True Battle Mages!
They were the existence every race feared. After all, they were incredibly rare and possessed the most battle prowess among any other profession.
It was all for one simple reason: Battle Mages were practically both warriors and mages in one, making them monsters in battle.
It was easy to become a Battle Mage, but advancing in stages as a Battle Mage was tough. One needed to focus on both professions, so unless they were very talented, they would fail.
And the Dean of Starlight Academy was a Grandmaster Stage Battle Mage, which just showed how powerful she was. No wonder she was allowed to take the position of Dean, despite not being human.
A smile formed on Freya's face, seeing the reaction, as she said, "I am telling you this to reassure you of your safety. With me here, nobody in this whole kingdom would dare to harm you."
Veer sighed in relief, as one of his biggest concerns was gone. Now, even the assassination attempts would stop, which he was most thankful for.
"Hello, I am Veer," Veer introduced himself.
"No full name?" Freya looked at him with interest and said, "Well, I won't look into your secrets."
Her gaze then landed on Elara, who was sitting elegantly, which looked out of place for Veer and Liliana, who were used to her wild side.
"Your father is a good friend of mine," Freya said, warmly smiling at her. "We spent a few months trapped in a dark city, actually."
Elara tilted her head, then suddenly her eyes lit up as she asked, "Wait! Are you the Blue Wind?"
"Haha! Looks like that brat didn't forget about me," Freya laughed lightly, dropping her professional act. She now seemed like an elder sister to them.
"Yup! He often talks about you, actually," knowing who she was, Elara also dropped all formalities and spoke excitedly. "He even told me that if he hadn't met my mother early, I wouldn't have been born, haha."
Veer and Liliana both cast strange gazes toward their friend, wondering if she had really lost her mind. What kind of conversation was this?
"Oh, that! Yeah, your mother and I grew very close during the days in Dark City," Freya shook her head. "That brat really likes to think weird things."
She then took out some documents from her storage ring and said, "We'll catch up later, as I have something to do. Sorry about that."
"It's fine. I'm just happy that I met you here," Elara waved her hand and smiled.
Freya smiled thankfully at her and then said, "Good! You can find me here whenever you want. Anyway, let's get to the main reason you guys are here. The three of you have S-Rank Aspects, and I don't think I need to explain the challenges you'll be facing because of this."
The trio nodded, as they were very familiar with the cruel world they lived in. Their Aspects were very rare, and they would definitely be targeted by others.
This was also the reason they had entered an academy instead of going solo, even though they had the capability to do so.
"Good!" Seeing their expressions, Freya nodded in satisfaction. "Now, I know many institutes would like to take you three, and I'm sure many of them are even better than Starlight Academy. But you have decided to come here, ignoring all of them. I don't want to know your reasoning behind your decision, but I have something to ask before we proceed."
Her calm, composed voice echoed in the living room, "All of you have backgrounds that honestly scare me, and I don't want to meddle in your fights. So, I want to ask, do you have any intentions of using this Academy?"
Veer smiled and replied to her, as he had already expected such a question, "We would only use the Academy to grow stronger and take shelter for now. Don't worry, I won't drag you into politics."
"Good!" Freya exhaled a sigh of relief and said, "Then I can promise you that you three will get the best environment to grow stronger. I will also defend you from external threats, except for your political entanglements."
She pushed the documents before them and said, "You can read them and tell me what you think. Since Elara is like my niece, I have removed many conditions from it and made it safer for you three."
After thanking her, Veer took one of the contracts and asked the system, "Anything wrong with it?"
[Aside from binding you to the Academy for some time, none!]
"Thanks!"
Still, Veer pretended to look through the contract and noticed a few details. The terms were pretty loose, and there was really nothing that could harm them. They weren't even forced to do anything aside from participating in competitions important to the Academy.
The only clause he found significant was the binding one. It was a simple one that stated he couldn't join any other institution while being a part of Starlight Academy.
"So, basically a transfer certificate like we used in schools?" Veer mused and closed the contract.
"I don't see any problem with that. But if you could, can you answer some of my questions?" Veer asked, looking directly into the Dean's eyes.
Freya raised an eyebrow, noticing his confident pose and tone. She nodded and said, "Ask whatever you want!"
"It's nothing major, actually. Just curious regarding the Academy itself," Veer clasped his hands and said. "I've heard a lot about Starlight Academy and its 'Jungle Rule' environment."
Freya took an apple and began munching on it while answering him, "Hmm! I try my best to make the Academy's atmosphere similar to the real world, as I don't want weaklings here. So, you can expect to see things you'd encounter in the real world here too, like the strong ruling the weak, connections, and many other things."
Veer was surprised and wondered how this Academy still had students, given such a harsh environment. But then he remembered the information he had read about Starlight Academy.
It was one of the strongest academies in the Blue Wind Kingdom and even surrounding kingdoms. The number of students was far less than other academies, but every single one of them was a monster.
"Ah! So this fierce reputation brings them in!"