The Central Academy

It was already the next day—the day I would join the Central Academy of Mana Arts.

"Papa, are you awake?" Ku scratched my face as I was just getting myself out of bed with half-asleep eyes.

"Hey Ku! It hurts!" I slowly raised Ku from clawing my face even after getting up and placed him on the bed.

Walking and stretching my body for a bit inside the room itself, I looked at Ku, who was staring at what I was doing.

"How do you like your Papa's awesome muscles?" I flexed my body in different poses towards Ku with a smile.

"Kyu?" Tilting his head, Ku was confused about why I was showing him my upper body.

I let out a sigh, "Let's go wash up, Ku!" I pretended to be excited as I grabbed my companion and headed over to the shower.

As usual, the unhappy wails of Ku merely escaped out of the other ear as I hauled him inside.

After taking a bath, Ku jumped onto the bed as he shook himself to practically let all the water in his body spray towards me.

"You lose!" I said as I wiped my body with the towel I had around me and went to the desk where I kept my uniform.

My uncle George visited my room yesterday sometime after I got back from the Trident Auction House. I spoke with him about the magical attributes I would be sealing and stuff. Our conversation became normal, discussing what I was doing in the auction house and about King Arthur and Sister Aurora.

After talking with him, he retrieved my uniform that I would be wearing to the Central Academy from his spatial ring and told me the importance and significance of being a student in the Academy once again.

So, now looking at the uniform before wearing, "Let's get ready!" I said to myself as I started to change myself in front of the mirror.

The uniform wasn't too out of the ordinary for me, as it consisted of a white dress shirt, a dark blue vest, a maroon string we tied around our necks underneath the collar, and a pair of tailored black dress pants. With my white dress shirt underneath and a badge with a crossed sword and staff etched intricately over the breast pocket in a design with golden borders, overall, it gave me a very dashing as well as a scholarly look.

Taking a good look at myself in the mirror when Ku also joined me as he jumped and clung to my shoulder with his snowy white fox, "Not bad, champ!" I said to myself in an impressed expression.

After my morning breakfast that came to the room and getting to the ground floor to submit the keys, I already had my ride waiting outside the admission building.

Seems like the Central Academy has some serious management talents for recruiting students.

"Well, off we go!" I said as I went outside the admission building. Ku was ready and excited as he was already clinging to my head.

...

The ride to the Central Academy wasn't too long since we practically started the journey from the outer side of the academy's admission block, but the campus itself was enormous, 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 middle-ranked magical beasts pulling them.

"We have arrived, Master Ryan." The driver opened the door for me, and I stepped out, inhaling a deep breath of the campus air.

"Wind on Ku's face, Kyu!" Ku was excited through and through.

It seems, ah, there are also a lot of people. Elves, dwarves, humans as well as beast-folk, students from all over the continent were there. They weren't kidding when they said it was a prestigious academy. Not to mention that many of them are accompanied by their beast companions! That's awesome!

"Well, let's go then!" I said to Ku with a chuckle as I followed the crowd of students walking on the bright marble path.

"So biggy! Kyu!" Ku's jaw dropped as he looked almost vertically up at the building in front of us. The enormous white building that had runes etched covering it left even me astounded.

"Let's go in."

Just walking in, it seems like I had to show my ID to the staff standing outside. "Let's see here." I retrieved my ID from my spatial ring and proceeded to the crowd of students getting in line to enter the building.

The lines were separated as 1-1000 and 1000-10000. The numbers certainly represent the registration ID numbers, and my registration number is 1002, so I'm in line two.

I proceeded to the second line and got in line. Looking around, I noticed that all of the students, wearing the academy's uniform instead of getting special attention for their noble fashion sense. Equality, I suppose.

 ***

[[THE GIRLS STANDING IN THE SECOND LINE P.O.V]]

"Oh wow! Look at that guy, Reena."

"Huh? Where, Martha?"

"That guy in front of you! That guy in front of us!"

"Yeah, yeah! He is so cute!"

"Yes! His magical beast partner—that fox is also so adorable!"

"I want to cuddle that cutie!"

"Hah! You just adore that snow fox, Martha, but that boy—his long ashy brown hair with bangs that smells really pleasant even just when I'm standing behind him, a stature somewhat higher than others, it would make me feel so--safe, and last but not least, his bright sapphire and long eyelashes. Oh! Even with our academy's uniform, he looks super HO—sorry, only the word 'beautiful' is fitting to describe him. He is A-OK!"

"Girl, you are describing him like a novel's main protagonist, not that I don't agree that he is pretty cool!"

"Sush. There you go again, Reena...huh! One day! I wish I get a boyfriend just like him!"

"Dream on! I will be the one to get a boyfriend like him or maybe...him!"

"But...Think. What if he is a commoner!"

"Huh! That's not good, right?"

"Right?"

"Would be a pity though!"