Hello hello hello! To all my followers, Thank you all so very much. It is a little weird adding this Author's comment on this chapter, but it is technically the first new chapter on this fiction, soo.. yea. enjoy.

“Well? What do you think? Will he be able to register for the magical stream of classes in this academy?” Sanders asked nervously, his hands gripping firmly on a young boy’s shoulders from the back.

“Hmm… I can’t say for certain. While it’s true that he has a rather large mana capacity, we can only tell overtime the rate of growth of his innate mana capacity. An average Nat’s mana ranges from five to six hundred Magical units (MU). For someone his age, having 950MU is already quite large. But like I said, everybody grows at different rates. He may grow really quickly, or even stagnate at his current level. The other thing though, is that he doesn’t seem to speak a lot, so I don’t know if he will be able to cope with the caster’s classes.” The instructor informed Sanders, keeping the small handheld device that just took measurements from the boy’s blood.

“Yes, he is rather shy, but my boy Seras is not mute. I’ve shown you his medical checklist. Not only his magical capacity, even his physical body far exceeds anybody his age. And he can already enhance his body. I would still love to give him the best opportunity to grow and learn. If it does seem that he is unable to follow the lessons, I will take it upon myself to have him transferred to the non-magic stream of classes. There are always other options available for him.” Sanders assured the instructor of his boy’s abilities.

“Okay then. Since you insist. Now that the basic test is over, I just need to verify his basic understanding of science and if he passes, then we can conclude the registration process.” The instructor announced, looking at the boy who did not avert his gaze, but instead met the instructor’s stare head on.

“Well that should be relatively easy, my wife and I have been teaching him for the past 8 years. I’m sure he’ll do just fine.” Sanders laughed heartily as he patted Seras on his head gently.

“So boy, write out for me, the complete balanced equation of the combustion of pentane in air.” The instructor started, handing the 12 year old boy a pen and paper. Immediately without even considering to think, the boy took the pen and started scribbling on it furiously, finishing the task in under a minute.

“Impressive. Now draw a free body diagram of an object travelling around a planet in low orbit within the stratosphere, labelling all the forces acting on the object.” The instructor continued. Once again, the boy started drawing arrows and circles, scribbling down the names of each force that he drew. He was done in a jiffy, which seemed to impress the instructor even more.

“Well now. You seem to have a pretty bright head on those broad shoulders of yours. For the last question, Draw a simplified diagram of an Arachne’s circulatory system, carefully labelling every key organ and the direction of the blood flow while also indicating whether the blood is oxygenated or not.” The instructor asked, passing the young boy a red and blue colour pencil.

This took a little more time due to the complexity, but the boy answered it flawlessly nonetheless, which put a wide grin on his father’s face. The instructor could only smile in admiration, placing a stamp on the boy’s registration papers with a loud “THUMP”. He looked up to Sanders and smiled gently, nodding his head and praising the man. “You and your wife taught him well. I’m sure he will make a fine student at Mutatis Institute of Combined Learning and Education (MICLE)”

The father and son pair headed out of the auditorium into the wide hallway, where they followed the digital arrows running along the walls that led them to class registration. There, they would choose his classes for the next 4 years of his life. The young boy was calm, more mature than he would seem for a child his age. He knew his father had poured everything he had into grooming him, even leaving the well-respected Spectre program on a prolonged administrative leave to take care of him in conjunction with his wife, who at that time was an engineer.

The day quickly ended with the boy registering for a dormitory room within the institute’s compound, seeing as his parent’s residence was an 8 hour drive away. With that done, they quickly returned home, reaching back as the sun began to set. The registration had taken up all morning and a little bit of the afternoon. Even with 48 hours in a day, it was still barely enough for them to spend some quality dinner time together.

Within the week, Sanders was to return to duty and Seras, to start school. They had spent a good long 8 years together, learning and teaching, growing and fighting. Seras was no longer the small unshaven barbaric boy that he was when Sanders first met him. Named after the Seraplors Sanders found him with, ‘Seras’ was meant to a plural abbreviation for ‘Seraplors’. Sanders did not think much when registering the boy’s name, resulting in a thorough reprimanding from his wife only after the name had been finalised.

The school’s uniform resembled a suit, white with black lapels and wrist collars. It was long sleeved, but breathable, making it comfortable to wear even in summer while upholding a classy and suave look for guys and an elegant and charming look for the ladies. Seras was standing behind the door to his one-man dorm room, nervous about starting his first day at school.

Slung around his neck was a small glass vial no larger than his pinky. Within it was a tuft of hair with ever changing colour. The hair seemed to react to his mana, changing colours based on his feelings. Of course, it was tucked away beneath his uniform, hidden from plain view of prying eyes who might be curious as to what that hair was. There was no way he was going to risk losing a memento from his mother, the Seraplor that saved and raised him as her own child.

Taking a deep breath and making up his mind, Seras stepped out of his room, the door locking behind him with the sound of an electronic lock gearing a piston into the door frame. The room could only be accessed with a combination of his fingerprint and his Student ID card which doubled as a contactless electronic keycard.

