CHAPTER 01

In one quiet night, I was fast asleep, oblivious to the fact that my life was about to be turned upside down.

Slowly, I opened my eyes, only to be greeted by an overwhelming sense of unfamiliarity. I found myself in a peculiar room that I had never laid eyes on before. Casting my gaze downward, I discovered that my hands had transformed into those of a child. It didn't take long for me to grasp the reality of the situation—I had somehow been mysteriously transformed into a child.

The sheer strangeness of it all began to sink in. As I tried to make sense of my predicament, images flashed through my mind—unknown memories belonging to someone else. Before I knew it, those flashes subsided, leaving me with the memories of the child who originally inhabited this body.

I recalled my true name, Tennouji Sasori, but this body had its own name—Edward Jackal. Based on the memories embedded within this child's form, I deduced that I was currently residing in Phoenix House dormitory. Suddenly, a knock at the door disrupted my thoughts, and although I had no idea who it could be, I knew it would be unwise to ignore it. Without hesitation, I gathered myself and swiftly began preparing for whatever awaited me outside.

Robes, books, and various other items—I made sure I had everything I needed. As I busied myself with preparations, the door was forcefully flung open, revealing a slightly older boy with a flustered expression. He cast a glare in my direction before cautiously approaching me.

"What took you so long?! Everyone is already in the auditorium!" he exclaimed, clearly impatient. It didn't take me long to recognize him as the prefect of this house. He had been waiting for me, and now he practically dragged me along to the auditorium.

As we entered, I couldn't help but notice that the auditorium was packed to the brim. The seats below were filled with students, while teachers and staff members occupied the podium at the front. Scanning the crowd, I spotted some familiar faces—the original body's friends.

"Took you long enough, sleeping princess," one of them, Reinhard Romulus or Rein, greeted me with a teasing tone.

"Did your charming prince finally give you a wake-up kiss?" teased another, Chrom, whose full name was Chromium Krys.

I couldn't help but roll my eyes in response. "Screw you too, jerks," I retorted, not one to back down easily.

At that moment, a girl sitting in front of us turned around and chastised us, "Can the three of you just shut up for a moment?"

Rein and Chrom, clearly enjoying the opportunity to provoke her, responded mischievously, "Anything for you, Ice Princess,"

"Everything for you, Your Highness."

The girl, who I recognized as Elen Cooper, known for her strict demeanor and cold attitude towards everyone, simply glared at them before huffing and turning away.

As the commotion subsided, the crowd was instructed to maintain silence, and the headmaster took the stage to begin his speech.

"Finally, it's time for our annual Faes Catching Contest!" boomed the headmaster's voice.

I delved into Edward's memories and confirmed that indeed, there was a contest like this once a year. It wasn't exactly about catching faes but rather extracting their essence and storing it in a container. It sounded deceptively simple and perhaps sinister, considering faes were notorious for their malicious souls and trickery.

If one didn't pay enough attention, it was very possible for faes to do the same and extract your essence out of your body—a magical way of saying having your soul sucked out. The trickery would follow as the fae would usually possess the soulless body and wreak havoc with it.

What they would use the faes' essence for remained a mystery to me. As if knowing my internal question, the headmaster addressed it shortly after, saying, "Some of you might wonder what we will do with all the faes' essence we collect. Well, the answer is simple. Fae essence is the main ingredient to make an elixir—the all-powerful cure potion."

"Unlike the regular potions you find in stores, the elixir's effects are instantaneous and several times more efficient," he continued.

The crowd of students grew excited. Some were intrigued, others needed the elixir for their own use, and some were interested in selling it.

The students and teachers then moved outside to the forest near the school. The teacher showed us how to catch the faes first, and then the students followed suit.

"First, search for a fae that has its back turned to you," explained one teacher, who promptly found a fae fitting the description.

"Then, aim your wand at their wings, and chant slowly, 'Avipillus.'"

As soon as the teacher chanted the spell, glitters of light emanated from the fae, signifying the release of its essence. "Lastly, use the container you prepared beforehand to store the essence and seal it tightly."

After the demonstration, we were instructed to try it ourselves. It went fine for a while until someone from Hydra House had their essence sucked out. The fae easily hijacked their body.

The possessed student aimed their wand and tried to chant, "Tornad—"

"Vanniush!" the headmaster was quicker, immediately chanting the counterspell.

The student's body immediately burst into flames before it subsided, revealing the student to be unharmed. It seemed that only the fae was "burned" by the spell and forced out of the body.

"Always be careful, students!" the headmaster wisely advised.

We spent another good hour before the teachers deemed it enough and stopped the contest. The results were announced: first place went to Lazarus Sirius from Empusa House with a total of ninety-seven essences, second place was secured by Freya Fyns from Empusa House as well with eighty-six total essences, Ernesh Heath of Empusa House also got the third place with seventy-three essences collected. With fifty-seven essences, I took the fourth place, and lastly, Alastor Andras again from Empusa House got fifth place with fifty-four essences gathered.

"Damn, man! I can't believe you actually managed to score fourth place," exclaimed Chrom.

