16. Regular Classes (part 1)

Character : Nathan Fiore, Regular Classes

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The next day, regular classes finally start.

In the morning, like yesterday, it took me everything just to get Jonah awake. Once he was awake, I invited him to do a morning jog with me, but he denied saying that he will need all his stamina for today.

After all, today is the first day of classes. We will have class all the way from early eight in the morning to five in the afternoon. It's a long day of classes, but it's not like we're not free at all during those times. There are going to be three break times at three separate times, with each lasting around twenty minutes. It was still very short, but we'll just have to get used to it.

After getting ready, Jonah suggested we head to the canteen to grab breakfast before we head to class. I followed that idea and went to the canteen alongside him, and we both ate breakfast together.

Reju also appeared at the canteen, and we ate together alongside his new roommate. We talked a bit before class started, and we left the canteen only a few minutes before the bell rang.

Reju bade farewell with his roommate and followed Jonah and I to class A. His roommate was in class B, which was only right next to us. Arriving at the classroom, we all took a seating location almost the same to where we sat during the introduction class yesterday.

"Good morning! I see that you two aren't late." Lily greeted us right before we sat down, and I just laughed hearing her so happy about it.

"Yeah, thank goodness. It's one of the better days, today." I said without turning to Jonah, and he stared at me annoyed after he sat down.

"One day you'll eat your words, man." Jonah warned me, and I just giggled.

"Nathan." In front of me, Lily called my name, but her eyes were staring behind me. I noticed she was looking at someone behind me, and I turned around to find Eric approaching.

"Prince. There's something I want to ask you about--"

"Call me Nathan." I immediately cut him off before he asked what's on his mind, and I stood up while looking at the door. "Let's talk outside so we can have space."

I invited Eric out, and he just followed behind me. Once we're at the hallway, I walked to the balcony at the end of the hallway, right next to my classroom. Aside from us, it seems like there's another group of first year girls from a different class who were hanging around.

"What are you curious about?" I asked while leaning at the railings, and Eric followed exactly what I did before asking.

"About combining two origins. I've processed everything that we learned yesterday, but I just can't wrap my head around how it works." He explained how he felt, and I laughed a little hearing it.

"Well, honestly I didn't get most of what we heard. But, we'll eventually learn it in our third year, so why rush?" I suggested, but it seems like Eric found this problem to be urgent.

"It's something that needs to be done urgently. All I'm asking from you is to simply tell me how the dark knight of Fiordall managed to merge her fire origin and her darkness origin." Eric asked what he was curious about, but I will have to shake my shoulder to this one.

"I am very close to the dark knight, but it was never something I know very detailed about. When I first met her, she was already a master at using her dark flame. I never got a chance to see her train it." I told Eric about the situation, and he let out a sigh.

"Then, have you seen her use fire origin and darkness origin separately?" Hearing the question, I was quite startled because that has indeed opened my eyes.

"No. She never used them. From what I remember, she only strictly uses dark flame origin. Her origin is the dark flame origin, not fire origin and darkness origin that combines into one. It's hard to explain--"

"I get it. She can only use the dark flame. But, my sister is different. She can use lightning origin and darkness origin, but she can't combine them." Eric explained to me about his sister, and I was even more surprised.

"So, she can't use… whatever the combination is between lightning and darkness?"

"No. Not like your dark knight."

I see… so, in the end, there are two types of people who have the basic origin and the special origin within their bodies. 

The first type is the one that can merge their origins, like Felicia. But, because they have merged the origins, they can't use them separately. It means that someone like Felicia will only be able to use her dark flame origin, and she can never use her fire origin or darkness origin. 

The second type is the one that did not have their origins merged, which means they can use both the basic origin and the special origin separately.

"In the end, both occurrences are very rare." I commented, and Eric nodded in agreement.

"And very powerful."

"Yeah… but, why do you want to know how to merge them? Do you want to learn how to do that?" I asked Eric, and he turned to me with a very concerned expression. A face that I have never seen from him.

