Morning shone over the Sonne Academy of Magical Arts, the prodigious school for all things in the study of magic. Those studying here are offered a full scholarship, with luxurious dormitories, and a stipend every month that commoners have to work all year to achieve. A truly high-class Academy that accepts only the best of the best.

A pity our story does not take place here, wouldn't you say?

Our story revolves around a young girl named Millianne, or 'Milly' for short. A short girl with long black haired tied into a single braid. Like most from her village, barring the local nobility that oversaw it, she had light brown skin, a result from playing under the sun for too long, and dark, almond shaped eyes.

Milliane comes from a family of farmers in a village from the south of Sonne Academy. The girl has a dream, as all good protagonists would; in this case, her dream is to climb the ranks of nobility, and to achieve the title of 'Astronomer' - a title only granted to those that have given great contributions in the field of Arcane Studies, and the highest title of nobility achievable by commoners, the rank of which is equal to a duke.

To reach this dream, naturally, one would have to study first, as the title can only be bestowed upon one who has done great achievements with magic in the name of Country and Crown. The number of people able to use magic in the country amounted to a meager one-fifth of the population, and the number of people who could use magic effectively was much lower. The number of people worth of the title Astronomer could be counted on one hand.

Milliane was blessed in that her magical ability was discovered early, at the age of three, and so, nine years later, Milly finds herself bidding her family farewell as she rides a carriage taking her to a far-off city, where she had been accepted for a scholarship in a public university that offered studies in the magical arts.

How very different Dante Public was from its richer counterpart in Sonne Academy. While Sonne focused solely on magical studies, Dante was separated into general and magical studies, creating something of a discord between its student body, stemming from distrust and confusion, which sometimes escalated to outright contempt, and while Sonne Academy had a perfectly credible record of good conduct, Dante Public was somewhat notorious for its . . . less than savoury students.

Indeed, in every aspect from their food to their equipment, to reputation and the quality of their students and teachers, Sonne Academy trumped Dante Public, and the only reason one would have to choose one over the other was if one failed pass Sonne's rigorous standards. Such was the case of Millianne, who had applied for Sonne Academy, but failed to pass its difficult entrance exam, and so now stands in front of the large gates of her new place of study, plain looking rods of steel that looked more at home in a prison than at an institution for learning.

To Millianne though? The gates towards her destiny couldn't look more magnificent.

* * *

Milly ran as quickly as her excited legs could take her. She, along with the large crowd of students both new and old, gathered towards the corkboard placed nearby the schools entrance. On it was the announcement of one's classroom, their teacher, and of course, dormitory number.

Pushing through the large crowd, Milly looked hard for any sign of her name. Finally, she caught a glimpse of it printed on a brown paper hanging near the edges.

Milliane (12) of Greenwood

Class 1-R

Dorm no. 124

Smiling to herself, Milly pushed past the crowd once more and made way towards her new class. Though perhaps she was moving too quick, because she failed to stop herself from crashing into the first person she saw.

"Ah!" With a distinctly feminine cry, her accidental victim fell to the ground, scattering several books with her. Milly wondered why she didn't place them in the rucksack on her back, before deciding to help her pick up her books.

"I'm really sorry about that!" she apologized once they were done picking up the other girls books.

Now that Millianne got a good look at her, she decided that she was rather pretty. Short brown hair cut into a bob, cream colored skin, a short pointed nose and wide and deep-set, shining green eyes that contrasted to her overall demure look.

"I-it's no problem," she responded in a quiet voice. Milliane thought it suited her well.

Being her characteristically energetic self, Millianne was quick to introductions. "Well, anyway, my name's Milliane, but call me Milly. What's yours?"

The girl, albeit taken aback slightly by her enthusiastic greeting, nodded and replied, "I'm Thora, of Galdenvale."

"Galdenvale? Isn't that the Alves city?"

The Alves' were magically prodigious demi-humans. Among the First Born races, they were the ones that got along with humanity in both the best and worst ways. It was a strange analogue, for the Alves were the demi-humans with the most similarities to humans, but at the same time, their mannerism and actions were so different that it created open discord between them, whereas most First Born where indifferent towards the younger race.

"Yes," affirmed Thora, "but there are human settlements there, and also, well . . ."

She seemed hesitant, looking at Millianne as if judging if she was trustworthy or not.

"And . . . ?"

Thora sighed and continued, "I am not precisely all . . . human."

Milliane's brows raised as she realized what she was implying. "Oh! You're half-Alves?"

