Chapter 11: The Academy

The next morning I got a little earlier than usual because I had a few things I wanted to do and I honestly was a bit excited for the upcoming day. After all, today I was going to go get my first request from the mercenary guild. I quickly ate my breakfast and went out into the city to look around a bit more and to find where the academy was and when the last day to sign up was.

Since it was still early in the morning merchants and shop owners were setting up their stalls or opening up their stores, getting ready to sell their merchandise. I was walking from one street to the next until I realized I had no idea where the academy was.

I looked around to find someone to ask for directions and spotted a girl around my age. She was wearing a grey cloak and had sandy blond hair that curled a bit towards the edges.On her back was…was that a pitchfork on her back? I was really confused. Since when did people carry pitchforks on their backs? I probably stood there for a good minute or two before the girl turned her head and met my eyes.

We just stood there looking at each other for a few seconds before she started walking up to me. I was surprised, I didn’t think that she would look in my direction, and then even decide to walk up to me. I wonder what she wants?

“Why were you standing there staring at me like I’m some sort of rare creature?” She asked flat out with a bit of an intimidating voice.

I smiled at her politely, “sorry about that. I was just looking for someone to ask for directions when I noticed a pitchfork on your back and was wondering why you were carrying it around.”

I looked at her, trying to figure out if she got offended and whether I was about to get punched in the face o not. What happened next definitely didn’t cross my mind. The girl chuckled.

“It’s not a pitchfork. This type of weapon is called a trident. It is similar to a spear but as you can see it had three points at the end instead of one.”

“Oh I see, I had never seen a weapon like that before.”

“It’s fine, I get these misunderstandings quite often. So, I’m quite used to it,” she replied casually, showing that she wasn’t bothered by it at all.

“Although, it can get really annoying sometimes.” I laughed, “I can see that.”

“So, where are you going? I might know where it is.” She asked me with a calm voice like the previous events didn’t even occur.

“I’m looking for the Academy for the Gifted.”

“Really? I’m on my way there right now. I will be starting this year and since you don’t know where it is you must be new as well” happily the girl before me came to a conclusion.

To be honest I was surprised. I didn’t think that I would encounter someone around my age, who was a gifted, and to top it off she was most likely going to be my classmate. It was like fate or something, because in my eyes this was way to coincidental and the chances of something like this happening were really low.

“Do you want to come with me? I know where it is,” she asked me a bit more hopefully then she most likely intended to.

I thought about it for a few seconds and decided that it was a good idea. It will be good to make a friend here in the capital, especially that I will be staying here for some time unlike with Kraposs.

“Sure, I’d like that” I answered her with a friendly smile.

She smiled happily back at me, “Great! Oh, and by the way I’m Vivian. Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too, I’m Attilius. I hope that we can become great friends.” She smiled back at me, “We’ll see about that” she replied back with a smirk on her face.

After we introduced ourselves I followed her to the academy. When we arrived I was impressed at how big the academy was. I had no idea how I didn’t manage to find it in the first place. The academy was surrounded by a metal fence that had to guards by the entrance. From what I could see the academy grounds were really large and had multiple buildings. All the buildings were big and made out of stone. If I didn’t know any better I would say that the academy looked like some sort of castle grounds rather than a school for the gifted.

Vivian and I walked up to the entrance and stopped in front of the guards. “Hi, we were planning to enroll into the academy this year and were hoping to learn some information about it” I told one of the guards.

The guards looked at each other before the guard I spoke to replied. “Alright, follow me I’ll take you to the principal.”

Vivian and I followed the guard through the front gate and through the academy grounds. Walking through the place itself made me realize just how much bigger the place was then it actually looked. Each building had it’s own name and from what I assumed specialized in different fields of study.

Eventually we stopped in front of a grand building that was slightly bigger than the ones we saw before. The building was two stories tall but was still relatively big in size. Above the door hung a sign that said “Grand Hall.”

