"Two hundred-ninety seven…..two-hundred ninety-eight...two-hundred ninety-nine…"
Labored breaths came from Zain, along with counting. He was situated on his hands in the middle of the room, doing push-ups to warm his body up. His normal training routine.
"Three hundred!"
With a heavy breath he finished his set before standing up and stretching his arms. As he moved to loosen up his body more he let out a long sigh before walking into the shower and began cleaning himself off. Once he exited the bathroom he looked over to the uniform that rested on his door frame. A black formal suit stared back at him, along with dress pants and a pair of gloves. Zain stared at the set of clothing before walking towards it.
"With this, its become official. Starting now I'm a part of the advanced classes…" His eyes held determination in them as he began changing into his uniform. The fabric slid across his skin and fit him extremely well. His last step was to fasten the tie around his neck and hide it under the collar of his shirt.
"These classes should teach me more advanced ways to use magic. I can develop new spells while refining older ones, and build up my arsenal for the eventual battle…" Zain took in a deep breath to calm himself as his mind wandered to the leader of Osiris. If he wanted to take on such a powerful mage, he would need to grow exponentially stronger than he was at the moment. He had no idea how much time he had until they appeared yet again, but he planned to use every moment to better himself to increase his chances of survival.
"Let's hope these classes hold up to their reputation…" Zain muttered these words to himself before finally walking out from his apartment. The School of Suzaku was a large white building, standing in the center of Ashiya. During this time of day a multitude of students could be seen walking the many pathways that lead to the massive institute. The young mages all gathered together as a buzz of conversation stirred at the gates.
"Hey did you see what happened a couple days ago?" A random student spoke up to his friend.
"Hm? What do you mean?"
"One of the testing grounds was completely destroyed. Rubble was everywhere, so they had to postpone the opening ceremony. Look, there's still tarps left over from the repairs."
As Zain finally entered the school grounds, talk of the fight between him and Elise seemed to be a hot topic. It had taken a few days to recover from the intense battle, but the area in question had finally gotten back to a suitable condition for students to learn within its walls.
"What do you think could have caused so much damage?"
"What else? Two royals were probably fighting about something. I mean the area was pretty busted up."
Zain's eyes followed the students before he chose to move on. His feet took him towards the large auditorium where a sea of students sat down, awaiting whatever announcement came next. Rows upon rows of seats stretched out before him, yet he settled for one further in the back, and as he finally sat down, the lights in the room all turned to focus on the stage in the center. Out from the side came Zephyr, his posture straight and perfect as always. Over his shoulder was a floating white pearl that soon hovered closer to his mouth. A small clear of his throat was enough to gather the attention of everyone in the room.
"Good morning everyone, my name is Zephyr. I am the principal of this institute. I am here to provide a safe haven for you to grow in. A building where your latent abilities will be able to blossom and come forth."
Some students in the crowd began voicing their appreciation. They seemed eager to begin classes.
"This institute has served our country of Ashiya for many generations. It has created a multitude of young mages who would go on to serve higher purposes, and its ability to do such things has not waned.. However, one thing will have changed this year."
The speech had been well received amongst the students, that is until that last sentence of his.
"Some of you may have already realized it, but for those who have not, let me explain it to you now. For generations The School of Suzaku had only opened its gates to those of noble birth, in order to keep power within the hands of the powerful. This year, things will change. By the powers vested in me, as the Principal of The School of Suzaku, I have allowed those of humble birth to walk these halls, and learn from these teachers."
An uneasy uproar followed soon after he finished that quote. Obviously the sons and daughters of royal families in the seats were uncomfortable with this new information. They had hardly spent any time with those of lower status than them, unless it was their servants.
"I know this is a sudden shift compared to what you are normally used to." In an attempt to calm the masses Zephyr brought attention back to himself. "But, don't limit yourself by status and the things you were born with. We are all mages, born into the same world, and wielding the same beautiful phenomenon that is magic. I always envisioned those who were gifted from birth, and those who had to rise to the top could walk these halls together and learn from one another. This is that chance to widen your horizons and look at the world with a different view! Let us study together, to become the greatest version of yourself that you can be!"
