The teacher introduced himself without any further ado after he saw that everyone was quiet and seated.
"My name is Julian Roth. I am your teacher and will be in charge of your group for this year.
For those of you who already have your siblings at the Academy of Stars, you may already be familiar with how things will work. However, for those who are not yet aware of our activities, I will say this before we begin the class.
I will be teaching you some basic subjects. Among them is the history of Polaris Realm, specifically that of our state, Seidel Kingdom. We will also study our language, Telean, and last but not least, economics."
In this society, there wasn't much of a need for 5-year-olds to learn more than that.
In economics, they would learn the basics of the mathematics developed in this world, about the histories of currencies and trade.
In the study of the Telean language, they would become proficient in their native language, one of many in Polaris Realm.
Later in their journey in education, they would continue to learn other languages. Yet, first, they had to develop their language skills in Telean as much as possible during their first year at the academy.
Additionally, because of magical talents in this world, learning new languages became easier after people reached their 14th birthday and underwent the Awakening. Thus, learning additional languages was best left for that time besides the essential ones.
As for Telean, it was not a particularly difficult language, although it was composed of symbols rather than letters, similar to some of the oriental languages on Earth.
Finally, in history class, these youngsters would learn not only about the past of their kingdom and continent, but they would also be introduced to a bit of magic!
Since teaching magic wasn't the main focus of this academy, they would merely lecture to cover some basics to give the students an understanding of their possibilities.
Julian quickly explained it to his students, always speaking everything he had to say in the same tone while looking at them seriously.
In the middle of this presentation, Ian leaned over to Rory and Vice, expressing concern, "We were unlucky... Professor Julian is known to be one of the most demanding teachers. I heard that he is very strict in his classes."
"Is that so?" Rory asked, visibly worried.
Vice, who had already heard of Professor Julian from his sister, knew this and nodded. "We better not talk too much now, or we might end up being the first examples he'll use..."
Professor Julian continued his presentation. "Finally, you will be taught self-defense and the warrior's path. However, I will not be the one instructing you on this. That responsibility will be on Professor Lane.
You will meet him later, so remember this information for now." He said before walking across the classroom, his arms behind his back.
As he moved among the students' desks, he observed intently at some of these young people, noting who was talking or paying attention to his words.
Whenever he came across students who were engaged in conversation, he would merely pause next to such students, making them stop talking any further.
After he finished introducing himself, Professor Julian climbed upon the small platform at the front of the class. There, he performed a few hand seals, causing the blackboard in front of those children to transform.
Witnessing that, even those who had been talking stopped what they were doing to pay attention. They were fully captivated by the teacher, who had already started the lesson using magic.
"Let's begin with the most important subject. Magic!" He declared as the blackboard illuminated, displaying various pictures and words in a manner that engaged the attention of every student in the room.
"As some of you may already know, magic involves the refinement and application of magical power.
However, it doesn't manifest from absolute nothing; it depends on several crucial elements.
The elements include:
1. Mana, which is related to your genetic heritage.
2. The Magic Gem, related to your Awakening." He explained, pointing at the green triangular stone in the center of his forehead before continuing.
"3. Magic attributes, which determine the types of spells that we are compatible with.
4. The variables, which are related to luck and perseverance."
After those words, a table depicting two stages and their respective sub-levels appeared on the blackboard.
"Apprentice and Acolyte are the primary stages most Polaris Realm beings are at. They will probably be the limit for almost all, if not all of you, so we won't delve into what lies beyond them.
However, I want you to know that there are more stages for a magician to pursue, enabling them to become even stronger." He said, his tone carrying a sense of reverence. Even he, who had a formidable talent according to the standards of the village, was limited by these two initial stages of the magical journey.
The students listened to him attentively, their eyes fixed on the graph that was presented before them.
Vice learned about the beginning ranks of the magicians in this world, which began with the Apprentice stage and had three sub-levels.
They were Junior, Intermediate, and Senior.
The 2nd stage, Acolyte, encompassed five sub-levels, spanning from the 1st to the 5th Triangle.
What were these triangles? He didn't know.
"... In the 2nd magic stage, the sub-levels have these not-so-conventional names, but they aptly describe what happens in each of the phases. Consequently, even today, those names remain in use.
However, as you travel throughout the kingdom or even Polaris Realm, you might come across people designating these sub-levels differently.
You will often hear people call an Acolyte with the 1st Triangle formed a 1st level Acolyte or even a level 1 Acolyte. So, don't be surprised by these variations in the ways of speaking..." the professor explained.
Meanwhile, the class continued for a while as the young students paid attention.
Eventually, the professor concluded his discussion about magic after having imparted to these young students the basics of magical ranks.
There were many essential topics for him to teach them in their curriculum, such as the elements, how those elements would influence their spells, Awakening, Magic Gems, artifacts, professions, and more.
Nonetheless, they would delve into these subjects throughout their first year at the Academy of Stars and continue their studies until they were 10 years old.
Then, after a few minutes of talking about magic, the class followed with the beginning of the history class, which would take up much of their study time along with the Telean classes.
But these youngsters' routine involved studying from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m., followed by a lunch break and then physical practice, where they would learn combat skills and weapon handling.
Before 3 p.m., their school day would come to a conclusion, after which most of the students would return home to study, while some would accompany their parents to start learning their chosen professions.
This routine would be Vicente's life for the next few months until he reached his 6th birthday and entered a new school year that would begin a few weeks after his birthday.
Similar to that on Earth, there existed summer vacations in this world, a time when students would have the opportunity to spend more time with their families and friends. These breaks would provide great opportunities for children to play and build friendships beyond the academy's gates.
When his vacation began, Vice took advantage of the opportunity to further improve some of the relationships he had started within the academy.
During the school year, the three had little chance to develop their friendships. Still, during the vacations, he would make the most of it to develop his first close bonds in the Martell Village and the first to become his friends were Rory and Ian.
However, he also ended his first year of studies and vacations with some classmates whom he had not had good relationships with.
On the eve of the beginning of his second year at the Academy of Stars, Vice received a piece of news: his second sister was born!