The academy stood alone, occupying the whole edge of the island. Surrounded by a line of reefs from the ocean, the academy only had two ways out and in. That was the entire reason the academy had stood there for hundreds of years.
Vega finally found the second way out after asking around. Two beautiful ladies stood in dancing pose wearing a lengthy fabric wrapped around their waists. Shawl flowed gracefully from their shoulders to their hands. Vega was curious about the statue but passed it anyway. He shivered. The feeling of someone scanning through him didn't bode well for him.
"That's normal. The formations checked you out. Not having the medal means," the guy threw a pebble, and it shattered. "That."
"Thank you."
"You're first time outside?"
"Yes, and now I'm not sure where to go," Vega answered, pretending to be naive.
"The inn master there will help you, but I suggest not going there. He will ask you for a magic stone."
Vega smiled and did it anyway. The first time he opened the door opened, the smell of strong alcohol filled his nose right away. Most of the guests there were apprentices. Different color robes ensured that the wearer was a part of the academy. Vega approached the tavern master. The unkempt red beard and bulging belly made him easy to spot.
"Another lad from the academy, then?"
"Yes, master, do you have any map I can use?"
"No map here. Just drinks. What do you need? We have it all," the inn master gestured around. "Honey mead? Fruit Liquor? Wine? Anything? Ale?" The big man smiled but hid a mysterious glint under his eyes.
Vega wore a forced smile, "A glass of Fruit Liquor, please."
Hearing that, the man smiled again, "Sure."
Not long after, the master returned and brought Vega a wooden glass of dark purple liquid. Smelling it, a strong smell of alcohol whiffed through his nose. He took a sip. Shivering and grimaced, Vega was grateful the sweetness neutralized the bitter taste of the alcohol.
Vega hoped the price wasn't much. But even as a commoner, he can guess the value of the glass in his hand.
A silver. That was how much the cheap alcohol cost him. Grimacing with the pouch that started to get thin, Vega asked again about the map.
"That's how it is," the master went away and returned with a scroll. "Careful out there. There's been a rumor of the practitioners around these woods." Whispered too close to comfort into Vega's ears. "Didn't want to make a polite young man like you disappear." After reminding the boy, the master walked away and chatted with other guests.
The door closed with a thump behind him. The road outside the academy was surprisingly firm. Vega stomped his feet several times and found that the sand was more stony than sandy.
The grinding noise of wheels hitting the sands made Vega look up. He hadn't heard the sound in a long time. It reminded him of the rush of adrenaline from stealing the tradespeople. He smiled and chased the sound.
Vega thought the cart would be similar to his previous one in the city. Instead, the Islands had three wagons with precious things guarded by knights. Waving his hands, he tried to smile helplessly, hoping to hitch a ride.
The cloth covering the window opened, and a head peaked out, "You need a ride, kid?"
Vega paused briefly before finding his voice, "Yes, ma'am."
She nodded, flicking the key open, "Go on, then."
Inside, Vega was not only the only one wearing a robe. He saw three people sitting inside waving their hands at him. Vega felt the group's strong energy waves and knew immediately that they were higher leveled apprentices.
The harder sand made the wagon more bumpy than usual. The heat didn't help, either. Still fanning himself, Vega took a big gulp of water. The three apprentices stopped what they were doing and stared at him.
"Handy tool you got there."
Vega just smiled, looking at the one who spoke. A girl with a hateful glint sneered and continued, "You must be a noble with a magical tool like that for your level."
The other girl in the cart poked her with her right elbow, "What you're talking about? You're closer to a noble compared to us."
The bickering of the group defused the awkwardness. The only boy in the group joined in, and they seemed to understand each other. Vega felt old and thought of Dion at this moment. The noble's way with words made him think he was somehow more mature. At least a few years older, not some bickering kids in oversized robes. Puckering his lips, he tried meditating.
It could be because of the moving wagon or the annoying laughter from the group, but he found it hard to focus on his breath, let alone concentrate on the seven tones in his body. So instead, he opened his journal and revised all the knowledge he had gained. Just in case something could help him defeat a scaling.
The sound grew quieter. Only a constant sound of horse legs and grinding noise of the wheels to the wagon. The group looked at Vega and stopped their bicker.
"You know, we could at least ask him to join us. A noble could help us a lot in defeating the scarlings."
"But… we don't even know what he can do."
"Wyatt, why don't you ask him?"
The boy looked at his friends and shrugged, "Fine, but if he's angry. You'll take the blame."
Wyatt looked nervous and tapped Vega's shoulder. Vega didn't move a muscle and kept reading. So Wyatt jabbed harder.
Vega finally felt it and reflexively drew the sword from his left waist but felt the sword's edge hit on the wagon's low ceiling. He stared at the boy, "What are you doing?" Grateful that he didn't kill the boy.
