"I finally have your results…," Ms. Florence announced, as Allen, Thomas and Cecily all waited in anticipation.
I hope we passed!, Allen thought, as he was starting to get anxious about it.
As Ms. Florence went through the papers on her desk to retrieve their results, the three of them all looked at each other. They could all tell that each of them were also anxious about it.
Not only were they hoping to graduate, but they were mainly hoping to all graduate at once. While they most likely graduated altogether since the test was really easy, there was still that small chance that they failed that they were worried about.
"Where are the-," Ms. Florence was talking to herself while she was going through her papers on her desk.
Hurry up!, Allen thought, as each minute passing was just getting worse for him.
"The results are… you all passed," she finally announced.
The three of them cheered, excited that they finally graduated F rank. They were finally D ranks!
"Alright, alright. I get you're all excited, but please quiet down!," Ms. Florence asked, rolling her eyes.
Did she just say please?, Allen thought, in disbelief. Maybe she was being a little nicer since they managed to graduate?
"We did it, we graduated F rank!," Thomas said, practically shaking in his desk. "I can't believe we'd get this far!"
"Now we just need to get to C rank!," Cecily smiled.
"Uh, that might be a little difficult…," Thomas lost his enthusiasm for a moment.
"I believe in us!," she smiled at them again.
"Alright, let's do it! Let's get to C rank next!," Thomas finally agreed.
I have to get to C rank regardless, Allen thought. But I'll be sure to give it my all.
"Alright, quiet down or else!," Ms. Florence raised her voice.
"Yes ma'am," the three of them said in unison.
A few days had passed since they had taken their D rank exams. They had continued class like normal, studying and practicing.
They also trained with the other Training Club members, mostly to get their minds off of it.
Luckily, they got their results the day before the weekend, and they were happy to get them. Otherwise, they would've had to wait through the weekend.
"Alright, since you passed the D rank exams, there's some information you need to know," Ms. Florence spoke up, drawing their attention.
"You three will be in a D rank classroom starting next week. Your homeroom teacher will be Mr. Lyon," she explained.
That's the same teacher we had during the training program, Allen thought, remembering.
"That's Adam, Sybil and Oliver's class," Thomas added.
"Yeah it is, I remember," Cecily agreed.
"Anyways, you three can feel free to do whatever for the remainder of the class time, since you already graduated this class. I don't care, as long as you aren't loud," Ms. Florence explained, before sitting back down in her chair.
The three of them did their best to stay quiet, since they were excited about their graduation. They just hung around the classroom and talked, until the class was dismissed.
Once class time was over, they met up with the Training Club to fill them in. Everyone was excited for their promotions and congratulated them.
As promised, Stephen decided to hold a celebration dinner at a local restaurant within London, and offered to pay for everyone. Everyone from the training club was planning to go.
Allen had also informed Adam, Sybil and Oliver of their promotion to D rank and that they would be in their class as of next week. They also congratulated them, and offered to stop by to say hello during their dinner if they have time.
With the weekend finally here, Allen, Thomas, and Cecily all decide to meet up so they could all head to the restaurant together. They were ready for the food (mostly Thomas), and to talk with everyone.
Coincidentally, the restaurant that Stephen said he had made a reservation at was the same one they went to with Adam, Sybil and Oliver. So they would at least have an idea of where it is, and what food they offered.
They would be meeting up with everyone there who was in the training club. Stephen said he would be there early in order to get things ready, so he just told everyone to find him to join them at the table.
The three of them all arrive at the restaurant, to find themselves the last ones there! Apparently, Stephen had told them a later time than everyone else so they could all be there and congratulate Allen, Thomas, and Cecily for their promotions when they got there.
Everyone was there except for August, who apparently was running late. Stephen had heard he had some business to attend to before heading over, but would be there as soon as he could!
Aside from that, everyone sat down at their table and began to talk and look over the menus.
"So, do you guys already know what you want?," Allen asked, starting the conversation.
"I'm definitely getting something new this time!," Thomas excitedly said, basically drooling over his menu.
"I think I will stick with the same thing as last time," Cecily answered.
"Wait, you guys have been here before?," Stephen asked, surprised.
