My eyes open to fluorescent tubes buzzing above me. Their stark, yellow light assault my senses, giving me an intense headache.
I look around and see about twenty beds lined along the walls of the long but narrow room. The beds are all made in the same way with the same white bedsheets, pillowcases and blankets folded up and stacked at the foot of each bed. I'm not sure but based on the sober, clean look and the white long robe I woke up in, this must be the infirmary.
Did they bring me here after the test? What happened to Lysa? What was that voice in my head? Was that real? How did I cast Fireball without actually saying 'Fireball'? What feels like a hundred questions start popping up in my head, giving me the most intense headache I've ever had.
"How are you feeling?" someone says. I look to the door and see headmaster Axeash standing there, looking at me. "You look like you just gave yourself a headache form thinking too much."
"Can't say you're wrong about that. Where am I?"
"The infirmary. You passed out right after crossing the finish line the day before yesterday."
The day before yesterday? I slept through an entire day?
"What do you remember?" she comes over and sits down on a stool next to my bed. I think back to the test and images start popping up. Images of myself, Jake, and Lysa fighting that strong Beast.
"How is Lysa? Is she okay?"
"She's fine. Some bruised ribs and a cracked lip but nothing our healer couldn't handle. You, however, were a different story entirely."
"How do you mean? Did something happen after I passed out?"
"Not exactly. Something happened but it wasn't after you passed out. When our healer tried to take care of your cuts and scrapes, she felt you had used up nearly all of your magic."
My father warned me about this when I first started practicing spells with him. I remember his words like they were spoken only yesterday. 'If a person's magical energy reserve is completely used up, it sometimes causes them to lose the ability to channel it entirely, so don't you go casting fireball at every bug you find.'
I quickly channel some magic in the palm of my hand and whisper 'Illuminate'. A small, flickering orb of light appears in my left hand.
"Guess I got lucky then."
"If I were you I wouldn't use magic for a while. At least not until you have fully recovered. It is surprising that you would run out of magic so quickly, since you only used four spells total. Even someone without a Beast should manage to use about ten on average without running out of magic. Do you have any idea as to what happened?"
This must have something to do with that voice I heard. I'm not too keen on sharing this with the headmaster though, she'll think I'm crazy.
"No headmaster, I wish I did so I could know what I did wrong. It's very strange."
"Hmmmm, yes. Strange indeed." She looks at me inquisitively. I wonder if she knows I'm hiding something. "If you ever find out, please do let me know. It'd be a shame if any other students lost their ability to channel magic because of something that can be prevented."
"I definitely will." I doesn't feel good to lie, but telling her I heard a voice in my head, then cast magic without an incantation might do more harm than good.
"Now, on to other matters. As you have undoubtedly realized by now, all three of you passed the test, which means you are now officially enrolled at Beast Handler academy. While we have enough availability for all three of you, our rooms only offer enough space for two students each, meaning that two of you will share a room while the other will be given a room with another student. I have asked the other two this question, and I assume that based on how Mister Samael acted during the test, that your answer will be the same as theirs but I will ask you anyway. Do you want to share a room with miss Whitlock, mister Samael or the other room with someone you do not yet know?"
Oh right, Jake ditched us during the test to save his own skin. I'm not really all that interested in being his friend, let alone sharing a room with him after that. So the question is, do I want to share a room with someone I don't know yet, or Lysa. This really is a no-brainer for me.
"I'd like to share a room with Lysa."
"Great. Miss Whitlock said the same thing so, now that that's settled, -" She pulls out a small iron keychain from the pockets of her long, grey coat and hands it to me. On the keychain are a normal room key and a tag with the number 17 carved into it, which I'm guessing is our room number.
"You and Lysa will be sharing room number 17 on the third floor of the dormitories. Please hold out your hand."
I extend my arm and she grabs my thumb, pulls out a pin from her hair and pricks my thumb. A small, dark red droplet of blood forms on it and she presses my thumb to the key. The moment my blood touches the key, it starts vibrating and some sort of inscription suddenly forms on it. Letter by letter, I see my name appearing on the bow of the small key. It's so small that the letters are hardly readable unless you hold it close to your eye.
"At this school we infuse your rooms and room keys with barrier magic. This key is now yours and can only be used by you. If someone else were to get a hold of your key, they would not be able to enter your room, not even your roommate. I believe I don't need to stress how important it is that you don't lose your key?"
