It had been months since I first stepped into this cursed library. And in that time… I'd read every single book in it. I tore through each one, decoding every seal and archaic diagram only to slam them shut in rage because whoever wrote this garbage had more ego than substance.
"I swear, I feel like killing someone," I muttered, slamming another worthless tome closed.
The only productive thing I'd done these past months was train Vivian. She had real potential enough that, if I kept nurturing her until her class awakened, she could become nearly unstoppable. As for classes… I stopped attending Esther's entirely. Occasionally I'd drop in on Cael's, only for him to sideline me "so no other cadet gets injured."
Even Nox abandoned me halfway through this library obsession. Now he spends his days tailing Vivian, and the rest of his time lounging around eating every dessert I got for him.
At least Lux stayed. He was the only one who still kept me company here.
"What should we do, Lux?" I asked, leaning back in my chair.
His little wings flickered as he perched on my shoulder. "We should head back. The sky is already dark, and Vivian told you to return early tonight."
"She did?" I sighed. "Fine… let me grab one more book, then we'll head back."
"Finally decided to grace us with your presence?" Vivian said the moment I stepped inside, arms folded like she'd been waiting to scold me. "How many times have I told you to come back early?"
She'd been doing this since I started locking myself in the restricted section.
"I'm sorry," I muttered as I shut the door behind me. "I lost track of time."
"You said that yesterday. And the day before. And the day before that." She shook her head but there was no real anger behind it, just exasperation.
We've gotten close lately. Close enough that I let her into my room without threatening her. That means we're friends now.
"Sit," she said, already setting food down at the desk. "Here's your dinner."
Normally, students weren't allowed to eat anywhere except the dining hall… but we 'accidentally' found a way around that rule weeks ago. Now we had dinner together in the room like it was routine.
"After you're done eating, help me with some of these magic equations," she added, holding up her notebook.
"Sure," I said, taking a bite of food. "But for someone who casts magic like second nature, you're surprisingly slow on theory."
She rolled her eyes. "Easy for you to say. You stopped going to classes and still aced all the midterms."
I smirked. "What can I say? Natural talent."
She lightly smacked the side of my arm with her notebook. "And natural arrogance."
"So," I said, leaning back in my chair, "what equations are making you lose your mind this time?"
Vivian slid her notebook over to me with a dramatic sigh. "These. I've tried them three times after that the numbers stopped making sense."
I glanced down. It was a mana compression formula intermediate level, but not hard if you looked at it the right way.
"Alright, look." I grabbed a quill and wrote beside her messy attempts:
ΔM = (ΣE × ψ²) / (4πr²)
"This part," I tapped the ψ symbol, "is the mana vibration coefficient. You kept treating it like a fixed value, but it changes depending on the caster's affinity. You're fire-aligned, so ψ is higher, meaning your total mana flux will increase and the equation ends up dragging."
"So, I substitute ψ with a higher coefficient?" Vivian asked, blinking.
"Exactly. Replace ψ² with your affinity level, in your case, let's say 1.8, then recalculate the numerator before dividing by the radius squared. Watch."
I solved the equation once in front of her with quick, clean strokes.
"Got it?" I set the quill down.
She stared for two seconds… then immediately started solving the rest on her own. Less than a minute later, every single equation on the page was done correctly.
Vivian is the type of student who, once you explain it, masters it. Honestly, it's terrifyingly efficient.
She looked up at me, a bright grin on her face. "See? That wasn't so bad. I just needed a smartass to explain it."
"Glad to be your resident smartass."
She was still hunched over her notebook solving equations like a machine, so I finally opened the book I'd brought back from the library. This one looked important. It'd better be. I was not going back to Headmaster Damian again anytime soon. He looked way too happy every time I showed up for a reactivation.
Last time I visited him, I was dripping in black ink because some idiot author thought it would be hilarious to hide a prank spell on the last page. If I think about it too long I'll start getting angry. Damian laughed for ten minutes straight. Vivian laughed. Even Nox and Lux laughed at me. The ink even stained my hair. I nearly started a war.
