16 Arrived at the Academy

They continued flying for a little more than days before they finally arrived at the academy. Claude and Greyson thought the academy was in the capital, but they had underestimated the size of the school. The academy was outside the capital not too far away, but it operated like its own city. Other then students joining departments to learn spells, meditation, and how to advance levels, they also pick secondary occupations where they can learn how to apply their magic to healing, cooking, music, gardening, etc. Greyson had to start giving a lot of thought towards his secondary occupation. He could pick more than one, but he wasn't sure if he should split his attention. Harrison also had a hard time advising him because he could control so many different elements. All the occupations had certain elements that were required, however, he had almost all of them. As long as he had the mind and heart to learn, he could pick any of them. He thought he should pick one practical occupation and one leisure occupation. Maybe gardening and healing? They went together because healers need magic herbs that the gardeners grow. I could heal wounds and grow food. Hmmm... very self-sustaining.

But there were also cool and more "manly" occupations like being a blacksmith or becoming a soldier in the Dalia Kingdom Magic Knights Order. He was not sure how he felt about war and fighting, but they were definitely exciting things that could happen if he chose that route. It could also end up being a shortcut towards gaining a noble title and last name. If he had enough achievements in battle, he could also be gifted land and money as prizes. Blacksmiths also make an absorbent amount of money from all the tools and weapons they build. There is never a shortage of people who require their services so it could be safe bet for the future.

Greyson felt frustrated by all these choices. He decided to wait until he had a teacher and then would ask his teacher about his secondary occupation.

Argus arrived at the Academy City and Greyson and Claude looked down to see the city from above. Their eyes couldn't help but widen with wonder at the city. It was a beautiful place. There was an enormous magic array underneath the city that attracted magic elements which made the city light up and shine from the excess mana. The vegetation was plentiful and exotic. Harrison felt proud when looking at their expressions.

"Amazing, right? Although Dalia Kingdom is only a tier two kingdom, our academy is the best one out of all of the tier two kingdoms. We can't compare to the couple tier one kingdoms or the empire, but those places are crawling with geniuses and powerful magicians. This Academy is the best place for young children like you guys to start your journey."

The boys nodded seriously as Argus began to land at the front gate. They landed and walked up to the gate guards to be allowed entrance. Harrison brought out his identification and they were let through. Once they walked through the gate, Greyson and Claude found themselves in front of a large marketplace. People were everywhere purchasing all sorts of items. They started running up and checking out the different stores and stands. All sorts of items were sold here: magic clothes, magic beast cores, charms, even slaves. When their eyes found the slave market filled with commoners and magic beasts, Greyson felt very uncomfortable by the sight while Claude didn't find anything wrong.

"Everything here is run by the Academy, some of the stands and stores are even run by the students who attend here. Once you are experienced enough in one of the occupations you can join in. Greyson, I know your background so I know seeing those slaves and servants makes you uncomfortable. However, you have to know now, a lot of the people who attend this academy are children from a noble family or wealthy merchant family. They are all used to others serving them and some are violent and sinister towards their servants. You cannot save them all. I do not mean to force you to like the idea, but I don't want you to get into any trouble later on when you see these things happening. The world is an unfair place, so don't stick your nose into other people's business." Claude may not have noticed, but Harrison saw Greyson's expression when he saw the slave market. His words were rather harsh and cynical, but he believed that the real world was no place for saints. If Greyson couldn't learn to accept the unfair treatment of the lower class, he probably would not be able to survive later.

Greyson understood Harrison's meaning, but he could not accept it easily. The slaves looked miserable and mistreated and it was hard for him to just look on. However, he knew there was nothing he could do. He could not purchase all of them, and he most definitely couldn't destroy the market. He continued walking through the market trying to not think about the situation earlier.

Eventually the three reached the front of the academy and saw a group of other children waiting inside the open area of the school. They were the other admitted students. Harrison told them to wait with the other children before waving goodbye. The other new students kept peeking over at Greyson while they were waiting.

Claude grimaced noticing their glances, "I become invisible next to you. Everyone always said I was good-looking, but somehow when I stand with you I become ugly in everyone's eyes. It's really a blow to my confidence."

