They were awoken early the next morning. The sun's rays were barely peaking through the curtains when Aaron awoke to a heavy thumping on the wooden door. Blearily looking around the room he confirmed the events of yesterday were most definitely not a dream. The room kind of reminded him of his grandparent's spare room except much larger.
A small single bed placed in one corner, little bigger than a cot. The sheets and blankets were pretty he guessed, woven with crimson yarn and embroidered with beautifully in white up and down its length.
In another corner was a small desk, complete with a quill and the same thick kind of paper he saw in that dream world with Diego. This one wasn't nearly as fancy as that of Diego's though. In fact, it was incredibly plain and boring. The walls were a creamy white with curtains of a gentle red-brown color that Aaron could not recognize.
A candle was placed on the bench next to his bed, yet it had been blown out last night as he lay down and just sat there on a small dish looking sad and forlorn. His clothing was still that which he'd woken up in, the white shirt, far from clean and ironed now, and the deep green pants. Looking over he saw someone had deposited a change of clothes for him, hanging over a nearby chair.
The banging repeated itself before a guard stuck his head in, saying.
"Excuse me sir, you are to make yourself presentable and break your fast before heading out for training"
A servant girl walked in as the guard finished speaking, carrying a tray with warm crusty bread as well as several slices of cold ham and cheese. Sitting up and using Inspect on the food, Aaron found no issues of spoilage like last night and thanked the girl, using his Inspect skill on her too. Surprisingly he heard another Ding, as his skill levelled up once more.
Rosemary Inman
Level 3
Class: None
Age: 19
Skills:
Cleaning, Cooking, Serving
Aaron's surprise was matched by the girls own as she was rarely thanked by any visitors or nobles. She gave him a curtsey and flashed a brilliant smile before leaving quickly, the smile still adorning her face. She was actually very cute.
Aaron wolfed his food down before quickly changing clothes. He had hoped to shower or whatever this worlds equivalent was, yet it seemed that wasn't on the cards. Shortly after getting changed, he was hustled out into the hallway where some other were already waiting, if not exactly bright eyed and bushy tailed. Most covered their mouths as they yawned, some still wiping the sleep from their eyes.
Once everyone had assembled including their teacher Kevin, they were basically frog marched down the hallways following a zig zag pattern that most were already lost on. Quiet conversations were held as they followed the guards to wherever they were being taken. A few including Jarred and Aaron were excited for what was to come.
"Oi check this out" Jarred said quietly, "There's an inventory system like I said!"
Holding out his palm a piece of ham materialized in a small blue flash which he quickly popped in his mouth. One of the guards nearby gave him a stern look at the flash of light but was unable to pinpoint exactly what happened.
"Awesome!" Aaron replied looking up his status menu and searching for the inventory. Once he found it he saw it was a number of empty squares, very similar to a video game. It even had a help question mark in one corner, explaining the size of the person's inventory was equal to their Intelligence modifier.
"Intelligence? Shouldn't it be Strength?"
"I guess because it's more like a magic thing than a bag on their backs like most characters have?" Jarred reasoned.
"Yeah, that makes sense"
The pair discussed it the whole way to their destination, planning on discovering the limits that the inventory had.
As they were deep in conversation, they almost didn't realise when they were finally brought out into the light. A medium sized coliseum stood before them, reminiscent of the one in Rome on Earth. Except slightly smaller and not in ruins. In fact, looking around the place seems to be in excellent condition as the students gawked at the amazing architectural design.
The design was incredibly similar to the ones back home which made them wonder, was that deliberate or is it just the best way to design a stadium with these levels of technology? After a bit of discussion as a group it was decided the answer was likely both.
Champions coming to this world would surely have left their marks on cultures and societies. And knowing that something had been built and how would make it much easier to help countries of another world in recreating these marvels. Especially if, despite their lack of scientific advancement, they had magic to shore up the ignorances.
Entering through massive double doors requiring two men each to open, they strode through to a sandy pit inside. In the centre stood a huge brute of a man in beautifully crafted armour. He towered over everyone present with a scowl that was genuinely disconcerting when matched with the large scar on his face.
Beside him was the old man and his aide Kiera from last night. All 3 looked impeccable, if slightly less so in Aedir's case due to his age, much unlike those who were still attempting to awaken themselves. The possibilities of learning magic and skills was definitely helping in that regard.
"I am Boriq!" The ogre like man roared, capturing everyone's attention.
"I am here to assist you new Champions in learning the skills you will need to survive. As you may know the man beside me is the Archon Aedir who will be instructing you in magic. We will assess your strengths and weakness in order to build one and ELIMINATE the other! Kevin! Step forward!"
