I stepped out of the horse-driven cart and paid the driver a few copper coins for his trouble. He smiled stupidly and eyed voraciously at my money pouch for a few seconds before I threw another copper coin at him in irritation. He saluted me and bid me a good day before taking off. I watched him turn the corner before picking up my luggage from the ground. It was not heavy. I had a few meager belongings to call it mine.
I turned around to look at the famous Amaranthine Academy – the magic academy for the elite in the nation of Panja. It was no wonder the cart driver had queried me about the location of my drop. It was true that I had the build and bearing of a swordsman, a byproduct of my five years of training in swordplay. Initially, I had yearned to enter into the Knight Academy and had worked hard to bring up my swordplay to a level that would meet the harsh demands of the academy.
If you were a Noble, you had it easy in Panja. Doors will open to you with a little bit of money and a healthy dose of influence. On the other hand, commoners like me had to earn our opportunity. It was doubly true for orphans like me. Even though I was not an orphan in a traditional sense, it still applied to me as well. Hard work was the only way for people like me to earn it. You may have talent, but if the talent is not honed by countless hours of hard work put into it, you will only be accepted in second-tier academies.
I had wanted to attend the best sword academy and in turn, I had toiled every day to hone my swordplay to an acceptable level. My teacher, whom I called old geezer, instilled the concept of hard work in me to an extent that it became second nature to me.
A shudder ran through my body as I recalled the merciless training regimen the old geezer had put me through. It was not something a normal boy must go through. But, I had prevailed. In fact, I surpassed the old geezer expectations to the level where at one point he felt I was obsessed with swordplay. It was indeed true. I loved the sword like nothing else in the world. I constantly wanted to improve my understanding of the path of the sword. But it didn't matter how much I improved at all.
Regardless of my improvement I was never able to beat the old geezer. I can give him a hard time for sure but never win him. He was that dominant in swordplay. And the most humiliating thing of all was that I know deep down that I wouldn't even last five minutes if he took our spars seriously. It drove me hard to improve my swordplay. I didn't care about anything else. I wanted the old geezer to take me seriously for at least one time. But, alas it never happened.
But now, it was all a moot point.
One year ago, fate played a cruel joke on me. Every child in Panja was to be tested for magical ability when they turned 14 years of age. And to my shock, it was found out that I had huge magical potential. I had an abundance of mana in my body. In fact, I even broke the testing crystal during my testing.
The old geezer had laughed his heart out when he heard about it. But, I was not pleased however. Being the stubborn idiot I am, I had declared to him that I was not going to attend any magic academy. Instead, I would follow the path of the sword. The old geezer had not been pleased on hearing that. He had initially tried to talk me into entering a magic academy. But, I had adamantly refused. Then came the shocker that I couldn't wrap my head around until one month ago.
The old geezer had then gone to my Granny. Granny and the old geezer had always been at odds. They were like a bickering old couple. They couldn't agree on anything. Their ways were different. Their thoughts were different. If someone had said to me a year ago that those two would join hands, I would have taken that person to a healer.
Granny didn't stay with me. Her job didn't allow that. She occasionally visited me from time to time. Even though I understood her predicament, there were times that made me yearn for her love more. Not that she didn't love me. She loved me with all her heart. But circumstances made it so that she couldn't stay with me for a prolonged period of time. She had been working away in Panja and when the old geezer had informed her about my mull-headed decision, she had come rushing.
Being a mage, she couldn't wrap her head around the concept of me not wanting to be one. Initially, she had blamed the old geezer for corrupting my mind. But, later she realized that it was me that was being stubborn. The duo of old fools had then joined hands to convince me. The next time she returned, she had an admission from the famous Amaranthine Academy for me in her hands. She had hoped to entice me into magic. But, I had still refused.
I would have gotten my way too, if not for the old geezer. One day, he announced that he will give me six months to hone my swordplay. If I can't defeat him after that, I must attend Amaranthine Academy. I had no choice but to accept his proposal. I worked day and night to hone my swordplay skills to a whole new level. I could have beaten him after spending six months in honing my swordplay, if only the old geezer hadn't cheated.
Of all the times, he took that spar to actually consider serious. He defeated me in mere 15 seconds. It was humiliating. All my hard work for five years was blown away as if they meant nothing in front of him. But, it was also eye-opening. Finally, I realized what big of a chasm was between us. I was nowhere near him.
Thinking about it made my blood boil. That old geezer. He never had the intention of even giving me a fair fight. I cursed him inwardly as I started walking towards the gates of Amaranthine Academy. For anyone else, this academy would have been a dream come true. But for me, it was just a place of exile. I vowed to myself that I would defeat that old geezer one day as I stopped before the gates.
