บท 318: The Academy

Ortava was different. Besides the obvious tall walls that surrounded the city, it was also very beautiful. The buildings had ornaments, and specific design to them. They were painted mostly black and white, but had additional colours, like green or blue to bring a brighter contrast to the city. To the north west of the city, was a huge castle like building, with a few towers that extended into the skies. It was build from very slick stone, and all the roofs were laid with blue tiles. Looked magical from afar.

A huge marketplace, was located in the middle of the city. 'This must be the city square. I wonder what that huge building is' I thought. I didn't know for sure, but from what Finch said, it was probably the Academy for Formation Masters.

I thought about it a few times. Learning Formations could be useful to me, but I simply didn't have the time. I had loads of things to master already, I didn't need more distractions on my way. 'I doubt Fox would be there anyway, she is a warrior after all. Now that I think about it, do Formation Masters actually fight?' I thought. I didn't know, but maybe I would find out in the future. As the saying goes, "Who knows what the future holds?". I didn't know where Fox lived, therefore the only solution was to ask the people on the streets.

Some of them gave me weird looks, and didn't answer. Some would look at me, and laugh. 'What the hell is wrong with these people? They can't even answer a simple question' I thought. I soon realised why people laughed, or didn't answer. When I asked a middle aged woman about Fox, she snorted and asked "What, another one of her admirers?". 'Why the hell would she say that?' I thought, shook my head and replied "No, she is a friend of mine. Can you tell me where I can find her?".

The woman laughed, while responding "Friend? Good one. Anyway. Yea, I will tell you where to find your sweetheart". She then pointed at the huge building, and said "This is where you will find her". I nodded my head, and asked "Is that the Academy?". She looked at me, as if looking at an idiot, and replied "You need to ask about that? What else could it be? A large pub? Yes, It's the Academy. You must be some country boy, if you don't even know that". I didn't reply to that, and simply thanked her.

'Turns out, she really does live there. I never saw her doing Formations or anything of that sort. I wonder why?' I thought. I made my way to the Academy, but the entry was not so simple. A few youngsters stopped me at the gate, and asked "Where is your pass?". I was confused, and asked "Pass?". One guy nodded, and replied "Yes, pass. Without it, you cannot enter". I made up a lie on the spot, and said "Oh! I forgot to take it, I will bring it back soon". They shook their heads, while one of them asked "How can you be careless like this?…".

I bid them farewell, and began thinking. 'So I need a pass. Hmm… I need to catch one unfortunate guy, and just take it from him' I thought. I could scale the walls, and enter like this, but I also wasn't stupid. 'This is Academy for Formation Masters, I doubt I could just scale the walls, and nothing would stop me. Otherwise, a few youngsters at the gate, wouldn't be the only security' I thought. Getting a pass might've been a problem, but then I realised these people wore specific attire. 'Good, I just need to find a guy with such clothes, and the rest is simple' I thought, and observed the people on the streets.

I chose a specific spot, with a few side alleys, near the main street that was leading to the Academy. I soon found a fat boy walking towards the Academy. His attire was not the same, compared with the youngsters at the gate. It looked more simple… and a bit more dirty. From what I could see, food leftovers was the answer.

I grabbed the guy, and disappeared into one of the side alleys. With a few quick taps on his pressure points, he fainted. I searched his body. After a while I realised that, I didn't know how that pass looked like. As I rummaged through everything, I came up with an idea. 'These people are trying to become Formation Masters, then perhaps the pass, has a Formation' I thought. I tried activating a Formation on every item, that the fat guy had on him.

Finally, after a while of searching, I managed to find the pass. It was a feather, black and white in colour. 'It turns out there is a Formation on it, but I can't fully activate it for some reason. Anyway, I have the pass' I thought. I took the clothes as well, just in case. I didn't want to wear them, and they wouldn't fit me anyway. The guy would stay asleep for a few hours, if no one searched for him, he would stay there. 'This should be enough' I thought, and headed towards the Academy.

