Finally, the day had come.

It was time to enrol at Cardinal.

The past two days have been fairly laid back, all things considered. Sophie and I sparred once again, to my loss each time. We’ve reached the point where she understands my movements fairly well, even without the aid of her Aspect. She’s not been using the awake form of it, as she’s yet to shift its goals, but even without it she’s proving a challenge. Mom’s demonstration and the things she said has reignited Sophie’s drive, and she’s become more aggressive in her fighting style. She still tries to harry me down before going in for the win, but she’s been pushing forwards almost relentlessly. It’s made it rather difficult to keep up, even with my own advantages.

At night, Armsmaster and I have agreed to work on my gravity manipulation for three hours every night. It’s a long term project, but after three nights of work we’ve mostly sketched out the bare bones of how it works.

I would shift the mana flow in my enhancement along certain points on the flow, and the strength of that shift and where in the flow it is determines what effect occurs and how strong it is. Armsmaster has suggested attaching a visual idea to each kind of manipulation, and I started on that with changing gravity’s natural pull. I went with a slider bar from a video game, going from -100 to 100, with 0 being the default setting. Sliding up through to, say 50, would increase gravity by half of my maximum output, which came out to about 12 gs. Going the other way, decreases gravity, until it hits -100, at which point it stops affecting me entirely. Identifying the ‘reverse button’, so to speak, was a massive relief for me, as having an internal visualisation of what caused my unwanted skyward fall has made it a lot easier to handle my newfound anxiety for the sky.

Outside of that, I’ve been taking things fairly easy. Mom said that there’s usually a proficiency test upon enrolment based on the track you wish to pursue, so Sophie and I have slowed down on the sparring somewhat to ensure we’re able to put our all into it.

Which brings me to the Academy gates.

Aunt Tamaya had to go on ahead, but because Mom’s classes won’t start until a month in, she has the time to drop us off and walk in with us.

The gates are rather imposing, tall and intricate wrought iron with bronze accents. They lay open now, to let through the stream of people, those my age and their families, looking to enrol at Cardinal. Not all of them will get in, about half, or even a third on a poor year. This is because the entry requirements for those who don’t have either a destructive high Grade Affinity such as Fire, Solar, or Lightning, or an Aspect like myself, are rather steep. It generally calls for a high level of talent and a not insignificant sum of money, which not everyone can manage. Some families might save up for a whole generation just to afford to enroll their children here.

Some nobility, either in Hortell or abroad, might offer to sponsor a promising young mage so they can attend, paying the fees for them in exchange for a decade or two of service upon graduation. For those who can’t afford it themselves, it’s an attractive prospect.

The Academy building itself is not quite what I expected, much like Hortell the first time I saw it. Once again, the stories I read that involved magical schools were all set in grand sweeping castles, with high walls and numerous towers. Cardinal didn’t have any of those.

Instead, it feels more like an old university. There’s one large central courtyard that I could see, with the building itself forming a U shape around it. It’s construction is primarily carved stone, favouring function over form, with a total five floors. Stone paths lead from various parts of the building across the courtyard, meeting at a fountain. That fountain is the only strictly magical thing I could see, as the water sprayed up and around in shifting patterns that simply weren’t possible without magic to guide the water.

It seems there’s more behind the main building I can see, as the stream of people follows under an archway built into it, large enough for five to walk abreast, and tall enough that three people could stand on each other's shoulders and not reach the top.

Past that is a large open pathway between two more buildings, not as tall as the one we just walked under. They both carry the same general design of the main building, solid stone walls and a flat roof. The crowd goes past them as well, and out onto an area of open grass. The crowd expands out to cover the grass, and I can just barely see a long row of tables at the far end. A series of lines of people lead out from each one. Three of those lines are much shorter than the others, and people pass through them a good deal quicker.

“So, where from here?” I ask Mom. She’d been giving me some weird looks the day after I gave back her Mantle, but whatever odd mood that had come over her seems to have settled itself.

She points to the people lined up, “Those are for anyone enrolling who doesn’t meet scholarship requirements, like you two do. Instead, we’ll take the shorter lines, for those eligible for scholarships and VIP students.”

