Eris' Academy Adventure - Part 1

***** Eris' POV *****

"Eris, would you care to join us?"

Zenith and Lilia were taking the girls out shopping and wanted to include me.  Honestly, I've never been the type to enjoy shopping so I wasn't very interested.

"No thank you.  I think I'll just wait here for Rudeus to get back."

I was hoping to spend the day with Rudeus, but soon after he got back home from walking Sylphiette to school, he left to go pick up some things at the market.  At least he said he'd be right back.

Rudeus returned from the market carrying a small bag of magic stones.

"What are those for?"

"Oh, Eris.  I need these for a little project I'm working on.  I had an idea of something I could make to drum up some money we can use to help look for your parents."

"That's amazing!  What can I do to help?"

"Uh... I'm not sure, to be honest.  I'm trying to craft a magic tool.  You could... um... Do you want to play with Norn and Aisha while you wait?"

"No.  They aren't home.  They left for the market to do some shopping."

"I must have just missed them then.  I just came from there."

"How fascinating..."  I trailed off having lost interest in the subject.  "How much longer is it going to take you to make this?"

"Sorry Eris.  This is going to take a while.  Several hours at the very least."

"I guess I'll go explore the town some more...  Maybe I'll stop by the Adventurer's Guild and see if there are any quests worth doing."

"Be careful.  Don't try and do something too dangerous."

"I'll be fine!"

I stormed out of the room and walked outside.  I started walking down the street with no particular destination in mind.  I didn't mean to yell at Rudeus.  Hopefully he isn't angry with me.  It's just so frustrating not being able to do anything.  I feel so useless!

While taking some time to gather my thoughts while I walked through the town, I was caught off guard by an unexpected greeting.

"Eris!  Have you changed your mind and decided to go shopping after all?"

Zenith was standing beside a market stall selling vegetables with Norn standing by her side holding her hand.  Apparently I'd wandered into the commercial district.

"Umm.. No, not really", I still had no interest in going shopping.

"Then what brought you over here?"

'Shoot.  That's a good question.  I don't want to tell her that I got in a fight with Rudeus and just wandered off.'

"I umm... I wanted to visit Sylphiette at school to see what the Magic Academy is like."

"Really?  That's a great idea.  Do you know how to get there?"

"Well... No.  I kind of figured I'd find it if I wandered around town."

Zenith held a hand to her mouth as she chuckled.

"That's no good.  Why don't you wait here with us while we finish shopping and then I can take you there myself."

"No thanks!  Don't worry, I'll find it myself."

I ran back the way I came as I yelled that.  Zenith seemed a bit worried and tried yelling for me to stop, but couldn't run off and leave Norn alone.

After wandering around the town a bit more, I decided to ask one of the guards for the directions to the Magic Academy.  Might as well actually check it out after all, it's not like I have anything better to do.  The guard was kind enough to direct me.  Turns out I was pretty close already, all I had to do was take the main road north until it ends and then take a left turn from there.

Once I got to the Academy, I told the guards that I had a friend enrolled at the Academy and I wanted to visit to see what the place was like.  One of them escorted me to the enrollment building and told me to talk to the receptionist.  The receptionist handed me a small form to read and asked me to sign at the bottom.

I didn't feel like reading such a long form so I just signed it and handed it back to her.  Doing so earned me a visitor's pass in return.

"It's lunch time right now so your friend is most likely in the cafeteria."

The receptionist handed me a small map of the Academy grounds and circled a building marked on the map.

"The cafeteria is here, and right now we are here.  Please follow the path leading east from this building and follow the signs to the cafeteria."

"Thank you.  I will."

I grabbed the map and walked out of the enrollment building while I studied it.  I decided to follow her instructions and make my way to the cafeteria.  I was getting a little hungry after all.

On the way there, I passed by a large building and could hear the clanging of swords from within.  There was a large sign above the main door to the building that read 'TRAINING HALL'.  I couldn't help but let my curiosity get the best of me as I cracked the door open and peeked inside.

What I found inside was a large open room with four designated courts for sparring.  Each court had a large magic circle engraved in its center and within it pairs of people were dueling.  There were also several spectators watching the duels and what looked to be judges for the battles watching from just outside each court.  Everyone here other than the judges were wearing matching school uniforms.

A wide smile crept across my face while I watched this spectacle.  This looked like fun!

Once one of the duels had concluded, I walked up to the judge who announced the result.

"Can I help you Miss?"

"I want to join in on the next fight!"

"We're currently holding a combat training class with the fifth years.  Are you a student here?  I don't think I've seen you around."

"No, I'm just visiting."

