After Sam had finished his lunch he headed out to an open grassy area behind the male dormitory building to do some skill practice. He wanted to try and level up as many of his skills that he could before the start of the school year. Since he was sure that he would be behind many of the nobles attending the academy in most respects. Sam wanted to ensure that he could push himself ahead in whatever way that he could so that he would achieve as much as possible by himself with the limited time that he had left before the start of school so as to put himself into a better position when starting each of his classes.
Sam took a brief look at his list of skills to decide what to work on first. His cooking and cleaning skills would level up naturally as he partook in the associated activities, so he didn’t need to worry about trying to level those, not that he expected them to help him in this case anyway. His identification skills would certainly need to be leveled up to 100 so that he could gain the identification pseudo skill but those would take a while, and he didn’t have much around him he could use them on so those were ruled out. The only natural skills he could really work on were his Long and High Jumping skills and his Knot Craft skill. All the others he had required the use of equipment he didn’t have with him. He could do Knot Craft while in his dorm room so it looked like it was just his jumping skills that he could practice.
Sam began his practice session with his long jump skill. This was the easiest one to practice and would use up the least stamina. Sam spent just over an hour working on his long jump skill activating it repeatedly only stopping when he heard the “Ping” of the system notification signifying its level up. Sam opened the notification and read it out. ~Natural Skill ‘Long Jump’ level gained. 'Long Jump' is now Level 5~ While level 5 was making decent progress he had had the skill for nearly 6 weeks which made it feel like his progress was lacking a bit. Sam, however, shrugged off the negative thoughts that he bubbled up and began to work on his High Jump Skill.
Sam finally stopped his high jump practice as the third ping sounded in his head. It had only been about 40 minutes since he had begun practicing the skill and still had a enough stamina left to push it closer to the next level but decided two levels would be enough for today. Sam opened up his system notifications and read them out. ~Natural Skill ‘High Jump’ level gained. 'High Jump' is now Level 2~ ~Natural Skill ‘High Jump’ level gained. 'High Jump' is now Level 3~ As this was the first time he had practiced the High Jump skill since he acquired it he found leveling it a lot easier than the Long Jump skill. Sam wasn’t sure whether this was due to naturally being better at it or whether it just required less experience to level. He had assumed this wouldn’t be the case due to how long it had taken him to gain the skill in the first place but perhaps he was wrong.
After finishing his practice Sam returned to his dorm room to do some knot tying practice. He spent more than an hour sitting on his living room sofa tying all the different types of knots he knew. While it felt like quite a tedious process it ended up being a fairly successful knot tying session with Sam gaining a further 2 levels in the skill. He didn’t bother reading the system notifications as he already knew what they were and dismissed them.
Sam felt a bit dissatisfied with the number of skills he had that he could practice by himself in his current situation. This was one of the reasons Sam was so excited for the Skill Up class. Based on what he had read about the class it was solely focused on getting students new natural skills and upgrading those skills to Pseudo skills.
Reinvigorated Sam decided it was time to have a look through some of his class textbooks. He was wanting to familiarize himself with them before the start of class as there was likely common knowledge he didn’t know that most of the students here would and he didn’t want to look like some back water hick that didn’t know anything. There was always going to be something he couldn’t account for but getting a headstart on his class textbooks should help a bit at least he thought as he picked the first one out of the magic storage back he had been given.
Sam had intended to skim through all of his textbooks however he ended up getting stuck on the first one he tried reading. As it turns out the Culture and Etiquette class also included history and the textbook he had been given for that class was fascinating. It went over the history he already knew in the first part of the book however as he continued past the summary of what he already knew he was immediately fed new information about the history of the nation, the continent and many other interesting things.
After 5 hours he finally noticed it had gotten dark and put the book down. Checking his watch, he discovered it had passed the dining hall’s closing time. Luckily he still had a few bits of food remaining from his journey to the city, so he wasn’t going to go hungry. After finishing off the leftover food, Sam made a mental note to go into town and purchase some more food he could have whenever he either didn’t feel like going down to the dining hall or didn’t make it there before it had closed. Afterall if just one textbook could do this to him then it was likely he would miss dinner again in the future.
Sam woke up the next morning to find that the light on his delivery box was on. Thinking back on what he had been told the day prior he assumed it had something to do with his homeroom assignment. Sam pulled a few papers out of the delivery box and took them over to the sofa which he had repositioned slightly to give him a better view looking out the large window and out onto the academy campus.
Sam read through the first piece of paper which appeared to be for his homeroom assignment. As he read it said that he had been assigned to class 1A, which he assumed meant the first class of the first year or something like that. The homeroom classroom was to be located on the second floor and was designated as Room 2-4. It stated that homeroom seating was first come first served and that the homeroom teacher for his class was Professor Bertrand Deveer. It was also written that he must wear the formal uniform for the first day for the opening ceremony. The formal uniform included a maroon military style blazer that went over the top of the standard uniform which was a white buttoned shirt and dark navy trousers. Sam hoped that there would be some sort of cooling magic in the events hall as everyone attending would be quite hot having to wear the thick blazer.
