By the time Month 8 approaches, Alt-nii’s preparation to enroll has been completed. He took the entrance exams before and got accepted.
“Congratulations on your enrollment, Alt-nii!”
“Thank youuu, Lyra! Although… *sigh* I didn’t get into the Special Class…,” Altaire heaved a long sigh.
“Haha, there’s no need to rush, Alt. You passed the exams with flying colors. You can still take the exams for Special Class after the Basic Level 1,” Dad patted Altaire’s head.
“Uuuu,” Altaire-oniichan still sulked.
Allow me to explain the school system in Riviera!
There are basically four stages of it, and here is the breakdown :
At the age of 6 years old until 13 years old, there is a mandatory stage to go to the Basic Level 1-7. Continuing that, from the age of 13 to 16 years old, one goes through Intermediate Level 1-3, which is semi-mandatory.
The government has always been encouraging its citizens to take the second stage at the very least, and they have been very keen on implementing funding programs to make sure that people who have financial issues would be able to enroll, as well.
Next off are totally optional! From the age of 16 to 18 years old, there is Advanced Level 1-2. Most nobles or talented people would continue their studies up to this stage. It is fundamental for the nobles to have advanced knowledge to govern their territories right.
Meanwhile, the fourth and final stage of the education has the fewest number of people enrolling. From the age of 18 to 20 years old, after finishing Advanced Level 1-2, one can enter Master Level 1-2. It is required to complete this course if one wants to work in a highly prestigious position, such as joining the Court or serving the government or the royal family as someone in quite a honorable position. The curriculum contains internship at the Court or kingdom, so basically, it’s like a joint between studying and working.
And what is this issue with Special Class?
So, some number of schools provide this Special Class, which is basically acceleration system.
You can study the Basic Level for 4 years only, and then Intermediate Level for 2 years. For Advanced and Master Level, there’s no way to shorten that 2 years standard.
After all, 2 years standard is the fastest time in which one could graduate from both Advanced and Master Level. Some, if not a lot of people, may take longer than 2 years to graduate.
Let’s say, 65% would be able to graduate on time during Advanced Level and only 40% are able to finish Master Level on time.
Mom was a prodigy who finished both Basic and Intermediate Level in the Special Class, and then she finished Advanced and Master Level in time. Thus, she graduated at the age of 16 and started working in the Magic Court soon afterwards.
If that is the case, now I’m curious on how highly positioned is she? She doesn’t speak much of her achievements and work. Probably out of consideration to not put on additional expectations for us to follow in her footsteps?
Meanwhile, Dad… went through the normal period needed to graduate from Basic Level. After that, though, he transferred school and went to Intermediate Level’s Special Class, and from then on, he climbed so fast like a dragon, as he also managed to spend 2 years in Advanced and Master Level. He officially graduated at the age of 19.
Speaking of which, Mom is a year younger than Dad, but seems like she’s been working for much longer than Dad. Mom got married when she was 19 and Dad was 20, then a year later Altaire-nii was born.
We had the coming-of-age ceremony at the age of 13, but marriage is normally allowed once someone turns 15.
Alright, I’m trailing off again.
Anyway, the school that Alt-nii’s enrolled to has all four stages available. Yup, some schools only got one, two, or three stages available, it depends. Obviously, it’s more practical to be enrolled in a school that provides all stages. Alt-nii’s school is the same as the school Mom went to, and also the school Dad went to from Intermediate Level. I assume I’ll also go there.
The name is Harmonia Academy, located in the Capitol Area, quite close to the border of East Area. Which means, it’s not that far from the Hartmann’s current house. The Harmonia Academy is located between our house and the royal castle, which is named “Capicastle”.
The academy has the strongest affiliation to the Court and royal kingdom. The Academy has the most resources and scholarships available, so it’s not closed off to nobles only. It is a good school, but the nobles would have more pride and prestige from enrolling into an expensive and private schools instead of Harmonia Academy that may be called as public school.
The odd terms of school start at Month 8 and end in Month 12, while the even terms start at Month 2 and end in Month 6. Which means my birthday is during the holidays… Ah well, there are its own goods and bads.
The Harmonia Academy has a dormitory, but since it’s not that far from our home, we can just go from our home directly. It is around 30 minutes walking, but we can shorten the time by using a bicycle or even carriage.
But since Clavis has also been enrolled there, Alt-nii decided he would just enjoy walking together with him.
By the way, the magic affinity and mana measurement would be taken at the beginning of the second term. The first term of magic class would be to cover the basic of magic theories and its history. And to learn how to feel mana, mana transfer, and such. The things that can be done without knowing your magic affinity and mana. This is done to ensure that all the measurement is valid and the maximum capacity.
Because you see, Alt-nii should be 6 years old this year so he can enroll, but his birthday is at Month 9, so he would be technically 6 years old at Month 9. Even so, that doesn’t prevent anyone from taking an early start by private training.
However, people with no magical power will be excused from the magic class after they have learned the basic theories. Instead, they are free to take on any other classes, usually it’d just be any form of physical combat they want to learn.
When I was Reinst, I could be categorized into having very little magic talent, so after learning the most basic skills of Neutral magic like physical reinforcement, I would just spend the rest of my magic classes by training my swordsmanship.
Anyway, Alt-nii seems to be loving his new school!
He then told me several stories he’d heard from his new friends.
The Harmonia Academy is a famous public school, so there are various races enrolling. Humans, dwarves, beastmen, and a few elves and oni! There are fewer oni and elves because majority of them live in the countries ruled by their own races.
Mixed breeds also show up, but most he’d seen are mixture of humans-beastmen, dwarves-humans, humans-oni, and humans-elves. Well, no wonder, we’re the country with majority of humans. Due to the bad history between oni and elves, I’d be certain to say that… there’s no way a direct mixed breed of oni and elf exists.
Also, most dragons have already left and lived their own secluded lives in their own continent. Even though the books told us that back then, they also lived together with us. Perhaps since the rift between races (especially between oni and elves) started, the dragons started to leave.
If there are dragons who disguised themselves in their human forms, we might not know if their transformation is flawless, but… I’ve never heard of sightings of dragons before. Rumor has it that there are some people with dragon ancestors, and those people would be awfully gifted in magic. Dragons are the strongest race, after all.
Now, this school seems a lot more fun than the school I was enrolled at.
My old school was full of nobles, and most have the typical prideful noble behaviors, so… yup yup, I was a loner at my old school.
While getting immersed in the stories Alt-nii shared with me and my own training, Alt-nii’s birthday is approaching.