Every day, the magic they use in the capital surprises me more than it did the day before.
"Wow, that's amazing. Thank you miss Axeash." This barrier magic is really amazing, but given that it seems so commonly used around the school and capital, I wonder why I've never even heard of it. Surely my parents must have known about its existence?
"Both you, miss Whitlock and mister Samael will not be expected to attend any classes yet today. Tomorrow will be the start of what I can only hope will be a very bright and promising academic career for you three. Things like your books and class schedule will be delivered to your room later today.
Do you have any questions?"
"Not concerning the school books, no. There is one thing I noticed from right before the test that was curious to me. When your Beast, Talon, came over to us and started smelling us, she was judging us, right?
"That's right. I'm impressed you knew."
"So then when she went to Lysa and bowed, or hissed at Jake, it meant she accepted Lysa and didn't like Jake, right?
"Right on both accounts."
"So then, what did it mean when she put her head on my shoulder, and how did you immediately know who I was because of it?"
"You are quite a perceptive young man. Even when faced with a powerful Griffin like Talon, you remained attentive to the behavior and actions of those surrounding you."
"It's common knowledge that a Griffin has the ability to determine a person's character by their smell, isn't it?"
"While that's true amongst those who graduated from this academy, the same cannot be said for most of its students. How different Beasts behave is something that is taught to students during their third year. The fact that you know this already tells me that Amos has done a splendid job teaching you."
"Amos? You know my father?"
"I knew your father very well. In fact, your father, professor Russell and I used to attend the academy together. We were the top three candidates in our year to become an Ascensori but, more importantly, we were best friends. Talos' reaction to you was one rooted deeply in nostalgia." I never knew my father was friends with the school's headmaster. Then again, he didn't even know Rusty is a professor now, so maybe he doesn't know that his other friend is now the headmaster.
"Both us and our Beasts sparred regularly so when Talos smelled you, he was reminded of the day Snow passed. She felt truly sad. Putting her head on your shoulder was her way of trying to comfort you. I had heard that Amos' son would be amongst the new students, but that's how I knew which one of you was Elliott."
Memories of Snow come flooding back. How we used to play together in the forest behind our house. How my mom never got mad at me for staying out late, because she knew I'd be safe when Snow was with me. How we curled up in front of the fire together. For a long time, Snow was my best, and only, friend. I'm so overwhelmed by my memories that I can't help but tear up a little bit. I wipe away my tears before they roll down my cheek so the headmaster doesn't see me cry.
"So you, my dad and Rust-" the headmaster raises her eyebrows, "I mean professor Russell, were best friends back when your were young?"
"Do you mean to say I'm not young anymore?"
"No that's not what I meant, I uhm…" Dear god I just called my headmaster old.
"I'm just messing with you, calm down. I know I'm no spring chicken. The three of us were best friends, but we were also rivals. Challenging each other every chance we got, trying to get the top spot in the school's ranking. Speaking of which, I still wanted to talk about what your current place in the third year's ranking will be. We decided it would only be fair to give the three of you a rank based on your performances during the test. While that isn't very much to go on, you'll have plenty of chances to prove your worth should you feel that your given rank is not acceptable.
For starters, both you and Lysa managed to injure Talon which means you will be given a higher ranking than Jake, who didn't manage to do the same. Your rank will be 16 while Lysa's will be 21. Jake is at 37. If you are interested in becoming an Ascensori like your father, I suggest you start studying and training because by the time challenge week comes around, I have a feeling a lot of students will want to challenge you."
I nod my head and sit up on the side of the bed. My feet touch the cold stone floor and as I try to stand up, my legs shake a little. Probably because I just laid in bed for 2 days straight. At first I hold on to the nightstand beside my bed so I won't fall over, but in a few minutes I think I'll be good to go. I'm kind of excited to explore the capital today, but I'm more excited for classes tomorrow.
"If I were you, I'd take another hour of rest but I understand if you want to get out of here and explore. For now, I have some other matters to attend to. Take care of yourself and see you in eight weeks."
"Eight weeks?" I ask, but headmaster Axeash offers me no answer, only a sly smile while she exits the room and shuts the door behind her. Inside the nightstand, I find the clothes I wore during the test. They were clearly washed and neatly folded on top of each other, but my t-shirt has seen better days. Looks like it got ripped up at the bottom.
