As classes began, the days passed in a whirlwind of activity. The halls of the Yamato Arcane Institute echoed with the sound of hurried footsteps and whispered conversations, as the second and third year students kept their distance from the freshmen, as if there was an invisible barrier between them. Despite the initial incident between Ryu and Lee Min-Jae, the atmosphere was strangely calm, like the silence before a storm. But as the students focused on their own routines, a subtle and unsettling change began to unfold, just out of sight.

Tokyo upper city.

“Son, when are you going to leave this room?” The mother’s voice, full of sadness. “I know how much you wanted to be a wizard, but you didn’t. I’ve been there too, you know?”

He was sitting on a cushion in the center of the room, his eyes closed in deep concentration. Sunlight streamed in through the window, highlighting her pale face and disheveled brown hair that fell across her forehead.

“Don’t worry, Mom. I won’t give up,” her voice full of determination. “I’m meditating. That machine helped me understand the process. If I can channel the elementals into my core again, this time, I won’t fail.” Determined, he sat back down, concentrating as hard as he could to relive his experience.

Tears streamed silently down the mother’s face as she watched her son meditating, her heart squeezed by the anguish of seeing him so dedicated and, at the same time, so frustrated. Every line of worry on his face was a reflection of his love and desire to see his son achieve his dream of becoming a wizard. She remembered her own longings and disappointments and felt a mixture of empathy and helplessness, wishing she could ease the pain he carried.

As time passed, the room became chaotic. Magic books were stacked haphazardly across the floor, and the door was now locked to prevent interruptions. The books around him became a blur, the sound of his mother’s voice a distant echo. The only real thing was the frantic pulsing of mana in his body. Day after day, he dedicated himself tirelessly, pushing himself beyond his limits. Even when the hunger was unbearable, he persisted.

Waking up suddenly he asks himself. I accidentally fell asleep again... how long have I been here? Am I really not going to make it? Looking in the mirror you can see your face, haggard and your dark circles were huge. And I have no other goal. Ever since that man saved me, I promised I would be a wizard .

Returning to meditate on one last thought that ran through his mind. If I fail, I think it’s better to give up everything. “Just a little more” he said in a week, tearful voice.

These words were repeated day after day, and soon almost three weeks had passed, one day an intense light flooded the room. A tremor ran through his body. The energy, once a thin thread, was now a raging river, flooding his senses. He opened his eyes, sunlight bathing the room, and a triumphant smile spread across his face. Letting out a cry of happiness, he realized. His dream was being realized.

Ryuji Takeshi’s vision

“I’m almost out of mana, Hana. But we need to try one last time.” A small, intense flame began to form in her hand, reflecting her determination. “Focus. Let’s make it count.” I mumbled, more to myself than to her, trying to stay calm as exhaustion weighed on every word.

I prepared myself, trying to feel the flow of elementals transforming the environment. Unfortunately, from the moment they leave my body, I lose control. I try until the last second, when Hana’s attack is almost hitting me, but to no avail. In the end, even without understanding how, I always manage to put up this wall to protect myself.

“This isn’t going anywhere,” I complained to Hana, who was approaching.

“Are you sure you can’t continue? I think I can still throw two or three more attacks like that,” she replied, panting.

Hana was breathing raggedly, and sweat was dripping from her forehead. “Even though you say that, you’re also exhausted,” I said, noticing her condition. “Apparently, my amount of mana is less than yours. Recovering takes too long, I can’t do long training sessions like that.”

The silence that followed was heavy, interrupted only by Hana’s footsteps. She sat next to me, hesitating before finally speaking. Unable to bear that climate, I took the initiative.

“Hana, you can talk. We’re friends. I don’t know what you mean, but if it’s something delicate I think you already know me well enough to know that I won’t react badly.”

She turned her face and spoke. “Aren’t you too obsessed with this duel?” This question took me by surprise.

“Why do you think that?” I was confused.

“Ryu, you’re obsessed with this fight. Professor Tanaka has already called your attention several times in the element manipulation class. You only care about improving your skills with earth and fire. And the rest? You’re going to continue ignoring the rest of the elements ?”

“Right now my duel is the most important, this will define how our squad will be seen, that’s why I’m only training these elements, they are the ones I have the most affinity with besides being strong in fights, you know the teacher wants you to I improve darkness, but now it’s useless besides me having a hard time with it.” I didn’t understand why Hana thought it was bad that I wanted to win, since this is one of the ways to become the strongest.

“That’s the problem, you’re the leader, but you’re only thinking about yourself, every day you finish class and you come running here to the training field, you use all the magic in your body and you’re too tired to really talk.” with us.” She seemed a little irritated.

