Soft sunlight streamed in through an open curtain in an academy suite, softly painting a dimly lit student quarters with the gentle light of the morning sun.

Chirps from the daylight birds ushered in the rise of a new day, a day that was the official start of a new academic calendar in the White Helm Academy of Estica.

Elias tossed and turned in bed, apparently wanting to stay in bed for a few more minutes. Eventually, though he gave in and slowly sat up in bed due to the warm gaze on his face.

The position his bed was in was directly adjacent to the window, making the rays that moved into the room gently fall on his handsome face. His face looked both tired and refreshed, a typical example of someone who had slept enough but still yearned for a few more lazy moments.

He grumbled some empty nothings to himself while adjusting his eyes to the morning light, before reaching for the shabby silver pocket watch on the table beside him.

After flipping it open he saw that the time was almost seven in the morning, causing him to sigh lazily while attempting to get up from bed.

He moved his tired body towards his reading table, flexing and stretching his joints and muscles which had been worn out from the strenuous activities of the previous day.

Upon reaching the table which was of much higher quality than the one he had back in Lowe, he reached for the quill placed on it, twirling it playfully while thinking about the events that had transpired the previous day.

He looked around the private student quarters he had been given, before shaking his head slowly while breaking out a weak smile. 'Sigh... I've only been in this island city for a day, and yet it feels like so much more time has gone by. Yesterday was honestly the most stressful day of my life. I haven't been that worn out both mentally and physically before. What a day.'

Elias's first day away from home had already left a deep impression on him, making him realize that the journey he had chosen to embark on wasn't one for the faint of heart. Not only was it riddled with the expectancy of challenges and unknown supernatural danger, one could easily spiral into lunacy if not careful.

The image of the wailing clergyman of truth and pools of blood caused his body to occasionally shudder, as he could easily be the one in that situation if he wasn’t careful.

The fact that he was a top scholarship student didn't help his case either, as he would also have to put in top performances academically as well. It was quite obvious that he would be extremely busy from now on.

After shaking away the encroaching feeling of anxiety and nervousness, Elias settled into taking notes, as he felt like he needed to make a drafted plan for all his personal goals in the academy.

He always felt like it helped him to keep sight of the bigger picture, as life always has a way of introducing brand-new hurdles that deviate from pre-established plans.

He slowly called out to Lars within his mind, letting him know that it was already morning and time to create the draft. The latter materialized beside him tiredly, with his deep eyes betraying the fatigue he was feeling.

Lars looked like an overworked married man who only got two hours of sleep after staying out the whole night, making him look quite unlike his usual self.

The gaze Elias used to look at his brother instantly softened, as he understood how tired he must be feeling. He appeared in his spectral form for long periods during the previous day, which is usually very taxing for him. That's why he liked to appear and disappear in bits.

He did it mainly to complete the entire orientational process with Elias, as he didn't feel comfortable letting him go at it alone and felt like he needed to witness it all to be safe. Elias knew that it was just an elaborate excuse to be by his side, as the main reason was that he wasn't okay with leaving him alone in an unfamiliar environment. Lars was a very caring person, he just didn't know how to admit it sometimes.

Elias thought about using his healing abilities on himself but inevitably opted against it as he wasn't yet too sure about the privacy of his dorm. He made sure he didn't openly speak to Lars and only communicated via their mind link, as he didn't want some weird rumors to start going around on his first day.

Elias himself didn't feel too tired, and Lars would have all the time in the world to rest during his classes, so he felt like it was something they could manage.

After a few moments of pacifying and maybe a little bit of personal bribery, Lars joined Elias to start with the list which took them quite a while. It took them almost thirty minutes to properly compile everything as well as write it down, as they tried to make sure they didn't miss anything.

Elias had gotten a blue hard-covered book that resembled a diary as part of his stationaries, and he decided to convert it to a type of dossier for detailing all his plans.

His plans included maintaining his scholarship so as to graduate as a high-ranking student, gaining information on the symbolism of dream visions in order to decrypt what he was shown in that dream, identifying and possibly learning the language represented in that mysterious end message as well as understanding what ties him to that inky black mist.

These were the areas that needed his attention, as most of them were currently shrouded in mystery and might hold some type of dormant danger. Elias felt like he wouldn't be comfortable until he got the answers to all these questions.

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As he was engrossed in studying the details he had written down in his journal, his vision suddenly blurred as his eyes caught sight of flickering images that seemed to be present within his surroundings. These images appeared to be a chaotic amalgamation of misty black lights fused into a shadowy form that permeated the entire room.

This eerily blackened light seemed to exist all around him, appearing and moving in slow spirals similar in motion to small air particles. Elias was only able to catch a glimpse of their ever-present ethereal forms for a brief moment but as he blinked his eyes, the lights seemed to mysteriously vanish into thin air. His room and entire surroundings had gone back to their original form as if the previous scene had been nothing but an illusion.

Before Elias could even process what he had seen, his mind was suddenly afflicted by a miniature migraine and his eyes started to water. Elias shook slightly in his chair, with the pain appearing before he could even react causing Lars to react with shock.

It felt like his head was placed close to a large striking bell, and the reverberations coming from it had caused his head to resonate with minor pain, matching the strikes beat by beat.

