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"Aidan, wake up! We are going to miss the carriage to the capital! C'mon sleepyhead!"
Aidan opened his eyes to find the angry face of his adopted sister, caretaker, servant and friend sitting on his bed next to him. Two years older than him and there ever since he remembered, Sora was someone priceless in his life. Ages past the squirrel-kin tribe of beastmen vowed to send one of their own to serve the scion of his family for saving them. It was not slavery or forced servitude but a duty the squirrel tribe treated as almost sacred. To him Sora was a sister even though he knew some of his ancestors took the relationship with the beastkin a step further. He desired her happiness as much as his own, having known the quiet but fierce girl for what felt like forever.
"Hey, mornin' ". He smiled. Sora remained angry.
"Morning? Wake up and get ready, you overslept last week and we lost the carriage to the capital, if we lose this one we are going to have to skip a semester at the Academy! I don't even know if we will be able to get the classes we want!"
Today they would travel to the capital to transfer into the Royal Academy of Wizardry and Knighthood. It trained the kindom's elites in both spell and sword. Both he and Sora would be enrolled, courtesy of his father's status as an high-ranked adventurer and the title of Baronet his family held. It was a good thing but he would really like to have his parents home a little more. They were always out hunting some legendary beast, it seemed.
He let his gaze wander to take in the beastkin girl's curves but the lust just wasn't there. He could ogle all the girls of most races in town and feel his body respond in kind, but not with Sora. He was too timid to accept the advances of the other girls that seemed too ken into marrying into his family's legacy than into Aidan himself. He was fourteen and had yet to get a girlfriend. But apparently his ogling enraged his beastkin companion.
"Get out of bed now, you idiot!" Sora blushed a bit and wasted no time in getting off the bed, yanking the sheets and blankets away at once, revealing the boy's naked body beneath. She stole a quick disappointed glance at the part that was not showing any reaction and clicked her tongue, proceeding to punch the still sleepy boy in the shoulder to get him out of bed.
Holding a pillow to his privates, Aidan shoved Sora out of his bedroom and quickly donned his travel clothes. He heard a high pitch roar and reached beneath the bed. His familiar, Skippy the dragon came out. The size of a housecat, these 'pseudodragons' were a species of dragons that only grew to a meter in length, snout to tail. Very prized by mages, this intelligent critter was a gift from his father that was currently out in some crazy adventure.
Reaching the front porch, he found Sora already on her best dress and an assorted pile of traveling cases with his things already on the open horsedrawn cart that would take them to town. He was taking his spellbooks with him. He needlessly helped Sora climb to the cart out of courtesy and found his seat next to her. She took his arm and leaned on his shoulder as the lizardman driver ushered the horses pulling the cart forward.
Aidan scratched her hears and they talked about what to do during their free time in the kingdom's capital. He needed to file some paperwork regarding his registration and lodging at the academy grounds, but they would have a whole week of free time to sightsee around. He let a smile into his face as he realized he was finally leaving home at the age of fourteen to become an adult.
Reaching the town, they switched their luggage into a carriage and the driver returned to his family's estate. The trip to the capital took twelve days. A disappointed teenage boy sighed as no monsters or bandits attacked them and they didn't find any noble maiden in distress alongside the road. It was a plain, ordinary trip one should be grateful for, but for the boy that grew hearing the heroic tales of his ancestors it felt lackluster.
Aidan jumped down on the cobblestone street in front of the academy dormitory and mischievously stopped Sora from jumping down placing himself in front of her. Taking the girl by the waist, he rotated and brought her down softly until her feet also touched the cobblestone. Some necks turned to see the endearing scene and the girl allowed herself a brief blush before frowning and assaulting the boy with a few punches to the chest and some yelling. Skippy flew out of the carriage and landed nonchalantly on Aidan's head.
"C'mon, we are late!" He dodged one punch and sidestepped ahead of the squirrel girl toward the academy.
"And whose fault is this?" Pouted Sora following him. "You missed the carriage last week!"
At the dormitory governess' office they got a room for themselves. The dormitory was a big mansion with three wings. As minor aristocracy, Aidan could get one room in the noble's wing and a smaller one for Sora, but he insisted in getting the girl better accommodations and got a twin room in the commoner's wing. It was still a nice room reserved for the children of merchants and wealthy commoners like adventurers of renown, with two beds, two desks, a dresser and two cabinets but a far shot from the opulent rooms in the noble's wing.
