Autumn has always been my least favorite season. I constantly felt weak during this period. Although the empire often likes to say that the most favorite season is the one in which you were born. I'm perhaps an exception. I never like rain, and the gray colors made me very sad. But now my mood will not be spoiled by this. Before I left, Rokhshar gave me some diaries. They contain various entries about magic, fencing, and also some things about the undead. Even though he told me not to follow in his footsteps, it wouldn't hurt to know about them.

And now these books help me ignore the elephant in the room. My blood brother Thomas. During the entire long trip he did not say a single word. And in principle, he is not behaving as usual now. The previous one would have mocked me all the way. But he just ignores me. Either looking at the window, or looking at your book. I am grateful to him for this.

We've been going to the academy for almost a day now. We should have gotten there yesterday if we had been transported on ordinary lizards. But instead of them we have expensive show-offs. And so one night we slept on uncomfortable sofas. My back still hurts after that. But I hope this will pass soon. In despondency and boredom, I read the diaries and thought about magic.

Magic is the process of creating something from your energy, or rather an aura. Aura is a material created by our body. It basically surrounds our body. Important aspects that a magician must know before casting this spell. The ability to isolate and purposefully strengthen the aura, moving it to a specific point. That is, if I want to hit hard. I can gather aura around my head and torso and concentrate it into a fist. However, in a real fight, it is necessary to strengthen not only the fist, but also the entire arm, along with the legs and shoulders for greater effectiveness. I gradually developed the ability to move the aura well throughout the body. However, I'm definitely not a master at this. And Thomas is an example of this.

Having learned more about how the aura works, I understood what he did to me then. He strengthened the aura on his hand so it didn't hit too hard. Having hit me, he sent the aura on his hand throughout my entire body. Because of this, the force of the impact was instead directed to the entire torso. Because of this, I felt terrible pain for a couple of days. And I will need to remember this for myself. I may hate him, but his tricks are worth remembering.

Now, how to create magical abilities. This process is quite simple. First, you must understand what element of magic you have. Having realized this, you have almost done half the work. The other half is knowing how to use aura. But in my case there is one problem. Curse and gift. The curse has been harming my body all my life by feeding on my energy and draining my body. After I awakened the ability, it began to harm less, and according to the master, it even helps. The situation is different with the gift. After receiving it, I received a lot of aura that does not belong to me. Since this aura was not mine, and before that I did not know how to control it because of the wheel, it was almost useless. But I still learned to control my aura, and now I have a huge amount of energy for my abilities. Any spell requires energy in the form of an aura. And since I have a predisposition to darkness and a huge aura from the gift, I can create powerful spells, in theory. In practice, I only have one spell, which I didn’t even create. My sphere is a strange thing. It's bad for me, but it also has some beneficial properties. And obviously it has something to do with my curse. I don't see any other reason for its appearance. But I can deal with this later. After all, that’s not what’s important right now. And then where will I sleep?

The Academy is a huge building that also houses student housing. The elite students occupy their rooms. The middle class and slightly richer people are accommodated in two-room apartments for four people. And those who present the minimum cost of residence or violated internal rules too much end up in an anthill. Huge rooms for twenty people, mostly located in the basements. Luckily I'll end up in the middle room. The reason for this is my father. If not for the ritual incident, Thomas would have ended up in the elite room. But the academy takes into account the reputation of parents and children. I didn’t strive to have an elite room, I hope that my neighbors will be good, the rest doesn’t bother me.

Suddenly I was distracted by a noise. The sound of a thunderstorm. Rain, here you come. From a sudden sound, Thomas, who was lying on the floor in a dream, also woke up. The trip was extremely quiet and boring. So the rain won't hurt to dispel the silence. Since I have nothing else to do, I'll go to bed. I hope I don't sleep through everything. Good night to everyone who is not next to me. I hope you are doing well Moms.

