The New Bond

Aster

"Are you still upset?" Umbra asked me

I was, I couldn't help it. I wasn't a maniac for fighting, but when a chance to fight someone around my level appeared, I was excited for a fair fight, maybe even to lose by some big, unique spell. He was a prince, and that was meant to be a big deal.

"I just thought it would be fun, but it was more like hunting a deer. All it took was a few arrows. It ended so fast that it wasn’t fun, and I didn’t learn anything," I sighed, laying my back against Umbra.

The trip back from the castle last night had been a blur, with Roslin staying behind to speak with Cassin and Baldwin. The academy would start tomorrow, and we'd both be busy with our own things, so I decided to spend time together with Umbra today. We were both lying out in the sun of the courtyard right now.

"Have you thought about what courses you're going to take?" She asked.

Pulling out the paper Roslin had given me last night to look over, I unfolded them. Apparently, the academy worked in courses of five each year. A student could pick from the list I was holding of what they wanted to learn. I looked down at it, reading through part of the beginning again.

Greetings and congratulations on being accepted into Arilon Academy for this year's academic term.

Below are a total of forty possible courses listed that are available. If you choose a course you do not meet the requirements of, you will be put into another open course that is deemed viable for your classes.

I skipped the rest of the letter to the long list mostly marked through. Last night, Umbra and I had narrowed it down to eight options that best suited me. Most of the courses, like swordsmanship and ritual casting, had been easy to mark off. They weren't bad courses, none of them were, but they just didn't suit me. On the other hand, as the list grew shorter, the options became more challenging to pick from. Flicking my eyes over the remaining choices, I scanned it again.

Course: A 1 - Archery Basics

Teacher R. Elrid

This course is the basics of Archery for related courses. The course requires a class that is able to make use of a bow. You will learn basic techniques and common abilities that can be used in tandem with each other.

Course: AB 1 - Alchemy Basics

Teacher Y. Yimmer

The course consists of the basics of alchemy and potion creation. The ingredients are provided for the first mixture of every required potion.

Course: EB 1 - Enchantment Basics

Teacher C. Fore

This course will consist of the student learning the runes necessary for the creation of artifacts and enchantments.

Course: AD - Adventuring and Dungeoneering

Teacher Grade Four Adventurer Herney

This is a course that provides regular trips out of the academy on excursions into the wild and into grade-one dungeons to learn of beasts and traps that can be expected in the kingdom of Arilon. Note: This course is not recommended for non-combat classes or people with limited combat experience. Students will be tested in the first week.

Course: FM - Fundamentals of Magic

Teacher: Mage Eldrim

The course will provide lessons on fundamental knowledge needed to understand the system and how it operates. Recommended for anyone with limited knowledge of the system.

Course: BB - Bonding and Bonded

Teacher: K. Union & Squall

Have a bond, or are you looking to get one? This course will explain everything that might be needed and the benefits/downsides of having a bond.

Course: SC - Spellcasting

Teacher: Mage Eldrim

The rules of spell casing, how to properly manage mana, and how to utilize various spells are explained in this course.

Course: NM - Natural Magic

Teacher: Elder Trekum

This course offers knowledge of natural magic and the advantages of using affinity-related skills and spells in different areas.

I wanted to see what they all offered, but I was limited to five. I hesitated a moment before I crossed off Archery. There were things I could learn from the course, though I already knew a lot about the bow, and this course was just the basics. There was always the option of practicing on my own if I needed to improve anyway. Flicking through the other options,

I circled Fundamentals of Magic and Bonding and Bonded as well. They were both going to be necessary things to learn to improve in any significant way. After a pause, I circled Adventuring and Dungeoneering.

Mother had wanted me to get out and learn about the world. This would be a chance to level and learn about beasts and creatures outside the forest as well as hopefully level.

That left me with two more options, and I prodded Umbra with my finger, "What do you think of Alchemy or Enchantment?”

Umbra lifted her head over mine, creating a shadow as she looked down at the list. "Well, one would be good to know, something you can do when not hunting and for fun. You shouldn't pick both, though. It may be too much for one year to work on with everything else."

I circled Enchantment. Alchemy did sound interesting, but from what I knew about it, you had to make the entire thing at once, and if you messed it up, it could end badly. Enchanting was a longer process but also sounded more peaceful. It would allow me to also learn the runes I knew were used in the process to make enchanted items.

