“Attention, teams. The entrance exam has been concluded. We declare blue-team as the winner. You all will get your overall exam scored at the end of the week. Those of you who don’t receive a passing grade will ultimately be kicked from the academy.”

As this announcement came from overhead, everyone on the team jumped with joy. We had won. And because of that, everyone here was almost guaranteed to pass the exams. All the faces of my teammates looked at me, many compliments came in.

“Wow, your idea actually worked.”

“I’m sorry we ever doubted you.”

“Fantastic job.”

“What do you know. He was actually a good leader.”

It felt good to be flooded by kind words, but it’s not like I necessarily needed them. My work wasn’t anything special, it was just simple strategizing. Being perfectly honest, this wasn’t something I should’ve been being praised for.

Zander patted me on the shoulder and smiled.

“Nice job. You, for certain, you belong in this academy. I haven't yet seen your magic, but I know for a fact that your quite intelligent.” He was close enough that I could see my own reflection in his eyes.

I wasn’t the smartest person alive, but I for sure wasn’t the dumbest. My place was somewhere in between.

“I just do what I can.” I replied.

“Haha.” Zander chuckled, “And you’re humble. I look forward to being your rival.”

Sure, we didn’t know each other enough to be called friends, but did that mean we had to be rivals? I thought our standing was neutral.

“I’ll be your rival?” I asked.

“Don’t you know, everyone here is meant to be rivals. The only thing that matters is rankings. The higher your rank, the better the opportunity's.”

Yeah, I guess that did make sense. I heard that this academy was pretty competitive. People battled over all kinds of things, such as prizes, money, and opportunities in the career field of magic. Some desired to be magic engineers, while others wanted to be something simple like a spell analyst, though I guess even that wasn’t simple.

Then, there were people who wanted to join the military as a combat mage. That was the hardest career to enter, you had to absolutely excel in spellcasting. If your ability was even slightly defective, you would be rejected.

But no matter what career you wanted; the Arcale magic academy opened up many paths of opportunities.

“Well, that makes sense.” I replied.

“So, I hope you understand we we’re going to be rivals. Nothing personal.”

“Yeah. I get it.”

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

With the exam being over, the rest of the team was already heading back towards campus. Zander joined them. The only ones still here were me and Amy, who was sitting on a chair a with her legs crossed. Her gaze was looking up at the soft blue sky. She looked like she was in trance of relaxation. With each deep-breath she took, I could see that she was enjoying the fresh forest air.

I came over to her.

“You know, we’re allowed to go back to campus now that the exam is over. Why are you still here?” I asked.

“I can ask you the same thing.”

“That’s a fair response.”

Not once had she taken a moment too looked at me. It was like nature had her full attention. Though, I don’t blame her, nature really was a beautiful thing.

As a soft wind breezed by, she continued to stare off. Until, she chose to speak up.

“My whole life, I’ve been a city-girl. I never had much of a chance to enjoy the relaxation of the country-side.” A gentle smile formed on her face, “The city, it’s so loud and polluted. The streets are crowded with people and there just doesn’t seem to be any real privacy when you’re out. But here, in a place like the forest, I can just sit down without a care in the world. Well...unless a wild animal attacked me or something.”

Even then, an animal wasn’t much of a threat if you could us magic. The city was filled with corruption, crime and all kinds of things. Not to mention all the things you were abound by. That’s just the way the world was. It’s only natural for a person the crave true freedom. Here in a place like the forest, that could be achieved. It was like a sanctuary.

I also took a moment to look at the sky. Till now, I never realized how calming it truly was. My hair blew in the wind as I took a breath of the forest air.

“I see what you mean.”

“I gave a lot just to come all the way out here to this academy. I still can’t believe I’m here, closer to achieving my dream than I ever was. No matter what it takes, I’ll do my best.” she spoke softly, seeming to reminisce about something.

As curious as I was, it wasn’t my place to be nosy. If she really wanted to talk about, I'd let her mention it of her own accord.

We took a few moments more to enjoy the scenery of the forest. Then, it was time to leave. And so, we began our walk back.

“Y’know, Kuro. We only known each other for about two days now, yet, I already feel like I know you.”

“How so?”

“You don’t usually say much, but your actions speak. I mean, you helped me out when I was trying to save Yuji from those bullies. I didn’t think they’d hit me, but you were there to stop them from hurting me. You’re a nice person.”

“I just did what a decent person should do.”

“And today, you came up with plan that helped us win with almost no effort. I didn’t think of you as the strategic type, but looks like you are.” She paused for a moment, then looked me in the eyes, “It’s weird. Something about you seems so familiar to me, but I’m not sure I know what it is. Still, I feel like I know you. I hope we can continue to be friends, regardless of the competition here at the academy. And...” She continued to ramble about friendship and competition and whatnot.

Over all, I couldn’t believe how wrong she was about me.

You really don’t know anything about me.

We’ve only known each other for about 2 days now, so I don’t expect you to know anything. But you are terribly wrong.

After all, you think I’m here because I love magic.

That couldn’t be further from the truth. I despise magic with every ounce of hate in me. I’ve seen all the things it can do.

Truth is: I only have one goal here.

My goal is to kill the headmaster. After that, there are few things I’d like to accomplish. But first things first, the headmaster is an obstacle and must be killed.

At all costs.