“Are you ready?” I asked the nervous girl at my side as we stood before the metal gates marking the entrance of the academy campus.
“No? Yes? I don’t know.” She responded with uncertainty.
Marissa was an indecisive person, normally lacking volition of her own (but she was still a child, so it made sense), but this was the first time I had seen her like this, all jumpy and stuff. Well, this kind of jumpy. Even at the school presentation or at the graduation ceremony, she was calm, bored even.
“Don’t worry, we’ve got all the basics. We are the best of our generation.” I reassured her. We had trained and studied hard over the gap year; I had no doubt we were ready to overcome the academy.
“Yes, because we are the only ones of our generation!” She jumped at my words, misinterpreting them and missing the entire point. “Everyone is older than us!”
“And what’s the problem?” I told her. “If we managed to enter the academy at a far younger age than them that means we are better than them if we are here.”
“Hmm… Alright.” With a dubious note, Marissa let herself be convinced by me.
“Either way, you are too nervous. There’s still half a week before the academy begins. Just be one with the wind and follow the masses.” I took a step through the gate.
We were currently at the academy gates to familiarize ourselves with the campus, still a few days before the beginning of the school year. This made her nervousness even more unsuited.
“Was that supposed to be a joke with my element?” She asked while remaining outside.
“No? It just came naturally.” Was it perhaps an idiom from my previous incarnation? I was sure the expression didn’t exist here. “Come on.” I beckoned her closer to me.
With a deep breath, Marissa took the first step into the academy terrain. Her nervousness and shaking reduced significantly with the second one.
“Was it that difficult?” I asked her.
“Oh, shut up.” She responded without looking as she continued walking forward. “Let’s leave our baggage in the dormitories.” Marissa told me to take control of the situation.
The Academy of Applied Magical Arts of Ferilyn was situated in the Sin’fal district, also known as the central district or the Arcane Sanctum’s reach. Yes, the academy was situated close to the needlessly big tower that overwatched the whole island nation.
A lot of young ellari were littering the place, from twenty-five years old to the more mature forty-five mark. Between those ranges, everyone was a student. Not only the academy had a long scholar schedule that expanded for twenty years of content, but for someone to reach graduation they needed to do a complex final degree project that lasted for five whole years. That’s basically a fourth of my current life, just wow.
And yes, after such complicated subjects of study, the rate of students reaching last year was abysmally low. That was basically the reason why there were so many ellari that just had finished school and enrolled here, but few veterans around.
That didn’t affect me in any way, though. Marissa and I had finished school with ease and at a level beyond our knowledge, as the first years of the academy were a direct continuation, we should adapt rather quickly and easily.
The campus was considerably big as we went on walking in a straight line for ten minutes before we reached the main plaza. A towering fountain, with a statue of an unknown woman that reached ten meters, was situated in the middle of the plaza. The radius of the monument couldn’t be ignored, as it seemed more like a swimming pool than a fountain.
“Wow~” Marissa was agape to the scenery before her.
Benches and tables helped the students relax or study in such a well-maintained place. The ground, which had been previously a cobblestone path, had now become a rainbow of tiles forming beautiful figures embedded in the plaza.
“Oh, I love it!” Marissa hopped with excitement.
“Well, that’s as good as it gets. The rest of the academy is more of an austere place. The statue of the founder is probably the best looking thing on the campus.” A new figure said at our side, invading our conversation. “Oh, where are my manners? Olivia Nay, eighth-year student.” The newcomer presented herself.
The girl was surprisingly tall, even for ellari standards, around a two-meter and twenty-centimeter mark. Her long ebony hair which reached beyond her waist matched her dark purple skin tone. And her eyes were red, with a shade of crimson.
“I’m Marissa Farlon. Nice to meet you!” Who are you and what have you done with the trembling girl of five minutes ago?
“The pleasure is mine.” Olivia slightly bowed.
“The name’s Edrie Nightfallen pleasure to make you acquaintance.” I replied with the same gesture.
“Oh, you are going to make me blush~” Olivia pressed her hands against her cheeks. “Such a lady-killer.”