Greyson snorted at his show of sadness, "As if something small like this would be able to deflate your confidence. Plus, it could just be because my features are rare not that I am particularly good-looking." He was not completely wrong. Greyson's white hair and now green eyes were definitely not as common. Most people had brown hair and brown eyes, but there were a lot of noble families with interesting physical traits passed down like pink hair and green eyes or black hair and purple eyes. So even though he stuck out a lot in his town and even in Elysa city, here at the academy, where there were tons of noble family offspring, he did not stand out as much.

"No, I am positive it's because of your looks. For your information, though, most of the people looking over are guys. So I'm going to go out on a limb and claim they are looking at you because you're so pretty and cute not handsome." Greyson scowled after hearing his words, but he couldn't refute the truth. It really was mostly the other young boys peeking over.

In the midst of his bad mood, a young boy followed by a group of others walked over. The boy in front looked to be around 8 years old and fairly good-looking, but the haughty look on his face invited dislike. He walked up in front of Greyson with his nose held up high and eyes looking down.

"Nice to meet you, young miss. I am Arwen Godfey. I believe someone of your stature qualifies to hang out in my group. Why don't you join us? What is your name? Whose family are you from? I don't remember seeing you before." Greyson's face turned dark and decided to just ignore the boy. He grabbed onto Claude's arm and pulled him away while walking around the group of kids. The noble boy, Arwen, was left in shock at being ignored before his anger exploded.

"Hold it right there! Where are you going?! Did you not hear me speaking to you? You should be honored I even walked over and invited you. Don't ignore me!" He started chasing after Greyson before reaching out and grabbing Greyson's hand. Greyson wrenched his hand away with disgust clearly showing on his face.

"I don't communicate with idiots. Go find someone else who wants your so-called 'honor.'" Greyson spat out through gritted teeth. He then continued walking away. Arwen felt humiliated with his face turning red, but this time he did not chase after Greyson again to avoid inviting more embarrassment onto himself.

"Young Master Arwen, don't worry about it. That little girl obviously is just a country bumpkin who doesn't know who you are. That's why she didn't realize the great honor you were bestowing upon her." One of the older kids behind him spoke out. He was clearly trying to flatter Arwen and get on his good side.

"Whatever. I'll show her later what kind of amazing person I am. She'll come begging to hang out with me later once I prove my talent to the Academy. She will pay for today's embarrassment."

...

Once they were on the other side of the space, Claude finally spoke up.

"Hey, Greyson, shouldn't we try to be a bit more forgiving? You can't blame people for misunderstanding with your looks. If you're going to get angry at every single person who comes up to you thinking you are a girl, then you always be angry. You should have just told that Arwen person that you are a boy."

"You think I'm that petty? That I would embarrass him like that because he thought I was a girl? You thought I was a girl, too, but I am friend with you. It bothers me, but not that much. I know it's only because I am young. I didn't like him and didn't speak with him because he was stuck-up. He was looking down on both of us from the start. He didn't even look at you. Didn't you notice? He wasn't inviting both of us, he wanted me to ditch you. People like that disgust me."

Hearing his words, Claude looked down bitterly. Did he notice? Of course he noticed! But he could tell that Arwen wasn't a simple character and he didn't want to cause trouble when his talent is not high compared to the other students. He felt touched but he was also worried about Greyson creating enemies so early on.

"I'm thankful that you were also thinking of me and I'm not trying to say we should be friends with him because I don't like him either. I just felt like we could have rejected him a little better. We shouldn't go creating enemies out of everyone since we have only just arrived at the Academy." Claude reasoned. Greyson also started to think about his actions and regretted. He was too harsh back then, he could have handled the situation better. He realized that his temper was not good and he should learn to tolerate more before he becomes unfriendly with everyone. It was okay to ignore everyone at the church because he originally enjoyed being alone, but here he had no background and a lot of the rich kids could antagonize him and Claude.

"You're right..." He reluctantly admitted. Claude smiled and ruffled his hair in response.

"It's okay, it's not that big a deal. You'll also probably have quite the following later when they see your talent."

Greyson then smiled, feeling better. He and Claude sat down on the ground and waited for the Academy teachers to come and test them before putting them in different departments.