Chapter 9: Course Selections

Zel woke the next evening with a start. Miriya had woken up first on this night, much to the dismay of Zel, and she had decided that the best possible way to wake up her loving sister was to take a running leap from her side of the room and pounce on the still sleeping, very vulnerable Zel. She was right, it was the best way.

"Ouch!" yelled Zel, at the shock. "What was that for?"

"That," Miriya said with a finger pointing at Zel accusingly, "was for how you woke me up when we first started our journey over here!"

"Fair enough," Zel gasped, clutching her belly where Miriya had landed.

"Anyway, it's time to get up. I heard a bunch of the other students shifting around outside." Miriya said, indifferent to Zel's pain.

"Alright, gimme a minute and we'll get going." Zel did her best to raise herself, still crumpled from how hard that her sister had hit her. She looked around, they were in the same drab, and slightly damp, room as they had gone to bed in, bare gray walls in every direction. She reached over the edge of her bed into her bags and searched out some clothes for the night. Her favorite dress was now in desperate need of a wash, having been worn for three nights straight, but luckily she had plenty others to go through. She put one on and asked Miriya how she looked.

"Same as you always do…" Miriya said with a morose expression and tone. "...amazing!" Miriya shouted, suddenly changing her tone. She and Zel hit a pose together before both bursting into laughter. Zel gathered up the rest of her outfit as well as some school supplies and was ready to depart.

"I'm good to go. Let's go pick some classes!" Zel said and they made their way into the dorm hallway.

They found the hallway to be as equally drab as they had left it yesternight, but there were some changes. Miriya was right, several students were already making their way outside, they appeared in a much more lively state than they were after the exams.

When Zel and Miriya reached the front door they saw Jammy with her group of Clickfolk as they gathered preparing to head to the meeting spot. Jammy saw them as well and gave them a wave. Zel nudged Miriya to get her attention and both of them waved back. The group of Clickfolk was rather well organized compared to the other cliques that had made it into the Academy, and they always walked in a kind of formation with the largest Clickfolk at front.

Once they were organized, the Clickfolk all left at once, with Jammy trapped somewhere in the middle. Zel and Miriya decided that it would be best if they followed this group, that way neither of them would have to use their brains to navigate the labyrinthine mountain. They were expected to return to the same large room that they had spent the evening testing in, the Manahall as Zel had dubbed it. The headmaster had told them they would get a chance to select their classes, and both Zel and Miriya were very excited to see the options.

The plaza that doubled as a train platform was even busier than Zel remembered. Despite their experience with it now, it was difficult to keep up with the group of Clickfolk, luckily the leader of the group was not one for politeness as they pushed their way through, and Zel and Miriya could tuck in behind the group's wake.

It wasn't long until they made their way back to the Manahall, doors open wide in greeting. Once inside, they found the headmaster, who was sitting patiently for his students to arrive and they could start class selection, and Miracle, who was standing impatiently by his side, waiting for things to get started. Students were filtering in slowly, but the scheduled meeting time came and passed and they were still coming. Once the headmaster was satisfied with the attendance he stood up and addressed the students.

"Hello, everyone." He began, "It is good to see so many of you passed the entrance exams this year, it is a very large class compared to some. Tonight, you will be selecting your classes. As some of you might suspect, as first years at the Academy, there are several courses that you are required to take and pass before we can allow you to take more advanced courses. I will now list the required curriculum." The headmaster stuck a hand into his robe, shuffling it around for a moment before pulling out a small card that he began to read aloud.

"First is your home room class, which will start around this time each evening. In this class you will learn principles and techniques that will be the foundation for your other courses. This class is rather unique compared to most of the other courses that you will be taking, as it is taught by multiple teachers. Hopefully this will excite you, as it is an amazing opportunity to learn from several experienced people," the headmaster gave the students one of his creepy toothy grins before he continued.

"The second required course for first years is unit training, where you will be doing most of your combat practice. Combat units that focus on magic for their main means of offense are volatile by nature. When you have several individuals in a group who have different magic affinities, unless those individuals are able to coordinate properly, they can often be more dangerous to themselves than the enemy. This course will teach you the basics of teamwork, magical combinations, weapon training, and other useful skills that will lead to your success at Dream Academy. It is taught by Captain Exelcia, whom you have already met." Zel thought of the delightful woman that had taken her to the medical ward.

A personality like that might even make someone like Cleinz manageable eventually. She thought.

"The final required course for first year students is magic flexibility training. Magic is like a muscle that needs maintenance, and when maintained properly magic can be a powerful muscle indeed. Captain Ceres teaches this course and will guide you to be able to use your magic in ways that you never imagined before, so please listen closely to him." The headmaster took the card in his hand and tucked it back into his cloak, "Those are the main three required courses for all first year students."

