The next few months were a whirlwind of activities as first year students grew in knowledge and strength. Midterms were coming up, meaning most of the students were in a rush to freshen up on all they learned. We were required in the beginning to pick the subjects we would like to take before the semester began. Also, we were allowed knowledge of necessary subjects required for certain future subjects. 

The subjects I took were magical formulae (maths and how it relates to magic), runes, combat (both magical and physical), elemental magic, charms, transfiguration, herbology and mana control. I also added in some mundane subjects like physics, chemistry and biology because they were required for things like healing and alchemy. 

I didn't really need to prepare for them, I just needed a good night of meditation which I had just completed. The first day of the exam was today. I exited the my dorm and was making my was to the first exam room when-

 “Well, aren't you a sight for sore eyes.” Brandon Smith.

He had been talking to me sporadically since we were first introduced, though I tried to ignore him when I could. Come to think of it, I basically ignored every student that came my way and remained a loner. It was by deliberate choice.

Most of the people that tried to speak to me were the schmoozers who knew the weight the Whitefyre name held and girls who found my countenance attractive, I ignored those types. Even then, some people genuinely tried to befriend me, but I abstained. 

‘No matter how mature and well adjusted they are, they’re still children.’

Brandon was the only one who somehow got regular replies from me, but I digress.

“Are you prepared? I know you are. I can’t see who comes out on top, but I know it’ll be between you and me, well, excluding that monster.” Brandon remarks.

He was talking about the princess who, like me and some others, was also excluded from a few classes from this year for being above this level. However, nobody apart from her was excluded from more than one class. She appeared heads and shoulders ahead of everyone in every aspect of school, but my pride would not allow me to be anything but the best. I will not lose to a child. 

A few days later saw us finishing the last of the exams.

‘Not too bad then.’

I walked out of the exam room only to be met by Brandon. I side eyed him as I walked past him, watching as he followed by my side, keeping silent. He seemed to be deep in thought about something, his face indecipherable so as not to give anything away. As I approached my room door, he stopped for a moment. 

“I underestimated you. I honestly expected that nobody would come close to the bloodline, hence power of the royal family, but now I see. You are a monster of a different breed to the princess, but a monster all the same.” 

‘Hoh, what did he see that shook his world so much.’

“I can now see that owning a royal bloodline is not an excuse to give up on defeating her, I would like to thank you for that. But at the same time seeing what I’ve seen makes me want to give up.” The silence stretched for a few seconds, then he smiled.

“I’ll reiterate, I’m coming for you. Be you a monster or human.” As he turned around and left, I stood there for a few moments before turning and entering the room. 

‘Such an interesting sorcery, I wonder what he saw.’ I shrugged and entered the room. 

I took a comfortable pose on my bed and continued my nightly routine of centring myself in my aura and chi concepts and harmonizing with nature to increase saturation. I knew exactly what I was doing so my speed would most likely be seen by most as ridiculous. My saturation had advanced to 23% for aura and 31% for chi, acceptable if I do say so myself. 

This was a time for me to just decompress. I allowed my thoughts to drift along with the thrum of the mana. It was like my heart was beating in conjunction with the surrounding mana, tainting it with the flavour of my concept and spreading my influence over mana itself. Then I reached an incredibly rare state of being, an epiphany. 

‘Perfect comprehension, I’ll make use of this.’

I felt my saturation increase at breakneck speeds. I smirked.

“Ah, the upsides of being one with nature, even momentarily.”

As it settled, my aura ended up at 51% saturation and my chi at 43%. My aura had overtaken my chi with the saturation level. I closed my eyes and allowed myself to drift to sleep. 

The following morning saw me walking towards the cafeteria when I heard the commotion. A lot of the children were crowding in front of a large wall, chattering about something. I eavesdropped a little and heard that the results for the first year students were posted on that wall, both by subject and overall. As I walked over, some children on the periphery spotted me and started to motion to others. By the time I was close, a majority of them were looking at me as if I was some sort of anomaly. I looked at the scoreboard. 

‘1st in all subjects, 1st overall, not bad.’ I was tied for first though with the princess. 

As I looked through the other students, I realized just how difficult the exams must have been. Apart from the perfect scores of myself and the princess, the next person down was so far below us in scores. 

‘I think I see what they’re seeing, oh well.’ I shrugged and went my way. As I was leaving the scoreboard, I passed by the princess who it seemed just arrived and made eye contact with her. I looked at her for just a second before ignoring her and leaving.