The first official day of the Magical Knights Training Program has finally arrived!
Allen woke up really excited for the day to come. He would finally be able to learn first-hand what magical knights do on a day-to-day basis.
After speaking with Philip yesterday concerning the safety for their group, Allen was a little worried. However, he knew that they would most likely all be fine, considering they would have two magical knights with them, plus Mr. Lyon.
He put his uniform on, and quickly made his way over to the D Ranked class that they were brought to yesterday by their own teacher, Ms. Florence.
As he walked into the room, most of the D ranked students were already there, including Adam and his group. Thomas and Cecily were also already there, which surprised him, but he then figured Cecily made sure Thomas would not be late.
He also saw both of the magical knights already here, Philip and Jerome. Philip gave him a slight nod when they had made eye contact.
Allen made his way to the back of the classroom, taking the seat he had sat in yesterday.
"Hey Al!," Thomas immediately greeted him when he sat down.
"Hey Tom, hey Lily," Allen greeted him and Cecily, who waved after Tom had spoken.
"Ready for the training program? I'm so excited," he said, practically bouncing out of his seat.
"Of course. I'm excited as well!," Allen grinned.
"Lily's excited, but she would rather study, like usual," Thomas rolled his eyes.
"Hmm? What was that Tom?," she asked, basically glaring daggers with her eyes at him.
"Nothing," he responded, quickly twisting his head away and whistling.
"Anyways, what were you up to yesterday?," Thomas asked Allen. "We never saw you come back"
"Ah, about that…," Allen started to say, scratching his cheek. Just how does he tell him that he got to speak with Philip?
"Alright, is everyone here?," Philip's voice carried throughout the room, and you could hear him smiling through his voice.
Everyone's conversations throughout the room began to quiet down and eventually end completely, shortly after Philip spoke. It especially helped when Mr. Lyon loudly called out for silence, as well. That really had brought everyone's attention towards the front of the room.
"Alright, let me highlight how we will proceed with the training program, for our first day!," he began.
Philip began to explain their plans for the day. Jerome and himself would be taking them around the outside of the main marketplace. Mr. Lyon of course, would be coming along with them.
While they would walk around, they would talk about their day-to-day activities as a magical knight. Things such as what they do, how often they do things, and how easy or difficult their days can be. They can even talk about how they became a magical knight. If anyone has any questions, they are free to ask.
They also reminded them that it is highly important that they stick close to the magical knights and/or their teacher. In case something does happen, they need to be there to protect the students, as the students are still learning how to use and utilize their magic properly.
A few students had a few questions regarding the training program before they began. Once they were finished, it was time to set out!
"Alright everyone, with me!," Philip's voice echoed throughout the classroom.
"We're finally starting!," Thomas excitedly said, as he got up out of his chair.
"I know, I've been waiting!," Allen added, also getting up.
Thomas noticed Cecily getting up, with a book in her face. "Lily, we're going to walk around and learn, not shove a book in our face!"
"Shut," she responded, her voice quieter than usual because of the book covering her face.
"Ah, whatever. Guess we'll go learn instead, Al!," he said, grabbing Allen by the arm.
"Wait-," he tried to get his attention, but it was too late. Thomas was already dragging him out of the room, following everyone else, while Cecily followed them from behind.
Philip led all of the students outside of the academy, where the general marketplace is. They then headed outside of the marketplace, where they will be touring around (since other groups of students get to be in the main marketplace for the duration of the program).
Allen and Thomas (with Cecily following them), decided to walk alongside Adam, Sybil and Oliver. While the other students were asking questions to Philip and Jerome, Allen and the five of them had their own conversation.
"So guys, are you glad to be tagging alongside us D ranks?," Adam jokingly asked.
"It's alright, about what I had expected," Allen shrugged.
"Pfft, we're going to be D ranks here soon enough!," Thomas exclaimed.
"Oh really?," Adam grinned. "Hope to see you in our class soon!"
"Tom, maybe if you studied more, we'd be D ranks already alongside everyone else," Cecily spoke up.
"Wha-," Thomas exclaimed, turning around to find Cecily still absorbed in her book. Oliver had his own book, and they seemed to be exchanging studying material.
"What?," Cecily asked, dropping her book down below her face, giving him a warm but suspicious smile.
"Nevermind…," Thomas said, turning back around.
They continued to walk throughout the city, with all of them looking around at the areas nearby. Philip continued to answer any questions the students had.
Ever since the last time they had spoken with Cecily, Allen had noticed that Thomas kept looking behind him, at Cecily and Oliver as the two of them spoke. Allen got a grin on his face, as he realized. Sybil seemed to notice this too, as she turned to look at Allen, and then back at Thomas.
"Getting jealous, Tom?," Allen asked, quiet enough so Cecily wouldn't hear.
"Uh, what?," he asked, Allen's voice getting his attention.
"I asked, were you getting jealous?," Allen asked again.
"No!," he immediately yelled, suddenly getting the attention of some of the students around them.
"Really?, I beg to differ," Sybil laughed.
"I'm not getting jealous over Lily!," Thomas blurted out. This was loud enough to get Cecily and Oliver's attention, where normally they were too absorbed in their books.
"I never mentioned Lily, Tom," Allen started laughing.
"What?!," he yelled aloud again.
"Tom, if you want to say something, go ahead," Cecily's eyes narrowed as she gave him a smile.
"Umm, nothing," he said, turning back around.
Allen and Sybil laughed again as Thomas' face started to get red as they continued walking.
