I have always been alone.

After my mother lost interest in me, I realized that no one would bother how I lived, as long as I don’t actually die. There was even a time when I suffered from a high fever, and my remaining servants begrudgingly gave me medicine simply to keep their job.

They told me so themselves, as they forced the bitter solution down my throat.

That’s why I decided not to bother other people as well.

As soon as I found the magic tome in a small room beneath the staircase five years ago, I have been teaching myself spells of illusions, of hiding and of concealment. Skills I would need to move around in the darkness and to slip away and defend myself from danger, for I knew that no one else would protect me but myself.

With it I was able to hide from the rest of the family as well as from their servants and attendants.

I was free to roam the main house I was forbidden to enter, listen to secret conversations, and even go to town and visit the public library in the middle of the night.

Our youngest, Peter, was the only one who ever bothered to visit me back then.

He was born six years ago, and started following me around after finding me in the library when he was four. It was the night I fell from the highest point of the tower and lay bleeding on the ground. If it wasn’t for him, the servants never would have found me.

And of course they had to keep their sacrifice alive.

Now that I have entered the academy, I realize that being with others isn’t as bad as I thought it was.

True, a lot of people were as hateful as my family, but there are little Peters here as well. People who look at me with interest and truly want to stay by my side.

It was actually fun spending time with them and learn things that I could never have learned on my own.

Sometimes, though, I still prefer silence.

Especially when I am doing magic.

I tried the spell I revised, using one of Arman’s compact of concealing cream. Unfortunately, the spell didn’t work. It merely turned the cream into a brown puddle of boiling oil.

I was still working on an altered spell when my three friends returned from the baths.

“How are things going?” asked Arman, smelling of his scented oils.

“Come here for a moment.”

I applied a little of the concealer on his left arm. It shimmered and turned into a streak of ugly red burn marks.

“You did it!” Cat and Arman said in unison.

“Yes, but it does not last for very long...”

We counted ten minutes before the mark shimmered once more and faded away.

“I still need to adjust the potency of the spell to prolong its effectiveness.”

“Okay, we’ll be very quiet then,” said Cat with a forefinger against his lips.

“Why don’t you have some snacks while you work?” Elliot placed a dish of pastries beside me.

“Thank you,” was all I could say in reply as I flipped through the pages of my tome, looking for something helpful that could lengthen the spell’s efficacy.

There was a knock on the door later on.

I slammed the almanac shot while Elliot, Arman and Cat froze in the card game they were playing.

“Arman, I know you’re in there.”

It was Prof. Whitman, the dorm supervisor!

Elliot looked at me before he stood up to open the door.

“Good evening, Prof. Whitman,” we all greeted him together while seated on Elliot’s bed.

“Okay, Arman, time to return to your room,” he said, ignoring the rest of us.

“It’s 9 o’clock already?!” Arman feigned ignorance.

“Get back to your room,” Prof. Whitman repeated, glaring at him. He then checked a thick leather bound book with a frown. “Hurry up, I still have two more students to send back.”

“That’s very interesting, Mr. Whitman, does it show a record of where the students are and where they have been?” I asked, trying to get a peep at his record book.

“Yes, it’s real time, though, it only shows where they currently are within the dorm,” he answered absentmindedly.

“Then how do you know if they left their rooms in the middle of the night?” asked Elliot.

“Does it give off an alarm?” asked Arman.

“I don’t.”

Mr. Whitman stared at Elliot over thick spectacles.

“Besides, nobody wants to be caught outside their rooms after lights out, since the seniors are on night watch. I suggest you keep your doors locked and worry about them getting in instead.”

Arman left with the professor after that.

“How’s the progress for the mask?” Elliot asked when the two left.

“I got it to last for about an hour.”

“That’s good, we could just say that it needs to be applied every hour,” said Elliot.

“But wasn’t the orientation yesterday four hours long?” Cat asked with a yawn. “I had a pretty good nap back then.”

“That’s right, we need to make it last for at least four to five hours,” Elliot leaned his chin on his palm.

“It’s okay, I just found a buffing spell that can help lengthen other spells.” I flipped the pages near the end of the tome. “It is actually a protection spell to keep things from decaying by placing time around the object in a loop.”

