Nathan

Year 2849 | Month 5 | Day 21 | Friday

Several hours later in the day

“Say, Nathan,” Aidan suddenly asks as we’re climbing the stairs of the dormitory, “why do you like mint ice cream so much?”

I turn to look at him without stopping before facing forwards again while giving a very simple answer, “Because it’s great.”

Ignoring the judgmental look Aidan is sending me due to my answer, I focus on the dormitory entrance itself. It’s surprisingly populated right now, with people almost everywhere.

More people than I think I’ve ever seen in one place at the academy to this point, outside of when I first joined, and everyone was passing through the gate.

Even Rebecca, Sophia, and Cyria – who went off on their own to do something earlier, leaving Aidan and myself to eat at the diner with Amelia – seem to be entering the building right now.

“Why are there so many-” I begin, only to stop as my id card begins to vibrate in my blazer pocket.

Huh?

I reach in and pull it out before a panel appears above it with a large notice in the center telling everyone to gather in the dormitory entrance hall. Meanwhile, below the notice is another one. One that seems to have been there for over an hour now, but without any actual importance attached to it that would make my card vibrate.

“Well, there’s your answer,” Aidan says as I lift my head again to look up at the floating platform in the front of the hall once we reach the second floor.

Standing on the platform are two people, including both the headmistress of the academy, and Leo as they stand there looking out over everyone.

“Everyone, please direct your attention to the platform,” Leo’s voice echoes through the hall. “There is an important announcement that the headmistress wishes to make.”

He looks around the entrance hall as he continues, “The announcement will begin in half an hour so as to give everyone enough time to get here. If someone is missing at that time, then they are expected to get the information given out in the announcement from some other source.”

I frown slightly before looking at Aidan, only to see him shrug in confusion.

Is this going to be a common thing? Or did something major happen?

I turn back to the edge of the balcony before watching my teacher step back slightly and begin talking with the headmistress with a slightly tense look on his face.

Judging by the look on his face, I doubt this is a normal occurrence.

Not to mention that the headmistress is here, and by the looks of it, will continue to be here through the thirty minute wait, so it has to be important.

My eyes widen slightly as said headmistress suddenly looks at me and smiles. She then turns away almost immediately after and continues speaking with Leo.

I frown slightly before looking around the entrance hall.

Guess Amelia probably told her that we made up.

Anyways, the cadets filling the hall begin to whisper amongst each other again not even a full minute later. And after a few more minutes, the quiet whispers turn in to full on chatter, making the entrance hall pretty noisy.

A lot noisier than I have ever seen it before now.

I glance over at the girls to find them chatting whilst leaning up against the wall, close to the entrance before I turn around and walk over towards the wall up on the second floor.

“I’m gonna go talk to the others,” Aidan says with a short wave towards the girls, “you can come too if you want, but I doubt you will.”

He then starts walking back towards the stairs as I go up against the wall and begin sliding down to sit on the floor whilst pulling a textbook out of my bag.

Now’s as good a time as any to study tactics and battle strategy.

The time passes pretty quickly, and after half an hour has passed, the sound of hands clapping once echoes throughout the entire hall, drawing my attention away from the textbook and notes I had sitting on my lap to the edge of the platform, where the headmistress is standing with her hands on her hips.

“Attention cadets,” her voice, somehow both sharp and playful sounding at the exact same time, echoes throughout the hall, “the Council has decided to increase the funding for the academy while also offering more internships to the students. Thanks to this, every student with a talent level of 3 or higher will be able to get an internship as long as they try. Meanwhile, those with talent levels below that – not that it would matter to you – will be able to get one as long as they really put in a lot of effort for it. But the minimum effort for you is to compete in the arena for five or more duels.”

Once she finishes, silence fills the hall for a few seconds, followed by a thundering applause from the cadets that halts almost as quickly as it had started when Leo raises his hand and snaps his fingers, causing a short explosion to ring out from them.

The headmistress glances at him and nods before looking around the auditorium again and continuing, “What’s more, is that Instructor Leo here will be conducting little ‘field trips’ out to real battlefields, where you will be paid by the number of kills you manage to make along with any of the experience you gain whilst out there in real combat.”

This once again causes a commotion until the headmistress raises an eyebrow, cocks her hip out slightly, and adds, “And if you die on the battlefield, then your parents will be given a bonus stipend, along with the usual waiving of their military service that they would get from having given birth to a mana user.”

About half of the cadets that were cheering immediately stop at the mention of their possible deaths, while the rest of them only begin cheering even louder.

I raise an eyebrow slightly at the obvious bribery going on here.

“And lastly,” the headmistress begins again, a grin beginning to blossom on her face, “the academy will be taking the top ten participants in the arena and entering them into a special program for the rest of their time in the academy, regardless of what their talent levels are!”

Now this announcement has me covering my ears due to the hundreds of voices all shouting at once.

I look around the hall for a few seconds before focusing on the headmistress again, only to see her turn her head towards me with a smile once again the moment my eyes lock onto her. She then turns to talk to Leo and nods her head slightly in my direction.

My eyes narrow at this interaction.

What is she talking to him about, and what does it have to do with me?

With these thoughts in mind, I watch Leo walk up to the edge of the platform and declare, “That is all for the announcements. You are all dismissed.”

After he says this, he turns into a mass of flames and flies straight towards the entrance doors before they both open at his arrival, letting him out. The headmistress then follows suit, turning into a shining ball of moonlight and leaving the dormitory building as well.

I stare after them for a few seconds before shaking my head and starting towards my room.

That’s probably going to be a problem.