An awkward silence fills the air in the dorm room - it awfully feels as if they are sitting in a barren field laden with nothingness. Yena watches Yuri’s quiet figure, back turned to her, a small notebook fanned out in front of her on her desk. The scratches from Yuri’s quill pen, stopping every few seconds to dip her pen in ink before continuing, are the only sounds that can be heard within the quiet space. 

The coldness oozing out from Yuri feels horribly suffocating. Gaze boring at Yuri’s small back, Yena forcibly pushes back the questions itching to be released through her lips. 

Yena’s eyes shift on the dense package sitting on the bedside table - it is almost subject to being tossed into the oblivion of her memory. Getting on her feet, she places her chilly hands against the package, ripping it open.

The first items are uniforms, pressed and ironed. The thick white cook jackets comprise most of the package, five of them along with simple black pants folded underneath the pile. On top of it is a stringed brown coin bag, jingling with coins. Pulling the mouth of the bag open, in her view comes silver coins, marked with a pattern of a four-pointed star on both sides—Twenty-five of them. 

Yena isn’t sure of the exact value these coins hold, but at least she’s not penniless anymore. 

Another larger pouch sits next in line. Zipping it open, she takes out a toothbrush, its handle produced with light wood, the bristles soft. A small tube is right next to it. Uncapping the tube, she gives it a whiff. Strong red apple with a hint of mint - toothpaste. Twisting it over, the tube has mandrake root written on its body with purple ink.

Small bottles litter the rest of the pouch, each having a distinguishing colored powder within, secured with small corks that are easy to pull out with little force—headache, stomachache, and cough—written in a stylish font on each of the bottles. Lastly, she pulls out a small pack of matches sitting in the bottom of the pouch.

And just like that, her everyday necessities are taken care of in one fell swoop. A smile finds its way up her face. However, her smile fades, glancing at Yuri once more. The girl is desolate, writing away in her notebook as if to mask her sorrows wafting out in the air.

There is just so much Yena can take. Mustering her courage, she opens . “My lady.”

Breaking the ice of silence, the scratching of paper against the pen tip comes to a stop as Yena’s voice pierces across the room.

A resigned breath escapes through Yuri’s lips. Placing down her pen, she gets on her feet briefly, turning her chair in Yena’s direction. Sitting down once more, with a hardened, rigid expression, she says. “That… event in the classroom earlier. You’re dying to know, I can tell.”

A sheepish expression paints Yena’s face, hand on her nape. “I must have been obvious.”

“I’ve been waiting for you to just ask.” Yuri crosses her arms firmly across her chest, eyebrows knit into a frown. “But all you did was steal glances throughout the rest of the day till dinner time. It’s unusual for you to hold your tongue for that long, familiar.”

“You don’t look like you were exactly in the mood to be spoken to,” she mumbles, lips semi-pouted, fiddling anxiously with the zipper of the pouch of necessities in her hand. She carefully peeks at Yuri. “Can I ask now?”

“I’m open to questions.”

With her permission, Yena sits up properly, energy and curiosity spilling from her form. “Okay, so,” she begins, her eyes flitting up at Yuri. “Why do you that bad again?”

Yuri’s eyes narrow back at her. “Want to get hit with my wand?” she threatens.

Relaxing her back against the foot of Yuri’s bed, she looks up at Yuri. “There’s no other way to put it, is there?”

Yuri rolls her eyes with a snort. “What else did I expect from an unrefined commoner?”

“Refined is boring.”

“It’s a necessity.”

“It makes you seem like a wuss who sweetens up every word they say more than what’s necessary.”

Heaving a sigh, Yuri waves a hand in dismissal. “There’s no use arguing. Let’s just say that our parents have brought us up differently.”

Yena’s lips spread into a smile. “Mom’s fun.”

A beat of silence passes, and Yuri’s lips curl a bit in a bittersweet smile. “Family, huh…” she trails off, eyes flitting into a small framed photo perched on her desk.

Yena briefly knows of the picture’s existence. She just didn’t pay much attention to it, with everything in her life a cluttered mess. 

Power and prestige - the words effortlessly pop into Yena’s mind, observing the photo.

A family of five, all dressed up in fine, well-tailored clothes inherently different from those from her world, at least in modern times. It would fit right in historical times. 

The only man in the photo stands unsmiling, a thin, well-trimmed beard on his angular face and combed thick hair swept to the back. A mature woman stands next to him, a professional smile on her red-covered lips, eyes suggesting poised intelligence. 

Lastly, three considerably young girls are in front of them. Society’s standards can consider them all conventionally beautiful. Yena recognizes Yuri in the middle, a poised smile with a posture lacking all sorts of imperfection.

After a long pause, which felt like eons, Yuri tensely stares at the picture. “Between my sisters and me, I had always been lagging.”

