A New Acquaintance

Raphael eventually made his way to the academy without any further incidents taking place. He had actually met a helpful resident who had pointed him in the right direction.

By the time he reached the gates, however, it was already night. There was just a single guard at the academy gate.

Finally, the monotony of the city's design was broken. Instead of golden walls, the walls of the academy were a pristine white in colour. Though there were still the golden glyphs adorning it's surface, the overall feel was very different and possessed a much more noble aura.

The walls of the academy were only about twenty feet high and the gate was about ten feet wide. Written on the arch above the gate in bold golden letters were the words 'Radiant Academy'.

The guard who stood at the gate looked to be a young man in his teens maybe a year or two older than Raphael himself. A redhead with golden eyes, he wore a white cloth uniform with a golden trim. His shoulder was emblazoned with the symbol of a golden sun with two rays shining out of it, one above and the other below. Beside him was a small table with a thick book and pen.

As Raphael observed the guard while approaching the gate, the young man observed him as well.

"Hello. I hope it's not too late. I would like to make some enquiries about the entrance exam for this year."

"It's late, but I don't mind. It's in twelve days." The guard said as he approached the table with the book. He flipped it open to an empty page then asked "Name, age, place of origin?"

"Raphael Hunt, fifteen, Silverstone town." Raphael supplied.

After recording the information, he reached into his pocket and took out a crystalline card, which he touched onto the page. A glyph flashed with golden light on the card before disappearing.

With that done, he handed the card to Raphael "Here, you'll need this to participate. Be here at dawn in twelve days"

Raphael took the card and observed it, turning it over a few times. At this moment though, the mechanisms by which it worked were beyond him. "Thank you."

An awkward silence followed as they both stood there.

The guard hesitated, then asked "Do you have somewhere to stay?"

"Not really, no." Raphael was a bit embarrassed that he had just now thought of that after considering what he would have to spend the twelve days on "Would you mind pointing me in the direction of where I might find a place to stay?"

"Unfortunately for you, this close to the entrance exams, accommodations are going to be hard to come by." The guard replied.

"Yeah, some parts of my coming here went really well planned. Mostly the short term parts." Raphael said with a nervous chuckle.

"Let me guess, your plans are filled with dreams of how you'll become a Titled Radiant?" the guard smiled "You didn't consider the small stuff like food, clothing, and shelter. You know, all those unimportant things. Do you even have any money?"

"Maybe something like that... but I do have some money."

"Don't worry about it. This happens more often than you would think. I'm Maximilian by the way but my friends call me Max. I might have a place you could stay but unfortunately I don't finish my shift until about four hours from now at midnight, so if you don't mind waiting, you're more than welcome to wait with me then I'll take you there when I'm done."

"Sure. Thanks." Raphael said as he walked over and stood a few feet beside Max.

"No problem at all."

"So you look like you've been here a while. What are you allowed to tell me about the exam?" Raphael said, breaking the silence and fishing for information at the same time.

"There's not much to tell. They only test two things really; affinity and control. You're pretty much guaranteed to pass. I've never heard of someone with a thick enough bloodline to manifest the characteristic golden eyes fail. Actually, there are some who don't even have the golden eyes who are able to pass."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah. Affinity is how easily you can draw the ether from the air, usually indicated by volume in a standardized setting, and control is how well you can shape it. They'll ask you to manipulate the ether you've gathered into a specific shape. It only has to look vaguely like the shape to pass. The rest will be taught after you join the academy."

"Will a sun totem be provided?"

"There's a single large one that will be used for the test but after you pass a standard issue sun totem will be provided for your personal use."

"That's great. I was afraid it would take some time to earn one." Raphael said but actually he was happy that another thing he needed would be acquired so easily.

"Oh, nothing of the sort. Plus you'll more than make up for the cost of the totem down the line anyway."

Max seemed eager to have company for the night and kept on chattering, explaining many things about the academy and the city in great detail once prompted. Soon, it was midnight and his replacement came to relieve him off duty.

"Hey Max. Who's your new friend?" the new guard said.

He was dressed the same as Max and from his shoulder, one could tell they were of the same rank. However, unlike his fellow guard, he had dark hair and blue eyes and was slightly sturdier with tanned skin.

"This is Raphael. He'll be taking part in this year's exam." Max said while stretching his joints from being in a standing position for so long. "Raphael, this is Xavier."

"Nice to meet you" Raphael said as he offered a hand.

"Likewise." Xavier replied as he shook it, then turned to Max "I see your faction will be getting a promising new recruit this year."

"You can't really tell that this early" Max countered.

"Nonsense. You can tell he's strong even just from the way he carries himself."

"Uh. What's a faction?" Raphael interjected.

