The Empire’s might is divided between three seats of power; the Holy Emperor who command the Royal Knights, the High Priest of the Holy Temple who command the Holy Knights or Paladins, and the Grand Magister of the Ivory Tower who tame all the magicians in the empire.

All three are connected to the Empire’s main religion and to their deity, the Goddess of the Purple Flame.

No one remembers the Goddess’ name, only that her flame gave life to the first Indicum warrior who founded the empire.

Not that the empire needed finding.

It had always been there.

It just so happened that an ancestor of mine was the strongest barbarian in his era who was able to Conqueror all eight kingdoms and unite them as one.

And that he was a mama’s boy.

From these thoughts of mine, I know, one would realize that I am agnostic.

I no longer believe in such tales about a higher being claiming all the glory in battle while thousands of people die for their so called ‘noble’ cause.

Particularly since their current ‘anointed one’ plans to own me someday.

“Let us bow our heads in supplication to ask the goddess of the Purple Flame to ascend upon us and send us the blessings of everlasting mana to purge our enemies.”

The prayer is meant to look for in-coming 4th year students who have any talent in magic. They would then be given lessons in magic until they graduate in their 6th year.

‘Fuu~’

I sigh and look at the altar up front as we remain seated on the hard marble floor.

It was a good thing that I was at the end of our row. I could clearly see a royal looking young man with long, gray-black hair that reached to his waist. He is facing the altar with his back against us, but I could tell who he is by the way the rest of the fourth years seem to shrink away from him.

“That’s the first crown prince, Nigellus Vladimir Indicum V,” Elliot whispered by my side. Even in such occasions, he’s still a reliable source of information.

“They’re waiting for the Holy Purple Flame to descend upon the crown of their heads,” he continued. “It is the greatest honor for a noble student of the Royal Mauve Academy to be blessed by the flames, particularly if you have the blood of royalty in your veins.”

“Heads down!”

I felt a sharp rap on the back of my head.

“Ouch!” Elliot gasped, as a professor walked up from behind us.

“Sorry about that,” Elliot apologized, though I was partly at fault.

“It seems the crown prince’s flame is refusing to descend,” I mumbled back.

Elliot tried not to laugh.

“Quiet!”

Another rap on the head told me I should stop with the remarks.

The prayers lasted for an hour until the priests finally decided that the crown prince would never get a blessing.

Three students were chosen that day.

Small flames of lilac hovered over their heads and stayed afloat even as they stood up in front of the altar to face the rest of the students. The flames looked like small lazy butterflies looking for a place to land. The zealous priests praised the goddess again and again until they slowly faded away.

“Timothy, Basil, and Peter, we congratulate you and welcome you into the goddess’s embrace, soon you shall be inducted as Holy Nights of the Purple Flame!” said the high priest who was so ecstatic to have three new potential mass murderers to command.

These three will be trained by Grand Magister Shalem, himself in the highest arts of combat magic. They may not have been able to manifest magic early in life, but even a bit of magic talent can spell a big difference in a fight.

They would be given the chose later on to join either the royal knights or the temple’s paladins, and soon, would be sent off to the nearest war to broaden the Empire’s borders even more.

I stifle a yawn as the ceremony dragged on. When it finally finished, my legs were so cramped that I could hardly raise myself off the floor.

“Are you okay?” asked Elliot who easily got up to his feet.

“I’m afraid I would require a minute or two before I could stand up...”

“Waah, my legs are so numb I can’t feel them!” I heard Cat cry from our right. “Can you make sure they’re still there?”

“Don’t anyone touch me,” snapped Arman whose legs seemed to have gone numb as well.

“At least the ceremonies are finally over...” I said with a sigh.

At last, I finally got to unfold one of my legs.

“Actually, the second part is just about to begin,” said Elliot.

“We will now proceed with the blessing of mentors,” said another priest on the stage.

A loud moan broke across the prayer hall.

“All neophytes apprenticed to a senior, please proceed to your mentor’s side.”

Murmurings filled the hall, followed by sobs and even an audible wail that pierced the air.

I was surprised to see some students rise on their own, though. They looked pretty proud of themselves as they went to the left side of the altar where fourth to 6th year students where seated.