“Oh, that sounds perfect for preserving food!” Elliot said with a big grin. “Do you need any help?”

“Not really,” I looked at Cat whose head is propped over my shoulder and had began to softly snore. “I think you should put Cat to bed, though.”

I kept working on the spell.

I asked Elliot to lend me his arm to test it on.

The last mask lasted for three hours, before he fell asleep, so I had to use my arms instead.

It was past five in the morning when I finally got the spell to last for more than four hours. By then, my arms were full of the oily residue of Arman’s concealer that remained when the spell is removed, so I decided to rinse it off with some soap and water.

I used the ‘inconspicuous’ spell and an ‘owl vision’ spell to help me navigate in the darkness. I was in front of the toilets when I suddenly remembered that I needed to renew the aqueduct's rash spell as well, so I went to the direction of the 5th floor baths, hoping that the water haven’t been changed yet.

This didn’t seem to be the case when I entered the baths. I could still smell Arman’s perfumed oils in the water as I washed myself. I stood beneath the aqueducts after bathing and renewed the protection spell. Just in time, too, since the water in the pool drained out as soon as the clock tower struck 6, and was replaced with the new water with the protection spell I prepared.

I gave a contended sigh and was about to dress myself up when I heard a gasp from behind me.

“Is this a ghost I see?” said a low quivering voice. “Are you a vengeful spirit hunting this place?”

I was about to turn around when I realized that in my carelessness, I had forgotten to put a towel around my waist!

The room suddenly lit up as the gas lights on the wall columns came to life one by one. Who ever this is, he is proficient in magic, probably a fifth or 6th year senior.

“Who are you? Why are you here?” he asked, his voice coming closer.

I had no choice but to face him.

“I am just a student taking an early bath, senior,” I said while slowly turning around.

“Oh. A human.”

He sounded disappointed.

I picked up my towel before I faced him completely.

He stood right behind me, his eyes a pale purple, just like his long hair that fell over his bare shoulders like a cascading waterfall. He was a couple of inches shorter than me, wearing loose black pants. His body looked fit, with pale skin glinting in the lamp lights. He looked so enchanting that I couldn’t help to think that he was probably someone’s apprentice.

“You!” he narrowed his eyes at me.

I guess he recognized me as the troublesome neophyte the rest of the seniors had been talking about.

“You are the perfect sample of a living human skeletal system!”

“Huh?” I asked, dumbfounded.

“Just look at this arm!”

He took hold of my right arm and held it against the nearest lamp light.

“I could easily see and identify every bone and ligament in your body!”

“Please stop touching,” I told him, my face burning.

“I beg your pardon,” he gently let my arm go. “It’s just that... this is the first time I’ve ever seen such an emancipated body!”

“Frankly, you can find better models in the slums,” I replied flatly.

“But you are definitely much cleaner, and smells much better too!” he added, sniffing at me. “This is it!” he said with a big grin. “I shall declare you as my very first app-”

“I respectfully decline!”

The senior looked questioningly at me.

“It’s not like you can refuse, you know.”

“I still refuse,” I repeated. “I have the right to challenge your request, don’t I?”

“A challenge?” he frowned, then brightened up. “That’s right, as another senior, you may decline the request of a fellow student with a challenge!”

I am not a senior, though, but he didn’t need to know that. It seems, though, that he isn’t aware about the new rules announced at the orientation yesterday.

Is he perhaps, one of the crown prince’s secret concubines? Did he miss the orientation since he was locked up in the prince’s palace? What is he doing here, then?

“Okay, what challenge do you choose, fists, wits, or magic?” he asked as I stared at him.

Did he think that I am at least a 3rd year, since he included the magic challenge? Did he see me casting my spell over the aqueducts? Or is it because only higher level students are allowed to come to the fifth floor?

“Can I choose magic?” I asked, holding my towel over my front.

I was curious as to what kind of magic he was capable of.

“Good choice!” he grinned at me again. “Then the challenge will be this.”

He pointed at the pool.

“The first to evaporate the water from the pool will be the winner.”

I felt a chill crawl down my spine.

With his confident way of speaking, could it be that this man is that proficient with elemental magic?