Wyatt raised his hands guiltily, "No. No. Sorry for startling you. Luckily the sword's too long to do me any harm. Otherwise, we have to find another replacement for my missing arm." He said jokingly to lighten the mood, but after noticing Vega still staring, he gulped. "Sorry, whoever you are. We're just wondering that... Do you want to join us?"
Vega looked at them, "Sorry, but I don't know you." What if you leave me alone in the wild, trick me, and steal my belongings? "Where are you from anyway?"
Vega knew the three were not from the academy. With loose robes looking like they had been washed several times, he imagined they were from a lesser academy.
"A school, a little bit to the south," answered the girl whose gaze was like she hated Vega for some reason.
"A school?"
In turn, the group explained. Vega only nodded. There're more factions here that I can't offend? Hating the lack of information, he pretended to be friendly and asked the apprentices some questions without revealing much about himself
The Islands consisted of people with magical aptitude and ones without. The academy where Vega got accepted only approved a certain level of aptitude. The rest, with less talent toward mana, have to pay a small fee to join schools that existed hidden in the forest.
From the conversation with the group, a school was basically led by an adept living alone, accepting apprentices with a fee. Their school only had them as apprentices living together in a small room.
Their mistress advanced to adept level with knowledge in potioneering. That was the reason why the apprentices before Vega had little knowledge about fighting, even though their level was higher than Vega. Especially with only one mistress, the spells they learned were limited as far as how much their mistress mastered. Vega relaxed, knowing that the academy was still the highest authority in this area.
"Sorry for thinking you're a noble," the girl called Vinra apologized. "With your magic items and robe, I assume you are them."
Vega didn't understand the hostility. Dion had explained to him that the nobles and commoners were not too different in the Islands. Asking for a reason, the other girl explained, "Y… yes. You're not wrong. But nobles are still more powerful than us. So occasionally, some rich nobles thought they were better than us. And then… and then…,"
Vega's eyes opened wide. The girl suddenly cried, and he didn't know what to do. "It's okay. Sorry for asking. I understand. I had a bad experience with a noble myself."
Sometimes, similar experiences bring people closer together. Vega finally chose to join the group of three to hunt the scarlings together.
----
On the second day on the road, a knock from the front of the wagon signaled them that their destination was close. Vega was the only one who didn't sleep, choosing to replace his sleep with meditation, woke the other apprentices from their slumber.
"Wake up, guys. We almost reach the place."
The other three slowly stirred awake and rubbed their eyes. Vega offered his water to help them wake up and alert. After making sure everyone was awake, Vega started to discuss the strategy to hunt the scarlings and divide the spoils.
Wyatt turned out to be the one with the lowest level out of the three. He didn't even know any spells but made up with his knowledge of plants. People in the academy call him an herbologist which in turn made him in charge of making some simple medicine for their journey.
The quiet and shy girl, Mea, short for Melanie, knew some simple attack spells based on plants. Vega thought back to the master who could control the vines. The other girl, Vinra, mastered the more advanced water spells.
"But because of how hard higher level spells are to cast, I need to focus more to build my spell models later on," Vinra explained the differences between spells to Vega.
Vega gratefully listened to the explanations because his only source of spells was from the meditation exercise. He remembered wasting two magic crystals for it and felt his heart hurt. After understanding more, he was grateful because innate spells from meditation were generally more potent.
Spells for apprentices are divided into three different categories based on dimensional models. The lowest one, of course, is similar to the one Vega mastered. One-dimensional spells are the easiest to master and don't require that much focus to cast.
The two-dimensional spells need an apprentice to focus their mana and guide them to cast their spell, which basically meant that an apprentice had to divide their focus into two. But what made up for the more demanding requirements, apprentices can, in turn, manage their mana output. This could help them reserve their mana before deciding to release a higher attack to finish a creature.
The three-dimensional spells need a high level apprentice to cast. Besides using the power of their mind, they needed to use the power of their souls. Vega understood little about the power of the souls on the spells because he only mastered his first. From Vinra's explanation, she had to put a part of her soul when casting the spell to control her spells. Ones could make a spell stronger by absorbing mana around them.
The four apprentices stood together in front of a dense jungle. The smell of plants was stronger in the area, making Vega take a deep breath. The other three seemed used to the scent and looked around vigilantly.
Wyatt led the way because he had more knowledge towards plants, helping them to avoid poisonous plants during their journey. Occasionally, Vega saw plants being harvested and went to Mea's pouch.
The jungle had a life on its own. The occasional animal sound and the bird's tweeting made it feel more alive. Crack. The sound of a drying branch made Vega winch and mouth an apology to his teammates. They shushed him. Vega tried to walk as quietly as possible. So instead of lifting his feet to walk, he dragged his feet to not step on another fallen branch or even leaves.
Fortunately, from Wyatt's explanation before, this kind of jungle didn't have any magical creatures, only common animals. Vega learned that magical creatures who evolved from mana would disturb the surrounding area and scare away lesser animals.