“This is it. The principal’s room is on the second floor, it shouldn’t be hard to find. I would take you to the principal personally but I can’t leave my post for too long. I don’t want any trouble later on” The guard explained to us.

We thanked the guard for showing us the way and entered the building. The first floor was divided into two sections. On the right there were many chairs, tables, and couches. While on the other side there was a counter with a person sitting behind it. Next to the counter there was an information board similar to the one in the Mercenary Guild.

“That must be the request board,” I said to myself quietly but Vivian managed to hear me say something. “What were you saying?” she asked, thinking that I was talking to her.

“Oh, I was just saying that the board over there looks similar to the one in the Mercenary Guild which gives job request. So, I was thinking that there are job requests on that board.”

“I see… Wait you’re in the Mercenary Guild? Why did you sign up? I never knew they allowed people our age to even sign up in the first place.”

“Yeah, I signed up yesterday because I need to earn some money for the academy fees and other necessities. I don’t think there is an age requirement to sign up but the lady that signed me up yesterday was rude to me because I told her not to judge people based on age.

You know what she did after I asked her where I could sell some items? She freaking sent me the opposite way!” I raised my voice towards the end, remembering just how much she had pissed me off.

“Wow, that’s a bitch move,” said Vivian after hearing what happened.

“So, did you take a job request yet?” she asked me.

“No, I planned on doing that after going to the academy” I told her.

“Oh, do you mind if I join you? I’m kind of short on money and i was wondering where I could earn some.”

I thought it over before replying, “Sure, this way we can take a request a bit harder and earn money faster.”

“Thanks, show me how to sign up later.”

“Alright.” After making some plans for later we went up to the second floor to the find the principal’s room. After entering the second floor we found the principal room within seconds. The door was extremely easy to spot because of the golden sign on the door that said “Principal.”

“You ready?” I asked Vivian, feeling a bit nervous.

“Yeah, let’s go in.”

I knocked on the door and waited for a response. “Come on in” I heard a female voice answer behind the door. Glancing at Vivian one last time I opened the door and went in, followed by Vivian. Inside the room there was a simple desk with two chairs in front of it and a bookshelf on the right side of the room, along with a few wall decorations on the other walls.

Behind the desk sat a woman that looked like she was around in her mid thirties. She had dirt brown hair and hazel colored eyes that I thought went really well with her hair. Her skin was slightly tan which added even more to her charm.

“Have a seat you two, don’t be shy.” The principal spoke with a soft and alluring voice that made me feel at ease. I wonder how she did that? Was this her ability or did she learn how to do this herself?

I sat down on one of the chairs, thinking about whether the voice thing was the principal's ability or not. In the corner of my eye i could see Vivian sit down in the chair next to mine. I stopped my train of thoughts and focused my full attention on the principal.

“I’m the principal of this school as you can see. Now, what did the two of you want to come here to see me personally?” she asked us with a hint of curiosity in her voice.

“We were planning to enroll here this year and just wanted to know more information about the fees and the enrollment process,” I told her straight out.

“Oh, I see. Well, it’s really simple to enroll at this school. All you need to do is sign some papers and register as one of he students. Then you pay an entrance fee, which is a one time thing and after that you just have to pay a yearly fee because all of our students live on campus. You also need to show some proof that you are gifted.” The principal explained with a bit of a happy tone. Must be because she was about to get two more students two joint the academy I assumed.

“Will showing our abilities count as proof?” I asked her since I had no idea how else to prove it.

“Of course, that is the most efficient and easiest way.” I nodded before turning my right arm into a wolf arm. The principal and Vivian looked at me surprised.

“That’s a really rare ability, not many can shapeshift, especially parts of their body at such a young age. You have some amazing talent young man,” the principal praised me.

“Can I have some water to show my powers?” asked Vivian.

The principal nodded and stood up, “Wait right here, I’ll be right back.”

The principal left the room leaving the two of us all alone. “Your powers are really cool. Are you a wolf or something?” she asked me, full of curiosity.

