Mentality of a mage (OC)

[Skelly_Boi]

I decided to post one of my stories here, the other is on hiatus as I find the setting boring. This one is inspired by Polyhistor Academy, mostly on mechanics. I really recommend reading that btw.

---

A dry, cold wind was blowing above the streets of an old, forgotten town. The withering silence of the night was only broken by a few stray dogs, fighting for almost rotten food, and the whispering of the wind.

And in this wind, unnoticed by anyone, was an ethereal cloud, almost as if thought given form, flowing like a piece of wood in the ocean, undisturbed by the birds flying through it, and ignoring all the architecture in its wake, until it reaches a certain someone. An orphan, so malnourished his ribs seem to almost poke through his skin, sleeping on a few pieces of cloth in a moldy wooden room, so degraded by the years that it did little to stop the wind.

As the cloud touched the kid, inclined to do so by nothing other than chance, it quickly enters his body, fusing with his soul, and so, he wakes up.

"A mortal?" The kid says, not even bothering to move, merely opening his eyes and looking around, analyzing the room he is in "And such a deplorable one at that, they truly do not care about the ones that are to come next? For ones with such a limited lifespan… but now is not the time, I have things more important than contemplating the nature of mortals."

Self-analysis (-1 Focus)
9/10 Focus

"As expected, focus and mental power have no correlation with memory, which explains why my parallel minds collapsed, probably a self-defense mechanism so the brain isn't damaged. I will have to work this body up from almost nothing, I can't believe I managed to get myself killed by… by…" As he tries to remember the words, the boy finally moves, lifting his torso off the ground, grunting from pain, and using one of his arms to cover the side of his head and the other to hold himself up "Shit, I'm losing my original memories… well, those aren't 'original' since this isn't my body. I guess this leaves only one option… at least this way I can leave something behind." Then closing his eyes again, he furrows his brows to concentrate, and the air around him seemly stops, as if the space itself has been affected by whatever he did.

Magical awakening (-1 Focus)
8/10 Focus

"Yes, finally, to encrypt the techniques before I forget them."

Mental Lock (-5 Focus)
3/10 Focus
Mental Fatigue (minor)
Effect of Mental Fatigue (minor) has been canceled due to the 'Master of Self' Trait

"Shit." The boy says, falling on his back, covered in sweat "Just that took so much effort, you brat better be grateful. Now, what should I do with the rest? The kid does seem a little… passive in life, understandable for someone growing up so close to the front, but certainly not someone I want to inherit my knowledge, I guess I can change that. I could modify his memory to change his personality or… I could try something better; if it works. Lucky kid… And remember, child! Go towards the bright light falling from the sky! There you will find… Something. I've forgotten what by now, but I know it will change your life for the better."

Mind Alteration (-3 Focus)
0/10 Focus
Trait gained: Power Altered
Mental Fatigue (Extreme)
Effect of Mental Fatigue (Extreme) has been reduced by Master of Self Trait

Then, the child fell asleep, overwhelmed by exhaustion, his mind overtaxed. Yet that same mind shall soon find itself experiencing more than it ever thought possible.

—

Sleep (+10 Focus)
10/10 Focus

Waking up with a powerful headache, the kid tried recalling what had occurred that night. He could remember it, despite the memories of whoever that was disappearing, the ones of what happened were his. But even then, he could not understand what had happened. Years of little to no interaction with others, only to occasionally beg for food whenever he'd see someone in this deserted town, had left him with very low thinking skills. However, the one thing he knew was that he should follow a 'light'. What that light was he had yet to figure out, however, but he'd do anything if it meant something better than struggling to survive every day, assuming the one from yesterday was to be trusted of course.

So, he went outside, a little later than he would usually wake up, probably due to the blackout he had. But, before he could try and search for a way to get food, yet again like all the other days in the past, he saw it, the light. Falling from the sky, maybe a few hundred meters away, was a beacon of light. Whatever that was, it was clear that it must be the 'light' that was mentioned, so he started heading towards it without thinking further.

There were few people on the way, as this wasn't a very active area, most being the same as him, struggling to survive day after day in the slums, but as he got close to the light, he realized he could not hear anyone no more. Looking around, people would, for some reason, either turn around or take another route when reaching a certain point.

After the final turn in the road, no longer hidden by the row of houses, he could see what the light pointed at. The alley was relatively clean, almost as if untouched, with no trash or bugs. And in the middle, there were 2 people, a man, and a woman, standing around a small stone disk, which was right in the middle of the beacon. Both of them were weird looking, as the woman had vibrant, red hair seemingly flowing from her head, and wore a red-brown robe, while the man has short, yellow hair and wore a simple blue shirt and a leather vest. These types of clothing, and these hair colors, are not something the boy has seen before.

Taking notice of him, the woman turned to look at him and smirked before speaking "Look, Nik! We got a wild one after all!"

With a snort, Nik replied "Really, Amy? Why do you have to word it that way? And why assume so fast that he's…" But before continuing, he finally takes a look at the kid.

"Well, he doesn't strike me as a young mage that got lost, does he-" Amy replies, before getting interrupted by him.

"Yea yea, I got it. No need to deepen the wound now." Nik said as he started walking towards the boy. "Now, kid, just stand still for a second…"

Then, he put his hand on the boy's face as he simply stood there, not knowing what to do, and closed his eyes for almost a minute, before getting up again and facing the woman.

"11 years old, orphan, can't find parents in his memories. Oh, and his name is Sebastian." He said as he closed his eyes with a smirk.

"Got it, anything abnormal? Or is it a natural awakening?" Amy asked as she crossed her arms.

"That's how it looks. Went to sleep, woke up, and suddenly started seeing magic." Nik nodded, his smile growing even more, but Sebastian was still unable to figure out the reason. "I already called for transport. We'll finally finish this task."

"You tell me, I didn't even have to go with you, but you kept talking about being ambushed like the silver spoon kid you are." She snickered, amused.

"Can you stop with this? There's no reason to mock me at every opportunity, and we're near the front, you should…" But before being able to finish, a man covered entirely by a dark robe, wearing a blank white mask appeared in front of him. "Oh, you got here…"

"Is this the wild awakened?" The masked man asked him.

"Yes. I read hi-"

Then, Sebastian couldn't hear him anymore, as he was inside a room, with the masked man in front of him talking.

"Someone will arrive soon to guide you further. Wait." And then he was gone, disappearing without a trace, the same way he appeared. And despite looking directly at him, Sebastian found it quite hard to figure out exactly when exactly he disappeared. This whole day has been more confusing than a dream to him.

Looking around, Sebastian was situated inside a long hallway, wide enough for a few men to pass through shoulder to shoulder, with doors on either end and a few on the sides. The door he was situated next to also had a few chairs near, but before he could figure out their purpose, said door opened, and a young man with dark-brown hair greeted him.

"Oh, you're Sebastian, right? Come inside, sorry for the confusion you must be facing, Adam… the masked man you saw, really doesn't like this job." He said as his eyes drifted off for a few seconds before focusing again on Sebastian "Regardless, come. There's one more person that arrived in the same situation as you, so you're not alone, don't worry."

