Aeric and Elsie froze in place.

He knows we’re Twinborn!

You shouldn’t have stopped the dagger, Aeric!

What?! And let him stab me?

He obviously wasn’t going to hurt us. He was just trying to scare us into revealing ourselves.

“I can see from your expressions that you intended to keep this class a secret,” Headmaster Frederick said. “That’s perfectly fine. In fact I encourage you to do so.” He returned to his chair and sat down.

Wait, what? Aeric thought.

“Wait, what?” Elsie said.

“Twinborn are so rare as to be more myth than reality. I’m afraid you’ll find that in our world with great power comes great attention. And that attention is not always the kind that you want to receive.”

That’s not the way the quote goes.

I doubt this guy has ever heard of Spiderman before, Aeric.

“When I heard that two summons arrived instead of one, I searched through the former headmasters’ records to find out everything I could about this situation. As you may have guessed, it’s incredibly rare. Out of the nine hundred years of this academy’s existence, I only found six records of two summons arriving at once. That’s less than once per century. In all six of those instances, the two summons stated that they were twins.”

“Just like us,” Elsie said assertively.

“It would seem so. What I found even more interesting was that out of those six sets of twins, there were only two other recorded cases of the summons falling unconscious immediately upon arrival. Given that we’re in a school, perhaps I should let you two stretch your brains a bit rather than just tell you what happened. So tell me your thoughts: what are your theories for why some sets of twins fell unconscious while others did not?”

Because they were Twinborn like us?

That’s obvious, dolt, he’s asking us what else about them would have caused them to go catatonic like us.

“A question first, sir,” Elsie said.

“Go ahead.”

“Were the sets of twins always a boy and a girl?”

“Not always. There was one set that had two males, three sets that were both female, and two sets that had one male one female.”

“And what were the pairs that fell unconscious on arrival?” Aeric asked, picking up where Elsie was taking this.

“I see what you might be asking. Actually it was a pair with both girls and and a pair that had one of each that passed out.”

“What else can you tell us about them?” Elsie asked quickly. “We’ll clearly need more information if we are to figure anything out here.”

“I often find that identifying the correct question turns out to be more important than the answer being sought.”

“It has to do with their classes, doesn't it?” Elsie said.

The headmaster smiled. “That is the right question.”

“Were they Astral Manipulators and Nullifiers as well,” Aeric asked.

“A good starting point for investigation. The earliest of the assumed Twinborn sets actually did have an Astral Manipulator in the pair, but none of them had the Nullifier class.”

“It's their ranks, isn't it?” Elsie said. “They were out of balance just like we are.”

The headmaster smiled again. “Exactly so. I've been told by one of your peers from Earth that in situations like this I'm supposed to say: ten points to Griffin Door.”

Aeric and Elsie both laughed.

“I see what she told me was accurate, as ever. And yes, that is the same conclusion I reached as well. What I found from the records is that twins who had different class ranks from one another immediately suffered the same debilitating effects that you two have experienced . The sets that had no summoning complications showed classes that were the same rank.”

“Did they recover?” Elsie asked.

“After nearly two months, yes,” the headmaster replied.

Months?!

The headmaster continued, unaware of the mental outburst. “Their bodies were extremely weak and frail by the time they finally woke up. It took a few more weeks of recovering physically before they were able to join the academy properly.”

“Then our recovery after only two days…” Elsie started. The headmaster waited for her to finish.

“It’s because of that boy’s astra, isn’t it?” Aeric finished.

“Lucian,” the headmaster said. “And yes, I believe that to be the case as well. His astra repaired the difference between you two, allowing you to recover quickly. What I don’t fully understand is why that worked. But that’s a question we can ask another time. For now, I would like to give you a word of caution.”

“You have our attention, clearly,” Aeric said.

“Some of the things that happened to the previously summoned twins…. I would highly recommend that you do not let anyone know about the special class you hold.”

“Why is that?” Elsie asked.

