Lohran yawned in boredom, sitting alongside many others who felt the same as the opening ceremony dragged on.
It had been almost three hours since it began.
While there were exciting moments, like the demonstrations by second-year students, the ceremony mostly consisted of speeches and reminders from the faculty and academy higher-ups.
Lohran didn't need pep talks to motivate him, as his burning passion for becoming stronger was more than enough.
Fortunately, the ceremony didn't last much longer, and they were soon dismissed.
'Aihh… finally,' he sighed in relief as he stood up, stretching his limbs before heading toward the exit of the academy's ceremony hall.
He pulled out his digital handscreen from his pocket and checked the time.
'Only the eighteenth hour, huh?'
It was still too early to sleep, and he found himself momentarily unsure of what to do next.
Luckily, his stomach decided for him as it growled in protest.
'Hmm… fine, then. I'll check out this academy's canteen, or cafeteria, or whatever they call it…'
He had already been able to tour more than half the entire academy earlier, so he knew where the canteen was.
Heading there, he arrived around ten minutes later.
'Hoh, it's bigger than I thought…'
The cafeteria was vast, with thousands of available seats, despite the fact that thousands of students were already dining.
At one of the far ends of the open-space establishment stood a massive counter, staffed by nearly a hundred workers—some cooking, others serving meals to the hungry students.
Lohran quickly headed to the counter and queued up, scanning the selection of dishes.
When it was his turn, he asked if he could order some Zorphling meat.
Unfortunately, due to academy rules, he would have to skip it.
Their academy cards, which contained their academy credits, wouldn't be issued until tomorrow.
For now, he could only choose from the free, mundane meal options: one meat side dish, one vegetable side dish, and one main dish of either rice, noodles, or bread.
If he wanted anything beyond that, he'd have to pay with actual money.
The free meal was more than enough for Lohran's small frame, so he didn't need to dip into his pocket money.
With a tray containing a whole fish, a plate of stir-fried veggies, and two slices of toasted wheat bread with butter, he chose an empty table and began to eat, savoring the fine cooking.
The meal teased his olfactory senses and taste buds with its savory goodness.
The academy chefs really know their stuff...
Once done, he cleaned up after himself, following the canteen's strict policy.
Skipping that step would apparently cost him five academy credits, as per one of the reminders in the opening ceremony.
While Lohran wasn't sure how important academy credits would be, he didn't want to lose any for something so trivial.
He was back in his lavish dormitory room fifteen minutes later, pausing to appreciate it with a brief smile once more before heading to the bathroom to relieve himself, take a quick half-bath, and brush his teeth.
He wanted to sleep early since, according to the registration confirmation form, they were expected to be in their assigned classroom thirty minutes ahead of schedule for a brief orientation with their general knowledge class adviser.
This meant he had to arrive around the seventh and a half hour.
Unfortunately, going to bed early turned out to be a bad idea, as his excitement made it hard for him to fall asleep.
To burn off his excess energy, Lohran did a light, one-hour workout, took another half-bath, and finally drifted off into a sweet slumber around the twenty-first hour.
When the sixth hour of the next day arrived, he woke up, eagerly hopping out of bed and landing on the lavish engineered wood flooring with a grin.
He quickly headed to the bathroom and, about thirty minutes later, finished getting ready in the neat and sleek black academy uniform, accented with touches of white and saffron, which had already been prepared for him in one of the suite's cabinets.
It was a perfect fit, making Lohran smile as he admired his overall handsomeness in the mirror for a few seconds.
'Hohoh, this new body of mine is practically undefeatable in the face card department, at the very least,' he mused, giving himself generous praise.
In high spirits, he strode out of his dormitory room, a small red backpack slung over his shoulder, with his training uniform packed for the afternoon's physical training and combat classes.
He greeted the dormitory staff with cheerful enthusiasm, drawing smiles in return.
It was rare for aristocrats to pay them any attention, so usually, a simple nod of acknowledgment was enough to make their day.
Lohran's cheerful greetings lifted their moods enough to last two whole days.
With an hour to spare before the meeting, he had a quick breakfast at the academy canteen before heading over to his class's building.
It was a majestic, modern, and expansive six-story structure, housing eighty-five classrooms, computer laboratories, a library, and various other educational facilities.
Lohran was, of course, impressed again, though he was beginning to get used to the academy's grandeur.
It was only a matter of time before he stopped acting like an inexperienced countryside aristocrat.
Entering the building, he walked up the stairs to the fourth floor, searching for his assigned classroom: room 404.
He couldn't find it.
It was only after he asked a janitor that he found the said room.
Upon locating it, he slid the door open and boldly scanned the room.
His classroom was way wider, but it wasn't too different from the ones he saw back on Earth.
There were tables, chairs, the teacher's desk, a whiteboard, and a projector suspended from the ceiling.
He was about twenty-five minutes early, and only around fifteen people were inside, most of them commoners, with just two aristocrats like himself.
They were easy to spot, given their aloof demeanor and clear reluctance to mingle with their classmates.
Lohran was about to choose a random empty seat when, suddenly, he spotted someone familiar.
"Oh? Tibberdy, you're assigned to this class too?" he said, his voice loud, brimming with confidence, and utterly indifferent to what his classmates might think.
Hearing the voice, the timid, nervous fatty looked up, startled and unsure of how to respond.
But then, upon recognizing Lohran, the plump young man broke into a bright smile, looking utterly relieved.
He was, fortunately, somehow in the same general knowledge class as the silver thigh he was supposed to cling to!
Naturally, the red-haired runt chose to sit beside Tibberdy, already planning to treat him to five meals later.
But the fatty seemed unsure how to react.
Though he'd been the one hoping to build rapport with the second young master of House Neyvaris, Tibberdy hadn't expected the aristocrat to take the initiative and so stuttered awkwardly through their first few exchanges.
This slightly irked Lohran, who couldn't help wondering why someone as tall as Tibberdy was so timid.
Sure, the plump young man was out of shape, but with the academy's rigorous training, wouldn't it just be a matter of time before he achieved a decent physique that would allow him to defend himself against bullies at the very least?
In Lohran's opinion, Tibberdy ought to carry himself with more confidence.
Still, the red-haired runt patiently continued the conversation, quietly developing a side goal: fixing Tibberdy's extremely soft attitude.
He found it hard to ignore such displays of unmanliness.
Men, after all, should be confident, tough, and unyielding in their principles, never allowing anyone to walk all over them.
That was what Lohran had learned in his past life and what he still stood by.
The way Tibberdy was now, it was clear he'd be an easy target for scumbags like Cyrus.
Lohran had already decided he'd look after the poor fatty, at least for a semester.
But whether Tibberdy could change was ultimately up to him.
If the guy wasn't willing to help himself, Lohran wouldn't waste any more time on him. There were limits to how much effort he was willing to make.
The classroom gradually filled up as the two young men chatted, awkwardly at first, but more comfortably after a few minutes, as Tibberdy realized that Lohran was surprisingly casual and easy to talk to, perhaps even a bit brash and uncultured compared to most aristocrats.
The plump young man was fascinated by how unreserved and down-to-Edelmundr Lohran was.
A few minutes later, only one seat remained empty, and it stayed that way until a scholarly, bespectacled man with stubble and curly black hair, who looked to be in his late twenties or early thirties, entered the room.
He was clearly older than everyone else, making it easy to identify him as an instructor.
"Hello, young Dawnchasers. I'm Isaac Wallace, the class advisor for GKC-02. It's a pleasure to meet you all."