Alice and her friends arrived at Celeste's Citadel, ready for their training session. After gawking at the majestic, pearly white buildings, the starry purplish sky above, and the waterfalls surrounding them, Alice knew that this journey was going to be one for the books.

"So what do you guys think of my realm?" Celeste asked with a proud smile.

"This place is...so cool!" Blair replied, her eyes widened in amazement.

"Thought so," Celeste said back with a smirk.

"No, really," Rachel chimed in. "This place is so pristine! It's like Nivaleth or something like that!"

Celeste's brow rose with interest at the compliment, her smirk spreading to reach both of her ears. "Woah, hey hey! You're comparing this realm to the Elven countries? I appreciate your flattery. I actually visited Nivaleth some months ago, and let me tell you something about the Elven countries: it's hard as hell to get residency in those sons of guns."

"Damn," Kinsey replied. "I mean, to be honest I can't blame the elves for being so strict. They probably don't want to deal with humans and our bullshit."

"Yeah, we can be quite...cruel," Celeste said with an evil giggle. "Anyways! Let me guide you through my fantastic citadel!" she continued, turning her back to the others and beginning to walk towards a strip with many restaurants.

Celeste gestured at the buildings. "These are your places to grab a bite to eat, everyone! We have restaurants, bakeries...everything! If there's a particular dish or whatnot that you like, you'll find it down this strip! There are many brilliant top-of-the-line chefs here cooking up a storm every day. And the best part is, everything is free! So stuff your mouth all you want!"

Alice gasped and blushed at hearing this, jumping a bit as Rachel nudged her side with her elbow. "I bet you just love that, don'tcha, Al?"

Kairy decided to join in on the fun, poking Alice's other side with her finger as a sly smile etched itself into her features. "Yeah, and it's all going straight to here, here, and there," she said, pointing at her chest, rear end, and thighs. "As per usual."

Alice flushed and let out a flustered sigh. "C-come on, guys...! I'm try--"

"Hey!" called out Celeste's voice in the distance. "The tour's not over yet! Come along or I'll leave you all behind~!" she continued.

After catching up, the group followed Celeste until they stood in front of a large number of homes. "These are where you guys will be laying your heads, you see! No need to pay for rent, utilities, or anything! Just pick a place, check in with me, and it's all yours!"

"...Man, this is all sounding too good to be true..." Sharline said under her breath.

"Probably because it is," Blair added.

"Nope! That's just how things are set up here in the citadel! You made the choice to come here and learn from yours truly, so this is how I will express my gratitude!" Celeste replied with a wide grin.

"You're so amazing for this, Celeste!" Kairy praised her. "You invite us into this magical place and not charge us for anything here? You're heaven-sent!"

Celeste blushed and smirked in pride at the compliments, nodding and crossing her arms. "Yep! All thanks to me! Now, let's continue, there's more for you to see and get familiar with!"

After a brief tour of the citadel, the group went inside of the main building where the classes take place. Surrounding them were their fellow students. Among the students were Melanie, Tato, Zalgo, Akari, and Akumu. Each of them were wearing a school uniform with the same color palette as the citadel: white and purple.

"Everyone, I'd like to introduce you to my new students. We have…" Celeste began before gesturing to Alice and her friends from left to right. "Alice, Rachel, Kinsey, Sharline, Kairy, and Blair."

Celeste then gestured to the other students, her hand moving from right to left. "And for you guys…this is Zalgo, Melanie, Tato, Akari, and Akumu."

The latter group eyed the new students, sensing the determination within them. All of them waved as they smiled, except Akari, whose face was buried in a book.

"Hey, everybody!" Blair called out. "Let's do this freaking thing and get strong!"

"Hell yeah," Melanie replied with a cocky grin. "Let's show the world what we're made of." she finished, flipping her long jet black hair as her amethyst eyes burned with conviction.

After the introduction, Celeste led her new students up the stairs to the second floor, where their classrooms were located. Upon reaching a particular classroom, Celeste swung the door open and walked inside along with everyone else. The classroom was a large room with many tables and chairs. The walls were decorated with tapestries and wall hangings depicting magical scenes and creatures. There was also a large bookshelf full of different kinds of books that contained both information and images about the world, magic, and celestial beings. All of the students gathered around the desk and looked to Celeste, who was beaming as she spoke up to her students.

