As The Wanderers were crossing the bridge to The Academy, Eolande sighed softly and muttered, "It's now or never since he looks so good in that outfit..."
The Elder Tylwyth Teg then used her wings to float in front of everyone, resulting in them stopping from moving forward.
Lone raised a curious eyebrow. "Something wrong, Eolande?"
The girl bit her lip somewhat seductively as she glanced between Lone and Soph. "You promised me a kiss on the lips for my help with extracting information from that triple-X-ranker. I know I didn't get much info - if any - out of him in the end, but I tried my best... so I was kind of hoping I could get my reward... I mean, If Soph agrees, that is..."
Soph held a tail to her chest and visibly sulked. "Lone already talked to me about it... It's okay, but only a peck! No tongue or I'm putting you in a Barrier Bubble and I'm not letting you out for a whole week! You can pee yourself and starve in there for all I care!"
Eolande shivered a bit at such a frightening thought. "I-I promise, no tongue."
Soph nodded arrogantly. "Good. Also, no more than half a second! No lingering! His lips belong to me and to Sophie!"
Lone smiled wryly. "You're so attractive when you're possessive, you know that, right, Soph?"
"Eh?" the girl in question shrank in embarrassment. "T-Thanks..."
Lone smiled warmly then stepped forwards and lifted Eolande's chin up with his hand, surprising her.
"Huh?" She wasn't expecting him to be so forward, so she was caught extremely off guard by this simple motion of his.
"Thanks for all of the time you put into that piece of shit. I don't know what I'd do without you in situations like that, Violet Flower," Lone said then gently pressed his lips against hers. Exactly half a second later, he pulled away and grinned. "You're pretty cute too when you're embarrassed, but still not even half as cute as Soph is."
"That's so unfair..." the over two-hundred-thousand-year-old girl muttered in complaint as her cheeks were flushed with a tinge of crimson.
Rushing forward and returning her floof kingdom to its rightful place, her arms, Soph stuck her tongue out at Eolande triumphantly. "You'll never be cuter than me!"
"Hehe, I don't want to be. I'm perfectly happy with you being the queen of cuteness," Eolande said after she took a short moment to collect herself and hide her embarrassment.
"... Good," Soph said as she leered at Eolande suspiciously.
After that little scene, the group of five crossed the bridge. Swind didn't have Rachel with him this time since the last thing that he wanted was for her to get upset by a loud noise again, and now that his soul was linked to hers, he felt far more comfortable leaving her in The Glade. Of course, she wasn't alone. Kyuubi and Garadia were with her, so if something were to happen to her, Garadia would signal Lone immediately with a telepathic 'Gao'.
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A lot of The Academy's staff members and students could be seen walking back and forth through the plaza that made up The Academy's heart.
Some staff members were busy cleaning, some were taking notes on the students, some were helping the more regal students who had returned from their mid-year holidays abroad reacquaint themselves with the many buildings of The Academy. Regardless of what they were all doing, it was clear as day to see that not a single one of these employees was a professor.
As for the students, a good portion of them were going into a building with a large 'School Year Supplies' sign hanging above its door. The ones leaving that building could then be seen entering the main hall where a tall human man could be soon standing impatiently with the other recently passed students by his side.
"That must be Teacher Rax," Lone noted with a short laugh. "He looks pissed off. I wonder why?"
"Well, it's very nearly noon, Lone," Eolande said while very skillfully avoided getting a glare from Soph by actually addressing him with his name for once instead of with 'Husband'.
"I suppose so. Also, is it just me, or does his outfit looks worse than the ones the teachers from the entry-test were wearing?" Lone asked as he and group walked towards the teacher, Prince Seto, the arrogant youth, the old man, and the rabbitkin.
"Yes, you're right. His is brown and not blue, nor is it black like the vice-headmaster's was," Swind noted.
Breena nodded. "I researched The Academy a lot. Brown robes are for teachers, where the dark blue ones are for professors. Only vice-headmasters have black ones, although, there is only one vice-headmaster currently. Teachers have limited talents in magic, but they excel in theory. Professors excel in both theory and practical abilities. As for vice-headmasters, they are former professors who also have clerical and political talents."
"Huh. Good to know. Thanks, Breena," Lone said as he and his group finally reached Teacher Rax and their fellow students.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
"You're welcome, Master," Breena answered faintly.
Looking down at his wrist which had a runic pattern on it, Teacher Rax clicked his tongue. "You made it, just barely. Come along now, we have a few things to go over, and, most importantly, everyone has to choose their classes within the next two hours."
Lone cocked his head to the side. "What's the rush?"
Turning around and opening the door to the main building, Teacher Rax replied, "Headmaster Erion shall be holding the assembly for the first term of the new academic year shortly. Regardless of you being new students, it is mandatory for everyone to attend, students, professors, teachers, and staff alike."
"Is that so? Okay. Sorry for cutting it so close. I wasn't aware there would be an assembly. I was just told to be here by noon," Lone admitted apologetically.
Teacher Rax hadn't slighted Lone, so he didn't want to be rude to the man whose job was very similar to Lone's when he was still a normal person back on Earth.
