The sun slowly rose up in the dark sky, causing golden rays to light up the horizon. Warm rays spread out as a result, causing many people to feel a wave of warmth. This signaled the start of a beautiful day, and many people started doing their daily activities. For these people, this really was a beautiful day.
A group of four people walked along a busy street. These four people had red eyes, and they exhibited symptoms caused by lack of sleep. They would yawn frequently, and they appeared very fatigued. Of course, there was one person in the group who looked weirder than the rest. His red eyes were natural, and he had various stitches on his face. The person's face looked pale.
As the group walked, no one said anything. There was a very awkward silence that was accompanied by yawns. When the group walked by, people couldn't help but stop and stare. Well, who could blame them?
"What a night! Next time remind me to buy a house in the capital!" Riza complained.
"Hmpf! Can you even afford it?" Reeve snorted.
"Well … no, not really."
"So why are you even bringing it up?" asked Eskaria, happy to join in the roast.
"Hey, look, there's a spider in your hair!" responded Riza, pointing at Eskaria's hair.
Eskaria jumped into Reeve's arms with loud yelp. Riza chuckled when she saw this. As for Soren, he would kill just to have some sleep. Unfortunately, they had to leave early, since the journey from the inn to the school was fairly large.
Since they hadn't had much sleep, thanks to a certain someone, Soren was sure that he would be sleeping if he ever gets the chance to sit down. It wasn't his fault. No one deserved to be punished in this way. To make matters worse, Riza and Eskaria were joking about it. This made Soren feel a bit angry.
They finally arrived at school, after some time. This time, they didn't hire a carriage, and this was partly because Riza refused to pay for the trip. Thanks to the expensive rooms at the inn, they were running out of money.
"So, how are we going to solve the accommodation issue?" asked Riza. She continued, "We can't keep staying at inns either!"
"I guess we might have to visit Soren's uncle", Reeve replied with a slight chuckle.
Soren remained silent, as they walked into the school gates. He was too tired to rebuke Reeve. They had spent most of their time traveling around the capital, it wasn't his fault that his body needed some rest. The problem was that he didn't know what his father's friend would do when they met. He still remembered what had happened that night… and it wasn't pretty!
Knowing that this had happened, why would someone get involved in something like this? He wasn't thrilled at the prospect of finding out.
"Excuse me, where can we find the principal's office?" asked Reeve, stopping a student who was wearing a yellow robe.
The student hesitated, and revealed a look of surprise when she saw Reeve's face. It seemed as if he still had that effect on people, and it wasn't a good one! Riza stepped up and asked the question, which the student answered with vague directions.
After the student had left, Eskaria asked, "Umm … did anyone understand the directions?"
Everyone shook their heads. Reeve spoke, "This might be a good opportunity to tour the school. What do you think?"
Before anyone could reply, a group of students handing out pamphlets of sorts came by. Each student was wearing green robes, but there were a few who were wearing yellow robes. As these students passed by the group, they immediately stopped.
"Excuse me, is there anything we can help you with?" asked one student, who was also wearing a green robe. He had short, black hair, and a fairly large nose.
"Ah, yes. Would you be so kind as to give us directions to the principal's office?" asked Reeve.
"Why, of course. Right this way", with that, the student led the way.
"What kind of pamphlets are you handing out?" asked Soren.
"I'm part of the group of worshippers under the temple of Malum. We're recruiting more students to participate in the coming ritual of …"
"Wait, why would anyone willingly join the temple of Malum?" interrupted Riza, with a puzzled expression.
"There are a lot of benefits to joining the temple of Malum. You see, for freshmen like us, we need protection. Besides, as long as you are part of the temple, you can… Where are my manners? My name is Laria Cromwell. My twin sister and I recently joined the school."
"My name is Reeve, and this is Eskaria, Soren and Rizaneth. We're here to join the school."
"Is that so? That explains why you aren't wearing the uniform. I thought it was odd", spoke Laria, as he scratched his head.
They arrived at the principal's office, which was situated at the top floor. Laria knocked gently on the door, and a smooth voice answered.
"Good morning sir. I have brought some people who wish to study magic here", said Laria, when they were inside the luxurious office.
Reeve couldn't help but look around the office. There was a large wooden cabinet filled with books on the left side. On the other side, there was a giant sphere, which Reeve thought looked like a globe, for some weird reason.
"Eh? We meet again", spoke the principal, as he stood up.
"Rokkai? Eh … should we call you sir Rokkai? You are the principal?" asked Reeve.
"Call me Professor Rokkai. Yes, indeed I am. Welcome to Artemine Elemental Academy, the only school of magic in Vyren", replied Rokkai with a smile.
"I'll be taking my leave sir", said Laria.
"That's okay. By the way, can you call Professor Kyrra for me?"
"As you wish sir", he replied and left.
"So, you want to learn magic? Has anyone among you awakened?" asked Rokkai, as he motioned the group to take some seats. There were some chairs inside the office, and fortunately everyone found one.
"Yes, only one person. Him", replied Reeve, pointing at Soren, who was now dozing.