Weren’t you an eighth year? Supposing that you ended your basic education at twenty-five, plus the gap year, plus now seven years, that makes you thirty-three, madam. I obviously kept this to myself. Considering that I was twenty-two, there may be a chance for something with her reaction, but I was either too young for her, or she was too young for me. Metaphysical things related to age.
“There’s no need for that,” I told her. “I’m sure you are pretty solicited yourself.”
While she didn’t possess the natural beauty of Alatea Decourse, Oliva still had a respectable image. She had a mature allure, alike a caring big sister, that many people would find attractive.
“I can already tell you have a great future ahead of you.” Olivia joked with a giggle. Her expression turned a bit more serious but still amicable. “Do any of you need anything from this senior?”
“Yes.” The previously pouting Marissa snapped for our attention. Yes, Marissa, I noticed. “Could you tell us where the dormitories are?”
“Sure.” She responded. “It’s better if you follow me, both dormitories are located close to each other.”
With a quick non-verbal discussion with Marissa (mainly composed of questionable gazes), we decided to follow our senior to the place where our dormitories were located. If you didn’t get it by her wording, the academy followed a male-female dormitory approach, which I considered suitable.
“By the way, what did you say about the fountain?” I asked Olivia. “Something of a founder?”
“Ah yes, you may not know it as you are newcomers.” Olivia stopped to look at me. “The woman on the statue is Elisandre Stargazer, the predecessor of the previous High Arcanist.”
Whilst I had her name in History classes, I didn’t know a lot about her. We normally delved either into the current or previous High Arcanists.
“She’s known as the founder of this academy and the most powerful High Arcanist to ever exist.” Olivia’s eyes sparkled as she talked about her. It would seem she looked upon Elisandre.
“Even more powerful than the current High Arcanist?” Marissa inquired, looking at the display of magic that was the violet sky.
“Well, that’s a pretty heated topic as of late,” Olivia added, also looking upwards. “There are almost three centuries between the two, as the previous High Arcanist was one of the more longevous ones in history, and not many people live to even compare the two. But one thing is clear, both reached the twelfth star.”
The twelfth star, the pinnacle of magic. I could understand without a doubt that Elisandre Stargazer was called the most powerful High Arcanist, or the current one who was able to erect the dome that jailed the city.
“But let’s not wander into speculation and theories, follow me!” Olivia began moving again as we went away from the fountain plaza.
We followed her into a tree-laden path, laid with the common pink-violet-blue palette that was so common at the Thal’mer park. The disposition of the trees was interesting, as they were so nearby each other that their canopies blocked the sky, creating the perfect shade to rest.
“You are the first ones I see that aren’t surprised by the catwalk.” Oliva stated with interest.
“We are from Thal’mer, so we are used to the vegetation,” I replied to her. “There’s a park bigger than the eye can see there.”
“Oh, I think you are the first ones I know from Thal’mer.” Olivia was greatly surprised by this. “You must be good if you got here.”
Contrary to my expectations, we didn’t experience classism by being of a lower-standing district. At least for her part, she was more curious about it than anything.
“Yes! Edrie’s incredible!” Marissa joined the conversation with glimmers in her eyes. “He can use seven-star spells on two types of magic.”
“Eh?” Olivia looked at us with confusion. “Is that true?” She said looking at me doubtful about Marissa’s claim.
Whilst Marissa deserved a solid punch for her over-enthusiastic revelation, I suppose it doesn’t really matter if people know I can conjure two different schools of magic at a high tier.
Also, I finally discovered the method to classify casting as spellcasting did with the Starry Tier. The answer is… that there was none. It did make sense in a way, as the only real limitation of sorcery was the mana output of the mage, but that arose the question of how sorcery, and by proxy casting, was classified.
Well, that answer was also underwhelming. Mages decided to create some comparable spells between sorcery and wizardry to be able to classify casted spells against spellcasted ones. In short, sorcery just tagged along the Starry Tier.
Actions speak louder than actions, so I showed Olivia my magical prowess. From the soul part, I conjured an upgrade version of Astral Projection. This spell seemed to have no upper limit on classification since its introduction in the sixth tier. As for the arcane spell, I used the first seven-star spell I had learned, Ungravity.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
As I projected another self, I began working with the gravity-defying spell. In a matter of seconds (closer to a minute), after the soul spell, my body got off the ground. Ungravity was an upgraded version of the six-star spell, Levitation, so to speak.
