1 Welcome to Rixora's Academy of the Arcane

Inside the kingdom of Seronao was the state-sponsored school of magic called Rixora's academy of the arcane. Every mutant child in the kingdom was required for those fifteen years of age to attend this academy. This policy was different from other kingdoms as most viewed mutants as the source of cataclysm and disease. However because of Seronao's policy the nation had grown rapidly in power much to the ire of other nations. Though this brought war to the doorstep of Seronao quite frequently, so frequently in fact that it was known as the nation forever at war, despite this the nation used it's policy and strong mages to win these wars rather easily. During a time of rare peace a boy with green glowing eyes named Sebastian was taking the exam for Rixora Academy. His own birthday happened to be on the same day as the admissions process. Though most with mutations didn't manifest physically there were some rare cases in which they did and it was usually a sign of great talent. However those marked by great talent and with physical manifestations of mutation also had their magic manifest and have some sort of affect on their surrounding environment. An example of this would be if someone with talent in the fire element with their hair aflame accidentally cast powerful fire magic, or someone with water magic causing a flood when stressed or angry. Sebastian had no such incident, and while being aware of his mutation, could not find his own element or specialty. Despite this Sebastian still had hope and placed his expectations on the academy's testing methods. The academy didn't have to worry about testing children at the age of fifteen as that was taken care of by the kingdom of Seronao nationwide every year. Though most would still have to take a specialty test and it was much more cost effective to do this when they reported to the academy as everyone would be in one place and there was no need to test those who might not have a mutation.

When it was finally Sebastian's turn to be tested he stood outside the gates of the academy where a large tent had been set up to test those who needed it upon entry. An aged voice called out from the tent letting Sebastian know that it was his turn to enter. As his green glowing eyes adjusted to the change in lighting he noticed a figure dressed in a cloak and hood that covered their face with the only aged hands of the individual bearing a hint to their identity.

The aged voice of a man called out to Sebastian once more saying, "Well do you plan to stand there gawking all day or do you plan on coming in lad."

Though this sentence was phrased as a question Sebastian could tell that it was more of a statement for him to hurry up and having remembered the line behind him he proceeded to the table that contained several items that the cloaked man sat at. Sebastian pulled up the chair opposite of the cloaked man where he took his seat and looked at the items on the table. There was a bowl of water, some dirt, a small brazier with a flame, and a strange circle drawn on the wooden table along with a small needle. The hooded man instructed him to place his hands above one of the objects but after having noticed no reaction told him to proceed to the next one. However after testing each of the objects and gaining no reaction from any of them he grew worried. The hooded man showed no reaction of surprise or disappointment at any of this and strangely this calmed Sebastian quite a bit.

"Try moving the air," the hooded man ordered.

Sebastian, closed his eyes before he shook his head and replied, "Nothing."

Again the hooded man showed no reaction and simply ordered Sebastian to use the needle to prick his finger and place a drop of his blood on the strange circle drawn on the table. After doing so there was no reaction from the circle either and at this point Sebastian had grown almost frantic and for the first time the hooded man was also appeared dumbfounded.

"Boy let me see your hand," after hearing this Sebastian compiled and the man brought out a slip of paper and dripped Sebastian's blood onto it. The paper turned a deep shade of blue upon making contact with Sebastian's blood causing the hooded man to sigh.

"Well you are definitely a mutant however I am unaware of what magic you may possess. Don't feel too bad mages have only been around for about a hundred years so maybe yours is just an undiscovered type though pretty rare. Though since we don't know what type you may have we are unable to admit you to any classes at the moment. Don't worry though we still plan to admit you as it is national policy. However you will have to work as part of your stay here. If you find these terms agreeable," the hooded man then produced a letter, "take this letter to one of the other students waiting beyond the gate to lead new arrivals."

Sebastian was downcast at this statement but still nodded, taking the letter and then exiting the tent.

After Sebastian had left a person appeared from the shadows and the hooded man took off his hood and addressed this new arrival. The hooded man was revealed to be an old man with a long white beard and hair though surprisingly had few wrinkles.

"Keep an eye on that boy and make sure he doesn't cause any trouble.," and after pausing for a moment continued, "if he doesn't show any promise after a year dispose of him." The figure in the shadows quietly departed after receiving the order to which the old man lifted his hood back up and called for the next person to enter.

During this little moment between the shadowy figure and the old man Sebastian was stared in wonder at the size and scale of Rixora's academy of the arcane. It truly was large and structured as a massive castle with multiple buildings within its walls.

As he was dazed one of the students approached Sebastian and asked, "Are you Sebastian? I was sent to escort you to your quarters." Snapping out of his trance Sebastian replied with a wry smile and produced the letter that the cloaked mage had given him.

"Yes, I was told to give this letter…," Sebastian stopped for a moment and stared at the girl that had just spoken to him, stunned by her beauty.

"Are you alright?" the girl questioned and leaned closer towards Sebastian to look into his glowing green eyes causing her long pitch black hair to shift and cascade down in stark contrast to her pale skin.