Once I'm dressed, I walk up to one of the windows and look out onto the courtyard. I think it's the middle of the lunch break, because I see students walking around everywhere, in and out of the academy entrance on the left, talking and laughing without a care in the world. They aren't wearing their own clothes like they were when I got here. Now, they're wearing what looks like some sort of school uniform. Judging from how high up I am and that I see the theoretical classes building on the other side of the courtyard, the infirmary must be above where our hand-to-hand combat and magic practice will be taught. I leave the infirmary, head down and out of the building, onto the courtyard and in the direction of the dorms. As soon as step outside, the warmth from the sun prickles my skin. I can't help but feel rejuvenated from it when suddenly, I hear a group of students to the left whispering and giggling. One of the girls pushes another one of her friends towards me and she slowly starts approaching me. Her long brown hair is woven into a long braid that ends at her waist, and the grey color of her school uniform blends well with her paler skin. She seems nervous.
"H-h-hi, nice to meet you…" she says, awkwardly and shyly. She's exactly what I imagine would be the opposite of Lysa.
"Hey, nice to meet you too.
"D-did you heal up okay after fighting the headmaster's Beast?"
"I'm still a little sore but I should be fine in a few days."
She sighs deeply, "That's good, I'm relieved. W-w-when you passed out after the test, I was a little worried about you."
"Uhm, thanks, I guess? I'm sorry but have we met before?"
"OH NO, sorry. My name is Gloria. I'm a second-year student. I helped my mother, the academy's healer, tend to your injuries after your battle with the headmaster's Griffin."
"Well, thanks for your help Gloria. My name is-"
"ELLIOTT!" someone screams so loud that almost everyone on the courtyard turns their head. A loud voice, long red hair and what I would call a 'fiery' attituder? There's only one person I know that matches that description perfectly, and boy am I glad to see she's doing good.
"Dude, don't ever scare me like that again." She punches my arm, but I know she was just worried.
"Calm down, I'm fine and-"
"Oh shush, I know you're fine. I'm talking about how I thought I would have to share a room with that asshole Jake." Should've known that's what she meant. "You did agree to be my roommate, right?"
"Duh. Did you think I'd rather share a room with Jake?"
"You're lucky. If you did, I would have had to kick your ass. Okay then, let's go see our room."
Lysa takes me by the hand and pulls me towards the dormitories.
"I was kind of in the middle of a conversation there, Lysa."
"Shut up, this is more important."
I wave goodbye to Gloria and she goes back to her group of friends, who are still giggling.
Lysa and I enter the dormitories and go up to the third floor, our floor, and start looking for our room. We get to the door and notice that it's already open. Lysa enters first and the room looks pretty basic. There are two beds, each on opposite sides of the room with a nightstand beside them. In between the beds, underneath the window, there are two desks side by side.
Other than that and the built-in cupboards for our clothes, there's not much else in the room. On one of the desks is an envelope. I grab it and feel something inside, like two small rocks about the size of peas. Lysa quickly grabs it from my hands and empties its contents on the desk. A letter falls out along with two translucent stones.
I grab the letter and start reading it out loud.
"Lysa and Eli,"
I already know who its from.
"Congratulations on your performances during the entrance test! You showed all the others students as well as the faculty members why you should attend Beast Handler academy, and that you deserve a chance to bond with a Beast of your own. Well done!
Enclosed with this letter, you will find two gemstones. A small gift from me to you so that your third schoolyear (or should I say your first) can start in high spirits. You're probably thinking something along the lines of 'what the hell are we going to do with two stupid rocks', huh? Well, think again. These two 'stupid' rocks are also known as Animite. These will prove very valuable in your near future as they are the key ingredient in creating your very own dimensional bracelets, like the one you saw headmaster Axeash use with Talon.
As you can imagine, they are not common among third-year students, so I suggest you keep these gemstones secret from your classmates, lest they be stolen by one of the less 'law abiding' students.
Take the rest of the day to rest up, or maybe visit the capital and become familiar with your surroundings. Who knows what you'll find.
Good luck and see you soon.
Professor Russell Whitlock"
"Okay maybe your dad isn't as much of a loser like I thought he was. These pieces of Animite are an amazing gift."
