Last night, I went to sleep early. My mother kept telling me that I would be late if I didn't wake up early. So, the next day, I woke up really early, the sun has risen about an hour ago. My mom made me breakfast. It was the usual, we would have some hard eggs, Some Bread with some butter and oil that tasted like olive oil, and a big cup of fresh cow's milk. it was rich and refreshing.
It was a healthy meal, It reminded me of the Mediterranean diet back on earth. We cleaned up and went to school. It took us half an hour, but most of it was spent waiting for mom to speak with some people who would encounter us and greet her.
When we got there, the place was full of people. Parents and their children and some people in uniform.
( Those must be the school staff, but again there are many people here. I wonder how many kid attends this school.)
( there are at least three hundred kids here)
mom sensed my confusion and asked me what's wrong. I told her that I wanted to know how many people attend this school.
She looked at me and said:
"well, our kingdom has been through a change lately. The previous king, was someone who valued knowledge so he made school for children accessible. Parents pay a symbolic sum to have their children attend school. A hundred years before, only nobility and royalty can afford to have their children study and commoners and the people who couldn't afford it they usually end up non educated.
But, Some things remained unchanged, Attending academy is still quiet expensive for normal people and going to university is more expensive and requires good talent.
Now back to your question, Parents take their children school and spend the small sum in order for their kids to get a school degree. It's not much but it would make their lives easier when looking for jobs.
In your case, you are attending school for the degree more than the knowledge. Mister Abraham told me how many books you've read and your intelligence in many things. you probably you can get the degree right here and now. But you won't be skipping school for that"
I was confused. if mom knew all of this and was still insistent on me attending then...
"Why?" I asked
"Well it's really obvious young man, You need to work on your social skills. You are a six year old and still don't have any friends yet. It's kinda weird"
"What …?" I was taken aback by what she said but I knew it was true. I haven't done anything in this life except going to the library, practicing magic and rarely going out to the market with my parents.
I haven't even contacted someone my age. It wasn't like I was eager to, but what my mom said made a lot of sense, it would be quite weird.
We waited for some time then a couple of people I recognized as Mister Henry and his wife Madame Martha, Our neighbors whom I met when I went outside for the first time. They came towards us and there was a boy my age walking between them.
"Hello Stella, how are you?" Madame Martha was the first to speak.
"Good morning, Martha, I am fine thank you, this little boy, I assume he is Philip, your grandchild "
"Yes, he is Philip, Today is his first day of school" Said Mister Henry "Today is your first day of school too, little Edward. I hope you will be bestfriends and take care of each other" He said as he bent down a little and ruffled my hair.
I nodded as I observed the kid, he was my peer and he looked quite shy. He didn't speak any word so I couldn't know.
"Don't worry uncle Henry, we'll be good friends" I said trying to sound natural.
"OHH, Good kid"
My mother and the couple talked for quite sometime while I and Philip were silent sneaking glances at each other from time to time. Until people started entering the school.
When we entered we were separated from our parents and divided into groups of thirty. There was around 10 groups and then we were guided by a staff member to a room.
When we entered, it was quite a normal classroom, were the tables was linked and wooden chairs for us to sit in. It was like an amphitheater with 5 rows each row taking up to 7 students.
I sat down in the third row and Philip sat down next to me. Ahead of us, there was a podium and on there was a wooden desk. It was the teacher's place, but He was nowhere to be seen.
The room was silent, aside from some noises from people who had friends studying with them, everyone else was silent looking from place to place.
(It's weird) I thought, I imagined lots of screaming, crying, wanting to go home but there was non of it. Everyone just minded to themselves and stayed quite.
(Well, It's really not Earth anymore.)
After 2 minutes came a woman, she was chubby, and had a nice smile. She gave off a motherly vibe. I guess she has to, Children would have their first impressions according to what she does and says.
She turned facing the whole class, cleared her throat and spoke in a gentle voice
"Good morning kids, today is your first date at school, You will be spending four years here and more time in school than in your own house, so we have to fill that gap of leaving home by making a new one, Let's make friends with each other and have good time playing with one another. School isn't all about studying but it is the first step in making and shaping who you become.
Today we aren't going to study anything but you are hear to talk about what you are going to study. So you are going to …"
She kept talking about what are the subjects that we were going to tackle. We were going to learn History, Geography, Mathematics which they call Calculus and writing and reading language.
For the next years, It would be the same but it would get harder and harder and we would learn things more complex. In the fourth and last year, we would be learning another language which is a foreign one, It was the language of the Aristarchos Empire and it was called Aristarchii. It was the biggest country in terms of land and population and it had an important influence in the world, financially, and militarily.
It was important to be able to converse in the most dominant language as it open up new horizons. We will only get to study it for one year, but nevertheless it was something good.
I cursed my stupidity for not thinking about it previously, because I came from a world were we have to speak the dominant language. Sometimes, we even speak three or even more. well, except for certain lazy people or those who didn't have time and were too busy. I myself learned how to speak in four languages. but never mind that.
Well, I made up my mind that I would ask someone to teach me. Maybe, I'll ask Mister Abraham. I know a lot about this world and in the last six months, I just read for fun, hoping that I would stumble on something interesting. And Mister Abraham wasn't busy. The library was almost always empty, aside from some customers who would show up once in a week at most. I kept wondering why he even kept it open. I don't think there is much gain from it.
We finished early and the teacher guided as back to the exit where we found our parents still waiting for us. I guess it make sense to make them wait we haven't even been there for forty minutes.
We got back home, and took a nap. today was busy for me. I decide that tomorrow I would go ask mister Abraham if he can help me learn Aristarchii. School finishes three hours after midday, and I would have plenty of time to go to the library, read something and be back early.
I am planning to rest after I got back than I would continue my control training and raising my mana density. those two things were something that I can not overlook, It was something really important and it would decide my fate.
My mana control was improving by the day and for the last year I was able to stretch my mana for a bit more than a meter while giving it the thickness of a sewing thread. My mom was very satisfied with my results and she changed my training. She told me to run in circles while keeping the thread intact. She would throw things at me and I had to dodge them without losing control. And as expected it was really hard.
I did my training for today and slept early. Tomorrow, would be my second day at school and It was going to be busier than before.