The days after our return with Elijah was rather uneventful, There was Ellies birthday which was fun but there was no difference between the event from the novel and the current timeline, the rest of our remaining week till our the day we went to Xyrus was spent training our magic and swordsmanship, Elijah came back from the meeting with Gideon with a Spear that had a conjurers gem in the blade and functioned as a staff; So I had taught him to fight with a spear now that he had that, in a week he made good progress, he wasn't the best at it but combined with his combat training from Alacrya and his past life he was still a good fighter in close range.
Today was the day that we went to Xyrus academy so we had to beat the human log we call Arthur until he wakes up, I cleaned up my hair and walked into the room of Elijah and Arthur who was still passed the hell out.
"He still not awake?"
"Yea Grey has never been good at waking up even in our last world." Elijah sighed in defeat.
"Physical violence or something really loud?"
"Why not both?" Elijah shot back as a smile appeared on our faces.
"Zephyr come over here," I called out mentally.
Zeph crawled into the room still half awake and yawned still in his bearded dragon form, I turned back to Elijah and smiled with a cruel idea which he returned.
"Al you evil son of a bitch," Elijah laughed already knowing the plan.
"I have my moments."
"Zeph can you make yourself as big as Arthur?"
'On it Dad!' Zephyr cheerfully agreed in my mind.
I picked Zeph up and augmenting myself I tossed him in the air and he fell on Arthurs Gut.
"Wake up!" Elijah shouted.
Air was forced out of Arthurs's lungs as Zeph Slammed onto his sternum with the force to resuscitate a corpse.
Arthur While Still gasping for air threw the Sleeping Sylvie at me which I used Wind magic to redirect At Elijah
"Sylvie! It Hurts!" Elijah howled. As expected, Sylvie had instinctively started clawing at Elijah's face until she calmed down.
"There has got to be a better way to wake me up besides physical pain," Art grumbled, rubbing his stomach.
"You're telling me. Do you know how hard it is to wake you up? Even back in the orphanage, it was the same, And Al you have to use wind magic to throw Sylvie at me? Even if she isn't in her full dragon form, do you know how sharp her claws are?" He winced, gingerly touching the shallow scratches that Sylvie had inflicted.
"You want Alice to heal it or use it for Soul fire practice?"
"I'll Just get Auntie to do it, soul fire takes too much mana."
"you got that Right" I agreed,
"Anyways! We're going to be late if you don't hurry up and get ready Art. I've already washed up so get your butt out of bed." Elijah stood on top of the bed, pushing Art off with his foot.
"Let's go wash up, Sylv!" Art pretended to be excited as he grabbed my companion and headed over to the shower.
Sylvie was Clawing at the ground in protest and "Kyu~!" ing in desperation.
"Brother, are you awake?" Ellie opened the door as he was changing.
"How do you like your big brother's awesome muscles?" Art flexed his body in different poses.
"Eww! All I see are skin and bones, Brother." She just shook her head, giving him a hard stare that seemed to question whether he was the same brother she so admired back on her birthday.
"Anyway, Mom told you guys to hurry up and get dressed so we can eat." Ellie closed the door behind her without waiting for a reply.
We had all agreed to do the battle mage course so we can get the most out of our limited Time at xyrus, Our uniforms had a black blazer with white trimmings that matched the black pants. it had a black square-end tie with one white stripe, indicating that we were level one students. With our white dress shirt underneath and a badge with a crossed sword and staff etched intricately over the breast pocket.
Instead of the usual tools a conjurer carried, Elijah, instead, had fashioned a black two-part band on his index and ring finger. These two bands were connected by a thin black chain, which gave him a very gothic look, especially now that he'd recently purchased new glasses that were a bit more fashionable. he had his dimension ring on his other hand with his staff spear in it.
Taking a good look at both Elijah and Arthur, I could tell how much we'd matured physically. The once nerdy Elijah from two years ago was now gone, a much sharper and cooler appearance replacing the weak old one he had before, he also had a more serious look in his eyes after regaining his memories as Nico.
