After Keith woke up, he and Vaeryl prepared themselves and exited the male students’ dorm. Keith didn’t really know what to expect at school, but Vaeryl said that the first two years would be pretty boring. It was impossible to start casting magic without having formed your mana core completely, just like it was impossible to start absorbing world energy without having formed your energy veins. Every human would grow their mana core and energy veins between six and twelve years old, so the only thing that could be done at academies during this period, was to learn about ways to smoothen the process and reinforce the core and veins the moment they were grown enough to start being nourished.

Vaeryl and Keith reached the front door alongside approximately another 100 students. All of them had participated in the entrance test and groups were already starting to form. Most of the students that had enrolled came from an uncommon background, it was the best national academy for a reason. A lot of the students already knew each other; most had already seen each other once or twice on special events. Except for the royalty or nobles from other countries, everyone had a vague impression of one another.

The whole area was pretty crowded by now, bustling conversations sounding all over. Even though most of the space in front of the academy building had been crowded by new students, there was one part left vacant.

In the middle, right in front of the entrance, stood an old fellow. He had his hands cupped behind his back and released the aura of someone with authority. He had a gentle but firm look in his eyes, as he observed the new students that would be joining his academy. When he noticed that most of the students had arrived and the tides that consisted out of student groups arriving at the plaza had halted, he whispered: “EVERYONE,” without actually raising his voice.

All the students immediately raised their heads and looked around, before they saw everyone looking in the same direction –an old man standing before the gate. His voice didn’t seem to come from his mouth, it was almost like the wind carried it to everyone’s ears, making it sound extremely loud. When the old man saw he had everyone’s attention, he showed a pleased look. He then spoke up normally, using the sound waves his vocal cords produced, instead of the waves from the wind.

“Listen up everyone, I’m Ruthar, your principal! You generally won’t see me a lot, but I will supervise the most important affairs of this academy. A lot of you won’t make it to the mana master level and probably none of you will become a grand spell caster!” The principal let his words sink in for a moment, before continuing. “A few of you might make it through, but there is only one way! That is to fight for your own destiny, your own path! Even those at the bottom can make it, but they’re just less likely to! You will spend your years here and will contribute to the academy, just like we will contribute to your lives! One has to have the determination to persevere from a young age! You should all start cultivating this already by experiencing hardships and overcoming them!”

The principal rumbled on for a while, talking about how important the mind was, how love was unreliable and some other philosophical matters. He didn’t realize that almost all of the students had given up on understanding what he was talking about after his second sentence.

When the principal was still somewhere halfway a sentence, Rinza, who took Dillim and Keith to the academy, showed up from among the students and walked towards him. When the principal kept talking even though Rinza had approached him, Rinza started whispering something in the principal’s ear.

“Shut up! They’re old enough to start learning about important matters of the world, they all understand me well enough, just look at their enlightened faces!” The principal boomed in response, before continuing his speech. Rinza just shook his head with a wry smile and stepped back.

“You should all follow Rinza’s instructions, he will tell you all how you will be assigned. Study well and become the person you all wish to be!” The principal finished, before he started floating.

Most of the students who hadn’t been paying attention, suddenly had their full focus on the principal. He was starting to float higher and higher, before he laughed and flew away.

“I want to become a wind mage and fly!” Students could be heard saying all around the campus.

‘Damn him for making such a ruckus…’ Rinza mumbled resignedly as he stepped forward. “Students, please pay attention now!” He said, trying to focus their attention on himself. After a while, the children started to calm down, which enabled Rinza to finally start talking about organizational matters.

“There are 96 of you all who have passed this year, which means you will be split among 8 groups! The grade you received at the entrance test doesn’t matter for now, that will only be of importance when you are actually able to start casting magic. Please go inside for now and let yourself be assigned to a group. It’s possible to stay together with your friends or acquaintances, just tell the staff inside,” Rinza explained calmly with an amiable smile. “Today is a day of introduction, if you have been assigned to your group, you will follow that group’s teacher and become acquainted with them. Starting tomorrow the classes will start. You will have classes together with your group at noon, then afterwards you can attend to specific classes for your elements.”

Some of the children had started to show looks of confusion on their faces, why would they attend specific classes if they couldn’t even cast magic yet?

Rinza paused for a moment to check if it was clear what he said. When he saw that confusion remained on some of the students’ faces, he tried to make everything clear. “The class with your assigned group at noon is your regular mandatory class! This will give you your homework and teach you the most essential things,” Rinza saw most of this had been understood, so he continued with his explanation, “But because everyone has different elements, there are individual classes for each element in the afternoon. You can attend them by yourself if you want, they are not mandatory. Even though none of you is able to cast magic yet, you will still be taught about general concepts and techniques regarding that element. For example, in the wind class you might be able to learn how strong you must be to be able to fly. The instructors of those classes will also give you tips on how to strengthen and nourish your still growing mana core.”

When the students heard the word ‘fly’, a shine immediately appeared in most of their eyes. Some children looked motivated, while others looked a bit sad that they didn’t have a good affinity for wind. What person didn’t dream about flying once in their life? This was almost a natural instinct that every person had since they had first seen birds soar through the sky. If someone had the chance to fly, who wouldn’t take it?

It was actually possible for people who didn’t have an affinity towards wind to still try and fill their mana core with wind elemental energy. But it wouldn’t be a good idea.

The only thing that was tested in the first entrance test, was people’s affinity towards particular elements, making it easier for them to choose their direction. But what that affinity shows, is how easy it is for people to convert the mana they sense around them into that particular elemental energy. Someone with exceptional wind affinity will be able to convert the mana around him to wind elemental energy with half the effort but twice the results.

