The walk from her tower room to the classroom took fifteen minutes, two wrong turns, and one near-death experience involving a sentient staircase that tried to nudge her out a window.

  By the time Mina reached the classroom door labeled “CHAOS MAGIC & APPLIED LIFE WISDOM – Level 4,” she was winded, slightly singed, and still not over the fact that she was apparently a magical professor in what looked like Hogwarts had a baby with a Renaissance faire.

  She took a deep breath, adjusted her robes—they were a bit too long, and she’d tripped twice—and pushed open the door.

  Inside, the classroom looked like a half-finished potion lab crossed with an abandoned art studio. A wide circular space with mismatched chairs, scattered spellbooks, and a few cracked cauldrons. Dust motes danced in the golden morning light filtering through tall arched windows. Someone had scribbled "CHAOS RULEZ" on one wall in purple chalk.

  Five students sat spread out across the room, some slouching, some pretending not to care, one openly napping.

  Mina stepped in, cleared her throat, and clapped her hands. “Alright, team. Rise and shine. Welcome to Level 4 Chaos Magic.”

  The napping student—a lanky, fox-eyed boy in a half-buttoned uniform—opened one eye. “Ugh. You sound cheerful. That’s suspicious.”

  She gave him a thin smile. “Delore, I presume?”

  He tilted his head, smirking. “Guilty.”

  “Cool. You’ll be less thrilled in about five minutes. Everyone else, seats, please. We're going around the room, starting with your name and why you decided to take this class of all things.”

  They shifted awkwardly. One by one, they settled into chairs.

  A small girl with tightly braided hair and round spectacles cleared her throat and stood. “Um, hi. I’m Tamsin Weller. I’m majoring in alchemy, and… I kinda wasn’t doing great in my enchantment elective. But I’m really good at calculating theoretical transmutations and stuff, and I read that chaos magic sometimes skips formal structure and focuses on ‘intent manipulation’, so I thought… maybe I’d understand it better.”

  Her voice shrank with each word.

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  Mina smiled warmly. “Nice to meet you, Tamsin. You’re in the right place.”

  Next, a tall, broad-shouldered man stood—he looked like someone had plucked a blacksmith straight from a medieval tavern. Which, apparently, they had.

  “Darek Stonejaw,” he rumbled. “I was a blacksmith for twenty years. Got a scholarship after an enchantment I made turned my neighbor’s outhouse into a walking construct. Didn’t mean to. Figured chaos magic fits my… talents.”

  There were a few stifled laughs. Darek looked amused, not embarrassed.

  Then the half-elf girl jumped up—literally jumped.

  “I’m Lira Moonbranch! I took this class because the other ones were really by-the-book and, like, no offense, but elemental theory makes me wanna cry? But chaos magic is about feeling, right? Like, raw emotional energy and improvisation? Plus, I made my brother’s hair sing once by accident and I’m hoping that counts as experience.”

  Mina grinned. “We’ll make it count.”

  Callum was next. He was short, pale, and wore a tattered gray cloak that looked like it had seen a few small explosions.

  He shrugged. “Just Callum. I don’t talk much. I see stuff sometimes. Chaos stuff. They said I should try this class ‘cause it wouldn’t mess me up worse.”

  “…Fair,” Mina said, blinking. “Welcome aboard, Callum.”

  Then came Delore’s turn.

  He didn’t stand. Instead, he leaned back, hands behind his head, boots on the table.

  “Fennik Delore. You know who I am. Expelled from Advanced Illusions for ‘inappropriate prank transfigurations,’ and from Practical Divination for predicting the professor’s divorce. Took this class ‘cause it was the only one left with space and the name sounded like I could nap through it.”

  The room was silent.

  Mina arched a brow. “Charming. And how’s that working out so far?”

  He smirked. “Ask me when I wake up.”

  Without a word, Mina walked over, grabbed the back of his chair, and tipped it—not too hard, but just enough to make his legs slide off the table and his butt hit the floor with a satisfying thud.

  “Ow! Hey!”

  She smiled sweetly. “Go take a hike, Delore.”

  He blinked up at her, stunned.

  “I mean it. Out. You can come back tomorrow if you want to try again, but not today.”

  He scrambled to his feet, his smirk returning fast like a defense mechanism. “What, you can’t handle a little attitude?”

  “I’ve worked tech support during a mobile game launch,” she said, brushing dust off her sleeves. “You’re not even close to the worst I’ve seen. But this isn’t a daycare for bored prodigies. If you don’t wanna be here, don’t be here. That’s not personal. That’s your choice.”

  Delore froze. His mouth opened. Then closed.

  Everyone was watching.

  After a long moment, he gave her a wary look. “You’re not like the others.”

  “Nope.”

  “…Fine.” He stuffed his hands in his pockets and strolled toward the door. “I’ll think about it.”

  “See you tomorrow,” she called after him.

  The door clicked shut behind him.

  The rest of the class stared at her, wide-eyed.

  “Okay!” she said brightly, clapping her hands. “Now that that’s out of the way—let’s learn some chaos.”

  And just like that, the strangest, smallest, and most promising class at Avalorne Academy began.