A pair of guards guarding the gates looked mockingly at me. One wrinkled his nose as if he smelled something bad.
"Another freeloader huh?" he grunted to his partner. "I swear this academy is going to dogs."
"Look at him, do you think he is going to last the first term. They are gonna eat him up alive," the other guard mocked me.
I took a deep breath to calm myself. I looked past them to find a group of commoners like me standing together on the other side of the gates.
"Ah, yes yes, you do have a few people to play around with. But, before you meet them, hand over the admission letter. If you don't have one, you will find that my boots do make a fine print on your pretty little bottom," the first guard chuckled.
I rolled my eyes at their intimidation tactics. It would have worked on any other countryside boy of my age. But, I had faced far more worse from the old geezer. I rummaged through my pack before retrieving a crumpled piece of paper and presenting it to them.
"What's this? I asked for the admission letter, you dolt. Not your mama's market list," the first guard scowled.
"It is the admission letter," I snorted in irritation.
"Ad….Admission Letter!!! Yo…u, you peasant! Do you know how valuable this piece of paper is? You ungrateful mongrel! People would kill for a chance like this. And yet, you treat this priceless letter as a piece of junk!" he roared at me.
"There is your letter. Now, let me pass," I said inspecting my fingernails putting on bored façade.
He spluttered unable to fathom that anyone would treat the academy in such a manner. The other guard's face was red with anger.
"You ungrateful swine!" the other guard muttered unable to believe my disinterest.
He clenched his hands in anger and looked as if he was going to pounce on me at any moment. I carefully positioned myself to intercept him if he indeed did it, all the while maintaining a bored façade. Before anything else could come to pass, a carriage pulled up behind me.
I turned around to watch a fat man get out of the carriage. A boy about my age and the fat man's size got out behind him. He looked up at the academy gates with reverence in his eyes. It was clear that the boy was the fat man's son. The boy took in the sight with awe as the fat man nervously twiddled with his fingers. They both approached the gates nervously.
"Respected sirs, I have brought my child here to enroll him in the academy. Can you please guide me on how to proceed with it? Here's his admission letter," the fat man spoke smoothly despite his nervous body language and retrieved a scroll from his pocket to present it to the guards.
The scroll was tied with a silk ribbon. The first guard took it from the fat man's hands haughtily before shooting a dark glare at me. I chuckled inwardly and maintained my bored façade. As he was about to unwrap the scroll, I spoke up.
"How long will it take to check my admission letter? I believe I came first."
"You… you wretched being," the guard hastily glanced at my letter to confirm its originality. "Looks like everything is in order. Lucky for you, I am not supposed to lay my hands on students without due cause. Or else," he gritted his teeth.
The fat man shot me a disapproving look. I didn't bother to reply. Instead, I tapped my foot impatiently.
"Get in, and stand over there," the other guard snapped at me.
"Whatever," I said nonchalantly as I walked past the gates into the academy.
As I passed the guards, I could hear them grinding their teeth. I smirked inwardly as I neared the group of students waiting inside. They tried to distance themselves from me inconspicuously. I noted it and sighed to myself.
I dropped my pack and sat on it unceremoniously. The fat man shot a disapproving look from the other side of the gates. I didn't mind him. The boy behind him was looking at me curiously. I winked at him and he turned red before averting his eyes. The guards were staring a hole through my head, but I didn't mind them. The trees in the entranceway were tall and large. The foliage was thick and the weather was pleasant. The breeze gently ruffled my black hair. It was pleasant. I sighed in content.
"Hmmm, respected sirs," the fat man prompted after some time.
The guards unwillingly took their eyes from me and opened the scroll. Soon, the details were verified and the fat man's son was let in. I could vaguely hear the fat man advising the boy to stay away from me. The fat man thanked the guards after bringing in his son's luggage and promptly left in his carriage.
The fat boy eyed me curiously for a while before engaging in conversation with the other students waiting alongside us. The guards often shot a dirty look in my direction. Time passed by slowly as I started counting the number of leaves in the trees in my line of sight.
Soon, few more carriages approached the gates and few more students were let in. After what felt like a long time to me, a carriage came into sight. It was the same carriage that would have run over me in front of the Yawning Gates. I watched a finely dressed servant get out of the carriage and hold the door open for a boy of my age to get down. The boy surveyed his surroundings and let out a satisfied nod as the servant talked with the guards. A scroll was presented and the gates were opened in no time.
The boy sauntered past us with a mocking smile and proceeded to go further in with the servant and driver carrying his luggage towards a distant building. I watched them leave curiously. Even though I knew the reason behind the special treatment the boy received, I couldn't help become irritated.
