?The cheering for the "Sad Prince" had been going on for what felt like an eternity. It was a wall of sound, a physical pressure against my eardrums that made me want to scream just to hear my own voice.

  ?But then, the atmosphere shifted.

  ?Headmaster Solon stepped out from the shadows of the rear archway. He didn't rush. He didn't stride with the military precision of the guards or the theatrical grace of Demian. He walked with the heavy, undeniable presence of a man who owned the very stone beneath his feet.

  ?As he moved toward the front of the stage, the noise began to die down. It started in the front rows the students closest to his aura quieting instantly and rippled backward like a wave retreating from the shore.

  ?Solon stopped next to the Prince. He placed a hand on the lectern, looking at the boy who had just held twenty thousand people in the palm of his hand.

  ?"Fine words, young man," Solon said. His voice wasn't amplified by shouting; it was carried by the wind itself, clear and crisp in every corner of the arena. "Moving. Clear. And theatrical."

  ?It was a compliment wrapped in a dismissal.

  ?Demian stiffened slightly, gave a curt nod, and retreated to the back.

  ?Solon turned to us. He looked out over the sea of faces, his expression shifting from polite host to the stern architect of our futures.

  ?"However," Solon stated, "I wish to begin with the reality of why we are here. And what Aeridor truly stands for."

  ?I watched with wide eyes as Solon raised his hand. He didn't cast a spell with a wand; he simply waved his arm over the audience, a gesture as casual as brushing away a fly.

  ?The air above the arena tore open.

  ?Massive screens of hard light materialized from thin air, shimmering into existence. They rotated slowly, displaying complex, glowing diagrams of the continent—the Human Kingdoms, the Beast Wilds, the Elven Spires, and the dark expanse of Nox.

  ?It looks like magic, I thought, my brain momentarily lagging. Then I mentally slapped myself. Of course it’s magic, Valerie. You’re at a wizard school. Duh.

  ?Beside me, Roc-ta was practically vibrating. Her tail was thumping a rhythm against the back of my legs. She looked up at the floating lights with pure, unadulterated excitement.

  ?"Shiny," she whispered. "Big magic. This is it, Val. We’re really here."

  ?"Yeah," I murmured, though my stomach was doing flip-flops. "We're really here."

  ?"The world is divided," Solon continued, his voice echoing with authority. "For a thousand years, we have lived behind walls. We have lived in fear of what is different. Aeridor was built to shatter those walls. We are here to bring you closer together."

  ?He pointed a finger at the sky.

  ?"That is why we have devised a system. A method to force integration where history has failed."

  ?The map on the screens dissolved. In its place, a new diagram appeared. It showed five silhouettes generic figures of different races standing in a circle, linked by glowing chains of light.

  ?"When you stepped through the Gate of Aeridor," Solon explained, "we weighed you. Not your body weight, and not your gold. We weighed your essence. Your mana. Your potential."

  ?He leaned forward over the podium, looking like a judge delivering a verdict.

  ?"Based on that data, we have generated the compositions. We are sending you to an apartment. You will not just attend classes together. You will live there. You will study there. You will train there."

  ?He paused, letting the weight of it settle.

  ?"In short... you will become a Team."

  ?"A Team," I whispered.

  ?"A Team of five beings," Solon clarified. "Five individuals from different corners of the Plains. You will learn to tolerate each other. Then you will learn to understand each other. And finally, you will learn to survive for each other."

  ?Roc-ta nudged me hard in the ribs, grinning so wide her fangs showed.

  ?"If I'm on a team with you," she whispered loudly, "I'm fine with anything! We can be Team Snack-Attack!"

  ?I couldn't help but smile at her optimism, but my logical brain was already running the numbers.

  ?"Roc-ta," I whispered back, "do you know how small the statistical probability is that we get paired together? There are twenty thousand students. The odds are astronomical. We’re probably going to be split up."

  ?"HOWEVER."

  ?Solon’s voice boomed, cutting through my whisper like a knife. The tone had changed. The inspirational educator was gone; the ruthless administrator had arrived.

  ?"We operate on a Merit System," Solon announced.

  ?A massive Golden Coin appeared on the screens.

  ?"Each Team is awarded points. Points for grades. Points for cooperation. Points for valor."

  ?"If you secure enough points..." Solon’s voice turned seductive. "If you fight your way into the Top Ten Teams..."

  ?The coin glowed brighter.

  ?"You will achieve Elite Status. Private dorms. Access to the Forbidden Archives. The freedom to travel. A future written in gold."

  ?"But..."

  ?Solon’s face hardened. The lights in the arena dimmed, casting long, ominous shadows across the stage.

  ?"If you cannot rise... if you stagnate..."

