by Colin Daumen
With that, Favian took the long walk back to his dorm room.
‘Okay, I need some food and a shower,’ he thought to himself as his belly grumbled. He had yet to have a hot shower since he entered this new world. ‘I really did take something as simple as a hot shower for granted, didn’t I?’
The shower he had was pretty much as good, if not better, than those he had back on Earth. ‘Probably because I haven’t had one in ages,’ is what Favian thought. He ordered himself something which looked like a quiche or a frittata. Needless to say, it tasted amazing. Everything tasted better than on Earth. ‘How weird.’
He savored the richness of the food he ate, and after his last gulp of it, he realized that he needed more. His body wasn’t satisfied yet. After ordering and eating another 3 portions of the quiche-like food, Favian finally felt satisfied. He had spent only 1 contribution point in total for all of the food.
‘Not only will I not have to worry about food whilst I’m here at the academy, but I’ll also be able to slowly build up my body with martial arts training. I think that I really struck on gold here.’
‘Okay let’s get to business. System! Highlight any useful information from the books ‘Introduction to Dark Magic’ and ‘Meditation Techniques’,’ he ordered.
[DING! 'Introduction to Dark Magic' has no information deemed as valuable. The information from the book ‘Darkness and Shadows’ has more advanced information with less jargon. 'Meditation techniques' has information which will allow the host to actively meditate. Would the host like for this information to be transferred?]
‘Well that’s a shame, I hoped that there might be some info from the dark magic book but that’s fine. System transfer information.’ Favian didn’t want to be completely reliant on his game system, but he wasn’t an idiot. He would learn what he could at his lectures to improve his understanding of magic, however, he would still use the system to gain instant knowledge whenever he deemed it necessary. There was no point in not using such a powerful tool. It’d be like deciding to rummage through a phone-book for a number when the option of searching on the internet was there.
Chapter 14 – First Lecture
Favian was currently sitting on his bed, with his legs crossed in a meditative position. He wasn't currently meditating, but rather he was deep in thought.
'So, meditation is essentially just an intake of world energy into the vessel of my own body and my arcane core. The amount of particles I can take in is limited by the capacity of the vessel, and the speed of pulling in these particles is limited by my knowledge, familiarity and attraction to the particles. My knowledge of dark, light and shadow particles are the greatest out of all of the particles,' he thought to himself.
'System, create a standardized method for calculating affinity to all known arcane particles, and rank my affinities,' he ordered. He wanted to closely track whether any changes occurred in the future.
[DING! Initializing computing function. Computing complete. Known arcana particles have been processed, 1 unknown anomaly found. Ranking particles from greatest to lowest affinity.
1. Unknown particle
2. Dark & Shadow particles (Both show host to have the same affinity)
3. Light particle (Only a slightly lower affinity than dark and shadow)
4. Host’s affinity to all other particles is equally abysmal.]
"Abysmal?? Since when did you get such an attitude?" he said as he fell back onto his pillow. Favian was feeling slightly underwhelmed by his natural affinities. He seemed to only have 4 particles he showed strong affinity towards, and of those 4 particles, his strongest was unknown.
'Well, I mean look at the bright side Favian, your strongest particle has to be one of the intermediate or advanced arcana particles then if it's currently unknown,' he thought, hoping that these words would lift up his mood, which they did.
Realizing that he had nothing better to do right now, Favian decided to meditate. It was much more useful than sleeping, as it would refresh the host as if they had slept, and would also aid in their improvement. However, it was well-advised in the book 'Meditation Techniques' to get some real sleep at least once a week, else lethargy and nausea would start to plague the individual.
Favian spent the next 8 hours meditating, after which he got himself ready for his first official day at the magic academy. That feeling of unease you would get from thoughts about the first day of school was also one of the reasons he decided to meditate throughout the night. It was always scary having to meet new people and make friends in a setting you weren't used to, and despite Favian having already lived for over 20 years previously, this emotion was something that was difficult to part from.
After drinking some tea, Favian checked himself out in the mirror next to his desk. He hadn't noticed at all that his hair was turning more purple. It was now almost half black and half purple, whereas before it had been mostly black with hues of purple spread across. Not giving it too much thought, Favian sped out of his room towards the location of his first lecture; The Barracks.
‘The Barracks’ was a large stretch of land in the academy which housed everything to do with beasts and combat. A medium-sized colosseum was also built in The Barracks, and this was where disputes between students were held. The academy firmly believed in letting students take care of their personal issues by themselves, as this would create a culture of independence. It would be pointless to create a magician who relied completely on society and other people when a lot of the time their studies would take years of isolation. This was the Dusk Academy's philosophy, which contrasted with the Dawn Academy's in almost every possible way. At the Dawn Academy, they believed that people needed to nurture relationships and bonds that were so strong to never be broken. This way, they'd be able to create loyal soldiers.
Favian arrived at his destination, a training hall within The Barracks which housed the lectures for martial arts. The building looked very bland from the outside, with there being only a few windows around it, and a dull green marble being used for its construction, which gave a real rustic atmosphere to the place.
