It's been almost three weeks since black hair left. I asked Miss Ein where he went, she said that he was visiting some family and that the teacher, Hector, and Axel went with him. Since there was another student that didn't have a partner, we were put together. We don't really match well, he's talkative while I'm much more quiet, I haven't really been able to get a word in.

He's an elf, of the elven kingdom of Mearal. They're the elves that the Kaldora Empire is allied with. They've been growing closer too. The alliance started over thirty years ago after the empire conquered the Kingdom of Aldian after they attacked and burned down a village on the outskirts of the empire's territory. They denied it at first but there were scouts that claimed to have seen them and there were a few dead soldiers in Aldian clothing.

Mearal, is one of the largest elven kingdoms, probably the second largest out of the five I know of. It's to the west, but not the western continent where the elves originated from. According to a book that I read, it was named after a foolish elven boy who became king after slaying a stone dragon that was attacking villages. He was so powerful that he oozed out the purple energies of the arcane. Well, I've been told that the story's a myth but it's a lot more interesting than the real story. I was a little embarrassed when I told Iris and she corrected me.

Mearal focuses on teaching arcane magic and technology advancements, unlike other elven kingdoms that prefer their nature magic. Apparently, Mearal's capital city has forgeries almost on par with the Dwarves. Which, is hard to imagine for me, the elves here look way too soft for that kind of work. We are mages so it makes sense.

The Mearal are a really old group. They've been around since even before the war, but they were much smaller back then. According to their beliefs the reason why the angels, who live in the middle islands on the ocean and in the edges of the continents didn't help us was because they believed the Navacks, who were led by their god, Malkuron, were a calamity that was meant to scourge the people of the arcane arts. It doesn't make too much sense when one thinks about the humans and dwarves, they couldn't even use magic until after the war.

Legends also go on to say that arcane mastery was supposed to be bestowed onto the angels but the elves took it for their own uses. So the angels abstaining from the war was more of a grudge than anything else it seems like. Magic supposedly came from a small orb of purple light that the two primordial dragons produced as offspring, I don't see how dragons make an orb, and broke into nothing. They say that the arcane came from a shard of it, not just the air or dust of it.

I've been in the library too much, but those stories make for fun reads.

Feno, is Axel's partner's name. He's really friendly but I can't talk to him, all I do is smile and nod. It's not very good for building a relationship but it gets me through the day. I'd like to say I want black hair to return soon, but I'm still worried to see his face again. I know that they're kinda dumb fears but it's just something I don't like seeing. It's like seeing a rider lose the reins of a horse and fall off, I just wanna close my eyes.

It's Wednesday, of the fourth week of November, just before Larbram which is the last month of autumn before winter. Black hair left about two weeks ago, it's been more than that now but it hasn't reached the third yet. The Green City was it? I want to go there someday, maybe with- no, I want to go there with Iris and Elis, eventually. But I won't get my hopes up.

"Hey, guys?" I say, looking from Iris to Elis. We were just in my room, Iris helped me braid my hair while Elis was showing me some fire magic.

"What's up?" Elis asks doing a near impossible head tilt. Her back isn't even arched and her head is already like the incline of a rooftop rather than the more plausible horizon. I gotta say, it's a bit distressing how she can do something like that.

"Where did you live before you came here?" I ask as a cold gust of wind blows past us, making our clothes go into a frenzy. The flow of the clothing reminds me of blowing into a hot cup of water and creating a small dip of air as the water ripples out and collides with the sides of the cup.

"Within the Capital." Iris says. "Both of us. Where do you live El?"

"You know Nura Forest?" I ask.

"Yeah. It's by the Rella Lake."

"I lived there." I say.

"So how's life in a village?" Iris asks. Her eyes are gleaming, a pen and a pad of paper magically appears in her hands. Uh, Iris, I don't see how this is going to help you help your sister. Of course, I keep that to myself and answer her.

"Um, I don't know? I think it's something like this, you know, just, uh, living like how we are now?" nice one El, keep it vague.

Iris frowns and puts her items away, "Pretty mundane huh?"

"Eheh, what were you expecting?"

