Unmotivated Deity

It was only after the others of his group gathered behind the long desk that Jien pulled his attention off of the other soon to be students. He was thinking over the possibilities of what they would be asked to participate in during their time here and how he would best work with the varying groups. He knew that some would by far be easier to get a long with than others, which was true even in day to day life. He only hoped that none would try and cause trouble for him along the way.

As they were standing outside the large gates with the stone wall looming above them they were not currently able to see what the academy looked like. The little that they saw through the open gates were just open, sandy practice fields. Though the white sand appeared packed down by years of use it appeared to still be loose enough to allow for adequate muscle training. Jien and the others had experience with this kind of training under the tutelage of their mentors and it made sense that the academy would also use similar methods.

They were all excited to take their first look at the place they would be calling home for the near future and it was Rosalind that took the initiative. She took hold of Jien's hand and pulled him along toward the passage between the doors. The others could only shake their heads and give a laugh as they trailed after the pair. It seemed like they weren't taking the situation seriously at all, leading to a number of new students to give the party of six strange looks.

It was as they exited the other side of the gate that they were able to get a better view of the academy itself, or at least the first row or two of buildings. Near the entrance to the gate were several large, sandy training grounds with large roads of stone running between them. Each could hold over a thousand people with ease and there appeared to be about twenty of these training fields in two rows of ten that stretched left and right as far as they could see. These training grounds had a variety of training dummies, obstacle courses, weapon racks and much more, varying completely in intention from one to the next.

Beyond this barrier of training fields was a number of wide, low buildings made out of the same pale brown stone as the port city. These buildings appeared to have no windows, only leaving simple wooden doors every ten or so feet. Jien and the others weren't positive about their purpose but they felt that these were likely storerooms for any possible tool required for use in the training fields, built here for ease of access before or during lessons.

Beyond these short buildings others that only grew in height until they reached the center of the academy. Their, in the dead center of everything was a massive building in both height, length and width, it's highest point a spiraling tower of pure white marble that seemed to be reaching for the sky above. On top of this pure white spire was a large bell made out of a golden material that seemed to reflect the suns light, becoming a bright golden star all its own.

This massive building appeared to have a total of five floors if one paid attention to the number of tall windows that let in the desert light. Jien was unsure of whether this was accurate or if there were underground floors as well, but one thing was clear, and that was that this building was the most impressive of the academy. It must have held an important purpose, as all other buildings were plain boxes made of stone with windows by comparison. The entire academy was built around this singular building, drawing the eyes of all newcomers to the bright reflecting light of the bell.

It was several minutes before the group of six stopped staring at the central building with its tall spire and tiers of arched windows. After they come to their senses they realized that they had no idea where to go. They had signed the oath and the woman that had helped them had not informed them of anything else, simply letting them pass once the oath took effect.

Being left on their own they quickly looked around, soon finding others in a similar predicament. It was not long however before a new arrival appeared from the direction of the central buildings. He was a tall man, taller than most of the fully grown men that Jien had ever meant, yet he looked as if he were perhaps malnourished in how thin he was. Despite this the man looked otherwise rather average with sandy blonde hair and deep green eyes.

The man wearing the academy's uniform looked over everyone present before wordlessly waving at them to follow. He didn't say anything at all, swiftly pivoting on his heels and walking the way he came with hands in his pockets. If one paid attention they would notice that there was just a single set of foot prints where he passed, showing that he was walking in his previous steps perfectly.

Not knowing where to go, Jien was the first of the several present groups to gather up the courage to follow the man he could only guess to be an older student.