This continued for about thirty seconds before the pain slowly stopped, causing Elias's face to narrow in confusion. His hand was still massaging his glabella, an instinctive reaction caused by the previous pulsating pain.

It wasn't that the migraine was too intense for him to handle, it was just that it had appeared quite suddenly which caught him totally off guard. It had also appeared immediately after he viewed that illusory spiral of black light, which had initially also come as a shock to him.

Elias's eyes squinted in understanding. The migraine seemed to be linked to the scene he had just seen, which would explain why it had acted as a precursor. The spiraling ball of light ultimately also reminded Elias of the inky black mist, causing a sense of urgency to rise in his heart.

At this point, Lars’ voice of urgency pulled him out of his contemplation, as the former was wondering why he had acted quite abnormally just now.

Elias slowly told his brother the details of what he had just seen, as well as the echoing headache that had seemingly assaulted him out of nowhere.

Upon mentioning the similarities between the spiraling light and the inky mist, Lars's expression immediately got serious as he felt like this was a serious issue. "Shit... It seems like it was all just wishful thinking for us to hope for no abnormality after that incident. I think we need to prioritize our investigation on the inky black mist first. It appears to have left some lingering traces on you after your interaction with it."

Hearing Lars come to the same conclusion as he had, Elias's face instantly turned grave. He also felt like both cases were connected in some type of way, which made him feel quite uneasy about the entire thing.

The inky black mist was an unknown variable to him, one which may well represent danger and dark despair. Having its lingering effects on him was something he didn’t want.

Upon seeing his brother's worried face Lars felt a bit uneasy, as he knew how Elias could be when he got too bothered about something. "Why the hell do you look so worried? We half-expected some after effects and look it seems to be just a couple of vague images and a migraine. Didn't you yourself say it didn't hurt so much? This isn't the worst case scenario so calm down will you."

The care and sincerity from Lars’ voice immediately pulled Elias back to reason and as had been the case throughout their entire childhood, Lars was the one person who knew how to get through to Elias and pull him out of the clutch of heavy emotions.

Even if Elias was a calm and collected person most of the time, he sometimes would get overwhelmed by emotions and it was always Lars who lent him a hand during such situations. They had a truly balanced relationship.

Elias took a deep breath before calming himself down, as the logic behind what his brother had said resonated with him. He glanced at his brother with a weak smile, causing Lars to shake his head in relief.

Before both brothers were able to get back into their discussion, the chimes of the academy's central grand clock went off, signaling an hour before academic classes were supposed to commence.

Elias forgot about his worries and jerked up from his seat urgently, before totally ignoring Lars and scurrying off to clean up and prepare for his classes.

Looking at his brother's figure darting urgently through the room with adept concentration, Lars' mouth hung slightly agape, as he felt like he was looking at a totally different person.

Elias didn't look like a person who was previously consumed by worry at all.

...

Within the bright study hall deligated with the first-year Apprentices of the academy, Elias sat down calmly at the back row, his gaze carefully surveying his surroundings and the people occupying it.

The partially full hall was occupied by students of different social and racial backgrounds, causing the entire place to look quite like a neutral embassy. These people were going to be his class acquaintances for the next three years and who knows, maybe he might even form close ties with some.

There were Humans, Elves, Sapphites and Elias even spotted a Vampire seated at the far edge of the hall, which was quite a sight to see. From what Elias knew, Vampires were a seclusive race and usually didn’t like interacting with other races. Unless it was an absolute necessity, you would hardly see the nocturnal blood bats appear in public like this, more so in a theosophy college.

As Elias was stuck admiring the distinctive physical characteristics of this night race, Damien made his way into the hall, before locating Elias and waltzing to his side.

This wild but kind friend of his had already customized his academy uniform to his taste, causing Elias to cover his face in embarrassment.

The academy uniform was a formal set of black and white, comprising a white silk shirt, black vest and trousers with a tie and a handless cape to match. A green badge depicting the image of a roaring lion was carefully placed on the coat, identifying the individual wearing it as an Apprentice of the college.

Elias felt like the uniform set fit his personal tastes quite nicely, and he even got a few compliments from academy staff on his way to the hall. But now looking at Damien, Elias felt a pang in his heart at how his friend was treating the beautiful uniform set.

He had rolled his sleeves up long enough for his signature tapped hands to be visible, his shirt was untocked and he even had his vest unbuttoned. He looked like a classical example of an unruly student, and Elias felt tears form in his eyes while looking at the current state of his friend.

As Elias was about to critique Damien on the importance of formality and clothing decency, the door on the last floor of the hall carefully swung open as a series of measured steps resounded in the ears of all the students. The owner of the steps walked towards the lecture platform in front of the hall, each step giving off an air of heat and oppression.

For some reason every student within the hall collectively fell silent, compelled by some unknown reflex feeling to not say a word. They felt like incapacitated bunny rabbits anxiously watching a night wolf slowly advancing toward them.

The owner of the steps stopped in front of the hall, before slowly surveying the young students before his eyes.

The students each shuddered under his indifferent gaze, as they felt both their hands and feet start to heat up.

The man nodded slightly before speaking with a voice oddly devoid of emotions, “Good morning class… I am the Professor in charge of your class year, Professor Windsor.”

The man paused as if he didn’t seem to like to talk too much, “I’ll be in your care from now on.”