"Syra... I want to ask you a question." Herla suddenly asked.
They were both lying down on their beds doing something to pass the time.
Currently, the time was nearing midnight, and even though both Syra and Herla didn't like it, it was nearing curfew, and they had to be in their rooms before midnight. Otherwise, the school's enforcers would punish them.
Plus, most of them had to wake up before sunrise in order to train, so it was an excellent way to get them on schedule.
"Hmm." Syra hummed as she turned on her bed.
They were both lying on bunk beds wearing their nightwear. Syra was currently reading a book on air magic in order to increase her knowledge of the element in order to use it more creatively, while Herla was hugging her pillow and twirling her hair, trying her best to sleep.
"What do you think of Argon?" She suddenly asked, making Syra lose where she was in the book.
"Where's this coming from?" Syra asked in a low tone.
"I don't know. I've seen you guys getting close recently... And I think he might have a thing for you." Herla chuckled.
"N-No he doesn't." Syra blushed and closed her book before laying it on her chest.
"I don't think he likes me that way." She muttered in a low voice.
"What if he did? You too are perfect for each other, and I know for a fact that you like him." Herla grinned, but Syra couldn't see it since Herla was on the bottom bunk while Syra was on the top.
"..."
"Come on. You're not even denying it anym-"
"Herla... He doesn't, and will never understand me." Syra's voice suddenly became a little more serious.
Herla, having now raised a brow, suddenly got out of her bed and quickly climbed the ladder to the top bunk.
When she saw Syra's face, the expression on it was simple... It was melancholy. Just melancholy. Nothing more, nothing less.
"None of you truly understand me... I have too many problems. I have to deal with so much more than all of you, and I can't put that on the shoulders of someone else." She sighed.
"But that's what being a couple means! To have a shoulder to lean on whenever it gets too heavy for you!" Herla tried to argue; however, Syra turned the other way, facing away from Herla before muttering-
"But what if my burdens are simply too heavy for him to carry?"
"..."
"..."
"C-Come on... Stop being so dramatic. I know you have problems with your family, but you're a kid. We're kids. We can't have big problems. Hell, we have money too. Have you seen the other kids from smaller families? Their entire family's future lies on their shoulders, so they have to do good. We both know that we don't have those problems!" Herla chuckled before swinging herself back into bed.
"Some on Syra... Be grateful for the life you have right now. Compared to them, we're living the dream." Herla spoke; however, when she didn't hear anything come from Syra, she sighed and tapped a disk right next to her, causing all the crystals within the room to stop emanating light.
"Think about what I said." Herla finally muttered before snuggling herself in bed and closing her eyes...
And simultaneously, Syra looked at the ceiling while muttering one thing to herself.
"I wonder what Silas would have done..."
***
*Tap Tap Tap*
"And as you can see, the rune manship is sloppy. These three runes will absolutely ruin your magic's efficiency! The amount of magic you would use on the spell would most likely triple!"
*Tap Tap Tap*
"You'll have to remember this for your following assessment. You can have all the talent in the world, but if even one of your spells are this sloppy, you will be marked down by an entire grade!"
*Tap Tap Tap*
"And... Uh..."
*Tap Tap Tap*
"Miss Skylark? Is that pen more interesting than our lesson here?"
Syra, who had been in a trance the entire time with her eyes locked onto the pen she was holding, suddenly looked up when she heard her name.
"Sorry... What did you say sir?" Syra suddenly stood up, not having a heard a word that had come out of her lecturer's mouth.
"I know you're the best mage in this class, but you can't be slacking off. Before you know it, someone else you may have never expected to be better than you can suddenly surpass you in what feels like the blink of an eye. Hell, I even remember this one kid who went from the lowest ranks in the warrior classes straight to number one in less than a year. Hard work pays off kids!" The man lectured them with an upstanding voice.#
"I'm sorry, sir... I've just had a lot on my mind." Syra bowed again.
"Well, you better get all that stuff out before next week. That's when your outing missions are, and we all know what happens to the people who fail those." The lecturer said, causing everyone in the class to have a slightly uneasy expression, while some even showed shock, having completely forgotten that they'd have to go out for an entire week to do some missions.
"Understood, sir." Syra nodded and sat down with a slightly determined.
After a few seconds, with this look on her face, she slapped herself so hard that almost everyone in the hall heard it.
"Uh... You didn't have to-"
"I did, sir." Syra spoke in a determined tone.
"Uhhh... Sure, I guess." He shrugged and went on to teach class.
He went on and on about how runes need to be placed in a specific order and described them as if they were a language.
His lecture went on for a couple of hours before they eventually all left.
Most of the students went back to their dorms or to hang out somewhere around campus. Others, like Syra, went to the gymnasium again to train, while a final group decided to party immediately.
And just like that, a week passed by, and before they knew it, it was the day they would go on their first real outing.
Today, was the day of their first real outing, and by real, they meant without any supervision. Of course, that wasn't true, but it was as true it could be with the kind of conditions that the families from all over the continent had placed upon them to bring their children back safely.
The kingdoms didn't control the academies themselves... actually, they weren't controlled by funding either.
Unlike the rest of the academies throughout the continent, the four great academies were independent beings that didn't discriminate on who could enter their academies.
Any person could enter their academy as long as they were considered worthy.
Every year, they would have about 400 new students, and for an academy, that was considered very low compared to many of the other academies, were only situated within one kingdom, and funded by the kingdom itself.
These academies were scattered throughout the entire continent.
The Twilight Academy was one that was situated within the Melian forest. Their headmaster is an elf, while most of their students are either elves as well or beastkin. Some of them were humans too, but most of the other races chose not to take part in the academies.
Races such as dryads and fairies didn't need education like the other races, or at least not in the same way.
They had their own ways of installing information into each other's minds... Or in the case of fairies, they were taught everything they'd ever need to know at a very young age.
The other academies were Light, Diamond, and Night, named after the characteristics or features of the person who founded the academy.
Syra was a part of the Light Academy, based in the Xylem kingdom. It was where most of the very talented people in the Xylem kingdom went, but it welcomed all people for all places, religions, and races.
The Diamond Academy was in the middle of the Delaer, and Xylem kingdoms, and was pretty close to the Melian forest as well, making it an almost neutral ground.
The last one was the Night Academy, placed within the Delaer kingdom, the same way the Light Academy was placed in the Xylem kingdom.
Despite the rivalry between all four academies, together, they were considered political rival at the same strength and maybe even stronger than the three forces.
Each academy was considered a neutral ground, and there was nothing any of the kingdoms or races could do about it.
Of course, this didn't stop the students from discriminating against one another, but that was a part of school life.
However, it was up to the student's maturity to make sure that no one was ever truly discriminated against for their race or heritage.
But in the end, all of that was beside the point.
Right now, Syra and her group were getting ready for their outing, and they knew that not only was the rest of their year group doing the same thing, but all 4 great academies were too.
Their tutors let them choose to they could team up with. This wasn't a test to see if you could work with others. This was the real world, so they needed to make sure that the students, at the very least, were grouped up with their friends or people they were close to.
"You guys ready?" Syra asked with a calm voice.
The entire group was wearing things that were unique to them. Syra was wearing amethyst robes that indicated her power.
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