Michael was quite surprised and even worried since he heard Drake talk about his granddaughter's visions. Her wanting to meet him had him thinking along the lines that she might have come to know of Dominic's identity.
"Hello, Mr. Michael," said the girl in a sweet low voice as she approached him and shook his hand. "Mom and dad told me a lot about you and auntie Robin. I wanted to meet you for a long time."
"Nice to meet you, miss Lucy. I haven't seen you for five years. Do you remember me?" asked Michael.
"Sorry, Mr. Michael. I have only known you from the pictures that we have at home," said Lucy with a timid smile.
"Haha. Hard to expect you to remember me when you were that young," said Michael. "I am glad that you are joining the Nature Palace. This is my son Alex. He is also in his first year," he continued as he pulled Alex forward to introduce her.
"Nice to meet you, Alex," said Lucy. "I guess Dominic is sleeping in your quarters. We can meet later."
"Sure, how about you join us for a bit of refreshments tomorrow evening at my quarters. I will come to get you. I need to take my leave. I have an appointment to keep, right now and have quite a bit of work after that. You know meeting the rest of the staff and preparing for the classes," said Michael as he took Alex and made way into the building.
He quickly took Alex to his dormitory which he received from Carson. The dormitory was on the first floor of the building and was a large room with six beds, wardrobes and a bathroom. Once, Alex chose a bed, he helped him setup some sheets and his clothes in the wardrobe as he called Falcone. He wanted to talk with Falcone about the young girl he had met and their course of action. It looked like she already knew about Dominic and he was worried that she might inform Drake.
"What is the matter, Michael?" said Falcone as he accepted the call. He looked a bit gaunt and tired in the crystal ball. Michael thought of discussing it later for a second but in the next instant he also remembered Drake who was currently at the campus.
"Have you met Miss Lucy Walker?" he asked as he cast a couple of isolation and anti-surveillance spells.
"Derek's kid?" he asked. "So, you are worried if she knew about Dominic."
"Yes," said Michael. "If she knows, it will not take much time for Drake."
"She knows. I have already met her, and she had promised to keep the secret safe," said Falcone in a calm manner. "She just wants to meet her brother occasionally which I believe could be acceptable."
"You are kidding. If she managed to look, then there will be others. It is no longer a secret," shouted Michael concerned for his safety and that of Alex.
"No. You don't understand. The array that was established and the precautions they took made it impossible for anyone to peek through. You really think that none of the Walkers tried to do so all this time. I even have a seer under soul shackles and he also failed to get anywhere close to the truth. We can talk about it later tonight. It is not safe to do this via a crystal ball" said Falcone as cut the call.
Thinking along the lines which Falcone had just told, Michael also felt that he might have been a bit hasty in his assumptions and probably unnecessarily worried. "It is true that the Walkers would have tried to peek into that day as soon as the incident happened and the fact that they didn't immediately come after me means that they either couldn't or were willing to let Dominic be with me," thought Michael.
"Let it be, so. I can talk with the Falcone and the girl later," thought Michael as he turned away from the crystal ball and looked at Alex who setting up his space with posters.
"Leave a bit of space for your roommates too," said Michael. "They also probably want to put up some of their favorite posters and the like."
"I will tell them that my dad is a teacher. It is bound to give be some authority," said Alex as he put his tongue out and continued to unfurl another poster from his trunk.
"Not allowed. You might be even punished if you try to use my name and even I might not be left alone. They are quite strict and such activities would be considered a misuse of power," said Michael he waved a wand and the posters were neatly rearranged on the wall behind his bed.
"Is there any actual advantage of having you in the campus along with me," said Alex as he threw himself on the bed.
"Yes, of course. You have a personal tutor for starters which most students could only dream of. You also have my support and though you can't use my name openly to take advantage of others, the fact that you are my son would be revealed sooner or later and no one would mess with you," said Michael.
"And there is also this," he continued as he pulled out a small red crystal and gave it to Alex. "This is a part of twin-red crystal. Often used as a two-way communication. Inject some mana to talk with me. The teachers and the staff are guardians of all the students as long as they are in the academy. One hardly gets a chance to talk to their parents. Emergency only. You can come meet me on Sundays. The rest of them are all school days."
"Even Saturday?"
"Yes. You only get one day of rest as a magician student and don't expect even that after you become a magician. Being a magician has its advantages and makes like easy, but you also need to work all the time," said Michael. "If you want to be a good and strong magician."
"I will get going now," said Michael. "Your roommates will arrive soon."
"Will there be girls?" asked Alex.
"Ha, you hope. Before specialization, you aren't allowed to have the same room as a girl. It is considered a distraction for young minds," said Michael.
"I hope? I don't want to be in the same room with a girl. They are too neat and odd," said Alex. "Bossy too. You remember Cellie. She was like that."
"Hmm. Kids! In a couple of years, you would be wishing you would be allowed to bunk with a girl. Wait for it. Have your food in time at the dining hall. I left a map for you in your trunk," said Michael as he waved bye and left the room.
"Wait. I will come with you. I didn't have lunch yet," said Alex as he followed behind him. "Is the food any good?"
"The food is the one thing that you will miss even after graduation for sure," said Michael with a smile.
"Is it that good?"
"Good and plentiful. Made by some of the best cooks you could find in the world," said Michael. "Beasts."
"Beasts?" asked Alex surprised. "Beasts can't cook they eat their food raw. Don't try to fool me around."
"I am not. These are a special kind and are awfully hard to find and much harder to control, but once trained they are the best cooks you could find," said Michael. "They are called hell chefs, terrifying beasts that can only be summoned from another realm."