  Tenma's sleep was interrupted by someone. When she woke up, she didn’t understand what was happening. Looking around, she saw that it was night outside the window and the rain had still not passed. She also realized who woke her up. And it’s quite strange that he did this. “Get ready, we’re almost there.” Thomas stood and looked for something in the shelves under the sofa. Opening one of the shelves, he took out something. No, not just something. These are raincoats. Thin black. He handed one of them to her; she obviously wouldn't refuse them, given the weather.

Outside the carriage were the coachman and the maid. The maid was assigned to Tenma, and even though she is young and has no experience in this matter at all. Tenma is glad she has it. After all, Thomas didn’t get anyone. Another reason for Tenma to rejoice at his brother’s minor defeat. Tenma was also upset by the fact that she slept through Rosewild. The city is the capital of the entire empire. Heavy rain and night prevented her from seeing its beauty, but the very fact that she missed the entrance to the city is sad for her. Next time I need to sleep less. she thought.

The carriage stopped and the doors were opened by the coachman. Tenma and Thomas got out of the carriage. Tenma felt bad. She sat in one place for too long and only just woke up. Which is why I perceived everything poorly. But what she definitely saw in all its glory was the building. Here it is. The Highest Academy of Magic of the Empire. Not so original. The building looks like a brick box, only three floors, even smaller than the average apartment. However, this is only on the outside. Any blind person felt a special atmosphere from the building. And the reason is simple. The building has its own space inside. This allows it to occupy a small area and have a huge number of floors and rooms inside. That's why if someone attacks this city, everyone will go here, using it as a refuge.

Although the outside of the building is not very good. Tenma relies on inner beauty. A new stage of her life begins. But first she must go through the line. “Hmm. I had no desire to stand in this rain.” It’s good that she had a raincoat.

I finally reached the room. And my mother's description was correct. This place really looks beautiful inside. The white walls with golden symbols were incredibly beautiful. The view from the windows was different from the real one. The scenery of the pink starry sky and the bright full moon was much better than the rainy city. The smell of mint and light violin playing played in the corridor, although I still didn’t understand where they were coming from. Although everything here can be explained in one word. Magic.

Truly this place is wonderful. The ceilings are decorated with beautiful mosaic paintings. On the walls hung portraits of various magicians who studied here. Although I couldn’t understand who all these people were. Or they are too insignificant. Or, more likely, I just don't know any of them. Also, what is very unusual, there is an aura in the paintings. Probably protection from unnecessary touches and other problem students. Not bad. It was also worth noting that next to the common rooms there were also rooms for servants. Very convenient for my maid.

But this is not the time to admire beauty. We need to get ready for the next day. Before entering the Academy, I was checked and also given my room number. Before I go in, I need to pray to Astoria and Artoros. All or nothing.

I walk into the room and am disappointed. The room is completely ordinary. Boring gray wallpaper, two bunk beds. And a simple boring view from the window. I'm also the first one. It's empty here. The room also has another door, most likely a bathroom. So I'll have to be alone for now. I hope my appearance and reputation will not cause conflicts.

I slowly collect my things on the shelves. Before entering the Academy, I was given a suitcase with a uniform. Everyone at the Academy follows a dress code. And even though I'm not used to it. But I’m ready to sacrifice a little, I’m still not a fan of fashion and clothing. Another thing is I don’t know where to put the swords. I hope they don't bother my roommates.

Just as I was thinking about this, someone opened the door. Turning around, I saw an unusual picture. A black woman with long wavy hair wearing a black latex jacket and pants with triangle cutouts. Her eyes were bright red, delicate thin eyelashes and a sexy look that would definitely attract attention from men. But this is not the most important thing. She has cat ears! And also a black tail! I have never read or seen such people. I'm surprised there may still be many like this here. How soft do they feel? Wait a minute though. What am I thinking about? She is a person, but I think of her as an animal. You need to show her your best side.

While I was mentally talking to myself, she just walked inside and put her bags on the other bed. We both know that the bottom tier is better than the top. We have something in common. A small thing, but still nice.

