The Headmaster stood over a cliff, as waves and waves of ocean water smashed against its surface. His back was turned to a wizened and gnarled woman, who stood only because of the staff she leaned on. The skies overhead were darkened with, heralding the approach of a mighty storm, and indeed, a few droplets of rain fell around them, though they remained untouched.

"Thank you for informing me of this, Andromeda, but I'm afraid this changes nothing. The school will open as it always has, and I will repel the other Archemages as I have always done."

The old woman shook her head, her wrinkled face stared at Niccolo with contempt only the wise could manage. "That is naught but arrogance speaking, Niccolo. The Archetypes will not lift a finger to defend you and yours - your plight will be beneath their notice, not even a dot on the portrait of their schemes." She took shaky, uneasy steps forward and joined him at the cliffs edge. "For all your power, even you cannot triumph if forces are arrayed against you from all sides. Something must be sacrificed if you wish to guarantee your survival."

He said nothing in response, merely staring off into the distance. As the silence between them thickened, the storm began increasing in its intensity. Thunder roared as streaks of lightning danced in the clouds above them.

Shaking his head, the Headmaster spoke.

"If need be, I will sacrifice my own life. If it comes to that, my school will outlive me."

Suddenly, an errant bolt of lighting flashed towards him, only for it to bounce of a magical barrier and into the ocean below. The Headmaster turned his head and looked at Andromeda.

"What was that for?"

"If you value your life so little, then I will gladly end it for you."

Niccolo chuckled. "I will only give it up if need be. Do you really think me eager to die? No, I will exhaust all other options before it comes to that."

The old lady huffed. "You will find those options exhausted faster than you realize, I assure you."

"Maybe, maybe not. Then again, perhaps arguing with you isn't the best choice."

"So he can learn! I am impressed."

The both of them looked each other in the eye, before bursting into laughter. The whatever remained of the tense air between them evaporated, and as though responding to their mood, the storm that promised to flood the land with rain, and the sky with electricity abruptly faded, giving way for a beautiful blue sky.

"It was good seeing you again, my cute little sister."

The old woman made a disgusted face. "Ugh. I'm over seven hundred years old now Niccolo, and I look like a raisin, please do not call me that."

"Hahaha! You should just hurry up and become and Archemage, Andromeda. That way you can return to your young and perky self."

"Guh. Would that I could, but this curse is proving more and more difficult to break. Two hundred years and I don't even know if I'm any closer to solving it or not."

"I warned you about making a deal with her."

"She was a fire mage! A rather infamous one I might add! How could I suspect she could also curse like a goddamn Zoroastrian deity?!"

"Whatever she was then, she's an Archetype now. That really should have tipped you off to how bad an idea that was."

"Ugh, in any case," she said, looking up at the sky, and narrowing her eyes as though she were searching for something, "it looks like it's almost time for breakfast."

Niccolo imitated her, looking up, and smiled.

"Ah, that it is."

A man in a gray suit arrived at Phagora and her mother's doorstep, at exactly 11 o'clock. Knocking on the door thrice, he waited until someone opened it.

Bowing, he introduced himself. "Good morning. Harold Messir, at your service. I've come to pick up Miss Phagora to bring her to the teleportation area. I understand that it is her first year, so I've been tasked with escorting her around the school so she may familiarize herself."

Harold lifted up an ID, to prove that he was telling the truth. It read:


The ID itself was enchanted with powerful magic. Only the keenest mages could discern what kind of enchantment it held, however. It's function was to prevent its bearer from lying.

"The system was set in place in order for the younger enrollee's to integrate themselves more seamlessly into the University. If you wish, you may also accompany your daughter for the first day, to see if everything is up to your standards."

Karen Almira, third year, was soundly asleep. Among the three assigned to Room 22-A - her, Viola, and Luna - she was the youngest, though she'd been at B.U.M. a year longer than Viola, she was still an Apprentice. Her Master was a professor at the University, however she'd only entered once her Master had declared that she was fit for entry "Now that your magic isn't so shamefully embarrassing."

Her Master was an ass like that. Still, he was a nice person deep down. Really, really deep down.

An alarm rang loudly, and she shot up from her bed, looking at the alarm clock positioned on the desk beside her.

"It's almost twelve!" she yelled.

The girl jumped out of her bed and ran straight towards her cabinet, swiped a handful of clothes, and burst out her room to the living room of her dormitory.

The school dormitory rooms were fairly large, and divided into five main parts: three private rooms, a living room and a dining room that doubled as a kitchen. There was only one bathroom, however.

