"Man, there's nothing so crazy like any of that happening here in The Capital," Tom shook his head. "The occasional news of someone outmaneuvering someone else for benefits is about as exciting as it gets around here. We have to come up with Lists and speculations in order to keep ourselves entertained."

Reivyn had just finished telling the stories of his experiences in Magron and the Dungeon Town. He quirked an eyebrow at the statement from Tom.

"You guys live in The Capital, and you're bored?" Reivyn asked.

"Oh, don't get me wrong," Tom explained. "There's plenty to do, and we have fun, but it's not exciting like having to fight for your life or exploring new Dungeons. After a while, it gets a bit monotonous. Don't tell me that you have as much fun preparing for a Dungeon delve as you do the Dungeon delve itself."

"I don't know," Reivyn shrugged, "I liked training. And how does coming up with Lists about girls equal the excitement of fighting for your life in a Dungeon?"

"Ahh, you're still young," Vane leaned over and clapped Reivyn on the shoulder, a commiserating look on his face.

"Do you like training, or do you like the feeling of getting stronger?" Trick asked, pointing his fork at Reivyn.

The four boys had chosen their living arrangements and then set out to explore the campus a little bit. The three natives of The Capital already knew a bit about the geography of the Magic Academy, and they took the opportunity actually to see what their older friends had described.

They also managed to locate where their classrooms would be and the auditorium for the first assembly the next day. In the words of the other three teenagers, it was better to find your classrooms before the first day of class, because "bad things" would happen if you were late.

They ended their little excursion at the cafeteria, and they asked Reivyn to tell them of his adventures while they ate.

"Hmm, that's a good point, actually," Reivyn said with a thoughtful look on his face. "I've never really thought about it. If I had to say, I would say the Dungeon delve is definitely more fun, but I still like training. It might just be habit at this point, as I've been doing it for a long time."

"Well, at least we know which one of us is going to make sure we all graduate with a good Ranking," Trick said with a laugh.

"Speaking of, how are Class Rankings determined? It can't just be based on one's Skill and Affinity Levels," Reivyn asked.

"Oh, there are several factors that determine one's Ranking," Tom said. "Your Skill and Affinity Levels definitely play a role, but it's not the be-all end-all. In fact, it's only a small portion. 20% of your Ranking is based on your overall numbers, and 20% is based on how much your numbers improve from the time of admission to the time of graduation - also, at intervals like during the semester - 20% is based on your written test scores, 20% is based on your Life Experience while enrolled, and 20% is based on the practical tests."

"What are the practical tests? Just application of your Spells?" Reivyn asked.

"Kind of," Vane said. "The Magic Academy - and the Knight Academy, for that matter, they share it - has a unique magic item that creates a small world, almost like a mini Dungeon. They can create illusions according to the desire of the one controlling the magic item, and students have to solve different types of situations with the relevant Skills."

"Yeah, I hear you get points for ingenuity as well as mastery of your Spells and Skills," Trick said. "It's easy to brute force a set difficulty if you have really high numbers, but that doesn't really show the teachers how well you understand your own abilities. It just shows them that you're strong."

"Remember, it's a good rule of thumb to never just bash through something head-on, but to consider the point of the exercise and the goals stipulated. You can get a good score by just destroying everything in your way, but you can't get the maximum score that way."

"Hmm, that actually sounds like a pretty good method," Reivyn said, rubbing his chin. "Does that mean that students with more variability to their Affinities are inherently at an advantage in those tests?"

"Not necessarily," Trick said. "If it's open-ended with multiple goals - which is usually reserved for the third-year students - it would be; however, most of the scenarios they'll put us in are based on one or two Affinities."

"So do they tailor the tests to the individuals?"

"No, they run multiple exercises over a period of time," Vane answered. "You only have to complete a set number of them, and you can choose which Affinities you want to participate in. There will be some variation within each Affinity so that people don't cheat, but it'll be a similar theme."

"One last main point," Tom spoke up. "The Tier of the Affinity you choose needs to correspond to your year, or you'll be required to run multiple tests to make up for it. Only about 10% of third years actually participate in the Tier 3 Affinity tests each year, and not all of them pass. You can do three tests of a lower Affinity, but only of one each, to make up for a higher Tier. Most students in their third year end up running two Tier 2 tests and three Tier 1 tests."

"Can an underclassman challenge the higher Tier tests?" Reivyn's interest was piqued. My Light and Darkness Affinities are almost as high as my Tier 1 Affinities. That will definitely give me a huge advantage.

"Sure," Trick said. "You also get bonus points for doing so. A lot of first-years actually challenge the Tier 2 Affinities right away."

