By the time I woke back up, Mason was also asleep, clearly he hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before either. I decided to snoop around the plane since I as the only passenger awake.
Deeper into the plane, I found a fridge with some premade food and a bathroom. I relieved myself and heated the food with my fire mana, just as I was about to walk back to the seating area I figured Mason would probably also be hungry so grabbed another serving for him.
I didn’t bother heating his since I didn’t know when he would wake up.
I was less than halfway through my meal when Mason started stirring, I had put the food in front of him. To test myself, on mana control I tried to heat up his meal from where I was sitting.
For some reason my mana would fall apart as soon as it got further than a couple feet from my body. I could only assume it was because I was too weak, or not practiced enough. I stood up and walked over to Mason to heat the food and received a nod in return.
After Mason had finished eating I thought to ask.
“Hey Mason, you have a much greater range on using your mana than I do, what’s the deal?”
“Practice, using magic is like any other muscle. The more you use it and push it, the further and greater your control is. You may have noticed, I'm not the best at explaining this kinda thing. Maybe you should wait for the academy lessons. We will have a general magic use lesson, one per affinity and of course a few boring lessons about history ex cetera.” he answered.
“I guess I will just wait for that then. I do have one question though. Why did I hear people saying spell chants when they were attacking the Truth of Mist people, but I Lord Mist and Captain Smith didn’t. Now that I think of it, I’ve never heard you say one either.”
To my shock, Mason sneered at the question. He saw my expression and quickly apologized.
“I’m not annoyed at you dude. Spell Chants are for people who don’t have the control to build the spell without the crutch. Especially low level spells like my Shadow Teleport and Shadow Spike, well the basic versions I have. I learnt them with the chant but that was only to learn the movement of the magic to build the spell. With control, you can build the spell without the chant.” Mason explained.
“Asked and answered. I guess I will have to work on my control.” I responded.
The rest of the several hour trip was spent talking shit and being idiots.
As we were coming in to land at the academy's airfield, I was starting to get nervous. Would I make friends other than Mason? Would I end up being the target of the bullies that every school ended up having? I didn’t know.
We exited the plane to find a carriage waiting for us. A middle aged man stepped out and approached us. He was quite possibly the plainest person I had seen since I came here, brown hair, brown eyes and a vaguely forgettable face.
It was while I was thinking that that I felt a pressure pushing against my mind, and I noticed his pupil was expanding. Clearly he was a Psychic, probably not his only element, I doubted anyone with a single element would be sent to this "prestigious institution" as Essie described it to me at one point.
"Mr Herondale, Mr Montgomery welcome to Sendonia Academy. Yes Mason, You will be pleased as no-one gets to use their home title here. Why yes Cain I am reading your minds, I find it is very useful as head of Discipline at the academy. I am Captain Ang, You can call me Sir or Captain when it is official or Min when in private," He started speaking, answering our questions before we could even think about asking them.
He continued as we walked towards the carriage, leaving Corporal Collins behind in the plane.
"Yes there will be a packet of information waiting for you in the dormitory, more for your benefit than Mason's Cain. You will share your general classes with all members of your year and then separate for individual affinities. There was a general assembly but the two of you were late, it is currently ongoing. I know there were extenuating circumstances, with the attack and the celebration, especially since you are a part of the royal family Mason but you are both lucky you weren't punished for being late."
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
"I know you have already heard this in my head but it is very disconcerting that you are answering our questions before we can ask them." I finally asked.
"My apologies, I know people with secrets like yours don't like having their minds read. I am surprised that Essie didn't give you a mind block accessory." Captain Ang responded.
"I didn't even know they existed, either that or she trusted you to do something about it?" I hinted, hoping for him to give me one.
"Heh I will see what I can do. The royals are the ones who pay for this academy anyway. I actually fought with your uncle once upon a time Mason." Captain Ang continued.
"Really? He never told me any information about when he was younger. What was he like?" Mason asked.
"Perhaps this isn't the time for some of those stories." Captain Ang started when something seemed to grab his attention.
Captain Ang started off into the distance, the same direction they were already headed.
"It would appear the principal wishes for the pair of you to be there for his welcome speech. Looks like we will have to delay the trip to your dorm." He said before slapping the wall and yelling out.
