The man didn’t bother to introduce himself. Aarav and Boren had no idea who he was and he could have been the janitor for all they knew. “These are the Academy grounds!” He said after he had taken about twenty steps from their original starting point. “Here there are gardens for you lot that enjoy to simply waste your time with ‘fun and games’.” He said ‘fun and games with a massive amount of scorn like it was the worst crime in the world.

Aarav already didn’t know what to think of this man, he seemed by all accounts to be a horrible human being that hated doing this job and he was probably being forced into it. In addition where were all the adults? In the group of twenty or so individuals there were only nine year old children albeit with some non-humans, there was an elf there, a dwarf here and Aarav himself, the rest of the group was made up humans both male and female.

“This is the assembly ground where you will be expected to come every morning at 7:00am sharp. We do not have time to come and get you if you miss it! And if you do miss it…” he stopped and turned to face them all, his grin sardonic and despite himself Aarav shivered. “We get to punish you accordingly.” His eyes started to glint with passion, Aarav was sure it was from the possibility of punishing some of the people that were in front of him at that moment.

Having suitably cowed the children the sadistic instructor moved to continue the tour. “Over in the other half of the grounds are the archery range among other things and finally the melee training area!” This time when he spoke it was clear he had a satisfied grin on his face even though none of them could see it. So he is the melee trainer then? Or at least one of them. The man was so transparent in this disregard for the other disciplines that it honestly left Aarav a little shocked.

“in the melee training grounds you will have our pick of what weapon you prefer and will be trained to the highest level by a weapons master!” Then he stopped turned and sneered at all of the students in front him. “Most of you will not be very capable in any department perhaps you should all become mages?” Then he spotted one particular boy that was a head taller than the rest. He looked like he had some troll or tree in him with skin like bark. Aarav had initially mistaken him for human just an exceptionally tall one. But now that he looked closer it was clear he was not. “Except for you! You would do well to enrol and make use of your impressive physique! Are you part Dryad?”

The boy simply nodded and continued to stand silently as the man continued. “Have you chosen a weapon yet?”The boy shook his head this time and the bald man nodded before moving on.

Over his shoulder he said, “Come and see me directly once melee training starts.” He returned to his forward facing position and started walking at a brisk pace towards the melee training grounds.

Suffice it to say, it was hard to keep up with the man, his physical stats must have been significantly higher than a group of nine year olds that had not fully grown up yet so they gradually trailed further and further behind meanwhile he just kept on talking as if unaware of the growing gap. His voice suspiciously increased in volume to match the distance though. “If you don’t already know where the dormitories are you haven’t been paying attention and so I will not waste my time further but on the opposite side of the grounds are the rooms for your…” he sneered with derision, “Theory lessons, don’t ask me anymore. The professors in there will tell you more. At the end of the Melee and Archery training grounds are the Magical Training Rooms. Most of you will probably do better there.”

He turned to the group with a dubious look but Aarav thought his look said that he didn’t think much of the students physical prowess and that they might have better luck with magic. There was no point in arguing with him as his ideas were set in stone but Aarav was looking forward to getting him to eat his words. Though as a fairy it might be a little difficult to make that happen. He would need to grow both physically and in terms of power.

He continued uninhibited, “Finally near the entrance you will see the academy library. Those that don't have the capability to become accomplished in the melee arts will probably find that spending time in the library will help you. While some skills can only be learnt practically, some of you who cannot handle the physical toll will appreciate the mental arts better.” He noted with derision again Aarav couldn't help but wonder what kind of man this person was? Did he not realise that he was talking to a bunch of children?

Regardless of the man's attitude and the lack of introduction Aarav felt like this was useful time spent understanding the layout of the Academy. If he was going to spend the next year preparing himself to really take advantage of his capabilities it was good for him to understand what was what. Boren seemed equally confused by the man and equally resolved to take full advantage of the opportunity his anonymity provided.

“Right, your lessons will all be on the ground floor! You will never need to go to the first or second floors because they are for more advanced students than the likes of 9-year-olds if you have any questions, don’t ask me. Find other people who will be happy to take your questions!” Without any further preamble he walked off giving them a death glare so intense that Aarav thought he would spontaneously combust, to make sure they didn't follow him.

All things considered Aarav thought that the time had been well spent. The melee instructor has obvious bias and miss out a lot of the important things but it helped that Aarav and Boren both knew a little of the Academy beforehand. Having been instructed on where everything was by Haemish.

“I suppose we can thanks Haemish for not telling us about that instructor. Who knew there was such a person in this school?” Aarav whispered to Boren. Some of the other students heard the two boys speaking and turned to look at them but quickly lost interest.

The large boy that had been addressed by the instructor look up from his from his feet and asked, “Where are the larger dorms, I went to middle ones by accident and they wouldn’t tell me where to go, just that I didn’t belong there.” It seemed he had been the subject of some abuse from his expression, Aarav could only sympathise.

“They are toward the far end where the magic classrooms are. You can see the larger rooms from here.” Boren said.

Aarav thought it would be best if he thought of the prince as Craden from now on though, to avoid any slip ups later.

As soon as Craden had spoken, the large boy loped off without introducing himself, clearly embarrassed from the attention of twenty or so children when he asked the question. Perhaps they would be able to meet him later in one of the classes. But considering the difference in their sizes and builds Aarav seriously doubted it.

The bald man had set the example and the rest of the group wandered off without introducing themselves either, leaving Aarav and Boren, now Craden twiddling their thumbs.

“So what do you want to do next?” Craden asked, they still had a few more hours in the day and not much else to do but settle in, classes started in the next couple of days and they had been instructed by the King as well as several others to blend in and get familiar with the Academy in general.

“Well that muscle-head didn’t tell us but thankfully Haemish loves food so shall we go to the cafeteria? It seems like a good place to start meeting people.” Aarav offered, it seemed the best bet and Craden agreed.

The Academy proper was huge. It had not escaped Aarav’s notice that currently moving between the library and the magical classrooms would take him over half an hour of walking. That was a long time, but if the instructors speed was any indication most people would be able to do it much more quickly.

They hadn’t been in the school for more than a few hours but once again Aarav was overwhelmed with how much stronger everyone else was compared to him. He just hoped that the same could not be said of the other students with them here.