Adarester, Vaillance

Drake could see a Magnificent wall growing in size as they Approach Adarester, The royal capital of Vaillance Kingdom where the Academy grounds and HQ of the Mage corp Vaillance branch were located, The escort carriage made a trip that was otherwise a day away in only 6 hours. The sun was still high in the sky signalling that it was nowhere near sunset.

As the carriage approached the gates, It slowed down significantly. Almost to the speed of a regular horse driven carriage. Drake observed that if not for Sol and the Advanced engineering of his particular carriage, He would have been travelling at this speed through their entire journey.

Sergeant Daine hopped off the driver's bench, Still holding onto Sol's reins. He walked the carriage separately from the line of carriages waiting for Approval to enter into the city and made eye contact with the Gatekeeper.

Daine reached into his left breast pocket and retrieved a Black and Gold embossed Flash and showed it to the Gateman. The Gateman hastily opened the Gates and Saluted the Sergeant.

"looks like we're here" Isaiah broke the silence

"This is-" Drake was speechless at the sight he saw beyond the gates.

The cityscape consisted of buildings that never seemed shorter than 3 storeys, the buildings were grouped closely together allowing for wide paved streets. Drake remembered Nord's brief description about Adaraster, Although he noted similarities to Dacre, Adaraster was simply extra. Much cleaner and much more Lively.

Daine walked the Carriage through the bustling Plaza just beyond the gate. He walked until he managed to turn the carriage onto a beautiful Boulevard lined with White brick buildings and short evergreen trees. He hopped back into the driver's bench and urged sol along at a walking pace

"Okay, First things first" Isaiah spoke reaching into a briefcase

He pulled out a neatly folded piece of paper and handed it to Drake

"That is your Admission form, Once you head in through the gates into Campus, Turn sharp right and you'll find the Administration office. Hand this in there and then Go behind the middle Academy building and through the drill square, Turn to the far side and You'll find the Dorm buildings. The White one is for Female students and the Red building for Male students, take extra care to use the colour coded footpaths"

Drake nodded, absorbing all of the information Isaiah was going over, He made a specific mental note about the Footpaths.

"What about my room?"

Drake noticed a bit of information missing

"Once you hand in the form, The reception will give you your numbered key, each dorm building is 8 storeys high and divided according to Year. So be prepared to take some stairs"

Isaiah's brief concluded as the Carriage stopped in front of the Academy Gates

"I bid you Goodluck in your Endeavours cadet Drake"

Isaiah said as he opened the Carriage door

Drake stepped off and was handed his bag and equipment by Daine.

"We must report to headquarters, so this is as far as we go. I have a feeling we'll be seeing you soon though Cadet. Goodluck." Daine patted Sol's hind as he climbed aboard yet again

Although the time that Drake spent with Isaiah and Daine was brief, They were very welcoming and friendly toward him. Just maybe, their attitudes would be mirrored with the Cadets of Mage Academy.

Drake was let into the campus by the Gateman, He turned right and Staring him back was the Brick Administrative Office indicated by the white on black wooden sign above the door. Drake Proceeded inside and was greeted by a Perky woman who appeared to be in her Late 20s. She was in a black uniform with contrasting red lining and silver buttons. Her Auburn hair was tied in a bun, Abiding by military regulations.

"How can I help you"

a fittingly euphonic voice sounded from the Receptionist direction

Drake walked up to the desk and handed in the folded paper he received from Isaiah

"Oh I see, So you're the Transferee."

She said, Producing a thick paper form

"Alright I'm just going to need your fingerprint right here. Okay, Now Just write down your name and surname. Good, This is your Schedule Booklet, it outlines the Timings for Classes and Training along with Mealtimes and Here's the keys to your Dorm room, the first number is the Floor the room is on and the second number after the hyphen is the room number. Welcome to Battle Mage Academy!"

Drake accepted the keys with his Ink stained fingers, The numbers 5-048 were engraved onto the head of the key.

"Thank you"

He turned back toward the door and walked out, Now heading to the main Academy building. The Academy building was built like a Small Castle using grey stone slabs. two Adjacent Grey buildings flanked the main building with Footpaths allowing access to the sides and the Field Square Behind the main building. Drake took the path to the right of the building.

