I continued to read my tome after I put Darius back to sleep. I tried some defensive spells I found, and decided to study more on elemental manipulation, for when I encounter the senior in the baths once again.
It was already getting light outside when I finally closed my tome and replaced it inside my desk drawer. I gave a big yawn and decided to lie down for a couple of minutes or so before the clock chimed seven.
"Rise and shine, Patrick! Time to wake up!"
I was shaken awake by a beaming Cat.
"My goodness!" Arman called from behind him. "What is it with you and sleeping?!" he asked. "How could the circles around your eyes get deeper and darker whenever you wake up?!"
"Ah, I was just reading something last night," I said with a smile as I stretched my arms behind me.
"And now you've wasted all my effort in getting rid of your baggy eyes!" he frowned. "Come here and let me apply some cold cream to rid some of the swelling!"
"You guys think we should wake Darius up?" asked Cat while Arman fussed over me.
"Nah, let him sleep some more, he definitely deserves it," said Elliot who's already in his training uniform which consists of a gray, long sleeved button-up shirt, loose pants of the same shade, and a pair of ankle height boots.
"He will wake up once he gets enough rest," I told them.
"Right, let's just leave a note on his desk," said Arman.
"And some food too, of course!" Elliot added.
He took a pen and a sheet of paper from his drawer. He also included a small map of the dorm while Cat drew four caricatures of us at the bottom of the page.
We went straight to the dining hall and took our breakfast, asking Aunt May for some extra for Elliot to put in his platters. We left for our first class after that, which consists of drill exercises with Grand Knight Alcides.
We were told to gather in an open field next to the first year school building where we found the Grand Knight standing in front of a small platform.
"Yesterday, our class was suspended because of a disturbance from some of our students," he said as soon as we arranged ourselves into rows.
"There were new rules added in the Royal Mauve Academy handbook. Unfortunately, some seniors went against these rules."
I can't deny that I felt kind of proud as we listened to his news.
"Unknowingly," he suddenly added.
I stared intently at the grand knight in front of us.
"Thus, we, the instructors, have decided to give the perpetrators a warning for now."
Elliot looked stunned in front of me. I saw his hands ball into fists.
"But they took me against my will from the dorms!" I heard Arman speak up from behind me. "They broke the door to our room and dragged me out unconscious!"
"You refused to open the door when they first asked, and even fought with your seniors," Grand Knight Alcides glared at him. "Denying a senior entry means you are hiding something illegal in your room, and fighting with a senior deserves ten lashes in public. You should be glad that your benevolent seniors decided not to give you a penalty."
"But they–"
"They also said that the scar on your face was your own doing," Grand Knight Alcides added, cutting Arman short. "Did you do that to get them into more trouble?"
"Grand Knight Alcides, Arman got a broken arm from the seniors mishandling him!" Elliot said, unable to hold his anger. "They knew well that he was a ward under my protection since they were acquainted with seniors William and Turin."
"And that's why they were given a warning!" Grand Knight Alcides insisted, his eyes bulging. "Weren't you listening, fat boy?"
Elliot decided to keep his mouth shut, while the rest of the class began to murmur.
"So, it was worthless to fight after all?" they asked each other.
"What's the use when the seniors are vassals of the first crown prince!"
"Even the second crown prince, André, couldn't get them punished!"
"That's alright."
I turned to my left as I heard someone speak up.
"Now that they had their warning, there would be no more second chances."
It was Andreas, our bravest classmate.
"Am I right to think so, Grand Knight Alcides?" he asked our instructor who glared at him with undisguised contempt.
"Yes. They would certainly be punished next time," the Grand Knight said. "If – they are caught red handed."
That 'if' got me a bit worried, though, and it seems like I wasn't the only one thinking so, as the more murmuring rose in the class.
"That means they will be more careful with their actions," Andreas reassured us. "We simply need to challenge them properly next time to free the rest of our classmates."
"That's right! And we can nail them as soon as they try something fishy once again!" said Cat, trying to cheer Elliot up.
"That's right!" the others echoed, as they were given hope once again.
"When can we challenge them next! I'm pretty confident with my sword skills!" said Kanda.
"And I, with my wit, though I doubt I could hold a candle to our Patrick, here," Andreas smiled at me.
"I should say the same thing to you," I replied, returning his smile.
"Silence."
The class stood in attention at Grand Knight Alcides' command.
"May I just remind you, that younger students must always show due respect to their seniors," he told us once more. "Particularly neophytes who are at the bottom of the hierarchy! And be informed that a challenge could only be officiated by a member of the faculty, and not a fellow student, may he be a senior or otherwise!"
"There wasn't a rule specifying that in the Academy handbook, Grand Knight Alcides," I spoke up after raising my hand.
"You probably missed it," he glared at me.
"Can you tell me the page or the section where it–"
"The rules shall be fixed accordingly!" he snapped at me, his face turning red. "Now, do 10 lapses around the quadrangle before we start with our training!"
And that was the end of our discussion.
The whole class groaned as the first row started to run, followed by the second. We were in the 4th row, and as we were waiting our turn, I heard some classmates make snide remarks around us.
"That's what you get for going against the seniors."
"They'll get the whole class in trouble for this!"
"Just because they're a bit good at fighting, they think they can do anything they want. We're always the ones who get fucked up in the end."
I heard Arman take a deep breath.
I turned around and touched his arm to stop him from arguing with them.
"Our turn's coming," I told a frowning Arman.
He looked at me, his face red in anger, his perfect brows in a knit.
"Hmph. I wouldn't bother with those losers, anyway!" he said in a loud voice.
