Extra Chapter: The Ancient Academy
Yawn—
Rena Ristalia slowly lifted herself from her bed…
It's been three years since she parted with her student Gryne Notros-Farion, she sleepily walked over to the window which was covered by a tall curtain… She opened them, there were more blinds covering the window…
"... Do you really need this much?" she muttered as she folded up the blinds revealing the glass windows, light shined into the dark room.
Rena stretched, her pyjamas too small on her body they tore a little bit just from the stretching…
She walked to the mirror, checking herself out… Her hair stood up like a sore thumb, messy…
"I should take a bath, shouldn't I?"
Rena cranked the shower head, a screeching sound… Eeekkk— a downpour of lukewarm water came down from above, it's been a while since she was able to use a shower, "come to think of it last time was at the Farion Mansion…" she muttered as she rubbed a bar of soap over her body.
She walked out of the shower, checking herself out in the mirror again…
"What would Gryne think about these now?" Rena jiggled her breasts at the mirror, since she last saw Gryne her body has grown quite a lot, she giggled just thinking about Gryne's pervy eyes. She then combed her hair and put on her travelling robe.
Pacing back to the window she gazed outside… The City of Qwel in the Magic Continent, North Ether. Horse drawn carriages roamed the busy streets as the pedestrians wearing big coats moved up and down the sidewalks, North Ether was a cold place, second coldest under the icy continent Jothengard… Rena gazed up forward, her eyes getting caught in the path by a large structure, from afar a great castle was seen, one far away but was so big it seemed close by.
The cold wind slams through the windows, Rena shivers in her thick robes before closing the windows… She walked to her bed, wrapping herself back in the warmth of the blanket bedrotting…
Knock— Knock—
Someone knocked upon the door of her inn, Rena unwillingly got up, another two knocks came.
"Coming." She grimaced as she walked to open the door.
"Mistress I'm sorry to say but it's already way past your booked period, I would have to clean and get the room ready for the next customer."
"... Already?"
"Yes miss, it's already two o'clock after sun high."
Rena sighed disappointedly before heading back into her room, she stuffed all her equipment into her suitcase and left the room.
As she went out the door, the inn maid called out for her again, "I have a letter for you."
//
The Imperial class mage, Rena Ristalia…
She walked through the snow, using a stream of fire magic to blow a path in the snow. Far in the top corner of her eye was where she was heading, the first Academy of Magic— Asta Magic Academy… The address led to somewhere in the Qwel Canyon, a valley located in between Qwel and the border of the neighbouring city.
In her hands a letter of invitation, there wasn't any information on the sheet except for large red writing which said an address and the name 'Rena Ristalia'. After checking the map, Rena knew one thing for certain, this was the unusual way of invitation of the Academy. It was a rather odd coincidence, she had been planning on enrolling via means of money, but now it's not needed anymore. Could they have been aware that she wants to enroll into the school?
"This isn't a scam for being a sex slave, right?" Rena muttered as she continued to navigate through the thick layers of snow. It was a common occurrence, girls getting tricked by such invitations and ending up with a slave mark then sold off in the market. Even still Rena wasn't really anywhere near scared, after all this talk she was still an Imperial class mage and an A rank adventurer, in this world there weren't many who can best her in terms of raw power.
Rena's market value was high, really high, so high that if anyone was to actually catch her and make her a sex slave, they would instantly become wealthy, so much so that their children and grandchildren would never have to ever worry about money… It made a lot of sense, Rena was a beauty, one with a beautiful face and a hot curvy body, with defined body features from all the walking and fighting that she does on a daily basis. Many had tried to capture her beforehand and failed miserably, dying at the hands of the deadly spells Rena was able to cast.
After another day or so of walking through the snowy fields, grilling and hunting snow rabbits as food… Finally the castle was right in front of her, it was daunting just looking at the sheer scale of the castle, it was on an island in the dead center of a lake. There wasn't a single trace of snow around the castle, in fact it was warm, just warm enough to melt away the nearby snow and prevent the lake from turning to ice.
