Everyone was buzzing with news from outside the monastery. A Gatekeeper had reported the word given from a messenger sent ahead of the convoy. There had been a bandit ambush, and a mercenary saved the three house leaders of the Officer's Academy. Leonie's heart skipped a beat. She dared not ask more. "There are hundreds of mercenaries all over Fodlan; don't get your hopes up. You'll only be disappointed," she told herself. The other students were gathering outside the dorms and discussing it all. Rumours flew, and some claimed the teacher sent as an escort had lost their life saving the students. Others argued that the teacher accompanying the three had run off and abandoned them at the first sign of trouble. Still, the idea that a mercenary was responsible for saving their leaders was the most discussed topic. A tall, imposing raven-haired young man dismissed the whole story as impossible. "Lady Edelgard, of the Black Eagle house, is more than capable of defending herself from mere bandits," he claimed. When he spoke, Leonie felt a shiver run down her spine. His voice dripped malicious intent and unspoken threats. "And I would like to talk privately with anyone who thinks otherwise and would waste their time spreading falsehoods." Well, that last part was a clear threat. Leonie decided that she was glad to be in a different house than this character.

The leader of her house, a Claude von Riegen, was among the three students being escorted back to the Monastery. She didn't know much about this Claude fellow. Few people knew about him, even among their house- the Golden Deer. When the advisor to the Archbishop came around and made sure everyone was settled in properly, Leonie had learned that her neighbour, Lysithea, was also from the Leicester Alliance, and so they would be in the same house together.

Now that the students had gathered to discuss the news, Leonie had her first real look at her fellow students. She wondered how many of them were from noble houses. There would be many as the Officer's Academy was, from its inception, founded to teach the art of warfare to the heirs of Fodlan's royalty and nobility.

"Pardon me, miss; I believe I have not had the pleasure of making your acquaintance." a voice behind her said, in a tone of voice that Leonie thought sounded rather prideful. She swivelled around hastily and accidentally swatted aside the boy's hand.

"Oops, sorry bout that. Didn't see you there, " Leonie offered a weak smile in response. "You startled me is all."

The young man, ruffled by the momentary loss of etiquette, held out his hand for hers once again. Puzzled, Leonie raised an eyebrow, and her inaction immediately prompted a question.

"From which line of nobility are you descended from, that you do not return a common gesture of greeting?"

"Oh, I'm not actually- a member of the nobility that is. The name's Leonie Pinelli. I'm from Sauin Village in the Leicester Alliance."

"Oh. Pardon my rudeness, but I must see to other affairs. Nice to meet you."

And without another word, the young man strolled past her and stopped to introduce himself to another girl, complimenting her complexion and hairstyle. Leonie rightly passed it off as nobles being nobles. They only ever seemed to care about themselves and lording over "simple-minded commoners" like her. She didn't take too much offence from the exchange. If she were to survive the whole semester, she would need to coexist with stuck up nobles and the like.

"I've had it with just standing around! I need to hit something; who's game?" a lively boy's voice shouted above the whispers and gossip all around him. The crowd of chatting students parted before him as a short boy with vibrant light-blue hair marched forward; chest puffed out in an attempt to appear more robust than he probably was. A handful of faces in the crowd seemed to agree with his idea and stepped forward. Among them, a heavy-set muscular boy with a mop of blonde hair, a solemn-faced boy with a cold stare and lastly, Leonie herself stepped forward. She had gone on longer than she liked without training, and this would be a great way to pass the time.

The four students marched; rather, they ran full-speed towards the gated training grounds, each confident they would win the unofficial race to see who would arrive first. The boy who had suggested the whole thing was falling behind but undaunted, his shorter legs kicking up a vicious cloud of dust in his wake. Leonie was sprinting alongside the other two, and the breakneck pace they were each racing at led to the bulkier student to miss a step, and he was instantly sent tumbling to a rolling stop with his face planted square in the dirt. Confident, but winded, Leonie could feel the muscles in her legs aching-but there! Just a few more meters to the gate. She would settle only this once for tying with the fleet-footed boy sprinting beside her. Without warning, the boy next to her came to a screeching halt. Glancing in his direction, Leonie saw nothing. Not a second later, confused, she ran headlong into a man who had just come from within the training grounds. The collision was comparable to throwing a pebble at a solid wall. Having collapsed in a heap, Leonie could feel her head spinning as she stood herself upon her wavering legs. The man she had run into was tall, sturdy, and he wore a mysterious mask that covered most of his face.

"And where are you going in such a rush?" spoke the masked man. His words came slowly, calmly and devoid of any emotion. Leonie coughed, then replied, panting for breath in between words.

"Race*huff huff* training grounds *huff puff* to spar *huff*."

"Students wishing to spar must be supervised by a member of the faculty."

The shorter boy had caught up with her, as had the other boy with the sour look. The ruddy blonde was nowhere in sight. Full of excitement and pumped up from the sprint, the blue-haired youth (Leonie would later learn his name was Caspar) whined aloud;

"Hey, come on, big spooky guy, let us in! We just ran all the way here to get a chance to beat the crap out of each other, and nothing's going to stop us!"

Glaring at Caspar, slowly, the masked man pushed open the gate door but addressed the three students in a gravely severe tone.

"I'm Professor Jeritza, and you will be more respectful when addressing me from now on. Just this once will I allow you to use these grounds, but your sparring partner will be myself."

Caspar looked delighted, while Leonie and the other boy felt deep unease at his suggestion.

"This is absurd. Do you expect to test each individually? We came here to pass the time while our house leaders take their sweet time arriving. I've no desire to sit around watching these whelps fail against your might." grumbled the serious boy who had not spoken until now. How rude of him to talk about them like that, thought Leonie.

"No," started Professor Jeritza. "I expect the three of you to spar with me all at once."

Leonie felt a surge of confidence flow, and with raised eyebrows, turned to Jeritza.

"I'm satisfied with that. You look pretty strong. But, are you completely sure that it'll be a fair fight? Three of us against one of you?"

"Unfortunately, no, but I hope you'll put up enough of a fight regardless."