“6 elemental attributes are the gifts given to mankind by the 6 gods of creation and are the systems of which all gifts are derived from, “said the instructor. He had short brown hair with clear widow peaks. His posture was extremely rigid. Seated at the corner of the classroom was another instructor with bright red hair, he looked aimlessly at the ceiling while twirling a toothpick in his mouth. The brown haired instructor raised his hands.

““Everything around you, everything you-”

The instructor halted abruptly. His mouth twisted. . Maxwell followed the direction of the instructors face. His eyes landed on two students who were passing notes to each other.

The orange-haired instructor raised a hand to his mouth, giggling like a child.

He continued speaking again while creeping toward those students.

“Everything you hear, see and touch…” WIthout missing a beat he grabbed the note from one of their hands as they were passing it and balled it up in his fist.

”... is created due to the gods,” he finished. “All abilities you use are derived from their ancient creations and manipulations of mana.” He gave the students a cautionary gaze before returning to the front of the classroom.

“Right on, Gideon!” cheered the orange-haired instructor while pumping his hand.

“Shouldn’t you be taking your teaching a little more seriously Adam,” replied the eagle-eyed instructor in disapproval.

“Fine then!” he exclaimed standing up. He walked over to Gideon. “Ok class, today I’ll be talking about one of the six gods of creation.” He opened his palm, water flowed out of his hands and floated above his hand. “Oohs!” and “ahhs!” filled the classroom. “I’ll be talking about the water goddess Mira.”

Gideon nodded. “Good, good you’re actually taking this seriously.”

“Mira is a 10/10 in terms of looks and beauty and I’m going to marry her one da-”

Gideon stood up sharply. “Alright, that’s enough.” he marched over to Adam. “I should have known not to take you seriously.”

He covered Adam’s mouth but to little avail. “She’s not only beautiful, she is knuwmwg to be elegannnt booshh in... and mannerisms.”

Gideon pushed Adam back toward the chair. “SIt, down now!”

Adam pouted. “But I am taking my teaching seriously,” he said before plodding back.

Are these really my instructors? He couldn’t help but wonder.

The neophytes slowly flooded the hallways, cramming themselves through the narrow doorway.

“Hey, you, wait a minute,” he heard Gideon say behind him. Maxwell turned his head. Was he talking to me?

“Yeah you, come over here,” said Gideon waving him over. He sounded nonchalant which was never a good thing when it came to people as strict as them. It usually meant you were in big trouble.

I don’t think I did anything wrong? What could Maxwell have done, he wasn’t disturbing anyone in class? He was a good student after all.

Gideon reached into his robes and pulled out a folded up letter. “It’s from your family,” he explained.

“You know who my family is?” Maxwell said, surprised. He didn’t stand out from the rest of the students there.

“Well, it was surprisingly kind of hard identifying who it was, considering Vanderbilt’s tend to stand out… more-but basically yes.”

“I see…” said Maxwell sultrily while accepting the letter. He nodded his thanks before leaving the room.

He went to the yard and sat in the grass while he read the letter. His eyes moved to the bottom of the page. From Marco, it read. It was from Marco, what could it be about?

To Ignard

I hope the ceremony and learning is going well, there is urgent information you must know. Your siblings have arrived back home from the academy.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Maxwell paused. No, no no. He read on.

This complicates things as they weren’t supposed to arrive anytime before the end of the year school break. Since you awakened your insignia, your parents(master Howitzer and lady….) Your siblings were summoned to celebrate this momentous occasion.

He hadn’t even thought about his siblings, he wasn’t sure he ever had any in the first place.

Your training should be over soon. My sister will be bringing you back but she may not tell you everything necessary. Try not to interact with your siblings so they don’t find out anything about you. Leave it up to me and Amelia to take care of this. Maxwell screwed his knuckles against his forehead. How was he supposed to deal with this? He folded up the letter and tucked it in his pocket. They say out of sight out of mind but Maxwell didn’t feel any less anxious. Could he really leave it up to them?

Over the next few days, all the basic training he had to do was completed. His days continued on with their routine dullness. Part of him didn’t want to go home to meet Ignard’s siblings. He had no idea what they would be like. Would he even be able to keep a facade around them? He could understand fooling his parents but his siblings- not a chance. Marco and Amelia had found him out instantly after all.

