Arrival - Chapter 3

Headmistress Kasmine had finalised Eric and Connor’s paperwork long before they had ever agreed to attend Ferris.

“When I called her, she said all she needed was your parents’ permission and that she’d handled the rest,” Kaida told them.

Connor’s parents had no issues with it and gave their permission right away.

Eric, however, had spent the day after the attack trying repeatedly to get in contact with either of his parents as they both worked hectic jobs and were rarely at home at the same time as him.

During a regular working week, Eric would be lucky to see them for a few minutes.

After leaving voicemails on both of their phones, Eric could do nothing else but wait for them to call him back.

Two days before the Ferris term started, his father finally got back to him where Eric explained everything that had happened and why he needed to go to Ferris.

‘Give me some time to think it over,’ was all he said before he hung up.

The next morning, he called Eric back and said both him and his mother were okay with it as long as Eric was.

“Don’t worry. It’s something I want to do.”

Even though Eric was scared about his future, he wanted to at least reassure his parents he’d be fine.

With everything settled, Kaida called the boys and told them to meet her at the Ferris train station at seven on the day term started to avoid the swarm of students.

The new students lived at the onsite hotel for their first week before the rest of their belongings arrived and they were sorted into their accommodations, so each student was to bring a suitcase with a week’s worth of clothes and whatever equipment they needed to fight.

Eric was the last of the trio to arrive at the station and, as they had hoped, they were the only students there.

The station itself was impeccably clean and heavily defended, with turrets and mechs deployed inside, scanning and monitoring everything that happened, ready to fight at a moment’s notice. There were a few mages from the teaching staff at Ferris as well.

Two gigantic mechs and several professional Guardians stood by each staircase up to the platform.

Eric couldn’t help but feel intimidated by it all.

Eric, Connor and Kaida went to one of the ticket booths and presented their students IDs, acceptance letters and passports to the guards before they were allowed up onto the platform and into the waiting train.

There was no one but them on the train, except the android soldiers and turrets at the doors connecting each carriage.

“It’s a little scary having all this security here,” Eric said.

“Well, it’s not surprising really that they’re being this careful,” Connor mused.

Given that thousands of people who were either trained in combat or gifted with superhuman abilities, or both, would be crossing over into Ferris, it wasn’t unthinkable that someone with ill intentions would try to sneak onboard.

The three of them took seats close to the door and, just before the doors closed, an arm stabbed through the gap, forcing them back open.

When Eric saw who walked in afterwards, his face went pale.

“Yo,” Spike said, a devilish grin on his face.

Connor and Eric were about to run away, but Kaida held them in place. Eric turned to question her, but she looked completely calm, even though her aura was beginning to flare around her body.

“What are you doing here?”

“Huh?” Spike looked genuinely confused. “Didn’t she tell ya?”

Kaida let out a low sigh. “I was going to tell them before we got to Ferris. It’s fine you guys.” She shot daggers at Spike. “He’s not going to attack you again.”

“Doesn’t explain why he’s here and not behind bars,” Connor hissed.

“Well, kid.” Spike swung around the poll and planted himself in the seat opposite Kaida just as the train departed. “What can I say? And, hey, I did get punished for what I did.”

“How? You’re still a free man, aren’t you?”

Spike snorted and lost his grin. “Free is not a word I would use to describe myself. My Master was angrier than I had ever seen him and I thought I was going to die.” His body began to visibly tremble in fear. “So, as part of my punishment, I’m to serve as you guys’ babysitter for your time here at Ferris.”

“What?” Connor and Eric said in unison.

They turned to look at Kaida and she nodded.

“The Headmistress called me this morning to let me know,” she said, defeated.

“Anyway, kids, let bygones be bygones and let’s make these five years good ones.”

The train carried them smoothly and silently across the bay out to Ferris.

The large man-made island the school sat on was almost two miles away from the mainland with only two authorised ways into and out of Ferris: the bridge or the train.

The train could only be used by students, members of staff or by members of the Guardians with their ID cards, which were heavily encrypted and nearly impossible to replicate. The bridge was only used to allow supplies and VIPs onto the island and there were six separate checkpoints along it.

“So, Kaida, how does Ferris work as a university?” Eric asked.

“Shouldn’t you have asked about that sooner?” Spike mused.

“Well, we’ve had a busy week, you know, nearly dying and all,” Connor spat back.

Spike shrugged his shoulders as if it wasn’t his problem, or his fault.

“Well, it’s not all that different from any other university in the country,” Kaida said. “You’ll still study whatever degree you want, but there are also extra lessons added in to help you train your powers, and there’s mandatory combat training too. Students live on site at Ferris in houses of nine who are their Guardian team for their time at Ferris.”

“When I went here, it used to be only the people who did well in tournaments got to live in the houses,” Spike added. “Kas scrapped that system as soon as she became the Head Mistress.”

Kas?

“What about going to the shops or to hang out? Do we have to go into Imperial for all that or order our food online or something?” Connor asked.

“There’s a leisure area on site with a massive shopping centre in it where you can buy pretty much anything. There’s a shopping mall for general needs and food, but there are still things some things you might need to head into the city for.”

