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Lietta Mariane Hertfort sat back in her chair, tucking some of her stray blonde hair behind her ear as she waited for her name to be called. The class was crammed full of new students, each wearing a gold-trimmed blue robe. The standard uniform for first years at Skolaris. Not a single seat was left unoccupied… all save for one. The seat directly to her left was empty. How could someone be late for the very first lesson of the year? This wasn’t going to end well for whoever it was, the truant was at the very least going to get a stern talking to. She spared a glance for the door at the bottom of the stairs, close to the professor's desk. Lietta had shown up an hour before class had started, and most of her classmates had as well. She hadn’t wanted to risk even the slightest chance of being late, especially not on day one. That’d be a terrible first impression on the professor.

She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose as she dreaded her tardy classmate's arrival. Was she going to have to sit next to some slacker for the rest of her days here at Skolaris?

If they were tardy once, then they’d most likely be tardy again. Absolutely insufferable that someone like this could have possibly made it into the top magical academy in the world. She shook her head gently, Lietta was jumping to conclusions. Her desk-mate was probably just being held up by something, perhaps they had been challenged to a duel or they had fallen ill… The latter could be treated by usage of a talented Charga caster of course, but the former was something that could not be refused. No challenges should have been given to anyone today though, the year had just started after all.

“Lietta?” She heard her professor say from the front of the class.

He was a short man with a long gray beard, his flowing silk robes matching his facial hair in hue. Deep crow's feet were set next to his deeply sunken gray eyes, making them look shadowed and mysterious. Lietta had never seen a Gray in her life before having been accepted into the academy. She wondered if they were as powerful as rumor claimed... She supposed that she’d find out this year.

“Here sir.” Lietta replied, tilting back her blue wide-brimmed pointed cap.

“Very good…” The Gray replied, lifting a piece of parchment to eye-level before saying, “Hrolki?”

The room stayed silent for a long moment before the Gray repeated the foreign name. Again, no answer. So that must have been her truant deskmate. Hrolki huh? That sounded like a very northern name, perhaps from somewhere around the Icy Spine. Likely from the more civilized and noble peoples that lived at the base of the mountain range, the savage men of the peaks could not have sent anyone worthy of taking this class. All muscle and no brain they were, backward and dishonorable, they had no place in Skolaris.

Lietta briefly daydreamed about what Hrolki would look like. There was royal blood present in the cities along the Icy Spine’s base, what if Hrolki was related to the Emperor in some way? That would be a dream, a strong yet slender noble, tall but not towering, cleanly shaven and dressed in fine embroidered furs, with icy blue eyes and bearing the white hair of his royal bloodline. She had to hold back a dreamy sigh as she put her chin in her palms. Could she be so lucky as to sit next to someone like that?

“Well, it seems everyone except for Hrolki has been accounted for.” The Gray said after another long moment, “I knew that one of you was late after seeing that empty seat. This class has never once had spare space on the first day, not in my two-hundred years of teaching.” The Gray continued, pushing his spectacles higher on his bold nose, “Truancy will not be tolerated, you are the cream of the crop, the elite of your previous schools. I expect that this will not happen again, not unless you are dueling, or dying.” He said, pausing with a glare at his desk. He looked up after a brief moment and smiled, “I am Professor Heekekee of the House Heekeese, but for simplicity's sake I insist that you only call me Professor Heek.”

After another long pause, Heek opened his mouth to continue. His next words were never spoken though, as the sound of the door opening drew everyone’s attention. A muscular bare torso stood where a head should have been on the other side of the opened portal. Shoulders wider than the doorframe slid into view, tilted to allow the mass of muscle within this sacred place of learning. To Lietta’s shock, and subsequent horror, the man who appeared through that doorway was clearly of the Daisharan people, the savages who lived near the peaks of the Icy Spine.

