Ryad POV:

  The fmes we stood on shot across the sky like one of the falling stars that I saw after defeating the great General.

  I was still trying to figure out the concept behind the burn-less fmes when the professor snapped me out of my train of thoughts.

  "We're getting close to the capital, it won't be too long," Professor Houghton commented.

  I only nodded as I focused on the small spec that was the capital city of Farrington.

  "When we get to the Academy, I'm going to need you to follow me to the Headmaster's office. I'll put in a good word for you," Houghton instructed.

  "I thought you only wanted me to accompany you to the Capital? I never agreed to enroll into the Academy," I replied, recalling our conversation before we had left for the Stoneshire Academy.

  "I know what I said, Ryad," Professor Houghton commented, "but you also have to consider our new circumstances as well."

  "I've already introduced you as a student within the Farrington Academy, promising to send over your transcripts to the Stoneshire Academy's Headmaster as soon as we finished processing you," Professor Houghton remarked, "with all that in mind, there's no way I'm going to let you not attend the Academy, I'll bribe Headmaster Eastwood if I have to!"

  With that, my fate was sealed. I shouldn't have accepted the terms of that agreement, but then again, where would have I gone?

  I was still about a week old in this new world. I knew nothing of their customs and magic practice, it was probably due to sheer luck that I had managed to manifest the Bck Bde. Even then, I already knew that I was weaker than the professor.

  I could only sigh and hope that I wouldn't come to regret this decision in the long run.

  The tiny dot that was once the capital was now a towering city with rge walls surrounding it. The way the city glowed under the evening sky made it look even more majestic.

  "We finally made it! I need a shower after all this, I'm so tired~" Professor Houghton remarked as he lowered us to the ground.

  This time, the guards didn't even bother checking his ID. They all promptly saluted before beckoning us to enter the town.

  'I guess the academy has quite the reputation within the city..'

  Soon after we entered, we walked past buildings that started lighting up one by one. We eventually stopped in front of a decently sized building that seemed to be a hotel.

  "I'll leave you here for the night; it's a pretty nice hotel, and the manager is really kind as well. Don't start trouble for them okay?" Professor Houghton remarked smiling.

  I followed him into the hotel.

  Inside, there was a rather cssy restaurant where a small group of people enjoyed their food and drinks. The waiters were bustling about and serving orders as quickly as they could, and I could hear the chefs in the kitchen cnking dishes and pots as they created more and more dishes.

  The professor kept walking across the restaurant and stopped when he reached where the bar area was.

  "It's been a while Madison, how're you holding up?" Professor Houghton greeted.

  The dy he was talking to, a young woman with brown hair who seemed to be in her early twenties, kindly smiled before she greeted back.

  "We've been fine, the hustle has been picking up recently thanks to you," Madison replied with a smile.

  "I'd like to reserve one hotel room for my student here, he hasn't been registered in the school yet, but I'm pnning to tomorrow."

  "Register? I thought the registration had already ended for Farrington Academy?" Madison replied.

  "Well, they did, but this is one is a special case."

  "Ah, I see. Well, here's a key to the hotel room. It's down the hall to your left. I hope you enjoy your stay," Madison smiled as she handed me a key.

  "You must also be hungry as well, Ryad. Madison, could you let him eat whatever he wants? I'll foot the bill when I come to pick him up in the morning," Professor Houghton asked.

  "That's fine, say hi to the wife and kids for me!" Madison said as the professor began to leave the hotel.

  Professor Houghton smiled and waved at the both of us before leaving the restaurant.

  "You must be famished, why don't you sit down on one of those tables over there? I'll have one of the waiters get you a menu," Madison replied.

  I nodded before making my way towards the table that was near the wall.

  Sitting down, I couldn't help but take notice of the clothes I had been wearing all this time. They were practically in tatters, they had been covered in dirt, and minor tears just ravaged all across the torso. The dagger, which I hid inside my shirt was also rusted as well. I needed to get some new clothes as soon as I could.

