We humans had always been asking this question. In the whole vastness of the universe, were we ever truly alone? Our galaxy alone had hundreds of billions of stars but were we truly the only life form alive in the unimaginable largeness of space? Could the other stars have not birthed a different civilization aside from ours?
85 BC Earth's Time
Something magical had happened to a 15-year-old boy named Emery.
A sharp ringing sound filled Emery's head as he opened his eyes. The moment the ringing disappeared he then noticed the blue sky and the colossal castle in front of him.
He was at a loss. This castle was bigger at least ten times than the royal castle in the kingdom he belonged to. Not only its size, its spiral shape connected to arcs and other buildings with stones painted white, which seemed to radiate some light, were things he had never seen before even from the books he had read in his father's library.
However, that wasn't only the strange thing. He swept his gaze from left to right and there were an uncountable number of young people that seemed to be the same age as him walking in rows toward a strange large tower.
Emery didn't move, rather he was unable to move. The last thing he could remember was fire, destruction and death. He muttered to himself, "Am I dead? Father, where are you?"
He was contemplating when a booming voice called out to him.
"You! Move! Follow the line! Don't stop!"
Emery slightly jumped and when he turned around, the man wearing armor with intricate patterns of the color black and gold was pointing at him. The helmet also had a winged design, that covered the whole face except for the eyes, nose, and mouth, making a T shape. It looked so luxurious that even the armor of Emery's king used to wear in special ceremonies couldn't compare.
"I said, move!"
Emery jumped again and started to walk following the person in front of him.
"What is happening?" Emery said to himself.
And since Emery had a habit of speaking to himself, another young fellow on the line next to him called him.
"Heus te!"
Emery twisted his neck toward the direction of the voice and saw another young boy. He pointed to himself with a confused look. Emery asked, "Were you calling for me?"
"Ita vero, te!" The young boy cleared his throat and changed his words, "Are you Briton?"
Emery had recognized the words the young man used. It was latin. He had studied a bit of Latin, but it wasn't enough to make conversation with. Fortunately, the other boy spoke Emery's language with a strange accent.
"You're the first to understand what I'm saying. D'ye know what happened or where're we?" asked the boy, with short brown hair.
"I… I don't know," said Emery, shaking his head.
Emery was just as clueless as anyone. All he knew was they were being ordered to walk toward that purple tower. He looked to see if almost everyone around him had the same view; they were indeed either fearing or confused.
It didn't take long before they arrived in front of the gigantic tower that seemed to stretch toward the sky, looking from its feet. There were like thousands of people wearing the luxurious armor he had seen before and the widest staircase he had ever seen going into the tower.
At the center of the stairs there were several men and women wearing gray robes. The man who had a long beard appeared to be the oldest stepped forward.
Emery felt like he was looking at a giant despite the old man being the same size as his father. And the old man stomped his staff, and a voice sounded in his mind.
"Welcome to the Magus Academy," the old man said, not moving his lips.
Tens of thousands of people reacted with surprise as they stared at the old man.
The man then continued, "You are the chosen few from the thousands of human worlds. Whether you take hold or not of this opportunity, it is up to you. You are at Magus Academy, the peak of humanities ingenuity. Magic, science, and might is all available to those who seek it."
The purple tower behind the old man, slightly lit after he had said those words.
"We are giving all of you seven days to study whichever you desire and after that, you will return to your respective worlds. If you are worthy and able to meet our criterias, Magus Academy will again be open to you once more. If you're unfortunate, then you will forget everything that happened in this place. Use your time wisely. I hope all of you are successful."
After the old man finished speaking, he waved his staff and everyone felt a burning sensation in their left palms as if they had been stamped by hot iron. In Emery's palm, a circle with a line extending from the bottom to top formed and the ringing sound filled his head again.
Not longer after, the burning stopped so did the ringing. Emery's ear piqued up as he heard the words around him.
"Magus Academy? We're at a place of learning?" said a random guy. "Am I dreaming?"
Emery realized he could understand the various languages around him. He was about to ask the boy who asked him before when a female voice entered his head.
"Everyone, gather according to your class and world. Focus your mind on the symbol in your hand."
It was a strange request but it wouldn't hurt trying it, would it? As soon as Emery did so, the symbol on his hand lit and showed various words.
[Emery]
[Male, 15 years old]
[Planet 1002 – Earth]
[Magus Academy Class 77]
Everything was truly like a dream. If this was the afterlife, then wouldn't his father be here with him? But no, he wasn't here. The only rational explanation was that this was a dream.
"Hey, you're class 77 and planet 1002 too? It looks like we're from the same world. My name is Julian, what's your name?" said Julian, the boy who spoke with him before.
"I am Emery"
This brown haired man named Julian had an air of nobility from the way he carried himself and white clothes. He suddenly shouted, "Who else is here from Planet 1002 Earth?"
Emery could somehow feel this man was reliable. He had never seen Julian lose composure even once despite being in the same position as him. Emery approved what this boy was doing as well, it was quite smart to have the same people who came from their own planet, so that they could ask each other questions on what they remember before appearing here.
Three young people came over to where Emery and Julian were; they weren't far away.
The first person to arrive was a beautiful black haired girl with brown skin. Second was another brown haired boy who had an air of wildness. Lastly, a boy with slanted eyes that had his long black hair tied to a bun arrived.
They all looked the same age, but it was clear as day they came from different parts of the world.
"Would the beautiful woman introduce herself first?" said Julian, making a bowing gesture.
"I am Klea. Alexandria, Misr."
"Oh, that's close to ours," replied Julian, smiling. He then pointed at the boy with slanted eyes and asked, "You my friend. I know you're our friend from the east. China?"
The boy shook his head and said, "Dongbuyeo. Chumo is my name."
"Wow, that's the easternmost area of China. It's so far away!"
Emery recognized those names from the parchments he had read in the royal library. For Julian to be well-versed in all this, Julian must be a high noble from where he had come from.
The last boy, although still the same age as them, had a muscular build. He stepped forward close to Julian and said, "I'm Thrax, a Thracian. Julian, you're a Roman, aren't you?"
"That is right. I'm from Rome," replied Julian, standing his ground.
Thrax came a little closer and said, "Roman pig."
"Barbarian," said Julian.
The joyful atmosphere became tense as Thrax and Julian glared at each other's eyes.
Emery stood at the back, observing everyone. He couldn't help as well but get a strange feeling that despite their differences, they would all have a long destiny together.
Little did these kids know, they would soon shape the history of their world. And they would become the Earth's greatest magi.