The Head Teachers led Greyson to the center tower of the academy where the most powerful members reside. At the top floor was the space of the principal. The bottom of the tower had a teleportation circle which used spatial magic that transported people straight to whatever floor they wished. The tower was enormous and contained 75 floors. Head Teacher Elendil requested from the spatial magician at the circle that they were going to floor 75 to see the principal. The magician nodded and the circle began to activate. Greyson looked around in wonder as he was experiencing this kind of spatial magic transportation for the first time. Opposite to his prior expectation that he would feel his body rising, a spatial channel opened underneath his feet and he fell downward. He reached the 75th floor however the channel opened on the ceiling. The Head Teachers were obviously used to this occurrence so they landed on their feet easily while Greyson fell hard onto the floor. He saw them looking down at him and blushed. The woman dressed in green covered her mouth and giggled.
"You are such a cute little one, aren't you? You look just like a doll." She had light pink hair and green eyes. She looked younger than the rest with cute features. She was extremely petite and looked about as tall as a preteen. Greyson couldn't help but be confused by her youth because after her the middle-aged Elendil looked the youngest. He thought she must be new.
"Hahahaha, looking at your expression boy, you are probably wondering why she looks so young." The heavyset brown clothed man said. His brown hair was starting to gray and his face was rugged and hairy but his amber eyes still glittered with youthful mischief. His laugh and voice were as big as his body as he spoke. Greyson jumped in surprise by his booming voice.
"Leilena is indeed the youngest. She is not as young as she looks, though, and neither are we. Your aging slows down as you advance levels. Your youthful looks depend on what age you reach the magister level because that is when your aging noticeably slows down. Leilena was a startling genius so she still looks young. Some of us look old because they have been stuck at a certain level of magic for an extended amount of time. They are also older than you would believe. The more powerful you become, the less you should assume a person's age from their looks." One of the old men in black clothes spoke out. He seemed to be the most senior of all the Head Teachers and looked to be 70 or so, however, Greyson now knew that he was probably much older than he believed possible for humans.
"Let's continue on." Elendil's cold voice rang out and stopped all the conversation.
"Oh, Elendil, don't be such a bore all the time. We have all been silent like this entire time to portray an appropriate 'head teacher' aura. But, I'm dying! Not everyone has the EQ of a rock and can tolerate silence at all points of the day." The red-robed man spoke out. Greyson had noticed this man from the beginning due to his golden hair and deep blue eyes. He was a very handsome middle-aged man, but his stellar looks were not what attracted Greyson's curiosity. It was the fact that this Head Teacher and Teacher Elendil looked eerily similar but with different hair and eye color. Related?
"Ah, boy. Let me introduce some of the people who spoke. That little girl is Leilena Holland and she is the Head Teacher of the Wind Department. That grizzly bear looking one is Keenan Sagar, the Head Teacher of the Earth Department. The old man in black is Gaius Hume, the Head Teacher of the Dark Department. He did not have a last name because he was a commoner just like you in the beginning, but he was gifted a last name from the King of Dalia through military achievement. His family are now nobles because of him. Pretty amazing, right? You should aim high as well. I am Edwin Hargrave, the amazing and handsome Head Teacher of the Fire Department. As you might suspect, mister ice face over here and I are brothers. Twins, actually. Shocking, I know. How did such a warm and lovable man such as I be born a twin with such a boring and apathetic man. It's the miracle of genes I suppose. We're even opposite elements." The man continued babbling along happily and Greyson just looked at him and nodded. He felt his fantasy of these powerful Head Teachers was breaking. Elendil rubbed his temple feeling frustrated by the noise. Pushing up his glasses, he finally couldn't take his brother's incessant chatter.
"Edwin, enough." At his words, the fire magician rolled his eyes but kept quiet. He knew how scary his brother could be when he was angry. After Elendil's warning, they walked up to the large door on the 75th floor. Elendil lightly knocked on the door and a commanding voice echoed back.
"Enter."
Greyson felt his heart beating and his hands shaking. He knew he was meeting a very important and powerful person. He didn't know the proper etiquette so he was quite nervous and he left Lucius with Claude so he felt vulnerable without any backup. The double doors creaked open slowly and revealed a large room. It had the smell of old books and looked similar to an old library except in the center was a desk where a surprisingly young man sat. There was nothing particularly special about the man. He had dark brown messy hair and brown eyes and wore a plain white robe that looked stained by something he ate. Greyson had the impression that he was like an airy bookworm who looked friendly and week. The voice had sounded dignified, but it didn't quite match how he looked. Greyson glanced over at Elendil who had his eyebrows furrowed before heaving a deep sigh.
