It was finally the day of the Academy's new semester announcement. Cecil and Lucia were already on their way to the Arks Royal Academy's gate with their luggage. Most importantly, they had some new gear on them. Strapped to Cecil's waist was the long sword that Radon had finished crafting for him. It was about 1.2 meters in length and the blade was about a foot wide near the hilt, but after a couple of centimeters down, the blade slowly shrunk to about four fingers in width until it reached the tip.
As requested by Cecil, Radon didn't make an overly flashy hilt and guard. It had a simple design and the guard was just a normal one. The wide part of the blade also acted as a pseudo-guard. There were no ornaments or gems embedded on the hilt or guard, the only unique thing about it was the faint veins of light pulsing on the sword whenever Cecil put his hand on it.
They were the runes engraved onto the sword that helped made the sword function as not only a weapon, but also a wand or staff. Also the runes responded only to Cecil's and Lucia's unique mana signature. The runes were also a sort of lock that made it possible for only Lucia or Cecil to draw the blade from its scabbard.
Cecil wanted to engrave runes that could act as an anti-theft mechanism, but he needed to research further into the proper runes that were required to make this mechanism. So for now, he could only settle with this.
Along with his new sword was also wearing a new pair of gauntlets. The gauntlets on Cecil's arms were chrome-colored and had an azure tint to it. The design was somewhat draconic as it imitated the large, overlapping scales on the forearms of land dragons and flying earth drakes. Cecil thought that they looked really cool.
Beside him, Lucia was also sporting a new look and some new equipment. She had her hair in a ponytail with a Silver ribbon tying it up. She had a katana and a kodachi strapped to the side and back of her waist. Cecil thought that it really suited her, but the current Lucia was holding onto one of her tails and was constantly giggling.
"Instead of giggling like a creep, you could at least carry your own luggage..." Cecil said with a dull look in his eyes.
Lucia didn't seem to hear him since she was busy fiddling with the accessory on her neck and tails. She then turned towards Cecil and said happily, "What creep? A cute little girl like me giggling is in no way creepy! Instead people will think I'm cute, hehehe~"
"Jeez... what're you so happy about? They're only tail bands and a necklace! Tsk... maybe it was better if I didn't design any of these for you..."
"Hmph! Say that again! You'll be carrying my luggage for the rest of your life if you don't take that back!"
"Haaahh... it's not like it's gonna make a difference... at this rate I'll be carrying everything for you for the rest of my life regardless."
"Eh? W-w-w-wha-what are you saying?! Stupid Cel!"
Lucia had stopped in place when she yelled at Cecil. The boy could only sigh and turn back while saying, "Hurry up, Lulu... the place is gonna be jam packed again if we get there too late."
After saying his piece, Cecil continued walking forward carrying both his and Lucia's luggage.
"Idiot... these were the first things you ever gifted me..." Lucia mumbled quietly.
Cecil was too far away so naturally he didn't hear her mumbling. He just kept walking forward. Lucia ran up to him and hugged his arm while smiling and giggling happily. Cecil only took a glance at her and smiled.
The necklace and tail bands were accessories that Cecil designed at the last minute using a little bit of the adamantium that was leftover. He asked Radon to craft them for Lucia since he didn't want the adamantium to go to waste. He designed the accessories with rune engravings that would further optimize Lucia's mana circulation in combat. The motive behind the accessories was very typical of Cecil.
Lucia, however, really treasured them because it was the first time Cecil had gifted her something that wasn't a weapon and didn't really care about the functions of the the accessories. The necklace was in the shape of Lucia's tails, but instead of three there was nine tails in total that looked as if they were blooming out like a flower.
Cecil remembered that Lucia's family technique would one day let her grow 9 tails in total if she was able to successfully train until the final stage of the technique, so with that in mind, he crafted the necklace in the shape of nine tails hoping that it would serve as motivation for Lucia in the future. In the middle was a small topaz and on the surface of the topaz were small rune engravings that pulsed with a golden light. The rune engravings that dotted the entire gem caused it to shine with a gold colored and it matched well with Lucia's golden colored eyes.
The tail bands were simple bands that wrapped around the middle of Lucia's tails. There were small rubies embedded on the bands. It was said that rubies were gems that were naturally imbued with fire element mana in it. Since Lucia's favorite element was fire, Cecil had Radon embed the bands with rubies, and for the hair tie, it was woven from adamantium that was melted and spun into thin threads. There were also runes engraved in it and there were small sapphires embedded on the ends.
As for himself, Cecil only asked Radon to craft him two armbands that would limit his mana output. This way he wouldn't create any abnormal events when taking any practical exams when he was in the academy.
In particular, his body strengthening was off the charts when using Mana Burst. The arm bands he had Radon create were engraved with mana inhibition runes, an original of Cecil's. The runes on the bands would inhibit his mana circulation to the point where only half of the mana in his body would be activated when he used Mana Burst.
