When the class ended the two met up again and traveled together to their combat lesson. Coincidentally they shared the same block, so he would get to see Alex in action.

He had to admit that he was excited to see how well his new friend would perform and which weapon he chose to use. Swords were simple, and if Cypher was being honest, they were quite plain. A change of pace would be quite nice.

It wasn't that he didn't enjoy using swords, quite the opposite. However, he had marveled at the many weapons Alvin had asked him to try out and was curious about Alex's choice. The weapon a person chose could speak volumes about their personality, at least that's what Jelroy had told Eiden during the early days of his training.

Cypher wasn't sure what a simple choice of weapon could say about a person, but he was determined to see if he could gain any insights into Alex. He decided to try and discover what Jelroy had been talking about for himself. Unfortunately when they arrived at the Slingate meant to take them to the training grounds they were met with only an empty portal frame. A small notice was tacked onto it and Cypher moved through the small crowd of people to read it.

“Attention First years: Classes with the combat instructor have been canceled for the entire week. Take this time to study your lessons from other classes and be prepared to meet here again at the same time next week. That is all. Signed, Glenda Boltain.”

Cypher sighed and felt a bit disappointed as he finished reading the short notice. Among the crowd, many other students could be heard complaining or otherwise voicing their disappointment.

“This is bullshit!” said one noble.

“Exactly! What kind of academy is this that allows their teachers to just cancel classes without advanced notice? I can understand keeping the commoners out, but what about us?” said another.

“Yeah, my family paid good money for me to be here! What gives?” a third girl chimed in.

Cypher walked back over to Alex and explained what he had learned and Alex sighed. “Well, at least that gives us more time to get this homework done. Honestly, I wasn’t looking forward to having to slog through heavy combat drills only to have to spend even more time working on this shit!” he said as he held up his book bag.

“Well, not a whole lot we can do about it now is there?” asked Cypher. The two then headed back to the main castle. They spent a few more hours simply talking and messing around in the courtyard. Before too long the sun had vanished from the sky and they parted ways. Cypher quickly returned back to his room and got started on the assignment Professor Marcy had given them. Long periods of study were nothing he couldn’t handle after his time spent learning under Jelroy. That guy had practically been a slave driver when it came to stuff like this.

Cypher quickly found that his assignment was more or less complete and so, with nothing else to do, he opened the Architect’s draft and studied it too for an hour before promptly passing out and sleeping the night away.

The next few days were similar in scope to his first at the Academy. He woke up, went to class, and spent his lunch hour goofing off with Alex. The two were becoming quite the pair as they learned more and more about each other. Cypher talked often about how he had been treated at the Galvan mansion. His stories left Alex on the edge of his seat at times and shaking with anger at others.

“So you just lived like that? I can’t even imagine it. If it was me I’d have socked that little shit in the face a few good times and put the fear of the gods in him! I’m telling you he would have thought twice about pushing me around!” Alex said as he crossed his arms in frustration.

“Well, I would have liked to, but Molly was always pretty adamant about me keeping my cool under pressure. Besides… I reaaaally wouldn’t have wanted to get on her bad side,” Cypher said shuddering at the thought of angering her.

“You seem to speak quite highly of this Molly lady, was she your mom?” Alex asked.

At this, Cypher seemed to withdraw a little. He still missed her dearly and wondered if she was okay. On top of that, while he did in fact consider her his mother, the truth was that she just wasn’t. But how could he explain that to Alex? Obviously, it wasn’t something he couldn’t understand but Cypher worried that his new friend might think less of him somehow.

He’d hate it if Alex started calling him a bastard like Eiden had, but he was sure that he was only being silly. There was no way that Alex would behave like that. Right?

He sat in silent contemplation for a moment more, but a playful shove from Alex calmed him down and he decided to come clean about everything. “Err, well actually no. See, I never knew my parents. The Galvans took me in when I was just a baby and they pretty much outright refused to talk about who my real parents were. All I could ever get from them was that my real parents were dead so… Yeah, I guess in a way Molly kinda was the only mom I had.”

“Ah, I get that man,” Alex said solemnly, realizing he had touched upon a sensitive subject. “I kinda know what that’s like. See, my mom passed away when I was a toddler. I never really got to know her and while dad did his best there’s only so much one parent can do, you know? Sorry if I upset you buddy, but Molly sounds really nice! I’m glad you at least had her to take care of you!” Alex offered him a sheepish smile and Cypher returned the gesture.

He wasn’t sure how to feel. Nobody had ever identified with him like that and it was nice to talk to someone who understood. If nothing else he was happy that Alex wasn’t going to chastise him for something out of his control. It took Cypher a moment to realize that this was what normal people were actually like. Living with spoiled nobles had tainted his view of people quite severely.

It was understandable since that was all he had to go on. Nobles in one way or another always had that air of superiority about them. As if the rules and ways of the world beneath their station didn’t really matter since they didn’t affect them all that much. It was truly comforting to know that Alex not only understood how he felt but was being so nice about it.

The days passed like that as Cypher and Alex grew closer and Cypher was thrilled to finally have his first friend. It didn’t matter to him that Alex was three years older. That age gap didn’t change much between them given Alex’s laid-back personality and Cypher’s mature way of thinking and talking. Cypher had always been more mature than other kids his age and it was finally paying off for him.

Soon, the week was up and their first combat lesson would come the following day. Gossip about why the class had been put off circulated quickly and was a hot topic amongst the first-year students. Some of them even tried to change their class schedule to make up for the loss of all that time. They saw it as a failing of the teacher and by extension, the Academy. Several of the students in the noble caste were quick to dismiss the idea of even bothering to show up tomorrow.

Still, that wasn’t going to stop Cypher. Things came up, he knew that all too well, and besides, it wasn’t really his place to question the teachers of this institute. This bit of free time had actually worked to his advantage and he had truly enjoyed spending time with Alex just being a normal kid for once in his life.

As he lay down to sleep that night, he found himself excited. He only hoped that classes wouldn’t be canceled for another week, although the idea of seeing so many noble kids pissed off left him quite amused.