When I finally arrived in front of the girls dormitory building with the help of the map that was provided by the Academy, I couldn't help but be a little astonished.
The building was quite far from the Main Building where the classrooms, facilities, and important areas or rooms are – If the Main Building is located in the North, then the girls dormitory is in the East while the boys dormitory is in the West, the exact opposite of the girls dormitory's direction.
On one of the special or extra chapters of Magical Romance, it was briefly mentioned that the reason why the boys and girls dormitory was so far from each other was because one of the Headmaster from before thought that if they're too close, something 'improper' might happen...
Additionally, one of the main worries was affairs or romance affecting the students studies. Romance in the Royal academy isn't forbidden though, but the Headmaster from before definitely wanted to avoid it as much as they can thinking that it can be a hindrance or a distraction.
And until now, nothing has really changed about it since Headmaster Roderic didn't think that something should be done about it, and it's okay to just leave things as is since it's not really severely affecting anyone.
Casting those thoughts at the back of my mind, I finally made my way inside of the building, and as I enter the large double door, I was made even more aware that it is indeed a large and wide establishment.
Perhaps it's bigger than the Main Building of the Euridice Dukedom, but it would make sense since all of the female students of the Academy are staying here.
Once you enter, a hallway of lockers will welcome you, then passed that is the lobby of the dormitory. There was a counter at the center back near the wall where a female staff of the Academy can be seen, in case of emergency and in need of assistance, then about 5 steps away in front of the counter, several empty chairs are placed.
And about 10 steps away beside the counter, there is an elevator wherein instead of technology, it's powered by Magic instead.
There are long hallways on both opposite sides of the lobby, they're so long that they seem endless. There's a lot of rooms and on their doors, different numbers are displayed.
Just then, I remember from the information the Academy sent me when I was accepted that my dorm room number is 067.
I walked towards the counter, "May I ask what floor room number 067 is in?" I asked the female staff politely.
She looked at me for a few seconds with eyes slightly wide before answering with a small smile, "It's on the second floor, my lady." After thanking her, I rode the elevator. There's no stairs in this building, so I could only take the elevator.
Earlier, the female staff called me 'my lady'. She might have recognized my identity based on her reaction, but that wasn't the reason why she called me that. In RA, noble or not, every student can be addressed as my lady and my lord or miss and mister as something like a respectful or polite thing to do.
The coachman from earlier already brought my luggage and belongings to my room, and all that was left to do is to arrange it once I arrived.
So when I finally found my dormitory room with the number 067 and was able to enter with the key sent in advance to me by the Academy when I was accepted, my eyes immediately went to the luggage that was placed on the floor, near the king-sized bed is.
The room wasn't as big as my bedroom that was in the Dukedom, but it definitely wasn't small.
The bed takes up almost half of half-space of the entire bedroom area, with small tables on both of its sides, a large closet beside it on the left side, and a study desk opposite of where the bed is. Near the study desk, there was also a couch and a table with a flower vase on it and... a small box that's seemingly coated in gold.
Then about a little distance on the right side of the bed, there's a door which is probably the bathroom and restroom area.
"This is smaller than your room from before, human." The peaceful silence was broken when Gaos spoke to me in my mind, again.
"... It's a great room," I paused, "I thought you were sleeping." Maybe if one would listen closely to the tone of my voice, they will notice that I almost definitely sound disappointed. Gaos stopped speaking earlier, and I was quite grateful for that because it helped me focus more on the Entrance Ceremony.
I was able to have a peace of mind and silence – literally.
"Do you expect me to not hear the disappointment in your tone! How dare –" Ignoring Gaos, which I have already been used to, I walked towards the table to check what's inside the box.
I was quite disappointed that the box wasn't really made out of gold, and just plastic coated in gold, but I immediately shook my head. It'll probably be even more abnormal if the box was actually made out of gold. If it's like that and all the students will be given this... then isn't the Academy really too rich?
Maybe even richer than the Dukedom since although it was the Royal Family that mainly supports it, other Noble families of its students and the alumni would also often give support.
