Chapter 170 - Teammate

Jien walked to the large flight of stairs built into the side of the building. The stairs were built into an alcove that protruded from the wall some. The space on this floor was a small landing before the staircase continued in a spiral upward and downward. There was a thick stone pillar built at the center of the staircase so Jien couldn't see just how far it rose or how deep it ran. The only hint he had was that he was to meet the members of his unit in subbasement five. This in turn meant that the building had at least as many floors below ground as it did above. Perhaps this was true for all the buildings in the academy, he wasn't sure. After looking at the spiraling stairs pensively for a short few moments he took his first steps, descending into the unknown.As he was descending he noticed a peculiarity that he couldn't figure out. After turning the circle from the entrance to the ground floor the staircase remained just as bright, and without any additional visible light sources. It was as he reached the landing for the first subbasement floor that he realized that it wasn't just the staircase that remained so well lit. Despite being underground the basement looked as bright and warm as if it had windows to the outside.He quickly tucked this topic to the back of his mind for a later day. The knowledge may come in handy should he ever need to light a space but not have any materials with him. Of course one could cast a spell to light the space but to continually do so would be a burden on one's mana supply.It wasn't long before he arrived at subbasement five, a brass sign with 'SB 5' engraved on it was stuck to the wall beside the arched entrance. Jien was not the only student exiting on this floor, leaving him to be curious as to if any of them were to be a member of his unit. Knowing that there was only one way for him to find out he followed the path that he was told by the man on the ground floor, soon arriving at a simple door with a similar brass plaque to the one in the stairwell.Jien stared at the plaque for a few long moments, wondering what his new teammates would be like. He at least knew that Barret would be a familiar face, though he was unsure if the stoic boy was already present in the room as there were no windows to peer inside. He gathered up his courage, took a deep breath and holding it turned the doorknob, pulling it open in one go.What came to his eyes when they focused on the space inside was a warmly lit classroom. It was a lecture hall style room that could likely fit between eighty and one hundred people. Long semicircular tables rose in tiers with simple cushioned benches as seats. Along the ends and in the center of the seating ran simple steps for students to reach the different tiers of desks. The desks, benches and other furnishings appeared to be made of a well varnished and slightly worn hardwood.At the front of the lecture hall was another simple desk, this one rectangular, with a single wooden chair behind it. Behind the chair was what appeared to be a simple glass screen of some sort. Jien was able to see through it to the wall behind and with a little focus was able to see what appeared to be large amounts of intricate patterns that had been lightly scratched into its surface.It took Jien a long moments of inspection to realize that this was a formation, but left him puzzled was the lack of nodes or power source. How was this formation supposed to function without the necessary components. He spent a long time inspecting the various patterns, trying to understand what the goal of the formation was, only to be interrupted by someone clearing their throat.The sudden noise brought him out of his thoughts abruptly, nearly causing him to jump. He quickly turned from the screen to see that there was somebody sitting in the furthest corner of the room. He hadn't even noticed them despite being trained to keep his guard up.It was only after he looked up at the other person in earnest that he realized just who it was. In the back corner sat the girl that had been led into the academy this very morning, the late arrival. Her short, straight, brunette hair only barely reached her neckline, her face tanned rather deeply and her light brown eyes still carrying the same intensity as before, perhaps animosity would have been a better term. It was like he was staring at a magic beast in the eyes.Now that he was able to see her up close he was able to confirm her lithe physique, her tanned skin as if she spent most of her life outside under the harsh sun. She had a button nose that worked well with her rounded round face and narrow lips. Her cheeks bore several small scars that appeared light against her tan as if she had at some point been cut with a blade and had not received the best of care in healing the wound.Now that Jien saw her up close he finally was able to see what it had been that she was carrying in her hand when she entered the academy. Currently cradled in her arms was a spear, simple in nature, made of a slightly crooked long wooden stick. At its top was a long, narrow spearhead and dangling just beneath was a bundle of white, gray and black feathers.This was the first of his teammates and he worried about who the rest would be.