Summary

The North Centoria Imperial Sword Mastery Academy (修剣学院 shūken gakuin) in Underworld is the most renowned fighting academy of Norlangarth Empire, and it is assumed the other three empires have their own in the other sides of Centoria. Only a fifth of its students are common people, the rest belonging to the noble families. The maintenance fees and tutors are paid from the empire's coffers, so the tuition is free.

Location and Geography

The Academy is situated in the 5th district of Centoria. The campus fence is iron, with gates to the north and south of it. A third of the Academy's grounds to the east is overgrown with a forest teeming with animals, and its west side has a hill and a river.

Campus

The Academy has a large practice arena, libraries, dormitories for the trainees, instructors, and elite swordsmen, an administrative building with a disciplinary room underground, and more facilities, including the Academy's Bells of Time-telling located on the main auditorium roof.

There are 120 trainees with enough space for 10 per room in an old 2-story dormitory with a roof laid in green slate tiles. The dormitory rules require the novices to return by 5pm. The novice girls live on the 1st floor and boys on the 2nd. The commoner rooms are 106 and 206, and are separate from the rich and noble scions to avoid the possible awkwardness. There are the east-wing cafeteria and the small west-wing garden of the Four Great Holy Flowers. The garden is fenced and has 4 blocks of flower beds, and is considered part of the dormitory. The flowers in it are Anemones, Marigolds, Dahlias, and Catteleyas, one block. There is a metal gardening equipment shed in its corner. Miss Azurica is the dorm supervisor, and she is either at the reception or in the duty office sorting the students' documents.

The elite swordsmen-in-training have a separate dormitory on high ground, and a dedicated spacious indoor practice area besides. The building is 3-story and cylindrical, with an atrium in the middle, the rooms built in rings around it. The trainee rooms are on the outer edge in the south. The first floor features a trainee-only mess hall with good food, a lounge, and a large bath with no hot water quota. Floors 2 and 3 have each 6 student rooms built in such a way that every two bedrooms share a living room. The trainees are assigned rooms based on the first-year entrance exam results, whereby the top-ranked trainee gets room 301 on the eastern side and the twelfth-ranked gets 206 on the western side.

The Sword Mastery Academy Large Practice Field is the main practice arena of the Academy. The long and officious name designates a large sports hall with a polished white floor and 4 black-tiled square sparring arenas. The grandstands are built all around and allow 260 people to spectate, used during the examinations for all the students and staff at once.

Enrollment

The examinations are held before the new school year begins. The commoners are required to present a city guard's captain's recommendation letter, which implies six month of unblemished service. The rich nad noble are allowed to examinations without extra requirements. First-class nobles employ private tutors, so they do not need the Academy.

At the examination, the candidates display their sword style performance arts, and the instructors grade it. The 120 best enroll each year, and 12 of those are given the privilege of serving as valets to the 12 elite swordsmen-in-training that year; the latter pick their valets for themselves, with the choice sequence ordered from the highest to the lowest-ranking elite.

School Year

Rules and Punishment

The rules are the same for everyone, although things like picking elite valets for the elite trainees also exist.

The list of Academy regulations is very long. Among the known rules, nobody is allowed to disrespect each other, enter the rooms that are not theirs without permission, or use any Sacred Art rituals on others.

The 12 elites have a Punishment Right for the borderline cases where they can assign the perpetrators to clean the Academy premises, copy a thousand lines of rituals, practice swordsmanship or duel with that elite. The known borderline cases are ignoring someone's addressing, insulting another student, or staining a student's uniform on accident. The Punishment Right is meant to delegate authority on guiding novice and advanced trainees, but it can just as well be used on fellow elites. A system of complaints to the management is also available.

Daily Life

The only classes in addition to fencing practice are Law, Sacred Arts, and History. On business days, academic activities last from 9 am to 3 pm. From 3 to 4 pm, the valets need to attend to their mentor's room or the elite themselves, while the rest clean their own dorms, repair their gear, or water the Sacred Flowers. The curfew is enacted for novices after 5pm on business days or 7 pm on rest days, and they cannot leave the Academy grounds on business days. The novices are expected to pray before dinner at 6 pm. After 7, the trainees have free time until 10 pm, and must be present in their rooms by 8.

The elite dorm has less strict requirements. For example, the dinner can be any time between 6 and 8 pm, eaten either in the mess hall or in the room.

There is one rest day a week, allowing to go see the relatives or just sightsee. Practical training is forbidden.

Examinations

The sparring matches last until a participant is cornered, but an exception from the Taboo Index can be made for a one-strike duel if both participants accept it, as the Academy has healing Arts and medicine. The wooden swords of the same priority and exclusively the Norlangarth Style must be used, and the outcome is judged by an instructor.

Novices pass Advancement Exams at the end of the 3rd month, which is an official spar with an instructor, style performance, and a Sacred Arts exam. The trainees scoring the best 12 become elite swordsmen-in-training and get a better dormitory, their own valets and the right to customize their uniform colors.

The elite trials are held 4 times per year. It is an elimination tournament among the elites themselves. The final battle is a duel that is not graded but the judges make the decision instead. The trial performance is used to rank the elites anew.

Novices take their trials too, but they are instead judged by the combined grades of sparring versus the instructors, style, and Sacred Arts skills.

There are more tests throughout the year, including advanced Sacred Arts exams including writing and element forming.

Graduation

After 2 years of training, the trainees take part in the Graduation Contest, also in the 3rd month. It is identical to the novices' trials, but the two top-ranked students get to enter the Empire Swordsmanship Tournament also held in North Centoria.

Valets traditionally give their graduating elites a gift the day before graduation.

Uniform

There is an Academy uniform that varies by gender and ranking, although it is always some primary color (dark grey for the non-elite trainees) and the secondary color is white. It consists of a collared jacket with folded cuffs, and either pants or skirt, depending on the gender. The elite swordsmen-in-training get two separate insignia on white background on their jackets: one centered below the neck, showing two downward swords, and another over their left shoulder up to the shoulder blade with one sword.

Trivia

The Academy students may bring no more than one personal sword to the campus, and it may only be used for personal training.

References

• Sword Mastery Academy - Fan Wiki