Once the weekend had passed, the first day of the academy term had finally arrived.
Allen had spent the past few days training and preparing while he had waited for his first day. He wanted to be ready for his first day, and rebuild his confidence so he could become stronger and pass the conditions he was given.
He could remember like it was yesterday: taking the entrance exam and failing most of his tests. However, Charles Rivertide had challenged him to a duel and he easily beat him.
In addition, he learned that his mentor who trained Allen from the ages of eight to thirteen was now apparently a director at the academy now. Allen wanted to meet up with William later, but he suspected that William would find him when ready.
But the most crazy thing that happened out of everything was of course the conditions he was given, in order to be accepted into the academy. He would need to start off at F rank, make it to C rank by the end of the academy year, and win four consecutive duels in the annual magical knights tournament. If he didn't meet these conditions, he would be expelled from the academy.
But what the most important thing Allen had to remember was that he also had another element - the fire element. He would need to be careful while attending the academy, unless he wishes to be hunted down and killed.
The academy gave the new students access to their new dorm rooms a day prior to the academy's first day to allow everyone to get settled in and acquainted with the room they would be staying in for the rest of the time they are attending the academy.
Allen's dorm room was a very nice, spacious room that contained a bed, a desk, and a dresser. On top of his dresser was his academy uniform, which he would then put on for his first day.
The uniform consisted of the usual pants, shirt, jacket and tie. The shirt was white and the pants were black, while the jacket and tie were gray.
What's this?, Allen asked, finally noticing a small pin on his dresser, that was originally next to his uniform.
It was a pin silver in color, which had the characters of "1F' on them. Allen guessed this must be the pin he would put on his uniform, which would indicate his year and ranking.
Ah great. Now everyone I meet is going to see I am an F rank, Allen thought as he shook his head. Well no matter; one day I will become a C rank!
Aside from the pin, Allen was glad to finally have his uniform. It was like another way of reassuring him that he is now attending the academy, and can now train and learn as much as he can to eventually achieve his goal of becoming a magical knight.
Of course, he also wanted to hopefully figure out who his real parents are. William had mentioned at one point he had known his mother, and the sword Allen received from him was originally his mother's. Allen is not sure if she is alive or somewhere out there, but something told him that she attended this academy at one point like he is now.
He finally exited his dorm to begin his first day at the academy. He was informed they had an opening ceremony that he would need to attend before they attend their classes. He headed out to the main academy building, where he hoped he would find it somewhere there.
While heading over to where the opening ceremony would be, Allen noticed all sorts of students everywhere all across various areas of the academy. Practicing their magic, chatting, or simply waiting for the opening ceremony to start.
There were students of all years and elements. Allen noticed the jacket and tie color seemed to indicate your element, as he saw other guys with blue and brown colors, in addition to his own gray colors. He mainly saw blue and brown colors, with the occasional gray. For the girls, they wore skirts instead of pants, and instead of a tie they wore a bow.
He was going to get some extra practice in, but it seemed like the opening ceremony was about to begin soon, as the students began to shuffle into the main auditorium. Allen decided he would make his way in as well.
As he managed to make his way in he spotted some senior looking students, who Allen guessed must have been third years based on their pins, were helping out the student council. They were directing the first years to their seating area based on rank and element.
As Allen made his way over to a third year to figure out where he was going to be, the third year gave him an odd look.
"Oh, an F rank? And a first year?," they asked, looking at Allen as if he was a foreign object.
"Um yeah, that's correct," Allen responded, not sure if this was normal.
"Well, your seating area will be all the way back there," they responded, pointing towards the back.
"Thanks," Allen nodded, just right before making his way over to take a seat in his seating area.
Just as the third year had mentioned, the seating area was all the way in the back, so far that he wondered if he would be able to hear anything from here. In addition, the sitting area was very small, with a handful of seats. There were only a few other students sitting back there already: one guy and two girls.
