The next day, the first thing she burned in her mind is the damn laughter from Eden and Arthur - the latter thinking he’s sneaky but Aediva’s sensitive ears heard him snickering under his palm. At least he’s trying to hide it rather than laughing out unrestrained like a certain raven-haired boy.

Bonk!

The bump of Eden’s head lasted for the whole day as class proceeded on. Nothing particular was odd, in her eyes and mind. Most of everything that the lecturer was teaching up front is already burned in her mind, to be honest - especially when she had read all the damn textbooks she found in the library. It was only during the last class when it struck Aediva’s mind. Why is she the only one without a wand?

She looked left and right to all her classmates as they scribbled with their magic pen - the magic stones of various colours according to their dormitories. She even saw a few of them changing it into the longer wand she saw both Eden and Arthur used during their fight at the Starris Mine.

That said, Krow never said anything about any of it at all too. As she walked down the hallway with the hand spool in one hand and the other pulling at the colourless thread that soon turned silver, her equally silver eyes looked at the students passing her. More specifically, their damn wands.

She saw it was either in the form of a staff, a normal wand the length of their forearm, or the form of magic pen they tucked at the front chest pocket of their blazers. Her eyebrows furrowed - remembering to slow down the moment she felt her fingers numb as mentioned in the note she read after waking up that morning.

She stared at Cath who slept the moment he could, stuffing himself in her sweater to avoid being seen by anyone. Since he can’t escape class, he had been resorting to sleeping all day long. Aediva clicked her tongue, pulling the cat out of her sweater instead of a bag - surprising Cath.

“Oi! Aediva! What the heck are you doing to me all over the sudden?!” Cath shouted at the girl who looked quite livid.

“Cath. I just noticed something” Aediva suddenly said, setting Cath down on the ground as she squats beside the monster.

“What’s gotten into you all over the sudden? You’ve been stopping me from escaping classes. Then you disturb me peacefully sleeping in your sweater” Cath complained with a rather adorable pout.

“We don’t have a wand” that one sentence made Cath freeze. Immediately, he turned his head to look around him. Doing the same thing as Aediva did before while she walked out of the building. His silver eyes narrowing at every student carrying a magic tool with them.

“... Oi, Aediva! Let’s go and attack that headmaster right now! This is a fraud!” Cath said, lifting his paws to the air as Aediva nodded vigorously.

“That’s right, Cath! Let’s go and get that headmaster!” Aediva said, almost standing up herself when seeing a looming shadow over her medium stature. Both Cath and Aediva looked up and saw Aerelle, standing in front of them.

“... What are you both plotting at the side of the road?” the silver-haired male asked - quickly noticing the way the two creatures with similar silver eyes looking at his waist.

“He got a wand! Get him!” Aediva said. Aerelle’s eyes went wide when seeing the two gremlins jumping towards him with hostility.

“Wait! Agh!!!”

Talk about some chaos between these two creatures.

Aerelle let out a sigh, rubbing his back as he peeked at both Aediva and Cath happily examining his wand that they managed to nab away from his belt. He was just grateful they didn’t pull his pants off to get that damn thing. He felt embarrassed. If any of his family members saw what just unfold, they’ll definitely not shut up about it for a very long time.

“Huh… You could just say you want to have a closer look at my wand. Are all freshmen these aggressive? I feel like the two of you are just as aggressive as that one from the dorm” Aerelle complained but Aediva and Cath were too busy looking at the stick in their hands.

“Senior~ How do I use a wand~?” Aediva asked, her eyes practically shining as she looked at him. A cold bead of sweat slid down Aerelle’s cheek. He had a bad feeling about this. In an instant, the wand in between Cath’s paws disappeared and appeared in Aerelle’s hand - to the awe of his spectators.

“Whoa~ How’d you do that? Sleepy boy, teach me too!” Cath said excitedly. Aerelle looked at the two in silence.

“So, you both have no wands?” he suddenly said, reacted with the pair flinching at his question. Aerelle sighed when seeing both Cath and Aediva looking at him with their glassy, round eyes - making the second-year student feel like a jerk for asking such obvious questions.

“That crow prick is actually neglecting his duties again… The nerve of that damn man…” Aerelle mumbled under his breath. He looked back at Cath and Aediva looking a little under the weather as they pouted.

“Huh… First thing first, since you might’ve this information even though you’ve read the textbooks in the library and joined the class late, you can’t use my wand” Aerelle said.

“Ehh~~?” both Cath and Aediva whined.

“No, listen. You can’t use mine because mine is custom made. In fact a lot of them are” Aerelle explained.

“What, really?” Aediva said, intrigued. Aerelle flicked his wand and in just a blink of an eye, the long wand turned into a magic pen with an amber-coloured magic stone at the top.

“When they said standard, it’s the material of the wand. Or the quality of the magic stone embedded on the wand. You see here? Do you notice what’s different from other wand you’ve been observing from other students?” Aerelle asked. Aediva and Cath looked closer.

“The colour!” Ah, the standard Cath’s answer. Of course, he’s going to point out the obvious. Aerelle shook his head.

“There’s an emblem inside the stone,” Aediva said, serious. Her eyes still trained on the stone. The emblem of an ornate bat pattern?

“It’s a bat… and a sword,” she said. Cath puffed his cheeks.

“I was about to say that!” the monster said. Aediva only gave him a dismissive side glance.

“Yeah right. What would you know anyway. You’re always sleeping in class. You’re supposed to be half of a student. My half of a student!” Aediva hissed, turning equally bristled like the feline monster that’s standing on its four legs and hissing at Aediva. Aerelle let out a sigh.

“Yes… A magic stone… Must be at the same equivalent wavelength as the user. Not just the magic stones of course. The tool too, should be able to withstand the mage’s elements” Aerelle said, gripping at the pen that has turned back into a wand. At that very instant, wind billowed around them, blowing away all the leaves from the ground and a few stuck in Aediva’s hair. Cath and Aediva looked at the clean grassy patch underneath them.

“Elements, huh…” Aediva murmured.