"Well Petro, are you ready?"
Hugo gave Petro a warm smile, but feeling warm and fuzzy was far from what Petro was feeling right now. He was downright terrified, he dreamed of going to a school in the Capital Cities, but now that he actually will be? He doesn't want to anymore, he feels too nervous and scared.
'God, what was I thinking! I'm not built for this!' Petro thought, as he already started to regret leaving that house.
"Y'know Petro, it's not all bad in Arkangel! You should be excited, not regretful." Hugo interjected his thoughts, shocking Petro.
"Eh?! How'd you know I regretted going?! Is this your magic?! Psychic Magic?!"
"Ah....no haha....no need for magic when your face says it all..." Hugo gave an awkward smile as he pointed out Petro's rather distressed and nervous face.
Petro quieted down, embarrassed that he had already made such a bad impression on one of the professors...but no matter! It's not like he'll be seeing this guy often with how large the University is!
"Say, Professor Hugo, how exactly are we getting to Arkangel? It's quite far..."
Hugo's face beamed after hearing the young man's question, almost as if he was expecting for it to pop up in the midst of the conversation.
"Haha! No matter Petro! We have the fastest form of transportation there is in the entire country! I introduce to you...drumroll please...Paulie the Spacrow!" Hugo stepped aside and revealed a large bird, as big as a horse, who was eating fruits from the trees. The bird named Paulie looked like a combination of a sparrow and a crow, albeit with the size turned up to 10.
"Eh?! What is that thing?! It's a humongous bird, I've never seen a bird that big!"
"Because these birds are specially bred in only a few cities Petro, and the University luckily has some which they use to cardy faraway students to the school. Look, there are some right now!" Hugo pointed upwards for Petro to see multiple of these Spacrows flying to the city, all carrying a student and a teacher.
"Never fear Petro, my Paulie will get us to school in no time! We'll get there in 5 minutes tops!" Hugo heartily exclaimed, puffing his chest out to show his pride for his Spacrow.
Petro gasped in awe and admiration! These strange beasts were nowhere to be seen in his small village of Thramun, can it really get him to the school in 5 minutes?! Arkangel was rather far away and usually takes 45 minutes to go to.
"Alright! Get on Petro! We fly to Arkangel!" Hugo said, smiling as he mounted the large bird.
"Of course sir!" Petro ran up and hopped on the bird, now finally excited to go to Arkangel.
"Hold on tight! Paulie gets rather wild during flights! Alright Paulie, show us your magic!"
The large bird suddenly started flapping its wings, it flapped its wings so hard that trees were bending, however it was working. They were actually flying! This was Petro's first experience flying and it was of course a game changer for the young man.
"Woah! This...this is so cool!! I can see everything from here! Our farm all the way to the nearest outpost! This is so sick!" Petro exclaimed in pure admiration and excitement as he saw his village look tiny from above.
"It's not done yet! We haven't even flown seriously yet!" Hugo smirked before whispering to Paulie.
"Go on Paulie, fly on."
Suddenly, the bird started flying very fast, only getting faster and faster. Petro was stunned at the speeds they were going as the cold air hit his face fast. The clouds blocked his view but the experience remained magical, this was amazing.
Not long after, the clouds cleared up and Petro saw the city in all its glory. Arkangel, the City of Life. He saw and noted that each building looked different, as if there was a new culture to be found and observed in each building. This was Arkangel in all its beauty, a melting pot of glory. He saw vendors selling fruit and meat, he saw kids flying kites, and he saw the University.
The large university looked more like an old mansion mixed with castle rather than a regular school. It had a red roof as well as multiple buildings, all with the same style built with white concrete on the outside and glass panes which look like they were made using the finest materials.
The entrance and school grounds were so big that Petro thought at first that it was just an open and unclaimed plot of land. It was filled with trees and flowers as well as students walking towards the main building.
"We're here! Time to land!" Hugo happily remarked, although Petro couldn't here from the wind. Paulie began flying around the main building and slowly landing behind it.
As Paulie landed, it released a large gust of wind from its flapping, shocking students as some of their things flew. The students were clearly not happy at the teacher, but before they could approach him, he handed the bird over to an unwilling gardener and ran away.
"Come on Petro! These guys aren't so happy!" Hugo pulled Petro's hand as he looked behind him to see an angry mob of students.
"Why would you do that Professor?!" Petro screamed as he and his guardian ran to the main building.
As Petro and Hugo ran, Petro remarked how eveything looked so fancy compared to his old school in the village. Back in the village his school was just one building that was as big as a house, but in this city? The gardening shed was 2 times bigger than his old school! He really wasn't gonna get used to seeing that anytime soon.
Hugo and Petro finally arrived at the doors to the main building as they stopped to catch their breath.
"Alright...we're...here...let's go in..." Hugo managed to speak in between gasps.
The 2 opened the doors to reveal a large hall decorated with silver and gold banners hanging from every wall. Petro saw wooden chairs and tables that looked unlike any other type of wood that he had ever seen. He saw glasses that could pass off as crystal cups with how they shimmered. What...what is this?
He knew that the University of Arkangel was a prestigious school, but he didn't think it would be to this degree of "fancy-schmancy". He felt foreign, like he didn't belong in this school, like it was too presitigious for him.
"Oh man, I'm really not gonna get used to this..."