I was walking on air heading to morning practical sessions.

  I hadn’t woken up this happy in a long time, inspired by the prospects of an exciting school day. I felt great, which was surprising after the magical ordeal I’d gone through yesterday. Usually after something like that, I’d need at least a day to recover.

  Though first I had to wake up Calypso, since it turned out I couldn’t open the front door of our adjoining quarters without him.

  “What kind of nonsense is this?!” I exclaimed indignantly, banging on Calypso’s door.

  “What the hell?!”

  From my indignant pounding, the lockless door swung open, and before my eyes appeared the lovely picture of a peacefully sleeping Calypso. The slipped blanket did nothing to hide his bare back, and didn’t do a great job hiding the rest either, so my further objections got stuck somewhere in my throat.

  Here I am, standing here outraged… And he’s just sleeping. Brazenly sleeping while I’m here boiling with anger!

  But at my noisy entrance, he opened one eye and sleepily explained:

  “Oh… Yeah… The front door is set up so it won’t let you out alone without me before eight in the morning… Forgot to mention that…”

  “You forgot?!”

  “Don’t yell like that… It’s for your safety and my responsibility… So I stay relatively close to you at night, to monitor your condition… You usually won’t even notice it, but today classes start earlier… So…”

  He yawned and rolled onto his back, the blanket rapidly sliding down, threatening to fall off the bed…

  I made some indeterminate mumbling sound and hurried to slam the door behind me.

  My psyche wasn't quite ready for the sight of a relaxed Calypso, who apparently didn't bother with pajamas, first thing in the morning.

  I had to wait while this “sleeping beauty” got himself together.

  “I hate mornings,” Calypso said, appearing five minutes later in the living room, already dressed to the nines.

  “I believe morning shouldn’t start before noon.”

  “You’re a night owl, huh?” I smiled.

  “And you, I take it, are an early bird?”

  “I’m more of a pterodactyl. I usually get up at six in the morning and go to bed around two at night.”

  Calypso smirked and yawned dramatically.

  “It’s just outrageous… There are billions of people on the planet, and not one of them can do all my morning tasks for me and wake me up at lunchtime… Kind of unfair, don’t you think?”

  Well, I couldn’t argue with that.

  On the way to the dining hall, Calypso briefly instructed me:

  “Whether you like it or not, I’ll always be somewhere nearby. And if you need to go somewhere, you have to let me know. You have a communication bracelet,” he nodded at the silver bracelet on my left wrist; Calypso and all Armarillis adepts had them for emergency communication and quick alerts.

  “I always need to know where you are. And preferably with whom.”

  “So you can be ready to chaperone me and my boyfriend?” I asked snidely.

  “Yes, if necessary,” Calypso nodded with the most serious expression.

  “What if the guy turns out to be so timid he can’t get started without a chaperone. Or you can’t get properly inspired without me. Or you can’t decide on a lingerie set. I'd be happy to help with that. And I can help test it too. You know, in case it’s not sturdy enough…”

  “Are you messing with me?” I sighed, no longer understanding where the joke began and ended.

  “Why do I need to report my every move to you?”

  Calypso smiled.

  “I’m not demanding detailed reports from you and I’m not trying to control your entire life. It’s just that as your warden, I’m responsible for you, and if the Mentor comes to me with questions, I need to be able to immediately answer where you are, how you’re feeling, and what you ate five minutes ago,” Calypso smirked.

  “I’m exaggerating, of course, but every joke has a grain of joke and a few drops of hysteria.”

  He really did keep me in his sights the whole time. Although at breakfast he sat with friends at the other end of the hall and on the way to the training grounds walked somewhere far behind me, I constantly felt his close attention. Not attention in terms of a direct gaze, but, well, how to explain it…

  Basically, Calypso was constantly ‘probing’ me with his magic, touching my aura and making sure I was nearby and okay. Experienced mages know how to do that; I couldn’t manage it yet.

  “I’d rather he probed me properly with his hands instead of my aura,” my inner voice sighed mournfully.

  I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment, chasing away unwanted thoughts. This Calypso stirred too many conflicting emotions in me…

  However, my attention quickly shifted to my new classmate, who came up to introduce himself when I reached the training grounds. Dark-haired and brown-eyed, he was a handsome guy with an athletic build.

