Like an idiot, I stand there frozen for a few seconds before regaining control over my body. I turn away. What's the best thing to do now? There's no doubt that she saw my face, the goddamned fire was lighting it up. At least she doesn't know my name, but she knows that I go to the academy now.

I shake my head. What's the best way out of this?

"Umm? Thirteenth?" she calls out awkwardly.

I might as well try something, "H-hey." I say. Good try, I really just don't know how to handle this.

"A-are you, the person from the restaurant?" she asks inching closer.

I'll try that, "Hahaha." I laugh exaggeratedly. "Yeah. I didn't expect to see you here. I uh, found these clothes laying here so I decided to put them on." Maybe I can still get out of this.

"S-so you're the Thirteenth?"

Guess not, still gonna try.

"No, what are you talking about?"

"Thanks for the compliment Thirteenth, if you don't want me telling anyone about this I won't." she says.

"I'd appreciate it. Thanks." I whirl my finger around/ Anne looks at me confused, her head tilted to the side. "I need to change. I don't mind too much if you watch but..."

"Oh. Y-yeah, gotcha." she turns her back to me tapping her finger on her arm. I quickly tear off my clothes and slip my uniform back on.

"So you won't tell anyone?" I ask to make sure. If she keeps this to herself then I'd be really thankful. I don't mind if only Anne knows, she seems trustworthy enough, not that I know much about her. She's a lot more of a mystery to me but I know she still feels like she has to repay me because of what happened after the auction.

She nods without turning around, "Yeah. I'll keep it to myself." those are the words I want to hear. I knew that she'd say that.

"Alright, bye Anne. I'll see you tomorrow I guess." I pick up my black clothes and head out the alleyway. The sooner that I can leave the better.

"Wait!" she stops me. "Will you tell me your name?" she asks. "I mean, I already know what you look like and that you go to the academy."

Would it hurt to tell her? There's nothing really stopping her from finding out who I am if she wanted to. All she really has to do is ask someone, mainly blue hair or her friends.

"Rainen." I tell her. Without another thought I leave the alleyway.

----------

Miss Ein's late today, she's never late, not a single time this year. Is she sick? Looking over at Iris I knit my brow.

Understanding my signal she says, "I don't know why she's late either. Probably just woke up late."

"Hehe." Elis pokes my arm. "Now we get to lecture her." she says.

"Still upset about that?" Iris says.

Elis shrugs her shoulders with her hands up, "Hey, if we get punished for being late then she should too. It's not like we get paid to come here. Right El?"

"Huh?" Don't bring me into this Elis. "I-I don't know."

"Oh come on El." Iris tugs at my right arm pulling it closer to her. "You agree with me right? Elis is just being childish."

Elis tugs on my left, "I know you've been working with Miss Ein after class but it's not fair that she gets off for being late right? We were late because it was the first day and because we woke up late."

Elis, that's our fault. But I don't say it aloud and just laugh quietly.

For the past three weeks after the incident I've been having Miss Ein help me after school. She's really good at explaining things. I think she has a lot of expectations for me now. She called me yesterday during class too, she'd usually just tell the class after that long.

When Miss Ein was helping me practice magic control there wasn't much to do other than concentrate. After the lessons we'd sit down and talk. I just kinda blabbered on about a book I read and she started asking me some questions. She seemed satisfied with all my answers even though I wasn't even sure it they were right.

The door slides open and Miss Ein walks in, "Everyone please be seated." she says going straight to her podium. "Sorry for being late, I was conversing with the other teachers."

"About what?" a student in the front asks.

"We were discussing the next event. And no, I won't tell you what it is yet." she sighs. "Our class is a little bit behind the others but we'll be able to catch up soon."

Seeing as how no one asked I guess it's not too uncommon for one group to fall slightly behind. I move my hands to shield my face a bit, I know that this is my fault. We went out that day even though no other classes were out there. I owe Miss Ein a bunch for this.

"Haaah." another sigh from Miss Ein. "Alright. Let's learn about the Primordial Dragons. Does anyone know anything about them other than the obvious?" no one raises their hand. "Okay then. How about the purple orb that granted us magic?" This time, around twenty hands go up.