With one option left and crossing off the Alchemy course because of Umbra's earlier point that it would be a bit much, I looked at natural magic and spellcasting. Both had merits, but I didn't have any spells, only skills, so I was inclined to lean towards the Natural Magic course and take spell casting next year if I learned any spells.

I circled Natural Magic with a relieved breath. I didn't have to have my choices resolved until tomorrow when the academy started, but having it done now was a relief.

Kulni had been right in sending me here. It had been better than it was, and shockingly, it was easy to talk to people most of the time. The aspect of being around a lot of people at once made me nervous, but that seemed a minor problem as long as I stayed away from big groups. I shook my head with a smile, clearing my thoughts.

"Was there anything you wanted to do while we can?" I asked Umbra if tomorrow would be too busy to do more than talk through the bond.

"Well, until we can go outside the city together, there's not much we can do, but Silt is helping me with that. Apparently, we grow in size faster based on our level. There's a limit to how big a dragon can be with each grade, but grade one and zero work together, so I have a lot of growing I can still do." Umbra said, and she moved slightly so her head was in front of me as she spoke. "She will take me on hunts while you’re at the academy so I can learn and level. She says I'll be able to carry you in only a few months." Her voice had grown joyful at the last part. I could tell she was excited at the prospect of being able to fly with me.

I shivered at the thought of being on Umbra's back high in the sky, the ground so far beneath me that everything was only specks. I hadn't ever considered flying until I'd found Umbra’s egg. Now I felt nervous and excited, although the latter, I suspected, mainly was coming through the bond.

"You know I won't drop you." She said, moving her head closer, poking me with her snout.

"I know. I guess I can't help how I feel until I do it. I wasn't born with wings, and I want to fly with you, but the idea makes me jumpy." I said, reaching out to rub my hand on the scales above her nostrils.

"I'm sure the riders have a way to help with that. They've been doing it for a long time." Umbra said hopefully. "What about reading a book for now? I’m sure the solution will come with time, and the new book you got about the man who went to find treasure under the city is getting to a good part." She moved her resting on the stone near me.

I laughed, pulling the book out of my storage. Umbra had developed a big taste for adventure, and books that told stories of such had become a fast favorite, especially those that ended in masses of gold or silver. In her opinion, those books were only topped by those about dragons and the void.

Flipping to the page with the marker showing where we had left off, I started to read, passing the day with the book.

I grinned at myself in the mirror, stopping as my canines showed. Did humans smile with their teeth? I tried a smile without showing my teeth and found it much more appealing. I turned away from the mirror, my foot taping on the ground as I waited. I was dressed in the school uniform and was only waiting on Roslin. She was set to show me the way to the school, the path that I should be walking daily, but she was taking forever, and I wanted to arrive on time.

Eventually, after hours in my mind had passed, probably only minutes in reality, she made her way down the stairs. She was dressed casually and appeared not to be too worried about us being late like I was. I wished I could have pulled on the bond and complained to Umbra, but that was off the list of options as she was busy with Silt outside the city and speaking range of the bond, not that I couldn't feel her emotions still.

"Let's get going. The speech will begin on the eighth bell, and the seventh just rung," Roslin said

I rolled my eyes at her words, following her to the door. The kingdom used the bell system in all its major cities, synced up through magic to plan things properly anywhere. The bells were one, which started an hour before dawn, to the twenty-fourth bell, then repeated. I was grateful they had the forethought to make the twenty through fifth bell quieter than the others.

The path to the academy was almost a straight line from one of the exits of the tower, only requiring two turns to reach. The campus grounds were massive, even compared to the castle, stretching wider than a city block. Multiple buildings stood separate from one another, only visible once past the academy wall. There was a steady torrent of students on the main path that we became a part of as we headed for the main building. I stood close to Roslin to avoid being washed away and to help keep my nerves down as I got a look at the area.

Each building had a path that led to it, and several benches and seats were littered around the area under trees and in the grass. There were also big circles made of stone brick like the pathways we walked on, only they were sunken a foot into the ground, surrounded by the steps leading into them. I only knew what they were for once I saw a crowd around one, all engrossed in something that I only got a passing glance at. In the middle, a pair of students with swords were fighting. No, they were dueling.

Soon enough, we were in front of the central and most prominent building, and the people were forming multiple lines.

While we moved forward, I was getting a good look at the building that I might end up spending a lot of time in. It was multiple stories high and, like everything else in the city, made out of the same stone, but this stone was a darker blue color. The building had a round tower at each corner, and a big curricular one in the middle rose the highest. The entire building probably looked shaped like the letter H from above. A crown placed on the middle spire caught the light momentarily as we got to the right angle for the sun to bounce off, and I noticed the symbol was made of metal.

