Miss Rueci''s rules boiled down to two parts, common sense and you''ll know when you get there.


    Some of the rules that weren''t common sense included: Not throwing whistling plants into your your chosen vessel of liquid while they still scream, no using firesnapper as your heat source, no, we do not have enough oil for one of you to use it as your liquid base, and also its a horrible idea anyway until Potions and Elixirs III where we actually have funding, a towel is not an ingredient, among others, my head spun with too many questions after the first few.


    "So now that we have the rules out of the way, don''t worry I''ll explain them again when needed, let''s talk about the basics." She looks around searching for engagement, "So why don''t we start with something simple, what''s a potion?"


    ''The answer is obvious wasn''t it?'' But as I look around I don''t see other students raising their hand making me nervous.


    "Anyone?" The teacher repeated herself.


    I quietly speak up but not loud enough to the point where she might not even realize I was talking, "A potion is an essential part of any adventurer''s toolkit which gives an immediate boost or replenishment?"


    "Yes that''s mostly correct, a potion is specifically an item that is ingested or applied to an area that gives a temporary enhancement to the user or immediately restores a property of the user. There will be more advanced definitions later on but that''s all you''ll need to know for this year," She takes a breath considering how to continue, "The difference between a potion and a elixir is that an elixir is more generalized, technically potions qualify as elixirs but the common use case for each is different enough where people classify them as different things entirely, you''ll get into more detail next year."


    Miss Rueci looks around looking for understanding, "Good, so why don''t you all follow me over here?" She guides us over to a shelf full of random items, plants, and bugs, "This is where you will find what you need, under no circumstances are you to touch this without my express permission." She slowly closes the cabinets she had opened. I was curios of what everything she had was but I wasn''t going to act on it unlike what I heard some of the other students mummering to themselves.


    The professor continued to guide us through the room, showing us all sorts of tools we''d need to learn how to use throughout her class. After a while of her ushering us through her room the clock sounded, "There''s more I''ll need to show you as introductions took a bit longer than I was expecting, but we should be able to keep this class on track." Miss Reuci spoke to us.


    I walked over to the door not intentionally eavesdropping on the others'' conversations. They had a mix of topics some of which weren''t related to school as they had probably known each other before coming to Lansia.


    It was now time for lunch, the academy was too big to have everyone eat lunch at the same time so they had split it into multiple periods. I was in the first one, not that I minded as I usually never at breakfast, even at home, so a early lunch appealed to me. The cafeteria itself had a school built in buffet station as well as several other stalls for merchants looking to sell food to the richer among us.


    Food was ten bronze pieces for a plate with selections like bread, rice, generic vegetables, maybe a soup for and extra five, and if someone was willing to pay an extra silver, any assortment of meats they had on stock. I personally craved meat but I didn''t exactly have the money to afford what I didn''t need so I grabbed myself some rice and steamed vegetables and sat myself far away from other people. The tables weren''t crowded yet as I had arrived early compared to the others and I sat down enjoying my "meal".


    It only five minutes before I heard something to my left and instinctively ducked as scalding soup flew across my head, some splashing out and drenching my ears and food. I turned my head to see someone who was dressed so fancily that it hurt my eyes fighting with some one else who seemed just as "uptight" as he did.


    My ears burned as some of the liquid had ended up splashing on me but it didn''t bother me enough for me to go to the healers. I watched the two get into a fight, the one who haphazardly threw the bowl of soup that still singed my ears, it still stings, accused the other of "not understanding his place".


    ''Nobles, can''t even deal with other nobles, why do they expect us to deal with them,'' I cried slightly as this was going to be something that I should have expected.


    The other person argued that even though he belonged to a more powerful family, he''d be dead before any support could arrive, to that I cried even harder. Me, being what is called a "commoner", made my realize I really should just avoid drawing attention to myself to avoid people with power.


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    The "soup guy" stormed off, I know I shouldn''t call him that, even in my head, but no one would know right? I turned my attention back to my food as my ears, that still were stinging, drooped seeing the soup having splashed all over my food, I normally wouldn''t complain but the soup did not seem appealing to me to begin with, and much less now that it was cold and completely covered my now soggy bread.


