《Academia: Discite Vivere》
Chapter 0: The First Day of School (Part Zero)
Two men stood in a rather bland room. They looked out the window, watching young men and women wearing matching clothes, walk into the building they were currently in. Laughing and smiling as the students made their way.
That sentence probably gave you the impression that these two men were perverts. It should have. I worded it so that it would reflect them badly. If you didn¡¯t think they were perverts then you should probably be extra cautious around strangers¡ Ahem.
These two men are actually professors in an academy. The building was the academy and the young men and women were all students in the academy wearing the academy uniform. Guess how many times I said academy in this paragraph? 4? 5? Wrong. Look again idiot.
Ok, I¡¯ll stop bothering you now.
Teacher #1: ¡°We¡¯ve got interesting students this year. Powerful ones at that.¡± After a long silence, the first man spoke. He wore a suit, glasses and a tie. He looked as if he was going to a business meeting. That or it was halloween because he was absolutely terrifying. Imagine a man wearing a suit walk into your classroom and calling out your name. OH GOD.
Teacher #2: ¡°What makes you say that? So far, I haven¡¯t seen anything interesting.¡± The second man was much more laid back. He wore simple attire. Pants and a checkered shirt, he was much taller than the other teacher, perhaps 6¡¯6¡±.
The first man pointed out the window. ¡°Look.¡± At the point of his finger was a boy, reading a book. Seems normal but the boy and more importantly, the book were on fire. What a waste of good literature, damn.
Teacher #2: ¡°Wow, those literary flames¡ they burn brightly.¡± The second teacher spoke, unimpressed. The first man looked extremely annoyed at his reaction.
Teacher #1: ¡°Course, you won¡¯t be impressed by anything other than equations and fancy numbers. Your so cold, just go die already.¡± As he said that, the second teacher suddenly dropped to the floor, his eyes blank, his skin growing cold and his body unmoving, layers of frost quickly covered his body.
Teacher #1: ¡°Mr. Lichpave? Lector? Hey¡ this isn¡¯t funny. If you die I¡¯m going to get another three month suspension. Lector, get up man!¡± The teacher¡¯s cool, professional demeanor quickly disappeared, replaced by a frantic and worried face, though it was fairly obvious that he was being sarcastic as his face quickly turned into a sly grin the other man stopped talking for a while.
Teacher #2: ¡°-qmc/\thot= qmc/\tcold¡.¡± The teacher, almost completely frozen, somehow managed to speak an age old equation, heat loss = heat gained. Then suddenly, the ice around him disappeared, melted by a strange heat that was emitted by the air.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Teacher #2: ¡°You¡ tried to kill me¡ again! God damnit Richard. What the smack is wrong with you?¡±
Teacher #1: *Tsk* The teacher looked visibly annoyed as his friend managed to get back up after being covered in frost. ¡°You¡¯re still doing that no swearing thing huh? Don¡¯t you know, the kids these days, they swear all the fuckin time. It makes no difference if you swear too!¡±
Teacher #2: ¡°Richard sometimes¡ if you don¡¯t give the students an example, then they¡¯ll never know whats right from wrong! Why did the school board pick you, no, how did the school board pick you! Your teaching style is the most uncivilized thing I¡¯ve ever seen! Tell me, did you brainwash the judges?¡±
The two teachers started to bicker, completely ignoring the fact that one of them almost died by spontaneous freezing. Suddenly, that fire from before didn¡¯t seem so strange huh?
Actually, a ton of the kids outside demonstrated strange abilities. Some were flying, others were passing through objects and other students, yeah, it was pretty weird....
What if I told you, that this world¡ had people with powers akin to magic! Cool right?
... What? You¡¯ve already heard about that before? Oh¡ uh, well did I tell you it was in a modern setting, modern magic! Probably blew your mind already didn¡¯t I?
You¡¯ve seen that too? What the hell? That¡¯s fuckin dumb. I don¡¯t really got much else.
Male protag, school setting, bit of roma- oh, can¡¯t say that one aloud. Damn, isn¡¯t there anything original left?
The equation? What equation? Oh. -Q = Q? That one? Oh yeah. Well, in this world, people draw power from academic phrases, words and thoughts. Lemme give you an example.
