The first bell rang just as the first days of the sun rose over the peaks on the east, the sun mirror that was precariously placed on each of those peaks, released an extra bright golden glow that covered the entirety of the academy and breathed life to it.
Asd was exhausted, he had barely gotten a wink of sleep the night before, all of the excitement and relief he felt from getting accepted into the academy was so overwhelming. Yet he had been unable to sleep, all too eager for what came the next day. And now the day had arrived and he was ready to learn, the hard part was over.
It was tradition in the world that whenever you set a slave or an indentured servant free, you would like have to give them wages equivalent to the amount of years they served you. It wasn't exactly an iron clad rule, but just a custom to be observed, so if some people chose not to honor such a tradition, then not much could be done to them.
The Ramses observed such traditions and left Asd very rich, 5000 gold coins was enough for him to buy land somewhere and build a future. But 3500 of that went into his tuition for 3 years. The Monroe Mage academy would consider a student graduated when they finally become official mages of whatever class they so chose.
And the dividing line for that was being capable of casting 2nd circle spells. And that would require severe improvements in Mana control, strength and connection. Not to mention a great deal of knowledge to go with it. Some people take as low as six months to get to that stage, other could spend twenty years, and each year was a thousand gold coins. The 500 he paid was for the necessities required for him to live and survive on the school grounds. It covered his books, extra lessons, uniforms, and other tools and facilities he might have to use during the course of his studies. That was a lot to pay, but it was a small price for power.
His dorm room was simple and very shabby, which was understandable seeing that he was placed in the attic. The elf might not have said anything about his presence, but it became obvious that the academy or someone within it was well aware of his presence here, and they didn't like it. But they were not going to kick him out which was way better than he expected.
But the advantage to it all was that his room was massive, and it was just him in it. He quickly got ready, the only thing he had with him was the clothes on his back when he came here, now he had three set of robes, and uniforms for the academy. He would try and get himself some clothes when he had time as there was a city at the bottom of the mountain.
He left his room looking the cleanest he has ever been in his entire life, his newly acquired and unruly hair had been neatly combed and braided. He was able to use his claws to shave the side of his head, earning himself a few cuts in process, but still able to make himself look good enough. He looked like some wild warrior, handsome, fierce and dangerous with an air of mystery around him.
People would definitely leave him alone just for the way he presented himself. He made his way down and joined the throng of students all heading to their respective classes. New initiates didn't have a schedule or time table yet. Within the first three months they were allowed to attend any class of their choosing and study. So that they could get an idea of their future path, after three months there would be an assessment. , And they would place in respective classes based on the skills they had shown.
They ignored and made sure to keep their distance away from him, Asd wasn't worried about that, it was actually what he wanted. As for the classes even though the students were allowed to choose the classes to attend, for the first week they were only allowed to attend the lecture of the specialized general magical knowledge and theory class.
This class only opens when there are new initiates and for just the week before they're allowed to go wild. There were three of this classes, it was small and could only accommodate 5 to 7 students. And this was so the teacher had a smaller pool of students to teach, making it easy for him to give each student the attention and mentorship they needed.
Asd was the last to make it to his chosen class, there was no one he could recognize there, which means there was no Rhea or Timothy. For some reason he felt relieved about it, he wasn't sure why, but being in the presence of both siblings would have made him extremely uncomfortable. He took a seat at the right edge of the small classroom, away from the other 'none Beast-Men' initiates.
He didn't have to wait long as a Dwarf walked into the class with a monocle and a gaudy red waist coat. He held a box with what looked like spiders in it. But the spiders were metallic and actually of varying colors. He took the box to the very front of the class room before placing it on the teachers desk, then he turned and cleared his throat loud enough to grab the attention of every student in the class.
"My name is Hogrin, professor Hamish Jorgensen Hogrin. But it is Professor or Mr. Hogrin to you initiates. But of course after today you all cease to be initiates, as I will introduce you into the world of the arcane and what it entails. But first of all, you all the need a Mana interface." He pointed at the box of weird colorful metallic spiders before shifting his gaze back to the class.
"These spiders you see are actually a result of a few schools of magic and the process behind their creation is a little too complicated for even me to understand much less you. The bottom line is, they're half-automaton and half Mana beasts. These spiders have the ability to make a mage get connected with the magic and Mana in his body, which is why we call them Mana interface.
They properly gauge and measure a mage's ability and his growth. The statistical table that was shown during your examinations was actually projected by a Mana interface that was briefly bonded to you during the duration of the exams. These creatures are also mediums of power, they can be improved and strengthened with a variety of materials and even gain sentience. They can become the wands, staffs and orbs required for you to cast a spell with.
They can focus your magic and help you master spells and chronicle your mastery with it and the knowledge you gain. They can only transform once in their entire lives and can only be bonded to one mage for the entirety of their lives. They're like pets, but at the same time they're tools. Each one of them is unique in their composition and would only bond to the mage they relate to the most, which is why their colors as so unique and different.
Now every single one of you should line up in a single file, make your choice and get bonded. Please know that the idea of choosing goes both ways, none of the Mana Interface would bond with you If they don't also choose you. Now come up, we don't have much time."
Asd wanted to avoid any sort of problem so he made sure he was last in line. The bonding process for the other 5 students was marvel to Asd. He has seen magic before, but not on a personal level that it could be considered 'magic' that would affect him, and not on a scale like this. But it was understandable, this is a school for magic after all.
Soon enough it was his turn, and he was standing over a basket filled with colorful spiders. They looked back at him, numerous pairs of eight colorful eyes looking right back at him. His heart skipped a beat as a small spider, heck the smallest of them all; as all the others were the side of tarantula, this spider was about the size of a finger nail.
The spider crawled out of the basket and leaped onto Asd's arm. There was a sizzle of electricity as the colors on the spiders body, a covering of blue with gold stripes and spots seemed to shimmer. Asd felt connected to the spider immediately, and he knew what he needed to do was choose the shape or form the Mana Interface would take, and then bond it with blood.
He turned and noticed everyone else had chose staffs, spheres, one even picked a sword and another was a pocket? while the fifth had transformed his into a ring. Asd had to be a little practical about his choice, especially since he had to consider the fact that he was a werelion capable of transforming.
Asd took a deep breath as the spider crawled to the back of his ear and then to the back of his neck. And then much to the shock of everyone else, the spider seemed to melt into his skin, changing until it became a blue and gold tattoo on the back of his neck. And the transformation was weird itself, it was just two simple bands.
NAME: Asd Elmalk Leo
CLASS: Undetermined
RANK : Novice
MANA POOL: [200/200]
MANA STRENGTH: [Mild Lvl 3]
MANA CONNECTION: [Strong lvl 1]
MANA CONTROL: [Weak lvl 4]
ATTRIBUTES: Earth(Summon)// Fire(Solar)// Wind(Sound)
SKILLS: 0
SPELLS: 0
MANA INTERFACE: [Lvl 1 Tattoo]
"Well we should all take our seats, since we're all bonded into our interfaces now. They'll keep track of your growth of power, and when you've evolved them, they would develop abilities of their own that could and would augment a variety of things from your spells, from physical abilities, to the amount of Mana you can possibly have.
I'm sure you can all see the amount of Mana you now have, and the level and type of your interface. Overtime this page would change based on what you learn, how strong you become, and when you evolve the interface. Now let's begin the lesson, who can tell me what's magic?"