“Ha! To think I’d get a chance so soon to test my skills against our King’s prized student. Though, don’t sulk too much when you kiss the ground,” taunted my opponent, standing with his wand out. “It’s only natural– you being human and all.”

It appeared I had to deal with yet another asshole, and guessing by his words, he must’ve been from Thysa—someone who knew Alice.

“A bit aggressive, don’t you think?” I smirked, staring at his smug face. “You must be one of Aymon’s lap dogs.”

“Don’t lump me in with trash like him.” His gaze turned cold, making me question their history.

“Well. . . if you’re not Aymon’s dog, and you certainly aren’t Alice’s friend, then who the heck are you even?” I scoffed, furrowing my brows.

“Tarron Feyborn. It’d do you good to remember,” he raised his wand, preparing for the duel.

“Well, Farron–”

“Tarron,” he cut me off.

“Right. . .” I smirked. “Alexander Kallis, but you already knew that.”

“Cocky bastard. . .” he muttered under his breath.

“Fight. Fight. Fight.” The crowd was cheering so loudly that I doubted anyone other than Jason actually heard what we were saying.

“I’m ready,” I said, glancing at Jason.

“Farr– I mean, Tarron. . .” Jason sighed, messing up his name with what sounded like a genuine mistake. “You ready?”

“Yes.” Tarron was so bitter with me that he hadn’t even reacted to Jason’s slip-up.

His eyes were locked on me, same as his wand.

“Begin!” Jason yelled, taking a step back.

Without a word of warning, Tarron lashed out with a flurry of blasts that were a struggle to dodge at such a short distance, forcing me to predict their pathing. And each time he attacked, with a small step, he closed the distance little by little, the cluster of energy fading out of existence as it left the podium, having quite a limited range.

“Shield!” I chanted, summoning a defensive barrier in response to being cornered by one too many attacks that left me hardly any room to counter. Luckily, Shield was just what I needed to regain my footing, allowing me to flick Penelope’s wand offensively, casting Arcane Blast for the first time. Unfortunately, Tarron needn’t dodge, seeing as my aim was abysmal.

“What was that?” He mockingly chuckled, realising how off-target I was.

Undeterred, I followed up with more but looked more like a child wildly swinging a sword for the first time. The one attack that would have hit, he blocked effortlessly using Shield. The next thing I knew, he was back on the offensive, closing the distance even further until eventually grazing the wand, disarming me.

“What a disappointment,” he said, bursting into laughter thinking he had won, but was silenced a second later as Arcane Blast hit him in the face, knocking him to the ground. Tarron tried pushing himself up, grunting in pain with a bloody nose while uttering in confusion, “What the. . .” His expression quickly turned to shock, having realised I was pointing at him with two fingers, casting without a wand.

Whispering the incantation worked just as well as saying it out loud, making it easy to sneak a hit in.

“And the winner is. . . Alexander!” Jason announced, overshadowed by the cheering crowd, yet all I could think about was how thankful I was that I didn’t embarrass myself in front of the girls while also not having to clean the common room like Dustin.

I could already imagine the jokes Ron had at the ready for when he saw him cleaning without magic.

“That was cheap. . .” Tarron mumbled, wiping away the blood. “I disarmed you.”

“The rules state that whoever lands a direct hit wins. Hitting one's wand doesn’t count,” I explained, turning around to pick up Penelope’s wand. Thankfully it wasn’t damaged.

“I demand a rematch,” Tarron said, but Jason shook his head.

“Another time. We still have other matches to go,” Jason said, turning his attention toward the first years. “Alright, next?”

Stepping off the stage, I walked over to Penelope, handing her the wand back. “Thanks.”

“Good job.” She smiled, slightly averting her gaze.

“Thanks. Although, I think I’ll need wand lessons.” I chuckled.

“Yeah, you do. . .” Eliot teased, sitting casually in a chair with his legs stretched, caught holding a mug of ale.

“At least he won,” Ron said, proudly tapping my shoulder.

“Took a page right out of your book,” Rose joked, shifting her focus to me. “Congratulations on your win.”

“Thanks.” I chuckled, rubbing my neck.

