Chapter Seven

For once I didn’t miss the sunrise. I was up and about before the light of dawn as the merchant demanded. The rest of the goods would be stored back into the carriage and we would set off soon after. I’m nibbling on some jerky to combat the mana lethargy I now experience in the morning when my personal patient walks up to me. I greet him first.

“Hey Percy, how’re you doing?” I ask, we hit it off during yesterday’s feast but I’m surprised to see him right now. He should be helping the others pack, I can laze around as I’m a guest.

“Hi Sam,” he says energetically, he’s more of a morning person than I am, that’s for sure, “I was just checking if you were ready to head off. Bossman told me to make sure, although I think it’s just an excuse to prevent me from helping with the packing.”

If it was any other worker, I wouldn’t have believed them, but Perseus was a special one. He’d confided in me how he came to join James’s caravan yesterday, and it was a story worth knowing. Albeit a bit of a cliche. A young man runs away from home to seek fame and fortune in the outside world, except in this case it’s not a common home he ran away from. Though he’s not exactly high ranking, his dad is a wealthy and powerful noble. Unfortunately, he’s also rather protective of his heir, finding this protection stifling, he conspired with his mother to let him work for James. It’s all in the name of getting some experience, but half of it is just to get away from his dad. That was about a year ago, however, and he’ll be home soon. Though not for long either because he’s joining the Academy same as me. It’s nice to know a friendly face beforehand, and Perseus is a good sort.

The consequence of being an heir to a very powerful blueblood is that even James doesn’t quite dare be too commanding with him. He must have been stressed out of his mind when Percy got sick, especially now that the reunion with his family was so close. Even now that our young hero is feeling better, he’s still not allowed to help. Then again, he really isn’t healed yet, since he’s still slowly leaking mana. That should be fixed shortly, because the doctor slipped him enough meat to counteract any damages during the banquet last night.

Might be a few more days before the leakage totally ceases, and he’s absolutely banned from using magic until that point, but he’s in no danger from some regular work. Not that James is taking any chances with that. So instead of my lazy ass watching him break his back, instead we both watch the other workers break theirs. A fun way to pass the time at least. Although his standards are high, James is not one to treat his employees badly, according to the doctor he would have made the same deal for any of his laborers. Although perhaps not with the same urgency as he did for Perseus.

“Are you looking forward to seeing your home again?” I ask the young noble. He stares into the void for a while, then snaps out of it.

“Well, yeah. I’m just… worried about how my father will react to my absence I suppose.” I can tell it’s not the only thing weighing on him, however, and I’m curious enough to pry a little.

“Just your father yea? No worries about your mother?” He laughs at that.

“No, not my mother, she’s the one that helped me escape after all.” His eyes lose focus again and this time I grow slightly worried.

“Then what’s bugging you so much, it’s clearly not just your dad,” I say, concerned, and turn further towards him. He turns away and avoids eye contact. He sighs.

“Well, see, it’s my sisters…” he reveals then. I can imagine some scenarios, but I don’t want to assume.

“Older? Or younger? Or a bit of both?” I ask.

“The same age actually, although I suppose they’re slightly older. I’m told they came out first.” He catches me by surprise with this turn of events.

“You’re triplets?” I ask incredulously, that’s very rare and is always incredibly exhausting for the mother. And that’s relative to a regular pregnancy, those are intensive enough as it is. It’s far from a guarantee for any mother to survive childbirth, and I can only imagine how much more dangerous giving birth to triplets is.

He lets out a laugh at my question, “It doesn’t happen often, no, but more importantly, they’re incredible individuals who rather agree with our father’s protection. I used to be kind of clumsy as a kid, and they got it into their heads that they have to protect me from the world.” His eyes go kind of hollow again as I can almost see the memories pass through his mind’s eye. He shudders a little.

“Well, it’s been a year so perhaps they’ve gotten more mature?" I venture. Percy's laugh rings as hollow as his eyes look.

“I can only hope,” he mutters.

Luckily the depressing topic is brought to a halt as I catch sight of James waving to us. It seems it is time to depart. I give Percy a little push to shake him out of his distracted state. He glances over and we start walking towards the caravan. I got a spot next to where Percy himself was placed, so we would keep each other company as we traveled. When we reach the carriages I get a minor scare. Nowhere are the horses I assumed would be pulling the carriages. Instead, I witness the workers adjusting a harness to a lizard that’s even larger than the bear I killed, multiple meters in height and length. Percy chuckles at my surprised face.

“Never seen a drake before have you?” he asks rhetorically. I just shake my head.

“We let them huddle together at night, they’re pack animals after all. No surprise you didn’t see them yesterday.”

