What the fuck was going on. The once unbearable burning calmed to a now more bearable pain. He just stared at himself. He moved closer to the mirror examining his eyes, before splashing water on his face. Looking back up, his eyes were… normal? First that—way to real—dream, now this. The pain was now gone, and his breathing was back to normal. 

He walked back into his room—looking at the time, 6:45 a.m. showed in glowing red numbers. 

He shook his head. Whatever just happened, didn’t happen. He knew from the therapy sessions he took as a kid that shaking away problems would only lead to more problems, but he didn’t care. Everything was becoming too much. He’d never had a dream like that before. The way the figure spoke… it sounded like—no that was his mom. 

Another headache was threatening to form, so he just let it go. He would deal with this later, but now he needed to get ready—at least today he wouldn’t miss breakfast. 

After showering and getting dressed, he headed to the cafeteria for breakfast. He’d have to invest in a watch, having to look around at the clocks every few minutes was getting tiresome. The breakfast food that was served was—dare he say—better than the lunch he had the previous day. Most of the difference today was that only about half of the students were there. 

Finishing up quickly, he’d arrived at his first class, History of Magic. School was actually starting today. Feelings of nervousness again crept inside him but he reigned it in as he pulled out his textbook. 

Professor Thorn was as cheery as usual, “Hello class! Miss me?” The class responded with crickets, and his face crinkled. “Tough crowd… anywho—today we will begin our lesson of the history of magic! Please turn to chapter 4.”

Doing as he was told, he turned to chapter 4. All they would be doing today is some reading. Not that bad truthfully, as much as he didn’t want to admit it—he was kind of interested in this history. It was something completely different than he had ever experienced, it was a whole new world. 

Never-mind. 

It wasn’t as interesting as he thought. He tuned out for most of the reading, only really caring about snippets here and there. That was until they reached section 2. 

“Ruby, would you be so kind as to read this section for the class?” Thorn said, pointing to the section that they were on. 

“Yes… of course Professor.” The girl began. “The beginning of time was marked by two forces: Chaos and Order. There were five realms in which each force resided. It was first thought that these forces were merely that—a force. But that theory was proven wrong, what controlled those forces were that of the primordial gods of Chaos and Order. Gods who lived before the birth of the first star.”

Chaos… something about that word caused me to listen with full attention, even though I didn’t understand why. 

“Each controlled a section of the universe until chaos felt bound to obtain more power—leading to the great awakening war. Creatures and guardians under their rule fought each other with brutality. Knights of Chaos fought the knights of Order—the war was fought and lasted for millennia. Both Order and Chaos fought as hard as they could, but neither side emerged victorious. That was until the god of Order decided to pass their power onto an avatar—someone who would follow their will.” 

“Seeing what Order did, Chaos followed suit, arranging his own avatar of Chaos. Both avatars clashed for years until the Order became victorious, and peace settled again. The god of Chaos was then locked into the far corners of the universe—not to be seen or heard of again.” 

“Thank you, Ruby, for reading!” The cheery man smiled, “But that all the time we have for today, feel free to pack up! We have a few minutes left.” 

Hours, and classes went by as It was now time for lunch, and he sat in the same area he did yesterday with Jason. They talked about what happened in their classes, and Jordan winced when Jason told him how bad the pop quiz went. 

“Yeah I totally failed…” Jason gave a sigh of defeat. “Hey don’t let it beat you up,” He said. “If it makes you feel any better, I didn’t do any of the reading yesterday for my herbology class; when he called on me to answer a question I just stared at him.” He grinned. 

That instantly brought Jason out of his somber mood, as he threw his head back laughing. “No way! What did you even do last night?” 

His heart rate spiked as thoughts of the dream from last night were brought back. He forced himself to swallow, his mouth turning dry. “Ah nothing you know, j-just reading.”

“You were reading, yet you didn’t read your herbology book?” Jason raised an eyebrow. Wow amazing lie Jordan. He totally didn’t just see through that. 

Coming up with another lie, “Yeah it was for another class, I just forgot.” He scratched his back, looking away for a moment.  

“Mhm… makes sense—you remember where to go for our next period right?” 

Whew. 

“She did say somewhere near the gym if I remember correctly.” Jordan said. 

“Ah yeah you’re right, you wanna head there now?”

After a nod, Jason and him were now heading outside, towards the gym—where hopefully his next class would take place. 

“There it is!” Jason pointed.

