Aresando flopped back on the mattress with a groan, then bounced once—higher than he expected.
"Okay. Either this bed's got springs made from mana coils, or someone cursed it to be extra jumpy," he muttered, sitting up and peering suspiciously at the wooden frame.
Jade giggled softly from her side of the room. "It's probably just the mattress. Solarnis tends to enchant everything. Even the tea kettles sing opera if you leave them alone too long."
Aresando snorted. "I swear, this place is going to kill me with surprises before I even learn a single spell."
He stood and wandered the room, hands in his pockets. His gaze landed on a tall wardrobe tucked into the corner. With a creak, he opened it—and blinked.
Inside hung a collection of pristine Academy uniforms. Long coats with silver embroidery, deep navy blue trousers, elegant gloves, and a variety of strange, overly formal hats that looked like they belonged to court jesters with fashion degrees.
"Sweet Solarnis," he breathed, pulling one out and holding it up. "Is this… velvet? They're expecting us to fight goblins in velvet?"
Jade came over and peered at the fabric, her nose wrinkling. "That one's for ceremonial duels. There's a version for field work. Less… shiny."
He laughed, tossing the coat over the back of his chair. "Well, at least I'll die looking dashing."
Just then, a deep bell rang out across the campus. It resonated through the walls, low and powerful—like a church bell married a dragon horn.
"That would be the class bell," Jade said, glancing toward the window where other students were already moving across the courtyard in tight formations.
Aresando sighed dramatically. "Time waits for no mage, I guess."
They both stood there for a moment, the atmosphere shifting. Aresando felt it first—a change in the air. Jade's hands were fidgeting with the hem of her sleeve. Her golden eyes seemed… troubled. Nervous.
"You alright?" he asked, tilting his head. "You've gone full haunted-puppy mode again."
Jade hesitated. Then she took a breath—slow, deliberate. Her gaze met his. This time, she didn't look away.
"There's… something I need to tell you," she said quietly.
Aresando blinked. "Uh-oh. Is this about the flowerpot? Because I'm pretty sure it had it out for you, not me—"
She shook her head, cutting him off gently. "No. I mean something serious."
He shut his mouth and nodded.
Jade stepped closer, lowering her voice even more. "I wasn't exactly… honest about why I came here. About who I am."
Aresando's brow furrowed. "You're not some royal guard spy or something, are you? Because that would be weirdly poetic."
"No," she said, almost laughing. "I'm… I'm a demon."
Aresando blinked. Then blinked again. "Wait. Like—horns and fire and end-of-the-world kind of demon?"
"Not exactly," Jade said, her wolf-like ears flattening slightly. "There are factions. Kingdoms. Politics. Some demons blend into the world. My kind—the lupira—we're a warrior clan, but we're also bound by an instinct. A purpose."
Aresando narrowed his eyes slightly, though his tone stayed light. "Let me guess. That coin of mine triggered some ancient prophecy?"
"Not quite," she murmured. "Our tradition is to find… a master. Not in the way humans think. More like a bond. A sacred connection we choose, at a young age. Someone we devote ourselves to."
A beat of silence.
"And you… picked me?" Aresando asked, not quite joking anymore.
Jade nodded. "I was sent to investigate who was summoned here by demonic energy. That was you. But after I met you… after you looked at me like I wasn't just a weapon or a threat… I decided."
He blinked. "That's… a lot. I mean, I was just getting used to enchanted uniforms and magic exploding spoons."
Jade looked away, her cheeks red. "I understand if it's too much. I won't force anything. But I needed to be honest."
Aresando stared at her. Then, slowly, he walked over and placed a hand on her head, gently ruffling her hair between the wolf ears.
"Let me get this straight," he said, grinning. "You're a demon princess-warrior-assassin or whatever… and you want to follow me? The guy who faceplanted into a city and argues with a coin?"
Jade blinked. "Yes?"
"Cool," he said, smirking. "Guess I better live up to it, huh?"
Jade laughed—genuine and bright. And for a moment, the shadows that always lingered behind her golden eyes vanished.
Aresando held out his hand. "Then it's a pact. You've got my back. I've got yours. Deal?"
She took it. "Deal."
From outside, the bell rang again—urgently now.
Aresando winced. "Alright, let's go pretend we're real students."
They burst out the door, uniforms half-fastened, the coin pulsing in his pocket and fate already rushing to meet them.
But this time, they weren't facing it alone.
As they walked through the winding halls of the academy, the stone walls whispered with enchantments—soft glows of magical runes flickering to life as they passed. Aresando adjusted his stiff collar again, muttering curses under his breath.
"Why do these uniforms feel like they were designed by a sadistic tailor with a vendetta against comfort?" he grumbled.
Jade giggled, the tension from earlier momentarily easing. "Maybe it's a magical test. Survive the uniform, survive the curriculum."
"Great. Can't wait for the boots to start biting."
They finally arrived at a pair of massive silver doors carved with lunar sigils. The moment they stepped inside the Moon Hall, Aresando's jaw dropped. The ceiling arched impossibly high, glittering like a night sky. Dozens of magical orbs floated above, imitating stars that slowly rotated across the room. Rows of students in matching uniforms filled the seats, and at the far end, a raised platform held several figures cloaked in indigo and silver.
A bell chimed once more—this time mellower, echoing like a call through time.
A tall woman stepped forward. Her voice, when she spoke, resonated without amplification. "Welcome to the Academy of Solarnis. You are here because you are talented, foolish, or both. Most likely both."
