Chapter 41 : General Suzie Wang's Elemental School!!!
The other residents of the orphanage home came later at night.
They crept in silently and noticed something strange, they noticed that there was a new boy, and immediately they stared at the woman who tended to him as the boy slept in her laps. "Clara, where did this boy come from?",
Clara was jolted awake by the sudden noise.
She looked around at her surroundings, noticing the two other orphanage caretakers, she adjusted herself with a smile.
" Shalia, Veronica, you're both back...,"
She said to the two who could care less, interested only in the new kid and the story behind his sudden appearance.
"He was abandoned in front of the orphanage home, don't worry I will be taking him somewhere as from tomorrow, he is just staying for the night."Clara explained.
The sisters seemed a bit satisfied and didn't bother to question further, they turned and left.
The orphanage was really in a serious financial crisis, so it was understandable that the sisters were unwilling to take in newcomers.
They also saw Clara as being too caring and as such would cost them a fortune from her unnecessary benevolence hence their penetrative questioning.
Shalia was a tall dark girl, she rarely comes to the orphanage home, except when she was going broke, the resources that were provided by those rich philanthropists were just too good to pass up, she leaves all the major work for Clara to do.
Veronica on the other hand was an Elemental, a spy planted by the elemental organization, to provide any news that could cause harm to the Emperor.
Clara didn't trust any of the two of them, and she hates that she was to work with them, because she did twice the work for half the payment, it was an unfair scenario.
Early the next day Clara ensured to bathe and feed Gabriel Li (Lancelot Jr) from her ration of water and food.
She didn't mind that she would have smaller rations as everything had been demarcated by the two sisters.
She ensured to clothe him with a new shirt and trousers from the ones tucked away in his bag, she then got ready to leave.
She stepped out as early as 8 am, leaving both sisters that were snoring loudly in the sitting room.
She got a cab that took her to the town express train garage, she then took the train to the elemental city.
From there she took another cab to General Suzie Wang's Elemental School.
Every major state in every country had an elemental city and in the elemental city was an elemental school established solely for the elementals and their offspring.
The journey was long and it consumed a large amount of her savings.
The new currency was very hard to procure, only the elementals made as much money from rendering their services.
Humans earned little from odd jobs and jobs like tending to orphanage homes could only earn you enough if the philanthropist were in a giving mood, and you don't have any competition for the spoils.
Clara didn't mind all the hardship. Gabriel Li (Lancelot Jr) gave her a sense of accomplishment that she had never felt before, she was determined to do everything she can for him.
Lancelot Jr cupped his tiny hands around her finger, holding her as if his life depended on it, he didn't want to lose another mother again, it would be too much for him.
Clara noticed this and decided to talk to him, while they rode the cab that took them to the school, she rubbed his head so tenderly and spoke warmly to him. "Lancelot,"
Lancelot turned his head to look at Clara, "hmmm"
Clara then continued speaking;
"From today on, you will go by Gabriel Li, if anyone asks for your name tell them Gabriel Li, don't reveal your real name, also you'll be attending a school, I will be coming to visit you every weekend,"
As she spoke she could see tears streaking down Lancelot Jr's eyes, she held him and tried to console him.
"Mommy left me, you want to leave too", the boy spoke with sad eyes.
Clara felt a heartbreaking pang at those words, as sadness sipped into her, "No one is leaving you, I won't ever leave you," she said cupping his face
"And your mom will come back, she wants to protect you that's why she left, you have to become stronger to protect your mom",
Lancelot nodded as Clara handed him a small wooden horse which he grabbed excitedly, she then shed a tear from her left eye as she watched him play with the toy.
A few minutes later, they arrived at General Wang's Elementary School, the entrance had a gate with a statue of General Wang defeating an opponent with a sword, and different flags were displayed outside the huge school building.
The school was split into nine sections, Fire, Water, Air, Beast, Metal, Forest, Blood, Earth, and Void Assassin.
