Wizard and Witches: Griffith Academy

Griffith Academy

“We are gonna walk to the academy.”

A harmless and straightforward sentence, yet the two girls froze when they heard it.

“Don’t worry, you don’t need to walk far. Besides, walking is healthy for your body,” Nova said before started walking. The two were confused as to why Nova said the Academy was close. They knew for sure there was no place in their house’s vicinity that was wide enough to hide the Academy. 

Suddenly, something appeared above everyone’s head that drew Naomi’s attention. It was some kind of writing of the person’s name and… level? At least, that was what Naomi deduced from the word ‘Lv.’ Out of curiosity, she looked up and checked above her head to find one there. The number above her head was 3, while Lisa’s number was 5. It felt like she was in some kind of game.

Lisa, who also noticed the numbers, shared a confused glance with Naomi but said nothing.

“I’m going to start with the interesting part. As you might have noticed, there’s some kind of writing above our head. This is called the Identity System. If your Identity is registered in the System, you can check information about other things that are also registered. Though, it is limited depending on your clearance level. Students can only see the name, title, and level of others to protect everyone’s security and privacy. Only me, Fox, the vice-principal, and the principal himself that can access the full information.”

“Title…? What’s that about?” asked Lisa.

“Well, it’s hard to explain, so I’m just going to use an example. If you become really popular, you might be given the title ‘Superstar’ or something like that. Titles are given depending on what you’re famous for or what you have achieved, basically.” 

“Is it limited to 1, or can you get more?” this time, it was Naomi who asked the question.

“Of course you can. You can even choose which one will be displayed. But titles are not permanent. It can disappear if the reason behind it becomes invalid. So don’t take them for granted,” Nova stopped talking for a second to make sure Lisa had no more questions before continuing.

“Now then, there’s also something called Technique. You know about life skills, right? This is like that, but a bit different considering it is intertwined with the Identity System. While power is something you are born with, you can acquire and train your technique or life skills. For example, sneaking or picking locks. The Identity System would note your Techniques to give you suggestions on what to do in some situations. But you’re still the one who decides.”

Naomi nodded. She didn’t understand it entirely, but it all sounded so cool and advanced to her ear. It was like she was in a Role-Playing Game or something like that.

“So.. does something as mundane as hammering a nail count? I can be a master in hammering?” Lisa asked jokingly.

“Of course you would ask that, but yes. Even something as mundane as eating is accounted for.”

“... Wow, alright.”

Suddenly, new writings popped up. While hers and Lisa’s titles were empty, Nova’s title was ‘Protector’s Leader,’ and Fox was… unknown. It was not blank like hers and instead had a question mark. Not only that, Naomi noticed that his level also had a question mark.

“I have another question,” Lisa said.

“Go ahead,” Nova said nonchalantly, fully prepared for Lisa’s barrage of questions about the new information she just received.

“But… I want Fox to be the one who answers it.”

“Eh? Why?”

“The news about a killer stalker lurking around here. It’s him, isn’t it?” Lisa froze in her spot; her hand once again held Naomi to stop her from walking. The bushes and trees around them started to shake violently.

“W-Well… I should have known you would connect the dots. You see, Fox’s duty here is to guard you two from unwanted... recruiters. Those people he killed are not actual people but doppelgangers. Creatures that are created to take the place of others. These monsters were the ones who killed the real people before transforming into them to watch you and Naomi. When they were killed, they didn’t revert to their form and stayed as humans. I told this brute to not kill them, but he didn’t listen.”

“And how can you prove that?” Lisa insisted.

“We can’t,” Fox suddenly spoke up. This was the first time Naomi heard him speak. His voice was low, heavy, and sounded robotic. It didn’t sound like a human at all.

“Then how are we supposed to trust you?”

“You must know that if we intend to do something bad to you two, this is the worst way possible to do it. We could just kill you or kidnap you. It would all be much easier and less time-consuming,” Fox replied.

Fox’s explanation, combined with Naomi’s assuring hand resting on her shoulder, was enough to convince Lisa to trust the two men. The bushes around her stopped shaking, and they continued their walk.

