Lyla Grimwood's Perspective

For my whole life, I've been invisible to others. I don't know how to interact with other people. I've never had any friends apart from family members. It doesn't help that my physical appearance is different from others. My size and unique fashion sense don't exactly blend in, one of the direct causes of billing. Dark outlines frame my eyes, a style of makeup I've always enjoyed wearing, and my opaque tights reached all the way up, hidden beneath my skirt. My blonde hair was tied into two ponytails at both sides of my head while my bangs fell just above my eyes.

The only thing that I've got going on is that I'm special born. However, I didn't get any fancy magic like others. My ability is quite useless. The only thing I've got is a larger mana pool. As for my special ability, I can store my mana directly into objects. For example, if I infused a pencil with mana it would enhance its properties, making it harder and more durable not to mention I would be able to balance the point of it onto the surface of my finger without dropping it, a neat party trick but I don't find much use in this ability.

This is my first year in school and after being here for over a week I know what places not to be in and what people to avoid. First of all the student council members. Most of them are nobles and all are really strong, best to stay out of their way. Next is that Felix kid. Born a commoner but with special powers just like me. I've seen him walking by and based on rumors I've overheard he's not good news. Apart from them, I just avoid mean-looking people in general mostly because of my own personal experiences.

Right now, after grabbing my food plate I decided to head to an isolated spot to eat my lunch. Just then, as I turned around, contemplating the delight of a quiet meal, my clumsy feet tripped over themselves. An unexpected turn of events that resulted in me dropping all my food. Urgh! dammit, they only give lunch three times a day so it's unlikely that I'll be able to get another plate unless I buy it but I don't have any money. I thought as I stayed low to the ground to clean up the mess I had made. Looking around, I was able to see a couple of students walking around me and of course not one of them bothered to help.

"Hey, are you okay?" I heard someone say, their voice soft and genuine, but surely they weren't talking to me. Having ignored the voice, I continued on my task to clean up. "Hellooooo!" the same female voice came again, ringing in my ears. Shortly after, whoever this person was began waving their hand in front of my face, causing my body to jerk back slightly in surprise.

I immediately turned my head up, only to see a familiar girl who looked to be around my age, with dark short hair, and grey eyes. "Uh! Me!" I finally responded, my body shivering slightly out of nervousness. This girl... we're in the same dorm room and she's a noble.

"Mhmm," she hummed while lowering her head into a nod, both corners of her lips curved up into a smile. "I see you've dropped your lunch," the girl continued, her eyes briefly moving down to the floor and then back up to me. "I can share mine with you, if you want."

"I... I... sure..." I replied, unsure of what to even say. With her help, we cleaned up everything in a short amount of time and moved on.

We made our way to a nearby table where the girl had set down her plate of food. As I lowered myself into the seat, my gaze became fixated on her full plate of food, ranging from school food like roasted meat and baked bread to a lot of snacks like pastries and cakes that she'd most likely bought from the snack bar. "You sure have a lot on your plate," I said, marveled by what I was seeing.

"There were just a lot of delicious things that I couldn't help myself and ended up buying more than I could even eat," she replied, letting out a small chuckle, her cheeks slightly red from embarrassment. Her hands moved with precision as she used a metal spoon to split everything in half. "Here you go," she said, separating my portions of food on one side of the tray.

"Oh, thanks," I said, hesitant to take the food she'd offered. I wanted to say no, thank her for her generosity, and leave, but I was just so hungry that seeing all the delicious food on her plate made it hard to resist. Finally mustering up the courage, I slowly reached out and began eating, feeling vulnerable and slightly embarrassed. There was an air of awkwardness between us as I had never shared food like this with someone else before. I didn't really know what to say or do.

"You're Lyla, correct?" she asked, having poked her fork in the piece of meat before sliding it into her mouth.

"Yeah," I answered, briefly taken aback by the fact she knew my name. "You're Mia, right? From the Arathel house."

"Mhmm," she hummed in confirmation, her hair rustling slightly from the movement of her nod. "But don't let my noble status get to you, just like you I'm trying to fit in and make some friends."

"And you thought I could be good company?" I questioned, still curious of why she chose to reach out to me while many others didn't. No one's ever done that for me before.

"Well, yeah. You're lonely, I'm lonely, we'd make a great pair," Mia said, a hopeful glimmer shining in her eye. "Plus I see you basically the whole day so why don't we just get to know each other a little bit."