Elis chimes in, "Hunting and stuff. Like, did you wrestle bears or something El? I think that you could tie it up with your braid."

My hands instinctively move and pet my braid in a repeating motion. As soon as one reaches the bottom, the other comes around like a wheel and restarts the cycle. "No." I say. "I've never fought a bear before. I don't think that it's very common among other villagers too. I think it's just in stories, other than when hunters go out."

"Like the stories you read?" Elis asks.

"...I guess." I say quietly looking away from her.

Iris snaps her hands ending in a point at the academy. "Girl please, we have to get going. Talk while we walk."

"Got it." Elis jokingly marches in a stiff way. She lifts her foot high into the air and does exaggerated turns as she moves towards the academy. At one point she slips, when she stands up she keeps going like nothing happened, except for the new mechanical motion at the end of the step, she's watching her step now.

"So, how's the new partner?" Iris asks.

"WALK WHILE YOU TALK!" Elis yells over the bumbling heads of the crowd.

Iris's lips meet and she blows air through them, letting them vibrate in a farting sound, "We will!" she says back. "So El, how is he?" she drags her feet after Elis.

"Um, there's not much to say. I don't really have an opinion of him." Yeah, I really don't know what I think about him.

"Do you like him better than Rainen?" she says in a playful manner.

"I don't think so. I just haven't really gotten to know Feno. He's nice so far, he doesn't say anything mean or degrading and he never gives me any weird looks. It's just that, I don't think we've had any type of connection." Wow, I guess I at least know how I feel.

"Oho?" Iris tries to hide a smile. "And you have a connection with Rainen? Ooooo, your face is getting red."

"S-stop it Iris, you know what I-I mean." I gather water in my hands and splash it on my face, not a lot, just enough to cover my cheeks. "L-let's walk and not talk."

"Heh. Whatever you say El."

------------

Miss Ein walks in holding another book. She looks a lot better today, her brown hair's tied into a ponytail, her robes are a little smaller, more snug, and she's not wearing her glasses, not that they made her look bad. The sleeves on the robes are less baggy and made to better fit her slender arms. It gives a more feminine look than the one's we're wearing.

She softly lays the book onto the five foot tall wooden podium, and turns to write on the board. There's something I like about hearing the chalk's distinctive tap and scrape like slide it does when it hits the board. It's by no means jarring, very, comforting in a way, it's very clear and concise, just pleasing for my ear to hear in the morning.

She places the almost never ending chalk down, and faces us. Unlike her usual, get to the point attitude, she sweeps the classroom with her eyes, back and forth, back and forth. A knock comes from the door, then it slides open. I catch a small glimpse and forcibly deter my gaze by reading the chalkboard, if only I could actually do that. I can't get my focus off of the two who just entered.

"Rainen, Axel, welcome back. There's been quite a few things that you two have missed but your partners can catch you up in no time. Please take your seats. Thank you for bringing them here Hector."

"No problem. I'd like to apologize for bringing them in late. We got off track a little bit on the way here."

"I see. Did you enjoy the trip?" Miss Ein asks.

"Hehe, yes I did. I'd love to stay and chat but I assume that you have a class to teach. I'll be going now." Hector bows, his hand sliding to his shoulder.

"Goodbye." he closes the door and Miss Ein turns back to us. "The subject today will be about getting through magical barriers. As you remember I'm sure, two weeks ago, we had you and your partner go into a tag team battle. Well, the biggest problem were the barriers am I correct? The magic swordsmen were able to defeat a number of the magic only students because they were able to defend against any and all attacks. Now, I will teach you how to overcome the barriers."

She claps her hands together and smiles, "After we talk about another subject."

A groan is shared by almost the entire class, Elis's is especially loud. Considering that this is the time where she usually sleeps, I'd think that she'd want it to be longer.

"Not feeling tired today Elis?" I ask.

"I am but I wanna not be so useless." she pouts as she glances up at Iris. "I couldn't even break one of their barriers."

Iris raises one eyebrow as to say, 'So what?' " I couldn't do it either."

"But you were the reason why we won." Elis protests.

"Fufufu. Thank you for recognizing my abilities Elis." Iris pats her on the head. "But I couldn't have done it without you obviously. We still have a lot to learn, we're only first years after all."

