Chapter 20

Light snow fell on the cloudy day, and the footprints of countless people ruined the smooth surface of the snow. Numerous parents walked their children to Roseful Academy. With bittersweet smiles on their faces, mothers and fathers parted with their children as they entered their first day of classes.  

In front of the school’s doors, Sene knelt down to meet Lene and Ene’s eye level and said, “Remember, watch out for each other. Don’t forget your bags when you change classes. Eat everything in the lunch box, even the greens. Be friendly to other children. And…”

Tears formed at the edge of Sene’s eyes as she looked at Ene and Lene once more. Ene wore a blouse layered in a cute small blazer that fit her just right and also accommodated her small fluttering wings trembling with excitement. It was meant for winter and would change into a more airy vest once it got warmer. The white floral patterns on the blazer looked natural instead of embroidered into the fabric. Her skirt was in the likeness of a rose, deep red in colour, and the signature of school. It was the winter version of the skirt, and the academy required its wearers to wear socks that meet up to the thigh for even more insulation. Otherwise, they would have to wear dress pants. However, that was out of the question with Sene’s feminine personality….

Lene, being a water spirit, her uniform was much simpler than Ene’s. She wore a bracelet and a necklace that signified her membership of the Roseful Academy. The necklace bore a resemblance to a rose tied on vines to create an exquisite design. A deep blue gem engraved itself on the center of the rose’s stigma to contrast the red petals. On the other hand, the bracelet looked like a vine. One couldn’t tell whether the bracelet itself was alive. Without touching it first hand, no one would know that, in fact, it’s made of jadestone.

“Both of you, don’t talk to any boys alright? They’re all pi-”

Brett groaned as Sene punched him in the stomach. Her reddened eyes turned back to Ene and Lene. As she watched them, the feeling of not wanting to let them go  welled up from her heart. The first day of school was inevitable, and reluctance to part with her children overwhelmed her.

“Don’t cause any trouble for the teachers and follow what they say, alright?” Sene gave lukewarm smile as she gently pushed them forward. With excitement on their faces, Ene and Lene nodded before entering the school.

Brett and Sene turned to face Kazu. Seeing them turn his way, it was his turn to say goodbye; although for him, it’ll be goodbye for five days. Youth Academies require their students to go home everyday while the Royal Academies did not let their students out during the weekdays.

When Kazu thought about him staying away from home, his heart became heavy. As he looked at both Brett and Sene’s faces, they had a complicated expression, more so Sene. Her eyes trembled with even stronger reluctance.

“I guess I better get going.” Kazu nodded.

“Make sure you do your job properly hehe.” Brett nudged Kazu with a smile.

“Mom.” Kazu opened up his arms for an embrace.

Seeing this, Sene jumped into his arms, hugging her son once more before he left. While she was in his arms, “Make sure to come back every weekend ok? I won’t permit you to skip even a single break!”

“Alright, alright.” Kazu patted her back. “I should go, I’m already late.”

Sene let go of Kazu as she moved back to Brett’s side. She kept her smile as they watched Kazu walk away from them. His back moving away in the distance caused a slight tug to pull at Sene’s heart. Even Brett by her side gave a heavy hearted expression beside her.

***

The open gate, towering three stories tall, let the in the incoming mass of students  flood through. In front of the gate, Mel leaned on the brick column. A male student stood in front of her, chatting her up, but her lips didn’t part once. Instead, Mel looked at him with apathetic eyes as if he wasn't even there.

“Mel, let’s go.” Kazu waved at Mel.

The male student turned his attention to Kazu, sizing him up. When their eyes met Kazu’s hair, his face distorted into disgust.

“Buzz off, nobody.” The male roared. However, he fell on the snow as Mel pushed him out of the way.

Her eyes lit up with excitement and her lips drew a bright smile. “Kazu! You’re late!”

“Yeah. Sorry bout that.” Kazu scratched his head. “Did you find what you were looking for in the forest?”

“Un, no problem!” Mel gave a thumbs up.

“Hold on!” The male grabbed Kazu’s shoulder.

