The Punishment
His arms burned, by virtue of being a were he had more stamina than the other students and not just that he was also a slave very much used to hard labor. There wasn't much he couldn't do when it came to raw physical endurance. But two hours in and he didn't stop, the rest of the students had left as the class was decidedly over and Asd was completely lost in the trance of Slash, Thrust, Slam and Kick. He had busted up two longswords against the training dummy with the first thirty minutes alone, now he was holding two bastard swords, a meter and a half long each and three times as heavy as a normal longsword.
This was a weapon that needed two hands to use, but Asd had two in each hands and was back away once again at the training dummy. He was no longer even worried about the rumors of Bout the fact that it seemed things were about to go terribly wrong for him. This was what he was really worried about, just two days in and he already did something that could get him expelled and he was a freaking Werelion. It would be all to easy for the academy to have a reason to kick his furry ass to the curb.
But that was no longer at the forefront of his mind, he had gotten so deeply ingrained into what he was doing that all he could see was the target in front of him. He stopped feeling the hilt of the swords in his hand and instead just felt the blades like they were an extension of his body. But this was no enlightenment but rather a matter of bloodline. Most if not all Weres preceded using their natural weapons to fight; their claws and fangs have been known to be strong enough to match Diamond steel, a blessed metal others called Titanium.
But that was as far as it could go as there were more powerful steels like Mythril, Adamantite, and Sky Steel made from meteors. The natural abilities of the Beast people could not match up, especially when cannons came into the picture and soon after rifles. So they had to learn to use weapons and was that a wake up call for the empire. They were knows as Natural Weapon Masters. Their power, speed and instincts not to mention a body so flexible it made elves green with envy; made them the best of the best. But still that wasn't enough.
"Asd?"
He heard his name, he didn't think, the only thing he did was react as he threw the meter and the half long bastard sword in the direction of the call. A shield of water, transparent and clear and rippling with mana appeared to intercept the flying sword. For a moment the runes that made up the spell module of the water shield flickered to life behind it, before dying down and letting the water and the sword fall to the ground in a puddle. Asd had his eyes widened in shock when he saw who he had thrown his training sword at.
"Professor Hogrin! Professor….? "
"Germaine, you call me Germaine Initiate. I believe we all have to talk, less about the incident of you almost burning another student to death and more of the fact that you are a Triskele Mage and you kept said knowledge to yourself….would you like to tell me why? And mind you the answer you give would determine whether or not the academy will expel you or not, because the crime you committed is not one that can be simply walked away from."
Asd swallows hard, the man in front of him was without a doubt the elf that had welcomed them all at the entrance of the school. He didn't know that the man had a more important role to the Academy as he was the one that was here with Professor Hogrin. But to be honest he didn't know how to answer, he had his reasons and that was mainly the fact that he did not want to serve anymore, he wanted to be free and not answer to anybody. But how was he going to answer that, how would he tell them.
"Before you ask how we found out, the Mana interface now tattooed to the back of your neck is connected to a larger system within the academy. That connection can stretch for millions of miles so even if you're in the capital of the empire, we would still be able to monitor you and your information. That connection only gets severed the moment you graduate as a Tier 3 mage. It also helped to grade the students and know what sort of training and teachings can be tailored to individual students, we can also help to give you the most optimal class. So yes boy we know you are a Triskele Mage." Hogrin spoke up, answering Asd's unanswered question.
The young Werelion shook, his thin but still well muscled frame looking really frail at the moment. Asd was dark skinned, brown as the earth and the mud it holds. The bulky frame that's accorded to all Werelions and most Weres seemed to have eluded him, but It didn't matter he was pretty much still standing. Either way he was pale, and enough that it was actually seen by the people asking him. He wasn't left with much of a choice in this regard about what he had or could do about this situation.
On one hand if he answered, there was definitely no way the academy would not want to take advantage of him being a Triskele Mage and would want him to serve them. On the other hand it might not matter if he talks or not, he could still get expelled and left right back at the beginning, and he doubted they would return his tuition money back to him. He was stuck between a rock and a hard place with only one way forward and no lies in sight, he really was stuck.
"I don't want to be a slave again."
Asd didn't know it, but he was the youngest in his entire batch of students. Timothy was older with a few weeks, but everyone else had at least 3 years on them, with others even being 30 or 40 years old, embarking on the path of the arcane. To the people questioning him; Men that at this point he didn't know absolutely did not give a shit if he was a Werelion or not. A dwarf and an elf, two members of the most elitist race in existence and they were not biased against a former slave and Were. They were weirdos and outcasts of their cohorts and people.
"I understand, but you will be foolish to think that just because you have been freed from slavery, that the concept of being a slave is over. If you don't want to serve go live in the forests or roam the wild plains in the nomadic fashion your now extinct ancestors once used. As long as you are under the emperor you will still remain a Slave Asd Elmalk Leo, last Son of the Lion… the last direct bloodline of Wereman Royalty. Theirs is no escaping being a slave boy!
If it's not to this academy, then it would be to society, it would be to those you love, it would be to duty, it would be to the pursuit of knowledge and your thirst for power.
But it is wrong if you think you can become powerful on your own. No man, Were, Elf, Dwarf or Human is an island. We gain nothing by trying to claw up by ourselves because it is such a tree that stands out from amongst the rest. And it is such a tree everyone will want to bring down. If you want power then you must learn to make the system work for you, but in order to do so you have to understand it. And to understand it, you have to serve it, only then will you be able to conquer it. There is no path forward you Mr. Leo, this society is designed to grind your people to dust. If you want to survive, I suggest you get a backer, and at the moment, there's none more powerful than the academy." Germaine said, giving Asd a lot to think about as Professor Hogrin ran his fingers through his beard.
"You will be placed in a specialized class away from the others for the next three months until classes has been given to you. Later today we will properly take you to go pick up the remaining seven circle spells that you will need to get your meditation method. However after that you would be confined below the cliffs at the side of the school, exposed to the elements and with only one meal a day as punishment for almost killing a student. Your combat classes would have to be stalled for the moment, but I believe you can self train during that time. You will learn, study and master your spells, by then it should be okay for you to come back up and join the school during the assessment in three months where classes would be allocated or chosen. I think I speak for everyone here when we say your main class would probably be a battlemage, your mastery with the sword shows even under your date.
The academy will not spare any effort in training and grooming you into being a powerful mage, the only thing we require is your name, and the prestige that would come with it. And influence, because believe me young Lion you are going places, even farther than you would have ever imagined. After all just as you broke the record in mastering a 0 circle spell in two days, there has never been a rainbow class battle mage before. I look forward to your exploits."