"The king and queen of the ball will also have a special seat at the banquet held before the ball, sitting with their families at the rector's table. If the reigning monarchs were to honor us with their presence—which has happened in certain years—they would also be seated at that table."

Catrina glances at some of my classmates, who have suddenly adopted dreamy expressions upon hearing about dining at the royal table.

"Ladies," she says, hardening her tone, "do not fool yourselves into thinking that sitting at the royal table will give you a chance to start a romantic relationship with them. The royal family usually selects duchesses or marquesses' daughters for their princes."

Her eyes shift from those girls to Sol. Then she smirks with a hint of malice.

"Although, who knows when someone of lower status might gain enough prestige to overshadow someone from the high nobility."

Sol doesn't take the bait. I imagine she knows that, in class, the professor's authority outweighs hers, and it wouldn't be the first time Catrina made her run or do push-ups. She can't stand her, and that's something she made clear from the very beginning of the year.

Though now, I finally understand why.

"Alright, and returning to the topic of points, they serve another purpose beyond raising your ranking for the games: a monetary one. They are not actual currency, but they function as a type of coin valid only in the academy's store, which you can use to exchange for items. For example, a medium mana potion costs 10 points, a medium health potion 5, and a well-crafted steel sword costs 8. To further encourage healthy competition, the five students who earn the most points from these trials will receive a bonus multiplier of 1.2 when using them as currency in the store. This will not affect the points added to the class ranking."

A boy raises his hand—one of the students from the Wednesday afternoon group.

"But, professor, if we get 7 points for a mana potion and buying one costs 10 points, aren't we losing out?"

"Good question," she replies. "And yes, you are losing out, but you are a student on an academic mission. Be grateful that we pay you at all. If you want to go into a dungeon to hunt for health potions or gather ingredients yourself, assuming you know alchemy, you can do so during your summer vacation and keep everything you obtain for yourself. Here, we are providing a service to the community—so that citizens who, for example, lack the necessary skill to hunt can acquire more hides than what a single hunter from a remote village might bring to market. Keep in mind that many corners of the kingdom do not have the same level of trade as large cities and towns. For those places, these missions are a great help. The royal academy takes pride in collaborating with the people a couple of times a year through these assignments. Moreover, if any mission proves too difficult or the students do not want to take them, we professors handle them ourselves. Does that answer your question?"

"Yes, professor. Thank you very much."

"Ah… good. Now comes the part you all enjoy the most: for the next two weeks—this one and the next—classes are suspended. Follow me to the auditorium; we have set up the mission board there. A couple of assistant professors will be registering which missions you take and the groups you form. And, dear students—good luck!"

"Thank you, professor," most of us reply in unison.

We then follow her to the auditorium, where the other first-year class is already gathered, crowded around one side of a massive wooden board that has been nailed to the wall. Pinned there with thin, small nails are the assignment notes.

They have removed all the chairs and left the area clear, except for some counters they have placed on the right.

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The wooden board spans the entire length of the wall. I imagine the central section holds missions meant for second-year students, while the far end is reserved for third-years.

I hear footsteps approaching from the hallway behind me. The students from other years must be arriving already.

As for the mission board itself, I find it quite intriguing. In this world, there are no adventurer guilds, and in a way, they seem to fulfill that need through the academies' students. And I say "academies" because this royal one is not the only one—just the most prestigious, the hardest to get into, and the only one whose students participate in the games. So I imagine the others must also take on assignments.

Several students from the other first-year class are already stepping away from the board and gathering in small groups. I look around for Ronan. I see that he is also looking for me, and then Darius approaches him, draping an arm around his shoulders. As I walk toward them, I hear him say:

"Well, should we take the hardest dungeon mission and clear it with the help of your friends?"

The bear. Darius is no fool.

"I need to see what my lady wants."

"Well, to come with us, obviously."

"Actually," I tell him, "my plan is to use these missions to learn how to use a bow. Joe is the archer, right?" I ask Ronan.

By now, our whole group has formed a circle, Lily included.

"Yes."

"Perfect. Then you and I, if you agree, can take some recurring mission that requires dungeon ingredients, and I'll use the opportunity to learn how to use the bow and gain mastery."

"I'll come with you," Vincent says.

"No, no need, thanks. It's going to be really boring. Just me shooting at little rabbits and easy targets until I get the hang of it."

Vincent looks at me. I can't deny how handsome he is, but I refuse to let him come with us. He seems to be thinking that if it's because of my secret, then he can come since he already knows. But I also want to level up the seed, so he's not coming.

"Sorry, guys," I say with a polite smile, "I don't think Ronan and I will earn many points. You'd better go on your own to rack up more."

Alistair nods.

"Right. If you two want to waste this opportunity learning to shoot a bow, that's your business. My mace craves action."

"I wanted to ride the bear," Darius complains.

I say goodbye to them and pull Ronan toward the board.

"Joe had high-level mastery with the bow when he was alive, and he retains it as a skeleton, my lady."

Right, he'd already told me he made him touch the stone chart. The memory makes me laugh—only Ronan would think of something like that. I have to admit, though, it's a pretty clever way to check your undead followers' stats.

"Actually," he adds, as if reading my mind, "it is not my own idea. Some of the old necromancers did it to gauge the strength of their army lieutenants."

"Perfect. Now we just need a mission we can repeat several times and that is... somewhat challenging." I wink at him and push my way forward, almost elbowing my way through until we find a spot in front of the board.

Well, let's be precise.

I elbow my way through, but Ronan, who follows a couple of steps behind me, does not even brush against anyone. And it is not because I have cleared the way for him—far from it. People instinctively move aside for him.

As for the second- and third-year students, they are already here. I have never seen the auditorium this crowded before.

There are many missions on the board. Most of them are recurring tasks to collect some type of herbs or ingredients. Since I want to level up the pup and train myself as well, I need something discreet—something where I will not be gathering nuts in the nearest forest and running into other students at every turn. But I would also like it to be a recurring mission so I can do it more than once.

I start scanning the missions that take place in dungeons. I look for one of a high enough level that other students will think twice before taking it. Since this board is shared by all three academy years, there are some interesting dungeons here that would never be offered to first-year students. And I want something that even the third-years will hesitate to pick.

Ronan, standing beside me, asks me quietly what exactly I am looking for.

"The highest-level dungeon we can handle that is not appealing enough for others to choose. A recurring mission, so we can clear it more than once."

"Understood."

Ronan begins moving toward other sections of the board. At first, some students turn toward him, irritated, ready to say something (do not push, this is my spot, wait your turn…), but as soon as they see him, they pale and press against the person behind them to clear a path. Others simply step aside the moment they feel the aura he gives off. Even the second- and third-year students.

And what am I doing watching him with a bit of envy? Well, it must be amazing not to be constantly bumping into people and feeling overwhelmed in the middle of a crowd.

Oh well. I just follow him, taking advantage of the space that opens up next to him.

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