Anyway,
Title of the book: FAMILIARS.
Finally, Something promising.
The first page hooked me immediately. It was the most interesting thing I'd read since I arrived in this forsaken archive and it was written with clarity for once. No unnecessary fluff, no cryptic metaphors. Direct. Clean. Efficient.
A familiar is a creature bound by a contract. They exist to protect and serve their contractor.
Their strength increases in proportion to the contractor's mana reserves.
In many documented cases, a familiar's form evolves or mutates depending on the contractor's magical affinity and power.
A familiar, huh…
I don't have anything like that.
My eyes flicked up to Lux currently curled up like a fluffy pillow on the bed.
And that's when the idea hit me.
I don't have a familiar.
But I do have Lux.
A slow, wicked smile crept across my lips, the kind that meant trouble.
"Oh," I whispered, glancing back at the book.
"This… could be fun."
Vivian was still quietly working beside me, so I leaned back and tapped the cover of the book.
"Well then."
I called without looking away from the page, "Lux."
There was a flutter of wings as he appeared on my shoulder in a blink. "Yes?"
"Come here."
He floated in front of me, tilting his little head. "Did you find something?"
My smile widened in a way that should've warned him.
"Mm-hm. I learned a spell about familiars."
His wings froze mid-flutter. "F-familiars?"
"Yep." I flipped the book so he could see the diagram. "It says here I can form a contract. You'd gain power from my mana, and in return, you'd serve me properly."
Lux's eyes flickered nervously. "I-I already serve you!"
"Not officially."
Just then, Nox appeared, "Oh no. You found that book? I deliberately hid that book yet you still found it.
Lux spun around. "Master help me! She's planning something weird again!"
"I can't help you," Nox said with a shrug, utterly unbothered. "Best you run. Maybe hide behind Vivian and pray."
I smiled sweetly at Lux as I took a step closer. He let out a tiny squeal of terror and flew behind Vivian.
Lux immediately flew behind Vivian like a terrified child hiding behind his mother.
"Stop tormenting him," Vivian said with a frown. "You're scaring Lux."
"I'm not going to hurt him," I replied, and yes the grin I gave was devilish.
Vivian narrowed her eyes. "Your eyes say something else, Cecilia."
I ignored her and took a step closer. "Come here, Lux. We're not forming any contract. I just want to feed you mana."
He peeked out from behind Vivian's arm, his little wings trembling. "Feed me… mana?"
"Yes," I said, sounding entirely too pleased. "I just want to test something. I want to see what happens once I pour a little of my mana into you."
Lux looked skeptical, traumatized even but he slowly floated out from behind Vivian, glowing softly like a nervous lightbulb.
"Good," I smiled, reaching out my hand. "Come on. Be a good spirit."
Lux hovered in front of me, still wary but no longer hiding. I rested two fingers lightly against his forehead. A thin thread of my mana slipped into him just a small amount, barely a taste.
For a moment nothing happened.
Then his whole body flared with a brilliant light. The air vibrated as the mana around him expanded tenfold, bathing the entire room in light. Vivian shielded her eyes with a gasp. Papers on the desk fluttered. Even Nox's grin faltered for just a second.
Lux's little round form became engulfed in purple flames, His outline stretched slightly, gaining sharper edges. Tiny wings grew larger, sleeker, more defined. His glow sharpened from candlelight to something close to a miniature star.
Vivian whispered, "He's evolving…"
Nox clicked his tongue. "Tch. Just from that little bit of mana? Hilarious."
Lux's eyes glowed brighter than I'd ever seen then he suddenly swayed in the air and slumped forward, dizzy and overcharged like a drunk firefly.
"H-Haaah…" he wheezed. "T-that was… whoa…"
"He's high on mana," Nox Laughed. He sounded entertained.
I caught Lux before he toppled out of the air, holding him up by the scruff like a kitten. "See? That wasn't so bad."
Lux blinked up at me, wings twitching. "…Your mana tastes terrifying."