Furniture was sparse, at first, with the a dining table, a few chairs, and beds being provided. Overtime, however, students added some character to the rooms, such as Karen's alarm clock and her Hello Kitty comforters.

Karen made way towards the bathroom. Twelve AM was the opening ceremony of the school, and not to mention the breakfast buffet afterwards was quite frankly amazing, so she really rather didn't want to miss it!

At 11 o'clock, the sky was still dark, with the only light that was being provided coming from the gentle glow of the moon. What little light there was, however, was blocked out by the branches of trees that spread out through the forest.

A man in a gray suit - black under the shadows - and carrying a brown leather suitcase, stepped through the forest floor, stopping in front of a Charles. The man put down the briefcase and put his hands up, to show that he was not hostile.

"Charles, correct? I've been instructed to give you this." The man took an envelope from inside his pocket, and pointed it towards Charles. It began glowing brightly and floated slowly towards him, landing at his feet.

Inside the envelope was a handbook, an I.D. bearing Charles face, and a pair of meal tickets.

Also inside, was an invitation. Written on soft, yet durable purple paper, the letter was written with gold ink, and done by hand:



"So, what will your answer be? If you agree, I can take you to the University now. It's a good place, filled with all kinds of people. I don't know about your circumstances, but you probably shouldn't wander here too long," said the gray-suited man.

Inside Lee's dormitory, her only roommate, Xinhua Yinyin, was already awake. The Chinese disciple of the Dragon God was in the living room, in the middle of a set of push-ups. The girl was sweating heavily, and was wearing nothing other than a pair of training pants.

The school dormitory rooms were fairly large, and divided into five main parts: three private rooms, a living room and a dining room that doubled as a kitchen. There was only one bathroom, however.

Furniture was sparse, at first, with the a dining table, a few chairs, and beds being provided. Overtime, however, students added some character to the rooms, such as Xinhua's large wooden training dummy's and her pet hawk, that silently watched her from its perch in the living room.

"201 . . . 202 . . . 203," she counted. Sparks of electricity lit up around her body as she exercised, conducting her sweat and evaporating it into steam. The steam coming from her body floated around the living room unnaturally, forming dark-gray storm clouds that occasionally erupted with lightning inside of it.

It was almost time for the opening ceremony, which also meant it was almost time for breakfast, and if there was any one thing that she would say was the best thing about the University, it was breakfast time. When it came to breakfast, the school was unnaturally fanatical - likely because the Headmaster was obsessed with the idea of starting the day with a good meal - not like she was complaining. The breakfast served here would make even the Dragon Gods weep with satisfaction. And she does not invoke their names lightly.

Meruin wasn't awake yet. Unsurprising, as the girl was up late - as per usual - preforming experiments. Still, if there was ever a time she would attempt to wake up earlier that afternoon, it was now. The opening ceremony was soon, and that meant the opening ceremony breakfast.

If it weren't for the fact that she tested the food for tampering, Meruin would have sworn there was something magical about it. Actually, she probably still would. The breakfast served here was magical, but in a mundane sense - the same sense that made simple things such as joy and love magical.

A chorus of bells suddenly echoed in her room, coming from a magically lit lantern in the shape of a King chess-piece. The tiny girl blearily opened her eyes and moaned as she stretched out the stiffness of her body.

Her room was a mess. Books were scattered all over, nearly taking up all of the floor. Various utensils were propped up on disorganized tables, with papers tacked to the walls - a far cry from how the room used to look like.

School dormitory rooms were fairly large, and divided into five main parts: three private rooms, a living room and a dining room that doubled as a kitchen. There was only one bathroom, however.

Furniture was sparse, at first, with the a dining table, a few chairs, and beds being provided. Overtime, however, students added some character to the rooms. In Meruin's case, she added so much character that it filled up the room, leaving her barely any walking space.

She got up and made her way to the living room and to the bathroom. The start of the new term would officially begin with the opening ceremony, which concluded with the best thing about this school - breakfast.

She wondered if Britney and her other roommate was awake?

A man knocked on Noah's door. He wore a navy-blue suit - the uniform of the school Heralds, or the ones who brought official notices from the school to students. It was almost time for the opening ceremony, and the Heralds were going around delivering notices to different students to inform them of new living arrangments

In Noah's case, though he'd been living alone up to this point, he would soon have a new roommate join him.

The school dormitory rooms were fairly large, after all, enough to have a maximum of four people live so long as someone shared a room. The dormitory rooms were divided into five main parts: three private rooms, a living room and a dining room that doubled as a kitchen. There was only one bathroom, however.

