"The transfer student? Why do you want to know about him?," William asked, a curious look on his face.
"I'm just interested to know who this 'Prince August' is. My nose smells trouble," Allen shrugged.
"I think you mean you are worried about your luck," William laughed.
"And how do you know that?," Allen leaned in, staring at him suspiciously.
"Oh, just a guess," he leaned back into his chair, spinning it around a little.
Allen is once again in William's office, however this time he is questioning William who this new "transfer student" is. All he knew was that he is the First Prince of England, but that was about it. Allen is sure that a prince just doesn't start attending an academy, especially the most prominent elemental magic academy, out of nowhere with no reason. He was sure there had to be more to it.
"A guess? Your intuition can't be that good, can it?," Allen stared at him longer.
"Well with what's been happening to you this year so far, It's only natural you think it would be your 'luck'. Seems a lot of things come your way without you even trying," William laughed again.
"It's not like I am asking for all the attention," Allen crossed his arms.
"The impression you made at the entrance exam, your duels with Nathaniel and my son, and then forming the Training Club with you as the club president. Can't be a coincidence at this point, could it?," he grinned at him.
"If it is one huge coincidence, I am starting to wonder why the universe has decided to throw everything at me," Allen rolled his eyes.
"Who knows? Least a lot of good things have come out of it," William pointed out.
"Fair enough," Allen had to agree. "But just who is this August?"
"Well as you are already aware, he is the First Prince of England. He is the first child and only son to King Edward," William explained.
"And?," Allen pressed him for more.
"And he discovered he is able to use earth magic, which is very uncommon in the royal family," William continued.
"Why is it uncommon?," Allen asked for more details.
"Well, the current Monarchy of England handles their own matters while the Triumvirate handles theirs. One could argue that at this point in time the Triumvirate has more power than the Monarchy, but that's up for debate," William elaborated.
"And that's connected how?"
"Well, the Royal Family has not produced a child that is able to use one of the four elements for a long time. Since the use of elemental magic is usually passed down in families, it would be very strange for a family that has not produced a mage to suddenly have one. This certainly opens up a lot of room for more change"
"But why is he attending the academy in the first place?"
"That, you can ask him yourself," William shrugged. "Mr. Garet has been arranging his transfer to this academy for the most part. I am only involved when I need to be, since I am the Head Director and all. But Prince August and the Royal Family must also have their reasons," William elaborated.
"I see," Allen said out loud while he started to think to himself.
"Oh, and by the way," William grinned as he leaned forward in his chair. "Your luck may be activating again"
"What do you mean?," Allen furrowed his brow as he contemplated what William meant.
Before Allen could give it a good thought, Allen heard the door to William's office open.
"We're here," a familiar voice announced from behind Allen.
Allen turned around in his chair to see Stephen entering the room. And behind him was no other than the person in question.
"A pleasure to make your acquaintance again, Head Director," August gave him a slight bow.
"Ah, there's no need for such formalities. You can just call me William," he smiled.
"Is that so? Then you can just call me August," he smiled back.
Just what is the Transfer Student doing here?, Allen thought to himself as he was still processing what was going on. Is this what William meant about my luck? Did he plan this to happen?
"Oh hey Allen, I wasn't expecting you here," Stephen gave him a small wave.
"Stephen, what are you doing here?," Allen asked him, hoping to get some quick answers. He knew if he asked William, he wasn't going to get anything satisfactory.
"Oh, just bringing Prince August here as my father requested," Stephen casually answered, as if these kinds of errands were normal.
"Ah, Allen Fleming was it?," August looked over at him, curiosity in his eyes. "I apologize for not greeting you right away"
"No, it's fine. I take it you are the transfer student, Prince August?," Allen asked, trying to be as respectful as he could. "I remember you from your introduction yesterday"
"Ah yes, quite the introduction that was yesterday," he laughed a little. "But yes, I am Prince August Lionheart, first son of King Edward Lionheart. But you can just call me August"
He gave a slight bow as he introduced himself. The way he carried and spoke all definitely screamed royalty. Allen honestly thought speaking and acting in such manners was all suffocating. But out of respect, he would at least try to be respectful back to him.