Half-Alves were a result of a relationship between a human and Alves. While such relationships were not outright banned, they were frowned upon, and not having a relation with either species was the probably the one thing humans and Alves could agree upon. Such relations did not last either. Alves, as a rule, lived longer than humans. They aged slower the more powerful they became, and Alves were already born stronger than humans. A three hundred year old Alves would be counted as a thirty year old by human terms.

One of the oldest Alves in the land was over a thousand years old, and it is said that he looked no older than a human in his mid-forties, a testament to his own powers.

Half-Alves were blessed with a similar disposition. They were more magically adept and lived much longer than a regular human, however, they lacked the ability to extend their age through magic like full elves.

They were, unfortunately, also subject to much contempt from both sides, as they were regarded as the result of something that must not be.

It was the reason for Thora's wariness at revealing this to her, however she knew that her heritage would come up sooner or later, and she decided that it would be best be honest at the beginning and avoid any potential catastrophe's her heritage could cause in the future.

Thankfully, it seemed the girl in front of her did not mind in the slightest.

"That's so cool!" she exclaimed. "Does that mean you can do Alves magic?"

Thora resisted the urge to visibly sigh in relief, glad that rejection she had expected had not come to pass. "Some, but I can't really learn most of them. Human magic suits me better."

"Hm, you say you're half-Alves, but your ears are short, and aren't pointy," said Millianne, eyeing other girls obviously human ears.

"W-well, actually, a half-Alves ears grow longer with age," she explained hastily. Milly nodded, accepting her explanation. Suddenly, she remembered that they still had a class to attend.

"Oh gosh! We're gonna be late," said Milly before breaking into a run. "See you later then Thora!"

"Ah, good-" began Thora, before realizing that Milly was already out of earshot, "bye?"

* * *

Carrine was a veteran teacher at Dante Public. That did not mean she was old, heaven forbid you bring up the topic of a womans' age, but she had been here long enough to know that incidents at this school were practically mandatory, and getting probation for delinquency was a practically badge of honor among the student body. Still, Carrine persisted and hoped that she would one day end up with a class that wouldn't give her headaches.

"Hello everyone, my names is Carrine, and I'm your homeroom and Alchemy teacher, it's very nice to meet you!"

As she was continuing her introduction, however, the door to her classroom slammed open and her hopes for a headache-less year were trampled upon mercilessly without regret.

"I'M NOT LATE!"

Millianne was panting, tired from having run all the way here.

Carrine sighed. "I regret to inform you that you are, in fact, late, miss . . . ?"

"Aw, seriously!?" she exclaimed, promptly ignoring Carrine's subtle suggestion of introducing herself. "I'm really, really sorry. You see ma'am, I was running, and I bumped into this girl, and then I was talking to her, then I got distracted and . . ."

"Yes, I understand, now could you please sit down," requested Carrine.

Milly continued her rapid fire explanation. "I was running to class, but then I forgot which classroom I was supposed to go to, so I had to go back and check . . ."

"Yes I understand, now could you please sit," Carrine repeated, her voice becoming noticeably annoyed.

"So, I was running back, but then I got lost, because I had no idea where the room was!" continued Milliane, "and then I had to-"

"Sit down," interrupted Carrine, her eyes glowing in an uncontrolled release of power. The annoyed teachers voice boomed throughout the class, and an unnatural gust of wind blew towards Millianne, rocking her were she stood.

". . . Okay," Millianne squeaked. She took a seat at the area nearest to her.

Pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration, Carrine began reintroducing herself. "Now, once again, I am Carrine, and I'll be in charge of your homeroom and Alchemic Studies. Before I was interrupted," she shot a look at Millianne, who had the decency to look sheepish, "I was hoping that you would all introduce yourselves as well."

"Oh, I'll start!" said Millianne, practically jumping to her feet. Carrine sighed but allowed it.

"My name is Millianne of Greenwood, a farming village north of here. I like warm weather and making friends and puppies and green grass and stars and-"

The class laughed as Carrine interrupted her. "Miss Millianne, please hurry up, we don't have all day."

"So sorry about that," she apologized quickly. "Anyway, my dream is to achieve the title of 'Astronomer'. I hope to get along with all of you!"

And with that, she sat down with a smile on her face. Carrine looked at her with a raised brow. The girl had large ambitions for sure. The title of 'Astronomer' was a very prestigious one, and only four people in all of history had become worthy enough of it, and only one was human.

"I thank you for the introduction, Miss Millianne, now, anyone else care to introduce themselves ?"

When none stood up to do so, Carrine clapped her hands together and smiled. "Well then, if that is the case, then let us do this in an orderly fashion. We will start from left to right, beginning from Miss Millianne until the last person on the row. When we reach the last person, we switch from right to left, beginning from the person behind the last one. We will keep doing this until w the last person speaks. Agreed?"