A black beard reached down to cover the beast's upper chest, growing beneath a nose that looked to have been broken several dozen times over. He had to duck down to get through the door, but now that he was standing at his full height Lietta could confirm, even from her heightened perspective, that he was the largest man she had ever seen. He was head and shoulders taller than she… no, even more than that, she doubted she’d even come up to his elbow, and she was not a particularly short woman. His head was adorned with the pelt of what must have once been a large gray wolf, the snout and fangs shadowing his dark eyes as he surveyed the class. Lietta lifted a shaky hand toward her wand as the barbarian’s eyes briefly settled on hers.

Had Skolaris been invaded by a horde of these Daishar barbarians? She took a deep breath to calm herself. It was impossible for any military force to invade the academy, it floated among the clouds, gently drifting along the winds and eternally out of reach of anyone. Well, anyone save for those who had been accepted by Skolaris. Perhaps this was just a part of Heek’s lesson? Was the stranger some kind of exotic teacher’s aid? Murmurs filled the air as her fellow students began speculating, clearly they too understood how strange the barbarian’s presence was.

The man then turned his gaze away from Lietta, instead honing in on Heek with a deep frown, “I am sorry master. I got lost on my way.” His accent was slightly slurring, but otherwise, it was clear that the savage was fluent in the common tongue. His voice was like the rocks of the mountains he was born from, icy and rough.

Why did he call Heek master? Was this Daisharan Heek’s slave? No, it couldn’t be, slavery had been outlawed long ago… but maybe he was some sort of indentured servant? That had never been illegalized, so it was possible.

Heek shook a dismissing hand before saying, “We do not call our tutors ‘master’ here at Skolaris. You may refer to me as Professor Heek. I assume that you are Hrolki, yes?”

He gave a short nod.

“Then take your seat and see me after class is done.” Heek told him with a wave of one gnarled bony finger in Lietta’s direction.

Almost all her classmates openly gasped at the true identity of Hrolki, her not being an exception. She paled as the giant immediately strode over to the stairs, stomping up and toward the seat directly to her left. She flinched as he sat down, his massive weight putting a great strain on the wooden bench. Lietta tried her best not to visibly shake with terror, but keeping a strong outward appearance with this… this… This FREAK sitting right next to her was just too much to ask.

She bit her lips and pulled down the brim of her hat to keep Hrolki out of her periphery. The man’s ham-like hands rested atop their shared desk, looking more than capable of snapping her neck like a stick, and thinking that only caused her to shake more. Lietta had heard that Daisharans have short tempers, what if she did something to unknowingly offend him and he just decided to kill her outright?

How had Hrolki been given the privilege of attending Skolaris? This was completely unheard of, no Daisharan had ever been in these halls before, at least not from what she had read. They were a people that shunned the Three Skies, that embraced raw physicality over anything academic or mystical. So why was one here? Why did he want to be here? The sharp whispers continued for a moment, a dull buzzing that slowly grew louder the longer it persisted.

“Quiet!” Heek said sharply with a glare for the classroom.

And just as Heek said, all became still. The presence of a Daisharan was terrifying, true… but angering a Gray was something that no person in the world would want to suffer through.

“Now, before we begin today’s lesson, I would want to know who my students are.” Heek said, bracing himself on his desk with both hands, “We will start with our tardy Hrolki, so you will all stop overthinking his presence.”

Lietta took a deep breath again and lifted up the brim of her hat just in time to see Hrolki giving a curt nod. The barbarian then stood, crossing his tree-trunk arms before saying calmly.

“I am Hrolki, son of Yolki. I have come to learn.” He announced before immediately sitting back down without another word.

“I see…” Heek said, stroking his beard, “A man of few words. Indeed class, Hrolki has come to learn, in fact, he has proven more willing than any of the thousands of commoner applicants who’ve taken up the Proofing Orb.”

So that was it, Lietta realized. He hadn’t been accepted into Skolaris due to any real magical potential or noble lineage, but due to the use of the Proofing Orb. She didn’t know too much about how it worked, she had been accepted due to her natural talent in manifesting the Runes of Viridia. From what she’d heard, a single applicant from those lacking talent or noble blood could show their willingness to learn by grasping the Orb. What happened after that point, she was uncertain, but it was safe to guess that whoever proved the most willing to learn would be accepted into Skolaris… And a Daisharan had somehow managed to out-will the thousands of other applicants to earn a place here… a Daisharan!