After that pronouncement, the carriage was silent for the rest of the time. The carriage stopped outside a building that extruded age, it reminded me of the truly old and rich colleges from back in my time. The building even looked familiar, I feel like I have seen it somewhere before.
“Is Sendonia Academy in the same place a college was formally?” I decided to ask Captain Ang.
“No, this academy was created in the image of the ivy league colleges of the past. The building architecture was inspired by the belief that they were the most prestigious institutions of the time, and the first principal wanted to inspire that level of awe and dedication in students.” Captain Ang answered me.
He continued talking while walking us into the building.
“You will be given a map to find everything but I will explain the layout of the academy while we head into the Memorial Hall. The memorial hall stands at the centre of the academy, housing the grand auditorium, the administrative offices and in an independant building behind, the living quarters of the administration.”
“In a large square around, you have the elemental halls, where you will learn, train and practice your individual elements. Going from directly north and working our way around clockwise, we have Fire, Beast taking up over twice the amount of room in the north east corner, Nature, Air, Space, Lightning in the south east corner, Void, Water due south, Light, Ice in the south west corner, Psychic, Earth to the West, Poison, Metal in the north west corner and finally Shadow. I am unaware why they were laid out in that order but that is how it is.”
“Outside of that square, the first year dorms are to the north, second year to the north east, the training ground due east, third year dorms to the south east, the general subject classrooms due south, a recreation area south west, stadium due west and refining building to the north west.” Captain Ang finished.
We had walked up multiple flights of stairs as Captain Ang spoke, as he finished he opened a door and led us through.
We came out high above the rest of the room, looking down up most of the seats. It reminded me of a theatre with the balcony seats on a higher floor, most probably for visiting VIPs during different ceremonies.
I looked at the stage after a moment to see twenty adults seated on a raised dais behind a lecturn, a girl about our age was walking off the stage.
An older man wearing a three piece suit stood up from his seat and walked back to the microphone. He had a pointed face with a sharp chin, white hair and gave off a dignified air.
“Put your hands together for your first year student body president, Clarissa Clarke. All of you who wish to join her staff can apply within the next two days to the administrative office next to the first year dorms.” he said as he started clapping.
The hundred or so students below us started clapping along, they were all wearing white dress shirts, ties and a grey jacket. Apparently I was going to have to dress up like a damn anime character to go to the academy here. I stopped complaining to myself as the clapping died down and the principal started talking again.
“And finally, I wanted to officially welcome you all to Sendonia Academy, the next step in your lives. This academy and its staff will do everything in their power to not only help you grow your strength in your affinities but also as a person.
You have come from diverse backgrounds across the settled worlds of human space, to our home planet and this prestigious institution. We hope you will learn from each other and understand the many different cultures humans have developed across the last two hundred years.
We are sitting at a crossroads as a people, We are changing at a rate that can no longer be controlled. Our friends from Amphira are proof enough of that, a rather fascinating case of mana-based evolution."
Someone cleared their throat from behind the principal.
"Hmm as I was saying. Many of you don't have sufficient cultivation techniques, some of you may know it is a prerequisite to enter the academy of at least two affinities, we have opened the lowest level of the libraries for you all to pick out a cultivation technique. Your first class will take you to the library and will also further explain the process.
As you move forward into the world of magic and mana cultivation, you may find that those around you will try and push you at a rate faster than you can safely keep up, I beg of you not to do harm to yourselves. A step forward is not also a positive and a step back is not always a negative. A base sturdy enough to build your strength is a greater goal than trying to reach for the stars from the start."
The principal finished to a reluctant round of applause, clearly many people hadn't been listening properly. His mid speech segway made me chuckle, it was just like listening to my dad about his research, that chuckle hurt after a moment, as I remembered I would never hear it again.
"One final thing, as this is the bicentennial celebration year for the Time of Mana there is an additional thing to look forward to. At the end of the year, our sister school on Mars will be hosting a tournament for all three years including the top thirty academies across the galaxy. Work hard, learn well, grow strong and you may be one of the representatives for your year. Thankyou and good luck." The principal finished, getting a much larger applause this time.
The crowd below us burst into conversation immediately, Captain Ang tapped me on the shoulder and pointed back out.
"We want to beat the rush so you can get to your dorm."