"Welcome to the Arilon Academy!" the chipper voice broke me out of my thoughts, and I looked down startled. A girl with blond hair, a student like me, judging by the same outfit she and I wore. She was standing behind a desk in front of the academy, holding a book and a quill. Her eyes flicked to my ears before she looked me in the eyes and continued speaking.

"Human is what Identify says. Is that correct? And first year, I'm guessing, by the lack of a pendant or badge. What is your name and qualification score for the exam?”

"I, um, Yes, I’m a human, and I'm Aster. I don't have a score?" I fumbled over my words, caught off guard by her rapid speech.

Thank the gods, Roslin stepped in for me, speaking in my place, "Lady Aster has been sponsored by the nobility."

The woman nodded and frowned as she flipped to the front. "Sixth on the list, quite high, apologies. I see no last name is Aster, alright?" I nodded, and she marked something down.

"Take this and activate it to verify you are who you claim. It will require a prick of blood. Please keep it on you at all times when entering any building." She reached into the book, her hand vanishing into the paper, and my eyes widened as the paper distorted, and she pulled out a crown-shaped pendant.

I took it as she offered it in one hand. Opening my mouth, I used one of my canines to prick my thumb, pressing it onto the pendant. Looking back at the girl, I saw her eyes were wide and her face a shade pale, staring as she held a needle out. I quickly closed my mouth and started moving to where everyone else was heading. I busied myself, putting the pendant onto my chest. I ignored the chuckle from Roslin, mentally smacking myself myself.

I had to remember that other people didn't have the same features I did.

“Well, you certainly are leaving an impression,” Roslin said, and I glared up at her. I didn’t want to stand out. That was the last thing I wanted. People staring at me made my skin crawl.

The room we made our way into part of the main building, double doors letting in the flood of people. It was an auditorium with rows of seats lining the room. There had to be thousands of people here, but only a fourth of them were actually wearing any type of uniform. The rest had to be friends or family.

Staff members in black and blue uniforms with crowns on their left shoulder were in the rows to maintain a light order, hand out a paper they held, and call out seats. Roslin took the paper from one of them and glanced at it before she gestured forward, passing me the paper, not bothering to try to speak of the noise, which was still loud even when not focusing on it. I guessed the golden ring on my ear could only do so much.

The paper had the room's seats ranked by the exam's placement and score. People who didn’t need to be placed, mainly nobles, were in the middle front of the auditorium. To my surprise and relief, we were placed in the fourth row. For a moment, I thought I might have been placed in the front. I could just make out the elf and human royalty in the front before we sat down.

With a lack of anything to do besides wait, I started identifying random people for fun. Most of my attempts bounced off because of items or skills. Everyone apparently had some way to prevent it. Still, it was entertaining seeing some glance around, feeling the attempt.

When the flow of people after about half an hour died off into a trickle, a heavy wave of mana flooded the area. It was dense and heavy, not to the point when Kulni changed shapes, but still, it made the air harder to breathe, and it felt like I was being pushed down. The noise in the room came to a stop as everyone felt the magic.

“Good morning, and welcome to Arilon Academy.” The voice came from the stage in front of us, and I looked towards it and away from the noble I had been repeatedly identifying, watching as his head swung around, trying to find whoever was doing it. A woman, a human with brown hair and brown eyes wrapped in grey robes, stood in the center.

I hadn’t seen her walk on stage but hadn't been paying attention. Her only older features were wrinkles around her eyes and mouth, which seemed to set her expression permanently into a neutral, unbothered one. Her voice was loud, but there was no echo in the room.

“Those thousand of you who are new students and don’t yet know, My name is Reyin Emmeth. You will call me Director Emmith. Those who are not students can refer to me as the former or Arch Mage Emmith. Today, I am here to review the academy's basic rules and layout. After I am done talking, students will proceed to the next room with their course papers to formalize their courses. Then, students, you will acclimate to your dorms for the rest of the day."

Whispers filled the big room as multiple people began to talk. Director Emmith's voice drowned them all out as she continued to speak.

"Yes, as some may have heard, you will be required to spend the first week of the academic term here and are not allowed to leave campus. Afterward, you can house wherever you wish in the city as long as you are on time for your courses.”

The muttering picked up, but a simple gesture from Director Emmith silenced all noise as a spell of some sort went off.