“A few reasons. The less serious one is to help you fit in better with your classmates. I believe you’ll find some of them are extremely competitive, and will not take kindly to what they may perceive as an unfair advantage. I also do not want them to feel discouraged at how easily certain things will come to you..”

“It certainly didn’t feel like an advantage when we were knocked out because of this class,” Aeric said.

“Why would things come easily to us?” Elsie asked.

“The Royal Academy of Astraeus is first and foremost an institution of learning. Historical grade marks show a trend: summoned twins seem to have an unusually high performance when it comes to academic studies. I have my theories about why this would be, but I think we should start off with seeing how well you two perform.”

“So we’re competing with our fellow students to get the best grades, and they might not take kindly to us doing better than them?” Aeric asked.

“To some extent. More will be explained later, but for now it’s sufficient to say that if you’re anything like Twinborn that have attended in the past then you’ll have no trouble excelling in your academic studies here.”

“Well of course we will,” Aeric said. “We would have excelled even without being Twinborn.”

Elsie rolled her eyes.

“Then there’s also a more serious reason for why I request you keep your class a secret,” the headmaster said.

“And what’s that?” Aeric asked.

“As headmaster of this fine institution, your safety is my responsibility. I quite prefer to have students who do not go out of their way to make themselves a target for kidnappings.”

“Kidnappings?!” Elsie said.

“We’re not children,” Aeric retorted.

“Being abducted then. I am sure with your newly created bodies you feel like nothing can hurt you. I assure you that is not the case at all. There are people out there willing to pay a lot of money for a summon with even a hint of being out of the ordinary. Firefins in particular are known to have quite the appetite for Earth humans. They’d pay life-changing prices on the black market if they heard that you were not only from Earth but had such a unique class as well.”

“That’s a lot to take in,” Elsie said. “You’re saying people want to eat us because we’re different?”

“Only the particular faction of Firefins who refuse to acknowledge human laws. You’ll learn about them in History and World Events class though. They’re not a problem unless you plan to go swimming in their waters any time soon. And not all Firefins are like that either: there are a handful of Firefin students and staff here at the Academy. Our professor of Underwater Combat, Professor Nidus, is a Firefin and he is quite pleasant to work with.”

“So avoid all law-breaking criminals and predatory fish people,” Aeric said. “Got it. No problem at all.”

The headmaster frowned and looked like he wanted to say something, then changed his mind and said something else. “If you wouldn’t mind my asking, have you noticed any sort of astral power source inside of your bodies?”

Do we tell him?

I think he already knows anyway.

“We have,” admitted Elsie. “We’ve both gained a new sense that we were told is called trace. It helped us feel the flow of our internal astra.”

“It feels like some sort of series of channels connected to a… I don’t know, a core inside of us,” Aeric said.

“It may not be obvious to a new summon, but there is a physical aspect to the cores you felt. You’ll learn more about them in Multi-Species Biology class. You’ll find that most people in this world treat internal astra and astral cores as rather intimate parts of their body, and do not discuss them openly other than with their medical care provided or someone with whom they are romantically involved.”

Did we just tell the headmaster that we discovered our bodies have private parts?

It’s not like we could have known that this was something private. Which makes me realize just how arbitrary something like that is anyway.

“I’ve been told that such an idea does not come naturally to summons. However, the cores that you two possess are particularly significant due to their bonded Twinborn nature. It’s not something I fully understand yet, especially considering most people’s hesitance to speak about such things. I promise that I’ll share any information that I discover about them, however.”

“We had already planned on keeping our true class a secret, and it sounds like it will be even easier to avoid talking about our cores if no one else is going around talking about theirs,” Elsie said.

“You mentioned receiving the trace sense earlier. I would also recommend against openly divulging the spells, skills, or other blessings that you receive from the Spark.”

“The Spark?”