"That's better." she says. "Harley." she calls on a female beastman. She's got a long tail and pointy ears, she's a part of the cat race.

"Other than it being from the Primordial dragons and that it granted many races magic, it was shattered. The orb was broken as soon as it touched the ground, the angels had a shard of it granting them much more power over arcane magics but the elves stole it."

"That's not true!" an elf shouts. "That's just what the stories say! You can't believe those!"

"I was just stating what I've heard." Harley says. "How off could it be? The elves don't seem to have their own story for how they came into possession of it."

*CLAP*

Miss Ein stands with her hands together, "That's enough, no fights please." she says calmly. Both of them sit down. "Well, we will stick with what we know to be true. The elves have a shard of the orb, great. Now, how does that work? How does having a shard of the orb grant them mastery over arcane arts?"

Iris raises her hand, "Texts say that the power that the orb released when it first shattered was immense. The power that radiated from the shard back then seeped into the earth around the western continent where future elves would be born. That's why they have much more talent with magic than other races and also the reason why the animals there are usually more powerful."

"Right! Now one of those monsters is an oni otherwise known as an ogre. Now tell me, why are they called oni and how are they different from regular ogres? Elis?"

"Heh?" Elis looks around nervously like she had just woken up in an unfamiliar place. "Uh, ummmm..."

"Because they can use magic." I whisper over to her.

"B-because they can use magic!" she repeats loudly.

"Ehem. Thank you for the answer Elis." she says with a ghost of a smile. "That's right. Oni, are ogres who are able to use magic. The name came from a human explorer group that traveled to the western continent to discover treasures. Now, oni are much more common, you can find multiple here." she points to Elis. "Elis! Pick a person to answer the next question!" she commands.

Elis looks at Iris and I, we both shake our heads in unison. She starts to frantically twist her head, no doubt wondering who to pick. Her finger suddenly shoots right past my face, any closer and her arm would be touching my nose. I let my gaze follow her finger and see that it's Rainen.

"Rainen. Name another beast that originally came from the western continent."

I glance over at him still unable to look him in his eye. He's sitting with his back straight up against the chair, his arms are laid out one atop of the other in front of him. His leg bounces up and down quickly.

"A Halora." he says.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Miss Ein nods, "Yes. Haloras are very powerful creatures. Haloras are closest to a Griffin in terms of overall appearance despite having a scaly back and no wings. So the assumption is that Halora are mutated Griffins, though that's not known for sure. Now that we've learned the possible effects that the shard has on animals, we'll be moving on. We will discuss monsters a different time in class."

------------

"Thanks for always helping me Miss Ein." I say before I leave the building.

She waves her hand in front of her face in a nonchalant manner, "Don't worry about it Ellar, I don't mind doing the kinds of things. If you or anyone else ever needs anything you can always come to me." she turns around to leave. "Tell me more about that book you're always talking about tomorrow." she says as she walks away.

"Okay!" I yell back. That book, black hair still has it. I'll have to go talk to him if I want to get it. Uuuuu. I don't think that I can do it alone. Iris and Elis already left, maybe they're at the restaurant, we've become pretty attached to that place. If they're there then Anne's probably serving them right now, she always comes to us.

I tread down the stairs quickly letting gravity to all the work. If I go at this pace then maybe I can get there in time.

Dashing through the crowd of people, I make may way towards the restaurant, stepping over a few leaves that flew in from the outside. Fall was always a pretty season, it was something that I used to enjoy every year. I didn't have much to do in my room, so instead of reading some books during this time, I'd stare at the changing trees outside.

The amazing mix of orange, yellow, red, and green assailed my eyes. I have to mention that even though I couldn't see over the trees, the sight is still ingrained into my memory. I remember staring at the white blanket that came during the winters too.

The first thing I did when I got out of the house was to feel the leaves. It was soft and a little leathery with bumps. Of course, the only times I could do this was when he came to get me at night. How things went so bad, I don't really know.

I feel a sneeze coming on, I slow to a walking pace and put my arm over my mouth.

"ACHOO!"

*SNIFF*

Eh? I think I might be a little sick, maybe I've been a little too stressed out recently. It shouldn't get too bad if I manage it well, I'll just ask if Iris knows any spells for this kind of thing. Although, I'm pretty sure they don't exist.