  “Hi! You’re Lorelei, right? My name is Kesterishtór Lamárk,” he introduced himself.

  “But everyone just calls me Kes.”

  “It’s great that it’s ‘just Kes,’ because I’d only be able to pronounce your full name correctly after hours of practice.”

  Kes smiled, and dimples appeared on his cheeks.

  He was also a fire mage, and actually a perfect example of a Fortemin born into a family of ordinary people who didn’t really have any magical abilities. But Kes himself, judging by his dense aura, was a very worthy opponent with great potential.

  While we talked, Kes gave me an appraising once-over from head to toe, his gaze lingering on my heels. I was naturally very tall, much taller than all my female classmates and peers at the academy.

  And in heels, I was taller than many of the guys too. But that didn’t bother me one bit, and shorter heels didn’t interest me.

  So what? I loved these shoes and felt very comfortable in them. I suppose I wanted to be “above” everyone else in at least something, even if only in the literal sense. Since magic hadn’t worked out for me…

  Oh, taller than almost all my classmates, not all: I still couldn’t beat Calypso even in heels.

  “Lucky us, having such a gorgeous girl join our group,” Kes smiled widely.

  And while saying this, he took my hand and lightly brushed his lips against my gloved fingers. So quickly that I didn’t even have time to be surprised and pull my hand away.

  “I’d love to chat with you one-on-one in a more appropriate setting,” Kes said in a sultry voice.

  “May I invite you to dinner tonight? Or another day when you’re free. I know an excellent restaurant in the nature preserve park of Forland… It has this magnificent blooming garden and a beautiful waterfall… A very cozy and romantic place, especially gorgeous in the evening over candlelit dinner. I’m sure you’d love it.”

  I mentally groaned and barely held back the urge to roll my eyes. Sure of himself, was he.

  Apparently, this gesture of his was meant to sweep me off my feet…

  But Kes didn’t realize that I couldn’t care less about romance. There was no romance in my life. And I just didn’t like all that cheesy romance with standard dates, flowers, candlelit dinners — things like that couldn’t hook me. All these invitations to restaurants with a romantic atmosphere evoked nothing in me but yawns.

  Now if he’d invited me on an extravagant date at some ancient cemetery, I might have actually considered it.

  “I don’t think I’ll have time for that,” I answered with restraint.

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  “I just arrived at Armarillis, and I have a packed class schedule. No time for outings.”

  “I really must insist, Lorelei,” Kes said stubbornly.

  “I’m patient, and I’ll wait until you’re freer. I understand you need to get into the swing of things first, but later…”

  Quite the persistent guy.

  I shrugged vaguely and headed toward Patricia, who had just arrived at the training grounds.

  I felt an extremely displeased, burning gaze from Calypso on my back, but when I turned around, I saw him talking nearby with some guys from group six, who were also waiting for their instructor.

  Outwardly, Calypso looked almost bored, but I could clearly sense his irritation through his vibrating aura.

  Hmm, interesting — did he hear my conversation with Kes or not? And if so, what got him so riled up?

  The area in front of the training grounds was a sort of gathering point for students from all groups waiting for their professors. Our group was already there in full.

  Besides the classmates I’d already met, I was studying with that same ‘little Po’ — a red-haired girl with big expressive green eyes.

  And another fire mage from Forland — Iranor Gvatersky, a friendly guy with short curly hair. I knew him; we’d crossed paths before.

  And Mia Lindenor — this blue-eyed beauty with golden hair stood out with her pointed ear tips — an elf from Geross, a distant elven country across the ocean.

  Geross was famous for its skilled craftsmen who forged cold weapons from unique elven steel — the strongest and most powerful cold weapons against dark creatures that existed in the entire world and even all worlds combined.

  Our Armarillis Academy worked closely with Geross, but there were few elves among our students: rarely did any of them manifest Fortemin magic. So Mia was an interesting exception, especially considering that fire mages among elves were almost nonexistent.

  While our instructor hadn’t arrived yet, I was chatting with Patricia and kept glancing toward Calypso, who was talking with guys from another group. Judging by the di Vern-Rodinger brothers I knew well and the distinctive auras of other nearby adepts, it was group six, and their focus was water magic.

  “What was Calypso even doing in group six?” I asked.

