The Adventurer’s Academy

The group settled into the garden-like classroom while Rin continued to think about the battle she'd just seen. It was hard to focus on anything else. Eve sat down next to her and appeared to be just as stunned.

"Alright, well, shit." Harriton turned to face the class, smoothing his short grey hair with a hand and leaning against the wall, crossing his legs. "First thing I wanna ask before we get started here, anyone got any real idea what Essence is?"

Lisa was the one to answer, raising her hand proudly. Alea had done the same, but Harriton didn't notice her, which led to the girl pouting with annoyance.

"It's a force that exists in everyone, what powers magic," Lisa said.

"Yes." Harriton enthusiastically started to pace around the room. "Specifically, Essence is something that resides in every living being. It can manipulate life and reality itself and it exists in animals, humans, trees, pretty much anything alive."

As he said this though, Rin wasn't listening. She was still thinking about how Maria penetrated metal armor with her fists. How she blocked an attack from an ax with her bare flesh. That was one of the craziest things, if not the craziest thing she'd ever seen.

"The interesting thing about Essence is that just like some men are luckier than others when it comes to what they've got between their legs, some people are born with more Essence than others," he said with a grin. "That's what determines whether you have the makings of a mage or not. Depending on the amount of Essence you've got, you can cast basic fire spells and ice spells or crush whole crowds of enemies with one well-placed lightning spell. But, before we can discuss the process behind any of that, we need to measure your Essence, to see if any of you have the makings of a spellweaver. Pull out your adventurer's token."

Everyone brought it out.

"Okay, now, see that spike underneath? What you're gonna do is stab your thumb on it and keep it there. Yeah, hurts like a bitch, I know, but your Essence is in your blood, so you need to draw blood to measure your Essence. Keep your thumb there, and watch what happens."

Rin sighed. [Well, this is gonna suck.]

But, she did as directed. She pricked her thumb with the spike and kept her thumb there. Then, a blue mist came out from her thumb and swirled on top of the token. [Whoa! Holy shit!] The blue mist gathered itself and stuck to the metal.

"Now, see what color you get. It can be one of four, white, blue, green, and black. If it comes out white or stays blue, I'm afraid your Essence is far too limited to train to be a spellweaver. That's where the majority of people are at, though, so don't feel bad about it."

Rin looked down at her token and saw that her color had remained blue.

[Yeah... Figures.]

"That said, if your color is blue, you will be able to cast one or two spellsigns before you run out of Essence. So, for any blues here, It's good to learn a couple of spellsigns, keep 'em for special cases, but don't dedicate yourself to sorcery. If it's white, it means one spell usage is enough to put you to sleep. If it's green or black, then you're in good shape."

Sighing, Rin's eyes moved down to her hands, slowly the teacher's words started to fade into the background.

[I mean... What was I expecting? To come here and have this guy tell me I'm some hidden prodigy? Yeah, it's okay. I'm not expecting to be anything special, after all. I just want a job I can be proud of.] Rin thought as she spaced out a little.

Eve leaned close to her.

"Hey!" Eve whispered to Rin. "Pay attention!" The fairy had a concerned expression.

"Sorry," Rin whispered, chuckling nervously.

However, she looked down at Eve's token and saw a green mist gathered on it.

[Oh, nice,] Rin thought, but not without a slight hint of jealousy inside of her.

"Now, something you might not know, not every spell is meant to attack. Hell, not every spell is meant to be used in combat. There are, in fact, five different schools of Essence, and each one specializes in different things. Any of you who want to be a spellweaver need to decide which one you're going to master. You can study them all, but mastering any of them takes years."

[Okay, focus.] Rin thought, straightening out her back. [Focus.]

"Hey," Seth raised his hand. "I got a question."

"Yeah? Shoot."

"Why do I need to be here?" Seth asked. "I don't care about anything magic-related. Shit's for pussies."

Harriton found that pretty funny.

"Well," he said between giggles, "kid, tell me. What's your reaction if I do this," then, quickly, the teacher aimed his hand at Seth. Instinctively, the boy ducked, fearing some kind of projectile. But, nothing came out of the teacher's hand. This only made his laugh intensify. "You know why I was able to fool you, kid?"

