Probably didn't expect another chapter already, huh? Well here's the first chapter of REDUX...

It was the day of the school entrance ceremony. However there were still a few hours before the start of the new lives for the entire incoming freshman group.

Many of the students who arrived early were either cheerfully talking with their fellow classmates, or getting a good look around at their new school. All those with positive and radiant energy seemed to be excited about furthering their studies and abilities in the world of magic, or perhaps they were secretly (or not so secretly) eager to show off the eight-petal flower emblem on their uniforms. Those emblems were signs of a "Course 1" student, one who has managed to make the "above cut" in First High's entrance exams.

Normally, being a "Course 1" student isn't considered much of a big deal to the public eye, but to the students, and for most of the staff at school, it is considered a huge step compared to those in "Course 2".

"Hey you!"

A young girl with deep green eyes turned around. Her long black messy hair slightly twirled around as she glanced over to the young boy who glared out at her.

The boy had short brown hair that was also slightly messy. His eyes narrowed as he glared at the girl with a look of slight disgust.

"What's a 'Weed' like you doing so early in the morning?"

The girl stared for a moment or two, before looking around and then pointing to herself.

"Yes you!" the boy was obviously aggravated at this point. His teeth stared to gnash together as his clearly defined rage was starting to get worse.

"I'm a student here. My name is Ando Mayu. Nice to meet you…"

Mayu offered her hand out as a sign of good will, but the boy just scoffed and spat at the side of the road. She sighed before withdrawing her hand. It was obvious that the two wouldn't be getting along anytime soon.

"Alright then, to hell with formalities…" The girl with green eyes scratched the back of her head before standing with a somewhat sassy posture. "So why are you calling me out? I haven't done anything wrong…"

"I already told you. I want you to tell me why a 'Weed' like you is wandering around here so early in the morning?"

"Because I want to get a look around? It's a free country you know. Figuratively, of course…"

The boy gave another sharp glare, but he gave an arrogant smirk as he continued. "I guess it's alright. No matter how hard you try to improve yourself, you're just another substitute who's destined to work under the rest of us 'Blooms'"

"I see, I see…" Mayu gave a mocking smile. "well then, may I have the name of the student who's giving me such thoughtful advice?"

"Moriksaki Shun."

"Morisaki… Then I'll keep that name in mind…" She twirled her finger around slowly in a playful manner. "The bull-headed boy who seems to have nothing better to do than claim superiority…"

"What did you say?!"

"No you're right. That's an insult to bulls. Maybe a pit-bull who's marking his territory?"

"Why you…"

Morisaki was about to reach for something in his pocket, but he stopped himself at the last minute and turned away after getting one last look of disdain at the girl's uniform.

Unlike his, which had an emblem on it, there was an empty space where the emblem should have been. This marked the girl as a "Course 2" student. Students who were either considered "average" or "lacking talent", and were mostly raised up as "substitutes"

"Geez…" the girl thought to herself as the boy left. "It seems like things were really worse off than I heard…" she stretched her arms. "Of course, it's not really a big deal to me. As long as I can have some fun, I don't mind playing second fiddle to a bunch of arrogant, stuck-up, snobs." She turned around and started facing the nearest building behind her.

"Now then First High, let's see what kind of plans you've got for us this year!"

A young boy with sleek white hair that had a single braid at the end, was walking through the courtyard while reading the handbook for the school. His slender build and short stature, paired with his fairly good-looking appearance, almost gave him a feminine feel that would attract both men and women alike. This boy was quietly mumbling to himself, trying to keep track of the rules and information of what he read. Therefore he didn't seem to notice the occasional whispers and gestures that were directed towards him.

"…Course 1 students are separated into three groups….important to fulfill expectations….do not excessively use magic….CAD usage are forbidden unless…"

"Excuse me…"

The boy turned his head up from his book to see a girl with wavy black, medium-lengthed hair lightly running over towards him. He noticed two things about her from a simple glance. The first was that she was the emblem on her uniform which seemed to classify her as a "Course 1" student, like him. The second was that she was about his height, which meant that she was probably shorter than most girls her age. He made mental note to never bring it up, just in case there was some kind of inferiority complex.

