I went to the cafeteria and fixed myself a tray of oatmeal with some fruit. Scanning the room, I saw Farrah sitting with four of her friends. I usually sat with them for dinner, so I joined their table for breakfast. The first time I’d seen them after my return to campus.

"Rollie! You're here!" Farrah said, beaming and giving me a hug before I could sit down.

"Of course, I'm here, where else would I be." Looking at her table of friends, I was immediately annoyed.

They never greeted me with much warmth, to begin with, but they all glared at me as I sat down. The four of them whispered to each other and kept glancing at me.

"All right, all right, can we stop this whole charade?" I raised my voice, close to yelling.

Their expressions went from irritation to shock. They froze in place.

"Rollie, what are you doing?" Farrah whispered to me.

"No, no, I'm not putting up with this. My roommates annoyed me as soon as I got back, and I didn't want to keep dealing with this crap. I'll report all four of you if we can't pretend to be normal."

"It's pretty hard pretending to be normal when you're a criminal!" Her friend, Jasmine, snapped.

"Wow, I didn't think I would have to do this ever, and it goes against my code to never snitch, but it looks like I don't have a choice. Have fun getting suspended by Principal Pine." I stood up and marched away from the table to get Jonathan.

Along my way, Farrah ran up in front of me and gripped me by the shoulders to stop my forward momentum.

"Please! Don't tell Jonathan, Jasmine is super upset after what you said, and she kept apologizing. She feels terrible. Please just come back to the table and don’t say a word to Jonathan."

I took a deep breath and another.

"Trust me, I'm mad at them too. I told them not to bring it up and not to be weird, and what do they do as soon as they see you." Farrah sighed and shook her head. "She was just being dumb."

I don't think I had ever tattled on someone, and I didn't want to make a habit out of it. Turning back around, I strode with Farrah back to our table, and she held my hand. The weight of my anger and irritation lifted.

Going back to the lunch table, Jasmine was in tears. I was shocked to see that.

"Hey, I'm really sorry.” Jasmine sniffled. Her voice was all thick and messy. “I didn't mean to be rude. You didn't tell Jonathan anything, did you?"

"No, I didn't. But if you see or hear of anyone else talking about that rumor that I'm the culprit, tell me, and I'll report them. The reason they're taking this so seriously is that they know I didn't do it."

For the next few minutes, it was silent as we all focused on our breakfast. Farrah cut the awkwardness by saying, "How was everyone's Winterium?"

Everyone proceeded to discuss how it went, and they even asked me, trying to restore a sense of normalcy. It worked, though, and everyone was impressed that I had a Blackbird dragon bike. All of Farah's friends dropped their jaws.

I was excited to take it to practice and show it off to everyone. But then my heart sank when I thought about how Richmond was probably still the team captain. There was only one semester left before he graduated, but would I have a stigma on the team?

Back in my home world, I never looked forward to starting new classes. They bored me, but I didn't mind gym classes or electives like art. I was never good at art, but it was still fun to have a chance to be creative and be given a space to do something different rather than writing a paper or listening to a lecture. The beginning of a new semester never gave me much excitement, except at Attleton. Farrah and I finished breakfast and walked to our first class holding hands.

Walking to the Education Hall on campus, there was a group of mages wearing a unique orange and white striped cloak, working outside in the snow. They were constructing the new Unity Mage Statue. Farrah was next to me and she was telling me all about it. I could see large blocks of wood and cauldrons with viscous liquid sat around the center. The workers used some of their elemental powers to blast something into place. A mix of fire, water, electric, and poison mages worked on the project.

It was a relief to see them working on it again. I had no idea about it, but it looked like they already had the base finished. The tarp covered the rest of the progress.

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Farrah and I entered the Education Hall and she turned to me, and we hugged goodbye, and she gave me a kiss before departing down the hallway with her classes. I turned to the left and went my own way.

Although as I strolled through the crowded hallway, everyone I laid eyes on was already glaring at me.

My blood was boiling.

Then as I walked through the crowded hallway, a Glacien kid shoulder checked me, knocking me off balance but I quickly regained my footing.

I had no idea if it was intentional or not. It seemed like his Glacien buddy next to him shoved him into me, but like everyone else, they gave me a dirty look.

My anxiety and anger reached a tipping point.

All I could see was red.

Their stupid faces laughing afterward made me lose control.

I hurled the kid that bumped into me, and he knocked over his two other friends like bowling pins.

The whole hallway stood still. A pin could have dropped and it would’ve sounded like a firework.

