The First Class

Grandpa showed me the place where Third Class students lived, but my friends weren't that interested in meeting my cousin. "You guys go do whatever. People shouldn't bother you, now that they know this is my grandpa". They bid us farewell, while me and grandpa continued towards the building.

"Headmaster, it's rare to see you around here", a student came up to us. "Oh, Henry. Let me introduce you. This is my granddaughter, Anna, and this is Henry, one of the Top students in the First Class", grandpa introduced. Henry wasn't young to be honest. He looked around forty years old, but managed to become a top student in the First Class. Of course, I didn't know how good they were, but seemed like a great achievement.

"Hehe, yes, we already heard about the news. Anna, right? I can show you around if you'd like, I'm sure headmaster is busy", Henry proposed. "We already toured the Academy. I'd like to visit my cousin now", I declined politely. "You guys can talk, I'm a bit busy to be honest. Henry knows this place really well, so you should be able to find Remi's room. We'll see each other later", my grandpa excused himself unnecessarily.

"I'll help you find your cousin, her name's Remi, right? She's a Third Class student?", Henry asked. '... Grandpa pulled a fast one on me', "Yea, that's right. We are already in the Third Class area, it shouldn't be hard to find her", I replied.

Henry's 'familiarity' with the Academy was pretty useless, since he didn't know Remi. We had to ask other people about her, which I could do by myself. "So, Anna, did your grandpa teach you Formations?", "Hehe, no, we don't see each other that often. I've learned Formations, but not from grandpa". Of course my reply prompted the obvious question. If not from my grandpa, then from who?

"... My mother. Umm, she learned from my grandpa. I'm no master though". Technically, that wasn't a lie. At the same time, there was no way I'd tell him about the North. "Oh, that's really interesting. Perhaps we could share our knowledge sometimes", "Yea… Perhaps another time", I replied drily.

The Third Class students acted a bit weird around me, or rather around Henry. He was the First Class student after all. I figured they were surprised to see him in the Third Class area. A lot of people didn't know Remi, which wasn't really a surprise. That girl was always shy and kept to herself. We didn't give up though, and finally received some results.

"Remi? I'm not sure where her room is, there's so many, but her friends might know. She usually hangs out with that group over there", the young student pointed at a certain group. 'Yes, I can see why she'd hang out with them'. The group was small, but that wasn't the reason for my thought. That was the only group with loads of books next to them. They didn't seem to interact much with each other, they simply read.

"Hey, sorry to bother you, but I'm looking for Remi. Do you know where her room is?", I asked. One person in the group looked up, then noticed Henry. "... She's quite busy at the moment", was her reply. "...", I stood there silently for a while. That wasn't an answer to my question, and Henry seemed to get impatient for some reason.

"I'd like to visit my cousin. I'm sure she'll find time for me. I've come a long way, can't you just tell me where to find her?", I asked once more. For reasons unknown to me, she agreed to show me her room. "Explaining the way would take too much effort. I'll take you there", she said. "Thanks… Oh, and thanks to you as well, Henry. I'll be fine from this point on. I'm sure we'll see each other around. Well then, until next time". My reply made a subtle yet strong suggestion for Henry not to follow me. I wanted to spend time with my cousin, not some older guy who tried to get close to me.

"Are you a new First Class student?", the woman asked me on the way. "Hehe, no, I'm here to visit my grandpa and Remi. I don't plan to stay here and study", "I see. Remi mentioned her cousin many times. You must be Anna, right?", she asked another question. "That's right, and you are?", "I'm Fiona… Just an advice, don't associate yourself with First Class students all that much. They aren't what they seem", she warned me out of nowhere.

"Why would you say that?", "It's just a word of advice, nothing else", she replied. I found the relationship between Third and First Class students, odd. Perhaps it was due to skills, and they were looked down upon. Or perhaps there was something else at play. One thing was certain, Fiona didn't like Henry one bit.

"Here we are, this is Remi's room. If she's not inside, then the only place I can think of is the library", Fiona said. *Knock, knock, knock…*, "Yes?... Anna! You came for a visit", Remi opened the doors and hugged me in excitement. I was a bit surprised, but her friend was totally shocked. "Oh, hey Fiona. Thanks for bringing Anna here…", "Hehe, no worries. I'll leave you guys be, see you tomorrow then", Fiona replied before leaving.

Remi invited me inside, and her room was rather basic. A bed, table with a chair and a window. Other than that, a lot of books and notes littered the room. "... Sorry for the mess". Remi returned to her usual shy demeanour. "Don't worry about it. I'm happy to see you, and here, I have something for you", I replied while passing her the letter from her mother.

"... I miss them too. It's a shame they can't visit often, and I'm not really able to travel by myself... Thank you for the letter... and the visit", "I'll be going back there, so feel free to pass me a letter as well. Besides, they miss you a lot. Anyway, did you know…". The topic shifted towards her home, and our family. I told her about Vick, aunt and uncle, as well as the others.

She wasn't surprised about the woman Vick fell for, but the news of rejection saddened her. Besides our family, we talked a bit about Formations and Runes. Remi was getting ready for a test to advance. She wanted to move up, and become the Second Class student.

"That's great, isn't it? How about your friends? Are they advancing as well?", "... No, they don't really want to advance… Fiona's friend told her a few things about the Second Class, and supposedly it's not that great… People kind of know my connection with your grandpa, therefore I figured they'd leave me alone", she replied.

I asked her about more details, and indeed, from what she said it didn't look that well. The Third Class students were pretty much treated like trash, not even worth the time of others. The Second Class students didn't have such privilege. People usually left the Third Class alone, but Second Class had to do various 'tasks' for the First Class students.

She also mentioned some sort of faction, and everyone had to belong to one. People who refused, wouldn't be allowed into the First Class. They'd be stuck in the Second Class forever. "I don't buy everything she told us, maybe her friend had bad experiences. That doesn't mean everyone has, right? That's why I'd like to advance, improve my knowledge and kind of find out myself", Remi said.

"Hmmm, it's weird, but the Third Class students don't really like the First Class… At least from my experience so far. A guy from the First Class 'helped' me find you, and people seemed weird around him", "Well, the First and Third Class don't get along well. The difference in skills allows them to be haughty, even to someone who just started. I usually stay away from people… As you know. Besides, your grandpa gave me a few lessons, and my experience so far was pleasant", she replied.

I knew Remi was fine, but something really stank about these people and the Academy. 'Perhaps I'll find out more as we stay here. Maybe Remi is right, and there's nothing to worry about… Or maybe, advancing isn't a good idea after all'. Remi disturbed my thoughts with a question. "Can you help me a bit? You know Formations much better than me, maybe you can teach me something?".

"Sure, so long we are using the Academy's Formations. Show me what you got, and I'll see what we can improve, how's that?", "Yes, that would be great. I'll draw a few Formations for you, just tell me what you think", Remi agreed and went to work straight away.