บท 4: Chapter 2-3: Hevron Academy

Yu stepped forward as even Auria bowed with respect. The Vice principal and all the other battlemages followed her lead as they also greeted him with respect and some fear.

Yu was wearing his dark blue uniform and carrying his tachi, resting in its scabbard, in his left hand. His cloak and hair softly fluttered with a non-existent wind.

Murmurs swept through the courtyard. Everyone was shocked, the First was possibly the most secretive and least known among all the battlemages. His last public appearance was five years ago, during the exile of that one man.

Yu waited for the excitement to die down before speaking.

"Be ever vigilant, as though the world is a battlefield. These are the words of the Oracle, who founded this academy. Heed her words, as they apply perfectly to our present lives. Do not let this fragile peace distract you from your goal." He paused and placed his hand on his heart.

"I don't have any words of wisdom for you, only a simple suggestion." His gaze met with Ren's and he smiled. "Don't compare yourself to anyone. Each of you are strong in your own way. Go at your own pace and you will find your path eventually. And until you do, don't ever stop."

He looked behind, at Principal Auria. "I'll be taking my leave, Auria."

Principal Auria bowed and nodded. "It was an honour, sir."

He walked down the stairs. The crowd quickly moved away, opening a path towards the academy gates.

"I can't believe we actually got to see the First." Aiden whispered as he and Ren also backed away.

"…Yeah." Ren silently said. He couldn't believe it; Yu had actually come. He felt so happy.

As Yu passed by them, Ren felt just a tiny bit of mana reach out to him. As it reached him, he heard a faint whisper. "I'm proud of you."

"Thanks" Ren whispered after Yu. He watched him until he was out of sight.

"…Ren?" Aiden tapped his shoulder. "Come on, the ceremony is over. Are you ok? You're pale again."

"I'm fine, just… too many people, too much mana." Ren sighed and massaged his temples. "I'll get used to it soon enough." He looked around. Most of the students were leaving. The instructors and Principal Auria had already left. The Vice Principal was standing by the door. There was a small crowd of students surrounding him.

"Let's get you somewhere quieter then." Aiden grabbed his arm and dragged him off towards the northern side of the academy grounds. "There is a shortcut to the dorms here." He grinned. "My uncle is a Hevron graduate, he told me all about the academy and its little secrets."

"Convenient," Mumbled Ren as they walked among the trees. As the noise died down, the two slowed down as well. As there wasn't quite as much mana around them anymore, Ren could feel his senses calm. "Does your uncle serve in the military?" He now regretted not using his mana to enhance his vision back then. Maybe he had met him in the inner keep.

"No, he serves the Council." Aiden softly said. "Oh, don't get me wrong though," He quickly explained. "He's not a High Mage. He just directly works under the Council."

Ren flinched. "I see."

Aiden shot him a questioning look, but didn't say anything. They walked the rest of the way in an awkward silence. Ren could feel his body tense up. The High Council was the highest governing entity for all magic users. Even the Archmage had to obey their orders. Ren bit his lower lip as unpleasant memories surfaced.

"We're here." Aiden's voice pulled him away from his thoughts. "The room assignments should be posted on the notice board in the common room."

The dorms were located behind the main building, towards the northeast. They were visible from most of the northern side of the academy grounds. It was an older building, not quite as fancy as the main building but the weathered stones reminded Ren of the Inner Keep. It had a small bell tower, though the bell was probably not functional anymore.

The interior wasn't much different from the main buildings. The walls were lined with tapestries and expensive paintings. There were several comfortable couches arranged in several small groups. While most of them were empty now, it was clearly going to be a rather popular place for people to sit and chat.

"I expected less… extravagance." Ren looked around at all the decorations. "Is this really… a proper environment to learn things?"

Aiden just shrugged and approached the notice board. "Ah, here it is." A long list was hung up. "I'm rooming with… some guy from Class III and two guys from Class II." He sounded a bit disappointed.