I cleared my throat. ”Hey! If someone has a problem with me, they can just say it to my face rather than stare at me like a coward! I didn't do anything wrong, and if you think I did, let's handle things right now and right here!" I yelled, standing tall and ready to settle a fistfight or a match of exchanging elemental bolts.

All the people stopped and listened to every word I said. The kids I knocked over had already stood up and backed away from me, looking like frightened possums.

Professor Shia sprinted from her classroom, wide-eyed. "Everyone! Go on, get back to your classes. Rollie, come see me this instant!”

My peers scrambled out of the hallway and filed into their respective rooms.

I took a deep breath as I approached Professor Shia. "What a coincidence. I'm going to your class anyways."

"This isn't a joke, Rollie. This is very serious."

I wandered towards her and lowered my voice. ”I'm already in trouble on my first day?"

"No, let this be a warning, though. Principal Pine told every staff member to watch and protect you in a way. But if you're tossing around students like a crumpled-up piece of paper, I can't do much about that."

"Yeah, but they started it first!"

"I don't care who started it first. Don't give in to their tricks, and don't get into any altercations. Please. I know you're a good kid and a hard worker. That's rare to find. I just don't want to see you become your own worst enemy."

"I guess I can get a little hot-headed sometimes. I wonder if that’s my inner Fyron."

"Very funny," Professor Shia said sarcastically. "Please, get in my class so we can start today's lesson."

I nodded and walked into the tranquil room with plenty of space for practicing elemental powers. It was a nice welcome back to see the lanes and the wooden targets set up again. I wanted to try and keep perfecting my fire bolt. It was something that I was willing to put in the effort for.

It was a treat to have Professor Shia again. She was an excellent teacher, she was firm but not quite strict. She had the respect of the entire classroom and never had to yell or scold anyone. I was hungry to start trying out the fire strike ability. However, she told the whole class it would take a decent amount of time to master, and everyone needed more life experience.

As the rest of the day continued, I went to my last class: mythology with Professor Henderson.

Upon entering Professor Henderson's classroom, I was immediately transported back in time. Simple and cozy, the old-style lecture hall had wide wooden tables and chairs arranged in neat rows. Unlike modern classrooms in Ohio, the space was not cramped, but rather it offered a sense of calm and spaciousness. Vintage blackboards lined the walls, covered in chalk scribbles from previous lessons. Antique lamps dotted the tables, casting a soft glow throughout the room. A steady tick from the old-fashioned clock mounted on the wall added to the tranquil atmosphere. The classroom had clearly been preserved with great care. I could have taken a nap if I really wanted.

The Fyrons shared the class with Glaciens. Unfortunately, I recognized the kids I knocked over like bowling pins sitting in the back.

Gulp. Not sitting next to them.

I was planning on taking a seat far away, but since the subject interested me a little bit more, I decided to plop down in the front row to the left, leaving a space open to my right. Nearly every seat except the one next to me ended up filling, but just as Professor Henderson started closing the door, a short Glacien slid in and sat next to me.

"Hello!" she greeted me emphatically. She had large wireframe glasses, wore her hair in a ponytail, and had a high-pitched voice.

I smiled politely and nodded.

Professor Henderson strolled into the room. He was a large, wiry man with long slender fingers and a violet cloak. His nose was long and narrow, with his half-circle glasses sitting low at the bridge of his nose. "Good morning, everyone!" He boomed. He had about as much energy as the smaller girl next to me.

The class mumbled good morning back. Even though the day had a rocky start, I also returned this salutation.

"So I know we're supposed to talk about the syllabus, and everyone is happy that syllabus day is an easy day, but the syllabus for the class is straightforward. We're going to be learning about mythological stories this entire semester! Does anyone have any questions about that? No? Then good! Let's get started right away with mythology in Lementum!

"So we have two main gods that created everything we know in Lementum. Ul and Xino, they hold the ability to cast any elemental magic, or at least Ul can. Xino is the one who has all the arcane power. Both of them had two children, the Manticore and the Gargantuan. They had similar powers to their parents, and then they could create their own offspring at will. And so then we reach a point where their children are part of mythology, and that's where the descendants of mages and gargoyles come from. Any questions?”

The class stared at him with glazed over eyes, but I leaned in closer.

“Good, let’s continue. Gargantuan and Manticore are our direct ancestors. But there are other species of beings born from that insanity. Still, through mythological tales we dive into, we read about these wars and why other species didn't survive. And that's how we have gargoyles and mages today as the main groups walking around. Dragons are there too, but we all know they're hiding somewhere. Making fewer appearances than the hellions, and we all know back in the day the dragons were much more common flying through the skies."

I was on the edge of my seat for the entire speech. I don't think I had ever been so fascinated by a lecture.