At the academy's registrar they got their class schedule for the semester. Aidan was enrolled in spellcraft to learn the art of designing spells, wizardry for casting spells, knightly swordsmanship where he would learn to fight with not only swords but also maces, shields and spears, and horsemanship that included mounted combat and lances. Sora had the martial classes in the same slots as Aidan, but also commerce, diplomacy and scouting including archery. By coincidence her diplomacy class was with the Princess. For some reason, despite they being one of the last students to make the registration there were a lot of empty spots in that class, but Sora didn't mind.
After going through registration for both of them they dumped their luggage in the room and after locking it they went for a stroll through town, arms locked. From an outsider's perspective they looked like newlyweds on their honeymoon. Dressed in the academy uniform, Aidan stopped with Sora at a stone bridge, unaware of the amount of gazes they were drawing and rumours starting about them during their afternoon. There were several students going around these parts. One group of students in particular were at the balcony of a fancy tea house in the noble district overseeing the crystal clear river before it ran into the commoner's district and into the slums, exiting the capital going west as a stream of sludge and sewage.
Princess Lumina, her handmaid and a couple of ladies-in-waiting were sipping their tea and gossiping about court romance when Lumina frowned at the couple.
"Claire, would you look at those two by the bridge? What is that stupid beast-lover doing tarnishing our esteemed academy's uniform with those shameful acts?" The beautiful face of princess Lumina was encased in a frown as she shook her head in disapproval, the ringlets adorning her shoulders bouncing around.
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"Really despicable, your Highness. Would you like me to call the guard on them?" Claire bent her waist down and poured more tea into the princess' cup.
"No, don't bother." The princess made a light wave with her hand to signal both to stop pouring tea and to let it pass. "I will ask someone to look into the matter when we return to the academy and take a proper action later, with more information."
"A wise choice, my lady." Claire nodded. It was a fact well know that despite not being a human supremacist the princess had a dislike for those races she deemed 'ugly', including the feral beastkin. That she was delaying her reaction to gather more information was a good sign that she was maturing. She let a faint smile find purchase on her lips before the princess ranted on.
"Yes, could you imagine if he gets scared by the guard and stops socializing with beasts? I want to get him inside the academy grounds with that same shamelessness. Maybe I can even get him expelled!" Lumina made a giddy chuckle before composing herself. She was wearing the same uniform right now, except it was the female version and it had some badges regarding her station.
Claire's tentative smile faded and she suppressed a very inappropriate sigh. She treasures Lumina, but she really needs to grow up.
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An old and hirsute wizard holding a clipboard with a pen jutting from it cleared his throat, making all the students of the magician class stand at attention. The classroom looked like an amphitheater with the students sitting on elevated rows. It was morning, but heavy curtains shut out the sunlight. The room was illuminated by magical glowing orbs conjured by the teacher.
"Welcome, apprentices. I know that each one of you will grow into splendid magicians and wizards in your future. I cannot help but smile as I see so many young faces with the talent for the Art of Wizardry and Spellcraft. As you are well aware, the first day is the day we measure your aptitude. I know most of you can already cast your first incantations and cantrips, but we need precise measurements."
He then explained the measurement procedure. There was a clear spherical crystal the size of two stretched hands across rested on a pillow. It was spotless and one could see the distorted image of what lied on the other side of the sphere. It would measure their elemental affinity and their mana affinity. Those values were not set in stone, they could grow. Magic affinities were ranked from G to A, with a fabled but unreacheable rank S in the records as a possibility but no one had such affinities in reality.
"At the start of each semester you will have your aptitudes measured and your advancements recorded, so please work hard in developing your Arts and Crafts. Now I will call you by order of registration. Princess Lumina, if you please."
'Of course the princess was the very first to be registered. She was probably registered as soon as she was born,' thought Aidan. He was not entirely wrong. Being part of the royal bureaucracy, the clerks at the academy had a strict mind regarding rank. Royalty would always come first for them.
Lumina stood up and drew a few gasps and sighs from her fans among the crowd of students. She was extremely beautiful, talented and powerful. It was a public known fact that Lumina could already weave 3rd circle spells. She was even regarded as one capable of performing a Otherworlder Hero Summoning ritual, something that had not happened in the kingdom for half a millennia. She turned and smiled at the class drawing a wolf-like expression from the boys.