Both the guy and one of the girls were second years, while the other girl closest to Allen was a first year. The second year girl had an outfit that was brown, meaning she was an earth mage, while the other two had blue in their outfits, meaning the rest of them were water mages.
Allen also noticed that the second year, earth mage girl was wearing a black hood over her face. He wasn't sure why someone would need to hide their face, or even if it was allowed, but he decided to ignore it for now.
It also seemed that element and year didn't matter as much for the F ranks, as Allen noticed they all varied in both element and current year.
Allen saw an open seat, to the right of the first year girl.
"Is this seat taken?," Allen asked her, trying to get her attention.
At first the girl didn't respond. It seemed like she was wrapped up in her mind, as if it was drifting around and around, as she processed her thoughts. Her long, light blue hair complimented her light blue eyes, which almost seemed to shine like a pure stream of water.
"Hey, is this seat taken?," Allen asked once more, a little louder.
"Oh, I'm sorry!," she apologized, just now noticing Allen. "No, you're fine, go ahead"
"Thank you," Allen responded as he gave her a quick nod and smile.
Just as all the students in the auditorium were almost situated, a familiar face ran inside, not even a minute before the ceremony was about to begin. His head paced around the room, as if he was trying to figure out where he should be seated. One of the third years noticed him, and promptly directed him to his area. It just so happened to be back where Allen currently is. He then finally shuffled over, careful not to trip on the floor.
"Hey, nice to see you again Thomas," Allen greeted him as Thomas walked up to their seating area.
"Oh hey Allen! Nice to see you as well!," Thomas grinned as he took the empty seat to the right of Allen.
"F rank as well, huh?," Allen asked him, curious why Thomas would be with him.
"Well, it's a long story…," he started to say, scratching the back of his head. But before he could continue, his eyes lit up in surprise as he just noticed the girl to the left of Allen.
"Lily, is that you?," he asked, leaning his head in towards her.
"Huh? Tom?," she asked back, his voice instantly getting her attention.
"You two know each other?," Allen asked, looking back and forth at them.
"Yeah. Something like that…," Thomas avoided making eye contact with Allen.
"How so?," he asked, curious.
Both of them were about to answer, but the girl let Thomas explain.
"Yeah, we're like childhood friends in a way. We've known each other for awhile"
"Yeah," the girl nodded, agreeing. "We've known each other since our families-"
"Yeah, so our families just happen to know each other," Thomas interrupted, nervously laughing. "Anyways, this is Cecily. I call her Lily, for short"
Cecily was a little surprised for Thomas suddenly interrupting her like that, but she seemed to shrug it off.
"Nice to meet you. As Tom said, my name is Cecily," she introduced herself with a smile.
"Nice to meet you as well. My name is Allen," Allen introduced himself as they briefly shook hands.
"So Lily, you got F rank as well, huh?," Thomas asked.
"Well, you know because-"
But before Cecily could continue, the entrance ceremony was beginning.
Up on the stage stood a girl, a student with a blue uniform, holding some sort of device. The device in question seemed to project her voice across the room as she spoke.
"Hello everyone, returning students and first years alike! I am Lisa, one of the four divas of the academy, as well as one of your announcers. As usual, I will be helping out with the Annual Magical Knights Tournament later this year!"
Lisa spoke very loudly, and with a higher pitched voice as if she was trying to act cute.
"Oh my gosh! It's Lisa!"
"Our favorite announcer!"
"I'm a big fan Lisa!"
Several of the students' voices filled the room in praise for this girl.
"Anyways, now that everyone is settled in, it's time for our introduction from our student council president: Rose Marion!," she announced as she extended her hand to her left.
Up on the stage walking up in front of Lisa as she made room for her, was a girl wearing a blue uniform, indicating she is a water mage. Her uniform was a little more professional, most likely due to her being the student council president. From what Allen could see, she had blonde hair and blue eyes, similar to Charles Rivertide who he had dueled in the entrance exams. Maybe they were related?
As Lisa handed the device to her before getting off the stage and Rose prepared to speak, whispers went all throughout the auditorium.