"So August, I take it that your transfer into our academy was as smooth as it could be?," William asked.
"Ah yes, very much so. Vice Director Garet did an excellent job getting me quickly enrolled here. I have him to thank for that," he nodded.
"I see. So I take it you are on good terms with Vice Director Garet then?," William asked, intrigued.
"Well, I wouldn't exactly say 'good terms', but we definitely have a mutual respect for one another," he explained, smiling a little.
"Well don't worry too much about the Vice Director's character. He will do what he can to make sure your continued stay as a student goes well," William assured him.
"That's good to hear," he nodded. "By the way William, I have been meaning to ask you something"
"And what might that be?"
"Well as I have heard, you can have duels at this academy, yes?"
"Of course you can. Whether official or unofficial, you can have duels here, provided you don't break any rules," William clarified.
"Good. Because I have been itching for a match since I've gotten here," he smiled, putting his hand on the sheath of his sword.
Oh no, please don't tell me this is going where I think it's going, Allen thought to himself, as he looked around at everyone.
He looked over at Stephen, who seemed to pick up what was going on. Stephen then proceeded to look away and whistle, pretending he didn't hear or see anything.
Stephen, why do this to me now?!, Allen thought hard, as if Stephen could hear his thoughts if he conveyed it hard enough. He glared at him for a little bit longer, then turned his attention back to William and August.
"And just who were you looking to duel? I don't suspect you want to duel a head director out of nowhere, don't you?," William laughed.
"Ah no, I am not bloodthirsty enough to suddenly go after a teacher or a director on my second official day at this academy. No, I am interested in dueling a student," he explained, as he looked over at Allen.
I knew it. My luck has definitely returned, Allen thought to himself as he awaited August's fated words.
"Allen, would you be so kind as to duel with me? An unofficial one, that is," he smiled, but Allen could tell from his eyes he has been really looking forward to this.
"A duel? With the prince?," Allen asked. "And why me?"
"My apologies, I thought my words would be more straightforward as I intended," he laughed a little. "You are one of the only mages who use a sword that attend this academy. I wish to duel against another mage who understands how to duel with a sword"
"Oh? Allen and August are going to duel?," Stephen said out loud, grinning.
Allen gave him a quick glare before turning back to August. "Why are you so interested in dueling someone who can use a sword?"
"Well I am a sword user myself," he smiled as he pointed to the sword sheathed away on his side.
"Oh yeah, I noticed you had a sword during the entrance ceremony," Allen remembered.
"Oh, you could see my sword from all the way where you were?," August asked, intrigued.
"Well it was a little hard to see since I was with the other F ranks, but yeah I could make it out," Allen admitted, thinking back to yesterday.
"Interesting," August eyed him curiously, as if he was trying to figure out Allen's strength from his vision alone.
"If you two wish to duel each other, you can feel free to use the training room that they use as part of their club," William offered.
I haven't even accepted this duel yet, Allen thought as he gave a small glare at William.
"Well Allen, would you be interested in having a small duel with a prince such as myself?," August asked, giving him a smile.
William, Stephen, and August all stared at Allen as they awaited his answer. Allen thought to himself, thinking if this was something he would be interested in. While this is definitely a result of his annoying luck, it isn't everyday that you get to duel a prince of England. Not to mention, he is a sword user himself. Allen could possibly learn a thing or two from him.
"Alright. I accept your duel," Allen finally decided.
"Great, I look forward to our duel tomorrow," August responded, the curious look still in his eyes, as if he was still studying Allen.
"Aren't you getting yourself into a lot of interesting duels, Allen?," William chuckled.
"I can't help it, I keep getting challenged by everyone," Allen sighed.
"I figured you would have been used to it by now," Stephen laughed.