"Alright." Was the only thing I said, my voice hesitant as I was still unsure of what to do.

We continued eating, meanwhile, she asked me questions about myself. I tried to answer them to the best of my ability while throwing some questions of my own, mostly a repeat of hers though, and then before I knew it, lunchtime was over.

That was quick, I thought to myself. Mia mentioned that we had the same class the following period and requested that we walk there together.

At the end of the day, Mia and I found ourselves together again, walking side by side back to our dorm room. There were few students around us and the sun was beginning to set over our heads, a scene that would have once brought me a profound feeling of loneliness but with Mia accompanying me, that isn't the case today.

"Tell me what's the weirdest dream you've ever had?" Mia asked, trying to balance herself onto a small elevation of the pavement at the edge of the sidewalk that adorned the way forward.

"Hmm?" I let out, thinking of what I should say. "I don't dream much often but there is this one dream in particular that has stuck with me for years... I was walking in the shopping center and although I couldn't make out people's faces, I knew everyone there was just staring at me. I soon found out that I was wearing mismatched shoes."

"Hehe, no way, I dreamed of something similar like that too," Mia giggled, hopping off the side bump to join our walk by my side.

"Okay, my turn," I began, taking a brief pause to think of a question to ask. "If you could have any creature as a pet, what would it be?"

"Hmm?" she let out, her gaze turning to the sky as she thought of an answer, a mall habit we shared. "Definitely something cute, something that follows me everywhere I go and protects me," she listed, turning to look at me, her eyes bright with desire. "It would surely need to speak so I could talk to it about my problems and I would want it to have soft, fluffy fur so I can hug it when I'm scared. Something like... Flare!"

"Flare?" I questioned, not knowing if it was the name of a type of beast.

"Oh, right, you don't know Flare," Mia mumbled to herself, her eyes shifting elsewhere for a quick moment before settling back to me. "She's this small wolf that follows my brother around all the time."

"Is that so..." I mumbled. Now that she mentions it... I think I did see an upper-classmen walking around with a small dog-looking creature at his feet.

"Anyway, now it's my turn," Mia continued, having a seemingly bottomless pit of questions. "If you could switch your life with anyone in the world who would it be?"

I remained silent for a moment, my mind wandering before I arrived at my answer. "Have you ever heard of Ophelia Phelarion?" I asked. "She's a princess from the Phelaris kingdom that lived very long ago."

I remember reading a little about her in the Epochal Recollections," Mia answered. The Epochal Recollections is a book comprised of a collection of small stories regarding important events that occurred throughout the history of our continent. "She had a bit of a sad story, she was never able to live the life she desired with her lover."

"Yeah, but even so, rumor has it that she was extremely beautiful," I continued, disregarding the other aspects of her life.

"Oh," Mia breathed, realizing what I was trying to say. She then stared at me in silence, and with narrowed eyes, she leaned in close and scrutinized me closely before saying, "But you're already quite beautiful yourself."

"Uh!" I blurted, almost reflexively, her unexpected words catching me by surprise.

"What?" Mia questioned, bringing her hand up to cover a small giggle that escaped her lips upon witnessing my reaction.

I hesitated before speaking, my cheeks slightly red from embarrassment. "I... I just never really had anyone else tell me that to my face before."

"Really, that's surprising," she mumbled, adorning a smile that for a while now hadn't left her face. "But now it's your turn."

"Right," I continued, moving on from the previous topic, the smile on my face mirroring Mia's. "Let me see..."

As Mia and I walked to our dorm, we continued asking each other random questions before moving on to more personal matters. Mia shared with me stories about her family and her experience so far at the academy. I did the same by opening up about my reserved nature and the challenges I faced being different. Our conversation flowed effortlessly, creating a growing connection between us.

Mia's genuine interest in my life made me feel valued, and, day by day, I found myself opening up more than I ever had. We found common interests, exchanged laughter, and every time we were together felt like we had known each other for much longer than we had.

After about a week since we met each other, we became closer than ever. I found myself eagerly awaiting our moments together, a feeling I couldn't quite explain but that brought immense joy, a complete contrast from the loneliness I'd experienced most of my life. The bond we shared surpassed anything I had ever experienced, and I couldn't help but look forward to Mia's company with a newfound warmth stirring within me.

It was currently lunchtime and after finishing our food we moved outside to take a small walk. "My mom is a housewife and my dad works for a research company run by some guy named Delphineus," I spoke, an answer to Mia's question. "He's this crazy smart inventor responsible for many minor technological breakthroughs in this kingdom?"