“Not to be stuck on repeat, but this is another thing you’ll learn at our Academy. This time in your various combat classes. For our discussion today it is sufficient to say that the Spark is a world-level powered entity that is the pure combination of astra with intelligence. It helped you during your summoning ritual. Part of its role is to give you guidance as you push your skills to their limits, providing a means to increase their strength.”

That blue void where we customized our bodies?

Sounds more like an actual creature or being than just a big blue nothing.

I actually was wondering why I haven’t seen any sort of interface since we woke up here. I remember seeing one with information about a quest during the class selection trial, but nothing is there anymore.

“So the Spark is like some sort of system interface? Or what is it exactly?” Aeric asked.

“I’ve heard from previous Earth summons that the words ‘system interface’ accurately describe the Spark.”

“How do we access it?” Elsie said.

“We have a registered Oracle at the academy whose services you can use for free. They will be your intermediary with the Spark should you wish to examine your class growth and skill mastery,” the headmaster said.

“We can’t just call it up ourselves?” Aeric said.

“Not unless you picked Oracle as your class.”

“That wasn’t even an option we were given,” Aeric complained.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

“Regardless, it’s considered somewhat of a social faux pas to reveal what the Spark has helped you attain. There are certainly situations such as job applications that will require proof of class, but many people consider it on the same level as discussing one’s own personal finances. Some people share information about it, and others do not.”

“Makes sense,” Aeric said.

“Of course we require your class status to be known to the Academy administration as part of registering here,” the headmaster said. “As such, would you permit me to invite our Oracle to come examine your class statuses?”

“Wouldn’t that reveal us as Twinborn?” Elsie asked.

“The Spark does not reveal hidden classes to Oracles unless the person being examined wills it to do so. Therefore the official records will indicate you are an Astral Manipulator and a Nullifier. I should be the only person who knows exactly what your class truly is, unless you reveal it to anyone yourself.”

“Sounds fine to me then,” Aeric said.

“Agreed,” Elsie said.

“Excellent. I’ll see to it that you get a priority appointment with Oracle Wortham. He is very busy, as you may assume, so it will likely not be until next week. Speaking of schedules: today is Fifthday, which marks the end of classes for the week. The next two days are our weekend, and then classes will resume again on Firstday. You will be expected to start attending at that point.”

“A typical seven day week. Well that should be an easy adjustment for us,” Elsie said.

“Indeed. Now, I will be meeting you at dinner tonight to discuss a few things between you and your new roommates. Before then, I have time for one more question, if you have any.”

“We have many,” Elsie said.

“But if we only have time for one then it’s gotta be this,” Aeric finished. “What are we even doing here? What is our purpose in being summoned to this world?”

The headmaster considered the question for a brief moment. He stroked his trimmed gray beard in thought. “I suppose you should do whatever you think is right.”

“We’re not here to save the world or anything?” Aeric asked. “We don’t have to defeat some demon king leading the armies of those Enthralled that we’ve heard mentioned?”

“Oh no,” the headmaster said with a chuckle. “The Astral Monarch is far beyond the capabilities of any one or two students. Especially freshly summoned students. No, leave that battle to the Kingdom’s army.”

“Astral Monarch?” Aeric asked.

“A powerful and cruel being who is believed to be the source of all Enthralled. It is not something for you to worry about. No, you are here to learn. You are here to grow. To help those around you as you see fit.”

“We won’t be fighting the Enthralled at all… Whatever they are?” Aeric asked.

“You will have many lessons at the academy explaining the nature of the Enthralled. And you will also be sent on a few required excursions to meet the Enthralled in battle. These required skirmishes are all guided with talented combat professors on the battlefield with you. You will be kept plenty safe.

“So we do have to fight?” Elsie asked.

“It is every citizen’s duty to contribute to the war effort,” the headmaster said. “We pride ourselves at this Academy in meeting those duties. However, it is certainly not your duty to single handedly win a war that has been raging for centuries. That would be absurd.”

Aeric and Elsie exchanged a glance.

It sure seems like that’s what happens in all the video games we’ve played.

