The Academy kept a neutral stance over its students, not favoring the nobles over the commoners. This made the classes an excellent platform for Liliana to interact with students from different backgrounds. She had grown particularly close to a fifteen year old girl who also happened to be her roommate.
Liliana met Amy on her first day in the dorms. Simply by observing the latter's demeanor, she could immediately tell that Amy was of noble descent. However, the girl with short black hair and dark brown eyes was a picture of humility despite her background.
It was only after the two conversed that Liliana made an electrifying discovery. After a formal introduction, Liliana found that her interlocutor was none other than Amy Walker – the daughter of one of the four Dukes.
Amy's last name left Liliana stumped. Her thoughts seemed to stall as her face froze partly in shock and partially in panic. Walker? Like Max Walker?!
It hadn't been long since Liliana had been taken aback by Max's mysterious origins. However, she had never expected this. At the time of their first meeting, Liliana had felt a strange sense of familiarity on observing the girl. It was only now that she realized why Amy's facial structures seemed to share some qualities with Max's.
Liliana's worries, however, were seemingly unfounded. It didn't take very long for her to find out that Amy was the Duke's only child. The discovery immediately gave Liliana some breathing space, allowing her to discard the 'elder brother' theory.
A week into the Academy, Liliana found herself staring out her room's window, occasionally sighing and feeling irritable. There had been next to no contact from Max since the first day, and now her pride prevented her from reaching out. "He's my familiar. After all I've done for him, the least he could do is come and say hello every once in a while." She muttered and sulked, her thoughts eventually interrupted by a soft giggle.
Amy casually sat on her bed, swinging her legs. "Thinking about your boyfriend?"
"Wha?!" Flustered, Liliana only responded after a few seconds, "I'm not! I don't have anyone like that."
Amy snickered. "Well if it's not your boyfriend then a crush? You're thinking about a guy aren't you?"
Liliana lightly coughed and tried to steer the conversation in another direction. "Didn't the professor mention something about an induction today? I wasn't really paying attention. Do you know what all that was about?"
Despite growing up in different environments, Amy really had found Liliana to her liking. Unlike most commoners and minor nobles, Liliana had never tried to flatter or curry favour. The lack of certain boundaries and apprehensions allowed the two to quickly and unknowingly form a sisterly bond.
Amy smiled, deciding against making things awkward for the girl. "It's an annual event." She answered. The Induction consisted of a series of Exhibition matches between the freshers and their seniors. Generally held a month after their joining, the Induction was the perfect opportunity for the freshmen to showcase their skills while learning from the upperclassmen.
"A month, huh?"
"Don't worry. It's like a practical test, but without the credits."
As the daughter of one of the four Dukes, Amy had had access to specialized tutors. Despite only being fifteen, she was already an Intermediate Mage. Her talents could be considered as one of the best in her generation, comparable to even the core members of the royal family. Having gone through practical training before, she wasn't afraid of a mere exhibition match.
On the other hand, Liliana was mostly self-taught. Without a wand or staff to rely on, her control had become impeccable. However, with no prior experience, she lacked the confidence to cast spells unperturbed in the heat of battle.
Another cause for her worry was the lack of spells in her arsenal. Basic tier spells could only serve as distractions in battle. Liliana was in desperate need of more fire power.
Sensing Liliana's anxiety, Amy realized the crux of the problem. As if in response to Liliana's hidden misgivings, Amy continued, "Besides, there's still a month. We'll learn a couple of more spells before then."
"Yeah."
"By the way, you don't have a wand, right?"
"Yeah. What about it?"
"Why don't we go and buy you one? Since it's the weekend, we have time. There's a shop inside the campus so, it isn't very far."
"I wouldn't mind… Wait! You mean like right now?!" Liliana immediately refused, wanting to postpone the chore to the next day. She had just returned from class and lacked the enthusiasm to step out again.
On the next morning, after rushing through breakfast, the two girls headed out.
Asterisk Academy was extremely self-sufficient. Within its large campus grounds, it hosted a dedicated shopping area for its students. It was practically a street packed with shops, much like a flea market.
The Academy catered to several thousand mages and knights. These were young men and women from different financial backgrounds. Keeping this aspect in mind, the academy allowed its students to work part time, which was why it wasn't unusual to find a few students from the more humble families to be working on this street.
Having spent near sixteen years in Argent village, Liliana had no concept of a shopping market and was momentarily awed.
Amy giggled immediately after noticing Liliana's expression. "I would love to see your face if we ever travel to the Royal City's market."
"You little – I was just wondering where the shop you mentioned was."
Liliana nearly cursed as the duo walked past the bustling crowd of students and stopped before a three storey building with what looked like a bright neon sign hanging right above its entrance.
