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An Otherworldly Scholar - 193
🕑 Added 2025-01-11 00:20:58 +0000 UTCI was used to kids growing up. Graduations have been a yearly staple since my days as a teaching assistant. However, a part of me wanted the older kids to remain at the orphanage for a few more years. I didn’t voice my feelings so as not to make the kids change their minds regarding the Imperial Academy—Firana, more than anyone else, would change her mind to accommodate my wishes—but Elincia quickly detected something was wrong with me.
“You did enough,” Elincia said, her head resting on my chest and her silvery hair spread out on the blanket. “You put things in motion, and now it is up to them to finish the job. It’s their lives, Rob. They have to live them.”
The room was dark, and the orphanage was silent.
Logically speaking, I agreed with Elincia, but these were my kids.
“You set them to be free, which is the greatest gift you can give a commoner. Nobody, person or monster, would dare mess with an Imperial Cadet. They will be free from the Marquis or any other noble trying to use them as pawns,” Elincia continued. I stroked her hair. “Maybe that’s what Mister Lowell wanted from the very beginning. Raise a generation of commoners that could be at the same level as nobles.”
I closed my eyes.
“They are so young,” I said.
“People grow fast if the circumstance requires it,” Elincia replied, smiling like she wasn’t just talking about the kids. “Let’s get off the bed. It’s almost morning.”
As always, there were always a lot of things to do.
I kissed the top of Elincia’s head and dropped my feet to the cold floor. The new wooden bathtub was full, so I powered the enchanted metal plates near the bottom, and a moment later, the water steamed.
Elincia had quickly changed her mind about her ‘revitalizing’ cold baths.
I undressed behind the wooden screen and entered the tub. The water was perfect. My body relaxed, but my mind remained restless.
With the kids going to the Imperial Academy, I had a new source of anxiety. What if any of them failed the selection course and were expelled early? Traveling to an unknown place with such little notice could dent the kid’s performance, which could mean the difference between success and failure in such a competitive environment.
“Worrying in the tub is strictly forbidden,” Elincia said, peeking over the screen.
“Should we send Risha with them?” I asked.
“Close your eyes.”
I heard Elincia’s clothes rustle. She pushed me to the front and entered the tub, where the water almost overflowed over the edge.
“Can I open them?”
“No.”
Elincia rubbed my back with a damp towel and shampooed my hair. The smell of chamomille and Moon Laurel filled the room.
“Are you sure the orcs didn’t feed you Skeeth's testicles or something like that?” Elincia said, touching my shoulders.
“Contrary to popular belief, non-magical testicles don’t improve your strength,” I replied.
“I will remove Skeeth's testicles from the menu then,” Elincia giggled.
Mister Lowell’s old shirts, which once fitted me like a tent, now suited me perfectly.
I had grown a couple of inches in the month I spent at the Farlands. I found no better explanation than the System conditioning the body to withstand the strength of a high-level combatant and not get injured by the slightest swing of the sword. I hadn’t confided with anyone, but being able to lift Elincia from the ground with little effort had been a massive boost to my self-esteem.
After consulting with Abei, I learned that despite the fact Sage wasn’t a physical Class, their strength and speed were comparable to those of basic martial combatants such as Brawlers or Warriors.
Elincia rinsed my hair.
“The kids will do fine,” she said, resuming the conversation. “I’ve been the Governess for a decade, and I’ve never been so sure of something. They have more discipline than many adults I know.”
I couldn’t help but smile. Elincia’s optimism was contagious. The kids would do fine no matter what challenges they faced. Feeling better about the whole ordeal, I turned around and kissed her.
“Turning is forbidden!” Elincia said, planting her hand over my eyes.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to shampoo your hair?”
“I’m sure!” Elincia replied. “We have to send the kids off today!”
“Well, don’t soak too much,” I laughed, grabbing a towel and exiting the tub.
I got dressed in my usual simple clothes. As I walked down the corridor, the first rays of the sun appeared behind the mountains. The kitchen was deserted. I put firewood into the stove and summoned my [Pyrokinesis]. Magic seemed to break the laws of thermodynamics, but that was part of its charm.