I don’t think this is a video game, Aeric.

“Now I must take my leave. I will be sending a trusted professor, Lady Ashdowne, to escort you to the dining hall for dinner and introductions this evening. Until then, I will continue to entrust you to Lady Marcelle’s masterful care.”

“Thank you for all your help and explanations, headmaster,” Aeric and Elsie intentionally said in sync. He smiled at their quirky behavior, then excused himself from the room.

“Wait a sec,” Aeric said out loud to Elsie. “Do we even get a say in whether we want to join this Academy or not?”

“You know, I never even thought to ask,” Elsie said. “But I can’t imagine there’s any better path out there than this. Especially if we’re at risk of being abducted by ne’er-do-wells or eaten by Firefins.”

“Actually a fair point,” Aeric said. “Maybe enrolling in a magic Academy that provides protection for us is the right move after all.”

---

Amos Eagleye was sitting attentively in History and World Events class. Several students around him were openly resting their heads on their desks. The teacher, Professor Banton, either did not notice or did not care. He continued droning on about the Human-Firefin Shipping Lanes Agreement Act of 1305. Amos wrote in his notebook as fast as he could, trying to keep up with everything.

Professor Banton hovered next to the chalkboard with his Sylvan bumblebee-like wings. He had two long rows of three chalkboards each at the front of the room, one row on top of the other. He flew from one to another to better explain his lecture without needing to erase anything as often. His efforts made it very clear exactly how the humans were able to convince the sapient carnivorous fish-like people to stop attacking their trade ships along certain coastal waters.

Desmond Tillman sat next to Amos with his hand pushed against his cheek, bored out of his mind. He glanced at the copious notes that Amos was taking.

“You know nobody cares about this stuff after the test is over,” Desmond said quietly to Amos. The professor continued on with his lecture without noticing.

“I’ll care,” Amos said in a hushed voice. “Your world’s history is fascinating.”

“When is knowledge about historical shipping routes ever going to help you? Were you summoned here to negotiate trade deals or something? I thought you were some sort of archer mastery class.”

“I’m actually a Master of Projectiles, not just archery specifically. But no, I don’t believe I’m here to negotiate trade deals; I just want to do the best I can at school. Not to mention this is all new to me. I can’t even imagine having something like murderous talking sharks back on Earth.”

“What are sharks?”

“They’re like Firefins, but more animal than human. And they mostly just kill for food instead of killing for fun.”

“Firefins aren’t human,” Desmond said.

“They sure look like humans,” Amos said. “Or at least most of their body is human-shaped anyway.”

“I guess you’re not wrong there. But the blue skin? The fins? The extra eyes on the sides of their head? The sharp teeth that could tear the meat off your bones in a heartbeat? Nah man, those aren’t anything I’d call a human. Not to mention how different the female Firefins look compared to the males.”

“I’m not saying they’re human. I’m just saying we didn’t have them back on Earth. Although one of my friends once showed me a video game with fish people that looked remarkably like Firefins. They were nice though, not carnivorous.”

“What’s a video game,” Desmond asked.

“You know what, nevermind. I’m missing too many notes by talking to you. And no, I’m not letting you borrow my notes to study for the next test. You didn’t give them back last time,” Amos said.

“Technically I did give them back,” Desmond said.

“Yeah, after the test was over. I missed one of the questions because of that.”

Desmond rolled his eyes. “You’re such a tryhard, Amos. It makes you seem desperate.”

“I’m not desperate. But I agree with you, I am trying hard to succeed here. I think you would too, if you were in my shoes.”

“Are you worried the two new summons are going to take your limelight?” Desmond asked.

“My limelight? I’m not standing in any limelight,” Amos said. “And I don’t care about new students being summoned at all. It’s happened before me and it will happen plenty of times after me as well.”

“Sure you are. You were the most recent summon before these two showed up. You used to be interesting. Now you’re not a hot topic anymore. You’re not exciting since there’s something even cooler to talk about.”