“Senior…” Kazu avoided eye contact. “Is there a problem?”

“Hmph,” the male snorted. “Leave her with us and we’ll let you go.”

“Senior, I don’t understand. Why would I leave her to you?” Kazu gave a faint laugh.

“Punk, still don’t get it?” After saying this, the male shoved Kazu down to the snow. “Get it now?”

Uh oh, Kazu thought before he could get up.

“Yaaah!” Mel screamed, her fist tightened ready to blow the man away. “Who do you think you are?!”

The male closely leaned on Mel and said, “Girl, you can scream as much as you want later when we get indoors. What d’you say? Hehe”

As the male came close to Mel, his hands caressed her upper arms and slowly slid down to her hands. With her fist tightened, Mel glanced at Kazu who shook his head saying “No” in a whisper.

“Disgusting.” Mel pushed the male before he could go down any further. Then, she went over to Kazu, helping him stand up.

“Oi, oi, oi.” Again, the male shoved Kazu down. “Can’t you see I’m already being nice here?” He pointed at the pin on his breast pocket. The pin shaped diamond was gold in foreground and black. It had two bars in a vertical formation, signifying a year 2 student.

“Trash.” A voice came out of nowhere.

“Who said that?!” The male yelled.

“I did.” Riona’s figure stood towering with power over the male. A blue light began to radiate from her.

“Shi-”

“Ocean’s cage.” Before the male could finish his sentence, he was encased in an orb of water, 2 meters in diameter. Then, Riona flicked her finger, and the orb smashed at the gate.

“Ah, thank you.” Kazu stood up.

Without even meeting eyes, Riona entered the gate and disappeared into the distance. The guards around the gate lifted up the male and also carried him in.

“Tch, where were they when we were getting harassed?” Kazu complained. When he said this, the guards glared at him with disgusted faces.

Paying no attention to it and walking through the main gate, Kazu was reminded of one important matter. His narrowed eyes turned to Mel and said, “Mel… where’s our class?”

“Hah! How should I know?” Mel boasted with vigor. “I only need to know where the cafeteria is, and negotiate with the principal… maybe even bribe him. Hehe.”

“Hah? That doesn’t help our situation at all!” Kazu spat.

“Hmph, education in this world is meaningless. Anyways, let’s have an early lunch, mid day snack, and dinner, and midnight snack right now.” Mel sped up her pace with enthusiasm.

Due to Mel’s speed, Kazu and Mel caught up with Riona; although, they didn’t dare follow her too close.

“Psst, Mel,” Kazu whispered. “She’s most likely going to the class. Stick near her.”

“Eeeeh?” Mel cried. “What about the cafeteria?”

“Idiot!” Kazu bumped her head. “Is food the only thing on your head?”

“Guuuh…” Mel rubbed her forehead where Kazu bumped it.

Riona went straight through the path and soon enough, the silhouette of the main building could be seen. As they got near it, Riona went inside and the two following behind her, Kazu and Mel, also entered the building.

They saw Riona taking quick glances behind, but they ignored it, thinking it was nothing. However, when Riona reached the stairs, she stopped and turned around to meet the 2 followers.

“Why are you following me?!” Riona fumed.

“Hah! We’re not following you!” Mel pointed at Riona with confidence. “We’re imitating your route!”

Kazu facepalmed.

“W-what?” Riona stumbled on her words before saying, “Isn’t that the same thing?!”

“Nope its not. Following is when you follow someone see? Imitating is different hehe.” Mel crossed her arms. “Now keep on moving woman. We don’t have all day.”

“You dare call me woman!” Contrary to the calm nature of water, the blue light once again radiated around her body. “Ocea- Huh? What…?”

The gathered blue light disappeared in an instant before she could activate the spell. Kazu hid his grin as he saw this. He had dissipated the energy around her to stop the activation. The technique was one of the things Mel had taught him from the past year; however, it works only on sorcerers with less control.

“You!” Riona leered at Kazu. “What did you do?!”

“He didn’t do it.” From behind, Jay Oswald came in at the scene. “You three, late on your first day? Come see me after 4th period.”