"Is that allowed?" I asked no one in a drawling tone to relieve my boredom.
A few murmurs elicited from my statement and a few grumblings were added to the mix. The guard shot me a dirty look.
"What?" I asked innocently.
"What do you mean?" the second guard asked hotly causing the murmurs to go silent.
"I mean, isn't he a student too. Why is he allowed to go to the building when we have to wait here?" I asked in a confused voice.
The guard's eyes bulged in response to my question.
"Then what do you propose, you dimwitted idiot!" the first guard asked angrily. "Do you think a noble like him would wait with a bunch of peasants like you?"
"Aren't we all students here?" I asked with a confused look on my face.
"You idiot! The nobles will wait in the auditorium where the entrance ceremony is held. You will be taken there when the time comes," the second guard answered hotly to my query.
"Whatever," I shrugged my shoulders in response before sliding down to the ground and resting my back on the pack.
The guards' noses twitched in anger and I smiled inwardly. I knew I was acting like a jerk, but I couldn't help myself. The way they had treated me when I first arrived had soured my mood. I know I can be a downright bastard when someone irritates me. And I used my bastardly charm to full effect to drive the guards nuts. It wasn't as if I had anything better to do.
It took a long, and I mean a damn long, time for the guards to ask us to get ready. It was nearing midday when the first guard announced us to get ready. A few more students had joined us in the meantime and a few more nobles had entered and gone on to the faraway building. The students waiting beside me immediately started to collect their things. At that point, I was seriously bored to the level that I was contemplating to start a fight with the guards. It was a good thing though that I maintained my restraint. We were eventually ordered to form a line and I naturally took the rear of the line. The line that resulted was a long one. I could barely see the head of the first student in the line.
The second guard remained at the gate, while the first one took us to the building I had watched the nobles go into. We entered the auditorium in a single file and were asked to sit behind the nobles. The auditorium was big; numerous seats were left empty even after we were all seated. But I couldn't help but notice that the best seats in front of the stage were already taken by the nobles. I watched as the other students talked among themselves. No one dared to make conversation with me though.
'It looks like I had made a terrible first impression,' I thought to myself and chuckled inwardly.
I took my mind away from the murmurs filling the hall and started contemplating how I should approach the academy. It was true that I had no interest in learning magic. But, it would also not be a good way to repay Granny if I shirked my studies. I know for a fact that it would make Granny mad. And an angry Granny was something I didn't want to deal with any day.
The old geezer can be demanding and downright merciless in his training. But, even that old geezer would run far away than face down an angry Granny. One day, I had curiously asked why he was afraid of Granny. The reason he gave still echoes in my mind.
"Boy, an angry mage is a scary mage. You don't know what they will do. For mages, their powers are directly linked to their emotions. An angry mage can cause more devastation than a normal one. And that old hag is one of the scariest mages I have seen in my life. Trust me, you don't want to make her mad."
From then on, I had strived to appease Granny as much as possible. Even when I had refused to enter the academy, Granny had only been disappointed and sad. But, I know deep down in my heart that if I blew up this opportunity, Granny is going to be very mad at me. And I definitely didn't want it to happen. I would be a fool to wantonly induce the wrath of someone who can scare the old geezer.
'So, blowing up the academy is not an option,' I sighed to myself.
I decided at the moment to try as much as possible to learn from the academy. Not that I was going to leave swordplay. It was never going to happen. But, it would be better to learn a few more things added. The old geezer had always stressed the importance of not taking anything for granted. And I need to learn as much as possible about magic too. I knew the danger of facing an enemy mage was a high possibility in the outside world. This way, I would at least have an idea about what I was dealing with.
My musing was cut short as a short, plump woman entered the auditorium. She had an unremarkable face and greying hair that flowed to her waist. Her gait was a little awkward but nothing stood out about her. Yet, she gave off a presence. When you practice combat for some time, you would immediately get to know which opponent was not to be underestimated. I knew this short woman was someone who is best not to run afoul off.
The hall abruptly fell into silence as the murmurs ceased. She looked at us from the stage and gave a genuine smile which came off more creepy than welcoming. I doubled my resolution to not to cross her.
"Welcome," her voice was shrill. "I am Parimalam, the Mistress of Novices. I will be in charge of you young mages this year. Each year, countless young mages apply to our academy in hopes of gaining admission. You lucky fellows were ones to be admitted this year. Our academy has high standards. This is the place for the elites. We demand hard work from each student here. If you think of this place as something where you can laze around, think again. Every student is equal here. Here, social statuses don't matter. Whether you are the Prince-in-Waiting or a commoner it doesn't matter. Everyone is equal here. I hope you all understand this."
