The headmaster cleared his throat and began to speak. “It has been seventy years since Master Taurus laid the foundation of this academy. I had taken my training from here only, and served my country for a lifetime. I am sure you all are aware of my services.”

“Why is he bragging about himself?” mumbled Argus, crossing his arms as he found this formal speech boring as hell.

“I too would brag about myself if I had his achievements,” replied Gunther. “He led our army to victory not once or twice, but thrice against Alabusia in a row. He is the only one to achieve this feat.”

“Boring,” mouthed Argus, receiving a smile from Gunther in return.

“You sure don’t like these formal events,” said Gunther. “But don’t you worry, it is just for once. We would not be seeing him giving a speech every day.”

“I hope so.” Argus looked at Marya who listened to her father attentively. He guessed it must suck to be the daughter of the headmaster. The expectations must be too high.

Gunther smiled devilishly when he found Argus eyeing at the girl. “Do not stare at her too much. If someone finds you eyeing on her, you would find yourself in a problem.”

“Is she a newbie too? She looks our age,” asked Argus, ignoring his words.

“Yeah, but she has higher ranking than us. She has mastered all the basic concepts of Nigrosian arts. You know, the perks of having Sir Gues ray Thornus as your father.”

“That explains her possession of a sword.”

“That’s the more reason to not mess with her,” said Gunther, staring the headmaster giving the speech.

Argus turned his eyes away hastily when Marya found him staring at her. He again looked at her and saw her walking away.

“... you are the future of Nigrosia, my children. I can not tell you how happy I am that you chose this academy out of others. I hope you will have a great time here. I once again solemnly and warm heartedly welcome you all to the academy of your dreams,” said the headmaster in the end after thirty minutes of speech.

All the students clapped when it ended. Some were relieved that the boring speech finally ended while some looked forward to a new beginning of their life.

“You must be relieved that his speech finally ended,” said Gunther before he realized Argus was not there. He had disappeared somewhere. “Alan?” He looked around, but could not spot him. “Where did he go?”

The headmaster glanced at the place where Marya was standing but did not find her there, before walking away from the stage. The students murmured and had already formed groups they would belong to for the rest of their academic years.

Meanwhile, Argus followed Marya to the training grounds. “Hey, wait!” He called for her but she paid no heed to it. “Hey, Marya, I have something to talk to you.” She acted as if he did not exist. He sighed. “What is her problem? I just want to have a look at her sword.” He suddenly saw her standing in front of a humanoid wooden doll used to train the students in physical combat.

Marya grabbed the handle of her sword, and in an instant, she cut the doll through the middle cleanly horizontally. “Impressive,” muttered Argus when he found her abilities no joke. He found her movements smooth like water, but she still lacked perfection in her technique. He also understood that she sent a message to not bother her if he did not want to end up like the doll.

Marya thought he would not bother her anymore after getting the message, but she heard him clapping behind her back.

“Whoa! Impressive. You sure have some impressive sword skills,” said Argus as he approached her. “I rarely find someone your age to cut wood so cleanly. Are you a woodcutter by any chance?”

“Are you an idiot or what?” said Marya in a cold tone.

“What?” reacted Argus cluelessly.

Marya turned away as she found him too dumb to talk to. “Just go away before it is too late for you.”

“Man,” reacted Argus, rubbing his head awkwardly. “You sure are rude for someone with your looks. Anyway, I just wanted to have a look at your sword. It looks familiar to me.”

“I do not hand my sword to anyone,” responded Marya before she cut the doll through the middle vertically this time. It separated from the middle and its upper part dropped to the floor. She glanced back at him. “Never to a stranger. Now go away.” She thought he would go away now, but it irked her when he stood next to her facing the doll next to the one she just cut down. “You…” She was about to get mad at him, but suddenly found her sword in his hands and him observing its blade.

“Man, this sure is a fine piece of art,” said Argus as he examined the sharpness through running his index finger slowly over the edges.  

