King of all Kings:

Hakuryuu stared at him for three antagonizing minutes while not moving a single muscle.

"What?" He looked so clueless. He pointed at Solomon "You're a King?"

Solomon was about to say something but paused. That's what impacted on him? "Am, was. It doesn't make a difference now, but yes, I'm a King."

"..." He directed his gaze downward "Al-Thamen destroyed your home…?"

"The aftermath did." He explained "We managed to drive them back and seal them into another dimension."

"But they managed to come back." Hakuryuu continued "And then we arrive at the current situation."

The King nodded "Correct."

Hakuryuu seemed to be in deep thought, he noted. He wondered if it was a bad idea to tell him but cast it aside. The more allies they had in the fight against Al-Thamen the better. Solomon supposed that his impromptu decision wasn't his worst decision yet.

He watched the younger cup his own chin and look to the side. It appeared he was still thinking about something.

Suddenly, the prince brightened and grinned at Solomon, almost like an excited child "I have an idea!"

Alibaba and Morgiana were waiting for him at the spot he left them at, asking him what took him so long. He smiled at them, saying that he got lost. Together, they went to eat something, discussing their travel plans.

"I don't know when I will make it back." Solomon admitted "There's a lot I want to find out about in Magnostadt and I don't think it will be too easy. That and I made a promise to a former friend some time ago, I intend to look if I can find anything useful there."

"But not too long!" Alibaba complained "Don't you dare never come back!"

"It's alright!" He smiled cheerfully "We will meet again for sure!"

"Let's make it a promise." Alibaba suggested happily and put his fist in the middle of the table, Morgiana and Solomon following suit.

"Yes!" They chorused and Alibaba joined in "We will definitely meet again!"

The rest of the night they partied, Solomon was pulled into the middle of the bar by one of the entertainers and Alibaba and Morgiana followed shortly and began dancing. All in all, it was a cheerful and bright night.

With that, the next morning came earlier than expected. They were at the docks, where the ships that would take Morgiana and Alibaba with them would arrive. Solomon bid the two farewell as he took out his linen to fly because it would be more comfortable. They waved at him with smiles on their faces as he flew away, him waving back.

He flashed a lonely smile as he realised how silent his trip would become now that they weren't with him. He'd gotten used to them being by his side, smiling, laughing, being cheerful. He'd miss them. But he knew it was fine, they'd surely meet again.

His thoughts wandered to the Academy. He wondered how living there would be?

Would it be as stuffy and boring and desolate as it was during his time in the Church? Would it be lively? Would the students like him? The only friends he had in the Church were Ugo and Arba. Would he meet people like that here, too?

A part of him hoped he wouldn't, after all, nothing would ever be able to replace those times. But he didn't want to be alone either.

He reminded himself that that didn't matter right now. He had a goal to fulfill, friendship had to come second. Coming out of his thoughts, he spotted a carriage and dully noted that it would be exhausting to fly the entire way.

He got off of his transport and went up to the driver, waving in greeting and sporting a polite smile "Good day, sir! I'm Aladdin, a traveler. I'm heading north and since that seems to be your direction as well, would you mind letting me ride in your carriage?"

"What's this?" The man said with an unpleasant face, moving his hand dismissive to show him he wasn't welcome "You shabby brat... Get lost! Sorry but I happen to cater only to a high-class clientele!"

'I hate saying it like this but I am a King. Shouldn't that count as high-class?' Solomon held back a smirk and kept his mouth shut.

"As a matter of fact," The driver spoke up again, still unfriendly "I've got a very noble guest onboard right now. And for starters, do you even have money?"

'Of course that is what it comes down to.' He opened his bag and grabbed one of the smaller pouches that contained a part of his money. It wouldn't be good to loose it all in one go "Sure I have." He handed the money of the pouch to him "See."

The man gaped at the number of gold coins presented to him, clearly astonished. He grabbed the pouch and went to one of the carriage windows to ask the current passenger for permission to let him ride along with them.

