I stepped out of my ging stall, breathing a deep sigh as I adjusted my magical girl dress. It was still a bit mue, but it was beginning to feel more and more familiar with every use of my Nexus.

  Albert and I had split up after breakfast, and now I was on my way to the main academic hall for the official e address exclusively for first-year Knights. It was a big occasion, and I was getting pretty worked up.

  A whole bunagical Knights on the rise. It was exg, but it was also a little terrifying.

  Students could enroll as first-year students at a major school that officially supported the Knights at any age between fourteen to sixteen, and teams that often stuck together in their hions often came in at the same time, with training and bonding on the job solidifying their es.

  It was rare for any 'hero' to operate alone or outside of an anization, even if they were registered as an unaffiliated hero. It was a dangerous job, after all, and 'Guilds' such as the League of Starlight had the resources and expertise to provide medical aid, team support, and even legal advice to help with anything that arose.

  Teams of cadets were ofteored by Knights in their home territories, who traihem and often took them along in supp roles when dealing with supervilins or disasters. As they progressed and gained experiehey began to develop their own strategies and specialties, eventually being capable of handling problems on their own.

  Magical knights were only one part of the global superpower dynamic, but they had a signifit impad were closely scrutinized and watched. The Guardians chose their didates for knights well for heroiations, but virtually gave individual tractees free reign over how they used their powers at the end. It was a delicate bang act to allow the various guilds and rge anizations to self-police, and it was a miracle that corruption was as rare as it was.

  Twilight Aster had told me that this year's batch had a bit over thirty knights, not ting the fourteen of us who were emergency tract holders. Having over fifty new knights iering css retty crazy by their standards, and the senior knights were definitely going to keep a close eye on us.

  I stepped out of the magical space where I'd transformed and ged into my dress, and out the door into yet another different grand hall.

  Kaleidoscope Academy perfectly bahe sleek, modern hi-tech elements with beautiful stonework and antique fixtures to create a stunning, inviting atmosphere. It was very obvious that the architects had put a lot of time and effort into making it both funal aiful.

  LED lights cast a warm, inviting glow on the walls, casting shadows over the mahogany benches and rows of chairs that were set up. It wasn't as intimidating as I'd expected, even with a whole ente of... colorful, high-powered magical girls moving into the chamber at the forefront.

  "Lux!"

  I turned, spotting Cw Strawberry practically skipping over to me, a massive uffin in hand.

  "Hey ther—"

  She tackled me in a hug, giggling as she ed her arms around me. "Guh! So excited! It's finally time for day."

  I ughed nervously. "Is that a muffin?"

  She stepped back as she wiggled her cat ears, tearing off a pied stuffing it into her mouth. "So sweet! It's a caramel chocote fudge muffin, and it's to die for. Want some?"

  "Er, I just had a pretty big breakfast. But thanks."

  She shrugged, mung away happily. "Suit yourself! So anyway, who do you think is gonna give the speech? They said it was gonna be someone special this year."

  "They did?" I blinked in fusion.

  When did...

  Ah, it might've been something they told the properly tracted magical knights and not us... emergency tracts.

  Strawberry smiled, nodding eagerly. "Mhm. Yeah. They hihat they were gonna bring in a bigshot to talk to us. Don't know who, but they made it sound pretty exg."

  "Oh. Huh, that is exg. Hopefully they won't just bore us to tears with a mundane speech," I smiled weakly.

  She giggled, shaking her head. "Hopefully not. , let's go in together Cw Currant's off with some guys he hit it off with, and I'm all alone."

  I chuckled, nodding. "Yeah, yeah. Let's move in."

  We headed irawberry happily mung on her muffin and trying to be as quiet as possible. Her tail swished bad forth, and I found myself grinning like an idiot.

  She was so... bubbly.

  I was always fond of cats, and she was one of those types of people that just she acted like a young, mischievous kitten whe fortable. It was adorable, and I couldn't help but smile.

  I paused, activating my Aura Sight to look around. There were over a hundred knights in the room, with a row of people who looked like instructors lined up at one end of the auditorium.

  Colors that ranged from red, pink, blue, green, and yellow filled my vision, and I took a deep breath, almost drowning in the sheer scope and variety.

  A lot of the older students and instructors had muted auras, which I chalked up to using some ability or ao suppress and hide their powers.

  My aura sight wouldn't let me see the abilities or levels of anyone I was looking at, but I'd learo use my own aura as a level 51 cadet to benchmark against Twilight Aster's team, which had an average level in the 190s. Cw Strawberry's pink aura was marginally smaller and dimmer than my own, which meant she robably somewhere betweey to forty. It wasn't just luminesd size I could see, either. It was a sense of depth and pressure in the air too, and other more metaphysical details - although it could be hard to tell what they meant sometimes.

  Cw Currant's aura looked small and dim - very simir to Cw Strawberry's at first, but I could tell it was very dense and tightly trolled once I'd taken a closer look while treating him. It seemed a bit unusual, but there was no way for me to figure out why.

