Captain Darwin

Baxter guided the students through the whole school, making sure to explain any and all questions they had about the sights and activities that took place during the school.

Arthur found that there was more to the school than meets the eye. He also found the vast school confusing and difficult to navigate.

Oddly enough, Baxter seemed to know his way around the convoluted maze of halls and facilities.

He even pointed out the students' favourite spots to goof off and places they shouldn't visit at all to stay out of trouble.

While his face lacked a wide range of expression, speaking to him brought a sense of friendliness that could be found by simply looking.

The Squad Six lieutenant proved to be kinder than perceived by his appearance, "You don't have to get everything in your heads on the first day. I'll be giving out Guide Stones to everyone tomorrow so you won't be able to get lost."

As time flew by, Arthur came to a rather peculiar conclusion about the lieutenant. Baxter, the calm and collected four-eyed lieutenant was simply incapable of getting exasperated.

No matter how many questions they asked him, whether stupid or not, Baxter would answer.

If they repeated these questions, he would answer them again without noticing and he'd phrase his answers differently each time without batting an eyelash.

Throughout their grand scenic tour, he showed them the different facilities they would be using whilst making sure to keep them together at all times.

The castle was designed to have six spires surrounding the central. Everything in between was a maze that Arthur found impossible to understand on his first day.

Each tower held the dormitories for one of the six squads at the very top while the rest of the campus was reserved for the different facilities.

Now that Arthur thought of it, it made sense that there were flags at the top of each spire. The flags belonged to the six different squads.

In the middle of these six spires was one great tower that rose above all of them. From the ground, Arthur caught a clear glimpse of the Landing pads and the Runetrains that came and went throughout the day.

The school itself was far too large and many times, the students lost their sense of left and right and… oddly enough, up and down. One of the spires comprised an anti-gravitational room.

Upon asking about the use of this room, the lieutenant shrugged and said, 'Aerial combat' and went on with the tour.

The tour had taken two and a half hours by the time Baxter allowed them to take a break in the courtyard. Momo dropped to the ground in a heap, panting heavily while Leo took a seat on one of the park benches, breathing hard.

The courtyard was placed between two of the spires and the large one at the centre, holding healthy green trees and a scattering of park benches for students to relax.

The gentle breeze that blew through it seemed unnaturally everlasting… as though there was a spell keeping it there and steady.

The rest of the first-year students of Squad Six were in a similar exhausted state, after walking what felt like miles of land. Even Baxter seemed a little winded by the arduous task of touring the campus.

Arthur, on the other hand, seemed normal. Arthur along with one other:

Lyra.

The fiery-haired girl gave him an odd look but didn't comment. Instead, she looked away like she had nothing to say to him.

'At least she's not still as tense as before.'

Arthur lingered for a bit before turning to Baxter, "I'm curious. Where shall we find the luggage we came with?"

"Oh? That will be neatly organised in the First Year's dormitories along with your uniforms for those of you that will be staying here with us. So you don't have to worry about a thing.

The teachers send a magic spell through the items brought to the school to make sure there is nothing dangerous within them and then transport them instantly to their respective owners' beds. Was there something important you were carrying?" Baxter asked.

Arthur turned away and faced the spire with a green flag blowing in the wind, "Yeah, something like that."

"You could go and check on it if that will put you at ease," Baxter offered.

"No, it'll be fine," the prince sighed.

Arthur's mind was starting to drift to the book that was packed inside the bag he'd brought with him. It was something precious to him but also something he couldn't allow anyone to find out about its existence.

"Let's get ready to move people. We have one more place to go," Baxter announced. The First Years groaned in protest to their lieutenant's words.

Arthur chuckled as he stared at them. "Ugh, at this point, rolling feels easier than walking. Are we allowed to roll on school grounds?" Leo whined.

Baxter smirked and turned to the boy laying on a park bench, "It's never been done before. Perhaps you would like to…"

"If it isn't Lieutenant Baxter…" a voice interrupted their conversation commanding their attention.

Baxter turned to face the source of the voice. Clad in white, a group of students was standing in front of them in an organised square. They'd come almost out of nowhere.

The group exuded an air of military discipline that was far too intimidating, 'Isn't this their first day?' Arthur mentally screamed, taking in the expressionless faces of the Squad One recruits.

"Hello, Captain Darwin. You look well," Baxter replied with a bow.

