“Told you we should’ve left earlier. . .” Penelope sighed, turning the corner.
The two got into an argument about his overly relaxed demeanour after he insisted on giving a tour of the castle, claiming we wouldn’t be late. Well, we were, but not by much.
“It’ll be just as crowded when we get there,” Ron claimed, making his way into the lively entrance hall swarming with students looking if they got accepted. “See? I told you we had plenty of time.”
Disbelieved, she shook her head and walked into the crowd.
“Let’s just check the board.” I grabbed his shoulder, pushing him forward.
The crowd was different from before, a lot more diverse, with a few familiar faces I’d seen in passing. While I expected elves and humans, I was surprised to see beastkin among them, kin to Shelly and Damon, who weren’t as gifted as the twins regarding transformation. There were other minorities as well, but surprisingly no dwarves. Though none were as eye-catching as the giant half-orc next to whom I stood while looking for my name on the board. He had a mean-looking face, two tusks sticking out his mouth and a sharp black-eyed gaze; however, when he burst into laughter upon finding his name, scaring others around him, I couldn’t help but chuckle, understanding how much getting in could mean to some.
“Where am I. . .” I sighed after having looked at the board for a bit, still searching for my name.
Maybe no one said it, but we all expected we were the ones who passed the test, seeing as only about a hundred of us were there, far fewer than in the beginning. Sharing the results elsewhere to avoid conflict would have been something I’d do if I were the Headmaster, but there was also the chance he told them during the interview with a charm attached at the end. However, while that was great and all, I wouldn’t have put it past him to humble me by putting me in a room full of students who passed after I made such a bold statement during the interview, making it hard to stay indifferent while failing to find my name. But then it hit me.
“Dead last, huh?” Ron mumbled, looking at my name ranked at the bottom right of the board. He tried his best but couldn’t help but snicker while tapping my shoulder. “Hey, at least we’re all in the same house, right?”
“Right. . .” I sighed, averting my gaze while forced to listen to the guy who ranked twenty-seventh. At least he was right about us all being together, all of us having a small dragon token next to our names.
“Oh, come on–” Ron kept talking, but the sound of his voice fizzled out the moment my eyes met our first year’s top-scoring student, Alice Kelthyra.
Her gaze was so enchanting that I hardly noticed the girl standing beside her, clinging to her arm. As for my smile, it had a will of its own while I watched Alice shyly avert her gaze for a second before looking back at me with a coy smirk, pushing her long golden hair behind the ear. If it weren’t for Ron pulling on my shoulder, I would have stood there and looked at her forever, enthralled by her presence.
“–Alex. You listening to me?” Ron asked. “Alex!”
“Huh? What?” My mind blanked as I turned to look at him, overwhelmed with joy that I had laid my eyes on Alice. “Did you say something?”
“You’ve completely lost it, haven’t you?” Ron sighed.
Ignoring his question, I looked back at Alice, but she was already being dragged away by her friend I had never seen before, another elven girl. She still threw a glance, her lips whispering, ‘Catch you later,’ before biting away at the lower one.
“Did he find it?” Penelope asked, ranking third on the list.
“He did, but at what cost. . .” Ron pretended to wipe a tear away, gesturing toward the hundredth rank. “Look.”
“Wow. . . And I thought I scored low,” said Rose, ranked thirty-third despite intentionally failing the Levitate spell twice, avoiding attention like the plague.
“You okay, Alex?” Penelope asked, noticing I wasn’t saying anything.
“Hmm? Oh, yeah– I mean, I’m fine.”
“You sure?” Penelope furrowed her brows.
“Yeah. . . better than I imagined,” I admitted quietly, dropping my gaze.
Penelope reached for my hand, pulling on it gently while smiling softly. I figured she knew who I saw.
“Then let’s head to our dorm,” Penelope suggested, reaching for my hand and pulling on it gently while smiling softly. Something told me she knew who I saw, even without me telling. “I overheard someone mentioning our stuff would be there.”
