|Class Accepted: Mage|

|Class Level: 3|

|New Skills:|

|Lesser Mana Pool|

|Sense Mana|

|Spell Received: Fire Bolt|

That was what Michael remembered after he woke up in something like an infirmary. He was laying in a bed, placed inside a salon, though half-transparent walls gave him a room of his own. Near his bed he saw a fresh set of clothes, as well as a few potions. Though, since none of them were labeled, he went for the clothes.

He had no idea how much time he had been out, but a good sleep placed his thoughts in perspective. He had come to terms with the fact that he truly had been taken to a new world. A similar dimension perhaps? Regardless, this world had different races, magic and a Class & Skill System. A bit of Fantasy and RPG both. Which maybe helped him understand the lot of it better, but… he still had no clear purpose here.

Then I guess I should get on to designing one.

Dressed, he stood back down on the bed and tried a few of the dried fruit and other foodstuffs, while he thought. He should be asking questions about this world. Information is key. As for it looking rather strange… he had the story he told Micah as cover. Hopefully, it will be enough.

Next, he needed to know how to get back home. Or at least, find out how he had gotten here in the first place. That sounded hard, harder still to do while keeping his secret, but it was still a goal to be added to his list.

Third? This entire world seemed to reward experience with progress, via Spells and Skills. Might doesn’t always make right, but it sure does make things somewhat easier. That was a truism back on Earth. It probably applied here as well. So, third goal? Get better. ‘Harder, better, faster, stronger’, like the saying goes.

This, at least, seemed to be easier to achieve than his other targets. After all, he landed in a magical academy, which taught the best out of each generation’s magical users.

Speaking of which.

The… game? Whatever it was, it had rewarded Michael with a couple of Skills. He though he got a sense of his inner reservoir of mana, but he wasn’t sure. As for the |Mana Sense|… yeah. He kind of got a sense of the magic around him too. Not sight or smell, but… something. Curiously enough, it wasn’t coming from the potion and magic panels, but it was just dispersed out through the air.

The thing he really wanted to test though, was his Spell. |Fire Bolt|. Bolt as in not sharp. He could live with that. Especially if it ignited things. The pyromaniac in him smiled. As for a target… well, those ghostly walls seemed like they were made by a Spell. Even if he broke them, they should be easy enough to repair.

By someone else, that is.

Aiming his finger at the wall, he spoke.

“|Fire Bolt|.”

The most apparent thing he learned was that he needed training. Badly. A bolt of fire did manifest and did fly out, but it didn’t exit his finger. It left him via the palm of his hand, which was sadly angled toward the floor, not the wall.

The Spell collided with it, with the sound of a bonfire igniting and promptly gave out a flash. Nothing caught fire, thankfully, but it was enough to make him yelp.

And that was enough to make one of the transparent walls collapse, revealing a mustachioed man in open robes striding towards him.

“I say, there are easier ways to get my attention. I left you a bell for that!”

“A bell…?”

The man pointed and Michael saw a genuine bell on the nightstand, next to the potions. Well, it wasn’t like that was why he blasted the floor.

“And I see you haven’t drunk your potions. Honestly, are you feeling that well, that you think you no longer require assistance?”

“Uhm, my apologies. Sir. I just… I didn’t know what they were for. I…”

And then he remembered the usual excuse.

“My community is separated from the world. Our habits are not your own.”

That seemed weak, but surprisingly, the man accepted it with a gruff nod.

“Very well. Your friend is here for you. He came here everyday while you were convalescent. He will escort you to the end of the opening ceremony. After you drink your potions!”

It turned out that this ‘friend’ was Micah. The lycan had gotten pretty worried when Michael ended up spending three days in the hospital. Since, apparently the magical guardian’s death throes hit Michael with enough chaotic magical affects to completely damage his body. He had chemical burns, electrical burns, burn burns. And that was before taking into account how some parts of his flesh changed color or even function.

It was incredible. And it also won him a lot of status points.

“Even the older students were impressed! They were impressed already when the artifact summoned that thing for a test. Apparently, the grander it is, the higher your potential and something like that hadn’t been seen in forever. You got pretty close to completely exhausting the crystal and none of the senior mages thought that was even possible.”

“Yeah, I remember the old elf yelling for me to end it.”

“Yeah, they were talking about that too. To make the old man lose his cool… hah! Anyway, they’re working on limiting the artifact’s potential. They don’t want a repeat event. Anyway, I just thought you should know, I think you’re going to have a few suitors on your hand pretty soon. The testing had ended last night and after tonight’s feast, we’re entering our magical learning journey in full.”

Michael had learned that the testing sessions went on for a time after he got hospitalized. But… suitors?

“Uhm… don’t get me wrong, but I’m not romantically open right now. Could you pass that along?”

