Magic Discovered

Chapter 17

James' first impression of Dorian-5 was that it was very hot and muggy. This wasn't really a surprise, as it WAS a jungle world after all, but it still began to bother him from the moment he walked off the ship. Luckily, his Arcian robes adjusted almost instantly, growing much lighter and colder very rapidly, but it wasn't much of an improvement overall. Algon was also very annoyed by the humidity; the wet air didn't suit him in the slightest. In fact, Delta was probably the only one that didn't mind it, most likely because his home planet was a very wet place.

Rioyda itself was very small, about the same size as the section of the Quintessium located near Synthesis. Most of the buildings were partially augmented with spacial magic, but that didn't stop them from feeling very clumped together when compared to the vast, open grounds that he was used to.

Like Sherru had said, Master Geo, the assistance to Master Graten, was waiting for them when they landed. They followed him down to the dormitories, where they were assigned a single room due to the lack of space. Afterward, they were left to unpack and prepare for the school-wide announcement later that day.

"So, what sort of school is Rioyda?" James asked as he unfolded his robes and hung them in the closet, shoving aside Delta's suits to make room.

"What do you mean exactly? It's a school."

"I mean, what do the students here study? I get it's not the Arcane Quintessium, but you'd think it would need to be a bit bigger in order to accommodate everyone."

"I'm not sure," Algon admitted. "I understand your point, though. Maybe this is a specialized school of sorts. It could teach only one specific affinity, which would explain why it's so small."

Lydia shook her head. "I don't think that's it. They wouldn't make a school for a single affinity. There are simply too many for an idea like that to work. I'll bet that this is a research school. Students probably come here from places like the Arcane Quintessium in order to conduct studies."

"What would they be researching?"

She shrugged. "I'm not sure. Probably something on Dorian-5 is interesting enough to invest time into studying. Still not sure why the tournament was held here, though. It would have made much more sense to have it at a massive place like the Quintessium."

Everyone else shook their heads, also confused, but not really in the mood to care. Even inside the building, the humidity and heat were sapping their energy.

After they were finished unpacking, Master Geo led them to Rioyda's stadium, which was smaller than the Arcane Quintessium's, but still impressive.

"Hey, why does it just say announcements?" Delta asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Here look." Delta showed James the schedule that was floating above his amulet. The first event, which was about to start at any moment, simply just read 'Announcements'.

"I'm not sure. Maybe they aren't doing a huge ceremony like at the Quintessium."

Delta sat back, pouting just a little. "If that's true, it sucks. I was hoping to see Dragon-General Strike again."

"You do realize he or a different general will probably show up for the later rounds of the tournament, right? This isn't a small event, even if the location is teeny."

"Ok, fine. But then answer me this. If there are no opening ceremonies, and the Dragon-Generals won't be showing up yet, then who's doing the opening?"

"Like I said before, I don't know. Just wait and see."

The stadium filled up slowly as students from the other schools continued to arrive. The Quintessium was the only school that had brought two teams; James could see the other group sitting on the far side, and they were 4th-year students. Besides them, he didn't recognize anyone else.