We stepped into the main dining hall, and my jaw almost bounced off the floor. Above us, a glass ceiling stretched out, held together by a black grid, like a giant spider web. The sun was on its last leg, but the sky still put on a show, flaunting hues of dark purple, pink, and twinkling orange clouds. More chandeliers hung above us, showering light onto rows and rows of tables. The place was definitely more expansive than Attleton's dining hall. What was different was the seating – long, rectangular tables stretched out in place of the usual smaller, round ones. Took some getting used to.

Nicola herded us to the front of the stage, and I could feel sweat gathering on my brow. The mass of students before me was intimidating. If there were 300 first-years like me, then there had to be around the same number of second-years, third-years, and so on. The thought made my head spin.

Was this what it felt like to be in a crowd? Did Attleton have this many kids?

I was so lost in my own thoughts I was hardly paying attention to what was happening with the other first years on stage and what their sparks were.

"Let's see what Brian has for us next! He comes from the island of Scottore and loves to play any and all games!"

The kid beside me reached out his hands and plumes of emerald green came off. I thought it was wind for a moment, but that's right, they did things differently here. The colors of the cloaks out in the dining room were different from what I was used to.

The entire group of green-cloaked kids all clapped and cheered as Brian skipped off the stage and joined his new home: Venomaus.

"Up next, we have our last student that needs to be given his new home!" Nicola hollered as she paced back and forth behind me. "His name is Rollie Magpie, and Rollie is a much more unusual case than all of the other first-year students we saw earlier!"

Oh no, please don't give out my whole biography.

"Rollie is originally from Attleton, but since his family is from here in Englaria, he has transferred schools, so technically, this is his third year, and yet, he is technically experiencing his first year at Loxton, which we all know is a special experience all of our students deserve! Because of a little mix-up, Rollie doesn't have his cloak yet, but he will be given it after dinner, so enjoy wearing your cool denim jacket while you can!"

Okay, this isn't going as bad as I had worried.

"Well, Rollie, until now, if people have seen you, they don't know your elemental ability, if you met anyone on the boat or even before that, you likely don't know their ability either, so let's see what you got! Show us what you can do!"

I thought I would be cool and shoot off a fire bolt at the ceiling, but I thought back to the progress I had made in therapy, and I had to give some of my impulses a second thought. Everyone was shooting sparks, so I probably should've too.

I held my hand forward and channeled my energy to my palm, encapsulated with a red flame.

The entire place erupted with thunderous applause. Not just my fellow mages in orange cloaks but all the other tables celebrated too. However, the Fyrons all stood up, whistled, and cheered like we won a championship Dragonstryke match.

"And wow! Would you look at that! Rollie Magpie has red fire coming out of his hands! As some of you may know, over in Attleton, their elemental abilities have a slightly different color to them. It's as regional as an accent!" Nicola grinned. "Go on, Rollie, join your Fyron family. And that, folks, is the end of our introductions for the year. All first-years will be given a tour tomorrow morning, so please meet here for breakfast at 8:00 a.m. sharp! Other students who wish to attend the tour are welcome, but this is for first year's only or anyone unfamiliar with our campus. So go on! Enjoy your dinners! That's all I have to say for now."

I made my exit from the stage, striding towards my newfound family of Fyrons. They kept up their applause, their faces lit with smiles - it felt oddly warm, but a welcome change. Attleton was a glacier compared to this.

On the stage, I'd tried to spot Daphne, Bran, and Edna in the crowd but spotting familiar faces in that sea was like trying to find a specific seashell on the beach. As I neared our Fyron territory, their cheers amplified, and a chant erupted, "We got the Amerzian! We got the Amerzian! Woo hoo!"

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My lips curled up, and someone came up behind me and placed something on my shoulders. I spun around and saw Nicola smiling while giving me my orange-colored cloak.

"There you go, Rollie. Welcome to your new family. Should you need anything else, please don't be afraid to come up and chat with me. I'll be eating over there with the rest of the staff." Nicola pointed behind the stage where a bunch of older adults were sitting. I made a quick mental note of it and focused back on my peers.

From the crowd of cheering Fyrons, Daphne came sprinting up to me with Bran and Edna by her side.

"We're so happy for you, Rollie!" Bran beamed. "Would you believe the luck of that? You sat with us on the boat over here, and you were a Fyron just like us the entire time! Isn't that exciting?"