“What…” She discovered her hands were empty. “When did you…” She could not remember when she handed her sword over to him, nor she could not comprehend how it got into his hands.

‘This one is what Aleya Thornus used against me. So, her daughter inherited it after she passed away,’ He thought as he looked at his reflection in the blade.

“Hey,  give it back!” She shouted.

Argus did not listen to her and eyed at the wooden doll against him. “I have gotten rusty after all these years.” He suddenly swung the blade vertically to cut through it. “Aw, man. My skills have gotten rusty as hell,” reacted he when the doll did not even budge. He handed the sword back to her.

“I apologize for taking it against your permission. I just found your blade familiar, but it is not the one I thought it to be.” He scratched his head awkwardly. “By the way, I am Alan Booney.” He presented his hand for a handshake, but she just turned away coldly, hiding her perplexity. “You sure are cold. But no worries, I am sure you are not a bad person.”

“Oh, so here you were.” Argus heard a voice behind his back. It belonged to Gunther.

Gunther saw Marya walking away and understood this guy fell head over heels for her. “I searched for you everywhere. I thought you got lost,” said he as he reached to Argus. He glanced at Marya once again and asked, “What are you doing here?”

“Nothing, just felt bored listening to the speech, so I thought I would get some fresh air,” responded Argus.

“Are you sure you were just here to get fresh air?” Gunther side-glanced at him with a naughty smile.

“Yeah. I am sure.”

Gunther saw the parts of the wooden doll on the ground. “Did she cut it?” He pointed to Marya.

“Yeah.”

“She sure has some crazy skills,” said Gunther, a bit of admiration hopping out of his tone. “I wish I was as strong as her.” He suddenly punched the other doll to test his strength, but got taken aback when it suddenly separated into several pieces. “Oh, gosh. Did she slash it as well?”

Marya heard him speaking from a distance when she thought about how Argus got her sword. She turned and her eyes got expanded in bewilderment when she saw the doll crumbling down to pieces. “What?” Gunther looked too surprised to have done it, so the only possibility was... “It could not be him…” She remembered Argus had only slashed the blade once and it did not even connect to the doll. “How could he…”

“Yeah, she has crazy sword skills,” Argus responded to Gunther and glanced at Marya with a smile when he found her looking back at him. She turned her face hastily when their eyes met.

Gunther noticed all of this. He wondered what happened between them when he was not there.

“Alright, let’s go.” Argus walked away leaving Gunther behind. “The lectures would begin.”

“Hey, wait for me.” Gunther hurried and followed him. “I should be the one reminding you of the lectures,” he said but Argus did not reply to him.

Meanwhile, the headmaster headed towards his office with his attendant.

“Master Geus, you sure took your time there,” said the attendant who was also an old man but was bald with no facial hair.

Master Geus stopped under a tree and stared up at its leaves and branches. “I try my best to tell children to have a great time here,” he turned to look at his attendant, “you know how hard I have worked to make this academy the best one out there after retiring from the army. You have witnessed this as my companion for all these years.”

“Yes, master, and I will continue to be your companion,” said the attendant, bowed his head in respect, and stared at the tree’s roof for a while before reminding the headmaster about the emperor’s orders. “His highness had ordered to watch a certain student.”

“I don’t know what he sees in him. I saw him among the crowd of students, he did not look special at all. However…” the headmaster paused, thought for a while and added, “he looked familiar.”

“I don’t know what his highness is scheming. He was always unpredictable, and now he ordered you to watch a certain student who belongs to a commoner family,” said the attendant and scratched his head. “I have aged well but still can’t understand him.”

“Don’t try to understand him,” said the headmaster. “You would lose your remaining hair too.”

They both laughed at this. “I have no hair left to lose, master,” replied the attendant as he laughed.

They both headed to the office at the second floor of the principal building. Meanwhile, Argus and Gunther headed towards the classroom to attend their first lecture.