The First Day

When walking in, it is very open, when some students talking to one another sitting in what I can assume to be the lounge area, and when facing forward from the entrance it is a grand open area with a large class chandelier above in the center of the room. The center of the room has the same symbol as I saw in the front gate which is a Star with an angelic wing behind it. From the center of the room, there are stairs each going in a different direction with signs.

"North Wing-History, and Literature"

"Northwest Wing-Magical Techniques and arts

"Northeast Wing- Mathematics"

"Did the note say about what specific class I need to go to?" I ask Seila out loud.

[No]

Then my best option now is to look for the class she is in. So I will ask around.

I turn towards the lounge area where a group of 4 students is gathered. 2 females, who look like twins. Both have black hair, in ponytails. while one is a blond-haired male, and the other male is a beastman with blue hair, scales on his neck, and a tail going through the chair.

I wonder how hard it is for beastmen to sit on chairs because of the tails...

"Uhm, excuse me?" I ask waving to the students using the table.

They all look to me stopping their writing and reading.

"Do you guys know of a 'Hersha' in this building? I am new to the campus so I don't know of any of the teacher's locations."

"Uh, yeah sure, follow me," the blue-haired lizardman says gesturing me to follow.

I follow him but I can't help but look at his tail swinging as I follow up behind him. Kind of is mesmerizing, but also makes me want to ask questions.

*4 minutes later*

"This is her class right here in the Magical Techniques and Arts," he says

"Thank you for showing me. I am likely late I bet."

"You probably are. Started over an hour ago"

"Well, shit..."

"No worries, she is a very forgiving teacher"

"I hope, also just a quick question, not to be offensive. But does your tail like...does it help balance yourself when walking?" I ask somewhat sheepishly. Never asked someone about their anatomy.

"been asked that before by some. But yes it does. Also is useful almost as an extra appendage sometimes. Typically in combat training. Since you asked me a question I will ask you one as well. What happened to your eye? Not every day I get to see a student with an impaired vision. Especially since it looks like it is a battle scar." he leaned on the door frame.

[Better come up with a convincing story]

"I uh...I got attacked by a wild giant centipede. Tore out my eye and got my in my lower right abdomen as well. Well, the centipede that got my eye was a while further back like 3 years ago. The one that got me in my lower right abdomen was recently."

"Oh, not every day I meet someone who knows how to actually fight. And already has experience getting into a real meeting one at that. Well, I gotta go back to reading." he says waving me off.

[You know what...]

What?

[He is kinda hot you know?]

Weirdo...you're an AI

I open the door of the class and turn ym head to the left to see a row of desks and students going up like a lecture room in a college. Except this class doesn't fit over 300 students.

[I have calculated the number of students at each desk and the number of them, you can fit just barely 50 students in the room]

Huh...I guess I expected it to be in the hundreds. But I guess I can't assume everything is like what I knew before.

"AH! Hello! You must be Daniel right?"

"Uh, yeah I am. Mrs. Hersha?" I ask

"Yes! Please take a seat in 3rd row from the front over there."

I look in the direction of which she is referencing and take notice quickly. I nod my head and walk up the steps. Noticing everyone has books, notebooks, pencils, and bags. I don't have a single one of these things.

[Remember, you have an advanced learning bio-organic chip in your head so you won't really need to have a notebook. But you might need a pencil at least.]

I look over to my right and see a fairly tall sitting girl, with darker tan skin, and red hair, and her eyes seem to be brown. I notice behind her there is a tail that is stringy behind her. She has a skirt and her legs seem to be brown as well but with hair or fur. She is a Cloven.

"Hey uhm, do you have a pencil I could borrow?" I ask leaning in with a whisper.

"I uh...s-sure..." she says quietly

She moves her chair backward with a scoot and I see her legs more. They are very similar to Equidae. Her hooves closer to the bottom at the end and have a bit of white fur transitioning before that.

She reaches under the desk and pulls out a back with goes through it as Hersha calls me up.

"Okay, everyone, this is my new student, Daniel....uh...What's your last name?"

I stand up from the desk and announce myself.

"Uh, Wu. Daniel Wu. Lived in a rural village in the East, very isolated, and only recently journeyed on my own beyond the Great Jagged mounts."

I start hearing some people whispering and murmuring around me. So I then sit down as that is all I wanted to say.

"Okay allow me to go again. Everything in a living being had magicka stored inside of them. Even a small amount. But only a select group of people have the innate ability to harness such magicka into a form of magic. Such as this." she opens her palm a ball of red and orange flame appears in her hand steadily burning, but not chaotically bursting.

