Vivillian at first felt awkward walking with four legs as opposed to two, but he quickly got used to it as he slowly waltzed around the campus, blending in with the other cats, who gave him weary looks.
As he strolled around campus, he heard a commotion of cats yelling, and decided to check it out with how bored he was.
Rounding a corner, he saw a familiar figure, and a bunch of small plates lined up, cat food on each one as many cats devoured the food ravenously.
The cotton candy haired girl with azure eyes sat on the ground, tucking her knees with her arms as she leaned on them, watching the cats eat silently.
"...You're a new one." Lizzy's eyes noticed the new presence, as her gaze turned towards Viv. "I haven't seen a chestnut colored cat yet."
As she said this, she took another metal bowl from behind her, and unceremoniously dumped a can of wet cat food into the bowl.
"Come eat." She beckoned with the bowl, albeit dryly.
"..." Viv turned his head, and walked away.
"..." Lizzy watched as the brown cat pridefully walked away, tilting her head as she noticed how awkwardly the cat walked. "Perhaps it is hurt..."
Muttering to herself, she gave the extra metal bowl to another cat.
"How cute."
After wandering around the campus for a while, Viv grew bored and decided to head back to the dormitories.
He didn't return to his room however, instead he transformed into a black dove and made his way to the upmost floor of the dormitory, supposedly reserved for the elite of the elites.
Landing on the fancy rail surrounding the window, Vivillian peered inside.
Though he almost instantly regretted it as countless luxuries of all kinds blinded him, from intricately crafted tainted window panes, the quarts and marble floor and pillars, and a dazzling white spiral staircase that led to yet another room, the railing of that staircase being made with jewels and gold.
What's with this huge difference in treatment?
As Vivillian's eye twitched, he wondered how such a luxurious two floor dorm could be built in an old looking, old fashioned wooden building.
Seeing how grand the place was, Viv knew only one person who could occupy this floor, and seeing how there was no visible bedroom is sight, it must have be where the spiral staircase led.
Hidden from view, there was a small window that came from the second floor of the down, covered by the roof's arch.
Flying between that small space, Viv peered in, but contrary to his expectations, what greeted him wasn't the sight of the sleeping Crown Prince, it was a blond haired boy who rested his forehead on his hand, as he tirelessly wrote something in his dimly lit study.
William Luven Slachal sat at a desk, using a pen to scribble something onto a document, before putting it aside and grabbing the next paper.
Despite it being an exciting day for the new students of Einsvul, moving and jostling things into the dormitories would have tired most children this age out.
However, William showed no signs of black circles around his eyes, as he diligently wrote and read paper by paper.
Suddenly, his body stiffened as he swerved his head and met direct eye contact with Vivillian.
"..."
"..A bird." William frowned, and refocused back onto his documents, paying Viv not further attention.
After seeing the boring scene, Vivillian slowly lost interest, and flew back down to his window, where he entered and slowly changed back into his beast men form.
Looking at the mirror, Viv felt a sort of unease as he stared at the cat tail and cat ears that waved around unfamiliarity.
The drawback of having this power only available on full moons is both a blessing and a curse.
Taking a deep breath, Viv sat on his bed, looking out the window, not bothering to put on his clothes again.
At least, I won't lose sight of who I am. I can change my form so freely that it is dangerous to one's mind. It makes me wonder if I could transform back into my old body, but...it already hard to remember what I even looked like.
Viv leaned on his pillow, as he stared at the moon. Despite it only being a couple of years, memories of his past was growing fainter and fainter. He should really start writing down his old life before he truly forgets.
Next time a stupid flower decides to grant me a wish, I should ask for more mana or something even more ridiculous.
Too tired to wonder what would become of him if he truly lost sight of himself, Viv felt himself fall into the comfort of his bed, which greeted him with outstretched arms and held him close.
—-
"Welcome to your first and hopefully not last class at Einsvul." A female professor stood at the podium in the magic and research designated classroom. She had short light green hair and honey colored eyes, with which she used to scan the room.
Wearing a faded light brown cloak, she dug her hand into one of her pockets and flipped a paper on the podium.
"The purpose of this class is to help develop, improve, and imagine objects imbued with magic that can be used by common people and mages for the betterment of humanity." She stated. "I will be your Professor most of the time, and you may call me Ms Lilia. For undisclosed reasons I may be gone temporarily and other Professors will fill in for me."
The lesson continued quite boringly, as Ms Lilia went over rules and expectations, which was exceedingly boring for the excited Einsvul students.
By the time the first class had ended, most of the students were on the verge of falling asleep, Viv slightly included.