A few students began clapping at his speech, yet the applause sounded quite empty despite the number of people in the room. Zain could even hear a scoff coming from a row or two in front of him.
"Like hell some low born person can ever amount to anything. Best thing they can do is serve royalty as soldiers or butlers. Other than that, they're practically useless."
Clearly those who were born into a higher status than the rest didn't take too fondly to this school having a mix of both commoners and royalty. Zain wasn't too keen on the idea of studying alongside those pompous sons and daughters of nobles either. Whenever he saw them he always remembered his time fighting in the future.
With the decline of the nations and mages dying left and right, every noble in Ashiya drafted all the commoners into the military. They were forced to fight under certain houses in order to "protect" their bloodline from ravenous demonic beast. The heads of the household even took direct charge of them while sending them off to fight. Yet all their leadership amounted to was killing off helpless souls who weren't powerful enough to fight toe to toe with entities that thrived off the mana in the air. It was meaningless bloodshed, and left a certain hatred for them in his heart. At the end of the day, all they cared about was keeping themselves alive, and even now, it seems that continues to be true.
"You all should have received your class schedule in the mail a number of days prior. Make sure to keep it with you until you get used to the commute." Zephyr continued on with his speech ignoring the awkward applause from earlier. "I know you all are eager to begin your first lessons, and to grow even further as a mage. So with that I wish to conclude. Welcome to the School of Suzaku."
With his speech over the students all began leaving the spacious area and each heading to their new classrooms. The sound of a paper flipping open reached Zain's ears as he looked down at his own list. His eyes skimmed over the writing on the sheet before continuing his walk down the hallway.
"Advanced mana control…" The name of his first class left his mouth as he continued down the hallway. He took note of the room number and found his way to the same classroom before entering the door. Once inside he saw a row of seats that elevated higher the further back it went, and a number of people sitting down while all facing forward.
"Ah, it seems we have one more student joining us." A gentle voice rang out and entered Zain's ears. His eyes shifted towards the front of the classroom to see a man with wavy long black hair look back at him. If Zain hadn't heard the slightly deep tone in his voice, he could have easily mistaken him for a woman. He had a strange beauty to him, light complexion and smooth skin. Along with a charm that could easily take anyone's breath away. His lips curled up into a smile as the light reflected off his glasses, before greeting Zain.
"You're just on time, I was about to take attendance. Please, take a seat anywhere, and when I call out your name, respond so I can match a face to a name."
Zain, without responding, heeded his words and began his climb up the rows of seats before finding his place near the back. With everyone seated, the professor at the front of the classroom stacked his note sheets before clearing his throat.
"Good morning renowned students, I am your professor Cassius Wolfsbane. But here, you may refer to me as Mr. Cassius. I will be here to guide you into the deeper, more…intimate levels of magic." As the word "intimate" left his mouth, a number of female students in the room blushed while listening in.
"However before we start, let me take attendance." His silky voice began reading over the names of students in the room, and everyone began replying to him one by one.
"Elise Wintry." Zain noticed as the name Wintry left his mouth, he gained a somewhat disturbing smile before having it vanish as no response was given.
"Hm? Is it possible she's not here? Being absent on her first day…I had expected more from a Wintry, but oh well." The disappointment in his voice was obvious, but he quickly moved on with calling out names before stopping. At the end of the list his eyes seemed to widen a bit before he happily called out-
"Zain…" His head looked up at the back of the room as he laid his eyes on the only person who hadn't responded to a name yet.
'So this is that rumored Black Mage that the headmaster was telling us about.' Cassius couldn't help but smile wider as he saw him. 'No no, relax…this isn't the time to be getting excited.'
After clearing his throat Cassius began walking up the rows of seats while speaking to Zain.
"Mr. Zain, my roster seems to have some sort of error. It must have printed your name out without giving your last name. I'm sure your distinguished classmates would love to get to know you. After all, you are the only Black Mage this school has."