Aloysius exited his dorm and followed Tuomo. They went up to the second floor and opened the door to their right. In there were more doors but with different labels like, "Principal's Office", "Intensive Care", "Nurse's Office", etc. Tuomo stopped at the room that said, "Enrollment/Student ID Renewal/New".
"If you want to stay here, you got to get enrolled along with a student ID," Tuomo said as he opened the door.
"Hello, Rocco, what do you want?" the person in the desk asked.
"I want to request enrollment for Aloysius Nichols into Septem Academy please," Tuomo requested.
The person handed over a white paper form. The form had regular questions such as, "Address", "Full Name", etc.
"I expected it to be a little weirder. But instead, it's normal," Aloysius said.
"There is one part that isn't normal. I'll explain on the way back but for the question that says 'magic or combat? If magic, archive, or regular?", put a check on 'magic' and circle 'archive'. Then check on the 'yes' for 'Does the person have a linker?', then fill every other question as if it was normal, which it is." Tuomo ordered Aloysius.
"Okay, I am finished, here," Aloysius said as he handed over the form to Tuomo. He then gave it to the person on the desk.
"Okay, tomorrow, Aloysius Nichols's student ID will be ready. See you tomorrow," the person said as she was typing.
Tuomo and Aloysius walked out of the room and went down the stairway passing all the other rooms. They then came across a hoard of students who were all rushing in one direction. Each student went running with a piece of paper in their hand, whether it was homework or scrap paper, they kept running.
"Where are they going?" Aloysius asked as he hopped down to the floor.
"It's Mirai, I'll explain once we get to the lunch table. There's so much stuff you need to know." Tuomo said as he jogged towards the doors.
As Aloysius passed the doors, what was there was a large line of students. They were lining up at Mirai's table who kept signing their papers. Tuomo sighed as he walked to her table. Aloysius didn't know what was going on as he followed Tuomo to the table. He sat down next to Tuomo who threw a coin somewhere. When the clinking sound was heard, what seemed to be the academy's waiter, brought him a sandwich.
"Nothing's better than a good ol' fashioned ninja sandwich. It keeps me up to my prime." Tuomo said as he ate his sandwich.
"What about me? Where's my lunch?" Aloysius questioned.
Tuomo threw another coin and Aloysius was brought a bowl of spaghetti.
"Thanks for the food," Aloysius said as he grabbed the fork in the plate.
"So, can you please tell me what is going on?" Aloysius asked.
"Yeah, yeah, hold on," Tuomo said as he was munching on the bread.
Tuomo swallowed and then drank his cup of water.
"Okay, um, first, archive magic. I'm pretty sure you know the seven deadly sins. Now, there's this thing called a thema which is, most of the time, the thing farthest from you. More of this will be explained in your class, but now, let me tell you, you are a mage, a mage connector, who is connected to the sword magus Arata Kasuga."
Tuomo stopped to eat his sandwich.
"He, I can't tell you yet, but-" Tuomo was interrupted by Aloysius.
"But I'm being hunted by these people, who will take my life." As Aloysius finished, Tuomo squinted at him, he was suspecting Aloysius for something, but then he let it go.
"Yeah, a sword magus is a magus who can load spells into swords. That is what Arata Kasuga is." Tuomo said, but each time he talked about Arata, his hands twitched.
"The way to become a mage or magus is by selecting a theme or thema within the seven archives, Ira, Luxuria, Acedia, Superbia, Invidia, Avaritia, and Gula. Remember that your thema is the opposite of yourself. I think you know the answer to that." Tuomo finished.
"I don't know what you mean, but it isn't like it's going to help me one day." Aloysius chuckled.
Aloysius got up, but then Tuomo stood up and took out a kunai and held it against his throat.
"I could've killed you right now, but I didn't. You need a thema to survive these attacks. I might not even help you and just let you die, slowly." Tuomo said as he smirked.
"Fine, fine, oh yeah, Mirai, why is the line still here?" Aloysius reminded Tuomo.
"Sit down then," Tuomo offered.
Aloysius sat down for another long explanation.
"So Mirai, she's a magus as well or a mage. Her thema is popularis in the Avaritia archive." as Tuomo stopped Aloysius looked at Mirai who kept signing until his head started to hurt.