"Yeah, sorry I just zoned out for a moment. Here is the letter." he replied before handing the letter to her. She took a moment and looked at the sealed letter before putting it away. Sebastian was surprised that she didn't even open it but decided not to question it.

The woman turned and started walking but noticing Sebastian standing there like an idiot she said, "Follow me."

After going past the castle gate Sebastian was taken past several buildings most of which were labeled with large words carved into the stone above the doorway so that students could find them easier, and along the way the woman explained the function of each building.

"On your left you'll notice the forge and the Fire academy," she stated in boredom as though she had given this tour a million times already.

However like any good tourist Sebastian gazed upon the buildings that she pointed out and noticed that the fire academy and the forge seemed to be melded together with the academy building itself made from red brick. The Forge itself had an open floor plan with many furnaces with smiths from the fire academy at work. Enqueuing about it the woman gave another bored response.

"Most fire mages require a source for their flames. That is unless they are really talented and have some sort of physical manifestation, but you are unlikely to see those guys hard at work out here," she stated matter of factually.

Though Sebastian would have liked her to elaborate more he didn't press the issue, besides he knew that fire magic wasn't his specialty anyway and dropped the subject.

"Across from the Fire Academy is the Water Academy. The two have a rivalry of sorts and it always leads to issues but most of the time the headmaster favors the Fire Academy even if the Water Academy has a point anyway," she continued.

Sebastian noticed that the water academy was situated on top of a river and was built in such a way that water cascaded down it's walls into a ditch that carried the current towards every building in the academy.Though the river itself divided the academy in half and Sebastian began to wonder why the academy was designed in such a way, but decided not to ask.

"Next are the Earth and Air academies. However even to me the Air academy is a little strange and instead of a building they train in an open field," The woman giggled a little about this fact finally having broken from her bored tone, and before moving on looked upon the field with Sebastian. Just as the woman had stated the Air Academy was an open field Sebastian himself almost laughed when he saw the new students casting air magic. They moved their hands in weird ways while shouting "GUST!" at the top of their lungs. Not to mention that the magic went out of control several time causing a student to be shoot in the air only to fall down hard on their ass. Looking over at the Earth Academy Sebastian noticed that its walls were made out of hardened clay.

Moving on the woman pointed out an academy with strange drawings on its walls before stating again in her bored tone, "As for the last Academy we have the summoners though you never know what will pop out of there so I recommend keeping your distance."

Just as she finished her sentence a loud roar had come out from the building as a bear ran out towards their direction. Fear crept into Sebastian as the 600 pound creature bounded in their direction. However before it could reach them the Woman grabbed onto Sebastian and the two were surrounded in darkness. As if the bear no longer noticed them it bounded off right past them into the field where the air mages practiced and in it's wake screams soon followed. Light soon returned afterwards. Where Sebastian found that the woman had burst into laughter as she heard the screams of unsuspecting acolytes. Sebastian was about to question her sanity before he himself started bursting with tears running from his green glowing eyes when he heard the yell, "Fuck this bear just bit my ass! Help!," followed by a bear being sent into the air.

Sebastian calmed himself before questioning, "What just happened?"

"It was just one of my spells pay it no mind. Just know that you owe me one." the woman said in between her laughter.

Finally, after crossing a bridge that overlooked the river the two came upon a building with the single word, "Dorms" written into it.

"This is where you will be staying for as long as you remain on campus so I would get comfortable while you are here. Your room has been assigned already and one of the servants will lead you there, but before that I'll show you where you will be working while at Rixora." stated the woman.

Again they moved through the campus still staying on the opposite side from the other academies, but this time they moved closer to the center where a larger building with the word, "Library," was carved.

"I've been informed that you will be working during your stay and currently there is no one to take care of the library so that will be your job. Here is all the knowledge that the mages of Seronao have gathered for 100 years. Your job will be to make sure that everything is in working order and to monitor the checking in or out of any tomes," having said that the woman turned to Sebastian to watch for his reaction.

"Thank you for everything. Miss…" was all that could come out of Sebastian's mouth after hearing her explanation and realizing that he hadn't caught her name the entire time she had shown him around.

This caused the woman to slightly giggle in a charming way before replying, "Morgana, my name is Morgana. I'll see you around Sebastian and welcome to Rixora."

Afterwards she turned and left Sebastian standing there in a daze and it took him several moments to realize that she was gone. After coming back to reality Sebastian let a sigh escape his lips before he went back towards the dorm as it was getting late and the tour took up most of the day so he headed back to the dorm trying to remember the path that Morgana had shown him. Upon arriving back at the large dorm building he found a servant who led him to a dorm room that seemed to be the size of a coffin. Inside was a small rickety desk, a bed that seemed as if it would break, a singular window to let in light, and a small chamber pot. After letting out a depressed sigh Sebastian closed the door to his room and laid on the bed before saying.

"This is definitely not how I imagined it."