"So, it really isn't a scam?" She traced around the lake, she noticed something interesting, there was a spell constantly being casted, like a barrier…
"Incredible…" Rena said, astonished by the large scale barrier spell… She thought to herself, how was something like this even possible, she never thought ever that she would see such refined magic. It wasn't something she could ever do, to her before learning about this, she always thought it was impossible, "there's really a higher mountain when I thought I have reached the peak…"
Rena walked around the lake trying her best to spot an entrance, the area was huge, just the castle and island itself was already the size of a city or a large town, the lake was even bigger, just tracing around the circular lake would take at the very least day or two.
After walking for about an hour Rena saw a bridge which led to the center of the lake, hurriedly she ran there getting onto the stone bridge, now in front of her stood the grand entrance of the Ancient school. Just the gate itself was already gigantuan, about the height of a six story building or a greater dragon.
//
Once she entered the Academy, she was no less than a little kid finally getting to experience the world… The campus was huge, filled with massive stone buildings and structures… Looking at the stones holding up the walls of the campus, Rena felt a tingle in her arm which meant that the stone slabs and bricks were infused with mana, she guessed that the structure was built by means of magic, even though the size of the place make it almost impossible, she thought that if we rallied all the mages in the world today we might still not be able to build such a detailed sizable structure. To put in comparison on the map, the academy has about the same size as a small city or a big town.
A knight stood guard in front of the second gate, by looks Rena was able to tell that this knight was no slouch, she expected him to be at least an Intermediate class swordsman. She cautiously walked up to the guard.
"HEY! What are you doing?" The guard yelled at the top of his lungs.
Walking up quickly to show she's not a threat Rena went to her pockets to grab the letter sent to her, "Umm, I was instructed here by this letter sent to me about a week ago." She passed the invitation letter to the guard.
The knight nodded, then grunted, in his abnormally loud voice, he said, "PLEASE FOLLOW ME THIS WAY." holding a guiding hand in front he walked in his heavy armor, with every step, the metal clashed and rattled.
Entering the castle Rena finally understands the true size of the place, it was huge, there wasn't a valid comparison that she could think off, tall towers stood high and proud all over the place, spiking into the sky, blocks of all kind of buildings sat beneath the shadows which the towers casted, between every building was a narrow path, kind of like the back alleys of a town. In the middle was a sort of main road where Rena followed behind the knight…
Rena continued to admire the castle, looking around frantically, unable to fully analyse every spot which left her looking like a curious little girl wandering in the bright lights of the city for the first time. It was preserved really well for a place built almost a thousand five hundred years ago, she was amazed by every little bit of architecture in the academy, it was well designed and the design was well executed.
In every single place, absurd amounts of mana existed… Around the walls, in the tiles of the main street… Mana fluttered around freely. Breathing in each breath of air was like suckling up a whole lung's worth of mana, it was already the amount of mana your average elementary mage had, according to the various textbooks which Rena had read, this was said to be bad, it's said that too much mana consumption may cause disease or even death from the overdose, many died in labyrinths due to this… But when she breathed there wasn't any discomfort, the mana that went in was so pure, it felt refreshing.
"RIGHT THIS WAY PLEASE!" The knight spoke again, his hand guiding to turn a left corner.
Turning the corner, Rena had unlocked a new area. This area was filled with tall red brick buildings aligned along the pathway neatly unlike the messy bunch behind the front gate, with each block stood a number sign in front labelling the buildings. Looking up Rena saw rows of windows which she guessed was where each dorm room stood, just briefly counting Rena saw at least sixty windows on one wall of one block…
Doing some quick calculations she guessed that in this area alone there were six hundred rooms which can fit up to four students each. The number bewildered Rena again, she knew that this was the most famous and biggest magic academy in the world but the number was still absurd to her.
"PLEASE FOLLOW ME THIS WAY!" The knight guided again, turning another corner, this time to the right.