When he got it, he lead Solomon to the back part carriage but warned him not to disturb the other passenger. He could live with that as it had nothing to do with him. There was no need to know the identity of the stranger. Who would it even be? Hakuryuu's cousin? Yeah, big chance...

It did disturb him however that he could feel a Metal Vessel nearby.

It wasn't his business but it somewhat made him wonder who the other person was. And which Djinn did he hold? Who of his household chose this person and what kind of person was he or she?

The possibilities were endless. The presence of which of his friends was unknowingly comforting him in this loneliness?

'I really want to know...' He thought fondly and bit the inside of his cheek. He could find out more about the Metal Vessel users later. No looking into the rukh and no trying to find out.

He sighed and looked out the window, remembering what Yamraiha told him. She she said that the rukh's behaviour towards him could cause problems for him and gave him a magoi reverse tool. Two red stones that gleamed in his hands. He gazed at them in silence. It was impossible to sever his connection to the rukh. He put one into his arm and bandaged it up.

This way Yamraiha had nothing to complain about later and the rukh got the message to steer a bit clear of him for a while. It wouldn't keep them away from coming to him but it would show them they would be a nuisance.

He was thrown out of the carriage when it rocked violently. Swords were pointed at him and the ones protecting the carriage as he stood up. Bandits. How unpleasant. The mercenaries guarding them charged forward only to be nearly incarnated.

If someone asked, he certainly didn't use water magic to clog up the fire based magic tools. Not at all.

The amount of tools on the thieves sent him thinking again. Magic tools were expensive, so how come thieves like them had so many?

The mercenaries rode towards the back of the cart together with the driver and the thieves loomed before them.

They were shouting and about to move in for the kill when, all of a sudden, the roof of the carriage was sliced off.

The youth that sliced the roof glared down on them with merciless eyes, landing on top of the severed wall facing the bandits "Be quiet. You're totally killing the mood of my journey." He suddenly had an easygoing smile as he balanced the giant sword on his shoulder "Hey, old guys!" He addressed the bandits "Does this mean you're all okay with the death penalty?"

He jumped down and crouched in a fighting position in front of the driver and Solomon for a second before leaping straight into the enemy forces. And oh, it just took that one brief moment that he was in front of them for him to notice the familiar eight-pointed star on the youth's weapon.

This was the user he was wondering about earlier. He watched silent and a little alarmed as he sliced his enemies apart without hesitation, a look of utter glee on his face while he was at it.

And it sacred him a little.

As the sword grew in size he also realized that the Djinn must be a user of strength magic. He questioned just who this man was "Hey, who is that man?" He asked the driver who was horrified at the damage the youth could install.

"Not that it would mean much to the likes of you," He replied agitated "but he's a prince of the Kou Empire... Master Ren Kouha."

So he was a cousin of Hakuryuu. Just great. How many more members of the royal family of the Kou would he need to meet until they stopped popping up all around him?

It had been a few hours since the attack and Kouha had let Solomon into the inner part of the carriage that he wasn't allowed in earlier. It only took the prince a few minutes to grow interested in his silent traveling companion.

"So who are you?" He questioned curious.

Solomon noticed at this that he was very different when he wasn't fighting. He looked rather normal now, without his sword in hand.

"He's been with us for a while now. You allowed him in earlier" One of his three female companions, the one with wards on her face, answered before he could.

"Oh?" Kouha voiced, obviously remembering that "What's your name?"

"I'm Aladdin, a traveler." He said politely "Say, I overheard you were going to Magnostadt. I'm also on my way there."

"Really? You?" The prince looked rather... disbelieving "But that country doesn't allow anyone in who isn't a magician aside from special exceptions like myself. Aren't you a Capturer?"

Solomon looked at his flute and grasped it "Not really. This isn't the same kind of Metal Vessel as yours. I'm a magician, actually." He removed his staff from his back and held it out for the prince "See?"

The youth snatched it and examined it curiously "I've never seen a staff like this." He grinned and laughed "It looks kind of like a scepter! Where did you get this? Was it specially made?"