“Well then, if you’d please follow me,” Ron said, proudly taking a step toward the exit.
“Shouldn’t we take a look at the map first?” Penelope asked.
“Why? I know my way around,” Ron boasted.
“But we don’t. . .” Penelope argued.
“You’ll look at it tomorrow,” Ron said, scratching his head. “Besides, don’t you want to get there first? You know, before it gets crowded?”
“Let me get this straight. . . so when we’re in a rush, you take your time, but when we aren’t, you suddenly want to be there early?” Penelope furrowed her brows before letting out a sigh. “Fine. . . Just go.”
“Alright, right this way.” Ron smiled, taking the lead.
----------------------------------------
“Little wyrmlings! Welcome to Grimhold.” I had no idea who the guy yelling was, nor did something in particular stand out about him, but everyone in the Dragon’s common room cheered him on. “My name is Jason, a third-year student and the person you can turn to if you have any questions regarding your stay here.”
“So loud,” Penelope said, turning to look for someone.
We stood among the thirty-four who got admitted to the House of the Dragon, and just as Penelope said, the welcoming party was loud as hell. Naturally, Alice was there but kept her distance, throwing a glance every so often with a coy smile.
“Now, I know you had a long day, and I’m sure everyone just wants to unpack and hit the bed, but here among dragons, there are traditions we must uphold.” He stood atop a raised platform adjacent to the wall, entertaining a crowd of as many as a hundred. “But before that, we also have a few rules to go through first. Number one, prove yourself.” He grinned, staring at us with his arms crossed. “One year. That’s all you get to show us your worth. Show us that you can grow from a wyrmling to a dragon!”
The crowd roared to the sound of drums playing atop the indoor balcony, whose door connected to the spiral staircase leading toward the bedrooms. I only happened to catch a glimpse inside while someone was walking through; however, Ron expressed his familiarity with the tower, claiming we had to see the killer view at the top, the castle’s third highest point. We were all happy to go, but at the same time, we dreaded the idea of climbing any more stairs seeing as we were already on the third floor. It wouldn’t be as bad if all the ceilings weren’t so damn high up.
“Wait, wait. . . There’s more,” Jason continued, chuckling as the crowd settled down. “Number two, protect each other. Hopefully, I don’t need to explain this one,” his tone shifted often but remained high-spirited. “Look around you. These are your new brothers and sisters whose backs you’ll watch when the time comes.”
“What is this, a cult?” Dustin mumbled sarcastically, standing a bit too close for comfort as the only thing separating us was the half-orc I saw earlier. Although, someone who made me look like the girls in comparison wasn’t exactly easy to ignore.
“–Number three. If you break it, you fix it. Number four,” He sighed, looking sternly at us. “I can’t stress this enough, but no guys are allowed in the girls' dorm past midnight unless you have strict permission from every girl sharing the room. And under no circumstances are you allowed in the female bathroom. Failing to obey these rules will result in you getting kicked out. Did I make myself clear?” He waited a few seconds before letting out another sigh. “I’ll take your silence as a sign of agreement.”
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His comment sparked a murmur among the crowd.
“Guessing someone did something stupid. . .” Rose mumbled, voicing what all of us were thinking.
“Do you know what he’s talking about?” I asked Ron.
He nodded, saying, “I’ll tell you later. It’s kind of funny.”
“I bet. . .” Penelope sarcastically said.
“Alright, alright. . . settle down. It seems our first years are quick to gossip, huh?” Although an innocent act in Grimhold, Jason taking out his wand drew our immediate attention. “Oh? It seems we have quite the scary first years this time around.” He chuckled. “Alright! Listen up, everyone. The fifth and final rule of our dorm is regarding duelling.”
“Now we get to the fun part,” Ron murmured.
“Thank you, Ronald. . .” Jason heard him, but more surprisingly, he knew his name. “Why don’t you do us all a favour and come up here?”
“Me?” Ron furrowed his brows.
“Yes, you. . . Give it up for Ronald Arden!”