"W-What?" For the second time that morning, Seth looked shaken.

"Because you didn't even know how spells are cast. You thought that just because I aimed my hand at you, that a spell would come out." Harriton's face turned more serious. "Here's how a spell is cast." The teacher moved away from the group and aimed his hand at the wall. "You have to push the Essence in your body to your hands, see?"

There was a crackling sound in the air as blue embers came out of Harriton's chest and into his hands. Some members of the group were in awe. Some of them, like Lisa and John Ates, weren't.

"Then, you make a spellsign. Spellsigns are what ultimately determine the spell you will cast. For example, an upwards arrow creates the Fireball spell, the most basic spell of all."

From his left palm, a sphere of flames shot out and scorched the concrete wall opposite him. There were at least two gasps, and Rin didn't know if one of them came from herself or not.

"A circle," he manipulated the Essence back into his hands and did the spellsign, "creates the Heal spell." His palm glowed a bright white and Rin shielded her eyes. Then, it was gone and the teacher looked back at Seth. "So, to answer your question, you're here because, and this is a fun fact, you know orcs?"

"... Yeah?" Seth asked, shaken.

"They have their sorcerers too, kid. So do kobolds, goblins, anything that's alive. If you don't know what different spellsigns look like, you'll be fucked, you'll have no idea what they're trying to throw at you," Harriton said and Alea's hand instantly shot up to ask a question. "Yeah?"

"But beasts aren't intelligent. They're base creatures that rely on instinct alone. How can they memorize and perform spellsigns?"

Harriton scoffed.

"They don't need complex mental faculties to use Essence. Because they have it inside of them, they can cast spells. It's that simple. And, if you don't know what they're doing," he turned back to Seth who shrunk a little under his gaze, "you're fucked. That, my friend, is why all of you, non-mages included, should come to this class."

Seth appeared humbled.

"Now, let me tell you something about how far you have to go," Harriton smirked. "By now, you might think that all of this is... Well, easy, right? Nothing but drawing a few circles, a few arrows. Nothing to get too stressed about. Well, let me show you what a high-level spell looks like. Because, that Heal spell, and that Fireball spell, it's best to think of them as building blocks. Spellsigns you'll learn, use for a few months, and forget. Do you know why? Because the healing spell, for example, becomes this."

From his pants, he pulled out a small knife. Rin arched a brow. Then, with a smile, Harriton dragged the blade upwards, slicing straight through his right arm without so much as flinching. A river of red quickly began streaming down his wrist and onto the floor, and most of the students, except Lisa, who simply watched with a smile on her face, stood up off their seats. What the fuck!?] Rin thought. Then, he held a hand up and smirked.

"Watch."

Then, in less than a second, he drew a spellsign that Rin could only describe as a series of swirls in different directions, with seemingly no real pattern to them. Then, his left hand began glowing white. He dropped the knife and placed his hand on his right arm.

And, in a few seconds, that horrific gash he'd cut open closed.

"Voila." He chuckled. "You know how long it took me to learn that spellsign? Three months. The best thing I can compare it to," he tapped a bloody finger to his chin. "Imagine learning to play a song on the piano. Now imagine that if you play even one note incorrectly, the entire piano stops working, you get shocked, and you have to start from the beginning. Now imagine, that to prevent that from happening, you have to play it at the perfect tempo, with perfect timing every single time. That, students, is what awaits you at the higher levels of magic."

---

"If anyone wants to learn any spellsigns in their free time, gimme a visit at the library. I'll help you out." Harriton said to conclude the class.

The rest of the class was dedicated to discussing the five different schools of magic. The schools of Mundane, Illusion, Divine, Malady, and Sanguine magic. Mundane magic studied ways to manipulate reality to create combative or defensive tools, things like fireballs and ice shields were part of this school. The Illusion school focused on manipulating the senses of living creatures so that they see, hear, taste, smell, or feel things that aren't there. The Divine school used magic to heal living bodies and regenerate them while the school of Malady used magic to harm them with things like poisons and diseases. Finally, the Sanguine school focused on the manipulation of life itself.

That said, the teacher made it clear to everyone that even though magic presented almost endless opportunities, what you could actually do was limited by the Essence inside of you. Everyone was born with a specific pool of Essence, and that pool could only grow slightly.

