Vega felt useless, and drinking was one way to do it. The ale tasted like a burnt sock, and the mead didn't taste like it was made with honey.
As usual, the inn was full of apprentices chatting together sharing their stories killing the creatures outside. The smell of sweat and blood mixed together with the alcohol made the inn to be the dirtiest place around the academy. And it was not only the student's from the academy, the inn was also famous from the apprentices from the schools coming to visit the inn to experience. Of course the difference in their clothings or robe were the clear indication that the academy's apprentices live better than the rest.
"Hi Vega, you look... terrible." Mayne took the chair next to him and scanned him from top to bottom.
Vega looked sideways and scoffed, "I know. And you too!" His friend looked like he hadn't slept for days, and the bags under his eyes were the proof of that. But he couldn't blame him, because he probably looked worse after spending his time drinking in the inn.
"Yeah, but you don't have to be like that because you're one of the elder's pets." I heard you got banned from the library. Do you need help?"
"Not really, no." Vega frowned. "Wait, do you have any access to the second floor?"
Mayne was taken aback and said, "No! Of course not. We don't have the golden medal like you do here. But since your theatrics, we're forbidden to be in the library for too long. And spells too; we can't do any spells now." Mayne scoffed and ordered something from the bartender.
"What did I do?"
"Sound magic? You didn't tell me that you have that! You did something with your outburst, casting spells around the library, making it difficult for people to concentrate there.The apprentices broke their focus, and their spell ruined the whole thing. It's messy there; the last time I checked, it was."
The first time he met Mayne, the boy was similar to him. His love of the books was the start of their friendship. He remembered that Mayne always sat next to him in the library copying the notes he got from the people finishing their classes. He was also finishing his own notes, but copying all the books he can get hold of inside his magical tome. But killing scarlings, going to the principal's office, and visiting Dion didn't help with his social life.
Vega hiccuped and apologized. "I'm sorry, okay. I didn't know what I was doing. Everything has felt useless since I've been back here. I know we're not even friends, just acquaintances, but I apologize."
"It's okay. I'm sorry to blame you. At least if you're sorry, you can buy me a drink." Mayne joked.
"Of course." Vega called the innkeeper and asked for some mead. Even though it tasted horrible, it was the best one compared with any other drink here.
"Actually, I do have something for you to do to help us. You know that we have some groups that we can join here, right? My friends and I are planning to make one. I searched the list and didn't find any groups for practice sessions. The only practical groups are the potion group and the crafter group. Nothing will actually help us discover this power together. Going outside and experiencing the fight ourselves is scary." Mayne took a big gulp of the mead and shivered.
Vega massaged his head. "Okay, if I agree to join you guys, what can I get from this?"
"Is fighting experience not enough? We asked several people who had the experience of going out to help us learn how to use our spells more efficiently. The notes I copied from people weren't enough."
It was actually a good idea. Vega had more knowledge because of his mentor Addilyn but learning from the common apprentices could help him to understand the concept he can only read theoretically. He even could learn how different the students who learn things only from classes compared to himself who had mentor to show the rope. At least, if going outside were too dangerous for apprentices in the lower levels, Vega helped the apprentices to improve their fighting skills before they actually experienced it themselves. Vega nodded. "Alright, I'm in."
####
The group met in the clearing around the academy. Of course, it wasn't as secretive as they'd hoped. Vega looked around and saw several benches ready, with only ten students in total looking at him like some sort of deity.
"Hello?! What's happening here?" Vega scanned the crowds of gawking students for Mayne or Vino. And Vega just realized he didn't have any friends in the academy besides those two. The other friends he had were Dion and Wyatt. Looking at the whole situation, Vega realized that Mayne had played some pranks on him.
Slapping his head in embarrassment, he took a deep breath and addressed the students, "Hello everyone. I don't know what is happening here, but I'm Vega. Is there anyone here who knows what we're doing?"
"No, senior!" The students answered together, like they were enchanted by some kind of sound magic.
Vega took out a drink and took a huge gulp, saying, "Okay, no problem. I can do this." He looked at all the students and asked, "Can anyone tell me what your elemental mastery is?"
"Fire, earth, water, and air." The students answered the basic elements. Of course, he didn't hope for any different elements. From his mentor, he knew rare elements were rare and never appeared. And even when they appeared, even the whole islands didn't have anything to teach students about rare elements.
"Okay, okay. That's easy. Now I know that everyone is here to learn about how to fight. So let's line up first and do our best to attack me."
The students nodded, and they started to cast their spells. The spell wasn't as fast as he hoped for, and it took most of them about three seconds to cast the spell. And most of the fire spells were manageable enough to block only with his water shield.
One of them showed promise. She summoned several clumps of sand that exploded when they reached him and covered his sights. When Vega dodged, she then had one other spell prepared, creating a spike that almost stabbed his feet. No wonder it took her the longest to cast the spell because she activated two spell models at the same time.
"Okay stop!"
The students stopped their magic and sat back down, listening attentively. The whole thing was weird, but Vega remembered that during his first time in the academy, all the classes went similarly. After several examples from the teacher to shut the unruly students up, most of them could only take notes during classes.
"I know the academy is good. They thought the whole foundation of magic, or even the library, was freely available to all of the students. However, as adepts, we must make the knowledge our own.Like her, for example." Vega pointed at the girl. "What's your name?"
"Charlice."
"Okay, Charice here did really well to combine two spells into one. She successfully covered my sight and almost hit me with her earth spikes coming from the ground. That's the flexibility we're looking for. That's what I'm going to teach you today, but next time, I'm going to try bringing some wooden puppets for you to try your magic on. Understood?"
"Yes, senior." The students still looked at him like he was a god.
Vega sighed and said, "Dismissed! The class is dismissed. We're going to meet next week."
The students bowed and left the clearing excitedly. Vega flopped to the ground. "Ouch!" He rubbed his butt, forgetting how the sands on this area of the beach were still intact from the erosion, which had made the sand coarser and sharper.
"I'll get Mayne later." "I'm going to punch him next time I meet that bastard!"
But Vega was grateful because now he had an idea about his future. If he can still be stronger. He can create his own sect or academy that is free from all of the crazy stereotypes from different factions. He could create a place where magic didn't discriminate against commoners when it came to learning spells. Of course, he also needs something to keep the place from spending too much money like the sect has. Smiling and thinking about his future, Vega stood up and headed to his own home to practice.
The tome was still safely hidden containing all the knowledge from the library and the notes from the free lessons he got in the academy. Flipping the pages, Vega recalled his first time was too similar with all the apprentices he met not knowing how to simple open the door and chuckled to himself. Waiting for the next term being a teacher, Vega threw himself studying as much as possible to better understand how the mana works and how to mentor the apprentices to use their own mana.