When Alice and Selene went down from the bus, they were much closer than when they first entered.
"Alice, are you really attending the same school as me? You're also someone who skipped grades?"
"You're not the only genius around, Selene. It's true what I said. Let's go. We can't miss even the first day of school, even if its just orientation."
"You're right. I' happy to have a friend right before school."
"I am as well."
Alice and Selene went to the school. The boys right behind them.
"They're really going to that presitgious school!"
"Shit. Did we unknowingly offend some little bigshots?"
"That seems to be the case."
"What are we even doing then? Shouldn't we just let them go now?"
"Well… yeah. Let's just go. It's not worth getting done in by their bodyguards in silence."
"Okay. Let's just go to school!"
"School? Stupid. Let's go to the arcades!"
"Oh yeah! That's more fun."
…
In the shadows, one of the former Guild members followed the little girls and heard the conversation between the boys.
"Tsk. These little guys are sensible at least.". If not, they'd really face master's, master's wrath."
Behind the former Guild member, there were two swallows perched on electricity poles.
"Children these days are quite sensible, aren't they?" Rebecca sighed.
Alice and Selene entered school and went to the gymnasium to receive their orientation. There, they had to sit and listen to the old principal speak about youth and the great effect of education through the generations.
Sat beside Alice, Selene poked her and said, "It's always like this when old men give a speech right?"
"Hurhur. That's right. It's so boring."
"Right?"
They both chuckled.
The old principal had finished his speech and was now time for the Chancellor to grace them his presence. Although it was only through a screen, the students should know their Chancellor's face. It was basic.
On the white screen presented at the center of the stage, Dominic Calmer was making a speech.
Although Dom and Alice were related through Gideon, they had never met. Gideon never allowed his disciples to go into the Flying Island when Alice was there.
Alice listened to Dom's speech and she felt a strange fluctuation of energy entering her body without her permission. This was not harmful, but Alice still defended herself. After some observation, it seems the energy was of the mental attribute that calms and enhances cognitive abilities temporarily.
Alice defended herself but let Selene take it in as it could help the little girl grow more and not fall behind.
After Dom's speech, the screen turned black and the emcee took the stage again to announce the schedule for today.
Orientation was great for freshmen because they get to tour the whole campus. While the teachers could also take time to further prepare and show their appeal to potential top students.
Alice and Selene walked together and enjoyed the tour. While they did this, some of the high school girls much older than them kept on trying tot talk to them and say they were cute and they should call them big sisters while should call them big sisters while in here. Of course, Alice was not so cold to them. She complied while keeping a straight face. Selene was the shy one and she hid behind Alice when these seniors came to them.
Obviously, they knew they were accelerated, grade skippers. So, some of the more malicious and envious students talked bad about them from a distance.
Alice couldn't be bothered, but Selene was a bit shaken from the contempt shown towards her as well.
"Hey, don't worry about these small fries. We'll show them who's who when the time comes, so keep your head lifted high!"
And her words fell on deaf ears. Selene kept her head down and she hid behind Alice.
Classes officially started in the afternoon session. Alice and Selene were put into the Elites class. The Elites Class represented the most amazing and noteworthy individuals in the entire campus. They also excelled in their own fields of expertise. So, just being here in the first place was an honor.
To Alice, this was a given but she still cherished the opportunity. After all, Rebecca, her mother, always taught her not to take any opportunity given to her for granted. While Gideon was away, she always lived by this principle. She blamed Gideon for being weak as to not be able to control his own destiny and still has to follow others' orders in life. She aimed to get their family out of such predicament through her genius.
"Alright. Class is in session. No one is allowed to interrupt the class for something unimportant. If you need to use the toilet and whatever necessity, do it before class. That is rule number 1 in this Elites class.
"Number 2, no one is allowed to use their mobile phones while class is in session. Anyone caught in violation will be given a free trip to the principal's office.
"Number 3, if there are questions, leave it for when the class is over. Go to the teacher's lounge so that your teachers can answer you specifically."
"That is all for the rules in this class. Anything else is permissible inside the jurisdiction and policies in effect of the school."
"Did you all get that?"
"Yes, sir!"
"Good!"
The homeroom teacher arrived and immediately gave a barrage of words to introduce the rules of the class. They were stunned yet their attention was fully taken in by the teacher. A great technique for gathering attention.
Clearly, an experienced teacher. Alice was glad she got to join this class. Even the homeroom teacher seemed promising.
Selene, the shy little girl timidly listened to the teacher as well. Her eyes were shining while her body kept on fidgeting.
The next period was basic economics. As future burden bearers of society, every Elite student must know how to handle, predict, and manage the world's economy starting from the lowest level. By going up this educational ladder, Elites become true to their namesake when it comes to Economics.
Next period was Mathematics. It wasn't basic at all. Since Mathematics was the basis of all sciences, especially when it came to progress, Math became the primary subject for the Elites to learn and master.
Next was History. It was so that the Elites would be able to avoid mistakes of the past that led to catastrophes. History's primary function was such.
The last period for the day was Combat. Combat was a general term. Since there are children in the Elite Classes that come from martial backgrounds, the school did not restrict students from using their own specialties in this class.