Zel was surprised, she was expecting many more required courses, seeing as how several of the students like her had never been formally taught how to use their mana before, but she was also relieved.

Three courses leaves plenty of time for anything else I want to learn, she thought.

"However," the headmaster continued, "There are also courses that have been decided for each student in addition to the required courses."

Damn.

"Each of you did excellent in the exams, but nobody is perfect. The Captains have assigned at least one additional course for each of you that will focus on targeting your weakest areas, whether magical or otherwise. These courses are unique compared to your other required ones, and may be more or less advanced than them depending on what the Captains have decided." As the headmaster explained, Miracle picked up a stack of paper that was piled on one of the benches in the Manahall.

"Miracle will now hand each of you your current course sheets with your classes on them. Please take a look at them and then we will discuss what additional courses you may take." As the headmaster finished his explanation, Miracle began to walk around the Manahall and hand out the paper class lists. As Zel watched her she noticed that miracle never asked any students names, but managed to give each student their correct papers without any complaints.

She must have an amazing memory, she thought.

Miracle handed Miriya and Zel their sheets and they took a look through. The first three required courses were all grouped together, one after another, in the same order that the headmaster had listed them in. Zel founded her additional class on the bottom below these first three.

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"Magical flexibility?" Zel asked, confused, "That's already one of the required courses. Why do I have it twice?"

"I don't know," Miriya said with shared confusion, "Mine is the same however. I guess Captain Ceres wanted to help us with it more? They did say that it would be chosen to cover our weaknesses."

The two of them heard a series of clicks and whistles behind them and turned to see that Jammy was approaching them while waving. She seemed to have managed to give her group of Clickfolk the slip for now.

"Good morning, Jammy! I hope you slept well and had a less rude awakening than I did!" Zel enthusiastically greeted her friend, earning a punch in the shoulder from Miriya who was politely waving back.

Jammy simply nodded and held up her sheet. She pointed at the extra class and cocked her head, clearly asking a question.

"Ah! Yes! Maybe we have the same extra course?" Zel asked before looking at the sheet.

Unfortunately it was not to be, as Jammy's course sheet said "Magic power training," in this slot.

" Ooh, magical power training, that might be an interesting one to take," Miriya said, "We'll have to see what the other options are, but maybe we'll pick that one as an elective."

Jammy responded with a happy nod. They chatted together for a little while, trying to glean as best they could how Jammy's evening had gone with her group, but before they could learn too much the headmaster began to speak again.

"Hopefully you are all satisfied with your course selections and we can now move on to how you will select additional courses." The headmaster gestured for Miracle to pick up another large stack of papers, but before she could begin to hand them out a shout was heard from within the students.

"I am not satisfied," a familiar angry voice rang out. Zel looked over to see that Cleinz had broken out of his group and was storming towards the headmaster in a fury.

"I have been assigned double magical flexibility courses, are the Captains mad?" He shouted, "I demand a reason that I, the most flexible weaver of magic in this room, should be expected to take an additional course in a category of magic that I have already mastered!"

The headmaster had been patiently waiting until Cleinz finished complaining before he took his turn to speak.

"Ah, Cleinz. We suspected that you might have an issue with the class that was assigned for you, but-" The headmaster began to explain before Cleinz interrupted him yet again with venom on his tongue.

"You are correct, that I have an issue with this is an understatement! I demand that I am assigned to another class immediately! Or better yet, allow me to choose any class that I wish, as there was and is clearly nothing wrong with my magic!" Cleinz aggressively pushed his way into the headmaster's space, getting so close that he bumped into the headmaster's cane, nearly knocking it out of the frail hand that held it.

"However," the headmaster continued to speak. His voice suddenly rang throughout the hall with an authority that the students had not seen of the headmaster yet. Cleinz' mouth zipped shut in an instant. "This was a personal request of Captain Ceres who, I shall quote, said 'Watching Cleinz manipulate stone was akin to watching a bricklayer attempt surgery, an utter disgraceful display to the complex Duphor magical lineage.'"

Cleinz could not utter a word, thrust into a stunned silence. The students behind him, however, were not. A ripple of laughter broke through the crowd as Cleinz, his eyes filled with a fiery rage. He turned back towards the headmaster, ready to state his case once more, but was interrupted before he could do so. This time not by the headmaster, but by Miracle.

"Mr. Duphor. If there is anyone you should take this up with, it is Captain Ceres. Please, drop the issue for now so that we may move on. We have more to discuss." She said, with an icy glare to match the fire in Cleinz' eyes.