When I get over my shock I find other people waiting for me. Viktor, Tony, and the doctor have all made time to bid me farewell, but I’m convinced we’ll see each other again. I can’t turn a blind eye to the local church and even if that wasn’t on my mind, how can I not visit my savior and the only person that knows about my otherworldly origins.

Tony breaks the ice, “You’d best come visit Tony when you can, you hear!” he tells me, his customary cheer dampened somewhat. The gentle giant is not one for farewells it seems. I reassure him that I’ll come to visit for sure. With the promise of more bear meat, he’s placated and after a firm handshake that quickly turns into a crushing hug, he lets me say goodbye to the others. Viktor is next and he’s as obtuse as ever, but with a heart of gold underneath.

“When you get to the capital, make sure to get some proper clothes. From a tailor, not some second-hand store,” he tells me, then betrays his real feelings when he squeezes my hand just a little bit more than strictly necessary during our handshake. When he walks off back to the tent I’m left with the doctor. The person that saved me when I first arrived in this wild world, and who I subsequently saved from a grizzly death too. The only person who knows about where I’m really from, and the entire reason I can even travel with the caravan to start with. The letter of recommendation is safely tucked away in my backpack. She holds out her hand for me to shake but I wrap her in a hug instead.

“Bah, you’re not dying and neither am I, what’s with this nonsense,” she complains, but she doesn’t struggle against my hug in the slightest. I squeeze her once again and then I let go.

“Thank you for all your hard work Julia, and thanks again for saving me,” I tell her, she just scoffs but I can see her blush slightly. The old lady is a real softie at heart.

“Go, be off, and don’t come back until you’re done. I don’t want to find you all withered again,” she tells me and then heads off back to the village herself.

A lonely feeling spreads through me as I sit down in the carriage next to Percy. I didn’t know these people for long, only a few days. But they grew on me. It makes me wonder who else I’ll meet during my stay at the Academy. I don’t know much about the place to begin with now that I think of it, I say as much to Percy.

“You don’t know about the Academy?” he says in a disbelieving tone, “Do you at least know how admission works?” I shake my head.

“Seriously? How did she ever send you off like this… Well, no matter. I’ll explain it all while we’re traveling. I’ve visited the place before and my mother drilled all the information into me before I left. The first thing you have to know is that there’s an entrance exam. Every year there are thousands of applicants, but only a few hundred students. The test is seriously tough.

We, or rather, you, will arrive a bit more than a week before classes start. I’ll join you later. They hold the entrance exam every day for seven days, you see. You can attend three times before being blacklisted for the year. That’s why the caravan arrives earlier, so any potential students we pick up have enough time to try a few times.

The actual tests are simple enough but incredibly difficult. The exam is split up into multiple tests by the way. The first is for everyone, the others depend on which path you choose.”

I cut in before he gets going again, “Paths?”

“Oh, there’s a couple of main courses, commonly referred to as paths. You get to pick two electives after choosing your path too. There’s four paths for each element: earth, water, fire, and air. Then there’s magical engineering for the mechanically inclined. There’s also the combat course but most people pick a combat elective instead. The nut jobs that go for the main combat course are a breed apart I tell you. Lastly, you can choose to ignore the paths and just select whatever electives you want, but the teachers can just test you on whatever they want so it’s not exactly popular. Still, each year some people try it. I heard that someone even managed to graduate two years ago, which was the first time in almost a decade. I guess some people are just attracted to the unconventional.” He turns to look at me and his face falls.

“Hey, Sam?”

“Hm?”

“Don’t tell me you’re going to go for that last one.”

“Hm.”

Percy just narrows his eyes at me, I guess the shit-eating grin on my face was kind of a dead giveaway. I didn’t want to focus on just one of the elements, and combat… I still see the bear dying when I close my eyes. Engineering could be interesting but I might as well pick it as an elective instead.

“Don’t tell me I didn’t warn you when they fail you for some ridiculous reason,” he warns me.

I wave him off, “Tell me about the electives then,” I say in response. He sighs at me.

“There’s too many to list really, and they change every year. You get to graduate if you get enough points and every elective gives the same amount so it doesn’t really matter what combination you pick. Just so you know, if, for example, you choose the geomancy path, you get double points for the geomancy classes. That’s also why graduating is so hard without a path. You need to put in twice as much work to get enough points.” I nod thoughtfully at his explanation.

“How do you get points then?” I question.

“It’s mostly based on test results, high scores mean you get more points. Although teachers can give out a certain amount every year for other reasons, sometimes as motivation, sometimes as rather blatant nepotism. No one said it was a perfect system.

Still, there’s only so much favoritism to show before the headmaster steps in. It works out in the end.”