With that, we walk over to one of those lines and wait our turn. Eventually, the people in front of us pass through, each heading to join the group of those who gathered behind the tables, clearly having completed the first stage of enrolment. As we wait, I notice a large number of those in the longer lines turning away, looking dejected. I guess those would be people who wanted to try their luck to see if the fee’s gone down recently.

Finally, it comes to our turn, and I don’t even have to look at Mom to see she’s got her ‘stranger face’ on. Whenever dealing with people she doesn’t know, Mom’s face closes off completely, like the front gates of a fortress slamming shut.

Sitting behind the desk is a young woman with a friendly smile, that freezes slightly once she sees Mom.

“Hello, I’m Sarah, and I’ll be handling your registration today. If we could start with you, miss?” she says to me after glancing at Mom. She quickly got her composure back under control.

“Sure,” I say, “What do we need to do?”

“First, I’ll need your name, age, and place of birth.” Sarah says, pulling a fresh registration form from the pile beside her. I couldn’t help but notice that she had no concern about filling in paperwork outside, which is when I realise I can’t feel even the slightest breeze. They must have some kind of magic set up to prevent that.

“Valerie Endmarch, 16, and um…” I pause. Should I say I’m from Earth? Mom said that the public was told she simply went far away.

Mom places her hand on my shoulder. “I spoke with Rodrick a week ago. Certain parts of Valerie’s record are to be kept undisclosed. That includes her Aspect, her Guide, and where she’s from.”

Sarah blinks at Mom, then shuffles through a drawer in the desk. She pulls out a piece of paper and gives it a quick scan. “Huh. So it is. You’ll have to excuse me Lady Endmarch, record seals aren’t exactly common nor easy to arrange, I hadn’t expected it.”

Mom waves it away. Most wouldn’t notice the faint hint of discomfort she let show, but I do. From what Mom told me, she is only really a Lady in name. She gave away her land and associated titles decades ago, though people never really stopped treating her as a noble. “It’s fine. You know now.”

“Well, that makes a few things easier,” Sarah says. She quickly fills in the information I did give her, writing ‘SEALED’ in the sections for Aspect and birthplace. “Next I’ll need your Affinity and it’s Grade. I am required to tell you that lying about your Grade will be quickly discovered and is grounds for immediate expulsion.”

I nod. “S Grade Stellar Affinity.”

She whistles softly. “S Grade and an Aspect? We don’t get many of those, I don’t think there’s more than twenty S Grades in the whole school. Stellar, though. You’ll need to work hard on that if you want to make something of it, it’s not an easy Affinity to grasp.”

I smile slightly, remembering the first and only time I used a starlance. “Yes, I’ve noticed.”

“Alright. Next is the track you wish to pursue. Do you know your options?”

I nod. “Yes, I’d like to take the Combat track please.”

Sarah lifts an eyebrow. “Are you sure? Stellars tend to struggle with Combat, of all Affinities to switch tracks in the first six months, yours are one of the most common.”

“I’m sure.”

“Very well, then that’s everything for you, miss Endmarch. If you’ll just step to the side while I get your friend sorted, you can both be on your way.”

I step aside to let Sophie handle her registration.

Sarah writes down Sophie’s name and age without issue, but when it gets to place of birth, she has a wholly different issue.

“I’m sorry? I must have misheard you say the Whitewood. But that’s a mana spring with an active Primal living there, so that can’t be the case.”

Sophie nods, “No, you heard right.”

“But that’s ridiculous, a Manticore would never let people live in their territory.”

“What, Nesira? She’s great, stops by every now and then to chat with Dad. They’ve got an arrangement going on, though Dad never said what it actually was. All I do know is she encourages the other monsters away from our neck of the woods, so it’s not as bad as you might think.”

Sarah looks at Sophie, stunned. “Ooookay then. And your choice of track?”

“Combat,” Sophie replies.

“Alright, then finally, do you have a Guide, and if so what is their name?”

“His name is the Huntsman.”

“Very well then. That’s all for the both of you, so you can go join the others over there. Lady Endmarch, I’m afraid this is where you must part. We can’t have anyone’s parents interfere with the tests in any way, I’m sure you understand.”

