Lord Joyde The Madman: Heylo, everybody! How are you all doing?

Right then.

Time to wake something up.

Not much else to say here...

Don't mind me guys and girls! I'm just a line break...

A few hours later... - Alice's New Home - Alice's Point Of View...

"Cheh..." I spat into a nearby plant as I walked into what was apparently my new home.

It was supposed to be a personal mansion for students.

I guess it was stupid of me to even consider that it might be a solitary house...

There were a bunch of people living in this building, mainly other nobility and their servants. A kind old lady approached me."Ah, you must be Miss Pendragon, right? Please, follow me to your room."

Don't get me wrong, the place was indeed a mansion. It was a huge house of perfectly cut stone and tiled roof... just being near it even a dull horse could realize that it cost a lot. I just hope that it isn't only pretty on the outside.

I followed the lady after nodding towards her. Her pouting face made me think that she wanted some kind of verbal reply but she didn't question my silence. After all, I was just a little girl who lost both of her parents. She guided me through the halls, followed by stares, pity and even some panic as children younger than me found me to be terrifying for some reason.

Guess I can't really blame them... I look like a ghost."Erm, are you sure you don't need any help in carrying your... luggage, young lady?" She asked me suddenly which made me blink in surprise as I looked upward to finally notice Luctus, my ever loyal halberd, nested neatly in my own right hand as my left pulled along my actual luggage."Nah, I'm fine."

She swallowed down hard, yet I am unsure why. Maybe she is uncomfortable around me? After all, I haven't exactly shown to be anything less than psychotic.

Maybe all these people are scared that I might kill them in their sleep?... hmm, maybe if I feed this fear some of my own accord, people won't approach me as much? I could certainly use the silence.

... And if father heard me say that, he'd be screaming at me for being so antisocial. Honestly though, I don't want to deal with people right now.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, we reached my room. The old lady turned around in order to face me and dug out a key from her pocket."Here we are... room forty-two. This will be your lodging for the year. Ah! Do not worry about the payment, the headmaster has already paid for your stay. Please, do enjoy yourself. The room is fit for a queen, I assure you." She winked at me.

I blinked. Could one of the princes be boasting about my betrothal to him? I need to find out more about this."Thank you.. erm, miss?"

She blinked in confusion before realizing that she never introduced herself."Ah! I am Lucia D. Kalzwinter, a pleasure to meet you." She bowed and I nodded, mimicking the noble gesture."I'm sure you already know, but I am Alice Pendragon. Please, take care of me this year."

Now this reaction made her appear happy as she closed her silver eyes and smiled before moving away to let me unlock my room. To my surprise, my maid and supposedly *normal* person, Faervel was inside. She was sitting on a chair, looking as beautiful as ever.

The door behind me slammed itself shut as I was bound in some kind of spell, endlessly staring at the elven woman. Thankfully, the shock of being pushed into my room by the door was enough to wake me up."Faervel!" I exclaimed, somewhat more loudly than I actually wanted to as I locked the door.

Her majestic, not-quite-mortal and picturesque beauty was shattered as soon as she woke from her own trance."A-ah! Mistress! You've finally arrived. Since you took so long at the headmaster, I managed to clean up the entire room and cook some dinner for us."

True to her word, a well-roasted pheasant was laid on the table. Wait a moment."When exactly did you make all of this?" I asked her as I walked towards the oval table and sat onto one of the fine, ebony chairs. Hell, all the furniture inside of the room seemed to be made from expensive ebony. My bed was indeed, a queen sized one which you wouldn't find anywhere on the market but can only gain by personally ordering it made.

That old elf headmaster really didn't spare any expenses to make this place, did he? Maybe I'll forgive him for lying to me about this being my own personal mansion then. The she-elf promptly blinked in confusion."Lets see... around two hours ago?"

I deadpanned her."And why exactly is this pheasant still nice and hot, despite being away from the pot for so long? Not to mention, how exactly did you roast it?"

"T-there were cooking runes in this place? O-oh my, is that the really badly drawn ones on the counter there which exuded heat unnecessarily so I destroyed them?" She wandered to herself as I sighed."Answer my question, Faervel."

