The Overseer & The Class S "Hero"

Chapter 15

One of the perks of being a foreigner was being able to behave "suspiciously" without fear of judgement. As our class made its way to the courtyard, we passed one tower, and I turned to stare openly at it and the two guards at its entrance. The guards were well-armoured, the academy crest printed on their silver chestplates and their visors raised for one to see the hard eyes gazing straight ahead.

Whether they were mages or not I didn't know, but they had to be proficient in the short swords they had sheathed at their waists and the lances they held upright by their sides.

Using Sight for a brief moment, I did a double take and looked back ahead, no one noticing my reaction.

Oh. That's certainly interesting.

We arrived at the courtyard, where the weapons instructors were waiting. In all three academies, students had to learn how to use normal weapons on top of magic, and they were split according to weapon preference. Most of them chose the basic sword, much like a large portion of our class.

There was a row of deck chairs at the front of the courtyard where the students exempted from weapons training sat, and that was where Aurelius, Axtca and I went.

The student closest to our chosen seats gave us a friendly nod and smile.

"Hello, my name's Josephina, and I am from Class 3-B." She gestured towards the sweaty students refreshing themselves at the side of the courtyard.

I sat down, making myself comfortable.

"I am Eden, and these are my schoolmates, Aurelius and Axtca." I mirrored her smile. "We were assigned to Class 3-A."

"So...what do you think about our school?" Josephina asked shyly, clasping her hands together as she watched my classmates with me.

"It's very big, much like Noumin. In my first year, I needed a map to get around," I laughed.

The edges of her eyes crinkled. "Me too."

We sat in silence for a bit, then she suddenly spoke again.

"What do you think of our weapons class?"

I watched the students waving their wooden weapons about with various levels of proficiency, paying more attention this time. However, it was not me who replied.

"Ceyern's style is clean and straightforward. Our Noumin's is more aggressive, with exaggerated movements."

A tanned hand with long fingers settled on the edge of Aurelius's deck chair.

"You're right," a woman's voice said.

One of the instructors had come up behind us, mopping her face with a towel slung casually over her shoulder as sweat beaded down her neck and into her ample cleavage.

"You have quite the keen eye," she continued to compliment, her blue eyes twinkling.

Aurelius twisted back around, giving a short laugh.

"Anyone can see the differences."

"Well, I would certainly like to see you spar against one of our students."

A slight smile touched the edges of his lips, though the instructor couldn't see it.

"Hm, maybe in the future."

She made a pleased sound, going back to Class 3-B to round them up.

"That was Ms Adelstrud, the only female weapons instructor." Josephina said once she was gone. "She's a master at archery. I really admire her."