Chapter 13: First Night at the Academy
The moonlight streaming through the medical room window woke Sirius from his long sleep. His ice-blue eyes opened slowly, adjusting to the room's darkness. The first thing he did was move his left arm that had been broken earlier.
"Hmm?" Sirius furrowed his brow in wonder. His left arm moved normally, with no pain at all. He rotated his wrist several times and clenched his fingers - everything functioned perfectly.
"The healing magic abilities at Asteria Academy are truly extraordinary," he muttered with admiration. He clearly remembered how his arm bone had broken with a horrifying sound, but now it was as if nothing had ever happened.
Sirius sat up on the bed and observed his surroundings. To his right, there were several other beds occupied by students who were also being treated. Most of them were prospective students who might have been injured during the entrance test earlier.
When he turned to his left, an interesting sight greeted him. Astrid was sitting in a chair beside his bed in a sleeping position, her head slightly tilted to the side with her black hair falling to cover part of her face. Even more endearing, Sirius's small white fox was sleeping soundly on the girl's lap, its small body rising and falling with the rhythm of her breathing.
Sirius smiled thinly seeing the scene. "Astrid," he called with a soft voice, trying not to wake other students who were sleeping.
No response. The girl was still fast asleep.
"Astrid," Sirius called a little louder while extending his hand to gently touch the girl's shoulder.
Astrid slowly opened her ruby red eyes. For a moment she looked confused, not knowing where she was, until finally her red eyes met Sirius's ice-blue eyes.
"You're awake," she said while straightening her sitting position. Her voice was slightly hoarse from just waking up. "How do you feel?"
"Much better," Sirius answered while moving his left arm. "Thank you for staying with me."
Astrid shrugged casually. "It's nothing. Besides, I didn't have any special plans anyway."
The white fox in Astrid's lap began to stir and opened its small eyes. Seeing Sirius was awake, the small fox immediately jumped onto the bed and ran toward its master.
"Kyu~" the fox's small voice echoed happiness.
"Yes, yes, I'm better now," Sirius said while gently stroking his white fox's head. "Sorry for making you worry."
Astrid watched the interaction between Sirius and his white fox with a slightly strange expression. "You're... the type of person who's gentle with animals but cruel to humans, aren't you?"
Sirius was silent for a moment, then laughed softly. "Maybe. Animals won't stab you in the back or lie for their own interests."
"Hmm, an interesting perspective," Astrid said while leaning back in her chair. "But also quite naive."
"Naive?" Sirius looked at her with slightly narrowed eyes.
"Animals also have survival instincts. They'll do anything to protect themselves or their families, including deceiving predators or even their own kind," Astrid explained in a calm but firm tone. "The difference is they do it instinctively, not because of ambition or greed like humans."
Sirius looked at the girl before him with a different gaze. "You're... not like most people our age."
"And neither are you," Astrid replied with a thin smile. "What kid can defeat the head of the Moldenheart family?"
The atmosphere became slightly awkward after Astrid brought up the earlier fight. Sirius didn't know what to say.
"Oh right," Sirius finally opened a conversation to change the topic. "What about the other tests? Was there anything interesting after I fainted?"
Astrid shook her head. "Nothing interesting. After... the earlier incident, the prospective students' spirits were somewhat dampened. But according to the Academy Head, our batch is quite special."
"Special how?"
"The average strength of this year's new students is far above normal. Some of them already have abilities equivalent to second-year students," Astrid explained while tidying her hair. "The Academy Head said this is the strongest batch in the last ten years."
Sirius nodded with interest. "Then what about class and dormitory assignments?"
"Ah, about that," Astrid reached for a piece of paper from her skirt pocket. "This is the class list that's already been divided. You're in Class A."
Sirius took the paper and read it. Sure enough, his name was written on the Class A list along with several other names he didn't recognize.
"Class A, huh," he muttered while furrowing his brow. "Then what class are you in?"
"Class S," Astrid answered in an ordinary tone, as if it were a normal thing.
"Class S?" Sirius looked at her with wonder. "Isn't that the special class for students with extraordinary abilities?"
