“Come on, Evren,” Marcus urged him forward. “Let’s go meet the rest of the boys.” He pulled at Evren’s arm, but they didn’t move from the spot.
Evren, the much bigger boy, was balking like a mule. His eyes passed nervously over the crowd.
“What’s wrong? Don’t you want to meet the other members of the class?”
“I do… I’m just being cautious.”
“Oh, you have nothing to worry about. These are boys, just like you and me.”
Evren surveyed the group. He counted thirty students and there were still more arriving. His sharp eyes scanned the faces in the crowd, and he was surprised to see that he recognized about half of them. These were the same guys he’d studied with, or at least some of them were.
“Let’s go talk with them,” Evren suggested, pointing to a pair of boys who were standing separate from the rest.
“Who? Those two? Whoa… slow down!”
Marcus found himself being dragged along. This big guy didn’t know his own strength. When he and Evren were facing the others, he seemed to loom over them, a broad smile on his face.
One of the pair, a stout boy with gentle features and neatly trimmed blond hair, was a good friend, Reginald. The other, a lean energetic boy with dark tousled hair was named Tavian. They were both good-natured and kind, and Evren felt a sense of relief seeing them here.
“Hi guys,” Evren exclaimed. The two looked up at him, eyes widening as they took in his size. He added hopefully, “Do you remember me?”
Tavian spoke first. He seemed more timid than his usual self.
“Uhh… Have we met?”
Evren sighed. He’d held out hope that some of his friends had retained their memories as well. But it seemed that that was not the case with these two. Was he the only one who had been transported back in time, or was he going crazy?
“Well, we have met before, but I guess we have to start from the beginning. My name’s Evren.”
“And I’m Marcus. We’ve never met.”
“I’m Tavian and… what did you say your name is?”
He looked over at the quiet blond boy beside him. The boy pushed his glasses up higher on his nose and reluctantly gave a single word response.
“Reginald.”
“Right! This is Reginald,” Tavian said, laying a hand on the blond boy’s shoulder, then he turned back and asked, “Are you two excited to meet the female casters?”
“I am so ready!” Marcus squealed. “I heard we’ll be introduced to a different girl every morning for the first week.”
“Yeah!” Tavian replied, matching his enthusiasm. “It’s like we can sample a few partners before picking our favorite.”
This was the first Evren had ever heard of this system. Usually it was the girls who decide which boys they want to spend time with.
“Apparently,” Marcus said gesturing excitedly, “The ratio of girls to boys is higher this year than ever before.”
“Why is that?” Evren asked.
“Only the Gods know! But for us, that means we can afford to be more picky,” Marcus answered.
“Yes, but that also means the girls will be acting more desperate,” added Tavian. “What do you guys think about your trial partners?”
“I wish mine would be a little more desperate,” Marcus replied sulkily, “She’s here treating me like an equal, when she should be treating me like a prince.”
Tavian laughed at that and Reginald grunted in reply.
“Well mine is super cute, but I don’t think she’s a very good caster,” Tavian confided. “She wouldn’t even show me her Basic 10. And she offered to give me a shoulder rub about ten times yesterday.”
Marcus laughed loudly at that.
“That sounds desperate! Tell them about your trial partner, Evren!”
“Mmmm…”
Evren hummed as he thought about what to say. The boys all waited for him to speak, and consequently the conversation’s flow slowed almost to a halt.
“She’s different from the girl I was expecting…”
“Different good or different bad?” Tavian asked, prodding him for more information.
That was a question Evren had been asking himself since he’d arrived in this strange time. Was this Lyra better than the one he’d left behind? Sure, she wanted to be with him and she listened to what he had to say. He had even seen that desperation in her when she was drunk. But she was also missing some of the charm and confidence that the version of Lyra he’d idolized for months had possessed.
“I don’t know yet…”
“Tell them what you told me!” Marcus added tersely, “She’s worse than expected. He left her back at the dorm because she’s still sleeping, isn’t she Evren?”
“Yeah.”
“What?” Marcus crowed, “Time to move on to the next!”
Evren felt bad. He knew how much Lyra cared about her reputation. Now, even before she started her freshman year there were boys making fun of her, and it was at least partially his fault. He looked to Reginald for help in changing the subject.
“How’s your partner, Reginald?”
Reginald looked around the circle at the other boys and answered, using more words than he’d said during the whole conversation.
“Her name is Celia. She’s okay.”
“Oh… I think I know Celia,” Evren stated then asked, “Small girl? Black hair? Likes to wear it in twintails?”
“Yeah, that’s her.”
Evren smiled at Reginald. Celia and he had lived together for two weeks. She was a quiet, simple girl. Not particularly strong, but not weak either. He didn’t remember Reginald partnering with her in his previous freshman year. He suspected their personalities would be a good match.
“I think you’ll get along well together.”
“I hope so,” Reginald replied simply, though his eyes sparkled with some hidden meaning.
The boys all turned at once, as a sharp voice cut through the noise.
It was loud with a rich feminine quality, which drew the attention of all the boys to the mouth of the tunnel that led to the Assembly Hall. There, two magisters stood side by side, one man and one woman. It was the woman who was speaking to them now.