"Yeah, we went here with some friends, the D ranks we told you about," Allen answered, since Thomas was too busy drooling over the food and Cecily too busy in her own world.
"Interesting. Well that saves us some time," Stephen nodded. "Well, I know I said I would be paying for all of us, but please don't go too hard on my wallet!"
"Don't worry, I at least won't. It's Thomas you have to worry about," Allen shook his head as he pointed over to Thomas, who now had the menu directly in front of his face. How could he read it then if it was that close?
"Oh, don't worry about that. I was already expecting that," Stephen rolled his eyes as he leaned back into his chair, crossing his arms. "So Rose, any luck?"
Everyone had noticed Rose had been intently looking at her menu, almost as if she was having a hard time picking something out.
"Oh me? I'm fine, just looking through the menu," she gave a nervous laugh.
"Have you never been to a restaurant before?," Stephen asked, confused. "I thought you said-"
"Nono, I have! It's just- nevermind," Rose shook her head. "Allen, what would you recommend?"
"What would I recommend?," Allen said, thinking.
Rose offered to show him her menu, and Allen started to point out some options he thought would be good.
"Allen! I want you to help me out too!," Sarah exclaimed, trying to get as close to him as possible. Luckily, she was on the other side of the table with Stephen and Rose (which Allen had done on purpose), so she wasn't able to grab a hold of him.
"Umm, yeah one moment," Allen said, while still trying to help out Rose, who now had an annoyed expression on her face.
"Geez, you really want his help? I swear all you talk about when you are Sarah is Allen," Stephen shook his head, laughing. "What does Alice think of this?"
"Hm. Good question. Let's have her answer!," Sarah willingly agreed. She put her glasses back on, shifting her hair and eye color back to Alice's blue color.
"Alice, what do you think of Allen?," Stephen asked, a grin on his face.
"Steph!," Rose raised her voice, annoyed.
"Wait, what?," Allen said, just catching on.
"Nice. Yes, I like him," Alice nodded her head, a blank expression on her face.
"I knew it!," Stephen started laughing.
"Hey!," Rose yelled, slapping his shoulder, but Stepehn was too busy laughing.
"Uh-," Allen started to say, looking over at Thomas and Cecily, who just had grins on their faces. "Help?"
Alice had a confused look on her face, wondering why they thought it was funny.
After a few minutes of laughing and going back over the menus again, they finally ordered their food.
Not much long after they got their food and started to eat. They all talked about what they were currently up to, as well as reminiscing about the past. A lot had happened so far after all.
Even when they were eating, August had yet to arrive. They were starting to get a little worried, but figured he was probably still running late, so they just let it be.
At one point when they were close to finishing eating, Adam, Sybil and Oliver had stopped by like they said. They introduced themselves to everyone else, and made sure to once again congratulate Allen, Thomas and Cecily on their promotions to D rank. They joined them for a little bit, before they decided to finally head back out.
Once everyone had finally finished eating, they still noticed that August had yet to arrive. Allen offered to wait outside for him. Everyone tried to say it would be fine, they can just all wait inside. After all, he may have been caught up in some business and ended up not being able to go.
Allen told them he would be fine, plus he wanted fresh air anyways. They were a little concerned, but just let him go.
While Allen was having fun with everyone else, he just wanted some alone time to himself, and waiting for August was his good excuse to do so.
Of course he wanted August to be here, and can also wait for him also while doing so, but it would at least give him some time to himself.
He took a seat outside the restaurant, sitting by himself. The sun had already set, and the once loud streets began to quiet down. He took some time to look up at the moon, and just enjoy his quiet time.
It really hasn't been that long since I've been attending the academy, Allen thought to himself. Despite that, I'm enjoying everything so far, and look forward to what's to come, even if there's only a few months left for his first year.
He began to think back on everything that has happened so far this year, which was a lot.
Heading to the academy, taking the magical knight entrance exam and passing, meeting Thomas and Cecily and joining them in the F rank class, reuniting with William and re-meeting Rose, the training he did with Rose, the duel against Nathaniel, meeting Stephen and then dueling against him, meeting Alice and Sarah and creating the Training Club, all the club members facing William in a duel, Rose's confession to Allen, meeting August who is the prince, the royal banquet that August, Rose and Allen attended, Allen's conversation with August, the Magical Knights Training program and re-meeting Philip, the run in with the fire mage, and now finally their D rank promotions!
