Tour of the Academy

"Bunch of fools… I'm sorry, Anna. Your welcome here wasn't the best", grandpa said when we arrived at the top of the tower. "Don't worry about those idiots. I'm happy see you, it's been years", I replied before we hugged. "These are my friends, Dawn, Tara and Teri", I added. "Pleasure to meet you, I'm Philip Clovergrowth, Anna's grandfather…", grandpa then took me to a corner of the room, and asked in a whisper. "Do they know about you?".

"Hehe, they aren't Humans, grandpa. Of course they know about me. We grew up together". My reply made grandpa's face change. "They are!?", he exclaimed and examined my friends more thoroughly. "Grandpa, don't stare at them, it's not nice", "... Ahem… Yes, of course… Formations?", grandpa replied, a bit embarrassed.

"Yep, pretty much. There's also mom's second skin, otherwise it wouldn't be possible. Anyway, we are here for a visit. I'd say, we'll stay here for a while. Could you help us out with access to the Academy? We had to use this visitor's pass, and it's gonna run out tomorrow", I asked. "Forget about that pass, I'll make new feathers for you and our friends. You'll be able to access or leave the Academy as you wish, for as long as you wish. Before that, let me show you your rooms. There are only three on this floor, but hopefully, you four can fit inside".

I told grandpa that Teri and Tara were a pair, and there were no issues for them to share a room. Me and Dawn could share another. Grandpa obviously didn't want us to stay anywhere else, mostly because his granddaughter visited. I wouldn't call it selfish, but he wanted to hoard me to himself.

"Settle in guys, I'll have the feathers ready towards the end of this day. Anna, why don't you visit me when you're rested? Grandpa has so much to ask, hehe", "Sure, I'll come by your office in a while", I agreed. "We had a slight rough welcome here, but we should be fine from now on. People finally know this is my grandpa", "Yea, let's see how they laugh now, haha. Anyway, what's the plan? We do tour the city and the Academy? Or do you have something else planned?", Dawn asked.

"There is something. I haven't seen it myself, but my parents told me about it. You'll see when we get a chance. I'll ask my grandpa about it more", "Why the secrecy, hehe? What are you trying to hide, eh?", Dawn tried to pry, but it was a secret. Besides, I had no clue how that Falcon looked like anyway. That would be the first time for me as well.

"Just relax for today, I'll talk with my grandpa and once we get our feathers, we'll explore the city and whatnot", I said before leaving the room. "Ah, Anna. I'm happy about this surprise visit. Please, stay as long as you want. If you need anything, just let me know. How's your mother and brother doing?", grandpa asked.

"You forgot to ask about father", I replied with a chuckle. "Did I?... Alright, him as well. Have you been well?", "Yes, Dante grew up a lot already. Hehe, he can talk, walk and run around… Grandpa, did you think about moving in with us?", I replied. He heaved a sigh, "I'd like that, don't get me wrong. I'd like to see my grandson grow up, see you, your mother… and that father of yours as well. The Academy is my home though, I'm not ready to leave yet".

I had my home as well, and although exploration of other regions, lands and places was great, I'd always return home. Grandpa was attached to the Academy, anyone could tell that. He also held a high position with responsibilities. He couldn't just leave whenever he wished. Just like my parents. They had to take care of the North, help out and try to make everyone cooperate.

"I'm not rushing you, grandpa. Maybe parents will find some time to visit you more often. I'll ask them once we return, so don't worry about it. Take your time, we can wait for you, hehe", "... Hehe, perhaps calling you little Anna is no longer appropriate. You became a fine woman, come here to grandpa", he replied before we hugged again.

Grandpa then asked me about my journeys. He also explained a few things about the Academy, especially about those feathers. There were a few colours of the feathers available. The colour would depend on one simple factor, Class. There were three Classes for students, and then sort of Classes for teachers. The new students belonged to the Third Class. The more advanced or intermediate students belonged to the Second Class. While those most advanced belonged to the First Class.

Each of them had a different colour or colour coded feather assigned. The Third Class had white feathers with a black tip. The Second Class had half white and half black feathers. The First Class had black feathers. Grandpa also explained that students received various benefits throughout the Empire. Especially in Ortava, which was the home of the Academy.

The benefits included discounts on a range of items. Cue skips and additional benefits in various other areas. Of course, the Class played a role. The better the Class, the better the benefits one would receive. The teachers on the other hand, had specific feathers.

"You saw the towers, right? Did you notice that each tower has a different colour of the roof? There's a reason for that. Red signifies the specialisation in fire. Green the specialisation in wind, and blue the specialisation in water. Hehe, I'm sure you'd ask, what about the earth, right? It's actually the other way around… It's a tower, but one that goes down, not up", he explained.