Turning the corner, the pair walked through a narrow alleyway, as they got into the sunlight once again, Rena was caught off guard yet again, the encased corpse of a slain petrified Ancient Dragon stood tall in the oval courtyard… She had never seen one dead or alive, a high calamity class monster just standing there dead… It was a sight to behold, the Dragon was dead for a long time, by the colours on the stone slabs which were once the dragon's mighty scales, Rena predicted it to be at least a thousand years of age, it made sense, nobody had seen an Ancient Dragon in centuries…
The reason it was known as the best magic school out there stood before Rena's eyes, the achievement of slaying one of the strongest monsters in history…
The sight of the dragon was astonishing at first for Rena, but soon things weren't going so 'fun' for her. Memories of her horrid past experience with the Dragon King, the Monarch of the Cold Sky flashed before her very eyes again… The revolting memories played back in her mind, reminding her of every bit of guilt she had.
An icy cold spark flew through her spine, her legs lost control as she shivered then fell on her knees.
Even after five years, her trauma never fully left, the image of the Dragon King Regern etched into her fragile mind forever… Thinking about Gryne and all the other people at the Farion mansion might give her a brief moment of comfort, but never has it ever gone away…
No.
"MISS! ARE YOU OKAY?" The knight shouts as he jogged back next to Rena, his suit of armor screeching sharply with each joint movement.
Rena Ristalia
The knight offered to help me up, but I declined.
"... Yeah I'm fine, please show me the way forward." I said, as I pushed my limp legs back up, getting back on my feet… I felt cold sweat drip down my body, my hands and legs were still trembling in fear.
I pushed forward, inhaling a big breath of mana, I began following the knight's clanky footsteps again…
I was already so astounded by the Ancient Dragon, I didn't even realise the thing behind it.
Now that my mind had cleared up, I noticed that behind the preserved corpse of the tall Ancient Dragon was something even taller, more astounding and even more magnificent… The main castle itself.
The castle was about double the dragon's height, about eighteen stories tall, built out of stone slabs and supported by large amounts of mana which held it up. The daunting structure had a jumble of spiky towers high and low, spiralling staircase wrapped around some of these tall towers. It is much less of the grand and classy feeling you get when you see the castles in the Royal Capitals around the world.
Comparing this place to a royal capital was a befitting description, if you have been to any royal capital you would understand, aside from the castle itself, everything on the side was just the castle town…
I was guided to behind the corpse of the Ancient Dragon, where a stairway leading to the underground stood.
"PLEASE GO DOWN THIS WAY!"
Walking down the stairs, a long corridor sat, one side led to a statue of a beautiful woman, the woman had a revealing outfit, her sizeable breasts almost poking out, on the statue's neck was a golden necklace which had a red gem on it… while the other side led to a door of sorts, the corridor was tight, magically lit flames burning atop torches guided the way.
"Please press on the gem on the statue and walk down the stairs that will reveal itself after." The knight said, this time it was no more than a whisper.
Was this some sort of sacred ground where you can't speak loudly? I walked down the corridor and followed the knight's instructions.
Going down the few steps of stairs, there was a wooden door which had a golden knob, the golden knob was a spectacularly designed dragon, it had ruby gems as eyes which gleamed brightly in the darkness of the poorly lit corridor.
//3
Rena twisted the handle of the door, pushing it forward, she went in, finding herself in a large two floored circular room, the room was decked in goldware, plates to cups to the edges of desks, it was all golden. It was an interesting room, aside from the goldware which was found all over the room, there were more, spindle legged round tables to enormous statues of various animals.
An old man sat there behind the wooden desk with the golden edges, he had long white hair, fuzzy, his eyes gleamed even brighter than all the gold around him, on his face, he wore a friendly approachable look on his face.
"Rena, was it?" His voice was soft and had a calming effect on Rena, a warm, as if she was protected, shielded from any threat that could come her way… The old man had overflowing mana which was being absorbed by all the goldware around, he was one strong old man.