What wasn’t tested though, was the talent the students had to sense the mana around them. The more mana someone can sense around him, the faster he can convert the mana to an element of his choice. Someone’s talent to sense and convert mana, isn’t testable when the mana core hasn’t been formed yet.

So even if someone had godlike mana perception, if he didn’t have any affinity towards wind at all, it would be very hard for him to become a successful wind mage. He would be able to sense the mana that he would want to convert into elemental wind energy to fill his mana core with, but the conversion would be very slow. This way it would take way longer for the mage to become as strong as he would’ve become by picking another element to convert.

Seeing different emotions on all the children’s faces, Rinza tried to lift the mood and have everyone join their groups without feeling too bad. “Don’t worry everyone, even though you might not be able to fly this lifetime, every element has its own perks. If you have a good affinity towards water, you might be able to swim without feeling the need to breathe! This will allow you to visit the depths of the ocean, exploring new lands!”

After hearing this, new discussions broke loose, with every student defending and praising their own elements. Rinza still managed to guide the students inside, where they were quickly split up by eight teachers. Most of the teachers were still quite young, around 35 years old, but they were all mana masters surprisingly. This just showed how good Aethruni was as an academy. The strongest that mages could be classified as were grand spell casters, but only one rank below this were the mana masters.

After the group was split up, the teachers led their smaller groups away to different rooms located around the building.

Inside the classroom.

Twelve students, including Vaeryl, Niyla, and Keith were sitting next to each other in a circle. The teacher that had been assigned to their group was also part of that circle. He had short red hair and red eyebrows. His hair, combined with the scar on his cheek, made for a strange sight. This was actually the teacher who guided the students inside when they took their entrance test. Most of the time he had a casual grin on his face, looking free of worries. Almost all of the mages at the academy were wearing fancy robes, but this teacher actually wore adventurer’s clothing.

“Hiya everyone,” The red-haired teacher began as everyone had taken place. “I will teach you about magic and other stuff concerning your future for the next two years. After that I might teach you some more if you’re lucky.” He joked, keeping the same smile.

“I think it’s a good idea for all of us to casually introduce ourselves. We will be stuck together for two years and first impressions are important, so you can all have a moment to think about what you want to say!”

Everyone in the circle was about to think of how they would introduce themselves when the red-haired teacher already spoke up again, “I’ll start first, that way you might be able to think of something.” He was actually one of the only ones who treated the children for the actual age they were. Most of the children were a little anxious to introduce themselves in front of a group, but compared to the other stuff they had already gone through, like the entrance test, it was relatively less exciting.

“Alright, nice to meet you all, I’m Red!” Some of the children laughed when they heard him say that, it just made a funny sight to see someone with red hair all over his face to call himself ‘Red’. “I’m a main fire elemental mana master, but I know a bit about every element. Don’t hesitate to ask me about anything, I’m here to teach you all, while you’re all here to learn. My goals in life are to discover new fire spells, but after the academy has groomed me, I decided to do something back, so I will teach here for a while,” Red casually explained. “Eventually, if I’m able to purify my whole mana core and become a grand spell caster, I might be able to learn all the fire spells there are. My final dream is to catch them all!” When Red said this, his eyes had a different splendor to them, determination but also happiness. He generally exuded the aura of a wild but gentle person.

Most of the kids were encouraged to speak about their own goals when they heard Red talk. People with passions easily ignited the fire of passion inside others. The child sitting next to the teacher started to introduce himself.

“Hello everyone,” Vaeryl said while casually leaning backwards. “Most of you know me by now and I’ve seen a few of you around too. My name is Vaeryl Proditor, I’m called the Second Prince more than I’m called Vaeryl though, so I don’t really mind what you call me,” Vaeryl shrugged. “I will be aiming to become Erelath’s king, but I’m told that I need power first, so that’s why I’m here. I hope that all of you will support me when I become a king in the future!”

As a response to Vaeryl, most kids greeted him while smiling. Some of them knew Vaeryl from their family who participated in the politics of Erelath. They all knew him as someone who was especially good towards his friends and who would never throw a tantrum.

Next up was Niyla, she introduced herself with much vigor, saying she wanted to live freely and become the most powerful mage to ever live. She didn’t forget to state her intention to support her brother while he ascended the throne either.

When it was Keith’s turn, he only said a few words: “Hello everyone,” he started. “My name is Keith… What I wish for is to gain so much power that no one can deny it anymore!” His first sentence was filled with determination and spite. But then the look in his eyes softened and the tension in his face slowly loosened. “I just wish to find the limit of what magic can achieve, to see what kind of view one can see standing at the top!”

When he started talking, most of the children looked a bit weirdly at him. But when they thought about his relationship with the Second Prince, they still tried to smile a little. Finally hearing him talk about reaching the highest level, their smiles became sincere. They could definitely relate to his last sentence, making them forget what he had said before.

Among the other students who introduced themselves, there was no one special, except for the girl who had gotten exceptional fire affinity at the entrance test. She introduced herself as the family of Julian – the fire element grand spell caster who judged the elemental affinity entrance test. She said she wanted to become just as strong as him so that she could protect her little sister.

When everyone finished with the introductions, Red stood up. “Hey everyone, I have to leave now, feel free to chat a bit more. Tomorrow the lessons will officially start! Everyone please come to this classroom around noon, see you then!” He said when he walked away.