1 The Academy

Victoria nodded her head in greeting for what felt like the umpteenth time today, the trained smile on her lips expertly hiding away her disinterest in doing so.

If it had not been for the etiquette training she had gone through since young then Victoria thought that she would not be able to keep her expressions under control especially the disgust and contempt she was experiencing due to the poorly disguised gazes directed her way ogling her body.

Victoria rested her palm on the hilt of her rapier-wand at her waist, tapping a finger on it as she felt the temptation to give the oglers a couple stabs, preferably in the eyes…

Victoria blinked her eyes twice at the thought before releasing a quiet sigh.

'Mother would lecture me for hours if she could hear my thoughts.'

Victoria's mother had worked since Victoria was young to turn her into a refined lady and would not look upon her thoughts in a favorable light.

'Even though she would think the same…' She thought in annoyance.

In a world where everyone had to learn some combat regardless of being a man or woman, etiquette was usually forgotten.

The monsters roaming the wilds outside each kingdom's territory didn't allow otherwise.

More so when those monsters wore human skin…

Victoria narrowed her eyes at that thought, a sharp glint flashing through them.

At that moment some of the oglers took a step backward, some fear now in their eyes as they felt a strange sense of danger.

Before they could even begin to look for the danger it disappeared, just as suddenly as it had first appeared, leaving them looking around tensely in confusion.

Not everyone was like that however, two guys who hadn't paid Victoria any attention before were now looking at her, interest in their eyes.

Feeling the two peculiar gazes on her Victoria turned around, eyes narrowing in equal interest while her lips widened into an alluring smile as she traded looks with the two men.

The smile made Victoria resemble a rose in full bloom. Beautiful, seductive, mesmerizing, yet dangerous to those who tried to pluck it without care.

"This place might not be so boring after all." She murmured to herself before turning and continuing the way she was going originally.

Snow chuckled as he watched from the inside of the academy as all of this happened through one of the windows of what would now be his classroom.

"Hmm? Find anyone interesting?" A cheerful voice full of curiosity asked.

Snow glanced at the source of the voice without turning his head, a smirk appearing on his lips at the apparent curiosity of the blond young man beside him.

"You could say that." He turned his gaze back down through the window just catching one last glance of Victoria's lustrous blue hair fluttering with the wind.

It was an odd color of hair for sure, but one that he had long grown used to.

Snow turned to look at the blond once again as he heard him release a grumble, a peeved look on the blond's face as he looked at Snow with his arms crossed.

"You're really annoying when you answer all vaguely like that, you know that, right?"

Snow's face turned apologetic as he looked at Ray, the blond man.

"Sorry, sorry, it's a force of habit."

"Right…" Ray raised an eyebrow at Snow, showing his skepticism. "So?" He added after a moment

Snow tilted his head to the side in confusion at Ray's question and Ray finally exploded with curiosity.

"Who caught your attention?"

"Ah." Snow chuckled at Ray's enthusiasm before looking back down at where Victoria had disappeared.

For once Ray let the silence linger, waiting for Snow's answer with rapt attention.

"Victoria Strauss."

Ray's eyes widened as he recognized the name before looking at Snow knowingly, eyes sparkling with mischievousness.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on who you asked, Snow didn't see this since he wasn't looking at Ray.

"Keep an eye on her for me, will you?" Snow added after a moment

"Rest assured your highness" There was still some mischievousness in Ray's eyes as he responded but his demeanor contained a new solemn air which made his words more reassuring and credible.

Snow briefly glanced at Ray and nodded, prompting Ray to head out to follow his liege's order.

Ray felt somewhat uncomfortable with leaving Snow's side since he was the Prince's chief bodyguard - butler but the two hidden guards hidden by magic reassured him.

"Besides, if someone wants to try something, they'll have to measure up against the Prince first." Ray muttered that final line of reassurance to himself as he walked through the corridor before dismissing his concerns out of his mind, focusing on the task he was handed.

Back in the classroom Snow let out a quiet short breath as his eyes turned thoughtful until he heard footsteps approaching in the distance a few moments later.

"Good morning, Your highness, Prince Snow."

Snow turned around and faced the person now standing on the teacher's podium, briefly looking over him.

The man had light brown hair and a face with soft features excluding his sharp eyes. Despite the man's youthful appearance, Snow was well aware that the man was approaching his 40's, one of the many benefits of magic.

After looking him over for a moment Snow waved his hand lightly with a shake of his head.

