The weekend passed by pretty quickly, and before she knew it, Ara found herself standing before the humongous iron gates of the famous Academy. She had passed by the place a few times when she was out, and had definitely heard and read a lot about the dealer-training school that had been around for generations. Ara had always known that the school was big, but now that she was standing in front of it, the aura that she felt from the students passing by as well as the overwhelming magical essence oozing from the school made her feel even smaller. She would have to admit that she was intimidated, but definitely not terrified. After all, the Academy had always been her dream since she was a kid. And now that she had her Warrior, she felt as if nothing could bring her down.

With a content sigh, the girl pulled her luggage behind her, her Warrior card safely tucked into her brown leathered card case that she clipped onto her belt. Her uncle had informed her about the importance of keeping one’s deck secure and easily accessible to one’s person at all times, and had thus handed her one of his old card cases. Ara was absolutely delighted at the attention she received from him, although way past due date. Deep inside she knew it was kind of superficial, but at that moment, she was just glad that she was being treated as part of her family.

Besides being the main training ground for Dealers to utilise their cards, the Academy also provided lodgings for every single one of its students, unless they opted to reside in their current households. The school grounds had ample amounts of space for thousands, and even though it may seem small on the outside, the magic infused with the Academy made it a lot bigger than it looked like it was. Ara was absolutely dumbfounded when she found out that she would be having a house all to herself, away from the chores that she had to complete back at home.

And also from her cousins’ unwelcomed visits.

After settling her stuff at the house she was assigned to, Ara quickly packed up a few essentials in a small bagpack before making her way to the main building. Her house was gigantic for just one person, boasting two floors and a small patio at the back that overlooked a vast forest. She had been assigned to the house near the edge of the school’s boundaries, which was understandable because she enrolled so late. But that also meant that she would need extra time in the morning in order to get to school on time. It was going to be tiring, but Ara didn’t mind. She was just glad that she was finally within boundaries instead of outside.

Upon reaching the main building, Ara took the chance to breathe in the sight before her. There were students who were enjoying breaks, some studying and some training with their Warriors. It seemed like a pretty normal school, except for the fact that the students here studied to control their Warriors. Ara watched with curiosity as a Warrior with blonde hair was instructed to direct her attacks at several targets hung around a few trees. The female’s hands flashed an orange-y hue, before both her palms encircled floating balls of fire.

A Fire Element.

Ara had vaguely read about the nature of a Warrior’s power, and she remembered fire being one of the elements that a Warrior could control. She only read about their attacks in books, so seeing theories come to life was undeniably fascinating to the new girl.

The blonde Warrior then fired both her attacks towards the targets, and everytime she released one fireball, she would immediately conjure another one to follow just seconds after. Her movements were precise and fast, and the way the Warrior flipped around to accurately fire her attacks made it seem like she was dancing gracefully over the school ground. Her steps were light, and her body didn’t stay at one place for long. In Ara’s eyes, the Warrior looked like just a blur of long, blonde locks.

After a while, the female Warrior was done with her task, and she looked like she didn’t even break a sweat. Her long hair still rested elegantly on her back, her head bowed in respect to her master. The black halter top and jeans made her hair stand out more than it usually would, and her dark brown, suede boots shuffled together.

Her Master, which was a black-haired boy with his dress shirt left untucked outside his navy blue jeans, looked somewhat satisfied with her performance. He paced around the trees in order to get a good look at the destroyed targets, and his pleasant smile quickly melted into an angry frown when he picked up a target that was not ‘perfectly’ destroyed like the others.

Ara winced as the boy began to shout his disappointment and frustration at the lack of consistency from his female Warrior. The girl bowed her head even lower, despite the cold look still plastered on her face. she may not show it, but Ara knew the warrior was worried for herself, as seen from the way her fists trembled beside her.

His words make him sound like J.seph.

And she knew how harsh J.seph's words could be. With the similarity in tone that the boy was using in his words compared to J.seph's, Ara felt sorry for the graceful warrior. She then turned to enter the main building.

The people here are all the same, I guess.

♤ • ♡ • ◇ • ♧

After her meeting with the principal, Ara received her schedule and was directed to her classroom. She was informed that her books would be arriving later in the evening, and she was thankful that her only class for today wouldn’t require books. Which only meant that the class would be training with their Warriors.

Hopefully I can learn a few new tricks with the blondie.