I smirked. "And now you're stronger because of it. Looks like I can feed you regularly."
Vivian looked between us and sighed. "Great. You've turned him into your portable mana sponge."
"Correction," I said, lifting Lux like a trophy. "My soon-to-be familiar. Just a few more doses and I'll make him mine."
Lux made an offended squeak but was too dazed to protest properly.
Nox pushed off the wall with a lazy stretch. "I'm heading out for a while."
I narrowed my eyes. "And where exactly are you going?"
He just shrugged, amusement flickering in his eyes. "Nowhere in particular."
Then he vanished just like that.
For someone who used to hover around me every second of the day, he's been disappearing a lot lately. Sometimes for hours, sometimes for days. He used to never leave my side. Now he slips out without any warning at all.
And I've been trying to dig up anything about his core. Anything that might help him. He knows that. Yet he still leaves without a word.
Not that I'm lonely.
But the least he could do is tell me where he goes.
This routine continued until winter break.
"You're really not coming with me?" Vivian asked as she zipped up the last of her luggage.
"I'm fine," I said, eyes still on the book in my lap. "I have things I need to do here."
She had invited me to spend the break with her family more than once. Everyone else was heading home. Laughing. Making plans.
But I?
"You're sure?" she asked again, standing by the door with her coat on.
"I'm sure," I repeated, giving her a little push toward the hallway. "Now go, or you'll miss your train."
She paused in the doorway, looking at me with worry. "Are you—"
"Go, Vivian."
She hesitated… then finally stepped back and waved. "Alright. I'll bring you something when I come back."
When the door finally clicked shut, I waited for a beat, then sighed.
"Finally."
She had been pestering me for a full week about this trip. Always asking, always checking. I knew she meant well which was precisely why it was so irritating.
Vivian ended up being the last person to leave the dorms. She stayed until the very last day just to try to drag me along.
And now that she's gone… There's practically no one left here. Just me. And a few dorm maids who probably think I'm a ghost haunting the dorm.
The academy felt like a Frost palace once everyone left.
Snow had started falling the same morning Vivian took the last carriage off campus. Heavy, slow flakes drifting between the towers like feathers. The courtyards were silent. The halls were colder. No chatter, no footsteps, no laughter leaking from classrooms.
Just me.
The dorm corridors were so quiet I could hear the distant hum of mana crystals in the walls. Occasionally a maid passed by, but most of the staff had also gone home for the holiday. It was just enough people to keep the place running nothing more.
At first, the silence felt… peaceful.
Then it just felt heavy.
I walked down the main hall, my footsteps echoing off the stone like I didn't quite belong in this place, or maybe this place didn't belong to anyone either.
Snow tapped gently against the stained glass outside. Nox hadn't come back in two days. I didn't even know if he was still on academy grounds or somewhere else entirely.
It was like the entire world had gone still.
And in that stillness… something inside me began to stir.
I hated how familiar it felt.
I pushed open the door to my room, expecting the usual weight of silence to greet me.
Lux lay curled up on my pillow, like a small flickering orb of light barely bigger than my hand.
"You're awake?" I asked.
He blinked dully. "Mm. You missed lunch… again."
I dropped my coat on the chair and sank beside the bed. "I didn't feel like eating."
Lux hesitated, hovering closer. "You could have gone with Vivian. You know she wanted you there."
"I have work to do."
"That's not why you stayed."
I didn't answer. The silence stretched.
My gaze drifted to the corner where Nox usually lounged half-asleep, mocking my every decision, always there. Now it was just an empty patch of wall. Cold. Still.
"He hasn't come back either," Lux said softly.
I didn't respond.
"I'm not lonely," I muttered anyway, more to the room than to him.
Lux settled down next to my arm, warm and quiet. "I didn't say you were."
The snow outside kept falling. Lux pressed gently against my sleeve and I pretended I didn't notice how warm that tiny light felt on my skin.
For a moment, I allowed myself to close my eyes.
Just the two of us, in a giant frozen palace with nothing but silence for company.
To be continued.