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Chapter 43: Xyrus Academy
“WAKE UP!!!”
“OOF!” I feel the wind get knocked out of me as Elijah, oh so tenderly, pounds my sternum with his two fists with the force capable of resuscitating a corpse.
I throw the sleeping Sylvie at him in hopes that she’ll protect me from my aggressive roommate.
“GAAHH! SYLV IT HURTS!!” As expected, the startled Sylv starts clawing at Elijah’s face until she calms down and sits back down next to me.
“There has got to be a better way to wake me up besides physical pain.” I grumble, rubbing my stomach.
“You’re telling me. Do you know how hard it is to wake you up and you reward me by throwing Sylvie at me? Even if she isn’t in her full dragon form, do you know how sharp her claws are?” He winces as he carefully touches the shallow scratches that Sylvie inflicted.
“Anyways! We’re going to be late if you don’t hurry up and get ready. I’ve already washed up so get going lazy ass.” Elijah starts pushing me off the bed with his foot before starts dressing.
“Let’s go wash up, Sylv!” I pretend to be excited as I grab my companion and head over to the shower.
‘Nuuuuuu~ Papa I don’t want to shower! I’m cleaaan!’ “Kyuuuu~” The desperate wails of Sylv go out through the other ear as I haul her inside. Sylvie now has fur, or very thin, long soft scales that are very similar to fur. This means that she attracts dirt like a magnet so washing her more often becomes a necessity.
“Brother~ are you awake?” Ellie opens the door as I was still changing, Elijah was at least fully dressed but I only had my bottom half clothed.
“How do you like your big brother’s awesome muscles?” I flex my body like a professional body builder in a competition.
“Eww… All I see are skin and bones Brother.” She just shakes her head, giving me a look as if disappointed by the fact that she has a brother like me.
Tch… she was all over me when I danced with her during her birthday party. They grow up too fast.
“Hurry up and get dressed and let’s eat guys!” Ellie closes the door and goes on ahead while Elijah and I get ready.
The uniforms that Xyrus sent us weren’t too out of the ordinary. For me, it consisted of a white dress shirt, a grey vest, a maroon string we tie around our necks underneath the collar, and navy dress pants tailored perfectly. There was also gold pocket watched attached to a chain on my vest’s breast pocket, overall giving me a very scholarly look.
Elijah’s uniform, on the other hand, looked very sleek. His black blazer with white trimmings matched his black pants. Instead of a string, he wore something similar to a tie, except it had a flat end. His tie was black with one white stripe, indicating that he was a level one student. With his white dress shirt underneath and a badge with a sword and staff crossed etched intricately unto it, he looked dashing.
Instead of the usual tools a Conjurer may use, Elijah, instead, fashioned a black two-part band on his index and ring finger. These two bands were connected by a thin black chain, which gave him a gothic look, especially now that he recently purchased new glasses that were a bit more fashionable. He made it pretty clear to me that this would be his debut in finding a girlfriend so he took great pride in how he looked, although he always grumbled on about how no matter how much he tried, he wouldn’t be as good-looking as me.
What can I say? I need to thank mother and father for their genes.
Taking a good look at both Elijah and myself in the mirror, I could tell how much we’ve matured physically. The once nerdy Elijah from two years ago was now gone, a more sharp and cold look replacing it, which oddly contradicted from his personality.
As for myself, my eyes were a rich sapphire color that almost seemed to glow. My hair was a fiery auburn color that contrasted well with my eyes. Bluish eyes and reddish hair made me realize how coincidental it all was. What are the odds that my defining traits aligned with the two base elements I was most adept at? My facial features were a lot softer compared to Elijah’s but while soft and kind, it looked poised and elegant.
I looked and studied my face as if it wasn’t my own. Even after 12 years in this body, I wasn’t used to my appearance compared to the rather normal face I had in my old world.
“Are you sure you made the right choice Art? I can’t believe you wanted to go in as a Scholar Mage. I thought you would for sure go in as a Battle Mage like me.” Elijah said while he was styling his hair. The trim straight black hair that he had was now shorter and styled to the side.
“And I can’t believe one of the main reasons you wanted to attend Xyrus as a Battle Mage student was because it had cuter girls.” I slapped him firmly on the back while giving him a perverted smile.
“Shut up… Just you watch. The new and improved Elijah will get an awesome girlfriend that can only make you drool in jealousy!” He adjusts his blazer and takes one last look at himself. Obviously satisfied by his appearance, he walks towards the door while I follow, Sylv hopping on top of my head, her small claws digging into my scalp to keep grip, making me slightly worried about premature balding.
“Took you boys long enough to get ready! Who are you guys trying to impress?” My mother shakes her finger at us while Tabitha, who was in a matching apron with my mother starts giggling.
“Good morning boys, hurry up and eat. Lilia is going to be up on stage for the orientation since she’s part of the student council. She must be nervous so make sure you cheer her on.” Tabitha sits down across from us next to Mother and Ellie.