“Emmm… wow…” The senior student was dumbfounded. She shook her head to regain her cool. “Can you tell me again what your age was?” She asked even though this was the first time.
“Twenty-two years old.” I responded from the air and my grounded clone.
“Twenty-two!” Her voice cracked as she shouted. “Oh, damn. I’m pathetic.” She said to herself as she began laughing. “I’ve just learned in the third year how to spellcast seven-tier spells consistently.”
This surprised me more. Marissa and I had no problems reaching the seven-star by ourselves, and while Olivia didn’t look like one of those high ellari nobles, she didn’t strike me as a dumb and unmotivated person. Also, “just learned in the third year” really? Weren’t you in your eighth year now? I suppose this was your average ellari time dilation.
“Wait, twenty-two? Shouldn’t you be like twenty-five?” Olivia now realized.
“We skipped a few years at the beginning of our basic education.” I told her while giving Marissa a look.
“Huh, neat. You don’t always see that.” The ebony-haired ellari added.
“How’s that you took so long to spellcast seven-star spells? We took advantage of the gap year and got to the seventh tier with ease.” Marissa said sounding smug about the ordeal.
“The gap year, haha. Yes. The gap year. I surely used it as a way to prepare for the academy.” The eighth-year girl laughed nervously. It was obvious that she meant the exact opposite.
“That’s why I dragged you to the library against your will, Marissa,” I told her to justify all those times I had to literally punch her soul when she decided not to study. “Look now! We are ahead of the curve.” Jokes aside, she had developed a tolerance to soul attacks after repeated assaults that year. And that was a skill few mages could boast they had.
“And I’m not still happy about it.” Marissa pouted as she faced away from me.
“So… you two went from sixth to the seventh tier in a year?” Olivia asked to clarify.
“It’s a bit more complicated and nuanced, but basically, yes,” I responded without much thought. “Is that strange?”
She swayed her head from right to left while thinking, really trying to get a good answer out. “Not really. Though didn’t you have any problem while doing so?”
“No? What about you? I recall you had some issues.” I asked Marissa.
“Hmm… It was pretty difficult advancing to the seven-star level, but Edrie made it through before me and gave me some tips.”
“How curious,” Olivia said as her chin rested on her hand. “Normally, people, myself included, experience a wall from the six to seven star. That’s why the non-mages always stop at the six-star as it becomes progressively complicated from then on.”
“So, that’s the wall she was talking about…”
“What did you say?” Olivia asked.
Was I talking aloud?
“Nothing, nothing,” I replied. “I was told by my mentor in soul magic that I would experience a wall with my soul in the coming times, so I thought she was talking about exclusively my soul and not every magical field.”
“It’s interesting how you dual-wield the most common element and one of the rarest simultaneously,” Olivia commented as I finally decided to dispel my magic. It wouldn’t be good if people found us. “Oh, I would’ve liked to see it for longer. The Simulacrum-looking thingy, not the Ungravity, too many arcane users here at the academy.”
“By the way, what’s your elemental affinity?” Marissa asked out. “Mine’s Air.”
“I’m a lightning user.” She responded with a smile.
“That’s quite uncommon.” I stated.
“Well, not as much as soul user.” She added with a giggle.
“Touché.” I spoke.
“What?” Olivia asked in confusion. “What does that mean?” Oops, I did it again. Damn this unknown knowledge!
“I don’t know, Edrie does that sometimes. He says weird words that nobody knows.” Girls, I’m here, you know?
“Likewise, I meant.” I explained to our senior.
Our conversation came to a close as two huge buildings loomed on the horizon. Both were located perpendicular to each other, at a certain angle that they couldn’t look at each other. The buildings weren’t intersecting, it just was the angle of their rotation that was a right angle.
“Those are big.” Marissa said as she looked at the sky.
“Well, there are a lot of students in the academy, especially young ones. So, a lot of space is needed to house them. And most of them live on the campus as there are no nearby residential zones, as you may have noticed. Courtesy of the sanctum.” Olivia did her best attempt as a guide. “Do you know what rooms you have been assigned to?”
“Yes, Marissa and I have been assigned to the A-dual sector of our respective dormitories.”
