[Lifespan Remaining: 21 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes.]
Of all the people Noct expected to share a room with, someone from House Hark wasn’t one of them. That family had always been a bit isolated from the rest of the other Great Families—no, even from the rest of the kingdom.
They spent most of their time in their own territory, making it their life’s mission to protect Rexford from the beasts in the Northern Frigid Lands that threatened to move southward.
That was why seeing someone from their family here was shock enough to Noct. What made it even more confusing was the fact that he was already in this room, when the entire dorm was supposedly for freshmen only.
’Did he...get held back a year? Never mind. Not my problem anyways.’
Ronan quickly went back to sleep like nothing ever happened, his soft snoring becoming something like background noise as Noct began to unload his things. Finn did the same, being careful enough not to wake Ronan up.
But in the middle of the process, Noct’s hands grabbed onto a piece of paper that had been given to all freshmen students when they received their room. It was a course selection form.
He unfolded the paper and sat down on the edge of his bed. The first section listed five courses that every student was required to attend, regardless of their chosen track: Energy Control, Archetype Theory, Affinity Control, Adventuring Skills, and Applied Combat.
’So pretty much everything they expect us to be good at..’
Most of the names explained themselves. Archetype Theory would cover how their abilities worked, while Energy and Affinity Control focused on actually using them properly.
Adventuring Skills was probably where they would learn how to avoid getting themselves killed on commissions. Though after the Graveyard, Noct felt like he deserved at least a few exemptions. As for Applied Combat, the description mentioned both individual assessments and party exercises.
’Hopefully, I get to choose who I’m working with.’
He had already seen how much of a difference that made. A strong party could cover for each other’s weaknesses, while a poorly matched one would spend half the battle trying not to get in each other’s way.
Still, those were mandatory. There wasn’t much point in staring at them when he couldn’t do anything about it. Noct moved on to the next section.
〔All students must select two elective courses.〕
’Only two?’
The list underneath was quite a lot longer, though his eyes immediately caught one of the names near the top—Summoning. Beside it was a small notice indicating that the course was newly available this year.
’Yeah...let’s skip that one.’
Noct still wasn’t sure what he would actually learn by attending. The woman teaching it had been asking him how to communicate with spirits not too long ago. And plus...he was still holding a grudge on Lenia for snitching about him to the Headmistress.
Though he was still planning to ask to become her teaching assistant, but spending one of his two important elective choices on her class? Hard pass.
The rest of the classes Noct skimmed over without a second thought. Electives like Merchantry, Nobility and Governance, Knight Training, Enchantment, Healing Arts...they were all things he thought were quite boring and would just be eating at his precious time.
Yet amongst the electives on the list, two managed to catch his eye at the same time.
’Alchemy and Artificing...’
〔Alchemy: Preparing consumables, refining ingredients, and creating materials with particular properties from others.〕
〔Artificing: Creating tools and devices capable of channeling, storing, and utilizing Energy.〕
His thoughts immediately went to a single possibility. Could he create something like a synthetic mana crystal? Sure, there were already devices which stored mana for later use. Even the sub-space he had just purchased depended on someone figuring out how to make a magical function work reliably inside an object.
’Then...could I make something that stores mana specifically for me that I could consume later?’
It sounded possible in his head. Alchemy could potentially provide a material capable of holding the mana, while Artificing could help him figure out how to put it there. Though whether either process was actually that simple was another matter entirely.
More importantly, he didn’t know if his ability would accept the result. Still, the idea was worth investigating.
"What are you choosing?"
Finn’s voice interrupted his thoughts. The prince had finished putting away his belongings and was now examining his own form.
"Artificing and Alchemy."
"Really? I thought you’d want something like Elemental Magic. Or, I don’t know, Nobility and Governance. Those seem to suit you?"
"Well, I’ve got something I want to try. That’s all."
Noct retrieved a pen and marked the two courses. He wasn’t about to start celebrating over an idea he hadn’t even tested. But finding out whether it worked sounded like a pretty good reason to attend class.
***
[Lifespan Remaining: 20 days, 22 hours, 56 minutes.]
The next morning, Noct finally understood why the Academy insisted on having students live on campus. Even from the dormitory, reaching the lecture buildings took considerably more walking than he would’ve liked.
By the time he and Finn found their classroom, most of the seats were already occupied.
Their first lesson was Energy Control.
Apparently, there were several classes for each of the mandatory subjects, with students divided between different time slots and instructors. Noct had checked the room number twice before entering, mostly because he didn’t want his first achievement at Rexford Academy to be attending the wrong lesson.
Though once he stepped through the doorway, he began wondering whether he had somehow returned to Base Camp D instead.
"Noct! Finn!"
Annie waved from a row near the middle. Alice sat beside her, with two empty seats conveniently waiting next to them. Noct headed over immediately, grateful that he wouldn’t have to search for somewhere to sit.
"You saved us seats?"
"I had a feeling you’d be in the same class as us," Alice replied.
’Ain’t that right?’
Noct chose to ignore that and lowered himself into the chair beside her. Finn took the remaining seat, already retrieving his textbook before he had properly sat down.
The classroom itself was spacious, with rows of long desks facing a broad teaching platform. Tall windows allowed plenty of sunlight inside, while several unfamiliar instruments had been arranged on a table near the front.
At least the seats were comfortable.
’Maybe Phoenix’s furniture budget went here...’
He placed his own book on the desk, then took another look around.
A few rows ahead, Lucy was speaking quietly with Airy while Alex examined the contents of his bag. All three looked considerably better now that they had changed out of their battered examination clothes. Farther across the room, Noct noticed Robin’s group along with Group 12, Mira’s group, as well.
’What the hell? The entire Base Camp D really was here?!’
That seemed a little strange. With several classes teaching the same subject, surely they should’ve been scattered around a bit more. Unless the Academy had simply assigned them according to their examination groups?
Aurora eventually entered the class with a few of her friends as well. As soon as they spotted each other, she gave him a little wave before sitting a couple rows in front of him. At least that proved Noct wrong somewhat.
"Did you notice?" Finn asked quietly.
"That we’re having a reunion?"
The prince nodded. "A few of them are in my other classes too."
"Maybe they thought we’d work better with people we already know," Annie suggested.
That sounded reasonable enough. Though Noct wasn’t sure he wanted to describe his relationship with everyone from the Graveyard as particularly cooperative.
Before he could respond, the classroom door opened again. He initially assumed it was another student trying to slip inside before the lesson began. But the conversations nearest the entrance quickly died down, followed by a few excited whispers from the rows behind him.
A man walked toward the teaching platform with a thin book tucked beneath one arm. His dark gray hair was just as untidy as it had been yesterday, and his sleeves were already rolled up above the wrists. The blue tie and black gloves made him unmistakable.
"Open your books to Page 1. We’ll begin the lesson."
’You’ve gotta be kidding me.’
Out of all the classes available, Noct had somehow ended up with nearly everyone from the Graveyard. And out of all the instructors who could’ve been assigned to teach them...
It had been Apollo Nova.