“There will be time for questions later.” She said, then walked forward a few paces, the edge of the stage only inches away.

“As you all are hopefully aware, the badges or pendants you have been given are the only way to access any building on these grounds, including this one. These pendants have two other functions as well. The first is drawing in mana from the surroundings and is how we allow duels on the campus and limit them. They can be activated when the mana in them is full. However, they can only be activated in one of the dueling arenas that most of you have probably seen around the campus. The second function is tracking. The pendant will allow students to be located if lost during an expedition outside the campus grounds."

The Director paused momentarily, giving me the time to identify the pendant.

[Arilon Academy Pendant - Rare - This pendant has multiple enchantments, allowing mana to be drawn from the air. Enchant types include Location, Mana Draw, and Mana Shield.]

I blinked, then shrugged. I wasn't planning on going anywhere I shouldn't, but would it be fine to bring it into the tower? I pointed to the pendant, looking at Roslin, and she nodded at the unasked question. Director Emmith continued.

"In your dorms, you will find a set of papers listing the academy's rules. There will also be a set always available in the main hall of this building. I will not tolerate students claiming they didn't know the rules. I expect every rule to be followed except in unreasonable situations where the rules could pose harm to you or another student. Moving on…"

The next twenty minutes, which was short by all accounts, were her laying out the rules and regulations of the academy as well as what would happen if they were broken.

Her speech ended with her saying, "Arilon Academy hosts many starting paths for the young and a chance to gain skills, levels, and experience in the hopes they reach their second grade unlocked at level seventy-five at the end of their second year. While we do not tolerate rule breakers, we open our door for all those willing to learn. If you would, students stand in the two middle rows and follow instructors Samath and Devum. They will show you the doors to the following room where you will exchange your papers for the courses." She clapped her hands, and suddenly, the room was filled with noise beside her, and talking again started up.

Roslin smiled at me and mouthed, "Good luck".

She didn't appear worried, so I didn't see the issue. I did wish that I'd been warned I wouldn't be allowed to leave for the first week, but when Umbra got back to the city, I'd still be able to talk to her.

I waited a few moments for the pack of students to lessen before I slipped in. I was okay with not being one of the first to get to the door like others seemed to be, instead preferring more space.

The next room was full of desks similar to the ones outside, and I spotted the girl who had handed me my pendant behind a desk with one of the shortest lines in front of it. After a moment of hesitation, I joined that line. It would be quicker, and she had already seen my teeth, so hopefully, there wouldn't be as much staring from her, not that I wasn't getting looks from a fair amount of the students in the line and the ones who walked past, but I could ignore those.

I pulled the paper for the course options out when I was second in line, giving them one more glance, then held them out as the boy in front of me walked away.

The girl glanced at me for only a moment for taking the papers, pressing them down on a page, and then holding a new paper and card up. She didn't say a word and avoided any eye contact. I took the new paper and card. Looking over it, I noted that the card had a list of my courses with building numbers, room numbers, start times, and the number of dorm room that I'd be staying in. The paper was a map with the same information but printed in the respective room of each course.

With those, I took a step off to the side as I looked over the map and orientated myself. We were meant to go to the dorm, so I turned, and after confirming hesitantly with one of the other people heading the way I thought I needed to, I set off.

The dorm ended up being a long, stout building with multiple halls. My room was one-fifteen at the start of the second hall. I opened it after checking it was the right room and went inside. It was a nice size in between my forest home and tower one. The main room was just a sitting area with a couch and some chairs around a table. There were three doors, two on one side and one on the other. I assumed the restroom was the door by itself. A window on the back wall, letting in a natural light, gave the room a pleasant feel.

The only thing that caught me flat-footed was the girl lounging back on the couch, taking a nap. I hoped it was a nap, as she had a pillow over her head, so I couldn't tell. My question on if she was living was answered when she raised her hand and spoke.

"I already took the room on the right. You have the left one," she mumbled, her voice muffled, pointing to one of the rooms without looking.

I blinked. Why was she here? "Um, this is room one fifteen, right?" I asked

The girl gave a thumbs up. "Yup, we're roommates. Everyone gets one. What a joy."

Oh, well, that was fine. I'd never had a roommate before. I sat down in a chair. "I'm Aster."

The girl let out a groan. "I guess I'll get sleep later then," She sighed low enough that I didn't think it was meant for me to actually hear.