Aloysius's vision started to get blurrier, to the point where he couldn't see anything. He started seeing red stains on the floor which began to grow more and more. The entire lunch room became darker with the light slowly saturating. Aloysius's vision recovered but as soon as he looked around, all he could see was Mirai, but then it wasn't.
It was a young woman with shoulder-length silver hair, her hair on the back of her neck was tied into pigtails. She turned around and faced Aloysius, the young woman had three heart-shaped clips on her bangs. Her eyes had cross-shaped pupils with distinct yellow eyes. She was wearing a white, sleeveless, collared tail blouse with white laces on the bottom hems.
"Who are you?" Aloysius asked.
The young woman stood up and was wearing a red plaid mini-skirt along with brown penny loafers and black thigh-high socks. Her arms and hands were covered by opera gloves and white cuffs that were pink from arm to the wrist.
"I said, who are you?!" Aloysius said with a more serious tone. But the woman didn't respond.
"Ah, so you met her here. I didn't realize that." a deep distorted voice said.
Aloysius turned around and saw the hooded figure. Only his hoodie was visible as he spoke.
"And what do you want?" Aloysius asked him.
"Nothing really, but you better listen to what she has to say." the figure said as he pointed to the young woman. His hand was visible, but it was covered by a black combat glove.
Aloysius turned to the young woman who spoke.
"I don't want you here. Please stay away, I don't want to be hurt again." the woman pleaded.
"I don't understand, what pain?" Aloysius questioned.
"Time's up," the figure said he snapped his fingers. Everything promptly converted back to normal.
"Hey dude, wake up," a wandering student said to Aloysius.
Aloysius had his head on his table and looked around and saw that lunchtime had already finished. His eyes widen as he saw no sign of Mirai or Tuomo. He got up, ate his spaghetti, and ran to the hallway of classes. As he stopped in the middle of the hallway, Aloysius didn't know which class to go to. He started to become worried.
"Hey, up here," a voice said.
Aloysius looked up and on the ceiling was Tuomo in a hammock hooked to the ceiling.
"You fell asleep when I was talking to you and it was class time so, I left you there," Tuomo said as he kept accurately throwing kunai at the ceiling.
"Can you please just tell me which class I should go to?" Aloysius pleaded.
"Ms. Harper's class on your left," Tuomo said as he pointed to the classroom.
Aloysius walked and entered the classroom.
"Sorry, am I late Ms. Harper?' Aloysius asked.
"Yes, you are six minutes late so sit down next to him, that's your seat." Ms. Harper ordered Aloysius.
Aloysius went to the back row and sat down. Next to him was a student with fawn-colored skin and white headphones on his neck. His hair was dyed midnight blue with bangs. The student had a slender build, like Tuomo, although his muscles were a tad more apparent. He turned his head and faced Aloysius with his nomad eyes.
"Hi, I'm Darren, Darren James. Nice to meet you," he greeted Aloysius.
"I'm Aloysius Nichols, nice to meet you too," Aloysius replied.
Aloysius went back to focusing but couldn't keep his eyes from looking at Darren, who was wearing a violet shirt and blue jeans. Darren kept writing but Aloysius noticed what seemed like a black bulky, square watch on his left wrist. It also had buttons and a slot that could fit an SD card. He couldn't stop his eyes from being lured into the mysteriousness of his watch.
"Aloysius, sir, are you paying attention?" the teacher asked.
"Sorry, um," Aloysius stuttered.
"Then let's continue," Ms. Harper said as she continued teaching.
Aloysius looked at what she was teaching. It was just regular math that he could've learned in High School. Nothing out of the ordinary besides math. Aloysius was dumbfounded, thinking that he would have to learn things he didn't know existed. He then felt sort of disappointed that the academy was just like any regular school. He left the class with the same small amount of disappointment.
"Wait for your next class, it gets interesting," Tuomo said on the ceiling.
"And why are you not going to class?" Aloysius asked while looking at the ceiling.
"Because I am ranked #3 here in this academy or should I say world-wide. I don't need classes for things I already know." Tuomo said with a slight grin.
Aloysius went to his class while he still was pissed off at what Tuomo said.
As he walked into his class, he saw Mirai sitting in the center of the class. Aloysius sat down near the window as he contemplated what Tuomo meant when he said "Things will get interesting."
"Hey, Natus Ex Uno, why aren't you helping me here?" Aloysius asked.
