Villin felt extremely excited as he realized where he was. At the same time, he also felt thankful, it was clear Silver had given him the wand sheath that was attached to his arm.
Just as most others were doing at the moment, he grabbed his wand and inspected it. It was a black smooth piece of wood, there wasn't a handle or anything of the like making it look rather slippery. When you touched it however you could feel how rough the wood actually was reassuring him that accidentally dropping your wand probably didn't happen very often.
This was the first grade's basic level wand given automatically to new students. When he looked at the wands of other people he actually noticed a person about twenty meters away from him that was holding a different one. He saw the girl's wand was dark red and there were two small barriers on one side of the wand creating a very simple handle.
As if she felt that someone was looking at her the girl immediately turned toward him. She had bright red hair and a rather small nose, her lips were thin and skin fair. She could be considered a typical beauty. Before she looked at him she seemed rather arrogant watching the people around her with a faint amount of disdain but when she looked into his eyes she immediately became stunned. A moment after that he noticed a blush spreading on her cheeks as she hurriedly closed her mouth and turned away in embarrassment.
Villin felt extremely weird when he noticed her reaction. He checked his robe to make sure nothing weird was on him, seeing there was nothing abnormal he could only shrug and wait for something to happen. And just as he thought that a loud voice boomed through the hall.
"WELCOME CHILDREN, TO THE ACADEMY!"
Villin hurriedly used his hands to cover his ears before looking up towards where the sound came from. When he looked up he was the one to feel stunned. A large face appeared in the sky above them. It was about twenty meters wide and a multitude of them had appeared at the same time so that everyone could see at least one of them. The face was in black and white and no color could be seen on it, it almost seemed like it was made out of mist.
The man depicted had a sharp nose and curly hair. Even though he couldn't see color he could tell the man had a ghastly complexion too. Just as he thought that the man started speaking again.
"IN A MOMENT SOME CONTRACTED WILL COME AND EXPLAIN THE RULES TO ALL OF YOU, LISTEN CAREFULLY AND BE PREPARED FOR THAT ONLY A TENTH OF THE PEOPLE HERE ARE EXPECTED TO GRADUATE!"
Villin felt that his eardrums would shatter if the man kept talking but luckily he stopped as the mist which the faces were made of dissipated.
A massive door appeared on one end of the halls as hundreds of people entered each of them making their way to a different kid.
Contracted. These were mortals who found out about, or were exposed to magical society on accident and were then allowed to join it as long as they signed a contract. In fact, it was more accurate to call them slaves with the conditions they were given.
A bit of time passed as a forty-year-old man made his way toward Villin before just standing opposite of him and not speaking a word. The other contracted around did the same time as they didn't reply if the kids were to ask them something.
When the final contracted got into place something...magical happened. First Villin thought the floor had just switched color as brown appeared on the ground in squares and rectangles but soon he was proven wrong. Out of the ground everywhere came small rectangular tables and wooden chairs. The small table was set between himself and the contracted while he actually had to move to get off the chair as it was growing upward.
About ten seconds had passed until the items were fully out of the floor and many of the students seemed to be just as surprised as he was. Before he thought his surprise was probably childish and most kids here would find it normal but he was proven wrong, it seemed like making chairs and tables rise out of the ground was an impressive feat.
Villin soon went ahead and sat in his chair and it was then that the contracted who sat before him started speaking in a monotone voice.
"Alright so welcome to the academy, if you have any items that you had permission to bring they were either put on your person or put beneath your bed. If you wish to follow any of the optional classes the payment is at the start of each month beginning now, so please let me know if there are any classes you wish to sign up for. And then here are the rules so please read them over and sign at the bottom."
When the monotone man finished his words he retrieved a few pages of paper out of his white robe putting them onto the table.
"I'd like to sign up for 'enchanting', 'pill-making', and 'magic arrays', please."
After saying this he took the fingernail-sized pieces of crystal out of his robe and put them on the table, there were ten of them. The man took seven of them and put them away allowing Villin to retrieve the other three.
