In the heart of a vast valley, where golden fields of wheat stretched as far as the eye could see, a towering castle loomed over the land. This was no ordinary fortress—it was Eden's Academy, the most prestigious school for magi in the world. Surrounding the castle was a sprawling city, large enough to house tens of thousands of students, yet eerily quiet. The only true life within its walls thrived in the academy itself, where young minds gathered to shape the future of magic.
Blue banners, each emblazoned with the sigil of a single black rose, fluttered atop spires and buildings, a solemn yet elegant emblem of the institution's legacy. The castle itself was a masterpiece of gothic architecture, its spires piercing the sky, visible from miles away. Although the city itself seemed to be out of place due to the surrounding area outside of the city was rather undeveloped. Its halls bustled with students, all clad in the academy's signature uniform.
The male students wore tailored black blazers adorned with the school's crest, crisp white button-up shirts, and dark ties. Their trousers were sharply pressed, their polished shoes reflecting the light from the grand chandeliers above. The female students had a similar uniform, though they could choose between knee-length pleated skirts or fitted trousers, accented by delicate lace or a neatly tied ribbon. Some bore additional crests upon their lapels, marking them as sponsored students—an acknowledgment of the powerful benefactors who had secured their place in the academy.
Today was no ordinary day. Across the continent, families had gathered, nobles and commoners alike, to witness the next generation of magi take their first step into history. Within the castle's grand auditorium, towering pillars stretched endlessly upward. At first glance, they seemed to support a ceiling, but there was none—only the endless expanse of a brilliant night sky.Most thought it to be an illusion but they would be incorrect. This was a creation using spacial magic , an enchantment so perfect that many students found themselves staring in awe, entranced by constellations that shimmered with an ethereal glow.
At the head of the chamber, standing upon a grand stage, a man in his mid-twenties surveyed the sea of fresh students. Dressed in a sharp black suit, a matching top hat resting upon his head, he exuded an air of both refinement and power.
"Welcome, young magi," his voice rang out—not just through the air, but directly into the minds of every student present. "You stand at the threshold of greatness, the beginning of your journey. I am Magnus, the sixth and last Grand Mage of the previous century, and I will be your headmaster." A hush fell over the crowd as fire flared to life in Magnus's outstretched hands. Twin dragons of flame erupted from his palms, twisting and spiraling through the vast chamber, their bodies illuminating the faces of the awestruck students below.
Standing at the back of the crowd was a young girl with yellow hair tinged with blue, and a broad smile threatening to turn into laughter. I escaped the enforcers just to enter the most prestigious magi school in the world, and I don't even have mana! Wendy cried internally. How did it even come to this?! The other students around her failed to notice her strange expression, too focused on Magnus's performance.
"This year is our most populous yet in the history of the academy, but don't let that fool any of you into thinking we are any less elite than before!" Magnus waved his hand, causing the two dragons to collide, resulting in an explosion of flame.
A student standing at the front of the crowd cheered inwardly. I've made it! I knew I was accepted already, of course, but I'm actually here! Dad came here just like me! And that's Magnus—the latest Grand Mage! He's on par with Dad! Gabriel screamed internally. Okay, wait, calm down. Just because I've made it here doesn't mean I'm on the same level as Dad. This is only the beginning. I need to secure first place in the rankings and learn as much as I can here. Oh, I bet the library is absolutely amazing! The raven-haired boy then looked back at the Grand Mage, who continued his theatrics.
"This year, due to the greater number of students compared to last year, the living accommodations have been altered!" The flames above the students swiftly morphed into numerous snakes that flew in different trajectories across the room.
One student, standing out from the rest, was floating in the air as if lying in an invisible hammock. He's too loud, Sebastian thought with a wide yawn. He stood out not only for his defiance of gravity but also due to his attire. Unlike the other students in formal clothing, Sebastian wore a full set of pajamas straight out of a film, complete with a small nightcap and fluffy pink slippers. The students surrounding him gave him strange looks but were more focused on the amazing display of magic in front of them.
That asshole can't even be bothered to change into the proper clothes to represent his family?! One purple-haired student thought angrily as she stared at Sebastian. I wasn't allowed to wear anything with our emblem, but he was and chose not to?! This idiot! Lilly fumed internally. I'm just as capable as he is, but because I have a different mother, I'm treated like this, while he gets to slack off! The girl looked down at her own clothes and felt her rage build up even further. The girl had the standard uniform that almost every student had on but as the rage within her Lilly decided to try and calm herself down.
The snakes made of flame continued to soar across the air until they reached each student, leaving behind a small metal object engraved with the student's name and a three-letter number. "The brooches you have just received are mandatory for all students within the academy and must be worn at all times, except when in your own dorm or with express permission to remove them, they are also the only items that are keeping you safe while in our halls so make sure to not remove them or there could be grave consequences!" Magnus announced. His eyes scanned the students, pausing for a split second longer on one in particular.