The crowd cheered on Ron as he took a deep breath, stepping up to Jason.
“What are you doing to me, Jay?” Ron sighed, putting his hands behind his back while staring calmly at the cheering crowd.
“Is he going to be okay?” Penelope asked, clapping along with us.
“I think so. . .” I said, giving him a worried look.
“Now that we have a volunteer, I can begin explaining the rules of the duel and how you challenge someone.” They exchanged glances before walking off each to their own side of the raised platform. “Ron, take out your wand.”
“You’re not planning on bullying me, are you?” Ron smirked, taking out a wand I’d never seen before from his surprisingly deep pocket.
“It’d be well deserved, but no.” Jason turned to the crowd. “Listen up, as I’ll say this only once. There are two types of duels that may take place here within the common room. First is a practice duel. You can do these whenever, so long as it’s not after midnight. People do need their sleep, after all. As for the second, it is an official challenge you can issue against anyone. Keep in mind that they can refuse unless you’re ranked lower than them, in which case they must amuse at least one duel per semester. While losing an official challenge might suck, it’s a good way to keep track of your skill–”
“Does this affect our ranking?” interrupted the half-orc standing beside me, surprising me with his gruff voice.
“We don’t have the authority to mess around with the ranking set by the Headmaster, but we do have a board of our own that keeps track of your wins and loses, which we show to Professor Tessa, who might put in a good word for you because of it,” Jason explained. “Now, as for the rules, you may attack only using Arcane Blast that’s enchanted into every duelling wand the school provides for arcane combat class. And as for defence, you may use Shield or any of its variants up to three times. The winner is whoever lands the first clean hit.” Taking a step back, he centred himself on his side of the platform. “Oh, and don’t worry about the pain. At its worst, it feels like getting punched hard. Nothing life-threatening.”
“Want me to hit you once to show them?” Ron suggested with a sly smirk.
“Nice try, but they should experience it on their own.” Jason pointed his wand toward Ron. “Alright, try it once.”
“Arcane Blast!” Ron aimed his wand before a crimson cluster of mana shot out of the tip, smashing into a barrier conjured by Jason. “Damn, voiceless casting, huh?”
“Getting better at it,” said Jason, putting away his wand. “Listen up. Now that the demonstration’s over– let’s see. . . four, eight, twelve – Ha! Sixteen. Just what we need, an even number.” He stepped closer to the edge, his gaze sweeping over us. “It’s our tradition to have our wyrmlings prove themselves in a duel, so I’m going to need all the boys to take a step forward.”
“Just them?” Penelope raised her hand, breaking the crowd's silence.
“Well, it’s not against the rules for women to participate, but we won’t force you to do so on the first day. After all, they’ll be fighting only once, and the losers are responsible for cleaning up after the party.”
“That’s bullshit. . .” Dustin muttered, pocketing his hands.
“And it seems we have our first challenger!” Jason yelled, rallying up the crowd. “Step up here, buddy.”
“I’m not your buddy, and you can’t force us to fight.”
“I can if you want to sleep in a room tonight,” Jason chuckled. “Now quit your whining and come up here. Ron will be your opponent.”
“Ha! That guy?” Dustin began marching forward enthusiastically, acting as if he didn’t just complain about having to fight a second ago.
“You got to be kidding me. . .” Ron rolled his eyes, glancing back at me in disbelief.
“You got this,” I whispered, giving him a reassuring nod.
“While the two get ready, ladies, feel free to get comfortable and enjoy the party,” Jason said, though he was hard to hear over the cheering crowd as they were excited for the duels to get underway.
“Hey. Rose and I’ll hang out with Eliot until you’re done, but take this.” Penelope handed me her wand. “Good luck.”
“Good luck, Alex,” Rose said, clinging to Penelope’s arm.
“Thanks,” I said, taking a deep breath, somewhat excited to see with whom they pair me.
