Entering the Academy premises was somebody well-known, well in his mind he was. In reality, this person was a lot more infamous than famous, he was known as the "Whimsical Starchild".
He was a prodigy taught by one of the greatest magicians in history. He could cast magic differently from others with his massive storage of mana inside his body. But despite his prowess in magic, he was not respected in the community.
His crimson red hair was always out shadowed by his redder eyes. He had a shaky voice and an even shakier body. His skin was pale and he had sudden bursts of idiocy.
His weird behavior and eccentric master made him avoided by the other magically talented children. He was a hardworking disciple but when his master died he started lazing around.
The Academy was located near the outskirts of Stolzstadt. The land wasn't exactly even, it had a bunch of elevation and a lot of trees. There were a couple of buildings, all huge and different in purpose.
The "Whimsical Starchild" was a new student (against his wishes). He was enrolled here by his parents after a year of doing absolutely nothing productive.
Gale knew there was supposed to be some sort of opening ceremony, something like an event to welcome the new students. He really did not care, attendance was optional and he rather not go to places crowded with people.
But still, he was inside the Academy, so he had to do something to pass the time. Wandering around he found a massive garden. Different colored flowers, big trees, and a huge circular pond in the middle.
He sat on a stone chair, it was cold and hard. Sitting down he looked around, his eyes shifting around trying to find people. Realizing nobody was around he took out a small red orb.
Opening his mouth, his shaky hand moved closer and closer holding the orb. He was about to drop the orb inside his mouth when he sensed a familiar eerie feeling.
He knew this feeling, she was getting closer. The "she" in question was his cousin. A rowdy person who he doesn't consider to be a human, her monstrous strength and her introverted personality made her a massive annoyance to Gale.
He saw a red blur become larger and cleaner, it was getting closer. Gale knew what was happening, this "blur" was his cousin.
The girl arrived in front of Gale, her hair was even more crimson than Gale's, she was taller despite being younger and looked a lot healthier than him.
"Hey Gale, why are you here? We're supposed to be attending the opening ceremony."
"I was just waiting for you." Whimpered Gale holding his hand up like he was getting arrested by the police. Of course, Gale wasn't waiting for his cousin, he had other intentions.
"Hey what's that?" His cousin pointed at the red orb on the ground.
Gale kicked the orb with all his might even using magic to increase the force of the kick. The orb flew over the pond." What orb?" Said Gale fainting ignorance.
"You know the orb you just kicked." Gale's face began to sweat and his eyes were averting his cousin's gaze. "I was just uhh... Practicing my new dance move."
"Really now. How about you show it to me." Gale's face began to be engulfed with sweat. He kicked the air repeatedly, and with every kick, he felt more and more embarrassed.
Alternating his legs with every kick he also did jazz hands but mostly just waved his hand like he was on fire. After dancing for less than 30 seconds Gale's body was tired and he was panting like a dog.
"That is so beautiful." His cousin's eyes began to tear up. "Just so beautiful."
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Meanwhile somewhere way less sweaty and embarrassing was the red orb. The orb itself had settled in its new home. At first, it wasn't accepted by the locals but after proving itself and saving the village(patch of grass) from the monster(grasshopper) it was accepted.
Now the orb lived with the village's(patch of grass) maiden(ugly flower) and he was about to propose. "Maiden(really ugly flower) will you do the honors and make me the happiest orb in the village(you already know).
" I... I ac-"
The high-tension proposal was interrupted by a girl picking up the orb. "Hey, Holly looked at what I found." Said a girl holding up the red orb.
"Aderyn please stopped picking up objects you find on the ground."
"No... Hey look at this, I think it's the new popular thing they have in THE EMPIRE." Said Aderyn.
"Trash?"
"What? No, it's candy. It's like sweet hard nectar that came from the gods. So sweet and delicious. I had some when I was in THE EMPIRE, it was big and yellow, unlike this one."
"As your bodyguard and your friend, I will not allow you to eat that."
"As your master, if you allow me to eat this I will talk to my parents about giving you a raise."
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"..."
"Would you like salt on that candy of yours Master?"
Aderyn took the candy and put it close to her mouth. "Bon Appétit as they say in Fr- actually where do they say that. Wait do we even say that, I don't really know actually, maybe-"
Holly pushed Aderyn's hand into her mouth. "Stop rambling and eat the candy already." Aderyn began licking the orb inside her mouth. "I can't taste it."
"Maybe you have to crush it using your teeth."
"Nope, it's too hard, my teeth hurt now. I actually what if I *Gulp*." Aderyn ate the red orb, at first she felt fine but after a couple of seconds, her throat felt extremely hot.
"HOT! MY THROAT IS BURNING HOTTER THAN THE SUN!" Aderyn began to wave her hand like a fan trying to cool herself down. Her entire throat felt like she had a portal to hell inside her, spewing out lava and brimstone.
"Quick Aderyn drink the pond water!"
"Uhh, do I need to do that?"
"What..."
"I mean it's kinda dirty you know. I think there might be some fish inside the pond so that means there is also poop in there."
"Aderyn, you just ate something you found on the ground."
"Well, it isn't the same... You know what Holly, I think I rather let my throat burn for all of eternity than drink dirty pond water. Now excuse me, for I have to continue screaming now... AHHHHH! IT BURNS!"
After a couple of minutes of nonstop gruesome screaming, the burning pain she felt finally stopped. But another feeling overwhelmed her, a joyous emotion. "I CAN FEEL THE MANA SURGING THROUGH MY BODY, I AM BECOMING STRONGER!"