“But hey, not bad for the lowest-ranking student among the first years,” Eliot continued teasing, taking a sip.

“Stop it. . .” Penelope sighed, snapping her fingers, causing her wand to disappear.

“Woah, neat trick. How’d you do that?” I asked, curious as always.

“My gift and a little bit of prep beforehand. It allows me to store my spellbook, quill, and wand in a pocket dimension, which I can later summon whenever,” Penelope explained.

“Wicked. Now you don’t have to worry about losing your things,” Ron said.

“Too bad she can’t help others do so,” Rose sighed.

“I’ll figure something out, I promise,” Penelope chuckled, leaning against her. “And I’ll–”

But before she could finish her sentence, a loud bang stole everyone’s attention as another duel came to an end.

“The winner is. . . Andras!” Jason yelled, gesturing toward the winner, but my eyes searched for what made such a loud noise, soon finding the half-orc lying on the ground after having fallen off the platform.

“Did you see how he threw him?”

“Damn, that half-orc must’ve been heavy.”

“Wasn’t this supposed to be a wand battle?”

“Who cares. . .”

The countless comments that were being tossed around piqued my interest, but Ron’s hand yet again distracted me as he pulled on my shoulder, making quite a habit out of it. “Hey, isn’t that Andras Rendel?”

“Who?” I asked, furrowing my brows.

Although I recognised the Rendel family name from somewhere, the name Andras threw me for a loop.

“The Second Prince of Delerian?” Penelope asked.

“Yeah. . .” Ron mumbled. “I’m fairly sure he is.”

The Delerian Kingdom was one of those you’d call unfortunate. Although strong in its own right, it was the only piece of land splitting the Notish Empire from the Solaris Holy Empire, two major powers. If war ever broke out, it would likely take place there.

Having learned who he was, I had hoped to catch a glimpse of him, but he walked off before I could, getting lost in the crowd. Now I couldn’t wait to meet the guy capable of tossing the half-orc off stage, who likely weighed twice as much as me at the bare minimum.

“Hey, Rose. Let’s go grab a drink,” Penelope suggested.

“Want me to get it for you?” Eliot offered, sitting properly again.

“No, it’s fine. Actually, I wanted to have a look around the common room. Thought maybe Rose would like to tag along,” Penelope explained.

“Can we explore the castle too?” Rose asked, giving her the puppy eyes.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“Sure, why not?” Penelope smiled, grabbing her hand. “We’ll see you boys later.”

“Have fun,” we said, apart from Ron, who seemed to have something to say.

“Amm. . .” Ron poked Penelope’s shoulder just as she was about to walk off. “Need a guide?”

“I think we’ll be fine on our own. Thanks though.” Penelope smiled before the girls took their leave.

“Guess it’s just us, huh?” Eliot mumbled, stretching his arms up. “You should probably check up on your stuff.”

“Want to go now, or. . .” I looked toward Ron.

He nodded. “Think we’re in the same room?”

“I just hope we’re not stuck with Dustin. That’d be awkward.” I shook my head, pained by the idea.

“Uff. . . Imagine.” Ron put his hand around my shoulder, pushing me toward the dorms. “Though you probably shouldn’t have jinxed it.”

“I’d just sleep in the common room if that’s the case,” I said.

“Right, right. . .” Ron mumbled while making it up the thick yet surprisingly light wooden door leading into a tower with spiralling stone steps.

Unsurprisingly, when we reached the fifth-floor hallway, we didn’t see all that many students running around since most of them were downstairs partying, giving us time to search in peace for the room with our names on it.

“That’s a lot of stairs to get to one bedroom. . .” I sighed, looking from door to door.

“You’ll get used to it,” Ron chuckled before suddenly stopping in place. “Hey, look. We’re here.”

“Find your room?”

“Our room, it seems,” Ron said, pushing the door open.

We entered and were surprised to see our roommates already there, especially who they were, or at least one of them.

“So it’s you two, huh?” Egon grinned, taking a step closer before extending his hand toward me. “Seems we’ll be sharing a room. Name’s Egon.”

“Alexander,” I said, accepting his handshake.