Astrid nodded. "I'm in the same class as Mikhail, Aeris, Fiora, Gleen, Elena, Marcus, Derek, and several others who are considered talented and strong."
Sirius was silent. He didn't understand why he was placed in Class A when his abilities clearly far exceeded most students. But after thinking about it, maybe this had something to do with his father.
As head of the Grandelbell family, Regis must have great influence at the academy. Maybe his father asked for Sirius to be placed in a regular class so he wouldn't stand out too much. Moreover, August as academy head didn't question his family name at all and even seemed to be trying to hide his true identity.
Sirius remembered the words of his mother and sister, Luna, before he left for the academy. They told him to learn to live independently without involving the great name of the Grandelbell family.
"Father is really serious after all," he muttered softly while smiling slightly.
"What?" Astrid asked because she didn't hear clearly.
"Nothing, it's nothing," Sirius shook his head. Then he got down from the bed and stretched his body. "By the way, what time is it now?"
Astrid looked toward the window. "It seems like it's already midnight. Why?"
Sirius walked to the window and looked outside. In the academy courtyard, he could see many new students still wandering around, spending time with their new friends.
Some were sitting on garden benches chatting, some were playing simple games, and in the distance he could see Mikhail, Aeris, and several other students playing with fireworks.
"Wow, they look like they're having fun," Sirius said while smiling. "Astrid, want to take a walk outside? It seems like a shame to spend our first night at the academy just sitting quietly in the medical room."
Astrid looked at him with a skeptical expression. "You just woke up from fainting, and now you want to go for a walk?"
"I feel much better. Besides, this is our first night as students at Asteria Academy. Shouldn't we celebrate it?"
The white fox on his shoulder also made a small sound as if agreeing with its master's suggestion.
Astrid was silent for a moment, then stood up from her chair. "Alright. But if you faint again, don't blame me."
"You can carry me again," Sirius smiled broadly.
The two of them left the medical room carefully, trying not to wake other students who were sleeping. The academy corridors at night looked very different - the crystal lighting emitted a soft glow that created mysterious shadows on the walls.
"Do you know the way to the main courtyard?" Astrid asked while walking beside Sirius.
"No. This is my first time exploring the academy at night," Sirius answered honestly. "But I can follow the sound of laughter from outside."
They walked along the long corridor, occasionally passing senior students on night patrol. The senior students just nodded politely and didn't ask anything, probably because they already knew about the incident in the garden that afternoon.
"Sirius," Astrid suddenly called his name when they were almost at the exit door.
"Yes?"
"Are you... really okay with what happened earlier?" Astrid's voice sounded more serious than usual.
Sirius stopped walking and looked at the girl beside him. "What do you mean?"
"You almost killed someone much stronger than you. And based on your expression at that time..." Astrid hesitated to continue. "You looked like you didn't care at all about other people's lives."
Sirius was silent for quite a while. His eyes stared ahead, as if seeing something far away.
"Theron threatened my life first," he finally said in a flat tone. "I just returned it in the same way."
"But you could have stopped it before it went that far," Astrid said in a somewhat accusatory tone. "You had the chance to give in or find another solution."
Sirius looked at Astrid with a cold gaze. "Astrid, there are two types of people in this world. The first are those who give in and end up becoming victims. The second are those who don't give in and stay alive."
"And you choose to be the second?"
"I choose to survive," Sirius answered firmly. "If I gave in to Theron today, tomorrow there would be someone else trying to step on me. And the day after there would be another. Until eventually I really die."
Astrid looked at him with an expression that was hard to interpret. There was a mixture of understanding, concern, and something else in her red eyes.
"You..." she said softly. "You've experienced something bad in the past, haven't you?"
"Just bitter experiences from my sister," He continued walking toward the exit.
When they finally came out to the academy courtyard, a festive atmosphere immediately greeted them. Dozens of new students were gathered in small groups, some sitting on the grass chatting, some playing simple games, and some just walking around enjoying the night air.
"Wow, it's so lively," Sirius said while smiling. His cold expression from earlier disappeared instantly, replaced with a smile that looked more natural.
"That's Mikhail and the others," Astrid pointed toward a group of students playing fireworks near the large fountain.
