After lunch was over, Kaze continued class for the rest of the day till the usual curriculum was over. Lessons that had proceeded before and after lunch all kept his attention on, especially when Lune-sensei was the one delivering them. The other teachers had their own traits, but it was really Lune-sensei he focused on since she meant something to Lunaria. Plus, she also knew their secret, making him a little more conscious on what would happen if it became blackmail material.
Thankfully, Lune-sensei remained normal throughout class without once bothering to look his way, other than when she was trying to address everyone and needed to give a sweeping glance. Kaze was also too engrossed in the lesson itself to bother about his and Lunaria's talk with Lune-sensei. In the end, nothing significant happened by the time school was over.
"Kaze, do you and Noel have time?" Kaguya asked him once they were allowed to go. "I want to show you around our academy."
"Same here! We can head to the cheerleading club too," Yumi flapped her wings excitedly. "Unless you already have plans with your group."
"No, I think we decided over lunch that we would be exploring on our own before returning," Kaze shook his head. "Noel and I would like to accept the offer."
"Should we inform Luniel?" Noel asked him. "In case she wants to come along."
"No need for that, you two can go ahead," Luniel overheard them and came over. "I have to hurry back to continue my research with Lunaea. See you over dinner!"
Luniel then rushed out of the class, probably to return to her lab. Kaze and Noel both understood that the twins were avid researcher, hence why they appreciated the twins taking their precious time out to attend school with them. Only Kaze knew the real reason she was in such a rush, mainly being that they were working to uncover a full analysis of Kaze's magic usage as well as how it correlated to allowing the Phoenix Orchid to expel its seed. With such a juicy research topic going, they definitely couldn't wait any longer to resume it.
With that said and done, Kaze and Noel followed their two newfound friends on a tour of Leiscatie Academy.
There was much to see for a school as old as theirs and filled with history. From the classrooms to the laboratory, the varied forms of what Kaze and Noel were used to back in Tristania could be explored as much as they wanted. The magic labs here were much more spacious and had an old touch to them, but was filled with modern equipment for class and training purposes. There were even specialized labs for conducting research by certain students who have reached a level of mastery in their studies. It was also what Lune-sensei's faculty specialized in: magic research and cultivation.
Moving on from the numerous labs came the academy library. Taking up an impressive 3 story internal structure, the library was isolated from most of the building to specify that a certain space was used to store all the books and records by the school itself. It wasn't like it was a separate building, but rather it had been isolated from the inside. This meant that there were different exit points throughout the building since the library section was the only one that had an internal staircase for ease of access.
Touring the facilities within the library didn't take much time at all. Kaze and Noel felt impressed by the vast pool of knowledge provided by the library, which was comparable to the scale of a national library. Kaguya explained to them that the library in the academy indeed could function as a national library, especially since it had one of the largest collections of material in the nation itself. The only difference was that it didn't have 'restricted' or 'national' level of information stored. This was especially so when the academy functioned as a research facility for nurturing students as well, allowing approved research reports and articles to be published and stored in the library for ease of access.
They then moved to the curriculum part of the school. Unlike Czech, where Kaze and the others studied was simply a tertiary level of education and there being a fourth separate school, Leiscatie Academy was a combination of both due to the small population size of the nation. Scholars and students alike existed within the same location with the only difference being a clear separation of study zone to ease differentiating the grades. The use of uniforms also helped to differentiate students on the level of education Kaze was at with those who already 'graduated'.
Co-curriculum, however, was mixed between the age groups without restrictions. The only thing that had restrictions when it came to activities outside of classroom were gender, especially for activities that involved strict physical interactions like sports. One of the popular ones offered by the academy as a club was Wings and Tails, where an entire area would be made for flight-only, with the goal being the dragonkins to use their wings and try to score goals with a ball. There was a catch: they weren't allowed to use their hands and legs to touch the ball, only their wings and tail. As such, a nation like Aravel, which had very strict prohibitions on who could touch a dragonkin's wing and tail, had to impose restrictions on gender for Wings and Tails.
