Chapter 4: First Day at the Academy?
After leaving his residence hand in hand with his mother, Vicente walked through some dirt roads until he reached the main street of Martell Village, the only one covered with cobblestones.
But his house was not far from the center of the village, so he and his mother did not have to worry about the surrounding dust until they reached this area, which was the most beautiful in the whole village.
There Vicente saw his favorite spot in this place, the central square where the statue of the founder Martell stood, where there was space for children to play and for adults to chat around a beautiful garden.
In the stone-covered surroundings, where there was no mud on rainy days, and on this sunny day, people were walking past among carriages.
Some animals whit humans occasionally passed by while Vicente watched this place with interest, noticing a little more movement than usual.
But naturally, the movement there was greater than usual since today was the beginning of another period at the Academy of Stars, where more than a dozen new children would begin their activities.
Therefore, several fathers and mothers were bringing their little ones to this place for their first day, while some older students went alone to that building at one end of the triangle-shaped square.
The Academy of Stars welcomed children up to the age of 10, after which, if any family wished their children to study further, they would have two options.
One would be to get a master for their child, from whom they could learn a trade.
Usually, the children's parents did such a thing on their own, but on rare occasions, great professionals, and magicians, would take disciples, and a few would be lucky enough not to have to do the same as their parents.
The second alternative was to send their children between 10 and 13 to one of the royal academies, where they could learn whatever they chose.
However, it was not cheap to get into one of the royal academies and even wealthy people were not guaranteed to be able to get one of their children there. There were fewer vacancies for new students than people willing to pay for their children's education there!
But studying at one of these academies would not give much professional advantage to young people like Vice, who could learn from their parents. The main difference between these places and others was that if these young students at the real academies had good magical talents, they would receive opportunities to join the Seidel Magic College once they passed the awakening.
The Seidel Magic College was the primary way for young magicians to learn and master their own skills and have chances to rise economically and socially.
Through it, one could acquire the title of nobility if one was talented and graduated with merit. But even if they were not the best of students, the very fact of graduating from this institution would be enough to guarantee a life far above the ordinary.
Vice already had an idea of what the Seidel Magic College was like from one of the books he had read, but he had no thoughts of ever going there.
His father would hardly put him in one of the royal academies, so getting a place in the acclaimed Seidel Magic College would be impossible.
But he didn't care. He had no great expectations for his mana and the Magic Gem he would earn one day, so he was fully content to study at the Academy of Stars and learn from his father.
As he watched the other children leave their mothers or fathers to pass through the main gate of the academy, he felt anxious and pulled his mother tighter.
"Let's go, or I'll be late!" He commented to her.
She smiled and approached the railing surrounding that three-story building, which had a design that reminded Vice of gothic buildings on Earth.
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