The class grumbled but otherwise agreed. Carrine did not understand why children were so hesitant to introduce themselves. Back in her day, she was always extremely excited to do so, much like Millianne was.

The fact that they were similar in any way refused to cross her mind.

The girl next to Millianne stood up slowly. She had long, silky black hair, and a heart shaped face that was well taken care off. After looking around hesitantly, she then, with much pomp, she haughtily declared, "Greetings commoners, I am Averia vi Vanderhel. I hail from the noble house of Vanderhel, our lands are close north from here."

At that point, many brows were raised. Nobility was not hated around here, but it was unusual for them to even show their faces nearby Dante Public due to its reputation, much less enroll. Suddenly, a boy that was situated behind Millianne slightly to the right asked the question on everyone's mind.

"What are you doing here then?" he asked with a badly disguised smirk.

At once, Carrines 'unpleasant personality' senses dinged.

The noblewoman blanched as if she'd been struck with a wet, dead, fish.

"U-um, well, I thought it would be generous of me to grace commoners such as yourselves with my presence," she replied, lacking her previous confident stride.

The boy nodded his head, in what appeared to be understanding. "I see, I see, so you, a noble, failed to pass for entrance for Sonne Academy, and your family shipped you here, probably quietly and discreetly, so as to avoid the humiliation of having a magical dunce, am I correct?"

Averia's eyes widened as the boy struck the nail on the head, before promptly adopting a look of apoplectic rage. "How dare you . . . !" she said as her hair whipped back, unseen power gathering at her hands. Her eyes glowed and her lips began chanting spellwords. The boy, in response, raised a brow, but otherwise looked unperturbed, in fact, he even looked eager to see what exactly the noblewoman would try against him, even as his classmates hid behind their desks.

What she was about to do, no one found out, because at that moment, Carrine interrupted with a silent but powerful warning, "Miss Averia, violence is not permitted within school grounds."

Once more, a wave of power washed over the class, this time focused on the noblewoman, who's eyes widened as she was exposed to a force much more powerful than her own.

Calming herself, Carrine requested Averia to sit down. She did so eagerly.

"Okay, next . . ."

* * *

The rest of the students introductions went on without incident, excluding two particularly noticeable ones.

The first came from the boy who'd interrupted Averia's own introduction with his question. He stood up, the same smirk on his face, and began.

"Hey, m'names Van'Heim Mortalis," brows were raised once more. Last names were a sign of nobility. For him to have a last name would mean they had another noble among them. Averia smirked as she reveled in the knowledge that he was probably a failure noble as well.

"As for the last name, I'm a Dragon," he explained, sensing the question in their heads.

Dragons were creatures that were allowed to choose their last name. Usually, their last names where modelled after their parents own, however it was known that they would change their names should life-altering events occur.

The class 'Aaaaah'd at his explanation, before quickly going 'Eeeeeeh?!'. Dragons were extremely rare to meet. Though they occasionally assumed human form and interacted with humans, they rarely revealed themselves or stayed long enough to be discovered. They were nomadic by nature, and never stayed in one place for too long. In fact, barring their mating grounds or annual summits, they rarely ever visited the same place thrice.

Moreover, Dragons were so naturally talented and gifted with their own branch of magic, there was rarely a need for them to learn other forms. So it was even stranger to see a Dragon than if a noble had failed to enter Sonne Academy.

Despite the many questions on their heads, Van'Heim ignored them and proceeded to sit down, the same smirk still on his face.

Carrine coughed, getting the attention of the class once more. She urged the next one to introduce himself, and all was well until they had reached the last one in the class.

His head was place comfortably on the desk, a pillow was situated below it. He had dark hair, darker than Van'Heims, and messier, he had an innocent looking face that was snoring lightly with a dull smile on his face.

Carrine sighed. "Can someone please wake him up."

The student next to him gently shook him, and after a good while, he finally opened his eyes.

"Hm . . . ?"

"Good morn sir, we hate to interrupt your siesta, but could you please introduce yourself?" asked Carrine patiently.

Rubbing his bleary eyes, the boy nodded. He slowly stood up and after blinking out the sleepiness and yawning, he began.

"Erm . . . hello . . ." he was silent for a while. " . . . may I go to sleep again?"

Carrine sighed and resisted the urge to palm her face. "Well, sir, you see we requested you introduce yourself, and to introduce yourself, well, that requires an actual introduction, which entails giving your name, perhaps were you're from, and maybe what you like, dislike, and others."

"Ah," he said with a nod. "Okay."