“Remember this black sheep.” Riona gritted her teeth, stomping up the stairs.

Mel stuck out her tongue behind Riona. “Hmph, her attitude almost ruined my appetite.”

“Idiot, this is your fault.” Kazu sighed. “Teacher Jay, could you lead us to Class U?”

“Of course.” Jay, with a slight grin, put both his hands at his back and ascended the stairs. Mel and Kazu followed suit.

“So, what do you think of our grumpy princess?” Jay chuckled.

“She’s a tough one,” Kazu conceded. “Especially with this one beside me.”

“We just have to protect her. It’s not like we have to get along with her. Hmph.” Mel snapped.

“That’s right. Its better if you don’t get too close to her.” Jay turned on the corner. “Just don’t make her hate you too much; otherwise, she’ll take too much notice of you.”

“Hear that Mel?” Kazu poked. “Let’s try to avoid her from now on, alright?”

“Why are you asking me?” Mel turned her eyes down. “It’s not like you need my permission.”

“Alright, we’re here.” Jay presented the door to Class U, then excused himself with a bow. Unlike the other doors they passed by, the door had clear scratches on it and even some foot prints. It looked more worn out than the rest and the name plate of the class hung crookedly.

Caring little about the state of the door, Kazu entered the room and saw an unkempt room. All furniture in the room was similar, whether it was the podium at the front or the student issue desks in the rear, all suffered from massive amounts of vandalism. The room had a total of 5 columns and 6 rows of seats. Ten students sat in the classroom. He recognized none of them, mostly due to his ignorance in the aptitude tests.

When Kazu and Mel walked in, the man nearest to the door whistled and said, “Niiceee.”

Riona sat in the middle of the front row with the cleanest desk. Glancing at the back of the room, there was a missing desk on the last row. She must’ve took the best one Kazu thought.  

Kazu decided to sit on the second row by the windows. Naturally, Mel followed, sitting beside him. In front of Kazu sat a light purple haired male student with a miserable look on his face. He stared down at his desk giving him an air of loneliness.

Beside him, a tomboyish looking girl with short red hair ate her sandwich stuffed with meat. Her desk connected with the the desk beside her as she leaned a bit on his side. From time to time, she would offer him a bite of her sandwich, but he would shake his head without saying anything.

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Bam! With a loud stomp, the door crashed open. A man with bulging muscles came in. He wore a tank top and military pants. His steel toed boots were up to his ankles tightened to the extreme. Scars littered his skin emitting an aura of a veteran. His big nose, stubbled beard complimented the strength of his towering eyes. In one word, everyone in the classroom described him as the epitome of “Manly.”

“Baldr Ironrock!” The man commanded, then stared at the student in front of Kazu. “Now, starting from the wuss over there, stand up one by one and introduce yourselves.”

“Lawrie Flay-”

“Hahahahahaha!” Baldr laughed as he slapped the podium. “Oh.. oh… that’s great. Seriously, what’s your name boy?”

“My name is Lawrie-

“Hahahahahahahahaha!” Baldr continued his laughter. “Stop, you’re killing me. That can’t be a man’s name. Hahaha!”

The students in their seats all put on distraught on their expressions. None of them could believe that a teacher can laugh like that just at a student’s name—even if it's the infamous “Class U.” Soon enough, the teacher’s laugher ended and wiped the tears off his eyes.

“Sorry bout that.” Baldr straightened his posture. “Now, where were we? Ah, Lawrie Flay. Well?”

“... Again, my name is Lawrie Flay. I’m a student from Audley Academy. I specialize in water magic, adept, 7th rank aptitude.”

“Water specialty for a man? Do you really call yourself a man?” Baldr’s brow furrowed as he looked at Lawrie with curiosity. “ Well, whatever. Next!”

“Cristen Butcher. Fire magic, adept, 9th rank. I’ll say this now: all the girls who dare stare at Lawrie will die by my hands!” Cristen boasted.

“Good introduction. That’s what I like to hear.” Baldr clapped. “Next.”

“I am Riona Rye. Water intermediate, 9th rank.” Riona ended her statement there.

