Y/n Pov

Ranoa magic academy. It was beautiful to look at but being here and slowly waking up to the morning rays of the sun was something else. I turned over noticing the large bed being empty. "Rose did you fall off again?" I asked drowsily and all I heard was a meow coming from bellow the bed. "I'm just happy she isn't running around in the room at three in the morning like most cats.

I slowly stood up and began to get dressed in my school uniform, I couldn't wait to see Irene in it. Just the thought of it was making me nervous. Would she look the same as in the clothes she showed me at her home?

"Come on Rose, its time to head out and get breakfast." I picked her up as she was still sleeping. Rose let out a light groan, whining that she was woken up. "Do we realy have to?" She asked and I pat her lightly. "Yes we do Rose." I replied and closed the door behind me.

Elinalise told me the school allowed students to eat breakfast when they wanted and all the mandatory school hours would be at afternoon, we had the morning for us and could go to the lessons too if we wanted. "Good Morning Y/n." Rudeus exlcaimed. "Good morning Rudeus. Thanks again for last night, you realy helped a lot." I stated and he brushed with his hand over the back of his hair. "Don't mention it, Elinalise can be a bit difficult to deal with." He replied awkwardly.

We exited the Dormitory and got to the large courtyard of the academy with a fountaine in the middle. That's when I noticed someone on the other side, her. That scarlet hair that, she wasn't alone either, she was in company of, Juliet, Heine, Elinalise and another blonde girl with another guy and the person Rudeus had fought yesterday. 

She looked over to me smiling gently. She was wearing, a white and red school uniform. A white cropped blouse, a red skirt going down to just the middle of her thighs and thigh high white socks. with black leather shoes. Her hair was let lose with two bangs being lightly curled, framing her face.

"Good Morning Y/n." She chimmed looking at me happily. "God Morning Elsie-san." I replied and she stoped for a moment looking lost. "Y/n there is a problem." She stated and pulled me to the side.

She looked uneasy to say the least. "My dragon slaying magic, its gone." She whispered and I gave her a dumbstruck look. "No that can't be. How?" I asked and she shrugged in defeat. "I don't know but you need to help me." She replied and then slouched down.

"Without it I'm nothing." She sniffled. I clenched my hand not knowing what to do. When someone feels down you would usualy hug them to make them feel better. I pulled her closer making her head hit my chest. She let out a silent gasp of surprise. "Listen Elsie, we will find a way, just stay calm and stay by my side, okay." I replied and she nodded. I could feel the warmth emiting from her body. Her expression changed after a few seconds. "But I want to become stronger too, I can't let myself be protected by you constantly Y/n." She retorded and then let go. 

"That one week we traveled I let you take care of everything we had to do because I had to do research, now its my time to show just how strong I can be." She put up her hand into a fist. "I'm no damsel in distress."

. . .

The class I was in was rather strange, I looked around and noticed two Beast race human girls. Behind us and next to us were Rudeus and Elinalise. "What you looking at." One with cat ears asked annoyed with her legs on the desk. "Let him be , he probably never saw beast race humans." A girl with dog like ears replied, boredly munching on meat.

I turned to them fully. "Actualy I've never seen beings like you." I stated and the cat girl gave me an annoyed look now you have, or do you want to fight too, meow." She replied and I chuckled amused. Elsie got enough of it and stood up facing her. "He accepts your fight, you better pack in something to treat your wounds or else you kitty will be hurt." She chuckled giving her a mocking grin. "Oh I will and I will whop your arogant ass too." She roared glaring at her.

I facepalmed mentaly. Irene or rather Elsie was just too easy to get a rise off when you hit the right thing. She would instantly jump onto a chance to beat a smug smile of someones face.

 . . .

Going outside to the courtyard I saw the two beast race girls waiting for me. "Finaly, now lets get this over with, you are one of the special students right?" So our fight will be fun." She stated and I looked over to Elsie. "Elsie you go for the girl with the dog ears." I shouted and she nodded. "Ile Vernier."

The catgirl went over for the attack by increasing her speed. "I'm going to rip you appart you cocky brat." She shouted and I inhaled deeply. She changed her direction coming from the right. My hand lit up in a bright light while I reeled the fist back. Throwing it forwards it connected with her face knocking her down.

I looked over to Irene, no Elsie now, who was bussy with the other. She took the girl by the arm and threw her across the courtyard making her crash into a pillar. "Not so cocky now are you?" She asked and the catgirl cursed under her breath. She stood up walking away slowly to her friend. "Lets go Pursena, we will leave them alone."

The sound of clapping caught my attention. "You too can cast spells without words, I'm impressed." Rudeus exclaimed walking right up to me.

"How is that impressive?" I asked confused as I though it was pretty normal to cast without words. His expression changed to one of light astonishment again before getting more thoughtful. "Most people need to use words in order to cast spells maybe because they aren't strong enough but it takes a lot of skill to cast without words." He explained.

"Anyway, I just wanted to make you know, adventurers can take on jobs even when we are in the academy so if you got some time to spare take a job and have some fun." He showed me a job request for a wolf hunt. "I'm heading out with Elinalise." He stated and went past me and Irene.

I should try to look for stuff the school is secretly doing. Black magic isn't legal and anything relating to the dark arts should be prohibited. It's kind of Ironic that Irene and I have to investigate, considering Zeref himself is the embodiment of the darkness.

"Elsie we should split up and search for any clue we can get on wether or not they are practicing dark magic in the academy." I said and she nodded. I was thankful that no one was here to hear us.

