Note: Just a heads up, these stories are not necessarily in chronological order. As I am rereading the serious and I get little tidbits about Ferdinand's school days I am thinking 'oh I think this looks like this' And a couple are requests. So if there is a particular event you want to see from Ferdinand's school days or elsewhere in the series put the request into a review.

Ferdinand 1st year Royal Academy

I took my seat in my first class. Math. The exam was passed out to everyone. Which amounted to a blank sheet of parchment. The teacher, a stately gentleman who was in his later years, coughed and cleared his throat. His long white hair was pulled back from his face and tied neatly behind his head. Everything about this man, down to his flowing black robes to his posture said elegant.

"Now, we will begin the test. I will repeat each question three times and no more. You must write each question down then once I have finished you may take the time to answer them. Once you are done you will bring your test up to me. Do be sure your name, year, and duchy are all in your heading. Let us begin."

I copied each of the questions down being sure to leave enough space for the answer. As the professor recited each question, I frowned harder. These were all child's play. Why were they teaching things that should have been taught well before anyone ever arrived. Needless to say, I finished shortly after the final question was given. It was almost disturbing how easy it was. Sylvester made it sound like everything was incredibly difficult. Ah, I realized instantly the issue was not me, but what Sylvester had thought. With a sigh I brought my test up to the front and the gave it to the professor.

"You may take this time to study for your next exams. Quietly."

I went back to my seat and took out my study materials for my next class. Several students struggled to finish in the allotted time. But in the end, I was called and told I passed. When were dismissed I went to my next class, Theology. Like the previous class it was absurdly easy leaving me wondering if I had over prepared for everything.

It was my next class that proved to be the undoing my thought process. This class was different in the previous two in several ways. There wasn't just one teacher here, but quite a few. But we were also divided into groups based on status. As the only archduke candidate from Ehrenfest in the first year, I was grouped with archnobles.

Ehrenfest's dorm supervisor, Hirschur stepped forward. I remembered she had been oddly absent when I arrived. Justus had informed me that she was typically too absorbed in her research to bother coming to check on the students. The general opinion that other students had was that she was not very reliable. But as I stared at her and took in her dark purple hair and the tool made of glass over her left eye, I wondered how anyone had ever missed the sharp intelligence in her eyes. Maybe it was the bored attitude that she did not even bother to hide, as if she would rather not be here. Either way I doubted she cared at all what we thought of her.

"Today you will be learning to use your mana. To that end you will each come get a fey stone from this box." She directed our attention to a box the size of my chest sitting on a small table at the front of the room. "You will then need to completely dye the stone. Then you will show one of us the results. Only after one of us has confirmed that you have properly dyed the stone may you then empty the stone. This is essential in process of learning to make your high beast. Which you will learn next year." From there groups were called up in order of rank. Ehrenfest was currently ranked sixteenth so we were the sixteenth group to go up and grab fey stones.

I felt confident that this would be no different than my first two lessons. So, when I returned to my seat with my fey stone in hand, I immediately tried to fill it, not even bothering to wait for the rest of the students to get theirs. The stone vanished from my hand. I opened my fist only to have golden sand trickle onto the table. What happened? Why did the stone break? Did I fail? I could feel dread welling up inside me at that last thought. Failure had never been an option open to me. My chest squeezed painfully from distress. I kept my expression as smooth as possible, but I could not stop the subtle shake to my hands. In my head I heard a sharp female voice that dripped with venom, 'A useless fool who produces no results is no child of an archduke; the time and effort spent on them would be wasted. Those who are useless have no reason to live.'

A glance at Eckhart showed that he was focused solely on the stone in his hand. Then I turned to Justus only to find he had already gotten up and went to the front of the class. He came back with a second fey stone and slid it on to my table as he passed by. Some of the panic that had formed in my chest unwound as Justus returned to his table. This stone I took more carefully, attempting to direct my mana into it. Once again, the stone burst apart into gold sand. I feel a cold sweat break out over my skin. My panic was back and increasing. Why was this happening, I desperately wracked my brain. Her words repeated over and over like an insidious song that would not leave my mind.

Then a shadow was cast over my desk. I looked up at professor Hirschur expecting a snide comment or a derisive laugh. Instead, she observed my desk and the gold sand with an almost hungry expression. She took out a small pouch from her belt and swept the sand into it. She then grabbed another much larger pouch and placed it on the table in front of me after removing a hand full of fey stones from it.

"Put your hand in the bag and funnel your mana into the contents."

I hesitated, but in the end did as I was told. Inside there were easily two dozen fey stones roughly twice the size of the ones we had been using. I directed my mana into them and one by one they burst apart in quick succession. The process started to slow once I got down to the last few. By then I could feel how much mana it would take to fill them. A miniscule amount compared to what I had been attempting. Truly it was no wonder why the stones had shattered. Hirschur handed me one the of the few that she withheld.

"Hold it over the bag."

I did as she asked. This time I tried to merely drip feed my mana in. The stone filled quickly and just as I stone a fissure split the smooth surface.

"Dust that one too."

I did as she asked, letting the gold sand fall into the bag. Then took the next one that she offered me. I ended up repeating this process three more times before I finally managed to fill a stone without breaking it. Hirschur nodded satisfied.

"Good, now drain it. Shouldn't have to worry about breaking it."

She was correct. When I drew my mana back into my body the stone didn't so much as crack.

"Very good, Lord Ferdinand. You pass with flying colors. Your homework tonight will be to practice moving around your mana. As you have so much of it, it will take a lot of focus to control and wield effectively, but I look forward to seeing what you will accomplish." She smiled at me in a way that caught me off guard. Or maybe it was the way she actually praised me and reassured me.