We made it onto the campus, a sea of Valkyrias walking onto the campus as we did, most of them in their groups of four with either their friends or teammates. I glanced around for a moment, feeling the first day jitters running through my veins as I knew I had a good first impression to make.
As we walked to the main academy building, we noticed Orishi standing up ahead talking with another woman in front of a fountain. Yumeji and Kikyo seemed to immediately recognize the woman Orishi was speaking to.
The woman exuded a quiet grace and elegance with an air of strength and formality. She had long, cool-toned blue hair, styled in a practical yet stylish manner, with a side ponytail and some loose strands. She wore red, rectangular glasses, giving her a sharp and intellectual look, which complemented her serious expression.
She was dressed in a formal, high-collared blue and white uniform with intricate details, including silver trimmings and symbols, showing she was a high ranking Valkyria within the academy. The outfit was fitted with a belt and pouches, indicating practicality and readiness.
"Big Sis!~ Liao Ru!" Yumeji called out to them, waving happily at them.
Orishi and Liao Ru turned toward the sound of Yumeji's voice, a smile stretching on Orishi's face as she noticed us approaching. She stepped forward, crossing her arms and chuckled softly at us.
"Well, good morning you three!~ I hope you three slept well!" Orishi greeted, her gaze shifting onto mine.
I narrowed my gaze slightly and cleared my throat lightly. "I did sleep well thank you..."
Liao Ru stepped forward, her arms folded behind her back. "So this is the new recruit? She does seem to have powerful Spirit Energy, but...it isn't refined nor controlled. Have you taken her to get registered?"
"Not yet. I'm was planning to get her registered today, but first..." Orishi began then summoned a katana, tossing it toward me.
I caught the sword, looking at it and noticed it was a Muramasa. I glanced back at Orishi, tilting my head. "What's this for?"
Orishi summoned her greatsword, sticking it into the ground with a smirk. "Your initiation. Since I've seen you fight yesterday, I feel like your initiation should be a bit more personal than a simple written exam. If you can beat me in a duel, I'll have you registered as a B Rank off the gate."
"What?! No fair! You ever did this for me, Big Sis!" Yumeji exclaimed, puffing her cheeks at Orishi.
Orishi chuckled softly, placing a hand on her hip. "Well that was because I've never seen any of you fight before so I couldn't make it as personal, plus your sister put in a good word for me. That's the whole reason why you started as a D+ Rank."
"Wait, you want me to duel against you? But..." I began then looked at the katana in my hand.
"It's alright, Hisumi. It's not like we're fighting to the death. I just want to see where you stand. Your fight against Kioshi was much impressive, but it's gonna take more than that to be a high level Valkyria," Orishi said, taking her sword out the ground then got into her stance.
"Now c'mon, show me what you've got~" Orishi said, readying herself for a battle against me.
I let out a soft grunt, my gaze meeting Orishi's for a moment then got into my stance. Yumeji, Kikyo, and Liao Ru gave us some space to have our battle, Yumeji and Kikyo cheering for me to do my best against Orishi.
I dashed toward Orishi, leaping forward and slashing down at her, but she swiftly blocked my attack then pushed me away. I landed on my feet and stumbled backwards, readying my sword once again. I took a deep breath then exhaled, calming my nerves then dashed forward again, launching swift slashes at her while moving around swiftly.
Orishi blocked each of my attacks, not moving an inch from her spot. She perfectly guarded against one of my attacks, causing me to recoil backwards then she launched a swift counter slash at me. Without hesitation, I managed to block her attack, but the force of her slash knocked me away and caused my weapon yo fly out of my hand.
I hit the ground with a heavy grunt, sitting up on my elbows and gasped as I noticed Orishi pointing her sword at me. 'I didn't even last a full five minutes against her...'
"Good effort, but clearly there's a lot you can work on. Don't feel discouraged though, I am a Professor at the end of the day and no one has been able to defeat me the first go around. Ask Yumeji, she's on her 10th attempt," Orishi chuckled softly, making her greatsword disappear.
Yumeji scoffed lightly, crossing her arms as she stared at Orishi. "Not funny, Professor! You constantly use your Time Dilation! If you never use it those battles would play out very different!"
"I'm sure it wouldn't make that much of a difference. She had beaten you before without Time Dilation. Eight of the ten times to be exact," Kikyo said, glancing at Yumeji with a soft giggle.