“Yeah, I’m a wolf. If you want I can show you some time.”

“Really?!” she almost cried out from excitement, which caused me to chuckle.

“Yeah. What’s your ability by the way?”

“Oh, mine isn’t as impressive, and it has it’s drawbacks. My ability allows me to control water.”

“Wow, that’s cool. Sounds really impressive. Now, I really want to see it,” I told her. To be honest I found her ability really cool. To be able to control water was awesome. I wonder if I would be able to get an ability like that one day?

At that moment the principal walked back in, “Sorry about the wait, here is some water.” The principle set down a cup of water in front of Vivian and sat down.

Vivian looked at the cup of water and raised her hands. As she lifted her hands the water in the cup floated up and formed into an orb. She moved the water around creating different types of objects and shapes.

“You guys are to diamonds in the rough. To think two students will be joining the school with such extraordinary talents. Now that I know you are gifted and not just here to waste my time like some other people let's continue. So, what would you like to know?”

“How much are the yearly fees and the entrance fee?” I asked her flat out, not to waste any time.

“Well, the entrance fee is one gold coin, while the yearly fees depend on what kind of place you will be staying in. If you are staying in a regular dorm in will be one gold coin a year. If you want a room to yourself then that would be two gold coins. Now if you want your own house, that is quite pricey and also depends on the house. I believe the cheapest that we currently have is around ten gold coins a year.”

I gulped at the amount of money the cheapest house costed to stay in. I barely made one gold a year back in Kraposs, yet the cheapest house here was ten years worth of savings. It would take some time before I could even think about getting one of the houses.

“I see, then I have one more question. The yearly fee, do you pay that in the beginning of the year or at the end?”

“All fees are paid in the beginning of the year unless you are unable to afford it. If that is the case we give you an extension to pay the fee. However, we also put an interest with the extension. So if you take too long to pay if the fee the price will just keep on rising.”

I thought over everything before speaking again, “Alright I understand how the system works now. Where can I get the enrollment papers?”

“Oh, if you want to we can fill out the enrollment forms right here. I should still have a few here.” She opened one of her drawers and looked through some papers before taking out two pieces of paper and handing hem to the both of us.

I looked down at the paper in front of me and scanned through it. It had a few questions on it, asked some information about your family and stated a few terms.

She handed us both a quill and some ink and we began to fill out the papers. I answered the questions the best i could and left most of the family ones blank because I no longer had any living relatives. Reading through all the family questions and information I was supposed to fill out made my eyes a bit watery, but I held back my tears. I didn’t want to cry in front of Vivian and the principal.

I read through the terms that the form stated, which were mostly stating things that were allowed and what wasn’t and the concsecounses that would follow. After I finished reading through the list of terms I signed the bottom of the paper and handed it back to the principal. She took it and started to look over it.

I watched eyes reading the paper, until they stopped and looked at me. “Why did you leave most of the family information and questions blank?” she asked me confused.

“My parents are dead, so I saw no point of writing down information about people who are no longer a part of this world.” I replied back without any sign of emotion. She looked at me sadly before speaking again.

“I’m sorry to hear that” said the principle with a slightly sad voice.

“It’s fine, you didn’t know, so you have nothing to worry about.”

“Alright then, that will be everything with the registration. You can pay your fees anytime before the first week of the school year ends. Oh, and don’t forget to sign up for your classes. Just go down to the first floor to get your class forms, that’s also where you pay your fees and select where you want to stay. It was nice meeting you all, I will see you all in three weeks when the school year starts.”

We said our goodbyes, thanked her and left the room. Vivian let out a sigh, “That was so nerve wrecking, I was nervous for no reason.”

I looked at her if she was being serious, which apparently she was. “I did all the talking and you just sat there the whole time, and you’re telling me that you were nervous? If anyone should be nervous it should be me.”

“Yeah, yeah, let's get going I’m getting hungry and we still have to go to the Mercenary Guild remember?”

“Alright, let's get this over with. I’m getting slightly hungry too.”