If a super smart guy gave an equation for a huge amount of mass in a tiny space and understood that a blackhole would be created, then a blackhole would be created. Let me give you another one. If I were to say, ¡®your face is ugly¡¯ then your face would become ugly.
The science behind it? There is none. Zip, Zilch, Nada. Not zero though, zero has a different meaning. Only theories exist for now but most of science is based on theories anyway.
The teachers finally stopped talking, their frivolous, carefree attitude was replaced by a silent stare at a single student. The student in question, a young boy, probably a freshman. He was quietly walking to the school, quivering with an unsteady smile on his face.
Teacher #1: ¡°Is that him?¡±
Teacher #2: ¡°Yeah. Leo. The boy who discredited the Harnwillier theory.¡±
The first teacher picked up a book from the desk behind them, flipping through the pages before he stopped on one with a portrait of the same young man.
Teacher #1: ¡°Leo Galilei. Age: 16, Gender: Male. Classing: Genius, Subject Major:...¡± the teacher stopped for a second. ¡°He¡¯s your student?¡±
The second teacher looked out the window, watching the boy walk toward the school, trying to ignore the abuse of abilities that was happening around him.
The second teacher started to smile. ¡°I think I¡¯ve finally found someone worthy of teaching.¡±
The two students looked on as the boy named Leo looked up.
This was the day, everything changed.
Chapter 001: The First Day of School (Part One)
I¡¯m Leo Galilei. I¡¯m¡ your average student. I go to school, work, go home, study then go to sleep. That¡¯s¡ that¡¯s what I used to do anyway. Now, as I walk towards my school (which also houses my dorm) I¡¯m surrounded by crazy fireballs, frozen lances, poisonous gases, floating books, giant monsters, horrible abominations, duplicating students and even the notorious hurtful words that literally climb out of the mouths of students and slap the faces of others.
Why Dad? Why did you do this to me? I try and silently make my way through the crowd of obnoxiously loud yelling and absolutely terrifying explosions. Back in the lab, if something exploded, that usually means something went wrong. So it should be easy to understand why I¡¯m so tense in this situation. What, with all the constant spouts of flame and death all around me, yeah, that¡¯s cool.
Either way, I try to see the light in the situation. Letting the small things get to you only makes things worse. There is some good after all. My current school is called Academia. That¡¯s what the other kids call it because its full name is some latin garbage that we can¡¯t be bothered to learn. Either way, Academia is most definitely the world¡¯s best school/university/college. Basically, it¡¯s just the best building for education ever built. It was founded by the king after all.
So, now, when I go back home on the holidays, I can brag to my friends back there that I go to a good school. That¡¯s one.
The second is that I can finally get some answers. As well as being the world¡¯s largest and most advanced education center, Academia also spends its massive budget on basically everything else related to learning. Labs and experiments are commenced daily here. That means, if I prove myself, I can get my very own lab and budget to start experimenting. I start to drool at the thought. Oh, the anti-matter theories that I could test.
???: ¡°Watch out!¡±
I turn around only to see a red-haired girl carrying two bags run right into me, knocking me over. She got up quickly gave a quick apology and left. Then, a few seconds later, some massive bulky dude, wearing only a towel, came running after her, screaming and shouting something about his gym bag.
I¡¯m really trying to weigh my options here. A chance at a life full of wealth, money and knowledge or a normal life without crazy girls who take people¡¯s clothes. When did my life go so wrong? I pick myself up, grab my bag and continue walking toward the school.
I look to the right and see a girl talking to an english-speaking tree. English huh? That¡¯s an old one. I look to the left and see a giant dragon devour a large group of students. If I was a chemist, I probably could have neutralized the stomach acid, unfortunately, I¡¯m not. I continue walking, pretending I saw nothing.
Soon, I start to get close to the entrance of the school, which was completely full of students trying to get in. I don¡¯t have time for this. ¡°Gravitational Field Strength, Target: Leo, Set Amount: 1.6.¡±
As I say those words, my weight drops by a massive amount (It was a 612% decrease). I feel my body become light, and as I jump off the ground, I feel myself soar, high above the crowd. ¡°Gravitational Field Strength, Target: Leo, Set Amount: 0.2.¡±
I weigh 150 pounds. I weigh around 3.1 pounds now. With a simple flapping motion using my arms, I feel myself climb higher and higher into the air, the students in the crowd watched as I passed overhead, shocked not that I was flying, but rather, that I was flying without wings.