It was also now that Kaze and Noel were enthusiastically brought to the cheerleading club's training zone by Yumi. Since they were already close to an open-area court with a roof where any sort of activities could be done there, it was also where the cheerleading club would train 3 times a week. The members would still meet with each other for additional training often even without the usual training out of their passion to train.
"Oh, I see Yuuji's over there," Noel pointed out. "What are they doing here?"
Yuuji's group, being him, Sera and Lucentia, were also at the open-area court. As Kaze and the others arrived before them, they only noticed the group when they arrived. Yuuji's group also noticed Kaze approaching and waved at them.
"Are you all just passing by?" Yuuji asked with a grin. "We stopped by to cheer on a new friend."
"Oh, we also came because of our very enthusiastic friend," Kaze made a wry smile, followed by Yumi tilting her head curiously.
"Eh~ it's the prince?" Yumi asked, widening her eyes when she recognised Yuuji. "Nice to meet you~ I'm Yumi, a cheerleader of Leiscatie Academy. This is Kaguya."
"I'm Yuuji, one of the guests from Czech. It's a pleasure to meet both of you," Yuuji bowed politely. "With me is Sera, one of Lunaria's close friends. The lucky draw pretty much paired me with Sera and Lucentia, so I hope you two will be able to meet the others during your tour."
"That's alright, we understand everyone is on a tight schedule too," Kaguya shook her head understandingly. "So, who was your guide?"
"Ah, she's over there," Yuuji pointed to one of the cheerleaders. "Her name's Miyuki."
"Oh, so it was Miyuki who led you three here," Yumi recognised her fellow friend immediately. "To my understanding, she isn't the type of person who would choose to bring guests around?"
"Yeah, it was voted upon by the class," Sera explained. "So you could say the job was given to her. I do think she is doing quite well by giving us such a tour."
At the same time, a dragonkin girl dressed in a black and white leotard approached the group. She was considerably shorter than most of them, almost on par with Lunaea and Luniel's height. Her dark blue hair was posed in a side ponytail, a rather suitable style for a cheerleader like herself.
"What's going on here?" The cheerleader asked. "Yumi?"
"Miyuki, meet Noel and Kaze," Yumi introduced the cheerleader to the two of them. "They are my classmates along with Luniel-sama."
"Ehh, what a coincidence. Lucentia-sama is in my class," Miyuki, the cheerleader who came up to them, greeted the two with a huge smile.
"Kaze," Kaze introduced himself with a simple handshake. "So you are with Yuuji? I heard you got your role imposed by your class."
"Yeah. I couldn't do anything after being voted," Miyuki shrugged. "Are you here to see the cheerleading club? I presume that's the case because you have Yumi with you."
"Yes we are. She has been very insistent," Noel nodded, causing Yumi to giggle from the side. "But I am curious. What is the difference between the human version of cheerleading with the dragonkin one?"
"There are similarities, but the main difference is that it involves flight," Yumi stated. "Come on, we are just about to start practice too. You get to see a routine or two."
Kaze and the others stood aside while Yumi and Miyuki discussed with their cheerleading friends to perform a short routine for the group. It helped that the rest of the cheerleaders were equally as cooperative, for they chose a routine that perfectly demonstrated the differences unachievable by humans due to their physical limits. For example, the usage of wings was incorporated into an aspect of their typical routine, causing a spectacular sight of dragonkin cheerleaders floating in the air before tumbling gracefully into a floral pattern on the padded floor.
After the short demonstration, the group moved on from the area to the rest of the school. Kaze's group split up with Yuuji's once more, since they had their own schedule and tour by Miyuki. With Kaguya leading the way this time, they arrived where most of the clubs and societies were conducted when the area of the academy they passed by were mostly sports and outdoor clubs.
