The craziness of the last week and being forced into Consolidating did not sit well with Aarav. He was commander of his destiny. But he admitted that such fail safes were to protect him from his own stupidity and he accepted that he had made some stupid decisions in the past.

Primarily, though it had turned out for the best was his falling asleep on the gryphon.

Who did that?

He could only blame his situation on temporary insanity but whatever had caused it, now he was reaping the consequences. Overall his station in life had risen and he was excited to see what came next.

Even if it involved returning to school…

So now he stood in the entryway to the Academy a bag in hand and Boren by his side suitably disguised as a young blonde human boy with a slightly squashed nose and blue eyes. Completely different from his usual appearance.

“I suppose we better get settled in?” Aarav said sceptically. He wasn’t sure about this at all but if doing the mandatory year would give him a better understanding of the basics of this world it would absolutely be worth it. Not to mention that tournament coming up that Boren had told him about that would be a couple of months after the year ended. That was Aarav goal at the moment. Get strong enough to distinguish him and get into the tournament. From there he would be able to gain access to resources from multiple countries and hopefully gain enough that he could regain some level of human compatibility.

He knew it was still a long and winding road to get there but the Academy would be one of the major keys to unlocking his potential. What he wouldn’t give to just be able to download the entire library into his brain right now. Maybe there was a spell for that. He would have to find out.

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The dorms were in one section of the west wing of the Academy and despite its reputation for equal treatment they were divided into the haves and have-nots. Students that could afford better accommodations were afforded such.

Such were the trappings of capitalism. While the Academy was for the majority of its expense sponsored by the Darfan government and by extension the royal family, it also received sizable donations from nobles and other benefactors from other nations to maintain its standard as the highest place of learning in the five nations. They would want some skin in the game regardless of its physical location.

Aarav would hazard a guess that intelligence assets were placed here by the rulers of other nations. At the very least they would have students from their countries attending and reporting back on anything interesting or news worthy.

Aarav for his part was not particularly interested in the politics and the petty games that the people in power played. Not unless there was a way for him to glean some benefit for himself from it. Boren seemed to be of a similar mind. Either that r he was truly oblivious to the things going on around him and simply eager to begin the new day.

With their cover stories of Aarav being a fairy and Boren being a commoner child they were presented with the lowest level of accommodation. The most basic and unfortunately due to their species difference they would not be staying within close proximity of one another. The accommodation requirements were simply too different. So Boren was in one of the local human dorms and Aarav placed in one of the alternative species accommodations where there was fairy sized rooms with fairy sized furniture.

Neither of the boys were clear on what would happen if and when Aarav’s size started changing too drastically, the incident in the clinic in the palace still fresh in their minds. They parted ways at one of the cross junctions that had signs to the various sections of the building and agreed to meet later to discuss the plan moving forward.

They would need to stick together since, as far as they knew, no one else was aware of their situation or secret identity. Boren gave Aarav a forlorn look as they parted and Aarav decided there was unlikely to be a safer place in the city than this but he couldn’t help his knowledge of humanity acquired in his last life to colour his emotions now. Even the most outwardly fair of societies had hierarchy. If anything the ones that looked best on paper hid the darkest secrets.

With goodbyes said Aarav made his way to his section glancing back from time to time until he could no longer see the other boy. Hope you will be alright. Worse case, I can always crash in your room. The accommodation was home to many of the smaller races in the Fryst. Fairies, pixies, gnomes, sprites and the like milled about in the hallways exchanging words and in some cases spells. Some of them would have been given some understanding of what to expect when they came here.

It was like the fresher’s week in university and college if Aarav had ever attended. One big party and everyone meeting everyone else. The only damper was that the separation of the races by size created a barrier between the races before things were even off the ground.

Student housing was divided into four main categories. Small, medium, large and premium the last was for the wealthy of course and came in a host of sizes able to be customized with magic to cater to almost any need. The mana formations and arrays were expensive both to maintain and create so they were only practical for the paid rooms.

Meanwhile, the room assigned to Aarav as one of the smaller races on the continent was…lacklustre for want of a better word. He was underwhelmed even compared to what was offered in the palace. The room was small, designed to fit his current size and the bare bones of what a room should contain. A small bed with plain wooden frame and mattress and a few bed covers. A cupboard that could be used for the few personal effects he was allowed to bring along, not that he had any, and a desk with a chair made of the same wood that the bed was made from. It occurred to him that the wood was likely from Pleutr and that made him feel a little more comfortable. After all the forest was home.

A single small window looked out onto the central space of the Academy. The building itself designed as a square three storeys high enclosed the space that served as courtyard, garden and training grounds all rolled into one.

Still it was up to him to make this place his own for the year. Some Alchemy stuff and a few personal items would have to do for the moment. Within twenty minutes Aarav had left his meagre possessions and returned to where he left Boren.

The prince was already there waiting impatiently, or rather Boren corrected mentally, Craden Blake. That was the name Boren had decided on for his new persona. Aarav thought it sounded pretentious but the prince seemed to truly like the name and it was different enough from his original that no one would suspect, as if the disguise was not already sufficient.

“So what next?” Boren asked before Aarav had even reach him.

“I suppose we need to get to the central reception area? They are apparently taking new students around and it looks like there is something happening over there.” Aarav pointed over to the middle of the training area where it seemed many of the students had congregated.

Since only a single year was mandatory most of these students were new. The faculty had become quite efficient at organising the tours and showing the new comers around. Aarav and Boren, from now on called Craden joined one of the smaller ones that was led by a short man with a shaved head. It almost seemed as though he hated hair and so had chosen to shear it all off by choice.

The man peered at the latest additions to his group and grunted. “Follow me! We have enough now!” He said for the benefit of a straggler that was about to join in as well. He left that last kid in the dust. Aarav was a little shock at his behaviour considering the child was only nine years old but maybe that was the way of this world. “You, go find another group!” The man barked at the startled boy as they all filed past him.

Aarav felt sorry for the kid that was left in their wake looking a little lost, but two minutes later one of the older students came and added him to a group with a female instructor. Aarav saw all this as he and Boren walked away from the courtyard. This tour promised to be something special and Aarav was eager to find out what was on offer.