"Now, I'm sure everyone is excited to start their training!" Celeste announced, her voice ringing out over the crowd. "Just so you know, this realm has a unique training method. There will be no textbooks or lectures, just hands-on learning! You'll get to practice your magic in real-life situations."

A loud murmur broke out among the students as they processed this information. Some were excited, while others seemed confused or even a little worried. Alice wondered how she would be able to keep up with everyone else. Celeste smiled and put her hand out to calm everyone down.

"Don't worry, my students. I will make sure that everyone is given plenty of support and guidance. This is a safe space to learn and express your creativity. Let's enjoy this journey together and become the best magic users we can be!" Celeste finished the speech with a bright smile.

Celeste then showed each student their seats and took her place at the large oak desk in the center of the classroom. It was now time for the first training lesson. Celeste stood in the center of the room and cleared her throat to get everyone's attention. "Hello, my students! As promised, today we will begin our hands-on learning. You all will be learning together, encouraging one another, and sharing your experiences. Remember, this is a safe space to learn and express yourself. Now, it's time to begin! Find your partners and get ready to learn!"

Alice looked around at the other students, wondering who she would be partnered with. She saw that Kinsey was partnered with Akari. Alice was paired with Akumu, Rachel and Sharline were paired with Tato, and Blair with Melanie. Kairy was still by herself, leaving only Zalgo as a potential teammate. Kairy made her way towards her, thinking that she looked friendly enough.

Stolen novel; please report.

"Hi Zalgo! How are you?" Kairy asked with a cheeky grin once she got next to her.

"Oh! Hello, uh...Kairy, was it? I'm good, how are you?" Zalgo replied with a pleasant, yet sheepish smile.

"Well, anxious for class, as you can tell!" Kairy said with a shrug.

After pairing up with Zalgo, Kairy and her new partner walked over to their designated table. They sat down and got comfortable as they waited for Celeste's instructions to start the training session. Their eyes were glued to their teacher, waiting to see what the first lesson would be.

After all of the students finished forming their groups, Celeste took her place at the head of the classroom and clapped her hands together. "Attention everyone! Thank you for being so patient! Now the time for training has come! We will begin with introducing some of the fundamentals of magic. Let's begin with a group activity! Your soul is a unique and powerful piece of yourself that is the source of your power. Today we will learn more about it. Everyone, please close your eyes and focus inside." Celeste clapped her hands together and closed her eyes. Kairy and the other students shut their eyes as well and started thinking about what she said.

"In the darkness of your inner world, try to look inside your soul. Can you see a light? Can you sense its power? Can you feel its warmth?" Celeste asked.

Kairy and the other students thought about what Celeste said. What did their souls look like?

"Now, try to feel the light and imagine it shining out of you like a beacon onto your surroundings." Celeste continued.

As the words left Celeste's mouth, the students could feel the light within their souls and see it spilling out into their bodies. Kairy and the other students watched as their partners did the same, the light spreading across the room so that everyone could feel it.

Kairy felt a sense of power within herself and could see the light shimmering in her and Zalgo's eyes. Zalgo noticed Kairy's light too, and when their eyes met they could see the other's soul, which shone just as bright. They both felt a sense of connection through their light.

Celeste opened her eyes and looked at the students, who were still in deep concentration. "Well done everyone!" she exclaimed, her eyes twinkling as her hands clapped. "Your souls shine so beautifully, and you felt that connection to it! That's one of the first steps to making sure you can manipulate your aura. I'm proud of you all!"

The students all opened their eyes, the light disappearing as they turned back into the darkness of their inner world. They felt their souls growing brighter from what they experienced, feeling a sense of pride and connection to their inner selves.

"Now that you all have warmed up, it's time for you guys to learn your Aura Type!" Celeste said.

"Oh yeah," Blair said with a grin. "You were talking about that before! So now we get to find out for real?!"

