#Marcus Laurier#
All I can say is that the written exam was a walk in the park. The hardest part, I would say, is when my palms kept hurting after melting and freezing that target. But other than that, everything was good. As luck would have it, the content Aunt Fina prepared for me was everything that was tested in the exam.
3 days later, the papers came out with the number 2 next to my name on my Theory paper.
Mother, look. I'm the second-best!
Of course, I was delighted. But I couldn't help but look at the name above me. There sat a name I had briefly heard that day, who knew that girl was so smart and strong.
In addition, my Practical score wasn't exactly considered good. At the very least a passing grade.
Clara Aether. I wasn't wrong about her being a noble, but through closer inspection, she looked rather pretty. Chances are when I meet her again, I'll ask for some tips. If I'm second, then maybe I'm not that far off.
"Hey, congratulations on beating me!" a voice called from behind. I turned around to face a freckled, red-haired, glasses kid.
"Who-"
"The name below you," he replied straightforwardly.
I inspected closer; it was true. Freckle's face was third.
"Ah," my mind flowing back to the flashy green laser, "you're the laser kid."
"Wow, that's a new one," he pondered, "it's nothing fancy, I just disguised a mana ray with some visual effects."
"You're pretty good yourself," I commented. But really, his abilities were 10 times better than mine, "did you say you disguised it?" He nods, "so it's like, basic magic?"
That looked so cool though.
"Thanks, no need for pity. It was fair and square. If only I studied a bit harder…" That's a lot coming from a four-eyes kid. He looked like the kind of guy to bury himself in books. "Whaddya say? The name's Wallace, Wallace Kennedy. Let's get acquainted."
He held his hand towards me, urging me to do the same.
"Sure, but why me?"
"Oh," he was taken aback, "well nobles get along with nobles, and commoners likewise."
"You? Commoner? Cmon man, don't make jokes…" I laughed. He made a straight face.
"What kind of house would be called Kennedy? Brother think," he reasoned, "and also because you seem like a nice guy, and you could give me some useful info…"
"That was the reason, wasn't it?" I pried, "I'm fine with that though." I inspect him more carefully. He looked like friendly guy but looking at his attire, I would've took back the assumption if I had noticed earlier.
"Same here but watch out for the pesky ones. Nobles these days strut and look down on us. Just because we're smarter and stronger doesn't hold them back from ganging up on us commoners."
I shot a look back, "Stuff like that happens here?"
"First a bump in the shoulder, then they go crazy and bash ya! Of course, not all nobles are like that. The pesky ones, pesky…"
⁜⁜⁜
"Stay away from the nobles, that's all. We're the only ones of our kind up in the higher echelon."
"Stop saying stuff like that," I cringed hard at his statement. I later found out that he was joking about the commoner stuff. It seems everyone at the academy respects each other regardless of position in society. Though, there were marginally less commoners in the higher educated classes.
It was still morning and class had yet to start. We loitered around the gate and went in as soon as the doors were open. We took our time exploring the school grounds and the campus that we'll both be living in, quickly registering us roommates before any interference was made. The cafeteria was large and empty filled with tables and chairs. A fancier section covered the other half away from its not-so-fancy counterpart. The training grounds were even more enormous than the cafeteria. At least covering a quarter of the whole school. Every section of the school had 4 floors, where hundreds of classrooms resided. Signs and posters were pinned on a big board in the cafeteria, the Circles, they call it. The circles had a strong influence and could get you connections that stay with you even after you graduate.
"Yo imma head to the toilet real quick, be back!" Wallace informed, and left shortly after, saying something about how he didn't know where the toilets were.
I continued to explore the school grounds with fascination. I had never been to a school before, nor known what one would look like. There was a sort of dark passageway between two buildings. It was shielded from the sun since there was a bridge above it connecting buildings and from it. I went through it and the light was cast upon the other side and there was a small open meadow. Wind gushed in and out and leaves gathered around to dance and play. It was hard to believe this was a part of the school, not that I knew what a school was meant to look like.
