In their second day in the Academy they where provided with all of the things they needed, thanks to Allera, Leif already had everything he needed to study, finely crafted pencils, notebooks, and other materials, for the books and tomes he had unlimited access to the most massive library in the world, the center of the Academy's great tower, he had never seen so many books, he had been to libraries before, but this one loooked endless, everytime you thought you had reached the end there was another turn, each corridor made of dozens and more dozens of bookshelves, each bookshelf holding hundreds of books within, they had provided him with the Academy's uniform, a white wool button up shirt, black trousers or skirts of thick linen, the most characteristic part of the uniform was the cloak, each house had its own cloak, Leif's was the cloak of the Black Hydra, a thick black cloak, sewn with a thick underside of white fur, on the back, finenly embroidered with a golden thread, was the image of a black dragon, with four heads, all looking to the left, spreading its wings, they also provided him with the week schedule, each day they had 6 mandatory classes, starting at 7 in the morning and ending at 3 in the afternoon, the rest of the day was left for individual study of the students will, they where allowed a two day break on the weekends, Saturday they wherent allowed to leave the Academy grounds, but on Sundays they where allowed to leave, most students enjoy going to the cidatel.
Once the sunlight broke through the curtains and hit his face, he opened his eyes, rubbing them and stretching his arms and legs, he saw that Ryan was already awake.
Ryan: [Good morning.]
Leif: [Morning...]
The pale young man was adjusting the neck of his shirt as Leif stood from his bed, once he took off his shirt Ryan looked away, he changed into the Academy's uniform, the shirt first, then he chnaged into the black pants, tiying his boots and cloaking himself on his houses black and white, then he took his bag of study supplies.
Leif: [You know the time?]
Ryan: [The door should tell us.]
And then they head the knock, walking out among many other students, they walked down the stairs and then out of the long corridor into the dinning hall, after a couple minutes they walked from the hall to the classroom, the way there was a mix of stairs and corridors the main one had only a ledge of stone differentiating from the outside, the wind flowing throught, some would even stop to watch, from there you could see the entirety of the Academy's territories up to the wall, he stopped to say goodbye as Ryan walked in, the classroom he was assigned to was further up, after Ryan walked in he walked away, his cloak flowing with wind after each step, just when he reached the door to his classroom he saw him, standing with his back turned to Leif, a white cloak, with yellow fur underneath, on the back the sigil of a bright yellow dragon, it's head turned to the right, displaying its wings proudly, embroidered with golden thread, his long and silk pale blonde hair flowing with the wind, he turned back, a kind smile on his face a he glared at Leif with his bright green eyes.
Kallum: [Good morning, Leif.]
Leif: [Fuck you.]
He passed right throught, turning his back on the blonde as he pushed the door and walking in to the classroom, inside there was a small group of students, around 15 of them, sat around in their own desks, among the group were two familiar faces, Edward Elsun and Seleena Ville, he paid no attention to them, walking right past as Elsun gave him a nasty glare, he stepped up each level and sat on one of the desks that had no one else, after a couple of minutes no one else seemed to be arriving, then a man pushed the door open, closing it behind him as he walked in, this was the same man that had masked himself during the tests, the one with gentle blue eyes and thick grey beard.
Theul: [Good morning, everyone, i'm Theul Soren, and we will be beggening the Runic and Imperial History.]
Leif took his bag and put it in the table, pulling out a notebook and a pencil.
Theul: [Are there any questions that need to be asked?]
He spoke, putting both of his hands on the podium as he stood in front of the class, no one asked anything so he continued.
Theul: [Alright then well begin with the basics, the beggenings of the Pallaccian Empire.]
For an hour he spoke of how the ancient Pallaccians, more then a millennium ago, begun to learn Runic from the Ancestral Spirits of Old Pallaccia, The Mother of Minds, The Golden Dragon, The White Griffin, and others, of how with the power they acquired they where able to overcome any and all other Kingdoms and Empires into submission, of how Pallaccia became the glorious Empire it is today.