After this he read the rules, there weren't too many of them and things were quite simple. Firstly divulging information about the school was forbidden with a few exceptions such as saying which classes there were. Alongside killing other students these were the only rules who were absolute and where there wasn't any leeway. Other rules such as not casting offensive spells outside of both class and the dueling grounds all had a fine on them. If you paid the fine you'll be allowed to go after spending some time in 'the chamber of horrors'. Other than being a place with a rather scary name there was no other info on this place.
The rules seemed rather fair overall and there was nothing that stood out. He was just about to ask for a pen when he saw a student next to him use his wand to stab his own hand causing a bloody wound to appear. The student couldn't help but let out a yell before tapping the bloody top of the wand onto the paper.
Soon more yells came from other places in the hall as they used the same method to sign. A few others used their teeth to bite their thumb before wiping the blood onto the top of the wand to sign. Villin himself also decided to use this technique as he bit into the skin of his thumb while moving his hand away with full force.
He barely managed to stop himself from yelling out as the thumb hurt like a bitch. He then got some of his blood onto his wand and tapped it onto the contract. After this the contracted simply retrieved them before getting out of the chair.
"Now please make your way out of the room through the large gate to have your web activated."
After saying these words the man hurriedly made his way toward one of the sides of this massive wall. As soon as he got there a small door appeared, once he went through, it went away once more.
And so Villin stood up and started making his way toward the massive door the contracted had come out of, he had to be careful not to bump into anyone as there wasn't a lot of space left now that all the tables and chairs had appeared.
It was only when he truly stood in front of the door that he realized how massive it was, however. It stood there with a height of over fifty meters, reaching all the way to the ceiling, it was opened slightly allowing those that finished signing to go through. Villin was sure that if the door was as heavy as it looked it would be nearly impossible for the people here to open even if they worked together.
Through the gap of the door, he only saw a blinding white light hiding where the people that went in went toward.
With little hesitation he also went in, being forced to close his eyes. After just walked a few meters he suddenly felt sick to his stomach as he was able to open his eyes again. He immediately leaned onto a nearby wall as he did his best not to puke.
The man standing in the middle of the room smiled at this sight.
"No worries if you have to puke, it's pretty easy to clean up Villin, just a spell away you know!"
At this point, Villin finally managed to stop gagging and he could have a proper look around the room.
The room wasn't big, only about ten meters by ten meters. He was standing in a corner while in the middle of the room was a kind-looking man holding a crystal ball. The man seemed to be about fifty and his hair was starting to become grey. He looked healthy and full of vigor as well unlike the contracted he saw. Additionally, he was wearing a Silver robe showing he was a teacher of class B.
Villin didn't ask how he had gotten his name because it was probably just using magic so he simply replied.
"Thank you for your concern professor but I am fine now."
Villin bowed slightly as he read that this was a sign of respect and when he looked up he heard the man laugh.
"Well, would you look at that. If you are so sophisticated and smart even before learning magic I can't help but fear how you will be once you awaken the web."
Even though Villin didn't understand what he could only see as this teacher's banter but he nonetheless smiled a bit and nodded so he wouldn't look dumb.
"Well then mister Grey, come on over here and awaken your web, I assume you have been looking forward to this day, haven't you"
"Yes, very much so professor!"
Villin didn't lie as he had been eagerly awaiting this day, the day he would get his magic. When he did it wouldn't be long before he could cast magic and make true enchantments. After saying his words he walked up to the professor waiting for something to happen.
"Alright then Villin, go ahead and touch the crystal ball. When you do you might feel a force trying to enter your consciousness, don't try to impede it and allow it to enter even if it might feel a tad weird."
Villin nodded nervously as he tried to clear his mind, what if his excitement would cause him to accidentally resist the web? That would be the worst scenario possible.
With his mind now somewhat cleared he reached out and touched the crystal ball.
If one were to ask how this experience was he truly wouldn't know how to reply. He felt as if something was trying to make its way into his thoughts and become a part of them. His instinct would've been to try and fight it if the kind teacher hadn't told him to do the opposite. The force went in further and further until it made its way into an unfamiliar part of his mind, one that was empty as if it were missing something. Then this force expanded and filled this space up.
