Last Day of Wintergrace (Part 1)

"I may not know much about you... but what I do, I absolutely love..."

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***7 days ago***

"Last but not the least, our final student to graduate with the badge of silver rank is Karl Krueger!"

I clapped vigorously as Karl walked up to the stage to recieve his silver rank adventurer tag and a Wintergrace ceremony knife.

Among us all, there was one who was cheering loudly as Karl recieved the knife and did the symbolic unsheathing presentation. We all laughed and smiled as Lia nearly fell over jumping and cheering with Sophia barely holding on to her trying to seat her down.

What's funnier was that Karl was barely able to keep a straight face. Finally as he walked off the stage Lia ran out to hug him and after a moment he pushed her back down onto her seat.

I grinned and raised my eyebrow at him as he came back to sit beside. "Very close aren't you two?"

Karl sighed. "Shut up. I swear she is up to something."

Just then, our principal gave his final closing speech and wished us the best of luck for our future as adventurers.

With that came to close our Wintergrace Adventurer Academy graduation ceremony.

Wintergrace Adventurer Academy, as the name suggests it's an elite school for training and preparing future adventurers. Students who graduate from Adventurer Academies are directly promoted to silver rank. Adventurers are divided into eight ranks, Slate, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Orichalcum and finally Adamantite, ranking higher in ascending order. Every student has to study and train for three years, which is just about the time that it takes for a Slate rank adventurer to reach Silver or Gold rank.

Most adventurers never went through Adventurer Academies, or rather couldn't afford to. Adventurer Academies are expensive and seemingly reserved only for the elites. Well... once we graduate, we are no different than other silver rank adventurers.

Well here we were, 38 students of Wintergrace Academy, who just graduated and were granted the rank of silver.

As we walked to the post ceremony graduation party, Lia and Sophia joined us out of nowhere. Well no surprise as one can always be sure Lia is somewhere around Karl

"Kinda nerve-wracking, is it not?" Sophia said.

"Mmhm, nope. I have already planned up what's next for me." Karl shrugged.

"He is so reliable!" Lia exclaimed as she snugged close to Karl.

"Well first I am gonna check out the actual adventurer system, I figure there is more to it than we know yet. Interact with some experienced fellow silver rankers who actually grinded for it."

Sophia snorted. "Actually grinded for it. Pfft... We worked hard too. I am not gonna let anyone put us down just because we are Academy graduates. Silver rank is silver rank regardless of how you get it."

"Well she is right on that. But just dont go into the guild with that attitude looking for a fight." I nodded.

"Ofc I won't, I'll let them prove themselves useful first."

I sighed. "I sometimes feel you just wanna live your life on hard mode."

Sophia snarled,"Shut up shiny boy. Not everyone is lucky enough to have a father like yours... Some of us are already living life in hard mode." She said that last part in a low voice.

Usually I would have snapped back... But knowing her family situation I kept quiet.

Karl smacked the back of my head as we entered the party. "Stop it already, we are here to enjoy our night and I don't want either of you spoiling my party mood. Let's go!"

With that we entered the decorated hall. Music Mages were on the stages playing beautiful melodies and upbeat tunes.

Everyone had smiles on their faces, but you could see a little bit of sadness in their eyes. 3 years of hard fought adventurer training, 3 years of working together, studying together, 3 years of holding each other up towards this day... 3 years... Coming to an end. No matter how much we want to stay optimistic and say we will always be connected, we are all gonna drift apart. Hopefully not too far, but sadly not close enough.

As we stood away from the crowd, with drinks in our hands, I sighed. "Celebrating the end huh?"

No one said anything for a few moments.

Lia perked up with a smile on her face. "This is the beginning! Let's not forget why we even joined here. We are silver rank adventurers now. Going on quests, completing requests, meeting new people... La la la!"

I smiled too. "Man, I can't wait to party up. A team of companions fighting together against demons and monsters. I can finally be like him. Who are you guys partying up with?"

"This girl is mine." Karl's face brightened up smiling brightly as he put an arm around Lia and pulled her close. "I only want Lia and no one else. Me and her are perfect together."

Dense... Idiot...

That's all I could think of about Karl. He had no idea what that just sounded like, especially for Lia who was now flush red blushing as she whimpered lightly and sunk deeper into his arms.

"You dense blockhead." Sophia glared at Karl.

Karl was genuinely confused. "What?! Why?"

Sophia sighed. "Anyway, I need to go back home for a while, get things straight with my family before I set out."

Fair enough... I nodded. "I don't exactly know what to do. I'll probably ask around with the other classmates about it. Matthew for one would be a good one to have your back."

"Matthew is a hot pick. Apparently the Royal Guard has already approached him to join them. As well as the Duke of Markinson. You would have been a hot pick as well, but I guess everyone is wary of your father." Karl said.

I sighed,"I wish Charles and Dias were here, I could ask for their advice."

Sophia's eyes widened. "Wow, only you can say that."

"And call them by their first names. They are kinda legends here you know..." Karl remarked.

I laughed awkwardly. Eager to change the topic, I pointed to the dance. "Well let's not just stand around, if it's our last dance together, let's not wait anymore."

"Of course let's go! Um... Would you like to dance?", Karl asked Lia who silently held on to his arm, enjoying his embrace blissfully. She seemed like wanted to stay like that forever but she slightly nodded and said in a small voice. "Yes"

As they went on to dance holding hands, I looked at Sophia who was still standing beside me looking at them too

I held out my left hand with a slight bow. "Milady, would you like to dance with me?"

Sophia looked at me for a second and took my hand. "Step on my toes and I'll kill you."

"I have a feeling you will do that anyway."

She laughed and smiled at me. "Maybe"