"Yeah! It sure is." I wanted to hug them all, but they ushered me to the table they were sitting at. I took my seat, where the plate was already piled high with potatoes, dumplings, gravy, and strips of vegetables.

"There's plenty of time to talk, but I imagine you've got quite the appetite after waiting so long. We're already on dessert, but you've got to try the dinner! It's amazing!" Edna said.

I started scarfing down my meal in a total state of joy. Sitting next to the friends I had made on the boat, I could not have been more grateful.

Zita shot up from the center of the professor's table with her hands clasped together while grinning tightly, showcasing her wrinkles. "Good evening, students! Welcome the start of another year here at Loxton!" she announced, and students applauded so loud the hall vibrated. "It's around this time every year the professors are clamoring to get back into the classroom to start teaching the future generations of talented mages. I couldn't be happier to be with you all right now. We'll begin the feast shortly after a few brief announcements.

"The caretaker, Mr. Lancaster, states that no students are allowed to use elemental, arcane, or other magic you can think of between classes in the corridors. We had a real problem with that last year, let's not have those issues again, or stricter rules might have to be enforced.

"Dragonstryke tryouts take place the second week of the term. Coach Salinger will post a bulletin for every dormitory with more details on when your team will hold these trials. Then, the final announcement...

"The Loxton Enchanted Forest is... Not so enchanted this year. Normally students can have some of their classes outdoors, particularly zoology and plantology. But because of the dangerous beasts lurking, if you see any violet smoke or ghostly purple tendrils on the forest's edge, turn around immediately and tell either Mr. Lancaster, Nicola, or the nearest professor. The manner is currently under investigation by the Mage Force and Loxton staff. If you are caught snooping around the forest, I'm afraid there will be dark consequences no less than a suspension. Not that my speech was very long today, but If there's one thing I hope you all take away from it, it's to stay clear of the forest, and everyone will be just fine. I'm sorry if that affects anyone's excitement, I know many of us love spending time in our forest, but we are working on a solution. With that said, first-year students, enjoy your first Loxton feast!"

I continued shoveling food down my throat while everyone else leisurely ate cheesecakes. I had some questions burning in my mind, but I didn't say anything until I finished all my food.

"Wow, you ate that pretty quick!" Bran said.

"Leave him alone, he was the last person to sit down, of course, he's hungry!" Edna snapped.

Daphne laughed. "I swear you two argue like an old couple sometimes."

I smiled at all of it. Everything they had said to me was hardly offensive compared to what I had experienced elsewhere. They seemed to actually like my hair in a non-ironic way, and that was pretty cool to me.

"So I have a question about this enchanted forest," I said, in between chomping at my food. "What's the scoop? I mean, we didn't have anything like that at Attleton, we just had some woods, but no one really went there for class or for any reason."

"I'll let Daphne answer that one. She's usually more tuned into the affairs happening in the school," Bran said.

"Well, unfortunately, I don't really know much." Daphne shrugged. "I remember hearing in June that the forest was having some issues, and many of the animals and critters there were becoming violent. Everyone noted that there was this purple aura coming from them. They haven't disclosed much else since they've had an ongoing investigation, but it's really spooky."

I wanted to tell them I heard my name being called from the forest, but I didn't want them to think I was weird. A good rapport was established with them so far, and I didn't want to risk losing that.

"We had our fair share of some bizarre events at Attleton. Nothing like the woods thing, But I guess the Molten Marauder fiasco was pretty scary and unbelievable." My eyes bulged.

Did I really just disclose a secret principal Pine swore me to?

I could feel my chest collapsing.

"Molten Marauder fiasco? What do you mean by that?" Daphne inquired.

"Oh, uh, just some prank was played by some kids. They destroyed one of the statues on campus," I said. I felt terrible for lying, but that was a bizarre event that happened on campus, so I wasn't being totally dishonest.

"Oh yeah, I heard about that. The Unity Statue got destroyed. Whoever did that must be pretty wicked. It was probably Leon," Bran said and snickered.

"Come on, don't be spreading around rumors," Edna said.

I wanted to tell them the truth, but when I was in therapy, they told me to trust my judgment about keeping things in the past, and that there's nothing wrong with keeping things in the past. At that moment, I didn't want to relive the experience again.