As for Arthur, his eyes were a rich sapphire color that almost seemed to glow, his hair a fiery auburn color that contrasted well with his eyes. the contrasting colors reflected his main elements.
I studied my face as if it weren't my own. Even after twelve years in this body, I hadn't gotten completely used to my appearance compared to the rather normal face I had in my old world
Long black hair was partially tied up at the back, my hair framed my face and revealed my blood-red eyes. My eyes color was rather aggressive but they looked kind from what I could tell, But according to Arthur and Elijah when I started smiling in a fight I looked crazy and Insane usually, Claire mentioned that my smile was kind and brave with just a hint of crazy. Unlike Arthur, my main defining colors were in my beast will being white and blue for the blue of ice in my eyes and the white of snowstorms.
(for his Haircut imagine this)
"Took you boys long enough to get ready! Who are you guys trying to impress?" Alice wagged her finger at us while Tabitha, who was in an apron matching Alice, started giggling.
Arthur pulled up his shirt to reveal the bruise that Zeph's landing had left, Alice's eyes went wide and she looked me dead in the eyes not even hesitating that Elijah might have done it.
"In my defense, he wouldn't wake up and Arthur is more resilient than an Elderwood Guardian,"I Stated flatly regretting nothing.
"Boy will be boys. Hurry up and eat. Lilia is going to be up on stage for the orientation since she's part of the student council. She's probably nervous by now so make sure you cheer her on." Tabitha sat down across from us next to Alice and Ellie.
"I see the both of you are wearing the necklaces I gave you," Art noted while my mouth was still full of oatmeal and fruit.
"Yup, why wouldn't I when it's such a beautiful piece of jewelry? I wish your father had half the amount of sense that you do," Alice sighed, fiddling with the Phoenix Wyrm ornament.
"All my friends are jealous because of how pretty it is! Be sure to get me things like these more, okay Brother?" Ellie leaned forward on her chair as she talked excitedly.
"Sure," Art dismissed, While me and Elijah were trying to calculate exactly how much something like the pendant would actually cost.
"Umm, Aunt Alice? do you mind healing my face before we go to school? I don't want my debut at school to go wrong because of these cat scratches." Elijah turned his gaze to Sylvie who stuck her tongue out in reply.
"Still fighting with Sylvie?" Alice grinned. "Come here and let me take a look at that." She placed a hand in front of Elijah's face and whispered a faint chant until a glow started emanating from her fingertips. A few moments later, the small scratches on his face disappeared as Elijah let out a content sigh.
"damm, even a healing spell can't fix that mug of yours," I Added in and immediately dodged the earthen spike aimed at my forehead.
Uncle Rey came in, quite evident he had been training from the beads of sweat rolling down his face. "Sorry, I'm late for breakfast! I was in the middle of a small breakthrough!" He eagerly sat down and looked at the three of us. "Wow, you three boys are already going to school. I can't believe it. Looks like we raised Arthur and Al well, right honey?" My father smiled broadly.
"What do you mean 'we'? I was the one that raised Art, Al was a combined effort of me and the girls in the Horns," my mother scoffed, giving him a sly grin.
"I guess the only times I raised them were when they got into trouble then?" Rey raised a brow.
"As long as you know," She stated matter-of-factly, causing the whole table to chuckle.
The only ones missing were Vincent and Lilia. Lilia had to go to school a few days earlier since she had to do some work for the student council but Vincent had been busier and busier these days as he was part of the management committee for the ship, Dicatheous, setting sail today.
"I was pretty surprised when you said that you wanted to attend Xyrus as a scholar mage though, Art, but then you changed your mind last week all the sudden" Rey brought up while scarfing down his eggs.
"Yeah, both are good choices but, in the end, battle mages are the ones that get all the glory," Tabitha sighed. Lilia was a battle mage as well despite disagreements from both Tabitha and Vincent. The two of them wanted Lilia to become a scholar mage since it would be a lot less dangerous in the future but Lilia was persistent in making a name for herself.
