The day arrived that the University was finally open to the public, the local aristocracy was present during the inauguration of the establishment. Reitz gave some opening remarks but it was Ezra who had the final speech as headmaster. The day was declared as a holiday throughout Bren and would be celebrated perpetually, it was also conveniently Ezra"s birthday.
The children in attendance totalled around three thousand and with their parents in attendance, almost all of Bren was present during the inauguration. Some of the local n.o.bles enrolled their children, their number totalled around 38. What was amusing was that these children enrolled by the n.o.bles were the ones with no hope of inheriting their t.i.tle.
Some n.o.bles of the surrounding domains were in attendance, they hoped to be able to mingle with the princess again. The Baron overseer of Anticourt was among these people but he already stayed in Bren for three weeks, he smiled happily and was humble toward Ezra his mind had been opened by the knowledge that he was taught. He actually was the only n.o.ble who enrolled in the university, along with his three children from different wives.
The others found this news quite amusing and talked about him behind his back, demeaning him. However, most of them didn"t pay any attention as they thought that it was just a way of sucking up to the Blackfyres, none of them did this because they thought that anything that would be taught at the university would be beneath them, they were even especially repulsed knowing that commoners were going to teach, what some of them did instead, was enroll their children to the inst.i.tute.
"We will push forth a new age of knowledge and it shall be the duty of this inst.i.tution to bring up and build our fellow man as we strive to uplift the comforts of everyone from the toiling peasant to the lofty n.o.ble," Ezra spoke.
"Tomorrow you shall be tested for apt.i.tude in certain fields, for those who have a lack in knowledge do not worry, the university shall segregate those who need sharpening for basic cla.s.ses and then you may advance in the track of your choice. We will test you and cla.s.sify you into different grade levels until you can be certified in the programme for which you want to pursue. In the future, you will be the ones who are to teach and spread this knowledge. I end my statement here and welcome everyone!" Ezra concluded.
His speech was met by applause and enthusiastic looks from the crowd of commoners. After the event had concluded, the n.o.bles went inside the main hall of the university to enjoy the banquet while the children were escorted to their dorms and were provided food to celebrate the occasion.
The n.o.bles segregated into different groups chatting with each other. Others fawned over Hestia and Ezra who were together in a corner and they conversed with those who were in the circle, they overly praised Ezra since Erela was not present as she was fulfilling the bet she and Ezra had come to terms with.
"That is one way, of celebrating the coming of age of your son, giving a whole district to govern, by the way the buildings here are quite the sight. It has quite different aesthetics from the rest of the empire." the count of Dragonorn chatted with Reitz, "that is quite a huge undertaking you have burdened him with."
"Actually, my son helped the Lady to design most of these buildings if anything it was mostly a combination of their imaginative capabilities," Reitz smiled, "By the way, how has Madame Erela settled in Crihavik? I trust you have acquainted her with the town, Viscount Randolph."
"I have," Lord Randolph frowned, "she is . . . not too enthusiastic with her quarters or the state of the town, she kept muttering something about lazy serfs and unreasonable living conditions." He shook his head," The overseer of the town has temporarily retreated to his castle and let her run the town as per the agreement."
"Well that is quite amusing, I wonder how she will do?" Reitz smiled malevolently, ",I hope she didn"t give you too much of a hard time" Reitz chuckled.
"Earl Blackfyre, if your son can run this little district that you made then I doubt that he"d lose the bet," the viscount smirked, "as for my experience with the esteemed Actrix, let"s just say I am more inclined to favour your son," he shook his head.
"Anyway, Earl Blackfyre, have you already prepared for the Irriton grove hunt tomorrow?"
"Of course, I"m looking forward to the experience, my father and his father before him had partic.i.p.ated in the hunt, for many generations our house has celebrated the coming of age by hunting inside Irriton. To kill a Precantae with your bare hands leaves quite the mark in your memories," Reitz replied and looked at the distance, he was always quite emotional when it came to his father. Most of the va.s.sals under him knew this and tried to avoid the topic.
The viscount saw this and became uneasy, this was a topic that was close to Reitz"s heart, his father and mother died during a ma.s.sive Arcanist attack south of, there were many n.o.bles who lost their lives in that incident. No one understood how exactly all of those powerful mages got slaughtered since Legio Imperia was not too far away from the skirmish. The battlefield was inspected and it seems that both sides were obliterated through the battle.
There were many mysteries that surrounded the incident, however, there hovered in Reitz"s heart something that was not even spoken of. It was that his father was probably betrayed and ma.s.sacred, but this was just his hunch and he had no proof of it whatsoever.
"Well, good memories are ones that make life worth living, Lord Reitz," the viscount tried to reroute the conversation.
"Aye," Reitz nodded, "We already a.s.sembled quite a force, we will be attempting to get to the centremost part of the grove,"
"Why, that hasn"t been attempted for three hundred years," the viscount gasped.
"It hasn"t," Reitz nodded, "but I think we can finally do it, I have my son with me after all," he beamed.
"Well, good luck with you on that, that will be big news if you succeed. Precantae aren"t creatures that are easy to deal with."
"Yeah, there are droves of them in the middle, doesn"t it make you curious? Don"t you find it odd? It always has been a mystery."
"It is quite intriguing that there are many of those creatures there," he nodded, "It would be fascinating if you solved the mystery Earl Blackfyre."
"Don"t worry, Lord Randolph, you will be one of the first to know what exactly goes on if we successfully engage the centre," Reitz smiled.