    I looked around preparing to just take the loss and throw my now wasted food away as I noticed the person who''d gotten into a fight with "soup guy" seemingly unfazed with the who situation. It didn''t help that he was also the reason that the hot liquid was thrown in my direction as I felt resentment for how uncaring he was about the who situation, person didn''t even check to make sure no one else was harmed.


    The resentment faded soon enough as I calmed myself knowing that I should have been used to being the collateral in these situations regardless of involvement as I couldn''t do anything to the upper class without risking execution. My mind wandered as I sat there after throwing away my food when I felt a shudder with how nonchalant both the people were about murder and how they treated it so casually if death was natural to them.


    ''I really shouldn''t get involved with anyone,'' and that''s how my fear of politics began, two noble brats fighting each other while treating life as a game, while I didn''t want to be one of the innocent townsfolk caught in the middle between the hero and the dragon who has to die as cannon fodder. I kept looking around and relaxed as everyone had already settled in and began enjoying their meals while I passed the time by internally complaining about nobles and how unfair it was.


    The rest of lunch dragged on as more people finished their meals and got up and left, I had also at this moment decide I was going to get going as I picked up everything I had personally brought and made my way to the next class.


    The room was pretty large, almost as big as the gym and it was a class I personally requested behind my parents back. They''d been quite unhappy when they inevitably found out but ended up relenting convincing themselves it was too late to change classes. The class itself was sword fighting, it was something I always wanted to do as a child, since all the boys around always picked up sticks and pretended to clash with swords but I wasn''t allowed to because I was a girl.


    But now here I was, standing in front of the door of what my parents had always told me was unfit for me. But now that I was here, it made me scared, like I was going to be the one who didn''t fit in, maybe it was a mistake to chose this class despite how persistent and excited I was when my parents acquiesced, but something wouldn''t let me quit as I walked into that room.


    I was early with only the instructor and a few other boys who seemed extremely excited being in the room. They turned to see who the new person who entered the room was and even when seeing a girl their smile didn''t falter.


    They seemed, excited?


    "Hi! I''m Luke, not we don''t get a lot of people in this class so the more the merrier!" I thought for a moment about how he said that they didn''t have many people in sword fighting? It had always been my dream, and again despite the words being meant for encouragement, it made me worry.


    What if I was truly the weird one who brought everything down, I sometimes just wanted to fit in but I always made others have to accommodate me, even when I didn''t do anything, my tail always meant they needed special seating, my ears making people have to control their voice.


    Then the coach cleared his throat and turned and told me, "What are you waiting for? We have attendance," In a voice that made it almost seem like he was trying to act tough, I couldn''t help but giggle a little in which the others joined in.


    Another of the boys asked, "So what made you join? A lot of people view swords as for the weak and outclassed by magic and only suitable for the common people," It hurt me a bit with the word "common people" which so commonly described my class in society but I didn''t let it show, it had taken so much for my parents to send me here and I wasn''t going to waste it, "We don''t usually get girls here either, and I don''t mean that it a bad way," He continued trying to be encouraging.


    Another one of them chimes in, "Yeah, most of the others are so focused on outclassing everybody else in magic that they don''t care about their hobbies anymore."


    Despite my reservations about some of the careless things they had said, I felt connected like I was an outcast with them and that let me comfortably start, "I joined because of when I was young I always watched the boys in my town play fight with swords..." My earlier confidence starts to fade as I begin to hear myself speak, and I feel as if I''m being mocked by myself but to my surprise the instructor is the one who interrupts me.


    "Nothing wrong about following childhood dreams, if anything it shows your integrity and determination to continue pursuing this path," I don''t mention anything about my earlier doubts, the instructor smiles, "Pick out a sword before the others get here, they don''t fund my class enough for everyone to get top quality sadly." The coach shakes his head jokingly.


    I hurry as everyone returns to talking to themselves sometimes sneaking curious glances at me as I try my hardest to not listen in to their conversations but I can''t help it.


    The boys talk about competing, talk about how I''m a girl, but never once do they talk about me with distain or negativity, they seemed encouraged, almost as if they weren''t too sure themselves and me joining had helped them as well. After a while, a few more people enter the room but I don''t pay much attention to them. I count twenty or so in this class, it''s larger than my previous two but that might just be because they forced everyone into one or two groups.


    After everyone picks out a wooden sword from the crate the coach calls roll call as we line up and while looking around I notice one other girl who''s also in my class, ''Wait isn''t that Sylv?''