Draeyer Academy
Drae Skyland
Northeastern Space

Alec awoke from his comfortable bed when a ray of sunlight landed on his eyes. With a groan, he took one pillow and covered his face. Like all the other nights, he had trouble sleeping early. He wanted to rest the moment his head landed on the soft pillows but nothing he did worked.

Two days ago, after his exam paper was corrected, Gael snagged it away from him before he could see the results. He remembered how his eyes bulged and the laugh that came from Headmaster Donovan. By his reaction, and the fact that he allowed him to lock himself in his dorm room for the entire day yesterday, said the answer all too clearly. He managed to answer everything, seeing that most questions were almost similar to the ones Alen gave him when he tutored him. Some of which, he was unsure of the answers.

Soft knocks on his door caused him remove the pillow from his head. The only person who knocked on his door since yesterday was Grandma Eden, and it was only to bring him food. Gael requested it so, because Alec wanted to be out of the other students' sights for as long as possible.

With another groan, he rolled off his bed, and went to answer the door. He grabbed the bronze knob, and pulled it open, only to stiffen when he saw who stood outside his door.

"Good morning!" a group of guys around his age greeted him. Alec stood there frozen, as his gaze ran over their faces. Some were already in their uniforms while the rest stood there with their sleeping clothes. A couple of them raised their brows at his reaction. Alec's hold on the knob tightened and he looked down at the blue carpeting of his room.

"Good...morning," he said, his tone quiet.

"Uh...huh," said one red head. Two guys elbowed either of his sides, and hissed at him to be quiet.

"I'm Zak, year five, the Dorm Leader," a man who looked a few years older than him said. He stepped forward, with his shoulder length black hair swaying behind him. Alec looked into his black eyes and shook his outstretched hand.

"Alec," he said.

"Well Alec, some of us have been really curious about you since you came two days ago with Professor Gael, and locked yourself in here for the entire day yesterday, which includes me," he said. "Would you care to join us for breakfast?"

"Just say that you guys were curious why he got an entire dorm room for himself and―aww...quit that!" the red head said as another guy elbowed him.

"Aren't you boys supposed to be downstairs?" a clipped old female voice came from behind the group. Their eyes grew big in panic, and they scrambled to form a line and out of the way of the old woman approaching them. She carried a tray of food with her as she looked at them through her spectacles.

"We were just greeting the transferee, Grandma Eden," Zak said. He too looked panic and a few drops of sweat dripped down the side of his face.

"I already told you, not to bother him. Stubborn boys," Grandma Eden said as she shook her head. She turned her head to Alec and gave him the narrowed gaze she gave Zak and the others. Alec tensed and waited for her to speak.

"And you," she said as she walked toward him. "Shouldn't you be in your uniform already? Someone is coming to take you to your classroom."

Alec pressed himself on the door to avoid colliding with Grandma Eden as she strolled inside like it was a normal thing to do. She sat the tray down on a small table on one side and turned around. She fixed her glasses with her forefinger and examined Alec's room.

"At least, there is another person in here that knows how to clean after himself," she said. "Eat up, Alec."

"Grandma Eden, you didn't have to bother bringing me any food. I would've gone downstairs myself because mine and Mr. Gael's agreement is finally over," Alec said.

"No bother at all Alec," Eden said, "It's part of my job to make sure that new students start their day right in this Academy. And I expect you to have eaten and be dressed before an hour ends." She went to the door and grabbed the knob, but she paused halfway from closing the door and spoke. "Have a wonderful day, dear."

The door closed with a thud, and in the next moment, he heard Grandma Eden's loud voice even through the thick walls of his room.

"All of you to the mess hall, dressed or in your sleepwear, I don't care!" she yelled. Alec stood there staring at the door, torn between whether he should laugh first or go straight to the bath. He settled for the latter, and finished in only a matter of minutes. With water drops dripping down his toned body, he walked over to the closet, where his uniform hung waiting for him to wear.

He slipped on the black trousers with two white lines running on either side of the material. He donned the white dress shirt, and buttoned up the front. Next, he put on his black vest and fastened the silver links. He took the cravat and having been taught how to wear one, wrapped it around under his shirt's collar with ease, and tucked its end inside the vest. He grabbed the jacket with the same lines of white running over the sleeves and the front where it opened. As he fixed the sleeve cuffs, he stared into the body length mirror, and saw the Academy seal, stitched on one side, shinning under the light.

As he continued to stare at himself, he felt like looking at stranger. If not for his pale blue eyes, the small faint scar next to his right brow, and the fact that he wasn't stupid enough to believe that, he would've thought of himself as someone else. He took the black boots with similar design and slipped them on, tucking the hem of his trousers inside it as well.

He took a seat at the table and began eating, filling the hungry beast inside his stomach. A while later he heard a knock on his door. With a sigh, he wiped his face with the napkin, and stood to open the door. When he did, he saw no one, until a voice made him look down.

"Good morning, you must be Alec Arden," said a girl. She was short, almost in level with his shoulder, but looked around the same age as him. The white uniform, the same one as the girl Areisha's, took his attention right away, before it diverted to the girl's grey eyes. He frowned when he remembered the old man they called Headmaster from seeing the pair of orbs.

"Yes, I am," he said. She took a step back, probably to avoid straining her neck from looking up at him.

"My name is Solana Munstone, year one. It's a pleasure to meet you. I'll be taking you to your classroom," she said, and held out her hand. Like what he did to Zak, Alec shook it and felt her smooth skin against his calloused hand. He pulled his hand away at once.

