Orion Academy Arc

The Orion Academy Arc is the second story arc in the Orion Academy Saga. The arc finds Angela training for a duel against Oliver to determine her place in the First Grade Students. However, the academy has a mysterious aura around it as Angela discovers a mysterious girl.

The Duel of Minds and Magic
Back at Wintervale, Agent Loveheart talks to Winterthorne about how they need to retrieve Angela. Winterthorne turns to a frozen orc named Boswhelt and says that Angela will be back home soon.

After their mission at Loreford, the six head to their dorms as Angela heads back to her room. She finds a bow on her bed with a note from Celton to use it. She picks up the bow and feels how the weapon has no ammo and doesn't appear to charge. Angela decides to put away her weapon and start cram twelve years of knowledge into six months, something that she can do if she puts her head to it. The two decide to head out for a late dinner where Kai tells Angela how he never really had friends since he isolated himself to study. He thanks Angela for being a good friend and understands the situation that Angela is in. During the night, Angela continues to study eventually falling asleep at her table.

In the morning Angela wakes up to see a blanket on her and a sandwich next to her. She walks down to the gymnasium to see the First Grade Students working on their magic abilities. Angela asks Laura to help train her with the bow but Laura scoffs. Laura shoots a target with her two pistols AND tells Angela that she can't use magic but was able to train herself to be a formidable fighter. Half of her power is stemmed through practice, but the other half is through her mind and ability to predict and dodge shots. As Laura goes back to training, Angela decides to pick up the bow and try shoot a regular arrow. As she pulls back the bowstring, a burst of yellow light flings out sending Angela flying back. Kai comforts her saying that she can always use one of the school weapons, but Angela wants to use the bow in hopes of getting an edge of Oliver. Park comes and asks her what she is doing, to which Angela replies that she can't use the bow. Park explains that she is using too much magic energy and should try restraining the amount of energy her bow uses. He places a melon in front of the target and draws the bow. When the shot is fired, a large explosion destroys the target but Park remains still. As the smoke dissipates, the melon remains while the target is destroyed. Park explains she must be able to control the bow's power by hitting what she wants to hit and avoiding what she wants to avoid.

Park tells Angela to close her eyes and feel the bow's magical energy as she holds it. She closes her eyes but shoots an ammo. Park tells her that she must feel the magic around her, connecting everything in the room, connecting to the bow into her hand. As she pulls the bow, she feels the magic energy drawing into her. She releases flying back, and opens her eyes to find the bullseye of the target sizzling. Park smiles as Angela takes the first step to training. Park makes Angela shoot melons, run around cones and continuously shooting trying to not to fly back. Park says that Angela must not resist and try let all the energy out rather then pushing back. After shooting, Angela doesn't resist and flies back. But after multiple attempts, Angela sees that she is able to stand. After lots of running and restraint, Angela finally is able to shoot the target while not hitting the melon. Park then finally declares Angela to be ready to fight. He then explains to Angela that there are three types of offensive magic, Dynamic, Static and Weapon. Static magic is magic that requires the user to be stationary. Oliver uses static magic meaning that Angela must take full advantage of this.