"Realm?"
"You heard of hell, right?"
"That place where the village elder tells disobedient children that they would go when they die?"
"Yes."
"That is real? I thought that he was just telling us stories."
"I gave you some books to read. Try reading them. Then, you won't have such confusions."
"So, it is real?"
"Yes. There are a bunch of places where it is said that a soul may go to after death. None of them definitively proved, but there are places like hell. These are called alternate realms. People summon beasts from other places and use them for a bunch of things. The hell chefs are one such beasts," explained Michael.
"These beasts are good cooks?"
"Not really, but they are known to cook their prey before eating even without training. On training, they can make some of the best dishes at a very quick pace. They have an exceptionally fine control over flames which makes them good cooks," said Michael.
"And you know how to summon these beasts?"
"Not hell chefs exactly. Never tried to summon them as they are extremely dangerous. Without summoning and taming specializations, one wouldn't attempt it," said Michael. "But my job here is to teach the basics of summoning."
They soon arrived at the south side of the palace where there was a large long building. As they entered it, Alex found it to be much larger than what he expected. The space inside was at least five times the amount it looked from outside. There were rows of food place on a buffet table while long tables and rows of chairs were also available to sit and eat.
"Wow! That is a lot of food," said Alex as he tried to tiptoe in an attempt to peek at all the items on the table.
"That is just the menu. You can order and the puppets will give you whatever you ask," said Michael pointing to a bunch of people clothed in white uniforms.
"Those are puppets? They look like actual human beings," said Alex. All of these were commonplace among nobles and large magic academies, but it was all a wonder to Alex who had not been in contact with either in his life before this.
"Yes. Don't be surprised. They aren't that rare. Even our ancestral home has them. I will take to you there during the holidays," said Michael.
"They also have all these food?"
"Yes, but not the hell chefs. Those are a real rarity. Even the royals don't have as many of these beasts as those in the academy," said Michael who having grown up at his ancestral home always had a better idea about these things. Looking at his son's lack of knowledge he felt a bit sad and wished that he had tried to go to his father before. He was now sure that going back to his ancestral home would be an improvement for his son.
"Let us find a pair of seats," said Michael as he took Alex to sit beside a few older students.
"They won't bite," said Michael as Alex felt a bit afraid to sit beside them.
"New to the academy?" asked a guy who came to sit beside Alex.
"You must be a new professor. I am Peter Pensley. This is my third year here," said the boy turning towards Michael. He had shoulder length long hair and was about 5 feet tall with a pair of brown slit like eyes and a thing frame.
"Hi Peter, I am Michael Morison. This is my son Alex," said Michael introducing them to him. "Third year, huh? A survivor then," he said with a smile. About 30% of the students who had been through the attack had died and a few more decided to leave the academy afraid of the situation.
"Yes. A number of my friend left and are returning this year," said Peter in a low voice as he remembered the attack. "Still, I think this place is much safer than any other and the best way to be safe is to learn magic ourselves."
"Good frame of mind. Are you trying for a warlock specialization?" asked Michael as he pointed to Peter's eyes. Weird eye shapes were usually seen among students who wanted to become warlocks.
"No. These are just a modification, I made to let me see better. I wish to be an elementalist, a Storm Lord to be exact," said Peter. "Try the redroot tots and always drink lots of juice," he added to Alex while he ordered the same. "You need to stuff yourself as much as possible or you won't be able to cope with the strain."
"So, anything that I should keep in mind or my son should?" asked Michael.
"Nothing I can say for you, Sir. You probably know better than me. As for Alex, it will be a tough batch and a lot more competition. Most of the guys who left in the after the incident are joining again and they will have an advantage over him," said Peter. "I expect about 40% of his batch to be older than him and have already formed into groups."
"Hmm. Didn't actually think of that," said Michael and he continued to converse with Peter about his experience of the attack and his past two years while Alex focused on his palate. It wasn't that Alex didn't care about those events, but it was clear to him that Peter didn't have much information about the attack and so, Alex lost interest in it. The delicious food was like a feast and it attracted his attention. Michael on the other hand wanted to get a better picture of the students' life and their current capabilities. With every generation there will an increase in magical knowledge and also the curriculum of the students. So, he wanted to get a better picture of it through Peter.
After some time, the student on the other side of Peter began to nudge him. "Sir, will be joining us here regularly and what do you teach?"
"No," said Michael. "Just for today and basics of summoning."
"What?" joined in Alex. "Why won't you join me here from tomorrow?"
"Because, teachers have another hall. We aren't allowed in that. There is another hall for older students and teachers, those who can have alcohol," answered Peter.
"Yes, there will a teacher or two always in this dining hall near teachers table there to make sure no fights or unruly behavior happens," said Michael pointing to small elevated dais where there was place for about ten people to sit. "But we usually enjoy our food at another place. It is hard for most to tolerate the active lifestyle of students."
"Active lifestyle, huh. That is one way to put it. I would rather say that so many kids at a place is a nuisance," came a voice that Alex knew from behind him. He turned around to find his granduncle Ben standing.
"Michael, Prof. Carson wants to see you," said Ben.
"I will leave you guys. Alex you know the way back, right?" asked Michael and left as Alex waved his hand.
"You guys know Prof. Morison?" asked the student that was nudging Peter.
"He is my granduncle," answered Alex.
"So, you guys are warlocks?" he asked again. "I heard that the guy comes from a family of warlocks."
"Dad is, but I have never met the rest of them," said Alex. "Dad was a military commander and we never got a chance to meet them."