  Then there were the Bravehearts. The three senior Bravehearts had auras that were only marginally rger ad brighter than Twilight Aster and the Garden Dreamers. However, their bombastic, over-the-top personalities were expressed in the form of a ressure and iy in their auras. Their sunny smiles and brash attitudes broadcast themselves quite clearly through the dang fluctuations of their auras, and it was almost overwhelming to stare at them with my ability sometimes.

  "Excuse me," a voice suddenly spoke up beside us, and I turo see an unfamiliar face. "Do you know where the se for first-year magical knights starts?"

  My mind short-circuited for a moment as I looked at her up and down. It was a magical girl who looked like she was about sixteen years old, but...

  She was dressed in a shiny, pearl-white dress that g to her body in a way that looked like it was airbrushed on. It was adorned with all kinds off frilly, orterns, and she wore a subtle circlet like a proper fairy tale princess. Her ptinum blonde hair flowed down her shoulders in carefully curled waves, and her light brown eyes shone warmly with a soft and vulnerable glow.

  Cw Strawberry leaned in, her brow furrowing. "Are you a udent too?"

  The girl smiled and nodded, closing her eyes and taking a breath. "I am Magical Girl Elysia Veritas. I am unfortunately a te attendee, and enrolling without a team of my own. I know it's a bit odd, but the Academy made an exception for me."

  Cw Strawberry bobbed her head, her ears twitg curiously. "Well, it's o meet you, Elysia. Hey, why don't you hang with us for a bit! her of us have a formal team yet, but we keep you pany in the mean time."

  Elysia blinked in surprise. "Well, that's very kind of you, um..."

  "Just call me Strawberry," she winked.

  She smiled awkwardly. "You're... Strawberry... and you?"

  She turo me, and my heart stopped beating for a moment. I was still paralyzed by what I saw before.

  Her aura was a simmering, bright halo of silvery white with hints of gold and pink swirling inside. She was obviously keeping her emotions in check, and there was a sense of... anticipation? Fear? Uainty? It was almost like her aura had a mind of its own, and it was impossible to tell what she was really feeling, but I could feel a trated presence radiate out in soft, even waves.

  She was impressive. Probably forty or so levels below Twilight Aster, Dawn Lily, and Midnight Blossom's level range.

  This is a first year student?!

  "Oh, it's Lux. Harmonia Lux," I smiled, throwing up a nervous peace sign, which was quickly being a nervous habit. "It's o meet you, Elysia. So, you're starting from square ooo? Well, at least you've already got a cute outfit. Mine's a bit... uh, experimental, but it seems to work."

  She blinked, staring for a long moment as I did my peace sign, before chug softly. "Experimental works."

  It did work for me.

  Her eyes seemed to linger on me for a moment as she took me in, but there was no judgement or even reition in them. She had one heck of a poker face.

  "Very well. So, about where we're supposed to be sitting..."

  Strawberry perked up, g her hands together. "Ooh! Yes, yeah. Here, here. Right here, girlies!"

  She tugged at Elysia's arm, leadio a nearby set of benches on the left-hand side. We had a few minutes before the actual speech would begin, and I couldn't help but feel a fluttering sense of nervousness aement in my stomach. I followed Strawberry and Elysia, settling in and preparing to pay attention.

  "You mentioned you were a te start, Elysia. Is there anything special about that?" Strawberry pressed, leaning in with a curious gleam in her cat-like red eyes.

  Elysia's face flushed, and she clutched at her arm awkwardly. "It's a bit plicated. But yes, I had a... family emergency I had to take care of that deyed my enrollment. Luckily, the Academy has a process in pce for such things, and they allowed me to start this term with a special reendation."

  She scratched her neck, which seemed to momentarily magnify the light in her eyes. "I will admit, it was a bit scary to e down here giveuatiht now. I have no team and little clue about how the Academy's program operates. I've been away from any formal knight courses for a while."

  Strawberry grinned, resting a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, we're all newbies. It'll all e together."

  Elysia bliurning to me. "So... Lux, correct? How have your experiences been so far?"

  "They've been iing," I said hesitantly, pulling my hair back. "I've learned a lot in a short time, but I'm definitely still figuring it out."

  She chuckled softly. "Well, I am gd for that. Still, I have heard the Academy has a prehensive mentorship program and training regimen that should not be uimated. They take great pride in helping their magical knights bee the best they be."

  I smiled and nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it definitely seems that way. 't wait to see what we'll get up to this year."

  I looked up at her again, noting her aura fluctuate like it was... shaking around her.

  She was obviously trying to proje image of pleasantness and calm, but there was a sense of ay or tension emanating from her when she made eye tact with me.

  I stared at her again, squinting. What with her?

  Cw Strawberry nudged me gently as the lights dimmed, signaling the start of the ceremony.