'Lennox Magic Goods, Quality goods since a millennium'
The ground floor was where they could sell items while the first level was dedicated to defensive items. It hosted a varied range of cloaks and armors and was swamped with customers.
As Liliana and Amy continued to move upwards, they walked past the second floor which was filled with an array of stones and crystals which were essential to every aspiring mage and knight. The gems were refined from mana and could be easily absorbed by those with the affinity for magic. This crystallized form of mana, thus, came in handy during both training and battle.
Having reached the third level, Liliana and Amy finally stood before a range of wands, staffs and swords. To every mage, the wand or staff held great importance. With their help, a mage could conjure spells faster while also reducing their consumption of mental energy. In a fight, such advantages could dictate life and death.
"Miss Walker… What a coincidence!" A boy suddenly called out. Dressed in casuals, the youth had slick black hair and coupled with his sharp facial features, he came across as pretty handsome.
Amy smiled. "Lewis was it? Count Dalton's heir… Didn't we meet on my birthday a few years ago?"
"I'm flattered that you remember." Lewis replied in a manner that was neither haughty nor servile.
Glancing at Liliana, Amy introduced the girl. "This is Liliana Lockwood, my roommate. Liliana, this is Lewis Dalton."
"A pleasure." Lewis said as he extended his hand.
"Hey! Lewis! Jason! We came here because the two of you wanted a sword and a wand. Remind me why I'm the one getting left behind?" A voice sounded out from behind the group. Sporting a yawn, Max lazily walked towards Jason who had been quietly standing in the shadows.
"It's cause you're slow." Jason grunted in annoyance. "Besides, I wouldn't have come today if the two of you hadn't dragged me here."
"Sorry Max. It wasn't intentional." Lewis added with a wry smile.
Max only became aware of the two girls after he caught up. It hadn't been long since he had partnered with Liliana, but Max already had got a good grasp of her character. He immediately lost his will to deal with the two guys as he awkwardly scratched his head and looked at the girl. "Hi."
"Oh... You two know each other?"
Max lightly coughed and said, "You could say that."
The corners of Liliana's lips twitched at the response. What kind of response is that? Irritated, she imagined bombarding Max with consecutive spells. By simply visualizing Max's pitiful state, she immediately felt a little better.
"Hey." Liliana casually greeted back without throwing a fit. She paused as she noticed her friend in a daze.
Amy stood rooted to the spot frozen. Her emotions ran rampant as her hands and feet trembled ever so slightly. The sight of Max had almost made her delirious.
"Amy… Amy!" Liliana's subtle calls woke Amy from her stupor. The latter instantly collected herself and nervously stared at Max. Forcing a smile, she said, "Sorry. I'm Amy."
Max noticed Amy's peculiar expression and wasn't sure what to make of it. He glanced at Liliana who seemed equally puzzled by the reaction and quickly introduced himself. "Max."
Amy shivered, her eyes flashing with hints of melancholy. Even the name matches… this is just too much!
"Ahem!" Picking up on the subtle changes in Liliana and Amy, Lewis cleared his throat and silently signaled Jason. "Well, Miss Amy, Miss Liliana... It was a pleasure meeting you, but I really must take my leave."
Jason was already halfway down the stairs by the time Lewis had finished talking. When Max looked over and was about to follow, Lewis hurriedly stopped him and whispered, "Why don't you stay? Use this opportunity to catch up with Miss Liliana."
Max was left standing with his mouth agape as his two friends quickly disappeared. Shit! Lewis! You damn traitor!
"C'mon… Let's take a look." Amy pulled Liliana towards the staffs and wands section, but not before the latter managed to calmly stamp on Max's foot.
Grimacing in pain, Max smiled wryly. Like I thought, she's upset. With no choice in the matter, he quietly followed the two girls as they went over the items with looks of dissatisfaction. Wand after wand was rejected before Liliana finally came across the one that felt just right in her arms. It was jet black and had a wooden texture. The wand's insides were lined with a top quality magic crystal and several runes to improve the flow of mana.
Amy's stature and notable negotiation skills managed to get Liliana a pretty discount, and yet the wand's price still remained at almost five gold coins.
As they headed back to the dorms, Max took note of Liliana's expression and silently chuckled. He could imagine the miserly girl secretly cursing at the absurd price. Along the way, Liliana and Amy seemed to have a lot to say and spoke nonstop, leaving Max with quite the headache.
"Girls really talk too much." Max inwardly grumbled and cussed at Lewis for consigning him to his present situation.
