"-- should know, great power is within each and every one of us. We must simply strive towards greatness, that our kingdom shall prosper! Now, did you know --"

The rain pitter-pattered along the outside of the lecture room as Brynn tuned out the speech. He was staring out the window, following a raindrop as it slid down across the fog-stained glass.

It was another day in this hellhole they call paradise. The year was just starting, his 3rd year within the academy, but Brynn's been here long enough to have heard this opening lecture multiple times before. And he's experienced enough to know that the 'us' the lecturer mentions only went as far as within the academy. 

He knew they couldn't care less for the people outside its walls. Heck, they didn't even care much for him. To the people here, he was no more than an outsider, lacking in the 'qualifications' to warrant staying here. Or, even worse, just nothing at all. Some people barely acknowledging his existence. It bothered him how some people can act so holier than thou just because of their upbringing.

He was a commoner, after all. A low-born as some with a more spiteful tongue might say. He got in purely through merit, a feat in and of itself. Something that hasn't happened since a few decades past.

He liked the quiet, though. More time to think, he thought.

"Mister Brynn!" The lecturer snaps. 

Of course, there were also the opposite. People taking every opportunity to scrutinize his behavior, looking for any fault to call out on.

This particular one was called Miss Heleanor. A heavy-set, middle-aged woman with greying hair and a stern face. Her eyes looked from across the room straight at Brynn, ignoring the other students barely paying any attention to her lecture.

"Daydreaming again are we?" She continues. This time with a few dozen pairs of eyes looking at him all around the room. Each pair filled with either boredom, lack of interest, or simply disdain.

Brynn sighs. If only the staff weren't so keen on finding every fault of his, he would have some peace.

"You seem to act as if you already know what I am going to say. Very well then, humor me. Continue where I left off." The lecturer spoke with a smug smirk, her plan to humiliate the boy quite see-through.

Brynn stands up nervously, shuffling a bit as he does. He takes a deep breath, and speaks, attempting to avoid eye contact as much as possible.

"Our oath which binds us to the kingdom means that we must do our best to progress our magic to the best of our abilities and, should the need arise, take up arms with those same abilities to protect this institute. Failure to abide by this oath is tantamount to treason and is punishable by either execution, or having one's magic severed at the behest of the king, which, to a mage, is equivalent to or more so devastating than death itself." At the end, he looks at the lecturer's face with a look asking if he must go on.

The lecturer squints her eyes, turns away, and says "You may take your seat. Now as I was saying -- " Continuing on with her lecture.

One by one, the looks cast at him begin to turn back towards the front. Some clicking their tongues, disappointed. 

Brynn sits down, relieved. As if a weight off his chest.

It was gonna be another long semester.