"Have you ever heard the adventure story of Ivor Beck?", asked Jed
"Never heard of it"
He started giving me a shocked expression. Dude, I'm not even lying to you.
"It's weird coming from you, Neil. He is one of the heroes of this kingdom and also a companion of hero Alfred Lipsey"
Hmm... those names did trigger something but I don't remember anything important from those names. But where have I heard them? Jed speaking those names like it was common knowledge here, so I better play dumb for now.
"Who is it again?"
"Did you really forget about hero Alfred? He's the founder of the magic academy that you speak highly of. While hero Ivor also found the knight academy afterwards, it's still less popular than the magic academy nowadays. You couldn't be forgetting about them right?"
"Yeah... you're right, I'm being forgetful lately hahaha"
I could really sense doubt in his expression, so I should be careful around this topic here. But these whole things about hero Alfred and magic academy really trigger some memories of me, not the current me but the previous me instead.
It seems like some character from one of those web novels that I've read before, but I could be mistaken right? let's dig it out to be more certain, even though this topic might be risky for me because it should be general knowledge even for a person without any education.
"Jed, can I ask you something?"
"what is it?"
"Do you know the name of this country?", Ask me with a straight face.
"huh? It should be the Azov Kingdom right?"
"And also this magic academy should reside in Trivenley city, the capital of this kingdom right?"
"It's true, you should know it more than me Neil, what happen to you?"
"It's nothing"
There's no mistaking it, all those names are indeed inside this one last web novel I read just before I got transmigrated here. But if we follow the plot, there should be impending big wars between various races including the human race towards the demon race. But I've never heard anyone here talking about wars here.
"Is there any news about war happening soon in this country or at least some news about wars?"
"Not that I've ever heard any of it. And the lack of wars is one of the reasons why there are fewer and fewer people are getting interested in joining the knight academy from what I heard"
This is another dubious point. In the novel, there should be only 1 academy in this country and it's called the Azov academy, the same name as this kingdom. There's no magic or the knight academy, just one academy. It's also the reason why I didn't realize even after my parents is talking about some magic academy.
The name Azov itself comes from a dragon soul that resides at the very core of the kingdom. No one knows where the soul resides except the royal family and its trusted aides.
A dragon soul basically is a soul of a living dragon that resides in their body remains when they're dead. Dragon is an eternal beings that even after their bodies are dead their soul will remain to wait for someone to find them.
When someone finds a dragon remains and the dragon deemed them worthy, they'll give their blessing to them. It's also when someone got the dragon blessing, they can do what we called ancient magic arts, as all of the ancient magic has already been lost and dragons are the only creature that knows how to use them. It's what the first king of this country does and the founding of every country does that too. That's why a dragon soul is the core of every country in this world and they would do everything to protect it.
The web novel that I've read is called "dragon heart" as we can see from the title, the dragon played a big role in the novel because the main character could use it. As for why the main character could use it, it's because the ancient magic arts can be taught with a blessing from the dragon. Of course, only certain people can get blessings from the dragon soul.
When the war breaks out later on and the king selects heroes among the people, that's when the main character gets to learn the ancient magic arts of this kingdom and also gets the title of hero. It's given as the heroes played a great role later on when a big war breaks out.
Sensing my silence, Jed suddenly asks, "What happen, Neil? you seem to be silent today"
"No, I'm just pondering about the academies in the capital"
"As I thought", Says Jed like justifying himself, "You still want to enter the magic academy right?"
If you ask me whether I want it or now, of course, the answer is I really want it. Especially after realizing that this world is indeed the same as those in the novel. When war breaks out in the future, being educated could secure my future at least.
Of course, being a hero is impossible for some unknown character like me. But with my knowledge of the future, it'll be impossible for this countryside to not be affected by the prolonged war. At worst, I and the other youth here could be sent to the frontline to become cannon fodder. Even if that's not it, being educated could ensure our life in times of turmoil later.
At first, I thought that I could just be a farmer here in the countryside, it seems like a dark future only await me here. At least I have to do something to change my bleak future here. One of the things that I could try is trying to get into the magic academies like the main protagonist of the novel, but how?
"If you don't mind, how about trying to get into the knight academy? I heard that they teach you a little bit of magic, although it's only like body strengthening magic, at least you can be a soldier after you graduate or at least try to be an adventurer right?"
"Is there any pre-requisite to enter the knight academy?"
"I heard that they'll accept any youngster with a healthy body. There'll also be an assessment test, but it shouldn't be any harder than the magic academy right? Maybe it's some kind of physical test?"
Jed is right. I shouldn't be stubborn to get into the magic academy. There are still other choices that I could make like the knight academy. But based on the novel, in the near future, there'll be only one academy in the capital with magic and knight division, maybe they'll merge it as one because of the war later on?
"How about you, Jed? are you going to pursue your dream to become an adventurer?"
"I don't know, I'm not as bold as you Neil. Deep inside I also believe that I'm not cut out to be an adventurer"
"Then why not try to join the knight academy first?"
"You realize that it's also impossible for us right? as our parents are only farm workers and we never had any physical training"
In my opinion, it's more to financial difficulties for us. Is this what they called structural poverty? my past parents are not rich indeed, but I still can pursue higher education without thinking about any financial issues all the time.
"But if you have the cha-"
"Hey, let's head back kid!"
Before I finish my sentences, I heard my dad calling me from behind. It's our parents waiting for us. The sun has already set at this point so there's no point in staying here.
"We'll talk about it next time, let's go home now", I said while trying to stand up.
"Yeah, sure", Said Jed resignedly. All these talks seem to make him down for a few reasons. It's not like I don't get it either.
Seeing his back as we part, I too feel a strange feeling in my heart. To be honest, before this I never do any deep conversations with anyone in this countryside. Maybe I still consider that this is not the real world at all, that I'm still living inside some kind of game where anyone who's not the main heroine is just superficial like a farmer A or farmer B inside some visual novel.
But realizing that they too have an aspiration and dreams wakes me up.
I never get too close to Jed before this even if we're the same age. But now a sense of camaraderie grows between us. I feel like helping him reach his dream. Furthermore, he has the same name as the adventurer character that's been helping the main character in the later volume, although he meets a tragic end, he's still one of the memorable characters within the story.