Miracles still existed. It was the only conclusion Cal could draw as he sat in a stadium with thousands of other students. It was the largest one on campus, and they were pushing it to its limits.

They'd all been herded here in lieu of their morning classes and he was astonished no fireworks had gone off yet. Not that they weren't noisy, granted it was hard not to be when everyone was trying to talk to the person next to them at the same time.

"Man, I hope they don't make us wait any longer." Ryan complained next to him.

They'd all been seated by homeroom and the group had invited him over, he'd seen no reason to refuse. Ryan and Jessica sat to his right while Gregor and Anne sat directly in front of them in the lower row.

"At least it's not too hot out" Cal idly commented on the overcast weather.

Ryan nudged him, pointing at the edge of the stadium's highest seats.

"There's an awning they bring out if it gets bad"

"We can always just cool ourselves down as well, so that's never an issue." Jessica added her two cents.

Cal scanned the lower levels, reserved for the Senior classmen. He'd been periodically looking for the mane of red hair but kept coming up empty-handed. It was possible she was in the crowd already and he'd just overlooked her; without boosting his eyesight she'd be easy to miss.

Oh well. He was just checking to pass the time.

"What has you chuckling so much?" Ryan asked.

Had he been? It wasn't purposeful, he'd just been thinking about how red Alice had gotten while attempting to berate him over his late return. He couldn't see why she'd gotten so worked up over it. It wasn't like he was a child liable to get lost.

The fact that he had indeed been lost at times was beside the point.

He hadn't meant to be so late but Olivia had plenty of constructive criticism. She insisted on adding the constructive part, in his mind it was plain old criticism. It'd gone on so long that he almost forgot to thank her for the name thing. He wished he had as the condescension in which she delivered the 'this is why codenames exist' would not have been missed.

Cal tuned most of it out, it boiled to his real name wasn't on any paperwork and only a handful of people knew it.

The surroundings stirred and he followed the gestures of others. In the field below, surrounded by chairs was a stage with a single podium. Previously empty, a man now walked up the steps. The noise kicked up a notch as students conversed. Curious, Cal augmented his vision to get a better look at him as he approached the podium.

Muscles rippled under his clothes. A black suit covered by a red robe or cape of some sort. Dark-skinned, his head may be bare but his stern face wore a short beard and mustache. In his right hand, he carried a simple wooden staff.

His gait resembled that of a warrior.

The man reached the podium and lifted his staff before slamming it down. A burst of wind was released that soon traveled through the first rank of seats and up the rest of the stadium.

You could hear a pin drop in the aftermath.

With the sun now shining down, the man spoke. His voice amplified.

"I am Victor Angularis." An image of him manifested above the field, imitating a screen. A delicate use of light magic. "To those of you returning, I welcome you back. For our newcomers, I welcome you for the first of hopefully many times. You would have heard many things before coming here. As the headmaster, let me make some things clear. Your Nobility may have bought your entrance, it may buy you comforts, but it will not buy you my respect. Blood is power! Our Empire's motto, our rallying call. Many of you believe that blood alone will grant you power. This is false. It only gives you the chance at it. Only by reaching beyond yourself can you truly embody what makes us strong."

The staff slammed down on the stage again. A row of figures, several familiar to Cal, filed out from the side and onto the field. The stadium collectively held its breath as they crested the stage, standing behind the headmaster.

"Those behind me have done just that. They are examples you should aspire to. They've risen to properly represent their station." He seemed to consider for a moment before adding "And some beyond that"

Cal could see Alice preening on the stage, separated from Lily by an unknown student.

"Now, I'll allow your crown prince and future emperor to say some words." The headmaster stepped to the side as Rolland went up to the podium.

The world dampened around him as he subtly erected a small sound manifestation around his head, deciding it was well worth the cost of not having to hear whatever drivel came out of the prince's mouth. His eyes glanced to the sides, checking to make sure no one had noticed. They all looked enraptured by the speech so he considered it a success.

The prince said something and everyone laughed. Cal rolled his eyes. It probably wasn't even that funny. Like when your boss tells a bad joke and you laugh anyway. The speech continued, Cal blissfully ignorant of its contents. The prince's mouth paused in its movements and from this distance, their eyes seemed to meet. He said something else and ended with a smirk, his gaze still on Cal.

In response, Cal merely yawned and looked elsewhere. It didn't seem anyone noticed their exchange. If there had been one at all.

This was all dreadfully boring. It did beat the alternative of sitting in class so that was something.