I snorted in derision at her statement. The irony of it didn't escape me. Here we are sitting with a clear divide in the seating arrangement on the first day of the admission and that woman had the gall to talk about equality.
I looked around myself and found several commoners showing enthusiastic smiles. I felt like gagging. They were like a flock of sheep. Easily led. Before entering the auditorium, there were a few grumbles about being made to wait for hours outside among the commoner students. But now, with a few words those grumblings had turned into smiles. Masterful indeed.
If it weren't for Granny drilling into my mind to notice the discrepancies between people's words and their actions, even I would have been swayed by these sentences. Granny always loved doing that. While the old geezer trained my body, Granny had always empathized about training my mind to notice things. I guess mingling with these kinds of people here for a long time would have given Granny the needed exposure.
If I had been any more naive, the simple statements the woman made would have fooled me. There were no theatrics; no pauses in wordings; the words were uttered as if they were simple fact. She had even masterfully preceded the statements with simple truths.
It was at that moment I realized that I can't count on the Mistress of Novices to be fair when dealing with students of different social backgrounds. She would most likely support the nobles.
"….. to make it easier for you to learn you would be housed with people with similar backgrounds. That way you can relate to each other and even help each other become the pillars of this nation. Also, to provide young mages with an equal opportunity to make a name for themselves regardless of their background, there is a provision in the academy policies to allow young mages to choose their own last name. This way you can either shoulder your family pride or make a name for yourself and prove your mettle to the world. Provided there are few conditions, we can't obviously let someone from another family take up the name of an established family. This is to reduce the opportunity for someone to willfully sabotage an existing family's name. Other than that there is no other constraint. Work hard and nothing is above your reach. Talent and hard work are the two factors that will decide your rise and fall in this institution. Now, a few of your seniors will take down your enrollment details. With that, I bid you goodbye and welcome you to the Amaranthine Academy."
The Mistress of Novices concluded her speech and group of older students entered the auditorium with several papers in their hands and started setting up desks in the front. Even there the divide between students was easily visible. There were three tables with finely dressed seniors indicating that it was for nobility and two desks for commoners, even though the commoners were higher in number.
Watching the scene I vaguely wondered how long it would take for me to create some kind of a scene. Knowing myself well, I knew I can hold out at least for a week. I had patience at least to that extent. It would be interesting to see how the first confrontation turns out. I chuckled to myself as the enrollment process began.
By the time the tables were set up the Mistress of Novices was nowhere to be seen. The auditorium buzzed with student activity. I passed my time in watching others talk eagerly about upholding their family pride. I knew for a fact that none of the nobles would be taking a new name. Few students near me were contemplating on taking a new last name. I didn't have any family name I could take for myself either. So, I concluded after much contemplation that I would choose my own last name.
I spent the next fifteen minutes deciding my new name. I thought about a lot of names and tried to pronounce it with my first name. Some fit like a glove, while others made me cringe. But in the end one name stuck with me. I honestly didn't know how that name fits with my first name. It was an average name in my opinion. But, what made it stand out was that its impact on the old geezer.
I knew for a fact that the old geezer would choke on whatever he was eating when he learns of my name. That alone was worth in my opinion to choose it. I decided to use that name as symbolic revenge to the old geezer. He was not going to be pleased. But, I didn't care about that. I was determined to take that name. Come hell or high water, I am going to make the old geezer choke on it no matter what.
'This is my first step in revenge, you old geezer. And it is far from over. You are going to regret sending me here,' I thought to myself and cackled evilly in my mind.
Soon enough, more than half of the novices were gone. Once the enrollment was done, a group of students will be escorted together outside to their respective dormitories. From what I could hear from the students talking near me, the dormitories were built like individual cottages. Each cottage housed around seven to ten students based on their capacity. The students around me were discussing who will be grouped with whom.
I didn't care about it much. For me, one dormitory is the same as the other. I highly doubted that any noble would be housed with a commoner. So, I didn't need to worry about being housed together with a pretentious noble brat. I passed my time by imagining swordplay in my mind. I went through countless forms I had learned and started envisioning them in my mind.
Soon enough, all the nobles had left. Only a handful of commoners were left behind. The finely dressed seniors were also absent from the auditorium. Only the two desks for the commoners were left.
'Some equality,' I thought to myself.
The fat boy was the last one before me to step up to the queue formed in front of both enrollment desks. I waited leisurely for the queue to dwindle a little. The fat boy shot curious glances at me occasionally but immediately turned back without making eye contact. As the queue dwindled into nothingness, I stood up from my seat and approached an empty enrollment desk. The fat boy was being enrolled in the other. I sat in front of the senior and started my enrollment process.