"I'm sorry, but do you happen to know when the opening ceremony is supposed to start?"

"It's supposed to be in the auditorium. But you don't need to worry. We still have plenty of time before it starts."

"Oh, thank goodness…" The girl waved over to a couple of other students seemed to be lightly running up towards her. The boy quickly noticed that one of them didn't have the same emblem on his uniform, so he must have been a "Course 2" student instead.

"Well this is quite unexpected…"

While it isn't strange in the public eye, most of the "Course 1" and "Course 2" students are naturally antagonistic against each other, simply because they weren't the same class. "Course 1" students were considered the hopeful ones, and were given the most opportunity because they were considered talented. If a schools was able to produce many talented graduates, then they would receive better funding and be held in a higher regard.

On the other hand, "Course 2" students were either considered "average" or "lucky", and were mostly meant as replacements for any drop-outs or failing "Course 1" students. While providing talented students were important, it was even more important that a school fulfills a certain quota of the number of students that graduate overall. If more people were unable to graduate from a school than last year, people would start questioning the quality of education that a school provides. Therefore, "Course 2" students were meant to make sure that the school doesn't lose any funding.

In other words, "Course 1" and "Course 2" were both fairly important, but "Course 1" was considered treated as a higher regard. That difference in treatment gave birth to the terms "Blooms" and "Weeds", which eventually stirred up the conflict between both groups.

That's why he was surprised to see that a pair of "Course 1" students were alongside a "Weed" so early in the year.

"My name is Aizawa Riko," the "Course 1" student said while extending her hand towards the other two. "These two are Hitsugi Riku and Ikemoto Naoko." She offered a handshake to him. "Nice to meet you."

"Aiba Etsu. Nice to meet you as well…"

Etsu turned his attention towards Riku and Naoko and offered a handshake to each of them as well.

Naoko was the other "Bloom" like himself and Riko. She had straight black hair that grew up to her shoulders, and had a sort of "dainty" feel to her. She also had a pair of red-rimmed glasses that were resting on her forehead, allowing her light brown eyes to be open for public view. Looking closely, he noticed that she also had a silver watch on her right arm and she seemed to be shifting her eyes slightly, as if trying to look at her watch every so often. However he decided to keep that bit of information to himself.

Riku was the "Weed", and therefore the "black sheep" of the trio. He was a fair-skinned boy who seemed to have thick blue eyes that seemed to give off a piercing stare. He had medium-length orange hair that only partially covered his face with two strands, and his uniform was worn with the jacket open and his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, so that his arms were open and easily viewed. As they shook hands, Riku gave a smile which revealed a pair of sharp teeth which seemed to resemble a beast's.

After their greetings ended, Etsu decided to ask straight out.

"If you don't mind me asking, what exactly are you doing with this 'Course 2' student?"

Riko eyes shifted her eyebrow slightly as she gave a curious look.

"Are you one of those people?"

She was referring to the "Blooms" who look down upon "Weeds" because of the apparent difference in their recorded abilities. While this kind of behavior was officially announced to be dissuaded, nearly every student, and even some of the instructors, would still act as such. (Incidentally, "Weeds" and "Blooms" were terms that were never meant to be used to describe the students, but very little was done to stop this, and many people just allowed it to happen).

"Of course not… no wait, you wouldn't really know much about me…" Etsu shook his head gently as he corrected himself. "I cannot prove that I'm not, but I will say that I have nothing against 'Course 2' students. I am simply asking since this seems to be an unusual case…"

Riko studied his face for a moment.

"… Riku and Naoko seemed like they needed some help, so I offered. Simple as that…"

"Then you weren't required to do so? You weren't instructed to by someone else?"

She sighed. "Look, I'll make this clear to you right now. I don't really care about the stuff between 'Course 1' and 'Course 2'. As long as it doesn't really concern me personally, whatever happens happens. Got it?"

She lightly sifted through her hair with her fingers before leaving on her own. Etsu slightly shrugged. He was about to go back to his book when he heard something.

"Um…"

He turned his head again to see Naoko, who seemed to be struggling to say something. He looked at her as she kept stuttering nonsense. It took a bit of time before she finally said something.