“Huh?” Baldr smirked. “Little princess, little princess, you need to add more to your introduction.”

“Hmph.” Riona crossed her arms.

“Hm, whatever.” Baldr shrugged. “Next.”

“Daniel Wingflood, fire magic, adept, 8th rank. Cristen’s already taken, what about the rest of the girls in the class?” Daniel winked towards Mel, yet both Kazu and Mel were yawning at the window. His face distorted into a fake smile, and then sat back down.

“You, black hair, your turn.” Baldr glared straight into Kazu’s eyes without blinking.

“Kazu Tomoe, wind intermediate, 1st rank. Don’t mind me, I’m just trying to graduate.” Kazu yawned.

A small grin appeared on Baldr’s lips. “Good. Next, the beauty.”

“Hehe, Kazu, he called me beauty, jealous?” Mel snarked. “Melith, um… Rocss! Wind magic, intermediate, 3rd rank. Let see… I like to eat, drink, and sleep. Mostly eat!”

Mel sat back down with a confident smile. Her gaze turned to Kazu as he whispered, “What’s with that last name?”

“Sshhh, didn’t you forget Sene found out my identity just from my name?” Mel whispered.

Kazu understood. From her name, Melith Cross, Sene found out her identity as the cursed sword from history books. It wouldn’t be a surprise if the teacher, or any of the students, connected the dots. But even if they did, would they believe her? Kazu wondered.

“Alright, that’s enough.” Baldr snorted, taking a quick glance at Kazu. “In fact, I forgot your name the moment you said them. Now, can anyone tell me what you these 6 children did when they said their names?”

The students in the class looked at each other except for Riona. She stared straight ahead into Baldr’s face, who wasn’t paying attention to her.

“Everyone, the seat you're sitting in right now should have a number on it written with black marker.” Baldr declared. “That will now be your seat and name from now on. My question from before still stands, so?!”

Since Riona had taken a desk from the back and put it in the front, she had the number 22. Kazu had the number 5 while Mel had 6. The rest were in order except for Riona.

“Hmph, no one knows huh. First of all, welcome to Royal Academy of Austere. Out of the hundreds of thousands that graduate Youth Academies around the country, you have managed to get this far. This academy will be your home for the next 5 years. A map of the whole Academy can be taken from the office lounge, just ask any of the teachers. In this Academy, you will not learn what you’ve been learning in Youth schools.

“Youth Academies babysit their children. They teach them nothing but to increase their aptitude. But that’s for a good reason! Magic, and even the practice of sword, are both dangerous! According to popular belief, Aptitude grows the fastest during infancy up till teenage years. Is this correct? Riona answer.”

“Teacher Baldr, that is true. Infant and teenagers until 18 still have developing minds; therefore, their aptitude grows the fastest. Its just like how children can learn language easily from their parents.” Riona smiled with confidence.

“Wrong!” Baldr smirked as Riona’s confidence broke. “It only seems that way since in beginner to adept, and the first half of intermediate require very little energy. Because of that, cultivation is fast. A child’s mind is so young, how can they understand the complicated nature of energy? Never underestimate aptitude! In fact, a mature mind can breeze through from beginner to the end of rank of intermediate. That’s a given.”

“That’s impossible!” One of the female students in the back shouted.

“Heh, if you don’t believe me, travel to Dragonweild once. I’d say their teaching methods are superior to Asteria’s.” Baldr chuckled. “Most of you are probably wondering why you’re in this class? This class isn’t really the lowest class, as most of you have already figured out. Actually, it’s for problem kids like you, especially little princess here.

“Now, back to my question. What did these 6 children do wrong in their introductions?!”

Baldr observed each of them one by one. Everyone, except Mel and Riona, avoided his eye contact. Kazu had his eyes at the window, so he didn’t count as avoiding eye contact.

“First of all, in this Royal Academy, throw away everything you know about aptitude and ranks and whatever! Don’t even put it in your introductions. All that is meaningless garbage! In the world of skirmishes, battles, and wars, aptitude is meaningless. It is what you do with that power that matters!

