Somewhere in an unknown ocean, two Dwarfs and a Purity Dragonkin were sat in a rowboat while the older Dwarf of the two rowed it calmly. He seemed to be enjoying himself as he watched his Purity Dragonkin friend sweat while talking to a relative over the communication orb that they owned.

"Yes, Uncle. I understand, Uncle. I'm sorry, Uncle. Yes, I'm safe, Uncle." Gilbert looked tired. Out of nowhere, his uncle, Brahman Elksworth, has contacted him via the communication orb Lone had created for him, so naturally, he was confused.

It was only after a brief back and forth between the two that Gilbert had learned of Lone's laziness and his decision to create a new orb and gift it to Brahman to contact him with. If Gibert had a choice, he would have preferred if Lone hadn't encountered Brahman. Gilbert wasn't very fond of his excessively arrogant uncle.

"Never did ah think the day wou' come 'at I'd see ya lookin' so pitiful, Gil," Grimsley, the dwarf rowing the boat said with a mocking smirk on his face.

Gilbert put the communication orb away now that he was done talking to his uncle and heaved a sigh. "I really can't handle his type. Not only is he arrogant like Lone is, but he's got the power to back it up. Plus, he's my blood-related uncle, so I have to show him at least some respect."

"Ah see, anywho, ya feel like rowin' the boat for a bit? Mah arms are startin' to hurt," Grimsley said. In truth, he had been rowing for roughly five hours while Gilbert had been teaching Grimsely's niece, Shana, some more information and theories regarding his speciality, gravity magic.

"What? Of course not. You got us into this situation, so you'll get us out of it," Gilbert harrumphed childishly.

"Ah got us into this? AH DID?! THAT'S IT! No more rowing fae me. Fook it. We'll fooking float until we run out ah food ya lyin' bastard!" Grimsey roared before he threw the two very important oars overboard, into the ocean.

He, Gilbert and Shana, all watched the wooden paddles glide through the air. It was honestly a very majestic sight to see. They smoothly entered the water and disappeared with the waves, never to be seen again.

"I'd give you a ten out of ten for such a perfect throw, however, those were our only oars, you barbarian! What do we do now?!" Gilbert shouted furiously.

He shook about and the rowboat was wildly tossing about on the ocean. Shana had a frantic look on her face as she tried to keep the boat from tipping upside down.

"Bah, fook off. Ye've goot a tail. Use 'at as a rudder 'fore I throw it overboard along with ye too!" Grimsley yelled in response. Obviously, he still held the fact that Gilbert had accidentally destroyed their island against the Purity Dragonkin.

"Rainheart Lextor?"

"Here."

"Amelia Ruthington?"

"Present, Professor Gringle."

"Alisa Michealov?"

A very quiet and weak voice responded from the back of the luxurious and clearly well-decorated classroom. "It's... Mikhailov..."

The Professor, a Human woman maybe in her forties, raised her eyes from the tome she was holding and stared at the young girl with long golden-blonde hair and who was wearing a comically large witches hat and set of robes.

"Miss Alisa? Is there an issue with my pronunciation? If so, please correct me after today's lesson on magical source theory is over, okay?" There was no scorn in Professor Gringle's voice and she wore a very amiable smile as she looked at Alisa.

"Professor, Alisa's too shy, so she won't correct you afterwards. Can't she just do it now?" a young boy, no older than thirteen, with gills on his neck and scaly blue skin, suggested.

Professor Gringle's face immediately soured and she completely ignored the young boy before she began her lessons. All of the other Human students except for Alisa laughed at him for daring to speak up for a Human. He buried his face in his book and tried to stay unnoticed after that. It was still his first term, so he hadn't fully gotten used to the attitude of most people in The Academy just yet.

'This place sucks... When will Teacher McCullen get here? I'm not learning anything about space magic since it seems no one at my level has access to that... I want to see Scott... Maybe I should skip Dwarven Geomancy and Electromagnetic Therum?' Alisa thought to herself.

In another part of the school, in an open plaza, Hazel Brightmoon was sat with Emma Malik, and the two were comparing notes on Magical Circle Efficiency, when two very handsome and clearly popular boys, as made apparent by the posse of girls and boys following behind them, approached Hazel and Emma with charming smiles on their faces.

"Hazel, what a pleasant surprise to see you here," one of the two, a seventeen-year-old boy with low-rimmed glasses and a certain elegance to his face, said politely.

Hazel raised her eyes and looked at the group disdainfully. Obviously, she could hear his true thoughts thanks to her special ability. She ignored him and his friends before packing up her things and leaving with Emma.

The boy calmly watched her walk away and the boy that stood next to him, a more muscular and chiselled lad, spoke. "Arrogant bitches. Don't they know that you're a prince of a second-level kingdom and the son of an SS-Ranked magician?"

"Everyone here is equal. Well, everyone except for the filthy Demihumans. She'll come around eventually. Did you arrange for her two friends to get a proper 'visit'?" the boy with the low-rimmed glasses asked while he clasped his hands behind his back.

The muscular youth grinned viciously. "Naturally. Both of them should be getting 'welcomed' round about now."

"Excellent. Maybe now they'll avoid hanging around Hazel during her holiday days. The filthy Adventurers." There was a certain possessiveness and cruelty in the young prince's voice. The Academy, while certainly a safe-haven and wondrous place for mages, had its own darkness. Corruption was an evil force that had a tendency to spread everywhere it could, and The Academy was no exception to this unspoken law of the world.