I wasn’t so sure I liked this system, but I would make do.

“So, I’m told they also have this famous library, how do you get in there?” I ask the encyclopedia sitting next to me.

“Ah, the library is amazing for sure, unfortunately, regular students only get to access the first three layers. The real treasure troves are stored much lower.” This puts a sizable dent in my motivation.

“Is there any way to get access to those lower layers then?”

“For students, it’s also bound to the point system I mentioned. Passes are also given to nobility, but they’re not allowed to lend them, believe me when I say I tried to get my father to give me his.” That’s unfortunate, I guess the student life won’t let go of me so easily.

The carriage is making steady progress, but my ass is already feeling all the shocks. It’s not pleasant but when I look at our pace, I’m still glad I’m not walking. I’m surprised how quickly these wooden vehicles move. I had expected them to move only a little faster than walking, but I’m wrong on that front. Those drakes are putting in work. There are two weeks of this to look forward to, however, and I’ll have to admit I’m not all that enthusiastic. There really isn’t that much to do besides talking.

“How far is the capital if we have to travel for two weeks? This is quite a pace we’re setting,” I ask of my trusty source of information. Percy is happy to oblige. Not without a little laughter at my question though.

“It’s not two weeks of traveling though, it’s only a couple of days of active traveling. The rest of the time we’ll be camping at the villages and cities along the way. That’s where most of those two weeks will happen.” I let out a sigh of relief at that news. As I relax now that I know I won’t be enduring torture for two weeks straight, my stomach makes itself known. Eagerly I grab my bag of supplies and reveal the dried bear meat hidden within. I grab two portions and pass one to my friend and patient.

“Thanks?” he says, unknowing of how important that meat is for him.

“It’s your medicine,” I explain, “The mana inside will help fix your issue. I’ll give you some more later. Snack on it when you need to.” He wordlessly accepts the gift, putting his faith in the old doctor more than I.

“You mentioned there being multiple tests for the exam, what are they then?” I say to get back on track.

“Were you really not told anything? Besides, where did you grow up that you don’t know any of this?” I just smile and laugh awkwardly.

“Well, it doesn't matter. There’s one main test you must pass before you even get to pick your path. They have this giant stone and one by one you must come up to it and try to emit mana into it. If you can’t do that then you’re immediately disqualified.” An easy pass there then.

“The second test differs per path, but the general principle is the same. For the geomancers and hydromancers, they need to make a certain amount of their element to pass. The aeromancers need to make a sufficiently strong wind, and the pyromancers need to keep a flame burning for a certain amount of time. The combat people need to get acknowledged by a teacher and the engineering applicants are required to show any artifact of sufficient quality that they made to a teacher to get a pass.”

Percy turns to look at me with narrowed eyes. I give him a guilty smile. He just sighs in defeat.

“I don’t know what the pathless need to do actually. It changes every year. Although I guess you could say that you need to impress a teacher. And I do mean impress, not just have them acknowledge you.”

That can’t be too difficult, as long as they don’t ask me to make any damned matter. That it’s even a possibility messes with my head. It goes against everything I’ve learned.

“And that’s it, once you pass both tests you’re officially acknowledged as a student of the Academy,” he finished his explanation. And I do feel much more prepared for it now, perhaps I’ll go watch on the first day though. There’s no rush to get admitted straight away.”

“And you’ll join later you said?” I ask Percy, and he nods.

“We’ll be camping out next to the city that my father rules in the last few days before you reach the capital, I’ll leave you there and stay with my family. I expect we’ll arrive at the Academy on the second to last exam day. My sisters and I would be disowned if we failed any of the tests even once…” He shivers. Pity wells up in me as he shares his plight.

A whistle is sounded and it signals that we’ve reached our first destination.

“Oh, we reached Lorvia already, I’m glad I have you as a companion Sam. This ride is going so much quicker with your company,” he says. I blush a little at his bluntness. It really has been too long since I’ve had actual friends.

We leave the carriage as it stops, and Percy heads off to find James. Meanwhile, I hop over to the driver of our vehicle. He’s busy with the harness but he shows his experience as he takes it off in no time at all. The beast trudges off to go be with its packmates. The handler follows it and I do likewise. He notices my presence now and signals for me to come closer.

“Lookin’ at the drake are ya? Can’t blame ya, beauty of a beast she is,” he says, accent thick.

“So she’s a girl then? I was wondering what kind of creature she is… I’ve never seen a drake before, you see.” He laughs.

“She’s a she alright, they all are. Males don’t be too happy with the trekking, see? But they don’t mind the girls leavin’ the nest either, so it’s all good.”

“Fascinating, can you tell me more about them?” I ask the handler.