The following week was a blur for Kest. He found himself getting turned around being on his own, and even with Gerold there, he was getting separated constantly due to how busy the city was. Eventually, he got a handle on the academy's layout and the town. He found he would only have to go into the city occasionally because the academy held shops and other essential places he'd want to visit. Gerold took him around to look at the shops, where he got a few uniforms, advanced books, and other things that would benefit him throughout his first three months. Even though he was planning to graduate from the beginner courses in the first semester, he still needed to improve and learn as much as possible.
After they'd gone shopping for the necessities, Gerold took him to the training facilities that he'd be going to nearly daily, and he was even kind enough to show him where the classes were. Upon arriving at the academy, the testing center he'd gone to was open. Gerold told him that if he wanted to get out of any required classes, he could try to test out of the course. Lydia was there so Kest could get a list of the required courses, and Kest thanked her for her time. For the rest of the week before classes began, Kest studied to get exemptions for the required courses.
Food was a struggle for Kest. Despite what he'd eaten the first day, everymeal after was lacking. He drank some kind of smoothie with three different flavor options. There was a meat flavor that he was decidedly against, and he managed to somehow not throw up like some people who had tried it. The other flavor options were fruit and vegetable. Of the three, he chose the fruit flavor from then on, but he was determined never to have to ingest such a disgusting meal again.
The day before classes began, Kest found himself at the testing building. He spoke to Lydia, who looked rather bored, and told her all the classes he wanted to test out of. He listed out all of the courses that he'd either had previous knowledge about or that he'd been able to study over during the week. He left a few select courses on the curriculum to ensure he was at least as knowledgeable as the rest of the students, such as history. After going through all of the tests for the day, he found that he'd succeeded in passing them. The only classes left were those that, besides those he'd chosen to take still, were required due to physical attendance.
Swordplay, magic refinement, mana manipulation, and mentor periods. These four courses required the student to be in the class, and even though the test during enrollment was a way to place them into ranking for the classes, there was no way to become exempt from those classes. The classes were separated into beginner, novice, apprentice, and adept. It was common for those brought up in a village to be in beginner or novice classes. Nobles and those who had some combat training or had to fight for their lives daily were placed at the novice or apprentice levels. Few students were able to begin at the adept level. Those students were stronger than most their age and had plenty of actual combat experience.
Kest found that he was placed in the apprentice class, and while it was an accomplishment in itself, he was always aiming higher. He'd heard that the upper advancements for various combat and magic skills were difficult to get to if it was even possible. Master was a stepping stone in a long line of continuously escalating skill levels. Anything above the level of master was information that was limited only to those who joined the military or reached a specific level of strength.
With all the information he'd gathered, and what he'd accomplished, he turned in early the evening before classes began. The following day, he awoke to bells ringing outside. Apparently, that was their method of waking the students up during the week for class. Kest rolled out of bed and put on his uniform, noticing that Gerold was already out of the room. Kest checked himself in the mirror and saw that he was fully prepared. Black slacks were creased, a perfectly white shirt showed under a deep purple blazer, and the red tie was the final accent to the uniform. His shined shoes were brand new, and for the first time in his life, he felt like he was a noble instead of a boy from the country. His father had never indulged in fine clothing or tried to look nice. He was born and raised as a man of the land in a small village, so he saw little use in looking nice for the sake of others.
The clock above the dorm door showed he had a little under an hour until classes. Kest hurried to the cafeteria, had his breakfast smoothie in a rush with minimal complaining, and hurried to class. He made it with ten minutes to spare, so he grabbed a desk near the front of the class and prepared his space for note-taking. Only a few other students were there, so he waited patiently for more to arrive. Many students walked in, ranging from people around his age to people approaching adulthood. He found it interesting that a person could awaken at such a wide range of ages. Conversations stopped when the Professor walked in.
"Good morning," the slim man began. He wore glasses under a hat that did nothing to hide his disheveled hair. The man was clearly a war veteran or life veteran and had a couple of small scars on his jaw. One was evident along his neck, beginning at his chin and disappearing under the collar of his shirt. "My name is Veradin Lloyd. You may call me Professor Veradin, Professor Lloyd, or simply Professor. I know that history can often be bland when read from a book, so I'll do my best to instruct you in an engaging and fascinating way to the eyes and mind. Be aware during your studies that it takes a strong mind to become a strong person. With that introduction out of the way, let us begin."
The Professor waved his hand, and the window shades were lowered, bathing the room in darkness. A small orb of light appeared at the front of the room and began to expand, occasionally creating smaller orbs of light that would grow as well.
"Initially, the world we know was born from the light. The Sovereign Creator was the sole being during this time. Still, as we all know, loneliness can be a bitter experience. This light was spread across the universe, and the Creator created the major gods. Balance, Choice, and Chaos were born from the totality of the Creator, and each bore power and personality and a will that was driven by their names," the Professor explained. The lights vanished, and a branching hierarchy appeared with the Creator at the top and the three major deities below it.
"The three major deities created the minor deities that we know. Rarely does one become blessed by more than a minor god or goddess. Over time, our planet was formed from the will of the gods and goddesses, and we came to be. Humans, elves, dwarves. It doesn't matter the race; we were all created by someone. Everything was peaceful until Chaos intervened with the world," the Professor said grimly, and Kest found himself leaning forward. He'd read about the history of nations. Still, the history of the world was something that he'd only had a slight interest in before now.
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"Chaos sewed her seed into the world, and with time, it spread across the entire planet. Monsters were born from this seed and every great catastrophe was caused by the seed. Well, every great catastrophe is not brought upon by the different sentient races. We'll get to those eventually, though," he said, a quiet chuckle escaping his lips.