The engravings were hard to do, but he was already working on the engravings ever since he and Lucia left Forest Hill Town. The same went for Lucia's accessories. Cecil already had them planned out long before they got the adamantium. It was godsend that they stumbled onto the adamantium in their dungeon run. If not, Cecil would have had to settle with orichalcum or mithril. But if he used either one of those ores then Cecil's armband would be disposable and he would have to replace them once in a while.
Lucia's accessories would also have sub-par effects, but thanks to the adamantium everything worked out well in the end. Permanent armbands and super high performance accessories! In the end, the materials used to craft equipment would always decide whether the equipment was trash or not. You could have a master blacksmith crafting something for you, but even they wouldn't be able to create a legendary sword using just ordinary rocks, right?
With Lucia hugging onto his arm, Cecil arrived at the gate of the Arks Academy district. Even when he thought that they came early, the place was packed full of people who were looking at the large bulletin near the gate. There was also a spacious area on the side of the gate that was devoid of people, but there were all sorts of fancy carriages lined up there.
Cecil sighed in exasperation, "Well, whatever..."
He quickly activated his Mana Eyes as well as Mana Burst and focused all the mana into his eyes to enhance his sight. He looked towards the bulletin and saw the examinee numbers that were accepted into the academy.
Cecil turned his eyes towards the top and started looking for their numbers from there. He smirked when he quickly found his and Lucia's numbers right at the top.
1. Examinee 1560 SF
2. Examinee 1561 SF
3. Examinee 1602 SF
4. Examinee 0002 SF
5. Examinee 0200 SF
6. Examinee 0001 SF
7. Examinee 0505 SF
8. Examinee 1091 SF
9. Examinee 2000 SF
10. Examinee 1234 SF
After Cecil found his and Lucia numbers, they immediately made their way towards the academy district's gate. When they arrived, the two showed their examination numbers to the student staffs who were at the gate. The staffs were astonished to see that the two top examinees had arrived together. They didn't want to create any commotion so after Cecil and Lucia's numbers were verified, they quietly let them in through the gate.
The staff at the gate had even assigned someone to escort them to the dorms. When they arrived at the academy's dorm complex, Lucia was sulking a bit. Cecil immediately asked her what was wrong, "What's up Lulu?"
"...we're going to be separated..."
"..."
Cecil facepalmed and said with a laugh, "Hey, you make it look like we're separating for life. When school starts, we'll probably be in the same class, so cheer up."
"...Fine."
They arrived at the female dorms first. Cecil took a look at the building and thought that it was like a 5 star hotel. It was awfully luxurious, the lobby's interior was also really spacious and decorated in a high class fashion. There was even a restaurant and convenience store on the first floor!
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
The convenience stores in Alterna weren't quite like the ones back on Earth. Although there were still some similarities, such as having snacks, some groceries, bathing essentials and such, there were also the added magical items, potions, simple alchemy ingredients and other items unique to Alterna.
When Cecil handed Lucia luggage to her, the staff escort turned towards him and asked, "Shall I lead you to the male's dormitory now?"
"Oh... sure. See you in class, Lulu."
"Y-yeah... bye-bye Cel~"
Lucia had perked up a little, so Cecil thought it was fine to leave her now. Of course, that was impossible. Inside, Lucia was agonizing whether or not she should detain him right there and then, or even ask the staff that brought them here whether there was a mixed dorm or not, but, in the end, Lucia restrained herself. Since the academy had already assigned their dormitory rooms, she didn't want to cause Cecil any problems, so she watched him walk off towards the male dormitories and it was only until he left her sight did she finally walk into the building behind her.
Lucia looked around and found that it wasn't as crowded as she thought it would be. She then walked to the reception desk and checked in.
"Examinee No. 1560, Lucia."
"Okay, one moment please..."
The female receptionist inputted her name onto the plate that she was holding. Cecil had always wanted to point this out, but wasn't the plate similar to the tablets from Earth? The receptionist quickly found Lucia's name and upon seeing that she was the first rank amongst the students who had entered the academy this time, she welcomed her joyfully.
"Ah! So it was our top ranking student! Pleased to meet you, let me get your dorm key!"
The receptionist turned around and waved her staff. A card flew out of the small openings that were on the wall behind the reception desk and it landed in her palm. She turned towards Lucia and handed the card to her respectfully.
"Here you are, Lucia. You will be in building S01, room number 101."
Lucia took the card and thanked the receptionist. On the card there was some sort of serial number.
"S01101, huh."
Lucia was about to ask where the building was, but then a map suddenly formed on the small card. It indicated where she was currently at and where her room was.
"Well, that's convenient!"
Lucia then followed the directions on the map. It was a surprise to her since her room wasn't in the building she was currently at. Actually, the building that acted as the lobby and check in area was the dorm's administration building, on the card's map it was marked AF01. When Lucia walked out the back of building AF01, she found herself staring at a large building complex that surrounded a park that was situated in the middle.
"Woah..."
Lucia was somewhat surprised, but she kind of expected this. The building she just came out of was large, but it's not like it could house all the female students of the academy that numbered in the thousands. From where she was standing, Lucia counted at least 10 buildings that had similar sizes to building AF01 in the complex.