"This is a stable form of Magicka being used in the form of fire magic. A chaotic form is this."

Flame begins to burst and chaotically spits small ejections of fire out of the center and even grows. But then she takes her left hand and clamps down onto the flame with her right and the fire goes out without a thought.

Woah...I really want to do that.

[We don't know how to harness your Magicka into magic though]

It's a school I will learn...

[But the device said you have zero magical power though]

Actually, yeah. That's a good point to ask since I don't know how magical power scaling works.

I raise my hand up, and Hersha notices and gestures for me to stand up.

"I uh, have a question about the magical power exams I took."

"Go ahead then, ask away!" she says cheerfully, eager to hear my question.

"So uh, how does it scale your magical power? For me, it said I specialize in Necronic flame, whatever that is, but it also said my magical power was zero."

*Gasp*

I turn my head quickly to the direction of the gasps and I see people turning their heads and whispering. But my enhanced hearing allows me to focus on what they are saying.

"Did he say he has zero magical power, but still got in the Academy?"

"Girl did you not hear? he likely got in because he specializes in necrotic flame"

You think he is from a prestigious family from the East for him to have that kind of specialization?"

Various gossip about me that quickly. I am so outside the norm of everything it is so annoying because I don't know anything. For all I know shaking hands is an act of declaration of war.

[Hoepfully it is]

What? Why?

"So, you specialize in Necronic flames?" the girl cloven girl asks me almost shyly.

"Uh yeah. At least that is what everybody tells me."

"Wow. So you are also an Easterling?

"Everyone, everyone! It is not polite to make comments and gossip around your peer! At least do it when they are not within earshot!" Hersha calls out

"Eh..." I squeak

"Well, to answer your question the way it works is that the use of your magic would determine how powerful you are. Let's say you use it once, your power level consistency is not reliable. You'd have to use your magic at least 50 times for it to be determined your rating. Most children have used it accidentally and even babies. So over time they would use those skills and refine them over the next 15 years. At least normally people would have a magic power level of at least 600 by your age. Those who have a power level below that have either not used it consistently, or never at all." she finishes

"Huh?"

"It means you need to use your magic a couple more times before the magical power exams can be accurate. Since you have zero, it means you've never once harnessed your magic."

"Ah...So all I need to do is harness it right? Can you like it? Teach that a bit? Or is it trivial?"

"I guess I could put aside my main lesson about stable and chaotic magic for a moment. Come here I will show you and this will simply be a revisit for you all as well."

[Ha, outed out as a-]

Shut it.

I arrive in front of the class with her and she waves the entire class down. Everyone gets up and walks down as well. I thought it was just going to be me. I guess we are going somewhere else for this.

*10 minutes later*

We have walked in behind the building which is gated off by tall walls of cement raised by 20 feet. Size of a football field it seems.

"Okay! Come here Daniel I will show you how to harness your first time," she says turning me towards the open field.

"Stand like this," Hersha says

She stands in a position where her hand is extended, but her body is turned slightly at an angle. It is of a similar position for bracing. I guess using magic might have some push-back.

I mimic her and hold my hand out and as I look at the back of my hand more intensely I see growth scars on my hand. Although they are smaller and more faded. How did I not notice that?

"All you need to do is focus on your hand to release. Just simply think of letting something out of-"

*FWOOSH*

A sudden gust of flames begin surrounding my forearms and then burst into a blue and black-like flame. Then within a couple of seconds, after my arm is covered in this fire, a direct launching of the flame into a stream pushes me back a bit and begins expanding and spreading like a cone effect.

*FWWWOOOOOSH*

"What the?!" a student yells from behind me

The stream of blue and black flames makes contact with the concrete wall and explodes and spreading heat all over the field and burning the grass.

It becomes larger and larger and then a sudden splash over my entire body cutting me off and the stream of flames stops.

I look behind me and Hersha's open hand is pointed at me. She must've used some kind of water magic on me maybe.

But now I am soaked. As I look at my right hand I expect it to have burn marks or scarring but it seems to be totally fine. But then the students begin talking really loudly.

"Did you see that?!"

"Obviously! So that was necrotic fire! I guess that is the power of an abyssal form of magic."

"Are you alright honey?!" Hersha says walking up to me and checking out my hand

"uh, yeah. I guess I might've used too much all at once haha..."

"That is an example of magic that isn't stable. You released a lot of magic all at once and obliterate the wall" she says pointing behind me