Things were silent for a brief while after Carmine and Typhon came to their agreement. They weren't far from the academy, and the two seemed content to sit silently for the remainder of the journey. They pulled up at the main entrance to the academy; a large gatehouse separated two lanes for incoming and outgoing traffic from the campus with large boom gates that blocked entry without permission from the controllers within the gatehouse. Carmine pulled the car up to the boom gate, and a security officer dressed in a plain black uniform with an earpiece strode out of the gatehouse.
"Welcome back, Miss Von Ellar. I trust that all is well?"
Carmine gave the security guard a polite smile and showed her student ID that took the form of an ornate metal badge with three pearl stars faceted at the top with room for two more stars.
"Things are fine, sir."
The security guard nodded and briefly glanced at the badge before nodding his head. Then his gaze settled on Typhon and his expression hardened slightly.
"And you? You have your ID?"
"Sorry, I didn't think to grab it when I left."
Typhon replied sardonically. The guard furrowed his eyebrows but waved his hand to the gatehouse. Shortly after, the boom began to rise to allow them to pass. Then, with his gaze still locked onto Typhon, the security guard spoke up again.
"You should tread carefully, Typhon; a lot of people at the academy are getting tired of your shit."
With that, he stepped back from the car and re-entered the gatehouse. Typhon looked to Carmine.
"Was your brother hated around here?"
Carmine just sighed and nodded.
"Yes, not only was he talentless, but he was pretty abrasive until confronted. I tried several times to fix his attitude, but he never listened. But, he was always a coward, and the moment you bit back at him, he turned all meek. It really was... disgusting behaviour."
"... Seems as though I have my work cut out for me."
With Typhon's words, the boom had fully risen, and they were free to continue. Carmine accelerated the car slowly as they followed the single-lane road towards the main building. The academy grounds were much more extensive than the complex itself, with ample garden space and several sports ovals. Animated golems carefully carried out their tasks around the grounds, unfazed by the happenings around them. Many of the gardens were around for beauty, but Typhon could smell some of the medicinal herbs they had growing.
While not his favoured subject, Typhon was an accomplished alchemist in his previous life, having crafted a four-star ranked pill without external help. Hence, his senses were keen on potential ingredients. His alchemy master taught him that an alchemist's greatest sense was their sense of smell and that without it, even the most accomplished alchemy master would never make a pill over a two-star ranking.
Typhon also observed several students drawing circles on the ground and writing symbols in specific positions within the circles. These magic circles were used to channel more powerful spells, requiring precise positioning and balancing to ensure the spell didn't go haywire, as the one that summoned him did. This was likely comparable to arrays and formations in eastern techniques. Arrays were something Typhon enjoyed doing, but formations were outside his skill set, as a cultivator had to choose early on if they walked down the array or formation path, should they choose to pursue 'writing' techniques.
Much like a cultivator's formations and arrays had ranks, he knew that these magic circles also did, as he recalled Carmine saying that the spell that summoned him was a 9th circle spell. Typhon still had no definitive answers on how one formed a magic circle nor how to improve it; it would be the first thing he asked Carmine to teach him. The foreign Qi shards in his chest gave off a faint burning sensation that was rather unpleasant, so finding a way to fix it was a high priority.
While Typhon was lost in thought, Carmine halted the car in front of the dorms. The building was in a U shape, with the entrance branching into two long corridors. Carmine looked over to Typhon.
"We're here."
"Okay. Which room was mine?"
"Um... your room was destroyed in the accident."
"... So, where am I staying?"
"They should have arranged something for you, but... I have a feeling it won't be comfortable."
"Well, as long as it's got a bed and desk, I'll manage. First, getting what stuff survived and moving into my new room, then I'd like to take you up on your offer to study with you. There is a lot I do not know about magic, and I will rely on you to fill me in."
Carmine nodded in acquiescence.
"Okay, I'll give you an hour to get situated and then I'll text you about where to meet. Do you know how to use your phone?"
Typhon gave a slight nod.
"I get flashes of memories once I see objects and people; other than that, your brother's memories are rather blurry and hard to recall."
Carmine showed a look of sympathy and placed her hand on his right shoulder.
"Sorry you have to go through all this. You must be pretty disoriented."
Typhon gave a small chuckle.
"While it is a bit odd, it pales in comparison to first arriving in the mortal plane in my past life. I was truly lost then; at least I have some baseline knowledge of how things work and a helpful teacher."
Carmine was slightly confused, but seeing that he was in good spirits about it all, she decided to leave it alone for the moment. She gave an encouraging smile before stepping out of the car. Typhon followed suit and grabbed his bag from the back seat, slinging it over his left shoulder.
The stares from the other students weren't lost to Typhon. It was clear now that his predecessor had earned a lot of ill-will among the students of this place as none of the gazes on him were welcoming in the slightest. Instead, most seemed annoyed that he was back, while others seemed apathetic to his arrival.
'Not the warmest of welcomes, for certain, but they aren't yelling abuse at me, so there is a chance I can fix this.'
Just as Typhon thought those thoughts, a voice sounded out from behind him.
"Typhon, you piece of shit! Why haven't you answered my fucking calls, huh!?"
Typhon looked over his shoulder to see a blond-haired man walking towards him, flanked by two others. The blonde haired-man was rather handsome, with styled hair and a fashionable ear piercing. The two others behind him were less remarkable, with one already having lost most of his hair and having a bit of pudge around his stomach, while the other was relatively short and shaggy in appearance.
As he gazed at them, some memories came flooding back to him. He saw that these three had been his chronic bullies and had made his life here a living hell. He would be called at unreasonable hours and made to serve them drinks while they flirted with women, forced to hand over much of his allowance so they could spend it on random items and how they used him as a practice dummy for their less-than-lethal spells.
As they approached him, Typhon balled his fist up in rage. Even though he didn't personally suffer through their torment, his body had an almost instinctual reaction to back away in fear. This only further pissed Typhon off.
'Revenge was on the list of things to do... Shall I start with these three fucking losers?'
A cruel glint flashed briefly in Typhon's eye. Although he wasn't all that strong currently, he still had all of his experience backing him up. These three would be the first to taste the retribution of the Heavenly Dragon.