Chapter 59: Chapter 59
"Why?"
"What? Why? A beautiful girl offers you to serve, and the first thing you do is question it." Bessita asked, confused.
Of course, Harry knew what becoming a retainer meant. It was basically a servant under the protection of another person, and while there were many different forms for that, it was the general description.
Something like this usually happens with official magus that have some power, not random acolytes who haven't even joined an academy.
"Yes, I have nothing that would be useful to you. So why?" Harry nodded, feeling like something fishy was going on.
"I am a princess of the Agrares Kingdom. A member of the royal family. But like any kingdom, the competition for the succession is extremely fierce. My father, the current king, has multiple wives; each of the wives is from a noble house and has the backing of a Rank 3 acolyte. Besides mine. My mother comes from a lesser noble house but is actually the oldest of my father's wives." She explained, and so far Harry could follow.
"So you are the heir and want to inherit?" He asked.
"No, my older brother is the heir." But we don't have the backing of an acolyte. I am supposed to become that backing. Unfortunately, my talent is lacking. As Royal Family, we know a bit about being magus, and I will have a hard time even reaching rank 3." She sighed in disappointment.
"And that's why you want to give up your freedom and follow me. Because I am guaranteed to become at least a Rank 3 acolyte." As she nodded, Harry understood where she was coming from.
But the information she had on the Magus World was very limited, in his opinion. Rank 3 acolytes were literally less than ants in the larger picture. A small kingdom like hers could be wiped out with a few words from a magus.
On the other hand, it was a free follower for him, giving him already a faction. He could use her to delegate some different experiments to her or use her as an intermediary to get some more resources without gaining the wrong kind of attention.
Even as a Grade 5 talent, he would certainly get too much attention if he showed off his full capabilities.
Still, he would have to take care of her too and invest his resources in her too. Or she would lose quickly on worth...
"I am not certain this would be a good arrangement for the two of us. What are your emotional affinities? Even with low talent, you would be better served if you went to a fitting academy."
He knew the last time she went to a light side academy, but Harry with Death and Darkness had affinities related to the dark side Magi.
In the South Coast region they were living in, the Magi were split into two different philosophies: the light side, which believed in peace, scientific research, and advancement, and the dark side, which valued strength and survival of the fittest.
They were two opposing sides of the same coin, but Harry felt the Dark Side was the better one, since it was truer to the Core Values of the Original Magi who had created the Path of an Magus.
"I was originally planning to join the Wetland Gardens. While it doesn't fit my interests, the only official rank 1 magus of our royal family resides there and can back me. But I am ready to follow you! I have a darkness and fire affinity." She replied honestly.
'Wow, that's a coincidence... just what is needed to be a good fit for Kemoyin's PupilTechnique. The one advanced meditation technique I know is located off the South Coast... I can work with that.'
"Okay, I accept you under one condition. You are a good fit for the academy I am planning to attend. If you want to join me, you will have to sign a contract with me." Harry demanded.
"I will!" She said it without hesitation, not even questioning what kind of contract She probably doesn't believe that it is actually binding.
After confirming that they were alone, he rummaged in his robes, but in truth, he was creating a contract that he pretended to pull out from there. "This one. And I want you to be aware. You will be signing your life over to me; there is no backing out. I promise you I will take good care of you and not harm you, but I want your absolute loyalty. Once you sign it, the punishment for betrayal will be death."
This was the truth; while she probably didn't believe that the contract was binding, he still felt prudent enough to warn her.
"It doesn't matter. It's the best chance I have either way. I will sign it." She said her red eyes were shining brightly and honestly.
———
Before they went off to choose their own academy, they met George, who tried to invite them to Ennea Ivory Ring Tower, where he had some backing.
It was also a Light Magic Academy; someone with a natural disposition towards darkness, death, or similar elements would just have a harder time there and progress slower.
Somehow the Magi on the South Coast were that swallow. They politely declined; sooner or later, Harry's personality would clash with George's, and he wouldn't have anything from the boys backing him.
Neither of them was a follower.
Also, Harry already had an academy in mind; while not following the Canon Story Line, he still wanted to take as much advantage of it as possible.
"Abyssal Bone Forest Academy?" Bessita asked nervously, as she had followed him to check out the different academies until Harry found the right one.
