WITH GREAT EXPECTATIONS, Jonas turned the corner, and strode up with a slight skip in his step to the entrance of the School of Heartspell.


    On his way there, his sullen moping about his suitability for magic school got too much for even him, and so he elected to diligently distract himself from all the doubts by fantasizing about how wonderful and majestic the top magic school in Nostriva would be.


    It’ll be out-of-this world! I’m sure they can’t help but show off all their really cool magic up front. Maybe there’ll be lightning bolts along the parameter, and a flying wyvern or two…


    And indeed, when he arrived, it defied his imaginations.


    Only, in all the wrong ways.


    A boring, black, pair of cast-iron gates stood at the front of the school building, and at the top of that building, an ordinary rectangle with black borders encapsulated an unimaginatively white background that was printed on by font that was the exact same shade of black as everything else that was black. The words on that sign almost all-too squarishly declared: "The School of Heartspell". The rest of the school building, for as far as he could see, shared the same aesthetic.


    I can’t have stood on the ManaRail for six whole hours just for this…


    But he wasn''t complaining. At least not any more than that. After three years of queuing at the dole, surviving on terrible food, and enduring his parents’ petty squabbles, getting a ticket to be enrolled in this elite school was already much more than what he expected was his lot in life.


    "Looks terribly underwhelming doesn''t it!" chimed a voice from behind him. Startled, he turned around to see a bubbly, young lady with a friendly smile on her face.


    Was I really that easy to read?


    She was small with a round and stout stature – no taller than Janelle, his now twelve-year-old sister - but her sharp eyes made her seem much older than her size.


    If she’s here for the reception, she’s probably seventeen - around my age. But something about her makes me feel like she’s way older than she seems.


    "Believe it or not, this bland fa?ade was exactly the impression that the school wanted to make!" she said.


    "Oh. Hi. Is that the case?" replied Jonas with a flat and almost-disinterested voice. The long train ride, the bullies on the train, and his own self-doubt had drained him of whatever energy he had left, and a talkative person whom he presumed was a potential schoolmate felt especially grating at the moment.


    He kept up his pace, walking with his head facing straight in front of him, hoping to shake her off. But she kept tagging along from behind him, her far shorter legs surprisingly good at keeping pace with his larger strides.


    "Yea! Did you know that Heartspell isn’t just one ‘school’? There are six schools of emotions in Heartspell, and for most students, they are sent to the one that they have the greatest affinity with,” she said excitedly, in between her accelerated waddling. “Collectively, the six schools are known as ‘The School of Heartspell!’”


    Ah, so it’s not just one school. And I suppose there might even be one building for each school.


    He continued ignoring the young lady and focused on outpacing her instead. But she had no problems keeping up, and on top of that, she kept talking.


    “D’you know what’s cooler? Each one of these schools is led by the strongest mage with the corresponding emotional specialization. That makes him or her its principal. And to settle any hierarchical disputes, the six principals go all out in expressing their magical power in creating their unique school building!”


    “I knew it!” said Jonas, who stopped in his tracks to gasp for breath. “The school buildings –“ he wheezed, “- are supposed to be more interesting, isn’t it?”


    The energetic young lady was caught off guard by the sudden pause in his previously hasty gait. She bumped into him, before shaking it off and saying, “I finally got you to be curious, haven’t I!”


    “I mean,” said Jonas, who was still huffing and puffing, “according to what you said, doesn’t that mean that each of the schools would have a really grand school building, since I’m pretty sure there would be a ton of talented mages wanting to challenge for the position of principal?” He struggled to complete his sentence, desperately sucking in air in between words.


    “You’re a fast learner! That’s absolutely right,” she replied with an even wider grin on her face, appearing to have no problems interpreting his words despite all that panting.


    “Then which of the six schools is this building supposed to be?” asked Jonas, pointing to the black and white building as if it was an unwashed sock found at the back of the laundry room.


    “Neither! It’s the main administrative building." she replied.


    "Oh,” said Jonas, flatly. “I guess that’s why it’s so boring."


    "In my opinion, they should just go all out and make it look amazing too! But I’m not the one who makes the decisions,” she winked. “Oh yes, you’re a prospective student, right? Everyone else has gathered over there at the reception hall!"


