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“I—” The word caught in my parched throat.

Before I could form a proper word, he said out of the blue.

“Expect me tonight.”

“But.” I started, and he tilted his head, giving an assessing look that made me temporarily forget what I wanted to say.

“Be careful, more Apex students would ask to fill your mana before you're taken to the Hall of Mirrors but they’ll only contaminate your pure, inner Core so you will fail the Trial of Mirrors. If you fail, it will be removed and sold to the highest bidder.”

I blinked hard as his words sank in.

“A-are you trying to contaminate my…my Core too?” I stuttered.

“No, love.” He answered and grinned at me with the most perfect white teeth. “I am one of the school’s five most powerful Alphas, and tonight, I will claim you… alter you, refine you.”

I closed my eyes as his words coaxed more fluids out of my throbbing pussy.

I sink my teeth into my lower lip, trying to stop my mind from wandering to what he really means by 'altering' and 'refining' me.

It’s… sex, right?

I’m still a virgin.

“Why? You- You don't even know me.” I whispered, barely trusting my voice to say more.

He faltered for a moment just a flicker but it was there. I could see clearly that he didn’t trust me, but he still wanted to break me open and see what was inside.

“Maybe not,” he admitted, his eyes scanning mine as he looked at me with hope and dread. He continued searching my face like I was his long-lost sweetheart. “But you... you feel like a ghost I’ve been running from my whole damn life.” His jaw clenched, frustration bleeding through his calm, and reserved expression.

For a moment, he appeared angry at himself.

“I don’t know you, Juno. Not yet. But I knew someone with a destructive energy like yours, and standing here, looking at you... I can’t tell if you're my salvation…” He paused, breathing in slowly. I couldn’t shake the feeling that whoever I reminded him of was a ghost he hadn’t outrun. “...or the same curse comes back to finish what it started.”

Before I could ask him where I was or how I was supposed to find something to wear, he vanished into thin air.

I stood up from the marble bed and looked around the room. It was unusually empty but it felt alive and brimming with ancient magic.

The more you inhale the air, the more energetic and spirited you'll feel.

For witches like me, it increased our magical strength and replenished our mana, and right now, I could feel my Core pulsing, growing warmer, humming with raw magic.

“Where’s this place?” I wondered aloud and hoped it was part of Blackcroft, so I could visit again.

Wait. Am I even on the University grounds?

I didn't catch the fallen angel’s name.

How do I get clothes?

Where do I go to get all the necessary school stuff?

I stood there, blinking, half expecting him to pop back in with some smug, cryptic remark.

But the space beside me remained empty.

The only thing left behind was silence… and the faint buzz still clinging to my skin from where his fingers had brushed my jaw.

Before I could even think of what to do next, a sharp gust of wind slammed into me, nearly knocking me over.

A glowing and real letter appeared out of nowhere. It wasn’t handed to me.

It hovered there, shimmering faintly in the air.

I snatched it before it could drift away.

The parchment was ice-cold. Black as midnight.

Touching this letter was like a dream.

Surely this was nothing more than a wild dream I’d wake from soon. I’d always been drawn to the unattainable, craving the unthinkable.

I mean there’s no way I could truly be standing here, holding my Blackcroft University admission letter.

It felt glossy in my trembling hands. The silver seal gleamed in the shape of that unique crest — a serpent coiled around open wings.

Blackcroft.

My name, “Juno Sterling” was etched across the front in curling silver script.

My heart skipped a beat as I read.

The instructions were simple, blunt, and impossible to refuse:

“Sign in blood. Your fate is sealed.”

The paper pricked my finger on its own, as if impatient to bring me into this new world.

A single drop of crimson bloomed against the black parchment.

The moment my blood touched the page, the air around me cracked apart.

Blinding light flashed. The ground vanished.

A second later, I wasn’t in the stone chamber anymore.

I was here.

In front of Blackcroft's main building.

The first thing I noticed was the hum in the air. It was thick, heady, and pulsing like a heartbeat. The entire place buzzed with magic. It danced in the wind, and I smiled brightly the more I inhaled the air.

The second thing I noticed was the structure. It was shaped like a twisting serpent made of stone.

Awesome. Completely remarkable.

Around me, students crowded the courtyard. Everyone had a coiled serpent crest over their chest.

The men wear long black overcoats lined with silver, starched white shirts with a stiff high collar, slim, high-waisted charcoal trousers with leather boots.

They all wore ring sigils on their right index fingers.

Some were practicing seduction spells live!

While others appeared to be just flirting with each other.

The women wear fitted long-sleeved blouses with antique buttons. Some were in black high-waist skirts while some wore fitted black trousers, and boots.

They were all wearing different shades of pendants on their necklaces.

I noticed some extraordinary students lurking around, who had a thin collar around their neck that resembled the coiled serpent on the crest.

They stood at a distance from other students who were laughing, flirting, practicing filthy spells, and touching each other in public.

There were also some shy and introverted new students like me, and that made me feel at home.

This was beyond what I expected Blackcroft to be.

I felt they didn't see me. Or perhaps I would be unseen here too. It didn't matter. I didn't care.

I just hope I survive and ascend to the Apex.

I stared at the tall, jagged towers and their remarkable rooftops that seemed to be touching the sky and generating light directly from the bright sun.

I felt impressed by the ancient arches, gothic windows, and dark vines that crept along the stone walls.

In the middle of the main building, there was a huge, lucent mirror, and I saw myself clearly from a distance.

Somehow, I was dressed like them. In the same black skirt, antique buttons, long-sleeved white blouse fitted neatly, and the coiled serpent crest stitched right over my chest.

The only thing missing was the necklace, but I wasn't the only one missing that.

Some students had no necklace either.

I… I was one of them now.

I became a student of Blackcroft University!

But how?

It didn’t matter now, did it?

What mattered was that, against all odds, my dreams had finally come true.

A shaky laugh slipped from me. Very quiet at first and then, before I could stop myself, it just spilled out:

“I… I got into Blackcroft,”

I barely believed my own words.

The disbelief made me yell out. “I got in!”

My voice echoed, thin and nervous.

Everyone turned to look at me.

Some curious, some indifferent, some cold and unreadable.

My stomach flipped anxiously.