"THIS FEELING OF POWER, I AM UNSTOPPABLE, THE WORLD WILL BOW DOWN BEFORE ME AND I WILL RULE AS A GOD."
"Hey, Aderyn are you okay?" Asked Holly with a worried look on her face. " I... Mana... Power... Rule... God..." Replied Aderyn slowly with spit flying everywhere.
"Maybe I shouldn't have allowed you to eat whatever you picked up." Aderyn did not reply, she just stood still her eyes not blinking or responding to anything.
Picking her up, Holly carried her like a sack of rice. She decided to walk to the location of the opening ceremony to unwind. While walking she passed two weirdos.
They were both dancing, one looked like she enjoyed every second. Meanwhile the other looked like he was dead inside and outside. They both were bad at dancing and Holly thought she could do so much better even if she was intoxicated.
"IM FLYING, IM FLYING! WHAT'S HAPPENING!? MY HEAD IS SPLITTING APART WHYYYY!"
"Flying... Head... Blarghhhhh!" Aderyn vomited, puked, hurled, regurgitated her storage, and spewed her breakfast all over Holly.
Holly threw the sack of rice onto the floor, her clothes covered in barf, and her hair once brown now had a shade of black. She could guess from the contents of the sludge that Aderyn probably ate squid.
Aderyn looked peaceful, her eyes were closed and she had an elegant look on her face if you ignore the vomit flowing from her mouth.
Holly looked at the sky, her eyes had no emotion, "I'm not paid enough for this."
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Back in the garden, there was a dead body. The dead body belongs to no one else than Gale. Of course, he wasn't dead but he did feel he was about to pass the river of life. "Master I'm coming home."
Beside the corpse was his cousin, full of energy and still grooving nonstop. After hitting the strongest and longest spin of her whole life, she remembered something important. "Hey, Gale we should go to the ceremony now."
"Sorry but Gale is currently not available at the current time, please take a number and go fuck yourself in the meantime."
"Silence foul-mouthed demon... You know I didn't want to do this but I guess I have to drag you now." Gale was then grabbed and dragged by the feet. His clothes were getting ruined by the dirt and grass, and his pale body was getting scratched by the rocks.
"Let me go Alph, I am no longer destined for this world."
"The hell are you talking about... It's just a ceremony."
"Fiiiiiiine... I will walk." Gale gave in, he guessed the ceremony was about to end anyway so he might as well go there without eating any more dirt. His cousin let go of his leg and let out a sigh of relief.
"I knew you would give in. I know you don't really like crowds but don't worry." Gale stood up and dusted himself, " we will have fun and create new memories full of..." Gale began to sprint away.
His body was full of adrenaline and he was running faster than ever. His cousin tried to follow but he was too fast. He ran and ran, with every second his speed increased. He then finally achieved maximum speed and zoomed through the whole planet leaving a trail of fire.
It was what he imagined and wanted to happen but in actual reality, he was just able to walk a couple of steps before falling to the ground. His body was still fatigued from the bombastic dancing he did after all.
"Really only 5 steps. Gale, you should work out more or at least use magic when you try to escape."
"Alph this is the end for me *cough* leave me here to die and save yourself while you still have time left."
"Gale... No captain ever abandons his crew, we will survive this together." His cousin's eyes shined brightly, full of determination.
Gale was carried princess style, his lifeless body seemed so cold and hopeless. With his last breath, he said "Alph... Isn't Rose the captain or leader of our trio?"
"She's more of a dictator than a leader if you think about it... Oh, would you look at that we have arrived at the ceremony?" They had arrived, and in front of them was a huge group of students standing around.
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The ceremony took place outside for some weird reason. The Academy has a lot of rooms big enough to host this event but they still do it outside every year.
When the teachers were asked why the ceremony always happens outside, they responded with varying answers.
"I love the atmosphere the outside has during spring."
"There is a higher chance the students get attacked by a monster outside."
"The Academy is haunted by ghosts, it's haunted by ghosts, it's haunted by ghosts!"
"Something something, I have no idea."
"Sorry but I don't talk to disembodied voices coming from the sky."
Dropping Gale onto the floor, his cousin waved at somebody. "Rose over here!" Jumping and waving, his cousin caused a small ruckus.
Walking in long strides, a girl with pink hair and a sleepy face waved back. "What took you so long? Did you get lost again Alphy?"
Gale's cousin responded with a small gesture. Raising her left hand, she dropped four out of five fingers and left the middle one up.
Ignoring her, Rosemary glanced at Gale. Gale was on the floor fidgeting with a red orb. "Damn it, Gale! I thought you were gonna stop using those." Gale looked blankly at Rosemary... He then proceeded to devour the orb.
"Hey spit that out, Gale!" Demanded his cousin. Gale's cousin knew what he was doing, he was consuming something very dangerous. Gale's cousin went an--- "STOP CALLING ME GALE'S COUSIN! MY NAME IS ALPHONSINE, NOT GALE'S COUSIN!"
Flailing her arms around like an idiot, Rosemary's friend yelled out in anger.
"OH, YOU FUC- *CRASH*" Gale's aunt's daughter was struck by lighting. The people around her were not surprised and everyone ignored her electrified corpse.
"I'm sure you can walk it off." Said Rosemary unbothered by the sight of her friend's cadaver. "Wow, that's the gooood stuff!" Gale stood up, all the fatigue and pain he felt earlier disappeared. "It's time for a braaaaawl!"
"You need serious medical help. Your brain is probably filled with nothing but air."