"W-W-Well….." She nervously glanced at her watch before giving a surprised look. "Ah! I need to get going for the entrance ceremony! I need to practice for the opening speech!" She gave a deep bow. "I'm sorry! Please help out this student for me!"

Before he could say anything, Naoko dashed away, leaving him alone with the young man with rolled up sleeves.

"If it wasn't for this booklet, I probably wouldn't have expected that to be a lie. But I'll let it slide this time…"

He turned to Riku, who seemed obviously bored.

"Well then, we may as well get to know each other a bit…"

He gently slapped Riku's back as the two of them left the area together to kill some time until the ceremony began.

A tall young man wearing a plain face was sitting on the bench of the schools. There were only a couple of hours until the ceremony was supposed to start, so he decided to read the handbook and get an idea of the school itself. He was only a few pages inside when suddenly…

"You're a new student, aren't you?"

He looked up to see a young-looking girl with a very "cute" appearance gazing at him with a look that seemed to resemble an innocent curiousity. He quickly glanced at her uniform, which held an emblem on it, identifying her as a "Course 1" student.

He was not embarrassed nor proud of being able to converse with someone like her, but simply wished to avoid standing out. Therefore, he tried to end the conversation as quickly as possible.

"Yes. That is correct…"

"And you are using a physical handbook? How interesting…"

This was an age where virtual tools were preferred over physical ones, but that did not make this case any more rarer than seeing a native bird in a local park. It seems like this was just an attempt to start a conversation.

"The virtual-type is not really suitable for reading…"

"That's true. But that's still quite interesting." Her smile widened as she continued. "Oh, don't get me wrong. I prefer book-based information to the virtual ones as well, so I'm quite happy to find a friend."

"Is that so?"

"My name is Saegusa Mayumi. I am the student council president of First High School…"

"Shiba Tatsuya. Nice to meet you."

"Shiba Tatsuya… so you're that Shiba then…"

Tatsuya's sister, Shiba Miyuki, was the top entry student for First High School, and it wouldn't be difficult to assume that they are siblings. However that was not what Mayumi meant when she said 'that'.

Most likely, she was referring to the fact that he was the unusual student who, despite ranking low on the practical portion of the exam, scored number one on the written exam. Compared to the average seventy points, he achieved a total of ninety-seven, making him the highest ranked student of them all.

"I'm sure I wouldn't be able to achieve such a score if were we in the same year. You must be proud of yourself…"

"Not really…" he answered without any hesitation in his voice. He was hesitant to go any further in the conversation at the risk of standing out before the year had even begun. Luckily, it seemed that fate was willing to give him a break.

"There you are president!"

A young girl went over to Mayumi with an exhausted look on her face. The girl took a couple of deep breaths before continuing.

"Excuse me president, you need to come back to prepare for the opening ceremony…"

"Oh, is it that time already?"

Her words sounded surprise, but the look on her face was telling him that she was just feigning ignorance. She turned back to him and gave a slight bow.

"Well then Tatsuya, I hope we can meet again soon…"

"Of course, same here…"

As the two of them left, Tatsuya couldn't help but notice that the girl who came to retrieve Mayumi gave a look of disdain at him before leaving. He gave a small sigh as he started going back to the handbook. It looked like things were going to be troublesome in the future…

Magic for Dummies! (Lesson 1 - What the heck is "Magic"?)

The scene goes back to an empty classroom once again. This time, the blackboard has "Lesson on Magic" written on it instead, and three new figures have shown up. One is a young girl with red hair and wearing a "Course 2" uniform. Another is a young man who has a "wild" hairstyle and seems fairly muscular. He is also wearing a "Course 2" uniform. The third in-between them is also a young man, but he is quite slender and has spiky, messy, raven-black hair. He is wearing a course 1 uniform.

The girl with red hair speaks up first.

"Hello! My name is Chiba Erika!"

The boy with a "wild" hairtyle speaks next.

"Yo! I'm Saijou Leon!"

The boy with black hair speaks last.

"And I'm Hiroshi Rikio. Nice to meet you."

Erika: "So it looks like we're the ones in charge of this lesson today!"

Leon: "Yeah, but I feel like we've done this before..."

