Chapter 6: Start of Another Year

“Ariella!” Alice yelled while searching around for her missing friend. “Ariella, where are you!”

“What’s wrong?” A whisper tingled her ear from behind.

Alice jumped. “What was that for?” She glared at Ariella with her crystal blue eyes.

“Well, you’re the one who was looking for me.”

Alice rolled her eyes. “Our class is in thirty minutes. Did you forget?”

“No, I just wanted to read this,” Ariella showed her the book she was holding.

“The Book of Leviathan,” Alice mumbled the title. “Haven’t you read that one already? Three times, actually? What more could you get from it?”

“Well, you never know if you missed something unless you double check.” Ariella grinned.

“Double check? You mean quadrupole check. People are going to get the wrong idea. They’ll think you’re obsessed with the thing.”

“Well, I am. Just totally differently from what they would expect.”

Alice shook her head. “Anyway, we need to hurry. Class is going to start, and I would rather not be late for the first class of the semester.”

“You could’ve gone without me,” Ariella caught up to Alice.

With little time to spare, Alice picked up the pace. Her walk turned into a jog quickly. Ariella was quite impressed with how well she was doing, considering she hated physical exercise.

“You know I can’t do that,” Alice said, her long blond curly hair flowing roughly behind her as she picked up speed.

“Why don’t you ever tie up your hair?” Ariella effortlessly kept up with Alice’s pace. While she was a fighter and had the stamina to back it up, Alice wasn’t much of one. Her specialty was magic, something she learned when she turned twelve, when kids were tested to see their magic capabilities.

“Because I like it like this. Besides,” Alice pointed to Ariella’s own hair. “You’re the one with the ponytail.”

“How else am I supposed to have long hair and fight at the same time?”

“And it’s also why I won’t tie my hair up. We need to have some differences.”

Ariella shrugged. “What’s our first class?”

“Advance Magics,” Alice answered.

It became clear why Alice was so insistent on getting there on time. While she was a model student, she was also someone who didn’t mind being a few minutes late for a class if it wasn’t up her alley, especially if it involved physical activities. However, ever since finding out she was gifted in magic, she became obsessed with learning every she could, and although that wasn’t a bad thing, that also meant she tried to excel above and beyond if the class involved magic.

“Don’t want to miss magic class?”

“If you know, then why ask? Why are you taking this class, anyway?”

“It doesn’t hurt to learn more about magic even if the magic I use isn’t traditional, but,” Ariella shrugged. “I wanted to at least have one class as you since you avoided all the swordplay ones.”

Alice stopped and turned her head towards Ariella. “Getting all shy?” She joked with a grin. “This is the classroom.”

“And we made it in time.”

“Barely.”

The classroom was large and packed with kids. Until now their classrooms were small with only a handful of students, but the room reminded Ariella of the auditorium in a way. So the two of them found seats next to each other in the back, and shortly after, the professor walked in.

“Welcome to Advance Magic. My name is Leah. Leah Reed.” She glanced around. “At fifteen, students are given the opportunity to pick and customize their schedules, and my class is one of the first ones they go to.” Leah spoke in a serious, but understanding tone. “There’s nothing wrong with that, but I would like to warn everyone that this class isn’t an easy one. The class will be filled with more theory crafting than practical exercises, so if that’s what you were looking for, I would advise you to drop out now and pick a different class before it’s too late.”

She waited patiently, giving the students a minute to decide what they wanted to do, and when none of them stood up to leave, she continued her lesson. The first day of each semester was never too intense, involving introductions and understanding what the classes entailed, but Leah jumped into the thick of it. It didn’t help that it was the first class of the day and as early as possible, but Leah was thorough in her teachings, and whenever someone had a question, she would stop and answer it. It surprised Ariella, considering everything she said, but they both could tell right away that the class was going to be difficult.

“Is it over?” Ariella asked Alice, who was finishing up her notes. She couldn’t tell if the hour went by quickly or slowly. “Why did we take this class first thing in the morning?”

“You can always drop out. It’s not like you need this class. You’re better off focusing on your enhancement class instead since that’s what you’re good at.”

“No, it should be fine,” Ariella said confidently. “I need something harder to do since my other classes will be far too easy.”

Alice scoffed at her wild confidence. “It’s no longer going to be kids our age anymore. Are you that confident you’ll be able to beat the older students?”

“It shouldn’t be too difficult. What, do you think I’ll struggle?”

Alice didn’t want to admit it, but she was right. The teachers favored her by a long shot. She could wield such a large blade with arms that looked far too weak to even hold a dagger. It wasn’t even the enhancement spells either that did the trick. She was just unnaturally strong. That said, no matter how much she worked out, she struggled to build any kind of muscle.

“You’re not wrong,” Alice grabbed her books, and Ariella followed as they left the classroom. “But the older kids won’t like you.”

“I’ve never done anything that would anger them. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever met them.”

“And that’s what’s going to annoy them. The classes you’re taking are meant for senior students. The ones who will graduate this year, yet a freshman is going to attend those classes?”

“That’s not my fault.”

“Do you think they know or care? They’ll either think you got in because of connections, or you somehow swayed the teachers.”

“I would never,” Ariella’s face was filled with disgust.

“Well, be careful. I’m sure you’ll be fine, but now that we’re in our last few years, it would be nice to leave without incident.” Alice turned the corner, leaving Ariella standing at the center of the fork in the hallway. “Oh, and one more thing,” she stopped and turned around. “Not everyone is gifted. Higher education allows anyone to join, so be careful since not everyone can handle someone like you.”

“I’ll try my best.”

“I’m being serious, Ariella.”

“I know. I don’t want to hurt anyone.”

“Good.”