As the group walked forward towards the academy, Arc overheard all sorts of various gossip. Things about nobles and royals, such as relationships and major events. There was also something about a nation called the "Dawnfyre Empire". the "Night of Falling Fire", and a surge in monster activity as of late.

So then, that flock the other day was probably related to that then? They all said its size was abnormal, and they didn't retreat easily either...

As Arc said that, he also noticed they were attracting a lot of looks.

"Rel, are people staring at us".

"Well...erm...probably..." Rel said, a bit skittish on the topic.

"Rel? Tell us".

"Ah, well...they are probably confused. Although your attire is sporty enough that its feesible a commoner in this area would wear it, both of you...well...there is probably a lot of people who find you charismatic, or maybe attractive..."

"Wait seriously?"

"Yeah. A lot of nobles use magic to help perfect their bone structure, so they might get an instinctive feeling about it. Not to mention, the people here are a bit...weird...about Red Foxkin".

Hearing that, Arc narrowed his focus.

"What do you mean by weird?"

"Well, there used to be a Royal Family of them that lived around here, one of a few. Whenever its time to crown a new ruler, each family sends one of their best children, between the ages of ten and twenty, to take place in a competition for who will be the next ruler. Supposedly, they all died out, but there are rumors that pop up sometimes that there are living descendents. Actually, for the past month or so, those rumors have been especially prevalent..."

Rumors huh? It must have been setup by whoever set up that lab. Probably seeding the information so that people would believe it more when they used their created heir puppet to try and take the throne. Still, if they did such a good job of spreading them without anyone realizing who they were, they probably have some serious backing and power. Though, I think their ambition probably goes more then their heads...maybe...

Arc felt as if there were still a few holes or flaws with this plan, but at the same time, its not like he knew it all either. If they had certain people in key positions, or power or influence in certain matters, then it could change everything.

"There is certainly a lot of chatter around town still" Arc mentioned.

"Well, I guess when fire rains down from the sky, it gets people talking even days later".

"...fire fell from the sky?"

"Yeah...the night before last night night. Did you not see it?"

"We were deep inside in a place with no clear view of the night sky, so its likely...so wait, fire fell from the sky?"

"Well, its not just fire. From what I hear, pieces of strange metal and such rained down as well. It has some people wondering if a part of the heavens themselves collapsed. Or maybe some part of a floating city created by an ancient civilization, at least".

"...thats a theory?"

"Actually, thats a thing. A few of them, actually. Most are at least somewhat visible below the clouds though".

Hearing such a thing, for a moment Arc stopped thinking from the shock, till he remembered when it happened.

The night before last night...wasn't that when me and Pyr awoke? If I recall correctly, they said they were tapping into another person's spell or such...so was that part of that spell then?

While thinking about such things, they ended up walking down a side alley. While turning the corner in that side alley though, Arc suddenly got shoved right down into the dirt and mud.

"Hey, watch where you are going, commoner brat!"

An older boy, who had to at least be fifteen years old, sneered at them as he acted superior. His clothing was incredibly elaborate and high end, clearly belonging to someone of high status. Not only that, but even the sheeth for the sword at his waist was ordained and spectacular.

"Hey now, they might be some lower nobles looking like that...and look how cute they are. They would make good pets to play with" a woman said, appearing to be about a year older then the boy.

With them were three guards wearing full metal armor, with swords ready to be drawn at a moment's notice. Two female knights and one male. And behind them, was someone whose face remained hidden from within their robes whose gender could not be determined.

"Ah yes, I suppose they would make nice play things" he said, grabbing Arc's wrist and yanking him towards himself. "On my authority of the Duke Elma family, strip so we can make sure you didn't pickpocket me just now".

"What?!"

"Do it, or my knights will force you".

Rel had an unpleasant face, looking to Arc as if it was in fact terrible, but also there was nothing they could do.

"Should you be saying that when you are obviously the one that pushed him, Garmin Elma?" another voice sounded. The group turned backwards to see who had said such an insolent thing. And standing there was a boy who couldn't be older then seventeen, no real formal armor, and with a sword at his waist. But on his chest, there was a shiny pin that would attract attention.

"Aryl Tevek?!" the girl spurted out, shocked.

"You know, you may be from a Duke house" Aryl said, his mouth smiling but his red eyes serious and fierce. "But you are only the second son. Now I suppose given who hte first is, you might inherit it instead...but as a child of a duke, and not the Duke himself, you have less power then him...in fact, Marquess Sera, the lord of this city and the Academy, has more power and authority then you. And I do believe she does not take such blatent corruption or abuse of power well".

Hearing that, the two from House Elma suddenly found themselves speechless.