Yumeji lowered her head in defeat, letting out an exasperated sigh. "Who's side are you even on, Ki?"
Orishi chuckled at the two then turned on her heels to head toward the academy building. "Alright, let's get going~ We've still got to get Hisumi registered and get my class started."
Yumeji walked toward me and gently held her hand out for me to grab. I took her hand, standing up on my feet with her help then watched as she and the others made their way to the academy building. I followed quickly behind, not wanting to be left behind.
Making our way inside the academy, Liao Ru led the girls to the class while Orishi took me to the registration area to get be registered as a D Rank Valkyria. Since I was new, I had to go through a very long process of getting scanned and registered.
As I was being scanned, I noticed a digital screen appear in front of me, showing me information of my attributes.
{Acquiring Attributes...}
{Attributes Acquired!}
Name: Hisumi Nomura
Age: 19
Rank: D
Power Level: 1,350
Valk Type: Speedster
Elemental Affinity: Lightning
Preferred Weapon: Katana
DMG: 1,340
Burst DMG: 1,995
Survivability: 2,100
Support: 815
Spirit Control: 500
"Alright, Registration is complete. You can step off the platform now," The receptionist said, writing down all of my basic information.
I stepped off the scanner platform, blinking a few times to readjust my eyes from the lights that flashed around my body. I walked over to Orishi and stood beside her at the front desk.
"And here you go. Your Valkyria Badge and ID, your ValkPhone, and finally your schedule. I hope you enjoy your time here at St. Fraskia Academy!" The receptionist said, giving me a welcoming smile.
I took my items and gave the receptionist a bow before leaving the office with Orishi. We walked down the halls together, Orishi showing me the wing and floor of my class. Each Wing was separated by Rank from D Rank all the way to EX-S Rank and there were a total of three floors within the academy.
"Alright, your class is D-202 and your teacher is Alice Newton. She's actually one of the smartest teachers in the academy since she mainly focuses on academics. If you need anything, my class is B-301. I hope you enjoy your first day," Orishi said, walking off to head toward her classroom.
I watched as she walked off for a moment then turned my attention to the classroom door ahead, taking a deep breath and exhaling softly. "Alright...here we go..."
I walked toward the classroom door and knocked on the door, waiting for an answer and took a step back. Soon, the door opened, revealing a beautiful woman standing in front of me, her gaze meeting mine with warmth.
The woman before me had long blonde hair cascading down her shoulders in soft waves, light blue eyes that shimmered like the ocean when the sunlight hit against it, and wore red hair accessories on her hair, giving her a cute yet professional vibe.
"Ahh, what can I do for you?" She asked, smiling sweetly at me and crossed her arms.
I cleared my throat gently, standing up straight with good posture with my hands at my sides. "Uhm, my name is Hisumi Nomura! I'm a new Valkyria and student of your class!"
"Ahh, yes. I was informed about your arrival. Alright, you may come inside. I was just beginning to start class. By the way, my name is Alice Newton, descendant of the world renowned Issac Newton," Alice said, holding her hand out to shake my hand.
"It's nice to meet you," I said respectfully, taking her hand for a polite handshake.
With that, I entered her class, feeling even more nervous now that I had a few eyes on me. I looked around the classroom and noticed that everyone in the class were pretty in their own right. I could see each of their curious gazes, their expressions trying to figure me out bit by bit.
"Alright class, today we have a new student joining us! Go ahead and introduce yourself," Alice said, smiling at me, holding her arms under her chest.
I nodded and looked at the class once again, taking a soft breath then exhaled. I bowed toward the class, giving them a formal greeting. "Hello, everyone! My name is Hisumi Nomura and it's nice be joining you all! I hope we can be friends!"
There were a few whispers amongst the students in the class, their whispers reaching my ears. I felt even more nervous, gulping lightly and stood up straight, glancing at Alice.
Alice clapped her hands together, getting everyone's undivided attention. "Alright, thank you for that introduction, Hisumi. If I could get you to sit beside Orika at her table. Orika, could you raise your hand?"
I scanned the class for Orika, noticing her hand being raised. I gazed at Orika, slightly admiring how beautiful she was. She had short, pink hair styled in a slightly messy, casual bob cut. Her yellowish-gold eyes were bright and soft, adding a sense of bashfulness.
