As the breeze lightly brushed against our skin upon impact with the brisk evening air, I felt a sense of utmost tranquility; something I haven't felt in quite a while. The horizon seemed to be stitched with a line of copper, acknowledging the transition from day to night. It was truly a wonderful sight.

"So...you ready for our tour?" Veralyn asked after a moment of silence.

I eagerly nodded. "Sure, let's go. Where are we heading to first?"

"You'll see...but trust me when I say this, by the time we concluded this tour, you're going to know the school inside out," she replied with a wink, "Come on, follow me."

As our steps thumped its way against the firm stone pavement, I started to notice how vacant the school grounds really was during that time; Veralyn and I were literally the only ones outside the dorms. Must be because of the new curfew.

"We're here!" Veralyn exclaimed, snapping me back into reality.

I quickly glanced up and we were face to face...with the gate. "Veralyn, why are we at the gate?"

"Well, that's because I want to show you everything, starting exactly from where you came in; that way, you'll know your ways if you ever get lost."

My nose scrunched in confusion. "Alright...so you're saying we have to walk all that way back into the school too?"

She nodded eagerly. "Exactly, so let's just pretend this is the first time you're entering the school. Now turn around, we're going to start walking throughout the school."

I decided to play along. "Oh my! What a beautifully-structured gate! Never in my life have I seen such an amazing piece of architecture befo-"

"Erin I think that's a tad too much," she snickered.

"Hey, too much is never enough...though my parents kept telling me that I'm way too dramatic and sarcastic for my own good," I sighed heavily.

"Good to know. Anyways, this area," she said as she gestured to the grassy zone around us," is the courtyard. This is where a lot of us hang out at when we have free time, or just to relax in general; its very refreshing, trust me."

I then closed my eyes and allowed the wind to carress my cheeks, listening to its soft whispers. "You're right, it's relaxing, especially with the crickets. So, where to next?"

"Well, as far as the outside goes, this is it. I'll show you the back of the school another time, since I want to show you the inside as well. Come on, let's jog it up a bit."

A few minutes later, we came to a halt in front of a massive building. Like the others, it had the same ivory coloring and navy blue roofs, except this time, it was illuminated with a myriad of candles.

"Wow...it's beautiful at night. Is this the main school?"

"Yeah, but now that I think about it, we should come back here after I show you the dorms on the other side, since we can just go straight to dinner afterwards at seven," she whispered.

"Sure, you're the 'boss'. Why are you whispering, anyways?" I asked, amused.

"Shh...It's just, I've been really paranoid lately after all those rumors about the haunted forest."

I slapped her arm. "Great, now I'm scared. Can we just hurry up with the outside tour so we can go inside?"

"Good idea. Anyways, you know our dorm, right? The one literally fifteen feet away on your right?" she asked as we walked on the path leading to the student dormitories.

"Yeah, I see it, the one with indigo roofs, right?"

"Correct. So our dorm is called Imperia, and it's the first one that you see when you walk down this track; it's basically the first out of the three dorms designated for our grade level."

"Oh...I see. That's a cool name. So what are the two other dorms called?"

"So, the next closest one is called Cognitia. The Cognitia dorm has very friendly people, but they're kind of...the 'anti-fun club'. Sure, most of them aren't daft like some people I can mention, but that's exactly why all they care about is being the best Elucaen of their class, and not enjoying life."

Oh yikes, I don't think I can last even a day in that place then. "Alright, I'll keep that in mind. So what's the last dorm?"

Her mood instantly darkened. "Well, the last dorm, the last one for our grade anyways, is called Aurentia. To sum things up, we hate them, they hate us, and it's been like that since forever."

"Wait, what happened? Why do you guys hate each other?"

"Well...it's a long story. First of all, Aurentia houses the worst gits in the entire bloody world; if you know a bully, chances are, they're in that dorm. Besides, their head, is satan spawn herself. You'll see once you meet her, though for your own good I really hope you won't."

"Woah, slow down buddy. What are you even talking about? I thought people that has the same elemental power are in the same classes? So isn't everyone supposed to be, I don't know, nice to their housemates, regardless of what dorm they're in?"

"Oh, I wish. In this school, it doesn't matter if you're in the same house; dorm dominates all, especially at those stupid dorm competitions."

Once she saw the incredulous look on my face, she quickly said, "But don't worry! Our house has the most amiable Elucaens, so I doubt there would be any trouble during lessons...though you better watch out from outside of classes since I honestly can't say the same about the ignis that are in Aurentia; they're the literal worst."

"Um, once again, not helping. Oh well, here's to another year of laying low."

Veralyn let out a soft laugh. "Sorry about that, mate. But anyways, back to the tour, that's basically it regarding the dorms; the other grades' are further down this path, but I doubt you need to know about them."

She then glanced back and forth. "Um you know what Erin, let's just go inside. I'm starting to get a serious case of the creeps now," she whispered before dragging my arm towards the school's main entrance.

As we pushed against the colossal oak entrance doors, we came face to face with a flight of stairs. A towering flight of stairs.

I groaned blatantly. "Please don't tell me we have to go all the way up there to enter the school."

"Oh trust me, I'm pretty knackered too myself, but yes we do. It's fine, once we reach the entrance hall, you'll forget all about this in less than a second."

"Can't you conjure up some water to take us up or something?"

"That would be wicked, but alas, I can't. It's against the school rules to use Elucae for one's own benefits."

I sighed. "Fine, let's just get this over with. Today is definitely not my day."

As we climbed up the wide stairway, my forehead bathed in sweat, beads started dripping down my cheeks in excruciating slow motion.