"Isn't that the Blue Rose?"
"She's one of the most powerful water mages at this academy!"
"No wonder she's the student council president again"
Once the whispers started to settle down, she began to make her speech.
"Welcome back everyone for another great year! And of course a warm welcome to our new first years, who will be joining us for this academy year! My name is Rose Marion, and I will be once again your student council president this year!"
She spoke with confidence and there was a warm feeling to her words as she spoke. You could tell that she was glad to be in her position.
"That's the Blue Rose for you"
"Always good on exam scores, and of course she's once again the president"
"Not to mention she's from the prestigious Marion family"
More whispers filled the room just before she continued.
"Anyways, like usual, you will attend your normal class and train throughout the year. And we will of course have our annual Magical Knights Tournament, which will be hosted near the end of the academy year"
Excitement filled the room as many were already in anticipation for the tournament. Whether it was to participate or watch, it seemed like a large event.
And this will be the tournament that I will have to participate in, Allen thought to himself.
"Just remember, every single student in our academy is allowed to participate! However, you must be of at least D rank or above to participate!," Rose added.
Well, that's obviously not the case for me, considering it's one of my conditions I need to fulfill to make it to my second year, Allen thought as he sighed.
"Although, I've heard word that a certain F ranked student who was accepted in this year is being forced to participate in order to be able to make it to his second year," Rose said with a rather curious expression on her face. Was she adding this on purpose?
"Wait, an F rank in the tournament?"
"Why is a student, especially an F rank, forced into the tournament?"
"And it's a requirement to pass into your second year? I've never heard of such a thing!"
Several voices once again filled the room, as they tried to pinpoint down who they were talking about. Allen began to become worried that they would remember who it was, as all the now first years had seen Allen at the entrance exams.
"As usual, I look forward to another great year!," Rose continued, getting the audience's attention once more. "Now a word from our first year representative, Stephen Windblade!"
As the figure approached the stage, once more the audience began to whisper amongst each other.
"Stephen Windblade? Isn't he the only son to William Windblade, our head director?"
"I heard he was placed immediately into A rank after the exam!"
"No wonder he's our first year representative; he's a Windblade!"
Almost immediately recognized the boy. He was the only one who didn't mock him during the examination with the other air examinees, and the one who approached him before the duel part of the exam began. Allen didn't recall seeing him take part in the duel part of the exam. Maybe he wasn't paying attention?
The boy, apparently named Stephen, got onto the stage and approached Rose so he could take the device from her. They gave each other an interesting look, as if they already knew each other, but Allen was unsure. Once he had taken the device from her and Rose stepped off the stage, he was ready to speak.
"Hello everyone. My name is Stephen Windblade, and I was elected as this year's first year representative for our opening ceremony. Some of you may know I am the head director's son, but I can assure you all this had absolutely no part in my ranking, or me being chosen"
Stephen spoke in a confident voice just like Rose, but there was something about it that made it seem he wasn't happy to be up on the stage. In addition, his tone of voice became rather cold when he spoke of being the head director's son.
Wait a second, the head director's son?, Allen thought, just now catching on. Isn't William, my old mentor, now the head director? I didn't know William had a son!
"I look forward to this year and improving my magical abilities alongside my fellow classmates. As such, I also wanted to add that I will be participating in the annual magical knights tournament taking place later this year!"
The once whispers that went throughout the room now became louder than ever.
"Stephen is also participating? No wonder…"
"He's an A rank and a Windblade, of course he would participate!"
"This will just make winning or even participating in the tournament even harder!"
Stephen's eyes seemed to look throughout the room, as if he was looking for something, or rather someone. His eyes immediately stopped when they were looking in Allen's direction.
"Allen Fleming, was it?," he asked, his eyes narrowing and staring him down. "I remember you from the entrance exam"
The audience became instantly curious at the mentioning of Allen's name, as they began to look around to where he could be.