"Oh no don't worry about it. While the gift is awesome, he's still a loser. He even signed a letter to his daughter with 'Professor Russell Whitlock'. Who does that?" Lysa jokes. "How about we find a place to hide these rocks until we can actually find a way to use them."
"Good idea."
We start looking around the room for a place to hide them, when I notice that one of the floorboards underneath the bed on the left is a little crooked and bent. I gently wiggle the small piece of wood loose from the floor and, judging by how easily I can take it out, another student must have used it as a hiding place before us. I wonder what they wanted to keep hidden.
"Did you find something?"
"Yeah, looks like we can hide it under here."
"Nice! This is perfect."
I rip off a small piece of fabric from my already torn t-shirt and carefully wrap the stones in it.
After hiding the Animite in the hole in our floor, I put the loose piece of wood back.
"Looks good as new. What do you say we head into town?" Lysa asks.
"Sure, sounds good."
We walk out of the room and I lock the door behind us. Once we reach the courtyard, the bell rings, and students all over the courtyard start heading back inside. Lysa and I, however, don't. We head straight for the academy's entrance and right before the gate, I stop. "Is there really no other way for us to leave the academy? I'm really not looking forward to passing through that barrier again."
"Aerith said we'd get used to it after a while, so maybe it'll be better this time?"
"Only one way to find out, I guess."
At the same time, we walk through the gate and I feel my body pass through the barrier. The unbearable pain I remember well from last time comes rushing back and both of us drop to our knees. There's no way it's normal for us to have to endure this every time we leave the academy grounds. Just like last time, the pain starts to fade after about thirty seconds and we both get up.
"See, that wasn't so bad." Lysa says, huffing from exerting herself trying not to scream. Underneath that bravado, its clear she was in just as much pain as I was.
"Uhu, sure. Nothing to it." I joke back at her, even though both of us are clearly in pain.
We start walking towards the center of town, following the same road we did on the cart with Rusty, and quickly reach main street. Everywhere along the road are dozens upon dozens of merchants, trying to make a living by selling their merchandise. I see everything from fresh fruits and vegetables, to brand new weapons or pieces of armor. It's surprising to me how many shops are selling weapons and armor in a city that hasn't seen even a glimpse of war since the attempted coup d'état 24 years ago on Crownfall day.
"Excuse me young students. Sorry for bothering you but you two were with Aerith a couple of nights ago, weren't you?"
It's the old woman from the inn we slept in when we first got to the capital. 'The White Lady' I think it was called.
"Yes, we were." Lysa responds, "and you were the innkeeper, right? Wasn't your name Grisel?"
"You remember? I'm surprised since we only met that one time. What are two young students like you doing wandering around main street during school hours? You're not skipping class already, are you?" she says with a sly smile on her face. It gives me the impression she must have skipped class once or twice while at the academy.
"No not at all. Long story short, the two of us have got the day off today so we decided to walk through main street, see the sights and visit the shops. Anyway, where's your fairy?"
"Oh yes little Fae doesn't like to come along when I go grocery shopping. He finds it extremely tedious and boring. You know, if you're having trouble deciding what shops to visit, may I recommend you start with dear old Orcreus' jewelry store? He's the best around you know."
"That's not a bad idea actually. What do you think Eli?" Lysa winks at me. I get it. She wants to see if we can't find something we can wear to put our Animite in.
"Works for me. Would you please show us the way?"
"Of course dearies, don't you worry, it's right up ahead. We're very close by, it's just around the corner."
After walking quite a while away from main street, it's safe to say we're officially out of that area. Around us, most of the buildings look like they haven't been lived in for a while, and the people here look more downtrodden and sad than on main street. We arrive at a small, narrow shop that could be easily missed if you didn't know it was here. The window- and doorframes are pained a greenish color, paint peeling off in most places. Above the wooden door is a small, inconspicuous sign that says 'Orcreus' jewels and gems'.
"Here you are young'uns, I'll leave you to your shopping. See you later and take care!"
"Thanks Grisel! See you again soon." Lysa says. "What a nice lady, I like her."
"You sure about that? She didn't exactly lead her to the nicest part of town."
