***Hyperion Empire***

***Imperial Island***

The room quickly settled down at the voice of the loud doorman. Students were standing in their seats, watching as a girl with luminous silver hair walked through the main entrance to the auditorium. Max could barely see her from his current location in the back, but he could tell that the girl was pretty. She was wearing the same uniform as Kana, yet her socks only reached her knees. Max squinted his eyes, she was a Granitas, and he had a few questions for her.

The students in the auditorium were enraptured with her appearance, but Max quickly lost interest. He looked to Kana, who seemed to be entertained with Adrios and the snake wrapped around her neck. Max sat down and pulled out his journal and pen, writing down a reminder to talk to the princess when he got a chance. He then turned to Arthur, who was the only member of the trio still staring at the silver-haired girl.

Kana’s eyes gleamed in amusement at the Satele’s gaze. She had never seen him interested in anything, yet the princess surely caught his attention. She also peeked over at Max writing that he would need to talk to the new girl, and was admittedly curious.

Deciding to tease her friend, she said, “Lovely, isn’t she Arthur?”

“She is indeed.” The boy replied absentmindedly.

Kana had not expected such a straightforward response from the boy. Now she just had to get involved. The girl had already noted that there were only three females in her year from the Great Houses and had already planned to befriend the other two. She greatly enjoyed being involved in other people’s lives, and assisting Arthur in garnering the affections of a princess sounded quite enjoyable.

“Do you like her? If you’d want I could make her my friend and then help you win her love!” The girl asked with unbridled enthusiasm.

Arthur chuckled and shook his head at the girl’s passion. “While I encourage you to befriend whoever you want, if I want the princess's affections I shall acquire them myself. Besides, she is just a girl who has caught my eye...” He said, then gestured to all the males in the school staring at the princess. “...like everyone else. There is also the fact that I do not even know her and there are plenty of other attractive girls out there.”

Max spoke up from his seat below the two standing. “That reminds me, Arthur how long have you known about our engagement?”

“You knew and didn’t tell us!?” Kana queried in mock anger.

Arthur scratched the back of his head sheepishly. “Aunt Sophia told me when we started training together. She said if I could keep a secret she would surely reward me.” He then looked to the snake wrapped around Kana’s neck. “And she did. Meet my partner Zecarth, the only basilisk alive with direct ancestry to the King.”

Max’s brow rose at his friend's statement, and his childish side won him over. “Does that mean he will be as big as the King also? I ask because I’m sure you two have noticed how my partner is all white instead of the usual brown and gold. He’s a descendant of the Griffin Chieftain.”

“Oh the Chieftain you say? Well what’s better, a Chieftain or a King? Zecarth will grow to be quite large, maybe as large as the King himself.” Arthur replied, inciting his friend’s temper.

Max coughed at his friend’s response. Arthur always knew exactly what to say to elicit anger from the boy. “Ha, then I guess we will see. Adrios will be bigger than the prince’s dragon if I have anything to say about it.”

“The prince’s dragon?” Kana asked.

“Yeah! I saw the thing during my trip over here. As large as some of the clouds if I had to take a guess.”

“You’ll have to finish that story later.” Arthur said. “It appears the orientation is beginning.”

The clamoring of students settled as an old woman approached the stage. She walked with grace and elegance, and wore a long cloak over her body. Her eyes were a mild amethyst and she had dull grey hair. Kana and Arthur sat down on either side of Max and the boy put his journal back into his jacket. The woman stood behind a small podium sprouting out of the massive stage. An aged but clear voice resonated through the hall, which Max assumed was the product of auditory enchantments.

“My name is Agnes Granitas and I am the Hyperion Imperial Academy Headmistress. For the next year, you will be attending the Academy in an effort to expand your own education. Each student is supported by our exceptional teachers and staff in hopes to nurturing your talents. You all are the future of our Great Empire, and the foundation from which we thrive. Ever since it’s founding, the Hyperion Empire has served as a bastion of hope and equality. Outlawing slavery and accepting of all races, our people are progressive. All citizens have the chance to make something of themselves, and work for their own prosper-”

Max ceased listening to the woman's speech. He could tell where it was going, and none of the words coming out of the Headmistresses mouth were vital to him. Taking out his personal journal again, he ignored Arthur’s head resting against his shoulder. There was one piece of important information though, Agnes Granitas, the Imperial Queen Mother, was the Headmistress of the Academy.

He was pretty sure she was one of the oldest people living in the Empire. A woman who lived through the Empire's founding and the two great wars it survived. She was also a treasure trove of information, and if the princess didn’t have what he wanted then the older woman certainly did. Max took note of the connection too. If his family ruled in his province, he certainly didn’t have that sway here. On the Imperial Island, the only House that had real influence was the Royal Family.