As we were walking down the stairs I hear Vivan say something quietly, “What was that?” I asked her.

“I said, I’m sorry.”

“For, what?” I asked her, not understanding why she was apologizing. She didn’t do anything that should she needed to apologize for.

“That you lost your parents, I can’t even imagine how that must feel like since both of mine are still alive.”

“It’s alright, you don’t need to apologize. Just cherish all the times you spend together before it’s too late. You never know when someone near you might die. Anyways, lets not talk about all this depressing stuff and go sign up for our classes and get our dorms.”

Vivian just nodded and we went to the counter that was downstairs. Behind a counter sat an elderly man with white hair, reading a book.

“Hi, we would like to get our dorms and sign up for classes.” I told the man who was still reading. The man put down his book and grabbed five papers. He handed us two papers each and put the other one in front of us.

“Fill those two papers out, one is for your classes and the other for your dorms. This one is a list of all the available classes that you can take. There is one class that everyone is required to take, but you don’t have to worry about that since it’s already written down on your class sheet.” I looked down on my paper to find one of the sections filled out.

Energy Training

Huh, I wonder what they teach in that class? Do they teach you how to refine your energy? Or is there more to it? I looked at the list of classes that I had available. I could only take up to four classes each year so I only had three more spots to fill.

There were many classes and some I had no clue what they were even about, even the descriptions didn’t help. The two that I definetly decided on were Beastiology and Herbology. The Beastiology class was extremly useful to me because of my powers. The Herbology class I took to know more about herbs and plants so that I could earn money easier on the side. Also it would help me identify rare herbs and I would know how to use them. Who knows, maybe it will even save my life one day.

However, the last class I had no idea what to do with. I was stuck between Self-Defense and Blacksmithing. Blacksmithing was useful in repairing weapons and armor. Plus if I had good materials I could make my own equipment later on which would save me some money. However, Self-Defense would increase my fighting ability and increase my chances of survival.

After thinking it over I decided to go with Self-Defense because I could learn blacksmithing skills later and I already had some basic knowledge of it. My life was more important at the moment, if I lose my life everything is over. I wrote down my last class and started to fill out the next form which basically asked me where I wanted to live and I had to sign at the bottom to show that I was agreeing to pay the fees and that if I ask for an extension there will be additional charges.

Finally, I finished all my paperwork and turned to Vivian to see if she was almost done. Luckily she finished within a few seconds after me and handed the papers to the man. The man took her papers and in return gave us each a key with a number on it along with a badge.

“Here are your keys to your rooms. The number and letter on your key tell you where your dorm is. So, since you have A-211 your room is 211 in building A,” said the man after looking at my number.

“The badges are your identifications within the academy, each student has one. Try not to lose it because it’s a real hassle to replace one.”

We thanked him and left the building, headed towards the Mercenary Guild. “What classes did you take?” asked me Vivian on our way towards the Mercenary Guild.

“I took Beastiology, Herbology and Self-Defense. What about you?”

“Ability Training, Beastiology, and Self-Defense.”

“Oh, we will have most of our classes together. Why did you decide to take Beastiology though?” I asked since I didn’t know why she would need it exactly since she wasn’t in my situation.

“I think it will be helpful in the future when I fight against different kinds of creatures. Knowing your enemy's weakness will save your life one day.”

“Smart reasoning, most people would prioritise learning how to fight rather than broadening their knowledge.” She blushed slightly at the compliment, which I found kind of cute.

After we had some food to eat and Vivan registered for the Mercenary Guild we went to the request board to look for a job to take. “What kind of request do you want to do?” I asked her. From my view I would prefer to take some sort of hunting request to improve my combat abilities, but since I was doing this request together with her I needed to take her opinion into consideration as well.

“I want to fight something, is there any request that we can do that will require that? We can sell the skins and stuff too right? That way we can earn more money.”

I grinned, “you and me might get along better than I originally thought.” Vivian grinned back at me and we went to the counter to receive the job.

