11 The Academy

Cameron takes a step back as the gates slowly swing open. Through them he can see large buildings and open fields, too far away though to tell their purpose. Standing just inside the gate is a man in his early twenties with black hair wearing long brown robes.

"Mage or knight?" Asks the man as he looks Cameron up and down.

Showing the emblem Cameron responds. "Knight, but I can use wind magic as well. So I'm not sure which I count as now."

Noticing the emblem the man responds. "You are known as a duel knight, focusing mostly on knight and weapon skills with one element acting as support. Quiet rare as most people focus on just one or the other, but if you are successful your combat strength will be much higher then anyones else's. Except for those rare people who have totally mastered their focus of learning. Anyways thats not important, as a new student you wont be seeing much if any combat, only our seniors will do excursions to hunt magical beasts. Anyways names Zack and I will be acting as your guide."

"What do you mean guide? Isn't the academy just a school for teaching knights and mages? Why is a guide needed?" Cameron asks.

"You'd be surprised, the academy takes up more land then any other structure except maybe the palace. There are also many strange customs and rituals, if you break them the nobles will challenge you to a duel. Anyways come on in, I can keep explaining as we walk to the registration office." Finished speaking Zack gestures for Cameron to enter the gates.

Walking along a clean well maintained road Cameron can see several trees planted alongside with students resting underneath. Many wearing the same brown robes Zack was wearing, in the distance Cameron can see other students practicing dueling and combat magic flashing towards training dummies. Of course the dummies were not just standing there waiting to be hit, that wouldn't help for training Cameron assumes. They moved around actively dodging spells and exchanging strikes.

Seeing where Cameron is looking Zack says. "those are the training ground, open to anyone all hours of the day. You should come here to practice later, the dummies will fight to the power level of whoever trains against them. Be cautious of nobles though, they like to hog the grounds and you don't want to make them your enemies."

"Why are the nobles so duel happy? It doesn't seem like it would bring any benefits to them, at least not as far as I can tell." Cameron asks.

"Its a matter of honor for them." Zack responds. "Some of the more intense nobles even view honor as more important then their life. Becuase of this nobel mans honor they are constantly trying to prove they are better then the rest of us scholarship students."

"How many nobles are there attending the academy?" Cameron asks.

Rubbing his short beard in thought Zack responds. "Nobles make up a good seventy percent of the students at the academy. The other thirty percent are made up mostly by scholarship students and children of rich merchants, with a few other people who don't really fit any of the other three categories thrown in such as staffs relatives. Anyways how did you earn your scholarship, exceptional weapon talent for your knight training, or is it your wind magic you exceptionally skilled skilled in?"

Look of regret on his face Cameron responds. "I was trained by my father with the blade and I recently learned wind magic but thats not why I was admitted. My father recently died on a mission serving the king, he died to complete the task."

"Sorry I didn't mean to pry, I was just curious. I myself am only a second year so I get curious about the new talents for the dueling teams." Zack awkwardly replies.

"Well theres no point in me trying to hide it, its basically public knowledge that my fathers dead so I imagine plenty of people already know about it here at the academy. It happened over a year ago as well so I have had time to grieve and deal with it, mostly been focused on practicing swordplay after that. Wasn't until the letter arrived from the academy saying they recognized my fathers sacrifice and wanted to give me a chance that I decided to come to the capital and see what my father fought for."

With a deep sigh Cameron shoulders his pack and follows Zack down the road towards a large building. Both of them mutually silent thinking deeply with solemn expressions on their faces.

Arriving at the building, a large building five stories tall crafted from brick with a slanted wood roof. Zack then turns to face Cameron and with a serious expression says "If you ever need help at the academy you can come find me and I will do what I can. Anyways, here are the dormitories for the freshmen like yourself, only freshmen can enter so this is where we will be parting ways. Now as soon as you walk in you will see a reception, that is the dorms caretaker chosen from the staff. Now you talk to him and he will arrange your room and also help with your class registration, both extremely important to you as a student here."

"Thanks for the guidance Zack, I will take your advice and maybe later you can explain these dueling team to me." Cameron says with a smile.

"Of course!" Zack responds. "Now go on in, and be polite to whoever the receptionist is as they can decide how easy or difficult your school life will be here with merely a few words."

Nodding to Zack Cameron then pushes open the sturdy wooden door entering into the building.