"A pleasure… And you are…?" Rena said as she bowed down her head in respect.
"Pardon me for not introducing myself, I'm the headmaster of the school, Cercis Ainstelle, or you might know me be my title instead, the Grand Marshal"
Frozen in shock of hearing the title here of all places Rena.
"Please sit down, miss Ristalia." Cercis said, as he waved a hand implying for her to sit on the couch.
The title of the Grand Marshal was only related to one person, it's known all throughout the world, matter of fact, just the title alone was like a celebrity, the kind old man who sat in front of Rena's eyes was him, the Grand Marshal Cercis, S rank adventurer, and one of the strongest Imperial class mages to ever grace the world… A Great Mage of the last generation… It was about 60 years prior to this day when the title faded from the face of the world, no one ever had news, only questionable rumors, now it made sense.
"May I ask you a question," Cercis said, as Rena began to sit down, "How do you view magic?"
Was this a test? Could it be that if I answer incorrectly I get thrown out the academy in nothing but my underwear? No, no that's going a little too far… After a while of deep thinking, Rena came up with an answer, "Umm, I think magic is something to protect… Protect the people I love." An image of Gryne flashed in her head, but she quickly shook away the thought, instead replacing it with an image of her parents.
"Hmm, interesting…" Cercis replied, then mumbled under his breath, "I wonder if that's how all the Imperial mages are like nowadays…"
"So might I ask one more question, why did you enroll into Asta?"
Rena didn't think hard before answering her question, she just told Cercis the full truth and nothing but the truth, "I want to be a worthy master to my student, there's still a lot that I cannot do, I still have much to learn, and to what I've heard Asta Magic Academy is the best place to do such."
Cercis laughed bitterly, "Haha— You might be right about that, good… Good, I'll permit you to join the Academy, above that I'll give you a discount on your tuition fee if you would duel with me in the Arena, right now. Would you accept the challenge?"
Rena was taken aback by the sudden challenger she got, she wasn't sure if her power was even comparable to the legendary Grand Marshal, before she could reject the headmaster's offer, he said a word of reassurance, "Of course it wouldn't be a fight to the death."
Rena nodded firmly, she was up for the challenge, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity to battle against one of the only remaining Great Mages of the last generation.
Cercis stood up from his cushioned seat, an explosion of mana bursted as he lifted his body. He offered Rena a hand, guiding her to the door…
"I'm sure you have met Gerard already."
"The knight at the gate?"
"Oh, was he doing that again? Actually he isn't a one of the hired knights, he's a student, your senior, a third year upperclassman." Cercis opened the door for Rena, "Ladies first."
"Hi sir, are you heading to the arena?" Gerard said as the two walked up the staircase, "If so allow me to lead the way."
"Sigh— I told you to drop the act, you aren't in Beral anymore, here you aren't a knight but a student, how many times do I have to tell you this." Cercis said.
Gerard didn't respond, instead he stopped mid track, turning around then gave Cercis a salute o7.
"Sigh," Cercis sighed again, "Don't mind him keeping walking."
//
After about a minute of walking, they stopped, and a large door stood in front of them. As they got closer, the door opened by itself.
"Woah…" Rena gasped, amazed that even the door was imbued with some sort of magic which made it more convenient.
"It's incredible how the Ancients were able to build all of this isn't it?" Cercis said calmly, a smug look of pride on his face.
They entered entered the door, inside was an open area, a dome of sorts, on the walls there were enchanted stone slabs which was enchanted by an Imperial class endurance spell
heightening its durability. Rena looked around fascinated by her new found spells and enchantments, there wasn't a single person in sight.
Other than them it was empty, some of the tiled flooring had a magic circle on it, to be specific a healing one.
"Ahm— As you can see, this is the arena, on the floors there are Advanced class healing circles to prevent any major injury to our students… What do you say then, shall we start?" By his tone, Rena could feel that Cercis was rather excited.
