The gates swung open before they even touched it.

‘That seems like a safety hazard,’ Vivian pointed out. ‘Does it just let in anyone?’

Cyrus chuckled and shook his head. ‘I was once a student here so the academy recognizes me… or rather it recognizes my mana. It’s part of the registration, they teach the gates to identify you.’

‘Still seems risky,’ she replied. ‘You aren’t a student here now. And people can change.’

‘Such cynicism.’ Peri nodded in approval. ‘Same as when we first met in the forest. Maybe there’s hope for you after all.’

‘There are other security measures,’ Cyrus continued, ignoring Peri. ‘The gates are just the visible ones.’

‘Let’s not dawdle.’ Dixie gently pushed Vivian ahead. ‘The academy office closes at the fourth hour. And since the school year will be starting soon, it will be quite crowded.’

As they walked up to the academy, Vivian spotted other children her age roaming through the lawns or sitting on benches. They were clearly students as they all were wearing a waist-long, black, hooded cape as a uniform, which looked the same on the outside but had inner linings of different colours. Some of them gave Vivian a cursory glance as she passed by before returning to whatever activity they were engaged in.

They were also obviously of noble standing, both their appearance and posture giving it away. Vivian was feeling more and more out of place with every step she took. She didn’t belong in this crowd, not with these people who seemed to ooze confidence, like they were the gods divine blessing on this earth. Vivian doubted her back could be so straight, or her head held so high. Their glances were brief but incredibly scrutinizing, as if they could learn everything about her from a single look. Some of them started to whisper among themselves. She wanted to hide. As people turned to look at her, she kept her head down and avoided eye contact.

‘You’re small enough as it is,’ Peri remarked. He nudged her sharply with his elbow. ‘Do you really want to shrink even further?’

‘But they’re staring at me.’ Vivian mumbled. ‘It’s uncomfortable.’

‘Yes, they are,’ Dixie said. ‘And they will continue to do so for a long time because you are not a noble like them. But if you cower before them, they will start to take liberties with you.’ Dixie gripped her hand encouragingly. ‘So, unless you want to spend the next four years acting as a lackey, raise your head and look them in the eye. Show them you are not afraid, that you have every right to be here, just like them.’

Vivian took a deep breath. It was such a small problem, nothing at all compared to what she had been through so far. And yet it was much harder for her to look these people in the eye than it was to escape from the Sentinels. All her life she had been taught that as a commoner she had to bow and show absolute respect to a noble. Any noble. no matter what they said or did, should always be appeased and never angered as they could easily ruin their lives. Her mother had drummed it into her head since she was a child. It had become instinct for her to immediately bow her head in front of anyone wearing gold and finery. It was hard to fight instinct.

However, there was truth in what Dixie said. If she didn’t want to spend the next four years being pushed around and bullied, she had to confront them. She had to learn to stand her ground. With another deep breath, she drew herself up and lifted her head. She caught the eye of the next noble who was looking at her, determined not to look away.

Only it must have come out as a glare rather than the steadfast gaze she was hoping for, because she spotted a pair of blue eyes and a familiar eyebrow rise in question.

‘Why are you glaring at me?’ It was the black hair boy she had seen yesterday. The one she had childishly stuck her tongue out at. How she wished she could go back and slap herself. She could already feel the embarrassment creeping up her neck.

The boy looked to be heading to the academy as well. His blonde friend, who was with him the other day as well, popped his head out from his side, giving her a friendly grin. ‘Hello,’ his friend greeted, his bright green eyes twinkling with curiosity. ‘We meet again.’

‘Ye-yes,’ Vivian stuttered, tearing her eyes away from the boy, praying for someone to intervene and break the awkwardness.

‘Good afternoon.’ Cyrus stepped up next to Vivian, and she sighed in relief. ‘Are the two of you headed to register as well?’

The boy finally lifted his disapproving gaze from her. ‘Yes,’ he answered shortly.

His friend decided to elaborate, thankfully taking the attention away from her. ‘We thought we might as well get it over with. No need to put it off till the end.’

‘Then let’s go together.’ Cyrus nodded at Vivian. ‘She’s also heading there to register.’

