章節 8: Duel against the protagonist
2 hours after my triumphant entrance to the academy, all the students gathered in a huge hall. Livia was not with me as only students were allowed to enter; the servants were waiting in a different room.
The students were murmuring excitedly and nervously about the person who was about to appear.
-Step Step
With the sound of the footsteps, the room was completely silent. A man who looked no older than 30 years old was walking up the stairs in a calm manner while his imposing footsteps did not stop resounding.
He had long white hair, his eyes glowed a mysterious blue color, and he exuded an indescribable aura.
"So this is what an archmage looks like?"
An archmage, the chasm to which all wizards aspire, is a being so powerful that they can even influence the laws of the world in some way.
"And this guy is the most dangerous."
The headmaster of the academy.
"Very good morning to you all, future students."
An archmage who controls the most powerful world law.
"I am Acrom Zerkim, headmaster of the Athena Academy."
The time
"Let's get along."
He said with a captivating smile
"It's him!!!"
"The legendary archmage!"
"I want his autograph!"
The students began to cheer excitedly for the person in front of them and no wonder
Acrom Zerkim is a hero who has led humans to victory in countless wars, It is said that for this, the goddess Athena gave him as a gift the ambrosia, an exclusive fruit for the gods that could grant immortality to any mortal who consumed it, That's why he looks so young despite being about 150 years old.
As a thank you, Acrom built this academy in his name to raise more warriors who can lead humans to victory.
"I know you are all excited but you don't have to let your guard down."
The students were silent once again at Acrom's words.
"At the Athena Academy, we breed warriors, nothing more and nothing less; if it turns out that you don't measure up, then we won't hesitate to discard you."
Everyone began to get nervous at the weight of his words, but Acrom smiled and continued speaking
"But you don't have to worry excessively about that either; everyone has different talents, different aspirations and different mentalities. If you see that you are not advancing in a certain area, then discard it and move on. Try and experiment as much as you can in the 3 years you will be here, Good things will not come to you voluntarily, move on and take them into your own hands. If you want to be the best swordsman, then swing your sword; if you want to be the best magician, then memorize the formulas and perfect your magic; if you want to be the best alchemist, then learn all the mixtures and herbs that exist; and if you want to be the best blacksmith, then hammer the hot iron until you can't feel your arms."
The eyes of the previously nervous and depressed students began to glow with determination and excitement, completely immersing themselves in the headmaster's words, I admit that I too felt excited by his words
"Only through hard work will you be able to achieve your goals or dreams, It will be a road full of cracks, potholes and obstacles, but if you can get up and keep going, I am sure you will reach the end someday."
Leaving those last words behind, he left the room and the students erupted in cheers.
Several other teachers came on stage shortly after and began to sort the students and take them to their rooms.
***
"Poof~"
I plopped down on the huge, comfortable bed in my new room.
"I'm exhausted"
The 2 days of traveling, the heroin teasing, and the principal's speech all left me drained of energy
-Clack
I heard a noise and when I looked up, I could see a cup of hot tea along with some sweets, Livia was standing there but she didn't say anything, and she didn't need to either.
"Thank you."
I said this as I stood up to drink the tea.
"Don't worry, it's my duty."
"Thanks anyway"
The tea smelled good and its taste was... mild? I don't know, but when I drank it, I felt my body warm up and my muscles relaxed
"Ja~you are the best maid; did you know that?"
"That's something I don't doubt."
"Haha, presumptuous."
***
Today is the day when classes start, I got up early and when I finished dressing, I headed to what would be my classroom from now on my classroom.
I opened the door and as it was early, there were not many people but the few that were there stared at me until I sat down in one of the middle seats.
Little by little, the rest of the students arrived until the class was full.
Well, except for one seat
The door opened and in walked a woman with big glasses and messy green hair, just like her uniform.
She walked lazily to the center of the classroom and cleared her throat before speaking
"Hello, I'm Vivian, your teacher."
""...""
I don't think it needs to be emphasized how little reaction her introduction got
"Eh~ how unenthusiastic, how can they not be excited by a beauty like me~ the standards of beauty have changed or something~ no, that wouldn't make sense, I'm beautiful no matter what the standards are."
The students just stood in silence as they watched their new teacher lose herself in her monologue.
"Ay well, never mind~ I will be your teacher from now until you graduate, I will be teaching you mainly magical theory and monster biology. I guess the first thing for now is to check the attendance list."
She sat down at her desk and began to check the list
"Let's see, Rufus Adams."
"Here."
"Monica Vercheti"
"Here"
"Lucas..."
The teacher called out the names of the students one by one until she reached the last one
"Kein"
No one answered
"Kein?...Mm, he doesn't seem to be here."
"Excuse me!!!"
Suddenly, the door burst open and a black-haired young man shouted, panting surely from running too long
"Ha...ha...excuse me...the delay."
"Wow~ being late on the first day, that calls for punishment."
She said and put her hand on her chin, trying to think of an appropriate punishment for the student who dared to be late on the first day."
