When I headed back inside, I could see that most of the others had put down their pencils. I took a seat back in my chair, scooting closer to Rio to ask, “How was it?”

“Um… Very difficult, I didn’t know almost any of them. What about you?” He whispered back.

“Same. I either guessed or just didn’t answer a lot of the questions.”

“Oh, we’re in the same boat then, haha.”

I yawned, stretching my arms while the teacher collected everyones papers. The class was still mostly quiet but there were a few people trying to get to know their desk-mates.

Not even five minutes later, the teacher stood up from his desk and headed to the podium at the front of the class before starting to speak, “Quiet down.”

Everyone listened and focused their attention onto him.

“I will now announce the results.” He said before looking around.

Results? The test was kind of a mess, questions were thrown around everywhere. I didn’t think that there’d be a public announcement for this. Weren’t there some opinionated questions too? How is he grading these?

“I will be going in order, from first to last: Taku Frostborne, Alessa Askew, Jack Rowe, Issac Doran, Katie Crosby, Alton Caird…” He went on and on until he finally got to me, “Rio Vondheart, and Leo Vondheart. That is all for class today.” As he said those words, a bell rang.

Mm… Dead last, huh? I kind of expected it, but I also thought I would know more, considering I wrote it…

“It’s okay! Tests don’t mean anything!” I could hear Rio whisper in my ear.

“Well, they do kind of mean a lot actually. They’re a pretty good show of improvement.” I replied, pausing for a moment before continuing, “Not this one though, I think this one is just to see someone’s base-line. Starting point if you will. I think the next test might actually matter.”

Rio tilted his head, “Ah- Okay...So you’re not sad?”

“No?”

He released a sigh of relief before replying, “That’s good!”

I stood up. I could see most of the other students leaving.

“I think he said that theres a cafeteria in this building, you want to go get lunch?”

Rio’s stomach rumbled as he stood up, “Ah- Hehe.” He nervously laughed.

“Let’s go look around.” I replied and we headed out.

…

We checked a lot of doors that led to a variety of rooms. For a good minute, we were finding every room except the cafeteria. The locker room, showers, blacksmith, library, it took a while, but eventually we found the cafeteria.

There were 3 other students, all of them sitting at separate tables. There was a lot of different foods on a serving tray, being kept warm by a small light. Rio and I grabbed a dish before taking a seat at a table.

Stolen story; please report.

“It smells good, but not as good as Mr. Jack’s.” Rio commented as he whiffed the meal.

“I agree.” I replied before taking a bite.

They were fluffy, scrambled eggs.

Pretty good… I mean, I guess you can’t mess up eggs.

Rio started to eat as well.

A few minutes later, I felt a tap on my shoulder. Turning around, I could see it was Taku Frostborne.

“Hello there.” He greeted me.

“Hey?”

“May I- Can I take a seat?”

“Sure, go ahead.”

Taku took a seat next to me.

“Is now a good time?”

“Huh? For what?”

“I was thinking about what you said, since we have talked before, we’re not exactly ‘strangers’ now, are we?”

“We aren’t complete strangers, but we’re still strangers. Anyways, go ahead, ask whatever you want.”

“Are you sure? May I?”

“I won’t guarantee any answers yet. But I am curious now.”

“That’s good enough-Ah, pardon me, where are my manners.” He turned towards Rio before standing up and taking a bow, “My name is Taku Frostborne, I believe you were Rio Vondheart? It’s a pleasure to meet you, officially.”

“H-huh? H-hello again, Mr. Taku.” Rio stood up and bowed.

“You two know each other?” I asked.

“We briefly met at the princess’s ball.” Taku replied before taking a seat.

“Ah, okay, gotcha.”

“So, Mr. Vondheart-”

“Just Leo.”

“So, Leo, I wanted to ask about your songs and their effects.”

“Go ahead-Mm? Hello there?” I stopped my train of thought as I looked towards the guy standing behind Taku.

“Numbers 17, 16, and number 1.” He started to speak, he had neat black hair, green eyes and wore glasses.

What was this guys name… Ah, Alton Caird? What does he want?

“You are… Mr. Caird?” Taku looked at him.

“I will not lose next time.” He replied while looking at Taku before turning away and walking out.

…Uh? What was that about?

“So, Leo, that first-” Taku’s voice was stopped by a sudden door slam and shouting,

“There you are!” It was Ayaka Frostborne. She stormed behind Taku before tugging at his arm, “Let’s go!”

“W-wait, dear sister-”

“You promised!”

Taku was dragged away by Ayaka.

“We’ll talk again later, Leo!” Those were Taku’s final words before the door shut behind him.

“That was eventful?” I looked towards Rio.

“Haha, Mr. Taku seems like a busy man.”

“He is in the duke’s family after all.”

“H-huh!? Really!?”

“Yeah. I think he’s the heir actually. Anyways, were you interested in going to that swords class?”

“Oh- Um…” He nervously looked at me.

“I planned on going mostly for the footwork, I might give the sword a try but it’s probably not for me.”

“Then I’ll be going too!”

“Mm…Rio, here, come take a walk with me for a bit.” I stood up and headed out of the building.

“Huh?” Rio followed.

This was a problem, I’d have to at least start to solve. Especially since we were in Heavensward now.

The wind breeze against my hair as I looked towards the flowery surroundings.

“Rio.”

“Yes?”

“You know we aren’t always going to be together, right?”

“Huh…?” He stopped walking and I stopped as well.

“Especially now that we’re in Heavensward. There are things I’m suited for and things that you’re suited for. Things that I want, things that you want. While we’re here, we’re going to be separated quite often, due to classes and such.”

“What are you…”

“I want you, to become the best version of yourself. To have fun, to have friends, and be alright, even if I’m not there. I don’t want us to separate or drift apart or anything, I just want you to be a little more self-reliant.”

“But…I want to be with you.”

“I want to be with you too, but…Here, let me say an example. You have the talent ‘Weapon Master’, to make full use of that talent, you’ll have to take a multitude of different classes for different weapons. I can’t do that, nor do I want to. I won’t be able to be there for all of those classes.”

“…”

“There are also some classes I’m interested in for myself, ones that I know you don’t like, such as the woodcarving class. I wouldn’t want to force you to come to something you find boring.”

“Leo…”

“I know this got like super-serious suddenly, but all I’m trying to say is, I want you to go to classes you like without worrying about me. I still want to hang out and be together, but this is Heavensward, a place where we learn about what we want to, and a place to grow stronger. You understand?”

Suddenly, I felt a pair of arms wrap around me, “Okay…But please don’t start your sentences like that…”

I had a slight smile as I put my hand on top of his head and ruffled his hair, “Alright, my bad.”

I continued to speak, “Oh, but I am still going to that swords and footwork class. I’m a bit interested in learning how to move.”

“Haha.”