Villin gasped as he stumbled back, nearly falling to the ground. 'I can feel the air.' this was his first thought. He felt something all around him, pushing against his skin as if asking him to let it in. Inside of his body has this very same 'air' filling it up entirely. Other then this he could also feel his mind quickened even further, if he previously needed an hour to read a book then now he would only need thirty minutes.
"Alright Villin, so what just happened is that you have gotten a 'web'. Once you go out of this room you should try to connect with it, this should take about an hour, once this happens simply observe the web do not try to make any connections, it is extremely dangerous and may prove fatal if you pick the wrong one!"
Villin nodded slightly overwhelmed as he tried to understand what had just happened.
"Now try to expel the weird force you feel within your body, it's called magic power."
Villin tried to use his mind to expel the new force he felt and surprisingly it was rather easy to go so and soon he could see his body glowing, he could even feel the force around him getting slightly thicker.
"Well done Villin, seems like you got the hang of it rather quickly, welcome to class B. I must say I truly do look forward to teaching a bright young man such as yourself."
Villin nodded as he got his mind back in order. "Thank you, professor!"
As Villin walked out of the room he was grinning stupidly. He had been slightly scared all this time, what if the previous owner has magic but as an earthling he didn't? Even though this worry was small as the chances were tiny he still felt relieved at this time.
Somewhere he had hoped he would get to class A but he wasn't too disappointed, he always knew the possibility was very small and even if he did get in nobles were bound to act superior around him, trying to make him do things.
When he used the door he saw to get out of the room he got into a hallway the hallway was practically filled with doors, he noticed a few 13-year-olds walk out of some of the other doors before looking around seemingly confused at what to do.
Villin was rather surprised to see estimated fourth years do this until he spotted a certain someone. The door across from him just opened as a beauty walked out. She had bright red hair and a small nose, in a good-looking sheath on her arm was a wand with a basic handle. When she walked out she noticed him and froze in her steps, a faint blush appeared on her cheeks as she gasped just loud enough to be heard by him.
After this she kept her head down and moved to the left immediately, nearly sprinting down the hallway.
"This-" Villin felt stumped for a moment as he realized what happened. It seemed like awakening their magic the first years had physically aged three to four years at least.
Sadly there was no mirror in sight so he still had no idea what he looked like. After a moment he noticed most people were going to his right, the same direction the girl went, and so he followed.
He had to walk about twenty meters before the hallway turned to the left, soon after it reached what seemed to be a waiting room. Twenty-five chairs were standing there, most of which already had someone sitting in them. The red-haired girl was sitting somewhere on the right while the remaining seats were all to the left.
He simply went ahead and took a seat next to a rather burly boy wearing glasses. As soon as he sat down the boy seemed to implode as he immediately yelled out. "YOU, HOW DARE YOU SIT NEXT TO ME WITHOUT PERMISSION?!! I AM PIERSON SON OF AMEN, HEIR OF THE HOUSE SKULL!!!"
At first, Villin was shocked at the volume the kid could make using his mouth after which there was a bit of disbelief on his face. This was simply because this noble was acting too stupidly. Silver had assured them nobles were taught well and generally smart, usually not going after someone on their own and always getting a feel of someone's abilities beforehand.
Villin had taken this to heart and didn't expect someone like this to come along. Not only himself but some of the people sitting on the other side of him also showed a bit of annoyance on their faces, they didn't seem pleased with the youth's action.
Actually now that he looked at them, nearly all of the other kids sitting here seemed to have a wand sheath on their arm. Furthermore, the wands stored there wasn't the basic kind as each of them had some sort of handle at the least.
Villin felt this was odd since he was put in class B, how was it that he was here with a large number of nobles. The burly Pierson saw that Villin didn't seem to care about him and was about to yell again when an old woman came into the room, noticing the woman with her golden robe come in Pierson immediately stopped himself from saying anything more and sat down quietly. The woman soon started speaking.
"Hello children, my name is Crystal and I am one of the Class A pill-making teachers. The twenty-five of you will be taking your electives together for the following month since you all chose pill-making, magic arrays and enchanting. This is the first month so most of those that chose all of these electives are students of class A. There are a few exceptions but the headmaster graciously allowed them to go with class A for the first month so as to not have a class of four people."