When I opened the box, there was a total of 3 things in it. A paper with the list of the lessons and subjects, and a key with a note attached to it that reads 'personal training room key 03'. Then there was another paper or more like a letter explaining that all the top 10 ranked students in the Pre-Examination rank are given a personal training room located in the training center of the Academy.
Training Center was one of several establishments in the Academy. Out of all the establishment that there is, it's the closest one to the Main Building.
Done with checking the key, I read the contents of the list.
Although I'm only a 1st-year student, the list also included lessons that 2nd and 3rd years take perhaps to inform the students in advance of what kind of things they should look forward to and prepare themselves for.
For the 1st year students, they have;
History of Magic, Elemental Magic, History of the Lansera Kingdom, Pre-Basic and Advanced Magic, Potions, Monsters Mastery, General Academics, and Mana Control.
For the 2nd year students; Elemental Magic, Basic And Advance Magic, Potions, Mana Control, Basic Combat, General Academics, Pre-Alchemy, and Monsters Observation.
Then for the 3rd year students; Elemental Magic, Basic and Advance Magic, Practical Monsters Engagement, Advance Combat, General Academics, Basic and Advance Alchemy, and Practical Magic Examination.
All of these are things I'm interested in.
According to my schedule here, classes usually start every 8 AM in the morning. As a 1st year student, on Monday, I have History of the Lansera Kingdom from 8 to 10 AM. Then we have History of Magic from 1 PM until 3 PM, which means that the time in between those 2 subjects is the students break or free time.
On Tuesday, I have Mana Control from 8 to 10 AM, then Elemental Magic from 1 to 3 PM.
On Wednesday, there's Pre-Basic and Advance Magic and Monsters Mastery at the very same time.
Then on Thursday, I have Potions and General Academics.
For Friday to Sunday, there's nothing on schedule which means that students are free to do what they want. However, free time doesn't necessarily mean that all they would be doing is resting. Royal Academy isn't the only Magic School that there is in the world, but if not the best, it is one of the best Magic Schools that there is. The battle for the top ranks is fierce, especially for nobles who have their pride to protect, and expectations to fulfill.
Students use those 3 free days; Friday, Saturday, and Sunday to study and learn on their own, study further, or do some advanced learning. Afterall all, they can't afford to be left behind by the others.
And even though I haven't mentioned this before, after spending 3 years at the Royal Academy and graduating, one can still pursue higher education based on what they want to focus or excel on – basically, it's just kind of similar to the setting of education in my world before.
The difference is, although I called it 'higher education', there's really no school for that.
It is done through doing a lot of things and having a lot of experiences through research, jobs, studies, and more. Some can hire tutors or private teachers, there are also some established groups or organizations for it, while some tend to apply as an apprentice of someone who they can learn from.
In the end, it all depends on the person.
Putting the list down the table, I decided to just clean up and arrange my belongings since from now on, I'll be staying here for a while. I... don't really miss anything in the Euridice Dukedom other than Amy. Maybe I'll try writing a letter to her as soon as possible. There are holidays where students can go back home, but if I were to go back there, then I probably only will do so for the sake of seeing Amy or doing something important.
For now, I'll take one step at a time, then maybe tomorrow, after I finally arranged everything, I can go and check the personal training room given to me at the Training Center.
I hope all the lessons I put in are okay. Attack Magic and such are included in the Basic and Advance Magic :)
I might or might not be able to update next week/for a week. I promised I won't be gone much longer than that this time lol I just really have to do some important things. I might just also use this time as well to stack some chaps ;)
Hope u enjoyed it!
The next day after the Royal Academy's Entrance Ceremony – which I could easily mistake as a dream, I woke up early. Yesterday, the Ceremony started in the morning as well, around 9 AM, and ended in the afternoon. All I did after arriving at the dorm was simply to organize my room, belongings, and such which took me about a few hours to do.
