Chapter 19: Academy Entrance 2
Jerod returned home and acted like he didn't just have a near death experience. This was the first time he had actually dropped HP doing anything. Thinking about that he felt that some experimentation would be needed in the future. How much did he need to get hurt to lose 1 HP? If it was like a game would he die if his HP went to 0 or would he be in a fainted state able to wake up later? He knew HP could regenerate on its own because Lindsay had said it wasn't full when he was born and had recovered over time. However, the regeneration rate was unknown and dropping down to 1 HP was too shocking to think about experimentation before using healing spells to go to full HP.
The next morning Jerod woke up and spent the entire day helping his family with the chores around the house and farm. He never had a close relationship with anyone outside of Lindsay in his past life and growing up with this family over the last 6 years was very meaningful to him.
Jessie his oldest sister was now 14 years old. She was tall and slender with brown hair and eyes. She had tanned skin and a smattering of freckles from working in the sun everyday. Jessie was kind hearted and adored her brothers and sister, so much so that she would always take on the harder chores so that everything would be done quicker each day allowing for everyone to have some play time together. At 14 she had already started to go to town with her mother once a week to get to know people outside of their normal stops and to eye eligible bachelors.
Jacob the next oldest at 12 was pudgy and much fairer skinned than the rest of his siblings. He did chores around the farm but often took on the chores that had him inside the barn where he could laze about in the hay. He still had the same disgruntled attitude about his parents having so many children. He never felt that he had enough food to eat, got any attention from his parents, or that his younger siblings respected him the way they should. Jacob was torn between being happy and angry that Jerod would be leaving to attend a magic academy. Happy because it would be one less person in the house and angry because he didn't get an opportunity like that.
The twins Julie and Jack were now 11 and followed their sister around like she was a goddess. Anytime Jessie would ask them to do something they would put all of their effort into it. They knew that if they did a chore wrong that Jessie would come back behind them and correct their mistakes and they didn't want to make her days any harder than what she made them herself. The twins had light brown hair with green eyes. They had tanned skin and freckles just like their sister. Jack was tall for his age and Julie was short. Most people found it comical that there was such a height difference between the two being twins. The funniest part was that they looked almost identical aside from that.
Cal, Jerod's father, was now 38 and feeling the years of work on the farm more often now. To ensure the family had enough to eat and had clothes on their backs year round he usually forwent the diagnostics of the healer unless there was something actually wrong. With Jerod going off to school soon and Jessie starting to look for a suitor he started to think more about who to pass the farm down to. Cal knew Jacob was lazy and didn't put any effort into doing his chores. However he didn't think that Jacob would make it in the army so he felt that passing the farm to him would be the only path he could open for his son. Maybe as the other children started to leave the house he would change seeing how many chores needed to be done without all the help.
Martha, now 36, was very emotional. Her youngest would be attending a magic academy soon where he would spend six years away learning magic. Of course there would be breaks here and there but it wouldn't be the same as having him around the house like now. To top it off Jack had decided he wanted to join the military when he turns 12 and Julie always talked about wanting to apprentice with the tailors in town. Jessie would likely be moving out when she turns 16 and Jacob... For some reason that boy always had a chip on his shoulder that Martha and Cal could never seem to remove. Her house would be almost empty in two years, like a domino stack falling starting with little Jerod.
Two days went by in a flash. Jerod was happy he had decided to put off any further adventures as he could see the forlorn look in his mother's eyes. He made it a point to help his father with his work to ease his burden. He would walk into the woods for 10 minutes both days and come out with a deer carcass that he had in his inventory. He had long discovered that placing items in there would basically freeze them in a state of timelessness until they were removed so they were fresh. This allowed the family to have a feast both nights and save meat for the upcoming winter giving Jerod some piece of mind.
Jerod said his good byes to his family on the farm and made his way to Madam Zell's clinic in town. She would be escorting him to the entrance exam since she had recommended him to the academy. When he got there he found a luxurious stagecoach outside with Madam Zell speaking with the occupant. As Jerod got closer she noticed him and she motioned for him to come join the conversation. Surprisingly the person in the stagecoach was a familiar face.
Jerod gave a courteous bow, "Good morning Lord Yama."
"Ah young Jerod, punctual as always. I was just speaking with Madam Zell here about bringing the both of you to the teleportation center. My daughter and I are going to a conference today in the capital and she wanted to see you off for your entrance exam."
Jerod looked at Madam Zell who smiled and nodded to him. "It would be our pleasure to accompany you."
Jerod assisted Madam Zell into the carriage as custom demanded and then entered it himself. This was Jerod's first time riding in a luxury stagecoach and he was immediately taken aback once he stepped in. From the outside it seemed to comfortably be able to seat 4 adults or 6 with no personal space. However on the inside it was like a sitting room from Madam Zell's manor. There was a tea table set up and comfortable couches set inside.
Seeing Jerod's amazed face Ana couldn't help but giggle. "Teehee.. I knew you would be quite shocked Jerod. It's amazing isn't it? There is so much more room in here than what appears on the outside right? You always walk everywhere you go so I wanted to give you a special ride so you won't be too tense for your entrance exam today. Come sit! I want to chat with my friend before you leave for what seems like forever!"
Ana, still as talkative as ever, was now 6 and treasured the time she got to spend with Jerod. He was the only person who treated her as just another kid instead of the daughter of a Baron. Being of noble status was great and all but most commoners would fawn over her and any time she met with other noble children they would be stuck up or disinterested in speaking with her. So she would always look forward to seeing Jerod when he was in town for either lessons or running into him during his errands.
Ana and Jerod chatted about random things while the carriage took them to the teleportation center. Before long what would have taken Jerod and Madam Zell 2 hours to walk was traversed in 30 minutes. They exited the carriage and with the Baron's authority they were admitted to use the noble teleportation hall. This was normally reserved for incoming and outgoing nobles and their families to avoid waiting in a queue. This hall also was able to teleport to more places than the other halls which were dedicated to the few connecting counties. Starsan county was not a very large territory so it only had two connected halls aside from the noble hall. Jerod was going to have to make a few trips through different teleportation halls to reach Hilas Magic Academy but using this teleporter he would be able to directly reach the school.
"You have been a great help Lord Yama. This saves us a lot of travel time and will allow me to prepare better before the exam." Jerod gave another bow.
"Think of this as my wishes of good luck for you today young Jerod. Having a talented mage come out of my territory provides me with some bragging rights and prestige so I have high expectations of you." Lord Yama laughed and went to say his farewells to Madam Zell.
"Good Luck Jerod." Ana looked down after saying the shortest sentence Jerod had ever heard from her.
Knowing what was on her mind Jerod smiled and said "Thanks! I am going to miss you too."
Ana looked up and smiled back at Jerod before going over to her father and leaving through the teleportation gate.
"Well little Jerod, I suppose it is our turn now. I will warn you that going through teleportation gates can be very dizzying. My suggestion would be to breathe out just before you step in, this will help you when you reach the other side."
Madam Zell then signaled to the portal operator that they were ready and they input the Hilas Magic Academy as the destination. The portal blinked once and it was ready for them to pass through.
"Let's go Jerod! It's time for your entrance examination!"
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Arodicus
Arodicus Still new to publishing on WN so my chapters have been coming out pretty sporadically. I am starting to use the scheduled release function now so hopefully you will start seeing at least a chapter a day release going forwards.
Thank you for reading!
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone