Manrin sat with perfect posture, staring with keen interest at the blackboard in front of him.

  “What’s that?” Lily’s voice surprised Manrin.

  “It’s the control theorem for a domain control spell.” Manrin looked towards Lily who was standing next to him.

  “Hey, the spell you tried to cast is one of the most powerful possible nature spells. Don’t beat yourself up about it.”

  “I know. It still feels bad though.”

  Manrin adjusted his glasses, looking back towards the board. Manrin and Lily fell silent for a moment.

  “How is Rel?” Manrin asked, breaking the silence.

  “The priest said he thinks she will wake up either today or tomorrow,” Lily answered, placing her finger on her lip.

  “I hope so,” Manrin looked down before standing up.

  “We have our next class together; we should get there before we are late,” Manrin said.

  “Sure,” Lily answered.

  Manrin and Lily walked towards their next class. They were both uncharacteristically nervous. The reason for that was that the next class had a special student in it, Leida. She was a platinum ranked dragon tamer, and the one Lily was planning to fight. Manrin was nervous because Leida was the girl he had special feelings for. Several years ago, when Leida was still a three-gold star magician, she saved Manrin from a dragon attack. Manrin was practicing his nature magic, specifically he was attempting a lesser version of Domain Capture, one that only created a small zone of control. Manrin was simply unlucky, and a dragon who happened to be nearby sensed the magic and thought that Manrin was challenging it. Leida happened to be in the same area looking for that dragon when she came across Manrin desperately defending himself. Ever since she had saved him, Manrin had developed a crush on her. However, Manrin was not great with romance, and doubted that she had any idea of his feelings towards her.

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  As Manrin and Lily entered the classroom they immediately noticed a group of students crowded around another student. Platinum magicians were practically celebrities in the academy, so they typically had groups that would form around them wherever they went. Leida was especially showy, so she tended to attract even more people than normal.

  “…and that is when I used my most powerful move to take down the crimson wyvern!” Leida had just finished telling a story and made a thematic ending pose.

  Leida looked up as she sensed two strong magical forces.

  “Ah, Lily! Glasses Guy!”

  Leida jumped over a few students, landing in front of Lily and Manrin.

  “Are you two doing okay?” Ledia looked up at Lily with a concerned face.

  Ledia was of very small stature. Some people mistakenly thought she was much younger than she actually was. The truth was simply malnourishment. Leida grew up in the slums of a distant country and was stunted in growth. She had long white hair and yellow eyes. Rumor was her eye color was due to her partially merging with a dragon. She wore the typical school robes, but with a light blue trim. She also wore a golden hairclip, a gift from a suitor.

  “Perfect, I’m glad you are here Leida.” Lily stared at Leida fiercely.

  A small bead of sweat rolled down Leida’s forehead.

  “Eh, did I do something?” Leida looked to Manrin for answers.

  Manrin adjusted his glasses, shyly.

  “Leida, I am sure you are aware that my dive group completed the thirtieth floor of the Labyrinth.”

  Leida cutely nodded in response.

  “Then, by the rules of the academy, I challenge you to a promotional duel.”

  The duel season was still a little ways away, but platinum promotionals often received special treatment. It wasn’t unusual for the academy to approve an off-season promotional. Leida looked at Lily for a second, seemingly in thought.

  “You are going to get crushed,” Leida said innocently. “Lily, I like you, you should challenge someone that you can beat.”

  “It’s exactly because of that attitude that I am challenging you. Afterall, if I can’t defeat you, then I will never be able to defeat my true enemy.” Lily tightened her right hand into a fist.

  “Fine,” Ledia responded, “but don’t be surprised when I wipe the floor with you.”

  Ledia turned around and walked back to her seat. As she was finding her way, the professor walked in and bid Lily and Manrin to go to their seats as well. Lily sat down, focused on the lessons. Manrin sat slightly behind Lily and couldn’t help but look at her and Ledia. He would never say it, but he understood Lily’s feelings perfectly. Leida was so powerful that she motivated him to do the best that he could, but no matter how hard he tried he felt like he could never catch up to her. Lily clearly wanted to get past that hurdle, to become far more powerful. Manrin always knew that Lily wanted to get stronger in order to slay demons, but her motivation was truly second to none. Seeing Lily that way motivated Manrin to try harder too.