Kevin recoiled slightly at the idea of being treated like a new recruit. He had discussed with the King the importance of maintaining his image to the class in order to continue to lead them and make them feel safe.
Taking a few hesitant steps forward, to a lot of loud snickering behind him, he eventually came face to face with Boriq. In a slightly more moderated tone, Boriq continued.
"You will assist us in training your class to the best of their abilities! Any laziness or slacking off by your students will not be permitted and if you see any such behavior the three of us will rectify it quickly! Now! Form a line before Master Aedir in order to assess your magic proficiency!"
Each sentence battered the groups eardrums but even that could not dampen the excitement of many as they quickly got in line. Magic was a dream come true for many and few of the kids in line had never tried to use telekinesis or dreamed they could fly.
"Hurry up we don't have all day!"
.....................................
Scylla slowly fell into line as well. She was still angry and miserable. Being flung here with no way home, no way to let her dad know she was ok, broke her heart. She wondered how he was handling her disappearance. Was he still looking? She didn't know whether she wanted him to or not. After all looking for her when there was no way he'd ever be able to find her would be horrible. But if both he and her mother didn't even try that would be hurtful too.
Hopefully they spend a respectful time looking but don't put their lives on hold completely. She knew her mum wouldn't, as much as she loved her, Scylla's mother Irene had a habit of living for herself more than her children which often led to their worst quarrels.
The line grew shorter and shorter as she was near the end but off in her own thoughts she barely noticed. When she finally reached the front, she was confronted with the old man Aedir grasping a bright crystal ball. To her sides several of her classmates were either ecstatic or upset depending on their results.
"Place your hand on the ball and let your energy flow" He said gently, with much less of the gruff attitude he normally seemed to adopt since their arrival.
Placing her hands on the ball gently she at first felt nothing. Then a warm stirring began in her stomach, moving up through her chest, down her arms and into the crystal which appeared in a swarm of brightly lit colours that danced throughout. It was entrancing and she felt the first smile spread across her face since their arrival. As the lights grew stronger, she suddenly began to feel dizzy, and the crystal ball was quickly snatched back out of her reach.
"You have excellent potential for magic" Aedir commented sincerely.
"In fact, I've seen very few to get such a result. You might have some competition Kiera" Aedir continued offhandedly to which she gave him a tight snarky smile before giving Scylla a much more sincere one.
"I hope so, most of the apprentices in the Mages Tower are men and clearly don't know their asses from their elbows" She replied with a grin.
Scylla gave an involuntary laugh before stepping aside for the next student.
"Make sure to note her down" Aedir said quietly, his piercing gaze not yet leaving the young woman who had tested last.
"Already done" Kiera replied in kind, scribbling away at the parchment she always seemed to keep handy.
"It's not often that we find someone with enough potential to use all known kinds of magic"
.....................................
"How did you go?" Aaron asked Jarred after they were all done.
At the end they had each been presented with a piece of paper denoting their magical talent.
"I got a B, mostly fire magic and a bit of dark but apparently I can develop into some other types if I work hard" Jarred replied sullenly. It was a good result but when you came to another world part of you hoped to get supreme power and skills. Good wasn't really all that good unless it was amazing.
"Me too, a B but mine is water magic mostly with a bit of Air. I thought there were a few other colours mixed in there with the deep blue one feeling like water but so far, they haven't explained it"
In the standard magical potential system of the Mages tower there were several factors to consider. Magical power was hard to measure at a young age, especially in young Champions recently summoned as it never got past a certain level until they trained. But the ability to manipulate mana was ranked A-F and their particular resonances with different types of mana could be categorized into one of the six major categories.
They were Water, Fire, Air, Earth, Holy and Dark. Many subcategories of these magic principles existed with extensions being created every single day. Yet most started with only a predisposition to be suited to a single type. Those who had resonances to two were already one in several hundred thousand. Yet being Summoned Champions Aedir and Kiera were not incredibly surprised by any of their results. With perhaps one exception.
"Now that you have received your results it is time to move onto combat training!" Boriq roared out.
Many jumped, as in the excitement of learning they could use magic, they had all almost forgotten his presence.
Boriq gestured to several heavy barrels filled with wooden swords and then to a line in the sand he had also drawn without anybody noticing.
"Take one each and get into position!"
Aaron lifted his with difficulty, using his Inspect skill again and gleaning no interesting information shook his head disappointedly.
Wooden Sword
Blunt
Deals 1-6 blunt force damage
Once every single person had a sword in hand and was standing on the line, he took one of his own before taking a stance.
"I move, you follow. And… Begin!"