Standing at the dormitory gates, Liliana sent Amy ahead. The young noble quietly nodded and gave Max another complicated look before she perambulated past the lawn. With Amy out of sight, Liliana instantly pulled Max by the ear and quickly admonished him. "A full week and not even so much as a hello? How can you still call yourself my familiar?"
Max wryly smiled. "I'm sorry… So who is Amy anyway? Your classmate? And what happened to the one who seems to hate me?"
"Rachael doesn't hate you!" Liliana snapped and instantly came to her friend's defense. "Anyway, Amy is my roommate and classmate. She…"
"She?" Max suddenly frowned as he noticed Liliana's hesitation.
Liliana shook her head. "Never mind."
The conversation suddenly came to a standstill. The mage – familiar pair seemed to run out of topics as an air of awkwardness set in. Liliana had already lost her initial drive to reprimand the young man. On the other hand, Max didn't have anything more to say and was thus forced to become the other participant in this silent stalemate.
Max finally said, "Did you hear about the Induction tournament?"
"Yes." Liliana nodded, relieved that the uncomfortable air of silence was dissipating. "The competition is going to be segregated between knights and mages so I'm a little worried about you since our situation is a bit special."
"I should be fine. The professors should already know about our case. I'm sure they'll arrange the matches in a way that won't cause us too much trouble."
"Well, either way, mages have to come to an agreement before the match starts. If they schedule a particularly hard one for you, then I'll try to make sure that mine doesn't include familiars."
"Oh? You can do that? Isn't that convenient?"
"Sure is." Liliana answered before smugly adding, "So you better take your match seriously. Don't expect me to hold your hand if you embarrass yourself."
"I'll do my best." Max replied with a dry laugh.
In class, Max finally experienced training as a knight. It mainly involved harsh physical exercise to push the body to its limits. This was a process that allowed for a much smoother absorption of mana. It restructured the human muscles so that the knights could display maximum power without looking like bulked up wrestlers.
At the end of every session, every budding knight was granted a single refined mana crystal. The intake of such concentrated mana at the right time helped maximize the results.
On his first day of training, Max noticed that his body's intake of mana far exceeded the norm. While his classmates took a good half-hour to absorb the crystal's contents, he managed to deplete his own within minutes – a fact which greatly worried him. This development was in direct conflict with his desire to not stand out.
Max speedily theorized that his abnormal condition was because he was from Earth. As someone who had only recently come into contact with mana, his body was no different than an empty container which was hungrily devouring this new source of power.
On the other side of the campus, the fresh batch of mages was also being mentally and physically drained from the constant consumption of mental energy. Most of their regular lectures were spent studying spells to increase efficiency and improve the speed of conjuration.
With every usable second of his weekdays spent on classes, training and in the library, Max wanted nothing more than to sleep through the weekends. Despite that, he still found time to meet with Liliana who informed him about the upcoming contract ceremony with some excitement.
Most of the newly entered mages had readied their contractual emblems for summoning their familiars. By the end of their second week in the Academy, almost all of them had contracted a fairly powerful beast.
Over the course of the month, Max, Lewis, a reluctant Jason, Liliana, Amy and an unusually irascible Rachael became close friends. However, Jason still preferred his silence while Rachael maintained her general distaste for the opposite sex and often kept them at arm's length. On the other hand, Amy showed a great interest in Max.
Though initially bewildered by her actions, Max was soon relieved to find that Amy just seemed oddly curious about him. Liliana, however, began to secretly fret and wonder if she had discarded her previous theories a bit too early. She subconsciously began to re-examine the two as a single question plagued her thoughts. Is Max really related to the renowned Walker family?
Liliana turned sixteen a week before the Induction. Max had completely forgotten about the occasion and only remembered after he coincidentally met Amy after class. Seeing the gift in her hands, Max grimaced as he thought about having to meet the birthday girl without a present of his own.
It had been a little over ten years since Max had stopped caring about birthdays. At the thought of his own, his mood would turn especially sour. It had been on his sixth birthday when his mother had died, and ever since then he could never birth the enthusiasm to celebrate the day which only served as a reminder to the painful event.
After the six met up, Amy gifted her present and graciously proclaimed that it had been bought with Max's help. Surprised by her actions, Max secretly thanked the little lass for saving him from imminent embarrassment.
Liliana smiled and calmly accepted the gift, though she seemed to have realized that her familiar had had no part in selecting it. She didn't mind and tried not to find fault in the Earthling. Instead, she felt sorry for him because she knew that his 'amnesia' stopped him from remembering his own birthday.
With the celebration out of the way, the days went by in a flash. As the freshmen continued to trudge forward on their paths to power, they finally hit upon their first challenge.
At long last, it was the day of the Induction.