Theo took the badge without hesitation, his eyes dropping to it immediately.

A clean emblem from the school’s logo, a red and golden manticore, was engraved into the surface. Right beneath it, his name was written in clear lettering.

Owen looked at his own as well, turning it slightly between his fingers.

"Sick," he muttered.

Theo glanced at his badge for a second longer before slipping it into his pocket.

"Let’s head out," he said, turning to Owen.

Owen nodded immediately, still turning his own badge between his fingers as they started walking.

After a quick exit, they found themselves outside, the sun just barely setting in the distance.

People still moved around in groups, yet it seemed like they were thinning out slowly.

"So... what now?" Owen asked, stretching his arms slightly.

"I’ve booked us a hotel room for tonight," Theo responded, pulling out his phone. "We’ll need to lease an apartment tomorrow though."

Owen nodded slowly, pressing his lips together.

Within a few minutes, they reached the outer edge of the campus.

Theo glanced at the map on his phone once more before putting it away.

"It’s this way," he said, nodding his head sideways.

Owen remained quiet but followed him closely.

Neither of them said much, as the day had already been long enough.

After a while, a row of buildings came into sight in front of them.

Theo slowed slightly before finally coming to a halt in front of a three-story building.

"This is it."

Owen looked up, nodding slowly.

It didn’t take long before they were handed their keys and were directed upstairs by the receptionist.

After unlocking their door, a decent room opened up in front of them.

Owen didn’t hesitate.

He walked inside and dropped onto one of the beds immediately.

"Man... I’m done for today," he muttered, closing his eyes.

Theo nodded once, locking the door behind him.

"I’m not moving anywhere either," he said, sitting down.

The room fell quiet not too much later.

Neither of them had much energy left after going through so much in one day.

The morning came fast.

Theo’s eyes opened first, the faint light from outside landing on his face.

"Ugh," he muttered, rolling on his back.

For a moment, he just stared at the ceiling.

Then, a loud snore echoed out from the other bed.

He sat up, staring at Owen expressionlessly.

Owen was still fast asleep, lying in a strange position with one of his arms hanging off the side of the bed.

As he let out another snore, Theo picked up his cushion without hesitation.

"Wake up," he said, tossing it against his face.

Owen let out a groan, his eyes shooting open.

"What...?" he muttered, sitting up, dazed.

A few minutes later, both of them were up.

They had changed into their new campus uniforms, a combination of vague red and gold in color.

Owen glanced at himself in the mirror, adjusting his collar slightly.

"Not bad at all," he muttered. "Might even be able to pick some rich ladies up with this."

Theo rolled his eyes, tying his shoelaces.

"In your dreams maybe."

Owen scoffed, grabbing his badge from the table.

"We’ll see about that," he said, clipping it onto his uniform.

Theo stood up right after, slipping his own badge into place before heading for the door.

The walk back to the campus felt much shorter this time.

By the time they got there, it was already bustling with students.

"There’s even more than last night..." Owen muttered, dragging a hand through his hair.

Theo nodded slowly, a small smile on his face.

Together, they headed straight for the main building.

’We get to pick a private instructor now, huh,’ Theo thought, glancing up slightly. ’Which element should I choose one for?’

As he mulled over it, they reached the entrance of the main building.

It didn’t take long before they found themselves at the reception again, this time without a line in front of it.

’Let’s see what the options are.’

Theo glanced through the glass, finding a middle-aged woman with blonde hair behind the counter.

"New students?" she asked, sorting through a stack of papers.

"Yes," Owen responded, placing his badge down on the counter.

Theo nodded, doing the same.

The woman glanced at them briefly before her eyes dropped to the badges.

"Alright," she said.

Without saying anything else, she reached beneath the counter and pulled out two sheets of paper, sliding them toward them.

"Available instructors," she said simply. "They’re sorted by elements. Pick one and hand them back in."

Theo picked up one of the sheets, his eyes moving steadily across the page as he took in the list.

Each entry had a name, an element, and what one could learn from them.

Owen grabbed the other sheet and leaned slightly closer, scanning through it at a much quicker pace.

"They’ve got everything here," he muttered, his eyebrows lifting slightly. "Even close combat specialists..."

Theo nodded once but kept reading.

Then his eyes finally stopped.

’Now that is interesting,’ he thought, raising an eyebrow. ’Those two elements...’

"You found one?" Owen asked, tilting his head.

"Yes," Theo replied, already stepping back in front of the counter.

The middle-aged woman glanced at him briefly.

"Name?" she asked, typing something on her computer.

Theo looked down at the paper once more.

"Elise van Doren," he said, struggling to pronounce the name. "For Water and Chaos element."

For a split second, the woman’s hand paused, one of her eyebrows raising.

Then she nodded once and typed it down.

Behind him, Owen raised an eyebrow.

"Water and Chaos?" he said. "You’re not gonna tell me you awakened a third affinity, are you?"

Theo smiled, shaking his head.

"No, just a personal interest."

Owen raised an eyebrow, slowly nodding before looking back at his own list.

"Hold up," he said after only a few seconds. "I’m not even gonna bother overthinking this."

He placed the sheet down on the counter.

"I want Adrian Vos."

The woman looked up again, even more strangely this time.

After a moment, she shook her head and wrote it down.

"Your instructors will be notified," she said. "You’ll receive your schedules shortly."