[Participant in the Royal Road Writathon Challenge] Once every generation, the heir to the Ijirian Empire selects one team from among the freshmen students of the prestigious Academy of Erika to serve under them, and being selected always guarantees a successful and prosperous future. The young commoner Abigail never would have entertained the thought of being involved in such an event, for only the richest and most powerful of mages could ever get accepted into the Academy, and she was nothing more than a nameless wanderer. Yet, after a sudden and unexpected encounter with the Master of Nature, Edwar Grunly, Abigail finds herself hurled into the capital city of Erika, and due to pure chance, she is partnered with the timid Album Luz, daughter of the Great City of Noctalus, whose entire reputation hangs on her ability to be selected by the Empire's heir. With high expectations placed upon her shoulders, Abigail attempts to navigate the foreign world of the elite in the hopes that she can somehow manage to survive.  Just a quick note, this series is a prequel that takes place ten years before my other story here on RR, In The Maw of The Gods. That being said, I have written this so that you can easily read The Burning Flowers without having read In The Maw. However, In The Maw will spoil events that happen in this, so if you don't want that, then avoid reading my other work. I plan to follow a release schedule of Tuesday/Friday.  Average chapter length will be 4,000 to 6,000 words and I will be using multiple POV's quite often. Thank you to everybody who decides to give my story a chance and I hope you enjoy it!