Aerin is now standing in front of a big room, located to the right of the main building. Turns out, the building on the left is for the masters, and the building on the right is where the classes take place.
Aaron already went home, leaving his grandson all alone after giving him a leather bag with a notebook, a pencil, and his pair of daggers. Aerin was nervous. It would be his first time associating with many kids his age. He doesn't know what to do.
After hesitating for a while, he finally mustered the courage to knock on the door. He knew that there were people inside since he could faintly hear someone talking.
"Come in."
A voice inside said, prompting Aerin to open the door.
As the door slowly opened, making a creaking sound, the view inside slowly revealed itself to Aerin. There, he saw many students—well, not that many. They were all staring at him, curious as to who the new kid was. The kids' stares made Aerin very uncomfortable since he was not used to it.
"Come in."
The man, who seems to be the professor, urged him to go in. He hesitated, which made the professor impatient.
"What are you waiting for, kid? "
Aerin took a deep breath and took a step inside.
It was even more nerve-wracking for him once he got inside the room. All the kids are staring at him. Some are smiling, some are nonchalant, and there are also some who are smirking, as if planning something.
He walked forward, his head down, and stopped beside the professor.
"Tell us your name, your family, and your age."
The professor said.
"Uhh…"
"Something got your tongue, kid? Tell us quickly; we don't have all day."
The other kids are now getting a bit noisy, whispering to each other.
"Quiet."
The professor's voice, though not very loud, seemed as if it had strange power to it, making the kids settle down.
Aerin took a deep breath. He then raised his head and mustered the courage to introduce himself.
"I… I am Aerin of the uhh… of the Valewood family. I am… I am ten years old…"
He stuttered. He never expected that speaking in front of many people would be this hard.
"Valewood, huh. Okay, Aerin. You can sit there, next to that girl there."
The professor pointed at a seat in the third row, next to a girl. That was the only seat available, and judging from the cold expression of the kid, it was understandable that no one would sit beside her.
He walked towards his seat, fidgeting. The stares of the kid following him made him very nervous. As he neared his seat, he could now clearly see the face of his seatmate. The girl, who wore a cold expression, had strikingly beautiful auburn-colored hair. She wore a white-colored skirt, just above her knee, with red petals embroidered on it. Even with her cold demeanor, she looked very beautiful. Aerin found himself staring at her, forgetting to sit down. He even forgot his own nervousness, as if there were only him and the girl there right now.
However, the professor's voice snapped him back to reality.
"You are a month late, kid. Work hard so that you can catch up to your classmates quickly."
Aerin sat down and nodded to the professor.
"Your partner for this class will be Yaria of the Lionkin family, the girl next to you, as she is the only one without a partner. Be good to each other."
Aerin looked at the girl on his left, a bit shy. He then gave a smile and greeted her.
"Hello…"
The girl, Yaria, just looked at him coldly before looking at the professor again.
Aerin's smile turned stiff, and he could only look at the professor too.
"Let me introduce myself again, for the sake of your new classmate. I am Furdy of the Koulker family, a retainer of the Lionkin family. I am your advisor. I cannot discuss again what we have discussed these past months, so you need to study on your own, Aerin. For the history of our village, you can find it in our library. And for the introduction to our reading and writing lessons, you can also find it there."
Aerin listened carefully. He may be a bit dumb, but he always took the words of his grandfather and father very seriously.
"We will do combat training today. Everybody, to the training ground, now! "
All the kids beamed with excitement. Combat training was their favorite thing to do in class. They don't want to sit all day listening to their professor talk about some history. Hotbloodedness was in their blood.
They quickly got up and walked out of the room. Aerin, having no idea where to go, turned to look at his partner. Unlike the other kids, Yaria was not in a hurry. She calmly tidied her stuff, putting it back in her bag.
She then stood up and turned to look at her new classmate today, who also happens to be her new partner. Seeing the new kid just stare at her with a dumb face, she chose to ignore him and headed to the training ground.
Aerin quietly followed behind her as they walked out from the main building and walked to the training ground, located at the front of the teaching building, on the right side of the academy.
There, some students are already training with wooden weapons in their hands.
They walked to an unoccupied area. There were logs standing upright there and a weapon rack filled with different wooden weapons.
Professor Furdy clapped his hands to get the attention of his students.
"Okay. Grab your weapons, and go to your partners. You will spar with each other."
The kids went over to pick their weapons. Yaria, aloof as ever, stayed behind, letting the other kids pick their weapons first. Only after all of them picked their weapons did Yaria walk over to pick hers. Aerin, who also stayed behind, too shy to pick a weapon along with the other kids, followed Yaria.
Yaria picked a greatsword, a simple double-edged sword, just much larger and taller than a normal one. The sword's blade was about five feet tall, much taller than her.
Though Aerin was surprised by her choice of weapon, he was busy enough to find his own to mull over her weapon. He was finding an exact replica of his daggers, a curved and a straight one. After looking for a while, he finally found them. A curved one and a straight one, both a foot long.
He walked over to Yaria, who only gave him a cold glance.
"Okay. Find an open area on your own. You can spar or choose to train each other. However, no usage of abilities. Understood?! "
"Yes, sir!"
The kids shouted simultaneously.
They then went to find an area to practice.
"Uhh… where should we train? "
Aerin asked his partner. Yaria did not respond and just walked to an empty area. Aerin, after not getting a reply, pouted. However, he still quickly followed after her.
"What should we do now? "
Aerin asked.
"Spar."
Yaria just gave a simple reply. Hearing her voice, Aerin could only shake his head, thinking that such a beautiful voice should not be hidden all the time.
"Okay."
Aerin readied his weapons. However, he stopped. He did not know how to hold his weapons correctly. All the training with his grandfather did not include wielding a weapon. He was at a loss. He looked at Yaria, hoping to copy her, but seeing that Yaria used her two hands to hold her sword, he turned to his other classmates. Seeing that they held their swords with the blade in front, he copied them. He awkwardly held his dagger, both the blades in front.
Seeing this, Yaria's eye twitched a little. However, she did not say a word.
Aerin took a deep breath.
"Okay, I'm ready."