"Wow!" Mia uttered, her face alight with amazement, most likely not even aware of what the words fully meant.

"Or so that's the way my dad puts it. Apart from fine-tuning machinery, all artifacts and gadgets are basically created and sold by the company," I explained before moving on to the original topic of conversation. "But anyway, what about your patents?"

"Well, my mom stays in the house, while my dad works with the National Guard," Mia answered.

"Really? Isn't your family rich?" I questioned, surprised to hear her answer. "Why does your father take up a job."

"Well he's obsessed with sword training, getting strong, and all that stuff so I think he just does it because he enjoys it," she explained.

"I see..." I mumbled to myself. A road of training and attaining strength is a path I never truly gave much thought to or really desired, but apparently a lot of people like it. "That makes sense."

Before we could continue with the conversation, someone's arrogant voice reached our ears. "Hey, isn't that..." the voice trailed off as it neared. Turning around I came face to face with three familiar figures, upon laying eyes on each one of them, I felt my heart drop in fear. "Yeah, it is, I thought I recognized you."

They're... bullies, I thought, my eyes widening in recognition. The same ones from the area where I grew up. They were always there. Making fun of me. Making me do things I didn't want to. As they stood in front of me, I took a step back, my body trembled slightly as I didn't know what to do. After my family moved into a new house I thought I was finally safe but now they're back and now, just like back then I am completely frightened and helpless.

"We haven't seen each other in a long time," the boy said, his cocky grin bringing up memories of our past.

"Are these friends of yours Lyla?" Mia asked, completely unaware of my panicked state. Oh no, I forgot Mia was still here.

"That's right, we're old friends," said the boy, his tone unchanging. Reaching forward he grabbed me by the hair and forcibly pulled me in. His grip was stronger than I remembered causing me to let out a pained cry. "Haha, you haven't changed still as weak and pathetic as you always were."

"Hey! Stop that! Let her go!" Mia shouted, rushing to our side she tried to push the boy's arm away from my head.

"Now, now. Don't ruin the fun!" the bully exclaimed, pushing down on Mia with his free arm, causing her to fall down to the ground.

Immediately Mia got up and with an angry scowl, she was about to try to push him away again. "No! Mia!" I said, stopping her in her tracks. "They're after me. Just go and they'll leave you alone," I spoke, my voice soft and shaky, my eyes tinged with tears.

"No!" she yelled back to me in protest. "You're my friend and I can't just leave you alone here! So we either... get beat up together or escape together." Following her words, she extended her hand. In a desperate move, she conjured up a small stone projectile and launched it, hitting the boy's hand in the process.

"Ah! You bitch!" the boy cursed, taken aback by the force of Mia's attack. He quickly let go of my hair and began ma to massage the place where he'd been hit.

Mia wasted no time and hurried to me, reaching out, she grabbed me by the hand. "let's go!" she said as we began running away together.

After countless steps and many labored breaths, we successfully ran away and hid behind a building to catch our breath. "Wow, that was something," Mia said, bringing her hand up to wipe the sweat off her forehead with the sleeve of her shirt. With a turn of her head she looked at me, and, as I looked at her back, she showed that same smile she always did whenever we were together. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," I answered. Bringing my hand up, I carefully began rubbing the place where the boy had pulled my hair, upon contact I immediately winced in pain.

Seeing this, Mia raised her hand and she too began to rub on my head lightly. "There, there," she said, her actions both caring and playful, causing us both to fall into a fit of giggles.

After our shared moment of amusement, I let out a deep breath and pushed myself off the wall where I leaned. Facing Mia, my expression remained stern. I hesitated momentarily before speaking, and finally, with my head hung low. "Thank you." was all I could say.

"Hey, it's okay," Mia said, her voice soft and reassuring as she placed both hands on my shoulders. In the next moment, she pulled me into a hug. "That's what friends are for."

As Mia's comforting embrace enveloped me, an unusual swirl of emotions raced through my being. As someone who had spent much of their life isolated and wary, the concept of friendship felt foreign yet strangely comforting. The simple act of someone caring for my well-being stirred an unfamiliar warmth within, a gentle flicker of joy.

The long-forgotten torment I once experienced had now officially resurfaced, but amidst that darkness, Mia's genuine kindness forged a glimmer of hope. Her actions opened a new path for me, a friendship, a connection, something I had never thought possible before this moment.