The Academy's Strange Men

"How's your back?" Suri asked Aeon without even looking at him. It could have been described as nonchalance, but in reality, Suri couldn't bring himself to look Aeon straight in the eyes for now. Aeon had saved his life so he felt guilty about suspecting him about being a demonic beast. He knew he was bad at hiding his emotions, so he saved himself by not looking at Aeon at all.

Aeon was oblivious to Suri's thoughts though. He replied while tapping his right shoulder with his left hand, "Good as new. Couldn't even see any burn marks. Those alchemists are damn good at making potions."

Korona giggled from the side, "I heard about what happened. You must be a big hero in Suri's heart now. He was teari..."

Suri coughed twice to cut off Korona's following words.  Then, he interrupted the two's conversation by saying, "Thank you for pushing me out of the way."

Aeon was not bothered by Korona's words at all. He grinned at Suri and gave him a thumbs up. "No worries! What are friends for?"

Suri turned towards Aeon and fell in a daze for a moment. He really did not know what to think of. He barely knew the person beside him. But does that matter?

Friends?

That's not too bad.

He grunted in acknowledgment before looking towards the platform again. He swore in his heart that he would pay back Aeon a hundredfold someday. He'd make sure he would be able to do that in any way he could think of.

The atmosphere around the three brightened, putting a smile on each of their faces. The three continued conversing as if they had known each other for a long time. Anything they could think of, they shared with each other.

Not long after, however, a booming voice suddenly came from the front. "Ah! It's nice to see you young ones again."

An elderly man was now standing on the platform, the same person who oversaw the individual matches during the examination. The one with the long white hair and beard. The buzzing noises from the crowd were immediately silenced.

"First, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Toran Fiore, Fria's principal, at your service."

Hearing about the elderly person's identity, the place quieted even more. One might even hear the sound of a needle drop. Some people regretted how they did not perform spectacularly in the individual battles. It was without question that the principal was the strongest existence within the academy. If they were able to get the old man's favor, how high would they be able to soar?

It is too late for that now, though.

The principal, Toran Fiore, continued to speak, "I congratulate you all for passing the exam. Yes. Yes."

The new students were riled up but still kept their silence. They waited for the principal to continue his speech. Give some inspirational words for them, maybe.

But he did not speak further.

Weird.

After a few moments, it became really awkward. A student started clapping and hollering, trying to save the principal some face, but after seeing that no one followed suit, he dropped his act. The situation only became worse.

What was funny was that the principal did not care about the awkwardness. No one knew if he was used to such reactions or if he was just oblivious. He continued looking left and right amongst the crowd as if he were looking for someone. By then, everyone had already felt their sweatdrop.

No one would have guessed that the principal was such a strange man.

….

Behind the curtain of the stage, Klaus had his palm pressed hard on his face. He could not bear the awkwardness of the event.

Is this how their academy should give the first impression to its new students?

Klaus knew this would happen, knowing their principal. The principal was never a person who talked much. But he personally requested to speak first. Despite not knowing what the principal's intentions were, they had to agree.

This is frustrating.

Klaus assumed that the principal's speech was over and that it was his turn to speak already.

He went through the curtain that hid him from the crowd and walked towards the platform. He gently patted the principal to inform him about his presence, though it was not necessary at all. He knew that the principal would know. He coughed twice before speaking. "I congratulate all 51 applicants who passed the test."

Hearing Klaus' serious tone, those who eased on their seats straightened up.

"My name is Klaus Lorenheim. I am one of the three judges during the first part of the examination.

First, I would like you to tell something about the Academy.

The Academy is an establishment present in all major cities of each Empire to hone excellent mages. You all know that.

But!

I would like to clarify that the people here in the academy are not only focused on the art of war and combat. If you thought that that is the only thing taught here, you may now leave. Go enlist in the military where you will get what you were expecting for. You will also meet most of those who didn't pass the test there."

Klaus paused, eyeing the crowd. He waited for someone to stand up and leave. After seeing that no one budged, he nodded in satisfaction.

"Good,", Klaus' voice softened a bit, "you should have noticed that the academy is too big for all of you, and those who have yet to graduate from the previous batch. That is why, today, the classes will not yet start. Instead, the administrators will show you around, and tell you which classes you are going to attend."

After Klaus finished his speech, he felt a gentle pat on his shoulder. He turned to his right and saw the principal nodding in satisfaction. He bowed to the principal then both of them headed to the back of the stage, through the curtain.

….

"Sweet! No classes yet," Aeon cheered.

"You don't like classes, do you?" Korona said with a crooked smile. She thought that the military was better for Aeon who exercised as a hobby.

As if he read her thoughts, Aeon responded, "I could've joined the military, really. But my dad said I might figure out something that would awaken my magic earlier if I studied here."

Hearing this, both Suri and Korona were enlightened. Perhaps he might really figure something out since there is a part of the academy that specializes in research. This did not exist in the military where their studies only consisted of combat.

"Alright, separate according to classes. Head to Fria's Bed. Serans to the right side facing the statue. Remorans to the left. Follow the guide," an administrator instructed from the side.

Aeon, Suri, and Korona immediately got up from their seats. They were supposed to go to Fria's bed? Sounds awesome.

Reality disappointed them though. It turns out, Fria's bed was only a large, open field with a statue at the back. The only thing commendable was its size and superb marble floor. Aeon thought how expensive it must have cost to build.

Aeon and Suri separated from Korona and lined up amongst the Serans. Although they were not part of the military, they were expected to behave like they were. The Serans formed two straight lines, while the Remorans formed one. Judging from the current setup, only about 30% of those who passed were Remorans. It did not mean, however, that Remorans were generally weaker. Serans were just statistically higher in number.

An administrator moved to the front of the Serans' line and beckoned them to follow. He then spoke as they walked, "You Serans would spend most of your time there, on Fria's Bed, so our tour will be quite short."

There were classes that everyone needed to attend, regardless of the element they practiced, and there were also classes that were exclusive to a specific element. Each had its own classroom, even when there were less than 5 students who attended it. The academy really did invest in their future.

There was one problem for Aeon, however…

Aside from the general classes that required no specific element, which classes should he attend?

Everything?

Aeon did not mention it throughout the tour, afraid of disrupting it and catching too much attention. Suri did not notice his dilemma, either, since he was too absorbed in the tour.

The tour only took 45 minutes. By the end, they ended up back in Fria's Bed, but the other group had yet to come back. Just like the administrator said, their tour was shorter.

Aeon sighed. He had not thought about the problem with classes before he applied to the academy.

A hand gently patted Aeon's left shoulder. He immediately looked over, thinking it was Suri. After he turned his head, however, he saw Suri standing two meters away from him, observing the surroundings like an old geezer. Obviously, it was not him who patted Aeon. Aeon looked behind him and saw a tall, black-haired man with pointy eyebrows. Aeon tilted his head in curiosity.

How was the man able to sneak up on him?

The man spoke as he withdrew his hand, "Good day, Mr. Morgan."

Hearing the greeting, Aeon was also going to respond. But before he could, the man continued, "Please follow me. You need not stick around here for a while."

The man's words baffled Aeon. But at the same time, it got him curious. He looked around to see if anyone else noticed the person.

Surprisingly, no one else did.

As Aeon turned towards the man once more, he was already across the field, looking at him with his hands behind his back. He had managed to move away from Aeon by, not just a few, but about 50 meters, without him noticing. Aeon was awestruck.

Interesting.

Strange…but interesting.

Aeon left the group and strolled over towards the man. He thought about how the man might be able to solve his problem with the classes.

Aeon's mood lightened up.

….