    Jonas turned to look at where she was pointing. When he turned back, that bubbly lady had disappeared –into a crowd of incoming students, he presumed - and he had lost sight of her.


    That felt rather odd. The way she talked - like she wasn’t actually a prospective student here.


    He thought that he would welcome being alone again, but the sudden absence of such a bright personality left him more aware than he would like of the thoughts in his own mind, which all felt a bit darker and emptier than he last remembered.


    All of them are S Tier mages. All. Of. Them. What am I supposed to say to S Tier mages? ‘Oh hi, I’ve never cast a spell in my life, nice to meet you’?


    Shaking off his self-consciousness, he headed towards the reception hall, searching for perhaps a more comfortable corner in this otherwise unfamiliar space.


    The exterior of the room did not depart from the school''s uninspired thematic décor – black door, white walls, everything in neat squares and rectangles - but a single step into the reception hall transformed the already unfamiliar into an even greater degree of unfamiliarity.


    What hit Jonas first was the auditory experience.


    It was a semi-melodic sequence of sound - their pitch and timbre resembled wind chimes, but there was no wind. And unlike the usual up-and-down flair of the wind chime, this sound skipped around in an unnatural, yet, somehow, musical manner.


    Then, the room’s interior suddenly shed its black-and-white skin, morphing with a shimmering effect into a hypnotic, multi-coloured fantasy-scape that was ever-shifting and transforming before his very eyes.


    Jonas took a step back, completely disorientated. He gripped onto the door frame on instinct to steady himself.


    Wait, I’ve read about this before - it’s a type of Perception spell, isn’t it?


    In a few short seconds, the glimmering visual spectacle found a firmer form to settle into, and from the confusing mess emerged the semblance of a dance floor, with spots and specks of the room illuminated momentarily by a disco ball that was hovering mid-air with the assistance of what Jonas assumed was some kind of Anti-Gravity spell.


    And so, it turned out that the magic he was expecting was not revealed in the building’s fa?ade, but only in its interior. With a complex perceptual spell, the boring, black-and-white room was transformed into a colourful, sensational dance floor.


    A number of the more gregarious students were already at the center, busting their moves, while most were congregated around the punch bowl, sipping on their drinks and sampling the bites. Jonas was still trying to get his bearings - it was a reception wilder than what he could have imagined, given the school’s black-and-white fa?ade.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    "Hello." A glum and particularly unexciting voice broke out through the thumping bass in the dance music. It belonged to a tall, lanky boy, who slouched over, had hair covering one eye, and whose other eye was half-closed with boredom. Or was it jadedness? Jonas could not tell, but he was quite sure that this fellow’s entire demeanour was at least equally as glum as his voice.


    Finally, someone who seems as out of place as I am.


    "Hey there,” greeted Jonas. The boy’s rolled up jacket sleeves revealed dark brown arms, and his only visible eye had a deep green iris, making it look like he did not come from the region.


    "Dance floor. Crazy ain’t it. Can''t wait for the real open house event to start. Then things will quiet down. I hope." After a short pause, the boy continued, "Clem. That''s the name. What''s yours?"


    "Jonas. Nice to meet you, Clem."


    "So. What you here for? Gonna pick Heartspell, or just shopping around?"


    Shopping around?


    It never occurred to Jonas that there would be students here who viewed the top school in Nostriva as simply one of their prospective choices.


    "Uh... well, I think I''m happy with settling on Heartspell. You?"


    "Yea. Me too. I mean, I don''t plan to leave Nostriva any time soon. And this be the best magic school around here." Clem paused for a bit, surveying a group of very well-dressed students socializing just next to the canapé. He nodded his head in their direction and said, "They look like the kind who can take a trip to Rivosh, or Vxtraei, or wherever to hunt for a magic school."


    Jonas followed Clem''s gaze and saw shoe laces with diamond tips, jacket zippers of pure gold, and school bags that floated along next to their owner, probably powered by the same technomagicry that was responsible for levitating the disco ball. One of them noticed Jonas’s staring, eyed him from head to toe, then scrunched her nose. It looked as if he failed her evaluation on all counts.


    "What a way to flex…" commented Jonas, who was doing a quick mental calculation and surmised that whatever they’ve spent on just one of those shoes or bags would probably be enough to cover his entire family’s expenses for an entire year.


