The city was simply gigantic. Giant towers that touched the sky were everywhere. Many different vehicles were on the streets. And I could feel the mana in the air. This city was simply amazing!

While the carriage went through the street, everyone was glued to the window looking at these amazing sights.

Every one of the kids is the carriage were country bumpkins. They have never seen such an amazing city.

The carriage passed through the streets and Liam said.  “This is the city of Hestia. Our college is located near the center of the city. Although the campus doesn't have those big buildings, our facilities have no equal. You'll see when we get there.”

They nodded they heads like idiots and kept looking around. I seated and waited while my eyes were shining in excitement.

After a long 30 minutes of going through the city, the excitement of the others died down and they seated.

Even after the others seated, they didn't reach their destination. They passed through a part of the city full of might manors, with a pompous air around them.

Liam looked at the manors with disgust. I realized the look in his eyes and asked. “Is something wrong sir?” He averted his eyes from the street, gazed at the sky and said.

“There are rich people in the school, try not to provoke them.”

I was shocked by what he said. Rich people? In the village I was in there were only some people that were well of, but not rich. I didn't fully get what he said to me, but I remembered his advice.

I have lived for long now, so I knew that was better to learn through advice than through suffering.

After passing through the pompous district, the carriage stopped. “We have arrived.” He said while opening the door and getting out of the carriage.

The kids stepped out in a hurry, and I was the last one to get out.

I bumped in one of the kids that was frozen in place. I looked ahead and saw why. Countless crystals floated around the entrance and an immense area, forming a formless shield, that could only be from time to time. There were many buildings in the entrance and many more inside of it. Various youngsters were walking all over the place wearing robes.

There was a lively atmosphere in the place, full of life. It was obvious that this place was special. No walls were surrounding it as if the college was trying to give the message that freedom was one of its precepts.

We arrived at what looked like the entrance. Many people were coming in and out through this great archway.

Liam retracted his carriage and said. “Follow me.”

We walked through the gate while looking around. After passing through the archway. The mana around the place was even stronger. I looked closely at the archway and saw that numerous formations were inscribed on it.

Magic was truly everywhere in this place!

“Normally only someone who has a special badge can enter the college. You have entered because I have a special badge who can authorize recruits to enter with me.”

They nodded while looking around. “We will receive a badge, sir?” I asked.

“You will in a short time.”

We walked through the campus and soon reached a big building. It had a greek style, with great columns and different statues.

After getting it, we saw that many students were waiting in line with guides, just like us. They were being tested again, and a bag and a robe was given to them.

I looked at the crystals and saw that they only had a bigger mana than us, but their affinities were weaker.

I waited in line with the group and our turn arrived after some time. An old man that was attending turned to us and said. “You're back Liam, got some talents from the countryside for us?”

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“You can check old man,” Liam answered with a smile on his face.

The old man nodded and instructed us to place our hands in the crystal, just like in the test. The boy from my village placed his hand and his affinity was shown, having a high affinity for the element of wind.

Everyone from our group had a high affinity and low mana. The low mana came from the fact that we lived in an area with low mana, however, affinities were not something that could be explained, is an inborn quality.

The old man nodded and said to Liam. “You have found some very talented kids this year.” He looked at us and said. “You have the talent boys and little lady, the other part is on you.”

After saying this, the old man gave us a bag that had runes inscribed around it. “pierce your fingers with this needle and let a drop of blood fall on the bag.” We followed his instructions and I could feel a connection with the bag, and feel the space inside of it.

“Wow.” Imir said.

My reaction was not much different from hers. But I stopped my mouth from opening in amazement.

“Think about the item and it will come out. Now, think about the badge that is inside.”

I turned my attention to the bag and did as instructed. The badge appeared on my hand. My eyes widened in surprise.

“This badge is going to guide you toward your room. The necessary books and clothes are inside of the bag as well. The clothes have an auto cleaning function, so there is no need to bother yourselves with these miscellaneous things.” He stopped a bit and looked around to see if we had understood. “The classes begin after 3 days, you can eat at the cafeteria at 6 am, 11:30 am and 6 pm. You can tap the badge two times and it will guide you to the cafeteria, tap on it three times and it will show the way to your specific classroom. Now, come here and sign your names at this form.”