What grandpa meant wasn't Elements. The Runes, even basic ones, could produce fire, water or earth. There was no need for Elements, and they didn't know about them. Our Formations were completely different, because we developed new Runes incorporating the Elements. We could directly collect them, and use them for various means.

"... Therefore teachers have the same coloured feathers, as the towers' roofs. There are some differences between teachers. We have minor teachers, in other words, new teachers who don't have much experience. They have feathers with white tips, no matter which other colour fills the rest of the feather. The major teachers have fully coloured feathers. That's the gist of it", he added.

"Which feather will you give me then?", "Hehe, I'm sure a black feather isn't an exaggeration. I could probably give you something better, if you showed off some skills, hehe", grandpa replied. "Nah, that should be enough. Besides, you know I can't display my skills to the outsiders", "That's not it, your mother made it clear to me last time. Learn a Formation or two from the third floor of the library, then show me what you can do… I'd like to see your skills, more than anything, hehe", grandpa explained.

Since grandpa didn't ask for the Formations from the North, there shouldn't be any issues. My way of drawing Runes wasn't a secret after all, anyone could watch, so long the Formation didn't belong to the North. "Sure, I wanted to visit your library anyway. This will be a good opportunity to learn something new. Are you fine with any Formations, or do you have something in mind?", I asked.

"Hehe, something offensive would be great. Take your time, don't rush. The Formations on the third floor aren't that easy. Besides, you aren't allowed to take notes outside with you. From the third floor upwards at least. You can take notes on the first and second floors", he replied.

"Right, I'll deal with that, once we have feathers, hehe", "That's true. Don't worry, you'll have them later. On the other hand, how about a little tour with your grandpa? You can take your friends too. Or you can rest and relax, I'm sure you guys are tired from the journey", grandpa proposed.

"Why not? We aren't that tired, so a small trip around the Academy wouldn't be bad. Besides, my friends must be bored sitting in their rooms. I'll go tell them, let's meet outside… Oh, yea. One more thing. Where's Remi?", "Ah, yes, you wouldn't know that. The Academy offers all students accommodation. Remi's at the Third Class area. I'll show you where that is during our trip. You can pay her a visit after sightseeing", grandpa replied. "Great, I'll see her later then".

My friends welcomed the idea of exploring the Academy. They could simply focus on the city during the following days. Grandpa showed us the other two towers, but didn't show us the underground one. The towers themselves weren't that interesting. There were defensive Formations littered everywhere, and the view from the top was staggering. Other than that, they were just towers with nothing interesting in them.

The more interesting place was the library. The place was large, fully built from stones, white stones to be precise. I asked grandpa how they managed to get some many white stones. After all, almost everything was built from white stones.

"Nah, the stones were treated. Some of them are really white though. You can see the difference between treated, and real stones… Most of the Academy was built from real white stones. The exceptions are the three towers and part of the library… Let me show you the difference", grandpa replied, then took us around the corner. Indeed, the real stones were different to those treated. The contrast was obvious.

"Anyway, this isn't really interesting, let's go inside", grandpa proposed. The library's decor was indeed exquisite. We assumed the insides would be littered with wooden shelves and bookcases, but that wasn't the case. The wooden furniture was pretty scarce. Besides chairs and some tables, everything was made from stones.

Towards the other end, a large stone staircase starred in the face of visitors. "The floors are divided between Classes. The higher the Class, the more floors a student can climb. You can have a look around this floor for now", grandpa said. My friends weren't really interested in Formations, but decided to explore the place a bit.

I grabbed a few books, but they were really basic. Each book contained a single Formation, or just some Runes. There were loads of explanations in every book, which I found unnecessary and pointless. 'It's like they're trying to fill the pages, hehe. Whatever, these are basics', I figured. We left the library soon after, and headed to the largest, not tallest, building.

The place looked sort of like a palace. The insides were decorated lavishly too. The theme consisted mostly of dark wood, but white stone was ever present around the Academy. Portraits, statues and whatnot littered the place. These were the people who achieved something in or for the Academy. They were the past Formation master or experts, who left their name in history.

Grandpa also introduced me to a few teachers and students on the way. They were usually polite due to my grandpa, but most of them assumed I had nothing to do with Formations. Probably because I didn't learn at the Academy, which they figured was THE place to learn Formations.

Grandpa also showed us some rooms, where people studied, or where teachers taught their students. They even had private rooms, to test out Formations in a safer and quieter environment. They called that building a Grand Hall, where people studied, got tested and received promotions or advancements.

"How did you find the Academy?", grandpa asked towards the end of our trip. "I'll surely visit the library, and the fact you have private rooms is actually great. Other than that, the place looks neat… I'd like to visit Remi, grandpa. Don't try to hoard me for yourself only", I replied. "... Hehe, I feel a bit ashamed. Sure, let's go to the Third Class area", grandpa replied, then led the way.