I sat under the huge oak tree in the middle of the field. I laid down, sunk into the earth, closed my eyes, and felt my whole body being immersed. The wind blew subtly, gently caressing my face. It was like staring into an abyss, except less scary and warmer and more welcoming, like eternal rest. It wouldn't be bad to hang out here occasionally.
Then I sensed movement, then a shuffle, and then a yawn on the other side of the tree. Alerted, I hurled away from the tree, slowly but carefully I peeked around the corner of the tree to find the culprit.
Now, where have I seen her? That glistening reflective texture of hair and the way sprawled out without care somehow seemed pristine. The girl, awakening from her eternal slumber, steadily opened her eyes, shining like the ocean. Before I could figure out who she was, she doubled back in fright. Fair, a stranger was staring at her sleep. Talk about creepy…
"M-M-Marcus?"
She seemed to know me, and it only took me a second longer to recognize her.
"Oh, you're Clar-"
And the vigorous, impossible punch came flying at me. What a wonderful start.
⁜⁜⁜
"Getting socked by Clara in the morning, pretty nice for a start," Wallace started teasing me, "Imma ship you two from now." He said giddily.
I was flustered. Of course, the more flustered one would be Clara.
"People are not meant to sneak up on sleeping people. Why were you even there?" Clara says, blood flowing to her cheeks "
"You had every right to. Besides, I'd do the same if a person was staring at me sleeping," I reasoned, more blood flowing out of my cheeks, "still though, you pack a punch. Ow"
Then a series of metallic sounds rang and echoed through the yet-to-be-filled halls of the school. The school bell. Something I'd have to get used to for 4 years. The higher education that I dreamt of. A place to learn and meet talented people. What's even more surprising, was that I got second place, earning me a sweet spot in the top class. S0.
First-year building. The left-wing of the school covered a fair 1/8 of the school.
"Why is our block so big?" I inquired.
"Probably because they try an' sift us through. See which one stays and which ones fall. You haven't heard? If you fail the first half of this year, your butt goes out the window."
So, they're searching for talents.
I looked at Wallace and Clara. They had good abilities, no doubt. They were smart, but Wallace not so much. But on the contrary, I hadn't really gotten to the stage of awakening my innate abilities. And all the study I had done was assisted by Aunt Fina, who was a graduate of this school. Now that she wasn't here, can I pull my weight with sheer effort alone? Not to mention, I didn't have a tutor, since I couldn't ignore the difference in skill and experience.
"Stop thinking so much," nagged the redhead, "It's our first day, chill."
We walked through the automatic magic door and peeked inside the classroom.
"Students! Come in, come in." an older guy in his thirties greeted us with a badge at the top left of his shirt, Professor Bradford. I gave my sincere greetings and made my way to our unreserved spots. Realizing the seating plan was in pairs, Clara shied away and thankfully recognized someone she knew and headed over to have a smooth talk. Wallace and I thought. Back or front, he whispered. I said middle so that we won't be smart Alecs but not delinquents either.
So we sat in the middle row. Not that it meant anything special because really; our class only had 8 people and everyone sat upfront.
So many chairs, I counted sixteen and only half are filled?
"Hello students, welcome to your first day of high school. Now, may I ask for names?"
The class I was in consisted of many geniuses. Ones who I couldn't compare to, leading me to question whether I truly got second or a stroke of luck.
Kadyn Lewe, the son of a swordmaster. He wields a big scary looking Zweihänder. A born tanker of sorts. An old Cyprian Claymore. Gelled hair. Ugh. Paired with white teeth…
And there was Pavel with no last name. A shy, dreary-looking guy that looked like Wallace but was not noisy, had bigger eye bags, and black hair.
"I'm not noisy…" Wallace overhears my internal thoughts. Strange, "Your face tells it," he says.
