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Chapter 164

I talked with the Headmistress Domini for a little while longer. I wasn’t able to get any important information out of her. As soon as I touched upon the major families, she’d quickly grew tightlipped. Even when I cranked up the charm, she merely grew amused.

“Aren’t you smooth with your words? Well, I won’t punish you for speaking. However, if you’re actions grow out of line, don’t blame me for no longer being polite!”

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” I responded.

“As long as you accept your limits, you’ll do fine here.” She finished her tea and stood up. “Come with me.”

I blinked. “That was it? You don’t have any admissions questions for me?”

“With the request of the Capala family head, accepting you is merely a formality. However, you will be admitted as a common student. Common students have no master’s and no particular schedule, but they have access to the common facilities. What you can learn is up to you.”

“That doesn’t sound like something that required the family head…” I muttered.

She let out a soft laugh as she escorted me out of the building. “You’re not wrong.  In reality, anyone above the mortal rank can become a common student. There is no admission fee and no entry exam. The reason special concessions were made for you is on account of your age. Most people who join the university do so between 14-18. Most your age are already assistants, instructors, or disciples to masters.”

I let out a sigh of defeat. “I knew it. There was a catch.”

She gave me a sympathetic smile. “There is no rule that forbids you from being a student, but you will stand out among the younger classmates. I must admit, I was also curious why someone your age would need lessons that would be considered common sense to most paragons, especially with your alchemy skill.”

“You know about that?”

“It’s my business to understand those here as my students.” She shrugged. “Would you be willing to enlighten my curiosity?”

“There is not much to enlighten.” I shrugged. “My master was an unaffiliated paragon recluse. I was an orphan he took a fondness too. He brought me into the mountains and trained me in alchemy and poison. I learned to fight surviving sagebeasts in the mountain. When he passed from old age, I descended the mountain and came upon a village. I met a young girl and took care of her as my sister, and we eventually decided to head to a larger city to have a better life after encountering some powerful paragons. I knew nothing of paragons, or the families, except for what I heard along the way.”

This wasn’t a story I made up now, but something I had discussed with Mara and Abigail prior. There were plenty of old paragons who spent their last few years of life as recluses, and it wasn’t uncommon for them to pick up and train random people to stave off loneliness. They remained in hiding and they never gave their names to avoid attention. We couldn’t tell too many lies, because our history would be investigated and things had to line up.  For example, anyone who looked into it would know I arrived in the city with Mara. It was unavoidable.

“Were those paragons you encountered Tyler and Erika?” She raised an eyebrow.

I shifted slightly. That was exactly what I meant. She already knew quite a bit of my story. She likely knew about the debt as well.

“No,” I responded flatly. “I encountered them on the journey.”

I should have expected that much. Tyler and Erika were part of the academy. Erika would be ranked under the headmistress as a disciple of one of the Provost’s disciples. If someone found out that I came to town with Mara, they could find out about Erika and Tyler too. I had to think back to everything I said to those two. I couldn’t remember if my story lined up with what we told them perfectly. I could always say we lied to them, worried at the time about strangers, but that would still leave room for doubts. The headmistress noticed the conflicted expression on my face.

“You don’t need to worry too much.” She shook her head. “I’m not trying to overpry. Every paragon has its secrets. I only know about them because Tyler came to me first with the Schrodinger Box. I regret that I lacked the knowledge of barriers and restraints to help him, but I was able to get him into contact with Mirage. I never expected her to extort him so badly though…”

She gave me a pitying look. I could only shrug.

“I’ve managed to pay half of what I owe off,” I stated. “With the help of the Capala family.”

She gave a half smile, and I wondered if she even knew the truth of that. However, I didn’t want anyone to suggest I was speaking ill of the Capala family. My situation with them was already somewhat nebulous at times.

As I was thinking about these things, we came to a stop. We had been walking down a long brick path, and now there was a split in the path heading in four different directions and some signs to differentiate the paths.

“Mr. Sampson!” The headmistress called out loudly, and a bush nearby shook.

A moment later, a young man stepped out of the bush. He looked to be about eighteen, an embarrassed expression on his face. He had short brown hair and even though his outfit had some leaves on it, he still appeared well off.

“Headmistress… I was, um… looking for… a package, I had dropped…”

“Oh?” She quirked an eyebrow. “Are you sure you weren’t just avoiding me when you saw us walking down the path?

‘Wh-why would I ever avoid our beautiful headmistress?” He asked sheepishly.

“Perhaps because you’ve spent four years lazing around and have yet to find a place in the university?” She offered. “You know, Master Tiedon is interested in a new assistant.”

“Tiedon.” His expression turned sour. “That guy’s workshop smells like…. Ahem… it smells.”

He changed what he was going to say when she raised her eyebrow even higher.

“Well, since you are not busy, perhaps you can escort our new student here around and help him get a feel for the place.”

“Yes, ma’am!” He immediately agreed, before turning to me. “A… student?”

“His circumstances are unique at the school, just like yours. You might get along. His the groom for the Capala household.”

“Ah! He’s the martial champion?” He glanced at me with more interest. “Welcome! Welcome, yeah, I’ll show him the ropes. You can count on me.”

He even soluted, but she made a face before giving an abrupt nod. “See that you do. Spirit, I’ll leave you with Mr. Sampson. Although he’s lazy, he also probably knows the academy better than anyone except me.”

“Ma’am… lazy? You wound me.”

She rolled her eyes and turned away, walking off at a brisk pace. The boy watched her leave, and I could follow his eyes as they were looking directly at her butt.

“Sampson?”

He jumped before smiling at me. “You can call me Ronald. You’re Spirit? I saw the martial competition, although my seating was awful. It’s a pleasure to meet you. You’re joining the Academy?’

“It was a request.” I shrugged. “I’m just here until I catch up on some things.”

That wasn’t a lie. It wasn’t like the family was expecting me to become a permanent fixture of the university. That was the opposite of what they wanted. Although the paragons sent their children here for a variety of reasons, no one wanted their kids to abandon the family. They might leave to gain some perspective and make contact with other families, but ultimately it was all what was best for the family. At least, that’s how I had come to understand how these families worked.

“Well then, I guess I’ll have to say welcome!” He grinned. “This academy includes a dozen different facilities. If you aren’t under a master, then you can choose how you spend your time. Some people sit in the library all day, others practice arts or crafts. You’re free to follow whatever pursuits you’re most interested in.”

“I’m interested in the library for now,” I told him bluntly.

“Oh? Martial skills, it is!”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“The library… what level do you have access to.”

“The first level… why?”

“F-ranked Martial skills only. Bad luck. However, if you challenge people in the arena, you might be able to get to a higher tier. Ah, that reminds me, there is no fighting on campus, but you can challenge anyone to an arena match. If you defeat someone of a martial talent higher than your own, you can gain their access to high martial skills.”

“Wait a second.” I stopped him. “Are you saying that the library is full of… martial techniques?”

“It’s not all martial…” He stated, letting me take a breath. “There is also alchemy, music, metallurgy… all the major studies, however, this school is mostly a martial school, so there isn’t a lot of information on others.”

“How about information on families, history, mathematics?” I asked.

He blinked. “Why would you put those things in a library?”