Pandoria Feimando

Overall, the first couple of weeks went quite well. No, in fact, they went wonderfully — exactly as her parents had expected! The entrance exams were almost half as difficult as Pandoria had anticipated; the first-year lectures offered little beyond what her family's library had already provided and on several occasions, Feimando had even grasped the theory faster than the teachers themselves, finding that the coursework barely differed from what her childhood tutors had drilled into her.

Seriously, how could anyone find Practical Alchemy and the Fundamentals of Runomancy difficult? Perhaps later in the curriculum there would be something truly challenging, such as Quantum Magic, the Forbidden Arts, Arcane Numerology, or the Higher Arcana — disciplines the House of Owls had promised to explore in subsequent years...

In other words, for the most part, Pandoria felt fine... although no, she did possess one sworn enemy within this ancient academy...

"Eeeek — WAAAAH! NOOOOOOO! LOOK OUT BELOW—!"

Pandoria's voice dissolved into a sharp, undignified shriek as her heel caught the edge of a stone step. Gravity immediately claimed victory, sending the young mage tumbling head over heels down the staircase in a clatter of limbs, fabric, and parchment. After a few seconds she finally landed back in the hallway below, her pointed scholar's hat crushed flat beneath her elbow and the contents of her overstuffed backpack bursting in every direction.

Trembling, Pandoria reached up to adjust her glasses, pushing them back onto the bridge of her nose.

"Ow... This is unjust! From an architectural and ergonomic standpoint, these stairwells are an absolute hazard! The riser height is non-standard, the stone tread is worn past the legal safety threshold, and the spiral angle violates basic structural ergonomics! W-Who even designed this corridor?!"

Sniffling slightly, Pandoria crawled onto her knees and began gathering her possessions across the floor.

"Okay... calm down, Pandoria. Breathe. Methodical inventory check! I packed everything by the regulation guidelines for our field trip... right? Huh... Let's see... standard-issue navigational compass: check. Inkpot: check. Grade-four quartz prism: check. Field bandages: check. A five-hundred-page botanical field guide to subterranean fungi: check. Three sealed jars of pickled glow-beetles: check. A portable brass folding stool: check. A miniature barometer with twenty-four calibrated dials: check. A tuning fork for resonance testing: check. And... half a wheel of preserved goat cheese wrapped in wax paper: check!"

She suddenly paused, her hands hovering mid-air over the open backpack.

"Wait. Where is the observation ledger? And... And where is the official stamped permit for the field excursion?! Did I leave it on the third shelf of my dorm desk next to the spare quill set?!"

Her breath hitched, and her voice pitched up an octave.

"No, no, no! The gathering at the apex of the Main Tower is in four minutes! If I arrive late, Professor Vane will mark a permanent black strike on my record, the expeditionary carriage will depart without me, my attendance grade will drop below the ninety-ninth percentile, and my parents will receive an official reprimand by the morning owl post! My academic career is going to be ruined before the second bell even tolls!"

Deep into the night, a heavy stillness settled over the halls of the Oculus Collegium. Nearly all of the first- and second-year students had long retreated to their dormitories, desperate to recover from the exhaustion of yesterday's Light Magic practical exam. At this late hour, the only signs of life were the soft shuffling of familiars, serving as night cleaners, kitchen hands, and sentries, alongside a handful of mentors finalizing tomorrow's lesson plans. Oh... and Pandoria, of course.

From her very first day at the academy, she had made a habit of slipping down to the dormitory library every night, remaining there from midnight until the early hours of the morning with a cup of warm tea or diluted mandrake juice. The reasons varied from night to night. Sometimes she sought silence to read without the daytime bustle; other times, she used the quiet hours for a review ahead of exam. And on nights like tonight, Pandoria simply wanted to sit among the wooden shelves, listen to the drumming of the rain against the windows, and unwind.

"Alright. The theoretical research is officially complete," Pandoria slid a stack of reference tomes back onto their respective shelves before dusting off her hands. "Tomorrow marks the experimental phase, but tonight... tonight is dedicated to... uhh... simulation! Failure is u-unacceptable..."

