After a rigorous washing and donning the black and gold uniform of the Solis Academy—its right sleeve specially reinforced to withstand extreme heat—Nameless stepped through the grand doors of the classroom. The silence that greeted him was more violent than a physical blow.
Every student froze. The whispering stopped dead. Their gazes were heavy with poorly concealed terror. To them, he wasn't the student "Nameless"; he was the creature that had spat hellfire at their Prince.
He looked for a seat, but the students pulled away, shifting their chairs as if he carried the plague. Except for one spot.
At the back of the room, a young girl with silver hair and an alabaster face sat motionless. Princess Isolde. She didn't look at him, her eyes fixed on an old grimoire, but she had left the seat beside her conspicuously empty.
Just before he could move toward it, a hand landed heavily on his shoulder. Nameless flinched, his monitoring collar emitting a brief violet spark.
"Well now! Looks like you made quite the entrance yesterday, didn't you?"
Standing before him was a boy with ruffled brown hair and a smile so wide it seemed to brighten the dim room. His clothes were a bit too large and his shoes slightly worn, but he radiated incredible energy.
"The name's Leo!" he chirped, ignoring the glares from the other students. "I'm the 'Official Failure' of this class. My magic is so weak it can't even light a candle without me sneezing, but hey, at least I'm proud of my failures!"
He sat down directly in front of Isolde's desk and signaled Nameless to take the seat next to the princess.
"Don't mind them," Leo added, pointing a casual thumb at the rest of the class. "They're afraid of what they don't understand. You broke Alaric's sword, and for that alone, you're my hero!"
Nameless sat down awkwardly next to Isolde. The air seemed to drop ten degrees in her proximity. Without looking up from her book, the princess whispered in a voice so low only he could hear:
"The fire you spat... it wasn't mana. It was life force. If you do it again without learning to separate the two, you will burn yourself out from the inside before the year is over."
She turned a page, her profile remaining perfectly calm. "And watch your back. My brother Alaric isn't the type to learn a lesson. He's the type to change his tactics."
Leo turned around, still grinning. "She's right, the 'Ice Cube' has spoken! But don't worry, Nameless. We'll team up—us outcasts. With your dragon fire and my... well, my good mood, we're going to shake up this dusty academy!"