"That doesn't make it any better," Allen glared at him.
"I see. So I am not the first to challenge Allen here to a duel?," August asked.
"First Nathaniel Rivertide, then myself. And now we have you," Stephen laughed.
"Interesting. Seems like he has quite the record there," August responded as he thought to himself.
"Either way, I guess I will be seeing you tomorrow at the training room?," Allen asked him.
"Assuming you also show up," August smiled.
"Yeah I will. But will you? Do you know where it is?"
"Ah, I will have Stephen here show me where it is," August responded while pointing over to Stephen.
"Me?," Stephen asked, surprised.
"I believe Stephen would be the best suited to escort the prince here to the training room tomorrow after your classes," William agreed.
"Guess it'll fall on me then," Stephen shrugged, as if requests like these weren't out of the ordinary either.
"Also, I believe you three all have classes in a few minutes, correct?," William asked while looking at all three of them.
"Shit! You're right," Stephen said as he just realized he was getting close to being late for class.
"Language Stephen," Willam stared at him with a slight smile.
"Right, right. Anyways Prince August, let me show you the way to your class," Stephen said as he began to lead August out of the door.
August was a little confused as Stephen began to slightly push him out of the room, but decided to follow. Allen heard the door close behind as the two of them were finally out of the office.
"You should also make your way for class as well. Don't want to be late, now do we?," William said as he leaned forward in his chair.
"Yeah I should make my way over as well. Although I doubt Ms. Florence would care if I was late," Allen awkwardly laughed.
"Ah yes, Ms. Florence. Do be sure to tell her I said hello," he held a grin that mimicked Stephen.
"Right," Allen eyed him suspiciously as he got out of his chair and began to make his way to the door. "Guess I will see you later then"
"Till we see each other again," William waved as Allen left the room.
Once Allen made his way down the long and sometimes confusing hallways of the academy, he finally made it to his class for the morning.
He opened the doors to find Ms. Florence once again engrossed in whichever book she must have read twenty times since the beginning of the year. He looked over and saw Thomas and Cecily already in the middle of studying, while Cecily was making a small fuss about something to Thomas.
Those two never change, Allen thought to himself and couldn't help but laugh a little.
"Late to class, are we?," Ms. Florence gave him an interesting look as she stared at him from across the room.
"Well, um I-," Allen started to say, trying to come up with an excuse. Would she really believe him being in William's office? No, at this point she would probably suspect it.
"Nevermind, just go and take your seat. Your friends are already here," Ms. Florence pointed over to them, as the two of them were still in the middle of their own talk.
"Right," Allen said as he closed the classroom door behind him. "Oh, and William says hello"
"Really now?," she said as she once again eyed him curiously. "Just go and take your seat"
Allen didn't know what her response could mean, but he decided not to think much about it. As his teacher went back to reading her book, Allen took his seat next to Thomas and Cecily.
"You need to be focusing on your studies more!," Cecily exclaimed, shoving a book in Thomas' face.
"But I don't want to," Thomas' voice was muffled from the book in front of his face.
"Having trouble again Cecily?," Allen asked, while laughing a little.
"You can't talk that much either," Cecily glared at him. "Both of you don't study that much"
"I at least know most of the content already," Allen shrugged.
"And I just hate studying," Thomas proclaimed, like his reasoning was as good or better than Allen's.
"No matter the reason, we should all be studying," Cecily sighed. "If you both want to get to D rank before the year ends, that is"
"Don't worry Cecily. With help from Allen and the Training Club, we will get there!," Thomas grinned.
"Ok, and what about the written exam portion?," she stared at him, awaiting his answer.
"Oh, I'll just pass it?," Thomas shrugged.
Cecily then slammed the top of his head with the same book she shoved into his face, causing Thomas to once again fall to the floor.
Once Thomas had gotten back up, with help from Allen, they began their studies for the day. Once class was over, Allen had informed them of the updated situation with the transfer student.