The next paper in the pile that Sam had been sent was the schedule for the first day and the opening ceremony. The opening ceremony was in two days’ time and the last of the students that were staying on campus would likely be arriving today which meant Sam wanted to stay away from the main gate. So much for stocking up on some food Sam thought with a short sigh as he returned his focus back to the papers sitting on his lap in front of him. Sitting back on the sofa Sam began to read through the itinerary for his first official day as a student of the Royal Academy.
To start the day off they would first have homeroom which was set to start at 9am. This mean that he would have to ensure that he left the dormitory half an hour before the start of homeroom to allow himself time to find his homeroom and get a seat before the bulk of students in the class arrived. It also stated not to bring his bag with him as it wouldn’t be required. This momentarily confused him however after considering it for a moment he realized it made sense considering you would only have to take it into the opening ceremony with you or leave it unattended, which he was sure no one in the class would want to do in an unfamiliar environment.
Sam pulled himself back away from his musings to focus on the schedule once more. Homeroom would run for an hour before they would then all leave the classroom together and assemble in the events hall for the opening ceremony. This allowed an hour for everyone to get there before the ceremony began. It didn’t seem like a lot of time considering the number of people that would be attending. This however wasn’t his concern, and he was sure the academy administrators knew what they were doing. Sam sighed to himself again beginning to get annoyed at himself for continuously loosing focus from the task at hand.
Once they had all arrived in the events hall the opening ceremony would then begin starting with a speech from the director of the academy followed by the student council president which wasn’t something Sam had heard about until now. What was the student council Sam thought as he moved on to the next listing in the itinerary. Following the student council president’s speech, each year’s representative would then speak from the first year through to the fourth year. There was then a period of time allocated to “other” speakers. This wasn’t overly descriptive and left Sam thinking it was a place holder for any last minute additions that might pop up right before the ceremony.
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Once the other speakers had finished it would then go back to the director to end the opening ceremony. After that everyone would return to their homerooms where is said further instructions would be provided. Once again no information to go off of. He assumed this would be something along the lines of getting to know the rest of the students in your homeroom as well as getting our class timetables for the rest of the week and stuff like that.
Once Sam had finished reading over the itinerary for the first day of the school year he was once again starting to feel excitement bubble up within him. He had never experienced anything like this before, and it was undoubtedly the start to a new life he never expected to have. Sam got up off of the sofa and looked through his window and glanced out onto the academy campus. There already appeared to be a long line leading from the administration building to the front gate. Sam decided he would head downstairs to get some breakfast and return to his room and continue where he had left off last night reading more about the history of Keivania and the Jardish continent.
Sam woke up the next morning lying on the sofa with the history book lying across his chest. He had once again ended up getting carried away and spent the rest of the day reading the history book. He had even reread a few sections that had caught his interest. Having read the book through at least once and having found a few topics in which he had gained more of an interest in, Sam had therefore decided he would go by the library to see if there were any more books on those topics he could read. That being said he would first head into the city to buy some food, so he didn’t go hungry every time he missed the dining hall serving times. Then after that he would then to go by the library to pick up some more books on Keivanian history.
He hadn’t realized that he was into history until now although it did make sense considering most of the books his father had at home were history books and therefore he had spent a lot of time reading those. Those books however weren’t very expansive on their topics and since he was now intrigued and had the option available to him he was going to the library to expand his knowledge on those topics.
Sam had just finished dropping the food off that he had just bought during his quick trip into the city back to his dorm room. He was now heading back out to the library when he saw some students sparing with swords in the grassy space where he had been practicing his skills yesterday. There didn’t appear to be anyone supervising them, yet they were using what looked to be real sharp-edged swords. Sam watched for a moment with a slight feeling of anxiety before turning and heading towards the library not wanting to get involved, just in case they got into trouble for sparing with live blades without supervision.
When Sam arrived at the library he was greeted by a woman at a desk positioned right after the door in what was a small fenced off area. “Good morning, your face isn’t familiar. Are you a new student?” the woman asked. “Yes, it’s my first year here at the academy” Sam replied quickly.
“I see, your first time to the library as well by the look of it” she said with a smile. “Yes, that it is. I was actually wondering if I could borrow some history books. I have read through my first year history textbook already and got interested in a couple of topics it mentions and wanted to see if I could find any further information on them” Sam said. “I see, can I see your student ID?” she asked him.
Sam brought his storage bag around his shoulder and plunged his hand into the dark void before pulling it out again with the student ID in hand. He passed the ID over to the librarian who placed it on one of those magical glass panels on the desk before she handed it back to him. “Please take a seat over there. I will send for one of the library assistants to assist you in finding what you’re looking for” she said as she gestured towards some seats along the right-hand side of the fenced off area. Sam took a seat on the chair at the end of the row next to the gate and waited for the library assistant to arrive.
