Rise of Legends - DISCONTINUED

Xyrus Academy

(A/N: I decided to skip the mana zone research arc because I really didn't know what to write for more than like a 1000 words. Maybe I'll add it later.)

Arthur POV:

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.

"Aren't they showing off too much?" Alistair complained 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, Master Arthur, Master Elijah, Master Alistair." 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.

"Don't be stupid." I pushed my friend 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.

"Let's go in." I snapped Elijah back to his 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 excited students chattered away, some with friends that they had come with, some with people they were meeting for the first time.

"LET'S FIND A SEAT!" Alistair yelled for Elijah to hear. Eventually, we found a seat in the middle of the auditorium near the back rows.

Looking around more carefully, I was surprised at how many dwarves and elves I spotted, chatting away with those around them.

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 mine.

By this time, many more of the incoming first years noticed her and began talking even louder, some cheering, but when Director Goodsky's hand reached the level of her head, suddenly, everything went dead silent.

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 a bright smile.

"Look, look! There's Lilia! We need to cheer!" Alistair stood up and shouted at the top of his lungs and we followed him, yelling her name as well. Her shy demeanour 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 girl that was all too familiar to both Alistair and I.

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.

She was only thirteen...right?

I had a hard time believing the girl I couldn't see as more than a kid had matured enough to catch me off guard. Her face still contained a childish innocence but the way she carried herself made me doubt that this was the same girl I had known since near-toddlerhood.

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.

Following her, was a boy that I had seen four years ago. His black hair somehow sparkled and he had eyes similar to jewels. 

"My name is Lancelot Orbel, and I am the vice-president of the Student Council," he said with a small bow before continuing, "And I would like to welcome the president, Gary Whiteborn!"

"As you have already heard, my name is Gary Whiteborn and I am honoured to stand here as the Student Council President."

Lancelot and he announced some changes that they were bringing to the academy. However, the only one that caught my interest was the tournament.

"In order to assess the student's personal fighting skills, a seeded tournament where only those worthy will be selected. By worthy, I meant those with a high enough core stage," Lancelot announced.

"This tournament will be on a similar level to the Three Races Tournament we had four years ago as it will be pitting the strongest of the young generation from all of Dicathen against each other."

My eyebrows perked up in excitement, 'I can finally test myself against those two.'

After it was over, all the students slowly left. The three of us were walking when a human and a dwarf started to fight each other. The dwarf was at a lower core stage and I was excited to see how he would fight so we stayed in the background and watched.

The two of them had a duel using their badges, a fun feature but the dwarf was outmatched quite soon. The human won but he wasn't ready to stop and was planning on further harming him. 

I was thinking about how to diffuse the situation when Alistair instantly stepped in and the blocked the human's dual swords with ease. He said, "You were going too far."

The boy was shocked as he distanced himself before scoffing, "A-are you trying to mess with me, you brat?"

"Now, now," a sudden clapping sound took everyone's attention away. I turned towards the source of the sound and found out that the one clapping is Gary.

"You shouldn't go so far in a duel, right?" he spoke with absolute authority that even made me shudder.

The noble boy had panic all over his face as he bowed and apologised, "I-I apologise for my actions," before running away.

"And you three," Gary suddenly turned towards us with a smile, "you are selected."