Irene Pov

Since I couldn't use my dragonslaying magic anymore I had to resort to different means of protection. I created a sword out of a piece of wood. Thankfully my enchantments didn't suffer from this age regression. It even had its possitives to have been turned younger. I could do things I would only get berated for instead of heavily punished or looked at and given the side eye. Meaning I could go and eat as much icecream as I wanted and no one would say a word but just wave it off as me trying out how far I can go and learn through mistakes.

Walking these endless labyrithine corridors of the academy it indeed had a secret section. Behind a door, I found a spiraling staircase going up.

The air was thick with the scent of ancient tomes and the distant echoes of magical incantations. I had noticed soft glow behind said door which led to a narrow, spiraling staircase tucked away in a dimly lit corner of the building.

Driven by an irresistible curiosity, I ascended the staircase, each step revealing more of the academy's hidden secrets. The walls were full of glyphs and runes carved into the walls. Maybe they were some sort of barrier against magic? The higher I climbed, the more enchanting the surroundings became. The walls were adorned with tapestries depicting legendary wizards and mythical creatures, and the air hummed with an otherworldly energy. I could feel something wasn't right about this place.

Finally, I reached the top of the staircase and found a small, circular room bathed in a soft, ethereal light. The room was adorned with shelves filled with dusty scrolls and ancient spell books. Some of which I myself knew from long ago. "An idiots guide to magic. Beastiary of the world, book one to five." A worn wooden desk stood in the center, and on it laid a peculiar parchment covered in intricate magic circles.

My eyes widened with awe as I examined the circles drawn on the paper. Each line and symbol seemed to pulsate with a life of its own. I traced the patterns with my fingers, feeling a tingling sensation that sent shivers down my spine. Was this I had been looking for? These circles held the key to a magical realm maybe beyond my wildest dreams, exactly what lord Zeref wanted us to find?

Compelled by an irresistible force, I carefully followed the arrangement of the circles on the paper and stepped onto the wooden floor. To my amazement, the floor responded like a living entity, glowing with a soft radiance as if acknowledging my presence. The room seemed to come alive with magical energy, magical particless were floating in this room and the ethernanos presence of this room was no doubt supressed for outsiders not to notice.

I gazed around in wonder, if I could find anything more, I noticed a hidden compartment beneath the desk. With trembling hands, I opened it to reveal a collection of ancient artifacts crystal orbs, enchanted talismans, and a delicate quill that seemed to write on its own. It was as if the room itself was a gateway to a realm where magic and reality intertwined.

Driven by a newfound sense of purpose, I began experimenting with the magical circles, to know if something happened. Combining symbols and uttering incantations I read in the open tomes laying next to each scroll. The room responded to my every command, and soon, I found myself surrounded by a mesmerizing display of lights and mystical energies.

In the corner of my eye I noticed a book with torn pages and its color fading. "Portals throug the worlds." My body stopped was that even possible? I know of theory of the great cataclysm, where almost a thousand years ago portals had opened all over the world. With their apearance monsters came into our world roaming in the lands and turning into legends and Fairy Tales.

Was this the chamber of a sorcerer who had vanished centuries ago as it had no doubt old elements and new ones? The sorcerer's experiments with magic had left an indelible mark on the room, turning it into a beacon for those attuned to the mystical arts. But that wouldn't explain why all these scrolls looked new, with fresh ink right next to them.

"You can come out, I've noticed you long ago." And exactly where I had thought, a hidden compartment behind a painting moved. With slow steps a girl with probably the same age as I walked forwards. "You don't seem scared?" She asked surprised but she herself kept a great distance to me.

A forlorn chuckle escaped my lips to her question. It was a rather pathetic attempt to intimidate me. "Why would I, there is no trace of magic in you. The rings have magic in them which means you are of no threat to me." I replied and then my hand slowly started to glow. "I could turn you into anything I want." I stated and she quickly put her hands up.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, I mean you no harm." She squeaked out and took place at a seat. "I can't use magic, I'm not foolish enough to fight you." She replied and waited for a few seconds. "What are you searching for?" She asked nervously and I motioned to the papers. 

"I want to know what these are." I handed her the scroll with the magic circless. She took it into her hands reading it. She looked around. "These are magic circles, I'm trying to recreate the cataclysm for research purpouses to know how it realy happened."

The room atop the spiral staircase, fell silent between the girl and I, as the comotion in it returned to its tranquil state. I realized long ago that true magic research laid not just in the spells and enchantments but in the ability of people with a hand for magic being able to create the unthinkable, I was one such person and she would be too, even without magic her knowledge at such a young age was astounding.

"I can feel it, you have a hand for magic or else you wouldn't be able to create these complicated circles on the floor." I replied and slowly made my way to the steps which headed down into the abyss of the academy. "I'm not one to stop you in your research but I can give you these words. Sometimes the solution lies closer then you think." I gave her a gentle smile before leaving her alone.

The magical circles drawn on paper and etched into the wooden floor, many of them were probably trial and error but some seemed to be done purpously in a way. Of the endless possibilities that awaited those brave enough to explore the realms of magic only those capable in the arts of enchant and script magic knew how to bend the fabric of reality.

I closed the door to the spyral staircase behind me and exhaled loudly before taking a deep breath, the magical energy in that room was uncany, no wonder only someone without magic sensitivity or protection magic could stay in there, without fainting. I almost had to Relief myself from how much my stomach had turned of nausea.