After an uneventful yet tedious journey, he made it to Lunar Star Academy a few days later.
"So this is the place?" thought Axel.
A colossal building loomed before him, the entire campus dwarfing the city he had left behind.
"That's a top academy, alright," mumbled Axel, still awestruck as he walked up to the gates.
Axel walked into the academy and looked around.
The academy had 12 branches spidering out from a joint middle, hallways upon entangled hallways layered into a labyrinthine structure. Numerous educators were likely wandering around. These halls, teaching and learning all at once.
The academy's red and blue design exuded a luxurious yet tasteful ambiance.
Not only was the inside grand, but the outside was even grander. The whole place just screamed wealth, power, and connections. It was everything that Axel was, yet everything he wasn't. Large as it may be, the wood it was made from was probably even more expensive than Axel himself. It was only found in the Northern Forest, cut from trees that can withstand attacks from anyone below the Sage Plane. At the same time, some can even force back elements.
Thoroughly shaken, he went to the reception desk to sign up for the academy.
The receptionist was a brown-haired cat-type beast folk, not unlike Axel, complete with a long tail and cat-like ears. Her name was [insert name], and she had a warm, inviting smile that put Axel at ease.
"Oh..! Ohh…From where do you reside, sir?" inquired the receptionist, seemingly intrigued at meeting another beast folk.
"Wait, there are others like me?" Axel exclaimed in surprise to the receptionist.
"Oh, of course, silly, there are four known family lines with cat-like features like us. The most renowned one is the Stray noble house. I'm from the noble Talo house, the second biggest and known for its merchants," explained the receptionist.
"Ah, well, I am Axel Stray of the Stray noble house," said Axel cheekily while grinning from ear to ear.
The woman smiled slightly while looking at him and said, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Axel. I have heard many tales about your family; my favorite is how your noble status was bestowed upon you."
"You know about it? I thought only a handful of people knew," said Axel, surprised once more.
"Well, it's not public information on who caused the white flames 350 years ago. Fewer know about the spell used; most are long gone now, and stories have been passed on only from the surviving stranglers. An entire continent was destroyed; it's a mystery why he only spared one select part; maybe something precious to him was there?" said the receptionist, getting animated as she talked about many details in the story Axel had no idea about.
Axel blinked for a second, thinking this girl was a genius.
Figuring out who caused the flames was no easy feat, especially the part where she had gathered that the culprit had spared part of the continent. But against all odds, she had figured it out.
"Now! Axel, let's get you registered." said the receptionist before being rudely interrupted by 2 people. One was young-looking and had a very charismatic quality to his stance. The man beside him was more or less a carbon copy, albeit a bit older.
"Ah, don't worry about his registration." said the older man nonchalantly.
Then he added, "he is to be registered by me, seeing as he happens to be a special case,"
after a bit of seeing the offended look on the receptionist's face.
"Axel, my name is Michael Harps. I am the principal of this school, and I am hearing of your amazing Affinity results. Fire and wind are unknown elements, and this is simply astonishing. No, it might be beyond that," said Harps with a smile.
Brown-haired and blue-eyed, the younger man introduced himself. He was adorned with a sincere smile and obviously expensive clothes.
"I am Winter Harps, the principal's son, as you can probably guess." chuckled Winter good-naturedly as he told Axel his identity.
"I'm here to show you around, bud. There are a few dominant elements, although rarely any students are in them. The most popular classes are typically Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind. While there are a few more rare elements–Lightning, Darkness, and Light." Winter explained as they walked off deeper into the academy.
"I happen to be a dual elementalist with Wind as well as Lightning," bragged Winter, turning up his nose in jest as he puffed out his chest.
"Oh? Really? That's a coincidence; I happen to have Wind, Fire, and what I think is probably time." said Axel flippantly, checking off the elements on his hand.
"What–did you just say…t-time?" asked Winter, whirling around to face Axel, expression bewildered.
"Uhh…yeah. I think it's probably time; it sure looks like it, anyway. Why? Is it rare or something?" asked Axel, confused.
"Rare? They're not just rare; they're almost non-existent! You can count users of time on one hand!" replied Winter.
"Oh? I had no idea, honestly–wait, then how do you even know about the time element? I knew it existed, not that anybody knew what it was." Axel said, even more confused than he was before.