“There is no meaning to power without skill. A tiny drop of water can pierce through a rock with enough precision. A small ember may ignite a whole forest. A tiny pebble may pierce through a man’s armour. And wind, its sharpness alone can cut through the toughest of diamonds.

“You are all put in Class U because all the teachers know that none of you can fit in the normal classrooms. All of you need to be tempered into fine steel. Little princess, that means you’re rough around the edges.”

“You dare?!” Riona stood up. “I grew the most out of everyone in the youth academy, you dare insult me?!”

“Little princess, didn’t you hear me from before? Aptitude is meaningless.” Baldr stared down Riona. “Did you not see your pitiful Ocean’s Cage? Even though in the gates, the man was only 1 meter and 80 tall, yet you use a 2 meter radius sphere for an Ocean’s Cage. You probably already know this, an Ocean Cage is an advance ranked spell, and the perfect form is a rectangle!”

“You!” Riona gritted her teeth in anger. However, she could not deny him; she could only sit back down quietly.

“All of you already know you can learn a spell even its even a god ranked spell. However, you might die if you use a spell that’s too high ranked. Hahaha!” Baldr commented. “Once you graduate from Class U, only then I will remember your names. Now, all of you, go to the Practical Applications Facility, block A-2!”

Baldr slammed open the door and left in a hurry. As the students get up from their seats, they talked to the one beside them. However, Daniel had no luck as Riona was the only one beside him.

“Did you really have to say that?” Lawrie nagged.

“Aw, Lawrie you’re mad at me? Come here, let’s go.” Cristen locked her arms onto Lawrie, dragging him to exit the room.

Everyone left soon after, except Riona. She stared at the blackboard. A few drops of blood dripped on the desk. Her nails had dug in to her hand from clenching her fists throughout the humiliating class. Baldr, you will regret this day, Riona swore.

***

The class entered the dome building, and warmth filled the air. There were two doors before they entered the main area of the facility. One for male and one for female. Those were the locker rooms placed right after the entrance.

The main area had 4 large dirt rings, each one 25 meter radius. Light stones from above lit up the whole dome. Baldr stood in the center of the four dirt rings and stared as his class entered.

“For most of you, this is probably the first time you entered here. Water, go to ring 1. Earth, ring 2. Fire, ring 3. Wind, ring 4.” Baldr commanded.

Everyone went to their designated rings as instructed. Their faces filled with excitement since they knew that no other class would start practical applications right on the first day. But that was all broken when the familiar evil smile appeared on Baldr’s face.

“Earth students, you have to levitate 5 pieces of earth, each one the size of your head for 1 hour. Water students, you keep up a 5 meter radius sphere of water above your head for one hour too. Fire students, keep the adept spell flamethrower active for a whole hour. Wind students, levitate your body for one hour! Hahahaha!” Baldr laughed.

“What?! That’s impossible! Our energy would be expended after just 10 minutes!” Daniel rebelled.

“Huuuh?!” Baldr grunted. “I’m the teacher. My word is the law. In 3 months, you must be able to hold your spells for 5 hours!”

“Are you trying to kill us?!” Lawrie cried. “Something like that… that’s not possible!”

Thud.

Kazu dropped his body on the ground, and Mel laid herself beside him. Their actions were not rebellion nor was it because the assignment was too hard. To them, it was the opposite—too easy. Mel had trained Kazu in this method for over a year in an even harsher regime. Kazu alone could fly for 10 hours straight without stop. Floating just above the ground was child’s play.

Once more, Baldr looked at the students’ faces, all filled with grief. A grin formed on Baldr when he saw the little princess’ face. Riona had a face full of determination. “What’re you waiting for?! You only have 3 months!”

Baldr exited the arena after his announcement. While walking back to the main building, he came across Alfred, the principal. The old man had a complicated expression when he met Baldr’s eyes.

“Your training is just as harsh every other year… but you know Riona is there. Aren’t you afraid of him?” Alfred sighed.

“Hmph, the training isn’t for... training. Its for disciplining their minds. I don’t care about what he thinks.” Baldr stated.

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Ty to Silentcomfort’s editing!