To put it simply, true mages were born, not made.

Zoology was up next but the class as a whole was still thinking about what Harriton had told them. Some of them had just learned about magic for the first time, others were shocked to know beasts could cast spells too.

The door opened and heavy metallic boots thudded against the ground. Rin glanced up and when she looked at Cara, the teacher was looking straight at her. As soon as their eyes connected Cara looked away but to Rin, this was the confirmation she needed.

[Shit.] Rin gulped. [She knows.] Rin could feel her heart beating so hard against her chest, she worried that others could hear it.

Cara cleared her throat and said:

"In my class, we're going to be going over the various creatures you'll be fighting. So, learn this stuff now so you don't have to learn it later, alright? We're going to be discussing Rank D creatures first. Beasts are ranked in the same way adventurers are. From D to S."

Rin breathed in deep. [Calm down. Calm down, you're just in a class. She won't do anything, right?]

"So, first up we have kobolds. Humanoid cousins of dragons. Small, pathetic, but deadly in large numbers. Even beginners like you should be able to take them out easily but slip up once and they'll rip you to pieces."

John Ates, Carla's friend, raised his hand. Probably because of the previous class, he asked:

"Can they perform spells?"

"Their shamans can, yes. But, at least so far they've only been shown to know basic Mundane magic." Cara answered. "They aren't too big a threat, all in all. You see one, you should be able to kill them quickly."

"W-Wait," Lisa started to ask, "if we see one?"

"Yes, is that unclear?"

"I-I mean, do you mean in a fight, or just... Anywhere? Any single one? Even if it's just while we're out there, on the road? If we see one, I don't know, lying down, we should... Kill them?"

"Absolutely," Cara answered without hesitation.

"But what if they aren't a threat?" Lisa asked. Cara scoffed as soon as the words reached her ears.

"All beasts are threats." Cara took a few steps closer to the woman. "That hypothetical kobold, you know what it'll do if left alone?" Lisa, somewhat afraid of the dangerous aura the teacher was giving off, shook her head. "It'll link up with its kobold friends, plan an attack on a village, kill and rape everyone in there, and torture whoever they don't kill. Just like orcs, goblins, mind flayers, undead, lizardmen, wendigos, ghasts. All of them. Let me make something clear," she turned to the whole class and Rin saw Lisa take a relieved breath. "Mercy is a good thing to have, sure, but these creatures don't deserve it. All they follow is instinct and half the time, those instincts tell them to screw you. So, stop that train of thought right there. You see one of them, you kill them."

The rest of the class was equally as intense. Cara went over a few humanoid Rank D creatures, kobolds, goblins, wolfkin, etc. discussing how to beat them. Their weaknesses were similar to any actual human. Go for their eyes, disarm them, things of that nature. Besides, though, some of them had unique anatomies that presented special opportunities. For instance, a goblin and a kobold's lungs were smaller and weaker than a human's, as such, they could not hold their breath for very long. Therefore, creating smoke could suffocate these creatures.

Cara didn't ease up, at any point. As she explained away the different ways in which creatures operated, she maintained that commanding attitude that she usually presented.

By the class ended, Rin saw that at least half of the group were carrying solemn faces. Rin understood why. [So, I'm not the only one thinking "holy shit, this is real". That's comforting.]

"That was crazy stuff, huh?" Eve turned to her as Cara walked out. Just like before, Cara looked at her specifically while she exited the room.

"Yeah."

"It's an intense job we're applying for." A different voice said. Rin looked forward and saw John Ates and Carla facing them with the same apprehension they're feeling. The boy had been the one that spoke. "It's probably best just to roll with it."

"Don't sweat it," Carla said with a carefree smile. "I think she was exaggerating a bit. I have friends who have gone out of the city and fought a few of them. Should be fine."

"You lose to 'em, it just means you're weak." Another voice stated. Seth, of course. "No business bein' in this biz if you can't fight something as pathetic as those things."

"I can imagine being unlucky happens out there too you know." John Ates told him, barely holding back resentment. "One of them can land a lucky shot. You never know."

"Won't happen to me."