Clutching his bag of belongings he walked one final time through the long hallways of the church. I wanted to leave this place for so long but now I’m not quite sure which is better- or worse for that matter. A door opened from one of the rooms and out burst Adelaide. She had a stack of papers in her hands and nearly knocked into him.

“Oh, I didn’t see you there!” she exclaimed. She saw the bag in his hands. “Are you on your way out?”

“Yeah.” Maxwell nodded.

“I see, take care and may Luminus guide you back safely,” she said. Maxwell’s eyes were drawn to her wrist. On it was a bejewelled bangle. For some reason he felt it was important. Where have I seen that before? The memory struck him so hard, he nearly flinched. The boy from before- James, the one she helped from the guards! It was his! He felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise. Why did she have his belongings?

“Is something the matter?” asked Adelaide, cocking her head to the side.

“Hmm, uh no. Not at all,” said Maxwell hurriedly. It didn’t make sense for her to have it. This church had been weird from the start, who knew what had happened to him.

“Well, I best be going, the work of the holy isn’t for the faint of heart,” she said walking on. He could only stare at her as she left. When finally leaving the church grounds he waited by the side of the road for the carriage to approach. He heard a carriage approaching. He recognised the insanely expensive exterior. Amelia was driving it just as Marco had said. It came to a stop right in front of him. Amelia swiftly tied the reins onto one side before hoping down from the raised seat. She landed gracefully on the balls of her feet like a cat.

“Get in maggot!” said Amelia. She took his bags from next to him and put them in the back of the carriage for him. Before he could take another step she held the door handle, opening the interior to Maxwell. She gestured for him to get in. I’m not sure if she has great or terrible manners, he wondered in bewilderment.

“What’s wrong?” she snapped at his delay.

“Nothing,” said Maxwell climbing inside. He sat down and took a deep sigh. The soft velvet cushions were a blessing to his behind that had only known hard classroom seats for the past couple of days. Amelia whipped the reins once and the carriage lurched forward, nearly throwing him out of his seat.

This girl, is she trying to kill me? He huffed. Things were quickly going from a three-group team to a two-group team of just him and Marco. He slipped a finger under the fabric over his eyes before taking it off. He could finally remove the black cloth from his eyes. He spent several moments simply blinking fully while enjoying the extra freedom and forgotten sensations.

Staring out the window he could finally see how the city looked. When he had first arrived the windows had been obscured to block any light from activating his insignia stopping him from taking in the new world.

As he had suspected the cathedral had been the tallest building but the rest were not to be underestimated. They were still several stories tall and ranged in color from gray all the way to green, pink and yellow. There aren’t any demihumans, he noted. He assumed there would be at least a few but there wasn’t a single one. Maybe I’ll have to ask Marco about that later on.

After what felt like several hours they passed the estate gates. The beautiful courtyard with all its beautiful flowers and tall bushes welcomed him in. He was once again taken back at how rich his family really was.

His eyes were drawn to a large gray figure on the grass. It was an enormous wolf. [description here]

“Amelia, what the hell is that?!” he shouted. He banged on the wall separating them. “Hello!”

“Stop banging, there’s nothing to worry about!” she shouted back. Maxwell eyed it as they rode past it but it didn’t so much as budge. Is it sleeping? he wondered. The carriage grinded to a halt at the front gates. Amelia opened the doors for him once more. “We have arrived, Master Ignard,” she announced. Maxwell frowned. Why was she speaking so courteous, before she had practically cursed him out while doing things for him?

He stepped out. “Th-thank you,” he said warily.

A girl wearing a fancy dress straight out of the victorian era came into view.

He froze, he didn’t expect to have one of them greet him.

She looked out into the courtyard before putting her fingers to her lips and whistling. It rang out sharply, hanging in the air for a moment before dissipating. The wolf-dog darted over and trotted to her before sitting at her feet. It was practically as tall as she was.

“Good boy, “she said, stroking its neck. She turned to Maxwell.

“Hello dear brother,” she smiled.