    If only I was born into wealth – or even a famous lineage of mages.


    “So. Most kids here dream of a straight elevator right up to the top companies once they graduate. You thinking along those lines too?"


    "I''m just happy to take what I can get. You?" It was true. But his answer came more from a place of ignorance than acceptance.


    "You be a good soul. I''m here to learn emotion-based casting. You know, they don''t teach it anywhere else. Gotta use a stupid medium, or artifact, or some other crap to channel the magic."


    “Oh, you gotta use a medium for that?” said Jonas, before kicking himself.


    Of course you do! Mages use mediums to cast spells, remember?


    “I mean, uh,” he scrambled, trying to disguise his ignorance, “how else do you get the mana flowing then? Without a medium, I mean.”


    Clem frowned at him for a bit. “Ehh, hmm. Say. Jonas, am I right?” he asked.


    Jonas nodded, apprehensively.


    Clem continued, “What magic lineage are you from?”


    Jonas squinted at him in confusion.


    “What magic family are you from - your family name,” said Clem, clarifying himself.


    “I – uh,” muttered Jonas.


    There’s no way to wriggle out of this now. Can’t believe I got caught so quickly.


    He continued to stutter; mind completely blank.


    "Ah. I see it now,” said Clem, wagging an accusing finger in Jonas’s direction. The boy’s heart sank.


    Clem continued, “You be one of those normies who got a genetic anomaly, and then got scried by Heartspell – lemme guess, probably the only mage in the whole family, eh?”


    How did he know?


    “Ye- yes, that’s how it went. Yea,” admitted Jonas sullenly, expecting to be blacklisted and shunned for the rest of his time here.


    “That’s bloody fantastic,” said Clem with a wide, welcoming smile, while patting his back firmly.


    Huh?


    “You know, Jonas,” started Clem, “Even though I’m one myself, I absolutely cannot stand those snobbish folk from ‘renown’ magical lineages. They be so hard to talk to. Man, am I so glad to have met you.”


    That was unexpected, but I’ll take it!


    Jonas let a huge weight fall off his slumped shoulders, and a smile appeared on his face. After all, his abnormal magical lineage was not only known, but also welcomed by the first acquaintance he’s met here.


    “Glad to have met you too,” said Jonas, feeling the most optimistic he’s been all day.


    Clem continued, “Anyway. As I was saying. Heartspell''s the only one who knows how to work the real source of magic. No need for mediums and all that nonsense. Straight to the source. That''s why I''m here – to learn how to do that."


    But before the lanky boy could continue divulging any more of his erudition, the music stopped thumping, the lights stopped flickering, and the disco ball swirled into a tiny portal, which eventually itself disappeared without a trace.


    "Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen!" boomed a loud voice at the front of the room. "You are all S Tier prospective students, and that means the mana flowing through your body has greaaaaaat potential!"


    The voice belonged to a man adorned with a black top hat, a three-piece suit, and a very well-polished pair of shoes. At any moment, one might expect him to pull a rabbit out of that hat.


    "Representing the school’s administration, I warmly welcome you to this open house exhibition. It will be so spectacular; you won’t even think about looking at another school.”


    The large group of prospective students began chatting excitedly amongst themselves, and Jonas could hear bits and pieces of their loud conversations. Some of them were already plotting with each other the best exhibitions that they should go to first, based on rumours collected from past years’ intake.


    “Fret not!” continued the man with the top hat. “The Principal has already approved of pulling out all the stops, so even the super exclusive InfiniteTimeSuspension magic spell is already in place – and you can all feel free to spend as much time as you want at any location!”


    “No way, InfiniteTimeSuspension? This school be so dang loaded,” whistled Clem, before he noticed Jonas’s puzzled look. “Oh. You’ve not heard of it.”


    Jonas nodded sheepishly.


    “Basically, the spell is cast over a very specific location – in this case, the school. Time for everyone and everything in the school flows normally, but once you leave the gates of the school, you’ll find that only one hour has passed for everyone else. Since this be the Infinite version of the normal TimeSuspension spell, you can literally spend multiple lifetimes here before it runs out. Not that anybody would.”


    “Sounds like the school’s really splurging on us, aren’t they?” said Jonas.


