"Good morning Vicius! How's the dorm treating ya?" Rowan's voice seemed to chirp.
Vicius nodded. "I think I would rather be hounded by the rift creatures in my old place..."
His shoulders slumped forward, remembering the bickering princesses from the night before. How someone could turn pillows into weapons was beyond his comprehension.
Tuesday. Since Monday's classes were scrapped, Tuesday would be the official first day. An opportunity to form powerful connections!
'Money...Power...Status! Everything I desire is possible at this cursed academy.'
Vicius was not one to jump into things blindly. In fact, he made it a point to pick out every potential student he could use as a stepping stone- To befriend and have a wonderful time.
A slap nearly sent him tumbling forward a few feet.
"Sorry. Your gaze made me think it carried a negative debuff."
Her rubellite eyes shone in the morning rays like a gemstone lodged in a face carved of marble. Unchanging and unwilling to be broken. But she still wrapped her arm loosely around Vicius's, as if her place was by his side. Vicius found it creepy how such an emotionless person could act so lovey-dovey at the drop of a hat.
All he could do was sigh, reminded that the alternative would run along the line of a glare that could pierce his skull, or even genital decapitation. Neither of which Vicius was particularly fond of.
The academy gates came into view. Odd glances and baseless whispers had already erupted among the student populace. Dating was not something that was taboo in academies; it was actually very common. But only in academies that weren't the prestigious Lunaris Academy.
Political relationships were commonplace here, but only after a year, or at the very least half a year of intermingling and information being passed around. This didn't concern those who were not of noble descent, but it brought on some nasty rumours from those bound by jealousy.
Thankfully, the first class was alchemy. Evie's speciality.
After the class settled into their seats, the decrepit teacher with a tone more monotone than mana-droids preached the lesson. Evie would occasionally ask questions along with some other girls, and Delilah.
'Strange to see her so quietly in class. I could've expected something like [The great Delilah Von Reese should be teaching this class!! You scrubs would be bowing and kissing my boots out of gratitude!!!] or something along those lines.'
Vicius crunched down on his nail. Just thinking about her would flare up those feelings of inadequacy in the rankings. And her smug act was the final nail in the coffin.
But alas, she was silent, very quietly taking notes.
Occassional Vicius would shoot glances which were met with flickers of the eye that were too fast for a regular human to register.
'This girl is avoiding me!'
Somehow, that pissed him off more.
'Am I that far below you that I am not even worth your damn time?!?'
"Look at the white-haired peasant chick, who does she think she is lol."
Muffled chuckles and insults wafted around half of the classroom.
"Of course, a peasant would be so eager to ask questions. Sucking up to the teacher is the only way for her to even stand a chance at being on the same level as us."
Vicius felt a chill down his spine. Evie was not one to stand for this sort of commentary. Besides 'The Apothecary' nickname, Evie had another, more infamous nickname.
'The Undertaker.'
If you were to try counting the number of bullies she had pummeled and forced to leave the school using fingers. You would need a dozen hands.
Yet she remained still, not a single shake in her expression.
'Bhudha?'
Vicius quickly shook the thought. Realising that it was class time, and interrupting a teacher's lesson would lead to some pretty hefty punishments on top of whooping the asses of those nobles.
"I bet she would do anything to maintain her spot in the rankings. Even sleep with a teacher-"
The air grew warmer in the class. Fire combusting from the palms of his hands.
"You guys just couldn't keep your mouth shut, huh? Couldn't nod off in class? No, I guess you couldn't."
Everyone's gazes shifted to Vicius. The distance had already been closed between himself and the nobles.
Their eyes flared up like massive orbs, irises shaking as the heat threatened to char off their porcelain skin.
"Ahem!" The professor coughed lightly, every bit of magic dispelled in the class as the runes of an alchemy circle shimmered brightly on the chalkboard.
"Forgive me, teacher. I overheard these punks- I mean, my dear friends talking about how they wanted to experience the heat of a real magic spell."
The teacher didn't buy it one bit. Frankly, a few more words from those noble losers and he would've personally dealt with them.
Vicius quickly took his seat, allowing the fire to snuff itself out from his fists. Murmurs filled the room for a few moments before being dispelled by the teacher.
'Picking on people that are weaker isn't my style...but they can't get away with talking about Evie like that!' Though his flames had extinguished, the fire in his heart roared to burn the offenders alive.
=====
The remainder of the class was quick to fly by. Each class had been chopped into hour blocks, leaving exactly seven hours per academy day. The following class was now Vicius's speciality, physical education.
A wide lawn, possibly several kilometres in length, spread wide, with tracks lining the outside and ruins for mock battles littering the centre. During P.E, the ruins would be off limits, the track and a large gymnasium being the shining stars in those times.
Vicius was quick to equip his running shoes, also being the first on the field. He might not have been the best in terms of academics, where he only fell short by a few points, but in the physical and magical casting domains, he was untouchable.
"Alright, class! Please make your way to the white line!" A professor sporting a red tracksuit that did little to hide her curves.
'I pray that this woman is normal at least.' He pleaded sliently already knowing no god would answer his prayers.
As the white line quickly became filled with students, the teacher's stance changed. Her figure blurred only to reappear about a hundred meters ahead.
"Goal of this class? Catch me, and you don't get detention!!"
'Yep. A cuckoo aswell.'