A few more days passed. The weather started to slowly shift into more windy, and much colder. Sun was less and less visible in the sky, usually hidden by clouds. Sometimes white, but slowly more often by the grey ones, as more and more rain started to fall.

Trevor finally officially succeded with his 'Shell' spell and was permitted to practice dueling with a few more students, who also achieved success. It was very fun, and also informative, as he learned, that he could hold his ground among the freshmen.

Lena seemed to be on a warpath with the Vish Northon. Every task he gave to the class, she finished in the first few minutes, so Trevor actually didn't have much to do. He tried his best to analyze her work, but it was quite challenging since she wouldn't speak with him at all.

For some reason, she was angry with him. The boy found her behavior quite childish but nevertheless was thankful that at least a bit of work was taken off his shoulders, and he didn't have to talk with the teacher at all.

The cafeteria became a problem since Duncan tried to pick on him there, because Lena was usually absent, which created a window for the bully. Still, he was mostly unsuccessful, since Trevor just avoided him whenever he could, and wasn't going to eat in obvious hours.

Sadly it didn't last long, as one evening, Trevor spotted his new nemesis waiting for him. Duncan was leaning over the wall with his back, just next to the entrance to the cafeteria. They noticed each other more or less at the same moment.

The boy froze, while the bully pushed himself off the wall, and started to walk in his direction.

- Isn't that Mister West? - he asked loudly. - What is going on, Mister West? You suddenly decided that you are not hungry? Or maybe I scare you so much, that you can't move?

He laughed out loud. In the vicinity were just a couple of other students, and they almost immediately picked on what was going on, so their focus switched to the two.

- Leave me alone - Trevor growled. - What is your problem anyway? Is it because Lena told you to fuck off?

Duncan gritted his teeth out of anger. Suddenly his right hand got covered in ice. Trevor immediately reacted by casting a 'Shell' in front of himself. Just in time as a second later, the icicle slammed into a semitranslucent buckler, crashing, and spring ice all around.

Trevor reacted instinctively, by covering his face with his hand, which Duncan used, to rush to the side, and cast another spell.

As it blasted through the air, it evaporated before hitting the target, smashed by a flash of red, which clearly was some different magic.

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- You two, knock it off! - shouted a tall teenager.

He had dark hair, short on the sides, and longer on the top, a chiseled chin, and a pair of glasses on his nose. A dark robe with stripes of dull red, blue, and deep green indicated that he was one of the third years.

- This is none of your business - warned Duncan.

- You are wrong. Two fighting students are very much my problem since I'm responsible for keeping order on the campus.

- I'm not fighting. I just wanted to eat dinner - Trevor pointed out.

The older boy nodded, to his words, as he briefly looked at him, but then his focus returned to the bully.

Duncan's face got all twisted with anger, but he didn't say a word, although the changing expression indicated that he had to force himself to do so. Eventually, he just gave up and stormed off.

- Thank you - Trevor said immediately to his savior.

- That's my job - said the older teenager. - Dirc Schwarz, by the way.

- Trevor West.

- Mister West... You should watch out, the Esthoses are known for being... A bunch of dicks. Still, they are also known for their strong magic, which made them quite proud since they always end up getting their education in the second district somehow, so I would recommend avoiding confrontation.

- Thank you for the warning, but I'm not afraid of him. I just need some time...

- I recommend staying away from any conflict. Just avoid him if you can.

- He is basically trying to hunt me down at this point, so it might be hard - Trevor explained.

- Hmm... Wait... West... West... I heard about you. Weren't you that kid, whom Lena Karcrow picked as her mascot?

- I'm not a mascot - Trevor suddenly felt a bit of anger.

- I'm not so sure she sees it that way. People from the second are different, and the ones from the first... They mostly don't even see us as humans.

- Lena is not like that - Trevor protested.

Dirc shrugged his shoulders.

- I don't know her, I'm just speaking from my own experience, but I can tell you one thing. If she is on your side, then stick to her. Nobody is going to even think about touching you with her around.

At first, Trevor felt a lot of sympathy for his savior, but as the conversation progressed, he was getting more and more annoyed, by the words of the older teenager.

- Thanks for the advice, but I need to go now - he said, and left, heading straight to the cafeteria.

- Good luck, Mister West. Stay safe! - Dirc shouted after him.

- Thank you, Mister Schwarz! - he replied, shouting as well, then vanished inside the building.

As he joined the line to get the food and picked the tray from the rack on wheels, he kept asking himself why did he get so annoyed. Was it because he started to label Lena as a friend? Or maybe because Dirc was yet another person judging people by where they came from, instead of basing his opinion on who they actually were?

This whole hierarchy thing was more and more unreasonable for him, the more he thought about it, and lately, he has been thinking a lot, mainly thanks to Professor Northon.

Suddenly he felt a longing for his old life, back in the fourth, where most people seemed so normal. Where his good friend Liv was. A friend... Did she see them as friends after what happened?

As he chose his food and sat by the table, he also pulled a phone from his pocket and selected her number, but couldn't make himself press the 'call' button. He ended up just looking at the device for a few minutes before he put it back in his pocket.

Because of what happened between them, he didn't know what to say to her. The usual 'Hey, how are you doing?' didn't feel proper. The more the thought about it, the angrier he was getting at himself, so he eventually stopped and channeled all the fury into the process of shoving the food into his own mouth.