"Kind of." Solomon answered "It was from a very important… person and then given from one wielder to another."

"So it's really old then? That's amazing!" He smiled widely at Solomon "You should visit Kou sometime! I will introduce you to my older brother and you should show him your staff! He's really interested in history and this thing seems really old!"

"Thanks…?" He replied unsure "I would love to take you up on the offer but I fear I will be staying in Magnostadt for a while."

He didn't really want to 'visit' Kou. He would go there, yes, but only for Al-Thamen.

"That's a bummer…" Kouha complained slightly "I will tell my men to keep an eye out for you though. Besides..." He smiled again, but not as wide as before "You're 'that' Aladdin, right? The one that helped Hakuei. You perfectly match the description Seisyun gave us."

That surprised Solomon "Her household member gave it to you?"

"Yep. And you just confirmed my suspicion. How else would you know he's a household member?" He chuckled "But to answer your question, yes, he gave it to us. My cousin seemed to have mixed the description up somehow."

He wondered how she would have managed to do that.

The uncomfortable silence that followed was only broken by the driver telling them that it would take nine more days for them to arrive which resulted in Kouha lamenting.

It amused him a bit, how childish this prince seemed compared to before.

The next days were filled with them talking, apparently the prince forgot about the conversation they had earlier about Hakuei. At one time, Solomon let the prince braid his hair, simply because he wouldn't shut up about it.

They would play chess, too and braid his hair some more. All in all, Solomon would call them some kind of friends. A bit.

The King was relieved as he could undo the numerous braids the prince made when they arrived. He wasn't a girl, damnit!

He regarded the giant walls in front of them with interest, there was no way to see what was beyond them "So where's Magnostadt Academy?"

"This is just the checkpoint." Kouha explained, pointing at the guards "The academy city is still ways off." He then pointed to one of the gates "You've got to get through the entry check over there." He started walking away and waved with a soft smile "Well, goodbye, Aladdin. I've got someone here to meet me. Do your best!"

"Okay!" He replied. He would do his best.

He looked at his bandaged arm. It wouldn't be much but the rukh would know what not to do. With that in mind, he joined into line and waited for his turn.

It amused him a bit that a borg was needed to enter, he supposed it was smart though as it was proof you're a magician. A borg is the defence of many because of their usually frail bodies.

The guard with the hammer was even taller than him and the magician beside him asked for Solomon's name and where he came from. He was on 'official' or 'unofficial' orders from Sindria, which could be debated upon, so that's what he answered.

If this country had a connection to Al-Thamen? Yeah, saying 'I'm from Alma Torran, a place you never even heard of but that's fine.' was not a good idea.

The hammer was swung down on him and he grew anxious just for a moment as a few rukh tried to get close. He exhaled relieved after passing the wall, glad that nothing happened, putting his staff back on his back.

"1st Kodor!" The examiner shouted surprised.

Solomon smiled proudly, with or without rukh, he was one of Alma Torran's best magicians! If he did any less on this exam, he would have to be ashamed!

Many of the students regarded with him with sparkling eyes as he got his schedule. Was it that rare to get 1st on this exam? He was sure he heard a examiner shout it before… once or twice… maybe…

One particular student stood out to him. With the white hair and tan skin he reminded him a bit of Sharrkan.

He followed the man in charge of his group as he led them further inside on a giant carpet. As they reached the outside of the tunnel even he was amazed.

Magicians were flying everywhere! Magic.. magic… magic. It was everywhere the eye went. Nothing but magic! Magic tools were everywhere as well. He only half listened as the man in charge explained that they were members of this years vaunted third annual class of transfer students and had a free day before the next day's Maref's.

Solomon looked at his schedule excited as he searched his room. He already found it not long after entering. A snake sprang in front of his face as soon he went inside.

His roommate who was already there looked at him and the snake went up to his side "Huh?"

"Oh, you're that boy from before." Solomon remarked. Who knew that this would be his roommate? "I see that we're roommates." He went up to the youth whose eyes went as wide and offered his hand "My name is Aladdin!"