"This is the Disciplinary Board room," Kaguya, as the president of the Disciplinary Board, proudly showed off her club room. "We aren't exactly a club that has loose ties with the school. As our name suggests, we work closely with the teachers here in terms of regulation and hold a certain level of disciplinary power. Just like the Student Council, who are more focused on paperwork, we help with student regulation and setting club rules for all."
"Isn't it boring to be in the Student Council then?" Noel asked, glancing past the various prizes won by the Disciplinary Board that were displayed on a closed glass case. "Because if it's only paperwork to be done…"
"Sorry, that was a bit misleading," Kaguya corrected herself. "More precisely, they deal with administrative work and have access to the school system on an intermediate level. Since they work closely with the academy board as much as we have, you could say the Student Council and Disciplinary Board makes up two parts of a complete front for the school. The Disciplinary Board works for the exterior while the Student Council helps with the interior."
"That is a very neatly designed system. Do both groups involve themselves heavily in anything at all?" Kaze felt interested to know more about the system. "Like during events and such?"
"We do… but very rarely by human years? Since we don't celebrate a variety of festivals or have a multitude of events, the number of times the Student Council and Disciplinary Board are required to have a major helping hand is limited," Kaguya smiled wryly. "It is very different than in the human world, as I heard."
"For example, we don't have a constant influx of new students coming in every year that we need to have a graduation ceremony or a welcoming ceremony," Yumi explained. "While it is true that we have quite a number of students in the academy and we graduate the same time, the number of graduates per year differs depending on the course and type of classes we have. Further, we don't have a 'set' year per subject or grade, instead focused on how much work gets completed within a certain time limit."
"You mean to say that instead of there being 3 years from entering to graduating, there is.. no limit?" Kaze widened his eyes at this.
"In terms of highschool level, I would have to disagree. Highschool here works differently than yours as well. The standard level is 4 years instead of 3 due to our syllabus difference as well as the slightly more relaxed schedule due to us dragonkins having a much longer lifespan," Kaguya shook her head. "In terms of things after a tertiary level, then it would depend on the course requirement and stuff. For more information, we can bring you some leaflets for reference?"
"Yes please, I think this is a subject worthy of discussing with the others," Noel nodded her head excitedly. "Are there any interesting classes that you two think us humans might not have?"
"Oh, a ton," Kaguya and Yumi both nodded at this. "For starters, we have a dragonkin training class where we learn to control ourselves in dragon form and fly. It also provides us the opportunity to test out our powers and transformation speed."
"We also have a dragonkin care class," Yumi counted. "That involves things that a dragonkin need to look out for when interacting with members of other species, like an etiquette class. We have astrology class, where we study about the movement of the stars and how magic contributes to the cycle of life. We have a Divine class, where we learn about goddesses. All that I have said so far are not compulsory, but are subjects you can choose for fulfilling credits."
"What are credits?"
"Oh, you don't have that? Basically, our academy splits subjects into those that are compulsory and those that aren't. Compulsory subjects are those needed to be learnt no matter what by all, but there is a 'credit' score that have to be fulfilled. For example, Mathematics is 2 points, Magic Research is 4 points and so on. In a year, there is a minimum credit we have to fulfil to pass the grade, and that would be done by choosing certain subjects, or supplementary classes, like dragonkin care or the Divine class I have said."
"Wow… I never knew Aravel operated with such a system."
"It might sound rather frustrating when you first hear about the way it works, but honestly, after experiencing it yourself, you might come to enjoy it just as much. It helps that we could choose what we are interested in, like learning more about ancient dragonkin language and runes in Runic classes."
"Would that apply to those who become 'caretakers'?"
"Eh? Don't tell me… both of you have been to the island before?"
"Yes, we were brought there by Laevia-sama herself."
"It must be quite overwhelming then, no? Not many people get the chance to even step foot on the place where dragonkin mothers give birth… To answer your question, the course for caretakers comes after the tertiary level of education, so it is like a full-time course."
"I see, so this is where everything is learnt huh?"