“Talk about whoever you want,” Amos said. “I’m just here to do my best, not provide gossip for bored kids to discuss instead of paying attention in class, like we should be doing.”

“I heard one of them was an absolute bombshell of a girl,” Desmond said.

“I’m sure she is,” Amos said. “I’d avoid any summon that comes out looking too pretty though.”

“Not exactly possible, since every one of you looks ridiculously beautiful. Earth must be packed full of perfect supermodels, both male and female.”

“It really wasn’t,” Amos said.

“So you’re saying you aren’t going to try talking to her?”

“No. Why would I?”

“Oh I don’t know, maybe because you’re one of the only guys in our class who has a chance at catching her attention,” Desmond said.

Amos set his pencil down and stared at his classmate for a moment. “In a world where it could literally become my full-time job to use magic to snipe actual monsters with a bow and arrow from a distance I previously thought impossible, why would anyone think some girl I don’t know will be interesting to me at all?”

“You’re just built differently, man,” Desmond said. “Nobody our age cares about the Enthralled. I heard they’re mostly just a publicity thing nowadays anyway. The Astral Knights could wipe them out in like a week if they felt like trying. They’ll just never go all out on them because they want to keep the illusion that we need to keep training up new combat classes.”

“Seems unlikely to me,” Amos said. “But that just proves my point of why it’s so important to learn as much as I can. You could be right for all I know about your world.”

“I just hope they put the hot chick in our class rotation instead of the other one,” Desmond said.

“Hot chick… really? She’s more than a beautiful body you know. And knowing girls from Earth, if she ever heard you call her that she’d think of you as the last guy she’d ever want to give any attention to at all.”

“Yeah whatever, man. At least I’ll be making an effort on the important things, unlike you. Don’t be jealous when you see her on my arm at the Summer’s Peak Ball.” Amos just sighed in response.

“Why do you even go to this school? Isn’t it supposed to have super restrictive entrance requirements?”

“My uncle teaches here so I didn’t have to bother with all that exam nonsense. He teaches one of the boring classes though: Arcane Agriculture.”

The clocktower bells rang, indicating the end of the hour. Professor Banton dismissed them with a reading assignment, which Amos quickly wrote down. He gathered up his supplies while Desmond simply stood up, not having bothered to take anything out of his backpack in this class. They filed to the door with the rest of the students.

Professor Ashdowne was waiting at the door as the students passed. “Ah, Mister Eagleye, I need a word with you for a moment if you please,” she said.

“Of course, Lady Ashdowne,” Amos said.

“Deny everything,” Desmond said in a stage whisper to Amos in front of the professor. “Tell her it wasn’t us. Make something up! I’ve got your back, no matter what you say!”

“That’s enough from you, Mister Tillman,” Professor Ashdowne said. “On to your next class now please.”

“I really have no idea what he’s talking about,” Amos said with a sigh as Desmond walked away chuckling to himself.

“I’m familiar enough with Mister Tillman’s antics to understand a joke, but thank you,” she said.

They found a spot in the castle hallway that didn’t have too many people rushing by on their way to the next class.

“As you’re no doubt aware we have two newly summoned students joining our Academy.”

“Of course, professor.”

“We would like to know if you’d be willing to have one of them as a roommate. I understand you’re rooming alone at the moment.”

“I actually prefer being alone, professor,” Amos admitted. “I find it easier to study that way.”

“A perfectly reasonable preference,” Professor Ashdowne said. “However we’d like to try helping the new students integrate here a bit easier. Seeing as how you’ve just gone through something similar yourself, it was the headmaster’s opinion that you might be the right choice for taking this boy under your wing.”

“The headmaster? If it’s a request from him then of course I’ll do it,” Amos said. “I just hope the new summon isn’t too distracting.”

“That settles it then,” the professor said. “I’ll let the headmaster know you’ve agreed to it. We’ll introduce you to the twins at dinner tonight. Your dorm room will be made ready for the brother to stay there tonight. Please do try to make him feel welcome at our school.”

