It's been two more weeks since I took the pcement test. And it was finally time for me to get the results.

  Rose and I were heading over today to see what css we ended up in.

  Rose was wearing a sleeveless shirt and pants. She was showing a lot less skin then before. On top, she was wearing a type of cloak as well.

  I was wearing a white shirt sleeveless and pink skirt, with bck thigh highs. It was a warm day, so I didn't need that many clothes. I had an over the shoulder bag with me again, holding a bunch of things.

  Emily had asked that we wait for her before checking our csses.

  We were at the school gates waiting for her.

  “There you are” she said, running up to us. “You look good today, Nyx”.

  She did not greet Rose.

  She was wearing very casual clothes. I really enjoyed the more fantasy-like clothes, but what I would call modern clothes also existed. Her outfit was a simple pleated skirt and a shirt. On top she had a jacket, wearing it so only one shoulder was covered.

  “You look good as well” I tell her.

  We had spent a lot of time together during the st few days. She always wore more fancy clothes those days, but made it clear she wanted me to complement her no matter what.

  With all of us here, we went into the school grounds.

  The css announcements were on dispy like the testing groups were. A set of boards.

  But now there was one for each css. Since Emily was pretty sure she had gotten into S css, and Rose said she thought I did as well, that is where we went first.

  And we found both me and Emily on the list. Emily scored the third best in the line up, but I scored, or tied, for first. Since Emily was ranked third, that meant there was one person who scored in between us.

  Our scores aren’t dispyed here, but we would see those when we start csses.

  “Well, look at that. Both of us made it into S css” She said while reading the list.

  I saw from the corner of my eye that Rose was annoyed by that comment. She was very hard to read, but after 4 years, I learned her expressions.

  It didn’t take us very long to find Rose on the list. She was the very top of A css.

  “That's fine. There is still a chance I can move up ter” she said, determination entering her voice.

  “Well, we will see” Emily said.

  “I believe in you” I tell her.

  After checking our csses, we needed to go find our css and talk to our homeroom teacher. They would then give us paperwork to choose our csses.

  Since S and A css were right next to each other, we walked over together.

  A css had a few more people at it, so Rose had to wait, while Emily and I could go right in.

  When we walked in, we found our homeroom teacher.

  ‘Welcome to S css. I am your homeroom teacher, Ms Lysandea Stromveil. Can I have your names?” the teacher asks us.

  She was a youngish woman, about 25 years old. She was a new teacher this year. She was a character in Starcross adventure who had an interesting side quest during each year.

  “Emily von Stardom”

  “Nyx von Blut”

  “Oh, your majesty. Welcome. And Welcome to you, Mr Blut” she said to us. She knew I was a boy, even with my clothes. This was because my gender was listed in the paperwork she should have for every student.

  It wasn’t really a problem for me still.

  “Well, here you both go” she said, handing us a stack of paper. “There you will find your dorm assignments, as well as the paperwork to pick your electives. Since both of you are combat css, a few choices were already picked for you”.

  “Thank you” We both told her.

  “Oh, and Nyx, you need to go to the headmaster's office” She tells me.

  “Hmm, what is this about?” I ask.

  “Oh, it's simple. Since you tied for the first position in the grades, you need to talk about the speech that the css representative will give during the entrance ceremony”

  “Oh, ok” I tell her. I had no clue where the office was, but I generally knew it was a different building.

  ∴

  It took me a while, but I finally found the headmaster's office.

  One of their assistants led me into the office, saying they were expecting me.

  When I walked in, I found an elf woman sitting behind a desk, with Aric seating in a chair in the office.

  “Thank you for coming, Mr. Nyx, I am Elenda Ganodel, the current headmaster of the royal magic academy” they tell me.

  “Your Welcome?” I say, confused by how I should answer.

  My response does get a ugh from Aric.

  “Well, you must be wondering why I brought you here” Headmaster Ganodel says. “You see, for the first time in the history of the academy two people tied for the top spot in the upcoming css. That would be you two. You both scored perfect scores on both the written test and both parts of the combat test.”

  “Really, but I was about to lose” Aric said.

  “But you didn’t. You held back the advance for long enough that it no longer mattered. And Nyx, you never took damage, showing that if you had longer, you would eventually find a path through. Both show excellent instinct and combat prowess”

  “Thank you” I say to the headmaster.

  “But, to the problem. As you might now, the top student of the new css pys an important role. Both now, and through the school year. To start, and the most immediate problem, they are to give a speech during the entrance ceremony for new students”

  “And since there are two of us this year, but only one speech, you don’t know what to do” Aric said.

  “Yes, exactly” the headmaster said. “So we called you both to discuss it”

  “I think he should do it” both me and Aric say at the same time.

  “Hmm, so neither of you want to do it”

  “Yes” I say.

  “It’s not that I don’t want to, I just think he should” Aric said.

  “See, he wants it. I don’t. Problem solved” I say.

  In truth, I was super nervous about giving a speech like that. I get nervous talking to a small group, so in front of the massive school, that would be insane.

  “Hmm, why don’t you want to do it. I remember your sister was very excited to be the head of her css” the headmaster asks me.

  “Lilith and I are very different people” I say. “I am just nervous about the speech.”

  “Well, then I think that settles it” the head master says. “Aric, you will be giving the speech”

  “Allright” he says.

  With that, we both leave the office. When we getoutside, I find both Rose and Emily waiting for me.

  “So, you two are here as well” Aric said, seeing them.

  Neither of them respond, just staring at him.

  “I’ll leave you to it” Aric said, walking out of the room.

  “Good luck on the speech” I say after him, trying to be nice.

  He waved back to me.

  And right when he was out of sight. Emily turned to me. “What was that about?” she asked, very intently.

  “Since we tied for the top spot, we needed to decide who would be giving the speech at the entrance ceremony”

  “And you let him do it? Nyx that's a huge honor” Emily said.

  “I don’t really want to do it, so it ended up with him” I say, sheepishly. Emily was getting really close to me as we talked.

  “Tell the truth” Emily said, somehow knowing I was hiding something.

  “Ok, I was nervous about it, and he didn’t care. So the headmaster chose him” I expined.

  “Well…” Emily said, having a smile grow on her face. “That's understandable. Well, we should head back home for the day. We will have a busy week” she said, leading us out of the administration building.

  As we walked out of the building, I suddenly got a pop up from the status screen

  *Hidden Quest - Top of the Css 1*

  *Complete*

  *Bonus Earned - Passive Skill:Critical 1*

  *New Game Plus Bonus*

  *You Gained 100 Points*