Once he entered through the front door, a waft of blood and sweat invaded his nostrils. The sounds of 'KA' and 'CHA' resonated through the large room. There were heavily muscled males and females littered around the massive main hall of the building. Most of the people were either working out on mats or practicing fighting techniques; the energy in this room was pretty intoxicating, with everyone present trying to improve themselves. Some people were even practicing a combination of physical and magical exercise.
What caught Favian's eye was an elven looking girl, whose white curly hair looked like the waves of an ocean. This girl was currently practicing some weird style of combat art with a sword whilst also using wind magic to levitate a small boulder in the air.
This girl was exhibiting large amounts of strength and had a prestigious air around her, but all that Favian could think about was one thing, "Wow your lips are so gorgeous."
….
Silence.
Everyone stopped in their tracks and looked at Favian. The silence was so deafening, that dropping a single grain of rice would have sounded like a volcanic eruption. 'Oh no, what have I done. I said that out loud didn't I?'
Favian knew of no way to navigate out of this awkward scene. His blood started to sprint towards his face, and a fight-or-flight reaction was initiated by him almost immediately. Favian ran towards the room within which his first lesson would happen in about 10 minutes, and decided to sit himself down straight in the middle of the classroom.
Favian had been tunnel-visioned as he ran away from his blunder, so he didn't notice that the professor was already sat behind a desk at the front of the classroom. The professor was a rather imposing man, with his muscles bulging to the extremes. He looked like a bodybuilder, yet almost as if he had altered his whole musculature to look as perfect as possible. If he had not looked human, any person would guess that he was a goliath or a gi
ant just based on how huge he was, and how veins popped out of his arms.
"You there! Come spar with me!" the professor growled. His rough voice called out the challenge to Favian who was still in a daze.
'What on Earth is going on now?' Favian was having the worst first day of school possible. As he looked at the professor with a clearer mind, he realized that in between him and the desk upfront, there was a 15-metre radius of space that was just open ground filled with mats.
"Come! Don't be shy, I won't hurt you, boy," this time he didn't speak as aggressively, instead talking in a more neutral manner. The professor saw Favian's dazed expression, yet still wanted to get his muscles moving. All of the paperwork he had to do since the start of the academic year was making his mind go crazy.
Favian looked at the formidable professor, before shaking his head in defeat. He would not, or rather could not put up any sort of fight with this man. 'If all of the students that took martial arts as a subject are like this teacher, then I'm going to have an extremely stressful time here.' His emotions were immensely turbulent on this day, and Favian became even more dejected.
"I'm sorry professor... Sorry I don't know your name, but I have no martial arts experience at all. I was hoping to learn how to defend myself in case I run out of magic, and because my body is really weak right now."
The professor looked on at Favian and had a complete change of heart. Initially, he made things hard for Favian as he had been stressed out by his workload, and because of it, he was generally more irritable. In this state of mind, he saw a scrawny young boy coming into his class and thought it to be a joke. He only wanted to test what type of individual this boy was, and it seemed to be the right kind of person to be taught. Somebody who wanted to improve themselves was worthy of any class taught by himself.
"Well met boy, I am professor St-Pierre, and I'll be taking you through beginners martial arts. I'll be honest, your foundations in martial arts are very weak, even lower than the standard required for this basic level class. Usually, the people that join have already had some form of experience. But don't worry, if you are dedicated and work hard, I'll make sure that your dream becomes a reality!" Professor St-Pierre exclaimed, placing his hand above his chest in the military salute common on the continent of Ortu Solis.
"Now, we have a few minutes before class starts, so drop down and give me 100 push-ups young man!" he said. His eyes drilled into Favian, making sure that he knew that 'No' was not an acceptable answer.
'...…' Favian's mind went blank. 'Did I just enter the military?'
Chapter 15 – Another confrontation
"98." "99." "100."
*Pant* *Pant* Favian collapsed onto the floor, trying hard to get his breath back. He'd been able to do all of the push-ups due to his increased strength and constitution values, which were now at 1.4, however, this only meant he was 40% stronger than an average human. Compared to a professional muay thai fighter on Earth, Favian still had a long way to go in terms of physical talent.
"Boy, you have your work cut out for you. Know what, come by the training facility here every morning at 4 am and I'll teach you myself. Your enthusiasm has reinvigorated this old man here." St-Pierre decided this on a whim, however, more exercise would never hurt an aged man like himself.
'Old man… Wait? Huh? But you look like you are 30 years old at the peak of human existence with your chiseled body! Oh, this world is giving me so many surprises, I'm going to die of a heart attack at some point.'
Just as Favian had finished drying the sweat off his forehead with a towel handed to him by the professor, other students started to flood the classroom. Favian went back to his seat in the middle of the room, and placed the book he would be writing notes in down.
As a measure to make sure he didn't miss anything, Favian decided that he would let the game system also make its own abridged version of the lecture, which would be compared with his own notes.