Then after that, I ended up sleeping at around 11 PM, and now, it's 6:46 AM. When I woke up, I was honestly tempted to just stay on the comfy king-sized bed for the whole day. Unlike in the Euridice Dukedom, there's no one here who would wake me up or tell me what to do for the sake of keeping up a noble lady's appearance and routine.
I might have just done that if I didn't remember that I have a place I need to go to today.
So despite still feeling a little sleepy, I got up from the bed to prepare, changing from my sleepwear to the Academy's uniform. Even though the classes have not officially begun yet, it's still mandatory to wear it as long as you're inside RA unless you're about to go out somewhere outside RA, with proper permission, of course.
Once done with the preparation, I immediately went to the dormitory's lobby, and saw a few female students chatting there and doing their own thing.
"Look, those humans are already being buddy-buddy with each other while you're still all alone." Gaos said as I made my way out of the building, planning on heading to the Training Center. There was no need to bring the Academy's map with me since I had already memorized the way to the Training Center last night.
Only the way to Training Center though, as for the other buildings... I'll still have the time to memorize and explore those places.
"There's nothing wrong with being alone. Besides, those girls might have already known each other for a long time." – Aside from them knowing each other even before meeting one another at the Academy, there's a possibility that those girls are actually 2nd or 3rd-year students already. No one can really tell unless asked or told since the girls dormitory isn't divided based on the year that students are in.
"Right, right, say whatever you want, doesn't change the fact that you are alone." Gaos continues, and I chose to not just say anything back this time because if I don't stop, this will just become an endless and pointless argument. Well... as I said, I don't mind being alone. Sometimes, some people would think that when a person is alone, they're lonely. However, that's not always the case.
There are people who value their alone time greatly, and it's also important to have a peace of mind every now and then. In the end, it all depends on the person.
Walking on the way to the Training Center, I couldn't help but also glance at the things and buildings I passed by. The RA as a whole is really a humongous place. Perhaps it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that one could get lost and never find their way back again to where they originally were – that's how huge it is.
It's almost like an island, but at the same time, it's not since it's located in the Lansera Kingdom, specifically in its Capital which is Illira City.
If there was one word that I would use to describe Royal Academy, it would be 'beautiful'.
For me, this is a beautiful place, one where I would be taking my 1st step of learning more about the Magic that I'm quite obsessed with, a place where I'm hoping to discover more about myself and perhaps help me to really think more about how I want to live my life in the future once I finally have all the freedom that I need.
Maybe now I am still quite unsure about my goal other than my obvious interest in Magic and desire to live a life free of any shackles.
I did wish for death and a new beginning – a chance for myself to have and live a life where I could truly feel happy or satisfied with.
That's really easier said than done though. You could live your whole life and still fail to find what it is that you truly want and are looking for.
And I... have not found mine yet, that's why I truly envy the people who seem to know what it is that they truly want to do in life.
However, unlike from when I first opened my eyes in this world, I'm not in an extreme or that much of a desperate rush anymore. It's still there... but it's more tone down, for now at least.
It's almost like the longer I spend my life living here, the calmer I became. But I guess, that's just how life works. The longer you live, the more knowledge, experience, information, and such you gain. From being a child, as you grow up, you realize that it can't stay the same – even if some things will stay the same, you can't remain as a child forever.
You have to widen your horizons, be more open-minded, learn a lot more about different kinds of things, accept reality and face your hardships.
I wasn't saying I'm not calm before. Maybe it'll be more accurate to say that I'm now less restless. I was able to really adopt as a 'citizen' of this world – or to be more specific, I was able to fully adopt living Aksia's life.
It's probably more than just that – or maybe that's not it at all. Maybe I was also slowly starting to have less and less care. As if... I could just allow myself to go with the flow. Years of spending time at the Euridice Mansion and interacting with Duke Lancer and Duchess Oceana definitely took a toll on me even if I didn't notice or acknowledge it.
Little by little, I started noticing the little changes, like how I sigh less now, and how I feel like I have no motivation at all in doing the things that aren't needed or necessary. Maybe I'm tired of trying or just tired of everything.
