The morning was unusually loud in the faculty courtyard as a new semester began. Students flooded the halls, still buzzing from the last trial exam. Among the crowd, Vladislav Viktorovich Volkov, proudly donning his Leovarn colors, walked with that easygoing charisma that made him the unofficial leader of their year.
And behind him?
A new face.
A boy with warm eyes, sharp features, and an innocent smile—Mateo York. He walked a little behind Vlad, backpack slung casually, eyes curious and observant.
"Everyone, this is Mateo," Vladislav announced to the group as they lounged near the training fields. "He's from Flamoria, too. I figured he could hang with us."
The rest of the group exchanged glances. Sofia gave a cheerful wave. Leo grinned and immediately started bombarding him with jokes. Wei, sitting slightly apart, merely glanced up then back at his notebook. Selene offered him a polite smile, while Asher gave a quiet nod.
"Nice to meet you all," Mateo said with a slight accent. "I've heard a lot about this group."
Vlad threw an arm over his shoulder. "Then you've probably heard how awesome we are."
Everyone laughed. It was easy. Mateo fit in.
Too easily.
A week passed, and the group was pulled into something… unusual.
Wei Wen Zhao, who normally kept to himself, was given a rare task by his mother—an influential faculty head. It was a challenge only he could solve, but it required help from others.
It was Vladislav, Wei, Leo, and now Mateo who went to handle it.
The task itself involved solving an ancient riddle to unlock the sealed archive chamber—a test of logic and elemental manipulation. Wei led the team, of course, but what caught everyone's eye was how Mateo always stood behind him, watching… memorizing.
"Wei, your strategy is brilliant," Mateo commented quietly, watching as Wei pieced together thecypherr. "You think like no one else I've met."
Wei said nothing, but his eyes lingered on Mateo for a moment longer than usual.
The task was a success.
Wei's mother didn't praise him.
But Mateo did.
A month later, the group sat for the semester's toughest exam—a brutal logic-puzzle-meets-elemental-trial hybrid.
Everyone struggled. Even Ami and Vyacheslav weren't there, leaving the group slightly scattered.
Vladislav, however, breezed through it. In under thirty minutes, he submitted a perfect score. The professor blinked at him, impressed.
But as Vlad stood to leave…
A slip of paper fluttered to the ground.
The professor picked it up—an answer sheet.
Vlad's name was not on it. But it was written in the same hand as his final paper.
He was pulled aside. Questioned. Pressured.
Vlad, confused and tense, denied cheating—but the staff clearly didn't believe him.
Meanwhile, Wei had started to speak again—something that hadn't happened for a while, not since Ami and Vyacheslav had left campus temporarily.
Something about the accusation didn't sit right with him.
Wei asked for access to the faculty room's security cams. And when granted… he invited only one person to review the footage with him.
Mateo.
The camera footage played, a silent reel of the faculty room before and after the exam.
At 2:07 PM, just after Vlad left the room, the camera caught it:
Mateo, alone, glancing around quietly, walking to Vlad's desk, and slipping a second paper into his pocket.
The answer sheet.
Wei's hands clenched. Mateo stood beside him—still silent.
"You… used Vlad," Wei murmured.
Mateo smiled.
A gentle, almost sad smile.
"I didn't want to at first," Mateo admitted. "But… he was perfect. Friendly. Trusted. No one would question him."
He took a step back from the screen and looked at Wei.
"But you… you were the goal."
Wei's brows narrowed.
"I needed to get close. And Vlad let me in. Through him, I saw your mind in action. I watched how you handled problems, how you thought, how you spoke. I wanted to be perfect like that."
"So you used Vladislav to mimic me?" Wei said coldly.
"Yes," Mateo answered without hesitation. "But the perfect ones—like you—never get caught. I was trying to learn. To match you."
Wei's voice didn't rise. His posture didn't tense. But his words cut like steel.
"You weren't trying to be perfect. You were trying to cheat perfection."
Later that evening, Vladislav found Mateo alone, standing at the field where the exam results were being posted.
Vlad approached slowly, his usual warmth gone.
"It was you."
Mateo didn't deny it.
"You really fooled me."
"I didn't want to hurt you," Mateo said quietly. "I just wanted to belong. To be admired like you. Like Wei."
"Then you should've tried honesty," Vlad spat. "We would've helped you."
Mateo looked away.
"That's the thing," he whispered. "You guys already had everything."
The school cleared Vlad's name.
Mateo was quietly suspended. Wei never asked for public punishment.
As Vlad stood beside Wei a few days later, he looked at him with awe.
"You didn't just speak up. You fought for me. You didn't have to."
Wei looked away, nonchalant as always.
"You defended me first. I just returned it."
Vlad smiled. "Now I see why you're in Strixwyn. Like Ami. Both of you… scary smart."
Wei allowed a tiny smirk.
"Don't compare me to her. She's way better."