First Day of School
Andrea and I sat next to each other as we listened to the speech of the headmaster. On my other side was Thomas who looked like he was about to go to sleep any moment. Well, it's not like I was listening to the speech either, I was busy scanning the incoming first year students and assess the amount of energy inside them. I was quite surprised. Many of them actually had a lot.
"-And lastly, as I have always reminded every student, may they be old or new, the old school building in the northern sector of the school as well as its surrounding forest is forbidden. So please refrain from visiting there." I heard the headmaster, Neri von Eichenstein, say which interrupted me of my assessment. "Once again, welcome to the Imperial Academy."
Applause exploded within the auditorium and the headmaster exited the podium. Another figure stepped in and I couldn't help but stare at him. And no, it wasn't because he was a bit handsome, but because of the absence of energy around him.
-Is he able to hide it?
Being able to hide one's energy was an advanced skill usually used by powerful mages and knights. I was able to do it only because Aunt Zaira taught it to me at a young age.
"Greetings first years, I am Leo von Praiji, a third year as well as the student council president of the Imperial Academy."
"Oh my gosh!" I heard Andrea squeal beside me. "It's the emperor's younger brother, Prince Leo."
-Seb's uncle?
Leo made his speech in front. His dark orange hair definitely stood out but it did not seem to bother him. A few minutes later, the representative of the incoming first years was called. And no, it wasn't me. To be more specific, I deliberately did not agree to be the representative.
Rude? Probably. But I prioritized having more time for myself than to be bothered by the responsibilities of being the representative.
"Good morning everyone, I am the first year representative, Stella von Gregory of the Military Arts Department."
According to what Andrea told me, the first years and second years were divided into sections instead of by department. In the morning, the students of each section (which is consisted of students from different departments) would attend the general studies subjects such as history, arithmetic, etiquette, etc.
Yeah, there was etiquette… I think it was something the nobles cooked up.
Meanwhile, in the afternoon, after lunch, we would attend our specialized subjects. For the magic arts students, it would be magic theory and magic history.
Once the speeches and the program finished, we were finally allowed to head to our classrooms. Well, it was still the first day so it would mostly be consisted of introductions. Unfortunately, Andrea, Thomas and I weren't in the same section. I was in Class 1-S, Thomas was in Class 1-A, while Andrea was in Class 1-B.
The first two years of the academy had a total of seven sections, with S as the first class and F as the last class. The students were placed in a section depending on his or her ranking during the entrance examination. Since I was the first ranker in the magic arts department, I was placed in Class 1-S.
From what Andrea told me, the top five students of the entrance exam of each department was placed in the S section. The S section also had many privileges in the academy which I was yet to find out.
As I entered the classroom, I chose a seat in the back that was near a window. Time passed and students started coming in one by one, filling the seats. My eyes caught the figure of Freya von Berialis, whom I met during the entrance exam. She took one of the seats in the front and I noticed that her followers decreased. They were in the lower sections. A girl that resembled Torii, only with brown hair, entered the classroom afterwards and sat next to Freya. They seemed to be friends since they were smiling and talking at each other. Finally, I caught glimpse of a boy who looked a lot like Sebastian, only with blonde hair.
-Just like what Thomas said.
I watched that person take his seat in the front as well.
The seats were being filled up and the only seat remaining was the one in front of me. Since there were twenty-five students in our class, there was an odd chair and that was where I was sitting. Nobody seemed to be keen on sitting near me, so it was left vacant. The door opened again and the last student entered.
I watched him look for a seat, but the one in front of me was the only available one so he had no other choice but to head to my direction. He had snow white hair and sea-green eyes. He just nodded at me as a sign of something and sat. Next, a person entered the classroom. It was a very familiar face, Teacher Kayla Tresde, the one who handled my entrance exam.
"Good morning students. I will be the adviser of Class 1-S as well as your Literature teacher. If you have any concerns, please approach me. Regular classes will start tomorrow and today we will spend it on getting to know each other. I'll start first."
I noticed the confusion of some of the students' faces. We were in the S section, yet our teacher seemed to be very carefree.
"I am Kayla Tresde, a battle mage. I specialize in water magic. I am a native of Azte City." she smiled. "See? So simple. For your turn, just state your name, which department you belong to and where your hometown is. That's it, nothing else. No need for any grandeur extra details. Let's see… Let's start at the front."
