Chapter 2 Hagur

Delightful energy surged through Aidan's body. The cold turned into warm as his body itched all over. He heard a faint voice; it sounded distant, but it got louder and louder as time passed.

"Hey —!"

"Wak— üœ{·Ÿ"

Aidan groaned. A sharp pain struck his cheek.

"Wake up, young man!"

Aidan opened his eyes slightly. A blurry figure appeared in front of him. Blinking a few times, he could finally see him. A middle-aged man with an extraordinary robe, like what a wizard in a medieval setting would wear, but Aidan guessed the rank of the robe must be rare or epic at the least. The man's facial features made him looked like some sort of mentor—for the wizards, of course.

The middle-aged wizard raised his hand. Aidan thought he wanted to use some magic until he swung it at his face.

Plak!

Aidan couldn't say anything. The wizard didn't look like a harsh person, but he just slapped him in the face.

"I told you to wake up, but you went daydreaming instead!"

Aidan rubbed his cheek, feeling wronged. I'm dazed because I'm admiring your face, old man, he thought.

Unwillingly, Aidan sat up and looked at him.

"What's your name?" the wizard asked.

"It—it's Aidan, sir."

The middle-aged wizard raised an eyebrow. He seemed to think about something. "Why are you here, Aidan?"

Eh? Why I'm here? How am I supposed to answer that? Wait, this guy must be one of the paid actors they hired. Man! they really are good at keeping up with the character. But what should I say? Ah! I got an idea.

"I'm here for an apprenticeship, sir."

A perfect answer! Since this guy looked like a mentor. The correct path must be to become his student. Let's see what his response will be.

"Ah, poor boy. So you were trying to enter the school. You should have asked for direction in the city instead of wandering around the school's backyard."

Aidan bitterly laughed. The school's backyard? The whole jungle is just a backyard? Oh, why am I surprised? This is the billionaire's game we're talking about. He quickly thought of a reply.

"How can I get to the school?"

"I will take you there. But let us inform my students first. They are the ones who saved your life."

Oh. Aidan thought that the old man was the one who saved him. He followed the wizard through the forest, stepping on giant leaves as he went. After a few meters, he saw a group of students fighting the skeletal beast. 4 people fought off the monster directly while the rest stood on the sideline. They wore 2 types of robes, one looked slightly better than the other. It seemed the one with the better-looking robe was the senior.

"Doomhound."

"what?" Aidan said.

"That creature is called Doomhound. You were lucky the creature is in its infant stage."

In—infant stage? That thing is in its infant stage? Bloody Jesus, how much does the billionaire spend on creating this thing? The creature struck one of the students with its sharp claws, but he dodged it. Purple light glowed from his body. They can glow purple, just like the giant bird, Aidan thought. If those sharp claws hit them, the damage would be devastating. Hold on.

Wasn't I got attacked by the beast? Aidan checked his body. His clothes were ripped like a bear had attacked him, but he saw no wound. So we're dealing with magic now? This is too damn realistic! There was that purple moon too.

Aidan looked at the sky. No moon, in fact, no sky at all; it was blocked by eels, well he thought they were eels. Slowly moving around while entangled with each other, he couldn't see their face though, so he had a doubt of what they are—or what those are.

"Come. Let's greet your fellow students."

His voice jolted Aidan out of his dream. The middle-aged wizard walked toward the students and Aidan followed. As he walked, the 4 students confronting the beast successfully brought it down to its knees. They then finished the beast with a single powerful attack. Purple energy spread around. I have to learn that!

"Vice-dean," everyone greeted when they arrived.

This guy is a vice-dean? Thankfully, I didn't say something impolite to him. Even though he's just an actor. I have to keep in character to play along—an ordinary man in a strange land with strange creatures and strange people.

"Hm," the vice-dean waved his hand in response. "This is Aidan. He is a new student but got lost in his way. I will bring him to the school. So I will give the seniors my responsibility for today."

"Okay, be careful on the way, sir," some of them said.

Everyone looked at him. Aidan panicked. "Thank you for saving me, everyone." Aidan bowed his head. He didn't know the culture around here, but a bow is universally accepted—at least to him.

They smiled and greeted him in response, which made Aidan feel relieved.

"Let's go, Aidan." The vice-dean said. He took out an item that looked like a card and gave it to him.

The card was surprisingly heavy—for a card, of course. On both sides of the card was an image: a golden dragon gazing from the abyss. Aidan was intrigued by how detailed the image was, the mane, the claws, the scales. It seemed each and every part of it was perfected to the highest degree. He admired these kinds of crafts. It always made him wonder how hard the creator work to make them, how long it took, and what mentality needed to make one of these. They must be very passionate about their job. Aidan smiled.