It took the class about 30 minutes to finish the ten lapses. Particularly, since they had to wait for me and a couple of other students to finish. We had several more physical exams after that, to gauge our strength and endurance. It was no surprise that I got two out of ten points, which was the lowest in class. Arman got a six even with one arm in a cast, while Elliot got an 8 since he had a bit of difficulty reaching his toes, and Cat got a perfect ten. He was still jumping for joy when Grand Knight Alcides called our attention.
"All those who scored 8 to 10, make a line to my right, those with 5 to 7, to my left, and those 4 and below, to the front."
There were only 12 students at the Grand Knight's right side, this included, Elliot, Cat, Andreas, Gerald, Kanda and Roo. To his left was the majority of the class, while there were 5 of us in the middle, for a total of 57 students since Hank was still missing and Darius was still in hiding.
I looked closer at the people with me. Two of them were wearing glasses, the other two looked frail and sickly, like myself.
"To the right will be Alpha brigade, to the left, the Beta brigade, and you in front," Grand Knight Alcides looked down at us. "You shall be Charlie brigade," he said with distaste before facing to the right once more.
"The Alpha brigade shall be given advanced training as part of the future king's guards or as holy knights of the empire. Some of you will become captains or even grand knights like myself," he said proudly. "And you, Beta brigade," he continued, facing his left, "shall be given basic training to be future infantry or cavalry men."
He now faced us, the look of disdain in his eyes.
"You, on the other hand, can help your other classmates to reach their peak potential," he said with not much interest. "Those who wish to join the academy's medical corps may also do so."
"What does that mean, 'help your other classmates'?" the person beside me asked in a whisper.
"It means we get to clean after them," answered the one next to him.
"Then I much rather be in the medical corps instead," the first speaker said.
I found myself agreeing with him.
"I wish. If only I was smart enough to be a medic..." said a third voice. "They say the second prince has taken charge of the medical corps and that it's real hard to join it now."
'Well, I do think I'm smart enough,' I though to myself.
I thought of the bulky medics that accompanied Prince André yesterday, and looked at my bony hands.
I just hope he isn't too choosy about physical appearance.
"Pat! It's time to go!" Cat called to me.
I didn't notice that Grand Knight Alcides had already dismissed us.
"We need to hurry and get changed before our next class begins," said Arman, raising his hand to his forehead dramatically. "Ugh, I'm getting dizzy with the stench of all these sweaty men around me!"
"We've only got ten minutes before the clock chimes for the next class," said Elliot as we took our bags and headed for the changing quarters located near the open field.
There were shower stalls in the quarters, but all of them were already occupied when we came in. I decided to just change my clothes, when Arman stopped me.
"Oh, no you don't!" he snapped at me. "You look like you just took a dip in a pool of your own sweat! Take a quick shower before you change!"
"That's right, Pat," Cat piped in, "I thought you were never going to finish those 10 lapses! I was afraid you were just going to drop dead!"
"No one's gonna drop dead!" Elliot said, laughing. "But you seriously need to improve your stamina."
"I guess you're right," I agreed with an awkward smile. "I, myself, was surprised to see that I was at the bottom of the list."
"That's right! The rest of the guys in the Charlie brigade scored a four! I had no idea you would only get 2 points!" Cat said with disbelief.
"Well, everything can improve with a little training," Elliot said positively.
"Hey guys! There are two free stalls over here!" Arman called to us.
The four of us shared the two stalls amongst ourselves, and soon we were dressed in our formal uniforms and heading to Prof. Novil's class.
The rest of the morning went by peacefully.
By lunch time, we asked Aunt May for some food and made our way back to our room. Darius opened the door when we knocked and we were glad to see that he was looking much better than the previous day.
"We brought you some lunch," Elliot told him as he pulled out one platter after another.
"It's beef stew and pasta and fresh bread and pastries!" Cat told him excitedly. "You're okay to eat real food now, right?"
"Yes, thank you..." Darius told us with a slight bow. "I am indebted to you all. I feel so much better now."
"Good, you're coming with us to the baths later!" Arman said with a frown, with no room for Darius to complain.
"We're going back to class after this," I told him. "We're still thinking of ways to help you get back to class, but would you like to do that? Or do you prefer to stay in this room?"
"Do you perhaps have plans of your own?" added Elliot.
"I have also been thinking..." Darius replied with a frown. "I would like to try and challenge Nigellus to regain my freedom, but I would need to get some more rest to be able to fight to the fullest." Darius looked at his injured right leg as he said this.
"Yes, of course, there's no rush, anyway," said Elliot. "We can keep bringing you food this way and you can easily sneak to the toilets next door if you need to."
"And you can study with us as well!" Cat added with a smile. "Pat's been helping us study, he's a really good tutor!"
"We can all have a study group so you can catch up with the rest of the class," Arman said with a nod.
"All we need to worry about are the seniors barging inside the room for some inspection."
"Can they do that?" Darius asked, wide-eyed.
"They did in my room," Arman said with a frown. "though I expect they learned their lesson after they almost lost their mentor privileges."
"I do hope so as well," said I. "I could always place an inconspicuous spell on you, just in case."
"Now, to keep them out of our tracks," said Elliot, "I was thinking that we could spread rumors about a student in the woods robbing students of their food."
"Good idea!" Arman exclaimed. "We can tell them he looks like Darius!"
"That would be a good excuse for when I show up," Darius said thoughtfully. "After all, I wouldn't want you guys to get in trouble for taking me in..."
"We have some kind of plan, then!" Elliot grinned at us. "All we need to do now is to wait for you to get better. In the mean time, I'll take care of your nutrients for you!"
"I'll help you exercise to keep your body fit!" volunteered Cat.
"You really need to take a bath," mumbled Arman.
"We'll keep you hidden no matter what," I assured him.
We went back to classes after having lunch with Darius.
Come 5 pm, as our last class finished, Elliot and the rest went to the dining hall to bring back an early dinner for Darius, while I went to the library to continue my reading.