Mom looks at her passively. “I do.”

She turns to me. “Good luck, Valerie. I know you’ll do well.”

Mom gives me a quick hug and walks away.

Sophie and I turn to where all the other new students are gathering.

“Shall we?” I say.

“Let’s.”

**********************

Ethan Cosgrove hated crowds.

He’d much prefer being in the workshop with his father, but his father said he needed to attend Cardinal, saying it was very important for his future. Ethan disagreed, but he didn’t get much choice in the matter.

When he was asked which track he wanted to pursue, he had still yet to make up his mind. The idea of Scholar bored him. He didn’t have the mindset for theoretical study and research, and things such as history and geography meant little to him. In the same vein, Magic was too… ephemeral, in a sense. He understood it, knew it was there, but he had a hard time applying himself to its study.

As for the Craftsman track… well.

He’d been learning how to enchant things since he was 8.

Most people believed that it was impossible to use magic until after one’s Awakening. In truth, neutral casting was still possible, albeit a good deal more difficult.

That didn’t stop Ethan though. He’d been fascinated by the art of enchantment since the first time his father let him watch his work. It took a whole three months of pestering, but he eventually got him to teach Ethan the basics.

And he proved to be very, very good at it.

By the time Ethan was 14, his father had only the more advanced subjects left to teach his son, and though Ezekiel Cosgrove was a brilliant enchanter in his own right, he was no skilled teacher. But that was fine. Ethan was at the point where he could experiment with what he already knew, and given he applied the proper caution, which his father had drilled into him to an almost religious degree, he should be perfectly fine.

But Ethan’s social life could only be described as lacking. This was something Ethan himself was completely okay with, but his father saw things differently. So, he insisted that Ethan had his whole life ahead of him,and could afford to spend a few years at the Academy making friends.

All this to mean that Ethan felt he didn’t really have anything to gain from the Craftsman track, which left only one option.

Ethan hadn’t realised he’d opened his mouth until after he’d said he’d be taking the Combat track.

Unable to bring himself to correct his terrible mistake, Ethan could only affirm his decision.

He spent a full minute silently berating himself for his stupidity before resolving to switch tracks as soon as possible, once he decided what he would actually switch to.

Crisis potentially averted, Ethan adjusted his glasses and set off to do the one thing his father made him promise to do.

He had to at least attempt to make a friend.

Knowing his lacking social skills would make things difficult, he looked around for someone either alone or at least in a small group, preferably on the edge of the crowd so fewer people would witness him making a fool of himself.

He scanned the crowd for a full five minutes, before he found a pair that he felt fit those surprisingly stringent criteria. He hadn’t expected so many people to know each other, or be willing to just talk to a stranger.

The two girls were completely out of his league, of course.

The half beastkin was one thing. It was clear the wolfblood came through strong in her, given she had both the tail and ears. Normally, a half would possess only one of the animalistic traits of their beastkin parent, he knew that much. Not only that, but she carried the height and vaguely predatory gaze he heard was common to the blood. Her lean, fit body showed she was no stranger to exercise, and it all combined made it difficult to not be intimidated.

The other girl, however, was a wholly different concern. She wasn’t tall or muscular like her friend, but her strange silver hair and eyes, which Ethan hadn’t heard of before, gave her an almost mystical feel. Her gaze had the feel of someone who measured a person entirely by instinct, and it didn’t take much for him to guess that despite the somewhat mediocre physique, she was no stranger to a fight.

It didn’t help at all that she was pretty.

She wasn’t the most beautiful girl he’d seen today. There were a few others who had her beat in that department, but she seemed so comfortable in her own skin that it gave her a kind of charisma of its own. Her hair was roughly cut at the shoulders, but seemed like it was supposed to look that way. Her slim body combined with everything else about her to give her the feel of someone who could fit in almost anywhere, unlike Ethan, who constantly felt out of place.

By the time he had convinced himself to move on and keep looking, he realised his legs had made the decision for him and had already walked up to them both.

Not wanting to look like an idiot, he could only say, “Uh, hi. I’m Ethan.”