Viola yawned and noticed the books piled on Amy's desk and the amount of reading she is doing.
"You're working quite hard, aren't you?" she shuddered.
"Classes aren't gonna teach us anything new for a while so I'm gonna start teaching myself in the meantime."
Viola looked at the books she's reading. "Wow, these books are really advanced."
Amy nodded while still keeping her eyes on her study material and writes down notes on her notebook.
"I'm bored. Let's spar." Amy looked up to see Rufus and Leon approaching them.
Amy groaned. "Not now. Can't you see, I'm studying?"
Rufus picked up the top book.
"Jeez, you are already reading this stuff? You have to at least be a fourth year to learn this."
"Some of the classes so far are quite anticlimactic so I'm learning everything I want to learn while I'm here. I don't have the patience to wait." she grumbled.
"How long have you been in here?" Amy looked at the nearby clock. "Six hours," she noted.
"Six?! And you're still working? Did you have dinner?"
Amy froze in realization. "No, I guess I didn't."
Leon sighed and pulled her up. "We came to visit because we didn't see you. Let's get you some food before you starve yourself."
Amy marked her book and collected everything before she is led by her friends to the dining hall.
In the distance, someone was watching them.
*
Ever while eating, Amy is still reading.
"Jeez, what is interesting about reading a bunch of old texts anyway?" Leon grumbled. "You're not even paying attention to me."
Amy looked up from her book to give an incredulous look at Leon. The dining hall is mostly empty but the food is still piping hot and ready for them to eat.
"Unlike you, I actually care about the things I learn and the magic academy is the only place right now that I could get all that."
Viola glared at Leon. "Yeah, leave her alone. Amy is hardworking unlike you."
Leon was taken aback and mockingly gasped, "How dare you! I am your prince."
Everyone snickered in response.
Amy finished eating and froze at an unfamiliar presence. That's him, isn't it? The assassin.
Amy has a weapon hidden on her person in case something like this happens but she is not turning the dining hall into a battlefield.
"I'm done, guys. Let's go back." she said and pushed herself out of her seat.
"I'll help you carry the books." Rufus says in his usual soft, polite tone and carried some of the books while Amy got her other possessions.
While the four of them head back, Amy whispered to Rufus. "Someone's following us."
He nodded.
In the distance, there is a person who snuck up to the stalker and strangled him which resulted in a snapped neck.
*
Her things are at her desk and she continued to study. The dorm is surprisingly more protected than she'd thought. There are two layers of barriers. One that keeps intruders out and another that alerts the authorities when trespassed.
The door was knocked, "Amaryllis!" it opened to a girl with orange hair. "I heard you have questions."
This is Amelia Licht. She is a third year in the academy and is from a Viscount family. She is actually one of the professors in the Story of Aron. She is notorious for her fiery personality and being Leon's biggest hater but she does listen to him and honored his request to protect Aron and to make the school system as honest as possible. She is a good teacher and protector while Aron was in school.
"Yeah, I have a question about inscription magic. It says here that-"
Her specialty is Magic circles. They are used in teleportation or magic which requires mixing two or more different kinds together. That power saved Aron and his friends countless times.
"Oh yeah, magic circles are tricky in that way. To start, you need to create specialized ink."
"Ink?"
"Yes, by imbuing your ink with magic, you can create a magic circle but its use depends on the ink's durability. For example, if you want to make a magic circle which involves fire, you need to make it heat resistant."
"What about teleportation?"
Amelia paused for a bit before marveling. "You're already eleven years old. It's already impressive that you know this but teleportation is a skill that even expert mages have trouble figuring out." she thought for a moment, "Teleportation is a tricky process but you need ink with spatial malleability. If you insist on studying that then I recommend reading on Helga's Great Distance first. She discusses the laws of magic involving space, time and light much better than I could."
Amy nodded and went back to work as Amelia leaves. She looked at her rudimentary magic circle. Her first start is to design it. Imagination is key. It isn't about adding runes or inscriptions. It is experimentation, uniqueness, and surprisingly, confidence and faith. As an angel's descendant, she has a higher chance of making a new circle this way.
It resembles overlapping petals in a circular design similar to a lotus flower. In its center are runes in an epithet; Hecate. That is what she is calling it after goddess of boundaries.
*
Meanwhile Leon and Rufus are staring at the strangled figure unimpressed.
"How did you do it?" Leon asked, "How did you sense him? Even Vivi wasn't able to."
"Amaryllis did. She told me we were being followed."
Leon stared in surprise. "Did mother ask her to protect me?"
"Yes,"
"She doesn't have sensory powers like Vivi so how on earth-"
"Amaryllis has her ways. She's strong. For now, it's best not to question it. The queen personally asked her to protect you. It is best to know that she's at least keeping watch from a distance."
Leon can't help but feel suspicious. "I trust you guys but there's something not right about this."
"Should we report this? It's hard to tell where he came from. They might be able to find something if they looked."
He then stared at the corpse as it disappeared in front of them.
Rufus spun around, alarmed. "Are you crazy! We should've report this."
"No," he replies darkly. "If anyone caught wind of this then I will be kicked out of this school faster than a royal edict arrives. Not to mention, it happened on the first day." He then headed back to the dorm. "Tell Ryllis that it's been taken care of and keep quiet."
Rufus nodded and the pair headed back.