After completing the necessary formalities and paying a year's tuition and materials fees, Ronan became one of the fifty-ninth class of trainees at the Royal Higher Police Academy.
More than a hundred other trainees enrolled alongside him, all from various parts of the Kingdom of Invya.
Ronan was the youngest among them.
That made him rather conspicuous among this year's trainees, and the subject of much discussion.
Some people also tried to draw Ronan into their own little circles.
However, he had no interest in any of it.
Though the Royal Higher Police Academy was not large, it had over five hundred regular students. Including trainees and faculty, its total population approached a thousand.
And within the Academy's larger circle were many smaller circles.
There was even a chain of contempt.
Trainees from the provinces like Ronan sat at the very bottom of that chain.
Ronan had neither background nor connections, disliked currying favor and making acquaintances, and was extremely young. As a result, he was soon quietly isolated within the trainees' circle.
But Ronan did not care.
Trainees only studied at the Royal Higher Police Academy for one year. They had more than ten subjects to take, including criminal investigation, trace analysis, anthropology, criminal psychology, shooting, combat...
Five of those were compulsory, while the rest were electives. However, they had to earn enough credits to receive their graduation certificate.
This trainee graduation certificate was extremely important. If they failed to earn enough credits in the final assessment, the Higher Police Academy would refuse to issue the certificate, and there would not even be a chance for a retake.
Besides the five compulsory courses, Ronan chose another five electives, packing every day of his study schedule to the brim.
He also had to make time to study alchemy at Old