As the whole group continued walking, Adam, Thomas, and Sybil began to hold their own conversation. Since Allen wasn't really interested in what they were talking about, nor Cecily and Oliver's studying conversation, he decided to just take in what was all around him.
After all, he was raised outside of London, and didn't go to London for the first time until the entrance exam for the academy. He was always excited to see all the areas around him, so different from his hometown, but all the more intriguing.
At one point as he had turned around, he noticed that one of the F ranked students - the first year girl, the earth mage - seemed to be watching him again. He of course still could not fully tell if she truly was, due to the hood she was wearing that covered her face, but decided not to confront her.
He did however, decide to keep that in the back of his mind. He didn't know her intentions, whether good or bad, so he would just keep an eye on her for the time being.
"Alright everyone! Let's take a short break!," Philip announced. A sigh of relief came from most of the students, as they had been walking around for who knows how long at this point.
"Finally! A short break!," Thomas sighed of relief as he took a seat on one of the nearby benches.
"I thought you were so excited for the training program? You're already wanting a break?," Adam asked, joking.
"Well, of course! Even I cannot even walk around all day for that long!, Thomas exclaimed.
"Well, you'd better get used to walking, because that's what magical knights do for a living!," Adam laughed.
"What?! You can't be serious!," Thomas put his head down, looking towards the floor.
"What were you expecting? A full VIP experience, loaded with a chair and the finest cuisine?," Sybil asked, raising her eyebrows.
"Umm, no! Obviously not!," Thomas exclaimed.
As they all laughed, Allen was once again looking around for the F ranked girl that was watching him. He swore he saw her just a moment ago, but she was suddenly nowhere to be found!
"So, what are you guys' plans for after graduation?," Adam asked, starting a new conversation.
"Like, after we are finished with our third and final year?," Thomas asked.
"No, when we are done with our sixth year!," Sybil sarcastically answered.
"Six years?!," Thomas exclaimed, almost believing her.
"No, it's just three years; Sybil is pulling your leg," Adam laughed.
"Wha-," Thomas exclaimed, before everyone else erupted into laughter.
Where is she?, Allen thought, still searching around for her.
"Something wrong, Al?," Cecily asked, noticing his confusion.
"She's missing again…," Allen said out loud without thinking.
"Who's missing again?," Thomas asked, catching what Allen had said.
"The girl… the F rank in our class," Allen added, looking at them.
"You mean the first year?," Cecily asked, confused.
"Yeah, the girl. The earth mage," he elaborated.
"She's sitting right over there," she answered, pointing towards one of the benches.
"What?," Allen asked, in disbelief.
He looked over to where Cecily was pointing, and there she was, sitting on the bench. There were a few birds on the ground, eating who knows what, as she was staring at them.
"What, Rose not good enough for you?," Thomas joked, putting his arm on Allen's shoulder.
"What? No, it's not like that!," Allen disagreed.
"Rose? You don't mean Rose Marion, our Student Council President, do you?," Adam asked, confused and interested.
"Well-," Thomas started to say, but Allen had covered his mouth.
"Don't worry about it, he's just joking!," Allen said, holding Thomas back.
"If you say so man," he said, giving him an odd look, but deciding not to pry further.
Once everyone started grouping back again, Allen once again looked around for her. She was once again where she was before, but Allen was sure she was missing at one point.
"I could've sworn..," he started to mumble to himself, but decided to leave it at that.
"Alright everyone! Let's pick up where we left off!," Philip announced once more, getting everyone to follow him again.
As they continued once more, Allen still couldn't help but keep that girl in his mind. Her constant watch of Allen and her sudden disappearance is what was concerning him. Just who was she, and what did she want?
After considering it for a little bit longer, he finally decides it's not worth continuously worrying about, considering he doesn't know who she is anyways.
"Alright everyone, we are just about out of time! Please get ready to head back to the academy!," Philip announced, not that much longer.
Some of the students were a little saddened that the time was up, while most of them were just glad that it meant they could stop walking. Seems they are used to their class time of sitting around all day.
"Looks like day one is up," Adam said, as the six of them started walking together, following the rest back to the academy.
"It sucks, I wanted to see more!," Thomas complained.
"You were just going on about walking around all day earlier," Cecily argued.
"What? No…," Thomas shook his head, but you could tell even he knew Cecily was right. The five of them began to laugh while Thomas was still debating if he actually wanted to walk or not.
They quickly made their way back to the academy, going back to their classroom. While the class time was over, they were free to stay extra if they had further questions. Otherwise, Mr. Lyon said they were dismissed and are free to leave.
Mostly everyone had left, with just a few staying. Allen, Thomas and Cecily met back up as they left the classroom.
As they began to walk back to their dorms, they decided they would hang around Allen's dorm room until Thomas and Cecily had to go back to theirs. On the way there, they all discussed how they thought day one of the training program went.
As their day came to a close, and Thomas and Cecily had to finally leave his room, Allen thought about what's happened so far.
From club meetings being temporarily suspended, to the 3v3 duel against Adam, Sybil and Oliver, to meeting Philip again, to finally starting the training program, Allen could feel that the weeks coming ahead were going to be fun, but closer to what he was most worried about - The Annual Magical Knights Tournament.
He would need to win at least four consecutive rounds, which was a part of his agreement for enrollment at the academy. He would also need to reach C rank by the end of the year, but luckily they should be reaching D rank here soon enough.
But he definitely wasn't ready for what would be coming shortly, during the first and only week of the training program.