“How can we decide on a winner, when there is only one pool?” I asked him, thinking fast. “Do you plan to time yourself, evaporate the pool, and fill it up again when my turn comes?”

“Hmm, you do have a point there...”

He reached out both hands towards the pool.

“Let me do this instead.”

I watched wide eyed as I saw the water in the pool split in the middle and suddenly turn into two large blocks of ice.

I felt myself panic.

“You can choose which block to work on. Ready?”

“I do beg your pardon, but I have never worked on advanced elemental magic before, this doesn’t seem to be fair!” I found myself complaining.

“Huh? But I just saw you drying yourself earlier, the water from your body glistened and evaporated up into the air!” he said with a frown.

So, he did see me sending a spell up to the aqueducts.

“T-that was just a simple drying spell!” I told him.

“Then what are we supposed to duel on?” he frowned some more. “What grade are you in, anyway?”

I kept my heart from racing as I thought of another way to excuse myself.

“I-I’m sorry, I don’t think I could ever come close to your magical ability,” I hurriedly said. “How about a game of chess instead?”

“Hmm...” he began rubbing his chin. “Is it so bad to be apprenticed to me?” he asked. “I’ll have you know that I do not fancy men like the others do, and that I would be a good mentor to you, noting how low your magic proficiency is!”

I actually took his words in consideration.

“I do beg your pardon once more, but I really don’t wish to be apprenticed under anyone.”

“Hmph,” his frown deepened. “A game of chess it is! I warn you, though, I have never lost a game to anyone before.”

Saying this, he lifted his right hand palm up and created ice chess pieces out of thin air. One set was transparent, while the other was filled with white mist inside.

“Ready now?” he asked me, looking proud of himself.

“Can I put my clothes on first?”

“Oh, yes, please go ahead.”

He was good.

It took me all the knowledge I had acquired reading chess strategy books in our library just to barely defeat him. In the end, I finally caught him in a checkmate after sacrificing my queen.

“One more game!” he demanded as I gave a sigh of relief.

I look up and saw that he was actually enjoying himself.

“I don’t think I could win another round...” I mumbled. “Besides, it was supposed to be just one game, and I won already, and the sun is already out...” I pointing at the arched windows near the ceiling of the bath house.”

“Hoh, I was so engrossed in our game that I didn’t notice the time!”

“And I still need to get ready for today’s classes...” I added.

“That’s right, what’s your name and what class are you in?” he asked again. “I would like to know more about the first person who bested me in a game of chess!”

I felt another wave of panic pass through me.

Perhaps I should knock him out and erase his memory like I did to the seniors before? But this senior looks so much stronger than them, I know I could never best him in either physical or magic combat.

“Senior, do you mind if I keep my identity a secret until the day you beat me in a game of chess?” I respectfully asked with a curt bow.

He didn’t reply at once, so I thought he wasn’t going to agree with me, that’s why I was surprised when I heard him laugh.

“You are as mysterious as you look. Very well then, I shall let you keep your identity a secret. For now.”

“Thank you, senior,” I gave another bow. “I shall now take my leave.”

“Oh, wait a minute,” he called me back. “May I also request that you keep this incident a secret from everyone else?”

“Of course, senior –”

“I mean, it’s not like I want to hide the fact that I got beaten in a game of chess,” he quickly added. “It’s just that... you know, I’m not supposed to learn magic yet, and...”

“You mean, you’re a minor too?” I asked him, wide-eyed, then covered my mouth.

“Huh?”

The two of us to stared at each other.

“Interesting... I thought you merely didn’t recognize me, but to think that another minor knows magic in this academy...” he mumbled while looking at me closely. “I guess we would need to keep each other’s secrets, as well as the fact that you are using the seniors’ exclusive bathroom!”

I was lost for words.

How could I make such a mistake!?

“Don’t worry, I don’t mind you being here” he grinned, patting my shoulder. “I always take my bath at 6 in the morning. Come again if you’re ready for another game of chess.”

“Thank you, senior!” I gave a deep bow.

“Now go, before the others come to take their baths,” he warned me.

I left the baths just as the clock tower chimed seven.

I hurried back to the 3rd floor with my inconspicuous spell, hoping that I would never meet the mysterious senior again.

Who ever he may be.