“I see the both of you are wearing the necklaces I gave you.” I say while my mouth was still full of oatmeal and fruit.
“Yup, why wouldn’t I when it’s such a beautiful piece of jewelry. I wish your father had half the amount of sense as you do…” My mother sighs as she fiddles with the Phoenix Wyrm ornament.
“All my friends are jealous because of how pretty it is! Be sure to get me things like these more, okay Brother?” Ellie leans forward on her chair excitedly.
“Well be sure to give me a reason to want to give you more things like that then.” I nag at her. My brotherly side still wishes for her to grow up into a fine lady.
“Umm… Aunt Alice, do you mind healing my face before we go to school? I don’t want my debut at school to go wrong because of these cat scratches.” He turns his gaze to Sylv who just sticks her tongue out.
“Pfft. Still fighting with Sylvie? Come here and let me take a look at that.” Mother places a hand in front of Elijah’s face and whispers a small chant before a glow started emanating from her fingertips. A few moments later, the small scratches on his face all disappeared and Elijah let out a relaxed sigh.
“Thanks, Aunt Alice.” Elijah leaned back in his chair and continued eating breakfast.
My father comes in, quite evident that he was training from the sweat he had. “Sorry I’m late for breakfast! I was in the middle of a small breakthrough!” He excitedly sat down and looked at Elijah and me. “Wow~ my two boys are already going to school. I can’t believe it. Looks like we raised Arthur well, right honey?” My father smiles broadly.
“What do you mean we? I was the one that raised him.” My mother sits up proudly.
My father scoffs, “Tch~ I guess I only raised my children when they’re getting into trouble then huh.”
“As long as you know.” My mother states matter-of-factly, causing the whole table to laugh.
The only ones missing were Vincent and Lilia. Lilia had to go to school a few days earlier since she had to do some work but Vincent has been more and more busy these days as he is part of the management committee for the ship, Dicatheous, setting sail today.
“I was pretty surprised when you said that you wanted to attend Xyrus as a Scholar Mage though, Art.” My father brings up with while chewing on his eggs.
“Yeah, both are good choices but Battle Mages are the ones that get all the glory.” Tabitha sighs. Lilia was a Battle Mage as well despite disagreements from both Tabitha and Vincent. The two of them wanted Lilia to become a Scholar Mage since it would be a lot less dangerous but Lilia was persistent on making a name for herself.
“Haha, I’ll still take some general classes on Mana Battling whenever I can to loosen my muscles but there’s not much for me to learn if it’s just fighting tactics.” I smile.
“Not much to learn from… If any of the students heard you say that, you’d get beat up… no wait, they can’t even beat you up.” Elijah just laughs at himself at the thought of the massacre the school would have if anyone picked a fight with me.
“Please control yourself to a degree Arthur, there are very influential family members attending that school. You wouldn’t want to create trouble for Tabitha’s family.” My mother chides, her face filled with worry.
“Don’t worry! I’ll be sure to only moderately beat people up!” I salute while stuffing my face with more oatmeal while Sylv steals the fruits on it. My mother just shakes her head but my father laughs when a maid walks in.
“Mr. Arthur, Mr. Elijah, the driver says that we should leave now if you guys are to make it on time for the orientation ceremony.” She says while bowing.
“Well off we go!” Elijah finishes the last bite of his ham and stuffs some greens into his mouth before standing up and straitening his black blazer.
“Mom, Ellie, before I leave, I need you guys to show me your index finger for a bit.” I stand up and walk around the table to where they were.
“Huh?” My mother looks at me, confused, but nevertheless shows me her index finger while my sister unhesitatingly follows suit. I take a quick poke at both their index fingers with my mana imbued finger, just enough for a droplet of blood to form on the tip of their fingers.
“Put the blood on the necklaces.” The seriousness in my voice makes them silently concede despite their initial surprise. The two of them places their index finger on the necklace and the blood on the tip of their fingers gets absorbed into the jewel immediately.
“These necklaces are now bound to you so only you two can wear it. It’ll protect you just in case me or Dad isn’t there but still keep yourselves safe while I’m gone okay?” I give the both of them a strong hug and my sister tears up a little bit. I hug my father and Tabitha as well, my father holding me firmly in his strong arms.
“Be good boys and don’t worry about us. Come visit whenever you can and keep in touch!” My father and mother say before letting us off.
“Bye Brother, bye Elijah! Be safe!” My sister shouts out to us as we walk down the stairs.
“Your luggage is in the back carriage.” The driver bows and opens the door for the both of us.
“Destination, Xyrus Academy!!” Elijah points his finger to upward to the sky as if making a declaration before getting inside the carriage.
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The ride to Xyrus Academy wasn’t too long since it was in the same City, but the campus itself was huge so going in through the main gate took some time.
