11 First Son's Academy

Walking into the school grounds, Aser was astounded by how massive the area was. Leading from the gates, there was a stone paved road up to a stately square with a circular marble fountain. The statue in the middle of the fountain was that of a sagely young man with a book and pen, water pouring out from said pen. The surroundings of the path were filled with well-pruned flowers of gold and white colors, the fields beside the road leading to different buildings in the ground.

From where Aser was standing, he could see a large building leading straight north from the square and multiple smaller buildings lined on either side. To the west of the path, he could see similar aged kids walking about or sitting down on the green fields relaxing with books or talking with their companions. Further ahead he spotted several small villas with their own gardens, all of them decorated with white fences and golden trimmings.

Looking at the extravagance of the school, Aser couldn't help but feel overwhelmed and unworthy. He wasn't used to such luxury, but it also gave him a sense of wanting to fit in desperately.

Looking at Aser's expressions akin to that of a country bumpkin, Sasha couldn't help feel nervous for him. She had taken a big risk to guarantee Aser and didn't want to be disappointed by him. She quickly started explaining the school to him.

"That's the main classroom and staff building in front of you. Most of your classes will he held there. Towards the west are the student dormitories, each villa houses 4 students and most will generally get a villa with kids in the same year. I know you would want to focus on your studies, so we got you a villa near the lake, it's slightly secluded, and you'll be the only one living in it. It's also smaller than the others, but it still has enough space for 2 students to live in comfortably. You also won't have to worry about moving out of it during your studies, it will be your resident all six years. It's one of the perks that come with your scholarship."

"To the east are the event buildings such as the gymnasium, arenas, swimming center as well as a quite a few restaurants maintained by the First Son's Academy. With the scholarship, you will just have to use the crystal card we gave you to pay for your meals and we will take care of it. Any facilities in the school that costs something, the card can also pay for them. The only things that we won't provide are extra training resources or items you buy yourself from vendors or other students. You will either have to use the funding or your own earnings for them."

"That's most of the important spots in the academy, and you should also be able to get more information if you dig around a little", Sasha finished her explanation, taking a deep breath and forcing out a smile.

[You're acting like a country bumpkin Aser. Stop it, you will embarrass us!] Ashes added with a hint of exasperation in her voice.

Listening to both of their voices, Aser finally figured out what was wrong. He was completely stumped by the extravagance, and didn't even notice his expression. Managing to calm himself down, Aser whispered "Thank you." to Sasha and started walking towards the main building again.

The main building was called the Atrium according to the sign in the square. It had a glass roof along with greenery flowing through out, while its color was in the standard white and gold of the academy. It gave off a sense of opulence and returning back to nature, and he could feel the academic air surrounding the building. This was definitely a very renowned institution of learning, even if it was only for the start of a child's education.

Stepping through the large glass doors of the Atrium, Aser and Sasha walked up to the reception. A tall young lady with blonde hair and black pearly eyes could be seen flipping through a book sitting behind the desk, but it was clear to see her mind was focused elsewhere. As the duo stepped up to the reception, Sasha waited a few seconds before giving a slight cough, resulting in the young lady snapping out of her daze. She looked at Sasha for a few seconds before glancing at Aser and tried to hide the embarrassment on her face of getting caught in her daydreams.

"Cough, what can I help you two with?" she replied with a slight smile, her cheeks still flustered in embarrassment.

"Hi, I'm from The Guild's Administration, Sasha Leirever. Aser Scholt here is starting the new term the following month and he's here to get his belongings as well as orientation." Sasha replied curtly, a snide smile on her face indicating she knew why the girl was distracted.

Aser was confused looking at their interactions, but he didn't bother asking. He just wanted to get through the orientation so that he could explore the grounds of the school.

"Right, Aser Scholt, let me check real quick. Aha found it! Oh, it seems like everything's been already paid for the year for him, just wait here for a minute and I'll go grab his uniform and other essentials." the lady replied, walking up and briskly heading to a side room.

While waiting, Aser looked around the Atrium. The front of the building was open, and the center was also open with a large wall covered with plants and flowing water located to the east of it. You could see the sky through the glass roof from the center of the building, and stairs leading up to the different classrooms was located to the west. There was also a large lounge area right near the plant wall for the students to relax, and behind the reception desk were multiple rooms, seemingly for the teachers to rest in between classes in the building. The whole building seemed to give off a presence of wealth, but in a natural way. Aser had expected a lot of things from the renowned First Son's Academy, but he didn't expect to see such a natural way of expressing their extravagance. Even though he knew this was a show of wealth, it didn't feel garish but like that it was natural.

A few minutes later, the lady returned to the desk, clearly much more relaxed than before, and handed Aser a bag full of clothes as well as a backpack, a crystal chip and a booklet with the title "First Son's Academy Handbook" written on it.

"There are 3 sets of clothes in the bag made according to the child's provided measurements. If there are any issues with it, they will just have to go to the tailor's shop in the East Boulevard and they will fix them. If the clothes are damaged in any way, the school will also provide a new set for the child, but the cost for each new set will be sent to the child's recorded account. The bag is the standard for the academy, so please don't use any others. The crystal chip has information that you will need to register with your system as soon as possible and the booklet has all the other information about the academy. I believe I'm not missing anything else, but please come back if you have any other questions. My name is Lisa.", she said with a smile, her hand stretched out over the desk to hand over everything to Aser.

"Thank you Miss Lisa", Aser replied as he looked over the items he received and started scanning the crystal chip. When he got the notification from Ashes that she was done with the scanning and found their accommodations, Aser thanked her again and left the Atrium with Sasha to check out where he will live for the next six years.