"Okay... That's the last of them. Phew," Alphonse muttered to himself, wiping his brow of sweat.

Having taken the mysterious man's offer of attending his magical academy, as far-fetched as it sounded for it to be a thing, the black-haired teen went back to his apartment to pack up his things. The pale-haired man had gone to negotiate with the landlord to drop Alphonse's late rent charge and other fees when he was going to check out of his apartment. Needless to say, the landlord wasn't pleased about this development, especially since he wanted to milk the black-haired teen dry of money. However, he was instantly shut up as soon as the pale-haired man had dropped a hefty bag of pounds right onto his desk.

The black-haired teen soon looked around his now empty apartment. Well, not necessarily empty, but his clothes, a few pictures, and other important things were all relatively concise down into two suitcases of his. The only thing left in this apartment was the shitty and terrible bed he had, the mattress and bedframe the most he could afford in bulk aside from renting the apartment itself. But this had been his home for the past few years or so. It was like a part of him was still lingering here, and once he left, he would truly be disconnecting himself from this place.

The feeling of leaving home was all too familiar with him, but it still pained him a little each time it happened.

Soon, however, he heard a knock on his door. Pushing himself off his bed, he heads to it and opens the door, revealing the pale-haired man with that same grin he always had.

"Are you ready to depart, Mr. Euclidus?"

"Yeah, packed it all in my suitcases right here," he said, gesturing to the cases. "So, where we headed? To the airport? Train station? Or we taking a cab somewhere?"

The man's grin merely widened a bit more. "Might I step in for a moment? Oh, it would be best if you put your shoes on."

"Uh... Sure... Come on in, I guess. But there's nothing really left here, so I don't see the need to come in."

Allowing some room for the man to step in, he crouches in the foyer and puts on his shoes as instructed. The man in the uniform takes a small gander, seeing that the room was a bit of a pigsty of a place. Probably wasn't the boy's fault, this room had seen better days and was well established before he was born. The walls had some slight tearing to them, a bit of dirt and grime in some of the corners, a fairly weathered brick wall behind the walling. At least it didn't smell like something had died in here, unlike the others he had caught a whiff of as he passed them.

Raising his two hands up into the air, rather lowly, Alphonse looked at him confusedly. His two suitcases were gripped tightly in either hands, looking rather perplexed at the posture and position the man had taken. And with a certain glow of colors in his hands, the man turned his head around slightly and looked at Alphonse.

"I suggest you prepare yourself, Mr. Euclidus. Expect it to be a... Bumpy ride, per say."

"Uh, what—?"

Before any more questions could be raised, the room suddenly began to rumble and shake. Alphonse nearly lost his balance and fell over, but he was thankfully able to catch himself. However, he was still having trouble keeping himself still because the room was still shaking, dropping his suitcases onto the floor. Lights were flickering, the small chandelier overhead shaking uncontrollably, the bed frame, tables, and cabinets were making a clattering noise, their wooden frames knocking against themselves lightly against the walls and each other.

In an instant, the two of them and the suitcases' disappeared. The rumbling and shaking soon stopped, the lights returning to normal but the chandelier still swaying quite a bit, things that were on cabinets and tables had toppled over and were messily all over the floor. The front door to the small foyer was soon busted open as the landlord came in with an expression of fury, his fists balled up and his face slightly red.

"Goddammit, you fucking, cunts! Just because you're checking out, doesn't mean you can—"

He soon halted himself, seeing that there wasn't anyone in the room. And it was very messy with all the things littered all over the floor and the drawers and doors of the cabinet haphazardly open. He was also holding the bag of pounds he had received from the pale-haired man.

Well, it would've been a bag of pounds. The landlord dropped it, and instead of a clinking and flapping noise, sounds that would usually be associated with coins and paper money, it instead made a loud splat and slumped over. In fact, a wretched and disgusting smell was coming from it. The "sack of pounds" was nothing more but a sack of dung.

The landlord could only yell out his frustrations.

---

The sound of rushing wind had filled his ears, but it soon halted and calmed down. Alphonse then slowly opened his eyes, finding himself in quite the traditional office. Bookshelves in the corner and all around, a fancy rug, dimly lit chandelier above with a lamp on the dark lacquer desk in front, shiny dark brown color that was very pleasing to the eye.