The following day, the main gym hall is slightly filled with students. As Angela gets ready to fight, Kai tells her to use her logic and win. Park tells Angela to focus on succumbing to the magic and letting it flow into her. As Celton watches in the stands, Victor acts as the adjudicator of the battle. As Oliver walks into the stands, he brings out his wand. Angela prepares her bow and gets into position. As the match starts, Oliver casts a smoke screen (fumus pariunt) which blocks Angela's field of vision. As the smoke settles, she finds that Oliver has created considerable distance between the two of them. Oliver prepares a wind attack (ventum vulnus) and creates slices of air that can cut anything, Angela is able to dodge them but gets cut by the shoulder. Angela draws back her bow and feels the mana pushing into her and the bow. However, Oliver prepares to release a magic blast (crepitus advocabit) that forms faster than Angela's bow can. She releases the bowstring but is pushed back incredibly far, this however knocks Oliver away as well. Laura begins commenting on how Angela has no chance as Oliver's spell can recharge faster. In Angela's head, she remembers how Oliver has mainly a lot of regeneration spells and not a lot of attack spells. As such, if Angela were to close distance, Oliver wouldn't have anything in his arsenal. Angela then notices how that Oliver has only been able to release one spell at a time, which means that his options are limited. She then fires a barrage at Oliver, which Oliver nulifies with a concido spell. But as he nullifies it, she runs towards him in a zig zag direction, practiced from her training. As she draws her bow, the mana begins channeling through her body as Oliver can do nothing but repel the barrage sent to him. As the bow gets ready to charge, Kai cheers for Angela. But as she releases the bowstring, Oliver is in time performs nulify (concido) spell. Oliver casts a reject spell (repellam) and causes Angela to fly back. Kai and Dawn look in disbelief as Laura looks sternly down. Celton looks onward as Park mutters under his breath for Angela to win. Angela severely injured realises that if she takes another blast, she will get knocked out. Oliver then casts a sleep (somnum) spell that causes Angela to get weary. Oliver begins to collapse but says that he can casts a nullify (concido) spell to have the spell not affect him. As Angela gets weary, she looks at her bow and thinks about the ammo. She pulls the bowstring and holds onto one of the beams of ammo. As Kai goes to warn her not touch it, she holds it and feels the pain coursing through her right arm. But she now is wide awake and prepares to punch Oliver with it as she rips the ammo out of the bow. Oliver releases the nullify (concido) spell but it's too late as Angela punches Oliver sending him flying back. As Angela drops the crystal, she comments on how her arm feels numb. But as she thinks she won, Oliver stands again and points the wand at Angela. He summons a reject spell (repellam) which sends Angela flying back. As she crashes, Kai, Dawn and Park look in shock. Laura looks sternly while Dallas looks down in guilt. Park walks away while Celton gets up and walks off. Angela claims that she can fight more, but soon looses consciousness.

She soon wakes up in the recovery room to see the Kai and Dawn watching over her. She turns to her left to see Oliver muttering incantations over her. He gets up and goes to leave when Angela asks him why he helped her. He says that he must help someone in pain as it's rude to not do it. As he walks out, Kai and Dawn commend Angela for her efforts. But Angela says nothing, thinking about how she lost. Park walks in saying that he was impressed by Angela's efforts even though she lost. Angela smiles, when Celton comes in. He commends Angela then tells everyone else to leave. As everyone exits the room, Celton passes Angela the bow. He also mentions how because of her half angel, half human heritage, she was able to hold the ammo instead of collapsing. Despite having a long way to go, she still have potential.

Suddenly a tall man with long wavy hair walks in demanding to see Angela. The group gasp in horror but them immediately laugh, to the tall man's disdain. Kai says that the man is the ambassador of global affairs of Orion, Joseph Levite. Joseph tries to act professional but then asks to sees Dawn's panties, to which everyone laughs again. His secretary James comes in and orders Dallas and Dawn to shut up, to them immediately doing so. Kai says that what he did at Wintervale caused him a lot of trouble. But his main issue is with Angela, as she is a unregistered citizen of Orion. Celton says that she'll get registered later, but Joseph says that Celton can't do stuff like this as the Magic Union is looking for an opportunity to arrest Celton. As Celton leaves, Joseph says that he was sent to arrest Angela but can't since she's too hot. Joseph says that she'll get away if he can see her panties, to which James scolds her. Joseph then heads to Celton's office to do the paperwork as he bids them farewell.

In Celton’s office, Victor tells Celton that keeping a weapon like Angela unchecked will cause fights for her to occur. Park yells at Victor telling him that Angela is a student, not a weapon. Celton wonders if Wintervale or other countries will want to take Angela. As Joseph walks into the office, Park and Victor walk out. Celton comments on how Joseph hasn’t seen his father in a while. He goes on to say that due to Joseph’s apathy to angel magic, he has to risk the life of a young girl to save Magica. Joseph scoffs and walks out, to Celton’s disapproval.