Yeah… At the age of 10, he was already a Cursemaster. He'd been playing with hypnotic illusions and puppetry and had become more adverse to manipulating people too. But to do so he'd need to break their will.
Then there was the delinquent. We need at least one in every class for hierarchy reasons. Vlad. Do not laugh, I said, do not laugh. A spectacular martial artist. His punches can be considered a bludgeon. If you block him head-on, let's say that the impact will go through you anyway. He boasted about how sharp sticks they call swords are nothing in the face of a man's true weapon. The fist brought up a lot of discussions. He was a harbinger of sorts. More like a calamity.
Then there was Isla. Clara's 'friend'. A top-tier spellcaster. She can control all basic elements. Fire, water, earth, and wind. Impressive, I nodded. Clara caught the signal and agreed.
When had I got so close to her?
Neve rmind that. Last but not least, the one I would consider a mystery is Isona. Archer. Clairvoyance. She explained how it was more like a SONAR pulse and an x-ray combined. She would seem like a valuable ally. Naturally, I got shivers.
"She can see our bones? Our body?" Wallace exclaimed to the not so enthusiastic Isona who only grinned and stared in response. "I feel so exposed and naked…"
I laughed at his humour only to realize it wasn't humour. He genuinely felt violated.
Then there was Clara. The light was a rare attribute that only a few have. So far, only 2 have had the aptitude in history. I understood that it would be impossible to get a tutor to teach because there are no people with light magic.
What was interesting, was that she wielded a rapier that probably I and Kadyn recognized to be a work of art. The blade was hued blue and the reflection it gave off was of the finest quality when turned on an angle, you could barely see that blade.
Nothing made from this era of blacksmiths at least.
Wallace was also interesting. His attribute was tachyon, but in reality, his ability was particle acceleration.
And finally, there was me. I could wield telekinesis, or so the artifact said but in simple terms I can make things warm and cool.
Not that impressive
After introducing ourselves, the teacher started to teach us our roles and responsibilities as influential students of the school.
At any rate, the lesson went smoothly. What we can and can't do along with what we must do. I nodded in agreement to his speculation, but I honestly thought it was just a lot of work.
Boring. Wallace moaned. Teacher Bradford heard him and immediately began to lecture him about the responsibility that comes with strength. Wallace didn't look so good after.
Bell rang, students shot up, said their salutations, and whizzed out the door. The only one who wasn't so whizzing was Wallace looking sick.
"He's not my mother," he complained. I chuckled in response and told him to go grab some lunch with me. Maybe he'll feel a little better.
I didn't know what to expect from cafeteria food. It looked delicious and appetizing. Contrary to my impression. Most of the nobles scowled in disgust when they ate the food. Was it that disgusting?
Wallace got chicken or chicken barbeque with neither tomatoes nor potatoes. There's something seriously wrong with not getting potatoes, I thought. I bought a long sandwich stuffed with pulled beef and lettuce. There weren't any more spots in the cafeteria, so we opted to go outside to look for space and ended up in the garden. It was secluded, quiet. Different from the lively and bustling cafeteria.
Four eyes, also noticing the reactions from the rich kids, assured me that the food was fine, it was just a bunch of rich kids. And they were, both the food and the potential slander that'd make any noble furious that the first thing they see when they wake up would be your death.
"Though I'll be straight," Wallace starts speaking in a hushed tone, "you've never been to a restaurant have you ?"
I shook my head.
Wallace sighs, "copy me."
When was it last since I ate freshly toasted bread? Had I ever had this much beef in my meals before? I savoured the goodness and when the last bite had left my hand, I felt satiated. A walk, I suggested. Wallace nodded while looking at his belly.
I stared at the oak tree where I met her. An embarrassing coincidence. Wallace caught me staring and joked about how I was thinking of my girlfriend. What girlfriend? I spoke. He waved his hand, dismissing the joke, and continued talking.