Extra Of The Magus Academy

"Pardon me, but I have to take my leave now."

Raven Nightshade's deep voice echoed deeply among the three who walked together. They were surrounded by even more guards, but Beatrice, Charles, and Raven walked very closely together per their earlier arrangement.

"Standing in for the regular Head of Security has eaten into my schedule." Raven added. "I have a lot of work piled up for me to handle."

Charles Zellium nodded in understanding the instance he heard this.

"I get it. Apologies for taking your time, but as you know… it couldn't be helped." He added, a small smile forced on his youthful face.

"Yes, of course." Raven nodded.

It wasn't just the Head of Academy that was assigned to the Northern Border. A lot of important staff and powerful Instructors were dispatched as well. The Head of Security was one of those people, and with him being absent, Raven Nightshade had to take on his ceremonial duties.

"You may leave."

"Thank you, sir." With a small nod, dark shadows covered his entire body.

And with a small hiss… he vanished

There was silence after Raven Nightshade vanished, however it was soon broken by the Vice Head.

"I have to ask you something, Beatrice." He turned to the Head of Student Affairs, revealing a grim expression on his face.

"What is it, Vice Head?" She asked with raised brow.

"Pfft! Just call me Charles, as you normally would."

"But, we're in a public—"

"I don't mind." Charles dismissed. "It's just guards here, and they've been ordered to turn off their auditory functions so they can't listen to our conversation."

"Hmmm, alright Charles." Beatrice gave in, smiling. "What's bothering you?"

As alumni of the Akashic Magus Academy, as well as former classmates, these two had a special bond that very few individuals possessed among staff in the Academy.

They were friends.

"What do you think about this Exchange?"

The question from Charles was simple, but Beatrice scrunched her brows and frowned upon hearing it. His troubled face resonated well with hers.

"This one will be different from all the other years, that I am sure of." She said. "We could even lose our Number 1 Position this time."

It wasn't a possibility she desired, but that was simply how she felt about it.

"It seems your thoughts run parallel to mine…" Charles smiled sadly.

"Really?"

"Did you see their eyes? They were like vultures out there… so hungry to get what's ours."

"Pfft! Well, you're not wrong."

The two laughed together for quite a while before Charles placed a hand on Beatrice's shoulder.

"You have to make sure that doesn't happen." His voice trembled. "They can't be allowed to beat us."

She placed her hand on his and nodded gently.

"I'll do my best."

*******

"WHOAH!"

Ash watched as a few students let out surprised expressions as they took in the magnificence of the single massive building that stood before them.

Both students from the Apprentice and Intermediate Stages were presently in the Expert Wing—or, more specifically, the place dedicated for the Academy Exchange Participants that happened to be in the Expert Wing.

It was in the North of the Academy, just some blocks away from the main campus of the Expert Stage. On their way to this place, their transportation allowed them catch a glimpse of the Expert Stage campus grounds, and it was far more impressive than what existed in the Apprentice and Intermediate Wings.

For Ash, however, he wasn't particularly moved.

'Everything is just as described in the novel…' He shrugged slightly. 'This place is our provisional dorm, having three main floors that will occupy everyone from Apprentice to Expert.'

Currently, only Apprentice and Intermediate Students were around, but just as they were told upon arrival, the Expert Stage students would be joining them later.

Until then, they could simply make themselves comfortable.

'I wonder what the other students of the other Academies are doing…?' Ash cast his gaze to the side, catching a small glimpse of the other three buildings in a separate compound.

That was where their competitors were living.

'Oh well… no need to be impatient. I'll be able to see them eventually.'

The students were shown to their rooms by the appropriate staff, and as expected, Apprentice Students took the lower floors while the Intermediates would stay in the middle one. Once every student was shown their room, they were told to settle in, and the staff promptly left them to their devices.

'Well, it's time to—'

"Hey, brother… can we talk?" A sudden voice interrupted Ash from behind him right as he opened the door to his room.

He had feared this would happen, which was why he wanted to lodge in quickly.

However, it seemed he couldn't avoid his tenacious twin brother.

"Yes?" Ash didn't even turn back, instead stepping inside his dorm room. "What's there to talk about?"

"It's about you and your—"

"I'm too tired to talk right now. You heard the staff… we're supposed to settle in."

"But—"

"Goodbye, Seth." Ash coldly slammed the door in his brother's face and entered his clean and cozy accommodation.

It was a near perfect mimic of the Alpha Students' residence.

'Even though we'll only be spending a little over a week here, I guess they didn't want to make any student uncomfortable.'

Unfortunately for him, even though he was exposed to luxury once again, Ash wasn't comfortable. In fact, there were a lot of thoughts running through his mind that increasingly bothered him.

The most glaring issue was his current strength.

'Right now, I'm extremely weak…' He sighed. 'I'm sure that's what Seth wanted to point out to me as well… what a nice guy.'

He had to figure out his next course of action, but all of that started with a way to improve.

'My Familiar is a Lesser Grade Wind Spirit and I still haven't found a way to raise its Grade.'

He had managed to make it this far, even with such a very big handicap, using various methods like strategy and incredible skill, but that could only serve him for so long. Without real power, he wouldn't be able to stack up against truly formidable opponents.

In essence, he wouldn't be able to hold a candle to everyone else in the Exchange.

'I considered gathering the ingredients to improve it, but some of the materials are quite rare, and with the constant eyes of the Shadow Inquisitor on me, I couldn't act freely.' He sighed. 'It's too late to rely on that method now.'

What he needed at the current moment were Spirit Stones.

'I was going to make them using the ingredients I gathered, but it's such a complicated process that takes too much time… something I cannot afford now.'

As such, he needed the complete product.

'In a sense, this Exchange is an opportunity for me because it puts me in close proximity with a method to get the Stones… but the problem is how soon can I obtain them?'

Right as Ash was about to make another sigh, he felt a quake within his room and heard a crashing sound echo from outside it.

'That sound…' His eyes narrowed. 'Something, no… someone just crashed into the compound.'

Curiosity instantly took a hold of him as he rushed towards the window and slightly slid the blinds so he could see the source of the commotion.

That was when Ash saw him.

A rough-looking boy with long and shaggy red hair who was dressed like a barbarian.

'Kellion…?' His eyes widened as he instantly recognized the hot-blooded student from the Asura Spirit Academy.

Instantly, the grim expression on his face morphed into a wide grin.

'This is perfect!'