"I'll still take some general classes on mana theory whenever I can to help my Conjuring, but there's not much for me to learn if it's just fighting tactics," Art chuckled.
"Not much to learn... If any of the students heard you say that, you'd get beat up-no wait, if they could even beat you up." Elijah just laughed to himself at the thought of the massacre the school would have had if anyone picked a fight with Art.
Then everyone at the Table had the same Idea and looked and me with eyes of concern, not for my safety but the other student's safety.
"Both of you have to stop anyone that comes near Al before he starts a genocide! There are members of very influential families attending that school, not to mention everyone else. You need to deal with the trouble makers before they get to Al, we can deal with some injuries but not dead students, I wouldn't want to create trouble for Tabitha's family," Alice chided, her face filled with worry.
"Don't worry. I'll be sure to only moderately beat people up!" I saluted while stuffing my face with more oatmeal, Zeph stealing the fruits mixed into it. Everyone didn't believe me and Rey gave Arthur permission to knock me out before I kill some poor stuck-up noble.
"Mr. Arthur, Mr. Elijah, Mr. Alexander, the driver says that we should leave now if you are to make it on time for the orientation ceremony," she said while bowing.
"Well, off we go!" Elijah finished the last bite of his ham and stuffed some greens into his mouth before standing up and straightening his black blazer.
Art stood up and walked around the table to where Alice and Ellie sat. "Mom, Ellie, before I leave, I need you guys to show me your index finger for a bit."
"Huh?" My mother looked at him, confused, but nevertheless showed me her index finger while Ellie unhesitatingly followed suit. Art took a quick poke at both their index fingers with a mana-imbued finger, just enough for a droplet of blood to form on the tips of theirs.
"Put the blood on the necklaces." The seriousness in his voice made them silently concede despite their initial surprise. They both placed their index fingers on their respective necklaces and the blood on the tip of their fingers got absorbed into the jewel immediately.
"These necklaces are now bound to you so only you two can wear them. They'll protect you just in case me, Al, or Dad isn't there, but still keep yourselves safe while I'm gone, okay?" Art gave the both of them a strong hug and Ellie teared up a little bit.
"Be good, boys, and don't worry about us," Rey said.
"Come visit whenever you can and keep in touch!" Alice added before letting us off.
"Bye Brother, bye Al, bye Elijah! Be safe!" Ellie shouted out to us as we walked down the stairs.
"Your luggage is in the back of the carriage." The driver bowed and opens the door for both of us.
"Destination, Xyrus Academy!" Elijah pointed his finger to the sky as if making a declaration before getting inside the carriage.
I couldn't help but smile, looking back at my old home, as I stepped inside the carriage that would bring me to my new one.
___________________________________________________________________
The ride to Xyrus Academy wasn't too long since it was in the same city, but the campus itself was enormous, so going in through the main gate took some time.
There was an abundance of other extravagantly decorated carriages, some twice as long as normal carriages, with low-ranked mana beasts pulling them.
"Pshh... what a bunch of show-offs," Elijah grumbled as he watched pompous-looking students, confidently stepping out of carriages, with decorated weapons to signify that they were either a conjurer or augmenter.
Our carriage was quite luxurious as well, but that was from the standpoint of commoners. Compared to those richly decorated carriages of major families, ours weren't nearly as eye-catching.
"We have arrived, Young Master's." The driver opened the door for us and we stepped out, the both of us inhaling a deep breath of the campus air.
"Huh...the air tastes the same here...Thought it'd taste better," Elijah said while smacking his lips.
"Elijah can it, I should be saying that."
"Don't be stupid both of you." Art pushed us forward as we followed the crowd of students walking on the bright marble path.
"Holy mother of..." Elijah's jaw dropped as he looked almost vertically up at the building in front of us. The enormous white building that had runes etched covering it left even me astounded.
"We shouldn't really be impressed but that building is fancy as hell, to be honest." I admitted
"Let's go in." Art snapped us back to our senses and we walked in alongside the other new students attending this school for the first time.