¡°Gravitational Field Strength, Target: Leo, Set Amount: 9.8.¡± Earth¡¯s classic gravity returns and I gracefully land on the academy rooftop. There, I saw a door, typical asian culture. Can¡¯t complain though, it came in handy this time.
I walked over to the door, before five dim-witted punks walked out from behind the concrete staircase. They wore the academy¡¯s uniform, but they were clearly way too disillusioned.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
Goon #1: ¡°Well, well, well. Look what we have here boys! Some freshman kid thinks he can casually float on our turf? I don¡¯t think so.¡±
The other boys chuckled, I sighed. ¡°Hey, does that door lead down?¡±
Goon #1: ¡°Well, yeah dumbass. Where else would it go? Your house? *SNORT SNORT*¡±
Goons: ¡°*SNORT SNORT SNORT*¡±
Oh god. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve heard a more disgusting sound in my life. I look at the goons. Their clothes¡ were slightly dirty and their bodies were covered in dust.
Leo: ¡°Are you¡ stuck up here?¡±
The goons stop laughing. Bingo.
Leo: ¡°I can help you get down y¡¯know?¡±
Goon: ¡°C-Can you really? We¡¯ve been stuck up here for days! The door was locked from the inside. We tried to go down the ladder but that stupid witch cursed the tree in front of the school to toss us back up here if we tried to escape! The teachers haven¡¯t even noticed that we¡¯re missing!¡±
The goons looked at me with hope in their eyes. I thought these guys were bullies, back in my hometown, people who behaved like this usually weren¡¯t on society¡¯s good side. However, here, it seems that these guys are the ones being bullied.
Leo: ¡°Of course! What, you think I¡¯m going to flay you and feed your bodies to rats and flies just because you offended me? Of course not. Here, lets get you down.¡±
¡°Gravitational Field Strength, Target: Goons, Set Amount: 1.6.¡±
The Goons¡¯ eyes go wide as they feel their weights decrease massively. ¡°I reduced your weight but I¡¯ll need to reduce it some more. Once I finish my phrase, start flapping your arms. It sounds dumb, but it works. Got it?¡±
The goons nod. Gaining their approval, I say the second phrase ¡°¡°Gravitational Field Strength, Target: Goons, Set Amount: 0.2.¡±
The goons start flapping their arms, maybe a bit too vigorously, and start to fly. ¡°HA, HOLY SHIT, I¡¯M FLYING, WITHOUT WINGS! WOAH.¡±
I smiled as they flew on with joy. As they past the border of the school roof, I heard a violent shaking from behind me. I turned around and saw the massive oak that sat in front of the school start to uproot. A face grew on its trunk and its roots turned into massive legs. I thought giving them flight would be enough.
Sweat trickled down my forehead. I¡¯m getting a real workout today huh? The treant started to follow the goons, who desperately tried to fly away, but it was clear that the treant was going to catch them anyway.
¡°Gravitational Field Strength, Target: Treant, Set Amount: 19.6.¡± I gasp as I say the phrase, but almost instantly, the treant starts to crumble under its own weight. Something as big as a tree just has too much weight for it to continue walking around normally. I know it was being supported by another student but not even the gift can stop the laws of physics!
The treant¡¯s mass started to compress quickly and soon, it resembled a ball of aluminum in a hydraulic press. Basically a plant pancake. I looked down to see if anyone had been crushed by the tree. Thankfully, I will not be getting sued today.
¡°Physics Parameters Reset, Target(s): Pretargets¡± In the distance, I saw the goons start to fall out of the sky. ¡°Coefficient of Friction, Targets: Goons with Air, Set Amount: 1.0¡± ¡°Acceleration, Targets: Goons, /\V Amount: -20.0m/s¡±
I watched as the goons went from free falling to a slow descent. Once they touched the floor, I spoke one final phrase. ¡°Physics Parameters Reset, Target(s): Pretargets¡±. The goons got back up, back with the normal laws of Physics acting upon them and immediately passed out from stress probably. I wouldn¡¯t know. I¡¯m not a biologist.
