We passed through the gates and were directed to the stables to take care of our mounts before heading into the academy proper. Many of us stared around agape. The academy was huge, larger than Trefi, closer to the size of a large village. From afar, we could only see the main castle but surrounding it were buildings of every sort imaginable. Luckily, we had a guide to lead us to our destination.
We were led to an open field before the castle where a group of tables were lined up with 2 people sitting at each one. Before all of the tables stood a surprisingly short man with a close-cropped beard. With a booming voice that had to have been magically enhanced, he greeted us, “Welcome to Gryphonwing Academy! It’s wonderful to have the recruits of the Drakescale Legions joining us for this academic year.”
“My name is Geoffrey Valentin and as headmaster, it is a pleasure to have you all joining us for our inaugural class of mixed academics. Among your peers you will meet citizens from every corner of Tirovalta. Like you, they have a primary assignment outside of the academy. In addition to your legion, we are also welcoming students from the Brightwood Scholars, the crafters, and the Krackenclaw Fleets. In an effort to increase cohesion and cooperation among your year, each of you will be assigned a roommate from one of the other groups.”
“Speaking of which, we do need to cover the initial logistics of your enrollment. You will receive your room assignment and schedule at one of the tables behind me. Every student is required to take Introduction to Summoning and the System which will cover the basics common to all who have received a class. Your other subjects will be determined based upon your class and skills, for a total of 8 hours per day. Instruction will begin tomorrow so please settle in this afternoon.”
With that, Headmaster Valentin stepped to the side and motioned for us to approach one of the tables. It seemed to be an efficient process relying on magical artifacts, but we still formed a queue with minimal pushing and shoving to get a good position. When it came to my turn, I was told to place my hand on a stone tablet sitting in the center of the table. After a short glow, writing appeared on two sheets of parchment, one handed to me and the other added to a growing stack. “Welcome to the academy. Next!”
I moved to the side and read over my schedule.
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> Name: Calvin Jones
>
> Dorm Assignment: Clover
>
> Room Assignment: 2-5
Hours
Class
Instructor
1 - 2
Melee Combat
Holga Doomtusk
3-4
Introduction to Crafting
Albert Ironbreaker
5-7
Introduction to Summoning and the System
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
Adrie Galanodel
8
Magic for Non-Mages
Orrin Muernor
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In addition to the required course, the others seemed to line up fairly predictably. Combat and Crafting were directly related to my skills and class, while I’m assuming that Magic for Non-Mages is assigned to all martial classholders. Looking around, I saw a group of recruits standing around a sign with a clover on it and wandered over that direction. Chatting with the others it looked like I was in the right place because we’d all been assigned to the Clover Dorm. The others confirmed my suspicion about Magic for Non-Mages as we were all assigned to that course.
Before too long, all the schedules had been handed out and we were being escorted to our dorms. I made my way to the second floor and found room 5. I pushed my way in and my roommate had already moved in. He looked up from the book he was reading as I entered but didn’t get up.
“You must be my roommate. I’m Reuben Blau. Nice to meet you. Want me to show you around a bit after you get settled? I’ve been here for a few days.”
A quick grin settled on my face, “That sounds great, I’m Cal Jones. Just let me put my stuff down.” Reuben went back to his book as I did my initial unpacking. It wasn’t long before I got his attention, “All set, ready to head out?”
He folded the corner of a page down before hanging it over the back of his desk chair to hold his spot. “Perfect. I wouldn’t want you to get lost on your first day. The Drakes were the last to arrive, so I already know where you were assigned, but what kind of class did you get?”
Confused, I looked over as we exited our room, “Yeah, I’m with the Drakescale Legions, but why call me a Drake?”
“Oh, that’s just what the first-years have started referring to the legionnaires as. There’s also the Krackenclaw Fleets, or Krackens. And those like me, Brightwood Scholars, or Scholars. I’m an Aetherist by the way.”
“That makes sense, easier than saying Drakescale Legions every time someone asks at least. I’m a Mauler. It looks like I’ll mainly be a close combat fighter. What’s an Aetherist?”
“That’s great! You’ll have to help me with my Combat for Mages course. As for your question, you’ll learn more about this but magic falls into one of two categories: Natural Elements or Aether Elements. There are eight natural elements; four primary and four secondary. The primary elements are air, earth, fire, water while the secondary elements are based on different combinations of those four. There are also four Aether elements, but Aether doesn’t have secondary elements. Those are Dark, Light, Mind, and Soul. Following so far?”
“Everyone knows about the elements. I’m not completely clueless after all. But I’m unclear about which element an Aetherist actually uses. Do you just get all of them or how does that work?”
“I can use all of the Aether elements, but only at an extremely low level. Well, to be more honest, I can’t actually use any of them yet. Mage classes need a bit of training before we can access our skills. Similar to every other class, the higher the rarity, the more specific the focus. So as an uncommon mage, there are only two classes that I could be assigned: Elementalist or Aetherist. At least as far as traditional mage classes go. Other classes have access to magic, but usually through a different method; like how alchemists create magical elixirs.”
“So if every mage class has access to all the elements, does that mean you can use the natural elements too?”
“Ahh, not quite. It’s a common misconception that Apprentice Mages, the common variant that starts the progression path, have access to both Natural and Aether Elements. But that’s not accurate. Similar effects can be achieved through various elements and one of the core focuses of an Apprentice Mage is to determine if they are able to progress to Elementalist or Aetherist.”
This was starting to make my head spin and I told him so. From there, he focused on showing me around the campus. It was incredible. The architecture was some of the finest craftsmanship I’d ever seen and was clearly infused with mana. I also got my first look at some of the more traditional students. Other than the other assignees, all of the other students appeared to be in their early to mid-twenties, if not older. This must have been what Commander Eades was talking about when he mentioned that it was extremely unusual for someone to immediately enter an academy.
I barely had any time to get my feet under me before it was already dark. I crashed almost as soon as entering my room after dinner, half a day of travel and getting acclimated left me exhausted. But at the same time, I was excited for my first day…