14 Chapter 14

"What is that set of excercises you do everyday in the mornings?" Ryan asked Aaron one day.

"Oh. Its a set my father taught me. He made train every day for almost a year now. So, I have got a habit to train a little in the morning. It feels weird if I dont."

"Its not a bad idea to keep yourself fit, just dont focus on it too much or make your self too tired. It will be bad for your mage studies if you cant concentrate because you are too tired to do so after all that physical exertion."

As they sat talking, Aaron realized the two months period was almost over. He pointed this out to Ryan.

"Yes, we would be reaching the capital of Modena, Modena city in a couple of days. I guess its time I tell you about the unpleasant things."

Looks like Ryan has been hiding somethings from me. No, not hiding, delaying. Life couldnt be all this good afterall.

"Do you remember the mage institute you are going to? Eleven stars institute of magic? Its the eleventh ranked institute out of all the mage institutes. Do you know how many institutes are there in total? Eleven."

He was going to the worst ranked institute. He knew life wouldnt be good for ever. But it was still a magic academy, he was still happy with that. Maybe to people who were more blessed and knew about the Mages and mage academy before hand, 11 ranked would really be low. But for Aaron, he was lucky enough to make it to one.

"You know, having the talent to be a mage is heridatory. A descendant of a mage have a higher chances to be a mage. If you go through your ancestry, it wont be surprising if you find someone who was a mage. Now this being the fact leads to creation of mage houses. They are powerful old families with a lot of mages born within each generation. They have a lot of clout in the mage world.

"Now only the last 4 ranked institutes offer free scholarship to mage candidates. The top seven, you have to pay to study. There are no freebies. That being said, it doesnt mean the bottom 4 institutes dont have anyone from the mage family. They have a lot of students from the mage family, who pay their fee. They are generally from comparatively smaller houses and too distant relatives of the bigger houses. You being a commoner without any backing are going to find it difficult. One of the reasons I was sent to pick you up was because I am a commoner myself. They believe it would stop me from showing too much of a disdain towards a commoner. Perhaps they are right. "

First thing Aaron thought was that it looked like being a mage was a genetic trait. Genes passed down in a family?

Next thing, Aaron was sure he was in for some bullying. But he was sure he could survive a little bullying. He survived high school and college even though he was a bit nerdy. How bad it could be.

"You know, you show such matured and restrained expressions that I almost think I am talking to someone my age."

My total age might be more than you, Aaron thought.

"So, what I want to say to you is you need to be careful and look after yourself. Dont go offending people. Also, you have to diligent in your studies, you dont have the resources to look for outside help."

Life wouldnt be as easy as it was. Aaron was sure of it. But magic still had a tremendous charm to it.

"There are two more students who will be joining us at Modena city. They should have already reached. "

"Now, do you want to ask something?"

"Are you a teacher at the institute?" Aaron asked.

"No, I am an assistant to a teacher. I am considered too young to be a teacher yet. The job of retrieving scholarship students fall upon us. The mage families arrange for themselves."

So, he would already have new peers even before reaching the institute.

"Okay. You can daydream again while I read my book. " Ryan said.

Ryan took his window gazing to be daydreaming. But Aaron didnt tell his thoughts to Ryan. That would be too absurd.

It was a matter of couple of days only now. And he was eager to see the arrangement for his further journey. Did this world had a Airplane? The technology didnt seem advanced enough.

Well, he will get to know soon enough.