During that moment, Petra locked eyes with Magnus and gave him a large, toothy grin. Her teeth were sharper than a shark's, and her skin was paler than a corpse's. She wore a black uniform with a small emblem embroidered on the cuffs. Petra's stare was piercing, as if she could see into Magnus's soul. She's just like her father, Magnus chuckled inwardly.
"All students within Eden's Academy have always been equal, and that will never change." Magnus ignored the chill running up his spine and released an enormous fireball from his hand. It split into numerous smaller flames, each varying in color, flying toward different students with animated, smiling faces. At the center of the room remained the largest of these fireballs. "That is a Grand Flame Spirit, my primary familiar!"
That's amazing! I want a familiar just like that! A boy with grass-green hair thought, his eyes sparkling. No, I can't settle for a spirit! I need the most legendary familiar possible! Maybe a dragon? No—a hydra! Worst case, I'll just become my own familiar! Evan barely contained his excitement jumping in place as he reached his hand forward to touch a blue flame spirit in front of him. The spirit giggled and wrapped itself around his finger. It's so warm but it doesn't burn me! Evan grabbed the and spun around with the spirit in his outstretched arms having the time of his life.
"Now, students, thank you all for attending your first assembly! Classes will start tomorrow, so take the time to get to know your dorm mates! As I mentioned, the dorms have been rearranged, and instead of six members in each home, there will now be seven for the foreseeable future!"
Ugh, sneaking out is going to be annoying with more people around. A mischievous glint flashed in one student's eyes. Doesn't matter. The Crystal Eye will be mine soon! This will be my biggest heist yet! George thought, cackling softly. I still can't believe that eye is fake. It looks perfectly real from here, but I trust Maloy. Another student accidentally got pushed into George but didn't notice as he pushed George due to the amount of people tightly packed together. They're all animals. No apology? I thought most of these kids were nobles but they still don't have any manners at all. George criticized the students around him as he continued to steal more wallets from the students surrounding him. The wallets of the students seemingly vanished into thin air as a ring that had a green emerald embedded into the pure silver glowed a beautiful shine. Well at least their generous donations are gonna help with getting some halfway decent gear.
The small flame spirits exaggerated their smiles, mimicking both the Grand Flame Spirit and the Grand Mage. "Students, this marks the end of your first day at Eden's Academy! By now, you must have noticed the flame spirit in front of you. These little guys are all my friends and children of my acquaintance! Please follow your assigned spirit to your dorm!" Magnus bowed, and a grand flame engulfed his body as he vanished from the auditorium.
The students slowly funneled through the many doors lining the auditorium walls, each following their assigned spirit in various directions.
Walking alongside many others, Wendy's worries grew worse after witnessing Magnus's display. I'm so screwed! she thought repeatedly as she absentmindedly followed the flame in front of her. The walk to the dorms was long, lasting twelve minutes. There were many twists and turns, as well as three staircases to descend. During the journey, Wendy managed to calm herself enough to think rationally. Everything is fine. My story makes sense, and they shouldn't suspect anything. Solo Core Syndrome is rare but not to the point where it's unbelievable, and they shouldn't have a reason to test me for it since I can still do things above human limits. If I just play it cool, no one will suspect a thing.
She came to a sudden halt as the spirit stopped moving. Turning around to face Wendy, the spirit smiled once again, and a childish voice echoed through the surrounding area. "This is your dorm house! Have fun!" the spirit said before quickly dissipating leaving behind no proof of its existence other than the small smokey smell that permeated the hallway.
Preparing herself to interact with her dorm mates, Wendy looked at the door in front of her. The door had complicated gold patterns that resembled roses on vines across it and a number in the center. 789 were the numbers there. Looking at the brooch she had placed on her uniform she realized that this was the same number as her dorm number. Entering through the door Wendy immediately looked around the inside.
To the left of the entrance was a living room that held dozens of bookshelves lining the walls. In the center of the area were four couches that surrounded a large rectangular table. A boy dressed in pajamas was floating above one of the couches creating quite snoring that the other students around him were ignoring.
Sitting to the left of the floating boy sat a girl with red hair and deep purple eyes. The girl was staring at 2 dolls that were moving on their own in response to small hand movements she made causing them to dance across the table. The dolls had a striking similarity to the one controlling them although both held two swords in their hands. The dolls continued to dance methodically until they entered a sword stance that commanded respect. The 2 dolls rushed at each other and began a ferocious battle as they swung their swords at each other with brilliant accuracy. The dolls performed combat at an amazing speed with acrobatics that allowed them to evade each other's strikes with the least amount of movements possible. Lilly paused her finger movements causing the dolls to follow suit. This isn't enough. I need more practice. Lilly thought as she picked up her suitcase and opened it on the table. The suitcase had two compartments, one where all of Lilly's personal items were held and the other had 8 dolls that looked identical to their owner.
