Walking up the steps of the wide concrete building into the basic, bleak entrance area, Rain steeled himself for Elys’ soon-to-come questions. After knowing eachother for nearly his whole life, Rain had him figured out.

  “Hey, Aerin…and Gael.”

  Shifting his eyes from the waving Aerin to a panting Gael, Rain could have almost sworn he saw a slight nod of acknowledgement coming from the massive wolf. Finally changing his focus to a rather disappointed and surprised Elys, he spoke:

  “And hello, Elys.”

  “Oh man, I wanted to introduce you…Wait, how do you know them?”

  Upon hearing his question, Aerin herself perked up to respond:

  “We met in one of the parks! Rain was mumbling to himself and didn’t even notice Gael or me sitting on the bench.”

  Breaking into a slight laughter, Elys put a hand on Rain’s shoulder.

  “Well, that does sound like Rain. Still…Rain, you’re not one to strike up a conversation with strangers…so how come?”

  A mischievous smile appeared on his face. A smile, Rain knew, meant trouble. Oblivious to it, Aerin happily responded.

  “Oh, actually, he did start the conversation!”

  “Oh! Do tell.”

  With Elys now focusing his attention on Aerin, who was unknowingly fueling his teasing, Rain decided to cut the conversation before it got out of hand.

  “I merely apologized for seeming like a crazy person rambling to myself. Now, more importantly, Aerin, since when can Gael just be out?”

  Aerin turned toward Gael and held out her hand, his massive muzzle cuddling it.

  “Today! I talked to my groups Officer and asked if I could have Gael around. Since he is a sentient Reflection, I figured that the most important aspect would be to form a bond with him. Apparently, Lieutenant Dawson himself signed off on it, so I can have him out the whole day!”

  “Well, that’s good.”

  ‘Makes sense, she seems to have total control over Gael, but even if she commands him, there has to be a form of trust and bond between them outside of battle.’

  Interrupting the conversation from the side, Elys spoke:

  “Speaking of the Lieutenant, how was your first day?”

  Pointing towards Rain’s right arm, where a thin bandage went down his wrist.

  “I got beaten up more today than in the last two weeks…So honestly, not bad…He is a good teacher.”

  “Huh? The Lieutenant is teaching you?”

  Forgetting they were in the middle of mixed company, the two had let out some interesting information.

  ‘Damn, I didn’t really want anyone else other than my group to know about it…I guess Aerin is fine.’

  Looking toward Elys, searching for some sort of reaction from his face, he slightly stepped back and shrugged his shoulders slightly, as if to say ‘your call’.

  “Yeah, after a mock battle, he offered to guide me through the next two weeks.”

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  “That’s amazing! Congratulations, having someone like the Berserker recognize you means you got talent!”

  “Well…thanks.”

  Feeling a bit awkward from receiving compliments, Rain checked his watch, and upon seeing the time, hastily moved to the classroom with the others accompanying him.

  Inside the grey and bleak auditorium, Rain could instantly recognize the difference in budget between the martial training and the theoretical training. The building itself was similar to buildings in the slums, grey concrete on the outside, and a flaking greyish paint inside. The room was slanted downwards, with seats covering the middle area looking downward toward where the professor would be, and stairs on either side of the entrances. All in all, exactly what Rain would have pictured a school to be, albeit a bit older and neglected.

  With the now dismissed Gael, the trio found a spot for them to sit, with Rain landing in the middle. After a few short minutes of Aerin and Elys barraging Rain with questions about his training, the professor walked in from the left entrance.

  A slender older man with uneven salt and pepper hair and a slight goatee, wearing a quarter zip fleece sweater and simple dark blue dress pants, descended the stairs, placing himself behind a small podium. With many trainees still engaged in their conversations, Rain noticed the older man take something out of his pocket.

  “Hello, everyone. I am Professor Foilla, and I welcome you to your first class of History and Geography of the Mirror.”

  Holding a small coin to his throat, Professor Foilla enhanced his voice to boom across the auditorium, quickly silencing the remaining chatter. The volume of his voice would be extremely unpleasant to hear for an extended period of time. Luckily, the coin returned to his pocket, having achieved its goal.

  “I know that some of you already have knowledge of the basic history and geography; however, this course is meant to provide information for everyone, meaning it may come across as familiar to some of you. Still, I bid you to pay attention and refresh your memories.”

  “Let us begin.”

  Pulling holograms out of his bracelet onto the white wall above him, Professor Foilla began his lesson.

  “This is the Mirror as we know it.”

  He revealed a large map of two continents, one smaller island to the west and to the east, a wider continent stretching towards the end of the map, ending abruptly. Jungles with blue-ish grass, rolling hills with crystal spires reaching to the sky, lightless underground caverns, treacherous snow-capped mountain ranges, and many more deadly but otherwise beautiful landscapes were shown and explained. Some in great detail, while others cloaked in mystery. After all, not all of the Mirror had been explored.

  After some explanation of the general surroundings, Professor Foilla began to direct them to known rifts.

  “If you find yourselves on the western continent, good news to you! Many rifts have already been discovered and secured. The main ones are located in the Crystal Spires to the north, where the city of Kristallum is situated. Kristallum, as you know, is one of the three main houses, and the only house to have sole power over an entire city. Other than that, the houses Fervour and Veil share a space in the city of Inanis, here in the south at the Obsidian Hollows.”

  Showing pictures of the spoken of areas, Rain could not believe his eyes. He always knew that the Mirror was a completely different place from Earth; however, he did not expect the intensity of said differences. Wide rolling hills filled his vision, tall yellow grass drifting in the wind, with countless rough crystal spires embedded in the ground, each of them twice as tall as his old apartment building.

  Flicking over the next picture, an almost vertical crystal rose from the ground, its width and height dozens of times bigger than the ones in the fields. Other crystals emerging from its side, almost forming a spider's web. At the base of the main spire, a sprawling city fills the horizon, reaching the cliffs. Around the spire, as if circling a thread around it, are buildings and hanging bridges connecting other crystals to the main spire. Halfway up the tallest spire, a shimmering palace rested above, embedded and built in the crystal itself.

  Even Rain, someone who did not receive the opportunity of an education, knew of the three main houses and their influence. House Kristallum, focusing on sorcery and artifice, House Fervour, with warriors unmatched throughout the Mirror, and House Veil, whose secrets and knowledge seem endless.

  Continuing with the eastern continent, as before, Professor Foilla explained the different landscapes, their geography, and points of interest. With some regions being well explored, to some only photographed from afar. One of these regions was called the Jagged Spear, as its name suggests, a jagged mountain range, with an unexplainable phenomenon, where shards of ice, reaching the size of a spear, can rain down on the region.

  “We only reached the bare entrance of the mountains; the region south of it appears to be a forest, but alas, it remains unexplored. Therefore, should you find yourselves sent there…We have no knowledge of any rifts nearby.”

  Thinking about his vision, Rain began to pick his memory for any notable points of interest. Regrettably, he knew of the forest, a wide field, and mountains in the distance.

  ‘There’s no way to know…It could be anywhere.’

  Sitting together with Elys and Aerin, he wondered if fate was already at play. The three of them together here, and perhaps in the Mirror.

  ‘Why must it be so hard…’