As the students continued to introduce themselves one by one, it was eventually Solomon's turn.
The moment he stood, the room instantly buzzed with energy. Between Apollo's earlier interactions with him and the pin on his chest—which essentially granted him access to the royal dormitories—it was clear to everyone that Solomon was destined for greatness. As an added bonus, he looked the part.
"Good morning, everyone," he said. "I'm here on a special admission granted by the Magic Tower, specifically Sir Rene. I am not a sorcerer. I'm an Anomalous Magician."
"Huh? Did I hear that right?" "What's that?" "An anomalous magician?" "That's what they called the necromancer twenty years ago."
After introducing himself, Solomon sat back down without looking around. However, he could hear everyone's murmurs, stirring a knot of anxiety in his chest.
Meanwhile, Jarius simply stared at him keenly, one corner of his mouth tilting upward slightly.
'It seems like he knows...' Solomon thought. Considering Jarius was an Allflame, and a professor of Ars no less, it was obvious he would already know about Solomon's current stigma.
His reasoning for revealing his ability was simple: he wanted people to fear him.
Of course, this would only work if no one discovered his true identity as a powerless slum resident. Knowing Rene's status and strength, Solomon was somewhat confident that unless a group of incredibly powerful people actively investigated him, it was unlikely he would be found out. Regardless, these were all mere speculations relying on Rene following through with his promises.
Somewhat satisfied by the room's reaction, Solomon settled into his seat. Slowly but surely, he was building a strong wall that would let him navigate his first few powerless days in Ars without any major issues. The only thing he actually had to do was eventually live up to what the others thought he did: use magic.
Stuck in his thoughts, Solomon failed to realize that the self-introduction portion of the session had ended. Only when Jarius spoke out loud did he snap out of his own head.
"Alright, that's all we will be doing for today," Jarius announced. "I'll conjure specialized training for each of you. Our next session will be held at Training Arena K. We will not meet here, nor will I update your GPS. Listening to instructions is a major part of life. That will be all. You are all dismissed."
Not wasting any time, Solomon stood up to prevent further interactions. Apollo started to say something, but Solomon had already bolted from his seat.
However, as he was about to exit the room, he realized he had entirely misunderstood people's perception of anomalous magic.
"Hey, Solomon. You're that anomalous magic user, huh? Like, there's only one of you in the entire world," one of the boys said, initiating small talk.
"Man, that's so cool," a friend of the boy added.
Looking at their excited expressions, Solomon glanced back, wondering if anyone else found their reactions weird. As he tried to prove his point to himself, he realized he might have fundamentally misunderstood the common sense of the people in Ars.
Because he could only hear their murmurs earlier, Solomon thought they were uncomfortable with his presence. Seeing their current reactions, however, he seemed to have forgotten that they were mostly magic freaks and nerds themselves.
Considering the necromancer from back then was able to face a massive human army all by himself, the sheer thought sent shivers throughout Eclipse. Anomalous Magic was as strong as it was confusing and unique.
Thinking of how to proceed, Solomon glanced around, only to meet Apollo's eyes. The crown prince was grinning at his unfortunate situation.
Solomon shook his head to reset his thoughts.
"Well, it's quite something," Solomon replied with a practiced, business-like smile.
"Are you Rene's grandson? I mean, with that potential, you should be, right?" one of his classmates asked.
As he was about to reply, Apollo suddenly spoke up from the back, stopping him in his tracks.
"Hey... hey. It's not polite to ask that all of a sudden, is it?" Apollo said, patting the questioning classmate on the shoulder.
"Oh, uh, Apollo? Yeah... that's right," the boy said awkwardly, bowing his head slightly in a mix of fear and respect.
"Nice to meet you, Solomon. Let's help each other out from now on." Apollo then glanced at Solomon, exchanging a smile.
From an outsider's perspective, Apollo was being respectful. To Solomon, however, it was clear Apollo was making his situation more complicated than it needed to be. He was intentionally framing Solomon to look like Rene's grandson.
Immediately, all the curiosity in the room zeroed in on Solomon once more. Despite their differing opinions, one burning question hovered over all their heads: "Who exactly was he?"
And Solomon knew exactly what all their curious eyes meant.
"Nah, it's alright. I'm not Rene's family," Solomon said. "However, I did get the tower's full recommendation. Why don't we leave it at that?" He smiled—a smile all too familiar to Apollo. It was the exact same smile the crown prince wore.
Apollo looked at Solomon, his own smile leveling out as he stared at the matching expression.
"And yeah, let's help each other out, Apollo. It's always a pleasure to befriend the crown prince," Solomon added, turning fully toward Apollo and extending his hand.
Taken aback by the reply, Apollo stood unmoving for a moment, staring at Solomon's extended hand.
"Yeah, I think it'll be fun hanging around with you," Apollo finally said, shaking his hand with a smirk.
Seeing Solomon casually exchange words and shake hands with the imperial crown prince, the class's perception of him permanently took shape.
...
It was lunchtime on that same day. Due to the massive number of students in Ars, all three school buildings had a cafeteria every five floors. Solomon was currently on the 495th floor, trying to fill his empty stomach after a hectic first class.
Thanks to his royal tag, he could simply walk to the front of the line, eat for free, and request custom-cooked meals. Having lived in the slums, he would essentially eat any edible dish that wasn't too exotic, but since this was the most luxurious academy on the entire continent, all the food was incredible.
After grabbing his share, he looked around for an empty seat. Unlucky for him, there were none. Because they were sharing the cafeteria with different years of S-class students, the massive hall was packed.
With no other choice, he scanned the room for the most inconspicuous people he recognized from class—which wasn't many.
Eventually, his eyes fell on a group of students eating together. They were the ones who had remained relatively quiet during the morning session.
"Can I sit here?" he asked them.
"I... I... I don't..." they immediately started to stutter, completely unsure of how to answer him.
"Actually, I forgot to grab something," Solomon said. Feeling unwelcome, he decided to retreat rather than force the issue. Though it was a little awkward, he quickly walked away.
To avoid another weird encounter, he searched for a bench with minimal people who clearly didn't know each other. He found one simply by spotting students who weren't talking despite sharing the same table.
Without announcing his presence, he sat down and immediately started to eat. However, the moment he took his seat, the two other people on the bench packed up and left. He tried to dismiss it, acting like it was nothing, but inside, a heavy awkwardness settled over him.
As he ate, he kept his head down, glancing around at the surrounding students who were casually discussing magic and theories he couldn't begin to understand. Every single bite of his food started to weigh on his thoughts, amplifying the feeling of being utterly alone in a place he didn't belong.
After finishing his meal, Solomon quickly left the cafeteria to look for his next class. However, upon checking his phone, an alert notified him that his next schedule—as well as the remaining classes for the day—had been postponed due to a high number of last-minute enrollees. Nevertheless, it was a stroke of luck for him. He had some time off.
Solomon made his way back to the royal dorms. After a nerve-wracking morning, he needed to sit down and carefully plan his next move.