“Next are the outdoor training grounds,” Acacia informed their group as they left the cafeteria, all a bit rounder around the middle. They really spoiled class S students at the Academy. Even Marianne said the food was on par with what she ate at the palace.
Liliana wasn’t sure if her small group of friends had noticed it yet, but she’d been quietly ensuring they stayed as far from Dianna and Zir’elon as possible. She was less concerned with the other prince; he wasn’t a hero and therefore not as much a threat to her current status of having a head, but he’d come with drama from his brother. If she could get through all four years with minimal interaction from Diana and Zir’elon, she’d be happy, but with such a small class she didn’t think her chances were great. There was also Marianne. As the princess of their country, she’d need to speak to Zir’elon at some point. Liliana just wanted to get through her first day in the Academy with no hero encounters, if possible.
Alistair looked the most interested at the mention of training grounds, though Liliana would admit her own interest probably mirrored his. They’d seen the indoor ones. How would the outdoor ones compare? The only purpose Liliana could imagine for them was the increased size an outdoor training ground could have, and of course, showing off to other classes. Or give chances for other classes to learn about their competition.
Or perhaps they need the extra room for magic users who have a tendency to go overboard, Liliana thought as she slid a look towards Emyr, who was doing his best to hide in Alistair’s shadow. Her friend had taken to his Fire affinity with gusto, and had unlocked his Celestial affinity in record time. He was nowhere near proficient, but he was a danger on the battlefield with what few spells he had already. A danger to everyone on the battlefield. Allies included, as Liliana had learned the hard way. Friendly fire might not exist in the game, but it certainly existed in real life.
“As you likely expect, the training grounds are split based on class. Year groups have their training at different times of the day, so while each training ground is shared by all years of a specific class, there is no overlap.” Acacia told them as they reached the training grounds in question. In size, Liliana would compare the smallest of them to a football field from her previous life, with class S and A having the largest, bordering on the size of two football fields for class S. They truly must be expecting large-scale magic to be used if that was the amount of clearance they gave.
Liliana noted that other years had different time slots. It would be good if she could get a chance to watch upperclassmen in their training, perhaps pick up some new skills or spells by observing and applying their techniques. Their group approached the class S designated field and saw a veritable army of training dummies lined up, awaiting direction.
There was a building beside the deactivated automatons, which they were shown was filled to bursting with a multitude of training weapons. When they filed back out, Acacia smiled at them and approached a large crystal sticking out of the ground. She placed her ID card on it and after a few minutes, the first years were rewarded with the entire training field shifting until it resembled the ruins of a city.
It reminds me of those paintball courses I saw on the Internet. Liliana thought in awe as she looked over the drastically changed scenery. Several types of magic had to be used to create this, Illusion, Earth, Metal, at the least and likely Runeic for enchanting the crystal and grounds as well. Liliana changed her assumption of the outside training grounds to include large-scale battle practice. Probably to test their leadership abilities and teamwork.
Acacia did something with the crystal and the training ground reverted to the hard packed earth it had begun as before, motioning to their slightly wonder-struck group to continue. Whispers abounded in their group as their classmates excitedly conversed about what they’d just seen.
“They use the same thing for Knight training,” Marianne told their small group with an excited whisper, “Mother never let me participate, but she let me watch. I don’t know if it’s the same at the Academy, but the one the Knight’s use can pull from a set list of terrains, and any terrain the user has personally been in! It can even summon illusory opponents or beasts to fight, though they’re not as strong as the real things. Sometimes the Knights have beasts shipped in to fight.” Marianne gushed to them, practically vibrating with excitement. Liliana assumed she was chomping at the bit to use something she’d been previously banned from.
“I can’t wait to try fighting in a city setting, or to command troops.” Alistair said with a grin, his fists clenched in front of him as if he was ready to start duking it out with imaginary foes immediately.
“I wonder if my spells would reach all the way across the training ground,” Emyr murmured quietly and Liliana’s head whipped around to stare at him.
“Emyr. No.” she hissed out, earning her a slow blink from the boy.
“Emyr, yes.” Emyr responded quietly but with a small smirk that promised devastation to their poor training ground in the near future.
“[Starfall] wouldn’t, but [Starfire Blitz] might, or [Nova].” Alistair spoke up, naming off several of Emyr’s spells without even pausing. Liliana blinked in surprise. She barely knew Emyr or Alistair’s skills and spells. It’s not like they went around shouting them out loud when they activated them. She did know [Nova] though it was Emyr’s Rank 6 Quintessential skill, and it was the reason she had to buy a hair-growth potion. Sometimes she’d still swear she smelt burning hair in her dreams.
“Alistair, please don’t encourage him,” Liliana nearly begged, but the group was cut off when Acacia stopped in front of a new building.
“These are the stables,” she announced to the group.
“Wait, I thought we couldn’t bring mounts?” Alistair asked in confusion. He was echoed by several other students who looked rather irritated at the thought they’d been denied the chance to bring whatever expensive creatures their parents had bought for them to ride into battle.