"That's right! Every person with a soul has an aura and can train themselves to use it. There are eight Aura Types and people are born with one of them: Augmentation, Conversion, Extraction, Creation, Emulation, Interaction, Possession, and Projection. Augmentation...well, it's rather self-explanatory. You strengthen yourself or other things with your aura, duh." she let out a light chuckle. "Conversion users can make their aura imitate other substances and whatnot, like fire or lightning for example. Extraction users can absorb the auras and energies of living things for their own benefit. Creation users can conjure independent objects from their aura. Emulation users can mimic the actions, abilities, and qualities of others. Interaction users can manipulate the structure and shape of other things to their will. Possession users can influence inanimate objects and other people by using their aura. Finally, Projection users can separate their aura from their body with ease and thus have an easier time with things involving long distances. That's me putting everything as compact and succinct as possible, though. There's much more to each of these Aura Types than just that!"

The students couldn't hide their interest and excitement at what they heard, which made Celeste smile from ear to ear.

"So how do we find out which type we have?" Sharline asked.

Celeste raised a brow and started to reach for a pocket in her dress. "I'm glad you asked." she replied, pulling out a clear crystal. In her grasp, it began to glow yellow as she held it out in front of the students. "This handy crystal here can reveal anyone's aura type on the spot. If it shines red, you're an augmenter. Light blue, converter. Green, extractor. Blue, creator. Orange, emulator. Purple, interactor. Yellow, possessor, and finally, indigo if you're a projector. Give it a go and hold it yourself."

Celeste held out the crystal towards Alice first. Alice took the crystal and watched as it shined a bright yellow.

"It's yellow," Alice said with her brows raised. "That means I'm a Possessor, eh?"

"Correct." Celeste replied. "That means your aura can take control of things around you. Cool stuff! Now, Rachel, you go next."

Rachel nodded with an eager grin before taking the crystal from Alice. The crystal returned to its usual white glow, but then turned indigo, making Rachel gasp. "It's indigo. If I remember correctly, that means Projection?" she asked.

"Bingo," Celeste replied. "So that means you can detach the aura from your body with ease, which is perfect for tasks involving long distances."

"Oh my goddess, what an exciting day!" Rachel gushed. "Okay, I'm ready for anything! Let's go!"

Celeste shook her head with a lighthearted chuckle. "Hold your horses, Rachel,' she said. "You still have to give everyone else a chance at discovering their Aura Types too! Go on, hand it over to Kairy!" she ended.

Rachel nodded before giving the crystal to Kairy. In her hands, the crystal turned light blue. "Hey, that's Conversion! I can turn my aura into cool things like fire and whatnot!"

"That's right," Celeste responded. "You sure catch on quick, don't you? I can see us getting along very well." she finished with a wink.

"Guess so! You're next, Kins!" Kairy said as she beamed, handing the crystal to Kinsey. Kinsey let out a hum of interest as she watched the crystal turn green.

"An Extractor, I see?" Celeste said. "Not bad! You don't see those everyday!"

"So like, what can Extractors do besides what you said before?" Kinsey asked.

"Ah, well there's not much more to it! Although you can also steal the abilities of another Void user if you're good enough!"

"Damn, for real?" Kinsey said with a newfound grin.

"Mhm! Now, go on, pass the crystal to Sharline."

Kinsey did so, leaving the crystal in Sharline's hands, making it glow red.

"This means Augmentation!" Sharline chirped.

"Mhm!" Celeste replied. "It's the most common Aura Type there is."

Way to make me feel worse about it… Sharline thought with a crooked smirk. "Okay then, you're the last in line, Blair!" she said before giving Blair the crystal.

The crystal stayed red. "It's not changing… Is it broken?" Blair asked with a frown.

"Pfft, no!" Celeste said with a chuckle. "It means you're an Augmenter as well."

"For real?! Ooh, that's crazy! Okay, okay, what about the other girls?!" Blair asked before jumping up and tossing the crystal to Zalgo, who was looking up at her with brows raised in bewilderment. The crystal turned bright orange.

"Hey! Isn't that Emulation?" Rachel pointed out.

"It is indeed. The rarest of all the Aura Types." Celeste replied. "But there's no need to pass the crystal to anyone else here, Blair. They already discovered their Aura Types."

"So, what are they?!"

