"Damn! Damn! Damn!" a voice yelled as he barged through the door.

It was the first day of school, and my first class started in twenty minutes, so I was surprised that the roommate that I had yet to meet was just arriving.

But upon hearing the person's voice, I smiled at who was there.

"No one told me I had to pack all my things myself. I'm a prince for crying out loud. Now I'm late moving in and going to be late for the first day of class? Do they not care about my education?" Finally, the boy looked up and met my gaze. "No way. Fal? We're roommates?"

"I guess so. I wasn't aware either."

Hanz emptied his spatial ring on the open bed and jumped on the piles of clothes and an array of other random things that spewed out. "All this fast pace stress has me about to go insane."

"Well, your panic attack needs to hurry up and pass; class starts in twenty minutes."

He hopped up instantly, "What!?"

***

As we walked, Hanz studied his class schedule. Most people received theirs along with their acceptance letter, but mine was kindly delivered to the dorm three days before class started. And I had most of the room numbers and locations memorized so I wouldn't be late on the first day. I took time to explore the school while I stayed here and quite easily got used to the big campus. I assumed Hanz would warm up over time as well.

"It seems we'll have to split up for now. I'll meet you in the dining hall at lunch." He dashed off. "Good luck!"

Walking into a building, I looked for Classroom 27B. There were many doors lining the red carpet, and students were trickling into their respective classrooms.

I myself went in one as well. There were many students chatting, some sitting at desks, some leaning in them. Other students tended to themselves, organizing their supplies or reading books. I didn't bother or indulge in any conversation and instead just sat in the back and waited for the professor to start.

Before the bell rang, I saw a familiar face walk in, which was somewhat fortunate.

Tasha locked eyes with me and made her way to the back to an empty desk near me. "I knew you made it in, and I was going to look for you and Hanz at lunch, but it seems we were lucky enough to have a class together," she said with a smile.

"Yeah, I was afraid I wasn't going to see anyone I knew for the entire day," I responded.

"Well, it seems luck is on your side."

The bell rang, and everyone took their seats. The professor walked in, setting his brown briefcase on his desk, and he stood in front of the class.

"Hello, everyone. From now on, and until the end of the year, we will be seeing each other almost daily." He grabbed a piece of chalk and began writing on the giant chalkboard. Eventually, when he was done, it said the name, 'Professor Gale'.

"My name is Professor Gale. It is an honor to meet you all. I'm going to leave my name on the chalkboard just in case any of you forget it these first couple of days of school. I don't mind my students giving me nicknames or anything of the sort. So don't be shy." He picked up a chalkboard. "Just like all of you are going to get acquainted with me, I'm going to have to do the same. So I'm going to call the roll, and as I do, just give me your name and the magical elements you are adept at." Some of the students gave confused looks.

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This was normal, as people didn't want to go around showing their cards.

I personally didn't care. I was just contemplating weather to show all of my elements, or just a few.

'I think you should just say two,' Rye suggested. 'We both know how you are with your secrecy.'

Yeah, I guess you're right.

"This information will be revealed to everyone in the class sooner or later as it is the basics of spell casting, so no need to be wary," the professor added.

This seemed to ease the class up as there was nothing they could do about it.

Professor Gale then smiled and began calling roll. A few names were called before he got to mine and I stood up. "My name is Falyn Elway, and my elements are wind and water."

I heard a few murmurs throughout the class at my name.

"Is he related to the student council president? They have the same last name."

"I didn't know she had a brother. Was he not at orientation? He must have had to take the exams."

"I heard the student council president uses wind and water as well. They have to be related."

The whispers continued and looking to my side, all I could see was Tash grinning. I could have never predicted that my sister would be so popular.

Maybe I should've chosen different elements so I wouldn't plainly give myself up. When people asked or I had to tell someone my elemental affinities for any given reason, I usually always said wind and water as they were my most offensive and powerful elements attack-wise, even though darkness and wind were my true elements. Darkness being the one I'm most adept at above all.

My problem with dark magic though was the lack of spells I knew. I only knew a few and rarely used them besides Shadow Step.

The mana taxation was just too vast. Especially for spells like Dark Negate. Which could absorb spells to an extent.

That aside, I sat down. Some classmates still shot glances my way until the next few names were called.

Myla being popular is great and all, but when it carries over to me, it kind of annoys me.

Soon, the class went by, and the bell was about to ring for the next period.

"Alright, I'm going to wrap this up. Next class, we will actually be learning spells for your respective elements, so make sure to go to the library and grab a grimoire for your corresponding element or elements."

At his last words, the students began chatting for the last few minutes of class

Tasha leaned over her desk and whispered to me "How does it feel being the talk of the school?"

"If this is about my sister's name giving me attention, it's not very fun," I said, looking at her with a deadpan expression.

"Well yeah, that would add to it, but being at the top of the leaderboards is on a different level. Your name is going around the entire school."

I was genuinely confused by her words. "Leaderboard? What are you talking about?"

At my question, the bell rang, and Tash said, "Follow me."

She took me to the school's main hall, which was adorned with tapestries with eneles emblems and giant trophy cases lining the walls, all filled with different awards. Many students walked in and out, but a large group of students, in particular, gathered around five large tapestries hanging from the wall. Tasha took me closer so I could see.

They were filled with names, and each tapestry represented a different year. At the top of the first-year list of many names was mine.

"What's this list of? Why am I at the top?" I asked.

Tasha spoke, "I've heard it represents class ranking, taking into account grades, mana power, and combat skills. But since us first-years haven't gone through a year yet, it goes off of the exam scores, and it just so happens you scored the highest."

"Okay, and what exactly does this mean for me?" I asked.

"It means recognition, status, and you could even receive rewards if you keep the number one spot. People may try to come after you, though. It's very competitive from what I hear. People may even challenge you to duels just for the spot."

Was this the surprise the headmaster mentioned? How annoying.

"Where did you rank?" I asked.

"Two hundred fifty-seven. I think it's because I lost to you. That really put a dent in my score, on top of the fact that I'm not really good at written tests."

"Well, that's not bad considering there are almost one thousand new students."

I skimmed through the names and was surprised to see that Hanz was fourth.

"There are two people who are in our year that scored higher than Hanz. That's actually impressive," I said.

"Yeah, I saw that," Tash responded. "I hope he doesn't see it. I have a feeling he will be disappointed."

"Agreed."

I looked at their names and decided I should remember them: 'Renz Froston' and 'Leiah Lexington'.