"Address me as you would your normal students, I'd be undermining your authority as a teacher if you act subserviently. Besides it's not the first time you've been a Prince's professor, correct?"

The man's lips hooked up into a smile as he nodded his head, his previously subservient demeanor nowhere to be seen.

"Indeed. Thank you for your understanding, Snow."

Snow slightly shakes his head once again.

"No matter. Besides, I doubt too many will remember my appearance without my armor."

At those words, the eyes of Denis, the teacher, turned reminiscing as he looked at Snow, a phantom of a shorter, younger version of him overlapping with his figure for a moment before disappearing.

A wry smile appeared on Denis' face as he shook his head. "It has been too long since you last attended a public event."

Snow answered Denis without looking at him as he sat down at his designated desk.

"Better this way, Father still has many years ahead of him, and I'm not too eager to take his place anyway, this way no one will get any funny ideas."

"They'll still know it's you, after all, your name has some fame to it." He glanced slightly upwards at Snow's white hair. "Not to mention your hair…"

Snow glanced at Denis, taking in his worried look with a casual one of his own.

"Let them. I've lived with the Royal name my whole life so I'm used to its perks and detriments, if anyone is stupid enough to slight Royalty they should be prepared to handle the consequences."

Denis' eyes narrowed, some surprise in his eyes as he felt the slight mix of intent and magic wafting off of Snow as he made that statement.

In a testament of his self-control, just as had happened with Victoria down below, the mix that Denis was feeling suddenly disappeared.

"Seems like you advanced quite a bit."

Snow nodded, a serious look on his face.

"I have to, after all, our enemies won't be waiting for me to develop."

"Right…"

Denis frowned at the reminder.

"There has been an increased number of skirmishes at the borders lately." Snow added, his voice lower.

Denis narrowed his eyes some anger showing on his face.

Snow raised his head and locked eyes with Denis a solemn expression on his face.

"Father gave 2 years."

Denis's eyes widened. "Only 2 years?!"

Snow nodded, closing his eyes before leaning back into his chair letting both of them fall into silence.

Denis was too shocked by the implications of Snow's words to continue their conversation and Snow had lost interest in doing so, ignoring Denis and training his magic circulation while he waited for his classmates to arrive.

That was the scene Monique and Elise arrived to.

As they came through the door they felt the heavy air in the room as they saw a man that they assumed to be their future teacher with both of his hands on the podium looking down with a deep frown occasionally lifting his head slightly to glance in front of him with a troubled look.

Following the teacher's sight, both girls couldn't help but hold their breath as they laid eyes on the white-haired youth sitting by the window.

The youth had his arms crossed in front of his chest as he leaned back into his chair, head tilted down with his eyes closed, allowing his snow-white hair to fall in front of his eyes, casting a shadow over his eyes.

Maybe sensing their gaze, he leisurely opened his eyes, seeming almost lazy while doing so were it not for the scrutinizing look he gave them but even that disappeared after just a moment, leaving them wondering if it was just their minds playing tricks on them.

"Welcome." Snow greeted the two heroines before closing his eyes, sinking back into his training once more, not even bothering to hide his lack of interest in the two.

The two seemed slightly disappointed at his disregard but made their way inside, quietly greeting the teacher as they passed close to him, but staying mostly silent after that, only speaking to each other in whispers while looking for their designated desks before sitting down when they found them.

A minute or two later a group of five came in.

The group was composed of two girls, three guys, and they came into the classroom while talking animatedly in between each other.

Anyone who even bothered to look at the group could easily see how the group seemed to gravitate around one of the girls.

They consciously or unconsciously flanked the girl's sides keeping her in the middle, and occasionally glanced at the girl while they talked, seemingly gauging her reaction to their words.

The girl in question meanwhile took in this attention with a grace expected only of experienced high ranking noble ladies, looking neither too proud nor too humble, answering her companions exactly when and how she was expected to.

This girl, the queen bee if you will, was Kelly Milo, the daughter of a Marquis.

Since Denis had already snapped out of his stupor the classroom no longer had the oppressive air it had when Monique and Elise had arrived, allowing the entourage to enter the classroom leisurely.

Strange perhaps was their complete lack of reaction to the white-haired youth, but then again, maybe not.

Denis took a quick glance at where he knew Snow was sitting, letting out a quiet chuckle in wonder as he noticed his complete lack of presence.

Denis had to admit that what he had glimpsed of Snow's capabilities were well beyond what he was expecting, even despite feeling like he had raised his expectations too much based on rumors.