"All it is is a measure of responsibility." The next voice that joined the conversation was a rare one. Dylan was almost whispering, but it was clear his words were aimed at them. "I believe every time you fight a creature like that, it is a test to see if you have gotten lazy. Someone who remembers the fundamentals and practices them consistently should never lose to them."

Somehow, most of the group ended up pitching in their opinions regarding this topic. Lisa said that with proper teamwork, Rank D beasts weren't to be feared. Alea Marina said she couldn't even be bothered to think about them. The last three who hadn't spoken were Elisa, who looked like she was thinking about anything except this, Sara, whose expression never changed, and finally, the boy with the wolf ears, Varyn, who only spoke once silence had settled.

"You forget," Varyn started and Rin could sense a slight bit of annoyance in his tone. Everyone went silent to hear him out. "Beasts can be pathetic, sure, but they aren't incapable of adapting. Anyone who takes their opponent for granted can be defeated."

"Yeah, someone like you would think that, huh, monster-boy?" Seth asked with a chuckle.

"... What was that?" Varyn asked him and Seth stood up off his chair.

"You heard me," Seth responded with a smirk and Varyn stood up too. [Oh, shit.]

Seth stood right in front of Varyn, towering above him, but the boy's eyes did not falter. They stared each other down until someone cleared their throat at the door.

"Oh, did I come at a bad time?" The next teacher had arrived and no one had noticed.

"Not at all," Varyn stated, backing off, and Seth's glare intensified.

Carliah D'Ana waited until eventually, Varyn sat down casually and Seth slowly backed away as well. Then, she sighed and walked to the front of the room.

"Well then." She started. "I will be your cultural teacher. Now, admittedly, there are not many human cities or settlements left. However, everywhere you go will contain more history in one rock than Libera has had in its existence. Therefore, it could serve you to know about the places you are visiting. For example, let's discuss norms."

Rin was curious, so she looked over at Elisa and sure enough, she'd traded her indifferent appearance for one of subtle discomfort.

"Can someone give me an example of something that is okay somewhere else but not in Libera?"

For obvious reasons, upon hearing that question, Rin had an answer. However, she wanted to say it for a specific reason. She wanted to gauge Elisa's reaction. So, she raised her hand.

"Yes?" Carliah asked.

"Prostitution. In Dren, I mean." Rin answered and Carliah sighed.

"Yes, as disgusting as it is, such a thing is considered perfectly normal in that town," Carliah replied.

[Well, that's actually wrong. It's legal, yeah, but no one considers it normal. Your parents never talk to anyone and say "yeah, Rin grew up to be great, she's whoring herself out just next door! It's amazing!" You show up anywhere with a crescent moon on your forehead no one's going to be like "yeah, of course, just a regular person over there".]

Rin didn't even get to see how Elisa reacted. The tangent in her mind distracted her, and her teacher's tone led to her quickly tuning out the rest of what she had to say.

Admittedly, the hour was composed of things Rin couldn't fathom. She'd only been in two locations and one of them was for less than a week. Maybe the others would take more from this class than she did, but as far as she was concerned, it was borderline useless.

So, she hummed songs in her head and daydreamed the hour away. Eventually, it ended. Carliah was about to walk out of the room when she said, "Students, your next class is Physical Conditioning, right? You are to head out to the schoolyard, your next teacher will be waiting there. After that, you will go to the physical training center on the fourth floor, and that's where your Combat Training course will take place." Then, she pointed at Elisa and said, "come, I need to speak to you."

Elisa rolled her eyes but stood and walked out of the room with her. The students exited and walked to the elevator and the stairs to go to the schoolyard, but Rin stayed behind them, as her daydreaming had left her tired. When she got up to leave she yawned and just as she left the room she heard:

"... of course, your fiancé will be there."

Her eyes went wide.

"I know, auntie."

"Good. Do not disappoint." Rin slowed her step as much as she could without making it look like she was listening. "The future of our family is on your shoulders. The sooner you cease these... disgusting indulgences of yours, the better."

That was the last thing Rin heard. [Fiancé?] She thought. [Elisa is engaged? To Seth? Or...] Well, Rin officially had a small suspicion that she had both seen and heard things that she wasn't supposed to see or hear.