He turned to see where he was pointing, and saw a huge field with stands on each side. Squinting he could make out their teacher sitting on a chair in the middle of the field… sleeping. Really… again? He truly felt bad for the poor soul who’d be next to her when she woke, because it wouldn’t be him. 

Making their way to the field they made sure to be at least 20 feet away from her—Jordan would prefer to keep his eyebrows. The bell could be heard in the distance, and a group of students were making their way to the field. 

Thankfully, the distant school bell seemed to wake up their professor without any fire hazard warnings needed. Getting up, Professor Nix Kahn—edged closer, waiting—impatiently—as she tapped her foot to the speed of light. 

When the last student made it, Professor Kahn spoke, “Today you will be tested on your magical capabilities. In short, I want you to use your strongest spell!” She suddenly got excited. 

Jordan paled. He didn’t know any spells, but no-one else knew that. They had just learned a simple flame spell in his Beginner Spellcraft class, but he could barely do that. He was doomed. 

Wasting no time the professor motioned for one guy to start off. 

He walked towards the field and put out his hand, the air shifted and a mountain of rock erupted from the ground, causing the entire field to shake. In the next moment the rock ejected back into the ground—pieces of rock and rubble being the only evidence left of his spell. 

A clap was heard behind him, “Well well. Earth magic in the 3rd tier is most impressive for a first year student.” Nix looked at the kid with hungry eyes. The guy blushed at the praise and got back into line. 

“Next!”

A girl stepped up and formed a wave of water that was sent crashing down upon the field. Next, another girl summoned a ball fire, before throwing it into the air where it expanded until it burst. This earned another round of praise from the professor. 

15 kids later it was Jason’s turn. Despite never asking, he was eager to see what he could do. Jordan watched as Jason stepped into the field and stood still. The air shifted slightly; moments later a rumble in the sky was heard. Light drops of rain fell from the sky—the rumble getting louder and louder. 

Crack!

A bolt of lightning hit the field in a spark of light. Jordan's stomach twisted, as he stared in awe. Eyes almost out of his head, a smile formed on his face. He’d seen some crazy stuff in the couple days he was here, but this… this he didn’t expect.  

Apparently the professor felt the same way as she appeared right next to Jason in a flash—causing him to yelp in surprise. 

A glint in her eye as she stared, “What was your name kid?” She eyed Jason up and down like a snake examining its prey.

“I-It’s Jason… Jason Kroft ma’am.”

“Well Jason Kroft,” She moved to his other side. “You have impressed me very much, I expect great things from you.” She said before going back to her original spot. 

“Next!” She yelled, while staring at Jordan. 

Anxiety was already coming down hard before, but now it was drowning him. What should he do? He could just say he didn’t know a spell, but that would open him up to more questions. Some he had no answers for. His mind raced miles per second, to come up with a solution.

He could just try the flame spell he learned in his third period, even though he couldn’t even get the flame to flicker. This was a long-shot, but it was the only shot he had. Breathing in fresh air, he stepped into the field; he forced down the well of spit building in his throat. All he had to do was make the flame flicker. He could do that. He had this… 

He pushed his hand forward, focusing on the picture of a flame—just like the professor taught. His first attempt failed, breaking down before a spark could be seen. His second attempt also failed—he could feel the judging stares piercing his back, but he kept trying. He tightened his jaw, going for a third try. 

In his mind he focused on picturing the flame, how it moved-how it looked–how it felt. After successfully making the image of the flame, the first part was done—the easiest part. Now, he pulled from the warmth inside his chest, heat built up; then something clicked. The hard part was done, forcing himself to hold back a sigh of relief, he saw the small flame dancing along his palm. He’d done it… or so he thought. His vision went red, and the image of the flame was destroyed. The burning sensation from the morning was back, and was taking control.  

It was impossible for him to control whatever was building inside him now. Red energy coursed through his arm as he fought with himself. Sweat evaporated off his forehead as the heat continued to build. Not being able to hold back anymore the energy shot forwards—air rushed through the field as the dark red beam destroyed the field in a vertical line. 

Dropping to his knees, his vision returning to normal—he could see the damage he caused. Bright red embers floated through the air, as the ground in front of him sizzled. 

Everyone in the class was filled with shock, and some even looked horrified. He cast his eyes towards his friend Jason, quickly glancing then casting his gaze down. 

“Ahem.”

He looked up at his professor, those eyes that he once saw filled with excitement and hunger were now filled with pure shock.