The vice-dean raised his finger; lines of purple lights ran down from it and spread throughout his body. He closed his eyes, and the lights returned to condense on his finger. He moved his finger in the air slowly.

Wow! Aidan exclaimed in his mind. The finger seemed to cut space itself. Light came out of the cut as it tried to close in on itself, but the purple energy held it back. After a few seconds, the vice-dean made a circle of light in the air before the space fell off like cut glass and shattered. What? Aidan had his mouth opened wide. The space itself fell off. How could he not be shocked? Beyond the hole within space itself, Aidan saw an office of a medieval-style with wooden furniture, a chandelier, and shelves with a bunch of codexes—people in the modern era called them books.

"Go in, Aidan," the vice-dean said.

Aidan barely got out of his daze as he replied: "Yes."

He went in without a problem; the entrance was big enough for a man taller than him. The smell of papers seeped in, and unlike modern books, this one smelled nice. A quill and ink bottle sat on the table beside the scroll. A shield hanging on the wall behind the wooden chair. It had the same image as the card. Flanking the shield were two tall shelves with various items: books, potions, scrolls, daggers, and some items he couldn't identify. Is that a dragon horn?

The vice-dean entered the room through the portal. It vanished as he looked at him. Uh. I shouldn't have looked around. But how can I not? This is the first time I'm in a medieval office.

The vice-dean sat in his chair. "Sit."

Aidan sat on the chair as requested.

"I need to ask you a few questions before you can enroll. Are you okay with that?" The vice-dean prepared his scroll and quill.

Aidan nodded.

"What is your full name?"

"Aidan—Aidan Henderson." The vice-dean wrote.

"Why do you want to enroll in this school?"

Why do I want to enroll? To learn magic, of course, but I can't directly say that. For this question, I have a trick of my own. "Because this school is amazing. The teachers are nice and competent. The culture and tradition of this school let the students improve their progress and expand their creativity."

How's that for an interview question? Aidan thought with glee. But surprisingly, the vice-dean did not seem impressed. He took a dagger and gave it to Aidan.

"I need your blood on this scroll."

It disappointed Aidan that he couldn't impress the vice-dean, but he still cut his finger and pressed the scroll. Taking the scroll and rolling it up, the vice-dean put it on the table before giving him a key.

"Your dorm number is 39. Go to the information center and tell the staff that you are a new student. They will give you everything you need."

That's all? I thought he's going to ask about my origin, parents, and stuff like that.

"Thank you, sir."

Aidan left the office and saw a sign that pointed out where the information center was. Walking through the hall, he saw a humanoid creature with a hairy body. It looked mighty with its thick muscle and large figure. And for a second Aidan thought he saw a standing tiger until he saw its hands.

Don't tell me there is a beast on the loose inside the school grounds! Aidan stopped and slowly backed away. There were a few windows on the side of the hall. He planned to jump out of it if necessary. He turned to inspect the creature. It stood behind a wooden table. Aidan tried to read the sign on the table: ŸŒ¤§º.

What kind of word is that? The letter morphed into something he could understand: Information Center. So it was the information center. Which means... Aidan looked at the tiger-like creature—this guy must be the receptionist. Of course, just put a weird humanoid creature behind the counter. It will make it easier for people to find it. Like hell! I literally thought of jumping through the window if not for the sign.

Gotta tell you the people who set these up are broken in the head. Aidan approached the table, although a bit hesitantly.

"First time?" The creature asked.

Eh! Does this guy know how to read mind? How did he know this was my first time seeing something like him? And his voice was very—humanlike, in fact, his voice was very pleasant. That was unexpected.

"Yes. It's my first time seeing your race." Aidan wanted to say: a creature like you. But he thought it would be impolite, so he changed his wording.

The creature laughed slightly. "Oh no. I mean, is this your first time being attacked by a doomhound?"

"uh. Yes?"

He smiled. "Don't worry, you'll get used to it."

What the hell do you mean by that! Are they going to make me fight one of those? Wait, the students earlier fought the beast in a group so it will be fine, I guess.

"So, what do you need?"

"I'm a new student here," Aidan recalled the vice dean's instruction.

"Show me your card."

Aidan handed the card, which the creature took and inspected for a few seconds.

"This is real," the creature said. He returned the card to Aidan and took a pile of books from underneath the counter. "Bring this with you. It had everything you need to know." The creature patted the book on top with his hairy hand.

"Okay," Aidan replied as he touched the book.

[This is a skill book 'Fate Energy Breathing Technique']

[Do you want to learn this skill?]

"Huh?"