My statement made her swallow as she muttered something under her breath. Something which sounded like; being a mortal is hard. However, due to the context of the sentence, I decided to ignore it. I'll have to consult the bestiaries of the city to find out more about my not-so-mortal companion."I uh... when I removed the runes, I used the freed up volcanic slate counter to cook. The stone easily accepted magical heat, so I took a pot and started cooking. Yes, thats totally what happened!" She happily exclaimed.

I felt something popping, a blood vessel or several thousand of my brain cells committing collective suicide, breaking the second she finished that sentence. I slapped myself on the forehead, feeling a huge migraine coming."Argh, fuck this. Look, I can't do this, Faervel. I'm sure you have your reasons for being here but I'm not mentally retarded enough to buy into the story of you being ... a person. Or a mortal person, anyway."

Her face changed from shock to disappointment to sadness."I... I see."

"Look, I'm sure that whatever you are, you are here with me for an important, possibly very personal reason. I can let you stay around so long as you don't make trouble. Now, what that entails is you going around and learning what it means to be a normal person without causing trouble, alright?" Her elven ears perked up when she heard that and she nodded somberly."Mistress.. thank you. I.. I really want to tell you why I am here and what I am in the first place but I really, really can't."

"Why?" I asked her as she cut some of the pheasant for me and added strange looking spices and vegetables to my table. The food she prepared, even if it was by some strange magics.. I mean, where the hell did she even get the pheasant if she never went outside?

But I was willing to ignore this part of the story for one simple reason... the food was heavenly. Even the smell alone was more than enough to make my mouth water... nah, fuck that, I was drooling and just barely managing to stop myself for devouring the entire plate of food like some kind of animal. Thankfully, my noble etiquette won this fight."Because I.. because doing so would break quite a few of my kinds rules... and well, the reason I was the one chosen to accompany you is mostly because I am already on bad terms with the rule-makers themselves."

Ah, that made sense."So you are here to spy on me?"

She appeared shocked, closed her eyes and nodded."In a way, that is one part of my job... but its not the main one, of that I can assure you. To be perfectly honest mistress, my job can be basically dumbed down to making your life easier."

"... okay." Perhaps because of my own deranged hubris, I was willing to accept that kind of half-assed answer. Right now though, I really didn't care. The food she made was bloody excellent and the cooking runes aren't exactly difficult to make, or re-make in this case."Erm, mistress? I have a question, if you don't mind?"

Faervel suddenly blurted out, causing me to quirk an eyebrow at her."Yesh?" I replied with food in my mouth, something which seemed to cause her to scream on the inside for whatever reason before managing a reply."W-w-w-well, t-there is o-only one b-b-bed in this r-room..." She blushed, somewhat strangely considering that she was in the presence of a child.

"You'll be sleeping in the bed, next to me, Faervel. This is normal." She blinked in surprise."Really?"

"Yes. You are the maid of a young, nine year old noble girl, a child. Why would it be wrong for you to sleep with me?" She blushed and coughed into her fist."Mistress, if your soul is anything to go by.. you are anything but, a child."

Now it was my turn to be surprised as I asked."What do you mean?"

She made no verbal reply as she pointed a finger towards me and said."Soul Reveal." A bright light covered the room we were in before dying down to reveal a crimson mass of energy within her hand. It was a small, round object, if it could be called that, and it clearly pulsed with power. The very presence of it felt... alive.

Mine.

But the red was not the only thing that was there. Emblazoned upon the soul which was apparently my own, was a strange symbol. It reminded me of the staves that priests of Attar, The King Of The Gods and this worlds lord in heaven... wait, this worlds?

What kind of thought was that? ... wait, there are other worlds, right? Like the one Antioch and Eadom are from, maybe they have their own Gods there?

The symbol on my soul pulsed with white light, clearly it was something divine... and yet, it also felt cruel. It was the same perfectly cruel and cruelly perfect light I had come to know..."What does that symbol mean? That elongated T shaped thing with an extended upper line?"

She shook her head in negative."We-.. I do not know, but it is clearly a holy symbol. That and the ring you bear on your finger... they may be the first objects of power that an entirely new divine has granted into this world."

She revealed that to me with a straight face and I felt my heart stop for a moment. Maybe this Faervel was an angel of some kind? Sent by the gods to care for me?

