Nursery
"Do all of you want to stand here talking amongst yourselves or do you want to get a Familiar?" scolded the professor. There was no indication of what had caused the sound from earlier, suggesting him to be a Sound Mage.
All of the students stopped talking instantly, the bickering Febenochi triplets following suit.
The man's brown eyes flicked back and forth through the crowd, his expression relaxing into a slight furrow of the brows as he nodded. "Good, at least you have some discipline.
"Listen closely, because I'm only going to explain this once. You will be behaved and respectful to the Mages and the Magical Beasts at the nursery. Failure to do so will see you sent home with no refund. Payment is due when we arrive, and you are responsible for your own teleportation ticket.
"We leave in twenty minutes, so if any of you have forgotten your Lights at home, I suggest you go get them now, because there will not be another chance."
When no one made to leave, he continued. "When we get there, you will wait patiently and quietly in line until it is your turn. When your turn comes, you will be guided by a caretaker to select your Familiar.
"Once you make your choice, you cannot change your mind, so I suggest you think very carefully before deciding. Your choice will be with you for the rest of your life, barring complete incompetence on your part, and should be treated like a brother or sister.
"The Empress frowns upon mistreating your companions, and anyone found doing so will be removed from the Academy permanently and will have their Familiar withdrawn.
"Such an experience will not be pleasant for neither you nor your Familiar, so I suggest you refrain from forcing our hands.
"Once you make your choice, the caretaker will walk you through the bonding process, and upon your success, you will be given a guidebook on how to raise and care for your Familiar.
"Now, there are ten minutes left before we set out. I suggest you all double-check your Lights."
A rustle went through the crowd as the students followed the suggestion, Fate himself finding everything in order. The Febenochi siblings beside him likewise found everything in order, along with many of the other students.
To his side, he noticed that the kitsubus checked her pocket, and he found no ring on her fingers.
An "oh, shit!" was heard as a student near the edge of the crowd bolted off to the sound of laughter from those that stood around him. It seemed someone forgot their cash.
Ten minutes later, the student had rejoined and the group set off, marching through the city and using a teleportation pad to go to the nursery.
Due to their status as Academy students, their robes were enough for each student to receive a fifty percent discount for their teleportation ticket, coming out to fifty-five Lights each.
That brought Fate's white coin count down to ten, so he made a mental note to break some of his gold coins for change later.
The students' worlds twisted in a haze of Mana and they stood upon a teleportation pad in the woods. A short walk away, a large wooden building could be seen, forty feet tall and three hundred feet wide. It resembled a long barn, painted white and gold in the colors of the Empress.
The doorway was ten feet tall and six feet wide, open to the elements and revealing the massive interior. It was so large that Fate couldn't even see the back wall, which meant a Space Imprint or several were at work.
Their guide lead them through this large doorway and stopped the group thirty feet in with a raised hand. They stood in a corridor of golden wood, as wide as the doorway and impossibly long. Every fifty feet along the walls, a massive wooden door stood.
They waited for about five minutes before one of these doors opened, a man in leather armor and thick gloves striding out with a charming smile, marred by the several bleeding scratches crisscrossing his face.
He looked like he had just been attacked, his shaggy brown hair tangled and curled and his armor showing the clothes underneath or even skin in some places. The man didn't seem to notice his sorry state as he greeted the group.
"Hello everyone," he said in a strange accent. "Don't mind me appearance, just got into a little tussle with a rowdy elemental. Didn't wanna take his daily coal bath. I'm Serden, I'll be your liaison today. Me and me buddies will take care of ya."
"Cerec Brednel," their silver-robed guide declared. "I have two hundred and thirty-eight students who would like to obtain a Familiar."
"Two hundred and thirty-eight? Not as much as last year. A shame, we have a lot of good beasties right now."
"I blame their upbringing," Cerec said with a sniff. "Many nobles are claiming Familiars are 'pointless,' 'a source of weakness and sentimentality,' or even 'dead weight.' It's a sorry sight to be sure."
"Well, then, let's get started," Serden declared. "All of you line up single-file and get your Lights ready. A thousand per student."
Deodeky tugged on Fate's sleeve, handing him a pouch of coins when he turned his attention to her. "Here. Our end of the bargain."
"Thanks."
The line progressed smoothly, all three triplets and Fate handing in their thousand Lights with no trouble and moving to stand along the wall with the rest of the students that paid. After that, though, was when the trouble started.
"What do you mean, you can't accept it?" the kitsubus growled, waving a silver slip of paper in the air. "The principal said this would be accepted!"
"I'm sorry, girlie, but that slip is outdated. The Empress had us move to Mana slips earlier this month; they're harder to forge. I'm afraid if you don't have the thousand Lights, you can't get a Familiar today."