The Lone Wanderer

Percy’s eyes snapped open as the first rays of sunlight streamed into the room. He was still exhausted, but he forced himself to sit up, knowing that if he didn’t, he might end up sleeping through the entire day.

Stretching, he made his way to the window, curious to take in more of Felmara. He hadn’t had a chance to appreciate the scenery yesterday – too busy catching up on Leo’s life.

'Wow, this is quite the view.'

Leo’s room was situated high up, likely on the fourth or fifth floor, and faced outward. Before him stretched a sprawling garden, reaching all the way to the horizon. It was meticulously maintained, with grass that had an unusual bluish tint. Colourful flowers were arranged in intricate geometric patterns, each centred around a tree. Cobblestone paths wove through the garden in a loose grid, with a few benches scattered throughout. Most remained empty, as only a handful of people were up this early.

'Pity I don’t have time for sightseeing.' Percy lamented.

Leaving the room, he headed down the corridor to a restroom at the corner. Fortunately, Leo’s remaining memories had firmly ingrained its location in his mind, likely due to the boy's frequent visits. Truth be told, he didn’t urgently need to go, but he preferred to handle it before the other students woke up. The fewer people he ran into, the better.

Figuring out how the facilities worked took a few minutes longer than he would have liked, but he managed to return to his room before anyone else emerged. He tossed on a fresh set of robes and gathered a few notebooks he thought he might need later, placing them in a leather satchel slung over his shoulder. He shoved a few of the sealed snacks in there too. He’d no idea what they tasted like, but he’d need to eat sooner or later. Then, he set off for the library.

By now, a few students were already up and about. Fortunately, most only greeted him in passing, while some ignored him altogether. He did get more than a couple odd looks from both groups though. Had Leo done something to offend his peers, or was it simply too early for socializing? Either way, it worked in his favour.

As he walked, he began to realize the academy was even larger than he’d initially thought. The dormitories alone spanned multiple buildings, each towering at least six stories high. And every student had their own room!

Percy still didn’t know much about this world, but everything he’d seen so far left a good impression – a high standard of living, relatively advanced technology, and a well-structured educational system.

Running some numbers in his head, he estimated that the academy housed over a thousand students! That meant it either belonged to a powerful faction, or that Felmara was a relatively peaceful world, allowing multiple smaller factions to send their children here without worrying about their safety.

'Hmm… Maybe the lack of a bloodline Decree plays a role in that...'

By now, Percy had noticed the pattern. Worlds with bloodlines – like Remior or the Vault – tended to be far harsher on their mortals. It made a twisted kind of sense – eliminating the weak freed up space and resources, accelerating the mutation of new and stronger bloodlines.

Of course, every place had its own share of problems, and he was sure Felmara wasn’t an exception. Still, compared to everywhere else he’d been, it seemed to be on the better end of the spectrum. Well...so far, at least.

Finding the library proved a little harder than expected. Unlike the restroom, its location wasn’t as firmly embedded in Leo’s mind.

‘I should have looked through his stuff for a map of the academy.’

Making a mental note to do that later, he decided to ask somebody for directions for now. The only issue was that Leo wasn’t a freshman at this place – Percy had already seen plenty of kids younger than him. Not knowing where to find something as basic as this was bound to raise an eyebrow.

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‘Better ask one of the older students then.’

It would still sound odd, but he figured they were less likely to know him personally, and thus less likely to make a big deal out of it.

Looking around, he ignored all the people his age, walking up to a girl half a head taller than him. She had short, blue hair. A bit of a trend that he’d noticed actually – the girls here all had shorter hair than the guys. He wasn’t sure if it was physiological or cultural.

“Excuse me. Which way’s the library again?”

The girl instinctively wrinkled her nose as her eyes lit up in recognition. Weird. It seemed the older students knew him too – and they didn’t seem to have a good impression of him either. Just what kind of jerk had he possessed?

To her credit, she masked her irritation not long after, however, creasing her brow as her thoughts shifted to his question. Sure enough, it was a dumb thing to ask. Seeing her reaction, Percy was already scrambling to come up with a good excuse…

“Stuck with a crappy teacher?” she asked back.

“Huh?” he tilted his head. This was not the question he was expecting. “What does that have to do with anything?”

She shrugged.

“Well, why else would you need to go to the library? Just go to your classes. It’s easier to learn that way.”

Percy was too stunned to speak. Why would he go there? He could list a dozen reasons off the top of his head! Brushing up on stuff he’d forgotten, building up the foundation to pick a new subject, studying a topic he didn’t have a slot for…

‘Do these kids want everything to be spoon-fed to them?!’

He was a little offended. She seemed to have no idea how precious of an opportunity this academy was.

Then again, he couldn’t help but recall how few people ever bothered using the libraries on Remior. Perhaps laziness and complacency were universal traits. No wonder Metatron had to threaten his people with starvation to get them to study.

Oblivious to his scathing critique, the girl spoke again, probably in a rush to brush him off.

“Anyway, it’s been years since the last time I went there. I think it’s somewhere that way – a few corridors down. Close to the cafeteria. Or wait… was it the auditorium?”

Suppressing the urge to lecture her, Percy thanked her before following her – admittedly dubious

In the end, he did reach the place – after having to backtrack once or twice. His irritation all but evaporated as soon as his eyes landed upon the countless towering bookcases, each dozens of metres tall.

‘Geez, this place is several times larger than the one in the Guild!’

At least the library wasn’t completely empty. It seemed the academy did have a few hard-working students. But he ignored them for now, making his way to the clerk.

“May I help you with something?” the man asked.

He was the first adult Percy had seen, and he was quite old too. His mane was a dull grey colour, his face sporting more than a couple of wrinkles. A Yellow core pulsed in his chest.

‘A Red-born…’ Percy guessed. ‘Not bad.’

Landing what looked like a somewhat relaxing job in a prestigious academy seemed like a good deal, given the guy’s birth grade.

Outwardly, he smiled before replying.

“I’m thinking of changing courses next term. Is there any kind of overview of the available subjects? Something a little more detailed than the booklet?” he asked, holding the curriculum up.

The clerk fiddled with his whiskers for a couple of seconds.

“What courses are you leaning towards?”

“I was thinking Alchemy, Pre-casting and Cosmic Studies. Though I’d like to see what’s in Runecrafting and Affinities too. Also, maybe a reminder on what to expect from Mana Flow, just so that I can better prepare for future lessons.”

The man struggled to stand up, his knees making all sorts of creaking sounds. He had to be really old to be in this bad a shape at Yellow. Probably in his 400s. Percy hurried to his side, helping him up.

“Sir, just point me to the right shelves. I’ll find the books on my own.” he offered.

The man didn’t stand on ceremony, nodding before guiding him to the requested resources. A couple were higher up on the bookcases, so Percy had to use some of the sliding ladders attached to them to get to the books. He was tempted to use his air magic to pull the books out, but he knew he’d make a mess in the process. And he respected this place way too much to risk it.

It took a while, but he eventually found what he needed. Walking to a free table at a corner of the room, he set the books in front of him before taking a seat. Next, he picked the first one from the stack, flipping to the first page.

He knew he didn’t have much time. Days on Felmara were already short to begin with, and he’d wasted a lot of time getting here.

‘Let’s see what the local alchemists can do…’