Naah, couldn't be. She must be part of some immortal organization which wants to gather information, both about me and the supposedly new God. I shook my head as the image of my soul dispersed."Anyways, enough about that for today... lets go sleep."

She blushed again and said."As you wish, mistress." Hey, hey now... that last part sounded needlessly sexy.

I am just a child after all and we are both women... surely an angel would not desire for such unnatural acts...

Then again, who am I to say, if she really is an angel then why would she care for the morality of mere mortals?

The Following Morning... - Classroom C - Alice's Point Of View...

When the magic clock woke me up today at five AM, I felt it in my soul that this day would be an extremely difficult one.

However, thanks to Faervels magic cooking, gods bless her soul whatever she is, that notion was quickly dispelled. She immediately rose from the bed and donned her maid outfit as she insisted on sleeping naked for some reason... Can't say I minded it that much.

She has a really soft abdo-AHEM. Bad Alice.

Reset needed.

Reset achieved.

Anyways, she handed me some kind of brownish, hot drink which revitalized my mind, body and soul.

I think she called it coffee.

After that, I finally managed to get myself dressed and told her to not go outside of the room unless absolutely necessary. When she asked me how she was to learn the ways of mortals then, I told her to use some form of magical sight or invisibility at least.

Her eyes lit up like fireflies in the night as I said that, seemingly not having ever gotten such an idea before. I only hope that whatever she does will not cause trouble for us...

In any case, that all is what brings me to my current situation.

After everyone's dead, barely moving forms arrived to the entrance to the Academy, one of the teachers whose face I couldn't even see at first from all of the crowd blocking it, called out our names one by one and sorted us into classes. While none of the classes appeared to be specialized in any way, shape or form.. anyone could clearly see that the good and bad students were being separated.

People who looked dumb went into class A.

People who looked erudite and bookish went to class B.

... Normal people seem to have been put into class C.

And then there was class S. That's right, not D but S. An S which clearly indicated the word *special*. The best of the best were shoved in that place, the highest of nobility, class and power. Kids which radiated the arrogance of kings and queens. Hell, some of them most likely will be kings and queens one day.

So why was I put into class C? Perhaps class S has some kind of specialized learning schedule which is made up in such a way to increase their prestige? Provided they are successful, that is.

I would not be surprised if there were some kind of tournaments, organized fights between high-ranking children.

Considering that class C indicated the word *classic* or *casual*, maybe my time in this place won't be too hard? I sure hope so.

As we entered the gigantic classroom of rising rows full of empty seats, I promptly made my way towards the highest row and shoved myself into the leftmost corner. Despite the board being quite a few meters below me, I could still see the letters written upon it rather easily. The other kids around me were however, clearly struggling to see what was going on.

"Attention!" A young man dressed in the typical purplish clothing that indicated a teacher, alongside the five-leafed clover which represented Sorciere as its banner etched into the robe's chest area, suddenly exclaimed. Once he effectively shut out whatever murmurs occupied the room, he began a speech."Welcome, young ladies and lords, as well as our less than noble students! Welcome, to Sorciere's esteemed Academy of Advanced Magic, the only true institute of knowledge with official permit to teach such an incredible thing. I am Remi Popelin and I will be your acting teacher for the class of Mana Manipulation. Now, as this is your first day here, once this introductory class is over, you are free to leave as if the day was done."

He cleared his throat in order to shush those who immediately starting talking about the things they'd do after class was over. Most people seemed to be talking about some kind of clown show being played in the city center tonight... right, keep away from the center, got it. Thank you, random gossiping girls my age."First of all, I would like to begin this class with a question which we ask all of our students. What is, in your personal opinion, magic? Also, what does studying magic mean to you as a person?"

Two are two questions. Thankfully, the teacher did not point at me."You there, the peasant boy with the brown hat. Answer the questions, please."

The boy blinked shyly and nodded as he stood up from his seat, ragged clothing showing tears sagging as he rose."Magic.. erm, magic is the mental manipulation of mana, both our own and that which is around us... and to me personally... uhh, magic is a way to elevate myself?"

The teacher nodded, seeming pleasantly surprised by the boys elegant, if forced, answer."Indeed. Your answer was very a very textbook one which means you've already begun the correct way of studying! And yes, one of the benefits of being a mage is indeed a possibility to be granted a noble rank, which is an admirable aspiration in itself. I wish you good luck, mister Brooke."

