I've Got A Mana Processor In A Magic World-Chapter 66: Vanguard Arcana

"Hey! I know you can hear me!" A deep baritone voice sounded behind them from a few floors above when they continued walking without responding to the call. Zephyr and Rita had tacitly decided to ignore it.

As they walked further away, Rita chuckled, "I thought you were gonna stop."

"What? I was waiting for you to stop too," Zephyr said with a laugh.

"Guess we’re alike in some ways." Rita laughed. "What do you think he wanted?"

"Don’t know." Zephyr shrugged. "And I don’t really care either way. Seemed like something that was going to be troublesome."

They left the vicinity of their complex and walked further down the platform, passing by rows of other apartment buildings to the food stalls they had seen earlier with Guide Rita. They ordered some local delicacies, and to their relief, even though the currency here was different, the stall accepted the generally used coins.

After eating to their fill, they retired to their apartments for the night. They had a busy day ahead of them.

.

.

Zephyr woke up very early the next morning, much to his surprise. He’d thought he would spend more time sleeping because he was finally able to sleep comfortably on a real, soft bed without being overly vigilant like when he was with Smiling Devil, but it seemed his body was still used to waking up early.

He got prepared for the day and settled in the living room, waiting for the sun to peek over the horizon before he would knock on Rita’s door, just in case she was still asleep. But just as he sat, he picked up on light footsteps approaching his door.

"The guide..." Zephyr whispered, quickly linking the footsteps to their guide—Rita—who had shown them around the previous day.

Zephyr opened the door abruptly, startling her just as she was about to knock. "Oh! You scared me." She held a hand to her chest. "You’re up... and fully prepared already?"

"Yeah. Early riser." Zephyr replied as she went to knock on Rita’s door instead.

Rita yelled a quick response that she was almost done, so both Zephyr and the guide waited, with Zephyr asking questions about little things here and there to make small conversation.

"So when can I meet Petyr next? He said we had some things to discuss." Zephyr asked.

"Um, the Overseer is particularly busy for the next few days, but he did tell me to inform you that you’ll both have time to discuss by the week’s end," she said. "For now, you should just try to get acclimated to the environment and people around here..."

"Hmm," Zephyr nodded. "But I’m meeting the teachers I’ll choose from today, right?" He asked.

"Yes. That’s your schedule for the day." She looked at Zephyr with curiosity. The way the Overseer treated him was different from anyone else. He was being handled like a very special guest rather than a student like she was made to believe. Nothing looked particularly different about him. He had a regular build, not too lean and not too big, black hair with black eyes, skin-colored scales that covered his arms. While she would agree that he was good-looking, there was no refined or regal air about him that would suggest being of high-birth, rather he was very down to earth and talked casually with everyone.

"—Miss Rita?" Zephyr waved a hand in front of her face.

"Huh? Sorry." She quickly snapped back to attention. "You were saying?"

Zephyr looked at her and repeated what he’d just said. "I asked whether you had any tips for who I should pick as a teacher."

"Oh... I’m sorry, I can’t offer any recommendations." She apologized, "I was simply ordered to direct you to where you’ll meet with the teachers. Who they might be remains a mystery, so I can’t offer any input," she said.

’Huh,’ Zephyr tilted a brow, ’Seems like she was also not briefed about my identity. Petyr is being very cautious...’

"But generally, even without knowing who the teachers might be, who are the best teachers in Freehold... just in case any of them show up there." Zephyr asked.

"Sage Maximus comes above everyone," The guide replied. "He’s the oldest and most knowledgeable person in the whole Freehold Sanctuary... but there’s no way he is part of the teachers you can choose from," she chuckled. "Even the Overseer has to schedule a meeting beforehand to see him."

"Hey, sorry for the wait." Rita cut in as she stepped out of her apartment, locking it behind her.

"Don’t worry, we didn’t wait long, and it’s still early anyway." The guide waved a hand. "What do you guys say we have a quick breakfast?"

"Sure." Both Zephyr and Rita replied.

They walked down to the stalls and had their breakfast as the guide briefed Rita about a few things.

Apparently Rita was to select a school to be a part of for regular classes even with her identity as Madam Veronica’s disciple.

Her master was a busy person and would not have the time to put her through the basics, so she had to go to a school for that, though she had the chance to meet with Madam Veronica every day for a short time to ask for further guidance.

"For you, I’d say it’s a no-brainer. The school you have to join is Vanguard Arcana," she said to Rita. "That was your master’s school while she was here, so things would be a lot easier for you."

"Are the schools here so different from each other?" Zephyr asked, confused. "I thought they were more like branches of one big school rather than fully separate schools."

