The opening day of the Royal Academy of Magic was grander than anyone could have imagined.
The White Stone Road leading to the academy was packed with various magnificent magic carriages. Each one was inlaid with crests representing various noble families, glittering brilliantly under the sun. The air was thick with tension, excitement, and blatant ostentation. This was the future center of power for the kingdom, a gathering place for the nation’s top bloodlines and talents.
Most were the children of nobility, born with everything. Only a very few commoner geniuses were qualified to step across this threshold, and their faces often bore a restraint and awe that felt out of place in this environment.
After the Lucas magic carriage came to a steady halt in the designated area, Duke Alisker was the first to step down. His face, which commanded respect without needing to show anger, was enough to quiet the noisy crowd around them.
“Bell, Cecilia, get out of the carriage.”
Bell took a deep breath, straightened his brand new academy uniform, and followed behind his father. Cecilia affectionately held his arm while her other hand held onto their mother, Eleanor, looking like a delicate doll in need of protection.
“Oh, Alisker, long time no see!” a booming voice called out from not far away.
Bell looked toward the sound and saw a middle aged man who was equally burly with a large brown beard walking toward them, a warm smile on his face.
Duke Alisker also broke into a smile and went to meet him, giving the man a firm embrace. “Barton! You old dog, you actually came to drop off your child personally.”
“Haha, my son is a talent the Wolfgang Family hasn't seen in a hundred years. Of course I had to come!” The man named Barton laughed heartily. Then he saw Bell and Cecilia behind Alisker, his gaze lingering on Cecilia for a moment. “These are your two children? As expected, they're fine specimens just like you!”
The Wolfgang Family. Bell remembered the name. It was an ancient family famous for producing powerful ice mages.
Barton Wolfgang stepped aside and beckoned to a youth behind him who was also wearing a uniform. “Leon, come here! This is Duke Lucas. Come and say hello.”
A handsome youth with flaxen short hair walked over. He looked slightly older than Bell and carried an icy arrogance in his bearing, yet he still respectfully bowed to Duke Alisker.
“Lord Duke.”
“Not bad, quite spirited.” Alisker nodded approvingly and then patted Bell on the shoulder. “Bell, this is Leon Wolfgang. You will be classmates from now on, so make sure to help each other.”
Bell took a step forward and extended his hand toward the boy named Leon, offering a standard noble smile.
“Hello, Leon. I am Bell Lucas.”
Leon’s face showed no emotion. He merely gave Bell’s hand a polite, brief squeeze before letting go. His attention didn't seem to be here at all.
“Hey, Leon, don't be so cold. Show your new classmate what you can do!” Barton egged him on from the side.
Leon seemed somewhat reluctant, but he still raised his hand.
A wisp of pure blue frost gathered at his fingertips, and the moisture in the air rapidly condensed. In an instant, a crystal clear ice butterfly appeared on his finger. The butterfly was as thin as a cicada's wing, every pattern on its body clearly visible, reflecting a dreamlike radiance in the sunlight.
As Leon’s finger trembled slightly, the ice butterfly actually flapped its wings and began to fly about in a lifelike manner.
A low murmur of admiration rose from the surroundings.
“Such exquisite mana control!”
Bell couldn't help but marvel in his heart as well. This level of control far exceeded that of his peers.
Just as he was about to voice a few words of praise.
Swoosh!
A crimson fire snake lunged out from his side without warning. With lightning speed, it opened its maw made of flames and swallowed the dancing ice butterfly in one gulp.
Crack!
The sound of ice shattering was crisp and piercing.
The fire snake twisted in the air once before turning into sparks and dissipating into the air.
The sudden turn of events left everyone stunned.
Bell’s body went rigid instantly.
Slowly, extremely slowly, he turned his head to look at Cecilia, who had been quietly holding his arm.
The girl was looking up, her angelic face filled with a perfect amount of panic and helplessness.
“Ah... I’m sorry.” Her voice was soft and innocent, full of apology. “I... I just wanted to look at Brother, and I accidentally... lost control of my magic.”
As she spoke, she covered her small mouth with her other hand. Her obsidian eyes quickly clouded over with a layer of mist, making her look remorseful and self reproachful.
“I’m really sorry, Big Brother Wolfgang. I didn't mean it.”
Who told this man he could talk to Brother?
Brother’s hand, Brother’s praise, Brother’s gaze. They all belong to me alone.
No one will take them away.
Leon Wolfgang looked at her coldly. Beneath his flaxen hair, his blue eyes were filled with frost. He didn't speak, but the low pressure radiating from him made the air feel as if it were about to freeze.
Barton Wolfgang’s smile also froze. He looked at this young girl who could instantly release a fire snake, then at his own frost faced son, unsure of what to say for a moment.
The atmosphere became awkward to the extreme.
Duke Alisker quickly tried to smooth things over. “Haha, children are still young and their magic is unstable. Leon, don't take it to heart.”
Bell only felt a chill rise from the base of his spine, a hundred times colder than Leon’s ice butterfly.
In that fleeting moment, the flash of unmasked violence and coldness on Cecilia’s face was unmistakable.
She wasn't apologizing.
She was giving a warning.
A warning to Leon, and a warning to him.
Bell’s arm was held tighter and tighter by Cecilia’s small hand, the force nearly digging into his bone.
The girl tilted her face up, still wearing that same pitiful expression.
But the moment she looked into Bell’s eyes through the crowd, deep within those innocent pupils swirled a suffocating, morbid joy.
Brother, look.
No one can take you away from me.
Bell’s stomach churned, and he almost felt like vomiting again.
He violently yanked his arm back.
Rate on N.U.