The whole year so far was a lot to take in, with so many events happening all the time. Nonetheless, Allen was glad to be where he is now, and with all of his supportive friends he can rely on.
In the next coming month or two (Allen is not sure when it is yet), will be the preliminary rounds for the Annual Magical Knights Tournament. The tournament is always held each year before the end of the academy year, with the preliminaries taking place first.
I wonder how that will go, Allen thought, a bit worried.
After all, he needed to pass the preliminaries, and then win four consecutive rounds of the tournament, which he could be facing any student of any ranking or year. Not only that, he also had to get to C rank sometime in-between all of that.
Luckily, if he does well in the tournament, he could get promoted without having to do the C rank exams, which is what he was hoping for. He wasn't sure Mr. Lyon would be so lenient with the physical exam for him like what Ms. Florence did.
While he is worried about how he will do, he just decides he will try his best, which is what he normally does anyways.
"Want a drink?," a voice came out of nowhere, to the right of him.
"What?," Allen asked, surprised. He looked up to see August looking at him with a smile on his face, shaking a drink in his hand to get his attention. "When did you get here?"
"Just a minute ago," August shrugged. "Care if I join you?"
"No, go ahead," he said, as August took a seat on the floor next to him.
"Do you want the drink, or?," he asked once again, shaking the drink in front of Allen's face.
"Yeah, I'll take it, thanks," he said, taking it and popping the can open. "So, what exactly is this drink?"
"Oh that? Some alcohol I found at a local vendor," August casually shrugged his shoulders.
"What?!?," Allen exclaimed, spitting out the drink.
"I'm just kidding! It's just juice!," he answered, laughing.
"You could've said that first!," Allen rolled his eyes, going back to drinking it. He realized it was actually juice, after giving it a good sip again.
"It's more fun that way," August laughed. "Anyways what's going on? I'd figured you'd be inside with everyone else"
"Ah, about that…," Allen started to say.
He decided he would be honest with August, because something told him that August would see through his lies, even if he did just half of the truth. He told him how he just wanted some alone time to think things over and his worries for the future.
"Really? That's what you were worried about?," August asked, confused.
"Well yeah, I'm concerned if I will graduate or not of course!"
"Sorry, it's just out of all the mages I have met, including your friends and myself, you are definitely the odd one out," August said, after finishing his drink.
"Is that supposed to be good or bad?," Allen asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Good, actually," he gave him a wink.
"And how so?," he asked, giving him a doubtful look.
"You don't really know?," he asked, surprised. "Well, not only do you have talent when it comes to fighting with a sword, but you can use your mana efficiently in order to move quicker. You may not be able to attack with magic directly, but being able to fight differently definitely makes you a formidable adversary"
"Interesting…," Allen said, taking in what he said. "You really think I have talent with a sword?"
"Of course you do, you just have to refine your abilities," August nodded. "You may not be as good as I am with a sword, but I am sure that one day you may surpass myself"
"Wait, really? There's no way," Allen said in disbelief.
"Well, it will take you a lot of time, but combining your sword and magic skills, I'm sure one day you will reach the top," August nodded again.
"Wow," Allen said, looking at the ground, after finishing his drink.
"Just trust in your capabilities, and more importantly in your sword," August grinned.
"Alright, I'll work hard to get better, definitely better than you," Allen grinned back at him.
"Alright, well I think we should head back inside. They're probably wondering where you are, and they are probably thinking at this point I am not coming," August stood up, crinkling his drinking can and throwing it into the nearest trash can.
Allen went ahead and threw away his own can, and then they both headed back inside.
August apologized to everyone for being late, but everyone was fine. They were just worried, but August assured them he just got caught up in a bit of work.
They spent the rest of the night enjoying themselves, and celebrating their successes for the year so far, and most importantly Allen, Thomas and Cecily's D rank promotions.
I really hope days like these will never end, Allen thought to himself, shortly before they all had to leave.