Several students chuckled nervously. Aresando raised an eyebrow. "At least they're honest," he whispered to Jade.
The woman continued. "Here, you will train to harness the forces that shape our world. You will learn history, combat, alchemy, and yes, etiquette. You will work, you will bleed, and you will sometimes wish you'd never applied. But those who persevere will earn more than a title—they will earn purpose."
Jade leaned closer. "That's Headmistress Vael. Former archmage of the Astral Vanguard."
"Oh," Aresando said. "So she could vaporize us with a yawn."
"Exactly."
After the welcome speech, the students were dismissed with instructions to report to their respective track leaders in the morning. Aresando and Jade stepped back into the light of the courtyard, the moon now faintly visible in the sky above.
"Well," he sighed, "that was only mildly terrifying."
Jade smiled softly, her tail swaying gently behind her as they walked. "It'll get easier."
"Only if I don't blow myself up before the second week."
They reached their dorm again, and this time the air between them felt heavier—not unpleasant, just... full. Like the world had shifted slightly.
Aresando turned to her at the door. "So... you're a demon. A princess of a demon faction. You're biologically programmed to find a master. And somehow... I'm the lucky guy."
Jade blushed, looking down at her hands. "I didn't choose the mission, but I chose you."
There was a beat of silence. Then Aresando stepped closer, gently brushing her silver hair behind one ear. "You didn't have to say any of that. But I'm glad you did. Because I don't know where all this is going—this school, this city, this weird humming coin that's probably cursed—but... I'm glad I'm not alone."
Jade's eyes sparkled. "Me too."
Just then, a loud BANG echoed from down the hall. A student ran past their door, his robes smoking and his hair on fire, screaming something about "unstable mushroom runes."
Aresando blinked. "...Okay, definitely glad I'm not alone."
Jade giggled, and they both stepped inside the room, the door clicking softly shut behind them.
And for a moment—just a small one—everything felt strangely perfect.
The door had barely clicked shut behind them when a low, rumbling sound shook the walls.
Aresando froze mid-step. Jade's ears perked and twitched sharply, and her golden eyes narrowed. "That came from the west wing."
Another tremor rippled through the floor. This time, it was followed by a blood-chilling screech — not human, not anything remotely natural.
Aresando grabbed his coin instinctively.
"Come on!" Jade shouted, already bolting back into the corridor. Aresando didn't hesitate—he sprinted after her, the hallways now bathed in a pulsing red light as alarm glyphs flared along the ceiling.
"What am I doing?" Said Aresando
They rounded a corner—and stopped dead in their tracks.
The training chamber was in ruins. A huge section of wall had collapsed inward, the floor cracked and steaming. Magical barriers sparked and fizzled uselessly. And at the center, roaring and dripping black ichor, stood a beast twice the size of a horse — horned, with jagged obsidian armor growing from its back like twisted thorns. Its eyes glowed molten orange.
Aresando's voice came out hoarse. "That thing is an A-rank…I don't know how I know this but I just know..."
Jade's face had gone pale. "It's an A-rank infernal drake. That's supposed to be sealed magic. No student should be able to summon one—unless…"
"Unless someone seriously messed up."
The drake turned its gaze toward them. It hissed, opening its mouth to reveal a burning core of magic inside its throat. Its wings unfurled with a sickening snap.
Jade pulled a spell crystal from her belt and snapped it open. A shimmering shield appeared between them and the beast.
"Back off, Aresando! I'll hold it—"
But she didn't get to finish.
The drake lunged.
Aresando moved before he even had time to think. The coin in his hand flared like a miniature sun, and his body reacted on pure instinct. In one fluid motion, he leapt into the air, the ground cracking beneath him from the force. His fist connected with the drake's snout mid-lunge—and the beast was slammed into the wall with an earth-shattering crash.
Dust exploded through the chamber.
Jade stared, speechless.
Aresando blinked, looking at his own hand like it had betrayed him. "...What the hell was that?"
The drake roared again and surged forward, but this time Aresando sidestepped smoothly, grabbed its horn—and threw it.
The monster crashed into a support pillar, which shattered on impact.
"Okay, I don't remember taking any advanced-level strength classes or fighting ones," Aresando muttered.
Jade lowered her shield, jaw slightly open. "You're... suppressing it."
"What?"
"Your power. You've been suppressing it this whole time. Subconsciously. Like your body's too strong for your own mind to understand. That's not normal."
Aresando turned back to the drake, which was trying to rise.
"I'll take that as a compliment," he said, raising his hand. The coin spun in his palm once again, this time glowing steadily. He didn't know what he was doing. Not really. But something inside him did.
A sharp gesture.
A flash of light.
A ripple tore through the chamber as a blast of pure energy erupted from his hand—not fire, not lightning, something older. The drake froze, its body twisting unnaturally as the force slammed into its core.
Then—boom.
Silence.
The creature lay still, steam rising from its limp form.
Jade walked up beside him, her expression unreadable.
"You weren't just summoned into this world randomly," she whispered. "You were chosen."
Aresando exhaled, his hands trembling. "Well... that's a lot to process."
Jade gently reached out and placed a hand on his arm. "You saved us. "
Aresando let out a shaky laugh. "I'm starting to think that coin really has an agenda."
Before Jade could reply, the academy guards finally burst through the ruined doors, wands and blades drawn—only to stop and stare at the obliterated drake and the two students standing unharmed in the rubble.
One of them muttered, "...By the gods. What are they?"
Aresando smirked, glancing at Jade.
"I'm still figuring that out."