Once the train arrived on the island, I couldn't help but feel like a country bumpkin who just arrived in the big city in a fantasy world. Everywhere I looked, individuals were walking around with purpose but what really caught my attention were their outfits. Some had full or partial fantasy armor mixed with their regular clothes and were holding a weapon of some sort. Swords, shields, spears, and even some guns.
Others wore robes that covered their bodies head to toe, giving them a shady aura. Then there were people I assumed were students like me. They wore black and white versions of the same uniform that looked just as they were described in the novel.
Union Station on the island was similar to the one in San Francisco except the buildings here were more modern rather than the old-style ones. When I activated my mana vision, everything around me from the people to the buildings glowed brightly with what I assumed was mana. Compared to the pitiful light I saw with James, the people walking by glowed with various levels of brightness.
Interesting.
I wanted to investigate more but that could be saved for later.
Composing myself, I casually strolled behind a mixed-gender group of students in uniforms, being careful not to look as if I was following them. We walked for about 10 minutes as a small crowd before we reached a massive ornate gate that towered over its surroundings.
Connected with the gate and wrapping around what I assumed was the academy was an iron fence that stretched as far as my eye could see. Although it looked simple, within my mana vision, it looked as if intricate bits of different colored mana were woven into it and it rose higher than the fence's physical height, stretching into a multi-colored dome not visible to the eye. The only gap in the dome was the gate everyone walked toward.
As we approached the gate, a tall gentleman wearing a deep green trench coat was checking student IDs. He had fine green hair that fell below his shoulders, pale skin, and a relatively young-looking face. Hearing the girls ahead of me squeal in excitement, I simply watched curiously as they interacted before walking forward when it reached my turn.
"Student, may I please see your ID?" The green-haired man asked in a calm, gentle voice as looked at me with his kind green eyes.
"Of course sir. I'm new here so I'm not sure where to go…" I took my hood off and gave him my best innocent expression while handing him my ID.
He scanned it with a familiar-looking device before nodding to himself, "Hmm you're a first-year. I see. No assigned housing and no means of communication either."
He looked down at me and I could see him examining my face, "You look a bit young to be attending…"
"I assure you I am legally 16 sir. I just had my birthday in March." My birthday in this world was surprisingly the same as my birthday in my own world, March 5th. School in this world began in May so I was just before the cut-off in age. Probably because of that, this body looked quite young and had a face that hadn't lost its baby fat.
"No, I believe you. Our investigation team is one of the best and they wouldn't have made a mistake. I'm currently on gate duty, but if you wait 10 minutes for my replacement to come. I'll take you to collect your uniform and things before directing you to the dorms."
"Okay, Professor." I smiled gently before shifting to the side while continuing to observe the students who passed by with my mana vision turned on.
There was a hypothesis I was curious about testing. In the novel, it was briefly mentioned that there was a divide between the students. In the same year, you would have high rank and low-ranked students. High-ranked students wore white uniforms and were the top 300 students in a year while the lower rank students wore black uniforms.
Ranks were determined by a variety of ways but combat was what gave the most points. Since that was the case, I assumed higher-ranked students would be stronger.
Although I didn't want to analyze them in case I accidentally alerted somebody stronger than me, I had been using mana vision to stare at all the students who walked by and had noticed that the people with a brighter mana aura tended to be white uniform students while those who didn't were black uniforms. Although it wasn't conclusive, it seems that I was at least on the right path. To avoid trouble, I would stay away from those with bright auras. At least until I figured out what their rank was in relation to what I was seeing.
Thankfully the time I spent waiting for the Professor, passed quickly.
"Student. I'm finished. Please come with me." The professor calmly said as he stood in front of me. Beside him was a woman about my height with a blank expression. She had short black hair cut into a bob and bright blue eyes that stared out indifferently. She was dressed in a fitted black jumpsuit, black combat boots, and a leather jacket. Poking out from behind her was a black spear that was as tall as she was. She looked at me with a blank gaze before she wrinkled her nose distastefully.
"I don't think I introduced myself. My name is Silas Grande. I teach Magic Theory and Dungeon Exploration Prep to the first and second years. This here is Professor Rebecca Lee, who is one of the armed combat professors for first years." Silas Grande gestured between him and the woman.
I stood up and respectfully nodded my head to both of them.
"Hello, professors. My name is Asani Martin. I'm a first-year. Please take care of me."
"Good. Professor Lee, I'll leave you to guard duty. Student Martin please come with me." Silas Green began walking away at a fast pace.