"This isn't over!" he said, in a rather cliche way, before the six of them headed off with red faces twisted with bitterness and rage.

Eventually, the boy came over, and knelt down, pulling out a bandage while holding up Arc's wrist.

"Here. Even if you look fine, that sort of yank might have done some damage" he said, when he suddenly kissed it. After he did, he put the bandage around it, wrapping it good and then tying it tight. Arc noticed the bandage felt rather cool to the touch. "You should probably do your best to avoid him. Thankfully, Nobles like him tend to have and use their own residences rather then using dorms populated mainly by commoners, so even in the bathing, eating, and common areas you probably wont see him".

"Ah, thanks" Arc said, when suddenly he found his lips occupied once again by another, shocking him. After Aryl released him, he nearly fell back in shock.

"Ah, sorry. But I thought it would be better to give you a shock then let you brood over that guy" he said with a smile. "Plus, you are quite cute".

Arc twitched a little, getting tired of everyone calling him cute rather quickly. Even if he himself practically fell in love with his body every time he looked in a mirror. He still wasn't used to his own body yet, after all. Suddenly having a new body was an...interesting experience, especially when its younger, incredibly high spec, and breathtakingly beautiful.

"Erm...so, who are you exactly?"

"Ah, I am Duke Aryl Tevek. My father passed away five years ago, so I am a full fledged Duke, unlike him. Hence why he ran way with his tail between his legs" the blonde haired boy mentioned. In other words, Aryl overruled him in terms of rank.

"Additionally, depending on whose territory one is and whose rank one is, and a few other factors, lower ranks in their home territory can be higher then a rank higher then him. For example, Marquess Sera would rank above us both, since we are in her territory. We cant give an order to any direct subordinate to her, and technically, they are not allowed to command anyone in her territory without her approval. Of course, Nobles have plenty of ways to get around that, so you should be careful all the same".

"Thanks...good to know" Arc mentioned. It sounded like an entirely bothersome ordeal. An ordeal which they might get thrown into soon or later.

Either way, with that all said and done, they decided to head towards the academy, however...

"By the way, at the very least you might want to wipe the mud off of you before you head anywhere" Aryl mentioned, taking out a towel from his bag and tossing it to Arc.

"Ah, thanks...going to have to wash all these clothes again....and myself..."

"Well, the Academy uses water magic to produce extremely high quality water for bathing and washing, so you should find yourself very well relaxed at least".

Astria Academy. The only formal education institution for this region and several regions around it. With a population based made of both nobles and commoners, as well as even a few royals, its a place where merit and achievment shine over all else. And while, as a part of the Kingdom, it cannot be said that class is completely irrelevant there, there are some protects and safeguards in place to try and best assure the safest and most pleasant learning envirornment of all.

The Academy makes much of its money from its Optional Facilities. Although dorm rooms are provided for free, as well as both breakfast and dinner, lunch is not and has to be paid for by the students own money. Thankfully, the Academy is partnered with the Adventurers Guild to an extent, and requests can easily be taken up to make money. That said, since many of them are dangerous, its at the student's own risk, although various teachers and other adventurers are often hired to look out for them and safeguard them at times. Many requests will require beginners to take a teacher with them for oversight if they are below a certain age or experience level. One can also take requests or jobs from the teachers themselves, often to do work around the school.

The Academy also makes money through other means. For one thing, bathing and washing are services only free on Sunday. Otherwise, an entrance fee will need to be paid for use. Additionally, unless you bring your own soap, towel, or such, it will cost a small bit to purchase these items there. All of it is affordable, though not exactly cheap.

Additionally, you can rent labs or workshops from the school for the year for a bit of coin. The price goes down the further in the school year it is, since you would have it for less time, but so does the availabilities, so all the good locations are often taken. Tools and equipment can also be bought from the school, as well as basic school supplies like notebooks. That said, every first year gets one notebook for free.

That said, the school does have an infirmiry, and medical checkups and any medicines needed are provided for free. There is even a mandatory full medical, magical, and physical examination for every student at the beginning of the year, the first quarter of the school year, the middle of the school year, and three quarters into the school year, to ensure student health and to check for any potential anomolies.

Another way they make money though is through selling first aid kits, which are very helpful to newbie adventurers. Bandages, healing potions, medical herbs, and such are all contained inside. They also sell various information on news, monster appearances, and such as well. Rumor has it some people also sell information on students as well, but those rumors are not officially recognized.

All of this is at affordable prices of course, however when you consider the sheer amount of what they have to sell, the money builds up very quickly. After all, if you can get everything where you go to on a daily basis, why go anywhere else? Very few businesses can draw students to stores outside the campus, the main ones being blacksmiths, apothacaries, and specialty goods stores. ANd due to the diverse array of Magic Items, something that isn't in stock in one of the school stores can sometimes be found in one of the other magic item stores across the city.