Before long, Ara had reached her classroom, and the guide informed the teacher of the new addition to his class. Ara waited patiently before she was instructed to enter her classroom.

The girl’s hands were clammy with sweat, and her heart palpitated so hard that she was afraid the whole room could hear it. It was her first class at the Academy after all, and no one could blame her if she was a little nervous. The whole class quietened down once the teacher, Mr Kim, informed them of their class’s newest addition. Ara gulped before introducing herself.

“Hello, I’m Kim Ara. Nice to meet you all,” Ara was thankful that she didn’t stutter, even though with the way her body was acting, she was sure she would. Her class didn’t say anything else, and only looked at her with curious eyes. She could already sense the confusion and curiosity at having a new classmate way past the enrolment date. Ara braced herself to answer some questions regarding her enrolment with the way the class slowly started to chatter amongst themselves, but luckily, she was saved by Mr Kim’s lack of patience.

“Alright, go take a seat over there.”

Ara breathed a sigh of relief and quickly made her way to her assigned seat with hurried steps and a bowed head. Upon sitting down, her deskmate turned to her new partner.

“Uhm, hello. I’m Shin Yuna,” Yuna brought out her hand for Ara to shake. Ara gingerly put her hand in hers, not expecting her deskmate to introduce herself first.

“Hi, I’m Kim Ara.”

“So, Ara,” Yuna continued to converse with her new partner. “Why did you enroll so late? Most of us enrol once we reach about twelve years of age.”

“Uhh..” Ara’s brain went into a frenzy. She remembered how students here enrolled once they got their first card, which for most, was between 12-13 years of age. Her enrolling so late was sure to arouse curiosity and suspicion from her peers, and she was afraid of what they would think once they knew. They probably had at least a deck in their hands by now, as compared to her just having one card. She was sure she would be the joke of the school.

Thankfully, Ara was saved by the bell, and she took it as a sign to immediately flee the place before her classmates started to pile questions on her. As soon as she left the classroom, however, her new friend caught up to her, much to her displeasure.

“Hey Ara, aren’t you going to answer my question? And what ranked cards do you have?” Ara tried to quicken her pace to lose the incessant questions, but ultimately failed. Yuna was persistent.

Ara was adamant about losing her however, and was about to run before a new voice jumped into the conversation.

“Hey, Kim Ara. Its rude to ignore people.”

The eighteen-year-old felt her blood run cold once she registered the new, but very familiar voice. She groaned.

I forgot that she was in this school too.

“Somin,” Ara plastered on a restrained smile once she faced her cousin, who was currently looking at her with her arms crossed, her expression unimpressed. “Its rude to into others' conversations as well, don’t you think?”

Her cousin scoffed at Ara’s reply, clearly ticked off but she continued to taunt. “I see that you’re a little haughty now that you have a card, huh? What happened to that weakling who had absolutely nothing just a week ago?”

Whispers immediately erupted from the students who had stopped by to listen to the commotion between the newbie and their queen bee. Ara heard the gasp of surprise from Yuna who was just beside her, and she could feel the cold sweat starting to form on her skin. Somin would really do anything to embarrass her.

“She’s not a weakling anymore, Somin,” Ara was absolutely annoyed by this . She may be her cousin, but she never treated her like one. None of her cousins did. “I have an S-rank now,” Ara could hear the inaudible gasps from the students nearby, especially Yuna’s. clearly they were all astonished by her revelation, as it was extremely difficult to get such a high-ranked card on your first try. Getting a high-ranked card in itself was already difficult, and hearing how the newbie just got one like that made them envious.

Ara could clearly see the surprise in the way her cousin’s eyes widened a little, even though her expression remained stoic and arrogant.

“Yeah, I have an S-rank now, just like you, Somin,” She thoroughly enjoyed how she was able to ruffle Somin’s feathers, and continued on with her taunts. “And I’m sure that you can expect a battle with me soon.”

The gasps were the loudest at his moment. Hardly anyone could defeat Somin, because she was known for her ability to think on her feet and utilise her Warriors’ strengths and weaknesses perfectly according to the situation. Having a newbie openly declare battle with one of their strongest Dealers was definitely worth the commotion, and the whispers got louder. Ara knew that her words were really a stretch right now because she knew nothing about battle, and she definitely passed off as a naïve and arrogant person with the way she was talking. She knew she could never defeat Somin, but she was too immersed in her emotions to care.

