Chereads / Awakening: Prince of Pyrion / Chapter 11 - Brief Encounter.

Chapter 11 - Brief Encounter.

"What is a health potion?" asked one of the students.

"It is commonly known as 'Red Potion' but 'Health Potion' is the name that the Alchemists gave them," Instructor Raoul explained. Then he continued with his introduction to the Second job.

"Next, the Blacksmith. Blacksmith will learn about ores and minerals, and as you have already known, they will learn to forge weapons and armours. This particular job will have high demand for physical strength. 

As for Artisan, this job will enable you to create light armours and clothings. This is a favourite towards those who love designing clothes. In fact, the founder of BOSSKU, the most well known band in all of the South Continent, is an alumnus of Avalon Academy. As an Artisan, he creates not only fancy clothes and light armours, he also designed handbags, jackets, accessories and even 'plushies'. 

Cooks, being the last of the second job, did not fall behind in terms of success. If you choose to be a Cook, you will learn more about Spirit Beasts, especially their nutrients. Compared to regular animals, some Spirit Beast's meat is very nutritious and one can have various boosts from consuming them. For example, eating well prepared Shell Crabs can increase the harmonization between you and the Mana thus making it easier for you to meditate. Another example would be, eating an Earth Bull's meat would give you enough energy for three days. It is men's favourite for... uhum, special occasions."

"Instructor, what special occasion?" asked Luna innocently.

"If I have to say one, it would be a wedding. Cough... let's move on," said Instructor Raoul.

 Luna sat back silently with red cheeks while the boys were grinning, holding their laugh. 

"Like I said, it is only an elective. So, those who are interested can go after class ends. Next, in five months, there will be a tournament. Think of it as an optional Mid Semester exam, a way for us to see your progress. The tournament will be in two categories, one for the classes, and the other is open group battle. All of the students, from first year to the fifth year, will battle each other in their own respective year, in order to get selected as one of the Knights of the Round Table."

"It means that not only we of the third class will have to battle each other, but we will also face the students from other first year classes too? And the strongest will be crowned as the Knights of the Round Table?" asked Johan.

"There will be a total of six stages. One person will be picked randomly as Stage Master. That person will get on the stage and everyone will be free to challenge him. Those who lose will be eliminated and the winner will replace the loser as Stage Master. You may or may not meet your fellow classmates but only the Stage Master will be qualified into the finals. 

Like I said, the tournament is optional, to enter or not, it is your choice. However, those who perform well will get rewards and benefits that are rare to come by. After the Knights of the Round Table has been selected, the open group tournament will be held. This tournament allows you to select your own group or party, up to the fifth year," explained Instructor Raoul. 

After telling them what they should expect and what is to be expected from them, he ends the class. The students went their own ways, some have started to group together, some prefer solitary and some focused on gathering more information to prepare for the next five years.

"What are you going to do?" Ibnor asked Edison.

"I'm thinking of getting a job or doing some missions after the elective class. We might be fine for now but starting next year, we can't even stay if we don't have enough AP. Better prepare for it. What about you?" Edison answered.

"I'm going to elective class too. After that, we'll see how it goes. Which Second Job did you decide on?"

"I'm taking Artisan. You?"

"I'm taking Alchemist. It's easier for me since there are recipes."

"Alright. It's best we go now."

The two split ways and head to their respective elective classes. In a way, when Ibnor told Edison it is easier for him to take Alchemist as a Second Job is true, since he was also an Alchemist in the previous timeline. It should be no problem for him to create basic potions since he still remembers the recipe. 

Currently, potions are an expensive consumable for two reasons, not many would choose Alchemist as their Second Job, making the supply scarce and the second reason is that it has not been integrated into the military list of supply. 

In the previous timeline, it was his suggestion that in each squad of the army there must be at least an Alchemist to act as an emergency healer in the battlefield. Given that he has enough time this time around, he intends to show the importance of Alchemist and how it can be used in battle, thus his decision of being an alchemist.

As he was walking to the Alchemist class, a pleasant scent wafted through his nose. The scent was familiar and his heart started to beat like a drum.

"Aina..."

Following the scent, he looked around and finally, his eyes caught upon a girl. The girl's face can be considered as average but it gives a serene feeling when you look at it. Her conduct is naturally graceful and when combined with her serene aura, it made her give off a feeling that she is beyond everyone's reach making even the most rowdy person would still be polite towards her. The girl is Aina. 

When he looked at her, it was as if time had slowed down and even though she was walking with her friends, in his vision he could only see her alone. The way she tucked her hair behind one of her ears, the way she smiled, the way she walked and even the way she nodded to her friends mesmerised him.