After a few moments, Rena and Cercis were on different sides of the arena, in the middle Gerard stood there as referee…
"No killing each other here, okay?" Cercis shouted from across the arena, his voice sharp and loud as if he was young once again.
Rena just nodded in response.
Both the mages took their stance, placing their respective staffs at the ready. Rena held her long wooden staff with a purple gem at the tip, it was a strong staff, the mana crystal in front was one from the Demon Continent which is reasonably stronger overall than ones from the Central or Litith Continents, Rena had named her staff Ash. On the other side of the battlefield, Cercis held up his staff which was much shorter than Rena's, about the length of two rulers, it was made out of wooden and had golden lining all around it.
"START!" Gerard shouted from the middle of the arena.
Both the mages began chanting rapidly, after about ten seconds the first spell was launched, it was Rena who shortened her incantation on the Intermediate class spell 'Clay Spikes'. She had practiced this shortening technique for over two years now, originally she was trying to learn how Gryne uses silent casting but to no avail, no matter how well Gryne structures his explanation she couldn't understand or do it, her best effort was shortening it.
Spikes formed at a rapid speed stabbing through the magic imbued flooring as it got closer and closer to Cercis.
"... — Annihilation Cannon." Cercis finished his incantation just in time, the Imperial class offensive spell, 'Annihilation Cannon'. a beam of white light blasted through the clay made spikes, at the last second Rena dodged out of the way of the blast. The beam crashed into the wall causing it to dent.
"Phew—"
Rena let out a sigh of relief before preparing herself for her next attack.
"Piercing bullet!"
Cercis shouted, before Rena could focus her mind on the battle Cercis had already launched his next attack.
As the bolts of light quickly approached at a dangerous speed, Rena lost all hope, there was no chance she could dodge in time.
Closing her eyes to brace for impact, clanks ringed in her ears… She looked up to see a shining suit of armor in front of her. Gerard stood in the way of the spell's lane, blocking it.
Cercis let out a small sigh of relief before saying loudly across the arena, "Good work, Gerard."
Cercis said as he walked over tapping Gerard's chestplate as recognition before offering Rena a hand to help her up.
"Thank you…" Rena muttered under her breath slightly embarrassed by her mediocre performance in the duel. She bowed down her head, her voice shaking slightly, "Sorry for not being a capable duelist."
"Don't worry about it, nobody has beaten me yet, you actually got pretty close with your first spell."
"..."
"I'll see you around then, I'm expecting great things from you in the years coming." Cercis said as he walked back into the tunnel which led to his office.
"..."
"I'll show you to your dorm now, you can pay the entrance fee at a discount tomorrow, you must be pretty tired after that." Gerard said, his shiny armor not scratched in the slightest from the impact of the spell.
"This way please…" He held his hand out beckoning Rena to follow his guidance again.
//
The pair went back out from the tunnel, coming out from behind the Ancient Dragon.
As Rena followed Gerard, words fluttered in her mind, I was completely outclassed, there was no chance I could win… His spells were like flashes of light… "I wonder if Gryne could do that by now, if he continued at that pace he very well could be as strong as Cercis now." Rena thought out loud, muttering as she turned the corner back into the road with the well organised dorm buildings.
The image of Gryne was one she could never forget, the boy whom she taught, the one that became an Imperial class mage at the tender age of five years old…
Laying on her bed now, Rena had chosen to rent a single room all to herself, she had the money to spend, all that tutoring gave her a good bit of fortune…
Sigh—-
Rena held the necklace Gryne gave her at their parting up high above her, the beautiful gemstone right in front of her violet eyes… "I wonder how he's been, he must be at least nearly a calamity class mage now, maybe he already is… I wonder…"
Knock knock—-
Someone knocked on Rena's dorm door, "Miss Ristalia, is it? You have a letter sent by…"
"Hmm?"
Rena was surprised to hear the name just when she's thinking about him, was it just pure coincidence?