“YOU’RE the faculty member?” Murdock and his damn copycat duplication ability… thing.

“You think I would compliment another wizard like that??” He put his hand to his chest in mock astonishment. “My ego is pettier than you realize.”

“Clearly.” I sighed and shook my head. I broke away from being flabbergasted to take in my surroundings, which wasn’t much. The room was no bigger than a small office and had two portals–the one Saphira and I came in through, and another directly in front of us, which was different. Instead of a blue amoeba-like liquid, it was purple with blue flakes scattered throughout.

The three of us walked up to the portal and Murdock explained. “The travel systems work differently in the wizard’s academy. There are no real hallways or entrances, excluding the main entrance where the headquarters is located. Rather, we have rooms that have their own space in the fabric of magic.” He paused as he saw my confusion. “Think of the open space from the Initiation, but several dozen of them. We have a library, classrooms, training grounds, dungeons, and many more.” He patted the side of the portal. “This here takes you wherever you want to go, you only need to think the name.”

He handed me a piece of parchment with the list of all the different rooms that one could visit. Classrooms were labeled 1-100, and Mr. Murdock explained you only had to think “Classroom 2” to be transported to that particular location. The classes for all new wizards would be the same the first few months, but we could branch out into whatever individual studies we wanted at that time. Murdock hinted in so many words that the faculty had some say in the matter as well.

“We will be going to your room first. All you need to think is ‘my room’ as you walk through the portal. No worries if your thoughts lead you astray for a moment, you will just walk through the very same portal from which you arrived.”

“Saphira, got all that?” I asked while looking at my furry companion.

“’My room’, got it.”

With those words on repeat in my mind, I walked through the portal and had the same sensation as before, easy teleportation. No big deal.

I let out a low whistle. This was MUCH better than the Initiation Academy. It seemed the funding for wizards was a bit better than level one nobodies.

The walls were made of what appeared to be limestone smoothed to show its intricate pattering. Several paintings of different scenes portraying magic were hung along the walls. A window similar to my previous room showed a rolling green landscape.

I walked over to the bed and gave it a sit. The feeling was very similar to an air mattress. When I asked Murdock, he said it had been enchanted by a magical crafter to run on ambient mana that was in the air. As we regenerate mana, if our mana pools are full, we “leak” mana, which then can be used by plants and animals. Or, in this case, a magical bed.

A bookshelf filled with books stood next to a desk equipped with parchment and a pen. A new uniform was folded neatly on the desk. Taking a quick peek, it was gray with a symbol similar to Ara’s, but instead had Penelope’s figure, holding a fireball in one hand and crackling electricity in the other.

Even Saphira had part of the room prepared for her. An oversized dog bed laid in the corner of the room. She had already made her way over to her new digs, pawing at the “air mattress” and curling up into an adorable ball of fur. A deadly, lightning firing, ball of fur.

“Alright, get yourself situated, orientation is first thing in the morning.” Murdock walked over to the portal. “Everything will be explained there.”

“Can I bring Saphira?” I wanted her around as much as possible in the coming days so she could experience everything for the first time with me, and provide some insight to things I might be missing.

“Of course, the students like to use this time to show off their familiars.” He laughed as if reminiscing about his first days at the academy. “Just think, ‘Classroom 1.’ That is where the orientation will be held.”

“How do I know what time to wake up?” I asked. That earned a grin from Murdock.

“Oh, you’ll wake up.”

Bongo drums and sounds of a tornado startled me from sleep. I stood on my feet, my fists clenched ready for an attack.

Morning Wake up Call for first-time students!

I dismissed the status screen from my view as I told my heart to calm down. Apparently, Saphira had received the message as well, because she was on her feet, back arched and her hair sticking up from her back.

“Not the best way to start our day, huh?” I thought to Saphira.

“That was… unpleasant.” She moaned.

As I began my day I noticed there was food on my desk that I could had sworn wasn’t there a few seconds ago. I saw it, then I smelled it–the aroma of bacon and eggs drifted to my senses and my mouth began to water. I scarfed it down, and to my surprise, received the following status screen.

You have eaten ‘Simple Bacon and Eggs’

+1 point of mana regeneration per tick in combat

Hellllooo sweet food buffs!

I asked Saphira if she needed anything to eat, only to find her licking her lips by her bed. Apparently, food had magically appeared for her too, and she scarfed it down without me even realizing.

Thinking of classroom one in my head, I walked through the portal with Saphira. A plethora of sensations overwhelmed me as I popped out to our destination. Orbs of “mana light” covered the walls of a giant cave, littered in stalagmites, stalactites, and other cave structures.

Several dozen men and women stood with various mana beasts by their sides. Bears, owls, falcons, dragonlings, tigers, and other animals. The cave smelled damp, and the aroma of wet dog permeated the air. A bear had found a small puddle, and was belly up enjoying himself, much to his wizard’s dismay and embarrassment.

Saphira walked before me, instincts kicking in to protect me from any potential danger or enemy. No one had begun talking yet, trying to decide who was a future ally or inevitable competition. That’s when a familiar face caught my eye.