‘Really? Is this your first year at the academy?’ the blonde looked at her with no judgement or malice in his eyes. Vivian felt a bit less discomfort speaking to him rather than his friend. She nodded in answer.

‘Us too.’ The blonde gestured at himself and his friend. ‘I guess that means we’ll be in the same class.’ He held out a hand to shake. ‘I’m Felix.’

Vivian hesitated for a moment before grasping his hand and giving it a firm shake. ‘Vivian. Um, pleased to meet you.’

Did I say that last part right? I think that’s how nobles greet each other.

‘No need to be so stiff.’ Felix grinned again. He nudged his friend who was standing with his arms crossed, silent as stone. ‘And this grouch here is Aiden. He’s not particularly friendly,’ Aiden turned to glare at Felix. ‘But give it time and he will learn to tolerate you.’

‘Uh, alright.’ Vivian wasn’t sure if she even wanted to keep company with them. Unsure of how to continue from this point, she discreetly nudged Peri, who thankfully stepped up to break up the conversation.

‘This is really touching, making your first friends, but it would be even better if we can get you registered today.’ Peri said. ‘We do have other things to do as well and I am not spending another day on this.’

‘Right, right we’re wasting time.’ Cyrus urged everyone forward. ‘Straight to the office.’

Vivian fell into step beside Felix and Aiden, the latter looking straight ahead and avoiding conversation. Felix, on the other hand, had no such reservations.

‘So, when did you arrive?’ he asked.

‘Yesterday afternoon.’

Felix nodded. ‘I figured as much. You were an unfamiliar face. I myself arrived here two months ago. Aiden got here around two weeks after that.’

‘Did you two know each other before you came here?’ Vivian asked. They seemed pretty close.

‘We’ve met occasionally. Our families were usually invited to the same events. Our fathers know each other well, but we had only met a few times so we’re not that close. Still, this is a new life and it’s nice to have a familiar face here, so we usually spend our free time together.’

‘Aren’t all the children here nobles?’ Vivian looked at him curiously. ‘I thought all nobles knew each other.’

‘We know of each other. We don’t get too close. Never know when we will end up at each other’s throats.’

Vivian shuddered. ‘Sounds brutal… and sad.’

‘He’s making it sound worse than it actually is,’ Aiden finally spoke up. His gaze shifted for a moment to look at her before shifting back to the path ahead. ‘It’s not that bad.’

Felix raised his hands up. ‘Alright, maybe I exaggerated a bit. But it’s true we don’t get very close to anyone.’ He fixed his gaze on her. ‘I bet you never had a problem like that.’

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It took Vivian a moment to realize that he was trying to confirm if she was a commoner without sounding condescending. She was grateful for that consideration and finally smiled back at him.

‘No, never had that problem. One of the benefits of being a commoner I suppose.’

‘You’re the first one here.’ Aiden commented, finally deciding to join the conversation. ‘How did you survive? The hunt for mages is brutal out there.’

‘He’s right,’ Felix said. ‘If Peri hadn’t been with me, I would’ve definitely died on the way here. We came close several times.’

Vivian shrugged. ‘I didn’t do anything special. Just hid in the woods as best I could.’

Truth was she already knew why she was able to escape notice. However, she didn’t want to reveal just yet that it was because her aura was so weak that it didn’t even register on a resonator. They would find out soon enough, so until then she wanted to keep the easy conversation going and pretend that she had friends. It was pathetic, but she was long past having any pride to defend. Not since she arrogantly believed she could save someone and ended up getting a five-year-old girl killed.

‘But still…’ Felix trailed off as they stepped into the shadow of the academy. ‘Oh well, important thing is that you made it here alive and in one piece.’

The Academy loomed over her, even more imposing from up close. The large double doors were open, with the occasional student or adult passing through. They stepped into a grand entrance hall, a golden chandelier hanging high above them, decorative pieces and paintings hung on the walls around them and marble flooring beneath their feet. A grand staircase climbed up and split into two sides as they led up to the upper floors. There were doors ahead that led to rooms beyond but Vivian couldn’t glimpse the interiors from where she was standing. There were more people inside, all of them moving with purpose and a destination in mind.

‘Where to now?’ Vivian asked.

