The three of them headed inside, finally seeing what was awaiting them.
Like the outside of the classroom, the room was very dusty and dirty, last cleaned who knows how long ago. There were only a few desks that filled the room: a teacher's desk in the front left corner which was just straight ahead of the entrance, eight student desks, a board and a small podium for the teacher in front of the board. In addition, the room was a bit smaller, as if it was meant to be some sort of a large closet, but was converted into the F ranked room to make space.
The two other students that would be in their class were already here, doing their own thing. The 2nd year water mage seemed to be looking outside the window, as if he had no idea the three of them even entered the room. The 2nd year earth student, who Allen noticed was still wearing the hood covering their face, seemed to be staring them down as they entered the room. Allen decided to ignore this, cause maybe they were just shy?
Their teacher, who was apparently named Ms. Florence, remained seated at her desk, making no actions to greet the three of them in. She was reading a book, and seemed to be rather enthralled into it. Maybe she didn't hear them come in?
"You're Ms. Florence, right?," Thomas asked, trying to get her attention. "We're the other F ranked students who will be in your class"
If the teacher had heard him, she certainly ignored him, and really well too. She made no movements, other than the slight turn of the next page.
"Uh, did she hear me?," Thomas asked, looking back at Allen and Cecily for help.
"For now, why don't we take our seats?," Cecily suggested. "I'm sure she's just waiting for class to start"
"Alright, let's take our seats then," Thomas agreed.
The other two students had taken 2 of three seats towards the back, which left three open seats towards the front, and one in the back next to the female 2nd year.
Thomas decided to take the middle seat towards the front, while Cecily decided to take the desk to the right of him, near the window of the classroom. Allen decided to take the remaining seat next to Thomas, closest to the entrance into the room.
As Allen took his seat, he quickly noticed the desk was just as dirty as the rest of the classroom. Dust remained on the seat, as if it hadn't been used in years. In addition, the desk felt like it was going to fall apart at any given time. This made Allen feel a little uneasy, as if he was going to fall at any given time.
"Ah, what? Ew, so much dust!," Thomas coughed as he wiped off the dust that was on his desk. Allen was sure Thomas somehow had less dust on his desk than his with the amount Thomas started to wipe off.
"Now it's on your hands too!," Cecily pointed at the palms of his hands, where of course the dust could be found there too.
"What?," he exclaimed, as he examined his hands. "Is there anywhere in this classroom where it isn't dusty!"
Thomas proceeded to aggressively wipe his hands to get the dust off, while Allen and Cecily laughed. Allen started to feel like this was the beginning of his friendship between them two. He felt happy here already, despite all things considered.
The teacher finally put down her book, and headed to the front of the room, just behind the podium. Allen almost didn't notice her movement at first, as she was rather quiet.
Now that he got a better look at her, she looked rather attractive, even for a woman who looked to be in her late thirties. Although, the blank but intimidating look on her face probably made others distance themselves from her.
"Alright then, now that all of you are situated, I suppose we will begin," her quiet voice managed to fill the room. "My name is Danet Florence, but you should refer to me as Ms. Florence"
. "Nice to meet you, Ms. Florence!," Thomas waved at her, with his usual grin and friendly attitude. Ms. Florence completely ignored him, not even looking at him for a moment.
"Now then, allow me to make this perfectly clear: All of you in this class, no matter your year, status, or lineage are all F ranks. This means you are currently failing at our academy, and the academy threw you unfortunate souls here. You need to achieve at least D rank before the end of the year to make it to your next year, or you will be immediately expelled, no exceptions. Not even I have a say in that, so don't look at me when you fail. Although, one of you is lucky enough to have to achieve at least C rank by the end of the year"
She's talking about me, isn't she?, Allen thought, just before seeing her stare at Allen for a moment.
Her attitude seemed to show that she didn't care about this class, its students, or maybe even the academy itself. She might be teaching this class because she is required to, with no say in the matter. Whether they liked it or not, this was going to be their teacher, unless they of course rise in rank.