“Now, with that out of the way, we’ll move on.” Heek said, peering back down to his piece of parchment, “Lietta, I believe you’re next.”

She took a deep, shaky breath, and then stood, Hrolki re-entering her periphery. The barbarian was staring right at her, not moving in his seat but simply turning his head to see her. His dark eyes were piercing, seeming to punch holes right through her blue robes with their intensity. Trying not to shake, she opened her mouth to speak.

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“I-” She stuttered, “I am L-Lietta Mariane Hertfort, of the house Hertfort. I was accepted here because of my talent in manifesting the Runes of Viridia.” She continued quickly, wanting to get the introductions over with so she could simply sit back down. Her heart beat wildly in her ears, nearly drowning out her own voice. “I’ve come to try and become a master of my Sky, among other things...” She finished finally, sitting back down in her seat a tad bit ungracefully.

“Don’t we all…” Heek replied, “Runes are the basis of all magic, split into three types, each representing one of the Three Skies. Viridia, Ghara, and Molaer. I realize that most of you already know this, but Hrolki is a special case, this is all going to be new for him, so I want to try and drill in the basics where I can. When it comes to the runes, he might as well be a child.” He said with a gesture toward the behemoth.

Lietta froze with fear at the back-handed insult, sparing a side-eyed glance at Hrolki to see if he would lash out in fury at the Gray. Surprisingly though… the Daisharan nodded, apparently agreeing with Heek’s assessment. That was a shockingly tame reaction compared to what her imagination had conjured up. She’d pictured him flipping a table or perhaps throwing it at the professor with a slew of savage curses. Was Hrolki an outlier when it came to his people’s infamous temperament? If so, what a relief, yet she wasn’t going to let her guard down any time soon.

Heek continued calling out the names of his students as she thought, each introducing themselves and stating how it was they came to be here, and what they hoped to accomplish. Lietta barely heard any of it, still more concerned with the hulking brute sitting beside her. He was willing to learn magic, but again, why? Daishar was a nation (if one could even call it such) of nomadic warriors. They disdained the Three Skies and their Runes, didn’t they? Perhaps Hrolki was an outlier in more ways than one, and had been subsequently exiled for taking interest in the Three Skies? Or maybe he was sent by his tribe's leader to spy on the academy? The former seemed far more likely than the latter, after all, Hrolki did want to learn, if the results of the Proofing Orb were anything to go by.

Or maybe, she shivered, just maybe, it was some secret third thing.

How terrifying.

She risked a peek at him from beneath her brim, seeing that Hrolki was totally and completely focused on everything Heek and the students he called upon said. It was almost creepy, but also oddly… reassuring in a way. Whatever Hrolki’s intentions, he clearly didn’t intend to be lazy. In all honesty, sitting next to a mass of scary muscle that took his schooling seriously was infinitely better than sharing a desk with an inadequate noble slacker that only got their place by way of nepotism.

Perhaps… this wouldn’t be so bad after all? After Heek finally finished the last of his callouts, he moved behind his desk, grabbing a long gnarled wooden staff from atop it before moving into the wide and clear space before the class. As opposed to the rest of the floor, the cleared space in the center of the room was made of a deep dark stone, smoothed to perfection. He raised the staff high before bringing the butt down upon the stone, shouting ‘Viridia!’ as he did so. A bright green light then shot up like a glowing pillar beside him, the rune for Viridia seeming to carve itself into the surface of the rock.

It was a rune that Lietta was well familiar with, after all, the Sky of Viridia was her specialty. The symbol looked almost like an eye, separated into two sharply curved lines that didn’t touch. Two spikes stretched out to one another from the bend in the lines, making it appear almost like a cat's eye.

“Seigt, Ovus!” He finished, two other glowing runes appearing beside him.

