Sunlight poured in through the mosaic windows lighting up the insides of a large auditorium. Numerous young faces could be seen as they walked in through the large wooden doorways and made their way to their seats. The youths seemed to range from 12 to 16 years of age and all of them wore a black cloak with a pin over the rest of their clothes. The basic design of the pin was a gray dragon and there were a few variations but most most of the youths had a one headed dragon pin while a rare few had the two headed dragon.
As the auditorium gradually filled up excited chatter could be heard all over. Although all the young boys and girls were clearly eager and enthusiastic their voices quickly came to a hush as an older looking gentleman made his way to the to the front. By the time he had reached the stairs to the platform it was so quiet that each step he took could be heard even by those in the back. The man had an ordinary body build that wouldn’t stand out in a crowd. His head was bald but he had a short orange beard that grew right on the tip of his chin. The cloak that he wore was completely gray and the pin resembled the one headed dragon the youths had but his was red.
The man casually made his way to the marble podium on the platform. As he stood behind the marble podium he took a moment to look into the crowd of young faces before his stern expression slowly melted away into a welcoming smile “Hello everyone my name is Greo Talorissi, you may all refer to me as professor Greo. First I would like to congratulate all of you on being accepted into Wight Scol Academy.” He took a pause and began clapping which prompted the youths to give themselves a round of applause. Some were so captured in the excitement of the moment that they even threw out some whistles amidst the cheers, temporarily forgetting where they were and the noble image that was expected of them. The man saw some of the young students participating in behavior that was unfit for the noble image of future practitioners of the arcane arts. However instead of reprimanding the youths his smile just arced a tiny bit higher.
‘Ah, ten years of welcoming the newcomers and the excitement is still refreshing’ Greo thought to himself. It seemed like it was just yesterday that he himself had been admitted into the academy and received the very same welcome he was giving now. Other instructors found it bothersome to be assigned this role because it forced them to relocate their already limited time between their research and other academic responsibilities. Greo on the other hand actively volunteered for it as soon as he became an instructor. Year after year he performed his duties with commitment and passion. Most introductory instructors would end their guidance after a year, except for maybe a student or two from the batch that had made an favorable impression. In the case of Greo it could be said that there were some students from his first few batches that had already become instructors theme-selves that still asked for his opinion on matters relating to their research.
A chaotic orchestra of exhilarated voices and cheers filled the auditorium as the professor gave the youths a few moments to vent their excitement and calm their breaths before he began motioning with his hands telling them to quiet down.
After the noise died down and Professor Greo felt that everyone was focused again he began speaking “Now that congratulations are out of the way I would like to further introduce myself. I am professor Greo and I primarily teach two main subjects; Soul Luring and Spirit synchronization. Both of which are vital components for the magic that Wight Scol Academy specializes in. Now I have a quick question for you all. As you all know magic is divided into three basic categories: Elemental, Spiritual, and Unique. What category of magic is taught here at Wight Scol Academy?”
Professor Greo looked out into the audience and focused onto a student with a two headed dragon pin who had raised his hand “The tier two student over there, would you like to answer?” Greo asked the child. The young man must have been less than 14 years old but was fairly handsome and tall. He replied with a confident expression “Yes, thank you professor. Wight Scol Academy is the highest rank institution for Spiritual magic.” Professor Greo smiled “Very good. I can see that the tier two evaluation was rightfully deserved.” The young man smiled after hearing the professor’s compliment.
Professor Greo spoke out again “I would normally continue on with a lecture about the basics of Mana related research and practice but this year there will be some special guests who have been asked to participate” Two men walked in from behind the curtains of the stage as they stood behind Professor Greo. One of the men actually appeared to be the same age as some of the youths in the audience but his pin had three gray dragon heads breathing red fire. The other man looked to be around twenty years of age and his pin had three plain gray dragon heads.