There was an abundance of other extravagantly decorated carriages, some twice as long as normal carriages, with low ranked mana beasts to pull them.
“Pshh… what a bunch of show-offs.” Elijah grumbled as he watched pompous looking students confidently stepping out of the carriage with decorated weapons to signify that they were either a Conjurer or Augmenter.
Our carriage was quite luxurious as well, but that was from the standpoint of commoners. Compared to those richly decorated carriages of major families, ours weren’t nearly as eye-catching.
“We have arrived Master Arthur, Master Elijah.” The driver opens the door for us and we step out, the both of us inhaling a deep breath of the campus air.
“Huh… the air tastes the same here… Thought it’d taste better.” Elijah says while smacking his lips.
“Don’t be stupid.” I push my friend forward as we followed the crowd of students all walking on the marble walkway.
“Holy mother of…” Elijah’s jaw drops as he looks almost vertically up at the building in front of us. The enormous white building that seemed to have words etched unto it even left me astounded.
“Let’s go in.” I snap Elijah back into sense and we walk in alongside the other new students attending this school for the first time.
Once inside, I winced by how loud it was. Thousands of excited students all chattered away, some with friends that they came with, some with people they’re meeting for the first time.
“LET’S FIND A SEAT!” I need to shout for Elijah, who was right next to me, to hear. Eventually, we found a seat in the middle of the auditorium near the back rows.
Looking around more carefully, I was surprised at how many dwarves and elves I see seated, chatting away with those around them.
“Wow, I’ve never seen full elves before until now. Looks like it’s true that all three races can fully attend this Academy now.” Elijah excitedly looks around, scouting for potential soul mates amongst the crowd. I can’t help but shake my head at the expected behavior, when I can only see these students as little kids.”
Getting bored of looking around me, I focus my attention on the stage where it was still empty except for a single podium. Suddenly, a sharp blur focuses into form and I see Director Goodsky standing behind the podium. She wasn’t wearing the oversized hat that Conjurers wear like she did the last time we met almost 4 years ago, but instead, she wore an elegant white circlet that matched her white robe. She had her eyes closed but when she opened them, she was looking straight at me, which sent shivers down my back. Smiling, she raised her hand slowly while her eyes were still locked onto mine.
By this time, many more of the incoming first years noticed her and began talking even louder, some cheering, but when Director Goodsky’s hand reached where her head was, suddenly, everything went dead silent.
Looking around, everyone had looks of surprise and while everyone’s lips were moving, no sound was heard from anyone in the audience.
“Excuse me for my rudeness but I do hate speaking up. Not good for my throat, no it is not.” She says in a pleasant voice that, while soft, was heard perfectly clear even from here in the back row.
“I welcome everyone here, the future leaders, scholars and powerhouses of Dicathen to this humble Academy. I am Cynthia Goodsky, please call me Director Goodsky and do not be afraid to say hello when I walk around campus. I am no good with speeches so I stand here before you mages today to say hello and introduce to you the Student Council that represent this Academy and take part I making important decisions along with me. Please give them a warm welcome.” She waves her hand that was raised up and one by one, members of the council start walking out.
I first see Jarrod walking confidently, looking straight ahead, his pretty boy face seems initiated a wave of shrill screams from the girls in the audience. Behind him, a very playful, cheery guy comes out while he waves at the audience, beaming us a bright smile.
“Look look! There’s Lilia! We need to cheer!” Elijah stands up and shouts at the top of his lungs and I follow him, yelling her name as well. Her shy demeanor was nowhere to be seen as she walked calmly towards the center of the stage, where she gave small bows. There was no way she could see us or hear our individual cheers but we still gave it our all to cheer our friend up.
Behind her walked out a tall student with long bangs that parted in a 2:8 ratio. He had a very serious face and the way he held himself up reeked of an all-mighty attitude. All that was missing was glasses, but he didn’t wear any, his eyes looked even sharper than Elijah’s but in a cold, quiet sort of way, he was attractive, starting another wave of cheers from the excited girls in the crowd around us.
Finally, the last to arrive actually made the crowd silent. The unmistakable gunmetal silver hair that reflected the lights in the auditorium gave her a serene glow as her peachy crème complexion made the boys around me gape. She turned to face the audience so that her round, turquoise eyes captured the hearts of every boy in this auditorium.
She was only 13…right?
I had a hard time believing the girl I couldn’t see as more than a kid matured enough to make me gulp. She still had an immature face that couldn’t be hidden no matter how beautiful she may be in comparison to everyone else, but just imagining the potential she had made me shake my head.
While still a little taller than Lilia, she was quite a bit shorter than the serious-looking guy next to her but her posture made her seem bigger and grander than everyone else on the stage. Taking a deep bow, she comes back up while tucking a side of her hair behind her pointed ears, her face emotionless as if she were a doll.
“My name is Tessia Eralith and I am honored to stand here as this Academy’s Student Council President.”
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