In the infirmary, the First Grade students look around. Finally Laura brings up the topic of Angela. Everyone then looks to Oliver who sighs then stands up. He says that he was pleased of how much Angela was able to fight. As Kai and Dawn look excitingly, Oliver then says that he refuses Angela a place in the First Grade students. Dallas then yells at why Oliver won't let her, to which Oliver says that she isn't ready. Angela then says that she still has much to prove, and that she needs to be part of the course to be able to circumnavigate the globe. The room goes silent as Laura looks at Angela with disgust. She says that anyone who has a stupid dream of circumnavigating the globe in a time where humans are ridiculed has no place among the elite. Dawn runs off in anger as Oliver and Laura walk off. Dallas soon tells Kai to leave after the decision has been made. Kai apologises to Angela but she says that he has nothing to say sorry for. Kai then goes to get dinner and promises to bring takeaway for Angela.

Later in the landing bay, Joseph asks Celton why he has been so harsh with Angela. Celton says that it's to make sure that Angela becomes the best she can be, to which Joseph scoffs and leaves. James says that he stopped at the academy not just for Angela. Joseph says that it was to see his father again. In the cafe, the four are eating food when Kai leaves with his plate half finished. Laura asks why Dallas and Dawn are sad. Dawn says that Angela deserves a spot in the First Grade students even if their power levels are different. Dallas says that logically it makes sense to not let her have a place, but deep inside he feels that Angela deserves it and should be let in. Laura says that he is lying and how Dallas only said no because the promise he made to Celton, to which Dallas walks off and bids them goodnight. As Dawn also leaves, Laura asks Oliver how he feels. Oliver says that he is indifferent on Angela.

Kai runs back to the infirmary to see that Angela has left the bed. He runs around the school but can't find Angela anywhere. He finally heads down to the shore to see Angela staring at the ocean. As Kai asks why Angela is there, she replies that she wants to have some off time. Kai says that he is sorry about what happened, to which Angela says that its' OK. Kai offers reassurance but Angela tells him to leave. Kai asks whats wrong, to see tears rolling down her face. She says that she doesn't want Kai to see her like this. Kai offers a hand, and says that she is the strongest wizard he knows, to leave home and train under the belief of what she wants, she is incredibly resilient. Angela just tells Kai to leave. Kai then walks off as Angela looks at her ring.

Snow: The Student who Snapped
Two weeks after the duel, Angela continues taking her classes with the First Grade wizards. However none of the First Grade members acknowledged her, even Kai kept his distance after Angela told him to leave. Every night, she studies at her table working through textbooks. One day while looking through the library, she notices that a stairway is hidden behind a shelf. She hears the cries of a small girl through the stairwell. Park comes and asks how she has been going, noting how difficult learning the content would be. Angela asks what is down the stairs, to which Park replies to never go down them. He explains that underneath the academy are tunnels which serve the purpose of evacuation routes. However, some of the rooms are used as dungeons and contain monsters that if let escaped could destroy the academy. Park invites Angela to his hut in the mountains where he harvests the majority of his plants. A small wooden shack is surrounded by gardens, as herhinos stomp around the garden. Park warns Angela to exceed caution since Wintervale spies may come to rescue Angela. He apologises for not training her to be strong enough to defeat Oliver, but Angela says that it's fine.

Kai has become very depressed, not talking a lot after the events of the duel. Dallas and Dawn try to cheer him up but Laura tells them that he needs to mature up. That night, Angela heads back to the library and decides to descend into the dungeons below. She notes how the pipes from the sewage are leaking making it smell awful. She then hears the cries that she heard in the morning and follows them to a door. As she tries to budge the door open, she breaks the doorknob. She then pulls out her bow and fires at the doorknob and opens the door. Inside the room is a cage where a young blue hair girl sits. The girl is wearing tattered rags as ice covers the floor. The girl looks at Angela and begs her to not torture her, to which Angela reassures her. She notes how the room is incredibly frosty and the floor is slippery and hard to walk on. Angela asks what she is in the dungeon for to which Snow replies that she doesn’t remember anything before the dungeon. She then begins writhing with pain and warns Angela to get away. Suddenly, ice shards sprouting from the cell forcing Angela to run into the hallway. Terrified she sprints up the stairs and closes the door, to see Oliver looking through the library. Oliver asks what Angela was doing to which Angela replies with nothing and walks off.

