As the school began, Trevor made his way to the main building alongside other students with his backpack on his back and holding his cauldron, filled to the brim with alchemical supplies he bought in the Morfeus Bazaar. A constantly chattering crowd assembled on the sidewalk leading to the school, fully out of students coming straight from their separate dormitories.

The boy quickly spotted Lena, who was easily visible since no students dared to come near her, even the upperclassmen, mixed in the long procession. She was holding her own cauldron filled with basic supplies like a bag. Without any trace of effort on her face. He pushed his way deeper, to avoid being spotted by her, as he still could feel her cold fingers on his neck.

Eventually, he reached the main hall, where everybody in two lines was approaching the blue swirling ball surrounded by the bent piece of metal, slowly rotating around it. They were just briefly touching it, and moving forward to split and head towards different doors.

There was an older woman standing behind the evaluation device. She was wearing a pink robe with a massive, also pink, pointy hat. As he got closer, he noticed, that she was actually talking briefly with the younger teenagers, and pointing at some of the doors.

It was hard to catch what she was saying because of the constant chatter, but when he finally reached the sphere, and placed his hand, just to get a number of 144, she spoke to him.

- First-year right? - she smiled.

She was quite young, and he noticed that from under her very ostentatious hat, a few strands of black hair were sticking out. Her pink lips definitely had a lip gloss on.

- Yes - he confirmed.

- Which group?

- A.

- That door, then the third door on your right. That's the alchemy laboratory - she explained.

- Thank you - he said and smiled at her as well.

He headed where he was instructed to, joining other teenagers, that filtrated themselves on the corridor by going on different paths.

The chamber he ended up in was a massive space covered in a cold light, shining from blue crystals, slowly drifting under the ceiling. The center was filled with many tables spread around quite a distance from each other. All the surrounding walls were blocked by tall wooden racks filled with different ingredients and equipment. The strange thing though, was a plant looking like the roots of a massive tree, hugging parts of those wooden racks, and growing around them, poking here and there, almost fully covered in beautiful, slightly pinkish flowers, that for Trevor looked very much like cherry blossoms.

There was one table that was different from the others, as it was bigger, and already filled with equipment. Clearly belonging to the teacher.

The view made him stop, and look in awe with an open mouth, at least until somebody knocked him with a shoulder. He realized that he was blocking the path for others, and moved further.

The other classmen seemed to be picking tables for themselves, as he saw a few groups of three to four people, pointing at the places they wanted to claim as theirs. Some already did, by placing their cauldrons on the tabletops.

He quickly picked his spot, just as the teacher came in. It was the same woman wearing pink, that guided him to the classroom.

She clapped one with her hands, and the door slammed shut behind her, not moved by any visible force.

- Everybody, please listen! - she said unnaturally loudly.

The whole chamber got immediately quiet.

- I'm Professor Carina Remedi, and I will be teaching you the basics of alchemy during your first year here. I've noticed that some of you are in groups of threes and fours by one table, which is unacceptable. You can either go solo, if you are feeling confident, or a duo if you lack the confidence. Please move according to my guidance - she said, and clapped her hands again, as she moved through the chamber, heading to the biggest table.

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The students went on the move, quickly sorting themselves, and spreading among the still vacant spots. To Trevor's surprise, he noticed something quite scary. Among those people was Lena Karcrow, and she clearly was heading toward him with her cauldron held in one hand.

A chill went down his spine.

She stopped right in front of him, with a smirk on her face. The whole class couldn't help but focus on her.

- Can I join you, Mister West? - she asked. - I bet you could use some help.

- A...Y... Y-yes - he finally squeezed out.

She smiled even wider, and without a word placed her cauldron on the table.

- I see you've sorted yourself out nicely. Wonderfull - said the teacher. - As you can see there are numbers carved on your tables. Please remember them and throughout the semester use only that specific table. You might leave your cauldrons, and ingredients here. The chamber will store them for you.

Then she went silent for a moment and started moving her finger in the air, leaving a glowing pink trace, that as Trevor quickly noticed, were letters drifting in the air.

- Take something to note, and write those down. Those are the books you might find handy in your pursuit of alchemical knowledge. All of those books can be acquired in our school library, so you don't have to worry about having problems finding them - she said as she finished.

Trevor quickly pulled out his notebook, and with a pen noted everything. Lena on the other hand just watched him, with a slightly surprised facial expression. He noticed that but ignored it.

- Now I'm gonna write down a formula for you, and the ingredients. This is how we will conduct our lessons for the first few weeks. Later though, you will just be given what you have to make, and you will need to find the recipe by yourselves. That's why I recommend doing research on each ingredient mentioned in our lessons during your spare time - professor Remedi continued, as she waved her hand in the air, to destroy the pink writings she left just a moment ago.

After that, she started the whole writing process again. Trevor kept noting everything, while Lena just watched him carefully as he did so. She seemed to be the only person who didn't care to write down the instructions and the ingredients for the elixir the whole class was making.

- This is an easy-to-make elixir that increases your affinity toward the element of fire. It's often used as a catalyst in many elixirs such as 'Dragon's Breath Elixir' or to ease the difficulty of learning some fire-based spells - she stated as she finished writing in the air with her finger. - Now proceed. You have the time until the end of the lesson. I'll be walking around, and verifying your efforts as we go.

After she finished speaking, she clapped with her hands again, and to the surprise of everybody, the roots covered in flowers moved, picking some things from the racks, and delivering them to the tables while the scared teenagers did their best to get out of the way.

Everybody watched carefully, and most of the students looked quite impressed. Lena though watched it all without any change to her expression.

Trevor received a few bottles from the plants and a strange-looking device. Basically a ring with three legs, and some strange symbols engraved on it. All were labeled with small colorful stickers, so he didn't actually have to wonder what those were. The device was a heater. All of the other things were from the list of ingredients to prepare the elixir, so he only needed a few additional components from his own supplies.

He emptied his cauldron and began work, doing everything just as it was written in the recipe. Meanwhile, Lena simply watched. As time progressed, it started to irritate him.

- I already know how to do it - she explained as she noticed him peaking at her every once in a while. - By the way, you are doing a good job.

- Thanks - he mumbled under his nose and continued working.

When they spoke, the professor started walking from table to table, briefly stopping at each to observe, and then spoke a few words. Trevor didn't really notice, too busy with the task.

He had to ground a few small rocks to a powder using a mortar from his belongings and mix it with one of the ingredients supplied by the teacher while stirring it slowly. It was something called enriched brimstone, and regular coal, while the liquid was named a 'diluted Fire Newt blood'. The liquid was supposed to change color to slight orange, which it did. Then he was supposed to mix it with another yellow liquid and boil it, while constantly stirring.

He placed his cauldron on the heater, and to his surprise, the flames came out of nowhere and started licking the bottom part of the container. He poured everything in trying to follow the measurements and then started mixing again.

He didn't even notice the professor, as she made her way to his table.

- Mister West, yes? - she asked, making him realize that she was standing next to him.

- Y-yes - he squeezed out, quite surprised.

- Did you help him? - Carina asked Lena, changing her focus to the scary girl.

- No - she responded, still watching Trevor. - I'm just watching.

- Then I have to congratulate you, Mister West. You've done quite the good work so far - she said and smiled.

It was a warm smile, which surprised the boy. He nodded, proud of himself, and continued mixing.

Soon the elixir was done, and the lesson ended sometime later. Throughout the whole thing, Lena didn't move a finger.