When I undid the Physics Parameters, I could feel the strain on my head lessen until it was completely gone. When humans first started using the ability some 100 years ago, no one knew anything about it, the situation hasn¡¯t changed much over the past 100 years.
But we do know two things. The first is that these abilities are all due to a latent energy that was made in the big bang, something comparable to the dark energy theories of the past. The second thing is that these abilities, are somehow related to anti-matter. The thing that confuses scientists today, anti-matter. There should be equal amounts of matter and anti-matter in the universe but there isn¡¯t.
These powers, these gifts hold the clues we need for unlocking the universe¡¯s mysteries. And that¡¯s why I¡¯m here, I¡¯m going to define, propose and validate the first ever anti-matter gift theory.
However that¡¯s a long way from now. Until then, I have to deal with this. I look back at the mass of students who don¡¯t even understand how to use their abilities properly.
God, why did you have to make this so hard?
Chapter 002: What Exam?
Chapter 2: The First day of School (Part 2)
I walk up to the roof door and try fiddling with the handle. It¡¯s locked. Didn¡¯t that other guy say it was locked from the inside? I exhale loudly, frustration pouring out of my mouth.
I place the palm of my right hand in the middle of the door. I¡¯d just exhausted some of my strength for today, so it shouldn¡¯t matter if I use it just a bit more. Besides, trying to get through that crowd down there¡ I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll have the energy to exist after that. I take a deep breath. ¡°Strong Nuclear, Target: Mass in contact with right hand, Set Base Law: False.¡±
Streams of sweat start to pour from my head as I could feel my muscles begin to buckle under the pressure of the laws. Using the equations is easy, the amount of energy it takes is tiny. However, changing the effect of a law on something¡ that¡¯s a lot of pressure.
Thankfully, it seemed that I had at least a little bit of juice left. The door quickly crumbled as I pushed on the it, leaving a palm sized hole in the middle. I was panting profusely now and my clothes were already drenched but it worked!
Leo: ¡°Physics Parameters Reset, Target(s): Pretargets.¡± The air around my hand stopped forming into plasma and I could start to feel again in my arm. Maybe¡ maybe I should have walked through the crowd.
I reach inside the hole I just made and started looking for the doorknob. After screwing around for a good five minutes, I realized I was searching the wrong side of the door and found the handle. I unlocked the door from the inside, took out my arm and opened the path to my future.
This school. This is where my life is determined. Everything I do here will impact the rest of my life. I look down the darkened staircase and using all the courage I could muster, I walked down.
---
The staircase was dark, the lights were turned off and I was pretty much stumbling the entire way down. It was pretty creepy actually. If I was in a horror film, this is probably the place where I find evidence of a monster and then I¡¯m attacked and killed.
*Drip*
What was that?
*Plop* *Splash*
I could hear the sound of running liquid. I should have kept walking but curiosity got the better of me. ¡°Energy Conversion, Target: Dark Energy, Set Amount 20 Lumens, Area of Impact: My Right Pointer Finger.¡±
A faint light starts to appear from the finger, just like I said. Usually, after using so much energy, I wouldn¡¯t dare use anymore. However, what I¡¯m doing is a conversion of energy, energy into energy. The impact that has on me is insignificant, especially since dark matter naturally wants to turn into other forms of energy.
I pointed my finger at the source of the noise. There, I saw tiny red drops falling from the ceiling, making a tiny puddle of red on the staircase. I cover my mouth with my hands, trying not to make a sound. I close my eyes just so that I can pretend that the blood wasn¡¯t real.
Wtf? Why is there blood here? Oh god, when I said I would die, I didn¡¯t mean it literally!
I silently stand still, hoping that whatever monster lurks these halls doesn¡¯t kill me.