I held up my visitor's pass to him as I said that.  He looked it over and nodded in approval.

"I see.  It's nice to meet you.  I'm professor James.  Says here that you're visiting your friend.  Were you considering enrolling here as well?"

"That's not really what I was thinking, but to be honest, this place looks really cool!"

"I'm happy to hear you say that!  All of our facilities at this school are state of the art.  If you don't mind me asking, what's your friend's name?"

"Her name's Sylphiette.  She's more of a friend of a friend, actually.  We both studied under the same teacher."

"Oh really?  That's rather exciting to hear.  Sylphiette's made quite the name for herself in her short time here.  She's even garnered the nickname 'Silent Sylphy' since she can cast spells without incantations."

"Does she fight in these duels as well?"

"Well, these aren't really duels as much as sparring practice, but yes she does.  In fact, I don't think she's lost even a single match since she enrolled."

"Hmmf!  That's not surprising.  She studied under the Magic God after all!"

'If Rudeus taught her, it's only natural she'd be pretty strong.'  Those were my thoughts anyway, but the man I was talking to seemed quite shocked.

"M-M-Magic God!?  What?  Really!?  Rumors have been flying around here that someone had recently earned that title.  Sylphiette never said anything about it!  That's amazing!  No wonder she's so talented!"

I nodded my head in approval.  Finally, someone recognizes how great Rudeus really is.

"You studied under the Magic God too!?"

"Sure did!", I folded my arms, raised my chin, and puffed my chest out.

"What's their name?"

"Rudeus.  Rudeus Greyrat."

"Rudeus... Can't say I've ever heard of him.  Where is he now?  Does he know about our Academy?  I think Greyrat is the name of Asuran Nobility.  Does he live in the Asura Kingdom!?  You are also a Greyrat according to your visitor's pass.  Are you a relative of his?"

Now this guy was starting to get annoying.  He's asking too many questions at once.

"He's not a noble.  He's my friend.  Now can I fight in one of these duels or not!?"

"Uhh... Yes.  Of course.  You'll have to excuse my behavior.  It's very exciting news, you understand."

"Yeah yeah.  Just find me a worthy opponent."

I walked into the court and stood at one end, waiting for a challenger.  Professor James asked me to wait for a moment while he found me a suitable challenger.  After a couple minutes, a young man who looked to be about eighteen or so walked into the court from the opposite side.

"Miss Eris, this is Vance.  He's currently the tenth ranked student among the fifth years.  Vance this is Eris Boreas Greyrat.  She is a friend of Sylphiettes who studied under the same Master."

"Oh really?  Then perhaps you will be a worthy opponent after all!"

Vance smiled mischievously at me as he pulled out his wand.  I smirked back at him as I drew my sword.

'Hmm?  A sword user?'

Professor James studied Eris, he was a bit surprised to see her draw a sword after claiming to have studied under the Magic God.

"Begin!"

As soon as the professor signaled the start of the fight, Vance began chanting an incantation.  Naturally, I didn't wait for him and instead dashed straight at him, swinging my blade at his torso.  Panic spread across the boy's face as he began waving his wand frantically as he stopped his incantation short.

My sword hadn't even reached him before he tripped backwards and fell while he held his hands in front of him in fear.

'Pathetic', I thought.

"I yield!  I yield!", Vance yelled out.

"Impressive swordsmanship... but didn't you say you studied under the Magic God?", Professor James asked me.

"Yeah.  He taught me arithmetic, reading and writing, as well as magic, but I never had much talent in any of that.  I'm much more talented in the sword."

He looked a little disappointed.  That jerk!

"I see.  Well, if you would like, we have some talented sword instructors here as well.  Several of them have reached the advanced rank in their respective styles.  Why don't I get one of them for you."

Professor James left and instead a man who claimed to be the Academy's Sword God Style instructor came in his place.

Over the course of the next couple hours, I was presented with several challengers, but I defeated each of them with ease.  I even had a match with the instructor and defeated him as well.  I guess this place wasn't all that great after all.  Just when I was starting to get bored and was about to leave, I heard a loud commotion coming from the other side of the room.

"The rest of today's combat training classes have been canceled.  The Training Hall is closed for the rest of the day.  Everyone, please leave in an orderly fashion!"

Several professors were ushering everyone out of the building.  Everyone looked surprised and curious about what was going on.  Apparently this wasn't a normal occurrence.

As everyone in the building was making their way past me towards the exit, I looked back to the other side of the training hall to try and see what was causing all this commotion.

All the way at the last court on the opposite side of the building I saw Rudeus.  He was standing just outside the far court and beside him stood Sylphiette along with some important looking people.  I could tell.  They were about to fight!