“By the way you started, I thought for a moment that you were going to share a room.” Olivia joked.
“Oh, no. We weren’t~” Marissa spun around as she talked. I quickly backstepped out of range. “Why are you running away?”
“What do you mean?” It was obvious that if I said there, I would have received a whirlwind of punches.
Every time she was either too excited or had the face of a lunatic there was a high chance of a punch storm on the horizon. Extremely likely if both criteria were met.
“Jokes aside.” Olivia’s words saved me from further explanation. “Are you aware that you are going to share a room? Because I wasn’t when I came here the first year.”
“I mean, the name says it all. ‘A-dual sector’? There’s so much interpretation you can give it.”
Olivia laughed at herself before referring to us again. “If you have a problem while accommodating or with academic issues, you can ask this senior to help you!” She boasted confidently.
“Will do!” Marissa responded excitedly.
“Thank you.” While I was more conservative and said with a slight bow.
Olivia said goodbye as she returned to the campus, leaving Marissa and me alone at the squared plaza in front of the dormitories.
“This is where we part ways…” Marissa said rather ominously.
“Don’t be so gloomy,” I told her. “Once we have left our luggage and settled in, we will find back here. Does an hour sound good to you?”
“Alright by me!” She shot out towards her dormitory after she finished talking. Where was that pessimism from a few seconds ago?
Ignoring my friend’s quirks, I entered the residence for my upcoming academic life.
*******
“Tomorrow your academic life will begin.” A strict-looking woman spoke from the top of a podium. She wore a white and lavender tunic, which matched her violet skin. “I’m not going to sugar-coat and idealize your future experience; you will suffer, and you will fail.”
The hundreds of first-year students looked at each other in confusion. They had been expecting some welcoming words from the academy principal, but instead, they got a slap in the face.
Personally, I appreciated the truth and hard facts from the headmistress. Sincerity was hard to come by, even if it was rough. Marissa was laidback as always, while the principal’s words inspired nervousness in her, she looked at me as if searching for comfort. “You’ll help me.” Her expression told me, trying to auto-convince herself.
“No matter the background, the age, gender, connections… all of them are useless here.” While certain people gazed at the woman with disdain, the majority had seen hope in her words. “Your actions are the only thing that matters. If you fail, you are out. Second opportunities are rare, third ones, nonexistent.”
It was gratifying knowing that there was a chance to jump back on track, even if I had no intention to be in that position. Her authoritarian voice gained the respect and the fear of the students.
“A reminder for all of those affected after the Wyrm’s Landing event a few years prior.” The principal added at the end of her speech. “Focusing on offensive, war, or artillery magic has no future besides the battlefield. I recommend following more constructive fields of study, especially since our recently inaugurated laboratories are operational and are by far the best ones you’ll find in Ferilyn.” She made a dramatic pause, overlooking the new students. “You are dismissed.”
It was worrying that she had to mention the Offensive Coalition, even if it was indirectly. That shows how much that movement had grown over the last ten years. At least she actively discouraged it, and I expected the opposite, to be honest.
Looking at the face of my fellow students, they greatly appreciated the short welcome speech. And I did too. Concise and informative, as they should be.
“What are we doing now?” Marissa asked me after the sea of students dispersed.
“I wanted to go to the academic library, but it isn’t open until the first day of school for the freshman.”
“Really, Edrie? Libraries again?” She asked with a sigh.
“What do you mean? We’ve got this far thanks to the knowledge they offer.” I told her.
“I won’t deny that but love yourself more and avoid being drowned in paper for a day.”
“Well, it isn’t as if I had an option,” I replied. “Wanna explore the campus?”
With a nod on her part, we proceeded to unveil the secrets in plain sight that the academy offered.
*******
“So, you must be my roommate.” I told to the boy who had just entered my room. I left the book I was reading on my thighs.
“I suppose.” He responded without giving it much thought.
He scanned the room, even when there wasn’t much to see. A simple space with two beds, parallel to each other at opposite walls, and a bathroom at the entrance. There were small dressers at the end of both beds and a nightstand between them. There also was a desk at the side of the bathroom door drilled to the wall, though it was too small to even be called that.