"-class you nameless bastard"

He heard what seemed like a Academy student being lynched by their peers, Drake followed the sounds of the scuffle to their source.

Hidden by the shadows cast by the Marble pillars the the side of an Outdoor hallway were four male students. Three of them were pinning the fourth one to the wall, Spouting all sorts of Insults and Slurs at Him as one of them grabbed his Bleached hair and drove his knee into the boy's stomach.

Yet his Gold eyes remained fixed and steady, there was no indication that he really cared about the predicament he found himself in.

Drake sighed

"No matter what part of this country I go to, This is going to be a common scene huh"

He thought to himself as he speedily walked towards the boys. Taking wide strides as he went.

"Leave him be"

Drake put on his best intimidator voice and Said to the three boys, a bit louder than he had hoped to.

"And who might you be? trying to play hero? you want to save this Nameless garbage?"

The boy who seemed to be the head of the three turned towards Drake, Letting go of the Boy with Gold Eyes who had Blood rolling down his lips

"I don't know what he did to you, But Ganging up on someone is scummy behaviour. leave him alone, or else."

Drake stood his ground, Unflinching.

"Or else what? From what I can tell you're not even a student here, You look like the child of one of those Brun whores. Mind your own business you Bastard, Or you'll join him"

The boy faced Drake full on, Taking on a very open stance

"Amateurs"

Drake thought to himself as the remaining two boys came up to the flanks of the boy

"three against one? This is Unfair… for you."

Drake muttered under his breath as he himself bent his knees and lowered to the ground, Forming a sheath of Mana around his legs and under his feet. preparing to spring forward and deliver the first blow.

"That's enough!"

as he was about to launch, A harsh femme voice called out to them

Drake turned toward the sound to see a Girl approaching them. The first thing to catch his eye was a flash of striking Platinum hair as she briskly walked past him and toward the golden haired boy who was now sitting down, leaning against the wall like a limp marionette

She crouched down near him for a moment and stood up to face the three boys

"Varon, Rien, Deka. I'll make sure all three of you get the punishment you deserve for something like this. If I ever see any of you near Tohsin again, there will be hell to pay. Do you understand?"

"R-representative…. Miss Lindorm we-"

"Felt envious of a No name like Tohsin outperforming you stuck up Noble descendants so you decide to take out your frustrations on him?"

The three boys were at an utter loss for words as the Metallic haired girl gleamed daggers in their direction

"Get out of here. Now"

She ordered them to leave and turned toward Drake.

"And who might you be?"

"I'm a new student here, My name is Drake"

Drake straightened himself out and introduced himself

"A new student? this late after classes started? Never mind that, I am the representative of the 55th Year class, Sarah Lindorm"

The girl lifted her head and returned his introduction. Drake can now clearly see her Handsome Elven features and big Cream colored eyes. Her short Platinum Blonde hair glinted as if it really were made of Platinum.

But one word snapped Drake out of observation

"Lindorm? Like Merida Lindorm, The water Commandant?"

Drake couldn't hide his surprise as he repeated her name

"Yes, She is my Mother"

Drake's moment of awe was cut short by a wet cough in the direction of the collapsed boy

"oh"

They both started toward the boy

Drake put an arm around his back and under his arm, Throwing Tohsin's other arm over his neck as he supported him

"Okay, Follow me" Sarah said to Drake

Tohsin's plain grey T-shirt was caked in dirt and blood, and his breathing was ragged as Drake Dragged him along and Followed behind the Petite girl

"The Infirmary is not far." She said, turning toward the Leftmost building

After a Solid minute of walking, They finally opened the Infirmary door and handed the collapsed boy to the Nurse.

"Thank you for helping him Drake, You're in the 55th year class too right?"

Sarah asked Drake once they were outside the Infirmary.

"Yeah, 55th Year 3rd Division, Though I'm quite unsure as to what Divisions are.

Drake recalled the conditions of his entry on the Letter.

" I see. No wonder, You weren't here for the first two weeks of classes."

