Mares

"It seems we are all here," the woman announced as she rapped at the board behind her. She settled her eyes on us with an almost sleepy look. "I am Professor Hypnosia. Upper years call me Professor Hippy, but I honestly don't know why. Feel free to call me whichever way you like once you pass my Defensive Spells 101 course."

The class murmured a short incoherent reply, and Professor Hypnosia nodded drowsily. "Good, good. Now, as all of you here are of Batch Pi, I will need to give a few more information about your school life. I am your first teacher, yes?"

We nodded after a moment, already caught up in her own sleepiness and in the early hour of the morning. This was our first joint class, and all of us were newly accepted students. Although it was an event that should be quite memorable, at five in the morning, most of us could hardly keep our eyes open.

"Yes, so the head professor had me tell you about our Academy's mares. Is anyone privy to this information?" she asked.

A hand went straight up. It was Kendra of House Braun, the nouveau nobility. She didn't look like she was as chained up by sleepiness as we were, and when she stood up to answer, she did so very energetically. "The lunar mares are the class system used by the Academy since its first recordings. Much like the rings on the moon, the mares act the same. The outermost ring is the largest, and us new students belong to it: Sinus Fidei. The inner rings go smaller as they go deeper, and their level of education gets harder too. From the outermost to the innermost rings, the mares consist of the Sinus Fidei, Mare Frigoris, Mare Imbrium, and finally, Mare Cognitum."

I watched as she stopped her speech to breathe. She was standing erectly to the point of militaristic poise, and her hands were tightly gripped. Although excitement glittered in her eyes, her body also hinted of her nerves. She watched the teacher's face like a prey observing her predator. Softly, the professor smiled at her sleepily.

"Excellent explanation, dear girl," she praised Kendra. "It makes me think that you've already had this lesson before. Might I know your name?"

Kendra stood motionless for a while before she broke into a jubilant smile, enough in fact to brighten up the pre-dawn hours. "This one is called Kendra of House Braun!"

"Nice to meet you, then, Lady Kendra," she said, and then gestured for her to sit. Then, she turned away from us, took out a wand from her hip, and then flicked it at the board. Suddenly, fire etched through the board, and as quickly as it had come, the flames died out to reveal a charred image on the surface. It was a picture of four circles drawn on top of each other, forming rings. The professor pointed at the outermost ring, and said, "Sinus Fidei. That is the starting point for all the students of the Academy. When a student reaches a certain threshold, he would then be tested in order to join the ranks of the Mare Frigorum. The same process goes for the entry to the Mares Imbrium and Cognitum. Although there are four mares, the Academy already deems a student ready to undergo the completion rites by the time he has joined the Mare Imbrium. Very few student choose to stay and try their like at making it to Mare Cognitum. In fact, I could count in one hand the number of students currently in its ranks during this cycle."

A few murmurs resounded around the classroom. I too had to take a moment to take it all in. I wasn't too surprised about there being rings and all, but if there was a class system involved... I wondered what the relations were like amongst the different classes. It didn't take long for me to get my answer.

"Although the Academy is impartial to her students, she is also fair. As the Academy has always valued meritocracy, the mare system is used to determine the benefits to be awarded to the students involved. As you all know by now, the Sinus Fidei receives a monthly monetary allowance, and of course, sufficient living quarters. These, however, are the bare minimum of the benefits given by the school. The ring you belong in will determine the benefits you receive every cycle."

Almost immediately, the classroom broke out in excited whispers. I was already aware of the monetary allowance, since Joren and I received a notice that it would be delivered by the week. Although I didn't care too much about it, Joren was particularly shocked when he saw the amount. Perhaps, in a commoner's eyes, the money was a handsome sum.

Being the way I was brought up, though, I perfectly knew that most of the students, who were mainly comprised of nobles, probably thought the money as a crude amount. They were probably already complaining about the simple quarters that we were given. Although my brother was given a larger suite, it was quite the special case. Most of the students, even the few royalty and high nobles, were still stuck with a room much like mine. So, I knew that they would immediately jump at the new opportunity. They were probably already planning out how they could bribe their way into an inner ring.

The sudden change in atmosphere, where a room full of sleepy people suddenly turned more vibrant and alive, definitely came to the teacher's attention. She coughed loudly before saying, "Alas, it is not so easy a task to enter an inner ring, or else the Sinus Fidei wouldn't have the great numbers it has still stuck inside it. But, by all means, if you are daring enough to try your skills, then go ahead, but you would still have to wait until the end of the cycle to try. Now, who here can share a bit of what they know about the Academy's cycle?"

As I had thought, a hand sprouted up almost immediately. Upon seeing the hand, though, the professor said with a smile, "Anyone else who would care to try?"