As Ms Lilia finished up the rules and regulations, she dismissed the class, letting all the students happily run out to have fun, anywhere away from a boring class.
Just before Vivillian was prepared to leave however, he was stopped by Ms Lilia.
"Vivillian."
"..Yes?" Frowning, he turned his head back to look at his teacher, wondering what she wanted.
"You were the one who scored number one on the written exam, right?" Ms Lilia tilted her head questioningly.
"That would be me."
"If you need any questions or help from me, don't hesitate to ask." Ms Lilia said curtly. "Being smart over your peers is both a blessing and curse."
"...I'll take that into mind." Vivillian turned, and walked out of the classroom. He felt a little weirded out, she didn't seem like the kind to spontaneously talk to a student out of concern.
Rather than that, she seemed more of a blunt and cold person, not one to trifle with.
He slowly walked down the hall...
"..." Lilia coldly watched Vivillian walk down the hall.
Only after Viv rounded the corner, did her next words come from her mouth.
"...Kyaaaaa!"She suddenly yelled, pumping her fist into the air.
"How come the cute little top student is in my humble little class...??!!" Her face instantly reddened as she squealed, excitedly kicking her feet as she sat on the chair. "I really hope he makes friends for the rest of his time here, he really does remind me of myself when I was younger sniff..."
Wiping a small tear, Lilia hummed excitedly as she drew on the classroom board.
"I thought that mean Crown Prince would have won first place, but it turns out this little unknown cutie took his spot~" She giggled as she continued drawing. "What a stir you've caused, little Vivillian Ambrosia, I heard news that many noble families are beginning to keep an eye on you..."
Using quick and sharp strokes, Lilia began to draw little details.
"Man, I really hope I made a good impression with him today...I especially put on my nice face, but there was sadly a limit with how nice I could be if I want to stay professional...!" Complaining to herself, she sighed as she cleaned her hands, and stepped back to look at her masterpiece.
On the magic board, a perfect replica of Vivillian Ambrosia stared back at her. His face was cold, almost seeming to scrutinize his maker, staring down at her.
"Yikes, I made him look meaner than I wanted to..." Lilia gulped, quickly looking away, before raising pressing a button on the side of the magical board.
Slowly, the drawing came to life, as now a blinking, breathing, 2d version of Vivillian Ambrosia appeared. Even though he consisted of only white lines and a dark green color, it was still relatively realistic. However if those close to Viv examined the drawing, you would see the absence of feline ears on his head.
"Whew, I think I did pretty good recreating him from memory." Wiping the sweat off her brow, she lazily sat on the podium. "Alright, time to practice my lines, so you better listen well, student~"
—-
A month has passed since the school year started, Elva and Viv rarely saw or interacted much, despite sleeping in the same dorm because of their difference in habits.
When Vivillian's break time would come, he would visit the library while Elva would come and take a nap midday. While Elva was out and about doing physical activities, Vivillian would hang out at the library. At night when it was normal time for the first years to sleep, Elva yawned and went to bed...while Vivillian was at the library.
Come to think of it, Vivillian's daily schedule consisted of waking up, going to the library before class, class, library during lunch, class, library until late night, sleep, and repeat cycle.
But it was something Vivillian couldn't control, the vast Einsvul library consisted of many masterpieces of literature, written and preserved so its copies would not be lost in translation.
From stories telling legends of dragons creating the universe, to obscure sightings of mythical beings. History, comedy, plays, scripts, and there was even a romance section, most of which was built particularly for the girls.
Not only that, if you were lucky, you could find old magic bookmarks left behind by seniors at Einsvul, which could then be used to redeem library points.
Using those Library points, you could either save up and increase your rank as a member, letting you borrow more books and special exclusive dedicated to high members, or just redeem it for a cup of hot chocolate.
...Gosh he sounded like such a nerd.
Coming to this realization, Vivillian abruptly stopped walking, inadvertently making the student behind him bump into him, knocking themselves back.
"Ouch!" The dark purple haired girl let out a yelp as she cradled her hurt nose which took most of the impact.
"...Apologies." Viv muttered quickly, slipping a redeemable library bookmark into the girl's headband, before walking away.
The hurt girl was bewildered, as a light feeling swept underneath her hair band.
Passing students who saw the ordeal were the usual bunch who saw Vivillian's weird behavior. It wasn't the first time something had happened, and he would 'compensate' them with old bookmarks.
Plus, his face had grown more famous after people discovered that he was the Vivillian Ambrosia that scored above all the first years.
Rumors spread quick, and soon Viv was categorized as the eccentric book obsessed genius that scored higher than the Crown Prince, the most gossiped about figure in the entire academy.
However, today would finally be the day where both these rumored figures would officially meet.