"You're the one that made it into first Kodor first try!" He sounded amazed, not taking Solomon's hand.

Solomon peered at the others paper "So you're name is Sphintus Carmen. Nice to meet you!" He offered his hand again.

Sphintus pulled his sheet away from Solomon "Don't look at my stuff!" He looked at Solomon's still outstretched hand and sighed, taking it "Nice to meet you."

Solomon smiled brightly "Let's get along!"

A few days later, Solomon was rather bored. He hadn't found anything out yet and the only thing taught in class were the theories he already knew by heart. The only thing that had to do with practicing magic was finding out where their aptitude was. His was, unsurprisingly, strength.

Like seriously, it didn't take a magic tool to figure that out. But he also had to hand it to them, he had one unfair advantage. Being able to manipulate the laws of physics like he did…

He was lying face down on his bed, boredom making him slowly tired.

"Hey, Aladdin." His roommate called.

"Huh?" Came the tired reply. What could he want at this hour?

"Where are you from?"

He nearly felt his heart stop. That surprised him a little too much.

Sphintus sat up slowly, resting his right elbow on his knee "Since I'm bored, I might as well listen to what you have to say. Don't you have some kind of sob story that'll make us both shed some tears?"

Solomon turned around so he wasn't face down anymore. He did, he did have a sob story. A big one, too. But it was nothing that concerned Sphintus.

"What about you?" He chose to ask instead "You're from Heliohapt, right? Why are you here?"

"Why should I tell you anything about me?" the other questioned.

"Okay then." Solomon replied and lied on his side "I don't need you to tell me anything."

He could just ask the rukh, easy.

By the time Sphintus relented on his own and started to speak, he'd already fallen asleep.

The next night, Sphintus attempted to talk to Solomon again. This time he didn't ask anything about his origin though and Solomon found that he was actually a great person to talk to.

"A lot of people from the 6th Kodor are dropping out, aren't they?" He wondered aloud that night.

"Yeah, I heard that, too." Solomon admitted "Hey, Sphintus. You're a really grounded person, aren't you?"

Sphintus turned his head away and smiled "I see that you're finally starting to appreciate my awesomeness!"

Solomon grinned "I thought you were doing this as a hobby but you really are serious about being a magician…"

"What did you say?" The younger half-shouted upset.

Two month passed before he was really aware of it. He was excited to see the 6th Kodor's at the Iktiyar. He saw a lot drop out but was sure the remaining ones could do it. The rukh around them seemed better and stronger than before.

True to his expectations, the remaining students passed.

It relieved him a bit for some reason. Maybe because it meant less people being disappointed.

It was half a year later, after going a separate way than Hakuryuu, that he saw Kouha exit the main gate of the academy after one of his classes.

"Hey Kouha!" He called out and jumped down the railing "It's been awhile."

"True." The prince replied.

Solomon noted that despite the small smile, he didn't really seem happy, more… sad? No, something else.

"Listen, I'm sorry." Kouha continued "I've got to head back to my country. It's been ages and I'd love to hang out with you, but my country's kind of in an uproar, see."

He left with a small wave and Solomon just watched him go, wondering what Hakuryuu and Hakuei would do now. With a country like Kou that was steadily expanding, to suddenly lose its emperor, what would happen now? Most likely a war.

It would also put a dent into their plan.

The thread was tightening around them but also their enemy. He just hoped Hakuryuu would succeed in his part and not do anything stupid.

With the death of the emperor, the princes and princesses gathered in the capital, one after another. Hakuryuu arrived on the monsters he summoned with Zagan's help and joined his sister.

He really hoped he could do what Solomon asked of him. Resisting the urge to grasp the Eye of Rukh he was given for reassurance, he also knelt like everyone else when Kouen arrived.

The first prince stopped beside him for a moment and put his hand on his shoulder "You conquered a dungeon, I heard. Well done." Then he kept walking.