I walked over to her table, taking my spot in the empty seat next to her. I set my phone on the surface of the table, getting situated in my seat. I could feel Orika's gaze on me, causing me to turn to look at her.
"O-Oh, I'm sorry..! I didn't realize that I was staring..." Orika squeaked, quickly turning her gaze away from me.
"No, it's fine. I didn't mind it that much," I said, giving her a reassuring smile.
Orika glanced at me shyly, a soft smile forming on her lips. "O-Okay...uhm, my name is Orika. Orika Chiba. It's nice to meet you..."
"Likewise," I replied, gently taking her hand for a handshake.
With that, the first bell rang for classes to start. Alice began to get herself situated at her desk then turned on her digital board, showing the agenda and the plans for the day. Once she got everything situated, she began to start her class and her lesson.
"Alright everyone, today we will be starting off very easy like we have been doing last week. We will be going over Spirit Energy and what it is, its properties, usages, and most importantly, how to control it," Alice began, clicking a button on her remote to go to the next slide of her PowerPoint.
The next slide showed a picture of a silhouette of three women with gray energy around their body. The first silhouette had small energy flowing off their person, the second had medium energy flow, and the third had large energy flow.
"Spirit Energy is a powerful, universal life force that flows through all living things which is harnessed by your very soul, and is mainly used by us Valkyrias as we are the most compatible with Spirit Energy," Alice instructed, glancing between us and the board.
"Spirit Energy has many usages ranging from basic strength feats to even healing and empowerment. There are five main usages of Spirit Energy: Essence of Life and Power, Elemental Affinities and Energy, Influence of Skills and Abilities, Measurements and Ranking, and lastly Spiritual and Physical Balance. Any questions so far?" Alice asked, glancing at us.
I rose my hand then Alice pointed at me. "So Spirit Energy is also your power level correct?"
"That's correct," Alice nodded.
"So...why do some people not possess Spirit Energy? Specifically some men and women?" I asked, looking my hand.
Alice smiled at my question, setting down her remote and held her arms under her chest. "That's a very good question. Why do some people not possess Spirit Energy? Well everyone has some form of Spirit Energy. Chakra, Chi, Aura, Mana, and many more sources are Spirit Energy."
"To answer your question, some people's energies are simply too weak to be sensed and the same goes for those who are too strong for your senses to keep track of. It's not that they don't have any, it's because they are either too weak or too strong," Alice continued, answering my question in full.
'Is that why I couldn't sense Liao Ru's energy? Was she too weak or too strong? Who is she anyway...?' I thought, sitting back in my seat and slowly stroked my chin as I thought, a force of habit from when I was a man.
Alice continued going over the basics of Spirit Energy, her voice drowning out as I got lost in my own thoughts thinking about either Judgement or Liao Ru. My eyes was focused on the board, but my mind was elsewhere.
Soon, Alice finished her first lesson of the day, the class getting free time to talk amongst themselves. I finally broke out of my trance as Alice turned off the digital board and sat down at her desk.
"Hisumi, can you come up to my desk for a moment?" Alice called to me.
I looked up at Alice, nodding my head then got up from my seat to walk to Alice's desk to see what she needed. Alice set down a piece of paper in front of me, a syllabus of her grading scale, what I needed for the class, and when Promotion Exams were being held.
"Alright, here's your syllabus of everything you need to know about my class. I hold my academic classes every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, we head to the Battle Area to the training grounds so I can teach you how to channel and control your Spirit Energy," Alice said.
I picked up the piece of paper and nodded, scanning through the information. "Okay, thank you for this."
Alice nodded, smiling at me sincerely. "You're welcome. Also, I'm having you exempt from the next test we have so you'll have time to catch up with everyone else."
"Thank you. I promise to not disappoint, Comman— I mean, Miss Newton," I said, blushing slightly from my slight slip up.
Alice chuckled softly at me, nodding her head at me. She heard the bell ring for the lunch period to start then stood up from her desk. "Alright, you go enjoy the rest of your day. Tomorrow's Thursday so we will meet at the Battle Area."
I nodded and walked to my desk, gathering my items and making my way out of the classroom with the others, a blush settled on my face. I couldn't believe that I was going to call Alice "Commander", but I just shook it off for now and focused on enjoying the rest of my day as I headed toward the cafeteria.