Erika: "No need to worry about it. But there's something I gotta ask..." *Turns to Rikio* "Who the heck are you?"

Rikio: "I'm a character who hasn't made an appearance yet. Hopefully that changes next chapter..."

Leon: "Huh? Hasn't shown up?"

Rikio: "Don't think too much. Anyways, I guess the lesson is on magic itself?"

Erika: "Yup. Though frankily I don't see why we need to go over this..."

Leon: *Scratches head*"Yeah. I'm pretty sure that this stuff is like the basic of basics..."

Rikio: "Then I supposed you both can explain things simply for the readers out there?"

Erika & Leon: *Flinches then shifts head away*

Rikio: *Sigh* "I guess I'll start teaching about this..." *Takes out a teaching baton*

"Magic is usually initially thought of as a random miracle that can be controlled. Something that can happen just when you feel like it. But the truth is that it's not the case.

The fact is that magic is actually manipulating information around us to perform said miracles. Supposedly, everything in this world exists because of "Eidos", or "information". That same eidos determines just about everything in this world from how does it look, to how it works. That same "Eidos" simultaniously exists because of an object itself."

Leon: *Raises hand* "Wait a minute! You're said that eidos gave an object existance, but now you just said that an object creates eidos. Isn't that a contradiction?"

Rikio: "The two simultaniously exist at the same time. There's not much on how eidos relates to the real world, but it exists regardless. Think of it like a mirror image. You know you exist because you can see your body being reflected on the mirror. But at the same time, the mirror can only reflect because you have a body in the first place."

Leon: "I sort of get it... but it just seems too confusing..." *Smoke starts fuming from head*

Rikio: "Don't worry about it. Just know that everything has eidos. Got it? Moving on..." *Virtual screen appears*

So as I said before, eidos determines the traits of everything in existance. However, eidos is made up of smaller units known as 'Psions'. Those are essentially the building blocks of eidos, which is therefore the building blocks of everything as well.

Erika: "So 'Everything' is made up of 'Eidos', and 'Eidos' is made up of 'Psions', so 'Everything' is made up of 'Psions'?

Rikio: "Correct. Think of 'Everything' as a book, 'Eidos' are sentences, and 'Psions' are words. A book is made with sentences, a sentence is made with words, therefore a book is made of words."

Erika: "Ok, I think I sorta get it. But how does that relate to 'Magic'?"

Rikio: "'Magic' is actually just manipulating the eidos with psions to perform small miracles. It doesn't make something from nothing, but changes how something works to manipulate events.

Erika: "Huh?"

Rikio: "Let's try this. Let's say that that we want to make a fire using 'magic'. In order to achieve that, I rewrite the eidos in the air so that any trace amounts of carbon would mix together with the hydrogen chemicals and oxygen chemicals, to create chemicals that would combust and form fire. In other words I'm manipulating information temporarily, so that something occurs in a seemingly natural way.

Erika: "I think it's starting to make sense now. So you're saying that 'Magic' is actually just a sort of unnaturally occuring science?"

Rikio: "Sort of. The truth is that even the greatest magician doesn't really understand the entire principality of it all. And we may never know the truth for a long time..."

Erika: "Then wouldn't this lesson be pointless?"

Rikio: "Not really. As long as you understand that magic is manipulating eidos, and that magicians are those that manipulate eidos, not miracle-makers. Then it should be fine..."

Leon: *Wakes up* "Huh? What's going on?"

Erika: "We're pretty much finished with the lesson..."

Leon: "You're kidding! I didn't get to do much!"

Erika: "Well it's your fault. A wild animal like you shouldn't have been sleeping and be useless."

Leon: "What did you say?!"

Rikio: "Well it looks like that's the end of today's lesson. Remember, if you are still confused or need a particular question answered, leave it in the reviews or ask PM Shadowplayer. Well then..."

Erika and Leon are fighting with each other while Rikio is waving goodbye.

"Until next time..."

So that is the first actual chapter. Hope it wasn't too bad. Leave reviews, as they help me check on my progress. If you didn't see your OC yet, expect an appearance either the next chapter or the chapter after. Anyways thanks for checking out REDUX, and I hope you'll stick around. After working on chapters for my other fanfics, I'll get back to work on this one...