Central Academy (1)

Hey, here are the four initial chapters of this novel. Leave behind a comment if you liked it.

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Precognition. 

The ability to see the future.

Just from how its name, it seems very powerful; well, it's very powerful, but it's not as convenient as one could think.

My ability to see the future manifests itself in three main ways. The most common one is what I call passive precognition.

In a nutshell, passive precognition activates randomly, showing me snippets from the most possible future (I think). This form of precognition is the most stable and least costly, but in exchange, I can't control what it shows me.

Generally, passive precognition manifests through dreams, although sometimes it comes when I'm awake, just like now, when it showed me the death of the puppy.

Also, for some reason, it only activates to predict tragedies. I have never seen it activating for something good.

Even so, this ability is very convenient. It has helped me a lot of times, even allowing me to prevent tragedies that could have affected me personally.

In exchange, I must pay a small price every time it shows me the future.

It's one of the reasons behind my sickly complexion.

Rescuing the puppy was just a small interlude. A few minutes later, we arrived at the portal station, where we would take a portal to Academy City.

Portals are today's main means of long-distance transportation. They can shorten the time of travel to an instant, and besides being expensive and hard to maintain, they don't have any other drawbacks.

Every important city on the continent is equipped with at least one portal station, sometimes two. It's the same for Academy City.

We were from an important noble family, so we did not have to wait to use the portal. Just after we arrived, an employee from the station took us to the portal.

One instant later, we were hundreds of kilometers away, in Academy City.

Academy City was very different from Steerl City, the place from where we came. Unlike the rugged streets and short buildings with a militaristic vibe in Steerl City, Academy City was filled with tidy streets, high buildings, and an environment full of technological progress.

It was beautiful enough to make us agape for a brief moment.

As we left the portal, we were received by a servant of the family. He bowed after seeing us and led us to a car that was going to take us to our destination.

Unlike the carriage we took before, this car was driven completely by magic. It was a sophisticated piece of technology rarely seen in other places of the continent.

My sister let out a sigh of admiration as soon as she saw it.

"Wow, it's my first time seeing one."

"It's said that the Magic Kingdom and the Avance Empire have still better cars. There is even something called Magic Train that can carry hundreds of people across hundreds of kilometers in just a couple of hours." Vanessa commented with a smile.

"Amazing. I really want to see it."

I chuckled and patted Lina's head.

"Don't worry, we'll go someday. By the way, I thought our sister was going to receive us." I asked the driver.

"The first miss wanted to come, but she is busy with academy activities. She can only meet you after the entrance ceremony."

"Such a shame. I have not seen my sister in a long time." 

"Yeah, the last time we saw her was during the holidays," Lina muttered after me.

"Well, the first miss is very busy." The driver explained.

The way to Central Academy took less than five minutes. During the entire way, Ley could not help but look around and admire the sights of the city like a curious puppy.

As its name indicated, Central Academy was located at the very center of Academy City. It was an immense place, almost like a small city inside the city. 

The entrance to the academy was filled with luxurious carriages from every part of the world. Hundreds of people had come to witness the entrance ceremony.

As we left the carriage, a young man wearing the academy's uniform approached us.

He looked slightly older than us and had an armband on his left arm with the word 'council'.

From that, I concluded he was an upperclassman and a member of the student council.

"You must be Lina Steerl and Linsley Steerl, right? Come with me, the entrance ceremony is about to start."

We nodded and followed him. Vanessa followed after us.

When he saw that, the young man frowned.

"Sorry, but personal attendants are not allowed in Central Academy. You must stay outside."

Vanessa was stunned. She looked at me asking for instructions. 

I smiled wryly and took out a document I brought in my pocket.

"I received a special permit from the academy to bring her in. It's due to medical reasons."

The young man was startled and took the document. He read it carefully and when he confirmed there was nothing wrong with it, he hesitantly nodded.

"I see. My mistake. Come in then."

The young man led us to the auditorium where the entrance ceremony was going to be held. 

When we arrived, the auditorium was already full. Hundreds of people were seated in the seats at the sides, but strangely, the seats at the front were mostly empty.

It was because these seats were reserved only for the students.

Of almost one hundred seats, only about forty were occupied.

That was normal, though.

After all, Central Academy was different from the other academies in the city.

Unlike most academies, which accepted hundreds or even thousands of students every year, Central Academy only took the elite of the elite.

Fifty people.

That was the number of students the best academy in the world accepted every year.

And Lina and I were among these fifty.