"That's none of your business--"

"Wow, okay. Sorry for helping out, I guess!" I lifted both my hands as I walked away, leaving Eric by the balcony.

"Prince." He called out, and I stopped to turn my annoyed glare at him.

Seeing his sharp eyes and posture, I knew immediately just what kind of person this guy really is. It truly reminds me of the highly professional mercenaries that I met in Fiordall, back when I was climbing my mercenary ranking.

This guy… is a hunter.

"When you can drive me to the edge… then I'll show you the answer to that question."

Hearing such a word coming from him, I was very much surprised. The group of girls who were also at the balcony with us went silent and kept an eye on us because they noticed the air. Eric is staring at me so intensely that I might've mistaken him for an assassin, and I can't help but realize the reason why.

"Hopefully, the chance will come." I said with a grin before walking away, leaving him at the balcony to return to the classroom.

Arriving back at the classroom, I was immediately interrogated. Lily and the others were concerned that Eric and I fought, and I explained to them that it wasn't like that. It's just that the two of us had some things that we needed to figure out, and we are working together to solve each other's problems.

Hearing that we were so close like that, both Lily and Jonah got really… jealous.

I guess they see Eric as some sort of rival to beat as well. Everyone in this classroom is really competitive, huh?

Beforelong, the class finally began. The first lesson was about the homeroom teacher introducing herself to the students in class A. It wasn't really much about studying, but she showed off what exactly her class will be about, which was origin studies.

It's a special type of class that exists only here in the academy. The class will teach about the basics of our origins, where it came from, as well as the detailed abilities for each origin. The teacher also mentioned that we might have outdoor practice to test out new origin techniques, which everyone was very excited about.

Who doesn't want to learn new techniques? Certainly, this class will become everyone's favorite.

The next lesson is history. To put it simply, the world of Avenor has a long history that spanned over a thousand years. There are many wars, many politics, and many friendly trades. The lesson is quite straightforward.

At noon, we had a short break time that lasted twenty minutes. The gang went to the canteen to grab a meal, because apparently the next lesson will require us to move our body a lot.

The next lesson is combat training. This is the only lesson that will be held every single day for three hours straight, but at different times to avoid conflict with the other classes. 

In this lesson, the students went to a large training hall that the academy has, and we were given the freedom to study new techniques or to spar with each other. To put it simply, we were given a full three hours to dedicate ourselves to learn from each other. It doesn't have to be sparring or combat, because it can also be about learning new techniques or abilities from others.

There are also special guests to make these lessons more fruitful. If you spend an entire year learning from the same people, then you're bound to not learn anything after a while. That's why an external support or addition is needed so that we can still learn new things that nobody among ourselves knows.

And for our first lesson, we had the honor to learn from a really special individual in the academy.

"Greetings, everyone! My name is Hilda Noire! Vice-headmaster of the academy of Ellennoire!" The vice headmaster introduced herself before the students of class A at the training hall.

We all bowed at her after she introduced herself, and she seemed to be a really kind teacher. She is quite cheerful and soft, and she really reminded me of Lily for some reason.

"If you'd like to know more about me, I teach a class for the third year about Origin Science!" Hearing her say that, I turned to Eric very quickly, and it seems like the guy also turned to me. 

"Which means, I know quite a lot about stuff regarding origins. So, yes! Feel free to ask me about anything you'd like to know about origins! Be it combat techniques or other things!"

Hearing her say that, everyone turned excited to learn from this wonderful young teacher. Before we started the class, she asked everyone to introduce themselves to her so she knows how to recognize us. I was worried that she might not remember our faces, but she immediately bragged that she can remember our names and faces very quickly because she is really smart.

And so, one by one we all introduced ourselves. From the most left side of the line to the most right. And when it was finally my turn, I took this chance to ask her.

"My name is Nathan, Nathan Fiore. Miss Hilda, may I ask you a question?" I asked after introducing myself, and everyone turned their attention to me. No one other than me has asked anything to the vice headmaster, so she became quite intrigued at me.