Arthur wiped his eyes with the napkin as he navigated through the halls of the building. It was just one of the many buildings that made up the Lavender Magic Academy.
This building had the same structure as the others; massive halls with some intricate decorations and vast windows that allowed light into the building.
He ran his hands across the walls as he moved, to many it looked like he a normal act, however he was checking for magic.
'Runes.'
He thought.
They were imbued in every corner of the walls.
Runes were enchantments that were meant to strengthen anything that they were imbued in, there were low-level runes and high-level runes.
The runes were inscribed to protect the building from magic, unfortunately, the runes only protected against low-level magic at most.
Anything else and it would break.
Arthur's hand left the wall and he put them in his pockets.
'I still haven't located the office.'
He thought.
There was a reason the instructors were called two days before the students started.
It was because of their tests, tests that were to be assigned to students.
The tests were implemented for the class ranking; a system where each and every student in a class were ranked from first to last based on their abilities.
In essence, the tests were an important part of the academy's system.
The spirit that had possessed Arthur had already prepared the test for the first years he was assigned to, he had gone through it thoroughly this morning. That was what he planned to submit.
The only thing that was left was finding the office so he could submit the test.
The sound of his shoes against the polished ground resounded in the air as he moved.
He opened a door.
"Not here either."
His annoyance was evident in his tone.
He was considering just abandoning all rationality he had left and racing like a madman through the halls to find the place.
He closed the door behind him and continued walking.
There was a reason he avoided doing that, it was because of the people in the hall.
All of them were instructors, otherwise known as professors. It were these very same people that had been giving him directions.
He had misunderstood what Celestine meant whenever she talked about his reputation.
Most of the professors avoided him, male and female alike, when he asked for directions he was ignored, the times he was actually given they turned out to lead to a completely different place.
One even sent directed him out of the building.
Arthur had already stopped asking for directions sometime ago.
He groaned out loud as he opened another door, only to lead another place.
And when he turned around he saw someone watching him.
"Excuse me, are you Arthur Vaelthorne?"
The man inquired.
"Yes, I am."
Arthur made to walk away, however the man didn't seem to want to let him go.
"Mind if I call you Art?"
He asked.
"Yes, don't call me that."
The man was tall with a lean build, brown skin, sharp eyes and orange hair. He was undoubtedly handsome, something even Arthur would have to admit.
He wore a white coat over a black top, a dressing that seemed to suit him. The man wore his clothes for little to no regard for formality, his sleeves were rolled up and his collars were left loose.
He looked like someone who took nothing seriously.
"Are you an alchemist?"
Arthur asked.
Alchemists seemed to have a knack for dressing in the same way he dressed.
"No, why would you even think that?! Do I look like someone who spends all their time behind a pot cooking something that isn't even edible and laughs like a maniac the moment it turns out different from all my other failed attempts."
"Yes. Yes you do."
Arthur replied.
He turned around and walked away, however the man didn't want to let him go.
"Hey, where are you going?"
The man walked after him.
'Isn't he aware of the rumors?'
The man caught up to him.
"Do you know where the Director's office is located, the place where the instructors submit their tests?"
Arthur questioned.
He realized that since this man was actively making conversations with him, he would give him directions.
"Of course I do."
"You continue down this path, then you turn left, after which you'll see a...."
The man droned on.
It turned out that Arthur was close to the office.
"Hmm, thank you."
He increased his pace.
The man followed him.
"Do you mind?"
"No, I'm just making sure you don't get lost, you seem to do that often."
Arthur didn't respond, instead he kept quiet.
There was a beat of silence between the two of them.
The only sound made was the sound of their shoes, and every once in a while they saw an instructor.
"Do you have a name?"
Arthur finally took the initiative to break the silence.
"The name's Rex, Rex Zatch, but you can call me Dohwa."
Arthur frowned.
"Who in the world calls themselves Dohwa?"
He questioned.
He also wanted to inquire about why he was named Rex, but he knew that it would sound rude.
"It sounds like a name that a baby that just learned to speak said, one that instead of saying the usual words chose something else because it wanted to be dumb."
He said.
But considering that Rex was....
Arthur shook his head to get rid of the thought.
"Dumb? You call the name dumb?"
He sounded offended.
Arthur didn't realize how he offended the man. He was sure that he hadn't said anything that would offend anyone.
"Dumb?....Now that I'm thinking about it, it's pretty dumb isn't it?"
"Yes, it is."
'He's something.'
Arthur thought, reaching into his pockets to procure his glasses.
Rex was interesting in a way, he knew his name yet he talked to him so casually. So, Arthur wanted to check his stats.
________________________________________
[Name: Rex Zatch]
[Titles: Dohwa]
[Bloodline Limit:
Pyro]
[Concept:
Sorcerer – 48%]
_________________________________________
'Just like Celestine and Adrian.'
He thought as the screen appeared before him.
Arthur had realized that he could see the stats of others when he accidentally tried it on Adrian, then he tried it on Celestine, and then he proceeded to use it to check the stats of anyone he saw.
'But he's a sorcerer.'
Out of all the classes, the 'sorcerer' class was the among the rarest.
It was the combination of a severely downgraded 'mage' and that of a 'warrior'.
They could use magic up to the veteran level at their strongest, and they could also engage in close-combat.
But that was about it.
To use magic they still had to align circuits, meaning they had to stay in place and chant. Even then, casting a veteran ranked spell would leave even the strongest sorcerer's reserves dry.
In a way, he was like Arthur, except he was severely downgraded to the point where a contest between them couldn't be called a contest anymore, just outright bullying.
"You're strong, somewhat I guess."
Arthur murmured.
"Did you say something?"
Rex asked.
"Yes, I said it was nice speaking to you."
Arthur said.
They had finally arrived at the place.
He opened the door of the room.