Chapter 3 - Arshan Academy

Infront of me is a 16-years old boy. His eyes is brown just like his hair and skin. With a smile on his face, he started to comb his hair.

“No matter how I look, I really am handsome.”

“Stop praising yourself and finish up already.”

I turned myself towards the voice. It was black haired boy with white skin. Although he is not that good looking, he is still pleasant to look at. He is my friend, Aaron.

“Since no one’s praising me, I’ll just praise myself. Look at you, you’re already smiling like there’s no tomorrow.”

“I couldn’t help it, you know. After all, we’re going to go to one of the best school in Felgrand City. I can already imagine how jealous other people are with us.”

“Haha. Alright, I’ve finished. Those kids are probably crying with Lynn already. Lets not keep them waiting.”

“Yeah!”

Aaron and I went out the room and made our way to the front door. Even without opening the door, we can hear the kids crying. With a smile, I open the door. I look straight ahead and saw all the nanny, the kids and Lynn crying by the entrance. Aaron and I walk towards them.

“Bro Leo, are you really going with Sis Lynn and Scary Skeleton?” A boy came to me and asked. His face is already full of tears.

“Yeah.” I answered.

“No, don’t go! It would be lonely without you guys!” A small girl said.

I kneel infront of the girl and look at her eyes. I said, “We’ve got to experience the outside world. If we only stay in the orphanage, we will never grow up.”

“But-“

“How about this. When the time comes for you to take the exam, become stronger, and find us.”

“..En. I will find you three.”

“We’ve got a promise!”

“If you dare *sniff* break the promise, we will not forgive you!”

The other kids heard what I said and started to stop crying. I stood up and look at Aaron and Lynn.

“I’m going to miss you all!” Lynn is still crying on the side.

“Remember this, this Scary Skeleton will beat you guys up in a few years! If you’re don’t want that, get stronger and defeat me!” Aaron said in a playful voice to brighten up the kids.

‘Guess, I will give them one more minute’

“Alright guys. We need to move now. You wouldn’t want to be late on the first day, would you?” I said after a minute had passed.

We said our last good byes to the nanny and the kids before leaving for Arshan Academy. I walk in the middle while Aaron and Lynn are by my side.

“Hey, Aaron.” I said.

“What is it?”

“Here, wear this. You don’t need to hold back now.” I took out a straw hat from my bag and gave it to Aaron.

“..Thanks.”

Aaron put on the straw hat and pulled it down to cover his face. Sounds of restrainted cries can be heard on both of my side. Damn..the road ahead got a bit blurry. Arshan Academy is located near the center of Felgrand City, which is a little farther than Magic Aptitude Test Hall. For one hour and half, it was a very quiet and long walk.

“So huge!”

“I never thought Arshan Academy would be this big!”

“Looks like its not one of the best school for nothing.”

As soon as we arrive at Arshan Academy, we were stunned by the beautiful sight infront of us. There are a lot of elegant flowers and trees surrounding the outside of the academy. From the outside, you can already see how big the academy is by looking at the buildings inside. Suddenly, a gentle voice was heard next to me.

“Um..why are there only a few people outside?” Lynn asked

“Eh?” I suddenly realized that the people outside of Arshan Academy are less than 10 including us.

“Oh god, we’re late!!”

After Aaron’s shout, we noticed that the sun is already on top of our heads. We quickly enter the academy through the entrance. We asked a man who guards the entrance for direction to Headmaster’s Room. Before we leave the Magic Aptitude Test Hall last time, Headmaster Logan told us to go to his room once we arrive at the academy. So, as soon as we received the directions, we went straight to the Headmaster’s Room.

“Are we there yet?” Both Lynn and Aaron asked behind me.

“Almost there, its on the far end of this hallway.” I replied.

“Just the Block A is already like a maze. I wonder what about the other blocks.” Aaron said.

“Lets find a map after this. Being lost in our own academy is not funny.” Lynn said.

“Alright, we’re here.”

We arrived infront of a door. Right above it is a sign with ‘Headmaster’s Room’ written on it. I knocked on the door three times.

“Come in.”

A voice was heard from the inside. Receiving approval, I push the door open and enter the room. Inside the room, Headmaster Logan is sitting on his seat. He seems pleased seeing us.

“Good! Now that you’re here, lets chat a bit. I’m getting bored of doing paperwork now. Where’s my beer?”

And just like that, my impression of him as serious and strict headmaster has been destroyed. What kind of headmaster leave his work to drink beer with his students? Does he only acts serious when there is another teacher around?

“Hm? Why do you look at me like that? Something on my face?”

“Ah, no no. Just, don’t you need to punish us for being late?” Lynn asked.

“Hahaha, why would I need to punish you? We let the first three days free so that the students can roam and familiarize themselves with the academy. Even I took a week before I was able to remember the map. Come, sit down and drink with me.” Headmaster Logan explained before sitting on a sofa.

“We’re underage, sir.” I said.

“Oh right! Oh well, let me just drink by myself. Since you're late, I assume you all missed the opening ceremony?”

We three nodded.

“Alright, I’ll explain the things you need to know. Lets talk about classes first. As you know, there are a lot of classes. For example, there are elemental magic classes which are divided by each elementals such as fire, water and earth, mana understanding classes that teaches how to manage mana, martial art classes that teaches students close combat fighting. These three usually has the most students to participate. Other than these, there are also other classes such as geography, history and arithmetic classes. However, as you probably can guessed, these classes are not popular with the students. There are also special classes but I don't think you need to know about it so I’ll skip that.” Logan explained.

“As there are large amount of classes in Arshan Academy, we let the students to pick which class to take part in. For example, you, missy, are suitable for elemental water magic and mana understanding classes. I suggest you take part in these two classes.” He said as he points at Lynn.

“Next, in Arshan Academy, there exists a system called Ranking System. I don’t think I need to explain much about this since you can pretty much guess what it does. To raise your rank, you need to either do missions that can be found on mission board in Block C. Or, you can raise your rank by challenging someone with higher rank than you into a duel in Block D. However, new students cannot challenge others for ranking for the first four months to let them learn basic combat first. Hmm.. I don’t think there’s anything else to explain. So, do you guys understand?” Headmaster Logan drank another cup of beer after finish explaining.

“I understand.” I replied

“Nope.”

“Is it over?”

Looks like Aaron couldn't absorb too much information while Lynn dozed off in the middle of explanation.

“..Argh, you will know little by little each day anyway. Now shoo, I have finished what I have to do. I want to finish drinking these before that old fart comes back.” Headmaster Logan said as he shoo us away.

“We will leave first then.” I said as I get both Aaron and Lynn to leave the room.

"Ah, don't forget the conditions that we agreed on." Headmaster Logan added before I close the door.

“So, where are we going now?” Lynn asked.

“Lets go and walk around the academy.” Aaron suggests.

“Sure.”