"Okay... where's mine?"
She thought that since it was building S01 it should be close by, but the map only indicated for her to walk further and further into the complex. On her way, she came across some of the other female students who were either her upperclassmen or freshman just like her. Some greeted her and other's just walked passed.
Lucia was focused on her map, so when she got deeper and deeper into the complex, she didn't take notice of the shocked and envious gazes of the other students. When she finally arrived at building S01, she immediately started complaining, "Tsk, it's building 01, but why is it so far from the entrance!"
Lucia was annoyed with how far she had to walk from the administration building all the way to her dorm, but before she could get another word out, someone suddenly called out to her nervously.
"U-Uhmmmm... excuse mi-igh!"
Lucia turned around when she heard the voice. Behind her was a girl with similar height as her who seemed to have just bitten her tongue since she had tears in her eyes and one of her hands was clasped over her mouth. She took another look at the girl and thought that she was really pretty. The girl had long and wavy aqua blue hair that reached down to her upper thighs and her eyes were a bright emerald color that seemed to sparkle like a jewel.
The girl seemed to be about Lucia's age too, but the most astonishing thing would have to be her body. The girl and Lucia sported almost the same height and figure, with Lucia being just a little bit taller, but the difference between their chest sizes was astonishing. She wondered how a girl that should be the same age as her grew up to be so... big!
Even as a 14 year old, Lucia's chest was pretty well developed and she would probably have some huge knockers when she grew into an adult. But, even Lucia had to admit defeat before the girl in front of her.
Lucia started worrying since Cecil's eyes would sometimes wander onto a woman's chest whenever they met one with huge assets. The prime examples would be when they first met the guild receptionists in any city or town they stopped by. At first, Lucia had to stab Cecil's eyes with her fingers just so that he wouldn't let his eyes wander, but Cecil soon learned his lesson after numerous eye-blinding assaults.
From then on, he made sure that his eyes would never gaze at ANY girl they met for prolong periods of time, in fear of Lucia poking his oculus uterque out.
'Uwaahh... she's dangerous...' Thought Lucia. 'Better keep her away from Cel.'
The blue haired girl grew worried when all Lucia did after she turned around was glare at her. She opened her mouth and asked worriedly, "I-is there something wrong?"
Lucia snapped out of her train of thoughts and greeted the girl with a pleasant smile, "Haha, nothing, nothing~ my name's Lucia. I'm a first year, nice to meet you!"
The girl was surprised at Lucia's abrupt change, but she quickly reacted and greeted her back.
"N-nice to meet you! My name's Aquafina Oceania Neftersea. Like you, I'm also a first year!"
Even though she was just glared at, Aquafina only smiled back and introduced herself happily. Lucia grinned seeing the cheerful personality of the girl and began talking with her in a friendly manner.
"So...Fina? Is it okay if I call you that?"
"S-Sure!"
"Hehe, let's be friends! You can call me Lulu, all my friends call me that!"
"O-okay! L-Lulu!"
Aquafina was stuttering with her speech because she seemed pretty nervous, but she started giggling afterwards because she was very happy since someone who she just met actually wanted to be friends with her and even gave her a nickname. Her first-ever nickname.
"Fina... Fina~ uhehehehe~" Fina was giggling and had a sloppy grin on her face.
'Woah, this girl sure has a lot of expressions~' Lucia thought.
Just a second ago, the girl in front of her just had a tearful expression from biting her tongue, a fearful one from Lucia glaring at her, then a cheerful expression from having their introductions done and finally, the current one–a sloppy, over-the-moon, blissful expression from calling out her own nickname to herself. She was cute... goddamn she was too cute. Even Lucia couldn't help but want to hug, pet, and spoil this adorable little thing.
"WAAAAAH MOOOEEEEE~"
Lucia shouted and dashed up to hug the cute little thing in front of her.
"Eh? L-Lulu?!"
Fina was surprised at the weird cry that just came out of Lucia's mouth, and she was further shocked because she was abruptly embraced by the beautiful fox girl who she just made friends with. She didn't know what to do and just stiffly stood in place.
Lucia started rubbing her cheeks on Fina's while laughing, "Nahahaha~ I wouldn't mind Cel being friend's with you since you're soooo cute and adorable~"
Lucia would normally limit Cecil's interactions with girls who were 'threatening' in her eyes, but she decided to make an exception for Fina since she was just too precious.
"Uh o-okay? Uhehehe~" Fina was a bit bothered at first by the unfamiliar and unexpected skinship, but she started giggling happily soon after.
"Okay, so since you're here too Fina, does that mean you're also going to be living in building S01?"
"Yup! My room number is 101! So come visit me if you have time!"
"Eh? 101?"
"Yup!"
"What a coincidence! Mine is 101 too!"
Fina, upon hearing this was simply overjoyed. Her first friend also happened to be her roommate.
"Yay! Let's go up to our room then!"
The two walked arm in arm into the building, they checked in with the receptionist and quickly made their way to their room on the second floor while happily chattering about.