"Four people?" Ren asked in surprise. "Looks like peace and quiet will be rare." Now he felt anxious. He didn't think he could handle sharing a room with three more people. Just constantly sensing their mana would be horrible.

"Yeah…" Aiden frowned as he searched the list for Ren's name. "Oh, here you are." He furrowed his brows. "Wait… The bell tower room?" He ran his hand through his hair. "And you're not sharing it with anyone?"

Ren felt his anxiety disappear. "I guess I'm lucky?" He smiled. Not having to share a room meant he'd have his own safe place here. Somewhere he could escape to when things got too bad. Somewhere to cool his head and gather his thoughts.

"By the moon, yes!" Aiden exclaimed. "I'm actually jealous. Tell me Ren, what strings did you pull to get the bell tower room?"

"None!" Ren quickly said. "I told you, I literally have no influence whatsoever. I guess I just got lucky." He paused. "Or they arranged it like this out of pity." He regretted his words as soon as they left his mouth.

"Pity? What are you talking about?" Aiden seemed genuinely surprised. Ren just shook his head. "Ah, it's nothing important. It all works out well, that's what matters, right?" He awkwardly laughed.

"You know I'm not letting you change the subject, right?" Aiden's tone wasn't as playful and happy as a few moments ago. It was filled with curiosity. His expression darkened as he followed Ren to the bell tower. "What did you mean by that?"

Ren sighed. He shouldn't have said anything. The entrance to the bell tower was on the second floor. As they passed the other rooms, Ren pointed at one of them and asked. "Shouldn't you check out your own room?"

"Not until you answer me." Aiden insisted. He wasn't letting Ren change the subject. Ren groaned and kept walking. He… really didn't want to share too much with Aiden. Or with anyone, for that matter. He didn't want his new friend to worry about him. Or to fear him. He had one chance to make friends, he couldn't risk throwing this away.

He stopped when he reached a dark coloured wooden door. It was located at the northern part of the dorms. He pushed the door and entered his new room. "A lot more spacious than I thought." Aiden mumbled as he followed Ren inside.

It was a spacious, circular room. It had only one narrow window, facing north. There was a narrow bed, an old wooden wardrobe, a desk, and a chair decorating the room. "And empty." Added Aiden with an uncertain tone.

"It's good." Ren smiled. "I'm glad." He approached the window. He could see the northern courtyard from here. And the barrier. He squinted, trying to make out some details beyond the barrier. "No way, huh? It's still so blurry." Even when enhancing his vision, he couldn't see anything more than some basic shapes.

"What is it?" Aiden approached him.

"I was just trying to see beyond the barrier." Ren smiled. "I guess I'll have to wait a bit more to be able to see that view."

"Why?" Aiden seemed confused.

"What do you mean?"

"Why do you want to see the outside? It's deadly out there."

"I…" Ren paused. "Wait, aren't you curious? About what's out there?" He asked in surprise. How could anyone not want to know more?

"I am. But I can learn everything I wish from the library. I don't need to see it myself, do I?" Aiden explained as if it was completely normal. "You don't need to risk your life just to learn more about the outside, Ren. We can't go around throwing our lives away."

"So what?" Ren asked. "Are we supposed to live our lives cowering behind the barrier? I can't do that Aiden, I have to see it out there. I want to." He paused. He was shouting. "I…I'm sorry." He quickly lowered his voice. Aiden was taken aback by his outburst. "I didn't mean to shout, I'm sorry."

"It's fine…" Aiden spoke after a few seconds of silence. "I'm glad." He smiled.

"What?" Confused, Ren stared at Aiden as he headed out. "Wait, what do you mean?"

"I'll see you tomorrow morning." The young noble waved at Ren as he closed the door. Ren stood there, dumbfounded. He wasn't expecting Aiden to say something like that. It didn't make any sense either. He replayed the conversation in his head as he unpacked his luggage that was delivered and placed in his room.

* * *

Aiden let his smile disappear after he closed the door to the young man's room. At first, he did really approach him because he seemed to have quite a lot of influence. But now, he had taken a liking to the mysterious boy. He seemed so naïve and innocent. His speech, his constant amazement of the riches of the academy were so pure and honestly fun to watch.