“Welcome freshman boys. My name is Magister Sabina…”
“And I am Magister Marcel,” the man beside her said.
“We are two of the Magisters that will guide you through your freshman year here at the Nexus Academy,” she said.
“We are also support partners,” he added.
The two magisters emphasized their point by joining hands. Their fingers twining intimately together.
They spoke so smoothly together. It was like they shared a mind. Evren found it to be both impressive and disturbing at once. As if they were no longer individuals, but two halves of a whole. As they launched into a shared speech about the importance of choosing a suitable partner they repeated many of the points that the girls in his previous world had spoken of.
Find a partner early and grow strong together.
Choose a partner not just based on strength, but also on compatibility.
The perfect partner is found with both your mind and your soul.
Evren listened reverently, and as he did he felt a great weight bearing down upon him. Before, he was working to be accepted by a partner, any partner. But now, he was responsible for matching with a partner. And not just any partner.
He needed to find his perfect partner.
“When you enter the Assembly Hall, you will be given five minutes to find a seat and sit down,” she continued.
“There is no leaving your seat once you have sat down,” he said.
“Sit next to a girl that you are interested in pairing with for the day,” she said.
“The girls will not be allowed to affect your decision. In fact, they have been fettered in place to stop them from interfering,” he added drily.
“There are 86 freshmen seated within,” she said.
“And 41 of you…” he declared.
A murmuring rose up among the boys in the crowd, but the two made no further comment. There were a lot of girls to choose from.
“Now is the time. Follow us into the hall…” she said.
“This way please,” he finished, as they both turned on their heels and walked into the darkened tunnel.
The crowd quietened down, as the boys pressed closer together and entered the broad tunnel. The excitement was still there, but it was now more subdued. Evren and his three friends moved as a group, ending up somewhere in the center of the pack as they all pressed forward.
* * * * * * * * *
“I can’t believe they’re support partners,” Marcus observed. “He could do so much better than her.”
He was talking about Magister Marcel and Magister Sabina. From here, they could just make out their silhouettes in the dimly lit passageway.
“How so?” asked Evren.
“He is an objectively handsome guy, while she is quite ugly.”
“I suppose she might be a strong caster?” Tavian suggested. “But yeah… I can’t imagine them being sex partners.”
“Ewww, don’t say that!” Marcus replied, disgusted.
Evren could not understand these two at all! To him, Marcel looked like an average looking man, not much older than his sister. He had clean cut brown hair, sharp features, topping off his tall and thin body. But she looked incredible. Sabina was small and shapely, with long blond hair and an hourglass figure. She was beautiful in his eyes.
The crowd of boys emerged into a vast space that could hold an assembly of a thousand people. Their eyes followed the ancient wooden bracings up the steep arch of the ceiling and landed on the great glass centerpiece of the entire hall.
A huge prism embedded in the crown of the dome and forever rotating. Refracting light from the surface, it shot beams of light in every direction, lighting up the entire space and casting rainbows on every surface. It was an ancient miracle of magic and engineering.
Yes, the Assembly Hall was just as he remembered it.
Evren spared just a moment to take in the grandeur of the hall itself, before his focus shifted to the desks that were lined up down the center of the hall, surrounded by the grand support pillars.
Ten rows of with ten desks. 100 in total. That was how many he counted.
Most were already occupied by young girls, all of whom were dressed in white sleeveless button-ups and short plaid skirts.
These were all the girls he had to choose from.
Most of them had their heads turned to watch as the crowd of boys filed in and spread out in a long line. A few of them were looking straight ahead seemingly unaware, while still others had their eyes lowered.
Senior casters stood at regular intervals watching the girls attentively. Some of them were boys and some of them were girls. These were the upperclassmen. Senior students who assisted in the proceedings. A few years ago, each of them had been seated in this hall for their first assembly.
But the most important person stood on a high dais at the front of the Assembly Hall. The purple robes and flowery decolletage marked her as being the Stratega. The headmaster of the entire Caster class. The highest authority in the Nexus.
And it wasn’t who had thought it would be.
This woman stood tall and poised, but her figure was the epitome of elegance. And she was young, looking no older than many of the senior casters. Evren admired her long chestnut curls and curvy body. He had no idea who she was, but he really wanted to find out. How could a woman hold such power while also being so young and beautiful. This was a strange world indeed!
“Welcome freshman caster boys. I am Stratega Octavia, and I will be overseeing your education and training here at Nexus Academy.”
Her voice was full and melodic and it boomed like a priest reciting prayers to the Twelve.
She went on for several minutes, detailing the great history of the Academy. Evren listened carefully, and he felt a surge of pride once again at being a small part of such a prestigious institute. He glanced over at the other boys. Many of them were moving listlessly, some of them were chatting quietly.
He looked over to the audience of girls who were restless in their seats. Some of them were listening to the Stratega, while many others were still looking over the line of boys standing on the sidelines.
“But enough about our past. Let us all look to the future. Now is the time to pair up and create magic with each other,” the Stratega declared from the front. "Boys, you have five minutes. Please find a partner to sit down with. Begin!”
The boys around him rushed forward, leaving Evren standing by himself.
The first great decision of his freshman year was here.