Yawning again, he redid his introduction. "Hello . . . again, my name is Carrion." More raised brows at his name, "and I come from . . . my mother?"

The class laughed as Carrine really did palm her head this time. "When I say where we come from, Mister Carrion, we mean things like what village we came from or lived in, understand?"

Carrion made an 'o' with his mouth in realization, and nodded again. "I come from the Graveyard of Heroes, around, um, southeast of here?"

Plenty of people were now noticeably curious now, including Carrine, Averia and Van'Heim. Millianne was always curious anyway, so there was not much change in her facial expression, which was the same happy look from when she first entered the school.

"I like . . . corpses," brow's were, once more, raised. "Corpse flowers, corpse moss, freshly dug bodies, the smell of rotting flesh, the feel of when we tear flesh away from bone as I clean it in preparation for its preservation. Emptying a dead body for Taxidermy."

By now, his voice had taken a loving, excited tone that conversely disturbed his classmates. Even Van'Heim lost his regular smirk as his classmate continued to talk lovingly about all things deceased. 

"The smell of a rotting corpse is absolutely lovely, if I must say, and the view of the sun as it shines over the marble tombs and catacombs makes me think of spilled blood come every morning. To me, there is no greater pleasure. I also enjoy hunting with my father, if only so I can enjoy the feeling of skinning the game, and feeling its muscle and bone move against my skin as I tear it open and chop it to bits for supper."

He stopped, shivering in delight. His classmates shivered as well, albeit for completely different reasons. As he was about to continue, Carrine interrupted him, much to the relief of the class, and was doing her best not to show how disturbed she was.

"That's enough!" she exclaimed quickly. Realizing that she'd raised her voice, she calmed herself before speaking again. "T-that is, erm, quite enough, Mister Carrion. Thank you for your introduction."

"Are you sure? I've still got some stuff to say, I mean, I have a lot more hobbies . . ."

"No!" shouted more than half the class exclaimed.

"O-kay? then, if you say so," said Carrion, before promptly sitting down. It wasn't long before his snores were heard again.

Carrine sighed in relief.

"Okay then, now that introductions are over, I would like to go over your schedule for the next two days . . ."

* * *

Millianne skipped happily through the halls of the student dormitory. It had been a fun day, and she had plenty of interesting classmates. A Dragon and Noble! She counted herself lucky to have them as classmates.

She even giggled when she remembered Carrion's own introduction. He looked like he really enjoyed his hobbies, though it seemed everyone else did not. Well, she could care either way, so long as someone was happy with what they did.

She wondered when they would begin lessons though. Perhaps they would start once they had gotten to know all the teachers and facilities after the second day.

As she contemplated this, she also wondered whether her own roommates would be people she could get along with. As a rule, the dormitories were mixed gender, but the rooms would always single-sex ones, so there was no worry of indecent action ensuing from within . . . unless one was oriented like that.

In any case, having to get along to whoever you were assigned with was paramount if one wanted to enjoy their school life, because asides classes and extra-curricular activities, you would be spending fifty-percent of your life as a student inside your dorm. Asking for a room change was possible, but the procedure was long and complicated, not to mention troublesome.

Millianne stopped in front of a room, on top of it was a wooden board with 'No. 124' stenciled on it. With a smile, she pushed the door open and declared, "Hullo!"

She stopped and stared in front of her, and three pairs of eyes stared back. What greeted Millianne was a strange sight.

Three girls were jumbled up in a heap, and one of them was someone Milly recognized, Thora. The girl was at the bottom of the heap, her hand gripping a book that shielded her from the girl mounted on top of her. The second girl was pushing what appeared to be a vial of clear liquid towards Thora, an excited expression on her face. The third girl was holding the second one backwards, clearly trying to prevent whatever she was attempting to do.

"Um . . . hello?"

The girl holding the vial was the first to respond. "Hullo their girly! You being our last roommate then?" Millianne noted she had a strange accent a style of speech, one distinctly from villages that came very, very far south from the center of the kingdom, near the edge of the kingdoms borders.

Millianne smiled. More interesting people, she thought.

"Yes, my name is Millianne and-"

She was promptly interrupted as the girl with the vial rushed towards her, and with no warning whatsoever, shoved the vial and its liquids down her throat.

"Ku-!?"

Due to her being caught by surprise, she reflexively downed the potion, and promptly began choking on the contents.

"Whew, finaleh, I got someone to drink my pots, so you tell me how yah feel yeah?" she said.

The other two girls ran towards the coughing Millianne, worry evident on their faces.

"Millianne are you okay!?/H-hey, are you okay?" they asked respectively.