I prepared gruel with fresh fruit and honey. Using my [Mana Mastery], I summoned extra hands to cut the loaves of bread and spread butter over them. Then, I put them on the stove for the butter to melt. In the meantime, with a different set of mana hands, I broke two dozen eggs and scrambled them. I boiled milk and prepared herbal tea with Elincia’s infusion.
Slowly, the orphanage arrived at the kitchen. The new kids shyly sat near the corner while the old-timers walked around like the lords of the place—most of them, at least. Nokti and Shu pushed Virdian into the kitchen. As usual, the lizard kid was sleeping on his feet. Ash made sure none of the newcomers used the seats of the old-timers.
I focused on preparing the food. The human mind wasn’t designed to operate three sets of hands, but [Foresight] made it possible. I pushed my skill to the limit and summoned a fourth set of hands to set the plates. The kids laughed and giggled before the show of flying plates and forks.
Most new kids were orphaned during the Lich’s Monster Surge and needed something to cheer them up. I was in the middle of my mug-juggling routine when the ‘super senior’ kids, Astrid, Risha, and Ginz, entered the kitchen.
“Mister Lowell was a better juggler. He could juggle like eight mugs,” Astrid pointed out smugly, dodging my mana hands and sitting near the stove.
“I know what you are trying to do, Astrid. I’m not falling for it,” I replied.
I had already fallen one too many times for Astrid’s taunts.
The beastfolk woman gave me a childish grin and shrugged.
I placed the plates on the table and served breakfast just as Elincia and the older kids entered the kitchen. Ilya rolled her eyes at my circus act. Dressed in their new clothes, they looked more adult and less like the kids I’d met upon my arrival in the city. I couldn’t help but feel a hint of nostalgia, but I shook my head. Keeping the spirits high was part of a teacher’s job.
“Wolf, Zaon, I didn’t want to bring this up, but I think it’s necessary,” I said as I walked between the tables, serving scrambled eggs. “You are a pair of handsome lads, and ladies are going to be all over you in the capital, but please, focus on your studies.”
Zaon choked on his milk, prompting the laughter of the little ones.
“Also, if you land a girl, you’ll have to wait for Shu’s approval before making it official,” I added. “Isn’t that right, Shu?”
The little girl nodded.
“Loki has to like her too.”
“Loki!” Loki said in agreement.
“You heard it, Z. Only mistresses allowed,” Risha laughed from the other side of the kitchen.
Zaon blushed.
None of the girls seemed particularly happy given the prospect of Zaon getting hit on.
Breakfast continued in relative peace. There can only be so much peace with more than two kids bouncing around. Still, it felt like the end of an era at Lowell’s orphanage. A few months ago, we were eating watery soup, and now we were sending kids to the most prestigious organization in the country. I made sure to enjoy every moment.
We were cleaning the dishes when the coachman—a merchant friend of Nasiah—called the door.
Time was due.
The kids grabbed their backpacks—crafted by Ginz for the occasion—and we walked them to the entrance. The ornate guard of their graduation longswords shone proudly under the morning sun. They looked like Imperial Cadets already.
The coachman told us he would depart in five minutes, so goodbyes ensued. Astrid, Risha, and the little ones cried. Lyra and Ginz hid their emotions better, but I could tell they were moved from a mile away. Elincia ensured they had everything—clothes, money, weapons, potions, toothbrushes, emergency money, invitations.
For the next three years, they would be away from home.
“A last drop of wisdom, Mister Clarke?” Ilya asked. She was radiant.
I had a thousand things to say, but we had no time.
“Trust the process. Even if you fall behind, the match doesn’t finish until the bell rings,” I said.
Firana approached, having said goodbye to anyone but me.
“I don’t get it,” she said. “What bell are we talking about?”
Wolf put a hand on her shoulder.
“It means not to give up beforehand.”
Firana grinned, although her eyes were red and her nose runny.
“In that case, I will not give up even after the bell rings. Isn’t that right, Zaon?”
“That might be illegal in many sports… but yeah, I get the idea,” the boy corrected himself before summoning Firana’s anger.
The coachman signaled with a head movement he was ready to go.
“Write often—” I said, but the kids interrupted me by pushing a group hug. They squeezed me well, even through my forty-something levels of strength. “—and take care of each other.”