After this was all sorted he should take an actual vacation. Albert always talked up the Free Cities, touring them sounded nice.

The prince stepped back and a teacher seated in the front row approached, replacing him. Cal pondered whether or not to cancel his bubble, deciding to do so. It didn't last long as the dry and meaningless speech proved to have no substance. He listened to several more teachers talk themselves up before putting his manifestation in place again.

The process repeated with more speakers stepping to the podium. Occasionally Ryan would lean over to whisper some commentary and Cal would nod. Pretending to have heard.

All good things come to an end and fortunately, the same could be said for bad ones. The headmaster said a scant few final words and departed.

Cal dismissed the bubble again, this time a roar of activity greeted him as students furiously conversed while they waited their turn to leave. The group he'd attached to was no different.

"And then I swear he looked right at me!" Anne gushed, sitting backward on her seat to face them. "He even smiled"

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"Sorry to break it to you girl." Jessica broke in, flipping her blonde hair. "But the smile was clearly for me"

"Gah" Ryan put a hand over his chest, clutching his heart. "I'm right here you know."

"Shush you" Jessica slapped his shoulder "I never said I'd return his advances, though to be courted by a prince truly is a nice ego boost"

A scoff sounded from the side and Gregor shifted to face the group.

"You and half the girls in this section are all saying the same thing" He pointed at several groups all looking to have similar discussions. "He just glanced over here and you're all losing your minds."

"Ugh, Gregor" Jessica chided while wagging a finger "I bet if the princess smiled your way you'd be acting the same"

Anne nodded in agreement. "He'd be melting into the floor, guaranteed."

Gregor flushed but made no move to deny the statement. He turned around and stared glumly at the field again.

"The princess huh." Ryan rubbed his chin in thought. "You think I manage to track her down she'd give me a date?"

"I'd rather you not." Jessica said sweetly from the side "I'm not sure I'd be able to convince the Justiciars that I wasn't involved in your death." She wrapped her arms around one of his, holding it tight.

"Joke!" Ryan struggled to no avail "It was just a joke"

"Of course it was." Jessica said with a smile that did not quite meet her eyes.

"You're doing it again" Anne sighed tiredly from the side "With thousands of others around this time."

"Don't be so crude" Jessica huffed while still holding Ryan's arm "We're just having a disagreement."

"You were about three sentences away from making out." Anne deadpanned and Jessica blanched.

"False." Ryan stated with complete assuredness. "I could have done it in two."

He fell over the seat and into Gregor as Jessica shoved him away. The pair ended up in a tangled heap. The collateral damage loudly complaining.

"Boys." Jessica crossed her arms, looking away from the duo and towards Cal "Are you all this stupid"

"Yes" he answered without hesitation. A wise man knew what battles were worth fighting.

There was a commotion further down the stands and heads turned as students tried to find out what was going on. A game of telephone began as the message was passed down, eventually reaching their group.

"The royal family doesn't mess around." Ryan said with mild disbelief, finally disentangled. "First real week and already challenging a Senior classman."

"Not a ranked one" Gregor said derisively.

"True" Anne sounded thoughtful. "but that's still at least a five-year age difference. That's not something easily overcome."

"I'm more interested in the fool who accepted." Jessica looked at the lower stands, trying to spot them in the mess of students. "He'll either dishonor the royal family or himself."

"Nah" Ryan disagreed. "If the first year wants to pick a fight that's on him"

"You know that's not how it always works." Gregor muttered.

Cal cared little for the politics behind it but he could admit to being a little intrigued by what the little prince had in store.

The exodus from the stadium stalled as students stuck around for the show.

They didn't have long to wait, as in little time the podium was removed from the stage and then the stage itself was collapsed and moved to the side.

Whoever set up the prior illusion must have left so Cal had to augment his vision again to get a good look at the combatants. It was not difficult to spot the prince, the child that he was. He looked near a carbon copy of his older brother, albeit a younger version. The only exception was his hair which was a shade darker. The sword he lifted looked out of place, being near his height in length. He held himself in a self-assured manner, confident in his win.

The same could not be said for his opponent, who held his ax loosely in one hand. Glancing around at the crowd.

An older gentleman, the one overseeing the match, said something and threw out two items that both students caught and pinned to their chests. It looked like a crest of some sort.

His confusion must have shown on his face because Ryan answered without prompt.

"They're shield badges, they'll activate at the first hint of blood. Not perfect by any means but what is?"