"Principal, could you at least try to upkeep your image? What would the students think?" Elendil's stern voice rang out. The man let an easygoing smile spread across his face and shrugged.
"Mother Elendil, this is me putting my best effort in." Hearing how the Principal addressed the serious teacher, the Head Teachers tried their best to hold in their laughter. Teacher Keenan and Teacher Leilena didn't even bother hiding as giggling and booming laughter echoed throughout the room.
"Yes, yes, Principal only you understand my suffering. He's such an uptight worrywart that can't even stand a speck of dust. I really worry for him, how is he ever going to find a girl who could put up with him? What if he dies early from all this stress?" Edwin joined in while dramatically sighing. Elendil scowled and glared coldly at his brother before turning his head towards the principal again.
"Hahaha, Edwin I do agree that he's too much of a worrier. But without your brother, this academy would be run into the ground. Alright, enough joking. Elendil, what seems to be the issue? I see you brought along a young friend. Who are you, little lady?" The principal let out a good-natured chuckle before finally getting down to business. He finally glanced over at Greyson and gave a welcoming smile. Greyson felt nervous again when the attention switched back to himself before pouting at how the principal addressed him. He was still 5, okay?! He would definitely become a manly man in the future. Elendil coughed awkwardly at the misunderstanding.
"Principal, first of all, Greyson is a boy. I brought him here because he can use seven elements. There has been no precedent, the most we have seen is four before and even that was super rare. He can use so many that I and the other Head Teachers did not know how to organize his future schooling. It would be difficult for him to be apart of all seven departments." The principal finally changed from his relaxed position and sat straight up while staring at Greyson in disbelief.
"Seven? Wow, that's unheard of. What seven exactly?"
"After testing him, we concluded that the seven elements were: Water, Fire, Earth, Wind, Light, Dark, and Lightning." Elendil reported.
"Wow, just wow. Greyson, was it? Come over here and hold my hand." The principal motioned for Greyson to approach while holding out his hand. Greyson hesitated and glanced over at Elendil, who nodded at him. He walked over and held the principal's hand. He felt a surge of mana enter his body and he relaxed at the warm feeling of it. His body absorbed the mana quickly as the principal nodded in approval.
"His mana channels are very open and he absorbs quickly. Even with his multiple elements he will be able to meditate and rise in power quickly. To have a student like this is a miracle. He will probably leave us and transfer to a tier one kingdom school quicker than we think." The principal began whispering in thought as Greyson felt surprised by his words. Transfer? Tier one kingdom?
"Our school is connected to one of the four tier one kingdoms in the Snow Country, the Idris Kingdom. They have a prestigious magic academy, as well. It is more powerful with better schooling. It is much more elite and harder to get into and you have to get in before age 10. Most of the kids at our school do not have enough talent or they wait too long. If you can reach the intermediate level stage 5 before ten, you have a good chance of passing the admission exam." Noticing Greyson was confused, the principal explained the circumstances. Greyson nodded eagerly while creating a new goal for himself. He wanted to reach as high up as he could.
"Hm... I understand your worries about seven departments being too much, however, there is exactly seven days in a week which makes this perfect. Everyday he will rotate between the departments. He will not join a normal class but have a private teacher for each day so they can adapt the learning schedule to him. He needs to learn all the elements equally or he will not be able to advance. You all can choose who will teach him from each department." The Head Teachers all nodded in acceptance.
"Alright, Elendil. Show him to the multi-element residence where he will be living. You guys are dismissed." The teachers raised their right hand to their chest and slightly bowed to the principal before turning around and leaving. Greyson clumsily copied their motion before rushing to follow the teachers out. Watching them leave, the principal chuckled while his eyes glistened with excitement.
"I look forward to that little pipsqueak's future. I wonder how far he will go."
School life begins now~... I guess this would be an equivalent to magic elementary school? I feel like I can't make them too mature or that would be weird, but if I make them like normal elementary kids there would be pointless fights everyday. I'm sorta regretting. I should have made him older in the beginning, lol. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