Now named Brooke, the shy boy sat down while smiling somewhat pleased with himself as the teacher now turned towards a noble girl my age... her well-fed frame clearly showed that she was from the family of an indulgent wastrel of some kind. Most likely a mayor, like Yvain... I wonder if his children would end up like that.

Hmm..."And you, little miss Harnedy. What would your answers be to the questions?"

She rose up, pride and misplaced confidence reeling of off her like a plague."Magic is a gift to all mortals from the gods themselves! A way for us to experience the same greatness as they do!"

Her exclamation raised more than a few eyebrows."I assume you have a talent for holy magic, young lady?" Now her demeanor was lowered as she shyly looked away from the teachers gaze."Y-yes, I-I do."

He nodded."And the other question?"

She calmed herself down with a deep breath."Well.. I'm not totally sure what to say... Why do I wish to study magic? What does it mean to me as a person?... I suppose I am simply here because it was needed of me."

He nodded again."You are here, yet you do not know why. Do not worry though, most of our students are exactly the same way. I'm sure that your path as a student of magic will reveal itself in due time."

She blushed as the teachers stern voice echoed throughout the classroom, making more than one students eyes grow wide in wonder and apparent understanding. I merely scoffed at their antics.

However, doing that was a bad idea... as the teacher caught my scoff."Would you like to answer the questions, little miss..?..." He turned his head away and took a paper into his right hand before turning to look back at me with sweat forming on his brow."M-m-miss.. P-P-Pendragon?"

I sighed as I knew that this is what was going to happen. I'm a High Lady, after all. Its obvious that even the highest ranking noble here was an ant in comparison to someone capable of becoming an actual regent."I suppose I must."

Rising from my seat with closed eyes, I took a moment to think."Magic? Its nothing more than a tool. Something to make ones own life easier. As for why I'm here, as a student of magic?... well, to pass the time, mostly. And so I don't have to stay within the potential slaughterhouse that is my castle."

He cleared his throat and coughed into his fist while nodding."Y-yes, I f-f-figured as m-much. Miss Pendragon, I would like to ask you to stay after class is done so that we may have a private talk, alright?"

I shook my head in negative."I'm afraid I can't do that, teacher."

Now it was his turn to be confused as he asked, his tone seeping the tiniest bit of anger."Oh? And why would that be?"

"I have an appointment with Adhana." Was my rather bored reply as his eyes went wide and he bit his lower lip in annoyance. Taking in a deep breath and swallowing down his pride as he noticed that I addressed the headmaster himself by surname only, he nodded."Very well. Now then class, you will each be given a rune stone. These particular rune stones are just natural rocks from outside of the city which have had a rune etched onto them. These runes are made to drink the mana of those who touch them, using the stones themselves as storage. This will help us in finding out how much magic there is in each and everyone of you."

He made a sign in mid-air which created multiple clones of himself."Whooaaah.." The kids around us marveled at the magic they witnessed and I bit down any kind of reaction as I waited for my stone to arrive, hands on both cheeks as my deadpan stare continued drilling into the teachers backside.

He was shivering, how adorable."N-now, when my mirror images place the stones onto your tables, do not immediately touch them directly. I want those who can channel mana without direct touch to fill up the stones as much as they can."

Confused blinking was his answer, but some students actually understood what he meant... meaning Brooke, Harnedy and myself. There were some other kids who looked like they understood what to do but once their stones were distributed, all they did was randomly wave their hands around like idiots, trying to see if anything would happen."

"Before you begin, I'd like to ask if anyone knows what mana concentration is and how it is measured?" Teacher asked us with a quirked eyebrow and threw a look at me, to which I replied by looking away. This, of course, further infuriated him as he realized that I knew the answer and merely did not wish to speak.

Thankfully, the seemingly erudite Brooke did."Uhmm.." He rose his right hand into the air and waited to be called. The teacher nodded towards him, causing the boy to rise once more... dammit, I'll need to send him some money, the poor guys pants looks like they're about to fall off and I don't really wanna see that happen."I uh.. Mana Concentration is the name we give to the amount of mana within a person... normally, the mana is rather spread out but as the person continues to use it, its amount will obviously begin to increase, growing thicker and thicker as time goes on... as for how it is measured, I don't really know but I guess the runic stones which we just got are the means to do so..."