Behind the desk was a dark green curtained window, slightly open to allow some of the sunlight to draw in. Despite it looking like a normal office he's seen in Britain, he had to say, it was impressive and marvelous to look at. Looking at the books and texts that littered the shelves had some interesting and fascinating topics to look at. Brief histories of ancient tribes and clans that used ancient magic, encyclopedias that contained dossiers and bios of many magical and mythical creatures that exist in the world, and more encyclopedias that details the ingredients of elixirs, going into even more details of the effects they cause and what not to pair with.

And that was just the first shelf of them. Alphonse couldn't help but possibly wonder what other kind of knowledge and information was locked away in the other shelves.

With a clear throat, the pale-haired man was seen sitting in his chair, hands clasped together and leaning forward slightly. A bit of a mysterious aura had surrounded him, making the black-haired teen gulp a bit of his spit and straighten himself out of respect.

"Right... What now...?"

He chuckled. "First off, introductions. As you are now a student of Royal Biblia Academy, allow me, the Headmaster, to formally welcome you. You may call me Master Biblia or Headmaster."

Alphonse nodded. "Cool. So, then? What am I going to do?"

"Considering this is your first day, I will have you familiarize yourself with the school grounds. Afterward, familiarize yourself with the school faculty and your class before ending your day by heading to your assigned dorm."

"...Th-That's it? No special teacher or anything?"

Master Biblia simply laughed heartily, "Now, now, let's not be so hasty. For now, I'm still trying to get into contact with them. Perhaps in the next coming days, your special training will start."

"I see." Alphonse took a deep breath. "But I've got to ask. Why me? There are plenty of other people way more remarkable than me. Hell, I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one with powers like these."

"That's the thing, Mr. Euclidus. You are the only one who possesses such a thing. Let's say... You are a unique case."

"How so?"

The cheshire grin of the paled-haired man only remained. "...That is something for you to find out. I do not have the answers for you."

Perplexed and a little frustrated, Alphonse sighed. It was true that there was a time he questioned who he really was. These questions and thoughts spawned as soon as those mysterious powers of his had begun to manifest. Happened on his first job where he was working as an intern in a business firm. Alphonse ended up burning up some paperwork and exploding a coffee mug whilst spilling the bitter beverage onto his clothes. This happened multiple times at the job site where his manager ended up getting fed up with the predicament he was always seeing the boy in that he ended up having to fire him.

He didn't know much about his family history. He couldn't necessarily ask his parents about them because they were dead, but even searching up his family background and his last name, nothing came up in any records at all. Nothing remarkable, at least. The only thing notable is that one of his great-great-great grandfathers was a part of the British military during World War II. Though they perished in the earliest battles of the war, that was the only thing that came up when it came to searching his family's backstory. So being told that he was unique and quite the remarkable boy was almost baffling for him.

In any case, there's nothing he could do now. He's already here to start his new life at this academy, where he doesn't know exactly where he was on this Earth, so he can't exactly go back to Britain to return to his old life. Besides, he had been wishing for something to get him out of that shitty life.

He just didn't expect for it to be something as far-fetched as this.

---

With a schedule he had been given, Alphonse began to walk the halls of Royal Biblia Academy.

His first two classes involved going to a basic magic class and theories with Professor Lorenz Alzano. And then afterward, a break period, followed up with two more classes involving magical history and alchemic structures and conjuring with Professor Lilith Asami. Alphonse was also told he would be getting a special private teacher when it came to harnessing his rather unique magical abilities, but as of this moment, this would not fit into his schedule.

Taking Master Biblia's advice in going around the school and taking a tour, he might as well familiarize himself with surroundings, considering this will be his home from now on for who knows how long. There was a problem, however.

Sure, all the hallways and walls looked the same, typical for a school, but he couldn't read the signs at all. He could tell that some of the signs dictated numbers, so he figured that there were numbered classrooms, but he couldn't read the other characters which he thought were letters. He would've requested for the Headmaster to have him guide the tour, but after giving the class schedule of his, he was instantly shooed away. Told that his things would be taken to his room later and was pushed out of the office with the use of magic.