"Not everything. For example, we don't have smithing class or hunting classes. These are extra skills learnt by finding some of the blacksmiths or hunters who work in Aravel and ask for apprenticeship for them in between school, or even graduating."
"I am aware it sounds very overwhelming for you both," Kaguya giggled at Kaze and Noel's stupefied face as she sat down by her desk, being the President of the Board with her own working space. "However, please remind yourselves constantly that unlike Czech, Aravel cannot spare any opportunity to provide education for all. We have a very slow-growing population with fewer than 50 new students coming in every year. As such, we must try to find ways to attract people from different age group and race to learn so we can educate our citizens and further enhance the level of our nation."
"Oh… that is… something we never considered," Kaze nodded slowly at Kaguya's words. "So that means opportunity is more widely available here due to the population size, huh?"
"In a way, yeah," Yumi sighed. "For that, we do actually have a very special class in the academy, but it is strictly reserved for tertiary level students like us and we are forbidden from talking about it. As much as I want to explain what it is and how it works, I simply can't."
"Neither can I," Kaguya offered them an apologetic smile. "For very obvious and logical reasons, it has to be kept secret from outsiders, even for guests of your stature."
"Is it possible if we learn the name of the class?" Kaze asked hopefully. "Just the name."
"Ehh, I suppose that would be fine, but promise me you won't go snooping around the school grounds in search of such a class," Kaguya warned him. "It's called 'SP'."
"SP?"
"Yep. SP," Yumi nodded firmly, not saying anything more regarding the class. "If you dare, you could try asking the princesses themselves for the curriculum and see whether they are willing to explain it to you… but no guarantees."
"Should we move on? There are still quite a lot of things that we have to see," Kaguya proposed, getting up from her chair. "We do have a limited amount of time today."
It took them another hour to fully explore what Lesicatie Academy had to offer. In terms of place exploration, they could have finished up in half an hour, but it was more on the exploring and explaining that took up most of the time they had. Kaguya and Yumi were very hospitable throughout, providing as much assistance as needed by Kaze and Noel.
The final place they headed to was none other than the training grounds for combat and training purposes. Just as in Tristania, Aravel had a specially isolated area for combat purposes. Classes were also conducted at the training grounds for safety and suitability, which took place at an isolated, flat area close to the school.
Even at the time they were visiting the training area, there were still a lot of students present. Each area had been properly isolated by magic lines from the ground to specify the allocated space and to prevent intervention between different fights. During a fight or a spar, if a student stepped out of boundary of the lines, a barrier would erect and help notify those around to stay clear of any accidental damage.
"So this is the training ground," Kaguya gestured. "We have students train here all the time, sometimes even up till dinner time. The school does impose a curfew for each facility here, with the training ground being limited up till 9pm at night. An extension may be granted through appeal, which may or may not succeed, to the school board for special purposes."
"I see both of you have swords with you," Yumi stated, causing Noel and Kaze to each look at their weapons. "Would you like to have a quick spar here?"
"Uhh, can we?" Kaze timidly asked as he clenched Felta by his side. "We aren't students of this school."
"Don't worry. Even for guests, they are allowed in as long as you are properly registered," Yumi gave him a thumbs up. "Furthermore, you have Kaguya and I. Students are allowed to bring a certain number of guests here through registration, like so."
To demonstrate what she meant, Yumi tapped the side of the wall and a number pad made out of magic appeared along with a blank rectangle. She began keying in a string of numbers that appeared to be her ID, allowing the system to register her. Kaguya did the same, registering herself with her own unique ID provided by the school. This was also how the school tracked whoever was inside of the facility for ease of access in case anything happened.
"Step pass the line," Kaguya beckoned for them, referring to a white line on the ground.