  ?A red skull replaced the coin.

  If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  ?"Then you are all removed. Expelled. Immediately."

  ?The crowd gasped. A collective sound of shock that sucked the air out of the stadium.

  ?"Every year," Solon said coldly, "we hold a Tournament. You can win points there. But you can also lose them. Know this: on average, four thousand students leave this campus prematurely every year. They fail. They fight. They fracture."

  ?He looked at us with a gaze that felt heavy, judgmental.

  ?"This is not a charity. This is not for the weak among us. Sink or swim. Together."

  ?Somewhere behind us, there was a soft thump.

  ?I turned to see a Cat-girl faint dead away, overwhelmed by the pressure. Her friends were fanning her frantically.

  ?Roc-ta’s ears drooped. She looked genuinely shocked.

  ?"I knew they were strict," she whimpered. "But... four thousand? That's a lot, Val."

  ?I swallowed hard. I didn't know what to think. I hadn't been paying attention to the fine print of the enrollment forms. I just wanted to escape my father’s court. But now? Now the reality was settling in. This wasn't a school; it was a pressure cooker.

  ?Collective punishment, I thought, a cold sweat breaking out on my neck. If I get stuck with idiots, I lose my life.

  ?My gaze drifted. I didn't want to look at the terrified students around me. I didn't want to look at the red skull.

  ?My eyes went to the back, behind Solon.

  ?To him.

  ?Demian.

  ?He was standing next to the Headmaster’s reserved seating,leaning against a velvet railing. He wasn't looking at the fainting girl. He wasn't looking at the red skull.

  ?He was looking at his fingernails.

  ?He looked bored. He stood there with a posture that screamed absolute, unshakeable confidence. While the rest of us were terrified of expulsion, he looked like he owned the place. Like he was already the best, and this whole speech was just a formality for the "little people."

  ?I felt a wave of nausea.

  ?I hate him, I thought. I genuinely hate him.

  ?It wasn't just him. It was what he represented.

  ?Seeing him stand there, so safe, so arrogant, brought it all back. The memories I tried to suppress. The elite parties at my father's palace. The noble ladies pulling my hair when the King wasn't looking. The whispers.

  ?"Demon child."

  "Look at her eyes. Look at that red hair."

  "She doesn't belong here."

  ?And my parents? My father, the King? He had stood by and let it happen. He was too afraid of the politics, too afraid of the nobles, to defend his own adopted daughter.

  ?Demian was exactly like them. He was a bully wrapped in silk. A narcissist who thought the world existed to serve him.

  ?My blood began to boil. It started as a simmer in my chest and rose quickly, turning into a searing heat in my throat.

  ?Maybe it's me, a small, insecure voice whispered in my head. Maybe he's actually nice. Maybe I'm just projecting.

  ?No, I told myself firmly. I saw that smirk. I saw how he looked at me in the arrival hall. He's a jerk. A pest. Nothing more, nothing less.

  ?I stared at him. I fixated on him.

  ?You jerk, I thought, channeling all my anxiety and rage into a single point of focus. I am not a lesser human. I am not a spare part.

  ?I felt it then. A familiar, dangerous sensation. A tingling behind my eyes. A pressure building in my skull.

  ?It felt like a haze was descending over my vision, but sharper. More electric.

  ?I didn't blink. I kept my eyes glued to his arrogant face.

  ?PZZZT.

  ?It wasn't a sound anyone else could hear. It was the sound of my own magic leaking.

  ?My eyes flashed.

  ?In the midst of the crowded, dimly lit arena, amidst the sea of twenty thousand faces, two pinpricks of Neon Green light ignited.

  ?They cut through the gloom like lasers.

  ?On the balcony, Demian froze.

  ?He felt it. The sensation of being watched not just looked at, but perceived with hostility prickled against his skin.

  ?He didn't have to search. He turned his head and his gaze snapped instantly to where I stood.

  ?He saw me.

  ?A girl with fiery red hair and eyes that were glowing with radioactive intensity.

  ?For a split second, his mask slipped. The arrogance, the boredom, the "I am better than you" attitude vanished.

  ?His eyes went wide. His mouth opened slightly.

  ?It wasn't fear.

  ?It was shock. And underneath the shock... something else. Recognition? Rivalry? Dominance challenged?

  ?He looked at me, and I looked at him, and for a moment, the entire noisy arena faded away. It was just the Prince and the Bastard, locked in a silent duel of wills.

  ?I see you, my eyes said.

  ?Who are you? his eyes replied.

  ?Then, reality came crashing back.

  ?"COME ON, VAL!"

  ?Roc-ta yanked my arm so hard I nearly dislocated my shoulder.

  ?"THE TEAMS! THEY ARE UP!"