Inside, Sebastian indeed saw another kid, a little older than him, but despite that, and the clothes on him being actual clothes and not rags, he was normal looking, sporting a confused and innocent look, probably just like he was. The room looked like an office, but much higher in quality than he has ever seen, with shelves full of books, and a desk with 2 wooden chairs for the other kid and himself to sit on. As the man closed the door behind him and sat on the opposite side, he began speaking.

"Hello to you two, my name is Markus, a teacher at the academy you are currently in, but please call me Mark. As both of you might have noticed, strange things have begun happening around you, but they were simply things you weren't able to see before, like the beacon of light that brought you here. That, kids, was due to magic. Unfortunately, magic is a very dangerous tool, so you have been brought here to be taught how to use it, otherwise, you pose a danger to yourselves and others, so you will have to stay here for a while. At the Venesicia Academy."

 

[Skelly_Boi]

Almost an hour after the teacher, Mark, began explaining about the remedial classes and the things provided by the academy to Sebastian and the other kid, whose name he had yet to learn, they were both given a small book about the school that they could read before their 'remedial classes' began and a map of the campus. There was, however, an obvious problem.

"I don't know how to read." Sebastian spoke for the first time since coming to this strange place.

"Oh, yeah, I should've guessed. Sorry, we don't receive a lot of people like y- in a similar situation to you very often. I will talk with the staff to get you an… English teacher, I guess? Regardless, don't worry, as long as you have the will we can teach you anything." Mark said as his face started to brighten. "Now, I'll bring you to the temporary rooms you'll be using before the year begins in a few weeks. Then, tomorrow you'll be given the schedule. Follow me."

As Mark led them through the hallway, they exited through the door at the far end of it, entering a very big open area, similar to a park, with trees, small roads made out of stone tiles, and benches. Looking at the building they just came out of, Sebastian was briefly stunned by its size, as it extended hundreds of meters in each direction, and was a few stories tall, before quickly running towards Mark as he'd walked a few dozen meters already.

After walking for what felt like half an hour, the path already half-forgotten by Sebastian, they reached a much smaller building, but still reaching what he'd guess was 3 stories high.

"This is the housing area for guests, most of the time it's empty, such as now, so we use them for the awakened like you, as we don't get more than 3 or 4 every year. You will be moved into the first-year dorms in 1 week when most of the students start coming. Tom, you're staying in room 1, Sebastian you're in room 2. If you've brought any items with you they should be in there by now. Someone will come tomorrow at 8 to take you to your first day of remedial classes, you have uniforms in the closet. Now, those won't be with me as I have normal classes to attend, but don't worry, all the other teachers are very nice. Oh, and before I forget, you shouldn't wander on the campus, it can be pretty dangerous sometimes. If you need something there should be a staff room in the guest building." As he finished, Mark gave each one of them a key before saying his goodbyes and leaving.

Without talking to the other boy, who had been looking at him for a while, Sebastian entered his own room, not knowing what to expect, but still shocked as he saw multiple rooms. He had a bathroom, bedroom, kitchen, and living room all for himself. Never before in his life has he seen such a great home, and now he had one fully to himself.

He ran to the kitchen and opened the fridge. One of the things he remembers Markus talking about was how there was a 'fridge' in their kitchens that should already have some food, and it was true. He didn't know how most of those items were named, but either way, he started eating until he felt sick. Never before had he been so happy. He almost cried, but before he could, he sat on the bed and fell asleep. This has been a very exhausting day for him, not physically, but mentally.

___

Waking up way before sunrise, Sebastian started exploring his room, something he had never thought he'd do. There was, of course, the bed, which he already knew as he had the best sleep of his life in it. In front of it was a big desk, with a wooden chair, and a smaller bookshelf, almost empty with the exception of a few books whose titles he couldn't read. The only other things in the room were a switch on the wall, and after hesitating for a while before flipping it, he jumped as the sudden light surprised him, and a closet, with a few clothes, neatly folded, and a single coat-rack, holding a uniform.

Changing into the uniform, he looked at himself in a body-size mirror on one of the closet's doors. This was the first time he wore such beautiful clothes. As he breathed a few deep breaths of air to calm down his emotion, Sebastian flinched as someone knocked on the door. The 'staff' Mark spoke of was here. Quickly moving to open the door, he was faced with a boy older than both himself and Tom. He'd say he was 16 or maybe 17.

"Sebastian, right?" He asked, waiting a little for him to nod before continuing "I'm Mathew, I've been sent to show you the way to the remedial classes. Follow me." Mathew said as he motioned for him to follow with his hand. Sebastian also saw Tom out, and they both started walking behind their guide.

"You both must be really confused right?" he said with a chuckle.

"Yes, my dad just told me to follow the people that brought me here." Tom said, suddenly more talkative now that he was faced with someone closer to his age.

"Don't worry, it's hard to explain things in just a few minutes, so rather than try and leave you both more confused, they'll slowly let you learn the basics. I think. I and most others just grow up around magic." Mathew explained to them, as they finally reached a smaller building, this one missing any extra floors. "This is where remedial classes are. It's usually used as a room for training… certain types of magic, but after the end of the year, it's turned into this. Now, you should go inside, I think the teacher assigned to you two has arrived already." He finished as he waved at them "Hopefully we'll see each other soon, bye now!"

As they entered the building, they saw a normal class with only a few desks, all empty, and in the front, on a platform elevated a few dozen centimeters, stood an older man. Despite seeing all different types of hair colors recently, Sebastian had the feeling that dark green was an even less normal one.