"Yep, a fitting one for both our emotional affinities." Harry said as they stood in front of a tent made out of numerous white bones, "They specialize in darkness and death elements and are one of the pioneers in the research of the soul."
Atop the entrace was a sign with the words 'The Abyssal Bone Forest welcomes you!' written in red and dripping blood.
Harry knew that it wasn't the kind of place a princess would want to visit, but the elemental affinity was important. While many Academies had research and spells in all kinds of elements, they were located in places with a high concentration of certain elements, which makes someone with a high affinity for them progress faster.
And he had his Canon knowledge too.
As they entered, a cold aura that reeked like blood engulfed the two of them. "Kuh, kuh, kuh... After having to wait for so long, there were still two people who dared to come over."
Harry had already expected this, but Bessita didn't and looked around, scared. "Who is speaking?"
"Excuse me, Miss. You are stepping on my hand!" This made Bessita shriek as she jumped backwards into Harry, who prevented her from falling down.
On the ground in front of them was something that looked like a disassembled Skeleton that was slowly assembling itself the moment Bessita jumped off it.
This was one of their professors, who Harry was now certain liked to scare students. His skeleton form was most likely the result of an advanced meditation technique; there were countless of them with different properties and effects in the world.
"Let me introduce myself. I am a professor at the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy, specializing in the shadow and dark elements. You can call me Dorotte!" The skeleton introduced himself.
Bessita was still creeped out but followed Harry's example as he greeted the professor, "It's nice to meet you, Professor Dorotte!"
"How boring! The reaction of your friend was far more amusing. Anyway, you two being here means you wish to enter the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy."
"Before that, we would like to know the conditions of your academy." Harry replied calmly; it would be strange if he didn't even want to learn them.
"Alright!" Dorotte nodded as he pulled a sheepskin paper and handed it over to Harry, who read through it with Bessita.
It was a collection of rules, conditions, and what they received in exchange. The most important parts were that by joining, they would gain the rights to attend lessons, a set of elementary meditation techniques, and a 5-year-long permission to live in the academy with food and lodging free of charge.
They could also use magic crystals to exchange for additional services and knowledge with the academy and professors.
Everything was quite straight-forward; he already knew the true dangers came from dealing with the professors, who often needed experimental subjects.
"How much do we need to pay to enter the academy?"
"Thirteen magic crystals or an item of equal value." was the reply they got.
Harry nodded as he handed 26 magic crystals over. Bessita looked like she wanted to say something but chose to keep quiet.
"So you are paying for the two of you?" Dorotte sounded unimpressed, and Harry had a good idea what the magus was thinking. He probably thought of Harry as naive for using his own resources.
But Thirteen Magic Crystals wasn't really a lot, and he already knew he could easily make more. Also, this was the impression he wanted to give, so the professor wouldn't pay too much attention to him or believe women were a weakness they could exploit.
After Harry nodded, Dorotte stretched his bony hand out and asked, "Are you two willing to join the Abyssal Bone Academy and sign the Ancient Contract?"
"I accept!" Both of them said.
"Good, now hand over your forms!" First Dorotte took a look at Bessitas, "Only grade 2 Appitude... At least you were smart enough to choose an academy fitting your affinity."
Bessita nodded nervously while glancing at Harry.
"Oh, look at that! This year we are getting really lucky! Another Grade 5 talent with a death element affinity! Too bad I already recruited the other one as my personal student. The other professors would get mad if I took you too." Dorotte chuckled. "The two of you have paid the full amount and fulfilled our requirements; therefore, I announce you have been accepted by the Academy. Take these cards and go to the back. Tomorrow, our journey back to the academy will start."
Harry received the card with the number 9, and Bessita got the 10. They quickly took their leave, not wanting to bother the professor anymore than necessary.
The two of them walked to the area behind the tent, where rows of wooden huts were gathered, with other acolytes about their age walking amongst them.
As far as Harry could tell, he seemed to be the oldest one with 16 years, but with his elvish traces, he looked younger.
"Hey! Nice to meet the two of you! Are you new here?" A voice asked then as a red-haired Acolyte stepped out of the Hut with the number 6.
Feeling more comfortable than with the Skeletal Professor, Bessita took the initiative and said, "Hello! I am Bessita, and this is Harry."
