Ding-dong ding-dong... Dong-ding ding-dong!

The bell for semester start rang in and around the Academy’s grounds. The students received their schedules a week in advance through the badges that they got on the day of the entrance exam. One of the other things that arrived at their residences were their student uniforms.

Many of the students at the Academy were from common families. The same is true for most of the clans. The noble families of each clan were placed up on a pedestal, alongside the Aspects. Sin found that to be a pity.

She liked the uniforms that the Academy sent out though, all of the first year students wore white suits with coloured accents. It seemed there were a lot of colours, but the majority were red or blue. Red was for females, and blue was for males. But there were other accents that adorned other students’ uniforms, like black, green, yellow, and purple. She wasn’t entirely sure what all of those represented.

Unfortunately, she thought, her first lesson was completely different to Rai’s. Fortunately, however, most of their lessons were together. Sin left Rai asleep in the penthouse when she left but she had enough faith in him to make it to school on time. It seemed that the core classes were split among professors so that they weren’t overwhelmed by the amount of students that would otherwise be in the same classroom. She giggled. The thought of a single classroom being stuffed with over a hundred students was amusing.

“Whatcha giggling about there?” A girl with curly brown hair and mismatched eyes of green and blue popped up in front of Sin.

Another girl from the side, with similar looking hair and green eyes, pulled lightly at the other girl’s arm.

“Amy no! We can’t talk to her, she’s an Aspect’s daughter!”

“Who said you can’t talk to me?” Sin asked the yanking girl.

The yanking girl yelped, then bowed before Sin.

“Sorry Princess, I’m Lina and this is Amy, we’re sisters from the Isle of Chimes, the clan of Songs. Please excuse us.” She maintained her bow.

“Get up. I’m not some untouchable entity, you can talk to me if you want.” She thought maybe a softer approach would work better given how shaken the girl in front of her looked. “We’re in the same first class, right? So let’s just get along as friends.”

Lina awkwardly rose from her bow while her twin sister jumped for joy as she yelled.

“We’ve already made a friend!” Amy yelled.

“Are you... twins? No wonder you’re both so beautiful.” Sin said nonchalantly.

The twins blushed.

“You think we’re... beautiful?” Lina whispered.

Sin nodded, to her it was a fact.

“You should thank your parents when you go home, they really blessed you.”

“Yes ma’am. You’re very beautiful yourself.” Lina said in response.

Sin smiled in response, then her attention drifted to the classroom door. A shiver creeped along her spine, and her heart rate was rising. It’s okay Sin, no need to get so anxious. It’s just the first lesson. You got this! She battled her anxiety before entering, but her encouraging thoughts made it a little easier to open the door.

When she entered the room, she saw rows of seats that went further up with each row, and stairs on either side of the seats. In the front of the room was a board, a podium, and a chair, as well as the lecturer who’d be taking their class today. It’s smaller than I thought... though I suppose it’s just a small class and not a big lecture with more people.

The room followed the architecture that the rest of the Academy was built on, exuding a regal and modern feel at the same time. The room itself managed to avoid being too constricted or too wide. It felt just right.

Sin decided to sit in the front row as she waited for the lecture to start. She reached into her spatial rune and pulled out some paper and a pencil to take notes from the lecture. The name of the class was ‘Introduction to your studies’ and it wasn’t recurring on the schedule like all of the other classes, so she thought this would be a one-off class where they learned the basics of studying at the Academy. She saw that Rai had this lesson on his schedule as well, it was just in a different room on the other side of the Academy. Sin sighed, wishing that she could have been in the same class as Rai.

Lina and Amy sat next to her. Amy noticed her sigh, but didn't ask about it since they weren't exactly familiar with each other yet. The lecturer entered the room. The first thing they did was take note of the student count, then walk over to the podium. Their appearance was... confusing to Sin. She couldn't quite tell if they were a man or a woman. The lecturer had long hair, beautiful eyebrows, and a soft facial structure. But their clothes gave nothing away, since they wore bulky robes that hid their form.

They waited for everyone to finish their conversations. It took a minute, but the class soon realised that the teacher was here.