“We’re here, kids.”

The Ferris train station was identical to the one they’d departed from, but it was even more heavily defended.

After verifying their identities and showing proof of their powers, the scars in Eric and Connor’s cases and her dragon in Kaida’s case, they were allowed to depart. Their luggage was confiscated to be inspected and it would be returned to them later that day.

Once they stepped out of the station, the three were in awe of what they saw.

Laid out before them was an impressive park area where, despite the number of students, they could see many small animals carelessly on the pathways, not running from the people who walked near them. Right in front of them after they exited the station, was a gigantic oak tree which was almost fifty metres tall.

Behind them were many large and imposing tall, futuristic looking buildings.

What stood out most to Eric though were two large domes on their right, both of which looked bigger than a football stadium.

“This is amazing.”

“How big is Ferris?”

While the boys had always been able to see the island from the mainland, neither knew that it was a mini city.

“Welcome to Ferris, kids,” Spike said, slapping Eric and Connor on the back.

“You know we have names, necromancer,” Connor spat.

“I know, I know. Head over to the gym and I’ll meet you there.” Spike pointed at a gigantic white building across from them. “I’ve got to check in at the faculty office first.”

After Spike left, the three of them made their way towards the building which seemed closer to a stadium than a gym; it was certainly big enough to be.

There were two floors, one of which looked down onto the other, and both were filled to the brim with people.

On the first floor were hundreds of new students, anxiously standing around and endlessly chatting amongst themselves. On the second, there were dozens of students from the current body looking down at them, excited to see what the freshers were like.

Gathered in the centre of the gym were a line of twenty-six teachers in tall green Mech suits. They were large, bulky and left the pilots completely exposed, but even Eric could tell that each Mech had been adjusted to suit each teacher’s powers. One had glowing orange veins and another had several large guns attached to its back and shoulders.

“I thought we left early to avoid the rush.”

“Trust me, we did,” Kaida said. “There’s going to be a few thousand more people coming later, so we avoided that.”

“How many students are there in each year group?”

“Well, the school always makes sure that there are two hundred and fifty-six teams of nine in each year, although some people are strong enough to be on their own team or have other circumstances that mean they have to work in smaller teams. While it varies, there’s usually about two-thousand three hundred people in each year.”

“That many?!” Eric blurted out. “How can they house that many students?”

“Easily,” Spike interjected, walking into the gym. “This is the only academy in the world that trains people to be Guardians and so it’s excessively large. The student village is the size of a small town.”

“How much money do they have?” Connor wondered. “Wait, wouldn’t it be easier to just open more training academies across the world instead?”

“Believe it or not, that’d cost more in the long run. Also, Ferris acts as both a school and as the Guardians’ HQ, so it needs to be huge and heavily defended. The best people to train new Guardians are qualified and active Guardians, and it means that the students, and HQ, have an extra line of defence should anyone try attacking this place.

“Think about it. If there were ten Guardian academies in the world, how would you decide who teaches at or protects each site? What if one of the schools is attacked and wiped out because there aren’t enough people there to defend it? The founder of this place saw that as a devastating possibility and made sure Ferris would be the only Guardians’ training facility needed.”

Over the course of the next hour, more and more students trickled in and, once the very last one had arrived, the speakers hanging in the corners crackled, silencing the room in an instant.

“Welcome, new students of Ferris Academy,” a soft female voice said.

Eric and the other students looked up and saw a woman standing on a podium, looking down at them, though he couldn’t see what she looked like from where he was.

“I am the Headmistress of Ferris and the Supreme Commander of the Guardians, Kasmine Aysen,” she said gently. “The years that you will spend here will be some of the best in your life, forging strong friendships, training to become the protectors of the world, and having the time of your life. We at Ferris hope to forge both your minds and bodies into the best people and Guardians that you can possibly be.”

Kasmine exhaled and smiled, throwing away a cue card over her shoulder.

“Now, with that out of the way, I’ll briefly go over what you freshers have in store before the term starts,” Kasmine continued, sounding far more energetic than before. “For the first week, you will be introduced to the campus, how the school operates, its systems, customs, and, most importantly, forming your teams which you will spend the next five years of your life with.

“Anyone who doesn’t join or form a team by the end of the week will be randomly placed into a team to fill out the numbers in that team. Oh, also, you can’t change team members once you’ve been placed into them, so do be careful about who you pick to team up with and to play nice with one another.”

The freshers began to murmur quietly to one another but Kasmine silenced them with a small cough.

“Once this assembly is over, you’ll be shown to the hotel where you’ll be staying for the week before being assigned houses. However, before that, each of you freshers will fight one of the teachers before you in a brief one on one match that will last no longer than a minute. These will not be graded, but it’s a good chance to show off what you can do. So, try your best to impress your peers and the current students.”

The crowd began to buzz, talking excitedly about the chance to show off what they could.

I might be the only person dreading this, Eric thought.

He looked for Kaida and Connor but discovered that he had lost sight of them as students began to eagerly shuffle towards the teachers, hoping to get a good viewing spot of the matches.

“What am I going to do?”

