A Tour of the Academy I

"Fufufu, you should have seen Astrid's face when she ran over here to show me your exam," Lily giggled as she remembered Headmistress Evergreen's expression at the time.

"The answer, please?" Thea asked again, staring at her mother.

"Oh, yes. So, on the exam, the questions were written in Bratin, the language we are speaking now..." Lily said with a raised eyebrow, noticing Thea's shock.

This was the first time Thea realized that, even though it felt the same as when she spoke English, her [Language Talent] skill had made everything sound natural since birth, so the fact that she wasn't speaking English never crossed her mind. When Thea heard what Lily had just mentioned, she was genuinely speechless.

"Continuing on... The last two questions on the exam were written in two different ancient tongues, so they required a certain degree of knowledge to answer them. The last question wasn't hard, but it was written in an incredibly difficult language to learn, even though it's much easier compared to Chronus..." Lily explained, almost muttering the last few words.

"Chronus?" Mia asked, picking up on Lily's words with her sharp hearing.

"Chronus is an ancient tongue that even the best scholars in Duca can't translate. We think that the race that used to speak it could use stronger magic just by casting a 'keyword'," the king, disguised as Ivan, solemnly explained.

"Really?! So if we learn it, we could use magic that easily?" Reina asked excitedly.

"No. Aside from learning the language, we would also need a [Perfect Core], which no modern race has," the king explained with a smile, satisfied to see the eager attitude from the young girls before him.

"Well, that's not correct. I can use Chronus!" Thea proudly exclaimed... or not, as she quietly kept that secret between her and her mother.

"Anyway, the last question was written in Rari, an ancient language that the headmistress apparently recently finished translating. If you didn't write the correct answer in the language the question was asked in, you would get a maximum of 90. But if you did answer the question correctly, you would automatically get a 100," the king explained as he stared at Thea.

"I see... is it going to be a problem that I surpassed the prince in both physical and theoretical points?" Thea asked her mother and 'Ivan'.

"If there is, it's going to be between you and the prince. The king wouldn't do anything as petty as bullying a sweet, fragile little girl for his son, right, gentlemen?" Lily asked with a smile that showed no sign of friendliness.

"Yi- Ahem! Yes, that's correct. The king is busy enough as it is," the king had to clear his throat as he squeaked at first.

Thea and Lily giggled at the king, but before the king could retort, the headmistress began speaking, her voice spreading around the hall with magic.

"Alright, everyone, can I ask you all to follow me around the school? Parents, I know many of you might have come here when you were young, and I'm sure you know your way around the grounds, but please stay with the group. If I find you wandering before the tour is finished, you and your students will not be welcome here anymore," Headmistress Evergreen stated seriously, to which the parents nodded in agreement.

Thea, Mia, and the twins, followed by their parents, were led around the academy grounds. They saw many different classrooms and training grounds, they saw the library, even a large swimming pool.

Even though the tour took almost three hours, seeing many different rooms and buildings made the time fly by. When the large group finally arrived at a separate, walled-off section of the academy, the headmistress turned around to face the students and their parents.

"This is the residential area for the 1st-year students. The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th-year students stay in different residential areas, just like this one," Headmistress Evergreen explained as she led the group into the residential area.