‘This way.’ Cyrus led the way to the left, passing through an archway to a long corridor with floor to ceiling windows on one side and rooms on the other. ‘I was sent here to the teacher’s lounge quite a few times when I was here.’

‘What for?’ Felix asked.

‘Experimenting on fellow classmates.’ He shrugged. ‘One time, there was this bully, a real thug, and I wanted to see how fast I could get him to screw himself over. So, I used little bit of my magic and made him believe that he was invisible…’

Vivian frowned. ‘That doesn’t sound so bad.’

Cyrus shook his head. ‘The idiot went and pranked a teacher he had a grudge against, tripped him down the stairs and got himself in detention. It didn’t take long after that for the professors to realize I was the one behind it, though I still don’t understand why I had to be punished.’

‘If you think about it, you shouldn’t have,’ Felix agreed. ‘You did them a service by catching a bully in the act.’

‘Yes well, they didn’t think so and I spend a month with that boy, toiling away long hours in the academy’s greenhouse.’ Cyrus made a face. ‘Longest month of my life… Ah, here we are.’

Cyrus knocked before pushing open the fifth door in the corridor. They stepped into a large room divided between the waiting area and the staff area by a long counter. There were long queues of people already waiting for their turn.

‘Looks like we are a bit late,’ Peri noted.

‘We’re not too late.’ Dixie looked around at the number of people. ‘I think we can get it done today.’

Peri looked at Cyrus and nodded at the line. ‘Princess, you’re the alumni, you’ve done this before. Why don’t you take the children? I’ll wait here.’

Cyrus shot a glare at him, but didn’t respond. Peri moved aside to the couches along the wall, quickly joined by Dixie, while the rest of their group quickly joined the smallest line. The other people in the room were students like themselves. Vivian caught some of their gazes, and this time instead of flinching away, she gave a small smile and nodded in silent greeting. Some nodded back, others quickly averted their gaze like they had spotted something nasty.

Little by little, the line moved forward, until finally it was their turn. Cyrus stepped forward with the three of them close behind.

‘Purpose of visit?’ A severe looking woman with glasses drawled out in a monotone voice.

‘First year registration. Three of them.’ He gestured at the three children behind him.

‘Name please.’

Aiden spoke up first. ‘Aiden Tenebris.’

The woman noted it down. ‘Do you know your element or do you need to be tested?’

‘Shadow.’

Another small scribble. ‘Date of birth?’

‘September 14th, X910.’

She wrote it down. Then she picked up a needle and a small, rectangular glass plate from behind the desk. The plate was small enough to fit in the palm of her hand. ‘I’m going to need a few drops of blood. Do you consent?’

‘What for?’ Aiden asked, his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

‘To forge your identification token. You’ll need it to access the academy and its resources.’

Aiden nodded and held out his hand. The woman quickly pricked his finger and let a few drops of blood fall on the glass plate. The moment the blood touched the plate, black lines spread across the plate, gleaming like polished obsidian. The lines split into smaller and smaller lines, forming complex geometric patterns within the glass. One the pattern was finished forming, the woman took the plate and pressed it against the parchment she was taking notes on. Shining gold letters appeared on the now patterned glass plate, spelling out his name, element and date of birth.

‘Congratulations.’ There wasn’t even the slightest bit of enthusiasm in her voice. She held out the glass plate to Aiden. ‘You have been officially registered to Almos Academy.’ She gestured at the notice board behind them. ‘Please check the notice board before you leave for further details. Next please.’

Aiden took his token and moved aside beside Cyrus without a word. Felix stepped up, a wide smile on his face.

‘Name please,’ the woman began again.

‘Felix Redcliffe,’ he said jovially. ‘And you are Miss…?’

The woman studied him for a moment before answering. ‘Alice. Do you know your element or do you need to be tested?’

‘Well, I believe it is air, Miss Alice.’ He shot her a small grin. ‘Either that or it was an actual hurricane that tore through my house and blew Aunt Betty’s wig off her head. Mind you, she deserved it.’

‘In my experience, most aunts do,’ Cyrus added.

‘I’m sure,’ Alice replied in a monotone voice, but Vivian noticed the corners of her mouth was slightly uplifted in a suppressed smile. ‘Date of birth?’