When the youngsters saw me again, they asked "Finally got your pass?". I nodded my head, and said "Here it is". One guy extended his hand, and waited. I passed him the feather, and waited. He activated the Formation, then looked at me after a while. He said "Your pass says that you weight much more".

'Bad idea, to steal from a fat guy' I thought, and said "Yyyy… You know how parents are. Father forced me to starve and train, not to bring him shame… so these are the results". I had no idea whether that would work or not, but then I continued "I have my clothes, but they are oversized. That is why I'm not wearing them". I showed them the clothes as well. The guy nodded his head in understanding, and said "You can get new clothes, although you will have to pay for them. Because this is the case, we will allow you to enter without the uniform. Make sure you go to the office, and report your weight loss. They will issue another uniform for you".

He returned the feather to me, and allowed me to enter. 'I can't believe that actually worked' I thought, and stepped forward. Suddenly, something activated, and I froze into place. I could see and hear everything, but I couldn't move. The guy that just checked my pass, said "Did you really think, I'm that stupid? The pass has an image of the original owner. What did you do to him?".

I sighed, and said "He is asleep, in one of the alleys not far away. I just want to visit a friend, I don't have any passes". He replied "Then you are an idiot. You could just go to the office outside, and apply for a visitor's pass. You broke the law, and you will be punished for that. Someone will take you for interrogation soon". 'Haaah… How could I know, there was a visitor's pass. I am new here god damn it!' I thought.

Soon, a few people arrived, attached something to my back and grabbed me. They escorted me inside, not outside, which was a plus. 'Anyway. I can always escape somehow, if they really insist on pushing the boundaries' I thought. I was taken to some sort of building. We went downstairs into the basement, and then into one of the rooms. There were two chairs and one table inside. They sat me down on one, and left. I still couldn't move, probably due to the thing they attached to my back.

An elder man walked inside after a while, and sat opposite of me. He asked "Why did you try to break in? Don't you know that attacking a student from our Academy, is heavily punishable?". I smiled, and said "Look, he is alright, nothing happened to him. He won't even have bruises. I only want to visit a friend. I've never been to this city, so how the hell should I know, there was a visitor's pass?". He kept his stone face, and asked another question "Who did you come to visit?". I replied "Fox. At least, that is how she introduced herself".

The guy just shook his head, and asked "Are you another crazy admirer of her?". I was fed up with being called admirer, so I said "What is your problem people? Why do you always assume, I'm some sort of admirer of her. I'm a friend, I don't admire her. She can't have friends?". The guy was taken aback, and said "No, she can". After a short pause, he asked "Why should I believe you?". I looked at him, and said "You don't have to. Bring Fox here, and if she doesn't recognise me, you can do whatever you like. How's that for you?".

He asked "What if that was your motive from the beginning?". I was lost for words. 'Are these people alright? You come here to visit a friend, and they all act, as if I came to murder a prince… Is she a princess?' I thought. I replied, "Just tell her, her friend from the North came to visit. Is this too much to ask?". He thought about it, and said "Alright, I will go there myself. You will stay here". He then left the room, while I sat there paralyzed.

'Although I can't move or even use my Aura, I wonder if I can use my ice powers' I thought. Because I had nothing better to do, I decided to test it. I tried releasing my ice power, and to my surprise it worked. 'Maybe I can freeze that thing on my back. I don't trust that guy, will he actually go and find her?' I thought. I might've been wrong, but I preferred to have mobility, in case I wasn't.

I increased the intensity, until the room was so cold, I had a hard time sitting in there. As I was about to stop, I heard a "Crack!", followed by more cracking sounds, and then something broke. I could move again, but I was stiff from all that coldness. I immediately stopped using my ice power, and moved around a bit to warm myself up. 'So cold… At least it worked, now I have my mobility back. Let's see what happens next' I thought.