"You could do that?" Lisa asked in amazement. Which girl did not dream about being able to eat whatever they wanted without any worry?
"Wait a second, did you just say that you cast 'Double Acceleration' to your stomach? You are a Time Mage?" Linda asked Erza in disbelief. As someone who was keen in doing business, Linda had long realized the importance of knowledge and information. She read a lot of books and had general ideas on who should she avoid and who should she try to befriend.
"Yes, I often do that when I was eating." Erza reply caused Elsa to roll her eyes. She had been aware of Erza background and her ability to control time. But she never thought that Erza used her time magic to maintain her good figure. Damn! Elsa wished she could also do the same.
Lisa and Linda were also stupefied. They knew both Erza and Elsa were not simple individuals from earlier fights. But a Time Mage? It was above their imaginations. That was not someone who they could meet whenever they wished.
"Hey, can we be considered as friends now?" Linda asked what's in her mind. Originally, she and Lisa indeed wanted to befriend both Erza and Elsa. However, now she realized that they were probably way above her league. As a result, she started to lose her confidence.
"It depends on whether you can treat us as friends or not" Elsa pushed the question back to Linda. She was aware of Linda's thought and wanted Linda to decide whether she believed herself worthy or not as their friends. Lisa was quiet as she was also pondering abut the same issue. She wanted to be their friends, but she did not want to drag them down.
"Good night." Erza said her goodbye and walked away. She decided to let them think on their own. Honestly, she was comfortable around Lisa and Linda. She believed they could become her friends. Nevertheless, if both girls would not feel at ease around her due to the gap in their status or strength, then she would not force them either.
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"Tock, tock, tock, are you ready?" Elsa knocked Erza door early in the morning. Today was the first official day of their academy life and there would be an opening ceremony to welcome the new students. "Let's go." Erza came out and both girls went together.
Regardless how many times they already explored around the academy in these last few days, they were still awed by the building structures in this place. After passing through an invisible barrier, the girls arrived in a big courtyard which already filled with students.
"Good morning." Lisa and Linda came to greet both Erza and Elsa. It seemed like they had made up their minds. "Morning." Erza and Elsa greeted back.
Next, Erza turned her attention away to the big stage at the front. There were three people sitting at the seats of honour and she guessed one of them should be the principal. She could also see Elder Black sitting among the teachers. Finally, it was the time for the principal to speak.
"Dear students, welcome to this Black Snow Royal Academy. First of all, let me congratulate all of you who managed to enroll to this academy. You have proven yourself by standing out from the crowds. However, that was just the beginning of your path to greatness. Whether you would succeed or not, we will all know within the next six years."
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"Find out what drives you to learn. If your driving force is test and exam scores, you will surely have a hard time. But if you have a good cause, if you can see beyond the test scores, and find the spark and joy innate to the act of learning, then learning will become much more interesting and much easier. Go and find out why you have to learn. Look inward. If you cannot find an answer, seek guidance from your teachers. In brief, enjoy your time here, study well, learn the knowledge, make friends, fight for your place, and spend the time of your youth wisely. On this first day of your academy life, let me wish you all very promising years ahead."
"Before we go, please join me in welcoming our new teacher, Her Excellency, Olivia Roosevelt. For every summoner out there, do not miss this once in a life opportunity. Mrs. Roosevelt will be in charge of Summoning Magic class. In addition, please let me introduce you to this great friend of mine, His Excellency, Adam Valentine. He joined this academy two years ago and was in charge of Thunder Magic class."
At first, Erza was feeling a bit familiar with Sir Adam when she saw him on the stage, but she could not remember who he was. Hence, she put such thought to the back of her mind. But now, after hearing he was also from Valentine clan, she finally remembered. Adam Valentine was the Supreme Elder. It was an event from six years ago and they hadn't met since then. Therefore, it was normal for Erza to forget who he was.
"Madam Olivia joins in as a teacher? It seems like she worries about certain someone being bullied." Elsa teased Lisa.
"To be exact, it was the price Granny Olivia need to pay to convince the academy to accept certain someone in." Linda clarified the matter but did not miss the chance to tease Lisa as well.
Lisa face was covered in red. She knew her friends were just teasing her but what they said were also the truths.
"Ignore these two girls. Just be happy that someone loves you so much. You must cherish her well and try your best to repay her later. Make her proud of you." Erza seriously said what's in her mind. These words truly touched deep into Lisa's heart. Her eyes reddened but she managed to hold her tears. She swore in her heart that one day she would make her grandma proud of her.
Elsa and Linda were surprised with what Erza just said. They also made the resolves to make those who believed in them proud.
The principal finally ended his speech and the students were informed that they would be divided into four classes; Class A, Class B, Class C, and Class D. Class A would consist of TOP 50 students, while Class B would be for those ranked 51 – 100. The rest of the students would be in the other two classes.
For starter, the ranks would be decided by the academy based on students' performance during the entrance test. The ranks would be determined again by the end of each semester. Students would either stay in their class, be promoted, or demoted, based on their results.
Few minutes later, several projections were shot up to the sky. They were containing the lists of students in each class. Beside the names, there were also pictures of the respective students.
As expected, both Lisa and Linda ended up in Class D. On the other hand, Erza and Elsa unexpectedly were ranked 1st and 2nd respectively.
Class A:
1. Erza Valentine
2. Elsa Menzel
3. Qi Long
4. Paul Glacier
5. Qi Di
6. Harry Well
7. Max Well
8. Meghan Ford
9. Qing Tian
10. Emily Stone
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49. Jack Rowe
50. Yi Lingxi
Some students were startled when they saw the pictures of both Erza and Elsa, especially the red-haired girl and the other two girls from yesterday. The red-haired girl was Meghan Ford, ranked 8th, while her other two friends ranked 23rd and 25th respectively.
"You two are from Valentine clan and Menzel clan?" Linda asked in disbelief. She had decided to be their friend but now she started to waver again. Not only her, Lisa was also shocked.
"Why? Feeling the pressure?" Elsa grinned. Both Lisa and Linda silently nodded their heads. Erza was going to reply them, but her expression suddenly changed.
Two boys were walking toward her group. Despite still being young, they had already exuded powerful auras.
"Hi, I'm Qi Long and this is my cousin, Qi Di. It's our pleasure to be in the same class with you two young ladies." Qi Long introduced himself well. He seemed friendly and good by nature. He was rather tall for a boy around his age and he had short black hair. His gaze was sharp but contained gentleness.
Qi Long! Despite forgetting most of her life experience in the samsara world, Erza could still recall a few things. And one of them was Qi Long. She could not remember the details, but she knew he was her husband in her first samsara life. Of course, whatever things happened in that samsara life would not necessarily mean that it would happen again in this life. However, Qi Long still brought an unusual wave to her normally calm heart. She was feeling complicated.
"Hi, I'm Elsa and she is Erza. It's nice to meet you too." Elsa realized that something was not right with Erza and decided to cover her friend.
"Are you okay? Have we met before?" Qi Long noticed that Erza was looking at him with a complicated expression.
"I'm fine. I'm sorry to say that your name reminded me to an unpleasant memory. I once had a dog also called Qi Long and he was my best friend. I raised him up. I washed him. I hugged him when I went to sleep. But later on, he found a female dog and went away with her. I was betrayed and left alone."