Chapter 3 The Tragedy
→ ROWENA ←
The first day of actual classes felt surreal. I woke up this morning and Colette wasn’t in our dorm room. Her bed was neatly made, but her absence left a strange knot in my stomach.
She’d probably gone to the library early again. That was just like her.
I walked into the lecture hall with the rest of the first-years and found a seat near the middle.
The female professor standing at the front had sharp features and carried herself with quiet authority. She waited until everyone settled before speaking.
“Welcome to your first official day at Asterion Academy,” She began. “Over the coming weeks, you will learn to properly channel your mana, understand your Arcana, and begin mastering how to polish the fundamentals of your spellcasting. Each of you will receive a personalized grimoire that aligns with your elemental affinity. These spell books will grow with you, recording your progress and helping you refine your techniques.”
She paced slowly in front of the class.
“You will progress through three main ranks. As Novices, you start with zero points and focus entirely on control and basics. By the end of each semester evaluation, you must reach at least 3,000 points to advance to Vanguard. This rank opens up more dangerous field assignments and leadership opportunities. The highest honor is Ascendant, which requires 10,000 points. Only the strongest among you will earn the right to ascend the Celestial Tower and stand among the greatest protectors of our realm. It is the highest honor imaginable.”
The entire room seemed to hold its breath at the mention of the Tower. My heart raced.
10,000 points. That was the goal. That was how Colette and I would prove everyone wrong.
The professor then began a roll call.
“Mira Everhart?”
“Here,” Mira answered beside me.
“Lysandra Wilson?”
“Present,” Lysandra replied smoothly.
“Killian Ashbourne?”
“Here.”
I heard his cold voice.
Several girls in the back giggled and whispered excitedly.
“He’s so handsome…” one of them sighed a little too loudly. The professor cleared her throat sharply, silencing them.
“Darius Voss?”
“Here.”
“Orion Drake?”
A quiet “Here” came from the back.
“Rowena Vale?”
I raised my hand. “Here.”
The professor continued down the list. When she reached my sister’s name, she paused.
“Colette Vale?”
Silence.
“Absent on the very first day. Not an ideal start.” The professor frowned.
Before I could say anything, Lysandra’s voice echoed through the room from a few rows back.
“Some people simply can’t handle the pressure. Especially when they’re cursed from birth.”
A wave of laughter rippled through the class. My blood boiled.
I whipped around to glare at Lysandra, but my eyes accidentally met Killian’s instead. He was watching me with that same cold, unimpressed stare. I rolled my eyes and turned back to the front.
“Don’t mind them,” a soft voice said beside me.
I turned to see a girl with striking green eyes sitting at the desk next to mine. She carried a special grimoire bound in dark leather, along with enchanted ink pots and several talismans.
“They’ll do anything to feed their egos,” She continued quietly. “Just ignore them.”
I let out a frustrated breath. “They’re really getting on my nerves.”
The girl smiled slightly. “You’re a sorcerer, right? I’m a witch.” She gestured to her supplies. “We work a little… differently.”
“So you can fly and stuff?” I asked.
She laughed lightly. “Yeah, but not just like that. I need an enchanted object to channel it properly.” She extended her hand. “I’m Mira Everhart.”
“Rowena Vale,” I replied, shaking it. “Nice to meet you.”
Class ended shortly after. The professor dismissed us with instructions to head to the main library, where the librarian would provide our necessary books and grimoires.
Mira packed her things and turned to me. “Do you have any plans after this? We could hang out and explore the grounds a bit.”
“I have to find my sister first,” I said. “She wasn’t in our room this morning.”
“Sure, I can tag along if you want.”
We left the lecture hall together, talking as we walked. Mira was easy to talk to. She asked about my ice magic and shared a little about her own family’s long history with ritual magic.
We passed a stairwell leading up to the rooftop when the Headmaster came down the stairs. Mira bowed respectfully as he passed.
I didn’t.
The Headmaster paused and glared at me coldly before continuing on his way.
“I hate that guy,” I muttered once he was out of earshot.
“Who? Headmaster Edward?” Mira asked.
“That’s his name? He’s an asshole.”
Mira chuckled. “Is this about the incident with Lysandra yesterday? Let me guess — he took her side?”
“The audacity of that man,” I said, anger rising again. “I get it, I resorted to violence, but she shouldn’t have said those things about us. I badly want to hit her again.”
“I wouldn’t try that if I were you,” Mira warned gently. “Look, Rowena, you have to understand that not everything will go your way in this academy. And you really need to stay out of trouble if you want to ascend the Tower like everyone dreams of. It’s already bad enough that you’re popular on your first day. Don’t make things worse.”
“Like I care about that,” I grumbled.
We walked downstairs to the ground floor and stepped out of the building.
Thud.
A body dropped from above, landing right in front of us with a sickening impact.
“Arghhhh!!” Mira screamed. “A body!”
Screams erupted from students nearby. “Someone call the professors!” voices shouted. Panic spread like wildfire.
I stood frozen, staring at the crumpled figure. Was I hallucinating? This couldn’t be real. My mind refused to process what my eyes were seeing.
Blood, pooling around the ground where the head dropped.
“Rowena!” Mira shook my arm hard.
All I could do was drop to my knees beside the body. My hands trembled as I reached out.
“Co… Colette…” I whispered.
“Rowena… your sister…” Mira’s voice cracked.
Shock slammed into me like a physical blow. My chest tightened until I could barely breathe.
This wasn’t happening. It couldn’t be happening. I gently rolled the body onto its back with shaking hands. Colette’s wide, lifeless eyes met mine.
Her forehead was bleeding badly, and part of her face and neck showed ugly burn scars, like she had been hit with fire magic. It looked like a fire… but it was magic. Twisted, violent magic.
“Colette… no… no… you can’t…” My voice broke. I touched her face with trembling fingers, feeling the unnatural coldness of her skin.
Tears blurred my vision. “Please… wake up… this isn’t funny…”
A scream tore out of my throat, raw and desperate.
“COLETTE!!!”
Everything around me spun. Mira who kept shaking me, the students screaming and the professors who came running. But all I could see was my sister lying dead on the ground… the one person I had sworn to protect.