Aidan yelped and his eyes crossed with Lumina's. The princess frowned and with a muffled 'humph' she turned around, her wavy hair drawing around her head like a cloak. Aidan immediately felt the hatred of the class' boys setting his back on fire.
Hiding her smirk from her classmates, Lumina walked to the dais. She stopped, removed her gloves, turned and with a dramatic pose slowly brought her hand to touch the crystal. Magical energies swirled around the crystal before she even touched it, making the old archmage raise an eyebrow. A storm brewed inside the crystal increased in intensity and light in the colors yellow, blue and green shone on the classroom, temporarily blinding the other students. The archmage's eyes were unaffected. The storm began as heavy clouds and winds, bolts of lightning raining down and fierce winds blowing water all around. The storm gave way to a fine mist and then the clouds parted to allow golden lights to shine down on the pillow.
"Marvelous. Splendid! As expected of the fair princess of the realm. Air rank A, water rank B and light rank C. The Sky mage! And mana rank A as well! The world can be considered lucky if one such mage would appear once every century!" The old archmage could be said to be crying as he recorded and lauded the princess' performance.
One could have affinity with up to four elements and the mana affinity. The current theory recognizes six elements, Air, Earth, Fire, Water, Light and Darkness. Some crackpot hedge wizards also acknowledge the elements of time and space, but since nobody can show a functioning spell of these elements, they are disconsidered. From the six basic elements come the mixed elements. A mage versed in both air and water can cast mist spells. A mage versed in earth and water can use plant and mud spells, and so on. There were the composite elements with three and four elements as well, like 'Sky' for the princess' particular combination. Every element had a color. Red for fire, orange for earth, yellow for light, green for air, blue for water and purple for darkness. Some otherworld summoned heroes commented on the lack of an 'indigo' color and how this world regarded the rainbow as having six colors instead of seven, but the seventh color was dismissed as madness. It made perfect sense to have only six after all.
Legends spoke of the Rainbow Mage. One that could use the six elements, a magic powerhouse and the guardian of the planet. This has also caused a minor conflict with the summoned heroes. They regarded the need for children to join their powers to summon the Rainbow Mage and for some reason he had the rank of Captain. Again it was dismissed by the scholars' consensus as madness.
There is even a branch of study regarding the mental consequences of interdimensional travel. It seems that every otherworld summoned hero is a bit... eccentric.
As Aidan idly mused on his magic theory regarding elements, his fellow classmates were tested one by one. So far only a few dual element and one other triple element. Not that Aidan was keeping a tally. Sora by then was already asleep on the desk next to Aidan. Despite having no magical talent, she had the same class schedule as her ward.
"Mr. Aidan! If you please!" The old archmage shout boomed across the classroom and startled the boy. Aidan stood up and found all eyes on him. Including a death glare from the princess and her troupe.
"Yes, sir! I'm here!" Aidan stood up and saluted the teacher, eliciting a round of laughter from the class.
"Clean the drool off the corner of your mouth and come here get tested, before I kick you and your companion out of my class permamently!" The archmage glared daggers at Aidan, prompting a delighted and slightly disturbing smile on the princess' face. The students were no longer sitting at their desks, mingling and talking in small groups all around the classroom
Aidan went to the dias and placed his hand on the crystal. No reaction. For the second time the archmage raised an eyebrow. It was impossible for any student registered in his classroom to have no magical affinity, as they were tested for the presence of mana during their registration. Suddenly an eerie glow erupted from the bottom of the sphere, a mix of orange and red. The magma element quickly filled the bottom but the warm light shed by the lava never reached the ceiling. A dreadful violet mist descended on the magma, revealing that the pool of lava was deep underground. The lava erupted once more and with a violent shake the cavern crumbled. As the purple mist took over the entire classroom the light spells dimmed and almost died. Suddenly a grey glow came out from the mist, displaying a grinning skull.
With a primal disgust, the students all took a step away from the dais. Princess Lumina had a face of terror as if the demon god had been reborn. She redoubled her efforts to get Aidan expelled that day.
"Fire grade B, Earth grade D, darkness grade C. Mana grade C. The Underworld element." Said the archmage as if he was a judge condemning a traitor to the gallows. Professional though he was, the underworld element was one regarded as evil.
Cold sweat took over Aidan as he realized his school life just took a step towards doom.