"Hello kids, I'm Vernon. Now, I've heard you want to learn magic?" The old man said as he smiled, the sight of which scared both of them a little. "Let's see how you'll do."

~~~

"So, why do we need to do this?" Sebastian asked as both kids stood down on two small mats.

"To use magic, you use your mind, and spellcasting is something very taxing on the mind. Even the easiest of spells would make a normal human faint. This is why meditation is something vital, you increase your mental capacity, your focus."

"So you're not going to explain to us what magic even is?" Tom asked as he relaxed his joints before getting back in a meditative position.

"Of course not. That would be like trying to explain what electricity is to someone that never heard of it." Vernon said as he shook his head.

"Electricity?" Sebastian asked him.

"..." Vernon looked at him before shaking his head and pointing at him "This reminds me, you're staying here after we're done. You're having general education next. Now, get back to meditating! Don't waste time!"

Sebastian closed his eyes again, this time seriously trying to follow the meditation technique Vernon taught them. It was different from the meditation he'd heard about in the past, he didn't empty his mind, instead what he was supposed to do was focus on a mental image, whatever it was, even imagining a sound or taste would work, and that would train the mind.

He didn't have any idea what he should focus on, so he simply looked at the darkness of his now-closed eyelids, and tried to create a shape there. He didn't care about that, what he cared about was only succeeding in this.

Meditation Unlocked
Meditation (-5 Focus)
5/10 Focus
Mental fatigue (minor)
1d10 = 10 >= 10 (Success)
+1 Maximum Focus
Power Altered: Auto success
Trait gained: Stillness - +1 Focus when meditating
6/10 Focus
Mental fatigue nullified

And, surprisingly, succeed he did. He could feel his mind becoming… more. He wasn't smarter, or more perceptive, his mind was simply more…enduring.

As he opened his eyes, expecting dizziness he'd been warned happens when you first try meditation, he noticed that everything was normal. But Vernon was looking at him with a shocked expression.

"Did you succeed on the first try?" He asked, and as he saw him nod his head he continued "Hmm… pretty rare, but not unheard of. No, what's almost unheard of is you do not have any backlash from the meditation, no mental fatigue at all, I can see how clear your eyes are. Are you sure you never meditated before?"

"No, I've barely heard of meditation before, and not at all in the way you've taught me. But…" Sebastian trails of

"Huh? Noticed something weird? Please continue what you were going to say."

"I've felt… when the meditation finished, the feeling of it made me feel… more refreshed." Sebastian said

"I see… That explains a few things. Doing things we like, that relax us, can help recharge our focus. Now, it differs from person to person, but a wizard that recharges focus when meditating, sometimes even more than he expends, isn't unheard of. Usually, those things develop over time, but I guess there were a few that had such a thing happen when they started. After all, not much is known about the start of a wizard's career." Vernon contemplated, and soon after he finished, Tom also opened his eyes.

"How did you do, kid?" Vernon asked, a little expectation in his eyes.

"I feel tired…" Tom said as his shoulders slumped a little.

"Ah, well, to be expected. Do not worry, seeing the effect of meditation takes time. Now, you should meditate once every day from now on, or if you feel good you can try doing it more, but don't try to push it too far. If you're feeling tired like now, DO NOT DO IT!" Vernon said, raising his voice at the end "If you empty all of your focus, you risk falling into a coma for a few days. Now, you can take your leave."

"I understand, thank you." Tom said before lifting himself up from the mat and leaving the class.

"Now, Sebastian." Vernon said to him "The same applies to you. Just increasing your mental capacity once means little. After all, the rest of the kids you'll be meeting when the school year starts would have meditated since they started speaking."

"Of course. And, thank you for teaching me." Sebastian said as he bowed his head a little to show his appreciation.

"This is my job, kid, don't think much of it. Really, there are some teachers you really shouldn't feel indebted to here. Now, I'm going to take my leave." Vernon exited but before closing the door he continued "This was the fun part, now good luck learning." He smirked as he left.

 

[Skelly_Boi]

A few minutes after the old man had left, someone opened the door to the classroom and slightly peeked in.

"You're Sebastian, right? I didn't get the wrong class?" The woman at the door asked, her voice nervous, accentuated by her small stature, which made Sebastian feel at ease as he wasn't the only one feeling that way here.

"Yes…um…" Sebastian answered, he wanted to address the lady but didn't know what word to use, so he stayed silent rather than potentially insult her. He had experienced that a few times, mostly from people more well-dressed, which everyone here was.

"Oh, great. Oh! My name is Anabelle, you can call me Miss Anabelle. I will be your - uh… teacher, let's leave it at that. I'm supposed to teach you writing and reading primarily, and other things children your age should know secondarily, does that sound right?" She asked, a genuine question rather than an ironic one. From someone as high status as a teacher, he would have never expected one to ask whether they are wrong or not.

"Um, yes." Sebastian answered quickly, despite not being sure about the second part of the question, as he was not informed about what he was supposed to learn here.

"Great, great. Excuse me for that, I'm not really used to this whole magic thing. I've been here for a few months only." Anabelle said, much calmer now. "Now, let's continue, first of all, can you tell me about yourself?"

"Uh… I don't know. What should I say?"

"Well, do you know anyone? What do you do daily? Those types of things." She answered, some pity in her voice.

"I… don't know that many people. There were some that I met more than one time, but most of them didn't like me or want to talk." Sebastian stopped a little to think about what more to say, looking down while doing so before looking at her again "As for what I do… Mostly look around to see if anyone has anything to give me, or if there's anything I could take, like leftovers or clothes I can exchange."

"I see. So I get you don't talk to many people, so I'll also have to teach you some more vocabulary." Anabelle moved towards the blackboard before she quickly turned to look at him "Ah, that means the words used in a language since you probably didn't know." She explained before grabbing a piece of chalk and writing "Now, I'll begin by teaching you the alphabet and what sound corresponds with what letter, so pay attention…"

Learning: English
1d4+5 / 2 = 9/2 = 4.5
4/10
Linguistics (F-)
4/100

For the next hour, Anabelle began explaining to him how to read different symbols, and the order they were arranged in this "alphabet". He managed to learn the order of the sounds in it, yet not how all the symbols looked. He could match most of the simple ones, but if asked to write a sound he'd fail 9 out of 10 times. No wonder everyone looks up to teachers, Sebastian thought, if it's so complicated just to read he would never be as smart as them…

"Well done!" Anabelle excitedly said "With how things are going you should learn reading and writing by the end of the week… Oh, do you know what a week is?"

"Yes, 7 days, and they have names. Today is…" Sebastian trailed off, looking away as he felt a little shame. He'd just been praised after all and now he didn't know something so simple.

"It's Thursday. So, we'll see each other tomorrow, I'm going to give you this illustration of the alphabet so you can practice it in your room." She opened her briefcase and took said illustration before giving it to him, and moved to leave before seeing how Sebastian stood in his place "You don't have any more classes right? Come on." She motioned for him to follow, and after he walked out of the door she finally started moving towards the opposite side where the guest rooms were located "Remember to practice!"

___

After around half an hour, Sebastian managed to find his way back to his room. He had tried using the campus map, yet that only made things worse as he didn't know how to use such a thing.

Finally back, he had something to eat and stopped to think about what do to next. He never had 'free time' to choose what to do, and was afraid of wasting said time now. At least he only had to choose between learning English and meditating, maybe once. He could probably memorize the whole alphabet today, after all, it was barely noon, and he could meditate at night before sleep.

So, he spent the rest of the day studying non-stop, finding a few pens and pieces of paper in his room. With the excitement he felt from today's classes, he managed to do pretty well in the beginning, memorizing a few more letters, but eventually, he reached the later half, which he had problems with even saying, let alone writing, so he had to rack his brain to remember them. He thought about asking someone, maybe Tom, but he didn't want to intrude. And as the day was over and he started getting tired, he'd made little progress. He could only hope Miss Anabelle wouldn't be annoyed or think he was lazy.

As he yawned, seeing the sun has almost fallen down, Sebastian sat in his bed, relaxed. The old man, Vernon, had said that as long as they're relaxed any position should work for meditation, so he began, trying to imagine something over the darkness of his closed eyes. This time he didn't have the same feeling, of his brain becoming more, but he felt the strain, 'fatigue' as Vernon referred to it. He was in a much worse situation than Tom had been then. His whole body was shaking and his mind felt like it would break into pieces. So, with nothing else to do in such a situation, Sebastian fell asleep, hoping the feeling would abate by morning.

Meditation (-5 Focus)
Stillness: +1 Focus
2/11 Focus
Mental fatigue (severe)
1d10 = 7< 10 (failure)

Learning: English
4d4 / 2 = 4+1+1+4 / 2 = 5
9/10
Linguistics (F-)
9/100
___

Sleeping (+10 Focus)
11/11 focus

Waking up with a smile on his face, Sebastian felt more refreshed than ever. The feeling he had now was similar to how he felt when he woke up two days ago when someone spoke through his body and he fainted, except he was now in a bed, and was much less confused about what was going on.

After eating and using the room that had a weird toilet in it, and 'running water', he and Tom were once again guided to the class by Mathew, who said that he was their Senior. He didn't seem that old, Sebastian had only heard old men be addressed as such before, but he'd learned to just accept things here.

"So, how was your first day?" He asked them, a little interested yet most likely just wanting to make small talk.

"Ohh, we met this old man called Vernon, and he made us meditate, which made my head hurt, so I don't really see the point in that, but apparently Sebastian did something good, not sure. After that, I went to my room and read a cool book about the history of the academy. Are those… are those things true?" Tom started speaking very fast before ending with a question.

"Hmm? Oh, mostly yes, I think. It's been a while since I read that one, not really into history myself, I only did a little in my second year. There could be some slight exaggerations in the book you have, I think the author was a student when he wrote it." Mathew responded "And you should know that meditation may be hard but you won't reach far if you don't use it. Your mental capacity is very important unless you want to become a researcher or artificer. Those jobs usually have lower requirements in that area, I wanted to go into that in my first year but quickly changed my mind after taking pyromancy… you'll learn what that means soon. Oh anyways, here we are. See you tomorrow again." Mathew waved at them as he left them in front of their class again.

"So… how was yesterday for you?" Tom asked Sebastian

"Huh? Oh, me? I- uh, practiced some letters. The teacher said I should learn reading and writing by the end of the week."

"Cool. At least you had something to do. I read that history book, but I couldn't even get past page 50 due to how complicated it was…" Tom complained, before turning silent as finally, Vernon showed up.

