I walked downstairs to the smell of sizzling bacon and fresh bread. Elphyete was a blur in the kitchen, her ears still slightly pink as she focused intensely on the frying pan. Euphyne, meanwhile, had managed to make it down the stairs but had apparently run out of energy; he was sprawled across the living room couch, snoring loudly with a satisfied grin on his face.
KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.
I opened the heavy front door to find The Principal standing there, looking as sharp and mysterious as ever. He held a stack of neatly folded clothing in his arms.
"Here are your uniforms," he said, handing me two male sets and one female set.
I took them, feeling the high-quality, heavy fabric. "But... we already have the standard uniforms from the entrance ceremony."
The Principal's eyes twinkled with a hint of mischief. "Those were for the general student body. As of this morning, the three of you have been moved to the A1 Star Class. It is a classroom reserved strictly for the elites—the most powerful and influential students in this University."
My heart sank a little. "Elites? That sounds like a lot of trouble."
"Indeed," the Principal replied with a dry smile. "They don't like outsiders. Have fun, Sogha."
Before I could ask for a transfer back to the normal class, he turned and vanished down the garden path, leaving me holding the symbols of our new, dangerous status.
I set the new uniforms on the table, the silver embroidery catching the morning light. "New plan," I said, catching their attention. "The Principal just promoted us. We're in the A1 Star Class now. We need to eat, bathe, and change into these."
Euphyne didn't even stop chewing. He just gave a knowing nod, as if being a "Star" was simply his natural destiny. Elphyete, however, nearly dropped her plate.
"A1...?" she whispered, her eyes wide. She quickly composed herself, her ears giving a nervous flutter. "Let's eat quickly then! We can't be late for the elite class!"
After finishing the bacon—which was somehow even better than the dinner last night—I looked at Elphyete. "You go first. Take your time."
Her face flushed that familiar shade of crimson. "Y-yeah!" she stammered, grabbing her uniform and disappearing into the bathroom.
When she finally emerged, she looked like a completely different person. The A1 uniform was elegant, with white and gold accents that made her look like the royalty she likely was. Her red ears stood out vividly against the high collar.
"You look good in that, Elphyete," I said genuinely.
She didn't respond with words. Her ears twitched violently, and she practically teleported to the front door. "I-I'll wait for you both outside!" she squeaked, the door slamming behind her.
I turned to Euphyne. "Your turn." He grabbed his clothes with a "Dazzling" grin and headed in. Once he was done, I took my turn, the steam of the shower helping me clear my head for the challenges ahead. Ten minutes later, the three of us were walking toward the University gates, our new uniforms marking us as the ones to watch.
The hallways of the elite wing were different from the rest of the school. The floors were lined with deep crimson carpets that muffled our footsteps, and the walls were adorned with portraits of legendary mages. We spent thirty minutes navigating the winding corridors and grand staircases, feeling the weight of a thousand eyes on our new uniforms.
Finally, we stood before a pair of towering mahogany doors with a silver star etched into the center: Class A1.
I pushed the doors open. The room was grand, arranged like a small amphitheater with tiered desks facing a massive, enchanted chalkboard. Since we were ten minutes early, the room was mostly empty, save for the faint hum of mana-infused lamps and the scent of old parchment.
"Made it," I muttered, exhaling a breath I didn't know I was holding.
Euphyne immediately scanned the room for the most "dazzling" seat, while Elphyete stayed close to my shoulder, her fingers nervously tugging at the hem of her new blazer. The silence of the room was heavy—the kind of silence that usually comes before a storm.
The room wasn't what I expected. Instead of a grand hall, it was a surprisingly small, intimate chamber. There were only ten desks in total, arranged in a way that felt less like a classroom and more like a high-level strategy room. Each seat was separated by enough space to ensure no one was "crowded," yet the air felt thick with the combined mana of whoever usually sat there.
We headed straight for the back row. I took the middle seat, acting as the bridge between my two companions. To my left, Elphyete sat by the window, the morning light catching the silver embroidery of her uniform as she stared out at the campus, her fingers still trembling slightly. To my right, Euphyne leaned back, his arms crossed and his expression as smug and "dazzling" as if he owned the entire building.
We sat in the silence of the empty room, three newcomers in a space designed for the best of the best. With only seven seats left to be filled, I knew that whoever walked through that door next wouldn't be an ordinary student. They were the people we'd have to beat—or lead.
Ten minutes passed. Then twenty. The silence in the room was absolute, broken only by the sound of Elphyete tapping her pen against the desk and Euphyne's rhythmic, confident breathing.
"Weird," I muttered, glancing at the clock. "They're late. All of them."
We waited. An entire hour ticked by. I was starting to think we had found the wrong room after all, until the door finally swung open with a casual creak.
A man stepped in. He didn't look like the grand archmages I'd seen in portraits. He wore a simple black jacket over a rumpled shirt and a pair of thick-rimmed glasses that kept sliding down his nose. He carried a single battered book and looked like he hadn't slept in three days.
He stopped, blinking at us behind his lenses. "Whoa," he said, his voice raspy. "Y'all are... really early."
I stood up, my brows furrowed. "Are you our teacher?"
"Yeah," he sighed, dropping his book onto the desk with a heavy thud. He started scribbling something on the chalkboard without even looking at us.
"Why are you late?" I asked, a bit frustrated after sitting in silence for sixty minutes.
The man paused, turning his head just enough to give me a lazy, lopsided grin. "I'm not late, kid. The class doesn't start for another thirty minutes. You guys are just the only ones crazy enough to show up an hour and a half before the bell."
"Thirty more minutes?" I repeated, my voice echoing in the nearly empty room.
"Thirty," he grunted, already pulling a crumpled pillow out from under his desk. He slumped into his chair and propped his feet up on the mahogany table. "Do whatever y'all want for the next half hour. I don't care. Just don't set anything on fire."
Before I could ask his name or even what subject he taught, a loud, rhythmic snore erupted from behind his glasses. He was out cold.
I turned to look at my teammates. Euphyne had already taken the teacher's advice to heart; he was leaning so far back in his chair I thought he'd flip over, staring at the ceiling with a bored expression. Elphyete, on the other hand, looked even more stressed. She was staring at the sleeping man like he was a ticking bomb.
"Is... is this really the elite class?" she whispered, her ears drooping slightly.
"I guess so," I sighed, leaning back and crossing my arms. "At least we don't have to worry about a pop quiz yet."
We sat there in the strange silence—the sleeping teacher at the front, and the three of us at the back, waiting for the real "stars" of the university to make their entrance.
The silence was finally broken by the sharp, rhythmic click-clack of boots against the marble floor. A girl stepped through the doorway, radiating an aura of pure, unshakeable confidence.
She didn't glance at the sleeping teacher, and she didn't even acknowledge us sitting in the back row. She walked straight to the front-center desk—the "power seat"—and dropped her bag with a heavy thud.
She sat down, crossing her legs and leaning back with an annoyed huff. She checked a gold watch on her wrist, her brow furrowing as she let out a loud groan that echoed through the small room.
"What the hell is taking so long for the others to arrive?" she snapped to no one in particular.
Her voice was sharp, the kind of voice used to giving orders. She seemed completely oblivious—or perhaps just entirely indifferent—to the fact that three "outsiders" were watching her every move from the shadows of the back row.