"So, continuing on from before, the angels, what do they do? Out of the races, they're the overall strongest in light magic, sometimes called holy magic. Their civilizations are, despite what some churches say, very warlike. If they were to take on let's say, the empire, even though they have far less numbers, the war would be long and draining for both sides."

Out of the corner of my eye, black hair raises his hand.

"Yes Rainen?"

"Are angels good exorcists?" he asks. I've always wondered this but why is he so obsessed with exorcism? I thought that he might want to be one, but I don't think that his magic's strong enough to preform them.

"Haha. I should have expected that question." one of the students laugh.

"They are." Miss Ein answers. "But they're far more brutal in their exorcisms, if they even feel a little bit intimidated by the demon they'll kill the person on the spot."

Another student raises their hand, "Why is it that some religions focus on angels even though the religions themselves aren't warlike?" it's that girl that argued with Axel before.

"Isn't it because angels use holy magic and fight against demons?" Harneth, the girl that Rainen and I battled with spirits, asks. Miss Ein doesn't have any time to answer.

"It's because they're holy beings, they have the power of gods on their side." a different student says.

"Oh, Krolu, aren't you a follower of the Yassthal Church?" Harneth asks.

"Yeah, but that doesn't have anything to do with my answer." he says. "Their gods, Aprus and Olethad, are very powerful.

"That doesn't mean that we have to worship them. Aren't they just ascended angels? We elves have our own gods too."

Krolu gets visibly annoyed.

"Great topic." Miss Ein promptly intervenes. "Now gods, what are they? From what Harneth said, we know that they're ascended beings, but there's more than that. Ah, yes, Iris, go ahead."

"Gods like Aprus and Olethad are gods because people worshiped them. Each was a great hero in their time, like most other gods we have. They were either great leaders that the people loved or very powerful."

"Also correct, but what I'm looking for is HOW they ascend, an explanation if you will."

I raise my hand, "Don't their worshiper's mana become connected with theirs? So if I, um, was a follower of the Yassthal church, my magic would be somewhat linked to theirs."

"Yes! That's what I was looking for. Now, gods don't become gods without worshipers. Like Ellar said, the connection the people feel with their gods is when they link their magic. The person who prays doesn't get stronger, the god does. The person who is praying links their magic to the god giving them more power, who in return, listens to their requests. The link can be broken at anytime. Upon ascension, gods will usually take over a role, like being a god of harvest."

She pauses, "Gods become gods when they have enough people linked to them. Another, but far less common way, to become a god is if the spirits or very powerful spirits like them. Spirits, in their own ways, are closest to the gods that we have without being gods. Of course there are elemental lords and such but that's another lesson for another day.

Phew, I was scared to get it wrong but I wanted to share. I read it in a book at home before, I just couldn't hold myself back from sharing it. It was one of the first new books I read at home, a hard read but by the time mom and dad bought it, I knew enough to get through it.

"Moving on." Miss Ein says. "I wanted to get in a little more in that short session but we're also short on time. What's the best way to get rid of an enemy barrier? Anyone?" Miss Ein glances over at me and smiles. "Ellar, how about you?"

She really put me on the spot, it's true that I have an answer but I'm a lot less sure about this one. Ahhh, I wish I raised my hand instead, at least I could be somewhat prepared then.

"I-Is it c-concentrated attacks?"

"I'll take that question as an answer. Elaborate." a few students laugh and my face turns slightly warm.

"Uh, w-what I mean is that, usually s-strong attacks are needed to break barriers. So, so..." I take a moment for my thoughts. "another way is to have the mana compact, like, focused in the tip of an arrow, instead of a, a, large ice spike. The smaller the area the less mana it'll need to break through."

"Good job." Miss Ein says before she takes us outside.

---------

"H-hey, Ellar?"

I keep my eyes down and marginally to the side. "Y-y-yes?" I can't bring myself to look Rainen in the eyes when we're this close. I sway back and forth a little, fiddling with my hands as he speaks to me.