“Those are probably members of the crown prince’s vassal houses,” said Elliot who first looked around to make sure there were no professors near us.

“I-I don’t want to go!” I heard someone whimper from the front.

“I would rather they kill me...” another whispered.

“Professor!” a shrill cry broke out.

We turned to look at a senior trying to pull a neophyte to his feet.

“There’s something wrong with my apprentice!”

He suddenly let go of the neophyte’s arm and stared at his hands in disgust.

“Something’s wrong with these students as well!” someone else called from the right.

“M-my gods... I think they gave me something...” I heard a person cry in front of us.

I turned and saw angry looking red rashes appearing on his arms and neck, climbing up to his pale cheeks.

“Help! Someone help!” The students cried out as more neophytes broke into rashes.

Thus, the celebration of the Holy Purple Flame was abruptly cut short as more than 20 students were rushed to the infirmary.

They say the rashes didn’t hurt, neither did it itch, yet it released a sour stench that smelled like vomit. The dumbfounded healers think it might be a new form of venereal disease, and thus, had forbidden any form of physical contact between students.

Particularly, between mentors and their apprentices.

“Cheers! To the perfect plan of our great master magician!” said Arman as he raised a bottle of ale towards me.

“I didn’t think it would work this perfectly!” said Elliot whose flushed face couldn’t hide his grin. “I know I shouldn’t be laughing like this, but damn, Pat! You really are a genius magician!”

“It’s a good thing some of the students took a bath in the morning!” added Arman.

“Hush, someone might hear us!” I reminded them as we sat in a circle beneath the grassy shade of a tall oak tree.

We found the place after walking for some time away from the main school buildings. It was way beyond the open fields and was at the edge of a well pruned forest. We had to make sure that no one else was around before Elliot took his dimensional pouch and pulled out a picnic blanket and some platters of food for us to dine on.

“I feel bad about those students, though,” said Cat who was unusually quiet. “They actually thought their rashes were life threatening, I was tempted to tell them it was all just an illusion.”

I smiled at him uneasily.

Actually, I knew that an outbreak of rashes would alarm the academy, that’s why I didn’t merely place an illusion spell on the aqueduct’s water supply.

I actually used a real rash in the improvised protective spell.

I simply lessened the potency of a ‘pox curse’ I found by a considerable amount to make sure that it only releases a pungent scent when the target feels threatened.

Besides, it is still much better than dying or getting molested, it’s only triggered by extreme fear, and would fade on its own once the target calms down.

“I guess that takes care of our problems with the seniors!” said Arman with a victorious grin. “That stupid apprenticeship can just go to hell along with the crown prince who started it all!”

“Right, this time around, I hope we get proper masters to apprentice to.”

“Huh?” Arman’s grin disappeared as he stared at Elliot. “We still need to be apprenticed to someone?”

“Yup, after all, apprenticeship has always been part of the Royal Mauve Academy, but don’t worry,” Elliot assured him, “this time around, we will be able to get real skilled masters who could teach us their trade.”

“You mean, I could actually get a master designer to be my mentor?”

Arman looked excited.

“That’s right,” said Elliot. “a student needs to be apprenticed to one master at a time through their six years of stay in the academy.”

“What if I decided not to be apprenticed to anyone?” I asked him.

“You can’t,” he said with a shrug. “You won’t be able to graduate if you don’t get at least one mentor or master to train you. It’s written in the Royal Mauve Academy handbook.”

“How come I haven’t seen this so called ‘handbook’ before?” I asked with a frown.

“Oh, they hand all the school books and other stuff on the first day of school, together with the official school uniforms.”

“And we won’t get them until tomorrow...” I said with a groan.

“Then I want to be apprenticed to the leading beauty guru, Master Charles Jameson!” Arman declared.

“I want to be apprenticed to the famous chef, Master George Ramus!” said Elliot. “But it doesn’t really work that way, we would have to make do with what the academy can provide us.”

“Huh. Tough,” Arman pouted. “What about you, Pat?”

“I don’t really know...” I looked at Cat instead. “What about you, Cat?”