Kaze took the first step forward and a similar magic keypad popped out. This time, there were specific words next to multiple rectangles that appeared in a horizontal manner along with a hovering keyboard. Following the instructions, Kaze typed in the relevant information, and he was soon allowed in. It felt weird to click his fingers mid-air yet was able to register the letters in the rectangle bars. Noel followed in his footsteps and did the same, the system officially registering both of them.
"That was the visitor's registration panel," Yumi told them while walking into the training grounds. "Your friends should have probably done the same if they were to come inside."
"Oh. What about the princesses?" Noel questioned Yumi.
"Royalties and officials of the nation already have their relevant information keyed into the system. Plus, there is also a mana detection ward here that can detect the individual magic signatures emitted, so Luniel-sama would have no problem entering," Kaguya answered for Yumi. "You might question the possibility that someone could replicate the magic signature. Trust me: that is not happening and even if it did, it would fail. The detection system is top-of-the-line by Lune-sensei."
"And here I thought it would be another thing invented by Lunaea and Luniel," Kaze smiled wryly at Noel, who nodded with a giggle. "I suppose not everything is thought up by them, huh?"
Following Kaguya and Yumi, they walked past the huge training grounds to what looked like exposed boxes at the edges of the training grounds. Each box was large enough for two people to freely fight, almost on par with the size of the courtyard that Kaze and Lunatea trained at back at the palace. The walls of the boxes, lined side by side, were also made of magic to allow for flexible adaptation.
Kaguya and Yumi then explained how the boxes worked. They were individual training pods for people who were too embarrassed to train in the open or wanted to work on a new skill without disturbing others. In the pods, all they would have to do was step foot inside of it and the four translucent walls around would instantly harden and become solid, blocking outside vision from what was going on inside. It was also suitable for two people to train, though rare due to the limited space compared to the training ground.
"So this was what you wanted us to try out?" Kaze asked. "It certainly does pique my interest. How does it work?"
"Yep, just step inside and you'll see," Kaguya nodded.
At her words, everyone stepped into the box and immediately, it thickened up its walls and they were enclosed in darkness. The darkness only lasted a few seconds, with blue luminescent light glowing from all 8 edges of the square room. It invoked a sort of futuristic feel, especially with how particles could be seen fluctuating about the room. Those were magic particles from the room absorbing the outside mana to maintain such a space.
"Woah… how strong are these walls?" Noel lightly pressed her hand against the wall. "It's made purely out of mana?"
"Something like that. Even we are not fully aware of how mana is conducted throughout the room," Yumi admitted with a shy grin. "The technology in the academy is top-notch, as we have said."
With a nod, Noel unsheathed her blades from her sides to reveal her weapons: two long swords that were modelled to suit her personal use. Yumi and Kaguya both let out a soft gasp of admiration at the sword she had since they never once thought Noel to be a dual wielder.
When it came to Kaze's turn to reveal his weapon, he hesitated because he wondered if the two would recognise it. He decided to take his chances and unsheathed Felta, revealing a brilliant blue for the colour of the blade dyed with darker stripes leading to the hilt.
"Pretty!" Yumi cried out, jumping over to Kaze's side to inspect the sword. "Wow… it's made so exquisitely too. Kaze, are you and Noel a noble?"
"Heck no," Kaze sweatdropped. "Noel might be, but I'm just an orphan. This sword was gifted to me."
"I see… it would make sense if that was the case," Kaguya also admired his sword. "It looks like it's worth tens of thousands for a weapon that normally cost a hundred on average."
"B-Because… it's given to me by Lunaria."
The moment Kaze admitted this, the surrounding of the box they were in began to shake and grow fuzzy. It was like watching static occurring all around them. A few seconds later, one of the walls that acted as the entrance came down, causing them to turn around to see what it was that caused the room to react so violently.
To everyone's surprise, Lunaria was standing in front of the box, who looked equally as surprised to see them here. What that made Kaze's heart pound worryingly was the person standing next to Lunaria.
"K-Kaze?"
"Lunaria… and Ash?"
Ash, Lunaria's ex-fiance, gave an awkward wave to the group.