It wasn't until later in the evening when the sun was nearly gone that Kouen requested a meeting with him and Hakuei. Kouen told them about how there should be one king, one king for everyone.

Hakuryuu barely resisted twitching when the first prince wondered who Solomon was. He kept talking about the past that the Toran writings described and noticed just how similar they were to what Solomon told him.

His guess that the world this took place in was cut off from their own was spot on as well.

What surprised him even more than the similarities was Kouen's theory. But he himself wondered if a single king was the best. It wasn't his place to decide that nor was it the time.

Their emperor was dead, he supposed he had to go to the funeral before anything else. With that in mind the three of them, with Kougyoku who joined them during their conversation, headed towards the rest of their siblings a day later.

Sitting beside her dead husband was his mother. To say he hated her was an understatement but now that he knew about Arba he hated her even more. Solomon told him a lot about his former friend and the more he thought about it, the more similarities he saw. Her behaviour, her looks and everything else.

And the priests around them were Al-Thamen's no matter how he looked at it. And Arba was their original leader. Why would it be the wife of some emperor now?

And that brought a never before felt fury onto him as he heard that she was the new emperor and that the 'Imperial Priests' were to help her.

The retainers of his siblings were furious as well, as they should be. What madness even was this? Kou wasn't this woman's playground!

He had to calm down. If a conflict broke out now it would only lead to more trouble. At the same however, he hated himself for what he did next.

He couldn't believe the words that left his mouth, smooth as butter with no obstacle whatsoever. His cousins and Hakuei were shocked. He could understand them, he was too.

Only shortly after the ceremony, he was stopped on his way by Hakuei who ran after him.

"Hakuryuu! Come back here! Why did you say such a thing?"

He wanted to tell her, he really did but this was Kou. Al-Thamen was nearly everywhere "There was a choice between a split in the palace or a crack in the bond between Kouen and that woman. What would be worse for Kou right now?"

He knew there were holes in that. He knew but he had to try.

That and...

If there had been a split in the palace, the natural outcome would have been Kouen's victory but he knew nothing. Nobody knew anything.

Whatever tricks that woman had up her sleeve might have ended the lives of his cousins. Or worse, driven her out of his mothers body and into Hakuei's. And he didn't believe he could live knowing he'd let that happen. Never.

"I-" She looked at the ground, shocked and lost "I-"

"There would have been a fight immediately, sister." He informed her "But this way, there might be a way to end this without too much bloodshed." Because some people had to be erased "And a great internal conflict would shake the citizens as well. Don't you agree that this was the best solution for the moment?"

"I-" She sighed, sadly "Maybe you're right but... I don't know if I can completely agree with you…"

"That's fine!" He smiled, albeit a bit strained "We're different people with different views, that's normal."

He left for the courtyard, unaware of the two pairs of eyes watching him.

Chuu'un and Seishuu pressed against the wall of the building, hiding, as Hakuei entered it again from the walkway. The glanced at each other. Something was up.

It was two days after Hakuryuu's and Hakuei's talk that the finals for the 3rd annual class of the transfer students began.

Stepping into the centre Solomon went through his plan again as he made sure that the safety barrier of the teachers was still strong enough to take it. Because if it wasn't, he'd only be able to do half of what he'd planned. Luckily they were just barely sturdy enough.

He lifted his staff as he internally apologized to them "Sharrar Sarab!"

A giant reflection of the school built up, already impressing every teacher and student when he grinned.

"Sarg Sargeyya!"

Awed and terrified, the audience watched as the dragon heads tore through the fusion of his own heat and water magic, showing off just how easily his former magic was forcefully torn apart.

That was the point of his performance. Not the elaborate fusion of heat and water but the one of wind and ice.

Ice was a sub-type of water. The eight main types were in a circle, four connected each. Four that worked well with each other, if one of them was the magicians main magic. Of course the others could be used, too.

But he thought heat and water was too easy and ice as a sub-type was even harder to use for someone who wasn't using only his main types.

But that was up to debate since he wasn't a red magician either.

