A couple weeks passed after his first encounter with Daniel, and Kazama’s reputation had not improved. It was during that desperate time when a stranger approached Kazama. With his purple hood and robes, Kazama guessed that he wasn’t a real student. Nevertheless, Kazama accepted the stranger’s invitation while he was sitting alone during lunch. The sight of him being led away by a robed stranger turned a few heads, including Daniel’s.           

The stranger stopped before one of the school’s greatest mysteries: a stairwell that lead to a dead-end. They both passed through the dead-end wall without any resistance. After they left, Daniel stepped out from his hiding spot and adjusted his glasses with shaking hands. Placing curiosity before reason, he followed them through the wall.             

On the other side was…the same empty stairwell. Daniel was about to write everything off as a dream when he noticed one major difference. The dim lightbulb above the stairs had been replaced by a floating ball of light. Daniel stared at it, as if the glowing orb would suddenly make sense on its own. The longer he stared, the more certain he was. It was just as unexplainable as the wall that brought him here.             

Daniel descended the stairs and made his way back to the cafeteria. The moment he crossed the threshold, his jaw dropped. Finely carved wooden tables, dishes he’d never heard of, glowing orbs that danced across the ceiling, it was like something out of a fantasy novel. The colorful scene nearly made him fall to his knees.           

Just like his cafeteria, there were students at every table. Unlike his cafeteria, these students wore robes of various colors. Daniel spied Kazama at one corner of the room. He stood out like a sore thumb in his uniform. Daniel moved in closer, painfully aware that he didn’t belong here either.           

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“You’re a wizard, Kazama!” The purple robed student exclaimed.           

“No, no I am not.”           

“You have the potential.” The student shrugged. “Well, I’m just here to extend an invitation. If you want to enroll, we’ll be waiting.”           

Kazama turned around to leave when he spotted Daniel hiding behind a banner.           

“Daniel? Did you follow me in here?”           

Daniel looked at the ground and nodded.           

“So, I guess you’re going to wizard school from now on?” Daniel chuckled awkwardly.           

“No.” Kazama replied flatly. “We’re both leaving. Now.”           

“What!? WHY?”           

“Because, I don’t want to be a wizard.”

“Well, we could at least look around. How can you not be moved, seeing something surreal like this?”

“I’d rather be back in our cafeteria.” Kazama retorted. He began to walk away.

“Who are you trying to impress?” Daniel shot back.

Kazama stopped and turned around.

“You’d rather go back and finish your lunch alone? Fine. But this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance for me, and I won’t toss it aside.”

Daniel stomped over to one end of the cafeteria and filled a gilded tray to the brim with exotic foods. Then, he sat down at an empty table and began wolfing it down. Kazama hesitated for a while, and then filled his own tray.

“Mmm, what is this meat? Is it chicken or snake?”

“It tastes like cockatrice.”

“Interesting…Wait, how do you know what that tastes like?”

“It’s kind of a long story.” Kazama looked away.

“Spill it.” Daniel ordered.

Visiting the wizard’s cafeteria became a daily ritual for the two. At least, until the school found out that Kazama had no intention of becoming a wizard. After that, the dead-end wall started living up to its name, and Kazama and Daniel were relegated to a lonely table in their standard cafeteria. However, while he listened to Daniel complain about stingy wizards, Kazama felt like this food tasted better than he remembered.