Sighing softly, Teacher Rax shook his head. "I've heard of your circumstances, and I understand. Come along, as I said, we're short on time."
No more questions were asked after that, and everyone silently followed Teacher Rax through the very spacious and well-decorated halls of The Academy's central building.
'This place is just like a massive castle, but no moving stairways. I guess that makes sense since they'd be really impractical, but boy would that be cool... I wonder what the moving building parts outside are for? Like, do the rooms move or something? This place feels so surreal...' Lone thought as his mind went wild with ideas.
Even though he had spent over half a year living on an enormous tree, and despite the fact that he'd met dozens of mystical and curious species all capable of wondrous magic and incredible feats that would be otherwise impossible on Earth, Lone was still drawn in by the wizardly atmosphere of The Acadamy, and his mind was returned to when he was still a fanciful child who was easily enamoured by tales of spells and sorcery.
Before long, everyone had been led to a classroom of sorts that had long pews going from one end of the room to the other in a lateral tiered pattern. At the front of the room was a lectern and a massive blackboard.
Lining the walls were bookshelves and various tools and potions, all of which seemed to be standard and not particularly rare. Clearly, they were meant for practical theory classes, but regardless, this all sent a shiver up lone's spine. "This shit is so fuckin' cool..."
Teacher Rax couldn't help a smile from creeping onto his face as he replied, "Please control your language, Mr Immortus. This is my personal classroom, so while I am thankful that it's to your liking, I would appreciate it if you would follow the class rules which you can find on the wall over there."
Following the man's finger, Lone read a poster that was plastered to the top left corner of the blackboard.
Teacher Rax's Classroom Rules
1. All usage of magic is banned except in the case that you have been given my permission. This is for your and everyone else's safety, so please respect this rule above all others.
2. You may eat and drink during class, but do so quietly. Disturbing the class shall result in a loss of points on your overall grade at the end of the academic year.
3. For the sake of time, please save all questions for when I announce an asking session. If you are new to my classes, I hold an asking session every 30-minutes.
4. I do not tolerate any crass language or bullying, particularly bullying between species and races. Crass language shall be met with a verbal warning, but any special or racial bullying will result in me applying for your expulsion from The Academy. You have been warned.
"Ah. My bad," Lone said in apology.
"So long as you're now aware," Teacher Rax replied with a short nod of his head.
He then stood behind the room's lectern and said, "Everyone, take a seat that has a piece of paper in front of it. I see that student Rachel Redtail is not here, but considering her health, Headmaster Erion has given me permission to suspend the choosing of her classes until she is fit to do so in person."
"Thank you," Swind said as he bowed his head in respect and then grabbed a seat.
Teacher Rax arrogantly waved him off. "Thank Headmaster Erion, not me." He then patiently waited for everyone else to find a seat and pick up their sheet of paper.
"What you see in front of you is a list of all theory classes and practical classes including combat and non-combat ones," Teacher Rax stated. "Every student is required to take ten classes, of which, at least one must be a practical combat class, one must be a practical non-combat class, and four must be theory classes. You are free to choose whatever type of class you desire for the remaining four classes."
He scanned each new student carefully then added, "Freedom is very important in The Academy. You are completely free to choose classes that do not relate to the magics that you have an affinity for, but it is advised that you, at the very least, fill your mandatory combat class slot with a class that is teaching magic which you have some talent in."
Seeing that everyone was carefully listening to him - the unbelievably talented foxkin included, Teacher Rax smiled. "Many new students are confused about the duration of their studies at The Academy, so I shall say this now, you may stay here and learn for as long as you wish. Your status will be determined by how well you are graded on your annual tests, so while you will all start as freshmen, it is very possible that you could graduate come this time next year. On the flip side, should you continue to learn even if you do perform well, or if you have lacking grades, you may stay here as a student for centuries, should you wish to."
The old man who had been trying to get admitted into The Academy for decades already teared up a little bit after hearing that. "The rumours were true... I can spend the rest of my life here learning about magic..."
Teacher Rax nodded joyfully. "Indeed, and, should you prove to be exceptionally talented or show that you have a wise mind capable of imparting knowledge, you very well may be offered a position as a teacher or a professor."
The elderly human and the young rabbitkin, as well as the boisterous young teen, all seemed impressed or hopeful upon hearing that. Prince Seto had no plans to settle down in Mystopolis long-term, so like Lone's group, he had practically zero interest in this topic.
"Anyway," Teacher Rax said to change the topic, "as we are very short on time today, please, look over the courses and select ten. You will have a chance to change them every year that you study here, so don't worry about making the wrong decision. Once you're all done, we'll head to the assembly hall before I'll take you all to get your free beginner mage equipment."
He glanced at Lone who was fully dressed in his battlemage's outfit and Teacher Rax's eyes lingered on the heavily-runed lexicon sitting on the desk in front of the nine-tailed foxkin. "Although, it seems that won't be wholly necessary for everyone."
Lone grinned in response to that then lowered his head and began reading the long list of available courses.