"Ha, ha! I am Beirut. My family background isn't important, as it holds no significance on another continent." Beirut said with a friendly smile.
"Come, let me introduce you guys!" Beirut said as he led them further into the huts, "Fellows! We have some new companions!"
A multitude of Acolytes came out of the different Huts and gathered. Harry counted eight in total, but only remembered the names of two, having forgotten most of them since he read the novel ages ago.
Of course, the AI chip could supply the rest for him instantly since it had access to all his memories with a perfect recall.
"Good afternoon! I am Kaliweir of the Lance Empire, a fourth-grade acolyte." A boy with far too much self-importance introduced himself while eyeing Bessita with an obvious look on his face. "You seem to be pretty late!"
"The Great Plains of Death were quite troublesome." Bessita replied politely, while Harry internally snorted at Kaliweir.
Now that he heard the actual tone of that introduction, it was a bit funny how arrogantthat guy was, especially since he almost had no importance to the original story. A character is discarded early.
"The Great Plains of Death? That's indeed a dangerous place!" Kaliweir glanced at the acolytes behind him. "Let me introduce them."
"This is Beirut, whom you've already met."
"This is Hancock, a third-grade acolyte." A largely built Caucasian guy scratched his head, looking simple and honest.
"This is Raynor, a fourth-grade acolyte." He was a small boy with a skinny build, but his eyes held a tinge of pride.
"This is Guricha, a second-grade acolyte. And over there are Nyssa and Dodoria, both first-grade acolytes." Despite his attempt to be polite, Kaliweir made no secret of his disdain.
But Harry wasn't an idiot.
While talent was an advantage, effort, smartness, and luck were also important factors.
Especially since among them was one of the characters whose name he had remembered.
"How are you?" Guricha forced a smile and a greeting. Nyssa and Dodoria, still with baby fat on their cheeks, glanced downward.
Harry gave them a warm smile while putting a hand on Bessita's shoulder, who had become nervous too. Why not leave a good impression? It was foolish to look down on others for no reason. Having more connections never hurts.
"Who is that?" Bessita asked, having noticed a brooding, lofty-looking figure a bit away.
"That's Jayden, our genius of the semester, a fifth-grade acolyte! Becoming a magus is only a matter of time for him." Kaliweir's expression turned sour, and his words tinged with bitterness.
Bessita didn't seem to be very impressed. Neither was Harry. For him, this rivalry or jealousy was a kid's game.
Unfortunately, he would probably become a target for it too. Kaliweir and Jayden were both idiots.
"Hmph!" Jayden, noticing the attention, silently harrumphed and retreated into his own wooden hut. His hut was noticeably larger and more exquisitely adorned.
Looking at his own number, Harry noticed that it was the same. Didn't Leylin get the same number as him? Strange.
"As a fifth-grade acolyte, he'll receive the best treatment. Who knows, some professors might even take him under their wings early!" Kaliweir's face soured further; in fact, that had already happened since Dorotte had recruited Jayden.
Just from his short interaction, Harry had already noticed the elitism between the Acolytes as they had gathered into small groups.
The third and fourth-grade acolytes felt superior to the lower-grade ones but inferior to Jayden. The lowest-grade acolytes, like Guricha, huddled together pitifully. Jayden stood apart from them all.
"Hello, I am Bessita. I have a… Second Grade appitude." She revealed it hestiantly.
Harry watched Kaliweir's reaction carefully and realized what kind of guy he was.
"Welcome, Bessita. It's nice to meet you. My doors are always open if you need some help." Kaliweir's grin had widened as he eyed Bessita's body.
He clearly didn't have any interest in her talent. Well, she was the hottest girl present. Nyssa and Dodoria were two young girls around 11 years old, with their low talent and childish appearance of no interest to him at all.
Not longer caring about the guy, Harry chooses to introduce himself: "Hey, I am Harry, an acolyte with a grade 5 aptitude."
The moment he had finished his sentence, Kaliweir's face fell, and the same jealousy Jayden had received came onto Harry. Since his gaze wandered between Bessita and Harry, it seemed to be more intense.
That also pretty much ended the first interaction between the new students, and while Kaliweir pretty much lost his politeness, the others still greeted him nervously since he seemed to be more approachable than Kaliweir and Jayden before retreating to their Huts.
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