The captain's eyes widened in shock before settling to a scowl, "Hmm, still as weird as you've always been. Your crop looks winded already. Are you sure they'll make it? Barthlorn is not a lenient place. They probably think it's all fun and games like the schools in Alcove."

Arthur stared at the older student speaking to Baxter. The boy had a pronounced jawline and dull brown hair. His eyes were green and full of contempt. The prince could tell he liked observing their squad and for reasons more malicious than they were genuine.

While Arthur wanted to give the captain of Squad One a blow to the gut for looking down on their lieutenant, Baxter didn't seem to mind.

In fact, the lieutenant almost seemed oblivious to the mischievous glares and snickers they were getting from the white-clad squad of First Years.

"Oh no, they are fine. They've just been walking through the whole campus. I would have been as tired as they are in my first year. They've actually held on longer than I expected them to. And they haven't complained, so I think I can work with them," Baxter replied dutifully.

Darwin's smirk vanished, "How much of the campus have you toured so far?"

Baxter lifted his notepad and began to check the different sites he'd gone checking as they toured the school, "Let's see here. I kept the infirmary for last… and that's the only place we haven't gone."

"Ah! You saved 'her' for last. I see…," Captain Darwin's malice seemed to vanish almost instantly at the mention of 'her.' "Well, good luck and send her my regards. I have one little question though. Why don't you teleport through the campus like a normal orientation guide would?"

Baxter froze up and turned back to his group of green-robes First Years. Unlike the organised group of white-clad, Squad Six was a mess in this state of exhaustion, "Well, I tried… but it's impossible with him as a part of the group," Baxter replied, pointing to Arthur.

"Ah, the new Leader. It's been long since you had one. Arthur Ember, the mana vortex among other nicknames... Quite a number of titles for your first day. Just so you know, Squad Six has never been a threat to ours… ever!

And I don't see a reason for that to change. So you can just give up on trying to beat us," Darwin winked, "Just some friendly advice… Besides, you know you don't stand a chance against Black."

It was only then that Arthur recognized the boy standing at the head of the First Years as none other than Cade Black. Cade shook his head and sighed, sending Arthur a pleading gaze that said, 'Ignore him… please!'

Captain Darwin then turned back to Baxter, "Baxter, I know you're a genius Warlock and all that but even you should be able to pull off a simple teleportation spell. I'm a little bit disappointed."

"Teleportation spells are third-tier magic spells and require a lot of mana. That said, you're right. I should be able to pull it off without a problem… but he's not like the other one I've met. We're stuck without a means of transport for as long as we're with him."

Darwin sighed, "The infirmary, you said?"

"Yeah," the lieutenant sighed. "Have your members stand close to each other and Kendra will send you there in a jiffy," Darwin announced, shaking his head in disappointment, "Show them how it's done, Kendra."

Arthur turned to Baxter and noticed the lieutenant's eyes dart about in an internal debate.

In the end, he could only give in to the Captain's orders. The girl in question, Kendra, brushed her dark brown locks to the side and cocked her head to the side, somehow looking taller as though to stare Baxter down.

She oozed a strong sense of pride that Baxter didn't seem to notice, 'Oh, Lieutenant!'

"Alright guys, gather around," Baxter instructed.

Tara was about to object but Darius was quick with his eyes which screamed: 'Keep those petite little lips sealed, you hear?'

The rest of the group seemed to have Darius's thinking and followed Baxter's orders. On the other hand, Arthur was curious as to why they were pointing fingers at him. Since when was he a reason for everyone's magic going wonky?

Everyone else had got the chance to see Arthur's disturbing entrance at the Sorting Ceremony but Arthur himself had been oblivious to the whole ordeal the Headmaster and his deputy had gone through in bringing him out of the Sorting Test.

"Is it so bad being a mana vortex?" Arthur whispered into Darius's ear.

"Do you have something to say, Rookie?" Darwin's voice boomed while Kendra, with excessive flair, retrieved her wand from within the sleeves of her white robe, which the students could swear had been adjusted to fit her a little tighter.

Arthur froze for a moment, his eyes darting around. He looked to his back and around to make sure the captain was talking to him, "Uh, no. Not really."

"Then keep those murmurs for the dormitories. In Barthlorn, you will learn that discipline is key. Baxter, aren't you teaching these newbies anything?" Darwin seemed more irritated by Arthur's whispering than anything else.

'Yikes, someone woke up on the wrong side of the nest,' Arthur sighed.