“The stables for tames, and mounts for year 3 and 4 students. Classes A, B, C, D, and E keep their tames here. class S keeps theirs in private stables,” Acacia informed them in response to Alistair, and several other student’s, questions.
Liliana leaned forward, curious about what other beasts were in there. She had a new bestiary for the area around the capital, but she hadn’t had a chance to see any beasts not native to Rosengarde territory in person, and she was curious. She hadn’t even realized there were enough tamers to justify such a large building, but if it doubled as a stable for mounts, it made sense. Taming wasn’t a popular discipline, but it wasn’t necessarily rare. And not all Tamers went for quality over quantity, like Liliana.
It made sense for the stables to be so close to the training grounds too, if a student didn’t want to keep their Bonds in soul stones, or didn’t have any, it would be quick to bring them from the stables to the training grounds. Same for any upperclassmen practicing mounted combat.
“The beasts kept inside the stable are given the best care and are carefully guarded. Any attempt to harm or interact with any beast that is not yours will be met with quick and decisive disciplinary action. So do not even consider it,” Acacia warned them with a stern voice.
Liliana’s hands went to her soul stones protectively at the warning. She couldn’t imagine what she’d do if someone tried to harm her bonds, or poison them. Safe to say, it would be best for the Academy to get to them first, before she did. Acacia let her words sink in before she turned and led them from the stables without taking them through. There was little reason to show them off, as they’d have personal stables and none of them had mounts.
“Next are the towers. We have one for each main affinity. Between them are the buildings for the sub-affinities.” Acacia told them as they walked towards the eight tall towers and buildings that connected them. Liliana thought the way the towers and buildings were arranged looked rather akin to a crown.
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“We have masters for every affinity who teach each of these classes. Unlike your core classes, and your training classes, affinity electives are not split by class.” Acacia explained as they reached the first tower, the one for Light affinity. Liliana tilted her head at the new information, but upon consideration, it made some sense. There were 44 different affinities. If every student in her class picked a different one, there would be 14 empty classrooms. It would also mean finding 6 different masters for each affinity. There was special treatment and then there was idiotic, pointless spending.
“However, class S students are permitted extra tutoring by their teachers for affinities once your electives are chosen. Be sure to take advantage of having such esteemed masters giving you private lessons. It’s not something you’ll get a chance to enjoy once you’re graduated.” Acacia called out to them as they entered the first tower.
Ah, there’s the class favoritism. Can’t let their S jewels fall behind the chaff. Liliana thought with amusement as they explored the first tower, then the connected building. The classrooms didn’t deviate from the ones they’d already seen too much.
“This is where you’ll also find the classrooms for the electives for fighting style. So casters, ranged, healers, tanks, rogues, front-line fighters, you’ll find your classrooms here as well. These electives are split by class.” Acacia told them as they finished their exploration of the first tower and filed through to the connected building.
The school made good use of their land, building above and below in many cases. The towers were eight stories tall, though only the first four floors, split by year, were open to students. The others were private offices for the teachers. The connected buildings were smaller half the size at five stories tall, one for each year group and the top floor for teachers. They also went five stories deep, split with A, B, C, D, and E classes for each year on the first four levels, with class S getting the fifth level, split into 4 for each year level.
By the time they finished their walk through of the affinity and fighting style buildings, it was well into the afternoon and Liliana could see several in their class lagging. Not everyone was a physical class. Many might have ignored Stamina the same way she ignored her pitiful Vitality.
“Two more stops after this,” Acacia told them with some empathy.
She led them a small distance to a large colosseum style building. The older girl walked them in and allowed them to sit down on some of the seats. Liliana noted other guides leading their designated groups through as well. The guides, or the Academy, had made sure there was little interaction between the different classes during their tours, Liliana noted. Even now, the other five classes were being sat down in different areas of the huge colosseum.
“This is the colosseum, used for the twice yearly tournaments. You won’t be seeing this again for a few months yet, but remember it. Many futures have been made or destroyed within it.” Acacia informed them as she took a seat herself. Their group took a few minutes to absorb the dire warning and replenish their Stamina.
“How do you look fine? We’ve been walking all day!” Marianne panted beside Liliana, leaning heavily on her shoulder as if the princess could no longer support her own weight. In comparison, Liliana wasn’t even sweating. It would take more than a leisurely walk and some stairs to tire her body out now.
“I have around eight thousand Stamina,” Liliana said with a small smile. Marianne glared at Liliana as if she’d just insulted her mother.
“Damn physical fighters,” Marianne grumbled. Liliana ducked her head into her shoulder to stifle the laugh that wanted to emerge.
“Alright, now to the final stop before we go back to the cafeteria for dinner,” Acacia rallied their group, leading the twenty students, many still quietly complaining about their feet, out of the colosseum.
Liliana was excited, because the only place left to show them was the dorms. However, despite being class S, they were still first years, so their dorms were furthest from the bulk of the campus. Liliana doubted many of their group had the energy to appreciate the beautifully done foot paths paved with black and gold stones arranged in beautiful patterns, and the small enclaves surrounded by flowering bushes and trees with benches and tables set out for students to rest outside their dorms.