Cat looked up at us three, holding his bottle of ale with both hands.

“I still can’t find Lycan...” he replied in a quivering voice. “I only want to be with him!”

He broke down in tears after saying this.

“Shh, don’t cry, baby, I’m sure your friend is doing fine,” said Arman who held Cat in his arms and gently stroke his golden hair.

“W-what if... what if he ended up w-with the p-prince...” he sniffled. “What if he gets b-broken and tells me he c-can’t be with me anymore?”

Cat started to wail again.

“Wherever he may be, I bet he’s still the same friend you once knew, and would do everything in his power just to see you again,” said Elliot.

I decided to stay silent.

I do not believe that thinking the best of a situation would actually turn that best situation into reality.

I would rather wait for it to unfold.

“Come to think of it, I don’t think the crown prince’s apprentices came today,” Elliot said thoughtfully. “I didn’t get to see that blond guy from before in the prayer hall.”

“The prince was probably afraid he might make a run for it,” said Arman. “I know, I would.”

“B-but don’t worry, Cat, even if Lycan is with the crown prince, you know he can’t lock him up forever!” Elliot said, trying to cheer Cat up. “He would have to let him go when he finishes his last year in the academy!”

“Or when he gets tired of him,” Arman pointed out.

“B-but, Lycan is so adorable, there’s no way he would tire of him...” Cat sniffled.

“Then we could just help him escape.”

My three friends looked at me wide-eyed.

“C-can you do that, Pat?” Cat asked with a sniffle.

I simply smiled in reply.

“Would you like to take a look around campus?” I asked him instead. “I myself, would like to know where the main library is located.”

We finished the food and packed everything back into Elliot’s dimensional pouch before heading out to our first destination.

The Academy Library was a wide round tower with 20 floors, the top of which, belongs to the academy’s head of magic studies, Grand Magister Shalem who is a Sage of the 9th circle.

It houses all known published books, periodicals, theses, and dissertations in the entire empire. It seems to be the highest building in the academy as well. At least that was what was written in a plank beside the library door.

“The library can only be accessed after you acquire a library card,” said an irate senior who looked at us with disgust. “Cards will be distributed tomorrow together with the rest of your school paraphernalia. Now, please leave the premises.”

In the end, we only got as far as the main entryway.

“Where do we go next?” Arman asked with his arms crossed behind his head.

“Well, since we’re already at the west gardens, why don’t we go past the crown prince’s residence?”

“That’s a good idea!” Cat’s face lit up. “Maybe we can ask someone if Lycan is inside.”

“Yes, we can try that,” said Arman. “Or better yet, we can sneak in and look for him ourselves!” He looked at us with a conspiratorial grin.

“And risk getting whipped a hundred times?” I asked.

“Well, can you think of something better?” Arman pouted at me, “Like maybe, making us invisible so we can sneak inside without being caught?”

“There’s too many of us, and it’s harder to sneak in while the sun is still high.”

“So, you CAN make us invisible!?” Cat asked wide-eyed with his small fists over his mouth.

“Didn’t you ever wonder why the seniors didn’t see you when you hid beneath my cloak on the first day?” I asked him.

“I thought they just got so surprised to see you that they didn’t notice,” he gasped.

“Hmm, I was wondering about that as well,” said Elliot. “So it was a spell of invisibility after all!”

“It is actually more of a ‘you won’t notice me’ spell,” I said with a smile. “It’s an ‘inconspicuous’ spell.”

“Can you cast it on us right now?” Arman looked excited.

“I’m afraid it needs a bit of distraction to work properly, it also loses potency under the bright sun.”

“Ah, that’s why it worked in the grand hall before, since all the seniors were busy looking at you,” said Elliot.

“That is correct.”

“Then, can we do it later when the sun goes down?”

“We can try,” I answered Cat. “For now, it would be wiser to simply scout the place out.”

“For now, it’s better to get some lunch!” said Elliot.

“You’re hungry again?!” Arman glared at him.

“There’s a Sunday special in the menu, remember?” Elliot quickly added.

“That’s right!” Cat said with a smile. “We can all work better with a full stomach.”