Picking Electives

Unedited

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When all the students were seated, Rowan began the homeroom class.

Since it was only the first day, homeroom was the only class they would attend. For this class, Rowan discussed the rules of the Imperial Academy, where his office was, and what times they could visit him if they needed help. He also told them the purpose of the homeroom class.

Additionally, Rowan was there to help the students pick their elective classes on the first day of school. He would be there to answer any questions the students may have about a class.

Homeroom was the shortest class, but it was important because the teacher would check in on all the students and see if they needed tutoring, counseling, or any missing resources.

“Now that you all understand the importance of Homeroom, I will pass out a list of elective classes.” Rowan while placing 5 sheets of paper at the start of each row. “Be sure you pay attention to the times listed so you do not accidentally book two classes at the same time.”

The students at the front passed the remaining stacks of paper toward the back. Atlas, Cyrus, Ronan, and Sophie sat near each other and got their elective papers around the same time.

Atlas saw a long list of electives and felt a bit conflicted about the third elective he wanted to take. There were so many options and he had to make sure he picked the one he wanted because he would be stuck with them for a year.

Electives were a bit different from the main courses that a student had to take.

The main courses changed every semester because of the pace of learning. There were two semesters per year, so he would be doing, for example, Magic Theory 1 and 2 this year.

As for the electives, even though the courses didn’t change with every semester, they could still progress every year. For example, there was Alchemy 1, 2, and 3. Each year got harder and harder. Some courses didn’t have to be taken every year, but it was optional. Many students found themselves jumping from elective to elective because they wanted to try new things.

Atlas immediately chose Taming, and Monster and Beast Biology, but he didn’t know what to choose as a third elective.

Taming was not only learning how to tame monsters and beasts but also how to take care of them. Monster and Beast Biology was studying their origins, their anatomy and physiology, and other related topics.

“Cyrus, what electives did you pick?” He asked, hoping to get some inspiration.

Cyrus replied, “I chose Accounting, Management, and Law.”

All of these electives would help him complete Sohtris and Avlios’ mission, but also help him with governing the Alnhart territory because Sirius was going to be the next Prime Minister and didn’t have time for territory management for the first couple of years of his career. After that, he would be able to help Sophie with the Norrs' territory when they got married.

Atlas could not say he was surprised because he knew what Cyrus’ goals were. Still, it didn’t give him any inspiration so he decided to ask Sophie and Ronan.

“Sophie, what electives did you pick?”

“Oh, I picked Accounting, Management, and Cooking. I also have to take over the Norrs territory, so I picked Management and Accounting. As for Cooking, I want to be able to make Cyrus’ favorite foods…” She softly said the last part so Cyrus wouldn’t hear her, but anyone would know why she picked that class if they saw what classes she was taking.

That made sense to him, but Atlas liked to eat more than he liked to cook, so he didn’t want to do that. Still, he thought Sophie was cute for choosing cooking.

“Then, I hope to taste your cooking one day too.”

“I will have you try it first to make sure it’s perfect.”

A fitting compromise, but not unexpected.

Atlas turned to Ronan. “What classes did you pick?”

“I chose Magical Engineering, Blacksmithing, and Enchanting,” Ronan responded nonchalantly, “I think these would be interesting since I do not need to take over the Hirean Empire. Plus, the classes Cyrus picked are ones I have already done. I don’t need to do those again.”

“Are you interested in creating things?”

“I don’t know for now, but it doesn’t hurt to try.”

Made sense to Atlas. Ronan got bored really easily, so he hoped these three electives would keep him busy. If Ronan does end up liking them, maybe he could become a leading crafter in the Hirean Empire.

Atlas listened to his friends' choices and reasonings and thought it was a good idea to look over the list one more time to see if there was anything that piqued his interest.

He slowly looked through the list and mentally crossed off a majority of them because he found they were too boring or things he didn’t want to do because he wouldn’t need to do them in the future.

He was able to narrow his options down to Painting, Pottery, and Dancing. He liked to dance, but he didn’t know if he wanted to do that as a hobby, so that was lower on his list.

As for Painting and Pottery…

“Why don’t you pick Pottery?” Ronan suggested. “That way, you can make cool bowls and plates for your favorite desserts and food.”

Ronan had a good point! Plus, he could paint cool designs on his creations, so he could learn to paint on his own while he created awesome things with clay.

“Then I will do that!”

With his electives chosen, Atlas felt excited for the classes, especially pottery! He already had some ideas of what to make and who to give them to.

Rowan clapped his hands to get everyone’s attention. “Is everyone done picking their electives? Does anyone have any questions?”

Everyone finished picking their electives and those who had questions already asked them. Since all the students were good, Homeroom was done for the day.

“Homeroom is finished. Take the time to look for your elective classes and be sure to memorize where all the facilities are. As for those who are chronically lost, please have a plan in place if you get lost.”

That latter part was directed toward Atlas. Luckily, Sir Walter was there to help him out!

“You are all dismissed. If you have any other questions, please come to my desk now.”

Atlas, Cyrus, Sophie, and Ronan didn’t have any questions so they walked out of the classroom together.

“Where should we go first?” Sophie asked because they were going to visit all of their electives together. Plus, it will teach Sir Walter where all the classes were and that would help him guide Atlas to those classes if needed.

“Why don’t we go to Cyrus’ and Sophie’s classes first? They have two classes in common, so it will be easier to go to those two classes first.” Ronan proposed.

“I agree with Ronan,” Cyrus chimed in. “After we visit our classes, let’s go to Ronan’s classes and then Atlas’ classes because the Taming class is in a different building.”

Sophie, Ronan, and Atlas thought Cyrus’ suggestions were valid, so they decided to go with them.

Atlas brought out Sir Walter, Star, and Lapis to join them. Lapis was on Atlas’ head while Sir Walter was to his left and Star was to his right.

The nearby students gave surprised gasps when they saw Atlas’ tamed monsters. Some wanted to run, while others wanted to come over and pet them. Everyone restrained themselves because of Atlas’ identity.

Atlas didn’t seem to mind the eyes on him and tugged on Cyrus’ jacket. “Let’s get going. I want to see what all the classes looked like.”

Cyrus nodded and led the way.

Since Atlas couldn’t read a map to save his life, he followed Cyrus, Ronan, and Sophie who were mapping out their journey so that they would be able to go through the classes without backtracking.

The closest class was the Law class, so they headed there first.

Each elective class shared a classroom with one of the main courses to save space. The homeroom classroom was the same.

It took until lunchtime to go to all the classrooms, but Sir Walter and Star were able to memorize all the locations so Atlas would never be lost.

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Grandpa Marky: Hey everyone! I am finally done with the 10-hour shifts. I will be going back to a normal schedule for about two weeks. Then I will be doing my overnight shifts! And if y'all know me well, you would have noticed I thrive at night/super early morning haha. Anyway, thanks for being patient with me these past few weeks. I can't wait for the next two weeks to be over so I can get more writing done. Have a lovely day/night my beautiful grandchildren <3