Six hours of flying, the worst six hours Rodrick had ever experienced. His flight was, in fact, a disaster. A woman sat next to him with her baby, a baby so annoying that Rodrick even considered picking it up and throwing it out of the airplane window. However, he quickly dismissed the idea, as committing such madness would ruin his future reputation. So Rodrick limited himself to trying to take a nap, ignoring the baby's cries and screams. Unfortunately, it was an impossible task.
Rodrick grabbed his suitcase and disembarked from the plane. Outside the airport, the place was crowded with people, some reuniting with loved ones or acquaintances, others waiting for transportation. It was surprising to see so many people gathered together; it wasn't something Rodrick was used to seeing.
But what surprised him most was one thing.
"How beautiful..."
Rodrick looked up at the beautiful sunny sky. He missed this. Rain had become so common in his village that he had completely forgotten what it was like to go outside and feel the sun's rays on his skin. Rodrick took a deep breath and walked down the stairs. When he reached the street, Rodrick sat down at one of the bus stops and waited for the Academy bus. It was supposed to run throughout the city at different times, and right now it was on its second route, which meant it would cover the entire area around the airport. It was perfect. After waiting for a while, a girl with dark blue hair sat down next to him, and Rodrick recognized her instantly. It was the same girl he had bumped into at the fast food restaurant. The girl didn't seem to remember Rodrick at all. It was quite normal; in fact, it would be strange to remember each other after that little collision.
"Am I really the only one who remembers?"
Rodrick thought.
The girl next to him didn't flinch; she seemed to be in her own world. After watching her out of the corner of his eye for a while, Rodrick finally noticed that she was wearing headphones. Rodrick sighed and waited.
After a while, the bus finally arrived and most of the young people who were sitting waiting got on. Surprisingly, the blue-haired girl got on too.
"Damn, why do I have to pay so much attention to her?"
Rodrick tried to stop paying attention to her for a moment; he didn't want to cause trouble or make the girl uncomfortable. As he boarded the bus, Rodrick accidentally dropped the umbrella he was carrying in his left hand.
"Damn it!"
He quickly got off the bus and retrieved the umbrella, picked up his suitcase, and got back on. When he was back on board, Rodrick was surprised. All the seats were taken, except for one.
"Shit..."
Rodrick walked to the back of the bus carrying his suitcase, all the boys' eyes fixed on him. When he arrived, Rodrick put his suitcase on the floor and sat down next to the pretty girl with blue hair. Rodrick tried not to look at her, he could feel her piercing gaze staring at him. The girl seemed annoyed that someone was sitting next to her. Rodrick whistled, trying to defuse the situation.
"Why are you sitting here?" the girl said suddenly, her tone sounding ridiculously out of place.
Rodrick took a while to answer.
"It's the last seat left," Rodrick said hesitantly.
"That's not true, there's the floor, sit there."
Rodrick turned his head toward her, and when he looked at her, he wanted to look away immediately. The girl was terribly upset. Rodrick felt he had to take control of the situation quickly; he didn't like the girl's behavior at all.
"I won't. This is my seat now. Get used to it," Rodrick said, forcing himself to remain firm.
"Oh, really?"
Then the girl's bright amber eyes lit up as she looked at Rodrick.
Rodrick just turned his head quickly toward the windows and ignored her.
"It's going to be a long trip..."
***
Rodrick grabbed his suitcase and ran off the bus. This had probably been one of the most uncomfortable experiences Rodrick had ever had.
"Oh God, that was hell!"
The girl had been staring at him the whole way, teasing him and pushing him around shamelessly. Rodrick just endured it silently until they reached the academy.
"Finally..."
Rodrick was speechless. The place... was simply amazing. The university itself looked like a small town in the middle of New York. It was very different from how anyone would have imagined a university here; it felt like entering a viceroyalty town, everything was so... mystical.
When everyone got off the bus, a boy wearing the university uniform greeted them. The uniform was simple: dark blue pants, a jacket of the same color, and a white shirt underneath. The university logo was woven onto the jacket of the uniform, depicting a white hand reaching for a distant star. It was a curious logo.
"Hello, everyone! My name is Henry, and I'm here to welcome you to Eagle Aspirants University and give you a short tour."
A small smile escaped Rodrick. The boy who greeted them seemed really nice. He was the kind of person who made your day just by listening to him.
Well, that would have been great, if only this man were really like that.
Rodrick's smile disappeared the moment his intuition screamed that this man was dangerous. Rodrick preferred to stay at the back of the group and watch from a distance; he couldn't trust this man.
"Okay, is everyone here? Let's go," said the boy, glancing at everyone on the bus.
The boy turned around and walked down the large corridor that connected the entire university. Rodrick walked along, seeing more and more new things with every passing second. At one point, all the students crouched down in fear of a giant bird with the body of... a horse?
"Watch out!" shouted the rider of the beautiful hippogriff.
Instantly, everyone crouched down in fear. As they flew overhead, the rider laughed, but her laughter was quickly carried away by the wind.
"Don't worry, the beast tamer, Shine, is an expert at her job. Consider it a welcome, rather."
Everyone fell silent, digesting what had just happened.
"Okay, let's continue with the tour," said the boy as he continued walking.
Along the way, Rodrick was able to more or less understand how the academy was structured. There were three main areas:
the Weapons Aspirants Zone, the Support Aspirants Zone, and the Beast Aspirants Zone. It seemed small, but of course, these areas were divided into different sectors. Right now, Rodrick didn't feel like thinking about that, so he preferred to concentrate on admiring the beauty of the institution's architecture.
Rodrick felt like he was in an old movie about heroes and dragons, with several buildings looking like castles in their own right.
"Over here we can see the Air Port, also nicknamed the Celestial Pier."
"Oh?"
Rodrick was surprised to see several hot air balloons landing at the Celestial Pier, and others taking off. It was curious; apparently, this was the main mode of transportation here.
The journey continued for quite some time until they were dropped off at their respective rooms. No aptitude test was necessary, as those had already been done in advance on the exam applications. What would be required, and what terrified Rodrick, was a practical exam.
He had no idea what it would be like, but he was sure that as a Weapons Aspirant, he would have to fight...
Rodrick had no idea how to hold a sword, let alone how to fight with one.
Fortunately, the practical exam would be held in three days, giving the students time to settle into their rooms and get used to their new surroundings. Rodrick would now have to live here all year. It didn't seem like a bad idea; here he could learn what he needed to know to harness the potential of the stellar body. Coming here had been a good idea, and Rodrick was happy he had made that decision.
Rodrick left his suitcase next to his bed and collapsed on top of it. It had been a long day. But at last he was in his room. According to the boy, classes for the new students would begin tomorrow.
"God... I hope they don't make us fight."
Before fighting someone, Rodrick desperately wished that someone would teach him at least the basics of combat. The only thing Rodrick knew how to do was hit, and he had only learned that from the guy who bullied those kids.
His mind was blank.
But what did it matter?
He would leave that job to tomorrow's Rodrick. For now, Rodrick would take the time to process everything that had happened.
***
In the distance, in one of the tallest towers of the Eagle's University of Aspirants, two young men danced, clashing their swords.
"Faster!"
The other boy tried even harder as he shouted passionately.
The two were at their peak, giving their all to improve.
The twin stars sought to take the next step in their class.