‘February 6th, X910. Now that I think about it, I believe there was a storm on that very same day. Completely unrelated, I’m sure.’

‘Or perhaps it was a warning from the gods,’ Vivian said before she could stop herself.

Felix, to his credit, didn’t look the slightest bit insulted. He laughed. ‘Maybe. But if it is, the gods should’ve picked a better medium for communication. Don’t know how we mortals are supposed to interpret a storm. No one I know speaks angry wind.’

Vivian couldn’t help it. She laughed and grinned back at Felix. Alice cleared her throat in an attempt to bring the conversation back on track, but Vivian could see that she had stopped trying to hide her smile. ‘I’ll need a few drops of blood.’

‘Please be gentle with me. I’m delicate.’

Aiden gave him a disbelieving look as Alice rolled her eyes in good fun and pricked his hand with the needle. Just as with Aiden, she let the blood drip onto a glass plate. White slowly bled into the transparent glass with each drop, swirling around lazily before freezing in place. It looked like white smoke trapped inside the glass. She tapped it against the parchment and his details were transferred to plate, completing his identification token.

Alice handed the token to him with a polite smile. ‘You’re all set. Please do take a look at the notice board before you leave. It’ll tell you when the school starts and where to buy your books, as well as a list of rules and regulations.’ She gave him a scrutinising look. ‘I have a feeling you will need it.’

Felix held a hand to his heart in mock offense. ‘Am I being profiled? I haven’t even done anything yet.’ He shrugged. ‘While I do think your gut feeling is probably right, this is discrimination.’

Alice nodded. ‘Uh-huh. So, I’ll be seeing you soon in the teacher’s lounge.’

‘Only if I get caught.’

Alice laughed. ‘Alright, alright step aside. Next please.’

Finally, it was Vivian’s turn. ‘Name please.’

‘Vivian Wright.’

‘Do you know your element or do you need to be tested?’

‘Um, it’s fire I think.’

‘Date of birth?’

‘June 13th, X910… there were no natural disasters involved.’

‘Except for the one being born,’ Felix teased.

Alice placed another glass plate on the counter. ‘A few drops of blood. May I?’ She held out a hand.

Vivian let her prick her finger. She leaned forward, curious to see what sort of colour and pattern her magic would form. She held her breathe as the first drop fell and was absorbed.

Nothing.

Alice frowned and slightly squeezed her cut finger. Another drop fell, and another.

Still nothing. The glass plate remained transparent, same as before.

‘This is odd.’ Alice rubbed her chin. ‘It’s the first time I’m seeing this.’

‘She’s a bit of a special case,’ Cyrus interjected before her suspicion could grow any further. ‘But the council has approved her stay, so you can just go ahead and transfer her details onto it now.’

‘Alright.’ Alice looked hesitant. ‘But I will have to report this to the headmaster.’

‘Of course. Vivian here is just… different from the others, but I assure you she is a mage.’

Alice nodded and tapped the empty glass plate against the parchment. Gold lettering appeared, displaying her details and Alice handed the plain token to Vivian, who accepted it with disappointment. She was really hoping that at least one thing about her was the same as the others.

She was broken out of her own thoughts when Felix leaned forward to take a closer look at her token. ‘Well, that’s different.’

‘That’s a nicer way to put it,’ Aiden commented. ‘It’s empty. It’s like you don’t have magic.’

‘I have magic,’ Vivian retorted. She turned her token over in her palm, hoping to catch a glimpse of something… anything. ‘I’ve used it before, but… I don’t know…’

‘Best not to dwell on it,’ Cyrus advised. ‘We always knew you were different. In time, we’ll learn more about how your powers work. For now, let’s go get your uniforms and books.’

‘Sure,’ she agreed glumly. She looked at the two boys and asked, ‘Do you want to come with us?’

If they say no, then this… well it’s not friendship… Whatever it is, it will end now… Please-

Aiden gave short nod. ‘Let’s go. We wanted to get it all done with today anyway.’

‘We could also have lunch together.’ Felix looked excited. ‘I found this great place in the market zone that serves the best pies.’

Vivian managed to keep a straight face, but she was sighing with relief inside. She was not alone… for now at least.

‘Great! Sounds like a plan.’