Sarah crossed her arms

"Divisions help the Instructors categorise students by their Academic and Mana aptitude, So when we get to form Anthem Contracts in a weeks time, They know which students to allocate extra training time and refinement equipment to."

"There's 4 Divisions in year one and 3 in every subsequent year. Division 3 consists of students with Average Academics and Average Mana ability, Division 2 is students who excel in either academics or Mana Ability and Division 1 is students who excel across the board."

" I see, I more or less get the gist of what a Division is, but what about Division 4?"

Drake absorbed the information Sarah provided and Questioned the one point she did not elaborate on

"Division 4 are the students below the standard set by the Academy, they are the only ones who have classes separate from the other Divisions"

Sarah Explained

"So Divisions 1 through 3 have classes together?"

Drake asked again

"Yes, Although students from certain Divisions may be asked to participate in classes separate from the rest depending on their performance"

Sarah answered with a smile

"Ah I see, Thank you miss Lindorm, I didn't know this Academy functioned like that"

"Just call me Sarah. I'm not some proxy for the Water Commandant. people seem to look at me that way, and I kind of hate that, I don't want everyone I meet to be just an Acquaintance"

"Ah does this mean you have difficulty making friends?"

Drake did not mean to be Mean spirited but his remark would be counted as teasing

Sarah Playfully elbowed his shoulder. Drake stood quite a few inches taller than her, So she had to aim Comically high.

"I think you'll understand when you start attending classes"

Sarah turned away and walked off, Waving her hand in goodbye.

Drake set off to where he was originally headed, To his Dorm room

"If everyone else is as Welcoming as her, I don't think my days here will be that bad… "

was the only thing repeating in Drake's mind as he recapped the events of his tiring day

Drake was careful to take the Red Footpath as he remembered Isaiah's Warnings, He entered through the wooden doors into the Red dorm building for all the boys. He noticed a few fellow students relaxing in the Ground floor lounge area. He started toward the reception desk operated by a portly middle aged man, Almost in direct contrast to the first receptionist. he had neatly combed Sapphire hair, though it showed signs of thinning.

"Hello, You must be Cadet Drake, yes?"

He greeted Drake as he walked towards the counter

"Yes that's me"

The man Pulled out a File from the small shelf on his desk and began to flip through it

"Now since this academy has an In house Dorm, All students are required to punch in whenever they leave and enter campus, It helps us keep track of you guys."

He found the page he was looking for and laid out the file onto the table so drake could see.

Written on the page were Drake's name, Student number and Dorm room, Followed by a grid that covered the majority of the page.

"This is a heat sensitive file, Whenever you need to go out into town you have to use your fingerprint to punch in your leave and return. Now if you would place your finger here"

He pointed to a box near the top of the page next to his details

Drake placed his Right index finger into the box

"okay, that should have recorded your fingerprint"

Drake removed his finger to see his fingerprint pattern burned into the paper. then a Mark began to form in the first Square of the grid, The mark contained the details of the date and time that Drake put in his fingerprint.

"Every time you leave and come back to and from the Dorm into the city, You just need to ask for me or the other receptionist on duty and we'll provide you with this file, There's no need to open it, since you've recorded your print you can use the mark on the front cover."

"I'm Quinn by the way, The receptionist you've met at the Admin office is Sam, there's two more but I'll leave their introductions for later"

The Man Introduced himself

"Why did you introduce Sam then?"

"I'm sure you noticed she was quite hectic. She's also an Airhead and forgot to introduce herself. So she sent me a SDMT."

Quinn pointed to his forehead as he spoke

"SDMT?"

Drake asked

"Short Distance Message Transmission, it's a spell for Spirit Mages, we can use it because of our ability to mess with the information in the brain"

"Wait so you're all mages?"

"Yes, It's a requirement to even be a Receptionist here. Specifically being a Spirit Mage"

Quinn's answers came very quickly, As if it was a common fact everyone knew

"I see, No wonder. after all this is where the empire trains the next generation of Mage Corp Soldiers"

Drake said in response

"Anyway Cadet, your room is on the fifth floor, Turn right from the staircase and 48 should be near the end of the hall"

Quinn suggested Drake go and wind down

"thanks"

Drake thanked him as he began to climb the flights of stairs.