Elincia placed one last kiss on each of the kids' foreheads, and they climbed the carriage. There was nothing more that hadn’t been said. Elincia clutched to my arm. The horse hooves clattered as the carriage set in motion. The little ones chased them down the street, and we waved goodbye until the carriage disappeared around the corner.
—
The trip was uneventful, save for a few low-level monsters.
The carriage took two weeks to reach the Imperial Capital. They climbed a hill, and it was there. Cadria. At first, the orphans thought it was a mountain whose top had been cut off, but then, as the carriage advanced down the hill, they realized it was their destination.
Cadria’s walls rose a hundred meters into the sky. Outside the walls, small clumps of houses were scattered around the valley, and a patchwork of crop fields, orchards, and grazing land extended as far as the eye could see. A river as bright as polished silver split the city in two. Hundreds of boats floated downstream, loaded with people and goods from the eastern and northern lands. Even more vessels floated towards the south, to the Osgirian and Herran dukedoms.
“A million people live in Cadria. Can you imagine it?” Firana said, leaning over the edge of the carriage.
Zaon grabbed the hem of her shirt just in case gravity betrayed her.
“There’s no way you know that,” Wolf pointed out.
“Believe it or not, I used to pay attention to Holst’s lessons,” Firana replied, almost tipping over the edge.
The road approached the capital for the northwest. Two statues guarded the gates, portraying men in long robes holding stone slabs: famous Scholars of the Imperial Library. A small line of carts and carriages awaited for the toll attendants to check their cargo. Most of the crates had the crest of the Vedras Dukedom and the Alchemist’s Circle of Mariposa.
“Not much traffic. We are lucky. Most of the commerce from the Herran Dukedom arrives from the southern gate,” the coachman said.
A mountain range separated the Herran Dukedom from the royal territories, so they had two options to send their metals to the capital: through the northern pass by Vedras territory or through the south, which was a longer trip on Herran territory.
The carriage traversed the paved road. Peasants tended to the fields on both sides of the road. Firana greeted each of them, earning herself more than a few confused looks along the way.
“Who are those people?” Ilya asked, pointing at a group of young men and women dressed in the same robes as the statues. The group was fighting against a bramble plant with hand-sized berries. Their attires weren’t appropriate for the task. They were struggling.
“Imperial Library apprentices,” the coachman replied. “Herbalists or Alchemists by the looks of their robe. If you meet people dressed in robes, check the hem of their sleeves. That would tell you who they are. Green for Alchemists and Herbalists. Red for Scribes, Scholars, and Diplomats. Blue for crafting Classes. Yellow for magical combatants. If you see stoles or shoulder guards, bow deep and stay out of the way until they are gone. Archivists are as powerful as Imperial Knights.”
The kids nodded.
The cart slowed down as it approached the wall and parked on the side. A toll attendant dressed in blue and gray approached. Two guards followed closely behind.
“Cargo manifest?” The attendant said with a nasal voice.
The coachman pulled a folded letter with the Alchemist’s Guild seal and handed it to the toll attendant. After reading the document three times at a snail’s pace, the attendant examined it physically and magically. Everything was in place.
“Good. Everything looks in order. You must pay the customs fee before moving forward, and if the passengers are to spend the night in the city, they must pay the passage toll,” the attendant announced with an annoyed voice.
The coachman handed the man a payment note from the Alchemist’s Guild.
Once again, the attendant examined the note. He clicked his tongue with displeasure.
“You are short of two pieces of silver. Fees for mercenaries are different from non-combatants, and I remind you, attempting to commit fraud is punished with incarceration,” the attendant said with a smug grin. “Next time, if you want to avoid the fee, you should hide the swords. I will be merciful, though, for the right price.”
The coachman waited until the attendant finished.
“Imperial Cadets are exempt from the combatant fee. We can call the Imperial Knight on gate duty if you want to confirm their invitations.”
The attendant pulled back like the coachman had slapped him across the face.
“T-that won’t be necessary. Everything is in order. You can go through the door.”
Without another word, the coachman urged the horses forward, and the carriage passed through the gate. The walls weren’t just tall but had a width of twenty or twenty-five meters at the base. Traversing them was like entering a cave.
“That was intense,” Zaon sighed in relief.