“What are you doing and why do you have a journal?” Kana whispered next to him.

“Both my mother and my master have journals of their own.” He then glanced at the sleeping Arthur. “Well they did. I am taking notes of important information that could aid me in the future.”

Kana accepted that response. “Makes sense. Why do you need to talk to the princess though?”

“What, jealous?” The boy replied with a smirk.

Kana’s face quickly turned red in either anger or embarrassment. “Don’t kid yourself. I’m just curious is all.”

“Well if you must know, I have reason to believe that the Royal Family are descendants of Draconians. I was thinking the princess may be able to clear some things up for me.”

“Weren’t Draconians like half dragon or something?”

The boy shrugged. “Something like that, though it doesn’t really matter as I only care about their magic.”

The two returned to silence as Kana listened to the words of the Headmistress. The woman was now giving instructions to the senior class on dismissal procedures. Adrios started getting restless in Kana’s arms and both boy and girl moved their attentions to the beast. Kana looked at the griffin with confusion.

“What's wrong with him?” She asked.

Max reached into his jacket and pulled out some dried meat. “Well he’s hungry, like usual.” The boy handed the meat to Kana and watched her feed the griffin with mirth. He continued, “I’ve missed you both. It feels like it has been forever.”

The golden-eye girl nodded. “It’s been pretty boring too, well until I found out about the engagement. By then, my parents were already packing my bags.”

Max smiled. “My mother also told me the day before, brought me out into the woods and all. I thought she was going to punish me, imagine my surprise when she said I had a fiance. Though I was happy.” The boy’s final sentence was barely audible, yet Kana also smiled at his statement.

“Which means we need to talk.”

Max looked directly at her now. “About what? Your against it?”

Kana quickly lifted her hands up in defense. “No, no… well we’re still just kids. I like you a lot, but there's plenty of time and we haven’t even hit adolescence yet. But those are minor issues to what I really want to talk about.”

The seniors down in front of the stage were now leaving their seats, obviously dismissed from the orientation. The pair tuned out the voice of the Headmistress as they conversed.

Kana continued, “You know just as well as I do what my goal is, I want to be the Head of my House.” Max nodded. “My problem is that if we marry I become a Soltain and lose the chance to reach my goal.” Max now realized what she was getting at. He scratched his chin in thought, running through possible solutions to the issue.

“You see the problem. I mean you could always marry to my House, or we could hold off the marriage until I am satisfied with my achievement. But both of those solutions have issues of their own, you would either have to sacrifice your name or we would have to wait a while to actually get married.” She said, looking towards the boy for support.

Max agreed to her statement, those were both realistic solutions. He grabbed her hand and pet the juvenile griffin on her lap. “We’ve plenty time to think about it, let’s just get through this first.”

Thousands of students poured out of the auditorium once the woman at the podium dismissed them by year. As time passed only the youngest class remained, soft chatter spread throughout the group as a whole. Arthur was asleep, while Max continued to write notes down in his journal. Kana took the chance to look for the two other House noble girls. The princess sat in the way front, isolated and alone.

The other girl, Reann Arshan, was seated in the opposite corner in the back, surrounded by vassal nobility children from her province. Even encompassed by others, the girl sat quietly and talked to no one. Kana smiled, perhaps befriending these two would be too easy. She needed to diversify her future group of friends a bit. The girl continued to scan the crowd for future candidates.

Headmistress Agnes Granitas looked towards the hundreds of students towards the back of the the auditorium. She glanced at her own granddaughter, then observed the student body as a whole.

“Aside from the obvious, your class is one of the most special I have seen in my many years of educating. Our entrance examinations were far more competitive than the norm, and only the cream of the crop have gained admittance to attend this year. I only look forward to all of your future achievements as you grow here.” She then heavily exhaled. “I have taken too much of your time already so let us proceed shall we? All first year students who have gained admittance through the Academy Trials are welcome to leave. But, I ask students of recommendation to please come to the stage.”

The remaining students quickly got out of their seats. Commoner students began filing out on their own while the rest slowly approached the front of the auditorium. Max shook his cousin awake, and Kana quickly said goodbye to the boys. “I am going to go make some new friends. I’ll see you two later.” She said, and then quietly disappeared into the crowd.

Arthur yawned and stretched his back. The boys trotted towards the front, rather casually compared to the rest. By the time the duo made it to the stage, there were only around one-hundred and fifty students inside the enormous hall. Max looked around and was hardly shocked to find Kana, in the front of the group standing right beside the princess. Both girls were talking animatedly, and had Max questioning what exactly they were discussing.