Theul: [That will be all for today students, since it's your first day i will not provjde you with any individual assignments, but i do encourage you all to study on your own.]
He said before turning and walking away, he open the door and closed it behind him, a soon as he did so Edward pushed himself off the chair with power, with a commanding stride he stepped up to Leif's table, standing there, quietly glaring down at him, the young man wore the same clothes as Leif, all except the long thick cloak of deep crimson and golden fur.
Edward: [You ignoble little bastard.]
Leif ignored him, perching his chin on his wrist lazily and looking away.
Edward: [You trully lack honor.]
He felt the young man's hands pull on his cloak, lifting him off the chair and holding him up, Leif felt his blood boil, but just before he could shove his fingers on Edward's eyes someone yelled out.
???: [That. is. enough. young man!]
They both looked down to see an older woman with a steely expression, her lips curved in anger, Edward sat Leif down and let go of his cloak, stepping down and sitting on his chair once more, Leif could see his fist shaking in anger.
???: [Fighting in not permitted withing Academy grounds, in any way shape or form.]
Edward: [I apologize.]
Her mouth went back to normal, although her expression was still unmoving.
Meera: [I am Meera Thellman, and we will be beggening with your Runic Studies.]
Leif shoved the book he was using back on his bag, taking another one and beggening to write down as she taught them about the origins of Runes, of how Runes are marks, marks of the energy that flows through the entire world, she told them of how emotions, actions and ideas shape this flow, leaving marks that display separate phenomenon, she even begun to teach them about the Ancestral Runes, the Runes of Knowledge, Valor, Domination, Eternity, Chaos and Harmony.
Meera: [I'm also assigning a book for all of you, it's name is "The History of Natural Runes" and i want all of you to begin reading it today, i will be checking your progress everyday.]
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
She said before stepping away and out of the room, Leif quickly noted down the name of the book as she did so, the next one stepped in, the tall, broad redheaded man with a long thick beard, he carried with him a wood bucket, letting it down in front of the room.
???: [Alright... Im Elric Cedrell, today yall are gonna be making some engraving, take a couple rocks from the bucket.]
Leif got up, stepping down to the front of the clasroom and joining the others at picking up 3 or 4 stones from the bucket, polished slabs of stone, then he turned back to go to his table, on the way Edward pusjed his shoulder against him, making him stumble a little, bit he paid no attention, sitting back down he ran his finger against the surface of the slab, he reached inside his bag, pulling out the carving tools he was provided with by the Academy, a chisel, a tiny hammer, files and others.
Elric: [So well be doing some warming stones, just to grasp the ideas, the rune we'll be engraving is the rune of warmth, yall know that one right?]
The rune was Kelár, the rune for lesser, Kel, and the rune of fire Fár, to generate a small warmth, it was quite useful, the main idea of engraving was carving the rune within an object, if done correctly the rune should create the desired effect after energy courses through it, Leif began, slowly scraping the chisel against the surface, he could hear all of them do the same, Fár was a simple, rune, consisting if three lines, one in the center and two others on the sides that met, in a single point, on the first try the slab broke.
Elric: [Alright, one's already done, what's your name kid?]
Kallum: [Im Kallum sir.]
The two spoke, the blonde had gotten it right on the first try, on Leif's second try the lines where too thick.
Elric: [Another one, name kid?]
Dorian: [Dorian, Dorian Vance mister.]
The boy with the rich brown skin spoke, as he had finished on the second try, on Leif's third try he had perfectly carved the rune, as he made his energy couse throught the slabs begun to radiate warmth.
Elric: [Alright, you kid, name?]
He said as he pointed to Leif.
Leif: [Leif.]
He could see Kallum look up at him, with that treacherous smile of his, he simply looked away, every couple minutes Elric's voice sounded asking the name of another student who had finished, Leif had great pleasure watching Elsun try to carve the small slabe with his big clumsy hands, and by the end of the class the man let the students have their own wamrth stones, making them throw the defective ones back in the bucket as he walked out the students walked out with him, and while he walked up they walked down.
Edward: [Leif.]
He looked back to see the tall young man once more, this time he seemed to be much less angered.