“You know why I have to win, it was your idea for the two of us to be the strongest and I’m doing what’s necessary.”

Suddenly she stood up and, still with her back to me, said again “Ryu, understand, you are our leader, you cannot think only of yourself, having so many complaints from teachers about you is also harmful to our image and that is what you have done in the last two weeks.” His tone of voice was rising.

Also getting up, I say again “You talk as if it happened in every class, whereas it was only in the theoretical ones and Professor Tanaka’s complaint is just about one element, it’s not a big deal. Besides, whenever you need me as a leader I am there.”

“And Kenji, you’re there for him.”

I racked my brain trying to notice something strange about him. He’s just a little quiet, he just needs some time. “I don’t understand, he seems to be completely normal, he said himself that he doesn’t like to talk so much.”

A deep sigh filled the room. “If you think he’s normal, that’s okay, leader, if something happens it will be your fault.” Hana starts to walk to the exit. “And please care more about classes, it’s not just your image that’s at stake.” It seemed like she had calmed down.

“I will continue to do things my way, if our image is a little tarnished when I win they will forget everything, that’s for sure.” It could even be true that they were getting my attention, whether by not paying attention or Professor Tanaka complaining that my ability with darkness wasn’t improving, but they’ll forget if I win.

“What if you lose?” Those words hit me like a punch. I thought she would support me.

“If you keep training like now I won’t. You should support me, after all this fight will only happen because you wanted to show off in the classroom?”

For the first time Hana looked at me, an angry look on her face. “This fight will happen because you wanted it,” she said, coming towards me. “When did I ask you to protect me? You just stepped in front and challenged him” he said in a threatening tone.

“I only did what a leader should do, and you were one of the ones who put me in that position.” I felt a wave of heat envelop my body, causing sweat to instantly break out on my forehead and my hands to start shaking.

“I don’t want to hear that from someone weaker than me.” His words cut like blades, and I felt my heart speed up, my chest tighten with irrational anger.

“I only did it because you’re the type to stop when something real happens, it wasn’t like that against the boars, that’s why I’m your superior.” I was slightly panting when I finished.

She moved closer until she was inches away from me, raising her hand with a dangerous gleam in her eyes. “If you wanted to impress me by protecting me, it didn’t work at all.” An explosion threw me backwards, and searing pain spread through my body, as if a thousand red-hot needles were piercing my skin. I only saw her back as she entered the portal. I lay there, trying to recover. “I can’t believe she did that,” I thought as I looked at the burn on my chest. A few minutes later I managed to get up and go to the portal to the dorms.

Arriving home, every step seemed like torment. I ran to the bathtub, filled with water sparkling with healing magic. As I dived, I saw my burned skin slowly regenerate, yet the pain was excruciating, every fiber of my body burned. After a few minutes of spasms I could finally really relax, only a small mark was left on my chest.

“Why did I say that?” I asked myself, a long sigh escaping. I relived every word, every reaction, and the sharp pain in my chest was replaced by a crushing weight of regret.

The first two weeks passed in the blink of an eye. Between exhausting training and theoretical classes, time seemed to slip through my fingers, always with the feeling that I wasn’t doing enough. My classmates and I had to dedicate ourselves completely to studying, because in normal school there was nothing about magic, making everything new.

Although I wasn’t facing great difficulties in the matter of controlling elementals, my ability to manipulate darkness was limited. Because of this lack of progress, Professor Tanaka always picked on me. Fortunately, classes are divided into groups, which prevented my weakness from being exposed.

The history of magic class, held on Fridays, always left me exhausted, and I ended up sleeping. Professor Jung woke me up twice using his water magic. In this case, Hana was right, I decided I needed to adapt and avoid sleeping in class again.

I’ll have to listen to Professor Tanaka’s complaints for a while yet, but I don’t see how improving my dark skill will help me against Lee Min. Winning this fight is the only thing on my mind. I’m heading straight from class to the training field, where I only leave when my mana core is completely depleted. I don’t understand why she got angry over a complaint that only happens within the group. Anyway, I’ll have to talk to her tomorrow.

The only question was where, it’s disconcerting how the older students watch us, as if we were an exhibition. They keep a respectful distance, but it’s still uncomfortable. Except for the incident with Lee Min-Jae, interactions between the classes were minimal. This made me realize something: there are a lot more students in second and third year than there are in ours. There are only 19 of us, but there seem to be more than fifty in each of these classes.

Coming out of the shower with difficulty walking, I got dressed and went to the bedroom. “What an exhausting Sunday,” I thought, reflecting on the need to adjust my attitude toward the team. With nothing else on my mind, I fell asleep, preparing myself for the next day.