Sirius looked in the direction Astrid pointed. Mikhail appeared to be lighting a blue firework that exploded beautifully in the air, while Aeris was creating small wind spirals that made the fire sparks dance beautifully.
"They look like they're having fun," Sirius commented. "Want to join them?"
"Up to you," Astrid answered in an indifferent tone, but Sirius could see that the girl was actually interested too.
But before they could move, someone suddenly called their names.
"Sirius! Astrid!"
They both turned and saw Fiora running toward them with a beaming face. The girl looked very happy.
"You're out of the medical room!" Fiora said enthusiastically. "Sirius, how are you feeling? We were all worried after you fainted earlier."
"I'm much better, thank you," Sirius answered kindly. "Sorry for making you all worry."
"It's okay! What's important is that you're healthy," Fiora smiled broadly. "Come join us! Mikhail just got some nice fireworks from his upperclassman."
Astrid glanced at Sirius. "You want to?"
"Why not?" Sirius shrugged.
The three of them walked toward Mikhail's group and the others. Upon arriving there, all eyes immediately focused on Sirius.
"Long time no see," Mikhail greeted him with a smile. "Good to see you've recovered. We were just talking about your fight with Kael's father."
"Oh?" Sirius looked at him with interest. "What are your thoughts?"
"Amazing," Aeris said with sparkling eyes. "I've never seen sword magic like that before. Living paintings that can attack... that's truly extraordinary."
Gleen nodded in agreement. "Your abilities far exceed ordinary students. Even exceed some senior students I've seen."
"You're all exaggerating," Sirius said while laughing softly. "I was just lucky."
"Lucky?" Derek, who had been quiet, suddenly spoke up. "You defeated Kael's father easily. That's not luck."
The atmosphere suddenly became slightly tense. Sirius could sense there was a tone of dislike in Derek's voice.
Astrid, sensing the tension, immediately took over the conversation. "Derek, didn't you also show impressive abilities earlier? The sword magic you used is quite rare."
Derek looked at Astrid with a slightly surprised gaze. "You were paying attention?"
"Of course. I pay attention to all interesting prospective students," Astrid answered in a casual tone but there was something dominant in the way she spoke.
Sirius observed the interaction between Astrid and Derek with interest. The girl indeed had a quite firm and confident way of speaking, even toward people she had just met.
"Besides," Astrid continued while looking at Derek with her sharp red eyes, "strength is relative. What's important is how we use it."
Derek was silent, seemingly not knowing what to say facing Astrid's attitude that was so direct and confident.
"I'm just annoyed at losing in one attack from that damn Mikhail."
Mikhail, sensing the atmosphere was becoming awkward because of himself, quickly raised a firework. "Come on, we're here to have fun. Sirius, want to try lighting this firework?"
Sirius took the firework from Mikhail's hand. "Sure, why not?"
"Add your magic energy to it," Mikhail instructed.
Astrid used a little of her fire magic to light the firework's fuse. Within seconds, the firework exploded in the air with beautiful colors - blue, white, and a little silver that sparkled like snow.
"Wow, so beautiful!" Fiora clapped enthusiastically.
The white fox on Sirius's shoulder also made a small happy sound seeing the light show above them.
"Your firework has unique colors," Aeris commented while looking up. "Blue and white with silver flashes... like reflecting your personality."
Sirius smiled hearing that comment. "Maybe someone's magic does reflect their soul."
"In that case," Astrid suddenly said while taking another firework, "let's see what my soul is like."
She lit the firework with fire magic that was slightly reddish. The firework exploded with dark red, black, and a little gold that created a very dramatic pattern in the night sky.
"Captivating," Sirius commented while looking at Astrid. "Dark but beautiful. Dangerous but alluring."
Astrid looked at him with a thin smile. "That's an interesting description."
"I'm just saying what I see," Sirius replied with sparkling eyes.
Their group continued playing with fireworks while chatting about various things - about the academy, about the classes they would enter, about their plans for the future, and about their respective dreams.
That night, for the first time in a long while, Sirius felt he could relax and enjoy time with people his own age.
Maybe life at the academy wouldn't be as bad as he had imagined.