But still, that was still going to take some getting used to. Magic exists. Yes, he has powers that literally cause his hands to explode things at random, but he didn't realize that he was using magic. He thought that it was some strange phenomenon that happens in a small percentage of humans... As much as it sounds very stupid to him, that was the most logical solution that came to him.

In any case, he continued to walk and wander up and down the halls. He'd come across a few students that seemed to be attending here, signifying the black uniforms they wore. They were simple uniforms, males and females having ones respectively designed for them. Males would wear a dark suit jacket, the school's insignia emblazoned on the breast pocket, with a white dress shirt underneath and accompanied with a red tie. Of course, it is up to the individual to leave the suit jacket open or not. The last remaining bit to the uniform is a pair of light grey pants and a pair of penny loafers. Very stylish to say the least. Of course, the female uniform is mirrored to almost about the same, just modified to their specific body type. A black blazer jacket adorned with the school emblem on the breast pocket, a white colored blouse underneath, a red plaid skirt and penny loafers to top it off. Female students are also free to choose whether to wear it with stockings, thigh highs, or nothing at all, leaving the bare skin to be exposed. All in all, the uniforms fit the students well of this esteemed academy.

However, despite seeing these students here, females would either want to run away and admire him from afar or immediately gain a fearful look and turn their tails and scamper off. The male students gave two different reactions. The more scrawny ones mirrored the female students, gaining a fearful look and then dashing off to who knows where. Those that have a little bit more muscle built onto them or the ones that didn't look the least bit intimidated merely scowl and tried to puff up their chest to get Alphonse to back off. But honestly, those theatrics alone made him puzzled.

Did he really have a face that made it hard for people to approach? The kind of face that says "the don't fuck with me" kind? He couldn't tell, but that seems to be the gist of things so far.

As he continued to walk around, aimlessly staring at his class schedule and continuing to look mildly confused, he was soon called out by a rather feminine voice. Looking up and perking his head, he spots a young woman heading over to him with a cheery smile and a waving hand. To say she was beautiful was an understatement. She was tall, long-legged, and quite slender. Hypnotizing brown eyes with a color comparable to coffee and long flowing black hair. And despite that cheeky and cheery grin that rested on her face, he could still sense an aura of maturity on her.

Alphonse was captivated by her looks, but of course, he kept his composure and didn't act like he was eyeing the young woman in front of him like she was eye candy. He avoided looking at the more... Distinct features like her moderately-sized bust and well-fit, athletic looking hourglass figure. But she dressed differently from all the other students of the academy. Instead of the normal female's black blazer, she had a white long-sleeved buttoned up shirt that revealed her cleavage, stomach, and naval. Along with this shirt, the young woman also had a long black skirt, slits at the side that revealed her legs and wore a pair of comfortable slip-on shoes instead of the more refined dress pants and brown penny loafers that were assigned as the school uniform. A red ribbon tying a good amount of her hairs on the right side of her head was one of the more distinct features,

But with her outfit, Alphonse wondered whether she was a teacher instead of a student. Maybe this was one of his teachers? He wasn't sure.

"Hey, you alright? You look a bit lost," the girl spoke.

"Uh..." Alphonse was at a loss for words because he couldn't understand her. Because the Headmaster had spoken to him in English, he assumed that everyone in this school could speak English.

But he should have known. In a prestigious and esteemed academy such as this, there were bound to be students that spoke different languages, or transfers, such as he, that didn't know the native language that the students spoke here.

The black-haired girl then noticed that Alphonse was having a bit of a hard time trying to respond to her question. He had whipped out his phone and began scrolling his finger down, most likely looking at a translator app and trying to figure out what language she just spoke. She couldn't help but chuckle a little bit.

"Ah, you must be a transfer," she mused. She then cleared her throat, "You speak English?"

Alphonse blinked a few times. "Uh, yeah. How did you know?"

"I didn't. But we've got a few English speaking students, so no need to worry," she said. "Anyway, you need help with something? You looked like you were a bit lost."

