[h1]Chapter 1: Young Heroes[/h1]

It was a nice, brisk morning in Eve City; there was a slight breeze blowing, the sky was perfectly clear and the winter months were finally ending, bringing back some green to the naked branches that typically decorated the city. A young man dressed in obsidian pants and a white undershirt stood in front of a mirror adjusting his clothes and flattening out unsightly wrinkles. Phillip moved over to his coat rack near his dresser and slid on his matching obsidian Magus Academy coat that signified him as a secondary level student. His roommate had already departed for the school buildings even though classes were not going to start for roughly another half an hour. Phillip was currently finishing up a few classes from the standard course load such as secondary history and science but along with the typical classes he was placed in a pair of advanced magic classes along with a handful of other students who specialized in alternative styles of magic. Then of course there was also his combat training classes where a variety of fighting techniques and weapon specializations were taught. The black haired young man was one of the top marksmen in the Academy but had recently been focusing on honing his abilities as a squad leader; he had been beaten convincingly by an upper level student two years ago that swung the tide of the fight in his favor by managing to close the distance between the two combatants and forcing Phillip into a close quarters fight. 

Finally satisfied with his appearance the young gun mage grabbed his necessary books and departed for class. His four story dormitory was populated by a collection of boys close to his age numbering close to three hundred total male secondary level students. The total enrollment of Magus Academy recorded at the beginning of the academic year was 2,476. This was a record number for Magus Academy's brief history and Phillip had seen enrollment increase by a small percentage every year for the past seven years. The male to female ratio was fairly even but, luckily for Phillip and the other boys, was skewed in slight favor towards the female side as there were a large number of families in the outer rim of New Eden who were still in the process of acquiring a consistent supply of Mana-Drives from ManaTek Industries and new Magic Towers that were still under construction and thus still needed their young men to stay and work traditional rural jobs.

The Magus Academy grounds were spread out over a five-hundred thousand square meter plot of land that was acquired eight-five years ago by the original founder, Valentius Argo. It was a beautiful campus that featured excellent architecture that truly exuded a sense of modernity, forward thinking and higher learning. In the spring, like it is now, students were often seen out on the various green lawns in the afternoons studying, eating, socializing or exercising. Magus Academy was a very special place and was seen by many as the focal point of progress in the land. But for now, at least to Xavier, the only thing that mattered was making it across campus to class on time. He wasn't known as a morning person and was late to his first class more than a student of his standing should be. His first class was Amaristine History and on this particular morning he just barely managed to slide through the classroom door just as the eight o’clock bell chimed across campus.