Athar, seeking directions from random students, finally found his way towards his room. As he walked through the corridors of the academy, he could not help but marvel at its structure. It was not only imposing and magnificent from the outside, but it was equally awe-striking and glamorous from the inside.
Every student was given a separate private room, and Athar was very pleased about this.
Cultivation was a sensitive process, and any kind of disturbance due to the presence of another person in close proximity might have had a negative effect. Thus, the academy ensured that every student received their own private space.
As Athar stepped inside his room, a smile spread on his lips. This was the best place he had ever lived in his entire life. For his entire life, he had lived in abandoned buildings with makeshift beds and salvaged mattresses, but things had changed now.
The room was ten feet by eight feet in dimension. A single wooden bed with mattresses and clean white sheets had been placed in one corner. A wooden chair and table were in another corner, while a wooden shelf lined one of the walls. A small glass window opened on the backside of the academy, through which a vast expanse of green field was visible. For some students, those belonging to rich households, this might have been far from satisfactory, but for Athar, this was more than enough.
He placed whatever little things he had on the shelf and slumped onto the bed. And now he had to wait for the classes to begin the next day.
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Athar was sitting in the extreme back row of the classroom as he waited for the academy instructor to arrive. The classroom had sloping desks, and thus, though he was farthest from the front row, he was also at the highest vantage point and could observe the entire class.
There were almost fifty students in his class, and Athar calculated that if he took the same average for each monthly batch, there would be six hundred students in any given year. Since his was only the sixth batch of the year, there would be around three hundred students in the first year.
For now, most of the students seemed lost in their thoughts and their own personal worlds and had little interaction among themselves.
But he knew that very soon, connections and friendships would form among these students, and rivalry and enmity would soon follow.
He did not have to wait long before a middle-aged man entered the class, and whatever little noise was present instantly silenced.
"Good morning, everyone," the instructor said as he stood behind the desk on the podium. "First of all, I give you all a warm welcome to the Nawarin City Academy."
"My name is Vale," the instructor continued, and a bird materialized beside him. "And this bird is my beast companion."
Vale did not specify what kind of beast it was, but Athar felt that the beast resembled an eagle. However, it lacked the definitive features of an eagle and seemed as if it had mutated. This piqued Athar's interest.
"Before we begin or move towards anything, let me give you all an overview of your upcoming academy life. What will you be studying? How do things work here? What are you expected to do? And other such things."
Vale continued, "Let us first begin with the course. That is, how and what will you study?"
"The whole syllabus of the academy is divided into two main branches: the theory portion and the practical portion."
"I will take the theory classes," Vale said. "In my class, you will study the basics of cultivation and mana."
"I will teach you what approach to take if you want to learn a certain technique, be it cultivation or battle skills. I will teach you and guide you on how to build synergy and a better understanding with your companions."
"I will teach you about beasts: how to identify them, their weaknesses, their strengths, their likes and dislikes, and everything we can learn about beasts."
"You will know everything in detail when we officially begin our classes," he said.
"Now, the practical portion," he continued. "Although it is not my domain, I will give a short overview."
"As the name suggests, you will learn about the practical aspect of everything in this class."
"The practical class has been further divided into a few subcategories. One would be technique mastery, another would be combat specialization, and another would be survival lessons, in which you will be taken to forests and perform specific tasks."
"What I am describing is just a general overview, as the instructors in the practical classes hold a lot of autonomy and decide according to what they feel is best suited for you all."
Vale paused, allowing his words to be absorbed.
He then continued, "Apart from the theory and practical portions, we also teach auxiliary professions."
"Can anyone tell me the names of a few auxiliary professions?" he asked with raised eyebrows, and many students immediately raised their hands with earnest expressions.
Vale's eyes roamed over the students as he pointed his finger towards a young man sitting in the middle rows, "Introduce yourself first."
"My name is Kevin," the youth said as he stood up, but he did not specify anything about his companion. "Sir, alchemists, blacksmiths, and rune masters are three of the main auxiliary professions."
"Correct," Vale replied, "but you missed an important one."
A frown appeared on Kevin's face as Vale gestured for him to sit down.
"There is another important profession that usually fades into the background but is one of the cornerstones of our society."
"Egg nurturing," he announced. "Every person needs an egg to find a companion for themselves."
"There are people who find eggs in the wild or breed them and then nurture and preserve them until they become suitable for bond formation. Though not a flashy or showy profession, I believe, egg nurturing is a very important profession."
"But after we find our companions, we do not care much about the eggs. It remains important only for the future generations and thus the negligence and ignorance towards it."
"So, as I was saying," Vale continued. "We also teach these auxiliary professions in our academy."
"But sadly, we only have facilities for two of these: Alchemy and Blacksmithing."
"We do not have facilities for rune drawing or egg nurturing. Even so, we will cover eggs and this process slightly in our theory classes."
"So, if you have a fire-attributed elemental beast as a companion and have some interest in these professions, then you can enroll yourself in these auxiliary classes."
"Lastly, before we move to the next thing," he said with a serious face, "I will not say that we are some brilliant academy or anything like that, but one thing is certain: all the staff and instructors at the academy put in their best efforts in whatever we do."
"We do not take this teaching business lightly and are damm serious about it," he added. "And I hope that you all will also show the same seriousness and the respect."
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