Eternal Mana 14 014 Orientation

Once inside, Nico lined up to receive a new student identification badge, a blue uniform, a code of conduct booklet, a map of campus, and a school schedule.

Nico walked out of the registration building and into the campus main courtyard. It was a breathtaking view of the main campus. Nico was going to be living here for the next semester.

Like any incoming freshman student, there was a mixture of excitement and dread.

Nico walked further east to the Nuccen intermediate dorm, the first starred location on his map.

The Nuccen intermediate dorm housed all the 13-18 years old students and split in half by a courtyard between the two genders. In the male quarter, there were 200 rooms of quad, 100 doubles and 25 singles. Only top 10 rankers or royalties were allowed to have singles. The top 100 rankers were allowed doubles and everyone else had to share quads.

Most of the Nuccen dorms ranking were decided by last year final exam ranking.

Nico approached a room located on the second floor. First floor was the common area and cafeteria.

The dark blue door guarding the room had no key or k.n.o.b. Instead, as Nico stood before the door, his student badge glowed.

"Open," he said.

The door opened.

This is so cool, he gaped.

The room was more s.p.a.cious than he thought. The front vestibule was formed by two bathrooms. Beyond the small vestibule was a square room with four sets beds and tables on each corner.

Nico walked inside and saw a boy with sandy brown hair unpacking on the left.

"Ah, Jack!"

Jack looked up. He was glad to see Nico, but he had a confused expression on his face.

"Uh, ah… What's your name again?" asked Jack.

"Nico!" he replied.

"Oh! Hey!"

Nico scooped Snowy and Junior out from his front strap and introduced them to Jack.

Jack also had a golden retriever, but he was in the balcony. Polar was a bit older than Snowy and Junior, but they treated Polar as an elder. The two lowered their heads to bow when they greeted Polar. Polar was a bit annoyed, he was only three years young!

"Can't believe we are sharing the same room!" Jack cried.

"Did you just arrive? Who's the other person?" Nico noticed that the bed on the near right was already occupied.

"I got here a few minutes before you. Didn't see the other person, was like that when I got here."

Nico took the bed on the far right corner located next to the balcony. Nico placed his bag on the bed and began to unpack. Afterward, he checked out the bathroom.

Plumbing existed in this world, but it was very expensive.

Nico had seen wooden toilet seats before, but the wooden toilet from the Academy was different. The wood was nicely sanded and coated with white lacquer.

They even have a wooden tub and a working shower.

It almost felt like home.

Once Nico finished his business, he saw a new face in the room. The young boy had light blond hair, blue eyes and facial features that were commonly seen in commercial ads. Although he was tall for his age, he wasn't as tall as Jack and Nico. He wasn't skinny, but he probably needed a sandwich, Nico thought.

"Hi," the boy said curtly.

"Oh, hi!" Nico responded. "My name is Nico." Nico saw Snowy already attaching herself to the pretty boy. "I see you have already met Snowy. The other one is Junior."

"Ashe Hartlet," he responded.

A clan member? Nico wondered. Clan members and royalties usually have last names.

"You're a Magic Branch student?" asked Nico.

Ashe nodded.

A moment later, the fourth roommate arrived.

"h.e.l.lo," a young handsome boy pa.s.sed through the magical door.

"Vincent!?"

No one was expecting Vincent since he was ranked high in the exam and was eligible for the singles.

"The dorm master said all the singles are taken," said Vincent.

"Why didn't to take the double?" asked Nico.

Vincent scratched his cheeks in thought. "It's a bit awkward with two people?"

Nico and Jack glanced at each other, he was the awkward one.

Vincent took the last bed, the one on the far left.

Later that afternoon, they changed into their robe uniforms.

Windel Academy robes were special in that they were imbued with magical properties. Nico and Vincent both had two stripes on their sleeves, which indicated mid-tier gathering stage. Jack had one stripe which indicated low-tier gathering stage. Ashe was the only one wearing a green robe with one stripe, indicating a low-tier condensation stage.

Jack stared at the green robe with envy. The overall differences in quality between a blue robe and a green robe was glaring.

"Is it glowing?" asked Jack.

Vincent and Nico stared at the green robe, it was shimmery.

Ashe glared at his new roommates. "Hurry up, we're going to be late for the opening ceremony."

Nico wished they had skipped it all together. It was long and tedious ceremony that was basically an oral presentation of the code of conduct. The following day, they went to their a.s.signed instructors for a tour.

Nico and Jack reported to Instructor Lingo of the Cultivation Branch.

The tour began in the east wing by their dorm.

Nico recognized most of the students from the exam week.

Instructor Lingo, a st.u.r.dy man in his 20s, was in charge of the campus tour during Orientation week for the new incoming Cultivation Branch students. There were 31 students, age ranging from 10 to 15, all dressed in blue robe.

"Everyone, get ready for some fun today!" Instructor Lingo hyped and flipped his red robe with some flair.

Instructor Lingo took out a square stone and activated the stone. A beat of rhythm sounded out from the stone.

"The east wing campus! Known as Nuccen!" Instructor Lingo bellowed out some tunes. "House the Elementary, Immediate, and High dorms!"

Nico and the students stared at each other in bewilderment.

"Seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, live in the Nuccen Elementary Dorm. Known as Ned.

Thirteen to eighteen years old, in Nuccen Immediate Dorm. Known as the Nid.

Nineteen and older in the Nuccen High Dorm. Nuhi-hi."

While singing out the song, Instructor Lingo ran off to the next destination. The students quickly followed.

They ran to the registration hall, which faced the main courtyard. It was the point of entry and exit for all the students and professors. Around the main courtyard was also the General Library, Student Hall, Contribution Hall, Magic Hall, Cultivation Hall, and Academic Hall. There were connected by series of colonnades.

The Contribution Hall was in the center, opposite of the ceremonial entry. It was where the Clock Tower was located.

"Contribution Hall! Request missions. Exchange APs. Academy Point-ss to you."

Running to the back of the Contribution Hall was a minor courtyard surrounded by the Administration Hall, Professor Hall, and Pendin Hall. Pendin Hall had a tower called the Testing Tower.

They pa.s.sed the front area of Professor's Hall, in the background they could see the towering wilderness in the northwest.

"Professor Hall. Grisham Rang-age. Ban for you!" Instructor Lingo continued his jingle.

The last stop of the tour was back in the campus main courtyard where there were sign-up stations for the different clubs.

There were various students wearing different colored robes walking around. The blue and green robes made up the majority of the population. Very few students wore red robes.

"Snap back to reality, oh there check club-n-leave." Instructor Lingo ended his song for the tour.

The students were running out of breathe from following Instructor Lingo around, and didn't know how to react.