Leif: [What do you want?]
Edward: [I apologize for my outburst earlier.]
Leif: [I didnt care.]
The young man sighed.
Edward: [Im simply angered about the result of our previous fight.]
Leif: [Why?]
Edward: [You abbandoned it! Turned your back on me and ran away!]
Leif: [I dont see what's wrong with that.]
Edward seemed to be a bit disheveled by that statement.
Edward: [Later today well have Physical Education, accept my proposal for a duel!]
Leif: [Alright, i dont care.]
He turned his back on him and walked away, passing by the other dozens of groups that walked the same way as him.
Lyra: [Leif!]
He looked back, spotting Lyra and Ryan among a group of other students, mostly wearing black capes like him.
Leif: [Hi.]
He said as he stepped among them.
???: [Is that him? The guy on the special class?]
Asked a short and skinny boy.
Lyra: [Yeah isnt that awesome!?]
Leif: [Why is it awesome?]
Lyra: [Because they get people from the Black Hydra on the special classes.]
He did notice there was no one else wearing a black cloak in the room, they all walked to the dinning hall and ate, baked goods, fruits, bread, hoeny and cream, with wine to drink, he had slowly gotten used to this kind of food thanks to Allera, but he was still surprised that they where available to all, he had been told that the Academy is sponsored by the Pallaccian Empire itself, along with millions of other noble families, and seeing that wide array he was completely sure of it.
Lyra: [So who else is in the special class?]
She asked after shoving honeyed bread in her mouth.
Leif: [I only know four of them.]
???: [Theres thay one bastard, right?]
Asked a tall broad young man with a shaved head.
Leif: [Yes, Kallum Thorne, the other three i know are Edward Elsun, Seleena Ville and Dorian Vance.]
Lyra: [Wow... only the big guys, huh?]
Leif: [Really?]
Lyra: [Of course! I mean Thorne is a prince's bastard.]
???: [The Elsun family is literally the guard of the imperial family right?]
Asked the short and skinny boy.
Ryan: [The Ville family is ancient aswell, and the Vance family is a family of merchants.]
Lyra: [And you... you're a Crows?]
Leif: [What do you mean?]
Lyra: [Sorry man, but you're a bit out of place there, how did you even end up in the special class.]
Leif: [No idea.]
He really had none, why was he there? Among those part of rich noble houses, once the break enede he returned with the group, they walked all the way upp to the classrooms once more, and once more Leif left alone towards his own, he entered and walked up to his desk, just when he sat down the teacher pushed the door open.
Lyenne: [Hiii, everyone! Im Lyenne, im here to teach you guys about Spirits!]
She was a pale woman, with kind deep green eyes and long, thick and curly red hair along with a freckled face.
She squeeled out, skipping towards the podium.
Lyenne: [So, the objective is that, by the end of the week, all of you will perform an invocation ritual! Isnt that sooo fun!?]
Then someone raised thier hand, she smiled and pointed at the student.
Lyenne: [Yes, sweetie, what's your name?]
Bram: [Bram, miss, what is a invocation ritual?]
Lyenne: [Oh yeah, i forgot to tell you all.]
She chuckled to herself.
Lyenne: [Sorry! An invocation ritual is a ritual to materialize and bound your energy to an spirit.]
Leif's attention was taken, so he could have a spirit?
Lyenne: [So today i'll make you guys call upon the lesser spirits.]
She begun.
Lyenne: [There are four kinds of spirits, lesser spirits, common spirits, greater spirits and ancestral spirits.]
Then she continued to teach them about the origins of spirits, how all spirits begun as lesser spirits, feeding on the energy of all kinds of things, winds, fire, water, plants, animals, people, of how lesser spirits naturally fuse and grow, becoming common spirits, taking shape and growong more powerful, after hundreds of hears becoming greater spirits, and after thousands of years more, growing so powerful they can alter landscapes with their power, she took as example the spirits of each house, all of wich are ancient spirits.
Lyenne: [So to call upon the spirits, you have to feed them energy, enough energy to make them materialize to feed, so just... let your energy out!]
