Morning came quietly. It was still cool, and there was a lovely silence that he liked to savor in the early mornings.

  Orien dragged himself out of bed and splashed water onto his face from a basin of water nearby.

  A quick bath followed by a quick brushing of his messy hair, and he donned himself with his usual dark grey robes. He liked grey and black; they didn’t show dirt as quickly, but the main reason he liked them was because they didn’t really stand out.

  The house felt strangely peaceful, and he figured it was because his father had left long before sunrise. There was no surprise there, and he wouldn’t be back until sunset. Someone had already swept away the bits of glass from last night, probably his mother.

  If he ignored the hollow feeling in his chest, the place almost seemed like a normal home.

  “If only it stayed like this,” he muttered. “Then I wouldn’t need to hide at that graveyard just to breathe.”

  Orien thought about last night again. It wasn’t always this bad... No, it would spike every now and then. This was just one of those spikes of misery he would get swept up in.

  He had barely grabbed the door handle when he heard soft steps behind him.

  "Orien… have a good day at school,” His mother pressed a wrapped lunch into his hands, eyes low, “Don’t be upset with your mother. I won’t… I won’t do it again.”

  He’d heard that sentence so many times that he had grown a bit numb to it.

  Still, he couldn’t bear to snap at her after she apologized like that. Before anything else, he was still grateful for all that she had done for him without a second thought.

  “Thanks, Mom,” he turned and left for school.

  Orien quickly arrived at his school.

  His village was called Dawn Village, and his school, the only one in the village, was suitably named Dawn School.

  It was an average sized compound filled with just three buildings.

  Two buildings were dedicated to classes and students, the last building dedicated to teachers and staff.

  He made his way to his classroom, and upon entering, there were a few students seated already, and a few more that had yet to arrive.

  This was a normal morning at school until his seat greeted him with the stench of rot.

  Someone had placed a dead rat on his wooden seat. It was fresh enough to smell, old enough to make him gag. The sight made Orien’s jaw tighten. He grabbed a nearby rag, scooped the thing up, and tossed it out the nearest window.

  He didn’t need to guess who put it there. It had to have been Geno or one of his useless shadows. He could hear their snickering even before he sat down, and he cast a meaningful glare towards the back of the classroom.

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  Geno wore a very nice red shirt, with dark brown trousers. His expression looked relaxed, and it appeared that he hadn’t even noticed Orien looking towards the back of the class.

  Lars sat next to him, and Lars was facing Orien with a smug grin.

  Orien sat down.

  More classmates arrived as the time for class to begin drew nearer.

  Hubert, one of his only friends, was a big blue elephant. To be precise, Hubert was a light blue elephant that was adorable or menacing depending on who asked. He stood on two legs, unlike the wild elephant. He was what was referred to as a ‘Beastman’.

  Some people didn’t quite see beastmen as equals to humans, but Orien didn’t have time for all the shenanigans.

  Haruki sauntered in behind him, his red hair a bit messy, not unlike Orien’s black hair.

  His usual grin was already in place, ready to make small talk with everyone.

  If Orien was considered antisocial, Haruki would be considered a delinquent but a friendly one. He wasn’t a bully, he would just skip class and flirt with girls.

  Lucille glided past them without sparing so much as a glance.

  They did not behave the same way, however, as they both looked at her passing by.

  She had neck length white hair, eyes as cold and blue as a glacier. “Ice Queen,” this was her nickname, and she was popular despite ignoring ninety nine percent of the class.

  Behind Lucille was Hiyono, she was Haruki’s younger sister. She was slightly more serious than he was, though.

  She had shoulder length hair, a bit darker in color compared to Haruki. It was still a fiery red. Her resting expression might seen mean, but beyond that first layer, she was also willing to fool around, laugh and get mad with the other classmates.

  Orien sometimes wondered how all these different kinds of people ended up in the same room.

  Creeeak.

  Just then, the door opened. Their teacher, Mr. Auguiste, slid past the wooden door and entered with a stern, no playtime expression. The room buzzed with chatter about last night’s earthquake until he clapped his hands.

  “This tremor was unlike any I’ve experienced before,” he said. “But records from long ago mention similar quakes during heavy star showers. Great changes surround these past events, but we have no way of confirming whether this was related or not, so please don’t spread misinformation or jump to conclusions.”

  The teacher spoke on, but Wisp’s voice cut across his thoughts, hushed but annoyed.

  “Told you”, Wisp said, “I was shaken awake. My spiritual connection to the spiritual world went wild and then felt cloudy and unresponsive. Something big is going on out there. I’ll be quiet for a while, I need to meditate, see if I can sense the connection again and more importantly, gather my thoughts and memories. A lot has come back to me so far.”

  Orien tuned back into what his teacher was discussing with the class.

  “The Guild and the Casting Line Sect are both looking into the matter,” Mr. Auguiste said.

  This information made Orien begin to fantasize about the two powers.

  The Guild was infinitely mysterious, and the Casting Line Sect was the one and only dominating power on the island that had some dealings with the Guild as far as he knew.

  “Speaking of big news…” Mr. Auguiste continued, “the Casting Line Sect will begin its annual recruitment today. That said, we will be concluding class early today, and you are to gather outside in the courtyard in about fifteen minutes.”

  He paused, made a thoughtful expression and then continued, “Do be mindful that while affinities are useful, they only point you in the easiest direction. Let's say for instance, I had medium affinity for water. I can still learn fire techniques; it would just be significantly harder for me not due to any physical limitations but rather, my comprehension skills. This can also change as I grow or understand things better. Do not be afraid of the tests nor worry yourself if the results aren't what you expect."

  The room erupted into excited murmurs and for a moment, the classroom became very lively, and Mr. Auguiste just smiled and allowed the students to be excited.

  Orien felt something else. His initial excitement and curiosity were dulled down by a prickling at his back.

  He did not turn around to see and chose to ignore it, but Geno and Lars were leaning forward, eyes locked on him.

  Their expressions were sharp, and malicious... Except only Geno’s eyes held contempt as well.

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