"Shall we?" she said, as she fixed her white satchel. Alec nodded and went toward his bed to get his own satchel which contained all the books Gael prepared for him. Once he slung the strap over his head and to his shoulder, he went out of the room. He closed the door behind him, and when he turned, he saw the girl titling her head to one side with a raised brow.

"What?" he said. He saw her flinch, and he regretted using his cold tone on her. What she did next made that regret vanish, and replaced with an underlying sense of annoyance and bewilderment. She jumped forward and wrapped her slim arms around his waist, and pulled him to an embrace, knocking the air out of him in the process. She began hopping a few centimeters above the ground, as she squealed with her high pitched tone. Her dirty blonde hair bounced along with every movement. Alec noticed the wide-eyed and open-mouthed looks his dorm mates gave them, and he grasped her shoulders. He jerked her away from him, taking care so she remained steady on her feet. She fell quiet at first before she shrugged his hands off and gave him a wide grin, showing him rows of pearly whites.

"Opps...I'm sorry. I got carried away," she said. "You and my brother are going to get along just fine. I finally found someone he could be best friends with! In your face, Knox!" she said. She squealed once more and twirled around. Alec frowned and that seemed to delight her even more as she clapped her hands like a small child.

"I thought girls aren't allowed in the boys' dorm," Alec said, as his frown deepened.

"I have special permission," she said. She pointed at the white and red band wrapped around her left upper arm with the academy's seal. "I'm a prefect, and also because Professor Gael asked me personally to fetch you and take you to your first class."

"Aren't we running late?" Alec asked. Her eyes widened after he said that, and one of her hands flew to stifle her gasp.

"Drae's dung!" she cursed. "You're not, but I am!"

She reached out, fixed his cravat, his coat, and patted off invisible dirt which only she could see. Alec remained frozen as she did that, since the swear word escaped her lips.

Strange and unpredictable, he thought.

When he looked back at her, she had her hands to her hips, as she faced the male students. His dorm mates stiffened, as she fixed her gaze on them.

"Aren't you guys late?" she said. The moment she said that, some scrambled into their rooms, and came out a moment later with their satchels, and joined the flood of their schoolmates dashing towards the stairs. Once the entire fourth floor was free of students, she turned to face him, grabbed his wrist, and dragged him toward the stairs. Her smile vanished, and a frown etched itself on her face as they climbed down the steps. Once they stood on the ground floor, she let go, and they padded through the lobby to the large doors.

Alec winced when the sun landed on him, and unconsciously brought his hand up to loosen his cravat, feeling suffocated. Oddly enough, the rest of his clothes felt cool under the heat of the sun as they threaded up the cobblestone path. Some students walked along with them and occasionally giving Alec curious looks, much to his irritation.

"Good morning, Prefect Solana!" a familiar girl said as she came up next to the prefect.

"Same to you," Solana said.

"Good morning, Alec," the girl said to him. Alec turned away and looked to his front.

"Good morning Riki," he said, and continued on.

"You remember my name?" she heard him ask. He gave no answer and ignored her and Solana for the rest of their walk to the main building. After a while they entered the lobby, and climbed up one of the staircases. Alec tucked his hand inside his pocket as he formed a first from the lingering looks he could feel on his back. Riki separated from them once they reached the second floor, and they entered a wide hall to the right. Alec's eyes darted around, trying to memorize every corner they turned in, and every corridor they entered.

"You're going to be in Class 1, as requested by Professor Gael. Students are grouped randomly in this school, and not by intelligence like other schools in Kosmiks," Solana said. They stopped in front of one of the brown double doors lining the white hallway. Alec finally took notice that there were no students around except them both. He heard Solana muttering things about tardiness as she rummaged through her satchel for something. A second later, she took out a piece of paper, and gave it to him.

"That's your schedule," she said. "You don't have any powers yet since you don't have a Drae, so you still don't have a Power Mastery class. Instead, you're required to stay in the library until then, like all students who aren't Draeyers yet."

He took it from her and sighed as he read it in silence.

Homeroom/History-1st period
Linguistics and Literature-2nd period
Arithmetic-3rd period
Ethics-4th period
Lunch Time-
Draeology-5th period
Combat Mastery-6th period
Weapon Mastery-7th period
LIBRARY STUDY-8th period

"I'll come and fetch you from the library later so I can tour you around the campus." She knocked on the door, and turned to him. "See you later," she said as she patted his arm.

Alec watched her back, before she pulled open the door three doors down from his, and disappeared into the room. His attention snapped to his front when he heard the door open with a click. A kind woman who seemed to be around in her late 20's greeted him. Her brown eyes shone with warmth as a smile flew to her face. She opened the door wider, and spoke.

"You must be Alec. I'm Professor Meolie," she said. "You're classmates have been excited to see you since yesterday."

He only nodded and walked inside the classroom. He kept his gaze on the floor, as he heard whispers erupting all around him the moment he entered.

Once he stood in front of the large writing board, he looked up at slope-tiered seats of the room. The tables behind the one before it were higher in level, allowing the students to look over the heads of their classmates during class with ease. A set of stairs was in the middle which led the students to the highest tier of seats. Every pair of eyes in the room locked on him, and he took in a breath to look back up at them.

"Alright, young man, please introduce yourself," Meolie said.

"Good morning everyone," he said. "I'm Alec Arden. It's nice to meet you all."