The youngest looking man was a full head shorter than the older looking one and had short brown hair along with a sharp angular nose that extended out. His brows were furrowed and his murky green eyes looked down upon the audience in contempt. “Thank Lady Tava there’s still some air left in here to breath, I would have thought that there would be none left after all your blabbering. Greo how long were you planning on having me wait for? I have other matters to attend to.” The young man’s voice spoke out in a pitch appropriate for his age but it was obvious that he had made no attempts to hide his displeasure.
After hearing the young man’s words Professor Greo’s expression darkened. He had heard the rumors regarding Nathaniel Podigen and his ‘unique’ personality. But he had never gotten the opportunity to meet or interact with Nathaniel as he was admitted through special means and had been assigned his own personal instructor. As professor Greo was about to speak the other young man jumped between them.
“Sorry about that professor please don’t take his words to heart. You see, Nathaniel here has been cooped up in his personal estate ever since he entered our academy a year ago. His manners are a bit rusty because he has seldom been able to get out and interact with others.” said the man. He was a head taller than Nathaniel, and in contrast to Nathaniel’s sharp nose that pointed out his was flat and round. His medium length black hair was combed back into a pompadour. He seemed to constantly be smiling and displaying an amicable expression although it didn’t quite match well with his sharp eyes that darted place to place. His eyes gave off the impression of a playful trickster.
Professor Greo’s expression softened once he saw the young man trying to mediate. Although in completely different ways, like Nathaniel, Zeke also became a student through special means. Unlike Nathaniel who has only attended the academy for a year Zeke has a history of more than a decade with the academy, with much of those years being as a student of Greo’s. Although he knew that Zeke had a reputation of causing trouble from time to time Greo still saw Zeke as a generally good kid.
“I understand Zeke, no need to wor-” as Greo was about to brush aside Nathaniel’s earlier words he was interrupted by a loud Pa! Greo was stunned to see Nathaniel’s raised hand and the reddened side of Zeke’s face. The youths in attendance were shocked as they all gasped and held their breaths. They watched on as blood began to slowly trickle out of the corner of Zeke’s mouth.
“Don’t you ever try to speak on my behalf, understood slave?” Nathaniel’s cold words sent chills down all the youths back. Greo was enraged and his cloak began to whip around crazily as his mana surged out “Nathaniel! What kind of behavior are you showing to these new students! Are you trying to poison a batch of good seedlings before they have even had a chance to take root!?” Even underneath the booming voice of Professor Greo, Nathaniel showed no signs of concern as he spoke out nonchalantly “Save the show for the freshmen Greo. Your words might have been able to scare me if you could actually punish me but you and I both know you can’t. You might be a mighty storm to others but your wind isn’t strong enough to shake the tree that shades me. I wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t a request from the headmaster.”
Hearing Nathaniel’s smug words further infuriated Greo. Especially since he knew that what Nathaniel had said was not wrong. Nathaniel was the son of an influential merchant who had made large monetary donations to the academy on multiple occasions. With His current standing in the academy he would not be able to punish Nathaniel without suffering from some sort of backlash. But he also couldn’t just let Nathaniel’s actions pass as if they never happened, he wouldn’t be able to look Zeke in the eyes ever again if he did.
As Greo’s mana continued surging out and creating visible ripples in the air he struggled to think of a way to handle the situation, all while glaring at Nathaniel. All of a sudden a bit of movement in the corner of his vision caught Greo’s attention. Zeke had taken out a white cloth from his pocket and used it to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth. Zeke turned to Nathaniel and smiled “My apologies sir, this commoner asks for your forgiveness in acting out of line. I do hope you can overlook this offense so that we may continue the task that was assigned to us by the headmaster.” Nathaniel casually turned his head shifting his attention from Professor Greo to Zeke “hmph its good that the manners of a slave haven’t been forgotten. You’re lucky that I have other matters that are more deserving of my time than you” Nathaniel’s eyes returned to Professor Greo towards the end, making it hard to tell who he was aiming the last part of his statement at.