She sat up slowly like the dead rising from a grave, moving the pillow away. I finally got a good look at her as she paused to stare at me. Her brown hair covered her eyes, partly a tangled mess that made me wince at the idea of trying to brush it. Her eyes, however, were bright, vibrant orange. Her uniform was wrinkled already, but she didn't seem bothered by it.

"What are you?" She asked slowly after looking from my ears to my eyes and then to my tail, which was pushed to the side so I didn't sit on it.

"I'm human." I rolled my eyes. Different ears and a tail didn't mean so much as to alter my race by system standards, and Identify still showed me as human.

"I mean, are they real?" She asked, then jumped backward as one of my ears twitched. It seemed to startle her out of her trance of asking dumb, obvious questions. Why would I have fake ears?

I crossed my arms, getting a bit fed up. "Well, you are?" I asked. I had learned that when you told someone your name, it was polite to return the gesture, and she hadn't done that yet.

The girl wrinkled her brows for a moment until something clicked, and she gave a small smile for the first time. It seemed to change her appearance from cranky because she had been disturbed to just tiredness. "I'm Kathleen. You can call me Kat. Everyone does, and yes, I’m human. Look, I'm sorry we got off on the wrong foot, but I am from a smaller town on the border, and the track here took weeks, so I'm just tired. With the exams taking so much time, I had little time to rest." she explained, her eyes still flicking to my ears every few seconds.

Now that she mentioned it, I could see the bags under her eyes. She did look exhausted. I felt a little bad for making her get up. "I'm sorry," I said, then a thought crossed my mind. "oh, but um if your room is that one, why are you sleeping here?" I pointed to the room that she had laid claim on.

She sighed, her shoulders lowering. "I still have to unpack, and the window in there faces the sun. It’ll be good at night when it's on the opposite side of the building, but right now it's terrible.

I couldn't help the giggle that escaped my lips, and I relaxed. It was such a fair but silly reason. I understood it, though. The sun getting in my eyes when I was sleeping was the worst.

Her eyes narrowed again at my laugh, and I held my hands up in surrender. "I'm sorry. I hope we can be friends. You're the first person I really talked to at the academy so far, and I don’t want to start off bad."

She nodded her head. “I’d prefer to since we're going to be sharing a dorm room together.” She sat up straighter, relaxing her arms against the back of the cough. “So, what courses did you pick? Maybe we have something in common?"

I passed her my card, and she held hers next to it, comparing it to the two, and she started to laugh. I tilted my head, and she explained, "We share three courses. I was wondering if it was luck or if this is why we're sharing a dorm room. The academy might have set it up so people share rooms with others in the same courses."

She passed over her card, and I looked through it. She had been right. We had three courses that matched up, the first two and the one. Our matching courses consisted of my first, second, and fifth courses in the order Fundamentals of Magic, Enchantment Basics, and Adventuring and Dungenering. The courses I had on my own were the third and fourth of the day. Bonding and Bonded and Natural Magic. It couldn't be a coincidence. I looked at the other courses she had, which were Short Weapon Training, then Fire Control and Alteration.

“What’s Fire Control and Alteration?” I asked her, looking up and passing back her card.

A broad grin went across her face as she held up her hand palm out, a small orb of fire formed over it no bigger than a coin. I leaned backward, surprised. The fire was a deep orange and so hot I could feel the heat from here.

“Wow, that’s cool. Well, I guess hot!”

Her grin turned sly as she spoke. “It’s the reason I got into the academy. Getting fire alteration on my grade one unlock means I have an affinity for it, a strong one.” She lowered her hand, the fire dispersing. “What about you? You have bonded as a course. Does that mean you are looking for a bond?”

I stilled, then in an attempt to answer with the truth, said, “No, I have a bond, but she’s not on the campus. We didn’t know that I’d be stuck here a week, and she has her own practice going on.”

Kat blinked. “So you mean you’re not going to stay on campus after the first week?”

Shaking my head, I shrugged. “My, keeper? I don’t know if that’s the right word for it, but she has a place she’d prefer me to stay if possible. I do plan on spending some nights here, but she wants me to stay with her.”

Kat rolled her eyes and then paused as something crossed her mind before she asked, “Are you nobility? I mean, you didn’t say your last name?”

“No, I don’t think so. We don’t have any nobility where I’m from or last names,” I said truthfully but didn’t mention I was considered a distant form of royalty as I didn’t see a reason to.

“Well, as much as I want to ask what you mean, we better get settled in. I do think it’ll be nice to have you as a roommate. I can only imagine that some people get stuck with people they hate.”