Everyone stepped forward and signed their names. After everyone finished, the old man smiled at us and said. “Welcome to the Hestia magical college.”

***

Liam dismissed us and I used the badge to find my room. The inside of the building seemed to be much bigger than outside, I wondered for a moment if there was magic at play, then I remembered that we were in a magical college.

I took the elevator to the 859 floor. I looked at the number and was amazed, the building was not so big, but there were so many floors on it.

The badge guided me by emitting light to indicate the direction. And even when I got to the elevator, it showed me the number by firing a laser. Truly a wonderful tool.

After the elevator arrived at my floor, I stepped out of it. I looked back in amazement. I only learned how to use it because a senior was coming out when I was trying to get in and explained to me.

There were no windows on the floor I was in. Only countless doors. I followed the badge and arrived in front of a door. There was no handle on it, and no lock. There was only a symbol in the middle of it. The same symbol that the badge had, a strange rune.

I looked at the badge and realized that it should go in there. I placed the badge over that symbol and the door slowly opened.

I opened the door with expectations, eager to see what my room looked like.

……..

There was no surprise. The room was quite small, it only had a bed, a table, and a chair to study, and a magical lamp above the table. There was also a small bathroom and a window beside the table. For a magical college, the rooms were just to plain….

I get rid of that thought and looked over the books in my bag. My eyes shone in excitement and I eagerly placed them on the table.

***

I didn't leave my room that night. I had already eaten some lunch in the carriage and was satisfied. My hunger for knowledge was even bigger than my hunger for food. Even though I had seen amazing things and wonderful sights, my objective was still on my mind. To save my family.

That was the reason I came to the college, and that was the reason why I would study like there was no future, because, for me, there truly wasn't.

The first book that I looked over was ‘mana cultivation: learning how to get powerful’ the book ‘Introduction to magic’ that I had read on the trip only talked about some things but didn't say how to use or do them. And this book was my first step to power.

I had a low mana. This meant that despite my natural talent, the innate mana in my body was pretty low. Everyone's body was born with mana, and this mana could be bigger or smaller. Depending on how big your innate mana was, the speed you could cultivate mana and achieve high tiers was different.

Someone with middle mana could cultivate 4 times faster than someone with low mana, and someone with high mana could cultivate 10 times faster than someone with low mana. The difference was staggering.

If I didn't grab the opportunity and began to cultivate right away, I would lose the opportunity to get powerful.

Mana talent was a characteristic that depended on the region where you were from. If the region you lived had low mana, you would be born with low mana, but if the region where you were born had high mana concentration, you would be born with high mana talent.

The book didn't say anything about it, but I realized that the rich had a big advantage, because they could enjoy areas with a high concentration of mana. Or maybe even send the pregnant woman while the baby was growing to regions like this.

I dismissed these thoughts of my head and began to read the book eagerly.

***

The book talked about how one could gather and refine mana inside their bodies, and the basic way to feel their mana.

Feeling their mana was the first step that someone had to take before becoming a mage. Controlling your innate mana was a necessity.

I seated on the bed and began to meditate.

I turned my attention to the inside. Most of the time, humans had their perception directed to the outside, looking for danger, it was an instinct made for protection.

Changing this was something hard, but the book described a well-known self-hypnosis that allowed this perception to turn to the inside.

I did just as the book instructed and could finally feel the mana!

My innate mana was thin and scattered all over my body.

Although my innate mana was not strong, I could still cultivate and became stronger, the difference in cultivation speed only mattered in the first tier, after it, it was up to the mage to advance.

I didn't try to cultivate and only got used to feeling my mana for the rest of the night. My mind slowly wandered and fell to sleep.

***

I woke up in the morning and saw that I still had time to go eat breakfast in the cafeteria.

I left the room and tapped on the badge two times. I followed the light and finally arrived in the place.

Many students were already there eating. However, there was no one to serve and no place to get food. I seated by one of the empty tables to wait for someone to serve me, however, I had a big surprise when I seated.

A magic menu was floating in front of me. There were many options for it. My eyes were wide open by the magic menu.

I heard some laughter and turned my head to the side. I saw that some seniors were laughing while looking at my reactions.

I turned my attention back to the menu and choose the third option, cereal with milk and fruits.

Just as I picked the option, a tray with the things I asked for appeared….. I picked the spoon and tasted the cereal.

Delicious!