"There's no downside to taking more tests," Vane added. "If you fail a test, it doesn't get held against you, and only your highest scores to meet the requirements are counted. But, as Tom said, you can only take one test per Affinity. Not many people fail the tests - other than the third years attempting the Tier 3 Affinities - but it does happen occasionally."

"Ok, and what about the fact that casting spells costs so much mana for non-System, Class Spells?" Reivyn asked. "It seems like that's the biggest drawback, here. Everyone has their own Class and elemental specialty, except for the Uncommon-grade Mage Class."

"That's what makes the magic item 'unique,'" Tom said. "It's not an actual mini Dungeon or anything like that. The illusions aren't just the environment or creature inside the small world, it also simulates the Spells you cast."

"You don't use your Class Spells while in there," Trick said. "In fact, your System-guided Spells won't have any effect on the small world. We don't know how or why it works like that, but that's the way it is. You're not really casting Spells, so the intense mana cost is moot. You're not spending any extra mana other than what's required to form the pure mana shell. The magic item supplies the power for everything else."

"It has something to do with the intentions of those who create the scenarios, I believe," Tom said. "The Knight Academy uses the same magic item, and for them, it affects their Class Skills that use Stamina. They have to show an understanding of the form of their Skills, and the magic item that powers them. We have to show an understanding of the weaves in the same way."

"One of our friends said it felt pretty incredible to be able to use all of the affinities available to them that they had trained the weaves in," Vane said. "It's almost like it's a preview of the later Classes that have much more versatility in their Spell selections. He said that you just form the shell with your own pure mana, and then you'll get the feeling of a separate source that you can use to make the weaves and power the Spell."

Hmm... that wouldn't really be a problem for me for the more basic Spells, as my Class grants me access to several versions. But if the scenarios aren't always about combat, but other situations requiring critical thinking and imagination, then I can see how even I would benefit from such a setup.

"That's good to know," Reivyn said. "Thanks for the information."

"No problem," Tom said. "It's common knowledge, and the teachers would have explained it at the right time, anyway." Tom stood up once Trick, the last one still eating, finally finished. "Let's get out of here. It's getting late and we've already found the auditorium for tomorrow. Don't want to be up too late and sleep in."

"I heard that a student who was late to the very first assembly last year had to go to the Knight Academy and participate in physical training for a month, because," Trick held up his hands for quotes, "'apparently, magic wasn't important enough to the student, so he should broaden his horizons to see if he really even wanted to be a Caster Class.' And that was on top of his responsibilities here at the Magic Academy."

"That doesn't sound so bad," Reivyn said. "I thought you said 'bad things?'"

"Not so bad for you," Vane said. "You just finished telling us about your exploits with a Martial Class and how much you like training. It's a punishment, not something you're supposed to enjoy, so they would probably make you do something completely different."

"You'd be forbidden from training at all," Tom teased.

"That, and maybe have to do some mundane chore that doesn't improve any of your Skills. Like watching paint dry or something," Trick said. He eyed Reivyn sideways as they walked. "Without using Mana Sight, or some other kind of Skill. Remember: no training."

"That does sound awful," Reivyn said with a chuckle. "I can handle having to do boring tasks, but wasting time is against my nature."

"Oh yeah, what Skill are you training right now?" Tom asked.

"I'm building rapport with my classmates," Reivyn said, hand on his chest. "Life isn't all Skills and numbers, I've recently been told. Building relationships and connections is a worthwhile use of my time."

"I'm glad we can fit in your schedule," Trick said wryly. "Thank you for granting us your valuable time." Reivyn playfully shoved Trick as the four boys laughed.

"There will be no fraternization between the sexes on campus," the teacher on the stage announced, for about the fifth time in the half-hour-long assembly. "No males in the female dorms, and no females in the male dorms. Period."

"How many times is he going to reiterate the point?" Trick whispered. "I thought this was supposed to be an important lecture on what they expect of us during our time in the Academy."

"It is," Vane replied, quietly. "They expect us to make magic, not babies." He snickered at his own joke.

Reivyn nodded his head. "I have to agree. They're beating a dead horse at this point."

"We get it," Tom said. "Make babies off campus." The four boys had to cover their mouths to stop themselves from laughing out loud.

"Shh, shh," Reivyn said, chuckling. "Do you want to go do physical exercise at the Knight Academy?" The other three teenagers sat up straight and focused their attention on the teacher, the very image of attentive students. Reivyn rolled his eyes.

"Alright, on to the main point," The teacher said.

"That wasn't the main point?" Trick asked in a whisper again, an eyebrow raised. "Could have fooled me."

"You are all Novices of the Magic Academy, and as such, you will all be required to take the same classes: Basic Mana Theory, Basic Element Weaving, History of Magic, Introduction to Philosophy, Political Science, and one elective."

"Philosophy and political science?" Reivyn asked, confused.