Sometimes it's things that we don't think would ever affect us that can also have an impact on our life. Maybe we're just in denial, or like I am, I... didn't want to acknowledge it. I don't want it to be known that I'm affected, especially by those people.
After all, showing your very raw and true self, your weakness, and such will never be an easy task.
Other than that, different people have their own different ways of facing or coping with their pain and problems.
It made me feel all tired, numb, and... just everything.
But I wouldn't say those feelings are enough to stop me to keep ongoing. After all, emotions... don't tend to always remain the same all the time. Those feelings can appear all of a sudden, then also disappear as if nothing has happened at all. Emotions are just complicated like that.
That's why, even though I do know that this is my reality now, it still feels like a dream.
A dream I don't want to wake up from.
It's a feeling similar to those times whenever you wake up from your sleep not wanting to get up, wishing to maybe just sleep for eternity, forgetting all your worries, anxieties, problems, thoughts, and other things that just weigh heavily on both mind and heart.
"Hey, human! Are you spacing out? I think that's the Training Center already!" I was snapped out of my thoughts when Gaos spoke and I looked up, seeing a big but smaller than the dormitory building not from afar, a dome-shaped building, to be more specific.
"Yes, that's indeed the Training Center." I replied almost automatically.
Deciding to throw away all the unnecessary thoughts on the sideline, I quickened my pace of walking, and a few seconds later, I finally found myself standing in front of a huge double door.
Entering the building, a lobby similar to the one at the dormitory welcomed me. However, there's one certain big difference between the two of them – behind the counter where a male staff stood, about 10 steps away, is a seemingly huge window or glass wall, and through it, you could see an area that's similar to that of a stadium. It was a large and wide field of grass, and there was no roof. It's entrance was also a door made out of glass as well.
That's the training area that's accessible to every student. It's spacious enough to probably fit thousands of students – possibly even every student in the RA.
Then in the left and right direction of the counter is a hallway.
I walked towards the counter to ask the male staff, "May I inquire about the location of personal training rooms?"
He blinked at me as if thinking about my identity for a brief moment before smiling and gesturing to the left with his hand, "Of course, my lady. Just walk towards that hallway and you will see rooms with doors that have numbers on them."
He then put down his hand before adding, "The personal training rooms here in the RA are built-in with Magic that protects the walls and ground of the room, so the students will have no need to worry about destroying it. If Magic were to hit it, the supposed damage and Magic would simply just be absorbed." That's... convenient.
It's definitely something that must have been done by a powerful Mage, after all, no average Mage will be able to do such advanced Magic.
I thanked him before doing as he said.
As I walked in the hallway, I let my eyes wander, searching for doors with numbers on them until I saw a door with the number 10. I continued walking until I finally, I found myself standing in front of a door with the number 3. I immediately fish out the key in my skirt's pocket.
When I entered the personal training room, the first thing that came to my mind is that... it was clean and almost flawless.
It's a room with all walls painted in gray, however, despite the color, the whole room was still bright because there are pipe shape lights placed on all sides of the wall. It's Bright, but not too bright that it's irritating or blinding. The main reason why I said it was clean or flawless was definitely because there's really nothing in the room.
It was spacious enough to move around and use Magic without any worry.
Thinking about the built-in Magic absorption Magic that the male staff told me about, I raised my right hand as a small ball of water started forming, then once it was completed – I aimed it at the wall as it shoots out of my palm where I hold it.
I watched as it slowly disintegrated, the small ball of water turning into small particles the moment it came into contact with the wall before completely disappearing.
"That's a real Advance Magic there." Gaos said and I unconsciously nodded my head, agreeing.
Now that's done and tested... I should start on doing the real thing.
A look into our protagonist's thoughts.
Can you somehow relate to Aksia?
Now, why was Aksia able to make and use a small water ball when she's supposed to have dark magic? That will be explained in the next chapter which I'll be posting tomorrow :)
I felt like I rushed these, and I'm a bit unsatisfied... but I'll do my best!
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