Mages
A rare commodity of humans that could control supernatural abilities unparalleled to anything the world has seen
In the past Mages were considered devils, demons and were shunned due to their abilities that defy science but, in recent years they became accepted by society even creating schools to educate them to use their abilities. One of such schools is called Rayford Academy
Rayford Academy is a famous institute founded and funded by the empire, specially created to educate mages. It's size is said to stretch a span hundreds of times bigger than a football field
Here in front of this prestigious academy stood a young man
"Why'd she have to call me here for …" he sighed
This young man was named Kazuki
The man named Kazuki had black messy hair with bandages wrapping his left arm, his appearance alone showed that he was clearly not a student of the institute but even so he still entered without a problem. Immediately after entering he pulled out and looked at a piece of paper with a map on it and started heading towards the marked location
Upon reaching the marked spot, he saw a girl leaning on the wall in front of the buildings entrance
The girl was no older than eighteen standing around 168 centimeters, she had crimson hair that seemed like flames with beautiful fiery ruby eyes along with skin that looked as smooth as silk. The girl was also wearing the school's uniform with a flower shaped hair clip of the right side of her hair. Needless to say it was pure beauty
"So you're finally here Kazuki!" The girl shouted to him
"Aki…"
"How many times do I have to tell you it's Akeno not aki!"
"Well you haven't changed a bit, have you? Well enough of that, what's up with this"
After exchanging greetings Kazuki took out another paper from his pocket and showed it to Akeno
"This,what do you mean by it?"
Akeno let out a sigh, putting her left hand on her hips
"Why don't we head to a more quiet place and continue. You wouldn't want people to hear about this don't you?"
She was right he was too hasty, if their conversation were to be heard it would just cause unnecessary problems
"Your right, sorry about that"
Agreeing to that they headed inside the hotel like building almost 30 floors in height, not knowing as to what this building is Kazuki asked
"What is this place anyways?"
"The school's dormitory"
"What!?"
Kazuki face was strike with shock at the mere size of the place he thought it unbelievable that all the students of Rayford Academy stayed at such a luxurious place free of charge, he himself lived in a pretty sizable house but this was overkill even to him
"What's wrong?" Akeno asked him, confused at his reaction
"Oh no it's nothing, I just found it surprising that the dorm would be this big"
"Really? I don't think it's that surprising, mages are the main military force in the world we live in now, and you know about it right, the lifespan of mages"
"You mean the fact that they can't live above 40?
"Yeah… and because of that the empire really upped the education level and living conditions, they can't afford to lose their main military force because of that"
"Well i guess you're right about that…"
*Clank*
Their destination now here, using a key Akeno unlocked the door to the room
The room was also impressive with it consisting of a living room with the kitchen as well as a bedroom it had honestly a very normal feel to it, although impressive it still paled in comparison to the dorm as a whole
"Say are all the rooms like this" out of curiosity Kazuki asked Akeno
"Not all of them, students usually live with a roommate so the design differs a little. I have some special privilege so I can get a whole room for myself"
After answering his question she took a seat on a chair before resting one of her hands on her cheeks "I'll cut this short to you, won't you join the institute?"
"What? Why should I?"
"It's so you can join the 88 Stars Tournament"
The 88 Stars Tournament is a tournament funded by the Empire. In which participants below the age of 21 engage in supervised combat for a chance to test their skills as well as for entertainment purposes with the winner of said tournament gaining great amount of money,prestige and a special prize that differs from year to year. Entering of the tournament is not an easy task, there are two ways you can enter one is via a school or to get specially entered into the tournament. Of course even when entering using a school you need to prove yourself before your allowed to enter the tournament
"Why should I have to enter the tournament? There's nothing I could gain fro—"
"One of the five remaining cards, The World Card" Cutting him off mid sentence she answered
"?!"
His face showing only shock at the reveal.
The World Card is one of five origin cards each possessing power beyond even that of mages. Originally there were twenty two cards that existed but over the centuries their numbers dwindled down to a mere five, The World Card was one such of the cards.
He thought it unbelievable that the empire would offer such a precious artifact to the winner of the tournament and in disbelief he asked her
"Are you serious?! Why would they give away such an item!?"
"I'm not sure, but it hasn't been publicly revealed yet, I found this out through my own sources. So did I catch your eye yet?
Akeno was one of the few people who knows the truth about him and thus he had no reason to not trust her. She knew him well, he couldn't refuse now after knowing the prize and with no choice he agreed to it
"You win, I'll attend the institute"
"Well...That's only one of the reasons…" Softly she mumbled
"What? Sorry I didn't get what you said"
"It's nothing"
Claiming it was nothing she got up from the chair and let out a small giggle
"Anyways I've already taken care of all the necessary procedures but it'll still take the room one more day to be ready, so why don't you stay the night here?"
"Thanks i owe you one"
"Fufu while your at it why don't you sleep with me like good ol times?" her hands behind her back and a smirk on her face she suggested
"You really haven't change have you? Thanks but no thanks, I'll just take the living room instead"
After finishing their dinner before the two went to bed Akeno said something strange
"It's been 5 years since that day hasn't it"
"Yeah"
"So...How much longer before…" her eyes gazing downwards unable to look him in the eye
Kazuki as if knowing this was about to come kept silent for a moment before sighing
"Honestly I'm not sure but I know it's less than ten years now"
"I see"
With his response she dropped her usual cheerful attitude and went silent with a sorrowed look
Kazuki who saw this reached out his hand and stroked her head gently
"Don't worry too much about it, ten years is still a long time" He affirmed to her
"Your right…but"
Akeno let out a deep breath before recomposing herself and raising her fist towards Kazuki
"Promise me this! Promise me you'll accomplish it!"
Hearing that Kazuki couldn't help but smile a little before raising his own fist towards hers and telling her
"It's a promise"