บท 9: Chapter 9 - My classmates are stupid
"Go to the disciplinary office. You will dearly pay for your impotence in this facility.", Professor Aloyn shouted, commanding Neins to hurry up and leave this class as soon as possible.
Neins frantically got up from his seat and collected his belongings; he dared not go against Professor Aloyn's words. Even the handsome youngster from row C stayed silent, with no intentions whatsoever to aid the Hamann noble.
In the Imperial Chess Academy, going against professors' words is second only to blaspheming the Empress. The reason why he stood up for Neins earlier was because Professor Elizabeth was known to be an easy-going teacher, she's not the type of person who would punish people at a whim.
However, the same does not apply to Professor Aloyn.
Aloyn is known in the upper echelons of the Fide Empire to be a no-nonsense individual who is highly disciplined and expects the same from others. He is ambitiously driven and has a very high standard for himself and for those around them.
Not only is he inflexible in his beliefs, but he rarely accepts any deviations from his expectations. He is highly intimidating and has a tendency to be overly critical of any mistakes and perceived slights.
As for Neins? He is a goner through and through; knowing Professor Aloyn's intolerance for this sort of behaviour, Neins will definitely get expelled with a considerable fine.
If Cagnus were to be a fellow noble who was assaulted in the same way, even the Hamann family would have a portion of their noble status and title stripped.
Unfortunately, Cagnus is only a commoner with mediocre origins. Making it improbable for that to happen.
"There goes Neins; his father is only a viscount, yet dares to use magic in class? What a stupid moron, hehe…"
"Perhaps he would get a pass if he used magic in Professor Elizabeth's class, but using magic in Professor Aloyn's class? Who does he think he is? The Empress's son?"
"Even if my dad were to be a Marquis, I would never ever think about using magic and sorcery in this sacred place."
"His intelligence is second only to the Barbarian race, haha."
The entire class snickered and bickered, poking fun at Neins' actions and behaviour. Their hushed voices flowed into his ears, which only served to make him angrier by the second.
Neins' face was a mask full of rage and tension, his eyes were narrowed, and his jaw was clenched. His movements were rigid, and his hands were balled into his fists. Veins threatened to explode out from his skin as he looked at Cagnus with extreme hatred and anger.
He wanted to lash out at this peasant who destroyed his bright future. He wanted to tear his body apart, limb by limb. But because of Professor Aloyn's presence, he dared not do anything rash lest he brings calamity to himself and his family.
This only served to agitate his bottled-up feelings; the hatred and anger only grew.
He vowed that sooner or later, he would make this commoner pay dearly.
In the very first row of the amphitheatre, Lady Seraphine was observing all of this silently. Seeing Neins' behaviour and attitude, she frowned as ominous feelings rose in her heart. As for the mysterious prince, he looked at Cagnus with an imperceptible glimmer in his eyes.
Meanwhile, all the way in row Z. Cagnus was having an upheaval of emotions; multiple thoughts were going through his head.
'Magic? Where? I want to see it! My grandfather keeps telling me all these stories about magic and sorcery, how the elves can shatter the sky or split the earth with just one spell. I want to see it!'
'Agh, professor, why did you have to ruin the fun! Just when this guy was about to use magic, you stopped him! You know that it's my lifelong dream to see magic in action.'
'Oh? Why is he packing up? Is he leaving? To where? What happened? The disciplinary office? Ptooh! Serves him right! He deserves it all along!'
'Why are you glaring at me like that? You deserve it! You were the reason why my family heirlooms were destroyed! You were also the reason for my future fine of thousands of gold pounds!'
Cagnus was disheartened because he missed the lifelong opportunity of seeing magic in action, but he was also ecstatic to see Neins Hamann go to the disciplinary office.
"Silence.', Professor Aloyn's voice echoed throughout the class, "This is not the lands and territory you nobles own; this is the Imperial Chess Academy, understood? We do not tolerate any presumptuous behaviour whatsoever."
The man started pacing around as he spoke, "Now that's out of the way; let's speak about Chess and why it is so important to the future of humanity."
'Huh? Chess is just a game; what do you mean by "important to the future of humanity". Chess won't fend off the Demons lurking in the Abyss, nor will it stop the Elves and the Barbarians from encroaching upon humanity.', it goes without saying that Cagnus was confused by the professor's statement, he wanted to raise questions but considering his status, he pushed all his questions to the back of his head as he seriously paid attention to the class.
"As per the previous class' lessons, we learnt that Chess can allow us to shed our mortal coil and ascend to the limits. We learnt the theories behind Chess' power system and the core's crystallisation, which enabled humanity to pursue Ascentionism."
"Now that you're all Novice-level Ascentionists, it is your duty and job to protect this empire from all external threats and malicious existences. This world of myriad races does not only have Barbarians, Elves and Demons, but also many hidden entities you have to worry about."
"As a citizen of the Fide Empire, it is your duty to eliminate these hidden entities. After all, excluding Demons, the threat they pose is greater than the Barbarians and Elves."
"This is where the powers of Ascentionists come to the limelight, as for the details on how to utilise these powers, you'll learn that in Professor Elizabeth's class."
"In my class, I will teach you the basics of Chess. If your understanding of Chess is not sufficient enough, you'll never advance as an Ascentionist."
Professor Aloyn stopped pacing around and studied the students with his stern gaze.
"Understood?", his hoarse voice resounded throughout the room, bringing with it a heavy pressure on the shoulders of the present studies. Almost every student had grave and stern expressions on their faces; they thought of the responsibilities they'll have to bear as Ascentionists and what their future roles in society will be.
The only exception to this was two people who had leisurely attitudes, the mysterious prince in row A and the commoner in row Z, who was none other than Cagnus Marlsen.
'Ascentionism? First time hearing of it. Hidden entities? If they're hiding, why should we care about them? My understanding of Chess represents my level as an Ascentionist? Huh, what is that supposed to mean? My grandfather is a pretty good chess player; does that mean he is also an Ascentionist? No way that old geezer is an Ascentionist, he is just a bag of bones waiting for his time to come.', upon thinking of grandfather Kanatoly Arpov, Cagnus sighed silently as nostalgic memories of his childhood surfaced up.
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