'His ability is well beyond his age group, even ahead of the elites by a decent margin.' Denis was surprised at his own assessment for a moment before chuckling with a wry smile.

'I suppose that's to be expected from the student of the Royal Wizard.'

As the Prince of the Kingdom Snow was only allowed to have the best of the best, which included his tutors.

On the other hand, he was also expected to be the best of the best, which meant his tutors were demanding, strict, and uncompromising.

A normal would have broken down under the pressure, Snow on other hand thrived absorbing everything he was taught like a sponge.

'Maybe that's why they decided it was okay to use more extreme methods.' Denis released a sigh at the thought before pushing it out of his mind and looking at the students trickling in through the door.

As soon as the last student came in and sat on his seat, Denis waved his hand at the door sending a stream of magic towards that activated two magic formations. A tiny one the door that closed it and another all across the floor of the classroom that activated a sound isolation barrier, canceling any and all noise from the outside.

Noticing the teacher's motion the class slowly quieted down.

"I am proud to welcome all of you to The Academy, the best school of magic and combat in the Kingdom. I'd also like to congratulate you for qualifying for the mixed course and claiming one of the 50 spots available."

Denis swept his gaze across the class, taking in the grins, smirks, and sparkling eyes of the students, excluding one or two exceptions.

"However, don't get cocky. If any of you are found to be underserving of your spot in this course someone else will take your place, don't forget that."

He once again swept his gaze across the class and found himself amused at how quickly these kids could change moods with how solemn and grim their faces were.

"Since we're on the topic I suppose I should inform those of you who don't already know. As you may have already noticed I said that there were 50 spots in the mixed coursed, but as you can probably see, there are only 25 of you here."

The eyes of some students narrowed or widened in realization while a couple of odd ones already seemed to know what their teacher was talking about, having been informed by their parents or by acquiring the information some other way.

The rest however continued to look at Denis in confusion, prompting a smirk from him.

"Most of you already guessed it but it seems like some of you are a bit too slow."

The confused bunch promptly reacted with indignation or shame at his words causing him to snicker.

"No matter, I shall spell it out for you. We at The Academy believe that some healthy competition serves to motivate you lot and get you to move your conceited asses. As such, we devised a small internal competition."

The breaths of a few hitched finally realizing what Denis was talking about.

Denis seemed to notice that if the grin on his face was any indication.

"That's right. Two classes, the best takes it all, leaving nothing for the losers. As for what the 'all'

well, you are free to choose. Money, magic stones, magic tomes, special tutoring, as long as you request something reasonable The Academy will do its best to fulfill your request."

Denis glanced that Snow to see that he had finally opened his eyes and they locked eyes for a moment before Denis chuckled, continuing.

"Of course there are some problems with this after all this is a class competition and maybe you won't get all get along with each other."

A few students nodded, agreeing with this point.

"Well, not to worry, after every competition both classes will be shuffled around. Try not to get too attached.

*SLAM*

"That doesn't make any sense!" In the middle of the class, one of the girls got up, slamming her hands on the table. It was Kelly.

As the whole classroom just stopped and stared at her, Kelly seemed to realize her faux pas and blushed but stood her ground.

Snow glanced disinterestedly at Kelly and closed his eyes once again sinking back into training once more.

He already knew the reason for her sudden outburst partly because of his extra year of memories, but even so, anyone could figure it out with a little bit of thought.

For someone who at the start of classes already had an entourage of 4 'lackeys', there were two possibilities. Either they were friends beforehand or she was good at making social connections.

If it was the former she was worried about being separated from her 'friends'. If it was the latter however the problem was slightly more complex.

At first glance, there is no problem, after all, a social connection, or friendship if you will, doesn't just disappear due to two people being in different classes, but it would become weaker over time especially for one formed just recently.

There were also other problems, such as the class they were being separated from being opposed to their's, creating friction, and making it much more inconvenient to associate with each other, after all, who could guarantee that they were not leaking their classes strategy for the competition to the opponent.

What would you do in this situation? Continue nurturing the connection you made at the beginning that may now be completely useless or start a new one? What if the new one was shuffled to the other class as well? Do you start again?

Surely if you would eventually get to know every other student at some point, wouldn't you be able to get everyone in your circle that way?

Sure! But that circle would be fragile and shallow. The constant switching from friend to foe, from enemy to friendly would wear most out emotionally, after all, everyone wanted the prize, there was no way they wouldn't be giving it their all.

That was The Academy's objective.