But when in the presence of the battlemages, the young man seemingly became someone else. His immediate salute to Warthorn and Silverwing, his demeanour and posture as he fought Tesfel… Aiden couldn't really put his finger on it, but something about Ren just felt off.

"Damn it! He totally derailed the conversation!" He hit his palm with his fist as he suddenly remembered their short conversation right before they entered Ren's room. "I'm an idiot…" He mumbled to himself.

"Lord Condor, is everything alright?" A young girl asked. She was the blonde girl he had seen with Tesfel before. She had a worried expression. She must have had seen him act weird just now.

"Yeah, everything's fine." He lied and quickly changed the subject. "Excuse me for my rudeness, but I don't think I caught your name earlier."

"Oh, I'm Lena Nirei." She smiled. Quite a beauty, Aiden thought.

"I'm Aiden Condor, a pleasure to meet you." He bowed his head. "If you excuse me, I should go and meet with my roommates."

"Of course, I should also get going." She quickly turned around and headed to her room. Aiden sighed, then looked at the room plaques. "Number 4, let's see…"

His room was on the farthest edge of the second floor. "Too bad," He mumbled. He actually was hoping that it'd be closer to the bell tower. "Nothing to be done about it…" He said as he pushed the wooden door.

It was a smaller room than Ren's. There were four beds, four desks, four chairs… Four of everything. Aiden wasn't the first to come here either. His roommates -three guys the same age as him- were already here. Two of them were nearly identical looking. Blonde, wavy hair, blue eyes, and sharp chins. The other one had brown hair and eyes and was really tall.

"Oh, the last one's here." The tall guy spoke with an emotionless voice. "Nice to meet you. I'm Alex. This side of the room is mine. Don't touch my things." He gestured towards one of the beds on the left side of the room. He laid down as soon as he finished speaking and closed his eyes.

Well, Aiden thought, he's rather direct. He nodded and introduced himself before glancing at the other two. "… And may I ask for your names?"

They simultaneously grinned. "Edward Rush."

"Alfred Rush."

"Nice to meet you, eldest son of the Condor family." Edward said with a sinister look on his face.

"Nice to meet you as well." Aiden slowly spoke. He always believed he was good at reading people. These two were clearly not a threat. Their overly mysterious act was nothing more than that - an act. Alex was a different story though. He had probably already seen through the Rush brothers' act. Aiden was going to have to keep an eye on him.

"Oh yeah! We saw you with that weird guy during the ceremony." Alfred said. He was playing with a small dagger, twirling it around his finger. Aiden released a tiny strand of his mana and examined the dagger with it. He could sense Alfred's mana from it. It was his conduit.

Rather careless, he though to himself. If possible, it was always best to hide one's conduit. Unfortunately, Aiden couldn't do it as his was a broadsword. He quickly made a mental note to check that tachi Ren was carrying the next time they met.

"What weird guy?" Aiden carefully asked. He was obviously talking about Ren, but bluffing and feigning ignorance was the best course of action right now. He didn't want to give them any information.

"The guy who beat Tesfel." Edward grinned. "The one who knew Warthorn."

"Oh," Aiden said. With a fake smile, he acted as if he just understood what they said. "You mean Ren?"

Alfred nodded. "He's a bit weird, don't you think?" He threw the dagger and caught it with his other hand. "I wonder who he is…"

"No idea." Aiden shrugged and started unpacking his belongings. "Why are you so interested in him? Isn't he just a no name?" He carefully said. He felt slightly annoyed. Why were these twins so interested in his-

"Eh, just curious." Alfred sheathed his dagger and jumped on his bed. "It's late, let's sleep." His voice reflected his disappointment just a little bit.

"Yeah." Aiden said as he finished unpacking. He glanced out the window. The moonlight was illuminating the outside, but the barrier was blurring everything, making it impossible to see any details.

Why are you so interested in the outside, Ren?