???: ¡°I can see you¡¡±
I heard a voice, it was soft, like a child¡¯s but smooth and eerily creepy. The most alarming part was¡ that it came from behind me. My heart rate starts to increase and I start to breath heavy. Oh duck, Oh carp, Oh shirt, Oh man, Oh no, Oh god, Oh lord, Oh my, Please no, God no, Lord no, No no no no no no no n-
???: ¡°You ¡¡±
NO, PLEASE NO, WHAT DID I DO, THIS BETTER NOT BE ONE OF THOSE STORIES WHERE THEY SHOW YOU A CHARACTER YOU BELIEVE TO BE THE MA-
???: ¡°You uh¡ you¡¯re not looking so good. You okay there buddy?¡±
¡
What? That doesn¡¯t sound like something a monster would say.
I turn around and point my finger directly in front of me. There, standing above me was a little girl wearing some kind of gothic outfit. She looked down at my confused, holding out a juice box in her hands. Red liquid was leaking from the box.
Lolita: ¡°Hey! You¡¯re not having a heart attack! You want some ¡®Spicy Juice¡¯?¡± She looked at me with the outstretched juice box in her hands, completely oblivious to the trauma she just gave me.
Leo: ¡°You¡ you almost scared me to death! Why is there a little girl in the middle of a dark staircase?!¡± I frustratedly yell at her, she looks at me blankly and starts to frown.
Lolita: ¡°First of all, I¡¯m Lucy. Secondly, I¡¯m a student and this is my favourite place to hangout.¡±
Lucy looks at me expectantly. So¡ she is a loli. I¡¯ve been labeling her as much in my head but I didn¡¯t think I was right. She continues to stare at me. She¡¯s probably waiting for an apology.
Leo: ¡°My bad. I just assumed from your height¡¡±Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
She glares at me angrily. Sensitive subject I guess.
Leo: ¡°Anyway, do you know where the freshman assembly is? I¡¯m pretty sure I¡¯m late but I don¡¯t know. The entrance was kinda crowded.¡±
Lucy: ¡°Yeah I know where it is¡ but why should I tell you. This is the first time we met and your just insulted me. I think you gotta do something for me first.¡± She smiled cruelly. Great. Evil Loli¡¯s, not my favourite.
Leo: ¡°What do you want. Make it quick, I don¡¯t have much time.¡±
Her grin spread across her face. ¡°Here.¡± She extends the juice box again. ¡°Drink this.¡±
I take a look at the box. It¡¯s labeled ¡®Spicy Juice¡¯. I look at her with the most confused expression I¡¯ve ever made in my life. She nods her head up and down, motioning for me to take it. Seeing as she was just drinking some, I¡¯m pretty sure its not poisoned. I take the box from her hands.
She tries to hide her excitement but I can see her mouth twitching. That and her incessant giggling. Why does she want me to drink this so bad? I take a sip from the straw.
It¡¯s not bad. It just tastes¡ holy fuck.
My face contorted and I drop the box and start scratching my throat. ¡°HOLY FUCK, WHY. IT FUCKING BURNS, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.¡±
The girl dropped to the stairs, laughing her heart out while I was screaming mine out. It was like lava running down my throat, it was horrible. I ran down the stairs, her laughter slowly being drowned out as I got farther and farther from that horrible witch.
Driven by the need to get rid of this horrible feeling from my throat, I somehow found the exit to that disgusting staircase. It was a solid door painted the same colour as the walls. It sat precariously on one of the steps. You¡¯d have to open the door and then walk inside in order to get in.
When I opened the door, a wave of refreshing light rushed into the room and I could see the insides of the school. A few students were walking around, some looked at my completely red face, made a slight comment to their friend and walked past, none of them too surprised that I was trying to climb through a door that wasn¡¯t even at the floor level. Half the door was beneath the floor.
When I finally got out, my clothes were covered in dust and my eyes were bloodshot. I looked around frantically. Water¡ I NEED WATER. I ran down the halls, brushing past other students and the such. I made the quick observation of the red emblems emblazoned on their uniforms, different from the blue ones that me and the other freshman had.
I ran around the school for what seemed like an eternity in hellish pain before I saw it. A water fountain. I ran towards it, pressed the button and let the sweet, refreshing liquid remove that horrible feeling from my mouth.
Except that it didn¡¯t. Instead, it only made it worse. I jumped back, coughing up tons of water. WHY? WHY? WHYYYYYY?
