“Kai,” the red-eyed professor stared down at the young man, “what would be the point in you taking the test for this class? The test puzzle maxes out at number fifty for Casters and thirty for Augmenters. Look, you're already well on your way to being exempt from the final too—and frankly—it would be a waste of your, Mayara’s, and my time to test you both. So just take the grade and get on with it.”

  “Yes, Professor…” Kai nodded slightly and turned around, shrugging at Mayara. “Looks like we’re done here.” The two left the room, pausing only slightly as Mayara waved goodbye to Professor Sangrid.

  —

  The dark-skinned man rubbed his eyes as he took off his glasses.

  “Those two…” he muttered. “They’re both more gifted than they realize. I don’t even feel equipped to teach them half the time.” With a sigh, he flicked his hand—summoning a projection of himself—and with another motion, sent it drifting out of his office to administer the rest of the day’s tests.

  The man then picked up a crystal, his red eyes reflected in the lustrous surface. With a gentle pulse of mana he coaxed the artifact into life.

  “Hello.” His smile brightened as he spoke, the professor's usual stern gaze softening.

  “Dada! When are you coming home, we miss you.” A childish voice sounded across the crystal, quiet laughter came from the other end, the voice of a woman.

  “Ah well, give your pops a few days okay? Once I finish testing I’ll be on my way home, then I can stay for a few weeks while midterms are on break.” Sangrid placed his chin between his first finger and thumb as he talked.

  “You missed The Crimson Drifting this year…” The gentle motherly voice said across the bond. “The kids were sad, and I missed you too honey.”

  Mr Borus’s eyes swam—The Crimson Drifting, or Emberfall, was when the Forest of Lindor welcomed the season of Autumn. Emberfall was a beautiful festival that happened when the leaves of the forest turned bright red and began to fall. He could still see the colors in his mind. An ethereal swirl of brittle leaves, gold, red, and orange. The smell of crisp air would blow past carrying nature with it. Golden rays of sunlight would fall through the trees, the pinkish yellow sky highlighting the backdrop.

  Leaves that had fallen away from the group crunched underfoot as the dark-skinned elves danced, their clothing catching the sun in dazzling splendor. His wife—much younger than she was now, even if one could not tell a physical difference—danced in his arms, he himself a much younger man as well. The first Emberfall festival that he had enjoyed with his wife, before their years of marriage. Before they had children and his magic stagnated, before he was caught up in responsibilities.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  After a little bit of catching up he felt a tug on his magic, the copy had faded—all the tests were complete.

  “I love you all very much, sleep tight, Dad wishes he was there okay?” He smiled at the crystal once more.

  “Night!” After a short pause his wife sounded from the other end of the phone, “Goodnight Darling, we love you too…”

  “Good Night honey.” The stone dimmed as the connection was cut. Moonlight fell through the windows, glinting off of the spectacles resting, neatly folded, on his desk. He reached down and slid them onto his face, picked up his cloak, and opened the window of his office with a simple gale of mana.

  —

  A lone figure covered by a dark cloak fell from the northern spire of the Academy, down towards the roof of the castle. Silently it ran along the ceiling, pausing intermittently to descend another tier, until with a final jump they landed on the Academy’s wall. The figure slid down the steep wall and darted off along the desolate streets below.

  A swish of the cloak—They disappeared into the night.

  —

  Later that day, Kai sat with the rest of his class in the vast arena pit, scribbling on another scroll—but this time, things were different. The whole class was situated in a massive pit in the center of the academy’s arena, around them were hundreds of cages with different beasts.

  A scarred lion with dark grey fur and white eyes—Ice King. Beside that cage sat a smaller one, with criss crossing wires instead of iron bars. A deep purple snake with long pointed fangs hissed from behind its confinement—a Viserpe. Behind him a group of students were gathered around the largest cage—a violent black drake with russet eyes and crackling yellow blood veins that ran beneath its onyx skin. It looked formidable—Draco Volcanus.

  The midterm for his Magical Beasts class was special. Each student would choose a magical beast, assist in procuring its offspring, and then raise it over the course of the second term. Kai wandered the arena, scanning the rows of cages for something that might catch his eye—until one did. Harpies.

  When most people thought of harpies, they imagined screeching, wild-eyed human-bird hybrids. But just like the myths surrounding drakes, this was another common misconception. Harpies were wind spirits—untethered, elusive, and strangely serene. The strongest of them might one day assume a humanoid form, but their young were far more humble.

  Most harpy chicks looked like tiny puffballs of feathers with disproportionately large eyes and stubby wings, chirping like wind chimes caught in a breeze.

  The specific breed of harpy that he looked at seemed different, and they were. A small mottled grey bird with blue streaks, rotund and chirping. A very exotic breed known for being especially indignant and free spirited. Kai walked over to the display and quickly grabbed an egg. The adult birds raked his arms with sharp talons, leaving bleeding cuts—but he healed them with a pulse of mana as he backed away.The mottled grey egg shivered in his hand as it fed on small wisps of wind mana filtering from Kai’s Mana-Neglection.

  Looking around he noticed a lot of his classmates had chosen their own pets as well. Jilas was sitting with a small white cub the length of his forearm, its piercing blue eyes stared into Kai as it clambered over the boy’s other pet—the drake. He smiled at it and waved to his friend, before he looked back down at the small egg in his hand.

  This was his magical beast—a Stormbird.