Vaylor was right, Alix truly did have a peaceful week. He had never known he could be so lazy, he felt like a king for a good seven days. He had slept soundly on a king sized bed, there were maids that brought him food, cooks that came to him with menus, and Vaylor had even spent the week teaching him more about the windows.
He had taught Alix about the evolution lines under the creature window. This section allowed you to choose between multiple different evolution routes that your beast, (or creature), could take. He had also taught him about the taming of beasts.
Apparently, the beast had to be a wild one in order to be tamed, preventing a tamer from snatching beasts from some other tamer that they encountered. To tame that wild beast and bring it into your arsenal, one had to first defeat it in battle and incapacitate it.
Alix wondered how on earth he'd be able to defeat one of the colossal worms he had seen in his dream, and the ones he saw in the mines. Just how did that man come to tame them in the first place?
Even with Vaylor's lessons, there was still much to learn.
Mei had given her own lessons. The woman was a fighter, and not just because she was a tamer, she could truly wallop anybody with her fists alone. Alix had watched her in the backyard, playfully fighting with her maids, at least she claimed it to be.
The entire spectacle looked like a battle to the death. The maids were experienced fighters, too, and they would often come extremely close to winning against their single opponent.
Intrigued, Alix had asked her to teach him how to fight, and he spent the entire week being dragged to his ass and beaten mercilessly. When Alix had enough of losing, he asked her to fight him as a tamer.
But he quickly regretted that. Mei had summoned what she called a Jiu Wei Hu. The beast was larger than he could have ever imagined, and he refrained from summoning Raina to fight it.
Mei and the maids had also taught him how to clean up after himself. Making his own bed, washing the dishes, laundry, and even brushing his teeth!
Much to learn
Outside of the large mansion, Claymore was waiting patiently beside the car he had driven up to a curb. He nodded in approval as Alix walked up to him from the driveway.
Mei and Vaylor were behind him, she was whistling and complimenting his uniform the entire way. Alix liked it at first, but it was slowly becoming annoying.
"Your first day! I feel like a mother," she smiled, radiantly at that. Alix could practically feel the heat coming off of her face. She hugged him and then shooed him into the car.
Vaylor tapped at the window, and Claymore promptly rolled it down. He leaned in through the gap and smiled at Alix. Alix felt like it wasn't a genuine smile, and the boy was right.
"If you get bullied, don't come to me. Deal with it yourself, got it?"
Alix rolled his eyes. "Gee. Thanks. I've got it."
"Good." Vaylor said, backing away from the car. "Enjoy your ride in the passenger seat! Get him out there, Claymore."
Claymore started up the engine and then drove off. He stopped briefly by a wide gate that closed off the entire neighbourhood. There was a guard behind it inside of a guard gate who was whistling and poisoning his lungs with a cigarette.
He allowed himself a glance at the waiting vehicle, and then pressed a button somewhere that flung the gate straight open.
Claymore put his foot on the gas and sped through. They had passed by many places; stores, gates and cul-de-sacs that led into more neighbourhoods, train stations, even schools that did not compare to the academy they were heading to.
After a long drive, they had finally reached the academy. Like the cave centre, the academy was a giant spire with blood-red glass that revealed a myriad of classrooms. At its peak, two large beasts were curling around it—a dragon and a phoenix, and the words 'Draco Academy' were fixed just below them.
"We're here, sir. Do you want me to take you there?"
It would make Alix feel like a child, but at the same time he didn't want to walk in there alone. Alix nodded and the two walked past a massive car park and through large automatic glass doors.
There were barricades up ahead that required one to use their lanyard in order to get through, and Claymore guided him to a reception where he could acquire one.
The women behind the desks seemed…stressed. Alix tried talking to one of them but she outright ignored them until Claymore stepped in to speak for him.
"Excuse me, ma'am. The young master needs a new lanyard."
Young master?
Alix liked the sound of that.
"What's his name," she said, letting out a breath that spoke of her frustration.
"Alix Vineyard," Claymore said.
There was a computer in front of her, along with a mouse and a keyboard that she was aggressively typing away at. Alix found that her eyes began widening, and she had suddenly stopped typing.
"Alix…Vineyard. A-are you the one with a reference made by Lord Vaylor?"
"Yes I am," Alix said, a smug grin washed up across his face.
"R-right. I'll have the lanyard brought to you in just a moment."
It really did take just a moment. The woman had left her chair and came back with an ID badge and a lanyard. The badge was lacking a picture, however.
"We'll need to take your picture, is that okay?"
Alix shrugged. "Sure."
The receptionist had taken him to a small room that was just behind the reception. There, Alix sat down as she whipped out a machine that looked like a mix between a camera and a printer. With it, she took Alix's picture.
The camera hummed as it spat back out a horizontal card. She slipped it into the badge and handed him his lanyard.
"There, you should be able to get through now," she said, feigning a smile. Alix could see right through it.
"Do you have a timetable for the young master," Claymore said, suddenly. "He'll need to know what lessons he has, of course."
"Ah, yes. I'll print that off for you now." She said, hurrying back to the reception. She came back with an A4 sheet of paper that had a map of the school and an entire schedule underneath the days of the week. History, Math, English, Geography, Science, Physical Education, and Tamer classes.
Vaylor made me do English?! That damn guy..
Alix and Claymore thanked her and then walked back to the barricade. An awkward air settled in as the two stopped to look at each other.
"Well, I'll be seeing you?" Alix scratched his neck.
"Yes, you will be. I know Mei said it enough, but you look dapper, young master. I'll be expecting a few ladies home." Claymore winked.
"Young master…why do you keep calling me that now?
Claymore shrugged. "Mei said she felt like a mother, and Vaylor treats you like a son. So I act accordingly."
Alix raised a brow.
Treats me like a son, huh?
"Call me what you want. See you later, Claymore." Alix raised his lanyard and placed it on a surface where a red light began shimmering green. The glass doors that blocked his path had opened up, and Alix walked through with his heart in his throat.
Okay, says here that I've got history first. That's on…the third floor.
Alix walked into an indoor-courtyard where a bunch of rambunctious conversations were being held. There were students walking about the place, some busy, and some sitting around listlessly. Alix could smell fresh loaves being stuffed into ovens from a mini-cafeteria, and there were multiple different vending machines about the place.
There was one thing Vaylor hadn't prepared him for, and that was having the money to buy food. Alix sighed and walked to two large rectangular pillars that he had spotted. They had elevators worked into them, and he waited patiently for the mobile room to come down.
When it did, he shoved past a bunch of people who were trying to come out. They looked back and glowered at him, but Alix paid them no mind.
The elevator moved up, and Alix could feel his heart thumping in his chest the entire time. This was all so completely new to him. He wondered who he'd meet, who'd be teaching him, and what kind of experiences he'd have.
There was also the fear that some people may recognise him from the arena like Mayfor did. The tenacious worm tamer who some still think to be a traitor. Vaylor had thrown him in there to make him stronger and to test him, but the good outweighed the bad.
He could have died, first off. And now some people addressed him by a moniker that was completely false. A vile appellation.
The elevator came to a stop, and the doors parted to permit Alix through. He walked into a long hallway with a bunch of classrooms on either side. Alix looked down at the sheet again.
History. 10:45. Taught by Ellin Volares. Third Floor.
Alix's eyes swept past every single class room door, until they had finally landed on the correct one. The door had metal writing, reading, history, etched into the frame.
Here I am