Meanwhile, at the girls dormitory:
"Good morning, Glaze. How's your sleep?" Aura asked when Glaze walked inside the dining table.
"Hey, morning, who cooked?" Glaze said while getting some food.
"It's Ria," Aura said, while Ria walked in carrying another batch of food.
"Good morning, Ria; your cooking is great," Glaze said while getting the food Ria was carrying.
"Hmm, morning," Ria greeted back.
"Where's that girl?" Glaze said, looking around, referring to the only girl who didn't introduce herself yesterday.
"We don't know," Aura replied, while Ria just remained silent.
Glaze just shrugged, and the trio started eating.
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Outside the girls dormitory:
A girl with light-green hair and eyes that are piercing green, cold, and distant, like the forest, is talking with someone.
"How are you, little friend?" The girl asked.
"Quuuuacckkk! Quuuuuacckkk! Who are you?! Why do you call me little?!" A little silver duck said angrily.
"I'm sorry, but you are little," the girl said, gently caressing the neck of the little duck.
"Quuuuacckkk! Quuuuuacckkk! (I'm not! You are!)" The duck said angrily, but the comfort of the caressing made him hesitant.
"Okay, okay," the girl said while now carrying the little duck.
"Quackk! Quackk! (Who are you, little girl?! How can you talk to me?)" The duck asked, now completely calmed down.
"Seraphina, a royal of the Earth Kingdom, Terrafirma," the girl said, like it would answer everything, and it seems like it did, with the duck nodding himself while still making himself comfortable in Seraphina's arms.
"Quack! Quack! (I'm Ducky, a duck!)" The duck, Ducky, announced proudly.
Seraphina just smiled and continued stroking the head of the little duck.
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In the boys dormitory:
"Are you ready?" A boy with long, raven-black hair that falls in loose waves around his face, adding an enigmatic aura and eyes that are a mesmerizing shade of green, reminiscent of sunlight filtering through a dense forest, asked.
"Are you ready?" A boy with an athletic build and piercing azure eyes with jet-black hair that falls unruly waves around his face, contrasting with his pale complexion, asked back.
"Of course, we'll kill them, Kekeke." The boy with long raven black hair laughed.
"Shut up with your crazy laugh, Declan," the boy with jet-black hair scolded.
"Sorry, Ethan." Declan pouted.
"Let's go; it's time," Ethan said while flying outside the window.
"Hey, wait for me!" Declan shouted while jumping outside the window, running, and following the flying Ethan.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"Good morning, all. How's your sleep?" Professor Magnus asked, which only met with an outstanding silence. "Wow, nice talking to you all," Professor Magnus laughed. "I will be your curriculum head—the 1st year head, I mean," Professor Magnus explained.
"Ehh? Why you?" Someone said in the class.
"Who's that? Anyway, you can come to me if you have any questions. Now for your class, for the first year, the Academy will teach you the basics. At the end of this year, you will be expected to know everything about magic, its origin, its accomplishments, etc." Professor Magnus continued.
"Whatever." Again, someone said.
"Stop with the comments! Haahhh, at the end of this year you will be ranked according to your performance this year, and that ranking will give you special privileges in your next years. Now your schedule now is Basic Magic Theory; go to this classroom and wait there." Professor Magnus sighed, then said, "Anyway, don't be too creeped out there, hehe."
The ten young men wondered what he meant by that, and they then proceeded to go towards the said classroom. The said classroom inside is so dark that without the fire Ria has summoned in the center, there would be no light.
"Yah! Make it bigger!" Pianpian shouted at Ria, who's at the corner with Rio.
"Shut up," Ria said in a very cold voice that made Pianpian shut up.
"Hehe, look who's scared." Orion laughed, teasing Pianpian.
"What did you say?!" Pianpian shouted, now at Orion.
"Hehe, it seems you found some friends, Pianpian." Glaze laughed.
"Shut up! How dare you call me Pianpian?" Pianpian shouted now, red with anger, though others couldn't see.
"Hehe." Glaze just laughed at him.
"Did you eat?" At another corner, Ria asked Rio.
"Ohm, you?" Rio asked back.
"Yah, but it seems like your dormmates are loud; did you get enough sleep?"
"Ohm," Rio answered.
In another corner:
"Hey," Gareth greeted the two mysterious fellows in the group.
"HAHHH! What are you doing here?!" Declan asked like a gangster.
"Tsk. It's also loud here." Gareth tsked, then moved to the only corner who was quiet. "Hey." Gareth greeted the girl with a duck in her arms. The said girl only looked at him briefly, then returned to caressing the duck. Gareth didn't mind her and just laid down on the chairs.
This goes for another 30 minutes, when suddenly the classroom becomes lit.
"I've been here for quite a while now, and none of you managed to sense me. What a disappointment this year is," a young, purple-haired woman with a darker shade of purple eyes appeared and said.
"What disappointment! Always all of us sensed you the moment we came in!" Pianpian shouted, enraged at having to wait for half an hour just so a certain bat woman talked.
"If I said you didn't sense me, you didn't." Another purple-haired woman appeared, startling some of the mages.
"Your that woman in the second test," Ria said in a finality tone.
"Correct, and my magic, 'Illusion Magic', is a very potent ability, especially when it comes to deceiving the senses. You would have thought that I'm here." The young woman suddenly disappeared. "But I'm here. Magic is a very versatile and effective tool for anything." The young woman suddenly appeared behind Ria.
"I'm Professor Aria; I will be the one teaching you the very basis of magic. Now, take your proper seat," Professor Aria instructs. "Every creature in this world is created by the Four Main Gods: the Fire God, the Water God, the Wind God, and the Earth God," the professor starts.
"Long ago, there was nothing until The Four Main Gods appeared. They created Astoria, with the Earth God's authority, they created land, with Water God's authority, they created the ocean, with the Wind God, the sky, and the Fire God, the light. They created creatures, humans, beasts, etc. However, due to the creation of the world, they began losing their own powers, and at the end of their lives, they created the Four Elemental Gems, with each gem possessing powers enough to be considered one of the Seven Ancient Artifacts," Professor Aria said.
"So where did Mana come from, Professor? Your statement did not state that."
"Indeed, mana is the energy we use in order to do magic, but its origin has not yet been found out. Some speculate that mana was born from the bodies of the Four Main Gods, while others say it's the result of the birth of the Four Elemental Gems," the professor said.
To be continued: