Chapter 17

The $10 tier is a work in progress.  I'll be building it up to the 15 chapters or so ahead that I'm shooting for over the next 2 weeks.

***




Luckily, Max didn't have any other problems before registering for classes.  It went without a hi
tch. Then the day before the semester finally started, he received his official robes that had been tailor-made for him, and his Academy badge. The badge was what interested him the most since, for the entire time he was a student at Summoner Academy, it would be how he’d identify his affiliation.

Its addition to his clothing was meant to be semi-permanent.

When he received it, all he needed to do was touch it fully, the entire badge had to make full contact on his skin. He held the badge, just a small flat piece of metal, between his thumb and his forefinger and analyzed it as best he could, but couldn't even begin to understand how it worked or even what types of powers had created such a thing.

"Amazing," he said, and then touched the metal to his bare palm. Almost immediately, the badge showed up on his chest, looking to all the world like it was a part of his ratty newbie clothing. Max grinned, delighted at seeing something in action he'd genuinely never come across before in either life. The robes interested him far less, but he still took a look at them as well. They were about as he'd expected, just general student robes. As a magic academy, Summoner Academy students were issued robes.

Max had briefly thought about showing up the next day to the orientation ceremony in the clothes that he'd won from Prince Regal. He decided against it.

Even though he'd already had his new clothes tailored, which had been a surprisingly painless thing to do, he’d decided not to wear them right away. It was a reasonable assumption that if he wore his new clothes as a first year student, he'd be the only person there who wasn't wearing school robes.  Max decided that standing out too much too fast in his school itself would be a very foolish thing to do, especially after making such a large splash already. He definitely wanted to get the lay of the land first.

Wearing his new dagger was much less risky.  Most people never noticed if someone was wearing a knife or carrying a gun back on Earth and even on most of Albion.  Max figured wearing it was worth it at the academy.  Otherwise he'd still be unarmed.

Luckily, over the last few days, he hadn't heard anything in the cafeteria about his duel in the central area.  Either nobody cared or the news hadn’t made it to the Summoner Academy yet.   He wondered which it was, and if the issue was with information spreading, if maybe Summoner students just didn't go to the central area much.  Or maybe it was because he was usually surrounded by newbies like him. It might be some combination.

On the day of the year’s commencement ceremony, he joined the rest of the newbies as they went to breakfast. As usual, he walked next to Lance. He looked around and saw that other new students he’d noticed before that had been barely hanging on to their sanity or openly sobbing most of the time now mostly seemed to have gotten themselves under control.  Even the most freaked-out person from a week ago had at least some air of expectation about them now. With all the new students assembled again and cleaned up like this, Max could verify that the average age of each newbie student was relatively young. He wondered why the system had offered new Path opportunities to a handful of older people and vowed to eventually find out. Of course, he still didn't even know what the system was.  Finding out more about the system and the universe itself was definitely on his to-do list to discover as well.

The commencement ceremony was taking place in Fire Hall, a building that Max hadn't been in before, and the room they funneled into was many times larger than necessary to hold the group of new students. They didn't have to wait long after being seated for the ceremony itself to begin. The same group of professors that all of the newbies had met on their first day in the Quartet came out and gave short speeches. Professor Third, Professor Munka, and Professor Happy all participated.  Everything they said was about what Max would have expected.

Professor Third told them to follow the rules. Professor Munka told them to keep an open mind and that they might one day get the opportunity to learn another Path. And then, of course, Professor Happy told everybody that adjusting well and having fun was the most important thing they could do at the academy.  He said this was because having fun meant they’d learn more and ultimately be a better help to their world when they returned.

Max actually thought Happy’s speech was the best because even though it was optimistic and hopeful, maybe even delusionally so, it still reminded everybody what they were really there for.

Finally, the three lower-level professors had all finished their speeches and taken a seat on the stage.  Then a dignified-looking old man with a very long gray mustache came out. His robes were subtly different than the other professors, and his badge was unique as well. He carried an ornate staff with snarling faces carved into it and walked to the podium, which had some sort of voice-enhancing magic inside of it.

"Hello everyone," said the man. "My name is Mong Hao Han, and I am the Headmaster of Summoner Academy. I'm very pleased to meet all of you for the first time. And I will admit, this is probably the only time you're going to see me, except for at various events, unless you prove to be either a terrible student or an exceptional one." He winked at the crowd, and a few people politely chuckled.

The Headmaster said, "I have been the leader of this school for a long time now. And over the years, my speech whenever a new group of students–such as yourselves– comes in, has changed.  But I have always taken the time to greet new students to our Academy. The other students in more advanced years get their own commencement ceremony, all together.  Some Headmasters might only attend that commencement ceremony.  However, I think it's important to meet all of you, too.  Everyone here is not only the future of Summoner Academy but also taking important first steps to becoming true Challengers.

“And eventually, it will be all of you that keeps chaos and evil at bay."