Looking at the photo, no one would have guessed the family to have problems to worry themselves with. Superficiality runs even in a world barren of the internet, it seems.

“Everyone thought I was just a late bloomer, and I’ll soon be a talented mage just like my sisters. I was a Jo.” Sorrow passes through her hazel eyes for a split second, shifting back swiftly into stoicism as if it didn’t happen. “But even when I started going to this academy a year ago, the success rate of any spell I cast was the same: zero percent.”

Zero percent? Yena scoots forward. “But you still have magic, right? I mean, you blew up a classroom.”

“Fortunately, that proves I do have magic in my blood,” Yuri nods, twirling her wand in her hand, trying to explain herself as aloofly as possible. “Unfortunately, that’s all I can do. Explosions. I’ll try to fly, explosion. I’d try to heat the bathwater, explosion.”

“You summoned me though,” Yena points out, a smile playing on her lips. She is technically Yuri’s first successful spell.

“I’m honestly surprised as well,” Yuri admits. “But as usual, I’m the only one who summoned a familiar with an explosion accompanying the ritual. Others had beautiful magic circles and such.”

At least all the smoke and the panicked ruckus upon her arrival at the academy are finally explained.

“If you’re going to sneer at me, do it now,” Yuri says, avoiding meeting Yena’s eyes. Her hand now stops spinning her wand, now still, tense.

“You didn’t try every spell, did you?” Yena asks.

Yuri’s head snaps up, eyebrows raised, slack-jawed. Snapping out of the stupor, Yuri clears . “I can’t say that I have. Not exactly.”

Packing her newly acquired items into the pouch, Yena stands, closing in on Yuri’s chair, an unwavering smile on her lips. She holds a hand down in Yuri’s direction. “Let’s go outside. Let’s try every spell you can think of.”

Glancing at Yena’s hand, Yuri turns her head up, meeting her eyes. “What? I already told you, all I can do are explosions!”

Yena tilts her head, expression unchanging. “We don’t know that until we try, right? Are you absolutely sure you tried every single spell there is in this world?”

“Of course not,” Yuri replies immediately. “There are thousands of spells on the continent of Chatan alone.”

“See? I’m sure some of them would fit right in with you.”

A deep huff pushes through Yuri’s lips. “You’re not easily convinced, are you?”

“Nope. I don’t like you boxing yourself without even trying everything you can,” Yena says. “Come on, what do you have to lose?”

Yuri sighs. “Fine. Just let me change first.”

“Do you need to get dressed up for this?” Yena eyes Yuri’s silken shirt and shorts. “You look okay.”

Yuri shakes her head no, ing her shirt. “The opposite. I like this shirt. What we’re about to do is risky.”

Her words are ominous and bone-chilling, making Yena unintentionally gulp down a lump in . Sliding the zipper down her jacket, Yena slips it off her shoulders. For safety precautions.

★彡

Standing on the grassy courtyard, the area where she was summoned the day before, Yena looks around if there is anything at risk of getting hit by Yuri’s explosions. Yena waves briefly at a maid passing by several meters away. The maid waves back amicably. “Okay, I think this place will do.”

The same soft grass and the view of the distant mountain range greet them upon arrival. The night sky littered with countless stars peers down at them, accompanied by the hue of the pink and blue moons.

Plopping herself on a spot in the grass, Yena spreads the notebook she borrowed from Yuri earlier on her lap. “Think of all the spells you know, and let’s record everything on here, even if you tried them before. Let’s start from zero. Preferably with water spells? Something with water will unlikely blow up, right?”

Amusement plays in Yuri’s eyes the moment those words escape from Yena’s lips. “You think I haven’t thought that? Shield yourself.” With a wave of her wand, she says, “Aqua.”

A loud bang follows - no droplet of water emerging mid-air. Yena coughs, waving the clouds of dust kicked up with sheer air pressure from the ground.

Running her fingers through her hair, adjusting her glasses, Yuri looks at her. “Well? Believe me yet?”

Yena wipes off a spot of dust on her cheek with the back of her hand, an unbothered look in her eyes. “We’re not done yet. Think up of every spell you know, my lady.”

A frown graces upon Yuri’s face, seemingly assuming that a single spell would be enough to faze Yena. “Do you have a death wish?”

“No. Just a firm believer in trying your all before giving in,” she tells her. “I once blew up my weekly allowance and got a stuffed doll from the arcade. Tenacity matters.”

Yuri visibly grimaces. “While that sounds inspiring and all, I’m pretty sure using up your allowance for a stuffed doll isn’t something to be proud of.”

A smile plays on Yena’s lips. “Sweat the small stuff. We can do this.”

With Yena boring her gaze up at her, Yuri flicks her head in a nod, adjusting her grip on her wand. Yena glimpses a ray of hope in the girl’s eyes, making her sport a small smile. Under