29 School Life
Ronan’s first day at school was unexpectedly good as he found the lectures taken by the various faculties to be surprisingly fun. Even if he had his own comprehension of the theories being discussed, the fresh point of view presented by the teacher was an eye opener for Ronan.
Alexander had naturally given Ronan a lot of the necessary education. Back at the palace, he was taught in detail about the geography and history of Avalon, as well as being trained in combat.
However, the subject that fascinated Ronan the most was basics of elemental studies, as the insights shared by the teacher were in conflict with Ronan’s existing knowledge pool.
While the academy provided an interesting and in-depth breakdown of the four basic and inferior elements, it did not do the same for superior elements and variants.
Ronan found this to be odd, as the superior element users were actually the most sought-after students during the house recruitment ceremony.
Naturally, there was no mention of the forbidden elements at all, as it was a secret that only a select few knew about in the world. The common masses had long forgotten about those sealed powers.
The most interesting part of the lesson was when the teacher started dictating a story of the evolution of elemental users in this world. He discussed a radical modern theory that was gaining momentum in recent days, which explained the origins of elemental users.
The theory was called the ‘Big Boom Theory’, as it said that the humans of Everlon were once incapable of wielding elements. According to it, they were a primitive race that only relied on physical strength and wits to hunt food..
This was a tale of an era that had long passed by, an era where the gods roamed the world freely, as they were yet grasping the meaning behind the laws of the universe.
During these times, the ancient race of Dinasaurs reigned supreme over the continent, as they were a race blessed enough to be born with the ability to wield the elements.
However, these Dinasaurs made a huge mistake as they made an enemy of Lord Shiva himself, angering the god of destruction to annihilate the entire race by dropping a giant meteorite.
But, the result of Shiva dropping the meteorite was that alongside the arrogant Dinasaurs, a lot of innocent creatures died too, amongst whom were the humans.
When Shiva realized his mistake, he felt apologetic towards the species that had suffered unjustly from his anger. He blessed all those races that had died under the meteorite with the power to wield mana.
This was said to be the changing point of the history of man, as amongst every race that was blessed with the ability to wield mana, the most intelligent ones were humans, who could not only inherently wield the elements but also make use of spells!
When humans learnt how to use spells, it was a game-changer. They went from being prey to becoming the predators. Humans rose to the top of the food-chain with these spells, becoming the most dominant race in the Everlon continent.
Naturally, there were also the dragons and the nine-tailed foxes that remained at the top of the food-chain alongside humans. There was a bloody conflict for supremacy throughout the history of the Everlon continent between the three races.
While the dragons and nine-tailed beasts were inherently stronger and lived a far longer life, humans bred like ants and boasted enormous numbers to counter these big beasts, winning the eventual war with sheer numbers alone.
Ronan listened to the entire tale with fascination. However, there was only one part of the tale that his mind was fixated on.
The teacher had said that the word ‘mana’ meant the power of the elemental forces of nature.
The mana around everyone was a blend of every single elemental energy out there. It was only because humans could only attune to certain energies of that mana that they were elemental users and not mana wielders (Mages).
When Ronan contemplated about the meaning of mana alongside how the power rankings of elemental users were placed, a lot of previously unexplained things started to make sense to him.
Ronan finally realized why inferior element attacks were weaker than basic element attacks of the same rank , which was because Inferior elements were actually further away from the true nature of mana, while the basic elements were more in tune with the mana of the world.
Ice was only a variant of water, while water was the building block.
Water was only one small of the part of the worldly mana while thunder was a larger one.
It was because of this phenomenon that the superior elements had higher damage and greater explosive power.
Ronan had made his own conjecture given by an unrelated piece of information by the teacher, which displayed his monstrous comprehension abilities and the ability to intake knowledge like a sponge.
Although a thorough backbencher who would say nothing during the classes but only sit, listen, and ponder, Ronan finally realized why Percy told him to give it a fair chance!
He learnt something new everyday!
However, the fatty sitting beside him was a massive headache as he would wipe the seats with a white linen cloth before taking a seat, and then toss it aside as if expecting a servant to surely come and pick it up later. Showing just how pampered and delusional the fatty really was.
The fatty stuck to Ronan like gum after the first night, as he would sit beside him in all classes and hide behind him in all social interactions while also stealing his food in the canteen.
The food service inside the academy was an unlimited buffet. The fatty could very easily go and take a second helping, yet he would choose to take food from Ronan’s plate, as he was too embarrassed to go and ask for a second helping.
However, throughout his extremely annoying actions, Ronan chose to remain silent and let him do as he pleased, as, seeing the fatty, Ronan was finally able to solve a knot in his heart.
Ronan realized that the fatty was exactly what he would be like had Alexander not been rough on him.
Had Ronan not lived on the streets, he would have forever been in the false honor of being a prince and acted in a princely manner where he would have chosen to go to bed hungry than ask for a second helping.
Every time he saw the pitiful fatty, Ronan realized how right Alexander was in his training. Thus, Ronan was finally able to let go of his ego clashes with his father whom he missed a lot.
Although a prodigy and battle-hardened warrior, Ronan, at the end of the day, was a 7 year old kid who had been away from his family for the first time in his life. Naturally, after a few days, he was going to miss them a lot. Only then did he truly realize how attached he was to his home.
Ronan had no idea that back at the palace, grandfather Augustus, grandmother Luna, and father Alexander were having an equally hard time. Life for them was hard when Percy had left, but with the little devil also out of the palace walls, the place seemed desolate.
However, mother Sierra had the hardest time of them all. She would weep in silence for hours, missing her two kids. For her, the separation was unbearable. But, she knew in her heart that it was for the good of her children. Hence, she was toughing it out with the grace of a queen.
However, the sad atmosphere dispersed quickly as the end of the week approached, as it was soon to be the time for the first inter-house event; the Pressure Ascension! And, it was the first-year students’ time to shine.
The first house event was always the focus of the entire school , as not only it set the tone for the coming year’s activities , but was also the debut of the freshmen .
A good performance in the first event meant an early recognition for the individual in their house and a early chance to climb the popularity ladder.
Naturally, all eyes were on the shining star of the Bhakti House, wearing his red robes proud, the second prince of Avalon… Ronan Draco!
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