  ?I stumbled, breaking eye contact. The green glow faded from my eyes, leaving me dizzy.

  ?I looked back at the balcony one last time. Demian was still there, leaning over the railing, staring intensely at the spot where I had just been standing. He looked confused. Unsettled.

  ?"Good," I whispered. "Be unsettled."

  ?But I had no time to gloat. The arena had descended into absolute chaos.

  ?"It's a war zone!" I yelled over the noise.

  ?It wasn't an exaggeration. Twenty thousand students were trying to get to the assignment boards at the same time.

  ?Gnomes were running literally running over the heads of the crowd, using shoulders as stepping stones. Elves were levitating above the mass, looking down with disdain.

  ?And us?

  ?We were stuck in the crush.

  ?"I can't breathe!" Roc-ta yelled, pushing back against a massive wall of muscle.

  ?We were being sandwiched. On my left was Roc-ta, trying to shove her way through. On my right was a creature that looked like a Troll, smelling of wet moss and stone, pressing me flat.

  ?"We're a Chicken Panini!" I gasped, my face pressed against someone’s robe. "With extra cheese!"

  ?"Push, Val! Use your elbows!"

  ?"I am! I'm hitting something hard!"

  ?"That's the Troll's knee! Hit it harder!"

  ?We fought our way through the press of bodies. It was sweaty, loud, and terrifying.

  ?"There!" Roc-ta shouted. " You name its right there!"

  ?We finally broke through the front line. We were shoved up against the barrier, breathless and disheveled.

  ?The board was towering above us, glowing with magical golden text. But because of the height of the Troll in front of us, I could only see the bottom half.

  ?I jumped. "I can't see! Who are we with?"

  ?I saw my own face or rather, my name reflected in the magical shimmer.

  ? Valerie de Valois (Human)

  ?"I'm there!" I yelled. "I'm on the list!"

  ?I jumped again.

  ?"Who else?"

  ?Next to me, Roc-ta did something amazing. She didn't jump. She scrambled up the back of the Troll like he was a tree.

  ?"Hey!" the Troll grunted.

  ?"Borrowed view!" Roc-ta chirped, perched on his shoulder.

  ?She squinted at the board.

  ?"I see it! I see the list!"

  ?She pointed a claw.

  ?"There's an Elf! Elara Moonwhisper! High Elf Mage!"

  ?"Okay!" I shouted back. "That's good!!"

  ?"And a Dwarf!" Roc-ta yelled. "Bram Iron-Eye! Hes a Dwarf!"

  ?"Yes!" I pumped my fist. "This is Great, nice job Roc! Who else?"

  ?Roc-ta scanned down. Her eyes went wide. Her tail started wagging so hard it smacked the Troll in the ear.

  ?"VAL!" she screamed. "VAL!"

  ?"What?!"

  ?"LOOK!"

  ?She pointed to the third name.

  ?3. Roc-ta (Beastkin)

  ?"I'M WITH YOU!" she howled. "I'M IN YOUR TEAM!"

  ?My heart soared. A genuine, massive smile broke across my face.

  ?"Really?" I laughed, the relief washing over me like cool water. "We're together?"

  ?"YES! TEAM SNACK-ATTACK IS REAL!"

  ?Roc-ta jumped down from the Troll, landing in front of me with a bounce. She hugged me, burying her face in my shoulder.

  ?"I was so scared," she muffled into my coat. "I thought I'd be alone."

  ?"Me too," I admitted, hugging her back. "Me too."

  ?For a moment, I forgot about the harsh speech. I forgot about the expulsion threats. I even forgot about Demian. I had my friend. We were safe.

  ?"Wait," I said, pulling back. "That's four. Me, You, Elara, Bram."

  ?I looked up at the board again.

  ?"Who is the fifth? Roc, can you see the last name?"

  ?Roc-ta looked up.

  ?ZOOP.

  ?The board refreshed. The text scrolled up and vanished, replaced by Squad 14.

  ?"No!" I groaned. "I missed it!"

  ?"Ah, too bad," Roc-ta shrugged. "Maybe they are invisible."

  ?"O No not invisiblity! what do you think what wil happend!" I mused.

  ?I looked at the blank space where the list had been.

  ?"Oh well," I said, grinning at her. "I have you. That's what matters."

  ?I felt a surge of happiness. I hadn't had good news in days. Being banished, being yelled at, being threatened it had been a nightmare. But this? This was a win.

  ?"Come on," I said, grabbing my suitcase. "Let's go find this Elara and Bram. Let's go find our dorm."

  ?I walked away from the board with a spring in my step, holding Roc-ta's hand.

  ?I was smiling. I was relieved.

  ?I was completely oblivious