  “He’s not a water mage, and everyone there is ‘water-based,’ from what I can see.”

  “Oh, he’s been in every group over the past couple of years,” Patricia smirked.

  “He’s a jack of all trades… Grey, damn it, not in the way you’re thinking!” Patricia hissed indignantly at her eavesdropping-and-laughing classmate and tried to elbow him, but he dodged.

  “Anyway, Lora, Calypso doesn’t have one strictly defined magical trait. He’s a universal mage who commands different elements freely, on par with other advanced mages in their specialties. Water and fire magic come equally easily to him, as do air magic, druid magic, and he even knows more about dream magic than all of us put together,” Patricia sighed with obvious envy.

  “That’s why they gave him the opportunity to study in different groups at Armarillis, to develop all aspects of his magical Spark. So he ‘hopped’ through all the groups over the past two years and then moved on to independent study because he’d surpassed everyone, and further learning could only be done individually.”

  “Wow,” was all I could say.

  “That’s amazing…”

  “On one hand, yes, but on the other what else would you expect from our Mentor’s son, right?” Patricia smirked.

  “The Mentor is a great supreme mage, and his wife is quite a piece of work too, well, you know that yourself. A simple little son couldn’t have been born to people like them, could he?”

  “Well, that’s true…”

  I looked at Calypso with respect, but immediately ground my teeth when I saw something that irked me a bit.

  Some brunette with legs for days and curves to die for was openly throwing herself at Calypso. She kept playfully patting his shoulder, though her pats looked more like greedy caresses. Or she’d lean her shoulder against him and whisper something in Calypso’s ear.

  He had to tilt his head because he was much taller than the girl, so she could reach his ear. Calypso’s long white hair hid half his face, and all I could see were his eyes… which at one point suddenly looked at me, as if sensing my attentive gaze.

  I couldn’t see Calypso’s lips from this angle, but for some reason I had the distinct feeling he had spread into a smug smirk, catching me staring. The leggy beauty, however, decided the smile was meant for her and started chirping even more.

  I barely held back from rolling my eyes.

  It made me sick; I couldn’t stand pushy girls like that. I turned away and casually asked Patricia:

  “Who’s that girl standing next to my warden? I haven’t seen her before.”

  “Margarita d’Acura, an aristocrat from Iskandor,” Patricia explained, casting a contemptuous glance at the adept.

  “A very snooty girl, though that’s true of all Iskandorian aristocracy.”

  “At Armarillis, everyone is equal regardless of their background,” I noted.

  This was true. Here we had royal offspring from all corners of the world and even different worlds on equal footing with children from very poor families. Moreover, a Fortemin could be born into a non-wizard family altogether. So what difference did your status in society make if we were all united by Fortemin magic?

  “Margarita doesn’t care much about that. She’s got her own agenda and loves to brag about her daddy who has connections in all the inquisitor divisions of Iskandor, and in Forland too. And she’s always trying to hang all over Calypso.”

  “Well, he doesn’t seem to mind,” I observed.

  Patricia shrugged.

  “It mostly just amuses him and strokes his ego.”

  “Why doesn’t she hang on the Rodingers?” I smirked.

  “They’re quite something too. And they have royal blood, befitting an aristocrat, unlike Calypso.”

  “The Rodingers are rarely here. They’re dreymons, and training for water mages like them happens directly in their natural habitat, the open sea, in their element. Too bad,” Patricia sighed genuinely.

  “I like them. Can’t even decide which one more! They’re both fine by me…”

  I smirked. Though I could understand Patricia: the tall blue-eyed di Vern-Rodinger brothers surely always attracted the female adepts’ attention.

  “Hey, do you know why Calypso wears gloves?” I asked, glancing at Calypso’s hands in those same white leather gloves.

  “Does he always wear them?”

  “Always, yeah.”

  “Hmm, why?”

  “How would I know,” Patricia yawned.

  “He hasn’t confided in me about it, and the professors don’t care what an adept shows up wearing. You could wear a gas mask for all they care, as long as you complete your assignments. Though that hottie would probably look good even in a gas mask…”

  She said it and laughed at herself, and I joined in, imagining that picture.

