Nate anderson
"Did you just say floating islands"
Headmaster William held back a grin as he walked over to me.
"I did indeed Young Nathaniel you see to keep our young energists safe. Some ancient energist lifted chunks of the earth high into the sky above the clouds and another shielded the island in a veil of invisibility".
"I… what… how?"
Headmaster William looked around at the lot of us, his eyes Lingering on Emma for a moment before moving on.
"how about I show you".
And with that Headmaster William told us to follow him and within the hour we had arrived and.
"oh COME ON not this stupid mountain again"
Headmaster William looked at me with slight surprise.
"You've been Here before"
I turned to look at him.
"Yeah like 2 hours ago we almost died here I did technically die here"
James whipped his head towards me.
"What!"
"Don't mind it's a long story"
Headmaster William walked in front of us and pointed upwards.
"We must climb to the peak of the mountain and launch a series of energy blasts to summon the Flying Lizards".
"the flying what?"
"The flying lizards of course come come it's easier to show you"
No matter how much I tried to understand the world of energists I felt like it just got more and more confusing every question that I found the answer to led me to 10 more questions not to mention the other world I briefly was reincarnated to which was a whole other set of problems I was not ready to deal with. I was going to have to take this one step at a time but that was beginning to get difficult. We climbed the mountain with surprising ease because apparently an avalanche that happened earlier made a path upwards which made it so we didn't have to loop around the mountain. I noticed we had taken a detour around the edge which added on at least another hour or 2 and I only realised that the path William led us on was far from Eleanor's cabin even though it would have been faster to go in that direction. That thought quickly left my mind as we made it to the peak. William stood up, lifted his arms and shot out a series of energy bursts which almost sounded like music then we waited and waited until we heard a thunderous roar which shook the ground underneath us then what looked like a dragon flew towards us. I instinctively charged energy into my fists but William put his hand on my shoulder.
"not to worry Nathen he won't bite"
"won't bite! It's a giant dragon"
"It's not a dragon but a giant lizard specially bred on the sky islands to transport citizens from the surface to the island"
William jumped up on the top of the lizard and grabbed ahold of the strap around his neck and shouted for us to hop on which we did then Willain shoot the rope and the Lizard shot of into the sky with a surprising grace we were moving at high speeds but I felt almost no air rushing past me. We were only in the air for about 10 minutes when I felt a huge energy crash against my face forcing me to close my eyes. When I opened them again I was amazed by what I saw. The sky above me which was once filled with empty space now held a giant island but what amazed me the most was what looked to be a magnificent castle on the island with Stone walls and tall towers. We flew around the island until we were just above it and we flew to the front of the castle and we landed with a thud. William hopped of the lizard and told us to follow which we did we hopped of one by one but James foot got caught on his strap and he fell flat on his face we followed William into the castle until we reached what looked to be a lobby at the top of the room was a wooden desk it's round shape covered with a marble top then a older lady walked out from behind a door which stood behind the desk she looked at us then to William and her eyes widened.
"H-headmaster W-w-william it's been so long what brings you back to the academy"
William stepped forward and put his hand on mine and James' shoulder.
"I've got a few talented individuals who I know will excel here at the academy"
"That's great headmaster I'll contact Headmaster Sylvia would you also like for me to call someone to give tours to your students"
"please William is fine im no longer headmaster here and yes that would be of great services"
The receptionist grabbed the phone and made a call. We were only waiting in the lobby for a few moments when a group of students around our age and an older woman with gun metal gray hair and fair skin who walked with an air of authority appeared from a corridor to our right. The older woman headmaster Sylvia I presumed walked straight up to Willian and said something to him which I couldn't hear for some reason even though I was only a few feet away from them. Sylvia raised an eyebrow at something William said and turned to look at us then after a moment her expression softened and she walked over to us. Sylvia looked at me for a long moment then she looked down towards my chest where my energy pool was and her expression changed for a single moment then it softened and she looked at the rest of us.
"So William tells me the lot of you show a lot of potential, well I'll be the judge of that but in due time first you must be adjusted to your new environment so I've called a few of my students to personally escort each of you on your own personal tour of the academy"
I watched as the students one by one introduced themselves to each of us then they left and I realised I was the only one without a guide. That was until I saw a small timid girl around my age walk up to me. She walked up to me but wouldn't meet my eyes, her deep purple hair covering her face.
"I-im su-suki"
I Raised an eyebrow at her.
"I'm Nate anderson nice to meet you"
"P-please f-f-follow me".
And just like that the tour began. We walked through the stone Halls illuminated by touches which only added to the castle's mediaeval vibe. After walking for a Few minutes We entered a long hallway with wooden doors lining each side.
"T-this Is t-the combat hall"
As we walked Suki explained each of the classes I would be taking and I noticed she seemed to be less nervous when she was explaining.
"First you have your energy consumption Class taught by Liora Brightwell. She's very… Energetic to say the least. Then you Have energy usage that's taught by Mr. Grimsby. He's strict but effective in his teaching. Then moving onto the fighting classes you have battle tactics taught by general ironfist. And melee tactics taught by captain Steelheart she's one of the strongest teachers. Then you have spell casting."
"Wait spell casting?"
Suki looked at me with a strange look.
"It's nothing, please continue".
"okay… then to end the battle classes you've got combat training taught by Yuki Shadowblade she's an… interesting character to say the least. Then finally you have artificing by Mr Gearwright. Those will be your basic class at least for this year anyways".
