The dormitory livened up quickly as the sun signaled the start of another day. People could be seen waking up and exiting their rooms. The common area filled as the social clicks started to form. Small friend groups gathered and went over casual pleasantries. Leon, on the other hand, was slow to rise.

In his room, he could be seen stretching as he enjoyed the natural lighting of the room. Looking out his window, Leon could see the lightly clouded sky with a beautiful sun shining through. Birds could be seen flying as a family across it. Leon felt guilty to admit it… but he was truly enjoying this new life. He had a family too: Mia. He knew there wasn’t anything he could do to find her right now. ‘All I can do is get through this and find her.’ It would be suicide to just go out and search for her. Even more so since there was a demon lord and his legion in this world. ‘How do I even know she’s in this world?’

Leon defeated his unproductive thoughts and focused on what he could do once more. He set out of his room and headed to the entrance to the dormitory.

His days became repetitive but gratifying. Every day started with walking to their language lecture with Nick. Once the bore-fest ended, he’d stroll through the city street on his way to the castle. His interactions with the native residents of the world became easier and easier as the days passed. Leon’s primary practice besides Kassandra being with the guards he would consistently interact with on the daily.

He'd come to learn the names of the two academy front gate guards. They were Hendrix and Flander. They’d all become on friendly terms and Leon didn’t even need to show his engraving anymore. Hendrix was a nice older man who used to be a knight but now worked as a gate guard to continue making money for his family while appeasing his wife’s wishes to avoid danger. Flander was a younger man not much older than Leon himself, he hoped to rise through the ranks one day and support his family that lives on the kingdom’s outskirts.

It was intriguing for him to learn about their lives. It told a more personal story that general textbooks and the like couldn’t. Sadly, the castle guards weren’t as open. They still gave him the cold shoulder and the full procedure of entrance. Leon couldn’t blame them since the castle was an important place, but it didn’t hurt any less. Eventually, he gave up trying to talk to them and kept their interactions to a minimum.

The rest of the day’s routine consisted of Leon getting tutored by Kassandra and reading his language textbooks. Kassandra was always busy with work whenever Leon came to study. He’d try his best to be independent and keep his questions to a minimum.

Kassandra would occasionally give him explanations on magic and mana but none of it stuck. They were less explanations and more snippets of her mental rambling that slipped out as she worked.

Three days remained until their first week of studying would be over, then they’d start all of their other classes. On his way to Kassandra’s study, as usual, Leon came across Sir William. He hadn’t seen the man since the day they last spoke in his office.

Leon waved to him and greeted him in Leqan, attempting to show off his progress. The man didn’t even bat an eye at him, walking past him. Leon found it rather strange but there wasn’t much to be done. The man gave off a slightly intimidating aura, contrary to his indifferent face. That deterrent alongside his greater interest in his learning led Leon to just drop the event and head to Kassandra’s study.

Earlier that day, Leon began to notice that the language lectures in the morning weren’t useful as he seemed to be ahead of them. Upon meeting Kassandra, Leon resumed his previous day’s progress on the second textbook of the three she’d given him.

A few hours passed and Kassandra set aside her work.

As if waiting for her to finish, Leon put down the book and looked at her. “Hey Kassandra, I have a question.”

“Sure, tell me.” She replied, taking a seat beside him.

The two had grown close during their time together. It had only been a few days but most of their days were spent in this study together. Their personalities meshed well as they both worked independently, occasionally talking to each other.

Kassandra never admitted it, but Leon could tell that she enjoyed the company. The study was much cleaner as Leon had helped organize the room in return for all of the tutoring and materials. It was still a mess, but there was now a visible floor in some places.

“I’ve noticed that the lecture offered at the academy in the morning isn’t… that useful to me anymore,” he stated, glancing at the textbooks in front of him.

Getting the gist of his concerns, Kassandra spoke. “You’re free to come here anytime.”

With that said, the two continued on as usual with Leon reading and asking Kassandra questions. He was becoming quite fluent with his limited vocabulary in the Leqan language. His [Adept Tongue] skill did help with his learning speed, but Leon was surprised at how quickly he caught on to the more practical aspects of learning a language like mastering the pronunciation and common slang.