“If anyone asks you for money and threatens you with calling the guards, tell them to do it,” the coachman said. “In the best case, you will avoid paying the bribe; in the worst, you will be a few copper poorer and have an annoyed guard breathing on your neck, but Imperial Cadets have a lot of leeway. You are a precious asset here.”
The carriage emerged from the other side of the wall to a busy street. It was nothing like Farcrest. A labyrinthine market extended as far as they could see. Colors and aromas never sensed before assaulted the kid’s senses. Crates towering like buildings. The call of merchants rose above the clattering of the horses. People moved through carts and carriages like a multicolor sea. Warehouses, workshops, taverns, and guilds walled the place.
“I think I’m lost already,” Zaon pointed out.
“This is… something,” Ilya replied.
The coachman scared scalpers away as the carriage crossed the street to the branch office of Farcrest’s Alchemist Guild. He quickly unloaded the cart and exchanged credit notes with the clerks before continuing to the city's center.
“It’s like cities within a city,” Zaon muttered as they crossed another walled section.
This time, they had to show their invitation letters to be allowed forward.
“As a rule of thumb, the closer to the center of the city, the safer it is,” the coachman said as they crossed communal gardens. The earthy tunics were quickly replaced by flowy silk and gold embroidery. “Try to avoid the margin districts until you have a good understanding of the city. It’s easy to get lost inside.”
Ilya snorted.
“If you get lost, just get away from the walls. Isn’t that easy?”
The coachman looked over his shoulder.
“What walls?”
The kids raised their heads. The hundred-meter walls were nowhere to be found. Even when they emerged at the end of a street of tall buildings into another communal garden, the walls had seemingly disappeared.
“They turn visible only if you come near, but if you see them, turn around. You are already in a bad spot,” the coachman laughed.
After an hour of slow advance, the carriage reached its destination.
“That is a city within the city,” Zaon said.
The Imperial Academy rose like a colossus in the middle of the city. The kids couldn’t decide if it was a castle, a manor, or a cathedral surrounded by groves, meadows, and ponds. Carriages and pedestrians climbed a ramp towards the main building: a white giant with an ornate facade and white marble towers scattered seemingly in disarray. In the center of the building, a bluish dome peeked out from between the towers.
“The blue egg is the ballroom,” the coachman said. “That’s where the important stuff happens.”
“A ballroom in a military training center?” Ilya asked.
“A ballroom to dance with swords, as they say,” the coachman replied. “About what happens inside, I don’t know very much. The Academy is very secretive with their affairs.”
Finally, the carriage reached the courtyard and stopped. The kids grabbed their luggage and climbed down.
“This is as far as I can take you. I will be staying in town for three days. If you want to send a letter back home, find me at the Alchemist’s Guild,” the coachman said, turning the carriage around. “Good luck, Cadets. Make everyone back at Farcrest proud.”
The carriage went down the ramp and merged into the traffic.
“Let’s go,” Ilya said, leading the way.
A bored second-year cadet dressed in a black fencing uniform asked for their invitations and let them into the courtyard.
“Go to that building. You will be processed there,” the cadet said, pointing to a two-story building with white walls and blue roof tiles. Near the entrance were a group of young men and women dressed in robes with red hems—Scholars.
Scattered around the courtyard, several noble families said goodbye to their sons and daughters. There were no commoners other than the four orphans. Ilya led the way to the white building under the attentive eyes of the nobles. They didn’t recognize anyone from the tournament.
“Are you new Cadets?” a young Scholar with long brown hair and an ungainly complexion departed from his clique as the kids approached.
“Yes,” Ilya replied.
The Scholar smiled with an absentminded expression.
“This way,” he said. “The Imperial Library is in charge of processing the new cadets. You know how military guys are. They leave all the boring work to us non-combatants.”
The lanky Scholar guided them inside, rambling about work quotas and bureaucratic efficiency. The place was soberly decorated with paintings of dignified people none of the kids recognized. Very few people were inside, mostly Scribes and Scholars carrying parchment and scrolls from one room to the other.
“Doesn’t he remind you of Mister Clarke when he first arrived at the orphanage?” Firana whispered.
“Absolutely,” Ilya whispered back. “He’s a bit gone.”
“And lanky,” Wolf interjected.
