. It was dark and cold, with the only light coming from two arched windows perched high on the right side of the room. Orange light speared through the windows, cutting through the darkness and illuminating the faces of the students sat in the room. Perched at wooden desks, they all looked up with mild curiosity at the new arrival. Two of the desks, Spencer noted, were empty - one of which he presumed was his.

He noticed also two familiar faces - the Matthews twins, Tobey and Riley. At the sight of him, Riley beamed a sugary-sweet smile, blue eyes shining brightly, while Tobey ruffled his blonde hair and exchanged a quick nod with Spencer. As well, Spencer saw the ratty-faced boy with ashen hair he'd spied down in the courtyard. The boy was distractedly fiddling with his pencil.

The classroom ceiling was held up by marble pillars, between which strafed wooden beams. On all the walls, as Spencer looked, there hung portraits and paintings of historical figures. Several were Qualms as denoted by the Five-Pointed Star emblazoned on their foreheads. Spencer recognised one which looked to be a young Vesner Yorgbraag. The man's eyes were not their present milky-white, but were grey and shone with vigour. Back then, it seemed, Yorgbraag had a full head of hair that cascaded over his shoulders, and a wispy beard that trickled to his waist. At his side, in its scabbard, was a sword.

Mistress Geldrine smiled at him. 'What's your name, dearie?'

'Spencer, miss. Spencer Jackson.'

She beamed. 'Well then, Mister Jackson, please take a seat.' She gestured towards the two empty desks at the back of the classroom.

Spencer nodded quickly and made his way through the lines of desks to his own. As he sat down, with the second empty desk directly to his right, he looked around at the other students in his vicinity.

Sat on his left at the back of the classroom with him was a tall, short-haired behemoth, with bulging muscles, charcoal-black skin, and a black kimono pulled tight over their burly frame. On first glance, Spencer thought the purple-haired figure was a boy, but studying the face, he concluded that while the body was certainly masculine, the face was not at all - she was, in fact, a girl. Despite her intimidating appearance, the girl kept her head stooped, facing the desk, as if trying to make herself appear as small as possible. Her shoulders were slumped.

Sitting in front of him was another girl with long, golden locks. Spencer could make out precious little about her, besides that she had snow-white skin and a slender frame. She was almost half the size of the huge, purple-haired girl to his left, and was enthusiastically gossiping with Riley as Mistress Geldrine, from the front of the classroom, cleared her throat.

The class silenced.

'Now, dearies,' she began. 'let us proceed with this term's first History of Khai lesson. So, first of all-'

She was interrupted by a loud bang as the door opened.

Out strode a boy around Spencer's age wearing sunglasses and a tightly-fitted, black kimono - over the top of which was a black leather jacket. He was holding a red box, fastened with a yellow bow. He flashed Geldrine a smile. His lightning-white teeth contrasted sharply from his dark skin. At the sight of Mistress Geldrine glowering at him, he chuckled sheepishly and ran a hand nervously over his shaved head.

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'I presume you are Mister Jake Yeboah?' Mistress Geldrine's voice was stern and her face woven with such a hardness it could rival Sensei Akira's. 'You are late. Get to your seat.'

Jake said nothing. He nodded and swaggered to his seat, taking the empty desk to Spencer and setting the red box on the floor.

Mistress Geldrine turned to the rest of them. Her hard-faced demeanour disappeared, replaced by a dazzling smile. 'So, dearies, as I was saying...'

Jake caught Spencer's eye and whispered, 'Hey, you alright, mate? You're the new kid aren't you?'

Before Spencer got a chance to respond, a voice thundered, 'Mister Yeboah! Be quiet!'

Everyone froze, eyes wide, backs straight, facing Mistress Geldrine. Spencer heard teeth chatter, and turned to see Riley, sat diagonally-right of him (in front of Jake), shivering.

Mistress Geldrine played it no mind and ploughed on with her lesson - throughout which Jake joked to Spencer. In contrast to Jake, the lesson's content was truly fascinating to Spencer. They had begun with learning about the discovery of Khai powers - or at least the alleged stories behind the discovery.

Most accounts, however disparate they otherwise were, seemed to agree that the powers of Khai had been discovered after a Nepalese doctor nearly three hundred years ago had found a crystal-like structure in a cave in the mountainside of one of the peaks in the Himalayas. The encounter had gifted him great powers - what was now known as Khai sorcery. He'd shared these powers with his friends - most notable among them being two men whose legendary rivalry would eventually lead to one of the darkest wars in the history of Khai sorcery. These men would become Vesner Yorgbraag and Ghigor the Blood-Menace*.

The two would soon go on to found Noruhito Academy - the first of the ten Khai Academies around the world - inspired by the tales of samurais in the mountains that Ghigor had grown up on during his formative years in Japan. However, it was here their rivalry was born - over a woman no less.

'That woman was Ellaer Vorront,' Mistress Geldrine declared. 'What happened to her is anyone's guess, but she is thought to be one of the principle causes of the horrifying First Qualm War...' She sighed. 'Okay, dearies, you're free to leave. Class dismissed.'

She smiled cheerily as the students on the front rows began filtering out the classroom. Chatter and hubbub echoed through the room and down the corridor as the students chattered amongst each other.

As the golden-haired girl sat in front of Spencer made to leave, Jake called after her, grinning madly, 'Hey, Thera!'