Furniture was sparse, at first, with the a dining table, a few chairs, and beds being provided. Overtime, however, students added some character to the rooms. Some would bring in pets, others, furniture from home. Of course, rooms with only one person living in them tended to have less furniture as a result, though that could be a good thing depending on the roommates.

The Headmaster took a moment to relax in his seat, as he went over his meeting with his sister. There was much to do this time around. Forces were converging on all sides, either through the contrived schemes of his antagonists, or otherwise by sheer happenstance; either way, this would be a trying time, and he only hoped that the students could walk away unscathed.

Mortal problems, he could deal with - he wasn't the strongest Archemage when it came to combat, but he was the most respected for a reason. But if events happened came to pass as Andromeda predicted . . . he didn't think he was ready to play the game of the Archetypes. Even their "games" were world-shattering incidents, and only a fool would deliberately stick their nose into them. Of course, wisdom and foolishness were not necessarily exclusive to each other - it could come to pass that one could be both at the same time. It seemed that this time, it would be his turn.

He released a deep sigh. "Much to do, much to do," he muttered.

He took a moment and let silence reign, before rising from his chair and looking out the window of his tower. It was tall enough that it over looked the whole school, a view that he basked in every morning before breaking the fast of the evening. It was his pride, his joy, and his bastion of strength. Looking at it now reaffirmed his decision to not back down from the threats he would face. All of his life had been leading up to its creation, and the rest of it would see to its flourishing.

A knock on his door turned his head.

"Come on in, Poly."

The large double-doors to his study swung open with more force than required, and in walked a grinning, short, hazel-haired girl, wielding a long ornate white staff with a lollipop bigger than his head attached at the tip. She was wearing a loose, semi-translucent pink nightgown with frilly sleeves, a designed that made him question whether it was adult or childish.

"Hey Nic, heard ya were back, an' I came ta check up on ya," said Polyanna, in her usual rough accent. "I lost ya sometime when ya flew across th' Caribbean. Wha' happened?"

"My sister had a vision of the future. It looks like this year will be particularly stormy."

Poly stared at the Headmaster for a moment, then nodded. "I see. So, who's it this time? Miltiades? Gremory? Or someone new?"

The Headmaster shook his head. "All of three, but they're not even the true threat, or more accurately, they are the lesser threat."

The Head Enforcer scoffed, almost disbelievingly. "Three Archemages and they're not the real threat? What th' hell are we dealin' with here Nic, an Archetype?"

When all that met her question was silence, Polyanna swallowed heavily. "H-hey, Nic? I was jus' jokin' when I brought up an Archetype. Please, please don't tell me we're fightin' an Archetype!"

It might have been undignified of a Grandmaster, especially a Grandmaster combat-mage like her, to show fear towards an opponent, but fear was a truly appropriate response when it came to the Archetypes. They were more than just powerful mages, they were the powers-that-be, the be-all, end-all of authority in this world. They were the status quo of the universe personified.

"No, thankfully," said the Headmaster with a chuckle, and Polyanna sighed in relief. "But it might be nice to have their help this time around. I understand that The Golden Dawn is a particularly bitter enemy of the Forces Beyond the Dream."

And again, Polyanna stared at the Headmaster, a blank expression on her face. "Ya gotta be kiddin' me. Veil-breachers? That's the threat this time? So on top of Archmemages we gotta deal with the Enemy too?"

The girl sighed and took strides towards the Headmaster. With each step, she grew taller and taller, until a buxom, older version of the young beauty stood before the Headmaster. Her once loose nightgown now strained against her newly enlarged assets, and barely covered up anything below her waist. Wrapping her arms gentley around him, the woman rested her forehead on Nicollo's own.

"I know ya promised me 'fights that will test me beyond my capabilities' but wow Nic, this might just be too much, even fer me," she whispered.

The Headmaster closed his eyes, sinking into her embrace. "Would you like to call Ophelia back? We could use her help."

"Nah, let her enjoy her retirement. We'll find a way ta handle this. Or, rather you will, an' I'll do all ta' heavy liftin'."

Chuckling, the Headmaster broke from her embrace and smiled. "Business as always then?"

Smiling back, Polyanna stepped backwards, reverting to her younger form. Her staff, which had been floating in place for the entire time, returned to her hand.

"Speaking of, th' opening ceremony is'n an hour, ya should get ready. Mede's got th' portal up and everythin'."

"Oh, right." The Headmaster blinked. And then grinned. That meant it was nearly time for breakfast.

Yes, even the Headmaster liked the breakfast afterwards more than the ceremony itself.

The man nodded. Picking up his suitcase, gestured for Charles to follow him. They walked for a few minutes before finally stopping at a clearing in the forest. At its center, a magical glyph shone with a gentle blue light.