The three glowing runes surrounded him in a three-pointed circle, the most basic of rune magic. The rune for Ovus she recognized, as would anyone who studied the Three Skies, it was the rune needed to end a casting, it was as essential as declaring which Sky one was casting from. It was also the simplest shape to memorize, just being a simple X. Seigt however was a new one. What did that mean? The rune for it looked like an oval with a circle in it. The pillars of light all then tilted upward in the air, shining directly into Heek’s eyes with an intensity that almost rivaled the sun.

Instead of flinching though, Heek let out a giggle.

“Seigt means ‘sight’ . It is one of the easier ones to memorize as both the name of the rune and the word sound similar,” Heek explained as the runes surrounding him vanished. Once the pillars of light dissipated, she could see that his gray eyes had turned into a glowing shade of green. “I just enhanced my vision with Viridia, it is not much, as it was a mere three-point casting, but now I am able to see your emotional state.” He continued, his eyes scanning across each and every one of his students, “Casting Seigt with Viridia has this effect, but casting it in Ghara or Molaer will ensure that it functions differently, as most of you are aware.”

His glowing eyes then locked onto Lietta, who had been leaning forward in her seat. “Eagerness is something I like seeing young lady, I was worried you would still be nervous about your desk-mate.”

She stiffened suddenly, her eyes briefly shifting to Hrolki to see that he too was leaning forth in his seat, listening intently to what Heek had to say. When her attention turned back to the Gray, he chuckled.

“Nervous again?” He asked with a dismissive wave of his hand, “I understand that seeing a Daisharan in class will take some getting used to, but you must adapt quickly. You’ll be able to learn far more if your heart is calm and your mind clear.” Heek then looked to Hrolki, “Young man, what do you think of your classmates?”

“They have not been burned by the cold sun or felt the true touch of ice,” Hrolki replied flatly, “Frail and soft.”

There wasn’t a hint of an insult in his tone, but being called ‘frail’ and ‘soft’ didn’t sit well with her. He may have thought that he was just stating a fact, bringing attention to reality, but all the Hrolki saw was on the surface. They did not see the hard core of mental power that was required to make it into Skolaris and could not appreciate it as a facet of strength. Typical barbaric train of thought.

“Indeed,” Heek nodded, “Physically, compared to you, they are. But would you say that their minds are weak, that they would wilt in the face of hardship?”

Hrolki seemed to ponder this a moment before shaking his head, “No.” He replied finally, crossing his arms and leaning back in his seat.

“Good answer.” Heek replied back with a smile, “See? He does not think less of you all, in a way, he respects you, so please try to be a bit less frightful.”

Could Seigt allow Heek to see fear? It allowed him to see nervousness apparently, but what about mild irritation, which she felt now? Based on the sly grin that appeared on his wizened face as his eyes passed over her, he absolutely could.

“Today, you will all be learning Seigt.” Heek explained, “The shape and name are simple, it should not be difficult for you to memorize. The first castings will be done in tomorrow’s class, when you feel comfortable with it.” He continued, the glow in his eyes fading as he looked to Hrolki once more, “As for you Hrolki, learning Seigt will not be part of your curriculum, at least, not yet.” He explained, “First, I will need to find out which Sky you are attuned to, if you’ll come down here, we can get started. It is not a difficult process.”

Hrolki simply nodded, standing from his bench before descending the steps toward Heek. She let out a quiet sigh of relief as he left, leaning over her chair to pull her bag out, placing it on her portion of the desk before undoing the knots that held it shut. Various papers and small books greeted her, all in a jumbled and unorganized mess. Keeping things tidy had never really been a strong suit of hers, she realized. It didn’t take long for her to find the book she needed though. Everyone had been given a small tome during orientation, ‘Advanced Runes Volume One’. They had all been told that it’d be essential for her time here. Indeed, as she opened the hard-backed book, she realized that had been no exaggeration.

The glossary was filled with all kinds of new runes she had never seen before! Some were familiar, but most were completely alien to her. It was so much… how could it be possible for one to learn all this, even in the span of four years? And this was just volume one! She shook her head, closing her eyes before taking a deep breath. Now was not the time to panic, now was the time to focus. She scanned the glossary until she finally found the page for Seigt, turning to it and studying the rune and its various effects.