~~~

"We're not meditating today?" Tom asked excitedly, as Vernon rolled his eyes before replying to him.

"No, you already know how to do that, no point in me observing over you. Do it in your free time. No, what we'll be doing today is I will be teaching you magic…"

"!!!"

"...theory" he ended with a smirk.

"So, not magic?" Sebastian asked.

"No, theory is… the knowledge we have about a subject. You can't just force your will onto the world without knowing some basic theory. The way we use magic is by focusing our will on interacting with the environment, which might sound simple, and to a certain degree is: you can learn a spell if someone spends hours describing the feeling they have to you, and you try repeating it until you get it right, but that would mean actually CASTING the spell, which at best will waste a huge amount of focus, and at worse will kill you due to errors. One of the reasons why magic was scarce until they started applying the scientific method to it… Regardless! Let's start by focusing on ways used to move our focus first…"

Sebastian and Tom listened as Vernon spoke about the secrets hidden beneath the acts they've seen others do as casually as breathing. From the man that found Sebastian that was able to read his mind with a touch, to the masked one that could disappear and appear from place to place in an instant, only now did they start to understand the complexity behind what they did, changing the world with their will.

And they could barely understand a thing.

Learning: Magic Theory
1d4+10 / 2 = 12 / 2 = 6
6/10

"So… hallucination is part of…" Tom asked before being interrupted by Vernon.

"No, 'visualisation'! It started with mimicry before they noticed that the motions weren't important but the image was… But hallucination can have a weird effect on magic, you learn that in psychology I believe." Vernon said before looking at his wrist "Oh, it seems we've run out of time. You can read "Magic 101" if you want, it covers the basics of magic theory. And, Tom! Remember to meditate! You two are really disadvantaged so you'll be struggling if you don't take this seriously." He finished, taking his leave.

"Well, uh, see you tomorrow then?" Tom spoke, before quickly continuing "Or we can talk after class! I can help you with… reading?"

"..." Sebastian simply stood there and ignored him, thinking.

"...uh, bye." Tom continued before he, too, left, just in time for the teacher, Miss Anabelle, to arrive "Oh! I mean, good morning miss!" He said before quickly walking away.

"Haha, kids. He is the other kid that came with you, right?" Anabelle asked Sebastian

"Yes." Sebastian responded. She looked at him for a few seconds before sighing.

"You don't understand him?"

"...not really. He doesn't seem… like me. He's smart, I can tell. He knows how to read, and he had a family. Yet we're… treated the same?"

Anabelle stood there for a while, deep in thought, before replying to him "You see, Sebastian, people can differ a lot, you struggled alone, while some may have had everything they could have wished for, they started with an advantage. But, in the end, how much one knows compared to others doesn't change who they are. You can always learn, and can always forget. Here, you have the same resources, so you see others as they are, not what they have, for the better or worse."

"...what?" Sebastian said plainly.

"Ahem, anyways, let's see how much you remember from yesterday!"

Learning: English
1d4+5 / 2 = 7 / 2 = 3.5
English unlocked
Reading is now available. Results from using books will be divided by 2 instead of 4, no quality bonuses apply.
Power Altered: 1d10 = 4 >= 10 (Failure)
Linguistics (F-)
12/100

 

[Skelly_Boi]

"So, this text says… door?" Sebastian said.

"Yes, well done. You got the basics done, now what's left is to practice. I have a few easier books I was planning to give to you, I'll bring them next time. Until then, try writing, so you get the shape of the letters right." Anabelle told him.

"Ok, I will." he nodded "And… thanks."

Anabelle smiled before answering him "Don't worry, it's not that much effort. I have other classes where I have to teach dozens of kids at once."

"Really? Does this school have that many students?" Sebastian looked at her with wide eyes.

"Oh, I was talking about before that. And there are many more students here. I'm not really sure how many, there are a lot of other classes. Now, I think we should be done for today, see you Sunday… Oh, yea, on Saturdays and Tuesdays you don't have classes with me, I have other appointments then. I'm not sure if someone else will come, you'll probably be announced tomorrow."

"I understand, thank you miss."

After walking back to his room, this time in only a few minutes, Sebastian stood again to think about his plan for today. He'd leave meditation for later that day, as he didn't think doing anything else while his brain was crying in pain would be a great idea. So, what was left was… trying to better his English? So, he got a pen and paper and started to write.

Better Caligraphy
2x 1d10 => 2, 4 < 15
2d4 = 3+1 = 4 insight gained

At first, he worked on individual letters, writing one 10 times before moving to the next, but then figured out that trying to write words would be more efficient, as it would also make writing in the future easier. He'd made progress, for sure, but as Anabelle said, this would take practice. He'd heard Tom say he'd read almost 50 pages of a book in a day. Just how much did he practice?

And again, as soon as it started to darken, Sebastian got into bed, sat in the most comfortable position he'd find, and started meditating.

Meditation (-10 Focus)
Stillness: +2 Focus
3/11 Focus
Mental fatigue (minor)
2x 1d10 = 8, 8 < 10 (failure)

After what seemed like an hour, Sebastian could feel his mind approaching the limit. He had not succeeded yet again, since the first time he had tried his luck seemed to go away. At least this time his brain didn't feel like exploding. Now he understood what Tom felt, both in terms of failing and in terms of feeling tired.

And then a thought struck him; if Tom was so much better than him at reading because he had time to practice, just how good would the kids at the academy be at magic? He hadn't even begun learning anything, but if he understood a little bit from the magic theory lesson, it was that the mental capacity of someone played a very important role. Had they been meditating daily for years?

