Walking to the dorm, Will realized that the architecture of the academy resembled a mix of Greek, Roman, Japanese, and Chinese cultures. Sometimes the building next to each other would look completely different.
The dorm was styled after the Spartan palace. Each of the 20 cadets got their room. After settling in, Will learned a boy named Mark won first place in the battle contest. And the boy he beat in my second round, name Vincent vont Wright won one of the five spots.
In Fermion, commoners did not have last names. But, after graduation Mark became a knight and his exploits reached acclaim, the King could promote him to baronet and Mark could choose a last name.
After the new cadets settled into their dorms, the Marshall invited the combat division into the dining hall for dinner. Dinner was amazing, we ate beast meat. Will felt the mana inside the roasted boar, infuse with my mana pool. It felt like his mana was being nourished along with my stomach. This was a new feeling, being fed on two different levels simultaneously.
However, Will realized he could not eat as much as he normally did. Will only eat about half my plate before he was full. After dinner, we left to return to our dorm lobby for an orientation with the Marshall.
"Welcome runts (I guess we got promoted from ants to runts), to the Knight's Academy. You will be the sword and shield for the kingdom. People will admire you and look to you for help. You are in class 1-A. Your stupid runts will have to work hard, to be promoted to Year 2.
In this academy each year is given a different animal. The first years are called stags, if you're lucky and get promoted to year two, you will be a wolf, the third years are bears, and the fourth years are lions. You all don't deserve to be called stags…your stupid runts. From now on when you see me, you will address me as, sir. You may also address me as Marshall Rolf." He spoke.
"I am your first-year physical trainer and battle instructor. If you are late once to my class your entire group of 20 will run laps until the sun sets. This is the army, and teamwork and unit cohesion are key.
Noble, commoners don't matter to the enemy, and it doesn't matter to me. If you ever get tired, you're free to leave. We don't need quitters here. You act individually as the sword and your unit is the shield. This will be your motto, you will eat, sleep, and shit this motto.
You will dream about your combat unit becoming one, if you act individually, you'll die as an individual. Your job is to make it to the fourth year and win mock battles," He yelled, spit flying in our faces.
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"Any questions, runts," he asked not wanting questions.
Will was nervous to ask him about my testing out history and magic theory.
"To buy items from the academy shop you'll need contribution points. Contribution points are earned by completing a quest from the commissary. In the commissary besides accepting quests, you may also join other knights or guilds to complete a quest.
You, runts, need to know, once you join a guild you can choose to live with them, just like if you're selected by a mentor you may live in his or her home.
The class starts tomorrow. Breakfast is from the 6th bell to the 8th bell. You'll have history first. Your class starts at the 8th bell. Your classes last two hours. After the history, you have a major theory from the 10th bell to lunch.
You get a two-hour lunch and break. Starting at the 14th bell you have physical training, followed by mana training. That's four hours, your runts have with me! Dinner is from the 18th to the 20th bell. Lights out at 21st bell" Marshall Rolf said grinning and licking his lips dreaming out the punishment that physical education would bring the runts," Marshall Rolf said.
"William vont Ballard," He yelled
"Yes, sir. Marshal Rolf, sir." Will said. Will was smart enough to realize he was trying to bait them into complaining. At the same time be a big enough ass for our group to common together to complain about. This was a technique used on Earth by almost every country’s military.
"You must think, you're smart. According to Grandmaster Thaddeus, you tested out of history and magic theory. Use that time wisely and complete some quests. Unused swords rust," He said almost caringly.
"Mark," he said nicely. "Your battle prizes will be delivered to your room tonight. I expect you'll have a couple of knight guilds reach out to you. But you can't join a guild until after mid-terms." He said to Mark, but their benefit as well.
"Good night runts," he said and walked out of our dorm lobby. "Good night, sir!" they shouted back in unison.
After Marshall Rolf left, the cadets all grabbed a seat and got to know one another. We took turns introducing ourselves and where we were from. Of the 20 people in our group, 12 were boys and 8 were girls.
Also, of the 20 cadets, 8 people came from knight families, 6 from barons, and 6 were commoners. Most of the other students were nice, but Vincent was a troublesome person. Vincent would glare at me from time to time, I could tell he was upset and still at his loss to me.
Chloe and Anne were nice to everyone. Both girls were about 1.5 meters, with dark blonde hair, and chestnut eyes. They introduced themselves together and told us they were cousins.
Chloe's parents owned a tailor shop and Anne's parents owned a bakery. We all agreed on the weekend to meet at Anne's parents' bakery to talk and explore the city together. However, Vincent refused to go, saying it was wrong for nobles to hang out with commoners outside the academy.
The night ended, with us agreeing to meet again in the dorm lobby to continue getting to know each other. Evan, son of a blacksmith, said the more we get acquainted the stronger our shied. I secretly rolled my eyes, seeing Evan falling for the sword and shield motto. But we all nodded in agreement and left.