Friendship

Even Alastor was visibly surprised by what had happened. He was one of the people who believed that Arcanists needed to know about hand-to-hand combat, and that a trained body indicated a more focused and capable mind to practice magic.

Therefore, seeing Kai's agile and powerful movements, he was impressed. Of course, everyone there was still just a student, and he was in a completely different world of power.

Nefarios was on the floor, feeling a strong pain in his back. He got up, and was already preparing to continue the duel when Alastor's voice echoed through the gym, "The duel is over. Both of you passed."

It was there that Kai was sure that the nobles had more benefits than the other students. Jane had already warned him, but that was the first time he had seen it in person.

Nefarios had done nothing in the fight. He was unable to use a single spell during the entire duel - and the duel was precisely to show the use of spells in combat - and yet he passed the test without any problem. Kai was sure that if it were the other way around, he would have been failed by Alastor.

Of course, these were just thoughts inside his mind. He didn't say anything out loud, and greeted Nefarios after the duel. They maintained a certain friendship so there was no need for fights.

"That was incredible," Nefarios said with an excited smile, "Your movements were impressive."

Nefarios' speech seemed sincere, and Kai was happy with that. "Thanks, my friend. Next time I want to see how powerful your lightning spells are."

"Sure, you can count on it."

The last duel came to a closing, and all the students sighed in relief knowing that they had passed. It wasn't a difficult one like the tough semester exams, but still got into their nerves.

After one more class of the day, and plenty of time inside the library, reading, they returned to their dorm. Trevor was the first to complain.

"We have six books just for Introduction to Magic," he said, "This is killing me."

Kai shared the same feeling, "And this is only the start of our year. Imagine the things we will go through till the end."

Trevor dramatically pressed both hands to his head, "Don't tell me. Damn, I need something to eat to make this less painful."

With a movement of his hand, Kai checked his pocket-watch. He looked at Trevor and said, "It's pretty late. Do you know of a place?"

The Brainheart academy was big enough to handle a few restaurants inside. With that many students, the profit was there to be made.

"Yes, I know one. Let's go," Trevor said as he got up from his bed and moved toward the door.

Kai trusted his roommate and the two left the dorm. It was quiet outside. Most students were sleeping or studying inside their rooms.

Of course, there were a few students walking around, but the number was pretty low.

The restaurant Trevor had in mind was far from the rest, and its building was entirely made of wood. It was easy to see that the restaurant was not fancy.

"Many commoners like us come to his restaurant," Trevor explained, "It's pretty good and cheap."

"Awesome," Kai said.

Despite being a restaurant frequented by many commoners who were studying in Brainheart, there was no one inside. It was really late.

The person who worked there was surprised to see Kai and Trevor, "You are lucky because we were about to close."

They ordered some food, and ate outside in one of the courtyard benches.

"Do you like it?" Trevor asked.

When he looked to the side, Kai was destroying the bowl of pasta, eating as if there was no tomorrow. "Yep, pretty good," Kai said, just barely as his mouth was full of food.

They ate and enjoyed the night's breeze, taking the moment to talk about the things happening inside the school. Despite all of the hardships, they were still excited to be there.

"We will both graduate and get good jobs in the future, I am certain of it!" Trevor said.

Trevor wanted to make his family proud, and more importantly, give them money so that they could have a better life. His parents sacrificed a lot for him to study at Brainheart, and he wanted to repay them.

Kai, on the other hand, had some problems with his family with everyone leaving and going to a different location. He still didn't know what the future held, but he knew that having power would make things a lot easier.

Anyway, eventually one of the guards came to speak with them. "Hey, you need to return to the dorm. It's midnight already."

"What?" Kai and Trevor said in unison.

They had lost track of time while talking about life. The students were not locked and could walk around and even leave Brainheart — though this needed a permission — but they couldn't be roaming around that late.

Kai and Trevor returned to their dorm. On the way back, Trevor kept telling how they would both succeed in life, and that all the hardships would be worth it in the end.

He was a good friend. Trevor was one of the reasons Kai's life hadn't been a living hell.

Trevor opened up their dorm with a smile and the two went inside. Then, something happened.

A cloaked and hooded person was inside their room, and when it noticed their presence, it attacked. The person grabbed a wand from the robe's pocket, and cast a spell toward Trevor.

"Watch out!" Kai said, trying to warn his friend.

It did not work. The spell was of the windy type, and it cut Trevor like a razor. His body was cut in half, and he was still smiling even after dying.

Kai was shocked. His friend was there a moment ago, and then he was not anymore. He didn't know what to do.

'I can't face this person. I need to hide and ask for help!'

He tried to open the door again and leave his dorm, but the hooded person was using some type of spell to pull the door and make it impossible for Kai to leave.

So, the only option was to run and hide inside the bathroom, and that's what he did. Once inside the dorm, Kai thought about what to do. His mind still couldn't comprehend what had happened.

'Trevor is dead… Trevor is dead…'

Then, Kai started to feel a familiar energy emanating from his pocket-watch.