Within minutes, he was seated within the auditorium, next to a short black haired girl with silver highlights. Waiting for the opening ceremony to begin, he looked nervously around the auditorium, carefully observing the teachers, senior students, and other freshmen like himself. Most of the freshmen looked nervous, few were confident like the girl next to him. He internally thanked his lucky star that he was assigned an aisle seat, which meant he only had to sit next to one stranger and not 2.

The opening ceremony started with a short but motivating speech from the dean, principle and co-founder of MICLE. The man looked to be in his late 20s, wore a flowing cream coloured robe with gold lacing, making him seem almost like a priest or a saint. Everyone in the venue could tell he was a powerful man just from the mana he was emitting. Had it been 8 years ago, Seras was sure even him, his siblings or his mother would have actively avoided such a man.

Not paying attention to what the dean was saying, Seras’s sight continued to wonder before finally returning to the dean who had concluded his speech. Much to his surprise, the dean was staring at him. Had he been caught not paying attention? Seras began to worry, beads of sweat already forming on his forehead. His foster father clearly told him to stay out of trouble, and yet here he was in a predicament.

As he was fidgeting about and pondering what to do, the girl next to him stood up and walked onto the stage. Realising what had happened, he sighed quietly with relief. The dean was looking at her, not him. Now all he needed to do was to keep a low profile and hopefully, his days in school would go by quickly and peacefully.

“Aahh... ahem! Good morning esteemed staff members, fellow students. My name is Kina Trishen. I have been given the honour of giving the opening speech as a freshman representative. While I may be unfamiliar with certain customs here in Portal city, my uncle, Principal Ray, has kindly offered me a spot in his grand institution for my education. Even though I say this, I do hope that you will treat no differently than any other students who have had this wonderful opportunity to live, study and grow in this environment that has been specially designed for our younger generation to prosper. I hope everyone gets along and that we will all have a wonderful time learning and exploring new opportunities together.” The girl announced while reading from a small note that she quickly tucked away into her breast pocket.

She bowed curtly as the audience burst into applause, quickly alighting from the stage and trotting back to her seat. Seras’s face though, was a little grim. This girl did not just have powerful connections; she was not the least bit weak. Her mana indicated that she was far stronger than he was, maybe only second to the principal. Seeing her return to her seat next to him, and all the stares aiming at his direction, Seras cursed under his breath. He had wanted to keep a low profile, but he just happened to be seated next to a beautiful girl whose uncle was the dean of the institution.

Thinking it through a little more, he began to relax, realising that as long as she did not interact with him, all the limelight would fall on her and then, he would be able to meld into the shadows. It was at times like this that he wished he had his sibling’s ability to change colours, blending into the surrounding and becoming invisible. He subconsciously clutched the glass vial underneath his shirt, smiling gently at the memory of his mother, and all the joyful times he had playing with his siblings.

With the opening ceremony over, Seras quickly left the girl far behind, briskly walking to his first classroom. There was no homeroom class today, having been replaced by the opening ceremony. The school wasted no time, diving straight into curriculum on the first lesson, starting out with basic biochemistry. While the students were only 12 years old, enrolling in the magical courses required a fair amount of knowledge, hence their stream of lessons were more advanced, learning what high school students would at their age. Interestingly though, most if not all of the 20 odd students enrolled in this stream were able to follow the lessons.

As Seras sat down in his seat as allocated by the school’s AI system when he tapped his ID card to enter the room, he casually and quietly began taking out his Chemistry textbook. It was a thick book, weighing over a kilogram. He was about the only one who couldn’t afford to buy the digital copy, while every other student rolled out their Flexiscreens and began selecting the textbooks from the menu.

Then, he looked up to notice that his worries might just be beginning. Kina walked into the room and all the attention of the classmates gravitated towards her. The principal’s little Niece. The one with the most potential in this new batch of students. She was short, only 1.4m tall, but already had a sizeable rack that would put other girls to shame. Her face was slender and elegant, with deep green eyes that mesmerized anybody foolish enough to look into them.

Then, she walked across the front of the classroom, her hair flowing behind her. Seras prayed silently, dreading her every step. She stopped. Then she turned, making his heart sink. It was his aisle. With every step she took, he knew his hopes of staying low-key was flying further and further away. His was the 2nd last seat in his column. Seeing no signs of her footsteps slowing down, he knew. He just knew in his heart that he would have to change his plans for his school life.

As he suspected, the girl plopped down behind him, pulling out her rolled up flexiscreen from her small pouch. Being seated in front of the popular and attractive girl, he knew that some of the attention she garnered would eventually spill over to him. In worst case scenario, he would be targeted for being in such close proximity with her. His only hope now is that she would ignore him.

Keeping silent and staring down on the textbook on his desk, he avoided the gazes of so many of his classmates, all their sights locked in his direction. Then, the worst happened. He heard her chair squeak as it dragged across the floor, the shuffling of her uniform which could only mean that she stood up.

With a light tap on his shoulder, Kina leaned over her table and smiled sweetly. “Hello! I believe we sat next to each other in the opening ceremony. My name is Kina. What’s yours?”

Bee Tee Dubs, his name is Seras, pronounced as such -- Seh- rus, not Si- rAs.