"Yes. I will answer it," she said.
He took a deep breath.
"Me and Leo, and even Madison. We are all commoners. Are you talking to us because we are worthwhile investments or because we are your friends?" He asked.
Lyra took a shaky breath. "I am not even going to ask why you got such a suspicious question. To me, all of you are good friends. I didn't think I would be making friends like you when I came here, but I don't regret it." She said.
"Fine. I'll tell you what I think about your apology then. The reason I got mad wasn't what you said. It's what you signify. You are a noble and they aren't the best kind of people," he said.
Lyra nodded. "I know. But not all nobles are like that. Eldridge is one of the best cities for commoners because of that. We treat commoners very well."
Marcus let out a laugh. "That doesn't help me. There are a lot of nobles and that makes me suspicious. And I will... I will never be able to trust a noble's words ever." His laugh died down as he said in a regretful tone.
"Did something happen to you?" She asked him.
Marcus shook his head. "It's nothing. Don't worry. I'm sorry for overreacting. Do you know why Leo didn't come to class last time?" He changed the topic.
She saw this but went with it. "I don't know. I thought you would since you are closer to him than me."
He shook his head. "No, I don't. We'll ask him today if he shows up," he said.
They got to class an entire 30 minutes before the class started. They sat in their normal seats, still leaving a seat for Leo. As they were waiting, Marcus remembered something.
"So who was the Remus person? Why was he so snobby?" He asked Lyra.
Lyra sighed. "He is from the main family. So I am part of a branch family. My great-grandfather was the brother of the current head of the Eldridge Family. But because he was not talented in magic, he had to become an Aura Knight.
They forced him to split from the main family since he wasn't even as powerful. He could only become a 3rd Circle Aura Knight. His brother gave him the title of a Baron after he became the head, but until then we were considered fallen nobles.
So my entire family is only a family of Aura Knights because none of us have talent in magic. But we still meet the main family once in a while. The current head is more accepting of us than the previous head. Especially after my great-grandfather died.
Remus is the head's great-grandson. He is a mage, so he naturally feels some superiority compared to my family. But we still have met a few times and so we know each other. The reason he is so snobbish is because he is in the line to become the Marquis," Lyra explained.
After she finished her explanation, Marcus empathized with her a little while staying in silence. Around twenty minutes after they came, Madison entered the lecture hall and sat beside Lyra. She saw that the situation between the two wasn't as serious and sighed in relief. They all waited for Leo.
After ten minutes, the lecture started but Leo was nowhere to be seen. They looked around to see if he sat somewhere else but he wasn't in the lecture hall. They became glum when they saw this.
Lyra blamed herself a little for this. She thought he didn't come because he didn't want to be with the group that was divided because of the fight. Marcus thought the same thing.
Meanwhile, Maria was very disappointed that Leo hadn't shown up yet. At this point, she was starting to give up on Leo. There were still two other great candidates to replace him. Both Lyra and Marcus could easily be able to compete if they were trained just a little more.
After the lecture, she was about to talk to both of them. Before they were getting up to leave, she said something softly.
"The both of you should wait. I want to talk to you," she said lightly. Only Lyra and Marcus heard her in the entire hall. They looked at each other with confused expressions.
As everyone was leaving the building, they stayed in their seats.
"Are you not coming?" Madison asked.
"You go ahead. We will come after some time," Marcus said.
She nodded and left. They waited till the lecture hall was completely empty. Once it was empty, Maria walked to them.
"Well, the first thing I want to say to you is that you should tell your friend to come to the classes. If he can't take this seriously, then he won't be able to become a successful Aura Knight," she said.
Marcus shook his head. "I don't know why he isn't coming, but he is definitely taking it seriously. When I lived with him, he was always training. I am sure he is training right now," Marcus said resolutely. He seemed very confident in his statement which made Maria doubt her assumption about Leo.
"Okay, then. If you see him, tell him to come to class. The second thing I want to talk about is the Phoenix Trials."
When she said this, Lyra's eyes widened.
"Are we being considered?" She asked. She saw Maria nod a little.
"As first-years? That has never happened before!" Lyra exclaimed.
"It isn't confirmed. It will only happen if you can become ranked before the selections happen. We are deciding to take 1st Years as the reserved to the Phoenix Trials, so you will need to be at least ranked to qualify. And I mean ranked in the Student Rankings," she said.
Marcus was confused.
"What are the Phoenix Trials?" He asked.
"I'll let your friend explain. Also tell this to your other friend, Leo. I want to give you just as much of a chance to succeed as the students in the other instructor's classes. So please work hard. That was all I wanted to say," she said.
"By when do we have to get onto the rankings?" Lyra asked.
Maria paused. "4 months. If you can get onto the rankings by January, then you will be strongly considered," she said.
"Thanks," Lyra said and dragged Marcus with her out of the lecture hall while showing an excited side to her that he had never seen.
"What is this thing? Why are you this excited?" Marcus asked.
Lyra shook her head. "I will tell you. First, we have to tell Leo. He cannot be missing out on this. Don't we know where he lives?" She asked him.
Marcus sighed. "We do, but that would be invading his private space too much. I don't think it's the right thing to go to his dorm to ask him."
Lyra frowned. "Then he needs to get out quicker. If he misses this, he will fall behind us way too much."
"So what is this thing??" Marcus couldn't take it anymore and asked with a raised tone. "You freaked out ever since you heard it."
Lyra took a deep breath to calm down. "Sorry, it's just a big deal to me. I'll tell you now."