"Yeah, the graduates get sent out into the real world once they graduate, and many of them get employed by the kingdom in some way or another," Tom answered. "It's in part to make sure their students know what they're getting into and understand the why's of it, but it's also in part for the Academy's reputation. It wouldn't look good if all of the graduates were bumbling idiots who didn't have any tact."

"That makes sense," Reivyn nodded.

"The introductory courses only talk about things relevant to our Kingdom, and a little bit from Eldiar, the immediate Tier 2 superior Region," Vane said. "The more advanced courses go into the political situations of the entire Tier 3 Kingdom we technically fall under, and the philosophy instruction is much more in-depth with a heavy focus on mana and magic."

"There are just over 2,000 new Novice students of the Academy, broken up into 20 classes," The teacher continued. Reivyn looked around the large auditorium at all of the students in attendance. The location for the first assembly for the Novices was located in some sort of amphitheater, and it could easily hold several thousand people.

I hadn't really paid attention to the overall numbers, and all of the empty seats that stand out kind of make one ignore just how many people there actually are, Reivyn thought. Now that I'm looking closer, it does appear that there are about that many new students. I didn't realize there would be so many students per semester. Just how big is the Kingdom, considering those that can use mana Skills are only about 10% or so of people, from what I've seen?

"The classes aren't a simple 100 students in each class," the teacher wasn't finished. "There are progressively more students in the lower numbered classes. Higher numbered classes have more opportunities to interact with the teachers on an individual basis, so raising your rank if you're in the lower classes is a paramount goal. Your initial ranking is based on your Affinities Levels upon admissions.

"Now that you're enrolled, the full ranking scale will take into effect. Don't despair that your Affinity Levels are low upon entry. Those that improve quickly will be able to replace those that entered the Academy with higher Skill Levels but slacked off in their training. Likewise, if you don't take the non-magical classes seriously and do poorly on the written tests, your ranking could be adversely affected.

"There's also the issue of resources. No quotas of resources are given to students in any of the classes, but if you work hard on attaining School Credits, you can make up for some of your shortcomings. Experience Crystals are the most well-known resource available to exchange, but there are other treasures as well. For example, there are natural treasures imported from Eldiar that can help you increase your Affinity Levels directly, or there are even ones that provide insights on mana weaves."

Looks like one of my Class Skills has an effect on one of these natural treasures. At its current Level, though, it's probably far inferior. The good thing about Class Skills is that they can be raised.

"Basically, don't get complacent if you're in a higher class, and don't give up if you're in a lower one. Everything is based on your personal merit and hard work. Talent only really factors into your starting position, much like life in general. The classes are re-calculated at the end of every month, and the changes are implemented on the first.

"Everyone should know what class they already belong to based on your student tokens. When I dismiss you in a moment, you will each find your designated guide, one of the older students, and they'll give you the itinerary for your class schedules."

The teacher paused for a moment to look over all of the students in attendance. After a few seconds, the teacher nodded his head.

"I'm pleased to see that most of you are being attentive. You're the future of our Kingdom. These formative years in your Tier 2 Class are important for the rest of your lives, so all of you should work hard to make the best use of your time. It's even more important than the preparations you made Pre-Class and while in Tier 1.

"Growing and improving is a lifelong endeavor, and there's no time like the present to set a good standard for yourselves.

"Good luck, and welcome to the Magic Academy. Dismissed," the teacher concluded before striding off of the stage.

All of the students began talking with one another as they stood up and began exiting the auditorium.

"That's it for today?" Reivyn asked as he followed his roommates to the stairs that would lead them down and to the exit.

"Yup," Tom said. "Admissions are purposely set at the end of the week before the start of the new month exactly for this reason. We get our schedules and have the opportunity to acclimate to the new environment. Not all of the students are familiar with the Academy, after all. On Monday, we'll get down to business."

"Which means we have the whole weekend to do whatever we want," Trick said. "I know the teacher said no 'fraternization' with the opposite sex, but that really only means pursuing a romantic relationship. Even then, they only pay lip service to it and enforce it on Academy grounds. They can't be expected to supervise all of the students all of the time when they're not even here."

"There have been incidents in the past, though, and you'll still run the risk of expulsion if something really does happen off-campus like Tom joked," Vane said. "Most of the students here are from affluent families, and they - us included," he pointed at himself and the other two teenagers that had formed the initial trio, "have to take into account our elders' plans and concerns."

"It's no secret that students have 'disappeared' from the Academy and social life after messing around with the wrong people," Tom said. "There was one such instance several years ago where two students whose families were at odds with each other ended up getting together on accident."

"How do you 'get together on accident?'" Reivyn asked, puzzled.