"This is the portal to the school. I would think it would be best to show you around, at least until the afternoon. That way you can decide for certain whether to stay or not. If you'd like to, we could also return for anything you may need," he said, stepping into the glyph with Charles in tow.

"Oh, and I've forgotten to introduce myself."

He pulled out an ID and showed it to him. "Sergei Karakov. I'm an Escort for the school, and unofficially, I'll be your guardian for the duration of your stay, at least until you no longer need my assistance."

The next second, particles of blue lights surrounded them, and in an instant, their surroundings changed. Where they were once surrounded by a forest, now only darkness stood. But it was a beautiful darkness, with stars of varying colors surrounding them, as though they stood at the center of the universe. Beside them, other students stood, many of them enraptured by the view being provided for them.

Then, there was a large tear opened up in the "universe", assuming the shape of a door. At that tear stood a man.

"Welcome everyone, to the Breakfast University of Magic! I'm Mede Artus, though you can just call me Sir Em! If you could kindly step through here, you'll arrive at the school proper, thanks!"

As a crowd, the students and a few escorts stepped through the gate.

Sergei looked at Charles. "Come. We'll part here for a moment, and I will see you again after the ceremony. Simply follow that man over there," he said, pointing at Mede. "For the time being."

"Blegh! That was mean Viola!" said Karen with a pout. Gratefully accepting the dishcloth from her, Karen wiped her face. At least it wasn't hot. She bolted towards the bathroom right away, shooting a small glare at the poltergeists along the way. She was never really their biggest fan, but so long as Viola was her roommate she had to learn to live with them . . . or rather she was forced to learn to live with them.

"In a minute Luna!" she called out as she shut the bathroom door. Taking a quick shower, Karen couldn't shake the feeling something was missing.

Ten minutes later, she realized what.

Stepping out of the shower, Karen looked around for her towel . . . only to not find it. The girl promptly ran out of the bathroom, dripping wet and desperately hoping no one saw her, and straight to her room. A quick change later, and she stepped out, red in the face, her hair not properly dried.

"Okay we can go now . . ." she muttered.

She was dressed in denim shorts while wearing a rainbow colored hoodie with the tag "GOAT" emblazoned in fiery print across the back, and mismatching orange and green socks under neon-pink rubber shoes.

"I wonder how many new students will have this year?" she wondered aloud. "Hopefully we'll get more neighbors."

Their hall in dorm building A was peculiarly empty. In fact, they only had six other people occupying the rooms around them.

And speaking of neighbors . . .

"Oh, morning Lee and uh, X-Xinhua."

Karen stepped out and was greeted to the sight of probably the most beautiful girl on the campus stepping out of her room. Guy or girl, it didn't matter - Karen was sure anyone would have the hots for the Dragon Gods Disciple. Oh, she noticed Lee too, but her attention quickly zeroed in on the dark-haired girl.

She cursed herself silently for getting flustered at her appearance. She always got nervous around her for some weird reason!

---

Xinhua got up from her exercise and stretched, taking pleasure in the relief it gave her. Taking a towelette that was draped over the couch of their room, she wiped herself down and hung the towelette around her neck before turning to Lee with a smile.

While she was unsure about her roommate at first, given the rather . . . wooden introduction she had, she found Lee to be someone who's company she could enjoy. Perhaps others might not have been so tolerant of her 'unique' choice of decor, but she herself was an avid lover of nature - how could she not be, when she had a Dragon God, the very embodiment of natural forces, as a patron? So while others would have been irritated, she found herself relaxing in the presence of Lee's foliage.

"Yes, that sounds nice. Just let me shower and change first. I'd rather not present something so unsightly to the new students," she added, gesturing at her perspiration covered body.

It didn't take too long for her to shower and dress. She was an efficiently practical person, and consequently didn't put too much thought into appearances - which made her famous beauty all the more attractive. It was something that simply came to her naturally. Any effort she put into appearances was solely for the purpose of keeping in with the pride she had as one of the Dragon Gods Disciples.

She came out, her long hair tied into a high ponytail and wearing a red long-sleeved sweater and jeans.

"Tao Cai." She motioned to her hawk, and it flew towards her hand with practiced ease. Petting it affectionately, the bird preened under her touch.

"Shall we?" she said, opening the door and motioning outside.

"Oh, evening Lee and uh, X-Xinhua."

A new voice joined in, sounding normal at first, then abruptly turning shy.

"Ah, good evening to you Karen," replied Xinhua casually, before turning to Luna, who was outside with her, "and to you as well Luna. Are you going to attend the opening ceremony as well?"