Just how… strong were they? How strong… could he be?

~~~

"Um, I have a question." Sebastian told Mathew as he was taking them to classes again.

"Hmm? Sure, ask away."

Sebastian thought about it for a few seconds, trying to think of a way to not sound rude "How… what can you do?" He eventually decided.

"Oh? Like, as a mage right?" Mathew asked as he saw Sebastian nod "Well, I'm a third year, so pretty advanced stuff. It differs from person to person since we can take basically any classes we want except for- oh wait you're not yet into the whole mage thing yet. Anyways, I can ignite things, reinforce my body a little, throw a fireball or a cone of fire, that sort of thing."

"...you can do what?" Tom asked him with widened eyes.

"Heh, if only you'd know. And this is because most people usually focus on diversity: lots of low cost spells. I know a second year that takes aeromancy and can create blasts of air strong enough to destroy buildings, but it takes half of his reserves."
Sebastian was amazed. Destroying buildings? Creating fire? Yes, he'd seen teleportation and mind reading before, but this was more… destructive. He'd seen a few fights before, adults throwing things at each other, and nothing seemed anywhere near "destroying buildings". How could a human hold that much power?

"You're still thinking about that aeromancer? Don't let it get to your head, he'd get eaten by a wolf as long as he's flanked, or he'd probably kill himself if he wasn't in an open area. Magic of this caliber isn't really that effective unless you have other spells or allies to help." Mathew told them "No one needs a giant explosion when a cut to the neck does the same job."

"Oh, talking about that, I read that the academy was built partially for combat training, but it didn't really explain that part. Do wizards have wars or what?" Tom asked him.

"Oh, that book, huh… Not really, there are big fights between families every few decades, but even those don't lead in as many deaths as you'd think, they are more of a… show of power. The combat is… not against humans, usually." Mathew said with a little apprehension.

"You mean… monsters?" Tom asked as he was becoming frightened.

"Monsters… no, don't worry about it. Think of them as… magic creatures? Technically? Uhh… you will find out, I don't know about it." He answered as they finally reached their destination "See you tomorrow." He said before quickly running away.
"... it's monsters isn't it?" Tom spoke

"What are those?" Sebastian finally asked him, not really understanding what the conversation before was about.

"Oh, scary creatures I guess? Like a ghost, or giant spiders." Tom explained to him.

"Oh, I guess spiders are scary… But what is a ghost?"

"...ok, so, when someone dies, their souls stays behind, and…"

Tom continued teaching Sebastian about different types of monsters he'd heard about, or read in stories, for the next few minutes. He had not realized it until now, but Sebastian didn't know many things he'd consider common knowledge. This, however, was the perfect opportunity for him to make friends with the kid.

"Have you seen any of these monsters?" Sebastian asks him, after having heard about more types of monsters than he knew to count.

"Uhh, no. You see, most of these are fictional, someone made them up." Tom sighs. "Not the giant spiders tho, there's probably some big ones out there. And I'm pretty sure I heard a ghost at home on some nights." Tom says, now trying to think of any more monsters that might exist.

"No no, most of those are not real." A voice spoke from outside as the door opened, as Vernon had finally shown up. "Ghosts, as far as we know, require intense amounts of focus to sustain, and even to this day a naturally occurring ghost has not been sighted. As for the others… perhaps they stem from the magic creatures of this word, but they tend to stay close to mage towns as the concentration of focus there is much higher."

"Wait, so 'focus' is a physical thing? Not just… how strongly we can focus?" Tom questions the old mage.

"Hmm, yes and no. It is… both. You spend this focus when you meditate or use magic, and regain it either by psychological triggers, the process of which is not that well understood, or by absorbing some of the atmospheric focus while you sleep"
"..." Sebastian thought.

"But let us not digress from today's lesson, which should hopefully answer some more of your questions: How do you use focus to influence the physical world!" Vernon cheered "Let us begin! There are a multitude of specific techniques or ways one can go about using focus, but they fall under the 2 most common categories: Extension and origin-visualization. The first one, extension, is very often used when affecting your own body or doing slow-moving magic. What it entails is the solidification of focus inside of your body, followed by a moulding process that forces the psychological shape outside of your body. Very useful for techniques like hardening your body. Origin-visualization, on the other hand, is the opposite, hard to use on your body, but very accurate and fast, the accuracy drops however when you try to instinctually use it as it's hard to visualize it relative to your body. Now, what this technique entails is that you visualize a point in space where you overlap your focus with reality, transferring your focus to that space at extremely fast speeds. Pretty simple."

"..." They both thought.

"Ah, yes, I should have seen that coming. Let me try again…"

Learning: Magic Theory
1d4+10 / 2 = 13 / 2 = 6.5
Magic Theory unlocked
Spell Learning is now available
Power Altered: 1d10 = 2 >= 10 (Failure)
Magic theory
2/100 (F-)

Vernon continued his, although short by his standards, arduous lecture. This is not the first time he had done this, of course, he had been doing remedial classes for newly awakened individuals ever since he became a teacher at Venesicia, but it somehow gets harder every year. Thankfully he will only have to do this for a few weeks before classes start fully, and he can get back to his usual routine, but the short time also left a bitter taste in his mouth as he knew, the kids before him will have a hard time catching up with everyone else.
"I guess I can spend some more time on this… better talk to Azay about that first."

"Very well, it seems you two have picked up the very basics of spell-casting." Vernon tells them as the time for this class had almost run out.
"We… have?" Sebastian question him, as he was not sure what exactly they 'picked up' in this lesson.

"Hmm, yes, I'd say so. You might not have an understanding of the subject, but that comes with much more study and practice. I will show you, here…" The old man then takes out of his pocket 2 small pamphlets with colorful drawings and text "... is one of the simplest spells with a physical effect, commonly called 'Reinforce'. Its intended effect is the hardening of one's body, although the effect can easily be changed with practice. The main reason why I want you two to learn this spell is to figure out the feeling of focus, and eventually, you should be able to realize without actually spending any focus whether or not a spell will fail or not. For now, though, you will sadly have to use the spell every time you try, which will consume some of your focus."

Tom glanced at Sebastian for a second before grabbing one of the pamphlets and looking over it, reading the text until he reached the first image "Umm, you said this is about our skin, but what are these shaped here?" He pointed at that area of the pamphlet.

"Ah, you did not study biology? Well, you are young, and mortal schools differ wildly in quality from area to area, so it's understandable. This will make things a little harder, but let me explain: Your skin is made out of tiny things we call 'cells'. These cells are pretty stretchy, as you both know, you can stretch your skin. To train in this spell as a beginner you use an object or your finger to lightly press on your skin, then focus on that area and try to harden it by forcing it to return to its original shape. Do not worry about the details of it, just try, and tomorrow we will go in-depth about what you felt and what to change."

"We really… can we really do this? Magic?" Sebastian was still unable to comprehend that, all of his life he had not heard or seen anything similar to what he'd seen these past few days, yet Vernon spoke as if such a thing would come naturally to them with enough practice.

Vernon glanced at his wrist again, something the kid had noticed him do every once in a while, before speaking "It seems we've ran out of time, this concludes our magic lessons. Next, is maths! With me!" The mage laughed "Tom, you're free to stay here if you wish, we'll be going over the basics, which from what I was told you already know, but I'll try to make the lesson more interesting for the both of you."

The thought of leaving did not even enter Tom's mind. Yes, he knew math, but getting to hear an old wizard, sadly lacking the white beard, teach it, was an opportunity he would never think of giving up; until he gets used to it, that is.

"I see you've made up your mind, very well. I will not be casting spells if that's what you were hoping, using focus for mundane tasks is a habit you should never develop. But I will be using this." Vernon pulls out a pen from one of his pockets, the tip encrusted with a white rock. "Come here and pay attention."

The mage stands down and holds the pen in front of him, high up, facing the back of the class, before slowly moving it down, a white, slightly translucent trail following it, remaining in mid-air. "An air-carver, technically, although this is a more toned-down version. Perfect for writing quick notes that don't need to last long. Now, I'm no artist, but I believe math holds enough beauty by itself. So, Sebastian, let us first see what you know…"