Milliane looked at them and tried to flash a thumbs up, right before she felt a burning sensation in her head, and her eyes felt like they were peeling themselves off. She screamed in pain and stumbled towards the room.

"Millianne!" cried out Thora.

The third girl grabbed the second one by the collar and shook her angrily. "See what you've done you stupid psycho! Your Fate-cursed poison's killing her!"

The other replied, as cool as she could be. "It isn't poison, and pain is well in mah estimations. It's a pot to transfigure how one's eyes work af'er all, an such a process can't possibly be comfortable."

Millianne curled on the floor, clutching her eyes, though she stopped screaming, she was visibly twitching hard.

"W-well, maybe I was a tad hasteh with my experiment. I shoulda warned her at least." She had the decency to admit her mistake and look remorseful while doing so.

"Hells holes you should have, what were you thinking woman!?"

Just as the other girl was about to retort, Milliannes voice cut through them. "I'm f-fine!" she announced. She inhaled deeply before giving a loud exhale. "Whew, that was a rush!"

The other girl hopped up energetically, surprising everyone in the room.

"Millianne, are you sure you're okay?" asked Thora, concerned for her friend.

"Yep, fit as a fiddle, though my head stings a bit," replied Millianne. "Oh, hello again Thora, what a coincidence, we're roommates!"

Thora sighed, relieved that her new friend was fine. "Yes, it is quite the coincidence, still, are you sure you're fine? No problems with your sight, or painful sensations in your stomach?"

"Nah, nothing. Even the headaches gone. Say, who was the girl who gave me the potion anyway?"

Thora pointed at the second girl, who was still being manhandled by the collar. Millianne walked towards her a smile on her face.

"Um . . . you can let go of her now, I won't be angry, promise," she said.

The girl that force fed her the vial sighed in relief, while the other girl looked confused and outraged. "Hey, are you sure? She just gave you what could've been poison, are you sure you just want to let her go like that?"

"Yes, I'm sure," she replied.

Reluctantly, she let the other girl go. She growled when the second girl stuck her tongue out at her, and was about to grab her again when a fist came out of nowhere and collided hard on the other girls stomach. She promptly collapsed and began coughing. The third girl looked at Millianne in shock, an expression mirrored by Thora.

With a sly smile, she said: "See, I'm not mad . . . at you anyway~"

The girl on the floor muttered, "Tha' w-was di - ergh - di-dirty."

Millianne pouted. "So is dumping a potion in someone's mouth without warning them."

". . . faiyr point."

Millianne smiled beatifically.

"Well, now that's one problem out of the way, how about we all get to know each other?" requested Millianne.

"Wait!" exclaimed the second girl, who was now getting up from the ground. "Did the pot do anthin'? Any effects or some?"

Millianne shook her head. "No . . . not really. If there's anything different, I can't feel it."

The third girl sighed dejectedly. "Dang, I was hopin' for at least some sort or the other to happen."

"Wait, so you had no idea what the potion was actually supposed to do?" asked Thora pensively.

The third girl had the decency to look embarrassed. "Erm . . . well, it was supposed ta do somethin . . ."

Millianne did not want to punch the girl in the face. At all.

"So, anyway, my name is Maggie, I'm from a merchant village, east from the central kingdoms," introduced the third girl.

Massaging her throat, but still managing a grin, the second girl introduced herself. "Hey girlies, m'name's Noelle Arisolti." Millianne gave the girl a questioning look when she stated her last name. "Oh, don't mind that, that's something I gave meself, only usable between friends, m'kay?"

Maggie gave the girl a look of disdain, while Thora looked worried. Giving yourself a last name was akin to announcing that you were nobility when you actually weren't. It was as if you were flaunting riches that you didn't own or had the arrogance to declare that you were someone of equal stature and importance to nobility. Those that were caught doing so were usually subjected to public humiliations from said nobles.

Millianne herself did not seem to mind, and simply nodded.

"My name is Millianne of Greenwood, a farming village north of here. I like warm weather and making friends and puppies and green grass and stars and-" she began, in an eerie repeat of her introduction in class, and similarly was interrupted.

"Okay, okay, we get it," said Maggie. "Sheesh, was this girl always such a blabbermouth Thora?"

"Well, she was hyper . . ."

2: Troublemakers

Millianne walked excitedly, staying constantly at the head of her class as they walked across the halls of Dante Public.

It had been four days since the beginning of the semester, and so-far Millianne and her classmates had become acquainted with each other as well as their teachers. All throughout that time, Millianne had been waiting for when they could begin their studies proper, even if she reined her excitement in, in favor of enjoying whenever a new event had come to pass.