As soon as Crystal spoke Villing felt weird. She looked very much like a nice person but he had a bad feeling when he looked at her, he wasn't sure why but he decided not to get too close with this teacher.
"For now please reach into your mind and attempt to connect with the web. I will be back in one hour. I will remind you once more not to try to connect any of the nodes with each other since every year there is at least one idiot who gets himself killed before the classes even begin."
After saying this she simply turned around and walked away, leaving the kids on their own. Pierson no longer tried to cause trouble as he closed his eyes just like the other kids in the room. Naturally, Villin followed as he tried to delve into his mind, into the region he previously didn't know existed.
This actually went surprisingly easy. When he first got into this region mentally only a few minutes had passed. After this he actively tried to explore the area at first, finding little success. After this, he attempted to instead widen the area he was looking at. This bore immediate results. It seemed like he was simply exploring a tiny area as the area he was 'looking' at was only a thousandth of the whole thing. It wasn't long before he saw the web. A collection of dots also known as nodes.
First, when he was still zooming out, he thought there would be a few hundred at most but he was soon shown to be incredibly wrong. The 'web' was actually a globe made and filled with these nodes. There were a total of about ten thousand of them, seemingly put there randomly as the distance between nodes and the size of each node was different.
When he looked closer he noticed a key difference though. There were about a hundred nodes in the center area that were a very light gray. Then a large area around it making for about a thousand nodes were a dark grey, the other nine-thousand were nearly black.
When he could see the web fully he opened his eyes as this was what they talked about as awakening your web in the books he read.
When he opened his eyes though he noticed everyone else was still sitting down with their eyes closed while only a dozen minutes had passed, so he figured he must've done something wrong.
He closed his eyes again and focused on the hundred nodes that were in a light gray color. Then he thought that maybe instead of just awakening the web, he was supposed to awaken the nodes too. Awakening a node was rather simple. You pour in some magic power and try to manipulate the magic to form a needle or drill so it can pierce and seep into a node for the first time, allowing you to cycle magic through it later.
The first node he began with was the centermost one as he started to pour some of the magic power he felt inside him into it. At first, it looked like it was succeeding as he barely managed to form a magical drill to start drilling through the wall protecting a node's core. He got about halfway through this wall before he suddenly felt empty as he no longer had any magic power left, then the wall soon regenerated making it seem as if he had done nothing.
'This must be another way to make nobles seem more important, after all with a beast bloodline they can hold more magic power giving them an advantage early on, furthermore, he had used all of his magic power earlier when touching the crystal and only about a third of it had come back thus far.'
Villin felt a little dejected as he opened his eyes, he looked around and noticed only the red-haired girl had her eyes open as she was currently inspecting her wand.
Only twenty minutes had passed at this point so he could do nothing but follow the girl's example and keep himself busy by playing around with his wand, grabbing it in different ways, and trying to unsheath and resheath it quicker.
About twenty more minutes passed before another person opened his eyes and then in the remaining twenty minutes all of the other people had also opened their eyes. The only guy that surprised Villin was a guy sitting on the utmost right. He didn't have a sheath and only had a basic wand such as himself. It looked like he was in a similar situation as himself and was actually a Class B student. Villin couldn't help but wonder how he had enough magic power to awaken a node. He had only started wondering this before the older woman came back. She looked over everyone shortly before speaking.
"Good, it seems like everyone has awakened their web. If you reach into your consciousness you should now be able to see a large globe made out of nodes. These nodes should hold three colors. Light gray nodes are those you should be able to awaken when you refill your magic power, the dark grey ones are those that you will probably be awakened if your lifetime while those that nearly reach black are those you are highly unlikely to ever awaken. Those with a bloodline generally had between one and two thousand dark grey nodes while those that do not have a bloodline generally have around five hundred dark grey nodes."
She spoke with a clear tone as her words made Villin let out a breath of relief. Not only had he been able to do the task required the fastest but the number of nodes he would be able to activate was higher than most others that didn't have a bloodline, even rivaling some that did! This was obviously an extremely good thing as it would make his future path easier.
You may also Like
Paragraph comment
Paragraph comment feature is now on the Web! Move mouse over any paragraph and click the icon to add your comment.
Also, you can always turn it off/on in Settings.
GOT IT