White Rock Academy was located at the edge of Jua village surrounded by a few streams of clear water. Children in the village would enter the school at age 6 and graduate by the time they were 9 or 10 having advanced from the Entry level to the Bone Forging realm. It took children an average of 3 or 4 years to move across these 4 levels of martial warrior training.

All the children running to school from the playing field were soon near the school gate where 2 Lion Guards stood. It was a strange sight, these 2 tall humanoid men standing at over 7 feet while donning golden armor and covered in red fur. The bodies of the Lion men looked human yet their heads were lion heads. They held huge red spears in their arms fitting the image of guards. Although they were supposed to look intimidating, one of them was snoring peacefully while the other was squatting on the ground looking bored as hell. These two Lion Men were Spirit Beasts.

In the Zika world, there were many strange sights due to the presence of all manner of magical, spiritual and divine powers. It was not rare for animals to gain some sort of awareness and intelligence due to some magical opportunity. There were different types of beings in this category: Magical Beings, Beasts, and Creatures, Spirit Beasts, Demonic Beasts, Anima among others. The classification of these beings mainly depended on what their ‘opportunity’ was. Animals affected by magic could gain magical abilities and be referred to as magical beasts. As for Spirit Beasts and Demonic Beasts, they were polar opposites influenced by Spiritual Energy and Demonic Energy respectively. Spirit Beasts therefore had calmer temperaments similar to humans while Demonic Beast attributes corresponded with the characteristics of Demons.

The Sword Scar Continent and most other places in the Zika world had extremely strict Spirit Beast Protection Laws to allow harmony between humans and Spirit Beasts. The higher the intelligence of the Spirit Beast, the more humanoid they were and the more the law protected them. These rules however did not apply to Demonic Beasts which were far more aggressive due to the negative influence of Demonic Energy. Even after gaining intelligence, they would be far more bloodthirsty, sadistic, and cruel similar to evil humans and demons thus the relationship between them and humans was antagonistic.

The 2 Spirit Beasts at the gate were Radi Muruthi [Thunder Lion] and Mwaki Muruthi [Blazing Lion] also known as the Thunder and Fire twins. They were famous for their Radi-Mwaki [Thunder-Fire] technique and Radi-Mwaki formation all over the village. This was the main reason they got the role of guarding the children at school. Afterall it wasn’t uncommon for strange things to wander into the village. This world was full of the unknown.

Between these 2 guards was Teacher Bine whom all the students were scared of. He stood there chatting with them but it was more like he was speaking to himself. As Mwana and the rest of the students zoomed past the gate, he gave them a deep glare looking ready to start giving a speech but no one gave him the chance. The little children’s speed seemed to have multiplied several-fold despite how tired they were from the run.

The view inside the academy was simple yet breathtaking, a perfect learning environment. In the center of the school compound was a large rectangular thatched hut that was open on all sides with red flame grass as the roof giving it a fiery orange color. This grass was not just a decoration as it could absorb and convert solar energy making it easier for the children to train. The main building itself was partitioned into several sections for the different classes.

There was a purple tree outside the classroom building whose fruits could accelerate the students learning speed when prepared into juice by the Herbal teacher. To the right of the classrooms, there was a bridge over a small green stream with many species of colorful fishes swimming within. One could even see vague signs of Water Spirits that looked like transparent fish. The stream seemed to curve into a small pond behind the school where the head of the school lived. The Mermaid Head-teacher! However, it was just a rumor among the junior students that she was a mermaid who could take human form.

In the morning, the students first had to meet up with the new physical instructor, Teacher Karaka. They would follow the school schedule which involved: Morning training – physical training, running a marathon [endurance], Boulder Field kickboxing [strength], and Moon Blades Target Practice [precision]. They got onto the field track in on the other side of the school and started running. They had already warmed up from their previous Hook-ball game and running to school.

The schedule continued with Mid-morning: Theoretical Classes and Mid-day: Technical Classes – combat, energy manipulation, smithing and magic. This training would take place in school facilities such as the Drill Hall, Indoor Fitness Rooms, and Intensive Training Private Rooms. The schedule ended with Afternoon Classes involving Mental and Spiritual Training.

The Academy classes included subjects such as general studies, applied skills, and specific skills which was a class where one was appointed a mentor to learn a specific skill of their choice. At least with these 3 classes, even a kid like Pendo who could not learn martial arts could acquire useful skills. Mwana himself had an art mentor who was actually Jua Urembo herself.

After the morning training, he passed by her small office which was in the form of a hexagonal hut to check on his art supplies. However when Urembo asked him about the painting he was working on, he couldn’t help but sheepishly dodge the question remembering his deal with the old man. At least he gained a good sword out of it. Apart from the art lessons, Mwana was also in a sewing and embroidery class to further sharpen his skills. He quickly gave an excuse and ran to start his Mid-Morning classes.

The lesson the children of Mwana’s age would be attending was Martial History. The teacher for this class was a middle aged man who was always wrapped in long green robes and had pierced ears hanging down almost to his shoulders due to the weight of his earrings. They were large and wooden earrings. In addition, he wore multicolored necklaces with many small beads that were even brighter than anything any of Mwana’s aunts wore. His hair was short and he had a square head with small eyes that made him look as if he was perpetually squinting.

Mwana had never seen this man smile in his life! Naturally, this teacher was the younger brother of Jua Ugumu. Just like his older brother, Jua Maadili possessed a ‘hard’ and no-nonsense personality. He was very successful as he owned a large potato and cattle farm in the village and his time teaching at the school was just voluntary work. For his experience in this field, he taught other social studies apart from history such as geography, agriculture, and religious studies. When the he came in, the students were already in their seats and Mwana was busy rubbing in the loss of Maji’s team and making fun of him. The teacher immediately called him out in a dry drawn out voice without mentioning Maji 1 who was also speaking back. Mwana always thought this teacher had ‘beef’ with him since he always picked on him.

New Words

Muruthi – Lion

Radi – Lightning

Mwaki – Fire

Bine - Beans

Urembo – Beauty [Jua Urembo is the village beauty. See Chapter 13 and 14]

Ugumu – Hardness [see chapter 13: The People of this village]

Maadili – Morals