Currently, her class was taking a tour of the school and its facilities; the number of which was small, but going through them one-by-one would take until noon, and the rest of the day was free, so they and the teachers could relax and prepare for the next day, which was when the much dreaded, or anticipated in some cases, lectures began. So far, they had gone through half the tour now and there were only about three hours left of their day.

The class stopped in front of a set of double doors, with a sign hanging from above labeled 'Practical Fire Room'. Carrine gestured towards the room.

"This is the first among the 'practical use' rooms. Now, though we will be using your classroom for most of our lessons, at some points your teachers may opt to use these rooms for more hands-on lessons. Incidentally, this is also the subject I teach." Carrine opened the door to the room and ushered her class inside.

The room was built in a circle fashion and its floor was lined with marble tiles. The chairs and tables were made out of chiseled obsidian stone, with thin red cushion placed on top of the chairs. The room was dimly lit, with only a few enchanted stones lodged in the wall making a dreary glow that lit the room.

It made for an overall sterile and depressing feel.

"As you can see," said Carrine, gesturing towards the room, "the room was built with safety in mind, with as little flammable material as possible. Also, the room and table have been lined with runes that prevent fire from breaking out, so it's highly unlikely that any of you could get seriously injured."

At this, Van'Heim raised a brow. "Care to try proving that, teacher?"

Carrine would have reprimanded Van'Heim for his tone, but it was unbecoming for a teacher to rise to her students bait. Instead she reached into her pocket and pulled out a single glove. This was her own personal focus, or 'wand' as it were. It was glove made of salamander skin, made especially for fire manipulation.

She imagined in her head the ball of flame she wished to conjure, and the spirit of the salamander within her gloves responded in conjunction with the image. She hurled the flaming ball into the room and watched with the rest of the class as it hit a desk.

The ball obviously fizzled out upon contact.

She turned towards Van'Heim with a straight face. "Satisfied?"

Van'Heim shook his head, and at once Carrine knew that whatever was going to come out from his mouth next would be the cause of her next headache.

"That's such a simple spell," he began, "heck, that was more of a release of magic than a spell."

As much as Carrine disliked him, he was spot on with his observation.

"I need to see if it can provide safety for, say, stronger spells," the way he stressed around the word 'stronger' made Carrine edgy, "like, say, dragon spells."

Ah, so that was his ploy, she thought.

"I assure you mister Van'Heim, there will be no need for such a demonstration," said Carrine, retraining herself from shouting at the annoying boy. "In the first place, we will not be practicing such high-class spell work in this place - this room was meant to practice the basics after all."

"But what if an accident of that magnitude occurs," he pressed. "You never know when a freak accident could occur. I mean, what if one of the runes fail at that moment? Will you take responsibility for the students that were needlessly injured?"

"If it comes to that, then yes, but it is highly unlikely that-"

"So you would rather the students be injured first then deal with it, rather than prevent the incident from occurring in the first place?"

Since the conversation had begun, the class had simply watched from the sidelines, watching with interest the byplay between the teacher and student. It was obvious to all that Van'Heim simply wanted to create a scene, for whatever reason, and he was succeeding. Carrine was visibly becoming distressed and annoyed at the little dragons actions.

"I don't see a problem," piped a voice from the students.

Both Van'Heim and Carrine turned to stare at the one who had spoken. "Excuse me?" said Carrine.

"Well, I don't really see a problem," repeated Millianne. "Let him try; either he burns the room or he doesn't right? If doesn't, then we've got nothing to worry about, and if he does, then no one here really takes the blame: it's the schools fault for having faulty enchantments, right?"

But that was exactly the problem! Carrine wanted to cry. If it did start burning things and word got out about it, it would damage Dante Public's' already shoddy reputation, and it would be on her head!

"You see, she agrees with me," said Van'Heim with a smug nod at Carrine. "No harm done!"

Carrine was about to retort when Millianne spoke up again. "Of course, if it burns because he used dragon magic, we could always pin the blame on him for purposely testing the rooms enchantments without warning," she said with a smile.

Van'Heim's face went from smug to annoyed, while Carrine looked pleasantly vindicated. Of course, they realized; since Van'Heim was a dragon, for him to be studying here was a rare case among rare cases, and though special measures had to be taken, if he tried anything outside of what was practiced, and it had caused problems, then that would considered as an improper use of magic. If that happened, that meant the school could sanction a case against him.

It was amazing how neither of them had come to that conclusion. Then again, to come to that conclusion meant that one had to consider burning the room as a viable option in the first place; Van'Heim had never actually intended to do so, only using the action as ammunition to further humiliate the teacher, while Carrine wasn't allowed to consider it at all.

