Special Zane (And Some Cast Members, But Who Cares?)

The next day, Zane was walking through The Capital with his head held up high.

"Sweet, sweet silence." Zane smiled.

For the first time, Zane was walking down the street without any insults or objects thrown his way. That was because he had the spell, Erase Presence, active. He didn't want to go too crazy on erasing his presence, so only non-mages like normal people wouldn't be able to sense him.

As he kept walking, he saw a boy and a girl walking as well. The two groups ignored each other until they collided, Zane bumping shoulders with the boy.

"Hey! Watch it!" The boy frowned at Zane, who turned around and tilted his head.

"You can see me?" Zane took note of the boy. He had short, shaggy white hair and red eyes.

"Uh, yeah? You were walking down the middle of the street." 

"You saw me the whole time?" 

"Yes, what are you-" The girl leaned in and whispered something in his ear. Immediately his expression changed from annoyed to uncomfortable. "You know what? Nevermind. It's cool." 

The two turned and began to walk back down their original path, leaving Zane a little confused. 

'Those two are mages? I had no clue…'

Zane decided to go over to the two. They didn't seem the abusive type, so maybe he could get them to answer a question or two.

"We only have a month left before the entrance test…" He overheard the girl say to the boy.

"Yeah yeah, I know…"

"Excuse me." Zane called their attention, causing them to turn and frown again. "Are you two mages?"

The boy glanced at the girl before answering. "Yeah… We're mages."

"What's happening in a month?" He asked the girl.

"The entrance exam for the Royal Academy for Mages?" She raised an eyebrow. Zane noticed she had brown hair in a bob cut and green eyes. "You don't know about it?"

"Sorry, man." The boy patted Zane's shoulder, a look of pity on his face. "I don't think the Royal Academy has special education." 

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...What?"

After realizing what they were getting at, Zane specified that he was not impaired in any way before storming off.

"Man, I feel like an asshole now." The white-haired boy scratched his head. 

"Don't. He was the one acting weird." The girl rolled her eyes. "Maybe his parents messed his mind up with their dark magic before they died." 

"That's not nice." He frowned at his friend as they went on their way. She only shrugged.

******

"One month, huh?" Lying down on the floor of his dad's hidden room, Zane looked at a small picture in his hand. 

It was a picture of his mom and dad from when they were younger, in their proper Dark Mage days. His parents looked so happy, they were really good together. He wondered who took the picture.

"I'm sure you guys would want me to pursue my education." He smiled at the picture. "Too bad I got an ulterior motive."

'First, infiltrate the academy. Not like I got anything else going on in this part of The Capital.' He planned in his head. 'Second… Bring calamity onto the kingdom of Magine. That sounds about right.'

He sat up, letting out a sigh. He patted his father's spellbook.

"By the time that entrance test starts I'll have all of your spells in my own spellbook, dad." He opened the book where he left off yesterday. "Let's get to work." 

******

A month quickly passed, and it was the night before the start of the entrance exam for the Royal Academy of Mages. Of course, to even qualify for the exam one had to be an awakened, and have their own spell book as well as wield mana.

On a high rooftop in The Capital, a white-haired boy with red eyes was doing a handstand on the ledge. He was shirtless, revealing robust, lean muscles that radiated power. Sweat dripped down his body, and a thick blue book floated near him.

"Why are you doing all this again?"

To the side, a girl with brown hair and green eyes sat on the ledge. She flipped through her own brown spellbook disinterestedly as she questioned her friend's actions.

The boy sighed before getting down from the ledge, wiping his body with a cloth.

"Lisa, like I've told you before, everyone knows that a mage's biggest weaknesses are 1: They're weak in close quarters combat, and 2: They're useless without their spellbook." He drank some water from a bottle.

"With this training, not only do I have good odds in a hand-to-hand fight, but multitasking while learning spells increases my memorization and familiarity with them in case someone takes my spellbook away during a fight."

"You know, it's really annoying when you do that." She turned the page a little rougher than usual.

He frowned. "Do what?" 

"Act like you're a normal mage." She shut her spellbook and put it aside, standing up. Then, she put on a goofy expression and waved her arms around. "Look! I'm Lanius, a completely novice Mage! I swear I'm super weak, I only have like 15 spells that can obliterate Expert Mages!"

Lanius lowered his head a little. "I don't act like that…"

Lisa stopped her little dance, picking up her spellbook and patting Lanius on the shoulder. "Sure you don't. Now let's go, we should sleep early for tomorrow."

Around The Capital, various awakened teenagers were doing similar things, preparing for the exam.

In a small, dark apartment, a boy with red hair stood in front of a bed upon which a woman lay. She was all skin and bones, and it was apparent that there was no more life in her. 

Not saying a word, the boy pulled the blanket up and over her head, hiding her from sight.

Turning to the side, he stood over a trash can, pulling out a small photo of a smiling bearded man. Around the boy floated four mini books. One of the mini books opened to a specific page, and the photo in the boy's hand was set aflame. 

The boy dropped the photo in the trash can, and he watched it burn, the embers reflecting in the boy's similarly red eyes.

"Soon." He breathed out. "I'll make them remember what they did to our family."