Chapter 2: Magic Academia Online

"Ugh! Why did our ancestors make such a humongous library!" Aldrich hmmed as he roamed around the library looking for little Noah.

"And they even had to put some seven to eight layers of anti-magic barriers! Just wow! Did they foresee this situation and make it such just to annoy me?"

"Milord! Why have you come here today?" Asked an old man, who had a beard so white that it was shining! He was wearing a typical old-style robe which sparkled ever so often.

"Ah, Berin! Where were you?"

"I was looking for some things in the treasury milord, what brings you here today at this time? And the fact that this is the place you hate the most in the castle makes it even more confusing." Berin said while chuckling a bit at the end.

"Eh….I'll try to come here more often from now on I guess, anyway I came here to check on Noah. Where is he? I can't even find him in this maze of books you call a library."

"I have been hearing that for over 20 years now milord, and I can guarantee that you will forget about this promise of yours the moment you leave the library, anyway young master Noah left with milady Selene some moments ago."

"..."

"How did she find him before I could? I am sure I was here before Selene."

"Well, Nine fetched young master for her, so it's not much of a mystery and as you know Nine likes to read books, so the library is basically her turf."

"..."

Meanwhile, the temperature was dropping outside as the night was approaching. It was dropping rapidly though the wards casted on the castle prevented it from being affected much by the weather. It was created to protect the castle after all from some pretty complex spell after all.

Winterveil was the name of the castle, it was the residence of the Winters which was one of the noblest and grandest families in the magical realm. It was located somewhere in Antarctica but nobody knew its exact coordinates as it was a close-guarded secret but legend says that Winterveil is the vanishing castle and it changes its location depending on the time. But they are just myths after all...or maybe they aren't.

"How was your day sweetie?" Selene asked Noah who was seated beside her.

Noah was a 12-year-old boy with a pair of cyan-coloured eyes and jet-black hair, which had the characteristic tinge of white on them, though it also had a tinge of gold near the tips, a trait he got from his mother probably. He was relatively tall for his age being 164cm's tall or 5 feet 4 inches if you may. All in all, he was a perfectly healthy, good-looking 12-year old.

"It was great mum! I have read quite a few books on neuroscience, human anatomy and myology and they were really informative! I was genuinely surprised when I found some non-magical books in the library though, are they new grandpa?" Noah said, the last part being directed towards Arthur.

"Well, the non-magical realm has researched on science more than we have so I decided that it's better for you if you read the books they have. Hope you liked them."

"Yup! They were great! I especially liked Descartes' Error by Antonio Damasio! It was absolutely awesome!"

"Well, as long as you are satisfied it's okay."

"Un!"

"By the way, Noah you have been admitted to Voiletta School of Elite Nurturing and Magic Arts, VENMA for short and you are expected to report tomorrow. The entrance ceremony is tomorrow you see, Hundred will escort you to Wellington Airport from where you would have to board a flight for VENMA and don't worry you will know what to do after you reach the airport." Aldrich said while drinking some wine.

"Ah! Finally, I am going to school! I always wondered how it was, though you could have said to me about it a bit earlier I still haven't finished reading some research materials yet you see and I am pretty sure that VENMA is something you made up as it's quite lame." Noah said naturally without any hesitation which did some considerable damage to Aldrich's self-esteem.

"Hmm, what about my school supplies?"

"You will be provided with them tomorrow during your departure."

"What about my disguise and my alternate identity? I hope it isn't something lame."

"..."

"We will change your hair colour only as it's quite obvious, other than that you won't have to hide anything as nobody other than those present in Winterveil have seen you and your alternate identity will be provided to you tomorrow."

"Hmm, alright. Make my hair black please, it's quite common for students of Voiletta to have black hair according to my research as it's geographically closer to Asia, rather than any other continent. I am not saying that it doesn't have any students from other continents, it sure does as it's one of the only elite Magic Academies in the world which places equal importance to Science and Magic different from the stereotypical magic schools that believe in magic supremacy which according to me is quite idiotic."

"Well, I didn't expect you to know so much about Voiletta, makes me quite relieved, when did you research about it anyway?"

"Well I knew I had to go to school someday or the other anyway, so I researched about most schools in the Magical Realm, it was really quite interesting. The histories of some of these schools are quite peculiar, well peculiar isn't the correct word, eerie I guess? Though I am glad you guys chose Voilestta s I liked it quite a bit. It's fascinating, to say the least." Noah said while taking a bite of his steak and looked at Arthur.

"I am glad you approve of our choice, your grandpa has quite a surprise for you too which you will find in your room after you finish dinner, so you better hurry up."

"Don't listen to your father sweetie, it's bad manners to eat your food in a rush." Selene said while glaring at Arthur who tried to avoid eye contact with her.

"A-Anyway, what's this surprise about? I am quite curious."

"It won't be a surprise if we spoil it for you right?" Elise said.

"Hahaha, don't worry I am sure you will like it." Arthur said while looking at Noah

After which the family had their dinner in peace without any major interruption.

"Well then excuse me, I'll retire to my room for today." Noah said while getting up from his chair.

"Sweet Dreams sweetie or I would have liked to say if not for the surprise your Grandpa prepared for you." Elise said and the fact that she didn't approve of the surprise was quite clear from her tone.

"I would like some wine please."Arthur said to a maid near him.

"I would like some too." Aldrich said which earned him another glare from Selene.

"Y-yeah, excuse me." Noah said as he disappeared into the hallway.

"The other's were acting quite weird today, Grandpa probably brought me something stupid or something mother and grandma didn't approve of, which truth be told is quite a vast list." Noah murmured as he headed towards his room.

As he opened the door he saw a medium-sized package laying in the centre of his bed. The package was coloured white with a bit of neon-green bordering it. It had the initials A.H. engraved upon it. Noah also found a small note by it.

-Don't try to tamper with it using magic as it would become unusable the moment you use magic on it, although I know that you know about it, a warning doesn't hurt. Enjoy the game little Noah, you can play the game all night, just sleep with the Nerve Gear equipped, you won't feel anything and it's perfectly safe, I vouch for it. I have gotten permission from your mom and grandma too and they of course disagreed but I persuaded them somehow...

Anyway, enjoy the game.

P.S.-If you feel a bit out of the place or a bit sick, don't mention anything to your mom or grandma, just come to me I'll help you because if you do complain to them something unfortunate may happen to me...

From Your dear grandpa,

Arthur Veso Winter

"Well, that explains it." said Noah as he crawled over to the package and started unboxing it.

Inside the box was a helmet coloured primarily in white with bits of neon green bordering it, the initials A.H. were also engraved upon it. The helmet had a streamlined design and looked similar to a bike helmet, though more futuristic which gave off a sci-fi vibe. It was also quite heavy for its size and had some pores to allow air to enter the helmet and ventilate it probably. Gotta keep it cool and comfortable after all. There was also a manual with instructions directing as to how one can operate the nerve gear.

"Wow, I definitely like this surprise and if this guide book is correct this Nerve Gear should be for the latest game called Magic Academia Online which is gonna be online in some minutes. Better gear up the Nerve Gear." Said Noah as he lied down on his bed with the Nerve Gear equipped.

"LiNK iNitIaLiZe!" Noah said as everything around him started to become white and he got sucked into a vortex that seemed to be filled with colours.