Sleep came to Jackson easier than he thought it would. The events of the day had tired him out, but he expected his excitement would've kept him awake. He was a mage. He was going to learn magic. Whilst he slept, a dream came to him. There was a vibrant green meadow stretching for miles, culminating in distant mountains dusted with snow, a river or two carving up the greenery before pooling in a glistening lake. The comforting warmth of the sun caressed his skin as he sat on a small hill admiring the sight before him.

"Hello. I see you are here again."

Jackson turned his head to see who'd spoken, laying his eyes upon a young man with well-kept golden hair. He looked to be in his early to mid-teens, but the way he spoke made him seem slightly older. Jackson stood up to find he was a tad shorter than the man—odd, considering he was tall for his age and the man appeared to be his junior. He went to speak, but what left his mouth was a different voice speaking words that weren't his. "I like the view. There a problem with that?"

"No, not at all. I always see you coming here, I simply wondered what it is you do here all the time."

"Like I said, I just like the view. It's peaceful, and I can concentrate here."

"If you don't mind me asking, what is it you are concentrating on?"

Jackson felt a smile form on his face as he looked up at the boy. "You won't tell if I show you, alright? You gotta promise."

The boy swiped his finger over his chest twice. "Cross my heart."

Jackson moved his arms slowly and deliberately, positioning them to the sky before closing his eyes. He felt the wind brush up against his skin, gently tracing its wispy fingers across his body. His hair began to lift from his head, waving as if unaffected by gravity, swaying gently in the air. He began moving his arms in a small circle like he was winding in thread on a spool before suddenly throwing his arms out wide to his sides—a massive gust of wind expelling itself outwards with him at the centre, pushing the grass around him outwards and blowing the boy's hair off his face. Jackson slowly opened his eyes and saw a familiar look on the boy's face—the same one Jackson made the first time he ever saw someone perform magic. "How'd you like that?"

"That was... incredible."

"I know right! I only figured out how to do it a few days ago, but it's so cool, right?"

"Yes. Yes it is." The boy went quiet for a moment before sheepishly looking at Jackson. "Could you perhaps... teach that to me?"

"Hmmmmm. Sure, why not. You can't show anybody though—this stays between us."

"You have my word."

"Great! The name's Dara, don't forget it."

"Greetings. I am Jiro. So, when shall we start?"

Jackson woke up confused. He'd been having strange dreams, sure, but not like that. Brushing it off, he sprung out of bed and got ready for school in his swordsman uniform. He rushed downstairs to find Ulric sitting down drinking a mug of warm tea.

"Oh? You're up? You still got a quarter-hour before you need to be up, lad," Ulric said, surprise evident in his tone.

"Yeah, but today's different. I'll tell you after school, but I gotta run." Jackson blurted out the words in a hurry whilst slipping on one of his boots. "See ya!" he yelled with a musical spin as he darted out the front door, speedwalking all the way to the academy. Looking at a clock tower sitting to the side of the main keep, Jackson saw he was around half an hour early, so he sat by the steps near the front door and waited for Miss Aster to show up. There were other students around the academy, even this early in the morning—the vast majority of whom looked like mages. Some glared at Jackson with a hint of disgust, but most simply ignored his presence.

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"Get up."

Jackson raised his head to see a tall, athletic man standing in front of him, draped in the mage's signature crimson cloak. His silver hair was wild, coming down to his shoulders, spiking in every direction like a static explosion. "You don't belong here."

Standing up, Jackson shot daggers at the man. "Excuse me? Mind saying that again?"

"You need to go. You're not a mage," said the man, gesturing to Jackson's uniform. "You don't belong at the main keep. Go back to the swordsmen—for your own sake."

"Oh, yeah. You're right. 100%." Jackson turned to walk away. He would have never challenged a mage, but his newfound status as one had him feeling invincible. So instead he threw a sucker punch at the man—but his fist connected with nothing but air.