"Your conjecture is actually right." The guide replied. "But while they were all originally branches of one school, over the years, due to competition for allocation of resources and priority rights to various benefits, they slowly separated into different schools, solidifying their identity with what they specialize in," she explained.

"There are eight schools in Freehold presently. The First Hall, The Valiant College, The Watchers, Crestwood Institute—which is the newest—The Central Tower, High Ascent, Vanguard Arcana, and The Artificers," she listed off her fingers. "Some of them specialize in singular aspects of magic, some in technical skills, while others are more well rounded."

"Which school is the best?" Rita asked, intrigued.

Cough— The guide cleared her throat, standing up as they all finished eating, "I am meant to be unbiased as a guide. I can only tell you the strengths and weaknesses of each school, but I’m not going to color your opinion," she shook her head.

"Yeah... but if it were you, with your knowledge, which school would you pick to learn?" Zephyr pressed.

"Yes. Tell us..." Rita chipped in eagerly, causing their guide to laugh.

"All these do not matter to either of you anyway. Rita, your school has been decided already," she pointed, "and Zephyr... well, I don’t even know if you’ll join a school at all."

Rita wanted to say something else but the guide cut her off with an exasperated sigh, "You’re going to find out soon enough either way, so wait till then."

That seemed to pacify their curiosity as they kept silent, watching the school buildings a few levels below as they drew closer to their platforms.

"Vanguard Arcana..." Rita whispered, reading the name off the giant sign that stood outside the grand school building. The school wasn’t extremely large per se, the building itself was only three stories high and about eighty thousand square feet split across the three levels. Instead, it was the surrounding five acres of meticulously trimmed land that gave it a sense of immense scale. Right next to it, just outside the metal fence that demarcated Vanguard Arcana’s grounds, another school stood even taller—High Ascent. It looked more recently renovated and had more land surrounding it.

They were the only two schools that occupied the platform Zephyr and the two ladies presently were. Outside both schools, there were stalls, shops and restaurants that catered directly to the needs of the students. Beyond that was the bridge that connected to the next platform where three other schools occupied— The Watchers, Crestwood Institute, and The Central Tower. Of the three, the Central tower was the smallest by far, with a building that favored vertical height over ground area. It stood out with its spiraling fifteen floors that nearly touched the base of the floating platform above it.

The next platform to that was occupied by The Artificers and The Valiant College, with The Valiant College taking up a disproportionately large amount of space compared to The Artificers, most likely due to the specialized nature of The Artificers school and their low requirements for ground space. After that was the last platform, which was solely occupied by The First Hall, being the oldest and original school of the bunch.

’This place has a whole lot of history’ Zephyr thought, ’Makes me wonder how they’ve not been found yet.’

"You both would have to split soon,"Guide Rita said just as they were let through the gates of the school. "Zephyr, there’ll be someone at the door to get you, while I’ll go along with Rita to show her to her new class," she said.

"Yeah, I think I can see the person already." Zephyr nodded towards the doors of the school building some distance away, spotting a well-refined gentleman donned in an immaculately pressed suit. He stood right by the pillars near the door as students trickled by him into the school from various interlocked pathways.

"Good morning Miss Rita," he greeted as they climbed up the stairs. Guide Rita returned the greeting formally, gesturing towards Zephyr, "This is the boy I was asked to leave in your care."

Zephyr gave a short nod in greeting as the man also acknowledged him—though simply as a formality, he had spotted Zephyr immediately he entered the gates and knew he was the ward assigned to him.

As they entered the school’s lobby and walked towards the wide stairs that led to the second floor, Zephyr couldn’t help but cast a furtive glance at the man. His reptilian features were especially prominent, making Zephyr who had just gotten used to the irregularity, aware of it again. The man was fully bald, with skin-colored scales in place of where his hair should have been. The scales covered his neck and probably extended across his back and chest, but Zephyr couldn’t tell since he was dressed in formal attire.

"This is where we part ways for now." Guide Rita said to Zephyr with a smile when they reached a split section of the stairway.

"See you later then Zephyr," Rita gave a light wave, following their guide up the right stairway while the man led Zephyr up the left.

"Sure, till later," Zephyr waved back then sped up to meet the man who didn’t wait.

They both walked in silence up to the second floor where students in the Vanguard Arcana’s signature grey uniform moved about, and without stopping they went straight up to the third floor, walking down the long, less-filled corridor to a large door at the end of one corner of the floor. With a light knock on the door to make the occupants of the room aware of their presence, the man opened the door, stepping in with Zephyr right behind.

"You are Zephyr?" Someone immediately spoke as Zephyr surveyed the room with a tilt of surprise to his brow.