Somin simply smirked. “We’ll see about that,” Ara felt the harsh bump against her shoulder as Somin passed by. “Little cousin.”

♤ • ♡ • ◇ • ♧

“You’re related to the Lee Somin?”

Yuna was absolutely stunned by Somin’s revelation, so for the rest of her break, Ara had to deal with her incessant questions. She was sure she was going to develop a headache the longer this dragged on, but its not like she could completely brush her off either. Yuna was her first friend in the Academy after all, and she had expressed nothing but her wish to become friends.

“She’s my cousin, yeah. No big deal.”

“No big deal?” Yuna slammed her spoon down, the table shaking lightly from her outburst. “Lee Somin is one of the most powerful Dealers in this school! From her defence to attack tactics, as well as her quick wits, she is very well-respected and acknowledged by even our teachers!”

“Sure, no doubt about that,” Ara rolled her eyes at her cousin’s reputation at the Academy. Somin was strong, undeniably, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t be humble about it. “She’s still a though.”

Yuna seemed offended on behalf of Somin, and scrunched her eyebrows in annoyance. Ara didn’t understand her. She wasn’t even the one being ed about!

Yuna said nothing about the comment however, and continued with her questions. “So that means that B.M, J.seph and Jiwoo are your cousins too?”

“Regrettably.”
 

“Oh my god, Kim Ara,” Yuna hit her arm in excitement. “You’re related to a few of the most powerful Dealers in school! And to think you just openly declared war on your cousin like that,” Yuna shook her head. “It’s not going to be pretty.”

Of course it isn’t. Me and my stupid mouth.

“By the way,” this time it was Ara’s turn to ask questions. Yuna looked up from her drink, her eyes sparkling with curiosity. “You heard what Somin said. I got my first card just last week,” Ara swallowed her food and tried to gauge her new friend’s expression. “Why…are you still hanging out with me?”
 

Ara didn’t need to say it, she knew Yuna understood what her underlying message was.

I’m a disgrace, a shame to my family. Why are you still hanging with me?

For once, Yuna didn’t look shocked or excited. She looked somewhat…empathetic. Ara wondered why.

Yuna swallowed her food and sombrely placed her spoon down, her eyes a little downcast. “I…got my first card really late too, when I was 14. I felt out of place when I first entered school, because everyone was already heaps ahead of me. It took a while for people to begin to accept me, so I know how not fitting in feels.”

Ara really didn’t expect someone else to get their first card late either, although not as late as hers. But she could deeply relate to Yuna’s feelings of being the ‘odd one out’.

“Luckily for me, my parents never gave up on me despite not getting my first card at a time in which everyone had gotten theirs. They thought that it made me special, and that’s how I got the courage and determination to continue on in this Academy,” Yuna finished her story with a genuine smile on her face.

Their situations were similar, in the sense that they were both the ‘odd one out’ in this society. Yuna however had the luck of having people cheer her on at her worst, while Ara pushed through the consistent discrimination and disappointment from the very people that should’ve been there for her. Ara would be lying if she said she wasn’t envious of Yuna’s experience, but the eighteen-year-old was way more glad about the fact that Yuna didn’t have to go through an experience like hers. They understood how each other felt, and Ara was grateful that Yuna was willing to share such a personal experience. Yuna didn’t have to continue to befriend her, but she did, and that made Ara believe that Yuna would be a very valuable friend.

Maybe there are nice people in this school after all.

The bell rang not long after, signalling the end of break and the start of yet another class. Ara recalled that her next lesson would be the last for the day, and it was the one which didn’t require books. She wondered what she would be learning.

“Oh yeah, Ara!” Yuna exclaimed once she realised something. She was back to her chirpy self, and even though Ara first thought of it as annoying, she was glad Yuna was happy again. “We have a training lesson next, although Miss Dylan told us not to prepare anything because we’ll be having a Placement Test!”

“A what?” Ara was not at all familiar with the term, but she was sure they would need their cards.

“A Placement Test! Its where the teacher will decide how much training you would need for your specific cards and skill sets, so they can group the ones with similar problems together and target their specific weaker points,” Yuna explained to the confused eighteen-year-old.

“But, don’t you guys already know that by now?”

“Not for us, silly!”

Ara felt her skin turn cold and her hands turn clammy as Yuna further elaborated.

“We’ll get to see what your S-rank can do!”