It wasn't an experience he could describe thoroughly. But he knew one thing for sure—his first class wasn't something he would want to remember.
After class, he gathered his things and prepared to leave. Steve, who sat behind Ajax, wanted to voice out, but before he could, a cheerful voice interrupted.
"Hey there, you must be Ajax!" He said, "Do you remember me?"
Ajax looked at him with a confused expression.
"It's me, Storm Galehart," he said. "I attended Arrow's sixth birthday with my folks."
He continued, "You remember, right? I stepped in when those boys wanted to bully you."
Ajax remained confused. Lucius, "You never looked at him, I doubt you will remember."
This was an opportunity. With Storm's help, he could find his room.
Ajax grinned back at Storm. "Oh yeah… Storm." He said awkwardly, "I completely forgot how you looked."
Storm patted him on the back. "Don't worry, it's been a while." He said, "Even I forgot. It was your name that gave you away."
"If you aren't busy, let me show you around," Storm said.
"Not at all. I would be glad," Ajax said calmly.
Steve clenched his teeth as he watched Ajax and Storm walk off. "Tch…Who does he think he is?" He thought.
As they strolled, Storm talked non-stop—about different parts of the academy, the classes, and the variety of students.
The enthusiastic behavior of Storm, though annoying, seemed appealing to Ajax in a way—he was just trying to be nice. Most nobles were prideful, so to see a noble being this open was intriguing for Ajax.
As the afternoon went on, sparks of lightning flickered between Storm's fingers as he flicked his wrist.
"Watch this." He grinned.
Ajax folded his arms. "He's a show-off too?" He thought and shook his head.
Storm started to flick the lightning through his fingers with precise and gentle control. Just as Ajax couldn't get enough, he added his other hand and flicked it with impressive speed and ease. Lastly, he made a lightning ball and giggled with it.
Ajax admitted he was good. Such an elegant control over lighting magic had to be appreciated. He grew a liking to lightning magic and decided to create it later.
"That's a great show-off," Ajax said.
"Can you blame me?" Storm replied, "Not everyone can wield lightning magic at my age, you know."
Ajax tilted his head. "True. How did you learn it?" Asked calmly.
Pride was evident in his expression. "Everyone in our family is born with wind magic, but we are trained to convert it into lightning at an early age. It's our legacy."
Ajax listened carefully; he needed every piece of information to help create lightning magic.
Their walk continued until Ajax spotted a student in an attire completely different from their own.
He pointed at the student, "Why is she in a different attire? I've seen over two of them so far."
Storm gave him a concerned gaze. "Oh yeah. You just came, so I guess you won't know." He said, "She's an Alpha."
He continued, "There are three ranks: Beta, Omega, and Alpha.
"Every student is a Beta; Omegas are students with more than one affinity, and Alphas are students with an ultimate skill.
"Omega gets special treatments, luxurious rooms and meals, and they get special studies as well.
"Alpha gets those as well and additionally, a different attire to show their superiority."
"You get it now?" He asked.
Ajax nodded and took a deep breath, "I must avoid the higher ranks then," he thought.
[Use fire magic for now, so you can work on it better,] Lucius said.
Ajax had enough for the day. "Can we visit the cafeteria and the business quarters?" He asked Ajax.
It was a massive hall. From the mannerisms of the students around, Ajax could see the academy didn't take their étiquette lightly.
It was three stories high; Beta occupied the ground floor, Omega the second, and Alpha the third floor.
[Your sense of direction is very bad,] Lucius said.
The business quarters were a mile away, and yet Ajax couldn't recognize it. Storm happened to stay at the Business Quarters as well, but unfortunately—very fortunate for Ajax, Storm was on a different floor.
Later that evening, Ajax wanted to start creating lightning magic.
He sat on his bed calmly as Lucius gave him instructions.
Creation—he activates his ultimate skill creation.
[Lightning magic is often created when particles in a cloud with strong updrafts and downwards collide and create frictions, which leads to the separation of electrons and protons.
[This separation causes a buildup of electrons at the bottom and a buildup of protons at the top of the cloud.
[Visualize the scenario while harnessing that energy.]
Ajax was able to visualize it perfectly.
He continued,
[With constant practice, consider yourself embodying the qualities of lightning magic: speed, unpredictability, and power.
[Well done!]
[Consider your preferred component needed for channeling the lightning.
[I'd recommend you use your whole body.]
"Okay," Ajax replied. He did as Lucius asked of him with surprising ease.
[With time, you must gradually increase the complexity of how you control it to gain more confidence.]
After their section, Ajax could spark a little lightning with his fingers. But it needed constant practice and time to grow stronger.
A fortnight had passed since Ajax enrolled.
"It just got to our attention, Steve Celestine is now an Alpha," the professor, Rashford, announced, "I would expect everyone to treat him with the respect he deserves."
He gave Ajax a prideful look as he walked off the lectern to have his seat.
Ajax was resting his chin on his hand, completely engrossed in a book he was reading.
The class applauded Steve, but the reaction he wanted was from Ajax. Unfortunately, he got none.
The professor called on Ajax and Storm before the class was dismissed. Those two had approached him the day before. They wanted him to tutor them in mana manipulation and circulation.
He agreed; their tutoring hours started every day after their last class.
Despite Terra Academy primarily focusing on business studies, by the culture of the academies on Elementara, duels are permitted among students. Participation isn't compulsory in Terra Academy, but misunderstandings among students must be settled with a duel.
Ajax's time at the academy has been anything but smooth—just as Lucius predicted, he often drifts off in his thoughts during class hours and sometimes loses focus and speaks out loud.
Just as things couldn't get any worse for Ajax, the class was often tasked with group work, forcing him to cooperate with others. It was uneasy for him at the beginning, but with time he had grown accustomed to it.
Within his first two weeks at the academy, his parents visited. The moment he saw them, he ran to their arm.
"My boy has changed," Alex said.
Alex ruffled his hair, "You've grown, Ajax."
He grinned.
Alex tried to carry him in his arms throughout their visit, but Ajax asked him to put him down—he didn't want to feel like a child.
They couldn't stay longer than they wanted, they had to visit Arrow at Terrace.
Despite their early departures, they continued to visit any chance they got.