Well, I zoned out after that. I wasn't really very keen on making friends in the academy, especially on those who don't like me. I did not know why but I kept staring at the white hair of the boy who sat in front of me. His hair looked very soft and the color reminded me a lot of my elder sister's fox fur. I kept wanting to touch it, but I had to stop myself.
My elder sister, Elthesia Wetcheit li Stedus, was a nine-tailed white fox. She was a great warrior as well as the only one who had the patience to take care of a troublemaker like me. But that was all in the past. A very distant past.
I was pulled out of my thoughts when the boy in front of me suddenly stood up and started introducing himself.
"I'm Kai li Syna. I belong to the Military Arts Department and I live here in Azte."
A few whispers broke out immediately.
"Hey, isn't he the emperor's nephew?"
"Eh? The castaway prince of Syna Kingdom?"
"He ranked third in this year's Military Arts freshmen!"
Well, he seemed famous. I saw him sigh and took his seat. I then stood up because it was finally my turn.
"Luna Hysi. Magic Arts Department. Celestine Territory."
Just as the teacher's instructions; name, department, hometown and no extra details. Another set of whispers broke again, mostly about me, but I decided to tune them off.
As I finished, I suddenly felt some sort of glare, akin to bloodlust, directed at me. I glanced at where it came from and noticed Freya and the Torii-look-alike both looking at me.
-Right… Freya ranked second while the Chrishni brat ranked fourth in the entrance exam.
"Good! That's set then! Now let's discuss the rules of the school and the classrooms." said Teacher Tresde and opened a big book called the school manual.
I zoned out a few seconds later. Although I was aware someone was talking in front, I was visualizing the combat techniques I was going to practice later. I learned that visualization is important for any techniques after all.
All of a sudden, I felt a hand shake my shoulder. I looked up and saw the white-haired boy, Kai.
"Class is over. Teacher Tresde said we can head to the library or the training grounds before we head to our afternoon session later." he said.
"Oh, thank you." he just nodded and was about to leave. But- "Hey Kai! I can call you that, right?"
"Uhm… I guess. Why did you call me?"
"Your hair…"
His eyes suddenly widened and touched his white hair. I then wondered if white hair was an unusual feature.
"Can I touch it?"
He suddenly froze and looked at me like I had grown two heads or something, but I remained indifferent. (I do not have some weird hair fetish, okay?)
"You… want to… touch it?" he questioned like he could not believe it.
"Yeah."
"Aren't you afraid?" he asked.
"Why would I be afraid?"
"Having white hair means I have the Fox's Curse."
"The Fox's Curse? What's that?"
"You… don't know?" I shook my head.
I really did not know! Growing up in Celestine Territory, information about the outside world was scarce and I was more focused on polishing my skills than gossip around. Even back when I was living in the fox clan. I always indulged myself in training, so my information of common stuff was lacking of sorts.
"Your hair reminds me of someone I know, but if you don't want to then it's fine." I said.
"No! No! No! That's not what I meant! I was just taken aback a little. You know, white hair seems a bit weird after all."
"I think it's much better than orange hair." I commented.
His eyes widened once again, in which I was very puzzled at.
"So, can I touch your hair or not?"
"You can."
I smiled and immediately reached out my hand and touched his white hair. I was right, it was very soft and the strands greatly reminded me of fox fur; thick, strong and shiny.
"It's so soft."
Just as I was touching it, I caught his gaze which seemed to never leave me. His eyes were fixed on my face and I started wondering if I had something on my face.
"Kai?" I called, but he did not respond and kept staring at me. "Hello?"
"Kai!" someone called. It seemed to wake him up from his trance from a while ago. "Hey you! Why are you touching his head?"
I turned around and saw Sebastian's look-alike. And if I remembered correctly, his name was…
"Peter." I heard Kai call.
"Is she bothering you?" Peter asked.
"No she wasn't."
"Really? The why is she touching your head?"
"Nothing's wrong Peter." Kai insisted.
"Then we should head out now."
"Okay. Nice to meet you Luna."
"Same here Kai."
I watched as the two members of the imperial family made their way out of the classroom. I did not take my eyes off their retreating figures but I noticed the arrival of two familiar auras.
"What are you staring at Luna?" asked Andrea.
"Nothing." I answered. "Let's go visit the library!"