“And you must be Ronald,” he said, letting go of me and shifting focus to Ron. “I must say, I was laughing my ass off after that duel. What was it again you said? You called him cute or something.”

“He asked him for a date,” the guy behind him said, stopping what he was doing and slowly approaching.

He was built similarly to Egon, strong-looking, broad shoulders, and also had a ponytail, but it barely reached past his shoulder and looked more like a small undone braid because he cut the rest of his hair relatively short. His gaze was somewhat expressionless, perfectly matching his sharper facial features. Though unlike Egon, who was slightly taller than me, he was close to my height, barely a noticeable difference, and even then, I couldn’t really tell which one of us was taller.

“Right, right. . . Was a bit hard hearing from a distance with the crowd yelling in my ear,” Egon chuckled, shaking Ron’s hand.

“Glad you liked it,” Ron said with somewhat of a surprise. “Please, call me Ron.”

“Will do,” Egon said, and although unexpected, his attitude was welcoming, putting me at ease about sharing a room with him.

“Hi, Name’s Andras,” said the guy as he approached.

“So you’re the guy that threw the half-orc?” I took a good look at him. “Impressive. . .”

“He just got caught off guard. . .” Andras explained, his voice remaining rather soft-spoken. His gaze remained unchanged, but the more I looked at him, the more it appeared as if something was constantly troubling him.

“Look at him being all modest, ha!” Egon chuckled, slapping Andras’ shoulder.

Unlike Andras, Egon had quite a penetrating voice, yet it wasn’t annoying or unpleasant; more so deep and powerful.

“I’m guessing you guys are friends like us two,” Ron said, glancing around the room.

“Us? No, we just met, but that doesn’t mean we won’t be,” Egon answered, chuckling before looking back at the four beds laid out in the room. “Oh, right. We were just discussing which bed who gets.”

With our attention shifting, we finally got a good look at the room that looked to be about the same size as mine back home, but now I had three roommates; though, I didn’t mind, believing it’d be fun.

“It could use a bit of redecorating,” Ron suggested, noticing the room looked a bit plain with four beds, an empty desk for each of us, and chests beside the beds. The two windows looked eastward at the mountain Ron referred to as Dragon’s Peak, and looking outside wasn’t recommended for anyone with a fear of heights, considering we were as high as the fifth floor.

“I agree. . .” Egon said, crossing his arms while stroking his chin. “Anyway, I’ll be taking the bed furthest to the right. You weren’t here, and I already put my stuff in the chest. But if someone really wants to switch. . . we can.”

“Then would you mind if I take that one?” Ron pointed at the bed furthest to the left. “I don’t sleep as well if I’m too close to a window.”

“Really?” I asked, furrowing my brows.

“Yeah, I don’t know. It’s been like that since I was little,” Ron tried explaining.

“That’s fine with me. Want us to help you move it back more?” Andras offered.

“No, no. It’s fine.” Ron smiled. “Thank you, though.”

“You sure you’re just not afraid of heights?” Egon asked.

“No, strangely enough. In fact, I tend to love high places, so long as they have a good view,” Ron explained.

Egon shrugged before walking over to the window.

“Then I’ll take the left one if that’s fine.” I looked at Andras, who gave me a quick nod. “Thanks.”

“Well, now that we’ve sorted that out, shall we return to the party?” Egon asked. “Quite a few gorgeous women walking around that I wouldn’t mind getting to know.” He chuckled.

“Tell me about it. . .” Ron agreed, nodding his head. “But yeah, let’s go.”

Looking back at our stuff that they set along the wall next to the door, I started considering if I should unpack first or not.

“I’m all set,” Andras said.

“You know what, you guys go ahead. I’ll just unpack real quick and find you downstairs, okay?”

“You sure?” Ron asked. “We could wait.”

“No, no. . . It’s fine,” I smiled, shaking my head.

“We’ll be downstairs then. Find us when you finish,” Egon said, making his way toward the door with Andras following right behind. “Ron, you coming?”

“Amm. . . Yeah,” Ron said, following along. “Catch you later, Alex.”

“Have fun,” I said, picking up my bags.