"Sorry for not saying hello. My name is Tenma. Tenma Raymond. But I don’t like my last name, so just call me by my first name." After I said that, she looked at me strangely. As if I had said something stupid. After a short awkward silence, she answered. "Shio. Shio Rei. Nice to meet you."

We might get along after all. I don’t want to be biased towards anyone. Moreover, we are here for two years. I don’t want to quarrel with my neighbor for two years. Especially when she is so unusual. I hope she will tell you more about herself in the future. But now she hardly looks at me. I have a hard time starting a conversation. And she doesn't look like she wants it. Deciding to focus on other things, I turned away from her. To hear the doors open again.

This time it was an ordinary person. And quite boring. An ordinary girl with brown short hair, a soft face, and a bright smile on her face. Just like Shao, she had thick thighs. And she wore a fairly ordinary shirt and black pants. Outwardly, she does not seem like a noblewoman, rather an ordinary citizen. We'll have to find out about this later. "Hello, my name is Lane Takiomi, nice to see you. I hope we get along." Her voice was nasty. Or rather, it is pleasant to the ear. But this is one of those voices that is deliberately trying to sound friendly. I don't like falsehood in any form.

She looks at me and is clearly holding back so as not to show on her face that she is scared. Just like me, she had sparkles in her eyes looking at Shio’s ears and tail. "Nice to meet you, don’t be scared, I don’t bite. My name is Tenma." She looked at me with a wide smile, as if she wasn’t scared of me before. Shio used it too, and I caught myself thinking. I hope we won't conflict with her. After all, she may seem deceitful, but such a person will be extremely useful.

Suddenly the door to the room swings open again and the last member of the room arrives. "Greetings to everyone, I am Liana Rosshi. Heir to my family inheritance. I am glad to see you all, and I want you not to be afraid of my serious appearance. I will be glad to talk with you."

Despite what she said, out of everyone present, she looks like a noblewoman. Unlike me, a walking corpse, of course. Long white hair with black ends that looks more like paint, a creation of nature. Blue eyes that seemed to contain the sea. All her clothes look more like a military uniform. White jacket with gold accessories, shimmering red and white tones. Striped pants in the same shade as the jacket. And black shoes. To be honest, all of these separately should not be combined with each other. But she somehow managed to combine it. She was also surprised when she looked at me, but immediately turned her gaze to the others. She doesn't seem like someone who judges the unusual. I hope so.

After everyone said hello, we each collected our things from our bags. Tomorrow promises to be an interesting day; after the director of the academy makes a speech, we will be given a tour. They will also tell you what to expect from this year. The truth is tomorrow will be tomorrow. And now I realized that we have another problem.

"None of you brought a kettle with you, not even a regular saucepan?!" Lane asked this question. And fair enough. "I thought this would already be here." To be fair, I shouldn’t think about whether there’s a teapot in the academy, who would come up with such thoughts. "Why didn’t you bring it yourself? Stop yelling at us." Shio stood up in our defense. Thank you kitty. "I have one kettle at home for seven people, I can’t just take it with me." I was right. She clearly doesn't come from a rich family. Perhaps her family spent a lot of money to get her this place. Students are divided into three classes and each of them can go up or down. Obviously, if you go to the very bottom you will be expelled, the anthill is not the worst punishment in this academy.

"Calm down, we will still eat in the cafeteria, if you are afraid that you do not have money, then I can pay for it for you." After Liana said this, Lane looked more joyful. Leech, she will suck all our money. "Thank you Liana." I hope she doesn’t wish to change her decision, I would also like her to buy food for me.

I know these three quite a bit. But I'm interested to know them more. Especially this parasite, I don’t feel an aura from her. It's interesting to know how she hides it. Or she's just so weak that I can't see anything. Okay, tomorrow is the big day. It's time to sleep.

I lay down on my bed and said good night to the others. Wait for me tomorrow.