"Oh, that. Simple, really, you know about the disaster 350 years ago?" Winter said, twirling back around to face in front of him again.
"Yeah, of course, what about him?" Axel asked back, wondering where Winter was going with this.
"A lot of people believe that he was taken into a God's Domain—the One Left Standing, a god that happens to deal with time and the space within it," said Winter matter-of-factly.
"How do you know "he" was taken into that…well, god's domain? There was no one there to see such an event. Right?" questioned Axel.
"Oh. It's cause certain time-based techniques tend to leave traces behind, and this one was pretty conspicuous, right up there in the sky," Winter snickers like he just said something funny.
"It was also one that just happened to be known too; what a coincidence, right?" he added.
"Anyways, enough talk about all of this. We still need to get you to the classes you need to be in."
Winter led Axel down, over, and up until they finally reached an entrance labeled "Wind, Fire, and Lightning." Quite convenient, huh.
"So…I guess this is where I will spend the next few years?" asked Axel.
"Not quite. This is more the area where your elemental classes will be. Some classes are optional and not element-oriented. It's more practical skills like forging, alchemy, and even how to inscribe enchantments on gear. However, these classes aren't easy either; challenging requirements are to be met unless you wanna flunk outta the academy. So it's pretty hard whichever classes you pick." replied Winter.
"Oh. Alright. Thanks for the information," Axel pauses before adding, "friend."
"No problem. I am just doing my job. Wait, did you just call me a friend? Heh, I guess we are, huh?" Winter says with another bright smile.
As they continue walking, they accidentally bump into a woman with auburn hair, emerald eyes, and a small stature.
Stumbling slightly, she shouts, "Hey! Watch where you're going, you scoundrels!"
"Sorry! We didn't mean to bump into you. It was a mistake, honestly. We were just so caught up in talking. Sorry again," Winter and Axel say sheepishly, both in nearly perfect sync.
The woman stares, then grins harshly, "Whatever. I am Gravity Risen, from the Legendary Risen family of Wind users."
Gravity grins wider and says, "Nice to meet you both."
"What kind of name is Gravity?" Winter laughed, forgetting about his previous transgressions a little too fast.
Scoffing as she looks at Winter, Gravity growls out threateningly, "Boy, you are quite bold for being so small." She, for a moment, laughs, then adds, "Half the people here can snap you like a twig."
"Oh, whatever!" yells Winter indignantly.
Smiling politely, Axel asks Gravity, "Miss Risen, could you tell us where the dorms are? I need to settle into the academy, and I'm unsure where they are." Axel makes sure to throw in some puppy-dog eyes for effect.
"Sure, I don't mind that. Just follow me." Gravity says with a jerk of her head; the eyes still work.
A few minutes later, they find themselves in front of another large building about the size of a mansion. Rows of identically enormous buildings were placed around the academy, quickly holding over 200 rooms per building. There were even larger compounds for the stronger students who required additional space, only for the Top 20 students, and it was enough to house a small army.
"Here, I believe you were appointed room 147 of building 64." Gravity checked over their notes with another small smile.
"I guess I'll see you both in class tomorrow," said Axel.
Gravity sneers, "That's optimistic. Who knows if I'll be in the same class as you weaklings?"
Ignoring the snide comment, Axel enters his room and collapses.
It's then that Axel remembers the book; now's a good time to open it.
A stream of light beams out of the book when Axel opens it. 1 seal breaks, and knowledge, almost too much for Axel to bear, seeps into him.
Axel knew the book had thousands, if not millions, of seals, each with a different unlock condition; he just wished he knew what.
Memories of his past life flooded into him, detailing Axel's first 8 years of life and his fight for survival.
Shocking was an understatement to how Axel felt 350 years ago? He had lived when people had to learn how to use magic by themselves, leading to the former Axel not knowing how to cultivate.
As the method was different, they called it mana channels. Axel closed his eyes and attempted to open his first mana channel. After some difficulty, he succeeded and soon had all of his mana channels in circulation, a feat most only accomplished once in the Fusion Plane.
The whole day had passed, and it was getting quite late. Axel had a surprisingly fast cultivation speed, already almost entering the second stage of the collection plane.
It was a notable achievement, and Axel goes to sleep happy.
The god looks at Axel, noticeably amazed that Axel had broken the first seal of the book upon opening it.
"Choosing him was the right choice; his potential seems beyond what I had imagined."