Just as he was about to leave, holding the door open, he looked back at me and said, “Oh, should I go looking for Eliot?”

“Huh? Ah. Well, if you see him, you see him, I guess. He might be with his friends already.”

“Alright,” he said, closing the door behind him.

Now that I was alone, I opened my bag and set it down next to my chest before getting on one knee so I could move stuff easier. However, as I was about to open the chest, a pair of hands caught me by surprise, gently covering my eyes.

“Guess who,” Alice whispered softly into my ear.

“Do I get any hints?” I asked, frozen in place.

“Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten the sound of my voice?” she jokingly asked, but there were hints of worry in her tone of voice.

“Come on, Alice. . . That’s not something I could just forget.” I chuckled as she removed her hands.

She took a step back, giving me room to stand.

“You’re not using Mana Sense? Thought you’d notice me.”

“Yeah. . . Actually, I’ve stopped using it altogether when I’m at home or at a place like this where it’s safe. Staying focused on a casual conversation while sensing every little movement the dozens around me make tends to be a bit too much. Gives me a headache,” I explained, taking a good look at her with a soft smile. “But wait, how’d you sneak in? Don’t tell me you’ve been here the entire time?”

“While Ron was holding the door open, using the Invisibility spell,” she explained. “Now that I’m a third circle mage, I can do cool stuff like that.”

“Impressive,” I said, eyes locked as Alice subtly prodded at the floor with the tip of her ankle boot.

We were both somewhat hesitant to speak, her gaze shying away while standing in silence that slowly grew heavier; however, it broke when she threw herself into my arms for a tight hug, one that I was more than happy to give.

“I’ve missed you. . .” she muttered into my chest, tightening her grip.

“Yeah. . . I’ve missed you too,” I whispered as my hand gently held the back of Alice’s head.

It had hardly been two months since we last saw each other, yet we both seemed starved of the other’s presence. Despite knowing she’d be glad to see me, relief still surged through me as we embraced. Knowing how unlucky I could be at times, it wasn’t crazy imagining something standing in our way.

“So, did you just follow me here, or have you checked out your room first?” I asked as we broke away from the hug.

“Don’t say it like that. . .” She gently pressed her right hand against my shoulder, walking around me before making herself comfortable atop my bed. “And no. . . I haven’t been to my room yet. Though your roommates seem fun.”

“Yeah, I wasn’t expecting to be roomed with two princes. Who knew so many royals would be here,” I said, opening the chest to unpack. “Honestly, I was surprised by how nice they were.”

“You got something against royals?” Alice jokingly raised an eyebrow, placing a hand on her chest as if offended.

“They’re not all as nice as you are. . .” I reminded her, moving my clothes while trying not to unfold them. “Besides, it’s a bunch of guys. You never know how that’ll turn out.”

“What do you mean?” She furrowed her brows.

“Well, it could go well, and we could be best friends, or. . . it could end poorly with our egos clashing.”

“Yeah, but if you don’t let your ego get in the way–”

“Wait. . . Let me stop you right there.” I chuckled, glancing back at her. “Maybe I don’t seem like it at times, but I’m well aware of how big of an asshole I can be. Especially when provoked.”

“Now that I think about it. . . yeah. . .” she giggled, readjusting the pillow before laying down.

“Exactly,” I said as I finished putting my stuff away, tossing the bag underneath the bed.

Walking over, I sat beside Alice before feeling her poking gently at my forearm, and when I turned to look at her, she hit me with a charming smile.

“So. . . You know you broke the dorm rules on your first day, right?” I chuckled.

“Yeah, so?” Alice turned on her side, facing toward me. “Want me to leave?”

“Yeah, right. . .” I mumbled, taking a deep breath. “But do you want to go back to the party?”

“Sure. Could be fun,” she said, pushing herself into a sitting position. “Is Penelope here?”

“She ran off to explore the castle, but maybe we can find her.”

“That sounds like a fun idea,” Alice said, getting up before me, offering me a hand. “Let’s go.”

Taking her hand, we soon left the room in search of Penelope and Rose, who Alice was yet to meet.

Chapter End.

Thank you for reading.