The Academy (4)

A wide and huge pillar, shining in a dim light stood in the middle of the building, students were crowded mainly on it, reading what was written.

Angel joined them, he got a couple disgusted looks from some students but he ignored them.

"They are probably descendants of magical families, don't mind them. they look down on anyone from a commoner or non-magical origins. bunch of fools with silver spoons up their a..." said loi, with a hint of mock and disgust. he managed to stop himself from finishing his sentence.

The pillar was silver in color, words were travelling in breathtaking speed all around it, angel didn't understand how they could read anything.

"Go and t....." loi was cut off by an apprentice approaching angel.

"Hi, you must be new here" said a handsome guy, he seemed to be in his early twenties. blue eyes, red hair and a face well sculptured.

"How'd you know?" asked angel, he can feel the mental facepalm that Loi did.

"You're not wearing a robe, I'm Silio," said silio, giggling.

"Oh, yeah forgot. i still don't know what elements i'm attuned to so i can't get one till then. I'm angel by the way." angel smiled, a bit embarrassed.

"So, you need help with the beacon?" said Silio, looking at the pillar.

"Beacon? Yeah, I guess. how can they read anything, i can barely make out one word." said angel.

"I'll explain," he said and faced the beacon while he stood next to angel "This is sort of like a branch, every academy or association has one, it contains information, missions, you can even trade or purchase something from someone across this realm. very useful t..."

"Wait, there is more than one academy?" asked angel, cutting him off.

"Yeah, one academy isn't enough to hold everyone, it'll be too crowded," said silio.

"Too crowded? aren't attuned people rare?" asked angel.

"Yes, but don't look down on this realm, even if it's an artificial one. it's bigger and more populated than most of the realms out there. domes exist where life is preserved and where people live."

"Domes?" asked angel, again.

"Yeah, this realm is huge, and humans are not the only living or non-living species that inhabit it. Some are friendly and some aren't. I've lived here my whole life and even i don't know how many creatures or evil beings are out there.

for years they have been corroding and infecting the land with dark energies that a lot of life and beautiful nature was lost. pushing the other species to build domes.

This creation has aided the natural elements to thrive and blocked all the dark energies from seeping in. we're in a dome right now, it's big enough to hold countless towns and villages.

In our dome there are 2 kingdoms though. the Morgak kingdom and the Likon kingdom.

The academy and the few villages around it are located in between them, and is the only academy in our dome." said silio.

"Wow" that was the only thing that angel could mutter, even though Loi was surprised, things have changed for him too.

"Back then, the corrosion and dark energies were not this dominant" said loi.

"Well, don't be scared. the dark energies and creatures outside might be dangerous but not to us, we're safe here." silio continued "In every dome, an academy exists, and these beacons are connected to each one of them.

Like I said, you can trade and share information, books.. everything. they are very useful."

"Wait, how many domes are out there?" asked angel.

"I'm not sure, they might be hundreds but only powerful magicians care, since it's nearly impossible for just anyone to travel that far." said silio "My ancestor was from a non-magical realm herself you know"

"What realm was it?" asked angel.

"From what my father told me, it was one where humans ,elves and some other species lived in, they used something called technology but i'm not sure what it is exactly." said Silio, shrugging.

"Oh" angel sighed, disappointed "Thanks for your explanation, that helped a lot. May I ask why you are helping me?"

"I don't know. i come from a non-magical family, my ancestor was the only attuned but after that no one else came." said silio "Since we're kind of in the same situation i thought i'd help.

I'm new here, my elements are water and earth, my father paid a magician handsomely to help identify my attuned elements. although I think it wasn't worth all that money, I got a head start in my cultivation." said Silio, smiling.

"So how can I use this?" asked angel, pointing at the beacon.

"You have to imprint it with your mana, go ahead and touch it."

Angel walked around some people and put his hand on the pillar, like what loi taught him, he emitted some mana through his hand.

Suddenly, the words stopped for a second, angel could see what looked like a holographic screen being emitted by the pillar. with the words.

'Trading' / 'Information' / 'Missions'

It was fascinating, but angel had no use for it yet.

He spoke with silio for a bit, they walked around the academy and sat at a bench in a garden.

"Tell me about your realm, how was it?" asked silio.

Angel told him about everything, except his life. He wanted to avoid mentioning it.

Silio sat in front of angel and listened with great interest, he was fascinated.

"Humans are the only species there? that must have been so cool, the technology thing is like my ancestors realm, do you think she came from yours but humans were just the surviving race?" said silio

"No, that's impossible. nothing in our records even mentions something like that." said angel.