Nathaniel lazily turned towards the youth sitting in attendance “Normally I wouldn’t even consider wasting any of my time with the likes of you. But luckily for all of you someone who I hold much respect for asked me to share some of my wisdom. Now if I was like old Greo over there then I would probably say some useless words of encouragement but I prefer practical and realistic over idealistic and nonsensical. In this world there is only one thing that matters-” Nathaniel raised his arm and pointed his hand palm side up towards the sky. A dark, cloudy, gaseous substance began to collect close above his hand. The dark mist continued to gather until Nathaniel closed his hand and the mist began to compress and form into the shape of a sword.
Nathaniel casually swung his arm down as the dark sword hovering in the air mimicked the motion. The marble podium that was standing in the front had been cut clean in half “Power is the only thing that matters” Nathaniel spoke as the swords began to dissipate “Power can be personal strength, wealth, talent, potential it doesn’t matter what it is as long as it lets you stand above others. That podium for example. If any of you were to be caught damaging campus property you would find yourselves with a hefty fine or even academic probation. But since I have the talent and potential to advance to apprenticeship after only a year of lessons here at the academy I can’t even be touched. The same rules apply in the outside world. Everyone knows that the Dark faction is the strongest among all branches of magic. Back when we used to showcase our might over the continent there were centuries of peace, no one dared to oppose our empire.”
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Nathaniel then looked back at Greo before speaking again “But ever since some dim witted fools began complaining and raising a ruckus talking about ‘tyranny’ the rest of the world has begun to see us as soft! The Light faction especially has now added interpretations of their religion claiming us to be spawns of evil!” Nathaniel was now yelling, his voice reached the youths as some of them felt their blood began to boil and their faces heated up. “Even better is the fact that while they spread their religion that denounces all of us as human beings, some of those in power are still blabbering on about peace and unification. But all of this can be solved if we would just unleash our powers and re-instill the fear that they seem to have forgotten!”
By the end of Nathaniel’s speech aside from a small amount of children who sat down with awkward expressions a large portion of the youths in attendance were rallying behind his words. Some shouted “Show our might!” others chanted “Death to the Light Faction!” Greo’s face reddened in anger “Damn it Nathaniel must you push your extremist agenda onto these children who have yet to truly experience the world!” Nathaniel began walking towards the doors and responded “I’ve talked to them just like the headmaster wanted.” With Nathaniel gone Greo was left to deal with a auditorium of incited and outraged youths. “Children! Children! Please calm down! What Nathaniel just said is not completely accurate!” Greo tried to regain control of the situation but by now a large majority of the youths were yelling which drowned out his voice.
Greo sighed in frustration and he rubbed his temple as he felt a pulse of pain ‘that damned Nathaniel! Father and child alike, always pushing for war!’Greo thought to himself. Greo felt a hand on his shoulder “Professor don’t let Nathaniel’s actions get to you. I’m sure he meant no ill will, he just has a peculiar personality. Besides you have to try and take better care of your health seeing as your getting up in age now” said Zeke with a small chuckle at the end. Greo gave a slight grin “Bah! You don’t need to worry about me. I still have much work to do in Lady Tava’s name. I’m more concerned with you and all your trouble making. You need to buckle down and focus on your studies. You might not have earned the flames of Purgatory like Nathaniel but you will be graduating to an apprenticeship soon.”
Zeke took the hand that he had on Professor Greo’s shoulder and started patting him on the back “Haha will do Professor. I’ll bury myself in my studies as soon as I finish the headmaster’s task.” Zeke proceeded to walk to the front of the stage but not many students were focused on him. Zeke stood at the very edge of the stage and raised both of his hands palm side up towards the ceiling. A gray mist like substance began to gather above both his hands. After forming two human sized orbs of the gray substance, Zeke motioned with his fingers and the orbs flew across the room. The orbs traveled in opposite directions racing across the auditorium. Occasionally performing flips or lowering slightly in altitude just enough for the youths to feel the wind blow by. The angered yelling gradually became replaced with shouts of excited joy and wonder “Wow!” “Awesome!” “Look at the flips! Look at the flips!” “ooh I almost touched it!”
