This was one of the few schools which had elements from all of the basics, including fire. Of course, there were schools based on dark, light/bright and others, but Aric didn’t bother to go, as his talent didn’t show any signs of those elements.
Aric followed him through the throng of people after checking around more schools. Most of them Aric found to be ordinary, and those extraordinary ones, like the school specializing in lightning, wouldn’t accept him anyway. But on Gopher’s urging, he had visited them, and, as usual, he was only proven to have high wind-level talent.
The lightning-based school was very remorseful for not being able to accept him, but they did send their well-wishes to Aric. The school had found two talents in lightning magic: one medium and one low, and they were quite happy with that.
While looking at the tents and ’window-shopping,’ Aric and Gopher came across a tent that was quite different from the others. The symbol on the flag was unfamiliar—a crude emblem of a beast with horns curling around a crescent moon. This was the Ravenguard School.
Inside the tent, it was dark, and the scent of earth and sweat filled the air. Rough-hewn weapons and animal hides hung on the walls. A tall figure emerged from the shadows—a woman with fierce, predatory eyes and a wolf pelt draped over her shoulders.
"Welcome to Ravenguard," she said, her voice low and guttural. "I’m Sylva, the beast master here. I have heard rumors of someone with a high level of wind element. I will tell you this right now: your level of talent means shit to us. It might help you in other schools, but not here."
"Sylva... You’re the same crude woman I knew from long ago, I see."
"Why? You thought I’d change over the years to fit your personality?" Sylva didn’t beat around the bush and asked directly.
"No... It’s just, it’s been so many years, and I thought maybe you’d calm down a bit." Gopher seemed embarrassed as he said that. Aric could easily sense that Gopher had a soft spot for this woman in his heart, which was kind of new. Aric had always thought that Gopher would like some feminine woman, but from the looks of it, he’d done a 180.
He could tell there was some history between them but wasn’t sure what. No wonder he had given him a special lecture on the beast school. Ravenguard was the only beast school in all three empires. It was a special school because, unlike other schools that relied on elements, the beast schools relied on their beasts for combat or other work of a mage.
Conventionally, they weren’t very good with magic through their bodies alone, but with the help of beasts, they could have the same impact as that of a mage. Their way of testing a student was also different, as their crystal ball didn’t examine the element but rather the consciousness.
Nobody could tell what was the actual difference between the consciousness of a beast master and that of a regular mage, or at least it was not known to regular people like them. Their special crystal ball would test the compatibility to see if someone could be a beast master or not. And from the looks of it, this woman named Sylva didn’t have high hopes for Aric or anyone, for that matter.
It was also one of the reasons why there were very few beast masters around.
"Touch the ball," Sylva demanded as she motioned toward Aric. Aric gulped as he felt intimidated by her, but nonetheless, went forward and touched the crystal ball. In the first second, there was no reaction, which disappointed everyone present, but then, suddenly out of nowhere, it started to shine brightly. The color was a normal white, as these crystal balls don’t examine elements, but the white color was bright enough to illuminate the whole tent.
This made Sylva, who wasn’t expectant at all, almost jump in joy. Aric could hear her whisper under her breath.
"The brighter the light, the stronger the consciousness."
"The brighter the light, the stronger the consciousness."
Gopher hadn’t expected that Aric would have a strong talent for being a beast master, and on top of that, he had high talent for wind. This was more than enough to show that Aric was one of the luckiest stars to be born in this world. Gopher was now more curious about his origin. Though he had never asked, he had secretly tried to find Aric’s origin, even asked his adoptive brother and sister for a clue, but nothing was known.
His circumstances, too, seemed bizarre. There was a shroud of mystery around Aric that Gopher wasn’t able to unravel, and now with these two out-of-this-world talents emerging, it made it certain that Aric was definitely some kind of mage royalty. Even those secluded clans up in the North didn’t have the resources to produce one child as talented as Aric.
Now he was more determined to hold on to Aric’s thigh.
"You... You have a strong consciousness, which will allow you to be a beast master easily. I know that many schools are vying for you since your talent in wind is high, but our school will—"
"I will join your school," Aric replied.
"What?"
"Yes, I will join your school," Aric reiterated.
"But you’ve not even heard what I have to offer," Sylva said.
"It’s fine. I’m not short of money, and even if you don’t provide scholarships, I will pay in full. If you don’t believe me, you can ask Gopher here," Aric said. This made Gopher smirk a bit, and he added, "He’s one of the richest in the city, and if you don’t believe me, you can ask around. I’m sure you’ll do your background check before you admit him. As a Guardian, you can write my name."
This made Sylva double-take on her words.
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