"You must do everything possible in order to get to D rank. Whether it be studying, training, or both. Each day you can get the opportunity to train in the training grounds of the academy, where you took your entrance exams"
"In order to get up to D rank, you must pass the F rank exam, which simply consists of a written and physical exam, nothing too major"
Allen already knew what he had to do to rise in rank and pass his conditions. He had already begun his training, already ahead. And he had plans to train as much as possible.
"The academy is based on a three year system, your third year being your last year. But I'm sure most of you already knew that. Once you graduate your third year, you have the option to work to become a full-fledged magical knight. But, only if you manage to get out of your F rank in the first place, that is"
Silence still filled the room. Even Thomas, who was generally the loud and talkative one, remained quiet to listen to what the teacher had to say.
"And of course, we have the Annual Magical Knights Tournament, which takes place at the end of the academy year. Any student, D rank or above, is allowed to participate, except for one individual"
Once again, it seemed like Ms. Florence stared at Allen for a moment, before turning back to face everyone else.
"All sorts of people, mages and non-mages alike, come to watch the tournament. Many students who participate are also scouted there, for possible internships of all sorts. If you wish to showcase your abilities, the tournament is the best way to do so. But once again that's if any of you manage to get to D rank to be able to participate"
She looked throughout the room at each of them, except for Allen. Allen guessed it was because the teacher already knew he was going to participate, regardless of his current rank.
"Any questions after my required opening statement for the class?," she asked, although you could tell she was hoping for everyone to not ask anything.
"So, if we participate in the tournament and do well, the magical knight divisions could hire us for internships? Is that correct?," Thomas asked as he spoke up, making Ms. Florence let out a quiet sigh.
"Yes, that is correct," she answered him. "Aside from that, every now and then I will be going over various subjects in the class when I am required to. Whether you actually listen or not is up to you, but the subjects will highlight what you need to study in order to pass your written exam. If you pass your written exam, you will be permitted to take the physical one. Pass that as well, and you will become a D rank"
"Other than that, you can use the time here you have to study and train. Just as I said before, you may use the training grounds to practice, although some days we will be there instead of class."
Finally, Allen thought. I can get in some good training even during class time!
"Any other questions?," Ms. Florence asked, looking throughout the room. Allen could tell she was really hoping for no other questions.
"Alright, then that's all I have for you today. Any remaining class time you can use at your leisure. Chat, train, study, I don't care. Just don't be loud, obnoxious or break any rules. We will have class again tomorrow, same time"
Not even a few seconds after she was finished, she already sat back down at her desk, and started to read the same book again once more.
"Well, wasn't that an interesting first class?," Thomas laughed.
"I suppose so," Allen agreed, having mixed feelings about the class. He leaned back into his chair and started to stretch his arms, careful that his desk could collapse at any minute. "Either way, we can now use this remaining time to do as we wish"
"Well in that case, do you mind if we could train together, Allen?," he asked, his eyes almost sparkling. "I was really hoping to get some good practice in soon! Plus, we should have some extra time there before we have to go back to our dorms"
"No, not at all Thomas. It would be nice to have someone to train with, instead of just myself," Allen answered, giving him a smile. "After all, there's only so much you can do just by yourself when it comes to training"
"Great!," he said, starting to get a little giddy. "Oh, and by the way, I don't mind if you call me Tom, like how Lily does. But only on one condition… I get to call you Al!"
"Uh yeah, that's fine," Allen answered, at first taken aback by the sudden, strange nickname. "Alright, well nice to meet you again, Tom"
Allen reached out, and shook Thomas' hand once more, just like what they did at the entrance exams.
"Yeah, likewise Al!"
"Also, I'm sure Lily over here wouldn't mind if you called her Lily as well. Is that alright, Lily?," Thomas asked, looking over at her.