She sat down at the nearest table and opened a brightly bound, slightly worn volume titled Social Etiquette, or How to Influence People: A Guide for Dummies.

"Step One: Maintain non-threatening eye contact. Step Two: Display a symmetrical facial expression. Step Three: Extend the dominant hand at a ninety-degree angle with moderate grip tension. Step Four: State your full designation, family lineage, and current institutional affiliation. Step Five: Prompt the conversational counterpart with an open-ended inquiry regarding personal leisure activities... commonly known as hobbies..."

Pandoria paused, swallowing dryly. She forced her lips into a tight grimace and stepped over to the mirror mounted above the fireplace to face her reflection.

"H-hi there! I'm Pandoria... you know, the earth mage who usually sits in the front row and takes forty pages of notes per lecture? Um... I was just wondering, do you enjoy... looking at mineral samples in your spare time? Like... granite? Or maybe quartz? I have a rock collection of over two hundred specimens in my trunk if you ever wanted to—"

HALF AN HOUR LATER

"Okay... Let's try the attempt fifty five..."

Pandoria took yet another step forward, put on a nervous smile, and cleared her throat.

"Hello! I'm Pandoria Feimando, and I... um... I thought perhaps we could establish an interpersonal alliance? Or rather... a companionship? I mean... w-would you... would you like to be my... my f-f—... O Trinity, I can't do this!"

Field trips were just as vital a pillar of the Oculus Collegium's curriculum as combat drills, practical spellwork, or lectures. Apprentices from the House of Sparrows were sent out on these excursions the most often, but occasionally there were unified expeditions when students across various grades and Houses left the Capital together.

Today's mandatory field trip to Greenvale Grove was no exception.

At the forest's perimeter, alongside the treeline, campfires crackled warmly. Apprentices from across the academy gathered in circles to roast skewered meat while half-heartedly listening to the introductory address given by their senior mentors.

One of the elderly mages stepped forward, clearing his throat with a cough to seize the crowd's attention.

"Ahem! Quiet down, all of you, and pay close attention. As you can see, we have gathered apprentices from three Houses alongside our first-year initiates. This arrangement is intentional. Through the generous hospitality of Lady Elfrida de Hautdesert — the proprietor of these ancestral lands — the Collegium will be conducting a field exercise within the grove today. To foster interdisciplinary cooperation, every participant must pair up, combining different schools of magic and methodologies."

The old mage unrolled an ornate parchment scroll, tapping it with his finger.

"Each pair will be scored based on the reagent quota secured prior to tomorrow's dawn. Your objective is fourfold: harvest one intact blast-shroom cap, retrieve five live grave-worm larvae, siphon one vial of moonrose nectar, and secure a single everbloom petal. Topographical maps of Greenvale Grove will be distributed to every team. Also, don't stray into the deep thicket under any circumstances, unless you fancy provoking the fairy colonies. Oh, and absolutely no incendiary magic — and yes, Miss Amberline, that addendum is directed at you! You have one hour for lunch; the trial commences immediately afterward..."

Pandoria quickly stuffed a leather-bound tome — Greenvale Grove: Flora, Fauna, and Arcane Anomalies, Volume V — into her rucksack, determined to have all necessary reference material readily available.

"Volume five covers native soil composition and rare root symbiosis... essential reading," she muttered under her breath. "Right. This is the moment! An opportunity to demonstrate my leadership skills!"

The young mage puffed out her chest, filled her lungs with air...

...and produced a small wooden slate inscribed in chalk:

[ Pandoria Feimando (House of Owls) ]

[ Dendromancer / Field Botanist / Reliable Note-Taker ]

[ Seeking cooperative partner ]

Clutching the sign against her chest, Pandoria stared at the dirt by her boots, hoping against hope that someone would notice it without requiring her to speak...

(None of the original stories satisfy you? Well, then it's time to pick up the Author's magic pen and write your own intro!)