Most of the students who attended Keito Academy would spend near decades within the Institute, so by graduation, dormmates usually became very close friends. Though Yori, Ryūji, Renji, and Giichi were more mature than their coevals, they were still, at core, children. With just a little chatting, the four of them became very friendly.
"Today, everyone, let's go have fun on campus. As a special treat, dinner tonight is on me!" Yori clapped his chest exuberantly. "This guy even has a magicrystal card. If we don't take advantage of him, who else would we?" Ryūji laughed. Giichi and Renji, still children themselves, mischievous grins spread their faces.
It was then that his little Umbramouse, Echo, poked his head out from Renji's clothes, just having woken up and feeling a bit lonely.
"Oi, what is this?" Ryūji barked in surprise. "Echo, you've woken up?" He let out a laugh, caressing Echo's small head. Echo closed his eyes and purred, then opened his eyes and took a look at Ryūji, Yori, and Giichi, snorting at them three times as though he were looking down on them.
"A magical beast! I've seen them in books!" blurted Yori suddenly. "So Renji, do you have a magical beast as a companion?" Ryūji and Giichi were also in shock. It was unbelievable that one of them had actually bonded with a magical beast.
"Echo is only a baby magical beast. I fed him some food, and he was pretty fond of me, so I engaged a soul-binding contract with him," Renji explained with a laugh. "Good gracious, that's awesome! I always wished to have one," Yori exclaimed, eyes sparkling as he looked at Echo. "Although I have soulbinding formation scrolls, I can't make any magical beast submit to me," he added in a dejected tone.
"You can't even subdue a magical beast? Not even a baby?" Renji asked, chuckling. Yori shook his head. "I'm not even a first-rank Magus yet. I might be able to train a first- or second-rank magical beast, but what would I do with such a weak one? Plus, the infants of seventh or eighth-rank magical beasts are really rare and stronger than me, even as babies."
Renji nodded in silence. Now, Echo was as strong as a magical beast of grade five—much stronger than Renji himself. Yet, it had not grown a bit during half a year of being with him, which puzzled both Renji and Kaiya Tanaka.
"Renji, can I hug Echo?" Ryūji asked, his eyes locked on the tiny Umbramouse. Renji checked with Echo through their soul link. "No way," Echo replied, baring his fangs and squeaking loudly in anger. Ryūji looked disappointed, but Renji added, "Echo loves roast meat. If you feed him roast ducks or chickens in the future, he might warm up to you." Ryūji's eyes brightened at the idea. "I'll definitely try that!"
Then, Ryūji seriously turned to Yori. "Yori, if I run out on my expenses, can you lend me some? Anyway, Grandpa Lomu will be coming soon and pay you back." "Fine," answered Yori magnanimously. "Let's take a little walk and be more familiar with the campus. We still haven't gone through the facility," Giichi said, smiling. Of the four, Giichi was the most good-natured and stable, Ryūji the most playful, Yori the flirt, and Renji the most mysterious, with his two-element magic and high compatibility rate, not to mention the companion magical beast.
Buildings thousands of years old filled the ancient Keito Institute, with introductory placards in front of many. The youngest of the group was eight, while the oldest was ten. As such, their eyes widened on the famous names and histories of the Saint-level combatants, and their hearts pounded, yet again, to be so great.
However, Kaiya Tanaka's voice grumbled in Renji's ear, denigrating a number of famous graduates from the Institute. "Nothing more than some promising latter-day youths. This guy is bragging about killing a Violet-Tattooed Black Bear? A Saint-level combatant who dares only kill ninth-level magical beasts and not Saint-level magical beasts is just a newbie Saint-level," he sneered.
The four friends, accompanied by Echo, went around the campus to get themselves acquainted with the surroundings. That evening, they went to a nearby hotel and had a good dinner; indeed, they only consumed juice. The next morning, February 9th, was the start of their school journey.
February 9th was dedicated to hearing the school's pep talks; no classes were held. In the auditorium, the young students sat, most of them envisioning their big dreams as they heard these exhortations. They were glad to go once the ceremonies were over.
Inside the dorm from Dormitory 1875, the four friends continued to converse about their classes for the following day. "Here is so easy. Just one class a day, ". Two because he's dual-element," Yori said with a sigh. "The Keito Institute is really relaxed. You can attend classes or skip them as you wish," Giichi said, matter-of-factly. "But don't get complacent. There's an annual ability test, and you must advance a rank to move up a grade. If you don't work hard, do you plan to stay here for a century? Moreover, if you don't become a magus of the sixth rank within sixty years, you'll be expelled, with no exceptions, he read further in the rules of the Institute from the introductory packet.
Of course, with such lenient supervision, Renji thought to himself, twitching slightly. If he did not advance in sixty years, he would be expelled. "Expelled?" Yori asked, fear and alarm on his face. "If I were expelled, my father would kill me. The humiliation would be unbearable.
"As they chatted, Ryūji wondered out loud, "I hope the teachers here are at least as good as Grandpa Lomu. If not, this place will have been a waste." "Your Grandpa Lomu is a magus?" Renji asked, surprised. "Of course. On the way from the Stormcrest Empire to the Keito Institute, Grandpa Lomu started teaching me magic," Ryūji said proudly.
The four friends still talked excitedly about what one could expect. "The earth element class isn't crucial at all. No teacher here can compare with the knowledge of the earth element by Grandpa Kaiya. It is the wind element class that I am most expecting to see," mused Renji. Their laughter and conversation in Dormitory 1875 by the time day turned dark showed their eagerness for the new experiences.