In the late evening, most students and teachers of their year stayed up late to celebrate, some even lifting and throwing their teachers into the air. Like the female teacher of the 6th Kodor.

Solomon himself didn't really need it but it would be suspicious if a student knew everything from the get-go, so he'd asked her a few things every now and then. Not as much as his actual teacher but since every single one had different teaching methods he went to them all.

At least the ones from his year. He didn't know the teachers of the other years, much less the leaders of the academy. That included Matal Mogamett.

He truly wondered what kind of man he was.

"Who knew that you'd be named top student?" Sphintus said teasing as he as he fed his snake.

"We don't know that yet." Solomon smiled happily "But I'm glad you made it to the first Kodor yourself, Sphintus."

"Just barely, yeah." He replied less enthusiastic.

"Listen up!" They could hear Miss Meiers shout as she addressed them all after collecting the two of them, her whip stretched between her hands "You scrubs really gave it your all. Out of the 123 students of the third crop of transfers, you twenty were the only ones to survive. But as you all know, 2nd Kodors and under will have to repeat their grade. Of all your classmates, the following two 1st Kodors will be promoted to the second year!"

She pointed her whip to her left where Sphintus and Solomon stood, one with a rather content, the other with a happy expression.

"Aladdin of Sindria…" Meiers announced "...and Sphintus of Heliohapt!"

Two of the third, formerly sixth, Kodor ran up to them, congratulating them and wishing them luck.

Sai Lin handed him a bouquet of flowers as a sign of Sphintus' and his accomplishments "Good luck to both of you! Do it for us!"

"Sure!" He agreed brightly.

"Especially you, Aladdin." Meiers commented happily smiling as the other teachers were also smiling behind her "There's no doubt in my mind that you'll be named top student. You're the pride of our term!"

"Yes, ma'am!" He nodded "Thanks, everybody!"

He smiled widely as he felt a sudden pain constrict his chest, a lone rukh setteling on his shoulder. He wanted to whisper 'I'm alright' but there was no need to worry the others, so he kept smiling.

His mind wandered to his friends. He wondered when he'd see them again.

Every student of the academy assembled for the announcements of each years top students. He looked around curiously, there were a lot of students.

"All right." One of the five magicians at the desk on top of the stairs called for their attention. He had a scroll in his hand that Solomon decided was too large for just a few names "I will now reveal the name of the top students representing each grade. This year, of the first years, graduating at the top of class are, for the first time, two students." This already sent surprise through the crowd as Solomon's friends looked at him with smiles "12th term, Titus Alexius and 3rd term Aladdin! You both, come up to the dais."

It took Sphintus nudging him from behind to realize that yes, he was Aladdin. He hurriedly stood up and joined the blonde in his walk towards the dais. He warily eyed the rukh swarming their way, this wasn't his doing however. Mister was hiding something.

Should he look into it, should he not?

Maybe later that day. But one thing was clear, this man was either a Magi or the clone of one. He was leaning heavily against the latter.

"Hey Sphintus, now that we're second years, we're moving to different rooms, right?" Solomon questioned.

"Yeah, it would be cool if we could be roomies again." The youth commented as his snake looked at Solomon's paper.

"Eeeeh? Really?" Solomon asked bored, although a bit childish in meaning.

"What?" Sphintus exclaimed shocked and Solomon laughed.

"I'm just kidding." He waved it off and held his paper in front of the two of them "And how about this? The thirty first Kodors who have been promoted to the second year will be granted Magnostadt's 2nd level of Citizenship status."

He could tell this was already going great. Level of Citizenship, really? Really?

He was reluctant to know how many levels there were.

"Never heard of something like that." Sphintus admitted "Wonder what that's all about?"

Solomon exhaled softly in thought as he came to a stop, barely avoiding a crash. He looked up and tapped the young man's shoulder.

"What's going on?" There were a lot of students gathered.

"Oh!" The youth exclaimed as he turned around "You're Aladdin of the third term and... the other guy." He added the last part a bit apologetic.