Not only Elementals were attending the General Suzie Wang elemental school, but also, the offsprings of humans who bred with
Elementals that managed to obtain the ability to wield an element were present and allowed to school.
The school had resumed two weeks ago and concluded their entrance exams but for little kids, there were slight extensions and flexible conditions, hence they could pop up at any time of the year.
As Clara walked closer to the main academic block of the school, she saw a woman with a
name stamp tag, She had a look of disgust and indifference, "Why is he showing up now? Does he have any abilities?" she spoke harshly,
Clara wasn't bothered by her rudeness, instead, she smiled and spoke,
'l brought him over to take the entrance exams, his father is a fire elemental, the surname is Li, his name is Gabriel,"
Then she turned to Lancelot Jr and spoke,
"Gabriel, follow her to take the exam, I will be waiting here for you, okay?"
Gabriel was unwilling to part with her as he held on to her hand trying to resist, but as Clara touched his head and assured him of her presence, he complied reluctantly and followed Principal Gladys, who was unbothered and uncaring, and moved like the earth's gravity did not affect her.
Lancelot Jr was a smart boy, he followed swiftly while taking occasional glances to check if Clara was still there.
A few minutes later brought Lancelot Jr to a big hall filled with all forms of heating furnaces and heat-producing substances.
Lancelot Jr didn't know what to do as he stood there staring at the principal.
"Come on, show me what you can do, or are you trying to collude with your mom to rip me off?" She said mercilessly.
Lancelot Jr didn't know what to do but stood there unable to do anything for the next 20 minutes.
"Alright, this game is over, both you and your mom can leave", as she walked towards Lancelot Jnr to pull him away, a deep sorrow filled his heart as he thought within himself, 'l don't want to burden my new mom"
Suddenly, flames moved from four different corners of their own accord, the speed was so swift that it came towards Lancelot Jr. like a fish in water, it stopped very close to him and gave a bow and returned as it came.
All of that happened in the space of a few seconds, was stunned.
She had seen a lot of fire elementals, try to produce a little flame some would produce flames the size of a little match but never had there been a kid able to summon such huge flames at this level.
She gulped in fear, " this kid will put me on the map" she said to herself as a smile spread on her face.
She took him back to Clara, maintaining her usual arrogant and indifferent look, "He passed, he would be staying with us, do you have the funding for his tuition? that should be about 400, 000 elemental gold coins."
Clara couldn't hide her shock at the astonishing amount, all she was able to make was at best 1000 human dollars every month and that was worth 500 elemental gold coins at best, how many years would she work to get that amount.
She was contemplating on what to say, but before she could speak the principal continued speaking,
"There is a scholarship program for special kids , I will do the documentation and from my assessment, he is qualified, you can visit him by the weekend, I will leave you two to catch up"
She then turned to Lancelot Jr.
"come and meet me at the principal's office when you're done with your mother"
After saying that, the principal turned and left,
None of them saw the smile she had on her face, she had gotten a new prodigy, someone who could promote this elemental school.
There were many elemental schools around the world since its establishment and of all elemental schools, this was the one that produced the least number of exceptional students.
Most of them were mediocre because of their mixed blood with the humans but with this kid, she hopes to at least send a one time wonder to the elemental major institute, that only takes in exceptionally gifted children from around the world.
Her smile couldn't be wider, her pride couldn't
be higher as Principal Gladys disappeared out of sight.
Clara held on to Lancelot Jr's hands and she knelt to talk to him,
"You're not alone, I am here for you, your mom is also watching over you. I will do my best to nurture you however I can. Don't be sad and don't cry, remember all I told you, your name is Gabriel Li. Don't reveal your real name to anyone, only this name that I give you. Try and make friends but be careful of them. You will one day grow into an unstoppable force."
She then kissed his forehead and smiled,
"Bye Lancelot"
For some reason he didn't cry again, he just stood there and watched her go before turning and heading towards the Academic building to search for the Principal.