"You haven't claimed me as your linker yet. If you don't find a thema, I'm nugatory in both value, power, and knowledge." Natus Ex Uno said.
"Your name's long, I'm tired of saying it," Aloysius complained.
"Well, sorry for having a long name." Natus Ex Uno said.
"I think I'll give you a nickname. How about Natuso?" Aloysius suggested.
"First of all, now you're being nice!? Second, I like that name, call me that once you've claimed me." Natus Ex Uno said as he slowly faded away.
Expectedly, the teacher for the class came in. He waved and grabbed chalk and wrote what he likes to be called.
"Mr. C, nice to meet you all," is what the teacher wrote.
He then wrote more things about what'll happen in class.
"Today, we'll be learning how to connect to the soul via our linker."
Aloysius, being new, didn't know what a linker is.
"Hey, what's a linker?" Aloysius asked.
The teacher then finally spoke.
"A linker is somewhat of an artifact. An object, from the soul you're connected to, is closely tied to. Like this pen, if this was a linker, I would have to focus and resonate with it. Resonating allows connection between you and the soul via the linker." The teacher wrote everything of what he spoke.
"You have to have a good resonation with the soul to fully connect. You must understand him/or her. You have to get close to them mentally. If you don't, nothing will happen, and if you can't do this, then get out of this school. This is basic in this academy along with others." The teacher finished.
Aloysius proceeded to write down what the teacher said. He then got curious for awhile. He wondered, what's his linker. Then at that moment something drop from the ceiling. It was a piece of paper. Aloysius unwrapped the paper, in it was written, "It's your necklace, remember that," He then looked up but no one was there. Aloysius put it in the pocket of his blue jeans. He went back to focusing although he kept Darren's watch in mind.
Later that day, when Aloysius's class was finished, Tuomo met him at his dorm.
"Hey, I want you to come over to my dorm. I need to tell you something." Tuomo said to Aloysius.
Aloysius nodded as he followed Tuomo out of his dorm. He walked to the left of his dorm and walked straight. Then, at the end of the hallway, there was a door to the right that Aloysius never saw before. Tuomo pushed the door open and inside were more doors, which didn't surprise Aloysius. They continued walking until they reached a door that was halfway through the hallway on the right. Tuomo opened it and insisted that Aloysius enter first.
Inside, the room was dark, darker than where he had been when he first came in. Tuomo closed the door and it became pitch black everywhere. Not even the afternoon sky could shed light inside.
"You can't see anything, right?" Tuomo asked.
"Yeah, I can't see anything. But why this dark, Tuomo?" Aloysius asked.
"Wait a minute, I'll get the lights," Tuomo said in a non-worry voice.
When the lights came on, inside his room was normal, exactly how Aloysius's room looked like. Everything in its place and organized.
"So, what did you want to talk about?" Aloysius inquired.
"Have you selected a thema yet?" Tuomo asked.
"No, I don't think I will. I just don't want to have trouble. Let me live my life here regularly, no danger." Aloysius pleaded as he started to laugh.
"There'll be a danger if you don't select a thema. You're near the hands of death at this moment. If you can't select a thema, death will get to you before even I can do anything about it." Tuomo said as he slightly grinned.
"If that's all you wanted to say then I'm leaving," Aloysius said as he left.
As soon as he left, Tuomo said, "Act!" The entire room's walls flipped to show weapons and armory. There were knives, kunai, gloves, shoes, a couple of swords, and explosives.
Then a voice that only Tuomo can hear, started to speak. "So, are you gonna save him?" the voice of a girl said.
"It's a 50/50 chance, if he does the right thing, I'll save him. But if not, I'll save him and then kill him. It depends on the situation, but I don't want him dying on the first part of our test, Levi." Tuomo said as he rummaged through his artillery.
"You do know that you're using their emotions for the test. They aren't in this, nor do they know." Levi said.
"Oh stop worrying, you told me this countless times. I'll reassure nothing extremely bad happens to them." Tuomo assured Levi.
"Now, I'm gonna give Aloysius a headstart. I already called in some allies to capture him. I know he's going to escape, but it'll take a while. I want to see what Aloysius's capable of." Tuomo said.
"If he fails?" Levi asked.
"I already told you, but another way could be is to take our revenge," Tuomo said.
"Why don't we get this show started now," Tuomo and Levi said in sync.