Like a statue, he just stood there, in the middle of the crowd, stunned. His brain stops thinking for a while and all he can focus on is the girl. With the crowds drawn out, everything else disappeared, leaving only him and her and his mind rotating backwards, as if rewinding his previous timeline, playing all of his memories with her. 

"I'm glad you decided to join us," said Aisha. "It's been a while since we've hung out together."

"Yeah, all you do is train everyday. Taking time off once in a while won't affect your training," said Anise. 

Aina only smiled while tucking her hair behind her ear. She didn't say anything because she knows that their circumstances are different. She comes from a warrior clan, the Takahashi of Pyrion. They pride themselves as warriors and they have always been producing Generals in every generation. It is not mandatory, but it is something that they take pride in and everyone in the clan shares the sentiment. 

The young generations of the Takahashi Clan have been training since they were little, including her. To her, training is like a habit. While other teenagers might complain about harsh training, she doesn't feel burdened by it. Every person does different things as a getaway such as singing, fishing, hunting, reading and for her, training is her getaway. Training is the time where she feels like she is in her own world, away from responsibilities, expectations and distractions. Perfecting her technique or learning something new gives her a sense of accomplishment.

However, she has not been able to focus on training ever since last night. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't concentrate. She thought it was probably her mental fatigue so she decided to take a day off and went along with her friends. As she was walking, she felt a gaze on her, a gaze that gives her a kind of sensation. 

Usually, when other people look at her, their gaze is filled with admiration, awe and sometimes fear but this gaze is unlike any other. It was a burning gaze but it didn't contain any malice in it so instinctively, she looked back.

She saw a guy, looking at her but at the same time looking through her. He is obviously watching her but his mind is somewhere else. He just stands there like an idiot. After a while, clarity returned to his eyes and he blinked a few times. He closed his eyes briefly and looked at her again, this time with a smile. Unlike other people who smile upon meeting each other out of courtesy, his smile contained joy in it and this puzzled her.

"An odd person..." she thought.

Unwilling to be rude, she smiled back with a slight nod and turned to her friend before walking away with them.

Walking away, she can still feel his gaze and although puzzled with what just happened, she suddenly felt at ease. It was like her mental fatigue disappeared completely. Not giving much thought about it, she decided to spend the day with her friends before going back to train.

Snapping out of his trace, Ibnor found his motivation to stop the incoming disaster stronger. Clenching his fist, he proceeded to the Alchemist Class. Along the way, he took his time to carefully observe the Academy. He looked around and saw countless high rise buildings, numerous training and recreational facilities, associations with their respective fields, and waves of people.

"An Academy? No, this is bigger than a campus university on Earth. This is more like a city!" he exclaimed in his heart. 

With his brother's introduction last night, he knows that Avalon Academy is big, but he didn't expect it to be this big. It is an independent city with its own economy. Realizing the fact made him stunned for a bit. 

However, after giving it further thought, he found that it is logical. Only with this scale can Avalon Academy stand out and fend off the invasion. With enough resources and power, it is not impossible for Avalon Academy to be a major powerhouse.

Soon, he reaches in front of a building. A sign over the entrance, embossed with golden words made it clear what kind of place the building is- Alchemy Wing. Stepping inside, he went to the receptions and registered himself for the Alchemist Class. After that, a guide shows up and brings him to the classroom.

Like any other class, the first session will be an introduction of the subject. As he listened to the introduction of Alchemy, which he was already aware of, his eyes naturally felt heavier as time went by. Unknowingly, he fell asleep. As he was about to fall deeper inside the dreamland, a tapping sound can be heard, pulling him back to reality. It turned out that the instructor was tapping on his table, with a frown.

"Yes? Can I help you?" With his focus scattered around, he blurted the sentence to the instructor. The instructor raised her brow, clearly not expecting the response.

"Even if the lesson is boring to you, you shouldn't sleep here," said the instructor.

"Oh, my apologies. Excuse me then," he replied absent-mindedly and walked out of the class. 

He thought that since today's lesson will only be the introduction class, he might as well go and spend his time doing something else. Little that he knows that his action triggered various responses from the people in the class. Some secretly give him a thumbs up for his daringness, some look down on him while others are perplexed. The instructor herself was left with her brows twitching. Looking at the student's record, she managed to get the data on him.

"Ibnor Ezad. First year student. I'll remember you," she muttered in her mind. 

She was meaning to tell him that during the class, the student should pay attention and sleeping in her class is unacceptable. She didn't expect him to be so bold and walk away.