"Well, the getting together part wasn't an accident," Trick snickered. "The 'accident' was that they each didn't know that the other person was from a rival family. They got all doe-eyed for each other and didn't bother to investigate the others' backgrounds too closely. It's not common, but it obviously does happen, or this wouldn't be a story. Anyway, once their families found out that there was going to be a new, unplanned addition to their dynasties, they were whisked away and nobody has seen them since."

"I have inside sources that say their families allowed them to remain together, but they had to renounce their heritage and move away," Vane said.

"Well, I guess if they really love each other..." Reivyn said.

"Yeah, it will probably work out for them in the long run, as long as they can stick to it," Tom said. "Though, it did cause quite some embarrassment for the families involved. They'll also have a hard time with it in the beginning. They weren't able to graduate from the Academy, and they were cut off from the financial support of their families. Their only avenue is for one of them to find employment or become an Adventurer while the other stays at home to raise the child. I don't envy that lifestyle."

"It could work," Reivyn shrugged. Sounds a lot like my own parents. Though, their situation was a bit more complicated than simply falling in love with the wrong person.

"Oh, I didn't say it couldn't work, just that I'm not interested in that myself," Tom replied.

"Then what are your goals?" Reivyn asked.

"The same as anyone else in the Elite Class," Tom said. "Get promoted to the Tier 2 Academy, or, failing that, get an appointment to a powerful noble. Either one of those will help my family out and widen my horizons for the future. Getting bumped up to Eldiar, though, is the obvious first choice."

"Everyone always talks about getting moved up to the Tier 2 Kingdom's Academy, but how does that work, exactly?"

"Well, there's a quota at the end of each year for each level of student," Vane answered. "There are more quotas for the younger students, actually, because it's easier to display raw talent and work ethic at an earlier age, but people still have two chances to move up if they don't make it as a Novice."

"How many quotas are there?" Reivyn continued to ask.

"Ten," Trick said.

"Ten? For two thousand students?" Reivyn was surprised.

"Yup," Trick said. "You have to know, though, that there are ten Tier 1 kingdoms attached to Eldiar, and each one has an Academy of about the same size as ours. The second-year students have five quotas, and the third years have three. That means that each year, the ten Academies together send up with almost 200 students who go to the Academy in Eldiar, and they don't have significantly more native students at their Academy than we do."

"Isn't a Tier 2 Kingdom much larger than a Tier 1 Kingdom?" Reivyn asked. I always assumed higher Tier Regions were larger, and thus, more populated.

"Not necessarily," Tom said. "Higher Tier Regions can come in any size, but they're typically equivalent. Eldiar has the same approximate population size as our Kingdom, and normal travel, beyond commerce, is regulated. It's possible to just move up to the higher Tier Region, but they only let so many do so per year."

"Why is it so restrictive?" Reivyn asked. "Wouldn't they want to recruit talents and hard workers?"

"That's exactly why these systems are put into place," Tom said. "Think about it. Most people from a lower Tier Region are restricted in their opportunities for growth and good classes. Most people simply don't have the talent or luck to get a powerful class, be it Caster, Martial, or Lifestyle. If one doesn't have the qualifications to compete with people who've had an inherent advantage since birth, there's a high likelihood of failure. Then you'll just have more homeless people or more economic refugees fleeing back to the lower Tier Regions again."

"There are almost as many people moving from Eldiar to the Tier 1 Kingdoms as there are people trying to move up each year," Vane said. "It's fairly balanced, all things considered."

"I understand," Reivyn said. It's similar to when Teilon, Kimberly, and I left Will and Simmon behind. They didn't have the qualifications to keep up with us, and if we had dragged them along anyway, they wouldn't have succeeded.

"Speaking of Eldiar, I hear there's some prince or other come down to inspect the Magic Academy," Reivyn said. "Anyone knows anything about that?"

"I've heard of it, too," Tom said. "He's likely a third year, though. I doubt we'll even see him, or, if we do, it'll be from a distance." Tom glanced at Reivyn. "If there's any Novice that's likely to interact with him, it would be you, if he learns of your Experience in the Dungeon that he's likely to go check out. But chances are, he'll just pick Melissa and some other third years if he forms a Party. There's not even a guarantee he will form a Party consisting of students from our Academy."

"Yeah, I wouldn't worry too much about having anything to do with him," Trick said. "Though," he leaned in and whispered conspiratorially, "he's likely going to take one of the top spots on the girls' List. That's one spot we won't have to guess about."

"There you go again, with your talk of the Lists," Vane said. He pushed Trick away from him. "Get back, bro. You don't need to whisper in our ears so much." Trick just chuckled.

"Enough about that stuff," Tom said. "We're supposed to live in the dorms for the first month, but that doesn't mean we have to stay on campus for the whole month. Let's go get our schedules, and then we can go meet up with our other friends and find something fun to do."