I bump into someone and my head rattles a bit, "S-sorry." I blurt out as I sit on my butt.

"Ahaha. Don't worry about it Miss, It's no problem." he sticks out his hand. I take it to help myself up.

He hands me a handkerchief, "Thank you." I say. He has spiky long brown hair, most of it is tied into a ponytail. He has a slight scar on the upper part of his left cheek, his nose is slightly longer and pointed.

"You're from the academy aren't you?" he says.

I look down at my clothes, "A-as you can see."

A smile flashes across his face and a very airy laugh, "I'm Jack. What's your name?"

It would be rude to not offer my own after he gave me a handkerchief, "I'm Ellar."

"Haha. A very nice name." he laughs again.

A thin smile touches my lips.

"Thank you for the help, I've gotta get going now." I say.

"No, thank you. Keep the handkerchief, I have a feeling that you'll need it later. Goodbye Miss, may we see each other soon."

-------------

Dear brother,

I've written my first letter to Near, I hope she'll get it soon. I also pray that she'll be quick in responding, unlike you. Hehe, I'm just kidding, I know that I didn't send any of them to you. Have you by chance read my diary yet? If so, please don't mistake me for a clingy person, I was just a little lonely.

Love, Aisha.

I pick up a pen.

Dear Clingy little sister,

You do know that you don't have to make it out in a letter format. It's fine to just write like you would an essay or a book. And yes I did read your diary, it was very sweet and broke my heart.

Love, Rainen.

P.S. I know that you do.

I put my pen down as I chuckle to myself. But soon, ink starts appearing on the scroll again.

Your handwriting stinks!

Wow. Just, I'm just, that really hurt sis. It's not my fault for having a horrible teacher, aka my master. I can't put all the blame on him though, his handwriting is a lot better than mine. It's actually just my fault, I wasn't really focused on practicing my writing, instead, I opted to train my knife throwing skills.

Ouch. I'm leaving for today, if you have anything to say just write it down and I'll read it when I get back.

I lay the pen on the nightstand and get off my bed. I stretch my limbs and walk over to the closet where I start to put on my black clothes. I decided that I can't be changing in the alleyway anymore, if Anne saw me then it would only be a matter of time before someone else did.

I'll just put it on here and use my ability to get out of the dorm without being seen. My feet carry me to the window, which I lift up, and I use my ability, sending me to the top of a building a few hundred feet away. This is a decent distance but I'll go another jump.

From the rooftops I look down on the people crossing the streets and doing their everyday business. With the sun still setting the view is completely different from the black shaded world at night. Everyone has an orange tint to them. The children hold onto their parent's hands as they're led back to their homes.

One notices me and points.

"It's him!" he yells.

Some of the people stare up with confused faces, but many more seem to know who I am.

"Oh! It's the vigilante!" one man says.

Judging from the crowd's reaction I'm pretty well liked.

I turn tail and run, jumping to another rooftop. I don't need to get that much attention on me. I'll admit, it is kinda nice but I have a few things to do. The warehouse is still a ways away, I won't ever get there if I don't hurry along.

Finally making it to the warehouse I jump down and open the door. Inside, Carlyle stands leaning up against the wall next to Allan. Henry sits on a barrel swinging his legs while talking to Garrett. Anne spots me but turns her head away and keeps her distance.

I know that you're trying to keep my identity a secret Anne, but I don't think talking to me will give it away. I also feel a bit lonely here.

Carlyle looks up from the book in his hand and beckons me over, "Henry, Anne, you two come here as well." he calls. The three of us surround Carlyle and Allan in a semicircle, Henry stands in the middle while Anne and I are at his flanks. Avoiding me too much will make it more suspicious.

"Glad to see that you're back." Carlyle says. "I've got a mission for the three of you. It's a short one so don't worry about it. What I need you guys to do is to investigate the slums on the opposite side of the city. Informants say that there's an underground guild there."

"You mean Krestfall?" I question.

"Could be but the informer doesn't think so. I also don't think that it's them." he closes the book. "Just search around the area, don't get into any fights, just get in, look, and get out. Something big is happening, I don't know what it is but we have to be prepared. Any questions?"

No one says anything and Carlyle dismisses us, "Alright, go."