He'd not heard of those. A personal shield of that size must cost a fortune.

The gentleman raised a hand in the air, and after some tense moments swung it down.

The prince did not hesitate, a slash of light sweeping towards his opponent. To his credit, nerves or not the other student sidestepped the slash and with a yell swung his free hand towards the ground. A circle briefly appeared before chunks or rock propelled themselves towards the prince. That wasn't the end of the attack. The ax was swung and a gust of wind accompanied it; the rocks suddenly gaining a degree of speed.

Not wanting to be crushed or skewered, the prince dove out of the way. Recovering with a roll while shooting out another slash that was dodged the same as the last.

The older student gave a stomp next, a different circle appearing followed by a trail of earthen spikes extending from him to the prince. With deft steps, the smaller combatant rushed forward. Navigating the protruding earth as if it were a game of hopscotch.

Right before their blades met, the sword erupted in a brilliant light. Students around him swore as they shielded their eyes.

When they recovered. The distance between the fighters had widened again, the prince clutching his side.

It was a cheap trick and he paid for trying it. It would only work against someone who either looked down on their opponent to a ludicrous degree or was monumentally incompetent. So one and the same really.

The prince released his side, having realized he wasn't injured.

With a snarl, he lobbed another arc of light which was returned with rock.

Neither side approached, content to lob magic at each other from a distance after the first exchange.

The older student varied his attacks slightly, changing the size of the rocks smaller, either to conserve magic or in the hope the increased speed would hit the small but nimble target the prince was proving to be.

It was a very dull affair. They were both too green.

"They're competing in reserves now" Anne observed. "Normally I would wager on the older student but the royal family's blood is strong"

Ryan leaned back, offering his thoughts while losing interest in the fight.

"Unless the prince has any better tricks he's kinda of stuck, after what happened when he did get close."

"Which was?" Jessica pushed the question, having been one of those unable to protect their eyes in time.

"He was parried and the older kid kicked him in the ribs" Cal finally joined in the conversation, responding with a little mirth. "sending him flying back."

Ryan regarded him with a look that Cal wasn't sure what to make of before elaborating.

"He's got the speed fine but in terms of physical strength? They're leagues apart"

The group gave a hum of understanding as they settled in to watch.

The smaller of the two started to slow. Projectiles inching closer and closer to him. Some, seeing the inevitable, took the opportunity to skip ahead and sneak out of the stadium before the rest of the crowd.

Cal considered doing the same, but something nagged at him. He paid closer attention, honing his senses on the stage.

His brow rose.

"You want to share with the rest of us?" Ryan had noticed his change in expression.

"It's nothing" he supplied, leaning back and feigning disinterest. He closed his eyes to further sell it.

They'd only be a distraction.

He 'watched' in silence until the crowd gave a collective gasp and a fist-sized rock finally found its target and burrowed through the prince's form. The figure faded like a mirage. Confusion swept over them while Cal followed the magic indicating where the prince was.

The prince carefully closed the distance, making his move with a thrust. The sword impacted the older student. Caught off-guard, he stumbled back. Even still, his shell protected him. The sword slid across his torso rather than skewering it. The prince ducked below the hasty retaliatory strike and delivered another sweep aimed at the student's leg.

Already unbalanced, the student tumbled onto his back with a panicked expression on his face.

The prince followed up with another shining blade and swung down towards the prone opponent. It found its mark, sinking into the blazer.

A flash of blue came from the older boy and the prince jumped back, lowering his blade.

"That was the shield I told you about." Ryan rubbed the back of his head "Can't say I expected that"

Cal had, the level of magic held in the kid's shell told him some higher-level manifestation would be played.

"Impressive level of light manifestation." Anne still had her eyes trained on the field "I suppose I should say as expected of the royal family"

"With how much they pour into their heirs it's not that surprising" Gregor snarked, while standing up and looking towards the nearest exit "We've wasted enough time here, let's head out already."

Cal agreed though he wondered if the others realized how close that fight had been at the end. The prince had bet it all in that gambit and was running on fumes. The older student had magic to spare and just wasn't able to pump it into his shell in time.

In fairness, doing so while feeling something stabbing you was a tough skill to learn.

It certainly took Cal enough attempts to get down right.

As the students filed out, gossip could be heard from all around. Cal was sure the forums would be on fire right now. Filled with pictures and videos of what just occurred. He wondered what had caused the fight to begin with. He shook his head, tossing the thought out of his mind. It wasn't important.

At the end of the day, none of this would be relevant to him.