As the girls walked off, my eyes darted toward Alice, who gave me a wink while smiling coyly before running off as well. I couldn’t wait to catch an opportunity to speak with her.
“Are you ready?” Jason asked, raising his voice.
“Ready.” Ron pulled the wand closer to his face.
“You’re about to get smoked,” Dustin claimed, doing the same.
“Then let the match begin!”
Before Dustin could whip his wand toward Ron and blast him with a spell, Ron raised his hand and yelled, “Wait, wait! If I beat you, I want a date!”
“Ha?” Stunned, Dustin lost focus, giving Ron just the opening he needed. There was hardly any time to react as Ron’s blast, which shot out like a bolt, hit Dustin in the stomach, dropping him to the floor.
“The winner is. . . Ronald!” Jason announced to the ecstatic crowd.
“Thank you. Thank you.” Ron bowed, smugly smiling as he glanced back at Dustin.
“You dishonourable, cheating bastard!” Dustin rose to his feet and began marching closer.
“Woah. . . easy there, pal.” Jason intercepted, putting a hand on Dustin’s chest. “Losing focus is your fault, not his. Now back off and enjoy the party. You’ll be cleaning it without magic in just a few hours.”
Although smiling, Jason’s stern gaze made Dustin rethink his choices.
“Whatever.” Dustin pushed his arm away before stepping off the platform.
“Interesting start, I’ll give you that.” Jason laughed, turning to us again. “So whose next?”
“What a loser.” Chuckled one of the new guys standing behind me, raising his hand. “Sure. I’ll go.”
“Another challenger! Step right up and tell us your name.” Jason gestured for Ron to step off.
“Egon Dragnar,” he said, walking onto the platform, wand already in hand.
Hearing his name, I recognised it immediately. Although we hadn’t met, as a noble, it was hard not to know the name of the Crown Prince of the Solaris Holy Empire, second only to the Notish Empire in terms of military might.
It was obvious that girls were going to love him, seeing as he was tall, confident, and good-looking, not to mention talented with magic, or so the rumours said. It completely slipped my mind that he was our age.
While waiting for his opponent to be chosen, he tied his raven hair that reached his lower back into a ponytail, sweeping the common room with his dark-eyed gaze.
“Royalty, huh?” Ron said as he walked up to me. “Why not have a go at him? It’d be entertaining.”
“I think I’ll pass for now.” I sighed, knowing that regardless of winning or losing, it would drag plenty of unwanted attention.
“Well, when you do decide to fight, I’ll be cheering you on from the back,” Ron said, tapping my shoulder.
“Thanks,” I said, glancing back at the platform.
While I was busy paying attention to Ron, Egon’s opponent had already stepped onto the stage.
“Tywin of Ulfon,” the slender elf introduced himself, pushing back his slightly grown-out blonde hair behind his pointy ear and pulling a wand closer to his face. “Ready.”
“Ready.” Egon grinned, raising his wand.
“Begin!” Jason yelled, but the fight was over before it even started.
Despite Tywin’s conjured-up barrier, Egon’s Arcane Blast pierced it, hitting him on the chest and sending him tumbling off the platform. Safe to say that he left everyone awed.
“Well, that was easy. . .” Egon sighed, jumping off before Jason even announced the winner.
“Winner is. . . Egon,” Jason said, clapping respectfully, then turning to Tywin. “You okay?”
He was, and soon the next duel was about to take place, although that was hard to follow up.
“You!” Jason yelled, pointing toward me. “You’re next.”
“Me? Okay,” I mumbled, walking up the wooden steps.
It felt strange having everyone watching, but hearing Ron cheer at the top of his lungs did make me smile. That and the fact that people I knew were watching, especially a certain smirking princess standing by the stairs leading to the dorm rooms.
“Name?” Jason asked.
“Alexander Kallis,” I said, firmly holding Penelope’s wand.
“Oh, Eliot’s younger brother.” He chuckled. “Well, show us what you got. Ready?”
“Yeah, I’m ready.”
Chapter End.
Thank you for reading.