Led by Atlanna, they finally reached an open area deep inside the forest.
Wooden tables and stools were placed carefully and the area around was lit using light stones. Food was gathered from the cafeteria and carefully arranged as self-service counters.
While it was nothing like the restaurant at the Wyte manor, the makeshift eatery in the wilderness looked magical.
'Is this a social party in the wilderness?' Noah couldn't find any other words to put it.
The future duchess, unbeknownst to him, had gathered the students in the faction and made this all happen in the few hours they separated.
When all the students finally gathered, Atlanna raised her glass, announcing the start of the Entelume founding party.
As the party continued to gain momentum, Noah started to interact with others.
'Atlanna, Rihaan, Kyle, and Nox.' Noah made up his mind to win them over. Taking his plate, Noah went to find them.
"Noah!"
"Prince Noah!"
Turning around he could see a small circle had already formed behind him.
"You were incredible in the duel!"
Although reluctant, Noah started talking with the circle of nobles and commoners, not wanting to upset them.
While answering, Noah carefully observed the others from the sidelines.
As he guessed, he could see Nox and Rihaan sitting alone, quietly eating while Kyle confidently moved from one table to the other, forming connections.
But once again, it was Atlanna who acted out of his expectation.
Just like Kyle, Atlanna continued to move across from table to table while having dinner, albeit slowly, livening up the mood.
Her behavior which was a stark contrast from what was expected of a person in her position continued to amaze everyone including Noah.
Looking at her closely he could see that she was pushing herself. Unlike Kyle who openly talked without missing a beat, Atlanna seemed nervous and thoughtful about what to speak to the other person. More so than often, it was the other party who spoke to her.
'I should join her.'
Excusing himself, Noah walked towards her.
Amid the merry and cheers at the table, the conversation soon moved towards the next steps for them as a faction, gathering everyone's attention.
Atlanna explained, "the grading at Enid is done based on individual evaluations and a faction war at the end of the year.
"Getting a good grade isn't just your own responsibility but also the faction's. As it is one of the few ways to earn points.
"The faction points could then be exchanged for various privileges within the academy, be it access to training grounds or even the right to purchase land and facilities."
While the latter sounded expensive and near impossible to achieve, Atlanna spoke with confidence.
"At present, only Red Orchard and Orcarath have their exclusive properties." Kyle joined in on the conversation. "White Eclipse, while still the runner-up from last year's faction war, is still growing and renting out training facilities. We could do the same."
"The training facilities we can get ranged from labs for potion makers to large open spaces for beast rearing, sparring, etc."
"As the faction war is largely dependent on combat, we should put all our points into getting physical training rooms." Others joined in.
"Then how do you expect us to work on potion making? We can't even work on anything without a lab!"
"Why are you taking potion making? just take combat courses."
"Can't you use the common training room we used today? We need the land to grow herbs!"
"Why you -"
"STOP!" As the conversation started to get heated and loud, Atlanna spoke up." I know all of us have different abilities. It is inevitable as we are a large group."
"But as the representative of the Entelume faction, I don't want any of you to choose outside of your interest due to lack of any resources.
"We will work on gathering Faction points together. We will decide where to invest together as well."
Taking a form out, she continued. "I know there are some of you who still haven't filled in your course lists yet.
"Guys, please don't feel alone, whichever course you take I am sure there will be others with you. Even if you somehow end up being the only person from our faction, I promise we will work together to help you get what you need." Atlanna reassured.
'Ah, did I miss this during the opening ceremony?' grabbing one of the forms Noah read through.
To summarize, the classes at Enid were based on a credit system. It continued to ironically explain how this system of choice provided the freedom to the student to select based on interest and capability.
The course list covered a wide range of studies:
Basic Mana Theory
Circle 1 Magic Arts
Grade 1 Elemental Arts
Potions
Herbology
Alchemy
Beast Taming
Combat Arts
Literature
Sociology
History
Theatre and Arts
With Grade 1 Elemental Arts and Combat Arts further divided based on the element and weapon they practiced, there was a large variety of options.
As each course gave 2 credits, the students were required to select a minimum of 10 courses.
Without a delay, Noah quietly left the crowd and filled in his courses as the discussion continued.
As he finished signing his name at the bottom to confirm, the form folded itself into an envelope and flew towards the academy building.
'Wow…'
With the immediate business taken care of, Noah joined back.
"-Once we have a clear idea of who has taken what, we will work together to support each other," Atlanna promised them.
As the serious atmosphere slowly diffused, they started joking with one another.
On seeing Noah return, others quickly added, "At least we will be able to get a large number of points from combat classes"
Amidst the joyful laughter, Noah could only awkwardly chuckle.
'Crap. Should I tell them I already submitted the form?...'