"Yes sir. Goodbye, Professor Lee." I bowed my head once more and began walking by Rebecca Lee.
As I passed her, she held her hand across to block me before yanking me close to her by my clothes.
"What th-"
"You stink. You smell like blood" Her tone was accusatory as her nose scrunched up in disgust.
What the fuck was going on?
"I have a cut on my face." I stared at her before calmly pointing to my cheek.
"What cut? And the blood I smell is not yours." She glared and I watched as her blue eyes gained a yellow sheen while her pupils turned into vertical slits.
I watched in disbelief as she began sniffing me while gripping my hoodie tightly, keeping me from moving. She sniffed from my neck to my chest down to my hoodie pocket where she finally stopped.
She released me and her hand immediately shot toward my pocket but I quickly intercepted it and jumped backward, wincing at the pain from where she had whacked my hand.
"You dodged that. Not bad. However, you reek of another human's blood, pain, and fear."
I remained silent, but she continued speaking in a self-assured tone
"Who did you torture before coming here? Don't try to lie. This nose of mine has never been wrong."
Seeing that she was confident in herself, I hid my shaking hand in my pocket and gave her a cold smile.
"Think about whatever you want professor, but I only did to others what they were going to do to me first. If a rabid animal attacks me, am I not allowed to fight back? Should I just let them beat and rob me? I simply gave them what they deserved. You can tell that I'm speaking the truth right?"
"Tsk."
She stared silently for a couple of moments before roughly pushing her hair back and glaring at me, "There will be none of that on my campus student. Otherwise, I'll kill you."
"Heh. As long as people don't look for my trouble, I certainly won't cause them any trouble. And as long as you leave me alone Professor, I won't have to report you for assault and for threatening my life."
I held the back of my hand up for her to see, making sure she saw the bruise forming.
She simply smirked before she replied. "Nice try kiddo. I'm a combat professor and the person on duty. Report if you want and I'll have them investigate that little thing you have in your pocket."
We stared at each other at an impasse and I noticed her eyes slowly return to their blue color.
"Excuse me, professor? Can you check my ID?" A soft voice interrupted.
We both turned and looked at a brown-haired girl with pigtails who nervously looked between the two of us.
"I have to go, Professor Lee. It seems Professor Grande is waiting for me and you're busy. Shall we continue this another time?" I nodded toward the green-haired man looking back in a questioning manner.
"….Get the hell out of here. My eyes are on you and I've remembered your name, Asani Martin."
"Consider me flattered Professor Lee. However, I'd appreciate it if you forgot it. I'd appreciate it even more if you didn't sniff me like a dog the next time you see me. That's weird behavior, combat instructor or not."
Seeing as her face turned red from embarrassment, I winked at her.
As I walked away, I could hear her mutter, "What kind of fucking students did we admit this year? Cheeky monsters, the whole lot of them."
"Goodbye, professor. I really enjoyed meeting you." I turned to wave at her once more. Even if it was a risk, I wanted to use the opportunity to Analyze her.
Rebecca Domare-Lee
Age:?
Rank:?
▷Stats:
[Strength – ?]
[Stamina – ?]
[Speed – ?]
[Perception – ?]
[Vitality – ?]
[Magic power – ?]
[Intelligence – ?]
Gifts:?
Familiar:?
Mana attribute:?
Thankfully, it seemed she didn't notice as she briefly glared at me before turning to the student. Unfortunately, her rank was too high to see any details. However, I was still able to glean some helpful information.
Domare.
Once I saw the name, the information I remembered about them rushed to my head.
They were one of the 9 top clans in the world. The Domare family was known to mainly interact with Magical beasts found on Earth and in dungeons. Most members of that family had gifts in the realm of taming and controlling beasts and they could have multiple beast familiars as well as beast-like traits themselves. If this was the case, it would explain her sniffing me and her comment about smelling blood.
I would have to avoid her or figure out what that ability was and how to neutralize it.
Still, I wouldn't have known this if it wasn't for this eye of mine.
It truly seemed that this eye was the best gift possible for me. Even if it wasn't able to show me the direct stat and rank of an individual, sometimes just the name of an individual was enough of a hint. I would just have to make sure I had enough knowledge could interpret any hint it gave me. When I had time, I would have to visit the library.
Authors Note: * Domare means to subdue/tame thoroughly/completely, subjugate/conquer/vanquish. I thought it appropriate for a family who uses beasts to battle among other things*