The scores were made public every Sunday morning. Two thousand five hundred names and scores carved in three stone pques across Phoenix Academy. A crowd of students pushed against each other every time, holding their breath until they saw their name in the list.

  Most never knew where to look for it, but for Connie it was different. Never, not one time in twelve years of magic training, had her name been lower than second.

  Her previous teachers warned her position would fall- after all, Phoenix only accepted the best students in the realm, and being her first year most of them would be older than her. The best students would know spells she couldn't begin to cast.

  Yet there she was. Second pce again, right beneath a very familiar name, for the third week in a row since they both entered Phoenix Academy.

  And once again, being second didn't bother her as much as it should. Everything was changing around her- for the most part, getting worse and worse everyday. But that little bit of unchanged familiarity... the certainty that she'd always see Ayra's name next to hers...

  It was just enough to make her smile.

  "And what are you so happy about?" Kate said as she pushed her way out of the student crowd. It was funny- years ago, Kate would have stayed away from them, rolling her eyes and calling them animals. Now she was the first to start pushing and shouting. "Are you blind or something? Your name is second again."

  "I saw." Connie sighed but her smile didn't disappear yet. Feeling Kate's gre, she was quick to look away. "What did you get?"

  "Doesn't fucking matter."

  "That bad?"

  Kate huffed. Yeah, she wasn't happy. "... Forty-nine point five. But thats expected from me." Suddenly she pushed Connie, who stumbled back a step.

  "Hey!"

  "When are you gonna start trying!?" Kate's voice went a note too high. "Do you like her smug look or what?"

  Ayra wasn't even that smug, Connie wanted to say, but instead she just rolled her eyes.

  "You care more than I do."

  "And you see no problem in that!?" Kate screeched. Connie sighed but before she could argue another voice called from the crowd.

  "Hey, Connie!" Said a second-year student who Connie had definitely been introduced to ... William, maybe? "Above ninety again? Good job!"

  "Yeah, thats amazing." Added a blonde girl next to William. "You have to tell us the secret ter."

  A tall student in William's group ughed. "The secret is being better than anyone else! Congrats, Connie!"

  Connie forced a smile. "I wouldn't say that..."

  "Don't even dare to stay humble." William pointed at her. "Keep it up, alright?"

  "Bye, Connie!"

  As the group walked away and she awkwardly waved goodbye, Kate grabbed her arm and pulled her down to her height.

  "You are lucky they don't know what you are capable of." Her friend whispered. "You are much better than a ninety point five."

  Connie made a point of shaking her hand away and shrugging carelessly... but going by Kate's expression, she didn't act the gesture well enough.

  "Yeah, yeah." She tried to dismiss her, instead. She finally started walking away from the the stone pque and Kate followed next to her. "I'll do better next time, don't worry."

  "You better. Its not only about you, you know? You represent all of us."

  Connie almost flinched at how sour that comment felt to her. "I heard that before." She muttered, rolling her eyes.

  "Its the truth!"

  "Doesn't really help." She stared at Kate, who's eyes widened slightly. "But thanks for the pressure."

  For a moment they walked in silence, then Kate tilted her head back and groaned.

  "Ugh. I'm sorry."

  "Its fine."

  "No, really, I-"

  "Stop." Connie smiled at her. "You can make it up to me by buying breakfast, alright?"

  Kate stared at her in doubt for a moment, then sighed. "... you only care about my money."

  As Connie ughed, Kate stopped suddenly in her tracks. After a moment of confusion Connie understood why.

  A group of elves was crossing the path ahead. Most of them with that particur look of disgust in their faces, the one they had when walking through the side of the academy where the human dorms where.

  The other human students kept their distance, but that didn't stop one of the elves from staring at each one, muttering something under his breath. His gaze hardened when his eyes met Connie's- but maybe he recognized her, because he didn't insult her or worse for daring to stare back.

  They wore the same uniforms. They shared the same csses. On paper, at Phoenix Academy, human and elves were equal.

  The reality couldn't be further from that.

  "Fucking hell." Kate muttered once they were away. "Did you see their faces? Who the hell do they think they are?"

  Connie sighed and started walking again. "I'm hungry, hurry up."

  "Really?" Kate caught up to her. "You have nothing to say on that?"

  "Just ignore them, Kate. You gain nothing getting angry."

  "... Yeah, I don't give a fuck. They believe they are so much better- just for having stupid little sharp ears? Smug pieces of-"

  Connie tuned out the rest. Looking at Kate, who was red from anger, she just wished no elf overheard any of that. Just implying that humans were simir to elves...

  Things hadn't always been that way. Their previous school had more humans than elves- and yeah, they weren't always friendly to each other, but there was communication, jokes, some level of camaraderie.

  Perhaps that was normal in a middle-level, regional magic school.

  But now they were in Asherer, the capital of the realm, attending Phoenix Academy no less. The only high-level magic academy in the world, which only recently had started accepting humans.

  They warned her about how different things would be a long time ago, and she'd always been confident she could handle it... she had to, at least. A lot of people pced their hopes on that.

  She really needed to find a way to meet those expectations. At the very least, to stop feeling disappointed every day.

  But now, after just having seen the scores, she only wished she could talk to Ayra again.

  ***

  Three months ago...

  The weather got hotter every day. Snow melted away from the mountains, trees recovered their leaves, grass became greener. Connie hated winter. This time, she didn't want it to end.

  She was second again, like the st few months. Now almost three entire points below first pce. It was getting harder to feel frustrated instead of defeated.

  Thankfully, there was one person more upset with the results than her.