“Yes, Professor Ashdowne. I’ll try my best to be friendly.”

She gave him a fond pat on the shoulder, then went on her way.

This guy better take things seriously though, Amos thought.

---

“Okay, so which would you rather meet? Whatever a man-shark Firefin that apparently wants to eat you, or whatever a Treewarden is that apparently has a bathroom situation so bad that you have to be warned never to even look in there? Personally I’d rather meet a Firefin, just not while I’m in the water.”

“At the moment, neither,” Elsie said. “I’d really like to meet more Sylvans though. Lady Marcelle is just so cute! A flying bumblebee person, I mean come on, that's adorable.”

“You do know she’s like eighty-five years old right? Sapphire told me she’s been teaching here for decades.”

“Then she’s an adorable old lady bumblebee person. All the better!”

“How long do you think Sylvans live anyway? Is she actually old? Maybe they live to be a thousand or something,” Aeric said.

“I doubt that, but you should totally be the one to ask. I’m sure the ‘never ask a woman about her age’ social convention doesn't apply in this world.”

There was a knock on the door.

“Come in,” Aeric and Elsie said in unison.

Lady Marcelle and Sapphire entered the room.

“It won’t be long before Professor Ashdowne is here to escort you to dinner. I still need to do Aeric’s final physical before I can give you a clean bill of health.”

Elsie stood up. “I’ll wait outside then. Shall we go, Sapphire?”

“Actually,” Lady Marcelle said, “Seeing as how Sapphire is under my training as a Sylvan mage, I invited her to assist. Performing physicals will be one of her duties soon enough.”

The twins looked between Marcelle and Sapphire for a brief moment. Marcelle was distracted writing on a small notepad. Sapphire was doing her best to keep an impassive face while avoiding eye contact. She had a slightly pink tinge to her cheeks though.

“Uhh,” Aeric said.

“You know, Lady Marcelle,” Elsie butted in. “On Earth we usually ask a patient if they’re comfortable having a doctor in training join in anything like this.”

Marcelle looked up from her notepad, confused. “Why wouldn’t someone be comfortable with this?”

Elsie cleared her throat. “It’s just, the physical you gave me earlier was very thorough. I just think my brother might feel uncomfortable having a girl around his age be in the room during something like that.”

“Ah, right. Human sensibilities,” Lady Marcelle said. “I believe I understand. Still though, Sapphire needs to learn how this is done, and many of our other patients are recovering from wounds that make it difficult to perform a proper physical. So if it’s alright with you, Aeric, we will proceed.”

“Couldn’t you have invited her to my physical instead?” Elsie asked.

“Do doctors only assist patients that are their same gender on Earth?” Marcelle said.

“Well no, but still he seems uncomfortable doesn’t he?”

Aeric hadn’t said anything, but his cheeks were growing redder the longer the conversation went.

Lady Marcelle buzzed her wings in exasperation. “Honestly, where is this protest even coming from?”

“It’s because he’s attracted to her!” Elsie blurted out. “He’s just too embarrassed to say anything about it.”

“Elsie!” Aeric said in a panic. His cheeks burned with embarrassment. He looked over at Sapphire. “It’s not true! Well I mean it is true, I do find you attractive. But what she said is. I mean-- It’s okay if-- What I’m trying to say is--.”

“Relax,” Sapphire said. “I don’t date students. Even if they do have air-dry only abs.” She gave a small smile. “But feel free to look me up when you graduate from the academy. Marcelle, I think it would be best if I sat this one out after all.”

“Agreed,” said Marcelle.

“Coming, Elsie?” Sapphire said while holding the door open.

“R-right,” Elsie said.

---

Elsie sat quietly in one of the waiting room chairs while Sapphire pretended to be busy with paperwork on her desk.

For a reason that was not apparent to Sapphire, Elsie instinctively turned her head and coughed.