Kendra pulled back her hand down with a cute pout, eliciting a laugh from my red-haired friend. This blunder, however, was not unnoticed by the professor. She came to look at my friend with a sleepy gaze. "Yes, boy with the hair like roses?"

Joren's cheeks blossomed in a fiery blush. He stood up mechanically, and simply stared at the professor with the widest eyes. "Ah-Eh... Umm..."

Fortunately, Albert seemed to know the answer to her question. He stood up and quietly laid a hand on our friend's tense shoulder. The second prince bowed at the professor. "Might I answer the question in place of my companion, Professor Hypnosia? It seems he is still ignorant of the ways of the school."

The lowkey insult immediately unfroze Joren from his position, making him shout out a complaining "Hey!" at Albert. Holding out a hand to tug at his sleeve, I urged him to sit back down. With the green-eyed boy now silently back at his seat, Albert then bowed slightly towards the teacher before reciting, "The Lunar Academy for Special Mages utilizes a special lunar cycle as basis for the academic calendar. This crude setup, however, has no set dates and is only determined by astronomical sightings and assumptions. Although countless researchers are still debating as to the specifics and source of this ancient cycle, this calendar still persists to be used even up to now, despite modernization."

His answer brought the teacher to a surprising bout of laughter. Still chuckling, she said, "Well, I can't say anything about it being 'crude', but yes, you are right, dear boy. The Academy uses a special lunar cycle, and even I am not sure about how to read the stars for it. In layman's terms, however, I suppose it can be equivalent to something... about seven, or maybe six, months? It rather depends since each cycle varies in length."

I looked at the woman in slight confusion. Having a calendar that's never truly set in stone must be quite a source of difficulty, won't it? If I am to be sure of the breaks in between the cycles, then won't that mean that we would have five or six months of vacation every year? That hardly seems like an efficient way of learning...

"Ah, well!" the professor shouted out. "Not to worry, all of you. Just think about studying, and it'll all get clearer soon. Now that is all in order... Defensive Spells 101! Let's get right to it!"

With a clap, she started on her introduction to her subject. And like most introductions, I found myself becoming bored by the second, and her sweet voice seemed to only be succeeding in pulling me down to slumber. My vision was already blurring out into darkness when a thought came into mind.

Like he had asked me in real life, I recalled the question again.

"Therion, do you know of the Mare Desiderii?" Joren had asked me just last night.

Back then, I had only looked at him in confusion, not even aware yet of the rings and the mares. But, now, it still was a foreign concept. I stared at my right side, where Joren sat idly. His head bobbed up and down, already quite lost to his surroundings. However, I could still remember the desperation and fear on his face when he had asked the question. I knew it was an important question...

Without thinking, I held up my hand. Professor Hypnosia stopped midway through her sentence when she caught sight of me. Smilingly, she gestured to me to stand.

Upon standing, I looked back at my side, to see Joren and Albert looking at me quizzically. Turning forward, I began, "I apologize for the interruption, Professor Hypnosia, but a question has been bugging me the whole class. A question about... the mares."

This time, I looked back to give a meaningful look at Joren, and slowly, his face turned into recognition. But then, instead of a signal for me to go, he shook his head at me with a troubled look. 'Ah, he doesn't want to ask about it.'

'But then, I could always ask about it in another way.'

I coughed a little before staring straight at the professor. "Earlier, it was stated that there are four rings in the Academy, but I found it rather odd. In my brief studies of numbers and magic, I found the significance of odd numbered sequences. I have seen it in the pentagonal insignias of several magic spells, and I have seen it a more common occurrence to see three main ingredients in a magical potion. So, I found it odd to see an even-numbered number of rings in this magical academy. Is there a possibility of there having been more rings before?"

I stared hard at the teacher to see anything different in her expression, but she only looked sleepy. Smiling after another yawn, she said, "That is a lovely opinion, boy with the intelligent eyes, but alas, if there ever was a secret mare or two, I'm afraid I'm not aware of it."

I smiled back before sitting back down. In my mind though, I whispered, 'I never said about any secret mares.'

However, I still wasn't sure, but her response definitely made me lean towards the side that there was indeed a Mare Desiderii, and if it really did exist, it would most likely be a hidden one. But as of now, since I still had nothing to show for it, I had to keep it to myself rather than share it to Joren. Since it seemed very important to him, then I shouldn't do it simply half-way.

For the rest of the class, I spent it thinking about Mares, both hidden and known. I imagined a group of powerful students coming together to meet in secret, sharing and discovering magic that was still unknown to the world beyond the academic walls. I wondered, for a moment, if the answers to my questions would be found there.