“N-Now, Nova, how about you continue explaining what this System is? I’m still pretty curious about it,” Naomi changed the topic. Nova took this chance to reduce the tension and instantly explained about the System.

“Well, I don’t know how it works exactly. The only one who does is its creator and keeper. But it’s basically like a network. It could help you with the information that is stored. Some are private, some are public. You could call it the internet for Witches and Wizards if you like. It’s maintained and protected by the Keepers. Literary no one else understands it, maybe... with an exception for the principals.”

Without Lisa and Naomi realizing, in the blink of an eye, their surrounding changed from rows of houses into large fields of grass and rows of trees. The asphalt road beneath them had transformed into a pathway made out of marbles. And behind them was a massive metallic gate.

“W-Where are we?” Lisa asked warily.

“The Academy of Griffith, of course. Fox teleported us here while we were walking. Now, where were we? Oh, as you might know, or not, one person could only have one power. Only a tiny percentage of the Mage population has more than one power. But that doesn’t mean you are stuck with only your power for the rest of your life. There’s something called Power Stone and Scroll. It allows people to use other people’s powers. Power Stone allows continuous use of someone’s power until the stone runs out of fuel. In contrast, the Scroll could only be used once and limited to a certain thing decided by the creator.”

They keep walking and walking while Nova rambled on about how he once used a scroll to save lots of life. Naomi highly doubted it would happen because Nova’s story was weirdly focused on himself. Naomi glanced at Lisa, who said with a low voice, “Probably a lie.”

After walking for a bit, they arrived at a vast building, most likely to be the dorm.

The group walked through the sliding front door and was greeted by an empty lobby filled with nothing more than a couple of potted plants and benches. On the other side of the entrance was a stair heading up.

“Most of the students are still in school. It’s still 11 am, after all,” Nova commented.

Nova led the group up the stair, which moved on its own like an elevator. They did it a couple more times. He then walked down one of the corridors before stopping in front of one of the doors.

“You should settle in for now. In about an hour, I will come back later to pick you guys up for a tour. See ya,” Nova gave Lisa the key. He winked at Naomi, then walked away with Fox on tow.

Naomi may look like she was smiling, but it was apparent to Fox and Lisa that she was emitting a deadly aura toward Nova. Unfortunately, the one it was directed to was oblivious of it.

Using the key, the two unlocked the door and walked in. Their room turned out to be quite spacious. There was a table in the middle, two beds on opposite sides, a window door to the balcony, an air conditioner, a glass door leading to the bathroom, and two wardrobes. To their surprise, there was also a TV and a laptop on top of the table.

“Wow…” Lisa gawked, impressed by the accommodation provided by the Academy. She heard it was luxurious, but to see it herself was a completely different feeling.

“This… seems pretty expensive,” Naomi put her suitcase beside one of the wardrobes. She opened the wardrobe and found the top part was filled with books, while the bottom part and the middle part where she could hang and put her clothes were empty.

It didn’t take long to unpack since they didn’t bring that much stuff with them. Most of the things in Naomi’s and Lisa’s briefcase were their clothes.

“You know, it looks like someone has a crush on you~” Lisa teased her friend as she crashed down onto one of the beds.

“Right. The only thing Nova is going to get is this fist planted onto his head. I don’t want to have a guy that has a playboy sign clearly labeled on his forehead.”

“Is he? I think he is just being overly nice to people, maybe a bit too much to girls.”

“That’s why I said he is a playboy! He acts nice so he can… you know- he had ulterior motives, is what I’m saying,” Naomi grabbed a towel and a new pair of clothes and made her way to the bathroom. It didn’t disappoint her. They had both a shower and a bathtub.

Lisa giggled at her friend’s response. She personally thought Nova was not that type of person. But then again, Lisa only knew him for a brief moment, ignoring the fact he was pretending to be ‘Neo’ for most of that brief moment. But there was one thing for sure. Nova was interested in Naomi, and Lisa wanted to ensure he was the right person for her.

“Whatever you say. Just wake me up when you are done.”