The next day, Angela is attempting to listen to Victor’s lecture on geography when the cries of the girl haunts Angela. She ponders whether the school is hiding something due to the mysteriousness of the dungeons. Over the next couple of days, Angela brings food from the cafes and gives it to the girl to eat. She introduces her name as Snow and the two become friends. Angela notes that Snow is the first person besides Kai where she feels that she isn't being judged. Over the course, Snow describes how when she escapes from the cell, she wants to go to a beach. Angela smiles as she says that she can take her their one day.

One of the nights, Angela revisits the dungeon but the doors to the girls room has been opened. She hears footsteps followed by the sounds of the girls’ cries, forcing her to hide in a room. She sees Celton who passes her before turning a blind eye and continuing. When she goes into the room, she sees the girl crying again. Angela gives her some takeaway which she downs immediately. Afterwards she asks what Celton does to her, she reveals that Celton feeds her potions and casts spells on her that cause her great pain. Angela know considers the fact that Celton is potentially harvesting Snow as a weapon and will do the same with her once he’s finished with Snow. Snow asks if Angela fears her, to which Angela says that she seems like a nice girl. Snow begins smiling and thanks Angela for being her first friend. Whatever Snow touches becomes ice, meaning that she can’t touch Angela but thanks her anyways. Snow begins telling Angela to steal Celton’s key and let her out so that she can live with Angela, but Angela doesn’t know what to do. Angela thinks about how Park warned her of the dungeons, but as she looks at Snow she can't help but want to let her escape.

She brings the bow from the dorm and busts the cage open. As Snow walks out, the floor quickly turns to ice. Angela grabs Snow's hand and start running to let her free. Snow points out that Angela's hand is the first hand that doesn't freeze when she touches. This is because of the bond that they share. Angela swears that she'll let Snow see the beach. However before they leave the dungeons, Celton is there to stop them along with Victor. Celton orders Angela to let Snow go before their is fighting, but Angela refuses saying how it's wrong to imprison a girl like Snow. However, Kai comes out of the hallway and orders Angela to stand down. Kai says that Snow is now who she looks like. Angela, conflicted doesn't know what to do. However, Snow begins writhing in pain as she urges everyone to run away.

Another persona within Snow now proclaims Angela to die, as she creates shards of ice towards her. Kai tries to protect Angela but is too far away. However, Park jumps in front and shields Angela, taking the blow. Blood begins pouring down his shirt as he yells at Angela for being so foolish. Snow faints as Celton casts a spell on her. She thinks about how her first friend betrayed her before fainting. Celton orders Kai to take Park outside to get medical treatment and stays behind with Angela. He yells at her to not be foolish as humanity needs her to live so that she can protect humanity. As Celton walks off, Angela questions whether Celton broke Snow’s mind causing her to turn insane.

In Celton's office, Park is lying on the bed as Celton goes to heal her. Victor scolds her saying how she should be expelled for toying in the dungeons, but Celton orders him to stand down. Celton explains that the world isn't as it seems and Angela must learn to trust Celton, no matter how sinister his methods may be. He explains that Snow was a former student who turned evil due to the stress on her, and he was trying to save her through potions. Victor orders that Angela gets suspended, to which Celton agrees. However Park interjects, despite being in pain. Park decides that she will undertake normal lessons, but will have to work for him on off time. Celton agrees as Angela leaves the office. She looks at Kai who is standing in front of the office before they go their separate ways.

Story Impact

 * The arc introduces many new characters, especially with the introduction of Joseph Levite and James.
 * Joseph Levite's relationship with Celton Exodus is hinted at but not fully revealed.
 * The arc also introduces Snow, a major character in the series.
 * This arc is the first time Angela is seen to be in distress, as she is kicked from the First Grade Students.
 * Kai's background is hinted at but not fully explained.
 * The arc includes explanations of the geography of Magica as well as the history, especially with the description of the Norman War. It also explains magic to an extent with the explanation of mana and matrioles (the part of cells that absorb mana).