"You're going to duel the transfer student?!," Thomas couldn't believe what Allen had told him.
"Well it won't be an official duel, but yeah," Allen scratched the back of his head.
"Of course you would get into something like that," Cecily sighed. "As if dueling Nathaniel and Stephen wasn't enough"
"Well it just happened so, I don't know what else to tell you. Either way, dueling a prince of our country will be interesting. It's not everyday I get to duel one, or duel a mage with a sword for that matter," Allen pointed out.
"Fair," Cecily agreed. "But you're dueling him tomorrow after classes, right?"
"Correct," Allen nodded.
"That doesn't seem like a lot of time to me," Thomas pointed out.
"Well it won't be an official duel, so I think it'll be fine," Allen responded.
"He'll be fine Thomas," Cecily assured him.
"Yeah true. Allen is some sort of monster even though he doesn't have a lot of mana," Thomas laughed.
"I'm not that powerful," Allen scratched the back of his head.
"Oh c'mon. You managed to put up a good fight with William before we went on our club trip," Thomas argued.
"Yeah, but we all worked together," Allen shrugged.
"Yeah but at least you didn't get out right away like I did," Thomas shrugged.
"I think you both are unique when it comes to magic," Cecily spoke up.
"Aww, thanks Lily," Thomas grinned.
"Which means you are both idiots," Cecily added.
"Lily, noo!," Thomas yelled as he once again sank to the floor.
"Quiet you three," Ms. Florence said from across the room.
"Yes ma'am," Thomas complied.
After their short conversation, it was time for them (and the other two students) to make their way out of the classroom.
The three of them headed to their club's training room, as planned. There, they once again find Stephen and Alice waiting, with Rose still nowhere to be found.
After their arrival, Allen then informed Alice about the situation, with Stephen filling in on his side.
"Allen dueling prince?," Alice asked.
"Yep. I just accepted his duel today, as I and Stephen explained," Allen confirmed.
"I see," Alice blankly responded.
"Allen's always getting himself into duels," Thomas laughed.
"I would laugh, but I was one of the reasons he has been in these duels," Stephen shrugged.
"You say that, but you forget the part where I beat you," Allen pointed out.
"Oh, you know the circumstances of that duel. If we were to duel for real, I'm sure we would be on equal footing, or I would beat you," Stephen grinned.
"Oh? Would you care for another duel?," Allen grinned back.
"Shut up both of you, I'm trying to read," Cecily said, annoyed.
"Lily, why are you reading in the middle of our conversation?," Thomas asked, suddenly realizing Cecily had a book in her hands.
"When is there a time when Cecily isn't reading?," Allen pointed out.
"Yeah, I suppose so," Thomas laughed a little.
"Oh. Sarah wants to say hi," Alice spoke up, already taking her glasses off.
"Alice wait-," Allen tried to stop her, but it was too late.
"Allen!," Sarah yelled as she jumped at him, resulting in her falling on top of him.
"Help-," Allen's voice could barely be heard.
"Should we all leave to give you two some room?," Stephen smirked while looking at Allen.
"I didn't know you were that bold, Allen," Cecily gave him a look.
"Allen why are you so lucky!," Thomas exclaimed. "I want to be-"
"Shut," Cecily glared at Thomas as she slapped her book on top of his head.
"Not again Lily!," He yelled as he also fell to the floor.
"Allen I missed you!," Sarah said as she stared at him.
"That's great, but can you please get off of me!," Allen told her as he tried to get free from her.
"No can do! I have to make up for the time I haven't seen you!," She grinned at him.
Please help me now, anyone, Allen thought as everyone began to laugh.
Once everyone had settled down, they finally went on with their daily training. Rose never showed up, but Allen had a feeling she would come back eventually, even if it would be awkward for him and potentially her.
Either way, he has a duel tomorrow against the prince, and is somewhat excited to see how that will go.
I still need to get stronger, if I ever want to become a magical knight, he thought to himself while everyone continued their training for the day.