"Anyways, those are all the places you need to know in the academy." My sister finished her tour of the royal academy.
I had quite a bit of dirt on my clothes from her attempting to beat me up, but once I utilised my mana to strengthen myself, it was hurting her fist almost as much as it was me.
We had already gone through the procedures to get me a room in the academy's off campus dorms which were about the size of a small apartment. Evidently the academy expected its students to bring along an attendant or two as there was an extra room enough to act as a living quarters for one or two people.
I also found out it was the norm and almost expectation to have an attendant of the same age and gender. Luna was only 5 months younger than me but she definitely wasn't the same gender. My sister made sure to stress what she would do should I try anything funny with Luna. In the end I could only really answer, "You think I can be bothered with something so tiresome."
After listening to my elder sister rant throughout the tour, I learned a lot of random things I probably wouldn't care about now or if ever. For example, apparently the land prices near the academy were so high that even viscounts weren't able to afford anywhere and were forced to find somewhere far away or rent an apartment nearby.
There were also commoner merchants or just rich commoners who used money or connections to get their children into the academy. This broadened my view a bit since I thought only talented commoners discovered by the state would be able to attend, but I guessed money and connections were more powerful than expected.
Now that the tour was over I was happy to go back to sleep until the first day of classes began. "I see. Well then I'll see you tomorrow." I said, ready to go to the academy's dorms which were a few blocks away and connected by Tram.
"You think you can leave just like that?" My sister asked as I turned away.
"Heh. If you think dragging me to the academy's training grounds will make me spar you. You are mistaken." I smirked and told her.
"It's been three years and I'm a rank-2 knight now. Do you think you can escape?" My sister asked.
I smirked.
"Luna." I called.
"Yes?" Responded, having silently followed as my sister ranted on during the tour.
"I'll meet you in the dormitories later." I said. My sister must have understood my intentions since she immediately tried to grab me, clearly far faster than 3 years ago.
However, even if she was a rank-2 knight now, her stats when enhanced with mana were probably only in the hundreds. Meanwhile, adding in my mana enhancement, my stats were increased by up to 8 times plus an additional 32 points, bringing my stats all to over 300. It was terrifying how much increasing my base stats caused my stats when enhanced with mana were. However it made it yet even more terrifying to think even with that level of physical capabilities I couldn't escape my mother when she didn't even use mana for physical enhancement.
With the additional use of my acceleration skill, I evaded my sister and darted away, causing some slight depressions in the ground where I had used pure physical strength to push off.
"Dammit! Get back here!" My sister yelled as I shot around various corners and obstructions in the academy before darting out of the front gates and disappearing into the city.
"Get… back… Here." Alex was forced to give up chasing her brother not too far from the academy as she completely ran out of breath after pushing herself using her mana enhancement to the limits.
…
The day of my first school day, I was woken by Luna.
"Oh my god… What time is it…" I asked, feeling I had only slept an hour or two.
"It's eight-thirty. You're to attend an assembly for the academy's students at 10." Luna answered, placing the black and gold school uniform on my bed beside me. "Get dressed, I've already prepared your breakfast on the bench." She continued, listing the classes I had after and where they were.
"I don't need food… I need SLEEP." I complained, already foreseeing how many fewer hours of sleep I would be getting. Fortunately, only the first three years of the academy were mandatory, so I would be done when I turned 19.
After eating and getting ready, I walked out of the dormitories around the same time as many other students. Only a small portion of the students had attendants following them and they were all the same gender, I got a few looks as we passed each other, but nothing else.
With 50 minutes to get to the academy auditorium and only a few blocks separating the school from the off campus dorm I had been assigned, me and Luna walked together to the academy's gates where we parted ways. Now that the academy had begun its semester, who could enter its gates was being restricted, even attendants couldn't enter.
…
Entering the academy's auditorium with a crowd of other students, I ended up following the other first years and taking a random seat near the front, against the left wall of the massive rectangular hall with a tall ceiling with silver chandeliers. Seats were built against three walls, leaving space for the entrance while the other side had a stage filling up with people I assumed were the academy's teachers.
The centre of the hall also had a small depression and was made of a shiny grey rock rather than wood, likely an arena. Yet for some reason I had a foreboding feeling looking at the arena in the middle of the auditorium. It wasn't a small arena since the building was massive and the amount of seats only covered the outer areas.
Soon enough, the building was filled up with all the students attending this year.
An old man with a white beard so long it almost reached the ground, dressed in black and gold robes and wearing a pair of golden glasses appeared out of nowhere and stepped up to the podium at the front of the hall's stage.
With a tap of the old man's finger, the room seemed to reverberate and suppress all sound as the chandeliers light dimmed except for the one closest to the podium which burned even brighter.