A group of cadets had gathered at the large familiar circular hall. The location had been marked on the map but Denerik had troubles navigating. He had never been good with directions. It was hard to tell where one was within the tower, despite having clear step-by-step instructions from the sigil. The instructions changed frequently enough that he only reached after doubling back and rerouting thrice.
If only the stupid map had mentioned that the combat session would be held at their Illusions classroom, he could have exited and circumscribed the tower to arrive earlier. Thankfully, no sadistic professor was present to berate him for tardiness.
Although, he faced a new issue - he felt awkward. A couple of familiar faces stood out, from the first year class, but none he had interacted with. Too bad Aldy had been held up by Rohodan.
Still others were unknown to him but quite recognizable. They looked older. Most prominent was a group of four - a blonde woman with striking grey eyes of the Kuroki lineage was speaking animatedly with a purple haired bored looking boy with long ears - the heir of Armagen family. Fourth years both. Quite popular. Their two companions couldn't be less known but Denerik just couldn't place them.
The exclusivity of the Academy made who's who so easy to identify. Every year, the roster was essentially predecided, ie which families will send their heirs for selection. Any noble not abiding by this convention risked the combined wrath of the behemoths of the kingdom. They would be suppressed in trade deals, lose border disputes, and find themselves ostracized. Unless, they cut a deal with a major house for one of their spots, which cost almost as much in resources. Only a once-in-a-generation prodigy would require such a behavior, in which case the Crown would also step in and smooth things out. The whole admission process was an orchestrated performance.
Except this year. He pondered the peculiarity as he headed over to stand at the fringe of the cohort of first years that he recognized, nodding to the ones who noticed him approach, but not saying much at all. His lack of etiquette may in fact cause his brother to whoop his ass later. Alas, Denerik had little apetite for politics.
Rather, mundane skills interested him - the fast-talking ways of the street salesmen, the unreasonable efficacy of witch doctors, the acrobatic clowns juggling knives bliindfolded. Academy held nothing for him. Of those, he possessed an encyclopedic knowledge. Being thrown into the mayhem with little time to prepare, and even less free will, irked him.
He built rhymes to pass the time, upon the words he heard around, since he found their pompous mingling mimes boring, only contributing the most meaningless messages that miffed attempts at rubbing shoulders. There was no one of note here.
More groups assembled. The bustle amplified. Eventually, Rohodan came in with a couple of rough looking assistants flanking him. Behind them were 10 more cadets. The survival course instructor looked grim. He took the stage, cleared his throat, and started speaking.
"Today will be your first combat assignment of the year. The Academy's wards at the Wayhub have failed or have been sabotaged. A mana fog has surrounded the building that you all recently came through."
"The tasks are as follows
- patrol the surrounding regions
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- protect the Academy assets
- maintain decorum in the streets
- communicate with the locals and investigate
- engage any monsters that manifest"
Gesturing towards the cadets behind him, he continued,
"This assignment will be led by your classmates, two for each year, who will aggregate information regarding your performance on the assigned task and report to me. Let's get you geared up."
They were led through hallways and portals deep in the tower. Behind a door of solid wood stoof a row of desks in a narrow passageway, occupied by bored looking guards, who didn't pay much attention as the group passed by. Inside had a large chamber, walls covered with an assortment of weapons, armor, and shelves. The instructor discussed something with a skinny man, who then called over some assistants of his own and got to work.
The first year freshers were being measured. Meanwhile, a lot of the older students reported out loud their requirements, followed by a suit of armor and specified weapons promptly appearing nearby. Most of them had a some sort of a sword or spear. There were a couple esoteric weapons too - ornate shields, crossbows, a quiver of short spears, and even a morning star.
Freshers did not get any such choice. After measurement, basic armor and a short sword were handed to each, along with a drawstring bag with some rations and a few handcuffs.
Soon, they were on their way again. Beyond the portal, they were grouped together as 3. Seven basic patrol teams with fourth year seniors as captains were given charge of two first year freshers. They were provided a map of the Wayhub's bazaar, a maze of winding streets full of vendors, where they had to accomplish the first, third, and fourth task - patrol the area, keep peace, and gather information.
Ten advanced teams teams had a second and a third year lead by a fifth year apprentice, their job being protection of the Wayhub and the Gate, both of which were essential lifelines of the Academy as well as the trade going to the capital, Damscith. The teams would rotate periodically and patrol the outskirts as well, providing emergency support to the basic teams in case any malcontents or monsters made appearance.
The remaing three apprentices formed an elite team, the last line of defense, positioned by the Gate. Not that they expected to do much fighting. They grumbled when they realized they had to aggregate incoming reports and periodically pass the information across the Gate. Everyone else got to roam in the bazaar and chitchat with the vendors.
The atmosphere within the groups was lighthearted, their anticipation could be felt. Aldy had been reunited with Denerik, with another northerner, Miriam Dancerweiner, in charge.
First step of the assignment was establishing an information network and heirarchy. Each of the combat students at Tier 2 and higher added the first years, for emergency dispatches. Most of the first years still lacked the ability to send information, but they could be notified of any happenings since the Wayhub had the same broadcast channels as the Academy facilities. Of course, they couldn't send or receive messages directly across the Gate.
Which meant that a bunch of teenager mages had been left unsupervised in a market. Denerik received a slew of messages soon. Idle chatter. Jokes. Spam. Even a couple of naughty illusions. One was from Miriam, who had a smug smile on her face.
"Children! It's time to go shopping." she said, sauntering out the door.