There was such a thing as magic in this world. It wasn’t as uncommon as one would expect. In fact, everyone was born with a small amount of magic. Still, there were very few mages out there. This was because the deciding factor for success had nothing to do with the amount of magic, but rather a combination of talent and practice.

The first was sadly decided at birth, but there were a few great schools that could help cultivate the second. And so, everyone dreamed of entering one of the prestigious magic academies.

However, even those who entered would soon be disappointed. You see, magic really wasn’t as exciting as the common people thought it was. Yes, there were warrior mages and there were tournaments and fights and many practical uses, but magic was also in part theory.

Besides, the exam one had to pass to be allowed to use magic in regular situations was almost impossible to pass. Looking at the numbers would get anyone’s hopes down, though many chose to ignore them.

None of this bothered Emilia, however. She was good and she knew it. Magical subjects were her best and her talent had been recognised at a young age.

She had almost her entire life laid out for her: she was accepted into a magical academy, she would definitely pass the exam, and after that she’d work with magic like everyone else who managed to pass.

While she definitely could study a bit more for her regular subjects, her astounding grades in magic more than made up for those. Besides, she wasn’t actively failing any of them.

At the age of 15 she was even accepted as a fighter in one of the magic tournaments. This sounded dangerous to outsiders, but was in fact very safe due to the enchanted clothing one had to wear. The loser would be the one first on the ground, though there would be no physical harm thanks to the protective outfit.

She excelled in this as well. Many bet on her becoming the champion the next year.

As a fourth year, and a top student at that, she usually wouldn’t concern herself with the years below or even her fellow classmates. Pretty much everyone knew her as someone obsessed with studying magic, who did nothing else. The only one she had a bond with was a boy a year above her, Isaac. He’d won over her in the tournament a few times, earning her respect. They would occasionally talk, though their conversations were limited to magic and fighting.

One day after school, however, he had a request.

“Emilia,” he started, a bit hesitant.

“What is it?” If this was a confession, she would kick him, she told herself.

Luckily it wasn’t a confession. “Well, there’s this second year transfer student, she’s kind of my cousin,” he said, “And, well, she’s struggling quite a bit with magic, but I don’t have the time to tutor her.”

“So you want me to do it?” Emilia initially had no intention of accepting.

“Yes. Of course, I won’t ask you to do it for free, she’s quite a troublesome child, so I’ll give you one of my rare books if you do it. If she passes by the end of the year, I’ll give you another one.”

These books were indeed very rare, and Emilia had often asked him to at least lend her some of them. Most of them were about ancient and forgotten types of magic one couldn’t learn about from any other books.

“Deal,” she said. This was simply too good not to accept. “Where is the brat?”

The brat was in her dorm room, not too far away from Emilia’s. They’d probably passed each other, but Emilia never bothered to remember faces she deemed unimportant. Isaac brought her there after dinner.

He managed to enter the girl’s dorm with the explanation that he would introduce Emilia to his cousin. They were quite lenient with him as they knew his cousin wasn’t exactly sociable.

He knocked on her door, but got no reply. He just shrugged and entered.

Inside, a young girl was sleeping at her desk, her face turned away from them. Her hair was dark, a lot darker than that of Isaac, and some strands of it stood up. She really needed to use a hairbrush, Emilia thought.

Isaac went over to her and gently shook her shoulders. She yawned and turned towards him, showing an absolutely adorable sleepy expression. Emilia felt her heartbeat quicken a bit, she hadn’t expected the brat to be this cute.

It was a little known fact that Emilia adored cute things. She would go to great lengths to hide this, feeling it didn’t match her serious student image. If she wanted to become a powerful mage, she couldn’t show that kind of weakness.

“Youko, it’s time to wake up,” Isaac said, “I brought my friend over, okay? Her name is Emilia, she’ll tutor you from now on.”

As soon as the girl noticed Emilia, her expression twisted.

“Hi,” Emilia said, feeling a bit awkward.

Youko ignored her and turned towards Isaac.

“I don’t need a new tutor.” She pouted. “Can’t you keep tutoring me?”

“No, I can’t. I’m in my fifth year, so I have to study a lot more than she does. Don’t worry, she’s a nice person.”

Emilia had to wonder how she seemed like a nice person to anyone, but she wasn’t about to refute him and lose her opportunity to get one of his books. She did wonder how the two were related, though. Isaac had blond hair much like her own and his eyes were blue. Meanwhile, this girl had dark hair and pitch black eyes.

Ah, now that she thought of it, he did at some point in passing mention his uncle married a foreign woman. That would explain it.

Youko turned towards her with a murderous gaze. “I don’t need a new tutor,” she repeated.