“Romantically… what? That’s not what I meant by suitors. I meant that you’re going to be approached by different powerful mages or groups of them, looking to take you under their wing.”

“Really? Wait, how do you know that?”

“Because power plays are everywhere?” he laughed. “But no, it’s because I’ve already been approached. And if someone came after me, someone as impressive as you will definitely gather attention.”

Politics…

“So, who did you join?”

“Eh, don’t get me wrong Michael, I like you, but we’ve only just met. And this isn’t something you just blurt out. Maybe we’ll switch info once you choose a side as well.”

“If I choose a side. I’d rather focus on my education.”

And getting strong enough to avoid getting vivisected, once it gets out I’m not from around here.

Micah just laughed at that.

They spent the rest of the time with Micah retelling different testing sessions and discussing the good, the bad and the amusing parts about them. While they talked, Michael admired the academy itself. It looked… grand. And eclectic. Almost nothing about it was static.

Its architectural style changed from floor to floor. You could walk a corridor made of hewn stone, turn a corner and find yourself walking a new corridor with a floor of polished marble and wooden inlays on the walls.

There were doors placed sporadically on the walls, some open, some not. And not every room looked like it could fit, since some looked no bigger than a closet, while others were as wide across as an entire field. Michael personally just blamed magic for it.

And its inhabitants. The students were of so many varied races, it wasn't easy to keep count. Michel spotted centaurs, minotaurs, elves, dwarfs, a couple more lycans, a stupid amount of humans and even a few races he had no idea what to classify them as.

Was that a Drow?

But besides the students and the faculty members, there were also the helpers. Michael almost freaked out when he saw the first moving statue cross his path, but apparently that was normal. At least these statues were willing to help, not just on the lookout for intruders. Besides the statues, there were golems, made of rock, clay, steel or other materials. There were things which looked like elementals, only smaller. Balls of lights which levitated some mage’s books. Furry creatures doing the same.

In short, Michael had a very hard time taking it all in while also talking to Micah, on their trip from the infirmary to the huge hall. There, he noticed that tables had been brought in and arranged haphazardly and students and more senior mages were doing their best to fill their bellies.

“It seems like our fellow students are pigs.” Micah laughed. “C’mon, before they eat all the good food.”

They didn’t take more than ten steps towards the nearest buffet before cheering broke out.

“Hey, new kid, good on you!”

“Mighty quick thinking, lad. Powerful!”

“You got any new Spell from that? Come on, show us!”

“Told you you’re the new hot thing.” Micah laughed, while he filled his plate.

“Yeah. Though it’s still odd for a bunch of fourteen-year-olds to be cheering me up like that.”

Micah turned to him with a curious expression on his face.

Shit.

“I mean, you’re cool. It’s just… uh… you know, I never got to asking your age.”

“I’m fifteen.” He shrugged. “But I don’t get it, just now you sounded like you were a lot older.”

“Uhm… not a lot older. But yeah, I’m almost twenty.”

“Twenty?! As in twenty years old?” the lycan exclaimed.

“…yeah. Why?”

“Nothing, you just… your people must have excellent skincare if you all look like that. Either that or specialized Classes like… a |Healer| who treats aging. Or are you part-elf?” he laughed.

Michael was tempted to let this rest on the laurels of modern medicine, but something felt off here. Besides, he never took that much care of himself. It wasn’t that he was trying not to be vain, but… well. He was never the popular kid until now.

Thankfully, the plates they were eating on not only seemed to be made of silver, but they were also polished to a magical perfection. Picking one up, he glanced at his reflection.

It was… something. It didn’t seem like whatever happened to bring him here also de-aged him like he feared. Instead, it looked like… well, like his skin was brand new, for lack of better terms. Everything about him looked glowing and fresh, like he had used the best skincare experts in the world ever since growing up. It was unnatural, even if not impossible.

…I look like a walking L'Oréal commercial.

“So, do you have any issues talking with someone five years your junior?” Micah asked.

“No. Is that an issue around here?”

“Not in lycan communities.” He shrugged. “But I hear some humans are pretentious like that.”

“Well, I was raised in a special human community.” Michael said and it wasn’t even a lie.

They left the buffet and found a clear table. Michael felt eyes on him the entire time he ate, but he had already got used to it, at least for a little bit. Maybe this entire popularity thing would help with his adventure. They were almost finished eating when Regitris got up from his table and walked to the edge of the podium.

This time, he was flanked by more mages, all of them looking important. The talking quieted down without anyone having had to say anything and finally the old elf spoke, with a voice that could be heard clearly throughout the massive hall, even though he had not raised it.

“The testing is now complete. All of you who now stand here with us are full students of Gnosis. Take pride in that. For while others have failed their tests, you have bested yours.”

There was no way to be sure from that distance, but Michael felt the elf’s eyes settle on him as he spoke those last words.

Maybe being the center of attention isn’t that great.