Although Magic wasn't that common, it was still known. So, Alice did not need to pretend she did not know it. Instead he had to pretend to be just adequate for a pass.
The same could be said about Selene. In fact, she was shy and timid but her background wasn't ordinary. She was from a long line of Shadow Warriors from the east. Her body was petite but her techniques were deadly.
In class, they were required to fight according to lots drawn before it. Those who paired were to fight one another in a sparring session.
Alice was dominant with her magic so it was an easy fight.
"My name is Alice, I'm proficient in magic. Please go easy on me." She revealed her specialty which proved her confidence and this was seen as a show of stupidity before a fight. Why would you reveal something like that to your enemy?
Thinking like this, her classmate, a male possessing martial arts knowledge passed down from generations, faced Alice with his physical prowess. He knew that magicians were weak with close-quarter-combat and trusted this commonsense. In the end, he knocked out of his senses.
Alice was indeed a magician and was weaker in close combat, but her being 'weaker' in close combat doesn't apply for every one of his peers. This was because Alice's weakness was already strength to most others.
Her classmate started attacking while she put her hand out seemingly to cast a spell. Seeing this, the boy smirked and unhesitatingly moved with clear intent. He punched towards Alice's face to make her flinch.
"As long as I can make her flinch, I win. Once she closes her eyes and dodges, I'll send her flying with a kick. Game over."
The boy's plan was soundly happening until the last bit where she'll dodge. Alice did not even try to avoid. She did flinch, however.
"Tch! This guy dare to make me flinch, unforgivable!" her stubborn pride caused her to stand firm and receive the punch. Inexperienced as she was in fights, her enhanced physique inherited from Rebecca and Gideon's genes played a role in her constitution. Her reflexes were excellent to the point of dwarfing those older than her by 5 to 10 years.
The punch arrived just a few centimeters away from her face, but after her pride woke her up, she courageously faced it and thought of countermeasures for it.
Alice did not even think too long. A spell appeared in her mind and she cast it with a single word.
"Shield." A compressed film of light appeared before the fist collided with her face. She couldn't help but close her eyes for a second because of the sound of impact.
However, before the boy could wake up from being stunned, Alice had already casted another magic.
"Push." Then as if a kite which strings are cut, the boy flew the other way he came. He then violently crashed onto the ground as he coughed heavily.
"Enough. Alice wins!" The instructor announced. Their fellow students couldn't believe their eyes. Magic was this awesome?
"As per the rules, if you have questions, leave it for after class. Next." The instructor knew they were teeming with questions, but the class must go on.
"Grandmaster's daughter sure is fierce. She's inexperienced but given time and training, combat in any form would be second nature to her as well." The instructor thought to himself. He was Dominic Calmer's disciple. In fact, combat instructors in this institution were all descended from Gideon's two direct disciples.
Atreus's disciples were overseers of relative peace all over the world. While Dom's disciples were instructors all around the globe.
The sparring went on and finally, it was Selene's turn. She was nervous and shy so she looked easy to fight. However, Selene had descended from a line of shinobi and very soon, her training and expertise showed themselves.
Her opponent was another girl from class. Older than her by a few years, she was naturally bigger. Selene's petite body couldn't compare.
However, to her advantage, her petite body granted her a smaller hitbox and faster reflex and movement.
After running around the opponent for a few minutes without being hit nor hitting back, Selene found an opening and capitalized on it. Thus, ended her boring fight. However, to the instructor, this was a highly strategic battle. There were quite a few phases to this assault.
Run around the opponent to confuse, exhaust, and create an opening before striking it. This strategy is quite primitive but in this situation where the goal is to simply defeat the opponent, not kill, it was enough.
After all, running around for a few minutes would also exhaust Selene greatly if she didn't have the capacity to do so. She wasn't even sweating after that. That was evidence enough to how her petite body shouldn't be judged by its appearance.
"Enough. Selene wins. It seems to me that two of your fellow students, albeit, smaller and younger, are already on par or even stronger than you guys. Since you're showing me some pathetic display, trainings will be intensified from now on!"
"Eh?" Almost all the students complained. However, even if they complained to the heavens, the government won't allow them to slack of at all.
"You two, Selene and Alice."
"Yes, sir?"
"Go to the registrar and get help regarding your individual specialty. You can go for combat, the sciences, or economics."
"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir." Alice answered for them both as she led Selene around, or maybe it was the other way around. Although Selene was fidgeting behind her, she was the one who gave directions to Alice like she knew the school's layout like the back of her hand.
"We're almost there, Alice."
"Hm? Okay. Where is it?"
"The one to the left, third door from here."
"Oh! I see it. Alright, let's go. By the way, Selene, which specialty are you going to join?"
"I was told to go for combat. My father said he's one of the alumni from the combat specialty. They teach a lot of combat techniques and methods of war, so I'll go there."
"Really? You're such a cute girl but you're going to where those brute and muscle-headed people are?"
"I can't help it. Father said to bring home unsung glory. I don't really understand."
"Oh well. You'll figure it out. I'm going for the sciences. I have something to accomplish."
"Oh, good luck, Alice!"
"You too, Selene. We'll have different specialties but we'll stay friends, right?" Alice asked.
"Of course!"
Like this, both Alice and Selene went to the registrar and registered their specialties.