Amanda, shaved head and all six feet of badass, made eye contact with me and gave me a smile. As we walked toward each other, a bird that resembled a phoenix came and swooped down to land on her shoulder. Licks of small embers could be seen coming off the majestic mana beast, as I bowed my head toward it in respect.

“Awesome familiar, Amanda.” I said. I held my hand out gently for the bird to sniff, and I watched Amanda shoot it a quick glance, likely explaining something telepathically to the animal. It made a soft ‘coo’ noise and its embers died down before it nuzzled my hand.

“Vince, meet Sol. Sol, meet Vince.”

Saphira took a step forward and began to rub along the legs of Amanda, showing off her cat-like affection. I had already explained to my partner my escapades so far, so she knew who Amanda was to me.

“And this,” I motioned to Saphira, “is my overly affectionate partner, Saphira.”

I received a glare and an exaggerated purr in response.

Amanda chuckled. “I think she is just the right amount of affectionate, personally.”

“Oh no, no no no.” I waved my hands. “You are not teaching MY familiar to be an attention whore.”

This earned another laugh from Amanda as she scratched Saphira behind the ears, informing the beast that if she ever tired of her current master, adoption was always an option.

As we discussed this and that, the portal hummed with new arrivals. My new teachers began to emerge. One by one they entered and made their way past us to the opposite side of the cave. The cavern had a natural incline that lead to a stone ledge jutting from the wall. It kind of reminded me of pride rock from lion king—an observation platform of sorts for the faculty to observe their new students.

As they walked by, I made eye contact with Murdock, who gave me a wink. The last member to appear looked like Laria’s version of Dumbledore, with a long, flowing white beard and a plain gray robe. All the instructors wore matching uniforms similar to our own, but denoted with a letter T in the upper right corner. The exception was the elderly looking man, who made his way to the front of the cliff.

“Welcome wizards, to the academy!” he said. This earned a number of smiles and metaphorical pats on the back–. Everyone knew the power and importance wizard’s had in society.

“I am Grand-master Telon, and I run the Academy for our empire, as well as for our Goddess Penelope, who grants us her power that we may use a fraction for our own benefit.” He bowed his head and made some gestures with his hands, and a small trickle of blue mana rose from him. The faculty followed suit, offering a trickle of mana into the air.

Silence permeated the cavern. I looked around at the other student’s faces to see if they knew what the fuck was going on. I only saw confusion and nervousness.

Blue mist appeared over our heads, glowing brighter than when it had left the teachers. The mana pulsed as it slowly drifted down toward us.

“Thank you, wise on.” Telon said.The instructors once again bowed their heads in respect. The mist hung over us, then without warning, shot into every student and familiar as fast a bullet.

Congratulations! You have been accepted as a student of the Human Race’s Wizards Academy. Your enrollment has been approved and confirmed by the Goddess Penelope, with permission from Goddess Ara.

What in the hell?

“Now then, to tell you more about the school.” Telon gathered our attention again like what had just happened was as simple as drinking a glass of water. “As you know, every few weeks there are new Transports, and thus, new wizards. The class size varies. During wartime we tend to see an increase in students. During peacetime, we not only see less wizards, but fewer Transports in general.” He took a breath, made sure we were following, and continued. “This class size is 27 students in total. Our statistics show that roughly one-third of you will make it to the final class, or around nine of you.”

I’m sorry, did he say one-third of us?

As if reading my mind, a student spoke. “What are the reasons for the other two-thirds not making it until the end?” she asked. I didn’t recognize her, but her facial expression shared my internal feelings of panic.

“Most students fail as a result of a lack of aptitude for responsible and efficient spell casting.” Talon gestured to the staff. “We all are, at the very least, partially responsible for your actions when leaving the academy. We will not have a wizard with, at least while they are here, show a lack of motivation and understanding of the workings of magic. Carelessness and inferiority will not be tolerated as long as I remain head.”

I could see my fellow students gazing at one another, trying to decide which of us wouldn’t make it, and who would triumph.

“For complete transparency,” Talon continued his earlier explanation, “that situation applies to the majority. There are a few, even with our careful supervision, that die while at the Academy. A dungeon run gone awry, a spell backfiring… all unforeseen circumstances, but entirely possible.” The grand-master paused for effect. “This is one reason for our strict academic requirements–. A mistake may result in a death or two here, but could result in the lives of thousands out there.” He gestured with his hand, signifying the world outside of school. “Understood?”

Murmurs of yes, yes sirs, and yes grandmaster all escaped their lips. I could only manage a head nod, my brain trying its best to play catch up with the seriousness of the situation.

“Now, you will be grouped with the class ahead of you, who obviously have been learning and training for a few weeks already.” He paced back and forth as he talked. “This will put you at a disadvantage, clearly, but I’m sure you will put in extra effort to catch up.”

This seemed like bullshit, but when a student asked why, he explained this was due to the limited number of faculty and the need to join classes as much as possible.

“Now, I’m sure the moment you have been waiting for, your spell books.”

With a wave of his hand, books shot from his bracelet toward every student, all with happy faces as they finally got hold of the medium that would help them cast spells.

Me, on the other hand, was shot a book and was rewarded with a lovely status screen.

Your class is not compatible with the Wizards Arcane Book - Simple

Shit.