The Saturday morning after graduation, Nick got up at 3 am to rake the leaves in the yard and put them in trash bags. While doing so, a series of thoughts ran through his mind:
(The school year starts in early September so that's when I can move into the dorms, all I need to do now is to continue my daily routine of small workouts and studying, mostly studying.)
About two and a half hours later Nick finished his yard work and went inside. When he went to the kitchen for some water, his grandaunt was sitting at the kitchen table with a natural looking smile on her face, as if she was waiting on someone; there was a plate of food that was covered beside her. When she saw Nick walk in, she spoke:
"Good morning Nick, I got a call from your school yesterday after you left, one of your teachers, a Mr. Theo Williams called to congratulate you on getting top scores in your school work and on being accepted to Richter Order Academy. Why didn't you tell me that you were doing so well at school and that you were planing to go to a Laws and Magic academy. Mr. Williams kept saying, 'Miss Irene, you must be so proud'. I was really surprised, we are family and so we should be more open with each other. Here, I already made you breakfast, have a seat."
Nick only stared for a few seconds before saying:
"I will eat later, I only came in here for a glass of water."
After getting the glass of water, Nick hurriedly went back to his room under his grandaunt's stare. He was not surprised that Theo new about his acceptance to Richter Order Academy since that information would of course be made known to the Bayor High School since he was awarded a scholarship while attending there and used the scholarship to complete his application to Laws and Magic academy. Since he now knew that Irene got informed of his acceptance to Richter Order Academy, he isn't surprised about her sudden change in attitude, after all, if someone became a Magician, it would not only elevate them, but also their family and so Irene just wanted to try to ease the negative feelings that she felt Nick had for her and his sisters. Unfortunately, Nick never had any intention of remaining associated with them after graduating from high school. If going to the 13th grade wasn't mandatory to be considered for government scholarships to Laws and Magic academy, he would have already left this place when he turned 18.
(I'll admit that I don't like Irene and my sisters very much, but I've no real ill will towards them either, what would that achieve? I just want to become a Magician. I'll just play along with Irene until the school year starts and then I won't have to see them again. Although trying to be a real family might be nice, but I don't like hypocrites and pretending that people are different from what you know they are like isn't very intelligent.)
Just as he got to his room door, One of his sisters, the older one named Narrisa left her room. She was wearing a purple night gown and blue socks. Honestly, that night gown looked better than any piece of clothes that Nick ever had, that just goes to show you the difference in treatment between the two siblings. She looked at Nick with some tiredness in her eyes and said:
"Auntie told me that you were going to Richter Order Academy. I thought that you would be going to a university like me, guess I was wrong. Don't get a swelled head, a dummy like you won't get very far there, you can't even talk to people."
Nick only stared at her for a few seconds with an emotionless expression, the he slowly walked into his room and closed the door. He thought:
(What the hell is wrong with that girl, she doesn't even really know me?)
Nick went to his desk to pick up his phone and then he decided to play one of his old audio clips to cheer himself up.
"Your story may not have had a happy beginning but that isn't the end. It's what you choose to be that matters."
It was a line from an old movie that Nick watched when he was much younger. It always made him feel better when someone tried to bring him down.
(Alright, I have two months before the academy welcomes me. I've got o continue grinding.)
Nick then spent the whole day reading one of his mathematics text books.
For the next two months Nick would wake up at 3 am, do his four reps of pushups and go outside to rake any leaves that had fallen to the ground of the yard. He would then spend the rest of the day studying mathematics. He did not speak much to his grandaunt except the occasional morning greetings and he did not speak to his sisters at all.