To the side of the road are multiple people, begging any passersby for food or money. Lysa clearly doesn't care, she just goes ahead and opens the door. Since my head still hurts from walking through the school barrier, the shop's high-pitched bell is quite painful. A man walks out of the back of the shop and greets us. "Hello young ones, my name is Orcreus. How may I assist the young couple today? Maybe you are interested in buying your girlfriend a necklace?" he asks. "I have quite the large assortment, appropriate for any occasion."
"Oh, no we're not together, just friends."
I look over at Lysa, who quickly turns her head the opposite direction and starts looking at jewels and gems.
"I do apologize young sir, madam. How may I help you today?"
"We're third-years at Beast Handler academy and we were wondering if you have any jewelry that could fit a small gemstone inside of it. Do you have anything like that?"
"But of course, we have multiple items that could fit that description. Let's see here, right this way please."
The shopkeeper leads us to one of the glass cupboards at the back of the store. Inside are multiple rings, necklaces and bracelets, all with small indentations that could fit a gemstone.
"So how much would it actually cost to fit a gem inside one of these?"
"There would be a few things to take into account, like the quality and rarity of the jewelry and the gem, whether the gemstone that needs to be fitted in the jewelry is provided by the customer or by the shop itself. It would also depend on how gravely the gemstone itself would need to be recut in order to fit the jewelry."
The door bell suddenly rings, and someone enters the shop. They're wearing baggy clothes and a dark grey hood with a red scarf around their neck, obscuring most of their face. Whoever they are, they're just walking around the shop slowly, looking at the wares.
"I'll be right with you." The shopkeeper tells his new customer, who just nods back in response.
"If I may be so bold, what type of gemstone did you have in mind?"
I step closer to the shopkeeper and whisper. "Can we count on your discretion?"
"Of course sir! Without discretion I would no longer be in business."
"Animite."
"Oh dear, quite a rare gemstone indeed. I'm afraid that for a gemstone of that rarity your price would be on the very high side. Of course, the total price still depends on the piece of jewelry you want it fitted into, so if you buy a low quality piece of jewelry, you might be able to keep the price manageable."
While the shopkeeper continues explaining everything to Lysa and me, I look at the other person who entered the shop. Their back's turned to me and they're leaning on one of the display counters, tapping their fingers on the display's tempered glass. Occasionally, they glance at us over their shoulder. I don't trust them.
They walk back towards the exit and I notice their hands gently and subtly graze some of the cheaper earrings and necklaces on one of those revolving display stands. "Hey Orcreus, do you know who that person is?" I whisper, interrupting his explanation.
"I do not." At that point, Orcreus heads towards the person. "May I help you with something?" The moment Orcreus approaches them, they immediately dart towards the door and exit the shop and I run after them. I shout to Lysa "Stay here, I'll be right back."
All the while, Orcreus looks at his wares, and just before I leave the shop I hear him say, "Oh no not again!"
I start running after them and quickly feel some of the aftereffects from fighting Talon. I bite through the ache in my muscles and start catching up. They're ahead of me by quite some distance, but that won't stop me now. After a while we're back at main street, and they start knocking over stalls and carts, throwing various fruits at me to try to slow me down but I dodge and manage to grab their scarf. We both fall to the ground and a few necklaces fall out of their pockets. The thief gets back up, quickly darting down a small alley and disappearing into the darkness, leaving the stolen wares and their scarf behind . Guess I should just be glad I got the jewelry back. I head back to the shop and help the merchants put their stalls back up on the way.
"Elliott! What happened?" Orcreus and Lysa came running after me.
"I didn't catch the thief, though I did manage to get back what they stole."
I return the necklaces to Orcreus.
"Thank you very much young man. I don't know what I would have done if they managed to get away again.
"Does this happen often? Lysa asks.
"There's a gang of thieves that has been terrorizing all of main street. We've all been robbed multiple times before, though usually it isn't until after the thieves have left that we even notice something's missing. By then it's too late to even try to catch them. Our capital's guards have been unable to uncover their identities because of their sneaky way of stealing."
"That's horrible. Is there really nothing you can do?"
"It truly is awful. That group of thieves are exactly the reason you see so many weapon shops here. Since the guards aren't doing anything to stop them, people are starting to take matters into their own hands. Anyway, I shouldn't be bothering you with all of this. It isn't something two young students such as yourselves need to be concerned about. Let's move on to the matter of payment."
