Burning Eclipse

CHAPTER 1 - Laying the Foundation

1.

A young man, around 18 years old runs quickly down a road, his green hair tied in a small ponytail, his green cloak cape draped over a red tunic waves around in the air, on his right hip, a basic arming sword lays on the left side of his baggy forest green pant in its scabbard. He runs past a gate with "Middlemist Red Academy" written at the top of it, he hurries into a building, doing his best not to trip along the way.

"Tch, what room is it again?" He says under his breath, looking down at a piece of paper while speed-walking through a hallway, looking at the many doors

Suddenly he stops, looking at a door he sighs in relief, entering it he hears the bustling sounds of people chattering, a look of excitement on most of their faces, looking around, he finds a pair of seemingly open seats, walking over and sitting, he lets out a tired sigh.

"Um, can I sit here?" A voice calls from his side, looking up, he sees-

"Elio! Dude, how have you been? Wow, it's been like a few years since we last saw each other." rubbing his neck, he continues, "Yeah, I don't think anyone is sitting here." the sitting person says, suddenly full of energy, staring at the young man around his age, his raven black hair lays on his head in an organized mess, a pair of feline ear popping out of it signifying his heritage as a Demonoid as does his black feline tail, which only confirms it, he's dressed out in a cool yellow tunic and a purplish trouser. His aqua eyes show relief as he slumps a bit into the seat

A few seconds pass by in utter silence between the two until Elio turns and says "Fotaris, are you in-"

Fotaris cuts in before Elio can finish, looking at Elio, he says "Just call me Aris, we're buddy."

Blinking a bit, Elio continued, "Huh, well then, Aris are you-" Before Elio could finish, a loud bell sound interrupted him. Sighing, Elio decides to give up at the current time, though, not before saying to Fotaris "I'll tell you after orientation". He nods afterward, then rests his head on his hand as someone walks in, his orange hair combed back but still allowing a few strands to remain down, and wearing an oversized black coat that covers his gray trousers, with a sigh, he walks to the front of the class, his sapphire-like eye starting ahead,

"Hello, I'm Julian Borealis, it's the year 2775. Your first year here was meant to prepare you with the basic information for your next three years, as second years, you'll begin your journey, and..."

Fotaris starts to tune him out as it's just the same thing as last year, this academia works based on reputation, from the 2nd to 4th year of this academy, you're expected to go out to the real world and build a reputation and every year there's a census that is sent out of everyone in the continent. Middlemist Red Academy, which exists in some form in all the countries in the continent, then uses that data to configure the ranking of graduates in the 4th years, from 1st to whatever the maximum number is, having a higher ranking means you're not only well-known, you'll also have a higher chance of succeeding afterward in whatever you want to do. The reason Middlemist Red Academy is so widespread is that its system still works and practically anyone of any background is accepted into this academy.

Looking out the window, he sighs again, though he is curious as to what Elio is going to say, he can probably guess what it is, it doesn't matter much as they'll likely finish talking in the auditorium after this long-winded speech.

2.

"Welcome, 2nd year, as you know, this is a major step for you, from this point onward, you may work together or independently. For the next four years, you will build who you want the world to know in whatever way you want to, I'll keep this short, My name is Slivian Tarak, and as head of this branch of Middlemist Red Academy, I wish you the best of luck." The messy silver-haired adult finishes with a slight bow, wearing a fancy suit with a red flower clipped to the left part of his clothes right above the heart. Looking back up, his emerald-like eyes shine with confidence and experience.