Sam didn’t have to wait long as the library assistant arrived a couple of minutes later. “Good morning” said a girl behind him on the other side of the fenced off area. Sam turned around to see a girl maybe two years older than him. She had long brown hair tied in braids draped over her chest and big round glasses. She was wearing the academy uniform but had a badge on that read Library Assistant. “Good morning” Sam replied back. “How may I assist you today?” she said as she opened the gate next to him and motioned for Sam to come through it.
“I was wanting to get a couple of history books. I read through the first year history textbook and got interested in the early history of Keivania and the split of the Jardish Empire” Sam explained. “I see” she said as she placed her hand on her chin in a contemplative manner. “Early Keivanian Kingdom history is easy enough to find. There are a lot of books on it available for first years however the split of the Jardish Empire is only loosely touched upon during the first and even second years. Most of the books on the Jardish split are restricted to third years and above. There are a couple of books though that might meet your needs so long as they haven’t been loaned out to someone else” she said as she began heading off down towards the large bookshelves towering in front of them.
Sam gawked at the bookshelves towering in front of him. He couldn’t even begin to image how many books this library contained. Sam pulled himself out of his wonder returned his thoughts back to the books he was after. “Is there any way to access the third year restricted books earlier?” Sam asked as he followed after her picking up his pace as he had fallen behind slightly while previously looking around the room. “Hmm, there are a couple of ways to get access to restricted books. The first I wouldn’t recommend for a first year student which is becoming a library assistant like me. I have a lot of free time as I don’t take any of the classes that take you off campus which means I can work as an assistant librarian and still have plenty of free time. It also helps to have been to the library a lot as it can take some getting used to and isn’t for everyone. The second option would be getting your history professor to give permission to access specific books that are currently restricted to you. I’m not sure who your Culture and Etiquette professor will be this year as the professor that used to cover first and second year retired. But that would be your best option” she said. “I see, I will keep that in mind, thank you” Sam said as they turned down one of the bookshelf isles.
Sam followed until they stopped at one of the bookshelves. He watched as the library assistant scanned the contents of the shelf before pulling out a couple of books and handing them over to Sam. “These two are on early Keivania” she said as Sam took the two books from her. “The one with the black spine covers the reign of the second King about 30 years after the founding of Keivania. The second one is about the Keivanian and Hurist War which is when Keivania took the Hurist Peninsula and consolidated what is mostly our current borders today with the exceptions of the southern border” she said as she turned back the way they had come and strode off past him. Sam quickly followed as she weaved through the bookshelves finally coming to a stop at a bookshelf a few rows from the back of the first floor.
The library assistant looked over the bookshelf in front of them and pulled out a single book and handed it to Sam. “This one broadly covers the collapse of the Jardish Empire but it’s not very detailed, but it might give you some ideas on what you might want to focus on when requesting books from your professor she said as she quickly turned on her heels and headed off back towards the reception desk at the front of the building.
Sam quickly followed after her not wanting to get lost on the maze of bookshelves. As they were heading over to the reception desk Sam realized he hadn’t gotten the library assistant’s name. “My name’s Sam by the way, what’s yours?” he asked. “I do apologize; I completely forgot to introduce myself. I was a bit too focused on finding you the right books. My name is Annabelle Durmont” she replied. Once they had gotten back to the reception desk Annabelle departed leaving him with the receptionist again to check out the books.
“Three books in total. Please note you can only borrow 5 books at a time from the library and they must be returned within two weeks, or an extension must be requested” the receptionist said as she took Sam’s student ID off him again to register the books in his name.
As Sam was walking back from the library he realized he hadn’t sent his parents a letter to let them know he had arrived at the academy safely. On his way back he stopped by the administration building to see if he could get some paper and an envelope he could use. Thankfully the line in the admin building was fairly short and he was able to get an envelope and some paper and decided to write to them once he had gotten back to his dorm room.
Sam spent half an hour or so writing to his family giving them a detailed account of his travels in which he decided to exclude the part about the bandit ambush as he didn’t want to worry them too much. He would have to send the letter off tomorrow after the school day finished as he didn’t want to have to go back out again today. The receptionist in the administration building had said they could send the letter off for him, so he didn’t have to wander the city looking for the mail guild.
Sam spent the rest of the afternoon reading before making himself something for dinner. ‘Ping” The sound of a notification popped up into his head. Sam quickly looked at his notifications. ~Natural Skill ‘Cooking’ level gained. 'Cooking' is now Level 27~ Nice another cooking level Sam thought as he finished plating his dinner.
Sam read for a bit longer after dinner before turning in early for the night. He was excited for tomorrow but also worried about sleeping in. He had double checked he had returned all of his textbooks back to his bag as well as his stationary before he went to bed. He lay there in bed imagining what would happen tomorrow before slowly falling asleep.