This is a lot of information to take in but at least I should be able to gain enough knowledge and power to help Ethan and Liam. We continued down the hall in silence, the only sound being the occasional student who passed by. Then we reached the end of the hall and walked to the 2 giant wooden doors Suki passed them opened and the once silent hall was filled with chatter as we entered what I presumed to be the cafeteria.
"this is the cafeteria where you'll come to eat and talk, this is where most students go during lunch".
We walked along the edge of the cafeteria as I tried to listen to suki which was made hard over all the noise but I was just able to hear something behind me.
"Well well you must be a new student".
I turned my head and saw a tall blonde student with ice blue eyes walking towards me.
"and you are" I said, more annoyed than I wanted to sound. The student's nose wrinkled for a moment before his face went back to normal.
"Why I'm Louis Nightshade son and next air to the high Nobel house of the Nightshade family. I'm also the current leader of Shadow veil the top faction in this school"
Louis walked up closer till he was right next to me.
"I'll be the first to offer you a position in my faction which I'd advise you to join if you want to survive here"
"Look buddy I'm new here as you know and I'm not looking to join any crews or factions"
It felt like the entire cafeteria silenced after my response. It was like they Were afraid to make a single sound. The only thing I didn't know was why.
"Incase you forgot I'm Louis Nightshade a high noble you don't just refuse a request form a noble let alone a high one so I say once again-"
"Let me stop you right there. I don't care if your a noble or a high one whatever that even means but just because you were spoiled most of your life doesn't mean I have to do shit for you"
I could see veins bulging from Louise's face as his skin began to turn a shade of red. Louis grabbed me by the shirt.
"How dare you insult me you low life"
Louis threw his fist in my direction but I grabbed his fist and headbutted him. Louis stumbled back blood dripping from his nose. He wiped his blood stained nose with his hand then he clad himself in deep orange energy. Louis shot towards me faster than I could react but before his fist could make contact, someone, a tall muscular woman with long red hair, stepped In the way and deflected the attack, sending Louis crashing into one of the tables.
"That's enough out of the both of you there will be no fighting in the cafeteria save it for training"
The woman walked over and picked Louis up by his shirt then walked back over to me and grabbed me.
"if I see any of you two doing anything like this again there will be consequences"
The woman dropped me and Louis and walked away and that's where I saw the long 2 handed blade which was strapped to her back.
Suki walked over to me.
"A-are Y-y-you alright"
I stood up dusting myself off.
"yeah I'm fine who was that anyways"
"T-thats C-captain Steelheart".
I stood up straight and turned and saw Louis glaring at me but eventually he walked away but not before saying.
"watch your back newbie"
As much as I wanted to retort or say something witty I saw the difference in are power and knew it was probably best to avoid any conflict with him for the meantime until I grew stronger.
"well it seems your making some enemies already newbie"
I turned and saw a female student around my age with yellow eyes and orange hair walking over to me. She reached her hand out.
"Names Clara, Clara Sunfield."
I took her hand and shook it.
"Nate Anderson"
"nice to meet you Nate I'm here as leader of the Luminaries to formally invite to our faction"
I look at her, my eyebrows raised in surprise.
"You saw what just happened and you still want to invite me"
Clara laughed which actually seemed genuine.
"Louise does that with all the newbies it's why he has the biggest faction it's been a while since someone's gone against him like that and with an enemy like him you'll need to join a faction"
"Look Clara i'm not interested in joining any factions at the moment and I'll deal with Louis should he pose a problem"
Clara stared into my eyes like she was trying to read my thoughts then she turned.
"Well I'm not surprised you denied but had to give it a shot but hey if you change your mind or just need a helping hand you can come to me personally".
Clara walked away before I could respond.
I watched as she walked away before I felt someone tugging at my shirt. Turing I saw Suki who was trying to look anywhere but my eyes.
"I-I t-think we should find some s-seat"
. In about 5 minutes we had gotten some food which was surprisingly good at least compared to what Duvlin served and we had found some seats away from the crowd so we sat down. And I asked the question which I had in my mind since Louis came and "talked" to me about his faction.
"how many factions are in this place Suki"
"You might think that since we house a few hundred students we would have many factions but we only have 4 factions. Obviously you've met Louis leader if Shadow veil the biggest faction in the Academy then you've also met Clara leader of the Luminaries she's actually the smallest faction but they have some of the strongest members to make up for it then you have The Equinox led by Jaxon grey"
Suki lifted her head and looked around.
"Whos not here there's nothing special really about that faction but Jaxon a decent guy which is something I guess then finally we have Vortex there well something there leaders Malachi and he's… off"
Suki pointed to a table across the way and I turned my head and already felt my pulse go faster. Sitting at the table across the way was a student no older than 16 but his presence was heavy; it was like the colour around him darkened in his presence. Suddenly he turned his head towards me and looked me dead in the eyes. I quickly turned my head back towards suki.
I cleaned my throat.
"so what faction are you in"
Suki looked down and stayed silent for a long moment.
"I-im n-not in any f-factions"
"Really i thought everyone here was in one"
"I-I h-ha-have a tainted lineage… T-the academy o-outcasted me if it wasn't for H-headmaster Sylvia I would of left a w-while ago"
what could she mean by tainted lineage just who is this girl. We sat in silence as we ate are food but as I ate an idea came to mind, I had already been approached by two faction leaders and I didn't want to Join either and other then Jaxon grey who I hadn't met yet It was safe to say I wouldn't join any of the factions but as Clara said to survive here I would have to join a faction but what if instead of joining one I.
"Hey Suki, how about you join my faction".