“Lanky and all, Mister Clarke beat you fair and square, Firana,” Zaon said.
Firana looked over her shoulder and snuck out her tongue.
The Scholar guided them upstairs, across a thick wooden door, into an empty waiting room. He knocked on a door and snuck his head inside. After a short exchange, he turned around and signaled them to enter.
“Good luck to you, friends,” the Scholar gave them a goofy smile before he returned from where they had arrived.
The room was spacious, with bookshelves covering the walls and a massive desk in the middle. A man in his fifties with his silver-streaked hair neatly combed back. Unlike the other Scholars, the man carried an air of authority. The kids instantly knew he wasn’t a mere non-combatant but a high-level one. The man wore a Scholar robe with heavy red stoles.
The kids detected the stoles and saluted with a deep bow.
“Good afternoon, cadets. I am Samuel Byrne, Archivist of the Imperial Library, and I will guide you through the initiation ritual. Give me your invitation letters, and we shall start,” he said as an apprentice Scholar, a girl with huge round glasses, seemingly appeared out of nowhere to collect the letters.
The Archivist examined the seals for a second before nodding in satisfaction. In the meantime, the apprentice approached with a small System Shrine Fragment and, in silence, verified the kid’s identity. The old man wrote down a few lines on a massive book.
“As you might know, the Imperial Academy goes to great extents to guard its teaching methods,” he said. “A Silence Hex will be applied to you, but worry not; other than talking to outsiders about our teaching methods, you should not have problems conducting a normal life. Please sign this document if you consent.”
The apprentice distributed the contracts among the kids.
“It’s not painful at all, just a bit uncomfortable if you try to push the matter,” the Archivist reassured them, but he stopped mid-sentence. “You know how to read, right?”
The kids nodded.
The document detailed the rules of the Silence Hex. If they weren’t prepared for it, they wouldn’t have traveled for two weeks across the kingdom. The assistant stood by their side with four golden needles.
Ilya picked the first one and put a drop of blood on the page. Instantly, a bright light enveloped her. It only lasted a second, like when she gained a new skill. The System fiddled with her brain to set the new rule, and the sensation disappeared.
Firana, Zaon, and Wolf followed.
“Congratulations. You are officially Imperial Cadets. I will have someone escort you to the barracks. The Quartermaster will tell you what class you are assigned into and everything else you need to know,” the Archivist said as he wrote something down on his ledger. “I warn you, talent isn’t enough to complete the cadet’s program. Even the best isn’t enough sometimes.”
The kids bowed, and the assistant guided them outside.
Firana stretched her back with a huge smile.
“Man, I can't wait for it to start.”
“Let's keep a low profile,” Ilya replied, although a satisfied smile was drawn on her face.
“Are you okay, Wolf? You seem rather pale,” Zaon said, putting his hand on Wolf’s forehead. “Are you sick?”
Wolf gently pushed Zaon’s hand aside.
“I’m fine. Let’s get settled and show them what the graduates of the Rosebud Fencing Academy are made of.”
___
AN: the story will continue through Rob's POV as it has been done so far.
Comments
Ase La
oh nonono, that would be too much torture 🥲
I Dare Korval
You could do that as your monthly Bonus Chapter.
Paul McGlynn
I screamed.
Matthew
As much as I love this story, an academy spin off would make me love it at least 1000% more.
Elra
I'm so tempted to write a whole spinoff about the kid's first year.
CF Sapper
"Hi I'm the guy that started this whole poop show, good day son I don't recognize. Welp I'll be on my way bye!"
Weird_Medic
I hope we'll get more chapter from the kids pov, I'm a sucker for fantasy school story.
Will
Did we seriously just meet Byrne? Wolf's dad? The missing guy that brought Rob to this world? He has been hiding out in the capital this whole time. He didn't even recognize his son. Damn.
G
I thought you couldn't come back after you left? Is that what all the runework around the portal was Bryne figured out how to come back? But then how does the system avatar not know he's back? Or did he figure out the class wipe rune and reconfigure himself? So many questions.
Ben Bass
TYFTC! That was nifty, seeing the kiddos off to become cadets! It is good that all four of them decided to go, they are a good and balanced team, good at working together and supporting each other. Let’s hope they can continue that through their training!