Learning: Mathematics
1d4+10 / 2 = 11 / 2 = 5.5
Mathematics (F-)
56/100

For the first half of the lesson, that is what they spend their time on, figuring out what Sebastian already knew, and slightly adjusting any wrong knowledge he had. The kid knew some basic terms, like numbers up to 26, with a few exceptions, and almost knew subtraction and addition. Impressive, considering he had learned this on his own by observing those around him speak.

"Very good, very good. Now, let's try writing these numbers. Here." Vernos held the pen towards Sebastian, waiting for him to grab it. And with slow, unsure hands, he eventually did, now holding it tightly in his hands.

He moved his hand up and down, trying to copy the symbols Vernon had written before. Crooked, twisted, but comprehensible. Perhaps those writing exercises had helped him in some way after all.

"Well done, well done. Sadly, I can not do that much to help you, you will have to learn to count better, and the best way to do that is to practice. Now, this isn't homework, but I am going to give you a few exercises to do, to help you memorize the numbers and get a better grasp of basic operations. If you finish those I am sure any of the students would be more than kind enough to show you the next steps."

"You mean Mathew?" Sebastian asked him. Besides him, he knew of no other students, after all.

"Ah, he's been the one showing you around school, I'm guessing. But the other kids are also pretty well-rounded, they should have some experience with tutoring. Hmm… at this time there are not a lot of students at school, but miss How should be there. She's very good when it comes to tutoring others. I believe you will be most likely to meet her in the sculpting workshop." Vernon spoke to the kids, but a quick glance at them quickly revealed that there might have been a problem he had not foreseen.

"Umm, mister Vernon, we're not… allowed to go on the campus." Tom spoke slowly.

Vernon stood still for a few seconds, his eyes widening a bit before squinting and asking them again, unsure of what he just heard "You… can't go on the campus? What? Did Azay tell you this?" Both kids, again, sported a confused look, never having heard that name before "Wait, you did not meet with the director? Did they just drop you at the… no, you talked with Mark when you arrived here, am I right?"

This time neither Tom nor Sebastian answer him, as they were frightened by the mage's confusion, choosing instead to give him a simple headshake, prompting the wizard to mutter something under his breath before raising up, handing Sebastian a few sheets of paper.

"Here Sebastian, take these and look over them when you have time. I'll have to cut class short by a few minutes. And remember to practice the spell, both of you!" Vernon told them before quickly rushing out.

Sebastian was still feeling uneasy, the mood of the mage having affected him "Did we… did we do something wrong?" He asked Tom.

"I… don't think so. Don't worry, I'm sure everything is fine. Let's just go back while they figure things out."

Both kids walked back to their rooms. Despite Tom wanting to use this as an opportunity to get to know the other kid better, Sebastian wasn't looking that good, and he did not want to cause his mood to worsen, so he kept silent all the way until they entered the guest building.

"...If you need help with that, I can help you. Really, it wouldn't bother me at all." He ended up saying, just before Sebastian opened the door to his room.

"...thanks, I will… think about it." Sebastian entered his room.

"...sigh… maybe we'll be friends…" Tom thought, a little saddened by his response, before he too entered his room.

 

[Skelly_Boi]

Sebastian entered his room, placed all the class material he had received today on his desk, and sat down. Thinking about what happened earlier, with Vernon, would be pointless, he knew that much. All that would do was waste his time, time he could spend doing something else, learning, practicing. Knowledge was power, he'd heard that once before.

"I just… have to get stronger then. Smarter. Then I won't be so confused anymore…"

But Sebastian couldn't escape his troubles so fast, he had another problem: his options had increased. He could not do everything in one day. Tomorrow he would meet both Vernon and Anabelle again, at the very least. Learning how to read, practicing his writing, meditating, numbers, magic… they'd all be tested tomorrow. They will ask him questions and see how little he progressed in them. If he split his attention between the two teachers, he would disappoint both, but if he focused on one, even if he showed sufficient progress, he would disappoint the other even more. He needed… he needed…

To just do it. That's it, to just go forwards, that's what strong people do, and he wanted to be strong ever since…

"Why do I want to be strong?" Sebastian questioned himself, something he rarely did before, not often having the time necessary for self-reflection. "I… never thought about being strong before, it wasn't important… is it because I saw the wizards? Do I want to be like them? Yes, that's it! I need magic!"

And with that, he decided, the first thing he had to do, was learn magic. Everyone around him knew magic, except for Tom, or at least that's what he was most confident in guessing. Vernon and Anabelle did not do any magic, but they were teachers here, at a magic school, so of course they knew magic. They were strong.

So, he grabbed the pamphlet, and started reading, following the instructions. Slowly, letter by letter, he kept going, skipping the words he could not understand. He pressed on his palm lightly with his finger, seeing the skin there stretch, and did what Vernon said, following, roughly, the instructions on the paper. He focused on the skin, forcing it back to normal, toughening it, but of course, he was not able to do it on the first try.

Learning: Reinforce (-1 Focus)
10/11 Focus
1d10+5(Vernon's help)/2 = 10/2 = 5 >= 10 (Failure)
1d5 = 5 Insight
Linguistics 18/100 (F-)

His skin, simply, did nothing. He could not see anything, he could not feel anything, as if he was unable to do anything. But he knew what he did wrong. Vernon talked about that while explaining the "extension" method of casting spells. It can happen when you visualize too much what you are doing, rather than just feeling where the focus was and manipulating it. So he had to stop trying to make the skin tighten, he had to feel it.

"I just have to try again… until I get it right."

So he willed his focus again, moulding it, shaping it into his skin, before closing his eyes and willing it to harden.

Learning: Reinforce (-1 Focus)
9/11 Focus
1d10+10 >= 10 (Autosuccess)
Reinforce unlocked
Power Altered: 1d10 = 9 >= 10 (Failure)

And he did it. He could feel it this time, undeniably, how the skin pushed against his finger. The skin in that area hardened, not by much, but he could feel it, dragging his finger across the small patch of now rougher skin on his palm, maybe a few centimeters wide, before it was gone, and it returned to normal. But that, for the short amount of time that it lasted, was magic.

He was sure to make Vernon proud. And he still had enough time to study before meditating and going to bed, probably with a headache yet again. So with that attitude from earlier of 'just do something', that temporarily got lost in the excitement for magic but now came back, he grabbed a random item from the desk.

It was the pamphlet, again.

"...I guess I could… try to read it again? Yes! I can practice reading, that's it!"

With a level of excitement that was never seen before in a kid about to study, Sebastian sat down and focused on reading again, trying to figure out what different words meant from context, and doing considerable progress on the more usual ones. The specific name of cells, or other technical terms, however, were still as incomprehensible as ever to him. But he did read enough to try and change his approach to the spell, to make it better. After all, more practice can't hurt.

Improve: Reinforce (-1 Focus)
8/11 Focus
1d10 = 6 >= 10 (Failure)
1d5 = 5 Insight
Linguistics 23/100 (F-)

A little progress was made, but there was progress. When it first succeeded, the spell only lasted a few seconds and could only cover a very tiny area, and now he figured out the reasons. First, the small area was due to the fact that while he did spread his focus, once it got spread too thin he could not feel it anymore, as if it would disappear into thin air, and secondly, the short duration, was caused by a similar effect, his connection with the focus disappearing after a while, and from what Vernon told him, there was no other way around solving this than practice, again and again, until you slowly get better, or find a mental trick, which differed from person to person.

But now was not the time. He did not want to stretch his focus even more before meditating. He remembered what would happen if it got too low, and did not want to risk that, so Sebastian turned off the light and climbed into his bed, sitting in a comfortable position before starting his daily meditation.The mental image of a simple cube appeared, and he tried to make it more and more there, more accurate, more detailed, working his brain. Despite this being a mental exercise anyone could do, for some reason this helped mages increase their mental capacity. Could normal people do this to? Just what was the connection between focus and the mind? Sebastian did not know, and did not have any more time to think about that, as he had already spent enough time meditating, and quickly went to sleep when the pain appeared. He had yet to see any more increase in his mental capacity besides that first time, but surely, time will change that.

Meditation (-5 Focus)
Stillness: +1 Focus
4/11 Focus
Mental fatigue (minor)
1d10 = 7 >= 10 (failure)

