Walking along the endless corridor, I could hear my steps, one after another. It was a never-ending cycle. Just as my life now was. They both would repeat, seemingly forever.

  Wake up, eat, work, eat, work, eat, sleep. Think.

  I thought. I thought about my sister, about my family. But one thing was always the same. The memory. That memory.

  I really am a monster.

  Both this, and the memory of that day haunted me, but I wouldn’t allow myself to forget. After all, I had done this. It was my fault.

  That day…

  She had pounced on me, it was wrong. But I froze her in place, I almost killed her. I yelled. She had stopped, she had listened. But not by her own choice.

  The mana, it had entered her. It had been something I caused, but at the time, I hadn’t regretted what I said. I still didn’t regret what I said. That was still the case. It reinforced what I had thought that whole time.

  That I was a monster.

  That day, everybody acted as though nothing had happened.

  I followed along, and despite myself, I had been relieved to be leaving. Even though I had left my own sister after doing something so horrible.

  The day of the welcome ceremony:

  I walked slowly, the recent events still on my mind. One step after another. Again and again. Soon we reached the main hall.

  “Lady Amelia, we have arrived. Please follow me.”

  Nodding in a silent response, I followed her towards the front of the room. Once we were there, an older gentleman took the stage. Addressing the new pupils, he began to speak.

  “Today, you have all come to our institute, as you are the best and brightest of your year. You are all extraordinary individuals, for you possess rare or high levelled skills. Some, even have Sage-Level skills, which is impressive in and of itself-”

  At this, a young boy pridefully lifted his chin, as though the man was pronouncing words of praise towards him.

  The children around him turned, some even whispering.

  “Did you hear? That’s the son of the marquess, he’s the highest ranked here.”

  “He even got a Sage-Level skill.”

  “He’s amazing.”

  “Isn’t he going to be engaged to the daughter of a duke as well?”

  “Wow.”

  After continuing his speech for a while, he finally concluded it with an introduction.

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  “My name is Kael Ollivander and I am the leading authority of this institute.”

  Many in the crowd began to chatter, turning to each other as if looking for agreement. Few children high-ranking nobles refrained from doing so, one with an amused expression showing in the corners of his lips.

  Responding to this, Lord Ollivander continued.

  “I understand that many recognise me as a mere count, however, we do not define those here by their backgrounds. While living here, and training here, you shall refer to others by their first names. This is a tradition which Intrust you will follow throughout your stay.”

  A cocky young boy called out at these words, obviously from a distinguished family.

  “How can you even have the authority to establish these things? You're only a viscount, I’m the son of an earl. You can’t order me around, let alone Lord Vera.”

  Calmy, Lord Kael replied, “I see you weren’t listening, that would be Lord Kemp, we are called by our first names here and backgrounds do not matter nearly as much as they would elsewhere. Here we are ranked by our skills and their levels. As your teachers, we outrank you here.”

  Standing beside him, the prideful boy glared at the cocky one. He was supposedly Lord Kemp. I purposefully shifted my gaze to avoid staring at him.

  The gentle-faced man then turned, beckoning me over.

  “I would like to introduce Lady Amelia, she possesses a skill which is both Sage-Level and Unique. You would all do to welcome your fellow pupil.”

  What?

  Put on the spot, I just nodded, still reluctant to speak up.

  Once he had finished introducing me, I returned to my seat, ignoring the blatantly obvious stares drilling into my back.

  I glanced back at the crowd, only to see a familiar face meet mine. Maribelle. I had forgotten that she was coming here. We hadn’t even interacted since our last… meeting.

  She stared daggers into me, and when she noticed my gaze, she mouthed some words. ‘You. Will. Regret. This,’ she mouthed, making no effort to hide her blood-lust.

  All my life, I had been treated as the inferior sister, the one who is always forgotten. The other daughter.

  I instinctively looked away, lowering my gaze even further. In response, she smirked. This time mouthing only one word. Failure.

  Missing this, I just stood there in a daze, the hurtful memories flooding into my mind.

  I don’t want to hurt anybody ever again. Not through my words, and not through my actions.

  The speech ended and the pupils broke into their small groups. Soon everybody began to chatter, but I just continued to stand there.

  It’s too much.

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you, you’re Lady Amelia right? I’m Kayla, we’ll be learning together.”

  I stared at her blankly, not answering. My confusion was evident on my face. Without waiting for a reply, she continued.

  “I’m an Advanced-Level mage, with a rare skill.”

  I opened my mouth as if to answer, but slowly closed it again, thinking better of it. I probably looked like a goldfish to any onlookers.

  She continued once again, either ignoring or not noticing my failed attempt at a question.

  “Let’s pair up in lessons, okay?”

  Once again ignoring my non-existent answer, she explained.

  “Since Sage-Level skills are extremely uncommon, you’ll probably be learning some classes with the Advanced-Level people. Most likely skill control and stuff like that.”

  “I still can’t believe that there’s two of you guys this year, usually it’s hard to find just one Sage-Level user in a ten year span of year levels. You even have a unique skill, you know, lots of people will be coming up to you.”

  I tilted my head in confusion, completely giving up on the idea of even trying to talk. I just couldn’t muster up the courage.

  Why would they care? A unique skill can’t be that great, besides it could be useless for all they know.

  A small voice in the back of my mind interfered with this train of thought.

  But it isn’t, it’s powerful. You could even control them if you wanted to. A truly monstrous skill, for a truly monstrous person.

  I sighed, Kayla finally taking notice of me even though we had been speaking just a few moments prior.

  “Are you okay?”

  Before I could make any form of a reply, we were interrupted and had to return to our rooms.

  The present, in the corridor.

  I continued to walk, my face blank with lack of emotion. Slowly, the hallway had become more and more desolate, quiter, and now silent.

  I glanced up, no longer staring at my feet, only to see darkness ahead. Looking back, all I could see behind me was a pure blanket of darkness, covering everything in sight.

  Where am I? I thought, asking nobody in particular.

  I swiveled my head to either side, but I had no clue as to where I was, I didn’t even know which direction I had come from.

  Walking further, in a direction I hoped was back the way I came, I stumbled over something, something cold, something hard, something big.

  Seeing the lump, my eyes widened in shock, in horror. I hurriedly scurried away, still on my hands and knees.

  I knew what it was. It was horrible.