On the morning that Nick was supposed to report to the Richter Order Academy, Nick decided to get up at 2 am. He spent 20 minutes showering while everyone was asleep, he put on a pair of jeans and a decent looking polo shirt and got ready to leave the house. He didn't have much in terms of possessions since he only had a few pieces of good clothes which he stuffed in his old travel bag. He also had a backpack with some personal effects like an old laptop he got as a gift from Mr. Theo Williams recently, his former school teacher that had visited his house and told him that he should do his best, and some other things not worth mentioning. Nick couldn't help but feel grateful to Theo for the gift because having a laptop would allow him to store his books electronically and read them wherever he went without having to carry a heavy load. Of course he could always read them on his phone, but that just never felt comfortable to Nick. Nick got out of the house without waking anyone and before he closed the gate to walk down the street he turned to look back at the house he had lived in for almost two decades and thought:
(I'll never have to come back here again. I guess that's a little victory for me.)
Nick closed the gate and walked down the street with a smile on his face. It's the lightest his heart has been in a long time.
Nick got to a bus stop and waited for a bus for about ten minutes. These days the public transport system accommodates transport for 24 hours and there was little risk of anything bad being done to him even this early in the morning because of all the street lights, they were set up so that there would hardly be any darkness along a public street or side walk and each one of them was equipped with multiple security cameras. There were also security cameras at other parts of the street and hoisted on most buildings, they even had thermo-vision and night-vision features. The also had Laws inscribed on them that could be used to identify anyone that stepped in their range. Along with the fact that police response was usually in minutes, street crime was really rare in London. Nick got on the bus and spent the next 40 minutes riding towards Richter Order Academy.
The bus stopped right at the academy's gates which were closed at this time so Nick sat at one of the rest areas near the school gate, took out the old Exus laptop and began reading a math book that he had converted to a pdf file.
It was now 3:45 am and he proceeded to read the e-book until 8 am, at which point the academy finally opened to the public. He walked beyond the now open gates; the gates were at leased three times his own height, painted silver, engraved with strange looking carvings that Nick couldn't understand and they were cold to the touch.
As he got to about one foot beyond the gate he felt a sudden pressure on his body like you would feel from being in a swimming pool, as if there was something pressing against him from all directions. That feeling only lasted for a second and then went away. He made his way towards the auditorium that was mentioned in the acceptance message he received from the academy; it was where all new students had to gather to meet the faculty and complete their registration, the students would also be addressed by the head of the academy while there.
Nick got to the auditorium where there were lines of students doing their registration with the staff at kiosks that were spread neatly near the entrance. Nick got in line and waited fifteen minutes to have his registration completed. On his way towards the entrance of the auditorium he witnessed a young man around his age that was wearing an all black, three piece suit that looked brand new shouting at another young man:
"Get out of my way, do you think that I, Thomas Markland, should have to wait for your fat ass to squeeze through the entrance before I can get in? "
The slight chubby young man, obviously offended, responded:
"What's wrong with you, who the hell talks like that to someone they just met? Well Thomas, you can just keep your rude comments to yourself and suck on these nuts."
Thomas seemed visibly enraged by what the chubby guy just said and reached out to grab him; Thomas grabbed the chubby guy by his collar and punched him in his pot belly but the chubby guy's belly just jiggled, like all the force was dissipated somehow. Then the chubby guy pushed Thomas about 2 feet away and proceeded to rush at him, tackling him to the ground. The two of them spent the next 50 seconds punching and scratching each other while on the ground and when both seemed to have developed bruises something miraculous, or rather, unfortunate happened.
POOOFFFF!!!!
Nick stood by 20 feet away and watched as the two young men suddenly exploded into what seemed like a red colored mist, a blood mist. Then a middle aged man wearing a grey suit with a white dress shirt suddenly appeared hovering over the blood mist. The middle aged man then proceeded to spit at the blood mist saying:
"You fools are too loud! Oh...I guess I should say that you two fools were too loud, hmmm...yeah that's right."
Nick looked at the scene dumbfounded, with his mouth opened enough to fit a chicken egg. When Nick came to his senses and took another look, focusing on the middle aged man, then the blood mist, he muttered audibly:
"The fuck!"