"I also want that room." Before Lucas could move, a sweet yet firm voice came from the yard's entrance.
"Hello guys, you have also brought someone to join the academy." Two people entered the yard. One was a man in his thirties, and a young girl about the same height as Lucas. Gideon was smiling at Dashiell and Elara. Either he had failed to recognise Lucas or completely ignored the siblings' existence.
"Hello, Lucas. She is his younger sister, Ivy. You rescued them from vampires one and half a year back." Elara introduced the siblings courteously.
"They are still living with you!" Gideon was shocked by this.
"Wait, hold on! What was his name again?" Gideon's eyes widened.
"I am Lucas; without you, we may have died with our parents," Lucas said.
"So you are Lucas, the youngest ever to join the academy… I am Sophia." the girl put her hand forward. Lucas shook her hand lightly and released it quickly.
"If they are fine, they can live in the same house," said Arthur.
All four of Gideon, Elara, Dashiell, and Arthur started looking at Lucas and Sophia.
"You won't mind me sharing some of your space," Sophia asked Lucas.
"It's…fine. I won't mind." Lucas said awkwardly.
"You know, you should address me as a sister. After all, I am two years older than you." Sophia said to Lucas, smiling. Lucas smiled awkwardly.
Gideon seemed uncomfortable with the idea of them living in the same house. But he agreed when Sophia insisted. From the exchange between Gideon and Sophia, they didn't seem to be father and daughter. However, since he had personally sent her to the academy, it was evident that she was related to someone important from the central city. All these conversations were making Ivy awkward. She didn't understand much of the conversations. What she understood was that Sophia was asking her brother to call her sister.
"My brother already has two sisters; he doesn't need one more." Ivy pushed Sophia and stood in front of Lucas. She was looking cuter than always when making that angry face. They all started laughing. Ivy gave a humph on this reaction of the public.
Sophia ignored Ivy and moved forward to see the house. Lucas also went with her to see his residence. The house was more spacious than Elara's and much better than Lucas's home in Riverton. It had enough space and facilities for them to live comfortably without invading each other's privacy. They had separate rooms and bathrooms, the rest of the things were common. They put their belongings in their rooms and left for a tour around the academy with Elara and Ivy. Gideon had something private to discuss with Dashiell. With Elara guiding them, Arthur wasn't needed. The academy was a large place. Elara showed them the Archery ground, Equestrian centre, weaponry, and sword arena. Sword Arena was a place where they could practice melee weapons. Sword Arena had weaponry of its own, where weapons were kept, and they could be used only within Sword Arena itself. Weaponry was where trainee hunters would get one essential melee weapon of their preference for outside training. As their name suggests, the equestrian centre and Archery ground are places for learning horse riding and target practice, respectively.
Apart from these and other training facilities, there was an infirmary. There was a wolf house, and Elara said it was only for those with a wolf bonded with them. This house provided help to them in training their wolves, and they also provided medical assistance for injured wolves. For now, this was not for Lucas; if Ivy had been selected, she would be the youngest to have bonded with a wolf, Luca.
Sophia was surprised when Elara mentioned Luca and Ivy. She hadn't bonded with any wolves until now, but a girl half her age had a wolf, which surprised her. Ivy told her about Luca in detail, feeling pride in her achievement.
Lucas bid farewell to Ivy and others when the sun almost touched the horizon. Sophia had accompanied him to the gates of the academy. Gideon had already left when she came back from looking around the academy. Elara, Dashiell and Ivy returned the same way they had come, on the cart. Lucas stood there until they vanished with the curve of the road. They arranged their room after coming back.
When they returned, Arthur told them that the cafeteria would provide their food for the first week and would be free. Once the training officially begins, they will be provided with a fixed amount of money, and with that money, they can manage their daily expenses. If they need anything more, they have to use their own money.
The currency was a copper coin; it had the official seal of the Hunters Council. These coins were only valid within Nameless City. Outside the city, the coins with the seals of the Kings of their kingdom were used. For any exchange that occurs across borders, it would involve gold. A kingdom can cast only a certain amount of copper coins in accordance with the value of their treasury held in gold. Let's not get too much into it.
They spent the next few days leisurely as the training would begin from the first of the month Bloodmoon. Lucas found that Sophia was a cheerful, caring, and easygoing girl. She was also good at fighting. In every fight they both had, Sophia always won. This doesn't mean Lucas was far behind her; Lucas also gave her a tough fight.
Almost half of the houses were occupied by seniors who had returned to the Academy after the Yearly hunt of two weeks. In the middle of the month, Embernight, all the students will form a group of four, a mentor will be allocated to them, and they will live in the wilderness for two weeks. These seniors give off a dangerous aura to the new students like Lucas and Sophia.
Arthur has distributed monthly coins to all the students of their hostel. It was the last day before their training was going to start. Sophia and Lucas were shopping for food and other ingredients to cook food. Most of the boys were older than both of them. The ones selling were also hunters. Their task was to buy the materials from the outer city and sell them in the academy for the exact rate. They were provided salary and compensation for travel expenses.
Lucas bumped into a group of boys, got imbalanced and let a few bags fall. The one who seemed to be their leader, a fair boy, could be considered among the taller group.
"Who are you, kid?" he asked, disdaining Lucas.
"What has it got to do with you?" replied Sophia, helping Lucas to pick up the fallen bags.
"Are you also freshmen?" she got his attention. Sophia may be young, but she was a beauty and a cutie. His eyes sparkled upon seeing her.
"Let's go, Lucas." Sophia wasn't interested in answering.
Upon their leader's signal, others blocked their path.
"It's my bad; I should introduce myself first. Hello, I am Ross. I am a freshman. May I know your name?" Their leader said with a wide grin.
"Did I ask you?... You should move aside and let us go." Sophia was losing her patience upon repeated interruptions.
"You shouldn't be so impolite with us; we have more numbers." Ross's face turned ugly. He couldn't keep smiling at Sophia's rudeness.
"You know fighting isn't allowed in the Academy, except for open challenges and other events." Lucas pulled Sophia, who was ready to Hit. Lucas didn't want to fight them here.
"You are gonna leave with this coward hiding behind you and rules." Ross mocked Lucas's unwillingness to fight. Lucas wasn't even twelve. He didn't know why Ross was being so forceful. He understood the boys' attraction towards girls, but Ross was being too much.
"You want to my name?" Sophia asked.
"Yeah," Ross blurted immediately.
"Then defeat him in an open challenge without weapons, and I will tell you my name." Sophia pointed at Lucas and mocked politely.
"Him? So when should I challenge him?" Ross was surprised by Sophia's response. According to him, Lucas was too easy.
"Let's make it after one week; that would be on the seventh of the month, Bloodmoon," Sophia affirmed with a date. Lucas was watching from the sidelines as the date for his duel was sealed. No one even bothered to ask him.
"Okay, it's done," Ross said and left with his gang.
"When did I agree to the duel?" Lucas asked Sophia in a low voice.
"Let's go since it can't be changed now. Just fight if you lose; I will tell him my name. There's nothing to lose." Sophia replied to Lucas with a gentle smile. She didn't wait for Lucas's response before leaving for their hostel.
Lucas didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He had received an open challenge even before training started. He followed behind Sophia, carrying bags of food ingredients.