Lilly closed her eyes for a moment as she focused as hard as she possibly could and channeled an invisible energy through her entire body. The energy focused into ten points, one on the tip of each finger as translucent strings stretched out and stabbed themselves into the dolls in front of lilly. The dolls immediately sat up and began to escape the suitcase that they were trapped in for too long. The dolls all walked to the center of the table and picked up a variety of different weapons that Lily had laid out from her suitcase.
The marionettes all began to battle as Lilly continued to practice her control over them.
To the right of the entrance stood a tall boy with short dirty blond hair pouring some oil into a pan over the stove's flame. A book was floating in the air in front of him as he spread the oil across the pan. Not paying attention to the newcomer that had entered the boy continued with his cooking. With a wave of his hand, 3 eggs floated up and gently hit into the edge of the marble counter causing a small crack to appear in the shell. The shells then floated over to the pan and spilled their interiors into the pan with zero pieces of the shell entering the mixture.
"Hey, do you mind if you make me some eggs too?" George asked as he sat at one of the couches in the living room. "Sure thing, but you're cleaning the dishes," Gabriel responded as with another flick of his wrist two more eggs added themselves to the pan.
'Maybe having roommates won't be so bad after all' George thought as he continued to lounge around on the couch.
Wendy heard the sizzling of the oil in the pan as well as the familiar smell of eggs frying which then caused her stomach to let out a ground-shaking rumble." Apparently, everyone's starving for my cooking. I'll make some for you too but you need to set the plates out on the dining room table. And the rest of you set up the cutlery and I'll make some for you too." As Gabriel spoke he gestured to a drawer on his left causing the door to swing open and a second pan floated over to the stove and sat itself upon one of the stove burners. Gabriel turned the second knob to release some gas from the burner and then snapped his finger to create a spark and light the flame.
As the blond boy was beginning the new dish. Wendy entered the kitchen and looked around to try and figure out which drawer had the plates held within but quickly came to a realization 'This place is huge! I didn't think of it before but the living room is huge also!' After searching the many different drawers Wendy finally found the plates. "Where do you want me to set these?"
The blonde boy didn't respond but simply pointed to a door that was connected to the kitchen. Walking towards the door Wendy tripped over something and sent the plates flying into the air. Reacting at an inhuman speed Wendy caught every plate in and stacked them all into a neat pile.
Looking down to see what she tripped on, Wendy saw one of the dolls that she saw the red-haired girl playing with get up and dust itself off. The doll then proceeded to walk to the counter and open a drawer. It then picked up as many pieces of cutlery as possible and walked over to the dining room.
Turning around Wendy looked at the red-haired girl but then realized all the others were looking at her due to the commotion she had caused. "Impressive! That was some amazing speed!" a green-haired boy said as he exited the dining room. As the green-haired boy entered the boy in the pajamas jolted awake as if he had a nightmare and glanced at Evan.
"Yeah, muscle magic is really amazing," Wendy said nonchalantly. "I'm sure it is! You'll have to teach me that one of these days!" the green-haired boy said as he walked past Wendy. Continuing into the kitchen Evan searched the kitchen for ingredients and began to create some sort of salad bowl made of various vegetables that he found.
The students all continued to stick to themselves as everyone began to set up the table for lunch before the school would provide dinner at the school dining hall. After around half an hour the lunch was set. All the students entered the dining room and sat at one of the seats along the long varnished table. All the students were excited for the meal that was about to be consumed but most of them were all staring out a large window that comprised one of the walls of the room. Out the window, the students could see a grand expanse of fields that seemed to stretch endlessly.
Gabriel walked into the room with two large plates of eggs along with a girl that hasn't been there before. Each plate had a mountain of eggs on it and as the blond boy placed them down he looked around at all his new roommates. "Everyone! Sit down and introduce yourselves!"
Almost all of the students complied except the student floating in the air who continued to float. Just as the blond boy opened his mouth to introduce himself there was a voice that permeated throughout the entire academy.
"Hold on tight—Eden's Academy is now ascending!!" the voice of Magnus commanded to all the students.
The 7 teens sitting at the table felt the ground start to shake causing books to fall off their shelves. All the teens were attempting to balance themselves in their chairs excluding Sebastian who floated there unfazed but still interested. Looking out the window the 7 of them saw the entire academy begin to lift off the ground marking the beginning of the next school year.