"You know, I've been gone for the last two weeks, so uh, I'd like to know if you could help me catch up? It's okay if you can't do it today, I mean, I don't want to take you away from your friends."

Iris and Elis are behind me.

"Oh!" Elis exclaims. "I have an idea. How about you and your friend Axel, and his partner too, come with us to go eat? We can all have some fun and we can also help you out."

"Yeah, sounds like a good idea. I'll go ask Axel." black hair turns to go back into the classroom.

"E-Elis!" I say in a hushed voice. "Did you have to invite him to come with us?"

"Hmm?" she tilts her head. "Do you hate him or something?"

"N-no. I'm just, just, not very comfortable with him right now."

Elis nods, "Oooh, I get it." she puts her thumbs up.

Iris chuckles, "She doesn't get it at all El. Don't worry about it, with us there you don't have much to fear, right?"

"Thanks Iris, I guess it is much better to do it in a group than alone."

"I bet a little bit of you wants it to be alone." Elis teases. So this is what she was thinking. Iris smacks her over the head and pulls on her ear a bit. Rainen and his friends come out.

"So, where we goin?" Axel asks cheerfully. He and his partner are well matched, their personalities are almost the same.

"To a restaurant that we go to frequently." Iris responds walking down the hallway with Elis in tow. "Follow me." she says. Per her command, they tread lightly behind her while I run up to stay next to Iris and Elis.

Arriving at the restaurant we pass by the sleek, well sanded doors, the knobs are cold to the touch and turn without any resistance. Inside I'm treated to a familiar sight, all around, people are sitting down and enjoying their meals. They sit in booths hugging the walls, a singular box-like arrangement of wood is in the middle. One person stands inside to man the bar, the drinks are aligned by color along the shelves.

The rectangular tables strewn about the room in rows of four, are nearly full. Children stab at their food while the parents try to get them to stop playing. Servers glide across the room as if they were skating on ice, each one of them moves with the slightest of movements and always bears a bright smile.

The six of us take a booth, it's the one where Iris, Elis, and I, usually sit. On the table, Elis's initials are lightly etched in. I sit on the inside, black hair is right across from me. I keep my eyes trained on the table where I trace over Elis's initials and glance at the menu so I'm not disturbed.

"Hello. Back again huh? Kinda like regulars now." the waitress says.

"Hey Anne. I'll take the same thing as last time." Iris says.

Rainen's relaxed position turns stiff.

"I'll take this one." Axel points.

"Same as last time Anne." Elis says.

"This one please." Feno orders.

"Same as last time too Anne." I say.

Silence for a minute as she waits for black hair.

"Sir?" she asks. "Your order?"

"Uh, yeah. I'll take the same as blue hair-" he looks at me with a doe-eyed look.

Anne chuckles, "Hehe. Blue hair huh? Alright, I'll get it here in a bit." she bows and leaves, retreating back into the kitchen.

----------

"Thanks." Rainen and Axel say before they turn around and leave with Feno.

"If I remember, didn't he call you that when he went into your room?" Elis says. "Blue hair, it's a lazy nickname."

Ehehe. I call him black hair sometimes too you know.

"I think it's a fine nickname. But they're not particularly close right now. Hey El, how come we can't call you that?" Iris asks.

"Um, because you call me El? I'd prefer if it stayed that way too."

"Ha, I guess so." Iris says. "Wasn't he acting kinda strange in there though?"

"Yeah. He seemed really uncomfortable. Like, do you think he knew Anne?" Elis says.

"He said that she was cute so I really doubt that. I also doubt that he was uncomfortable just because he thought she was cute, Rainen doesn't rub me that way. If anything, I think it was because of El." Iris says.

"Huh? I-I don't see how I play into this." Oh they're going to drag me in, I can already feel the blood flowing to my face.

"He's your partner you know. You have to be on friendlier terms, what if you two mess up because you can't communicate? I know that he kinda broke into your room but it was for a good reason if you ask me. I think you should try to open up to him more."

"Easy for you to say. You took the easy way out and partnered up with Elis." I say gathering mana into my hands.

"Well~ you know El, someone needs to watch over her. If I don't who will?"

"Uh huh." I say splashing water on my cheeks. "Cheater."