“What’s ya’ name?” The boy asked after leaving his bag on the empty bed. “I’m Adrian Nagor, novice aeromancer.” He offered his hand, so I got up from bed and accepted it. I noticed a strong accent that I hadn’t heard before in my life.
“Edrie Nightfallen, novice arcanist and psychimancer.” I followed his introduction example. Damn, that was a strong grip.
Adrian was as tall as me, maybe a finger higher, though I blamed that on our age difference. He had short and spiky dirty, yet weak, blonde hair. More akin to white than golden. His jaw was prominent and far more masculine than mine. His eyes were green, yet unlike Alatea, his weren’t glowing. A shade of ‘lackluster jade’ if I say so, but I was no color specialist.
“Huh. That’s a bunch of titles.” We liberated our hands. “By the way, what’s a psychimancer?”
“Just a type of soul mage, nothing fancy really. I’m mainly an arcanist, but I’m also well-versed in soul magic.” I explained in further detail.
“I’m just happy with one element.” He added, turning around and showing me his back. “And that already eats too much of my time for my liking.”
“How’s it that you came here after the freshmen presentation?” I told him as he undid his bag.
“Not much, between getting lost and not being able to pack my things, it took a lot of time to get here.” He told nonchalantly. “I’m from San’ner. Where ya’ coming from?”
The agricultural district, huh. That was the first time I met someone from there. That place had become more important after the decade of self-imposed siege as no food could be imported from the outside. And whilst Ferilyn being an isolationist island nation was already self-sufficient before, products from the exterior had been appreciated in prior times.
His birthplace also explained his accent. Though his speech was entirely intelligible, there was a clear distinction from the pronunciation you would typically see in Thal’mer. His pronunciation of ‘h’, ‘k’, and ‘s’ was certainly stronger than the mild accents of Thal’mer or Sin’fal.
“Thal’mer, the forestall district,” I told him. “How curious having an aeromancer coming from there. Wasn’t San’ner littered with earth and nature mages?”
“That ain’t nothing more than a saying,” Adrian explained. “Sure, there are a lot of those two types of mages, but not everyone has that affinity. And besides, we know most of the mages there are arcanist and force mages.”
“Well, I don’t have a problem with aeromancers,” I spoke. “As a matter of fact, my best friend is one. She’s here at the academy, so you could help each other.”
“Fine by me. I’ll need every help I can scoop out.” He added. “I lucked out coming here.”
“Let me guess, the high-grade program with the school of Ferilyn?” I asked out my suspicion.
“Aha,” Adrian affirmed as he nodded. “Not to insult anyone, but my generation was so bad that I ended up here.”
“So that’s why you lucked out.” I pondered about his situation. “In that case, my friend can help you as we weren’t only the best ones of our school, but the whole district.”
“Neat.” He said while storing his clothes in the wardrobe. “Thanks for the help. It’s greatly appreciated.”
“No problem. Always happy to help out.” I returned to my book. “Though you should reserve your thanks until you meet her.”
The conversation died out as Adrian moved his things into the wardrobe and hygiene products into the bathroom. Meanwhile, I continued reading a spellbook of the seventh tier. It was composed of Arcane and Force elements, the most common amongst the ellari as Adrian had said, and it was more of a help guide than a compendium of spells.
As Adrian finished his installation, he talked to me again. “I’ve been meaning to ask this since I entered this room, but how old are ya’?”
“Twenty-two, but I’ll become Twenty-three on the coming Bloom,” I responded to him.
“Wait a moment.” Adrian stood quiet as he did the math. “If I’m twenty-five, shouldn’t you also be close to that age?”
“Oh, I and my friend skipped four years at school, that’s why I’m younger.”
“Hmm, maybe I’m wrong, but my math doesn’t add up.”
“Oh, yeah. I started school a year later… for reasons. Otherwise, there would have been a greater rift between the two of us.”
“Wow, that’s so cool!” Really? Doesn’t seem exactly ‘cool’ to me. “I’ve never met someone who had skipped years before. Ya’ must be so smart!”
“Smart as any,” I told Adrian. “Just a bit younger.”
“I’ll be counting on you, Edrie.” He offered his hand once more.
“Likewise.” I responded to his handshake with more strength than before, which made his merry-go-round expression even happier.