“Young prospects! Welcome to your first lesson at the Academy. Don’t worry too much, this won’t take that much of your time. We’re here to go over some of the basic rules and expectations that the Academy has of you during your time here. Before I start, does anyone have any questions?”

They waited a moment to see if anyone had any questions. Sin noticed that their voice wasn't exactly masculine nor feminine. She didn't feel comfortable asking about it though.

There were no responses.

“Very well. As many of you know, the entrance exams were used to determine whether you were accepted or denied entry into the Academy. However, what many of you wouldn’t have known is that they were also used as a way for the instructors to decide which student they most wanted to be mentors for.”

As the lecturer expected, there were some mumbles among the students. There were few nobles in this class, so most of the students present wouldn’t know of such a thing.

One boy with spiky black hair raised his hand. The lecturer gestured for him to ask his question.

“Does that mean that only some students will be given a personal mentor?”

“An excellent question! The short answer is no. But the long answer is yes. Realistically, if an instructor hasn’t taken an interest in your potential then your assigned mentor will likely be less inclined to take an active position in mentoring you. They will, of course, happily answer questions and help you with any problems you may have, but they will not go out of their way to push your growth beyond that. Which means... that you need to work hard and impress your instructors and teachers, otherwise you’ll miss out on very high quality mentoring!”

Some of the students sounded anxious, while others sounded excited. There was little difference between the two emotions, but Sin could understood that difference all too well.

The mentor system could be the greatest asset of a student, or it could mean nothing. It depended entirely on the input of the student, since the teachers used quantifiable methods to decide whether to focus more resources into each student. Sin knew that she had to work hard to get the results she wanted.

The lecturer watched the class, waiting for any other questions before continuing. After a moment, another hand raised into the air. This time it was from the red haired girl at the front.

“What about extracurriculars? Will there be an opportunity to create a society if it doesn’t already exist?” Sin asked.

Now this wasn’t a question the lecturer expected.

“Before I answer, does anyone have any other questions about the previous topic?”

They waited.

No hands went up.

“Okay, very good. About extracurriculars and societies. Yes, you can create a society if it doesn’t already exist. However, you have to have a minimum of five people in total who would join the society in order to establish it. How each society works is different, and they can be afforded different benefits based on their goals and drive to achieve said goals. Does that answer the question?”

The red haired girl nodded, then shrunk back into her seat.

“Just to check, were there any other questions about extracurriculars?” The lecturer asked the group.

No response. The students already seemed bored out of their minds.

“Then we’ll move on to the next part. Your mentors will contact you before the end of the week, and if you don’t get contacted by anyone you should talk to the admin office.” They stopped speaking for a moment to clear their throat. “Ahem. The final part of this lecture is about your divine forms. In the Academy, unless it has been sanctioned by the teacher or instructor, you are not allowed to use your divine forms.”

At this, there was very little reaction. Most of the students in the room were commoners, so they weren’t used to using their divine forms often anyway.

“We encourage you to use them in your practical lessons if they would give you an advantage in some way, but there is no need for them in your typical lessons or when hanging around campus. Aaalright! I think that’s enough of your time taken up! Thank you all for listening. Does anyone have any final questions before we end this class here?”

There was some discussion among the students, but no one asked a question.

“Okay, then feel free to go to your next class. Oh, and as a note, there are ways to gain recognition in the Academy through your performances in your practical lessons and exams, which will be frequent. There will be exams in the artifact and alchemy departments as well, which you can use to bolster your standing. They occur frequently, so don’t get too complacent. Don’t forget to ask your teachers questions if you have them, and good luck at Aether Academy!”

The lecturer snapped their fingers and disappeared with a puff of smoke.

By this point, Sin was practically asleep, her head resting in her hand which was propped up by her elbow on the desk.

An energetic voice from her left woke her up.

“Excuse me Princess! What’s your next lesson?”

Sin sucked back in the drool that was escaping from her mouth, then stretched her arms out to try and hide the fact that she was drooling.

“It’s just Sindyl, please. I have practical applications of magic next.”

Amy’s mismatched eyes brightened.

“Really?! We have that lesson next as well! Let’s walk there together, Sindyl.” Her sister Lina was clearly timid, but she also had a hopeful expression on her face.

“Alright, let’s go together.” Sin said as she smiled at the twins.