Cecily was once again wrapped up in her own thoughts, lost in whatever she was thinking. She finally realized that Thomas was talking to her once Thomas gave her a slight nudge.
"Oh– sorry, my bad! What is it, Tom?"
"Allen over here is wondering if it's okay if he calls you Lily like I do!"
"Wait, I didn't ask if I could… nevermind"
Allen was surprised at the fact that Thomas asked if it was okay for him to call her that, but let it be since he decided he didn't have any problems with it.
"Yeah, that's fine. You can call me Lily. Nice to meet you again, Al," she smiled at him.
"I- what? Wait, when did you hear Tom call me that?," Allen asked, under the impression Cecily was completely oblivious to their previous conversation.
Thomas broke out into laughter at the fact Cecily managed to come up with the same nickname as him, even though she wasn't paying attention. Or perhaps she did pay attention, and they weren't aware of it?
"See? Your nickname should definitely be Al!"
"I- I guess that works," Allen responded, a little flustered.
"Anyways, are you guys ready for training?," Thomas said, trying to laugh while talking.
"Yeah, let's get some training in!," Allen agreed.
Both of them got out of their chairs, careful not to push them too hard. Who knows when their chairs might break?
"Care to join, Lily?," Thomas asked.
"Sure, I'll join you two," she got out of her seat. "We can always study later"
Thomas approached Ms. Florence's desk, which she made no notion that she noticed him at all.
"Ms. Florence? We're going to the training grounds. Will that be an issue?," Thomas asked her politely.
"Do as you wish," she responded, not even looking up from her book.
"Alright! Looks like we're doing some training!," Thomas jumped with excitement.
But before they could walk out of the room, a student knocked and entered the room. She was dressed in a more professional student uniform, the same ones Allen noticed the student council wore. The uniform was blue in color, indicating she is a water mage. From what Allen could see, it looked like her pin had the letters of "2B" on them.
The girl looked over at Ms. Florence, who didn't even react when she came in.
"Ms. Florence? The head director is calling for a student from your class," she informed her, in a very quiet voice. Luckily, it was loud enough for everyone to hear.
"Sure, go ahead. We're finished here anyways," Ms. Florence answered, still not moving her eyes from her book.
Is she looking for me?, Allen thought. If she said
the head director was looking for someone in the F ranked class, it would make sense if it were me.
The student looked throughout the room, hoping someone would step forward. She then realized she had yet to let them know who was being called up.
"Um, is there an Allen Fleming here? The head director wishes to speak with you"
"I'm Allen," he said as he raised his hand. He could tell she was glad he spoke up. "I'll be with you in just a moment"
"Very well, but please hurry"
Both Thomas and Cecily had surprised looks on their faces and Allen didn't blame them. After all, what did the head director want with a student on the first day, no less an F rank?
"Wait, the head director wishes to speak to you? Already on the first day? Did you already screw up?," he asked while laughing a little, but you could tell he was still concerned.
"No, I'm sure it's nothing bad. I- I just happen to know him," Allen responded, not sure exactly what to say.
"You know the director?," Thomas asked, eyes wide. Even Cecily was taken aback.
"Well, it's a long story. He used to be my mentor of sorts when I was younger," Allen explained, scratching the back of his head. Should he have already told them that?
"Wait, really? Woah, that's so cool. Trained by the William Windblade. Pretty epic!"
"Anyways, I'll catch up with you guys later. If not, then maybe tomorrow?," he asked, feeling a little bad that he was just about to train with them.
"Yeah sure, see you then! Make sure to tell us more later!," Thomas grinned as he and Cecily waved him out of the room.
Allen gave them a wave back and quickly began to follow the girl, as he could tell that he was taking more time then he needed to.
"This way," the girl pointed ahead, directing Allen to follow her.
"Lead the way," Allen agreed, following her down the quiet hallway.
Allen began to follow the student down to where the head director, no, Allen's old mentor is located. It was time for their long awaited reunion.