She spared some glances for Hrolki and Heek while she studied, both men standing tall atop the stone Heek had just cast on. What would Hrolki’s attunement be? Ghara perhaps, to boost his physical prowess? Or Molaer to shape his environment? Maybe he could even use Viridia to empower his mind and soul? The way a person lived did nothing to affect their attunement to a Sky, they were born with a natural inclination to one, and nothing could change this. The ignorant commonly thought it was a choice as well, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. She suspected that rumor only started because some mages could cast from all Three Skies, but those mages were rare. Not only that, casting from a Sky one wasn’t attuned to led to inefficient results.

She watched as Hrolki placed a hand upon Heek’s staff, his brows knitting together in concentration. She wasn’t the only one watching. Her classmates all spared looks for the Daisharan between bouts of reading and note-taking, clearly curious as to the Sky he’d be proficient in. It happened nearly instantly, the rune of Ghara appearing like a red lightning bolt above Hrolki’s head.

It was a good fit for someone of Daishar, she admitted to herself, Ghara’s runes pushed the limits of what the human body was capable of. If he came to Skolaris to learn how to enhance his capabilities in battle, then Ghara was the Sky for him. Still though… she had been hoping that he’d be attuned to Molaer. There was no way she’d be able to win a duel against Ghara using Viridia, not unless she could learn to cast five-point magic. It would likely take the Daisharan a long time to learn basic three-point spells, but hopefully, there would never be conflict between her and Hrolki.

“You are attuned to Ghara,” Heek told Hrolki, who looked up to see the crimson lightning bolt rune hovering above his head, “Ghara enhances the body, it can be utilized to increase physical strength, speed, that sort of thing. I must say that it is fitting for one of your kind. Now, I will explain the balance of power between the Three Skies,” Heek said, wetting his lips before continuing, “Have you ever played rock paper scissors as a child?”

Not looking away from the lightning-shaped rune of Ghara, Hrolki said, “Yes.”

“Good, think of it like that. Viridia beats Molaer, Molaer beats Ghara, and Ghara beats Viridia. In simpler terms, green beats blue, blue beats red, and red beats green, am I making sense?” Heek asked, tapping a gnarled finger on his temple.

Hrolki nodded.

“Very good. I use the analogy of colors for it is easy to identify which Sky is which based on their hue. As you can see, Ghara is red,” He said, pointing to the crimson rune above, “As you saw earlier, Viridia is green, and Molaer is blue.”

Hrolki said nothing, his face unchanging as he stared up at the red glow. When it finally dissipated, the barbarian looked down at Heek, his brow furrowed.

“I see.” He replied. “Can I learn from the other Skies as well?”

Heek nodded, “Yes, but your specialty will always be Ghara, you will find that it is very difficult to learn Molaer or Viridia, but if that is what you desire, it can be accomplished here.”

Hrolki simply nodded, as if Heek’s answer had confirmed something, “What about the Forgotten Sky?” He asked after another moment of quiet thought.

The entire classroom fell silent at that, Lietta noting that all eyes were currently on the Daisharan. The Forgotten Sky? No one had been able to cast from that in well over millennia, and from her studies, no one had ever been born who was attuned to it. Was that what Hrolki wanted to learn? It was considered by most to be an impossible task, especially for a novice like him. Yet, instead of mocking the barbarian for the question, Heek grinned, running a hand through his beard.

“If your will is strong enough, Daisharan, you can make it so.” Heek told him, “But for now, stick to the basics. Focus on Charga, become a master in it, and once that is done, I will tell you all I know about the Forgotten Sky. It is a subject of interest for me as well…”

Hrolki’s eyes narrowed, and he nodded sharply, “It must be done.” There wasn’t a hint of arrogance in his tone, in fact, he sounded more like he was speaking to himself, rather than to Heek.

Lietta put her forehead in her book, shutting her eyes tightly as she realized what Hrolki’s ultimate goal was. It was the same as her own, to re-discover the name of the Forgotten Sky, and to try and cast from it. This was going to be a long tenure at Skolaris… that was for sure. So much for a dashing prince of royal blood…