For Carrine, this was the first of many indications about Millianne's warped personality that would come to trouble her later, more-so than Van'Heim's, Averia's or Carrion's ever would.

"Well . . . Miss Millianne has a point. So, you're free to test out the enchantments, but you'll have to refrain from using dragon flames, agreed?"

The dragon looked outraged, but reigned it in. Instead, he muttered an aria under his breath, and threw it towards the wall of the room. Like earlier, it simply fizzled out upon contact. The action was not a sincere test of the rooms defenses, but merely the petty last act of a defeated Van'Heim.

"Will that be all?" asked the teacher, deceptively sweet.

Van'Heim grumbled but nodded. Carrine requested he line in with the rest of the class, and he complied. As he did so, his eyes met with the noble girl, Averia's, and saw the mocking light in them. He grit his teeth angrily and fell in line.

Carrine coughed to gain their attention. "Well, now that that is over with, time to move to the next facility . . ."

* * *

The day had finally ended, with no more interruptions from Van'Heim. It was the middle of noon, and Millianne was reading a textbook on the mechanics on spell construction in the library of the school. So far, she couldn't make heads or tails of it, but she was sure she would get it at some point.

The book said that there were four types of magical energies, classified as 'Units', they were: Xi, Sakra, Mana and Karma.

It was stated that these were the energies required to formulate a spell, which was different from magic. Magic, it said, was fundamentally different from a spell. Magic was the simple release of any one of these for energies while a spell was a structured manipulation of at least two of these energies, with a set intent and visualized outcome.

Now that Millianne thought about it, Van'Heim had stated that the fireball her teacher had produced was more of magic than an actual spell, and Carrine had not disagreed. She wondered how the dragon could tell; even now she couldn't see the difference.

As Millianne continued to read, she became aware of a the approach of three people.

Van'Heim strode toward her, flanked by two boys from her class. The dragon child went in front of her, and the two boys beside him went behind Millianne. The country girl looked up curiously.

"Um . . . can I help you?" she asked.

Van'Heim gave her a small glare. "What was up with you awhile ago?" he demanded.

"What do you mean?"

"Back then, during the tour at the Fire Room, why did you humiliate me like that?"

Millianne looked confused. "I don't think I know what you mean. All I did was state the obvious."

It seemed did seem obvious enough when she said it, but Van'Heim was well aware that none of the other students had considered it, in fact, none of them had considered interfering at all. That she had and that it resulted in his own shame annoyed him.

"So, what's your game? Are you trying to get close to the teacher, hm? You trying to make-up to her for your own stupid performance from the first day?" he asked snidely. "Or are you one of that noble brats girls. Did she put you up to it, filling your head with pretty promises?"

Millianne shook her head. "I have no idea what you're talking about Van'Heim, all I did was state the obvious. I mean, I wouldn't really mind if you did try to burn the room, but you had to know the consequences if you did, and since it looked like you didn't really consider it, I just pointed it out for you."

She said this so sincerely that, for a moment, the dragon could do nothing but stare at the girl. The moment passed and Van'Heim shook his head. "I was wrong, you are not a teachers pet, nor are you a pawn of Averia's, you're just brain dead!"

"Isn't that a bit much for a joke?" said Millianne. She wasn't particularly insulted, but she was worried that he may be getting the wrong idea about her.

Van'Heim laughed. "Alright then! You're still going to have to pay for the insult you did me back then. I hope you're prepared."

He looked at the two boys behind Millianne, and they nodded. The two grabbed Millianne by the arms, causing her to drop her book.

"Hey! I wasn't done reading that yet!" she complained, struggling against their grip. "Let go of me!"

Van'Heim grinned and he flexed his fingers. A strange and subtle transformation occurred, as when he stopped moving them, his finger had become sharp claws.

Before he could carry out whatever he had intended though, the sharp sound of wind cutting through air gave warning of an approaching spell. With a 'tch' of annoyance, the dragon jumped back to avoid a fast moving projectile, made entirely of wind. The rotating sphere of air crashed into a small tree, and proceeded to grind through it, causing the young foliage to snap in half, and fall down with a groan.

"Up to your usual antics I see," said Averia, striding towards Van'Heim, with three girls right behind her. The two groups stared at each other, willing with their eyes for the other group to back down.

"And I see that you still have nothing better to do than bother me," spat Van'Heim. "What, are your little toys not enough to satisfy your boredom, princess?"

At being referred to as 'toys' the girls behind her shifted angrily at the dragon, who simply met their angry stares with haughty indifference.

