Central Academy was more grand than he had ever imagined. The way Frostbound was... Crude to say the least.
In front of him was something he couldn't explain properly. It was like a castle that had no end. Made up of white marble which only glowed brighter from the sunlight striking it.
It was acres and acres long. There were numerous fields to cater to the diverse needs of the students.
Regulus stopped himself before he fanboyed over the building any longer.
A small cough escaped his throat as he turned towards Carlos. "Make sure to change the lock into one that actually works, and I'll be the only one with the keys." He said the last part with a slight click of his tongue.
"Master Regulus I know it was quite traumatic but I only walked in on you once. Besides you were a child seeing your naked body didn't have mu-" Carlos sidestepped, dodging the rock that had been hurled at him, and his face grew amused.
"We. Don't. Talk. About. That." Regulus spoke every word out with venom in his voice.
"Right, apologies, Master Regulus, although I will say this again, youn-" Carlos quickly turned back with a chuckle.
Another rock flew past him and almost hit another student walking behind him.
"I will be heading to drop off your luggage at the dorm now." Carlos said with another giggle that sounded freakishly weird coming out of his mouth.
Regulus turned around, taking in the beauty of the campus in front of him.
If it weren't for the knowledge that he would die in about one year, he would probably be jumping ecstatic, thinking everything was sunshine and rainbows.
Alas, He didn't have the time to behave like every other student around him. Hence, he decided to be punctual for once in his life and make it to orientation on time.
The hall had enough space to fit in ten times more the current amount of first years than were currently in it.
Regulus made his way near the front of the hall, his eyes scanned until he found himself a seat with a sign of the number thirty-eight placed on it.
He made his way to the said seat and took a soft, graceful fall on it. His backside was aching from the hours of sitting on the wooden slabs falsely claiming to be chairs inside the carriage.
In contrast to those disgusting excuses of chairs, the seat below him was a soft cushion that caressed his skin, providing them a soft layer of cushion.
And just as his body was about to succumb to pleasure, and his lips opened to let out a moan of satisfaction, his personal moment was ruined.
"Nice to meet you. I don't remember seeing you in the Physical Test, are you from recommendations?" Came the plethora of questions.
Unfortunately, he had a certain image to keep, "Good to meet you too, and yes, I did join via recommendation."
He turned to look at the ire of the moment. A boy roughly the same build as him, with darker skin and almost white pupils extended his hands towards him.
"Adam Alzahir." Regulus immediately recognised the boy as someone from the east.
"Regulus. Regulus Astra." He introduced himself.
"Nice to meet Mr Astra, I hope we get along."
"Call me Regulus, Mr Astra is what people call my Father." Regulus shook his hand.
"Well, then you must call me Adam."
"Right, Adam, how did someone from the East End up in the Central Academy?" Regulus asked.
"My father doesn't like the institutions in the East, calls them barbaric, hence, he sent me here. What about you, where do you come from?" He asked with a small undescribable smile on his lips.
"I'm from Astra County, the closest county to here."
By here Regulus was referring to the capital of the Central Empire, a city by the name of Westbridge.
"I see, not far from home, unlike me." The two suddenly stopped as their eyes diverted to the centre of the stage.
An elderly man, whose age was probably unknown, stood at the centre of the stage, tapping into a mic and causing echoes to move through the entire hall.
"It seems you can hear me." The man's voice carried an edge to it that was indescribable to most.
The man himself wasn't known by many people in the nook-filled halls.
However, Regulus knew exactly who he was, how could he not?
The man in front of them was the Head Master of Central Academy. The Flame Emperor Morteas Reynold.
The man who had reached the peak of human strength, or so the memory of the novel had told him.
Despite that, his strength wasn't his defining feature, from it. The main and most important thing about The Flame Emperor was simple.
"He's a fucking lunatic." Some eyes turned towards Regulus, although they quickly turned back, thinking they were mishearing things.
"Alright, is it time to get started?" The coarse voice asked no one in particular.
"Alright, let's do this." The man almost yelled in excitement.
And that was Regulus's cue to squeeze the chair around him and brace for impact.
Boom!
No it was not an exaggeration. The room was very literally consumed by a large boom and everyone in the room collectively fell onto the ground, unconscious.
Regulus despite his foreknowledge had somewhat forgotten about it until he was already in the chair, could only brace for impact.
Yet he too fell into the realm of unconsciousness.
***
"Was that necessary?" A young girl, somewhere in her early twenties, with silver coloured hair and matching eyes asked. Her face was full of frustration and annoyance.
"Come on, Lisa dear, you know that's how I roll!" Morteas exclaimed in pure delight.
"Do you HAVE to do that every year?" She asked again.
"It's a tradition, I've done that for almost a millennium, now imagine how weird it would be if I didn't do it." Lisa didn't doubt her headmaster was lying about the time.
"And even after all that time you still act like a child." She berated.
"Oh come on Lisa, you act like you're my mom, in fact, you act worse." That was the tipping point for the girl.
Fire materialised from beside her and launched it at the man, who easily swatted it away.
"I'm your great-granddaughter and still act older than you, when will you stop acting like this!" She almost yelled out in frustration.
"Come on girl, cut me some slack, I've got nothing more left in my old bones so let me enjoy my little time left." The girl stopped in her tracks.
"Yo- YOU'RE GUILT TRIPPING ME!"
The old man burst out laughing as he avoided the barrage of fireballs that were shot at him.