    “Yea. They could’ve just used the normal version; the Infinite variant is a rare and expensive spell, something only the likes of Heartspell can afford. I’m not surprised if they be doing all just to impress the S Tiers from those ‘renown’ magical families.”


    The smartly-dressed administrator then spread his hands wide, his countenance overflowing with excitement, and in an instant, the stage he was standing on disappeared, leaving him levitating in mid-air. His body was juxtaposed by a dozen after-images, which flickered and leapt from side to side before spreading out in a circle around the entire room. The circle of doppelgangers simultaneously landed down on both feet, now fully solid and visible.


    Some of the other prospective students were bewildered by the spectacle, rubbing their eyes in amazement, and checking with each other that there were indeed a dozen smartly-dressed administrators standing around the room, when previously there was only one. Almost in tandem, the doppelgangers lifted their hands up to the right, and a shimmering white screen popped up, one for each administrator clone.


    "Step on up and place your palm on the screen! You will be portalled to the destination of your interest. Let the open house exhibition begin!" shouted the original administrator – although, if it was a clone who spoke, nobody would have been able to tell the difference.


    Words began to appear at the top of each of the clones'' heads, describing where their particular portal led to. “Technomagical Engineering”, “History of Emotions-Based Casting”, “Feelings of the Past and Future”, “Terraforming Technomagicry”, were some of the titles Jonas managed to read before a group of excited students pushed past him to take their pick of the portals.


    "Now. That be even more amazing," said Clem. "Did you see how he made all that happen without touching an artifact, or uttering some mumbo jumbo, or drawing a magic circle?”


    Jonas nodded. “Is that what you called emotion-based casting?”


    “Exactly,” said Clem. “To me, that be real magic.”


    “Wow.”


    “Anyway, I got my mind set on that exhibition right there,” he pointed to the one that seemed to be attracting the most people. “You coming or not?”


    Jonas shook his head. He needed more time to digest everything.


    Although the technomagical spectacle had no effect in winning over the already-committed Jonas, the impact was not lost on him. Just now, he felt his heart thumping in excitement for the first time in a long time as he witnessed that skilful display of very real magic, wielded by an actual mage, who cast it right before his very eyes.


    But as of late, excitement was not an emotion that could last long in Jonas’s soul. A nagging fear gnawed at the back of his mind, and soon enough, familiar worries dampened down that short burst of adrenaline that he had just felt.


    That’s what an S Tier mage should be able to do - so how am I supposed to match up to that! Did the school make a mistake when scrying me as an S Tier?


    Noticing Jonas’ forehead wrinkle up into creases deeper than those on the ancient scrolls in his mother’s archives, Clem put off his original intentional to head off into one of the more exciting portals. He stroked his chin while surveying the available portals, quickly scanning the titles atop each of them.


    “I think you’d like this one, Jonas,” muttered Clem under his breath as he gently prodded the boy’s slouched back towards it.


    Crushed by the weight of the same doubts that beleaguered him during his arduous train ride to Heartspell, Jonas responded mindlessly to Clem’s gentle push. He lumbered over to the nearest portal in that direction, barely looking at the sign that would tell him where it led to, and placed his hand on the white screen.


    Darkness quickly enveloped all around him.


    His fingers and toes suddenly felt as if they were disconnected and cold, and for a split second, he could not move them even if he wanted to. He was shaken out of his doubtful stupor, and almost began to feel afraid, when the darkness rescinded as quickly as it came, and gave way to a slightly warmer lighting in a completely different space.


    Teleportation - it’s gonna take me some time to get used to this.


    He wriggled his fingers and toes, and was relieved to feel that they all have regained their sensation. The cold numbness was gone, and he could twitch them to his heart’s fancy.


    Having ascertained that every part of him was safely ported over to the new location, he took a look around. His eyes searched for the corner of the room, and found that it was much further away than he’d thought.


    This – it’s not just another room, it’s huge! It must be an entire exhibition hall.


    Nearby, there were a number of booths set up all around, full of colour and activity. A large floating sign read, “Magic in Your Daily Life”.


    That must be the theme of this exhibition.


    With all that liveliness around him, Jonas couldn’t help but put his worries aside. Clem emerged from the portal just in time to see a small smile appear on his face. He patted his friend on his no-longer-slouching back, and they began exploring.