I was genuinely confused as Edward's memories were still sorting themselves out in my head. "I'm pretty sure anyone could do it if they put their mind to it," I blurted out.

"Nah, those guys are like nobles with advanced tutors to teach them before entering this school."

"Is that so?"

As I walked with Chrom, we accidentally stumbled upon a group of Empusa House kids. I saw Alastor, beaten up and cowering on the ground, surrounded by his house peers. Lazarus, seemingly in charge, said, "Lose to a mere nobody from Phoenix? Did you even try?"

Lazarus then kicked Alastor in the gut.

"I... I lost my focus. Please forgive me," Alastor whimpered.

"Do you know what our belief is in the House of Empusa?" Lazarus's voice dripped with venom.

Alastor barely turned his head up before Lazarus stomped it down. "It's to win at any cost."

I wanted to intervene, but Chrom pulled me over. His gaze silently warned me not to get involved.

That night, I sat on top of my bed, contemplating the events of the day. What exactly happened to me? What would happen to my original body? As I pondered these questions, a voice spoke to me.

"Do you really want to know?" said the disembodied voice.

"Who are you?"

"I'm nobody you should know right now."

I felt a sudden chill before slowly losing consciousness.

The next day, I woke up feeling confused. I tried to think about it, but decided to set it aside for later. I got ready for the day and headed to class early. Our task for the day was to defeat a golem residing in a cave below the hill. All the students prepared themselves before heading to the cave mouth.

When we reached the cave mouth, we were ordered to enter in House order. My House, Phoenix, was the first to go in.

There were restrictions for this task. We were forbidden from causing destruction in the cave, and the objective was to obtain the golem core.

Upon entering, we immediately faced a large iron golem blocking the pathway, standing menacingly.

"Well, that's a big one. Any ideas on how to defeat it?" Chrom asked.

Rein tilted his head. "Hit it until it dies?"

"Eh, might as well," Chrom shrugged.

Chrom and Rein began walking towards the golem, but Ellen and I grabbed their collars, stopping them in their tracks.

"You idiots, that's not how it works!" Ellen berated them.

I couldn't disagree with Ellen. Those two hadn't thought much about it.

"Then what's the plan, princess?"

"Yeah, we're not exactly the 'thinky-think' type, you know?"

"Shut up and follow my orders," Ellen glared at them.

Ellen surveyed her surroundings before nodding. "We dig a hole, bait it, let it fall in, and bombard it with our strongest spells."

"But aren't we forbidden from causing any damage to the cave? I'm pretty sure a hole counts as damage," I pointed out.

Ellen nodded. "If we leave the hole open, then yes. But we can patch it up later."

I raised my eyebrows, wondering if that was really okay, but decided to follow Ellen's plan anyway.

The plan was simple. First, Chrom would draw its attention.

"Hey, ugly! Over here!"

The iron golem watched as Chrom taunted it and started to chase him. As the golem's attention was diverted, Rein and I prepared our spells.

"Doxerius!" we chanted in unison.

The ground below the golem sank, causing it to stumble and fall into the hole. Without wasting any time, Ellen was ready for her part.

"Agnith!"

Flames soared from Ellen's wand, turning into liquid and then hot, melting lava. We watched as Ellen executed her spell before she frustratedly shouted at us.

"What are you guys doing?! Don't just stand there, help me!!"

We immediately did as she ordered, releasing a barrage of our strongest offensive spells at the golem. Our relentless assaults finally paid off when the golem ceased to move and slowly melted down.

The golem core was exposed and floating in the lava below.

Chrom watched with amusement. "Now, how do we retrieve it from there?"

"We throw you down, and you throw the core back at us. Easy," Rein snickered.

"You're the one who came up with it, so how about doing it yourself, huh?!" Chrom retorted.

Ellen sighed. "Grow up, you two." She aimed her wand at the core and flicked it up a little.

The core was pulled out of the lava and slowly floated towards Ellen. "Glesrium," Ellen whispered, and the flaming hot core began to cool down. She then looked at the three of us and simply said, "Fix it," while nudging towards the hole, before walking off.

Without any other choice, we did as she said.

The next golem was made of wood, and honestly, it was a bit anticlimactic. Ellen defeated it herself by firing several fire spells. One more core obtained.

The last golem was interesting—it was made entirely of mud. It detected us and immediately rushed into action. Mud oozed from its body, covering our legs at breakneck speed, immobilizing us.

"Damn it, this one is fast? Why in the world is the mud one fast?" Chrom complained.

Rein responded, "Hell if I know!"

"Wait!" I shouted. "It's hardening!"

The mud on our legs solidified, preventing us from moving.

"Incoming!" Ellen warned.

We looked at the golem, launching several mud blobs at us.

We pointed at the incoming blobs and chanted, "Egius!"

Four hexagonal shields appeared, intercepting the incoming blobs. Seeing its attack repelled, the golem prepared to launch a second volley.

Ellen then ordered us, "Quick, water! Hydroos!"

All of us chanted the same spell, causing a massive flood that slammed directly into the mud golem. Its body slowly mixed with the water before dissolving and leaving behind its core.

I walked over to the core and picked it up. "That's the third one."