Once inside, I winced by how loud it was. Thousands of people were talking at once, I Just deafened the area around the three of us so we don't become hard of hearing.
"Sound magic is so nice to have," Elijah and Arthur added sighing in relief of the silence.
"Let's find a seat now guys," Art added on after,
"Wow, I've never seen full elves until now. Looks like it's true that all three races can fully attend this academy now." Elijah excitedly looked around.
"calm down you thirsty nerd, you might get attached to a vessel for Cecilia." I joked.
"Hey, I don't even know how to do the spell for that yet." He shot back.
"I'll see if I can ask Boreas if he can do it later but no promises,"
"I appreciate the offer, Al" Elijah's thanks were genuine, he had become a good friend these past weeks, the only reason I kept my distance from before was I knew he would betray us but now that we have dealt with that its fine.
Getting bored of looking around me, I focused my attention on the stage where it was still empty except for a single podium. Suddenly, a sharp blur focused into form and I saw Director Goodsky standing behind the podium. She wasn't wearing the oversized hat that conjurers normally wore like she did the last time we met almost four years ago. Instead, she wore an elegant white circlet that matched her white robe, appearing much more refined than the witch-like impression she had given off on our first encounter. Director Goodsky had her eyes closed but when she opened them, she seemed to be peering straight into me, sending shivers down my back. Smiling, she raised her hand slowly while her eyes remained locked onto me and Arthur.
By this time, many more of the incoming first-years noticed her and began talking even louder, some cheering, but before Director Goodsky's could silence the room I did it myself and covered the entire room in a silencing barrier, and Goodsky in a Barrier to amplify her voice, Goodsky looked at me and faintly smiled before returning to her former expression.
Looking around, everyone had expressions of surprise, because while everyone's lips were moving, no sound was heard from anyone in the audience.
"Excuse me for my rudeness but I do hate speaking up. Not good for my throat, no it is not," she said in a pleasant voice that-while soft-was heard perfectly clear, even from here in the back row.
"I welcome everyone here, the future leaders, scholars, and powerhouses of Dicathen, to this humble academy. I am Cynthia Goodsky. Please call me Director Goodsky and do not be afraid to say hello when I walk around campus. I am no good with speeches so I stand here before you mages today to say hello, and introduce to you the Student Council that represents this academy and takes part in making important decisions along with me. Please give them a warm welcome." She waved her raised hand and one by one, members of the council started walking out.
I first saw Jarrod walking confidently, looking straight ahead, his pretty-boy face eliciting a wave of shrill screams from the girls in the audience. Behind him, a very playful, cheery guy came out waving at the audience and beaming us with a bright smile.
"Look, look! There's Lilia! We need to cheer!" Elijah stood up and shouted at the top of his lungs and we followed him, yelling her name as well. Her shy demeanor was nowhere to be seen as she walked calmly towards the center of the stage, where she gave small bows in each direction. There was no way she could see us or make out our individual cheers but we still gave it our all to cheer on our friend.
Behind her walked out a tall student with long, parted bangs. His face was frozen into what looked like a stern grimace with a sharp gaze that seemed to be looking down on everyone, giving him a rather pompous appearance. While the cheers for him weren't as loud as it was for Jarrod or the cheery guy, he, nonetheless, strode with practiced grace.
Finally, the last to arrive actually made the crowd silent. The unmistakable gunmetal silver hair that reflected the lights in the auditorium gave her a serene glow as her peachy-cream complexion made the boys around me gape. She turned to face the audience so that her round, turquoise eyes captured the hearts of every boy in this auditorium, Especially my auburn-haired cousin.
While still a little taller than Lilia. Tess was still a tad bit shorter than me benchmarking off Lillia, she was quite a bit shorter than the serious-looking guy next to her, but her posture made her seem bigger and grander than everyone else on the stage. Taking a deep bow, she came back up while tucking part of her hair behind her pointed ears, her face emotionless as a doll's.
"My name is Tessia Eralith, and I am honored to stand here as this academy's Student Council President."
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