"As I said," he heard from behind him before he felt a fist connect with the back of his head, "leave." Jackson fell forward and landed on his hands and knees. He stayed on the floor for a moment before turning around with a wild swing, hoping to catch the man. But there was nothing there. He looked around frantically, hoping to catch sight of the man, but he was gone. Jackson adjusted his tie, sitting back down on the steps and continued waiting. Eventually, Miss Aster showed up at the doorstep, her hair flowing elegantly in the weightless way he'd seen the day before.

"Sorry I'm late, had stuff to do—principal things and the like. You ready for the rundown?"

"Born ready."

Miss Aster grinned and patted Jackson's head. "Good. First things first, you've got to look the part. Put this on." She reached into her star-ridden cloak and pulled out a mage's uniform, throwing it over Jackson's head. He pulled it into his hands to examine it better, seeing it looked slightly different to the other uniforms he'd seen. It appeared to lack the coloured edges that the other mages had on their uniforms. "How perceptive," Miss Aster chimed in. "I see you've noticed your cloak is a little different. Don't worry—it's just till we figure out exactly what type of mage you are." Jackson nodded and slipped on the cloak. It fit perfectly, the warmth of the fabric filling him with a strong sense of confidence he'd never experienced before. "Dashing," Miss Aster said. "But let's move on to your actual schedule. Your mornings will be spent in my Ego class. After the break, you will attend a magic track of your choosing before finishing the day with a swordsmanship class. Your days will be full, and the work will be tough—but that's the price you pay for being a mage."

"Thank you, Miss Aster, but uh, what exactly is an Ego?"

"Oh wow. I guess we really are starting from the basics," Miss Aster replied with an amused smile. "Don't worry—mage classes don't officially begin until this morning. We've only done induction stuff so far. You know, meeting classmates, going over the class structure, settling down. In terms of actual magical training and learning, you won't miss anything. Obviously, since you only just awakened to your magic, you will struggle to begin with. I suggest you don't compare yourself to the others if possible. They've likely been using magic their whole lives, so it'll come easier to them."

"Ok, so we'll go over it in your class then, right?"

"Sure will."

"I can't wait," Jackson said, positively beaming.

"Attaboy." Miss Aster led him through the corridors to a room labelled 'Ego 1'. The room was circular and lined with seats—not unlike a lecture hall and similar to his swordsmanship classroom if the extreme difference in decoration and presentation was ignored. There were large, rectangular stained glass windows taking up a whole wall, each one curving as they approached the ceiling and ending in a thin point. At the centre of the room was a large flat area with a cobbled floor, which Jackson guessed was for practising or demonstrating magic. Miss Aster told Jackson to take a seat anywhere he liked, and so he began to scour the hall for a decent place. Some students had already taken their seats, one in particular catching Jackson's attention—the fiery-haired woman from the day he first saw the colours. She was sitting at the front of the class, reading a thick, hard-cover book as he approached her nervously.

"Hi," he said, but the girl gave no response. Jackson felt his nerves building once again, but recommitted to introducing himself, clearing his throat before trying again. "Hi," he repeated, giving her shoulder a light tap. "Remember me?" The girl jumped slightly, only now pulling herself away from the book. She looked at him with annoyance at first, but her gaze quickly turned curious.

"You? But, you weren't a mage, were you?"

"I thought so too, but apparently I awakened the day we bumped into each other."

"I see. That's pretty rare, isn't it?"

"Ah, yeah. One of the teachers on the Board of Admissions said it was pretty unlikely, but Miss Aster confirmed it."

"Interesting. I've never met someone who awakened at such an old age before. Either way—good for you."

"Thanks, I feel pretty good about it. What book is that?"

"Just something I checked out from the library about the rarer forms of Ego magic. It's pretty interesting, but there isn't much in here I don't already know."

"So you're, like, really smart then?"

"Some would say so."

"Cool, cool." An awkward quiet formed between them. "Well, mind if I sit here?"

"Sure, just don't distract me in the lesson."

"Will do." Jackson

took his seat next to the girl and opened up a book sitting on top of his desk.

"I'm Louise," said the girl, now having returned to her book.

"Jackson," he responded. "Pleasure to meet you."