  "Here you go, just let me know when you're ready to order," one of the waiters handed me a piece of paper which I assumed was the menu.

  I picked out some blood honey coated ribs and a gss of water.

  I had just finished pcing my order when the door opened and a group of students walked in and sat down on a table that had happened to be right next to me.

  "Man! That entrance exam was something else, wasn't it?" One of the students, a boy with blue hair and green eyes remarked.

  "Don't lie to us! I saw you finish those papers in less than an hour and sleep for the rest of it!" A girl with chestnut brown hair and blue eyes remarked.

  "Even so, it is quite shocking that a rge number of students had failed the physicals. I believe, if anything, that should concern you more about the course's intense training regimen," another girl with red hair and purple eyes remarked. Her opinion seemed to quiet down all the bickering between the previous two.

  "Either way, we made it into the Academy; that's all that matters to me," another boy with short brown hair and bck eyes commented.

  "Well, let's do our best to be at the top. After all, we have a reputation to keep up before we graduate to fight the monster-kin, no?" A blonde haired and gray eyed boy remarked. They all quietly agreed with the blonde haired individual and switched to another topic before they began ordering.

  I had been eaves-dropping on them for quite some time; I wanted to get more information about the Academy. Soon enough, they had already began talking about their experiences within the Academy.

  The blue haired boy compined about how the rooms were rather out-of-date compared to his room back at home. The others seemed to agree to an extent, until the red-haired girl called out the fact that everyone within the group was a child of a noble. A rather awkward silence momentarily ensued before the brown-haired girl began to talk.

  "Here's your order sir, enjoy your meal!" One of the waiters promptly pced the ribs in front of me, snapping me out of the conversation that I had been eaves-dropping on.

  I nodded my head in appreciation before promptly digging in. Taking the first bite, I couldn't help but widen my eyes in surprise from the sudden burst of fvor I had just tasted. The blood honey blew away my taste buds, and I couldn't stop eating till there was nothing left on those ribs except for bare bones. Even then, I was tempted to start eating the bones as well.

  The waiter, noticing that I had finished eating, came to me while I had just finished drinking a gss of water.

  "Would you like some more?"

  "Yes please."

  The waiter promptly took away my pte and gss and left me alone.

  "Gross."

  "He ate like he hadn't eaten in centuries!"

  "That's rude to say when you're right behind the person you're talking about."

  "Such is the life of commoners, who probably don't have the blessings of magic."

  "I find it rather amazing he was able to pull off such a feat."

  I heard those criticisms in passing, their opinions of me didn't really matter to me at the moment.

  Although I continued to ignore them, they didn't stop staring at me for a couple of more minutes before they began promptly eating their own orders. The waiter came back and served me some more blood honey ribs and a gss of more water.

  I ate them all almost instantaneously before standing up and heading out. However, before I could go to my room, Madison stopped me right before the entrance to the corridor.

  "Hey! Did you enjoy your food?" Madison asked with a smile.

  "I did, thank you for your hospitality," I bowed my head slightly to Madison.

  "No problem! A friend of Houghton is a friend of mine, but I can't help but notice that your clothes are a little scuffed," Madison commented as her eyes looked down to my clothes.

  "Yeah....I'm pnning on going shopping in the morning," I remarked.

  "With what money?"

  My mind went bnk.

  "Houghton did say that he was going to foot the bill.....so I already assumed that you didn't have any money to begin with....am I right?" Madison asked innocently.

  I could only nod my head embarrassingly. I forgot to nab some of money off the assassins before we left for Stoneshire.

  "Don't worry, I have a little brother who's just about the same size as you are. He's all grown up now, so you can have some of his clothes," Madison muttered as she handed me some folded clothes, "I made sure to clean them when Houghton had informed me of your pending arrival."

  When did he do that?

  I could only thank her before heading to my room. Opening the door, I found an organized room with neat lighting. On one wall, a bathroom made itself avaible. I was going to have to spend the next couple of hours figuring all these things out.