He arrived at school before the start of the classes and ran to his class through the longest way to avoid people.
{I feel lighter} He told the other two.
"As you should" Matthew said "Awakening do more then just give you a class, it translate your normal abilities into something that can be used to fight"
"Even If your status can't be quantified" Leonard added "Your body is not that unfit, did you train before?"
{More or less, I worked in every field I could think of to see if I could awaken, I just don't have skills related to them because Summoning Art overwrote them all}
It was written in the Book of Stories, any skill I could have possibly had will be overwritten by Summoning Art since it can just summon that skill from a character or memory.
He's basically a Jack of all trades for as long as he has a character or memory in his unlocked pages that has the skill he needs.
Amadeus soon reached the classroom, everyone already on their seats way earlier than usual, definitely to cause a good impression.
The room went quiet as he walked in, many eyes turning to him as he sat on his designated seat.
The table was full of offences written all over it, but the chair was ok, so he just sat in silence and kept reading the book.
The more he read, the more he would know about what he was capable of.
He discovered that if he focused only on the memories, the cover would turn red and only the memories would show, and if he thought only on stories, it would turn blue and only stories would show.
But he kept reading the two together, to learn about his other selves and what brought them to create their creations.
He also excluded his personal creations, all too aware of them and why he made them.
Amadeus had to admit, he had mixed feelings about the Book of Stories.
Everything he read until now were either instructions or memories with their respective creations, but all memories were of Fantasias that didn't make it to eighteen years, and there were many.
Most didn't even reach eight and they all ended in the most varied ways.
"Seems like you don't like what you're reading" Leonard said.
{I'm not} Amadeus admitted while turning the page {My past selves didn't make as far as I did}
"How far are we talking about?" Matthew asked.
He stopped at the page that had a girl that seemed to be his age, she would look beautiful if it wasn't for the clear state of starvation.
{A nameless slave that died one second before completing eighteen} He explained {She would tell stories to other slave children}
Her's are the prettiest he'd seen so far, one of them are the Garden Fairies, beings that live in greenhouses and small gardens making sure that everything grows beautifully.
Everything related to her in the Book of Stories had her fairies moving around.
It was as beautiful as she should have been.
Although Amadeus desired to stop and just read the stories, he kept reading the memories.
These were his memories, these were his lives.
He had the right to know what he passed through, even if each word was brought with a rush of phantom pain that forced him to swallow a grunt, even as their feelings and emotions started to emerge with his, even if he felt like the memories were going to swallow him.
He can't pretend these things didn't happen, he can't deny the things that resulted into these stories he would one day need.
He had to read, so read he did, not even noticing when Matthew and Leonard tried to call him as someone approached him.
He only noticed how lost in thought he was when something hit him hard in the head, throwing him to the ground.
"Finally, I thought you'd never shut up"
He looked up at the red-haired boy whose purple eyes were looking down at him. On the boy's shoulder one could see a small lizard with wings.
Frederick Barnes, Dragon Tamer, most prized student of this school and, as ironic as it might be, one of the biggest fans of Forgotten Glory, Amadeus' story.
The world truly has its ways to connect people, doesn't it?
The people around him laughed, Frederick smirked, his dragon snorted and Amadeus stared at the ground.
Then he got up and the laughter died.
"Good morning to you too" He said flatly.
Many eyes widened as he cleaned off the dirt that clung to his clothes.
His head wasn't throbbing as usual despite knowing that Frederick had used a strong blow, neither was his body from hitting the hard ground.
So this was what being an Awakened was like?
Huh, it wasn't half bad.
He turned to Frederick, whose eyes were sharp and angry.
"Hey you" He said "How did you-"
Frederick was interrupted by the teacher, who walked in with a bright smile.
"Get ready students! We're moving to the arena!"
The stunned silence was replaced by joyful chatter as the students moved out of class, nothing in their hands as they all could store their things on their inventories.
Amadeus, who could also send away his Book of Stories, forgot to do so and darted out without his arms before anyone could say anything, even the teacher.
"How are you feeling?" Leonard asked "Anything hurts?"
{I'm fine, nothing damaged, much less hurt, I'm actually surprised}
"It's always like this in the start" Matthew said with contempt "But don't let it get over your head, your not invincible, just resistant"
Yeah, like hell he would.
He had written countless times about people that thought they were invincible, but weren't. He would be a fool if he did the same.
This was just the start, he still had a lot to grow.
He quickly reached the arena.
This school was a very prestigious one, sonit did have a big arena for students to train.
He only managed to study here because of Mina, who pulled some strings for him.
Passing through the door and finding a place to sit quietly, planning to read more, but was stopped by Matthew, who materialized to pull his hair.
"Hey!" The boy hissed while picking the man up.
"That's enough reading for you!"
"But-"
"No buts!"
The man turned back into spirit mode to escape air jail and glare at Amadeus while hovering in front of him.
"You don't hear shit when reading by yourself and we can't physically interact with you while we're like this! So no reading!"
He turned to Leonard trying to seed support.
They both knew how important this was for him, for them!
The more he knows, the more he can use!
But, alas, he was betrayed.
"Although I do agree you should read it" Said the man "I can tell it affects you more then just deafness to the world"
He sunk on the ground, the book disappearing from his hands.
He lost this round.
"You'll have more time to read later" Said Leonard "But only for a set amount of time"
Even though he wanted to argue, Matthew's glare was enough to silence Amadeus.
Well, it seems like he also lost the second round.
He grumbled his dissatisfaction, but didn't dare to say anything else.
He made Matthew too scary to disobey.
***
She was ready for everything today, as today was the day she would start her glorious journey up.
Amanda had planned everything!
She would go to Iron Solace, impress all teachers with her spirits, and she would remove a letter of recommendation to Iron Will, the Guild under Iron Solace!
She was sure it would happen, as it was how her parents said it would.
She was destined to greatness, to be greater than anyone.
Her eyes wandered to a figure in a corner and she smirked.
Amadeus was there too, but his prefense wasn't a problem.
Let him watch what he could never do or be.
It'll only make her shine brighter in the end.
She focused on the woman with crossed gavels on her chest.
The representative of Iron Solace!
Amanda was full of expectancy as the woman locked eyes on her direction, she was ready for the usal look of admiration she would receive.
But it didn't come.
The woman looked at her for a moment, then looked away with disinterest.
What?
She looked around, just to make sure what could make her look away, then she saw it.
Amadeus sitting in the same direction as her.
Amanda signed in relief.
It wasn't her fault, but Amadeus'.
Well, good to know that the woman had good eyes.
She stayed put as the representatives started to talk with the students, waiting for the woman to come to her.
But she didn't.
She went after Jackson, the idiot who always disrespected her, and Grace, the wimp that never spoke to anyone.
Oh! The representative must just want to raise some suspense, no way she would leave Amanda behind.
So she waited for the woman to turn and come for her.
But she didn't.
The woman was clearly about to leave and she didn't glance at Amanda's way.
She was about to go after the woman when said woman turned around, eyes wide as she scanned the room, only to lock on Amanda.
The woman sprinted in Amanda's direction, making her nervous heart calm down.
Yeah! No way she would have forgotten her.
She waited for the woman to stop running.
But, again, she didn't.
Amanda was right there, but the woman didn't run to her.
The representative of Iron Solace ran past her.
Past. Her.
She didn't even slow down.
Amanda was so stunned that she stood there for a moment, frozen in place.
The she heard it.
"Come to Iron Solace with me!"
That made her turn around.
Gods she wishes she didn't.
Because there, in the corner of the arena, the representative of Iron Solace was standing in front of Amadeus, not her.