"Basically, the academy students are divided into three groups or factions." Max explained "The pure-bloods; pretentious twerps who have egos far too large for their own heads. You can tell them by their golden hair and eyes."

Xavier laughed at the description, but Max ignored him. Raphael on the other hand, was reminded of a certain little miss who would also be participating in the exam this year as well as himself of the past.

"Half-bloods" he gestured to his red hair, then to Raphael's black hair "Where we belong."

"And finally mixed-bloods." he said as he pointed to Xavier's eyes. "The half-bloods and the mixed-bloods have an alliance of sorts though when dealing with the pure-bloods and since that's almost always the case it's more like two factions rather than three. That's not to say we don't have our disagreements though."

"I see." Raphael said in thought "So we're grouped based on the physiological bloodline features we exhibit? Interesting."

"Unfortunately, the student ranking reflects pretty much the same thing with a few exceptions." Xavier added with a sigh "So we're always looking for talented new recruits."

He did wonder though, if they would treat him the same if they knew that his own hair had originally been a very bright golden blond as well. He did, however keep that information to himself.

"Yeah." Max beckoned to Raphael "Well we'd best get going though. You need to get settled in and I need some rest. All that can be discussed after you become a student. Let's go. See you later Xavier. Don't fall asleep on the job this time."

"Hey!" Xavier protested "It was just the once. You're going to make me look bad in front of the newbie."

They walked for about a half an hour before reaching the destination Max had been talking about. It was a decently sized mansion the same golden colour as most of the city. Max greeted a few armoured guards as they made their way into the compound.

Max showed him to a room located on the eastern side of the compound and opened the door. "You can stay here until it's time for the entrance exam. After that, new students will be placed into dormitories so you won't have to worry about your living arrangements."

"Thank you and sorry for the inconvenience."

"It's not a bother at all."

"If you don't mind my asking, could you tell me why it seems like you're going out of your way to help me?"

Max's expression remained relaxed but his tone suddenly changed, becoming more serious.

"Xavier wasn't wrong about being able to tell a talented student with some careful observation. The key is in how the ether moves and reacts around them, even when they're not actively channelling. There's an orderliness to the movement of the ether that matches your breathing and movement, as if the ether itself is ready to answer your call and jump into action with but a thought from you."

"I didn't know that." Raphael said thoughtfully and he truly didn't. He had been using a different means to gauge someone's strength based on the ether inside them rather than around them.

"Then I guess you haven't had much contact with other Radiant. Anyway, for someone bound to end up in the same faction and probably talented at least in manipulation of ether, even if not yet in combat, it's not a big deal at all to lend you a place to stay for a while. We'll probably help each other out a few times down the line anyway."

"In that case then I'll make myself at home." Raphael said as he walked into the room.

"I'm going to go get some rest as well. Still have stuff to do in the morning. I'll get someone to bring you breakfast so you don't have to worry about that. I'll also notify the guards, so you can feel free to leave and explore the city if you'd like. Later then."

"Later." Raphael said them closed the door after Max walked away.

The room was quite spacious and as with most of the city, completely golden. Walls, furniture, drapes, everything.

Raphael knew the reason for this, but that didn't stop it from irritating him even though it was actually quite practical and cost effective.

Inorganic ether was golden in colour and tended to colour everything infused with a high enough concentration the same golden colour. There were ways to change or mask the colour, but it seemed most of the city couldn't be bothered to do so with the exception of the academy. Actually, most of the city seemed rather proud of their golden heritage. Not using golden coloured things might seem like blasphemy to some.

Organic ether on the other hand was black in colour.

Raphael looked at the palm of his left hand for a moment before pulling two cloth bags out of his clothes. One was simple and unadorned, the other more ornate.

First, he emptied the one given to him by Old Zack. Five glowing golden orbs fell into his palm. Rather than objects infused with ether, these were actually orbs of solidified ether. They could either be used for practice or bartered and were very valuable and useful, especially to someone who was starting the academy like himself.

Old Zack must have received them as payment from the old master since he wasn't a Radiant and as such, couldn't make them himself. Even for Raphael himself, he would have to become a Radiant of the fifth order or above to be able to make them.

He poured the orbs back into the cloth bag then picked up the ornate bag. Emptying that one as well, twenty three orbs were contained in this one. With a smile, he added them to the cloth bag. Who knew being a robber was such a lucrative business.

Taking a deep breath, he held the ornate bag in his left palm. The ether in the room around him surged as it answered his call, surrounding him in a golden haze.

Following his thoughts, it flowed into his hand, and as it passed through, the colour changed to black. The black light then proceeded to engulf the bag.

Slowly, all that was left of what was once a beautiful bag was a small mound of grey dust on his palm, which he brushed off on his thigh before retiring to bed.