Michael glances up from the paper in his hand to look at the imposing dorm building before him. There are two such buildings, one for the girls and one for the boys. Michael makes his way inside the boy's dorm after double checking the signage.

Inside the aesthetic is completely different, the mediaeval architecture outside gives way to a comfortably modern space which reminds Michael of a nice hotel. Michael is pulled out of his reverie by someone clearing their throat just a couple meters to his right.

"Ahem. You're Michael, I take it?" Someone says.

Michael turns and nearly busts out laughing at the man's appearance. The man behind a counter has a head resembling a bright red bell pepper; Michael assumes he must be the dean assigned to the boy's dorm, and nods his head while stifling a giggle.

"Yes, how did you know?" Michael answers.

"You're the last one. Here, take this." The man says curtly.

The pepper headed man hands him a keycard with his room number on it, and gives Michael the stink eye for a moment before waving him off.

"If there's anything else you need I'll be here. Don't cause trouble, kid." The dean says.

Michael nods slightly while glancing back at his map, and then the number on the keycard. He's on the third floor, at the end of the hall. Michael walks up two sets of stairs before finally stepping out into the quiet third floor hallway.

He starts to move down the corridor toward his room when he's suddenly grabbed by the collar; His body is lifted clean off the ground as someone picks him up with shocking ease.

"Hey there, magicless freak." David says with a smirk.

David Nibuk is no slouch when it comes to magic power, and here poor Michael is facing the brunt of it in strength enhancing magic. David's biceps are as thick as Michael's neck, and the one attached to arm currently hefting up Michael is tensed to resemble the arm of a bodybuilder.

"H-Hello?" Michael stammers in reply.

With Michael's words David's expression falls to a scowl as he grabs and slams Michael against the wall. The movement is painful, and Michael groans as he sees stars. The bigger more magically gifted boy doesn't let up even as Michael suffers a possible concussion.

"Don't fucking talk back to me, mageless." David growls.

Michael isn't in a position to be talking back, so he just nods slightly while the boy's eyes glow faintly with a red light. Michael is a bit confused when he sees black hair sprout all over David's face; David himself notices and drops Michael immediately.

"Fucking prick, you made me use too much magic!" David complains.

No time is given for Michael to recover as David's sneaker meets Michael's stomach. Spittle wets the carpet as Michael heaves, and the pain takes the breath from his lungs. David doesn't bother continuing his tirade; He walks off leaving Michael to squirm on the carpet.

Several minutes pass before Michael picks himself up off the ground.

"Is this a mage school thing, or just a boarding school thing?"

Michael picks up his map and glances around before making his way to his room.

~

The card reader on the door beeps softly as Michael swipes his keycard. He pushes the door open, and is greeted with a rather surprised looking Scy.

"You look terrible. What happened?" Scy asks.

Michael doesn't immediately answer, instead glancing around the dorm room. There's a bunk bed against one wall, a window looking out into the courtyard, a shared closet, and a desk across from the bed. Scy's bags are sitting against the bunkbed while Michael's luggage is by the door.

"I ran into David on my way here. You're not surprised to see me?" Michael replies.

"Oh, I recognized your bag." Scy points to Michael's backpack.

There's an awkward silence as the two of them stand there; Scy breaks the tension as he smirks, and tosses a pillow up onto the top bunk.

"I have dibs on the top bunk, just so you know." He says.

Michael smiles a little before letting out a quiet sigh. He sets the map on the desk before plopping down onto the bottom bunk. Scy looks at him with concern written on his face. The two of them don't know each other very well, yet Scy wants to be there for Michael.

"Mages aren't normally like that to mageless." Scy says quietly.

Michael looks over at him, and nods slowly.

"I'd hope so. I'm not really familiar with mage culture, and frankly this whole place is freaking me out. I'm already homesick." Michael rambles quietly.

Scy winds up patting Michael on the back as a comforting gesture.

"You know, when I was a kid I didn't have much magic." Scy says softly.

Michael looks up at Scy as the normally casual guy wears a melancholy expression. It doesn't take a genius to figure out why Scy is telling him this.

"Did you go through something similar?" Michael frowns slightly.

Scy has a far away look in his eyes, and he nods softly after a moments reflection. This does explain why Scy isn't prejudiced toward a mageless; Scy has been the target of exclusion and unfair treatment himself.

Michael isn't sure what to say.

"It's in the past. I've gotten a lot stronger, and I'm plenty powerful enough to fend off someone like David." Scy assures him.

Scy's eyes light up a little as an idea strikes him. He holds up a hand, and calmly pushes out his magic power into a little ball of glowing orange light. The thing is captivating to Michael, who has been without magic his entire life.

"What is that?" Michael asks.

"It's just some dense magic power. Here, take it." Scy insists.

Scy offers the glowing orb as though trying to give away some spare snacks. Michael takes it gingerly as he worries it'll blow up, or break, or melt or something; His fears partly come true as the orb is absorbed into his body as he touches it.

"What just happened..?" Michael asks worriedly.

"Haha, you absorbed the magic. I'm going to try supplementing your magic power." Scy explains calmly.

Michael's eyes flit from Scy's face to his hands, and he nods slowly in understanding. With someone pumping magic power into his body he'll be able to improve his magic capacity quickly despite getting a late start.

"Alright, sounds good to me." Michael offers a hand.

Scy takes his hand, and thus they shake hands as if sealing some kind of deal.
Perhaps a pact of friendship, of brotherhood.
Or maybe something else entirely.

LightNovelNovice

Stay tuned for something fun next chapter!