After a few moments of impressing the youths with his dazzling performance Zeke felt that the mood had finally been corrected. He then directed the orbs to make their way back to the stage. One coming in from the left, the other rushing in from the right. The orbs stormed through the air from opposite directions and collided against each other. Bang! A booming sound burst through the room leaving the youths with ringing ear drums. The force was so great that the young students had their hair and robes blown back.
As the students began to recover from their dazed state sounds of applause slowly began to spread until the entire auditorium was once again drowned in the sound of the youths clapping. Zeke waved to the audience in a showmen like fashion as if to express his thanks to the youths applause. He then motioned with his hands signaling for the youths to quiet down. Now that all their eyes were on him the youths followed Zeke’s commands and became silent. “Haha thank you all for that great reception. I’ll take that to mean that you all enjoyed my quick demonstration” Zeke spoke out in a relaxed and friendly tone.
“First off as a senior to all of you new students I would like to personally welcome you all to Wight Scol Academy” Zeke closed his right hand into a first, holding it up to the center of his chest, and did a slight bow. The youths sitting in attendance were momentarily surprised by Zeke’s actions before a majority of them jumped to their feet and rushed to return the gesture but with their left hand. A small portion of the youths in attendance were caught off guard and remained seated, anxious expressions on their faces, unsure on how to respond. But almost instantly they received nudges and words of dissatisfaction from the others who were standing and returning the gesture “Hurry up and return the salute!” “How can you be so rude?” “You are being so disrespectful!”
After hearing their peers words the students who were previously sitting rushed to their feet and nervously tried to copy their actions. Seeing the worried expressions of the students who were late to respond to his gesture and the unhappy expressions of those who had responded Zeke spoke out “There’s no reason to get upset. This Salute is an Ardonean custom so it shouldn’t come as a surprise if some of our foreign friends are not familiar with it” Hearing Zeke’s words caused the foreign students to feel great appreciation and happiness. Even if their actions were a result of ignorance they understood that Zeke could have still taken offense. So for a person of such high status like a Mage to be so understanding and to even refer to them as friends made them feel much more welcome in this foreign land.
Zeke looked at all the students and identified the ones who were late in returning his salute. Red. Green, Yellow, Blue, Silver, they were all similar in the fact that they all possessed unique hair colors that were not common in the Kingdom of Ardos. Zeke pointed out to a green haired boy “Hello young man. Would you mind telling introducing yourself and telling us where you are from?” The green haired boy was startled at first but after confirming that he was the one Zeke was pointing at he timidly spoke “U-uh I… umm-my names John and I’m f-from a village located in the Great Dosk forests”
“Ah from the Great Dosk forests” After hearing where the boy was from Zeke put his hands to his mouth and made an animal cry that sounded like some sort of bird. John was incredibly surprised to hear the customary greeting of his people in a land so far away from home. He smiled brightly as all traces of shyness seemed to melt away and he responded with an animal cry that sounded exactly the same as Zeke’s.
Aside from a few other students who had green hair everyone else stood and stared in confusion. Zeke then pointed to a young lady with long hair that shined with a metallic silver luster “And how about this young lady? Would you like to introduce yourself?” The girl looked back at Zeke with a stare that showed her confidence “Me Ivanna. Come from Bozik Mountains” Her harsh accent along with her use of the language showed that she was still struggling with Common Tongue. After listening to the girl Zeke smiled “Na fa eeka tu foruk?” Ivanna showed the same shocked expression that John had before. Never had she thought that she would hear her mother tongue in this foreign land, much less from a foreigner. Her expression softened a bit and she smiled back at Zeke “Za fa eeka foruk ga hasa. Na goo hanga tatawinga. Zu Za fa eeka Bozikaruk” I am still struggling with common tongue. But I am surprised to hear Winter Words in this foreign land. You sound just like a native.