"Akari and Akumu are Creators. Melanie and Tato are Converters."

"Hmm… So we have yet to meet an Interactor, huh?" Alice said out loud.

"How observant of you, Alice! Interaction is quite uncommon, like Emulation is. However, I did have a student whose Aura Type is Interaction."

"I see… What about your Aura Type, Celeste?"

"I'm a Creator."

"...Interesting."

"So now that we know our Aura Types, what do we do next?" Sharline asked.

"Easy! It's time to teach you how to actually manipulate your aura! It's the type of magic that you are naturally best at using and manipulating. Think of it like this: everyone in our realm has a potential that can be unlocked, and your Aura Type helps facilitate getting there. That means you all have the potential to learn Void Magic as well! Yay~!" Celeste replied with a cheeky grin before throwing her hands up high in the air.

She’s such a kid… Kinsey thought with an eye roll.

“Now, could you all close your eyes for a moment?” Celeste said.

The students closed their eyes and focused. She wanted the silence of the room to truly set in. "Do you hear your own heartbeat, everyone? That's the sound of your aura flowing~" she said, her smile spreading further. "Now! First off, you must be aware of the presence of your own aura. Don't worry about not being able to see it — it's natural to be unable to when starting off. Try to locate where a specific part of your body is exuding a stronger aura. You can also try and detect the flow of your aura.”

Celeste observed as the students zeroed in on the flow of their auras. Many of the students had their auras flowing evenly all throughout their bodies, but exceptions included Alice, whose aura flow was focused in her head and her hands. Rachel had a stronger flow of aura in her eyes. Sharline’s aura flow was intense in her legs and feet, which Celeste took quick notice of.

Celeste took note of the students' auras, nodding in understanding as her smile turned into a grin. "Mhmmm~... I like what I'm seeing! Alice, your aura's concentrated in your noggin. You must carry quite a lot of knowledge up in there! Your hands also possess a strong aura! I wonder what your abilities will end up being

..." she praised before turning her attention to Rachel. "Rachel! Yours is focused in your eyes! You must have good eyesight!"

She then looked at Sharline's legs, her eyes widening with intrigue. "My, my! Your legs are brimming with aura!"

"Must've been all the martial arts I've been doing in Yushalia." Sharline replied with a laugh.

"A martial artist, are we? How swell! I can see what your Void Magic abilities would be from a mile away!" Celeste responded before taking a step back at looking at the students. "All right everyone, I believe you're all prepared to learn the Basic Techniques of Void Magic! You will be learning how to manipulate the aura within you to protect yourself!"

"And when will we do that?" Blair asked.

The bell rang right after Blair's question, and Celeste giggled. "Tomorrow, that's when! You must rest your mind and digest all of this information before you gain more knowledge! See you soon, guys! If you have any questions or need some guidance around the Citadel, then you know where to find me!"

Aww damn, right when I was getting into it… Rachel thought, getting up and grabbing her belongings.

★

In a dim, candlelit room within an abandoned building, two figures were exchanging words. One being a young man with a smug disposition, and a hooded individual.

“So, Fortune Teller, who are ‘they’?” Asked the young man. He has a rich, dark complexion and short cobalt hair that reaches his neck. His bright orange eyes are full of mystery and a self-righteous aura. He wore a sleeveless black and blue shirt that revealed his torso and slim, muscular frame. He wore loose black pants with red and gold embroidery on the hems, and his legs were covered up by black boots. “And why the hell don't we tell these people that the world's folding in on itself?” he continued.

The Fortune Teller sighed. “They will never understand the omens…Kaz.” said a deep voice, his face being hidden behind the shadow of the hood.

Kaz smirked in annoyance and crossed his arms. “Well if this is what it takes to wake people up, then I don't want to be the one tasked with the job. People are too hard-headed. Tell them the truth, and it either pisses them off or goes in one ear and out the other.”

“If not you…then who will?”

“Hey, buddy, I'd rather have people help me doing all this crap than just be on my lonesome like this.”

“Do as you must. But you must bring the Ephemerals together no matter what it takes.”

“Of course. I already have one, there's no reason for me to stop now. So let me get back out there and do my thing.”

“...Good luck, Kaz.”