  A magical girl with an aura sht and vibrant that it almost hurt to look at stepped up to a podium, her e curls bound up into a bun on her head. She had an air of grad elegance, and her green eyes were bright and striking. She was wearing wire-rim gsses and a professional bck suit, and had a bright and sunny smile on her face.

  "Hello, everyone, and wele!" The girl said, her voice crystal clear and exuberant. She had a micropho up in front of her, and her voied around the auditorium, boung off the walls and ceiling. "My name is Emberline. Some of you may have heard me, some of you may have not. Whether you know who I am or not, I'm old and crusty and basically have one foot in the grave, so don't worry about it too much!"

  There ple of ughter through the auditorium, and I couldn't help but grin.

  After all... I highly doubted there was anyone in this room who didn't know who Emberline was.

  "But seriously, ele to another year, Knights! It's always exg to see a new batch of heroes e onto the stage and begin their adventure. With each year, we see new faces and new skills e into bloom, and we hope to help cultivate and nurture your potential in whichever way you choose to pursue. Regardless, this is a ce to begin anew and refe yourselves into the magical knights you want to be. And oh, this is going to be quite an iing year for us all!"

  Then, she stopped, putting on a serious face. "As you know, the worst catastrophe the world has ever seen occurred just short of three weeks ago, and it was a horrifying, devastating, and nearly world-ending experie was tragic, it was moal, and it was a warning for us all. My duty as a magical girl is not just to protect our city or the world from supervilins, but to also shepherd and cultivate the geion of heroes who will undoubtedly make a signifit impa the years to e. With the end of the world averted, it is more important thahat we do everything in our power to ehat such a tragedy never ain."

  She closed her eyes. "No matter our station. No matter our fame, no job or duty is beh us. It is something the leader of our team has always believed. With that, I'd like to introdueone very special to you. Not just someone special to the Magical Knights, but to the world as a whole."

  A man at the front row suddenly stood up and walked onto the stage. He was wearing an oversized bck trench coat with a hood up and dark sungsses, making it impossible to tell what he looked like. I squinted as I stared through my Aura Sight, noting that his aura was pletely suppressed. It was impossible to eveify the color.

  Wait, what the heck? Who is this guy?

  The audience began to whisper, and Strawberry leaned in beside me, her tail flig bad forth. "Oh my god, no way! If Emberline is here... No heg way."

  "Arcadia Vox may have been the greatest magical girl to ever live, but as some of you may knoere right there with them during Mortifera Nox's reign of terror over tral America, Europe, and the Southwest Corridor. Without a doubt though, there eriod where hope was snuffed out. Where Arcadia Vox had nearly given in to despair, and was ready to give up and disappear into the shadows."

  Emberline paused, rubbing her eyes and sniffling before tinuing. "The stories and legends all talk about Arcadia rising up, about being imbued with the spirit of the people aurning to the battlefield to her team's aid like a Valkyrie reborn. But the truth is that was simply a moment, a single instance of fortune and grace that set them on a path to t her legacy evermore. All the struggles, all the tears, all the doubt and the weakness. The training and day to day grind that she had to overe to bee the hero we all remember and love is left out of the biopics. It is a tale of strength, of passion, of goodness and light. And ultimately, her perseverand heart. And here is a man who attest to that, having witnessed most of her journey personally."

  The man slowly made his the stage, and I squirying to make out his features through my enhanced sight.

  His aura was weird.

  It was like it was being... redirected? Suppressed?

  All around him, the air was ed and shifted like there was a field of energy actively surrounding him.

  "He had chosen a simple life as a teacher, and was there to guide Arcadia Vox, Padis Shield, Nightingale Eclipse, et Quake, Storm Vixen, and Abyss when they were students in this very hall. He had been a rock to them, an anchor when they were lost in their struggles and afraid to go on. A guiding voice of reason. And now, he has e back to share his wisdom and inspire the geion."

  Strawberry gasped, smag my arm excitedly as the hooded figure walked up the stage with a measured gravitas.

  He slowly took off his sungsses, folding them up and pg them in his pocket. Then, he dramatically pulled off his trench coat and threw it to the side.

  He looked like a... regur civilian in a long-sleeved white t-shirt, jeans, and work boots. Save for his bright, snow-white hair, sharp blue eyes, and striking, handsome angur features and awkward, disarming smile.

  The entire room fell silent.

  "Introdug," Emberline announced, mutiohe one and only. The legend himself. A man who has risked his life tless times to save tless lives."

  He looked like a man in his te twenties or early thirties, and he had an ornate longsword strapped to his hip, with a small inscription in the pommel that was barely visible from this distance.

  "Introdug," Emberlied softly. "A man who is here today as a humble former schoolteacher and principal addressing his former alma mater. The current sitting President of the Uates... Mister Erichthonius Escathos."

  She paused for dramatic effect.

  There was a lo as everyone in the room processed... who exactly was standing in front of them.

  Then, the room exploded into appuse.