"O-Oh, yeah." He handed his schedule over to her. "Spoke with the Headmaster half an hour ago after he brought me here. Didn't really explain much on a supposed tour I'm supposed to take."

The girl chuckled again. "Yeah, Master Biblia can be a bit of an enigma. And a weirdo. How about I help? I've got some time before I need to head somewhere else."

The black-haired teen smiled appreciatively. "That'd be great. I'll take you up on that offer."

"Follow me," she gestures, Alphonse doing so. She then quirks her head back with a slight grin, "Names Akio. Akio Fudou, by the way. What's yours?"

"Alphonse Euclidus. But you can call me Alphonse."

"Alphonse, huh? Mmm, I like the name Al better, so I'll call you that."

'Nickname already?' Alphonse thought, sweat dropping, but soon growing curious. "I've noticed that your English speaking is pretty good. Where'd you learn it if I might ask?"

"Ah, that? Let's just say... I've been to places and I ended up having to pick up on it," Akio explained as they walked down the hall.

"I see. Well, I'll be in your hands for this tour, I suppose."

"Yep! But don't worry, I'll be sure to give you a good time!"

She wrapped her arm around his shoulder rather casually while giving a free spirited laugh. With her behavior, Alphonse merely gave a nervous smile and chuckled awkwardly. A bit surprised at Akio's cheery demeanor, but he didn't dislike it.

It had been a while since he's felt some rather genuine happiness. During his time in Britain, in some of the jobs he worked, he'd often have to put up a fake smile in order to make the customer feel comfortable. However, a majority of them would probably want to spat onto his face or brush him off like he was just a piece of garbage or the like. Their behaviors were rather rude compared to here. He's even had one call him a cunt just for doing the usual greeting of "Welcome."

A majority of his life, he's mostly met assholes and a bunch of dicks who really don't care other than for themselves. So to meet a pleasant person such as Akio was a bit of a nice change.

But a part of him makes him think that he won't get used to her cheery attitude any time soon.

---

He wasn't sure how much time had passed. Alphonse was walking up and down the halls with Akio for quite some time. Even exiting the school to show the nearby areas they could go to aside from the school courtyard.

Their tour ended with the mess hall, where all the students would congregate for break time and for their lunch period. But if they did not wish to eat in the mess hall, students were free to walk around and spend their free time doing whatever, so long as they remained within the school's boundaries.

Once finished, Akio faces Alphonse with a slight grin, "And that's the tour. Hope you had a good time, Al."

"It sure was... Interesting," Alphonse admitted, nodding his head. "I've never been outside Britain before. And honestly, I've never had someone be this kind. Unless it was out of obligation."

She soon grew serious. "What makes you think I was so kind?"

"H-Huh?"

"...Pfft! I'm just joking with you, Al. No need to take it so seriously," she stated, laughing to herself as she playfully shoves his shoulder.

He sweatdropped. 'Eh? Seriously? I thought I pissed you off somehow.'

"Anyway, I've got to run. I've got some important business to attend to, so this is where we part ways. But, it was good meeting you, Al. Hope we're in some of the same classes." She extended her hand out.

Alphonse returned the gesture with a small smile, "Likewise, Miss Fudou."

"Akio. Call me Akio. Makes me feel like we're strangers if you refer to me by my last name."

'Didn't we just meet as strangers a couple hours ago?'

She punched his shoulder lightly. "See you around, Al."

With one final cheery smile, she heads off in the other direction.

He stared at her direction for quite a while. She was a bit of a strange person to him, that much he admitted to himself. But it was because this kind of human interaction for him was rare. He never held a long conversation, let along for a couple hours or more unless it was some kind of meeting he was in. A casual discussion like that would be considered unorthodox. But even still, despite how strange it was, it felt good to talk to someone like that.

As he walked down the hall, looking for his numbered room, he couldn't help but wonder how much his life has changed.

From literal shitty beginnings to a new start, something fresh, and quite frankly, very wild in a world of mythological beings and magic, it felt like a compelling story was now coming to life. Alphonse couldn't help but grin happily to himself.

Things finally seemed to be looking up for him.

[0.2] | Fresh Start