Finally, his day ended, and his routine began again. Before he knew it, the first week was completed.

The sun was setting as Leon sat on the floor of the study, reading the end of the second textbook. He understood the cover of the book now. It was called Understanding Leqan Vol. 1. According to Kassandra, it was one of a set for more advanced studying. A bit of a jump between a scribbly journal to a certified textbook made for native speakers.

Leon stood up from his seated position and stretched. He’d been sitting for far longer than he should.

“Oh, before you head off. Here,” Kassandra said, mimicking his stretches before pulling a parchment from her necklace.

Leon’s eyes met with a familiar parchment from a week earlier. He happily accepted it and unraveled it, immediately pleased that he could read it.

The parchment had a paragraph at the top that was clearly addressed to Kassandra as he couldn’t read all of the words but understood that it was telling her that this parchment had Leon’s schedule within it.

Leon read down the paper until the segment of interest that pertained to him appeared. Here, it contained the location of his classes, his teachers’ names, and their allocated times. The list contained a combat class instructed by Sir Garett that he’d seen before, a geography and history class taught by a professor Anester which honestly sounded strangely familiar, and a… mana theory class?

“Hey, Kassandra, why do I have a magic class?”

She tilted her head at the question momentarily. Kassandra’s mind had begun to wander, only to suddenly return and initiate her movement to grab the parchment. Her eyes widened as she read the parchment.

Clapping her hands in realization, she summoned yet another scroll from her necklace. Before handing this one to Leon, she scanned it thoroughly. She gave Leon the new one with a satisfied look.

“This is the correct one. I forgot that they sent this one since I put in your apprenticeship request after they made the preliminary schedules.”

Leon found this parchment to be much shorter than the first one. It only contained his schedule which, after a quick skimming through, proved to be the same except for now there was no mana theory class.

Looking up at Kassandra, Leon recalled her wording. She had said ‘apprenticeship’ which was still a funny concept to Leon since they hadn’t done anything worth regarding as a mentor and an apprentice. ‘It’s more like I’m just crashing at her house,’ he thought.

As if reading his thoughts, she clapped her hands together once more and excitedly exclaimed, “This means that tomorrow marks the first day of your lessons with me!”

Leon laughed casually and slowly made his way to the door. The two said their goodbyes after some minor discussions and then Leon took his leave.

Arriving at his dormitory, Leon was surprised to find Nick sitting in the common area. He’d come back late as usual, and people didn’t tend to hang around at this time.

“So, this is the time you get back?” Nick inquired.

Leon walked toward him, “I try to get back at a reasonable time.”

The two joked for a while with Nick finding it hard to withhold his excitement about the ‘exhilarating’ classes that were to begin the next day. Leon and Nick sat down on some chairs near the fireplace as they continued their conversation.

“Well, unlike you, the rest of us still have a language lecture in the morning,” Nick sighed humorously.

Leon let out a chuckle at his joke.

It was moments like these that Leon forgot that Nick was in his forties. He somehow managed to express an energy level that always contrasted with his age. Leon thought it was due to the rejuvenation they’d all received when first being summoned but Nick felt different. ‘He just seems… happy… alive, I guess.’

“It’s nice to see that we both have combat lessons with Sir Garett in the afternoon. But for geography and his-” Nick said.

Chiming in, Leon said, “Actually, do you know who this professor Anester is?” It had been itching the back of his mind to who this familiar name belonged.

Puzzled at the question, Nick scrutinized Leon’s expression… he quickly came to a realization and just as quickly changed his face to that of a devious smile.

“Ah, you may not know him…” Nick said as he shook his head, attempting to hide his smile.

“Come on, man. Just tell me,” Leon complained.

“Well, you know the old man who teaches our language lecture…”

Leon’s face darkened.

“That’s him.”

He knew the name was familiar, but this was the last person he wanted it to belong to. ‘If this demon lord doesn’t kill me… these lectures will.’