Leif did as she told them, closing his eyes, he felt the energy flow throught his core, then out of his body, letting it all flow freely out, something he had never done before.
Lyenne: [Hey!]
He opened his eyes, she was pointing directly at him.
Lyenne: [Enough, stopping letting it out!]
He did so, taking a big breath and stopping the flow.
Leif: [What... what did i do?]
He felt the eyes of others on him, the teacher sighed.
Lyenne: [Even for a student on the special class...]
She mumbled to herself.
Lyenne: [Alright young man, just let out... lessssss energy, alright?]
Was something wrong with his energy? Was he doing something wrong?
Leif: [Alright...]
He closed his eyes once more, thinking about what she said, she told him to release less energy, but maybe, instead of releasing large quantities, what if he made the enrrgy he released better, denser, more powerful? He felt the energy flow throught his core, but he didnt allow it to flow freely, he ruled it, condense it, folded it onto itself, only letting it pass throught when he could feel the pressureon his core, he could feel it seep throught his skin, looke the warmth of a fireplace, but this time he was the fire thay burned.
Lyenne: [Ah... he did it...]
Leif opened his eyes once more and he could see them, like little sparkling maggots, feeding off the energy that seeped from his body, he had never seen anything quite like it, little stars with legs feeding off of him, then he begun to feel tired, quickly closing his eyes and deeply inhaling, stopping the energy of flowing freely once more, when he opened his eyes once more he noticed everyone was looking at him, the teacher looked away and cleared her throat.
Lyenne: [Alright everyone... keep up!]
After a few minutes the class ended, and once the teacher left there where already people standing around Leif's table.
???: [How did you do that?]
Bram: [Yeah, how?]
Leif: [Do what?]
Edward: [Do not play dumb, Crows, i know very well how cunning you are.]
Leif: [I have no idea what youre talking about.]
Dorian: [Just how where you able release so much energy?]
???: [Enough, all of you! Sit down.]
The man spoke, he was tall, broad and tanned, with his head shaved clean and with a thick black beard.
Alvar: [I am Alvar Elsun.... what should today's class be...?]
The man asked himself as he leaned on the podium.
Alvar: [Im thinking of a couple exercises then a classic duel, what do you all think? Anyone disagrees?]
No one said a thing.
Alvar: [Good, then all outside.]
The teacher led them to one of the huge plataforms on the side of the main tower, these plataforms where so big they worked as fields for the Academy.
Alvar: [Alright everyone, stretching time, you all know how to stretch right, come on!]
Leif did as he was told and begun to stretch, he was taught the proper way by his general, Geralt Persworth, he stretched his arms and his legs just as everyone did it.
Alvar: [Alright, then lets begin with some dodging, lets check your reflexes kids.]
He pointed at them.
Alvar: [[Sírkjí.]]
Wind seemed to flow from the tip of his finger, forming tiny balls of gale, like small hurricanes, in a flash the tiny balls came in their direction, like arrows of wind, the first one came in contact with a student wich was flung back like a doll, the gale exploded in his face and he laid on the ground in pain, a torrent of gales took place as the explosions of wind came in contact with the students, Leif jumped over one with exploded beneath his feet, then ducked under another one, and when he realized he was one of a few who was not on the floor.
Alvar: [Alright, good, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.... 9, 9 of you stand, good enought, how about some exercises now huh?]
He made them do push-ups, sit-ups and squats and by the end he made them run around the camp 10 times, a bead of seat ran down Leif's face as he recovered his breath, again, he was one of the few who was still in good shape, the teacher opened a chest nearby, taking a dozen and a few more wood swords and throwing them at the students.
Alvar: [Alright them, we still have some time for duels, just friendly sparring, get your partners.]
When he noticed, Edward was looking right at him.
Leif: [Alright man, come on.]
Elsun stepped up, gripping his sword tightly, Leif took oit his cloak, throwing it on to the ground.
Edward: [You dishonor your house?]
Leif: [Whatever, come on.]
They touched their wood blade together, glaring at eachother.