~~~

"Do you know what you have done!?"

At the top of Venesicia Academy, in the director's office, the glass was shaking.

"Mr. Azay, I did what was done every year. Guide the awakened to a temporary housing area while the dorms are empty, give them an explanation of the situation they are in, and explain to them-"

"That it is too dangerous for them to leave their building?" Azay interrupted the one speaking, Mark.

"I… well, it is. They don't know what to expect, the dangerous areas, the warning signs… What was I supposed to do?" Mark questioned him. The academy, to his knowledge, while not directly dangerous, did have items and facilities that could pose a danger if not approached carefully, such as any of the workshops.

"Give them a guide, that's what. That's what was done in the years before, too, except the kids weren't appointed one, they asked someone on their own initiative to show them around. But as you can see, this situation is different, one of the kids was sheltered, while the other is not comfortable around others. Really, he's young enough that he should have spent at least a year integrating into a normal school… But now is too late, even if we made sure to block his access to focus, just the knowledge that magic exists and what he's seen already would make that counterproductive."

"You… are right. I have made mistakes in welcoming them here…"

"Sigh… Mark, you need to be willing to change things. These are not even written rules, yet you have not considered anything other than what was done in the past. Get over that fear you have. Now you should work on improving that kid's experience here. Do you imagine how confused they might be? They're just going to their room, doing one or two classes, then going back, and that's their entire day. They barely have any opportunity to interact with others, and even that interaction is with only 3 people. They will have a very tough time integrating if they keep going on like this."

"I understand, I'll arrange something for tomorrow. This is a perfect opportunity to present them the school and get them to meet the others before being moved to the dorms."

"Very well, I will leave you alone to arrange that, but make sure to pay more attention to their specific needs and personalities. Don't forget I only let you manage the awakened this time because this happened close to the start of the school year, there won't be a next time if you don't show me a change."

"Yes, I will try to change how I approach situations like this. Perhaps I did not-"

"No, it's all due to your fear of failure, nothing else." Azay said bluntly, prompting Mark to stop talking as he was slightly ashamed by being called out like that "Now that we've resolved this issue, it is time for the meeting with the Empire of Light. That name still annoys me, the audacity they have…"

"Will we be talking with the local overseer again?"

"I have no idea, I wouldn't put it above them to let the janitor talk with us… if they even have one. Let's just get on with it." Azay spoke before opening a drawer and taking out a blue crystal that he placed on the desk.

Mark walked next to him, both of them standing up as the crystal lit up, above it quickly materializing an ethereal, blue screen. They waited a few minutes for someone on the other side to pick up, before the flickering blue screen finally changed, on it appearing the figure of someone, their face covered by a white and golden mask.

"Overseer. It is nice seeing you again." Azay started speaking to the individual.

"Likewise, 'director'." The overseer spoke, the voice slightly distorted by the mask, but sounding like that of a male, and with the tone of a trained official. "How is the war progressing there?"

"It is a stalemate. The technology and information you have provided us, along with the entropy, have helped us hold our ground despite the high human loss."

"That's… Disappointing to hear. We have sent you a constant and generous supply of entropy, yet that is barely enough to sustain your position? That high rating we gave you might have been an overestimation."

Azay grit his teeth, focusing all of his efforts on trying not to change his facial expression. He knew that what they called 'generous' was merely scraps for them. As for the technology, it wasn't even the most advanced they had access to. He had seen in the background of the live feed how abundant the electricity was there, how advanced their mechanisms, and heard from the overseer himself of the strength their alloys held.

"It is unfortunately so, I'm afraid." Mark spoke, taking over for Azay as he could feel the man was about to explode in anger. "Despite your help, we were barely able to stop the corruption's momentum. But we are quickly recovering our past losses and developing our military might. I am confident it is only a matter of time before we begin gaining ground again."

"Hmm, Markus was it? The director has spoken to me about you, the one most likely to take his place. I hope what you are saying is true, after all, it is only because your situation is a stalemate and not a guaranteed loss that we offered you help. And Azay, don't forget what I told you in our first meeting. If we decide that you no longer have any reasonable hope of winning, we will glass your entire planet in order to get rid of the corruption."

 

[Skelly_Boi]

I've decided to remove the mechanics btw, still gonna leave them on RR as legacy but they were removed from the other places I post this in.

---

Waking up from yet another relaxing sleep, Sebastian began his morning routine, one he had only had since arriving at the academy. Despite him not liking some aspects of this place, such as how complex everything was, the sleep alone was enough to forget all of his complaints. Every day tired him mentally, quite literally, from what he had learned about focus, but that exhaustion made the refreshing feeling in the morning even better.

Knock knock

Sebastian just finished changing into his uniform when someone knocked at the door. This had not happened before, and he knew for a fact that he wasn't late, there was a big clock attached to the wall, and the arrows pointed the way they do around 15 minutes before Mathew showed up. But, he was safe here, there would be no guard trying to kick him out into the streets here, so he hoped.