"Allen Fleming? I've never heard of him"
"Wasn't he the examinee that was accepted in the exam as an F rank?"
"Why would Stephen, a Windblade, even mention an F rank?"
Allen was suddenly shocked at Stephen suddenly calling him out. What could he possibly want with him?
"Do you know him, Allen?," Thomas asked, bringing Allen out of his thoughts.
"Well, sort of. I met him at the exam, but only briefly," he responded, but once again went back to his thoughts.
"I heard Allen Fleming is the F rank who is being forced to participate in the annual magical knights tournament. In addition to needing to make it to C rank, you also need to win four consecutive battles in the tournament, correct? Or else you won't make it to your second year?"
The corner of his mouth had a small smirk to it, as if he was enjoying the reaction he was getting out of the students, and most importantly Allen.
"He's the F ranked student who's participating in the tournament? No way!"
"Didn't he just say he has to make it to C rank?"
"And win four consecutive duels?"
"How's an F rank going to make it to C rank; and win four consecutive duels, all up against tough opponents too!"
"He has to do all that just to make it to his second year? Impossible!"
Allen started to slump down in his chair, to avoid the unwanted eyes that began to wander around to find him. Although, it didn't help much as people quickly figured out the back of the room is where the F ranked students were.
"Well, aren't you the popular one, Allen," Thomas laughed.
"I wouldn't call that popularity, Thomas," Allen responded, covering his face with his hands to avoid the attention.
"Either way, I look forward to seeing you in the tournament later this year Allen," Stephen added, his smirk getting larger. He promptly handed the device back to Rose before exiting, while Rose was already back on the stage waiting.
"Well, wasn't that interesting? That's Stephen Windblade for you! Anyways, good luck everyone, and have a great time here while you attend our academy!"
Rose finally finished up her speech, waving to everyone while all the attention was back on her. Not much long after, she made her way off of the stage.
The third years that were helping out began to help shuffle out the students out of the auditorium. As the students started to leave the room, they started to chat amongst each other: stuff about the academy, the tournament, Rose, Stephen and even about Allen.
"Well, how was that for an opening ceremony?," Thomas grinned as he looked over at Allen.
"Yeah, it was rather different I guess you could say," Allen responded, while they stood up from their seats.
"Well, since we are all F ranks, I guess we'll be in the same class, right?," Thomas asked as they began to wait for the other students to exit so they could make their way out as well.
"Yeah, that's true, unless there's a second F ranked class I was unaware of," Allen agreed.
"We should all have Ms. Florence as our teacher, which was on our schedules in our rooms," Cecily spoke up, startling Allen and Thomas for a moment.
"Yep, I have her," Thomas nodded.
"That matches for what I had too," Allen agreed.
"We should head to our class, then. Don't want to be late," Cecily advised them.
Once most of the students had already shuffled out of the auditorium, Allen and them were finally able to make their way out as well.
"I think our class is this way," Thomas pointed straight ahead as they headed towards a hallway near the back part of the academy.
There were many classrooms for each year and ranking, however there was a smaller class located in the very back of the hallway.
The area around the classroom was very dusty and dirty, as if it hadn't been cleaned in who knows how long. All the outsides of the other classrooms looked as if they were cleaned regularly, which means the classroom in the back was most likely neglected.
"You sure this is our classroom, Thomas?," Allen asked, as they walked up to the classroom door. Could a room all the way in the back that's dirty really be their classroom?
"Yeah, this is it. The F ranked classroom," Thomas stopped right at the front of the door, pointing to a sign just to the right of it.
The sign on the door had the letter "F" on it, confirming what Thomas said. It didn't have a number on it like the other classrooms, as the F class was technically the failure class at the academy. It doesn't matter what year you are, if you are failing you were put here.
"Well, let's go inside, shall we?," Thomas opened the door, holding it open to let Allen and Cecily in.
Well, let's see what kind of class awaits us for our first day, Allen thought, already having mixed feelings about his class. Whatever it may be, I doubt we will be ready for it.