And because they had all of these facilities, in addition to the classrooms and dorm rooms, the campus itself might as well be a small city. In fact, up until you get to the main area, one cant be sure where the city ends and the Academy begins. The roads were nicely made too, with nice stone bricks that were especially smooth, and nicely made and very sturdy buildings. A number of buildings and facilities could be seen, including what appeared to be a cross between a playground, and a workout area. A few students were sweating like crazy, and some were in the middle of changing from sweat soaked clothes to new dry ones.

Further away, a bunch of thirteen year old boys and girls seem to have gathered by a pool, none of them wearing any clothes as they stretched before they got in. And then as they walked deeper in, there was a cafe area where people were sitting about, the aroma of delicious food captivating their noses and making their mouths drool from how good the oder was. Arc could not help but lick his lips.

That said, that was when they passed a strange stone archway that stuck out. After all, there was a stone path leading up to it, and a pedastal next to it, but then it just ended there.

"What is that for?" Arc asked.

"Ah, that must be a Sigil Gate. Apparently, there are a few of them around the place. When you place a certain type of Sigil on the Pedestal there, it opens up a gate for a moment to some space of the Academy. Most are passed around from student to student with a few held by the teachers. If you try to take it out of campus, it ends up disappearing and appears again in one of the school stores to buy again. I hear some of them lead to some unique areas that cant be reached otherwise in the school".

"Huh...interesting" Arc mentioned, making note of it. "How many different spaces are there?"

"Apparently there are thirty or so Sigils at least, so quite a large amount. I hear some lead to a special library, others to workshops. Rumor has it there is one that leads to another world, but I think thats just a joke. No one has yet to confirm it".

Hearing those words, Arc got a bit interested, though it appeared based on what Rel said the rumor was unreliable and no one could confirm it.

"Supposedly, a few of the Sigils for some of the rooms got lost by the Teachers, and no one is quite sure which ones they were...but thats also an unconfirmed rumor".

As Rel added that point, they finally reached where they were going. The Hall of Records, which was where they would register for classes. Arc and Pyr had already decided to register for the same classes as Rel, since they were not sure what to take. This included Minerals and Herbs: Basic, Magical Formation Craft, and Adventuring Studies. Other then those electives, they would also take the core classes. They took some registration forms and began to fill them out with those things in mind, heading towards a desk like area that had a lot of pedestals and such on the walls.

Though, given the fact Arc and Pyr had a previous education, Pyr having a good few years in elementary school and Arc having graduated college and held down a job, they were pretty confident in a few areas. Provided those areas were not history or culture based, that is, but Math and Science.

"The three of us would like to register for a dorm room together" Rel said, handing in the forms they had finished filling out.

"I see...well, there are plenty of individuals, so you will probably get a fourth roommate almost immediately" the older woman said, not looking up from her desk. "Ah, it seems there was one waiting right here. Alright, you will take room number 412 on the fourth floor of the west tower. Please put your right hand on one of the three pedestals in front of you".

As she said that, three of them began to glow. They all pressed their right hand on it, and suddenly felt a stinging prick. However, a magical force prevented them from removing their hands, as blood began to flow across the pedestal. The pedestals glew bright for a good minute with them unable to move from it, before the blood was sucked inside and the glow faded, releasing their hands.

There was still some blood on them, but the wounds seem to have healed already.

"There, you have all been registered for the room. You should be able to open the door no matter what kind of magical or normal lock is used on it, as well as any other specific item or object that you register for with the school. Have a nice day" she mentioned, sounding emotionally distant.

I guess she is too busy this time of year with all the registrations to communicate much, or warmly... Arc guessed.

"Alright, with that done, lets head over there. Besides, I would like to meet our roommate".

"Agreed".

"I hope he is fun!"

With all of them in agreement, they decided to head for their room. Thankfully all the major buildings were connected, so they could walk inside and not in the wind that was picking up or under the dark stormy looking rainclouds that were beginning to form, an occasional crackle like a whip heard in the distance that reverberated through the walls.

And so, making it to their dorm room, they opened the door and walked in, to see four beds, four desks, two rather large closets on each side, a table and some chairs in the center, and a few other bits of furniture. But what was most eye catching was the green haired boy wearing what appeared to be a short sleeve priest robe that stopped right between the knees and the waist, holding a staff over a water vial, whose ears appeared to be pointed.

"Ah...another failure...Myr, come on. You gotta do better then this..."

And so, their first encounter with the Elf Apprentice Priest, Myr, occured.