  We didn’t actually stay at the training grounds for long. Professor Ditro, the instructor for fighting dark creatures, appeared and immediately turned us toward the main gates on the academy grounds, from where he teleported our entire group out of the Armarillis dimension.

  Professor Ditro was a short stocky man with a clear gaze, his long dark hair gathered in a high ponytail, and a long earring dangling from his ear. His voice was loud, ringing, commanding — you could hear him from far away.

  Our classes today were on the far northern edge of Forland, where the teleport dropped us. We were now walking through a rather gloomy forest of tall ancient spruces.

  “I’ve prepared some excellent creatures for you!” Professor Ditro said cheerfully as we walked.

  “I searched for them especially for you, hid them well, so we’ll have to walk a bit. I’m sure you’ll love them!”

  A heavy sigh passed through the adepts. If Professor Ditro liked certain creatures, it meant they were such amazing nastiness that we were in for a world of hurt today.

  We walked another fifteen minutes at a brisk pace to reach the caged creatures. As we walked, Patricia and I quietly chatted, and I complained to her about having to share adjoining quarters with my warden.

  “Can you imagine?” I finished my short story, ending with Calypso’s words about ‘you’ll go for a walk when I bring a girl over.’

  “Damn, can he actually do that?”

  “Oh, don’t pay attention to it, forget it. He’s just messing with you to make you blush and shake with rage,” Patricia waved her hand.

  “He’s lying about everything. He doesn’t bring anyone to his quarters. If anything, it’s the opposite; he guards them like a hawk and won’t let anyone within a mile.”

  “That’s you speaking as the expert who’s tried many times unsuccessfully to get under Calypso?” Grey said in an extremely snide voice, having appeared nearby again and overheard our whispering.

  I burst out laughing, while Patricia threw up her hands indignantly.

  “Is it my fault he’s obsessed with finding that girl of his?!”

  “Hmm… Wait, did someone steal his heart?” I asked in a restrained voice.

  Though everything inside me boiled up from a strange storm of emotions… suspiciously similar to jealousy. Look how far I’ve fallen.

  “I think she stepped on something else of his,” Grey snorted with laughter.

  “Fortemins, focus!” came Professor Ditro’s booming voice from ahead.

  We fell silent for a while so as not to attract unnecessary attention.

  “Okay, seriously, I don’t know all the details,” Patricia whispered some time later, returning to the interrupted conversation.

  “I only know that at last year’s summer masquerade ball in Forland, something happened between Calypso and some girl… Something that made this Brandt Junior walk around furious for about a month; I’ve never seen him that angry. Then he calmed down a bit, but directed all his efforts into searching for this girl. He’s been looking for a year now, can’t seem to let it go. He’s like a man possessed, spending all year on nothing but this, well, between classes. He really got a bee in his bonnet. And knowing his character, I don’t doubt for a second that he’ll reach his goal.”

  I swallowed nervously. My throat went dry.

  “And how is he planning to find this girl? What method?”

  “By her aura, obviously.”

  “An aura can be hidden,” I noted cautiously.

  “There are… many ways. And a wizard’s aura can change significantly over time on its own.”

  “True, it can. But apparently Calypso has some tracking tricks of his own, I don’t know the details,” Patricia shrugged.

  “He’s barreling toward his goal like a battering ram with too much confidence.”

  “Hmm… And what goal exactly? Why does he need… this girl?”

  “Well, it’s one of two things: either to love her or to kill her,” Patricia said seriously.

  “Knowing Calypso, both options are possible.”

  And she laughed, pleased with her joke.

  But I wasn’t in a hurry to join in. I didn’t find it the least bit funny.

  I knew perfectly well what happened at that masquerade ball. Down to the smallest detail.

  “Anyway, I don’t know any details. Only Calypso himself could tell you. And the Rodingers, yeah,” Patricia added.

  “They’re Calypso’s best friends, so who else would know the details. And one of them helped Calypso out back then, I don’t know which one, and I don’t know the specifics.”

  I watched Calypso’s back anxiously as he walked ahead with a confident stride, right behind Professor Ditro.

  Damn. It seems not all my oblivion charms worked as they should… There was a glitch somewhere… Maybe it’s because Calypso has well-developed mental magic, so the oblivion charms don’t work on him at full strength?

  Damn, damn, damn!..

  And… what am I supposed to do about this?