Kaida could call her dragon whenever she wanted to, but Eric had never even summoned his Armour before, and no one had explained to him how exactly he did it.

Of course, Connor would probably have the same problem, but Eric could only worry about himself right now.

“Each teacher has been assigned a letter and if your last name begins with that letter, that is who you’ll be fighting,” Kasmine explained. “A is on your far left and Z on your far right. Don’t worry about fighting as hard as you want because, I assure you, your teachers won’t be harmed. However, large area of effect attacks and abilities are strictly forbidden and the usage of them will result in instant expulsion and arrest.”

The Headmistress grinned and giggled maliciously. “Do try your best to put on a good show and don’t worry about holding back too much.” A man in a suit wearing glasses walked up behind her. “We have plenty of healers on standby.”

Somehow, that didn’t reassure Eric.

The large ocean of students began to move with everyone trying to push their way over to where they needed to be. Eric struggled but, soon enough, he was able to push his way over to the A’s where he found Kaida.

Unfortunately, she was too far away from him for Eric to talk to her.

“I’m screwed.”

“Don’t panic so much,” Spike told him, putting his hand on Eric’s shoulder. “You’ll be able to summon it.”

“But I haven’t been taught how-”

“Because it isn’t something that you’re taught. It’s just something that you know.”

“I don’t!”

Spike sighed and leant down to whisper to him. “Magic and other superpowers all work on the same basis; image training. Imagine it, and it’ll happen by instinct. Picture summoning your Armour in that moment and it’ll come to you. Trust me, you’ll be fine.”

Spike patted Eric’s shoulders hard and disappeared into the crowd.

Even though Spike had tried to kill him a week ago, Eric couldn’t help but feel somewhat at ease from hearing Spike’s words. Still, Eric was anxious, but he had no choice but to try.

What if I can’t do it? Would I be laughed at? Expelled for being a failure? Hurt or killed?

Those words plagued his thoughts until it was his name was called.

“Agrim, Eric!”

Eric jumped but quickly gathered himself, pushing his way through the crowd to the teacher.

He stepped out of the crowd and found himself looking up at an eight-foot tall Mech with a Pyromancer sitting in it. Gigantic balls of fire were conjured in their hands and Eric could feel their heat from a dozen metres away.

“You’re a new God Armour user, correct?”

“Ah, yes!”

The teacher nodded. “Very well. Let’s begin.”

The teacher immediately threw his arm back and chucked a fireball towards Eric.

He tried to jump out of the way, but his fear took over him, paralysing him.

I’m dead.

Call me.

Time seemingly slowed as the voice whispered to him in the deepest part of his mind.

Call me, it repeated.

Eric focused his mind as time returned to its regular speed for him and he concentrated on forming the image in his mind, of his body covered from head to toe in a demonic armour.

The image formed in his mind just as the fireball smashed into him, wrapping his body in flames.

A few students behind him began to panic and even the teacher looked worried but, a moment later, black energy was released from the heart of the flames, dispersing them.

As the flames died, it slowly revealed Eric, standing strong in the middle of them, draped in a suit of armour.

It was completely black and looked like it was made of rocks, with many jagged edges and sharp curves all over it. There were dark red orbs in the eye slots of his full-face helmet which had horns running along the side of his head, curving upwards at the back of his skull.

He had activated his God Armour and the room erupted into shocked whispers and cries.

“What’s that?”

“A God Armour? But I haven’t seen any like that before?”

“Is it a new God then?”

“But which one?”

“What Armour is that?” The teacher asked in shock.

A soft laugh came through the speakers and more eyes began to turn their eyes towards Eric.

The room began to go quiet as more and more attention was drawn to Eric and the soft laughter from Kasmine over the microphone.

Then, once almost all eyes were on Eric, Kasmine said, “That is the Lucifer God Armour, a brand-new Armour of unimaginable power.”

The entire room burst into excited chatter, with more and more people trying to push through to see Eric in his Armour.

Not only was there someone with a powerful God Armour in their year, but it was also a new one whose full potential was unknown, and that made it all the more exciting, and terrifying, for those gathered.

Eric, still stunned that he managed to even summon his Armour, looked down at himself and had to admit that he looked pretty cool in it.

“Focus!”

The teacher threw his fist at Eric, but Eric easily blocked the blow by effortlessly raising his palm to block the punch.

The teacher’s Mech suit collapsed against the Armour upon impact, crumbling into pieces.

The excitement in the crowd near him increased.

Eric pulled the fist towards him and punched the teacher’s suit in the chest as lightly as he could.

It tore like paper and rendered the suit useless.

With the fight over, Eric imagined the Armour disappearing from his body, removing it from his body, and the crowd let out a large cheer.

I might have drawn a lot of unwanted attention.

“Eric Agrim, please come to my office right away,” Kasmine said. “Anyone who gets in his way or slows him down even slightly will be punished.”

Everyone backed as far away from him as they could and Kasmine couldn’t help but laugh.

“Oh, can someone please get another teacher to cover the A’s please?”

Spike walked towards Eric and patted him on the back, beckoning Eric to start walking.

Why do I have a feeling that I’ve just ended up in a much worse situation than before?