Chapter 16

Two and a half weeks was the total time it took us, which meant I had half a week to get settled. Three days, really. It was early Friday morning, and classes started Monday. Our approach and subsequent entrance to the city was rather anti-climactic.

Our first stop was a stable near the entrance. I was about to pay the stable keeper when the senior wizard, who I had finally learned was named Kaiden, stopped me and said,

"All expenses for your travel, housing, and education have been paid for by the Therian Mage Association. A few coppers a day is nothing," before giving the stable keeper what I assume was the Associations billing address.

I was not going to complain. We walked the rest of the way to the gates. I suppose I was expecting some shakedown, or a search of what I had, but there was none of that.

Instead, Kaiden simply showed a piece of parchment to the guards, and were let in with no trouble at all. Entering the city, everything seemed big. Building towered above me, roads looked like they reached infinitely, and the people even seemed taller, even though a good number of them were still shorter than me. It was just how they held themselves.

"We have plans for today," Kaiden spoke, ripping me from my thoughts. "We need to get you set up with the academy, and that is where our job ends. They will handle the rest for you, getting you registered as a citizen and prepared for the academy."

He seemed keen to finish this assignment. I think his paranoia, expecting to catch the mana plague any day now, had reached an all time high.

We walked for nearly an hour, before we reached one of the four main plazas. Here was a map of the city, which was arranged in a large circle.

The Emperor's grand palace was situated in the direct center. It seemed that the peninsula had a slight, natural slope, that peaked in the center, which put the palace above everything else, looking down on it all like a lighthouse.

There were docks situated at the Eastern, Western, and Southern most parts of the city. The four main plazas were placed halfway between these docks and the palace. The plaza we were at, the northern plaza, was halfway between the gates and the castle.

There was a bustling crowd, people running around into different stands and buildings, going about their work day or shopping. There was a large fountain in the center of the plaza, and there seemed to be some unspoken rule of not setting up shop within ten meters or so of it.

Each of these of these plazas could supply your basic needs, as you could find food, water, lodging, equipment, anything in them. They were about two hundred meters in diameter, providing plenty of space.

It seemed we still had a long walk ahead of us, as the academy was nestled between the southern plaza and the palace. The campus was very large, taking up most of that space. We picked up the pace, and made it to the actual campus in about an hour and a half.

The entire time, I was mesmerized by the city. It was all so alien to me. I had spent a good portion of the walk looking out for where Max and Val might have set up shop, only to realize they may be on the complete other side of the city, and I would never know.

We approached the western gates of the academy, as it's northern border was shared with the palace, and we weren't allowed there. Standing over fifty feet tall, large, white archways marked the entry into the academy. Standing in their shadow was incredibly intimidating.

Kaiden led me through the archways, and we followed the white brick path. To our left was a mostly empty field, with a couple buildings placed here and there, but to our right, several buildings were lined together. It was one of these building that we entered.

"This is something like an office building for the academy," Kaiden informed me, "As you can expect, there is one near the gates of each of the cardinal directions. We are using the Western one for now, but you can expect to use the Southern one in the future, as that is where your dorm will be, if I'm not mistaken."

Kaiden then left to speak to one of the receptionists in the building, handing her a piece of parchment. She promptly disappeared into the back of the building, and Kaiden came back over to Christoph and I.

"This is where our road ends. The academy will handle everything from here." He had already started walking off before finishing his sentence, Christoph at his heels.

Giving a brief nod in response, I thought to myself, 'Not one for goodbyes, I see.'

With a feeling I would probably never see them again, that receptionist from before returned, walking up to me.

"You're Caius Withide, I take it?" she asked, with a smile.

"Just Cai, please," was my response.

"Evelyn," giving me a hand to shake, as well as handing me a piece of parchment, listing my name, age, hair and eye color, and elemental affinity. It was very similar to the parchment I had back at my annual inspection. Once again, my eyes were drawn to the slightly ominous Kura listing.

"Today and tomorrow are going to be a bit busy for you," Evelyn explained, "For the most part, you're set up here at the academy. I am going to give you a short tour of the campus, and show you to your dorm.

Then, you have a bit of homework. Preferably by the end of the day, you need to register for citizenship here in Theria. I'll explain that to you when we get to your dorm.

Tomorrow, there is an optional orientation. Head to one of the offices, they'll tell you where you should go. It's not necessary, but I would highly recommend you do it. If you get your citizenship done today, then that's all you need for tomorrow, and you have all of Sunday to yourself.

Personally, I think you should go explore the city. At least, get used to the areas around the school and the southern plaza."

Evelyn went on with some more recommendations, but I already had so much filling my head, I missed most of it. She was right, I was going to be a bit busy.