Once we finally reached the top, I glanced at Veralyn and surprisingly, she didn't even break out in a sweat. At all.

"What? How are you not tired?" I panted heavily, rubbing the sweat off my forehead with the sleeves of my shirt.

"Hey, four years of practice can go a long way," she smirked.

I was just about to retort when I took in my surroundings, and it was possibly the most beautiful sight I have ever seen. The entrance hall itself is immensely resplendent, with a few narrow corridors on each side leading into the unknown. An abundance of dimly-litted candles bordered the walls, furnishing radiance to the vast hallway ahead. A crystalized chandelier can be seen overhead, its jewels elevating the room even more with a sophisticated touch.

"Told you it would be worth the climb," Veralyn muttered, giving me a smile.

I looked at her in awe. "Yeah, no kidding."

"So this is the entrance hall to the school; it's basically the first thing you see as you enter the school, and also the last thing you see as you leave the school."

She continued, "So, you see the corridors on both sides?"

I nodded. "Yeah, about that, where does that even lead to?"

"The first one on the right, well the one closest to us, leads to a staircase that will take you to the second floor. Same goes for the first one on the left. Then, the second corridors on both sides leads to the loo, and the metamorsia classrooms for freshmen and seniors respectively."

"What class is metamorsia?" I inquired.

"Transformation class, but I'll explain more in depth on the first day of school. Okay, follow me."

As we walked through the entrance hall, I noticed that it was starting to get less vacant and well, more occupied, since everyone stared as we walked pass.

I was about to tell them to take a picture since that'll probably last longer, until I remembered the fact that there's no internet here. What a pain.

"Hey Veralyn...why are all these people staring? Especially that one blond girl, she legit looked at me like I was the dirt beneath her shoes!"

She gave me a comforting pat on the back. "Don't worry Erin, it's just that it's not usual that we have a new student here, and regardless of the huge amount of students in our school, everyone still basically know each other."

"Okay...but if that girl give me the stink eye one more time, I'm actually going to show her what dirt looks like."

She snickered. "That's Leila Remington, she's one bloody we-"

I cut her off and pointed to the room at the far end of the hallway. "Hey, is that the cafeteria?"

She stopped talking and glanced at the direction I was pointing at. "Yeah, but we either call it the dining hall or just the "caeno" for short."

"Woah, it's more elegant than I thought. And big too."

"Eh, it's alright. Though I have to admit, it looks really nice in the morning. Anyways, if you turn right from here," she said as she gestured to the hallway to our right, " it leads to the sophomores and juniors metamorsia classes, and the headmaster office as well. Now, if you turn left from here, all of the Elucaen history classrooms are located at the right of that hallway; not that much speculation."

"Oh...I see. I am so glad we're going to be in the same classes because honestly I am so lost right now."

"Well, speaking of that, I think I'm only in two, maybe three, of your classes since the school never allows two students to be in all of the same courses together. Besides, our grade is pretty huge, so of course everyone will have different schedules."

I groaned inwardly. Great, another friendless, lonely, year. Cheers to me.

She gave a sympathetic smile. "Erin, don't be so bummed out. You like reading, right? Well, once you see the library on the second floor, I bet that's going to get you gobsmacked."

Oh well, at least she's trying.

"Sure, let's go," I said before climbing the spiral staircase parallel to the Caeno.

Once we reached our destination, it was slightly less crowded, but unfamiliar set of eyes fixated their glances upon us all the same. "Let me guess, is the library behind the gigantic double doors at the far end of this hall?"

"Ding ding ding, we have a winner! What gave it away? Was it the sign that says 'library', or the fact that people are carrying books inside that room?' Veralyn joked.

I rolled my eyes. "Ha ha, very funny. So what exactly is on the second floor, besides the library and the excessive amount of bathrooms that this school seems to have?"

"Blimey, you're a cheeky one, aren't you? But to answer your question, the second floor consists of the most classrooms in the entire school. This is where the Defensio, Proelium, and Portentia classes are located, with the exception of Metamorsia and Elucaen History of course."

"I...have no idea what you just said, Veralyn."

"To keep it short, basically defense, attack, and energy channeling classes."

"There we go, you could have just said that in the first place."

She laughed. "Oh boy, you do know you're going to have to eventually memorize all those classes, right?"

"Yes, but today is not the day. Is there anything else on this floor, though?"

She scratched her head, deep in thought. "Well...to be honest, that's pretty much all I know. I believe the professors' offices are also on this floor, and like a bunch of secret pathways, but other than that, I have no bloody idea."

I gaped at her in shock. "So...you're saying that you've been living here for most of the year-for four years now may I add- and you never went snooping around to uncover the deep, dark secrets of this school?"

"No, and I tend to keep it that way. Curiosity kills the cat, you know."

"Ha, we'll see about that. Can we peak in the library real quick though, before we leave?" I asked pleadingly.

"Alright, but we have to hurry; dinner starts in ten minutes, and I'm absolutely famished."

I gave her a wide smile, before running towards my desired location. As I turned my head to ask a question, my body collided with what seemed to be a wall. Or well, what I thought was a wall.

Upon collision, I landed on the hard wooden ground, my neck arched back in pain.

"I am so sorry, I didn't watch whe-" a familiar voice rang out.

I opened my eyes and they met a pair of beautiful ocean-blue orbs; a very familiar pair of ocean-blue orbs.

"Luka?"

A.N:

Thank y'all so much for all the support! I really appreciate it and I'm terribly sorry for not updating sooner due to schoolwork, so I'll try my best from now on to update whenever I can :)