Max perked up at this because even though the handbook he'd read vaguely mentioned the Eternal Conflict, it had been extremely light on specifics. Of course, he didn't expect the Headmaster to suddenly launch into the meat and potatoes behind how the universe seemed to be tearing itself apart, but he could immediately tell that this old man was not a frivolous person.

Meng Hao Han continued, saying, "Every educational Quartet that is training Challengers, future warriors of our universe, is incredibly important. And I take my role at Summoner Academy very seriously. I tell you this not to brag, but because I want you to understand that although everyone's thoughts and feelings have value, I feel like when I give certain opinions about Summoners, they can–perhaps–carry some extra weight."

His mustache twitched as he sketched a slight smile, somehow displaying humility and a humble nature at the same time as he was effectively telling everybody that they should pay close attention to what he said. Max was taking a liking to the Headmaster. After all, staying appropriately humble while still knowing one's true value was a mark of wisdom.

The Headmaster said, "As students of Summoner Academy, some of you might have already run into negative opinions by others about Summoners." He shook his head sadly and said, "Hopefully in the very near future, you will truly come to understand how wrong all those people are. Because while it's true that Summoner Academy has not had students place among any of the Inter-Quartet Championships for several years, that does not mean that Summoners are weak or do not have value. Some Paths are better at one-on-one fights or combat in general. And just because a Path might be usually better known as a support path does not mean that it is not important."

“Consider perhaps–" He waved his arm and said, "Professor Third, would you be so kind as to lay down on the stage?" The professor simply nodded and without ceremony stood from his seat and laid down. The Headmaster said, "Among all the paths in the universe, there are several that can move objects with one's mind, including Telekinesis. However, all of those Paths are extremely specialized and have other limitations as well. Meanwhile, a Summoner can have versatility, perhaps even accomplishing things that very few other Paths can.

“For instance, let's imagine that the professor laying down over there is a wounded ally." Then the Headmaster gestured and suddenly Professor Third shot across the ground from one end of the stage to the other, slowing subtly before he stopped. "You can stand now, Professor Third," said the headmaster.  "Thank you for your assistance."

The other professor merely nodded, headed back to his seat and sat down.

Then the Headmaster said, "That was a simple demonstration where I used one of my contracted spirits to physically move an ally. In a battle, such a thing could save a friend or teammate’s life. In fact, it could save many people's lives in a short amount of time. Granted, not everyone here in this academy will have the same abilities or skills that I do. However, every sub path that any student discovers within their main Path can be viable and powerful with just a little bit of creativity and a lot of hard work." He smiled and Max's liking for the man grew deeper. It was possible that the Headmaster was just a very charismatic person, but Max felt genuine concern and wisdom in the man's words.

On stage, the Headmaster briefly bowed his head and said, "I hope that all of you find success on this Summoner Path. And I assure you, this is the best time to be a Summoner. It is regretful that all of us are meeting this way, that most of you are from worlds that are newly being torn asunder." That line got Max's attention.

Most of us, he thought. There hadn't been much in the handbook about where students come from. So he filed that away to follow up later.

The Headmaster said, "Despite the universe being such a large place, sometimes it can feel small too. And some of you may be surprised by how many of your friendships you make here end up being important later one." He held up a hand with three fingers and said, "So everyone remember, one–" He folded a finger down. "be mindful of the people around you and never treat any person as disposable." He folded his second finger down and said, "On the path to power, nobody should ever be afraid of hard work." The last finger went down.  "If you're not having fun here in the Quartet, at least once in a while, you’re doing it wrong.  Don’t forget, missing your loved ones or worrying about them is natural.  But never forget that they care about you, too, and would likely want you to not worry too much about things you cannot control.”

Then he smiled, inclined his head and said, "Thank you, you are all dismissed."

Max stood at the same time as the rest of his fellow classmates. He thought to himself, That was actually a really good speech.

As everybody filed out the door of the auditorium, the staff outside handed out maps of the campus and a simple tablet.  It looked like a piece of slate, but instantly changed into a tablet with words on it as soon as its new owner touched it. They'd been told before that the tablets were keyed to their Academy badges, and Max decided they worked kind of like a simpler smartphone back on Earth. Max knew they could change form, too.

In addition to the hard copy map each student received, the tablets had maps on them as well as everybody's individual course schedule.

Max had stuck with the original choices for classes that he'd come up with before. He saw on the tablet that his first class of the semester would be homeroom, Summoner Class, first year, and it started in half an hour. He was going to be in the same class as Lance.

Each homeroom class at Summoner Academy averaged just over thirty people, so there would be a total of four of them for this wave of newbies. Max decided to find out where his class would be taking place early.

As he headed there with Lance, he glanced around at the others who would presumably be his classmates, the students heading in the same direction. He briefly thought about being friendly and introducing himself, but decided not to. After all, the Quartet had longer years than Earth and he had an entire semester to get to know everyone.

Being a busybody or overly friendly would make him stand out too, and not necessarily in a good way.