It seemed to Zel that this only further aggravated Cleinz, the fire in his eyes was still burning hot. But, to her, Cleinz managed to calm himself. He closed his mouth, relaxed his shoulders and, without another word, quietly returned to his group of fancy Splitfolk, defeated. Zel felt an odd sense of joy at the sight, the kind of joy brought on after hearing some very good news.

"Now," the headmaster continued, sounding as relaxed as could be, with no indication that he had just been screamed at by someone far beneath his station nor any of the thunder he had moments ago, "If there are no further objections to the classes you have been assigned to so far, allow me to speak on the other classes offered at the Academy. Miracle, if you would." He gestured to Miracle who gathered the other large stack of paper and handed it out throughout the room.

Zel and MIriya received their papers and took a look at the classes. There were a massive number of them. The sheet listed all of the classes that were available, the teachers who taught them, and the times that they were scheduled all in a text that was extremely tiny so that all of the information could fit onto one sheet. Zel was already overwhelmed by the amount of choices. She did her best, however. Zel noted the categories seemed to fall under three general types, with more specific subcategories. The big ones were magical, physical, and academic. From what she could tell, academic courses were entirely separate from the bulk of the academy's focus, which tended to be on combat oriented courses. Instead of teaching about techniques or skills that would be useful for fighting, these classes were more well rounded, more like the curriculum of a university rather than the famous Dream Academy. One of these courses in particular drew in Zel's attention.

"Split Sky Geography and Magical Techniques to Find Your Way!" she said aloud, "That sounds pretty interesting."

"I saw that one too, but didn't we already cover stuff like that in regular school? I think I've had enough of it myself," Miriya said.

"Fair enough, I might check it out, though. I only remember some of the basics, and I don't know what "Magical Techniques to Find Your Way" even means. It also says that it's taught by Captain Kartave! That's sure to be at least interesting." Zel said. The two continued to browse until the headmaster spoke again.

"You are allowed to take as many courses as you feel your schedule will allow. I would suggest only taking two beyond your current load, as first years are also required to participate in one of the Academy's clubs, but we will discuss those more later this week." The headmaster explained. "For now, you are all dismissed, the rest of the night is yours. Miracle and I will remain here for a time to answer any questions you might have about your schedules."

After that the students dispersed. Jammy returned to her group of Clickfolk after waving goodbye. Most of the students stood up and left while discussing their courses, or being totally lost in the sea of options. Many stayed behind, however, asking Miracle and the headmaster questions about their courses. Zel and Miriya were in this second group, they stayed behind to brainstorm what kind of classes they wanted to take. They were both invested, wanting their first class selections to be ones that they wouldn't regret.

"Oh, we should sign up for a Clicktongue course as well, shouldn't we?" Zel asked Miriya, who was staring puzzledly at her paper. "I really want to start learning so we can communicate with her better. It sucks that she can understand us but we can't understand her."

"That's true, let's take a look," Miriya agreed, pulling up the list of courses. They found the Clicktongue courses in the academic section of classes, but unlike most of the other classes, each of which were surprisingly unique despite the large number of them, the Clicktongue courses numbered at least a dozen, each with different instructors. Normally, Zel would have picked a random one and hoped for the best, but she remembered that Flint offered to help them select a course, so she figured that they could just wait and ask him which one he thought was best. They locked in on the classes that they felt they would enjoy and decided to take a break.

They were among the last students to leave the Manahall, but Zel noticed that there was one other student who had yet to leave as well. Cleinz had moved away from his group at some point and was sitting in the bench seating of the Manahall. He was intently staring down at his lap as if he were waiting for something. As Zel and Miriya exited the hall, Zel whispered to Miriya to stop her from going too far.

"Hold on. Let's see what Cleinz does," she whispered. Zel was curious. After that display back there, why would Cleinz have anything more to say to the headmaster or Miracle? Zel felt a burning desire to know. Sure enough, not long after they walked out Cleinz stood up and walked over to the headmaster who, lost in thought, was surprised when Cleinz approached him.

"Ah, Cleinz. Did you have further complaints about your schedule? I would take them up directly with your brother at this point, I trust my captain's judgements with certainty," the headmaster said calmly in anticipation of Cleinz 'anger.

"No, headmaster. No," Cleinz began, "I-... I wanted to apologize for my outburst. It was… wrong of me to get upset. I will take the additional course with no further complaints. Again. I am sorry." After saying this Cleinz quickly turned on his heels and made for the door.

Zel could hear him getting closer, she and Miriya quickly jumped into a passing group of people to hide. Cleinz came out, sighed and wandered off down the staircase.

"Huh, look at that. The asshole can learn." Zel said, somewhat surprised.

"I guess so," Miriya replied, equally in awe, "still sucks, though."

"True that," Zel agreed.