"Oh, you're already done?" As he opened the door, the one he saw standing there was Mark. Despite only seeing him once he clearly remembered his appearance. The man's face was very plain, with no strong features, except for his eyes: dark blue, yet another new color Sebastian has seen on someone, they seemed to analyze everything in front of them, making fast but small movements constantly, a clear contrast to the man himself who was always silent and didn't move much. There were a few differences in his appearance from last time, too. His suit looked a little more relaxed, and instead of the color scheme of the school uniforms, that of brown with a red outline, his had a blue outline. There was certainly a theme each teacher had, as Sebastian remembers Vernon's uniform had a green outline, and Anabelle's was orange. Mark was also wearing glasses now despite his vision being good, he did read the rules to Tom and Sebastian without wearing any.

"How interesting." Mark thought, his eyes shifting to Sebastian, who's been looking at him "He's not simply staring at me like before, he's analyzing me. I wonder what lead to this development…" Leaving that thought behind for now, he spoke out loud with a smile "I was knocking to see if you were awake, you didn't need to hurry."

"Oh, no, I was done when you knocked!" Sebastian hurried to explain. He did not feel like the man was annoyed at him, but he still did not want to be misunderstood.

"Haha, very well, I trust you, don't worry." Mark looked at Tom's door, but seeing as the other kid was not out yet, he turned back to talk to Sebastian. "You are probably confused about why I am here, but I will explain when Tom is out. Until then, how about you tell me about your time at Venesicia? I'm aware your welcome wasn't… the best, which is my fault, so I really want to know if you have any complaints or…"

"No, no! I don't have any complaints, I love it here! I have food, a very nice room, a bath… this is more than most adults had in Ardeal."

"Ardeal… ah yes, Adam mentioned it. Is that the city you grew up in?" Mark knew that the only reason why Sebastian had nothing bad to say was due to his living conditions back then. Ardeal was one of the most western cities of Thera, the central kingdom of the continent. And, being central, it was already half-overtaken by corruption. The only reason he could think of why the city was still intact was its huge distance from any rivers, which, while it did prevent the spread of corruption, it also meant that the city would be quickly abandoned when the kingdom was under attack. A double-edged sword, simply delaying the inevitable.

"Yes, ever since I can remember." Sebastian answered.

"I see… I think I got the general idea, but if the accommodations are fine, what do you think of the people? I hope none of the teachers did or said anything offensive." He remembered the day they hired Anabelle, a teacher from a mortal town, something they don't do often, and for a good reason. The woman not having or knowing about magic was not the problem, even in mage cities not everyone was a mage, but she had a few biases, like when she accused one of the students of stealing for simply picking up fruits from one of the trees on campus. He could only hope the time spent here had changed some of her views.

"Oh no, they're both very nice! And… and they helped me learn! I know how to read and write now."

"That fast? That's very nice to hear."

Before Mark could ask him any more questions, the door on the other side of the hallway opened as Tom was finally ready "Oh, good morning mister Markus."

"Good morning, Tom. Now that you're both ready, let me explain why I'm here. Today, you will be taking a break from classes, as I have decided to give you a tour of the academy."

"Really? But, isn't it too dangerous?" Tom questioned him, tilting his head a little.

"Ah, it is my fault that I said that. It can be dangerous if you do not know the place and the rules we have, but I should have solved that instead of simply telling you to ignore it, I apologize. This guide is to make things right. Make sure both of you pay attention so you don't get into any trouble, ok?"

With both of them nodding, they began following Mark toward the academy. The park they had to walk through was very dense in trees, not enough to even be close to a forest, but enough to hide the giant building behind them. Time passed, enough that by now they would have been halfway through the first class, until they finally caught sight of the colossal school.

If the last time this side of the academy was empty, however, this time there were people. Sebastian could see a group of kids sitting on or near a bench, talking about something. They all looked older than him, and slightly older than Tom too.

"Those kids are second years. Well, technically they will be in three weeks. The first years have not yet arrived so you won't see any around, but older students tend to come earlier. A few don't even leave, actually… Let's keep going."

Little did Markus know, he had just avoided one of the most awkward conversations to ever exist, full of short sentences and empty time when the kids were simply staring at each other, as everyone lacked context about the other. Arguably the worst part is that the reader lacked context, a recurring theme.

As they were led inside through the immense hallway, unimportant doors left and right, Mark began speaking.

"If I'm not mistaken those kids just returned from a mission. I've talked with Mathew and apparently you were curious about the combat training part of the academy? You see, in our world exists this group of monsters part of what we call the 'corruption', they're technically just magical creatures, but they use another source of magic than us and normal magical creatures. And they're also violent, attacking humans and mages alike, expanding into their land. So, mages have taken up the task of defending human territories against them. The problem is, the mage population is very small, and combat mages are even less so. The mage cities are too busy defending the coast, as the entire global ocean has been corrupted, so the academy is the sole force defending the land. You'll learn more about this in the first class you take once school starts, actually, it's the only mandatory class we have."

"Wait, isn't that… very bad? Does that mean humanity is at war?" Tom asked him, worried about what Mark had just implied.

"Think about their individuality, remember Markus. Scaring them wouldn't be good, wait until they're more used to this life…" "Of course not. Do you know, cities use to send hunters periodically to lower the population of predatory animals in an area, like wolves? It's similar to that… Oh, we've reached our first stop."

In front of them all, stood a giant archway, more than double their height. Just the archway alone looked like a piece of art, but what was inside the room made it pale in comparison. Painting after painting were displayed, most of them on tripods, some unfinished, all looking like masterpieces, but the ones on the walls, a few times their size, were clearly not 'simple' masterpieces, as they moved, whether by a trick of the light, or magic.

"This is the painting workshop. As you can see, it often takes multiple days for the students to finish, so they simply leave the works here when they take a break. The ones on the walls were all drawn by at least 4th years, most of them imbued with magic. Why don't you take a closer look? I think you will be pleasantly surprised by what you see. Just stay on the path and don't try to touch any of the paintings."

Sebastian followed the path for a while, looking mostly at the different paintings in the middle. He could not understand what was so special about these, they did look beautiful, he could tell, but they were just paint on a canvas in the end. He stopped, thought, when he glanced at one of the giant paintings on the wall. He could understand what Mark meant by 'imbued with magic' now. At first, it was a simple painting of an ocean, with waves filling the entire canvas, crisscrossing and overlapping, but quickly it began morphing, changing, the waves were hitting each other, resonating, creating patterns he could not only see but feel.

"Wow… can magic really do something so… fantastical?"

"Ah, I see this piece has gotten your attention. 'Symphony of marea', one of the most impressive uses of psychology I've seen in a painting, the patterns trick the mind similar to an optical illusion, but in such a way that they resonate with the mind of the viewer. I do not truly understand how it works, it's not my field, but it does show the beauty found in the depth of every field."

"...so, it's not magic?" Sebastian did not understand everything that Mark just said, but he had heard the teachers talk enough that he could differentiate when they were talking about magic or science by now.

"No, it's one of the pieces that is entirely physical. Although, even this can interfere with your focus. You learned how focus can be recharged right? Through positive mental triggers. The triggers and even effects however can vary wildly. For some people, painting may be more effective than meditation in increasing their mental capacity, for example. Passions interact heavily with focus."

"...So being happy makes you stronger?"

"Yes, I guess you could put it that way. We should continue now, you've been staring at that for a few minutes."

"I was… hey, wait for me." Sebastian noticed that Mark had a few bad habits, the most obvious one being he tended to not look back to see if they were following him or not.