Let us begin the tale—(Wait, I'm doing it again! This isn't some classic Thai literature, haha).
On the day of the entrance exam for Arcaneum Primus, Phukan's friends arrived to take their tests. Lhong was assigned the Fire element exam because he is a Fire user (though only at Level 2). The others received exams based on their respective elements: Alice took the Plant element test (Level 2), while John took the Light element test. John was a bit unlucky because the Light exam was notoriously difficult, even though the element itself is exceptionally strong.
As you might expect, they guessed nearly every answer on the theoretical part. They were clearly pinning their hopes on the practical exam. During the practical, Lhong started by manifesting a fire bird and crashing it into a wooden dummy. Alice used vines to bind her target; though it didn't deal much damage, it was excellent for crowd control. John just fired a straightforward beam of light—simple, but undeniably powerful. Most of the other applicants just used basic spells.
After the exam, they gathered to chat in the library. Achira opened the conversation.
"Lhong, that fire bird of yours was so cool! How did you do it?"
"I don't know," Lhong replied. "My hands just moved on their own."
"Are you sure they just 'moved on their own'?" Alice teased him.
"Look, if I say they moved on their own, they moved on their own!"
"Alright, alright," Alice laughed.
Then John spoke up. "By the way, has anyone seen Phukan? I didn't see him during the exam at all. Did he even show up?"
"Uh... I don't know. I didn't see even a glimpse of him," Alice answered.
Their conversation dragged on late into the night until they eventually drifted off to sleep. Suddenly, the door opened—it was Phukan. He had slipped in soundlessly. On the back of his neck, there were traces of frost—likely from using ice to stimulate his nerves and force himself to stay awake. He spent five minutes reading before disappearing back into the shadows.
His friends remained completely unaware of his presence. The next morning, they woke up without a hint of suspicion. As they packed their bags to check the results, one sharp-eyed friend noticed a single drop of water on the floor, but the others ignored it. It was just a drop of water, after all.
At the school, they rushed to the announcement board. About half of them were placed in the Aqua class, and the rest in Ventus. Lhong was shocked to see his score: 0 for Theory, but an S for Practical.
John, meanwhile, got a 15 in Theory. He thought he was incredibly lucky since he guessed everything. His practical score was only a B (since he just shot light beams, even if they were strong). As for Alice, she ranked 1st in the Aqua class because she aced the theory—she was a true botany enthusiast.
But then, Alice's eyes caught a name: Phukan.
"Guys... look at the very last rank of the Ignis class."
Everyone turned their gaze to the bottom of the Ignis list. They rubbed their eyes and looked again. What?! Phukan? Most of them thought he hadn't even shown up for the exam. Alice, however, was annoyed. That idiot... he didn't even show his face during the exam, yet he ended up in the Ignis class? Even if he is dead last...
Lhong simply smirked. I knew it. Phukan, you really are amazing. You didn't disappoint.
John was just baffled. How did he get into Ignis? He's a theory geek! Even if he got every question right, he still shouldn't have made it into Ignis...
When they returned, they were met with a major problem. The money they had pooled together was not enough to buy school supplies for everyone. They looked at each other in deep stress before Alice spoke up.
"Wait a minute! Why are you looking at each other like that? There has to be a way to get enough money. If we really can't, we might have to draw lots... but that should never happen."
Currently, their funds were only enough to buy supplies for half of the group. Naturally, no one wanted to end up unable to attend school. To make matters worse, there was the tuition fee. They weren't like the Ignis students; every student in the Ignis class received a full scholarship and didn't have to pay tuition. But they weren't in Ignis...
They fell silent for a moment until someone spoke up.
"Then why don't we duel? Whoever wins gets to move forward. This is fair because it uses our own abilities. The losers can wait until next year and use that time to study as hard as possible to get into Ignis!"
What? Fight each other? Isn't that dangerous? It's not fair for those with weaker elements! Whispers filled the room, but then someone shouted.
"I agree! We have to decide our own destiny. Why should we let others drag us down?"
The room descended into chaos as they began to agree. Alice didn't want it to be like this. She didn't want her friends to break apart. But in John's view, it was unavoidable. This wasn't the world they used to live in anymore—peace wasn't always the answer. Still, he didn't want his friends to splinter either.
Later, they gathered at the edge of town where no one could see them. And then... it began. Without warning, one friend punched another. Others tried to stop them, but it was too late. They began clashing with magic. The group split into two sides: those who started it and those who fought back. John created a light blade and began striking, though he kept the blade blunt so as not to seriously injure his friends. Lhong could only use his fists because if he used his fire magic, everyone's clothes would be burned to ash. Alice stood at a distance, watching in terror, unable to choose a side.
The side that fought back eventually won. Although no one truly wanted to clash, it had already gone too far. Alice didn't even dare pick up the money from the other side, but John grabbed it before anyone else.
John threw a bag of money to Alice before saying, "Are you sure you don't want this? If you don't take it, you won't have enough for tuition."
Alice took the money with trembling hands and immediately ran away, unable to bear the sight in front of her. The others took all the money from the losing side. Fortunately, those who lost discovered a no-rank school that offered free tuition. Even though the quality was terrible, the losing group didn't hold a grudge. They understood that this decision would have a massive impact on their futures—they understood why it had to be done.
After they returned to the school and paid their tuition fees, they walked toward the dormitories. Along the way, their eyes were drawn to the Ignis dorms—they were magnificent. Yet, no one said a word. Perhaps it was because of what they had just done. They entered their rooms, which were designed for roommates. Long was paired with John. They sat in silence for about five minutes before a conversation finally started.
"Do you think what we did was right, John?"
"I don't know. I can't say if it was right for you, but this was the best thing for my future."
Long swallowed hard and sat in silence for a while longer. John, however, chose to pick up a book and start reading. He didn't want to waste any time, even though his mental state was far from ready.
As for Alice, as soon as she entered her room, she collapsed onto her bed. She tried her hardest to fall asleep, wanting the day to end as quickly as possible so she could forget it all. But sleep wouldn't come. Her roommate tried to tell her to calm down and relax, but she couldn't. Still, she chose not to waste time; if she couldn't sleep, she would go look for money dropped on the floor. However, she pointedly avoided going back to the same spot where the fight happened—it was a place she never wanted to revisit.
Five days passed like a lie. Some managed to move on from the events of that Tuesday, but others were still stuck, unable to push it out of their hearts. Alice was one of them. She could never forget what happened that day; it would remain a nightmare for a long time. When she finally woke up from another long night, she realized today was the first day of classes. Since she didn't want to be late on day one, she hurried through her routine—showering, brushing her teeth, and doing laundry. Yes, she also had only two sets of clothes. She didn't want to spend much money; the more she spent, the more guilty she felt.
The first period was Magic Theory. Nearly a quarter of the class couldn't focus at all. That group, of course, was Phukan's friends who couldn't move on from that day. It stayed that way all day.
The next day, second period: Potions. They were starting to move on, except for Alice. While brewing, she added the wrong ingredients, leading to a scolding from Professor Betanos.
When the class ended, she went back to sleep in her room as usual.
...And then, the page of the book closed.
The person holding this book was Phukan. And yes, I wrote it myself. If you're wondering how I know exactly what happened in everyone's private rooms... well, I asked them. Or rather, I asked their roommates—Anna, Alice's roommate, and Long's roommate. These two are the type of people I know won't breathe a word to anyone if the price is right. I even paid them 1 Ignis each.
After that, I walked into the clubroom...