"You can call me Mister Sphintus!" The white haired youth replied a bit snarky.

"Hey, listen." The blonde on the unknown students side chimed in and pointed towards the source of the commotion "Could you do something about this?"

Solomon looked where she was pointing and took a few steps forward. He could see two red-heads harassing two other students, the blonde from the ceremony watching quietly.

Ah, he already disliked him.

"See how tyrannical Titus' hangers-on are?" The blonde from before told him.

'You don't even know what tyrannical is.' Solomon thought bitterly. But she had a point, it might as well be that. Either way, this had to stop.

"Hangers-on?" He opted that a bit more information couldn't hurt.

The youth from before elaborated "The two 12th term second years besides Titus are now firmly under his control."

Control. It could be such an ugly word sometimes.

Titus turned to them, Solomon in general and started to walk towards them, his two henchmen followed him.

"Hey, here comes the little prince himself!" Sphintus spat quietly.

"Little prince?" Now he was curious. Rotten royalty?

"The Alexius family runs the Leam empire's senate." He whispered him into the ear "They are like the mother of all distinguished families. Just watch." He gestured to the other students and Solomon had to note how discouraged they seemed and tried to avoid eye-contact "No one can defy him… That's because he's from Leam's ruling class. That pisses me off!"

Solomon made a mental connection at that and smiled slightly "I see. You did say you came from an impoverished noble family!"

That definitely pissed the good man off "Shut up!"

A hand grabbed Sphintus' shoulder and threw him backwards as he barely caught himself. Solomon lips curled downward as the blonde smiled softly.

"Aladdin, I'm going to make you a friend of mine." He offered his hand with an absolutely self-satisfied smile "It's amazing that there was another talented magician besides me. Even if the other students had absolutely nothing to recommend them."

Solomon glanced at the others as Sphintus angrily pointed at Titus in silence while the others didn't move.

Titus hand was still there as he kept smiling "You and I are special. Why don't we be friends?"

The two behind him clapped in glee "Ah, excellent! This is the moment that this year's two top students establish their friendship!"

Solomon raised his right hand as Sphintus gaped in utter shock but to everyone's surprise he grabbed Titus arm directly under his wrist and squeezed.

"Listen here." Solomon answered with a smile and icy cold, damning glare all the while increasing the force on his grip "Pushing other people, my friends, around, acting all high and mighty, belittling people you don't even know…" He smiled sweetly and let his voice become slightly hushed "You truly are a really, really, terribly disgusting organism. If you ask me, you are the one who has nothing to recommend you aside from your horrible personality."

The utter mortification and rage on the boy's face was hilarious. Maybe he was a bit harsh but this kid needed a lesson, maybe even more so than Sheba did in the past.

He let got of him, mentally apologizing for the bruise that might form later on.

The Alexius was twitching angrily before a dark, murderous aura engulfed him "You… are… dead!"

He was, wasn't he? Technically... not counting the fact that he was alive and breathing, again, somehow.

"You vulgar plebeian, I'm going to humiliate you!" He grabbed Solomon by the collar and shook him as his friend kept making fun of him. When he let go he grabbed his weapon staff and pointed it at him "Feel the humiliation! I'll make you pay for insulting me of all people!"

A voice cut through the tumult of anger in an instant "You there, what are you fighting about?"

All students gasped and went to kneel, Solomon following suit to avoid trouble. He looked up slightly, so this man was the Chancellor. Said man came to a stop before the three of them and the woman, Irene, stepped forward, holding up another of those too long scrolls.

"Aladdin and Titus Alexius. You are both hereby ordered to take part in a battle exam tomorrow." Seeing the question in both their eyes she explained "From the second year, the instructors select only the best students to teach… That is what this battle exam is for." She closed the scroll "In other words, the losing student is not chosen and cannot learn anything. If you wish to grasp the truth about magic, show us your power! In a... battle!"

Aaaaaaaand back again!

Miss me yet? No? That's fine^^

So what do you think about this chapter? Be sure to tell me!