I felt someone put their hand on my shoulder and then I heard a few words. ¡°The one I touch, I¡¯ll make it such that his mouth which burns becomes as he yearns.¡±
Suddenly, I felt the intense pain recede from my mouth. God, Language is so convenient, I thought to myself contently before realizing that someone actually helped me. I turned around and saw the most beautiful sight in my life.
It was a student¡ I think. She was more like an angel who had descended from the heavens. A cute button nose, round eyes, small, full lips, long hair and a massive rac¡ gotta stop there.
Angel: ¡°Are you alright?¡±
She looked at my with actual concern, unlike that psycho loli from before. I could only incoherently babble in front of her. Then, I just nodded my head, giving up on trying to communicate like a human.
She smiled a genuine smile. I felt my heart flutter. ¡°That¡¯s wonderful. I¡¯m sorry about that. That girl you met is Lucy. She loves to play pranks on people, but sometimes she takes it too far.¡±
I continued to nod my head, like a bobblehead. The bell rang overhead and I was suddenly brought back to reality. ¡°Oh, it looks like I¡¯m going to be late. I¡¯m sorry but I¡¯ll have to end this conversation now. It was nice meeting you.¡±
She ran off down one of the halls as I sat there regretting the fact that I didn¡¯t even ask for her name. Then I re-realized that my entrance ceremony was happening right now¡ and that I was late.
I ran throughout the halls which resembled a maze rather than a school. I swear I crossed the same point three times, but I knew I wasn¡¯t because my displacement was still increasing. I passed a few hundred students loitering in the halls before I finally heard this.
???: ¡°Welcome to the Academy new student!¡±
I turned to the direction of the sound and found two large doors¡ right in front of the main entrance. I sighed. I guess I know why there was such a big line-up. I opened the doors and hoped that the announcer wouldn¡¯t stop speaking leading to everyone staring at me and my anxiety rising more than it should have today.
I took two steps in, and closed my eyes in response to the embarrassment I would face. However, when I realized scenarios like those only happen in stories, I opened my eyes and saw that the announcer was still speaking.
Not a single student was staring at me either. There were a couple of teachers that were giving me bad looks. I should probably sit down. I give the seats a quick look over before finding an empty one. I quickly reach the row and begin making my way through. The students paid me no mind unless they were unable to see the stage in which case they gave me a nasty glare.
I finally reached me seat and sat down, I could feel the tension built up in my muscles slowly being released. Ah, sweet uniformiarity. I placed confidence into the fact that I was just one among so many students, sitting here and listening to the person at the front blabber away. I was just one of many. I decided after one minute of absent-mindedness to actually look up and see what the person was saying.
What I saw on the stage was a man dressed in bright blues and whites, similar to our uniforms but much more uniform and composed. He had a single monocle on his shirt which he constantly readjusted throughout the entirety of the time I was looking at him.
Announcer: ¡°Finally, lets bring up the representatives for your year. Here are the top scoring students in each individual field. They far surpassed the rest of you not only by marks, but by speed, comprehension, understanding and skill used in their solutions. First up, Nancy Chitingale your English honor¡¯s student.¡±
A girl got up from the crowd and walked over to the stage where she climbed the stairs quite calmly and composed. Her demeanor matched that of the man up there and for a moment, I figured that they were the same person, just older¡ and male.
Announcer: ¡°Here you go Nancy, wonderful job. Now, onto our next subject¡ Mathematics. Tallis Shannon.¡± Another girl got up from the crowd. This one seemed a lot more nervous and scared. She quietly ascended the steps and took a bow, a few chuckles emerged from the crowd and her face flushed a deep red.
The announcements went on for some time and before I knew it I dozed off. I was woken up by the mention of physics. My ears know me well. I stretched my arms and punched the kid beside me in the face. He wasn¡¯t too happy.
Announcer: ¡°Finally, we have our last subject. Physics. Our student this time presented amazing results and had almost professional levels of all types of physics. Here¡¯s the boy to look out for, it¡¯s Leo Galilei!¡±
Good for him. I sat contently before I figured out whose name that was. I stood up, but not to walk to the stage. I stood up in absolute confusion.
But... I never took an exam.