32 Chapter 31 (1/2)

Close to 3 years later

Lucius woke up from a tap on his shoulder. Rubbing his eyes, he looked around and found himself in a cla.s.sroom. Cla.s.s must have evidently been over because there was no one else in it anymore except for him and the person who woke him up.

Ever since Wilfred had gone away, Lucy had remained his close friend and the two spent a considerable amount of time together, part of the reason he was so tired today and fell asleep in the lecture. He already knew this subject matter thankfully, so he did not miss out on much. Although he could have skipped cla.s.s, like many of his peers did, he at least wanted to try and give the effort, not to mention that Lucy pretty much forced him to come as she badly needed the help.

”Come now, we've still got some time to do shopping before nightfall. ”

Lucius rolled his eyes, she was costing him so much money. He was earning a fair bit now, all things considered, with his little venture of inspecting items for shops. At first there were many reluctant shopkeepers but those that accepted were doing more business and the others caved in.

He stretched and yawned, finding the energy to get up and follow her. While the first exams they did in the earlier years counted for test scores highly, in the third and fourth years there was little incentive to do well on these as over 80 % of your grade would be based on practical applications of magic. The academy spent those last two years making sure to train the mages well in combat to ensure they would survive their stay in the army, working alongside the mage corps.

Of the initial 67 students who had joined the academy four years ago, only 36 still remained. This was to be expected however, as the program got progressively harder and weeded out the weaker applicants. Due to its prestigious reputation, the Drecos Academy has the ability to set it's standard higher, forcing underachievers to seek other tuition elsewhere. Unlike the first year where the academy makes it so that the weakest students, by design, are eliminated, the further years have no such restrictions and if all students performed well they would all graduate.

”But there's only a few more days until the final exams and then we can graduate. We need to make sure we're prepared for it.”

Lucy pouted and made a puppy dog face. More powerful than any spell she owned, it was impossible to resist.

”Alright alright, just for a short stroll and then we have to work on your knowledge about demon races and their attributes. I'd like to squeeze in some practice with you also, I think I'm really close to breaking through to [Barrier Lv.2].”

She jumped up and smiled.

”Alright, let's go get changed real quick and head out.”

The senior students possessed more freedom, such as leaving the academy for personal errands after cla.s.ses. Lucius followed the over energetic Lucy who was looking at all the stands and things for sale. For being royalty, she was actually quite friendly and cheerful. Her curiosity was also something that he liked, she would sometimes get so enamored with a subject and then read up on it so she could find out more.

It was quite a surprise as the pair walked down the corridors and heard that a new student would be joining the academy today. Late arrivals were a thing but not those that would instantly jump to the last year. There was a provision for it outlined in the academy's rule; mages from another kingdom could defect and if they pa.s.sed the last exam of the academy, would be recognized as a mage with the mandatory army service still applying naturally.

Lucius thought about it for a moment.

”Oh, interesting. I wonder what kingdom they're from?”

Lucy shrugged.

”We'll see when we meet them. It's going to be soon, the finals are next week and there's little time to prepare. I daresay it'll be quite hard for them, depending on their proficiency though.”

Overall, Lucius considered Lucy to be much better than himself which was why he had not known how to take it when she had asked him out. She did tell him that they would likely not get married or anything serious due to her family but that she didn't want to be deprived of the experience. They did spend a lot of time together, some other students were friendly but not something you'd call close friends. Especially with Lucy's half-sister and her gang making it so that befriending the two of them meant earning their ire.

It was easier when Wilfred was here, Lucius reflected. Although much younger, even though he came from another world, Wilfred had actually helped the two of them navigate the academy's first year without too many problems.

They walked for some time, leaving the academy grounds and heading towards the market district. It was getting a bit darker now and the light posts were starting to get illuminated. Only requiring a simple apprentice level Light spell, those hired to light these before nightfall tended to be weaker students who could not make it in the academy or other schools. The pay was good, considering the amount of work to do but not a glamorous position. These mages were too weak to serve in the army as well but they were employed for tasks like lighting fires, construction help for those with earth affinity and all sorts of menial things.

”Ohh, come look at this!”

Snapping out of his thoughts, he looked around until he saw her and walked in her direction.

A small wooden stand with a few products displayed was in front of him and Lucy was bent down looking at objects laid down on a large piece of cloth.

”The young miss has excellent taste. This jewelry is also enchanted to give a boost to Luck.”

Lucius raised an eyebrow.

(Really now? Enchanted items cost way more than this but these are priced higher than normal jewelry, I smell a scam here.)

”Oh is that so? That sounds wonderful.”

The merchant smiled broadly.

Lucius bent down and picked a small broach up. The design was well done, an Owl with sapphires for it's eyes and the broach was made of silver.

”[Inspect]!”

The merchants seemed confused at first, as Lucius uttered those words and turned the jewelry around, looking at it from every angle until it dawned on him that he was a.n.a.lyzing the item with a skill or spell.

”I'm afraid you're mistaken. This jewelry is as normal as can be.