"The world," he began as a globe appeared in the center of the room, "is filled with many types of people. We don't know everything about the world's creation, but we do know about what we have all faced at one time or another. We are not the only continent on Theraveil; the others are mysteries. We haven't explored outside of our continent because those that have tried have never returned."
"This is the history that we will be focusing on during our time together," The Professor then generated an image of the continent they lived on that rapidly shifted colors until settling upon the current borders between kingdoms. "The history of Vinjek is long and storied. While we have many records of events, not everything is known. The continent's history is several tens of thousands of years old. Still, we will be focused on the development of civilization. This began seven thousand years ago when the high king of Vinjek was born. You may know him as Vinjek Bladesetter, the High King."
The rest of the class consisted of reviewing Vinjek's early life and the path to ruling the continent. Kest needed to become more familiar with everything that was said within the class, and he was shocked to find that the ruler of the continent was a Hero by the time he vacated his throne. Vinjek ruled for fifty years, but no one saw him again after he left the kingdom. It's debated if he died in the wilderness, left the continent, or was somehow still alive among the descendants of him.
The class ended as the Professor raised the shades and allowed the mid-morning light into the room. Kestevere packed his bags and left the classroom to make his way to the next course that he had to take. Magic refinement was a course that Kest was excited about because he hoped that he would learn to control his magic. While it was an advanced course for the academy, it was also essential for life. One of the reasons that people were forced to attend the academies was to ensure that they didn't become a magic bomb when magic would collect into a body that wasn't prepared or trained to handle it.
This classroom was barren compared to the previous one. Mats were laid on the floor in rows, and Kest felt this class would be akin to self-teaching instead of being taught anything. The walls were brick, and sunlight could come through the top. The room was quite hot, and despite how the mats looked, Kest wasn't sure he'd be able to relax. He found a place where he set down his stuff and settled on the mat. The class began soon after, and this class's Professor introduced herself.
"Happy first day everyone! Seems as if you're all ready to start growing as people!" She began with a voice that was both soft and loud simultaneously. The Professor wore a flowy dress under a light coat and welcomed everyone to the class. As she continued speaking, the temperature of the room lowered. "Let's get comfortable, shall we? I am Professor Fleura Dana. Those of you who are returning students to the class, go ahead and begin with your mana exercises. For the new students, I'll explain the purpose of this class."
"The goal of this class is to expand your mana network to hold the amount of mana, or magical energy, that your body can hold at this stage. As you grow as people and reach new heights, this technique will remain central to your existence. If you could continuously fill a jug with water, it would eventually begin to overfill, or even explode. We don't want anyone to explode, so I'll guide you through the steps," the woman said as she created an orb of mana. Kest noticed that people were beginning to sit or lay on the mat comfortably, so he followed their lead.
"This orb is your core. See how it is fairly small right now? The size of a core will increase with your level of power, and even more importantly, your body will grow as a container. This is an example of how someone may find their way through expanding the mana network and refining the mana within," she said as the orb gradually expanded like a network of roots. The orb began taking the shape of a person as the mana continued moving outward, and the roots grew in size.
"Your goal for this week, for those of you that are new, is to begin the process of locating and being able to start core expansion. It may feel daunting, but please ask me if you have questions after class. While this class is self-paced, we value keeping you safe and not seeing any more students become craters," she sighed.
Kest's eyes widened upon hearing the last of what she said, and it occurred to him that these weren't empty threats or tales to scare him and the other new students. Some people really did just explode. With that looming threat, he followed the instructions that Professor Dana gave. He closed his eyes at first and slowed his breathing. He could feel his heart beginning to calm down, and soon enough, he could only hear himself breathing as his blood flowed through him. He could feel a pulsing in his chest that he'd felt before when releasing his magic in fights. The beating of his core overwhelmed all his other senses, and try as he might, he could not get his core to do anything.
He could feel the mana within himself but when he tried to push or pull it, nothing would happen. He wanted to access it, but it only resulted in a warning from the Professor about using mana during class. Much to his chagrin, he left the class without having done anything to improve his capacity or to keep himself from exploding. As he walked out of the class, he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to find a girl around his age grinning.
"Not so easy, is it?" the girl asked with a mischievous grin. She wore a version of the female uniform that included a pleated skirt that fell to her knees. A lopsided smile danced across her face, and her eyes seemed to sparkle all on their own.
"Not at all. What, are you someone that is having to retake this course?" Kest asked with a frown.
"Nope. Nice try, though. This is my last semester here, so I wanted to see if there were any other tips that I could get from Professor Dana. After being here for a few years, progress slows down a lot. I'm just trying to prepare for the intermediate academy," the girl said, sliding past Kest and into the warm hall.
"Wait, years? I thought people usually left here for the intermediate academy after a year or were told they couldn't go on. The beginner academy is just for teaching the basics, so once people know those, they're supposed to move on or leave the academies," Kest said in confusion.
"That's the usual path. It's different when you come from the streets of a city at the age of nine with no knowledge or way to survive. Having parents is a gift, not a guarantee," the girl said solemnly. "My name is Trysta Derain. I'm from the city of Bearstein. What's your name?"
"Kestevere Avalon. Son of Brondin and heir to the Barony of Avalon. A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Ms. Trysta," Kest said with the most eloquence he could manage. He found himself unable to take his eyes from hers, and he felt warm when he heard her voice.
"Come with me. We'll get lunch, and I'll give you some pointers on mana manipulation and refining your mana. If you want to graduate within a year, you're gonna want to really push it to pass the class!" she said excitedly as they walked out of the classroom building.
"A year? Give me a semester, and I'll be advancing," Kest said with a cocky grin on his face.
"Oh yeah? Well, good luck. Even people with loads of talent take at least two semesters. Keep up with me if you can, though," she said as they arrived at the cafeteria.