"By the way, that was a very cute piece of magic there," continued Van'Heim, glancing at the fallen tree. "It's almost what I would call a spell, were it not for the fact that it was so simple even a child replicate it. Then again, considering it's you, Averia, that maybe all you are capable of."

Averia's hackles rose, and she snapped at the dragon. "Oh? Then perhaps you would like to sit still while I hit you with said childish magic."

"Nidw, Espscomr-ifre!" With those three words, another rotating ball of compressed air launched itself at Van'Heim. The dragon moved to sidestep the spell, a bored expression on his face, which quickly shifted into surprise as Averia continued to chant.

"Aldu, Espscomr-ifre!" Van'Heim's eyes widened as the ball of air split into two smaller pieces, one of which went flying straight towards were he had moved.

Unable to shift his position in time, the dragons' head crashed into the spell, and he made a marvelous trip through the air before falling flat on his back. His cronies, eyes wide, dropped Millianne and rushed towards their leader. Millianne noted with some annoyance that they had kicked her book away in the process. Averia's own troupe, for their part, looked smug as their own leader downed Van'Heim.

"So," said Averia, looking down at Van'Heim through victorious eyes, "how does my 'childish magic' feel to you now, I wonder?"

Van'Heim lay on the ground for a good few minutes, and for a moment, his lackeys feared the worst - for themselves. They had cast their lot with Van'Heim, confident that the strength of a dragon would allow them to be at the top of Dante Public's food chain. Now, however, they were faced with a noble woman who had just downed their leader, and the only other person who had as much influence in their class as he did, and were wondering if they had perhaps chosen wrong.

Averia now turned her eyes from Van'Heim to his cronies, who stiffened and prepared to run or plead; whichever was more effective.

"As-hel, Reeth-Refi-Gundunt, Troysd."

Averia's eyes widened as she felt the rapid construction of a spell begin around her. She cried out: "Nidw! Em-Croptet!"

A barrier of wind formed around her, but she knew it would not hold. The barrier was a hastily constructed spell, one which, in her panic, she overfed with her own Sakra, weakening the structure of the already brittle spell.

She would have cursed herself out loud, were it not for the fact that the world around her began exploding.

The troupe of Averia watched in horror as three pockets of fire came to life moments after the noble girl had constructed her barrier. The exploded one-by-one; the first one weakened Averia's barrier while the second shattered it altogether. The detonation of the last one sent Averia flying in a more magnificent arc than Van'Heims.

The noble girl landed with a dull thud and groaned in pain. Van'Heim, in contrast, was starting to get up.

The dragon dusted himself, and stared at the groaning Averia. "Okay, so admittedly, you can do quite some damage with that kiddy magic of yours, but . . ."

Van'Heim strode towards Averia, his two lackeys - who looked very much relieved that he'd recovered - following suit. The trio of Averia took a step back in turn.

"That is what a real spell is like, wouldn't you agree?"

The dragon lifted his palm towards her and began chanting again, intending to burn her clothes and leave her humiliated for all the school to see.

* * *

Millianne was watching the proceedings with interest. The short and impromptu duel of between Averia and Van'Heim was, quite frankly, nothing that could be accomplished on their level. She and the rest of the class were still children - the oldest of them was Carrion, who was only thirteen - and almost all of them were ignorant of even the basics. The reason they had been accepted into Dante Public as magic students was because they had the potential to use magic, which was enough for them, in comparison to the higher standard of Sonne Academy, in which you had to know at least the theories behind spellwork, besides the ability to use magic.

That Averia and Van'Heim had enough power and knowledge to hold what could be called a duel spoke volumes of their own prowess. Of course, it also opened up another mystery: If they had such ability, how did they end up coming at arguably the worst academe in the city?

"Well, it isn't my business anyway," thought Millianne, interested only in their demonstration of spells.

Millianne could see a bit of the difference now of what constituted as a simple release of magic and a spell. The fire Van'Heim had created was different from the one Miss Carrine had made. It even felt different, as if it was operating under a different set of rules. Millianne looked for her book, which was lost in the chaos, wondering if there was an explanation for that feeling.

A few seconds into the search, Millianne stopped and blinked. Was that her book underneath Averia?

Apparently yes. When the noble girl had done cartwheels through the air, she had landed on where her book was.

And Van'Heim was casting a spell over it, the element of which would most likely be fire.

Oh no!

With a quick dash, Millianne rushed towards the boy and reached out for her book, just as the dragon completed his spell. Through the corners of her eyes, Millianne spotted a burst of flame shoot out towards her and waved her hands to shield herself in defense.

It was a surprise to everyone when the spell simply evaporated upon touching her skin.