“So, what are we hunting exactly?” asked Vivian.

“Yellow Boars,” I told her as I looked over the job specifications. “We have to kill 15 boars and bring back some sort of proof back to receive the reward.”

“Oh, how much is the reward?” asked Vivian happily.

“Five silver pieces” I replied back a bit gloomily. Since the both of us were doing the request we would both get two silver pieces and fifty copper, plus half of the materials each.

“That’s not that much, I guess you can’t earn a lot early on. So when are we going to go hunting?” asked me Vivan as we exited out of the Guild.

“Let’s go tomorrow at sunrise, pack some supplies with you just in case and let’s meet here, in front of the Guild.”

“Alright, I’ll see you tomorrow.” With that we said our goodbyes for the day and went our separate ways.

“You should use the Weeping Glory today or given a few more days and it will start losing its effect. It probably isn’t as effective already since some time has passed, but it should still be useful,” Ennius spoke in my head with a bit of a pissed of tone.

“Oh, hey Ennius,” I replied back.

“Oh, hey Ennius? That's all you have to say after barely speaking to me and Leidolf for the past two weeks?” said Ennius a bit angrily.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to ignore you or anything, I just kind of forgot,” I apologized. Honestly, I kind of did forget they were in my head since most of the time they don’t really talk to me that much. Plus, with all the recent events my mind wasn’t really occupied with who lives in my head.

“How…? Ughh, never mind. Anyways use the flower tonight, I’ll tell you what to do when you return back to your inn.

“Alright, I’ll hurry up back then.” I increased my pace a bit and soon reached the inn. I went to my room right away, locked the door and prepared what Ennius told me I required.

In front of me I had some hot water, that I had to go ask the innkeeper to give me, the flower, a bowl, and a rock. I need a mortar and a pestle but I didn’t really have any on me so I had to use a wooden bowl and a rock.

“Now, take the petals of the flower and crush them until they are like paste. Then add the hot water into the bowl and drink the mixture.”

I did as Ennius told me. I crushed the petals using the stone which took a few minutes, then added the hot water which wasn’t as hot as before, allowing me to drink it right away.

“Refine your energy now, the refining process should be faster now, but it won’t last forever. The effects of the flower will run out after some time so use it for your advantage right now. Just remember one thing, make sure that your energy level and understanding are balanced,” Ennius gave me a warning.

I closed my eyes and entered the energy chamber and began to refine the energy. The speed was way faster than my original speed that it was almost twice the speed of the original. I sat there refining the energy while trying to understand how it worked.

I watched the energy swirling in the pool, glowing in a brilliant golden color. It was quite a beautiful sight to behold. The energy would flow just like water, ripples formed when i put back the energy that I was refining, sending small waves throughout the pool, just like water.

Wait, water… That's it! I understand it now. Energy is almost exactly like water. I understand why having the energy flow through more chambers increase my power. It’s just like how when there is water life will blossom near it. So, with energy it is similar, the more chambers it passes through the more power it can give to my body, thus increasing my overall ability.

So, to break through the next chamber I’ll have to make the energy gush through the sealed entrance to break through. Excitedly, I stopped refining the energy and concentrated on the the flow of it instead. I imagined how it feels like when ripples are formed and tiny waves are formed. Slowly, I felt as if I were becoming energy itself.

I turned my eyes towards the chamber and willed the energy to gush forwards. A torrent of water shot out of the pool, ramming into the sealed entrance. Small cracks appeared on the entrance.

“More, I need to hit it a few more times!” I exclaimed happily when I saw that it had worked. Turret after turret i rammed the into the sealed entrance until it the entrance exploded and the energy gushed through, filling up the dry channel.

I let out a sigh of relief that I finally did it and decided to check out the new chamber. The new chamber was basically the same thing as the first except there was more room then in the first. I looked down at the energy and it looked just like the energy in the first chamber had before I started refining it. I sat down by the pool of energy and started refining all over again, not wanting to waste the effects of the flower.