The girl paused and turned to face him, revealing soft features, emerald eyes, and pink lips. She would ahve looked rather beautiful, but her face was locked into a stiff, emotionless expression. Jake ran up to her, waving the red box around his head. He passed it to her. 'I got you a gift - happy birthday.'

She didn't smile. 'Thanks,' she said flatly, before turning away out of the classroom. Jake eyed her as she walked away.

He grinned and turned to Spencer, pushing his sunglasses to sit on his forehead. 'What do you think, mate? Think I've got a shot?'

Spencer smirked. 'Oh, yes. Definitely. Every part of her is calling for you.'

Jake scowled. 'It wasn't that bad.'

Spencer raised his brows, grinning. 'It was.'

'Eh, what do you know...' Jake muttered. 'Anyway, mate, what's your name?'

'Spencer Jackson.'

'Nice to meet you, Spence.' Jake offered his hand. 'I'm Jake Yeboah, but you can call me DYC.'

Spencer frowned. 'What do those letters mean?'

Jake shrugged, slipping his sunglasses back onto his nose. 'Nothing, but they sound cool, don't they?' He grinned. 'It's nice to have a fellow countryman in the Academy. Where're you from anyways? I'm a northern boy, born and bred from the mean streets of Leeds.'

Spencer smiled. 'A Yorkshireman, eh? I'm more of a "red rose" guy myself...'**

Jake chuckled. 'Ah, I knew it. You've got a look of mischief in your eyes, mate.'

Spencer smiled and clapped him on the back.

The pair followed the trail of students to their next lesson: Combat. They were being taught on one of the battlegrounds - one of the circular protrusions Spencer had seen fixed to the side of the Academy. The battleground consisted of a large, flat plane of stone, edged with a stands for bystanders to sit or stand to watch.

The crowd of students walked through the arched gate and onto the battleground, chattering amongst each other. This high up, Spencer expected there to be a lot of wind. He saw around the edge of the battleground was a transparent dome, which answered his questions.

'There's someone over there!' called one of the students, the ratty-faced boy, pointing at someone in the stands. There was a burst of excited chatter as the students' saw the figure.

'I...' a voice began, echoing across the battleground. There was a whoosh, then a brief flash, and a slender woman appeared before them in a swirl of dust, her dark-blue cloak flapping at her heels. '...am Mistress Sonni,' she concluded.

The students gasped. Spencer exchanged a glance with Jake, who nodded appreciatively.

Mistress Sonni, though her skin was creased and wrinkled, her posture and the way she held herself was not that of a diminutive old lady, but of a proud young woman. Her body was lithe and lean. She wore a dark-blue cape over a tight, white kimono and knee-high golden boots. Her face was shadowed by a hood. She lowered it to reveal a pointed face and a head of silver hair, flowing to her shoulders.

The edges of a jagged scar were just visible from around the eyepatch adorning her right eye. Her left eye, bright crimson, blazed with a fierceness and determination unseen in women even half her age.

'Khai sorcery,' said Mistress Sonni, crossing her arms over her chest. 'is an art.' She pirouetted over them, cloak billowing behind her like a flying squirrel's wings, soaring several metres into the air before landing softly before the battleground's arched entranceway.

She turned to face them, her crimson eye raking across each of them in turn. 'You may have noticed the sashes around the Academy. These are how we reward you for passing the trials. For those of you not aware of the trial system, allow me to elaborate. In your first two years, you will face two trials: one at the start of the year and one at the end. The first trial is the basic trial, which will cover basic Khai abilities. We battlegrounds' teachers are well-aware that different students have been taught different abilities in the induction tests - be it Pulsar Hold from Sensei Akira or Erudisha (portals) from Maestro Arccas or whatever else,

The Basic Trial will not test your proficiency with these abilities. Rather, myself and the other battlegrounds' teachers will teach a spread of various Khai abilities from several of the innumerable strains, which will be tested.' She paused. 'Yes?' The girl she pointed at was Riley, who was jumping from foot to foot with excitement.

'When-do-we-get-to-learn-Khai-sorcery?' she squealed so quickly Spencer reckoned even The Flash himself would never have been able to keep up. As soon as she had uttered the final syllable, she gasped loudly, blue eyes wide, panting for breath.

At Mistress Sonni's request, she repeated herself. 'When...do...we...' she began between gasps. '...get...to...learn...Khai...sorcery...?'

Mistress Sonni smiled and put her hands on her hips. 'Not today, I'm afraid.'

There came a chorus of groans from the other students. Jake was loudest, theatrically falling to his knees and praying. Spencer remained silent, as did Thera, who peered dully at Mistress Sonni.

'No,' said Mistress Sonni. 'The heart of an effective Khai sorcerer is teamwork. So, to develop this teamwork, you will be split into two teams of five and sent to join the second- and third-years in Oktara, the local Nepalese town famed for their sausages - which are very delicious. There, you will join the Oktara Basketball Tournament!'

Spencer frowned. We're playing basketball? But I thought they were teaching us sorcery?

'The tournament is a tradition within the Noruhito Academy, conducted every year. The entire school will be there - including the Head and Deputy Heads - so I suggest you don't embarrass yourselves.'

She winked. 'You guys are the underdogs: the rest of the school and the teams from Oktara, too, will be using Khai sorcery. Making it out of the group stages will be an achievement in and of itself - it's been ten years since a first-year team made it to the Round of Sixteen and no first-year teams have ever made it beyond that.'

Spencer's eyes narrowed. Then I guess we'll just have to be the first...