After another five minutes all of the students arrived. 'Oh, this reminds me so much of medical school, how I miss those days… wait, nah, those days were grueling and wrought with pain because of the workload.'
"Oh Favian, didn't realize you picked martial arts as well," a familiar voice called out energetically. Looking to his left, Favian could make out the insanely handsome face of Dunkel, who decided to take a seat next to him.
"Dunkel, you chose martial arts?" Favian looked at the drow next to him, a happy smile being plastered on his face as he saw the drow. 'So, I have at least one friend now,' was the thought going through his mind.
Favian was able to examine all of the notes Dunkel had written for the previous 2 lectures that he missed due to his coma, however, it seemed like the first lectures of each course didn't really matter too much. Favian felt that he'd be fine even without the knowledge of them.
What he had learnt in the martial arts training were simple body refining techniques, which would help strengthen the body. If meditation techniques could be said to improve mainly arcana and intelligence, and a by-product of breakthrough to higher levels would give a small increase in strength, constitution, and dexterity, then body refining techniques were the exact opposite. Breaking through a bottleneck of one's own physical parameters would aid intelligence and arcana as it strengthened the vessel.
Dunkel had helped Favian out a lot by explaining this, and also by letting Favian know that certain races had specific training techniques which only they could use. For instance, Dunkel himself used a technique which only the drow could use, and gave him many benefits such as being able to see in the dark.
The lecture ended with a bit of physical exertion, with the whole class being made to run through some martial arts techniques which looked strikingly similar to krav maga, one of the best self-defense techniques back on Earth.
"Yo Favian, fancy grabbing a bite to eat? I hear that at noon every day they sell some of the best puff pastry on campus at this café in The Barracks." Dunkel was salivating already just at the thought of the delicacy which he would be biting into soon. He'd developed a sweet tooth ever since he was young, and his grandma always teased him that he was so handsome because of it, and would feed him even more of the confectionary.
Favian thought about it for only a second before agreeing. He could definitely blow off some steam on a pile of food because of how rough his day had already been. It took only 10 minutes for the pair to close in on the 'Elegantia Café'. It was a small building with two floors and had seating both inside and outside. There were pots and vases of flowers all around the place, and there were even many paintings hanging inside. After entering through the front door, the whiff of baked goods intensified, and the smell of sugar caused for Favian to start salivating.
"I don't even know where to start, what should I order from here Dunkel?" he asked. Too many options were present, and they all sounded equally amazing. His body was starving after the martial arts lecture, and if it were his choice, he would try to sample everything on the menu.
Dunkel looked at the menu which was written in chalk behind the counter before making a quick decision. "Dude, I think what you need after class is a banana milkshake, a chocolate brownie and a summer fruit tart."
Favian walked up to the counter, where a middle-aged woman was currently stood behind, sorting out some of the freshly baked goods. She was currently dipping what seemed to be doughnuts in chocolate. After waiting for her to finish sorting these doughnuts out, which only took half a minute, Favian proceeded to make an order which left both Dunkel and the shop-owner startled.
"Ma'am, I'd like to order 3 banana milkshakes, 2 chocolate brownies, 3 summer fruit tarts and 6 of those chocolate doughnuts you just finished cooking." An embarrassed smile came onto Favian's face after he made this order because his stomach decided to make a huge ‘GROWL’ after he had finished speaking, almost agreeing with the choice its owner made.
It took the lady a moment to process the order, as nobody had ever come to the shop to eat this
much before. "Sure thing, that'll be 2 contribution points." Favian transferred the points via his communication amulet – which also worked like a bank card – before seating himself with Dunkel at a table outside the café. 2 contribution points were only 0.05% of the total amount Favian had been given by Aria, but this was more like 10% of an average student's amount.
The sun shone down on the area surrounding the café, with a slight breeze cooling them down from the summer heat. Favian and Dunkel were busy enjoying their food whilst also conversing at the same time. They talked about their childhood, how they learned magic and many other random things, with Favian using mainly the memories of the orphan whose body he was inhabiting to continue the conversation.
A true friendship seemed to be budding; Dunkel was a talkative, energetic boy whilst Favian was a more chilled and laid-back person. This meant that they bounced off each other nicely during their conversations, with Dunkel able to get Favian talking more than he usually would.
"Licht, isn't that the boy who said those vulgar things to you earlier?" a loud shout boomed, as a group of people walked up towards Favian and Dunkel. All of the people nearby looked at the group of four walking up towards the boys that were sat eating pastries, knowing that a fight was going to break out. Fights were commonplace in an academy filled with narcissistic individuals, so the scene didn't faze the crowd, and everyone just went on with their day.
The pretty elven girl that Favian had complimented so tactlessly was amongst the group, followed by two more elven girls and an elven boy. Each one of these elves looked prettier than most models on Earth, Favian believed.
'Just great I'm about to get gang stomped by a group of the most beautiful people in existence, just my luck.' Favian's mood turned sour at the rude interruption his conversation with Dunkel received.