Instead of continuing the conversation Zeke stomped both of his feet twice and shook his body like a wet dog. “Hahahaha!” Ivanna laughed for a bit before copying Zeke and returning the gesture. To everyone’s surprise Zeke continued to welcome them with gestures customary to wherever they were from after they would introduce theme selves to him. Sometimes even using their mother tongue with grammar and vocabulary that was better than their own. After the introductions with the foreign students were over Zeke then pointed to a student who appeared to be a fellow native of the Kingdom “You there my young friend. I presume you are a fellow Ardonean Native?”
The young man with the two headed dragon pin answered gleefully as he nodded up and down “Yes sir- I mean sir Mage! My names Brooks Nevadrie, Solace city born and raised!” Zeke slightly chuckled “You’ve made a long trip if you came all the way from the capital. Haha I hope the city boy doesn’t find it too boring out here in the countryside” All the children in attendance got a small laugh at Brooks’s expense but he didn’t seem to mind as he joined them in smiling. “Anyways let me ask you this Brooks. You didn’t seem too happy when you saw the students not returning my bow. Were you offended?” Faced with Zeke’s question Brooks answered right away “Of course I was offended! For someone with your status to take the initiative in greeting us so respectfully It felt like they were looking down on us by not responding. As if the Mages of our Kingdom were not good enough for them to return the gesture”
Zeke continued to smile as he maintained a calm and friendly appearance “Then how about this. If you were suddenly told to head out to the Dosk forests and John greeted you with the Botan bird cry would you know how to react? Would you even know what it meant?” Brooks furrowed his brows as he contemplated “Ummm….. No, no I wouldn’t” Zeke continued “Luckily in the Dosk forest Common Tongue is spoken predominately throughout the population. So you would be able to learn and ease yourself in after a while. But how about if you had to go to the Bozik Mountain ranges and live with some of the tribes? You would be lucky to find a single individual within each tribe who could understand a few words of Common Tongue. How would you get through day by day?”
Brooks thought about Zeke’s question even harder as he closed his eyes to concentrate. After a few moments he opened up his eyes and had a scared expression, he had just used his imagination and placed himself in the scenarios that Zeke had presented “That’s really hard, I wouldn’t even know what to do. Just the fact that you can’t properly talk with anyone must be really scary and lonely” Zeke nodded his head in satisfaction after hearing Brooks answer “I’m glad to hear that. What I had just described is what all of our foreign students have gone through. As soon as they were found to have an affinity for dark magic their villages and towns sent them here as quickly as possible without much time for preparation. Hopefully now everyone, not just Brooks, can be a little more understanding and help make them feel more welcome in our Empire”
After hearing Zeke’s words Brooks turned to a foreign student with red hair that he had nudged with his elbow “I’m sorry. You probably already have it rough, with being so far away from home and all, and the way I acted must have made you feel even worse” The boy felt touched seeing the sad expression on Brooks face “That’s okay, I can understand how you must have felt. I would really appreciate it if you would help teach me about your customs” Brooks smiled after seeing the boys cheerful face “Sure, and maybe you could teach me some of yours”
After seeing the two boys make peace Zeke directed both his hands towards them with a smile “And that is the wisdom that I wanted to impart to all of you here. Before I became a student here at the Academy I never even imagined what the world outside my small town was like. But thanks to the Academy I was able to expand my vision by accumulating knowledge and experience. Because of the Academy providing me with the resources and environment to learn I have gained multiple opportunities to explore the world outside of the Empire that I would have never gotten had I never became a student. I hope all of you here can take advantage of the opportunity that has been presented to expand your horizons and to open your mind not only to the vast world of Arcane arts but to the world that we inhabit and to all the people we inhabit it with”
Zeke made his way down the steps in silence. All of the youths looked upon him silently as they all seemed to have been deeply touched by Zeke’s speech. Many of them had already burned the speech deeply into their minds never to be forgotten. They just sat in contemplation as Zeke finally left through the wooden doors. After that touching and philosophical speech Zeke smiled as he waved and greeted passing students as he made his way down the corridor heading towards the Headmaster’s office Wrinkley old bat! If he doesn’t give me a proper explanation I swear to Lady Tava I’ll wring his neck!