Isaac replied before Emilia could say anything. “Yes, you do, Youko. I can’t keep tutoring you. You managed to start in the second year, meaning you’re way behind on your subjects. Be nice to Emilia.”

With that, he left.

This was awkward. Neither Emilia nor Youko seemed to know what to say. They were quiet for a while, both waiting for the other to say something.

In the end, Emilia was the first to speak up: “Alright, kid. If you’re a second year, you should be about 13 years old, right?”

Youko nodded, but refused to look at Emilia. She sighed. This kid was harder to deal with than she expected.

Then again, she could be really cute when she didn’t look like she wanted to murder your parents.

Well, why not start by impressing her a little?

Emilia always carried some flower seeds in her pocket, as her specialisation was in the so-called green magic.

She held one of the seeds between her index finger and her thumb, and blew on it. Soon, a blue flower was blooming.

This did catch Youko’s attention. Without realising, she looked at it in awe, fascination clear on her face.

Emilia smiled. “For you,” she said, handing her the flower.

Youko was embarrassed and glared at her, but in the end she did accept the flower, putting it on her desk.

“Do you want to learn to do that?” Emilia asked.

Youko hesitated a bit, but nodded.

“Great! In that case, you’ll need to study well and listen to me, okay?”

She nodded again.

Emilia started by reviewing the basics. She made a small test. Youko did well on the more practical questions, but didn’t seem to know how to word the theoretical questions, and her history knowledge was a mess.

And so Emilia brought her first year book on the theory of magic. She explained quite well, and Youko occasionally nodded in understanding.

When she looked on the clock, it was already late. The second years would have to go to sleep in half an hour. She quickly closed the book. Youko jumped a little in surprise at the sudden sound.

How cute, Emilia thought once again.

“It’s time to stop for today,” she told Youko. “We will continue this lesson tomorrow, you have to go to sleep soon.

It was then that Youko properly spoke to her for the first time. “Thank you,” she said.

For some reason, Emilia felt overjoyed at these words. She was making progress! Her motivation wasn’t limited to the books any more, she actually quite wanted to get closer to this girl. Maybe it was due to the troublesome kid she was, but Emilia wanted to be the one she opened up to.

She continued to tutor Youko for the next five or so months. During these months, she noticed a great improvement not only in her grades, but also in her personality. While she would still act cold towards strangers, she treated Emilia with respect and friendliness.

At this point, the second years exams were soon. Emilia didn’t worry too much about her own and kept tutoring Youko before the exams started. One day before her first exam, she asked an unusual question.

Despite them studying together nearly every day, they rarely talked about anything other than school, and Emilia didn’t talk to Youko outside those study sessions. Youko didn’t approach her either, respecting her personal space. But now, it was probably their last time studying together. Youko was fully caught up with her schoolwork and Emilia would be increasingly busy in her fifth and sixth year.

“Hey, Emilia,” she started, “Will this be our last time studying together?”

Emilia was kind of offended Youko seemed to want rid of her that much, but she understood. After all, the only thing Youko associated her with was studying, probably. She must be fed up with the tutoring sessions, Emilia would be too, if she wasn’t such a magic fanatic.

“Of course,” Emilia replied. “You’re a great student, Youko, you won’t need me any longer. I’m sure you’ll do well without me.”

Somehow, Youko didn’t seem to appreciate this praise. If Emilia didn’t know better, she’d think she was sad.

But how could she be? They had no relationship outside studying, and Youko wasn’t anywhere near Emilia’s level of studying fanaticism. Still, she for some reason felt a sting of guilt.

In the end, the session continued as usual. Emilia wished Youko good luck in the future and left her. This was the last time they saw each other in about a year.

Sometimes, Emilia wondered if Youko was to blame for the accident. Maybe she was mad and had sabotaged her intentionally.

However, she was quick to throw these thoughts away. She had an alibi and no convincing motive.

Youko did great on her exams and was one of the top students of her grade. Emilia got those books she wanted and treasured them. The next year started without issue, and they didn’t speak to each other even once.

Now that she had more time to spare, Emilia spent all her time either studying or training for the tournament. Her grades were great as usual and she was strong, so everyone participating saw her as a worthy opponent.

However, once she was up against Isaac, her strongest rival, something went horribly wrong.

There had been tampered with the enchantment on her clothing. It wasn’t immediately noticeable, but once Isaac launched a strong attack, she was gravely injured.

She fell to the ground, badly wounded. Tears welled up in her eyes. It was the first time she ever felt this much pain. Before she knew it, she passed out. Someone called for help and she was immediately brought to the hospital.

Isaac apologised and cried when he realised what happened, Emilia forgave him, at first. She didn’t think much of the whole incident. Of course, there had been sabotage, but nothing too bad had happened, right?

Or so she thought, until the doctors told her.

Due to internal damage, she was no longer fit to be a magic user.