They would be good for studying, if students didn’t want to take advantage of the study rooms in the library. As with all the paths around the school, they were also protected by clear, magical coverings that didn’t impede their view of the sky but would shield them in case of inclement weather. When they finally arrived at the first year dorms, thankfully for them class S dorms were the first, it was to a exhausted cheer.
“These are class S dorms. Only classes S and A have individual rooms. All other classes have shared rooms. Class S also has personal bathing rooms, as opposed to communal baths. Girls are in the west wing, boys in the east. Do not try to cross into the other gender’s side, there are harsh consequences. Your homeroom teacher has a room here. Should anything happen that needs their attention,” Acacia warned them before she opened the door to the Tudor style dorm. Combined with the beautiful roses, daffodils, and peonies and the fountain with a naiad so well sculpted she looked real in front of it, it looked like something out of a fairytale.
“You’ll see a communal living space here, and a kitchen as well. Please don’t try to cook if you do not know how.” Acacia called out as they entered the dorm. The communal living space was large, with chairs and couches spaced around. More than enough to fit all 20 of them.
“If there are any tamers among you, you’ll see your rooms are on the ground floor. This is because of the private stables connected to your rooms.” Acacia informed them before releasing them to explore their new homes. Liliana and Marianne waved goodbye to Alistair and Emyr as the group split and then hurried towards their side of the dorm. Liliana pulled out her ID card and looked at the dorm room on it. S105. First year, first floor, room 5. Liliana held up her card to the specified door and pushed it open. Marianne invited herself in, following behind Liliana and closing the door.
The room was large, bigger than her bedroom at the manor, but smaller if you accounted for her connected rooms there. Other than what was revealed to be a closet and bathroom, she had no excess rooms in her dorm. It was certainly bigger than the bedroom she remembered from her first life, and much larger than the hospital room she’d spent too many years in.
There was a queen-sized canopy bed draped in blacks and golds, two bookcases against one wall, a desk between them, a vanity and a storage chest at the foot of her bed. The floor was a dark wood Liliana wasn’t familiar with, covered in several places by round rugs with the Academy’s emblem on them.
“Oooh, I wonder if my room looks like this?” Marianne wondered as she wandered around the room exploring.
Liliana shrugged and moved towards the glass French doors that opened to a small, walled, covered courtyard backed by a set of stalls. Liliana opened the doors and walked out, turning around to take it in. It was smaller than her courtyard at the manor, but she’d be close to her Bonds without needing to keep them in stasis constantly.
She’d read the rulebook cover to cover and knew she could have her Bonds out in between classes, but she couldn’t have them out during classes except for training and certain elective classes. As well, if a Bond attacked a student or staff member, it was seen as if the tamer had attacked, and the punishments varied from black marks to expulsion. With how testy Nemesis could be, it would be best if she were kept away from other students whenever possible.
“My lady,” a woman’s voice called out and Liliana nearly had a heart attack as she whirled around to see a woman in the Academy’s staff uniform bowing to her.
“I’m Laura Fulker, and I’ll be the groom for your personal stables,” the woman, Laura, introduced herself. Liliana blinked. After a moment, something in her brain clicked, and she nodded her head at the woman.
When they meant private, they really meant private. It even came with its own staff. Liliana thought with some amusement. Class S really was given the royal treatment.
“What are your job duties?” Liliana asked curiously as the woman stood straight.
“I’ll groom, feed, clean up after and, if necessary, exercise your Bonds.” Laura said promptly. Liliana nodded. It was as expected. She was here for Liliana’s Bonds, not for Liliana herself.
Liliana tapped her soul stones to release her Bonds, and soon the courtyard was filled with beasts. Nemesis was in her small form and almost immediately tried to wind her way up Liliana’s leg, only to be thwarted by fast hands that set her back on the ground. Lelantos stretched and sat, looking around his new territory with interest. Polaris stretched his wings and set to sniffing around the perimeter.
“Can you be sure they’re taken care of? They’ve been in stasis all day,” Liliana asked Laura, who to her credit didn’t seem the least bit phased by the sudden appearance of three beasts. The woman nodded to her and turned to the stables, presumably to get their food ready. Liliana had sent her tames’ diet and care guidelines in response to the letter sent by the Academy weeks ago, so she was certain the woman was prepared.
‘Play nice. Do not attack anyone, and do what the nice lady tells you to.’ Liliana mentally ordered her Bonds, getting the equivalent of a grumble back from Nemesis and acceptance from Lelantos.
‘Can we explore the area?’ Polaris asked her.
‘No, we’ll go out tomorrow and look around.’ Liliana told her Bond, earning a slightly annoyed but accepting huff from him.
Satisfied that her tames would be taken care of, Liliana turned and grabbed Marianne, who had been a second away from launching herself at Lelantos. Liliana tugged the girl out of her room and towards the stairs so the princess could explore her own room. Liliana was hungry and Marianne could play with her Bonds later.