"Payment? What are you talking about?" Lysa asks Orcreus.
"I can't very well let your friend here chase down a thief for me and then not pay him back for it, can I? By the way, what are your names?"
"I'm Lysa, and this fella right here is Elliott, but you can just call him Eli."
"Though I'd really rather you didn't." I quickly add.
"It's nice to officially meet you, Lysa and Elliott. Now, the only thing I can offer you is one item from my shop for free, or if you prefer, I'll waive the cost of recutting your piece of Animite."
"Are you sure about this? That's a pretty big reward."
"Yes young man, I'm sure. Maybe now that you managed to get something of theirs, the guards will have a new lead in their investigation. Hopefully, after almost getting caught, the thieves will stay away for a while, at least I hope they will. Regarding your reward, you don't have to decide what you want right now. Just come visit the shop whenever you've made up your mind. I'll be leaving you now, can't leave my shop alone for much longer. May I take the scarf with me? I'll hand it over to the guards later." I hand Orcreus the scarf.
"If anything happens again, come find us at the academy. We'll help in whichever way we can and don't worry about paying us or anything. We'll be glad to help out. I insist." Lysa says.
"I'm lucky to have met you youngsters today. If I hadn't, who knows what else the thief would have gotten away with."
A bell rings in the distance, exactly the same as this afternoon. We're quite far away from the academy, yet the bell can be heard clearly from way over here.
"Guess you two had better get going. Don't want any of your teachers getting mad now, would you?"
"Right. We'll be back soon.
"Take care, Elliott and Lysa. And thank you again." Orcreus says as he heads back to his shop. Lysa and I head back in the direction of the academy.
After the pain in our bodies from passing through the academy barrier largely subsides, Lysa and I head to the cafeteria for dinner. We see Ronnie and Sophia sitting at a table with a few other first-years. Even though they're not actually saying anything, it's good to see they're making some friends. They wave at us and some of the other first-years give them funny looks for it.
Once we finish our meals, we decide to head back to the dormitories. The floor of our dorm looks very different compared to this afternoon. A lot of the rooms are left open with students going in and out as they please, hanging out and talking. Most students still ignore Lysa and me as we walk through the hallway towards our room, and those that don't look at us like we're something to be avoided. I don't know why but aside from Gloria this afternoon, none of them have expressed any interest in socializing with us.
We get to our room and in front of our door is a big box. I open the door and lift the box. It's quite heavy and I can hear something shuffling around inside.
As soon as we're inside, Lysa shuts the door behind her.
"What do you think is in here?" I ask.
Lysa shrugs "Open it."
I start to pull the tape off and part of the cardboard sticks to the tape, ripping it with a satisfying sound. Once the box is open, Lysa throws the ripped-off tape in the garbage and I open the box. Inside are our schoolbooks. One by one we take them out of the box and spread them out across our desks. 'Spells & Enchantments', 'Behavioral analysis of Beasts' and 'Beast anatomy', 'The Origin of Hedal', 'Magical myths or Mythical magics', 'The comprehensive Guide to Magical Defense' and 'Affinities: Magic & Beasts'. Once all the books are out of the box, we find our school uniforms at the bottom with 2 small booklets on top of them. It looks like they can't have more than 10 pages total. On the front it reads 'Schedule and regulations' on the front.
"Let's find out what our first class tomorrow is." Lysa says excitedly.
"You seem rather cheery for someone who just got a lot of big books she'll have to study."
"Of course I am. I'll do whatever it takes to become an Ascensori, even if that means reading a 100-page book every now and then."
"I think you're going to have to do a little more reading than that." I say, and hand Lysa the biggest book on the desk. "'The Origin of Hedal' alone has got about 400 pages by the looks of it."
"Whatever dude, just let me be excited for 10 seconds before you decide to crush my spirits completely with this whopper of a book."
She's right. In fact, I'm probably just as excited as she is. I actually haven't stopped being excited since I left home. Everything I've seen so far is just so incredible and new, and it fills me with even more excitement for our first classes.
I flip open the booklet and take a quick glance at the schedule. Tomorrow is Thursday so it seems our first class of the year is –"
"Fuck! Looks like we're starting it off with the class that's going to give me the most trouble, huh?" Lysa says.
"Looks like it."