Gray IV

Gray wiped his brow, as he kicked up some dirt on the road. He had been walking for a couple of days from Talabheim, making his way towards Altdorf. Though a guard had been offered, he had decided to go alone, figuring a guard would just slow him down. Fortunately, this time he didn't run into any Beastmen, and his journey across the countryside had been fairly uneventful.

His plan was to get to Altdorf, find the College of Magic, and start looking for his friends. While he doubted any of them were actually there, he could potentially get a start, and figure out more about the lay of the land. It wasn't much but it was wall the start he had at this point. Soon enough, he came up to a hill, and when he got over it, he got his first look at the Imperial City.

"Damn," was all he was able to say. Altdorf was truly a sight to behold. It looked at least four times as big as Crocus, and was apparently bisected by a river. Great towers and structure dominated much of the city's skyline. It truly looked like an imperial city if there ever was one.

Gray made his way down to the city, which was surrounded by massive walls. He came upon what he presumed were one of several gates, and once he got into the city, he found himself having to carefully maneuver through the massive crowds. After getting directions towards the college, he made his way through the roads. Soon he came to a building dominated by a glittering tower that was capped in crystal, that reminded Gray of the stars. He immediately went through the doors, and into a hallway, that had ended with a man at a desk, working with papers. The hall was decorated with various tapestries and paintings of men in armor, accompanied with men in robes carrying glowing staffs pointed towards the heavens.

"Excuse me," Gray said as he came upon the desk. The man didn't even acknowledge him, as he held up reading lenses to the papers.

"This is the College of Magic, right?" Gray asked. The man still didn't answer.

"Are you even listening?"

"That would imply there is something else to listen to," the man finally said, though he still didn't look up, "Potential acolytes need to send word of their arrival in advance."

"I'm not here as an acolyte," Gray said, "I'm here as a wizard."

"Of course you are," the man said with a sigh, as he set down his reading glasses. He then moved the papers to the side.

"First, are you sure you have magical power?" he said, finally looking up.

"What?"

"I could count on one hand the amount of people who come hear claiming to be wizards who can back up those claims each week," the man explained, folding this arms, "I need proof that you're a wizard before anything else." The Ice Mage just rolled his eyes.

"How's this for an answer?" Gray said, as he held out his hand, and an ice figurine appeared in it. That quickly got the man's full attention, as he looked at him intently.

"Ice Magic? Are you from Kislev?"

"Where?"

"So that's a 'no'," the man said, rolling his eyes and sitting back down, "Where are you from then?"

"I'm from Talabheim," Gray half lied, figuring he shouldn't advertise himself being from a completely different world, "I came here hoping to find my friends. They're wizards too."

"Well, at any rate, you are in the wrong college," the man said, going back to his papers, "This is the Celestial College."

"Celestial?" Gray asked. That of course made him think of Lucy, but he didn't see any keys on the man. The man looked Gray up and down briefly.

"Is there any particular reason why you're not wearing a shirt?" he asked. Gray looked down and noticed he indeed wasn't wearing his shirt anymore.

"Don't worry about what I'm not wearing!" he snapped. The man just blinked slightly.

"Aside from going to Kislev, the next best place to go if you want to explore your Ice Magic would be either the Jade College, or the Grey College," he answered going back to his papers, "I doubt the Celestial College can do you much good."

"I've already got a pretty damn good grasp on my magic," Gray all but snapped, "I'm not really here to learn. I'm looking for people."

"There is a City Watch post only a few blocks up the street." Gray groaned, running out of options.

"Look old man, I'm…"

"Master Wilhelm!" a voice called. Gray saw a young man maybe slightly older than him hurrying over. He was wearing a blue robe, and his head was shaved.

"I'm sorry for my friend," he said, "I called him here to talk with me." This old Wilhelm guy looked at the new guy and frowned.

"Very well," he said, "Move along." Gray was smart enough to play along, and did as he followed his new "friend" through a door, and down another hall. Once they were "safe", they stopped.

"I understand how frustrating that old shit can be. My name is Edmund," the wizard said, offering a hand, "I am a wizard of the Celestial Lore of Magic."

"The name's Gray," Gray answered, shaking his hand.

"So, you said you were searching for someone, yes?" Edmund asked, "May I ask you?"

"You wouldn't know 'em," Gray said, "They could be literally anywhere in the world now."

"Hmm," Edmund said, pursing his lips, "Do you have some kind of plan to find them?"

"Honestly, what I really need is some way to go looking for them," Gray said, rubbing the back of his head.

"Well, if nothing else, you could enter the tournament," Edmund suggested, "That might get you some resources."

"What tournament?"

"In two weeks, there will be a great tournament held to test the metal of the Imperial mages," Edmund explained.

"Really? What kind?"

"Nothing particularly extravagant, just some minor dueling and competition. More than anything else, its supposed to give aspiring wizards the chance to show off their abilities to the Emperor. They say the victor will get accepted into his personal service." Gray wasn't sure if he wanted to end up in the "personal service" of some foreign Emperor; but on the other hand, being an aide to an emperor would probably get him a descent amount of resources at his disposal.

"Well, I guess its better than nothing," he said, "How do I enter into it?"

"You have to register with the the Imperial Authority. I can show you later." Well, still better than nothing.

"So, could you maybe tell me what exactly is this Celestial Lore or whatever?"

Note: Gray's making a descent enough impression on the Imperial Wizards. Things still seem to be going good enough for him.

I know based on the lore I've read, that there are many different colleges for the several different lores of magic at humanity's disposal. I tried to get a solid description as to the location and layout of the colleges, but I couldn't find that much actually. To that end, I'm approaching this from a relatively self-invented perspective. We can just say that Gray ended up in the Celestial College.

Please review.