  "Don't you feel ashamed of staring at that number?" She heard a familiar voice behind her and turned around to see Ayra. "I don't get why you even bothered checking..."

  Despite everything, Connie smiled. The warmer weather didn't stop Ayra from wearing her winter uniform- she needed it, after all. Her sharp elven ears were usually red from the cold, not unlike the rest of her usually snow-white skin. But as always Connie's eyes focused on Ayra's own... those bright and orange, sometimes even warm, always attentive, as if she was studying everything around her.

  "Ah, it's closer than I was expecting." Connie shrugged, smiling. Ayra didn't return the smile. "Just watch out for next time, alright?"

  "You keep saying that." Ayra replied, monotone, expresionless. Or trying to be- Connie wouldn't dare to say it out loud, but the blush the cold gave her made the elf girl seem a little too cute to be taken seriously. "And still, you haven't had first in months. Are you maybe losing your power? Should I try competing with someone else?"

  "As if. You are not getting rid of me in a hundred years, Ayra."

  "Humans don't live that long."

  "I will, out of spite. I can't just leave your ego unchecked." Connie pced a hand on her hip and smiled some more, hoping Ayra would just keep pying along...

  "Right." The elf said instead, after a long pause, and Connie's smile disappeared.

  The air felt a little tense all of a sudden. "I got accepted into Phoenix." Connie tried to divert.

  "... should I be surprised?"

  "Aww, thank you!" At Ayra's bnk look she was quick to add: "But no, I guess not."

  "They say its ten times more difficult than here." Ayra commented and Connie almost sighed in relief.

  "Gods, I hope so..." She said... and a long silence followed.

  Her relief was short-lived after all. The tension in the air was back. The only sound was that of the early spring winds, caressing the trees nearby.

  Being next to Ayra without neither of them saying a word... that was unnatural.

  And another sign things were changing.

  "Connie." Her eyes widened when Ayra said her name. "You... do you..." The elf hesitated, then sighed softly. "Is everything well with you?"

  "What?" Connie frowned. "What do you mean?"

  "I mean..." Ayra looked away. "Is there a reason why you could be... maybe... not doing your best at the tests?"

  Oh no. Connie turned back to the notice board, mind rushing to find an excuse.

  "No." She simply said. Maybe too rushed. She shrugged, feigning non-chance. "I guess I wasn't feeling it. Nothing serious."

  Behind her, she heard Ayra sigh again. A tiny sound of frustration.

  Connie held no hope of Ayra believing her- but, she was certain she wouldn't push further.

  They had known each other for twelve years. Competing against each other every week. The winner boasting, loser making excuses, both promising to beat the other next time. In the process, they became much better at magic than they would ever achieve on their own.

  But even that seemed about to change... or maybe it already had.

  Another sigh of Ayra. For some reason Connie almost wanted to apologize.

  "Yeah..." Ayra spoke slowly. "Its no use. This is not fun anymore."

  Hearing her start to walk away, Connie felt sudden panic. She rushed to turn around again.

  "Wait!" She said... and didn't really expect Ayra to stop instantly, turning to look at her. "I..."

  "Don't you agree?" Ayra argued before Connie could say anything. "It hasn't been fun in a while."

  "Still, I..." Connie hesitated.

  "You what?" Ayra stared at her. It felt like those orange eyes were digging into her soul... and yet, Connie had nothing to say.

  Ayra was completely right. Connie knew so, had no argument... yet still wanted to protest.

  She just didn't want their rivalry to end.

  Silence again. But this time she kept staring at Ayra's eyes, saw them change slightly, soften a bit. Later she'd wonder how much Ayra understood, how much Connie's own eyes told her. At that time, though, she just wanted the moment to st longer.

  "I'm ignoring your score from now on." Ayra said, finally. Harsh words contrasting with her soft tone. "Until you get first again, the scores don't count to me. Understood?"

  "Ayra..."

  "Just apply yourself again. Whatever it is, fix it. Until then we are not competing at all." Ayra must have noticed her shocked expression, because in the elf's face the tiniest smile appeared. "You don't want me to get an ego, right? At least for a hundred years?" She tilted her head. "Get better and give me trouble at Phoenix, then."

  Connie blinked. As Ayra walked away she wanted to walk with her. Say anything.

  She didn't. And for the next three months, Ayra's words echoed in her mind instead.

  Extras

  SpoilerExtra: Magic Affinity Tests

  The weekly Magic Affinity tests are meant to evaluate and track the magical potential and development of everyone shown to be able to use magic. Every mage goes through them, from children to the oldest Archmages. Since it's common for mages to get more or less powerful with time (or even, in some cases, unexpectedly lose their powers), its important for these tests to be made as often as possible.

  Centuries ago, it was decided to standardize these tests by making the mage cast five spells of their own choosing in front of a certified Affinity Specialist. Based on the execution of these spells, the specialist is meant to give an approximate score out of 100. However, magic schools and academies include decimals and do their tests with multiple specialists for higher precision.

  Mages can expect their scores to vary greatly from week to week. Dropping or gaining up to fifteen points in a single week is very common due to the votile nature of magic. For long term evaluations, a range of average scores is used instead of a single number.

  The average range is 35 to 55. The majority of mages never score pass 60, and everyone who gets below 10, even a single time, is under suspicion of losing their magic (in Phoenix Academy, in most cases thats an instant expulsion!).

  In the st test at Phoenix Academy, only fifty out of two thousand five hundred students scored pass 70. From those, only seven passed 80. Connie and Ayra are the only two students in decades to score above 90 every time they've been tested, and its expected from both of them to maintain that record for the rest of their journey in the school.

  [colpse]