Seeing the students all gathered in front of her, Headmistress Granitas coughed into her fist. The group gradually quieted down, all of them looking up to the elderly woman. “All classes save your magic courses have been selected for you, each based off family recommendations and station. Next semester you will be able to select your own courses, but at the moment you are stuck with what you have.”

Grumbling could be heard between the students but was quickly silenced with another cough. One teacher walked out carrying an enchanted stone tablet. Max would have activated his eyes to get a better look, but preferred to keep his dual bloodline as secret as possible. Even so, he could recognize the tablet was powered through ancient Draconian magic. The fact that the Headmistress had access to such a treasure only spurred on his working theories of the relation between the Royal Family and the ancient race.

“This tablet right here.” Agnes said, picking up the stone block with both hands. “Is worth more than the majority of your family's wealth combined. It has been passed down in my family for generations, and is now used to it’s potential here at the Academy. You will place your hand on the stone, channel mana to the hand, and it will show us your elemental affinity. After that, you will be given your schedule and lodging information. You may now get in line.”

The students started fighting for the front until a boy with red-eyes raised his hand. Max observed that he was from the Ryzalon House, and then completely lost interest. Kana was now standing beside both the princess and the Arshan girl. The girl had a large spider on her shoulder, which honestly creeped the young Soltain out a bit. Though Max had to admit he was utterly bewildered on how fast Kana worked.

Agnes glanced at the boy who interrupted and sighed. “How could you possibly have a question?”

The red-eyed boy remained steadfast. “Couldn’t we just save time and tell you our affinities? I’m more than sure the majority of my fellow classmates already know their affinity.”

“Oh I must be getting on in years to forget most of you already know your elements. Just get in line and tell the good teacher here.” She said, pointing towards the same teacher standing beside herself at the beginning of the line.

Max snickered. They were getting in line either way, good thing he and Arthur had made it to the middle of the pack. The red-eye boy frowned and then turned to some of the other Ryzalon nobles already in line. They weren’t quite in the front, but they were a few people in front of Max and Arthur. The boy walked towards his companions, obviously planning to cut in the order.

Arthur snorted and looked to his cousin. Max just smiled and nodded. Clearly no one planned on stopping the Ryzalon boy from cutting his place in line. As he neared his fellow compatriots, Arthur stepped to the side and sneezed, gathering the attention of the children. Max channeled a ‘Minor Air Gust’ through the legs of those in front of him. The air flew under the uninvolved students and crashed into the red-eyed boy.

The Ryzalon child was caught completely off guard and was sent hurdling to his butt. The other children in line started chuckling and a few brave ones openly laughed. Max observed one student, a beastkin hailing from House Fafnir, mock the red-eyed boy. “Haha Zane that is what you get for trying to cut! Get to the back before you hurt yourself again!”

The now identified Zane’s face turned as red as his eyes. Hurriedly standing up and brushing himself off he yelled to the crowd. “Who dares!? I know it wasn’t the mutt because his air magic is pitiful! Which one of you hicks thought they could get away with that!? Do you not know who I am!?”

Max turned to his cousin with a perplexed expression. “‘Hicks?’”

“It means someone who lives out in the country, also an insult to one’s intelligence.” Arthur replied.

The beastkin boy countered. “No one gives a shit who you are and you just tripped over yourself! You were always a clumsy little shit. Hurry up and get in the back so I can eat!”

Headmistress Granitas watched the scene with amusement. She was well aware it was Max who casted the spell and chose to ignore it. The Ryzalon boy was no longer in charge like he was used to being. He needed to understand that his influence was seriously mitigated at the Academy. She had no issue with another student teaching the child that lesson. She also couldn’t help be impressed with the Soltain’s magic control. No incantations, and no wasted power.

The Headmistress recalled the younger figures of the child’s mother and sister. Softly smiling, she made a mental note to observe the boy’s growth. She then turned to a crimson haired girl at the front of the line. The girl stood in front of her own granddaughter, which surprised Agnes greatly. Her granddaughter Juliet was competitive, but clearly distracted by the bushy tail the fox girl possessed.

“A Kumio?” Agnes asked lightly.

The smaller girl bowed. “Yes Headmistress. My name is Kana Kumio.”

“Nice to meet you Kana. Do you need the tablet?”

“No ma’am. I have an affinity to fire.”

The woman nodded and recorded the information. The teacher beside her handed a small slip to the girl, giving her instructions. “This paper has your class schedule, dorm assignment, and a map for assistance. Try not to lose it.”