"And you would be correct. You see, these stones are something which you will be carrying on your persons for the entirety of your stay here. Not only do they act as somewhat improvised mana potions due to their storage capabilities, they will allow you all to keep yourselves notified of the amount of mana there is within your body. You will, of course, still need to do some mathematical equations in order to properly calculate the absolute correct amount, but in time you will become able to guess correctly most of the time." The teacher explained with a rather droll tone, clearly showing that this is something he has both heard and repeated a thousand times already.

"Now then, those of you who know how to channel mana outside of yourselves, please fill up the stones." He continued the speech as we all nodded in reply.

I promptly rose a finger and pointed it towards the rune stone, channeling my mana towards it in a very visible stream of crimson and white. This, sadly, attracted the attention of the teacher."Ahh, look there towards Miss Pendragon, everybody!"

The sudden attention caused me to scowl, but I bit down any real reaction as the teacher continued with a smirk clearly visible on his face."As you may know, a persons mana is a direct window into their soul. Channeling it outwards of yourselves will often cause a water-like stream, the colors of which can tell you a lot about the person channeling the mana."

"So whats all the red and white mean?" Some random idiot asked as the teacher grinned."Well, red is the color of anger. By the looks of it, lady Pendragon is a girl prone to anger and rage. However, the white within her mana shows that she is also a very good person on the inside. White is the color of the divine and all things holy... it would appear we may have a future Arch Priestess among our ranks."

"As soon as I tame my anger, apparently." Was my rather sarcastic remark, which caused him to bite down onto his own lip once again."Y-yes, Indeed."

"AH! LOOK! I have white colors too!" The bog-boned mayor-daughter girl yelled out... what was her name again, I'm not very good at remembering names..."Miss Harnedy? Ah, indeed. Your steam of mana is colored almost completely white and blue. Perhaps I was wrong about Miss Pendragon, for it seems that the priestess here is you. Blue is, after all, the color of inner peace and goodwill."

She blushed again, looking quite bashful."Hehehe..."

"Haha, yours looks like golden poop, Brooke!" A snort etched itself onto my face as everyone turned towards the erudite peasant, the stream of magic coming from his hand was indeed brown and gold, like yellow excrement."Erm..." He rubbed the back of his head rather lamely, clearly embarrassed at the situation and knowing not how exactly to respond."Ah, mister Brooke. Gold and Brown, eh? Gold is the color which indicates ambition and a desire to rise beyond ones own station. This is something you've already told us, so nothings changed. As for the brown color, it is the color of one who is also down to earth and rather content with what they already have. A little bit conflicting there, but that's alright. Such conflicting desires are nothing strange." As he said that last part, he threw a look at me again, hoping that I wouldn't catch it.

Unsurprisingly, I did."Anyways, now the rest of you can touch the rune stones."

He continued this way of revealing what people were like in accordance to their mana coloration for some time, before promptly writing a formula onto the board and telling everyone to use it in order to calculate their own mana. The backside of the rune stones showed the mana concentration of the last person who used it...

Mine was twelve point forty-two... forty-two.. that number appears in my life once again. I wonder if there's anything special about it.

Anyways, taking a look at Brooke and Harnedy, I learned that their concentrations were three point fifty eight and three point one... Quite the surprise that a peasant was this talented, to be able to keep up with a minor noble. He was obviously a dedicated, diligent person who worked hard for what he wanted and kept what he had very closely to himself.

I suppose he deserves a change of clothes... now, how do I deliver them to him without causing myself trouble? Ah, I'll just get Faervel to do it.

Anyways, it seems my mana concentration was far higher than normal. Something which I should probably ask the headmaster about when I get to him. Thankfully, after calling out some other students to the board to show off their calculi, he ended the class and guided us all out of the Academy.

I hope this guy, whose name I have already forgotten, will not cause me too much trouble in the future.

However, I can only foolishly hope that this is the case, as my instincts are telling me a big fat no.

Don't mind me guys and girls! I'm just a line break...

That's it for now.

As usual, I will stay online for a while to answer comments and edit out mistakes!

I hope you've had fun reading.

Anyways, read and review! And Good Morning/Day/Night to you all! ADIOS FOR NOW!