"Well, just don't do it again."
"That's it?!"
I thought it out loud to all the students but no one said it out loud.
"Yes, I promise."
After that, Kein came in and sat down next to Anisa, The two chatted for a bit before turning their attention to the teacher
"Alright, after this amusing altercation, I think I can start with my class."
Vivian stood up and began to walk as she spoke.
"As you know, mana is an energy that is found everywhere and anywhere; we can manipulate that energy through the heart or the mana circuit, which are very different but very similar at the same time."
Everyone paid attention to the class and some also took out their notebooks to take notes.
"Both methods allow us to concentrate and manipulate that energy to use it as we wish, within the limits of each one, of course."
-Step
The teacher stopped walking and looked directly at the students.
"But they have another thing in common."
-Click
She snapped her fingers and a not very complicated pattern was drawn in the air
"Formulas."
-Click
She snapped her fingers again and chalk began to draw the pattern on the huge blackboard so everyone could get a good look at it
"Formulas are a means by which we can not only manipulate that energy but also transform it."
-Step Step
She resumed walking with her arms behind her back
"Mana has no form, it has no properties, it is not solid, liquid or gaseous, cold, hot or warm, soft, viscous or hard, but through the formulas we can give it form and properties."
She pointed to the pattern that was drawn on the huge blackboard and continued with her explanation.
"The pattern here is the one used to create a fireball, one of the simplest spells there is. Many people believe that by this spell you can create fire out of nothing but that is not the case."
-Fuum
The teacher created a small ball of fire on the tip of her index finger.
"This is not fire; this is mana transformed to have the same properties as fire, Piu~"
The teacher shot the small fireball towards a student, The student was startled but when the fireball hit him, nothing happened to him
"Eh?"
"See? you didn't get burned, fire doesn't do that, it burns you no matter how small it is."
She then grabbed a sheet of paper and put it under a fireball for several seconds but nothing happened.
"Because this is not fire but mana transformed by a formula, you can do fun things like this, oh, if you want something more interesting."
The eraser began to float, erasing a few lines of the pattern
"Fireball."
-Fuu~
"What!?"
"Wow!"
The students were astonished at what they saw; instead of shooting out, the fireball flowed steadily from the teacher's palm
"Haha, this can't really be called a fireball, though."
-Tik, Tik, Tik
The chalk changed the pattern of the magic circle again.
"Fireball."
-Fum
-Fush
This time, the fireball did shoot out but it disintegrated after reaching a certain distance.
-Tik, Tik, Tik
"Fireball."
This time, the fireball flew normally before suddenly changing its trajectory.
Tik, Tik, Tik, Tik
"Fireball"
This time, the fireball split into smaller ones.
"As you can see, making a few slight changes to the formula can transform the spell completely, lower or raise the temperature, range, direction, and number, everything can be modified through a small change, use your imagination to create unique things, after all, that's what magic is all about: experimenting and creating new things."
-Ring!
The bell rang, signaling the end of class.
"Wow~ it's over already...well, I was hungry anyway, bye~"
The teacher said this before she left the room, leaving all the students silent
"That was amazing!"
"I know, I never thought you could use magic like that!"
"It's the best academy in the empire for a reason!"
But it lasted only a short while before the students began to give their opinions on the class
"Quite interesting."
Since the novel was written from the perspective of the protagonist, who is a warrior, the topic of magic wasn't touched on much, but this can definitely come in handy
I got up from my seat and headed to the dining room.
"Let's go for round two?"
***
The academy's dining hall was crowded, but still there was enough space for everyone, The food they served was of the best quality, with the calories and nutrients perfectly selected for healthy eating
"Hey commoner, move out of my place."
Everything would be quiet if it weren't for a certain student who loved to annoy others.
"You again? and what do you mean your place? we were here first."
Kein, who was getting ready to eat together with Anisa, was interrupted by Arthur's annoying foolishness.
"Hmp! people like you shouldn't have the right to enter this academy, that also applies to the ruined noble over there, a noble who isn't able to maintain his status is just a piece of trash!"
Anisa lowered her head in frustration at Arthur's words but Kein wasn't going to let it go.
-Bam!
He slammed the table and glared angrily at Arthur.
"Say that again!"
Arthur flinched but he didn't take a step backwards
"You dare speak to me in that tone, a filthy commoner like you!?"
He said as he began to increase his mana
"And what will you do about it?"
Kein asked as he also began to increase his mana.
The people in the dining hall started to gather around him so they could see what was going on, Anisa, who noticed this, tried to stop Kein
"K-Kein, leave it; it's not worth it."
Kein listened to Anisa's words and was about to leave until he heard the words Arthur said afterward
"You should listen to her; after all, you commoners should only follow the orders of the nobility."
At that moment, a bitter memory came to Kein's mind.
-"You commoners should only follow the orders of the nobility."
Losing control, he lunged forward to punch Arthur in the face.
-Pam!
The blow echoed throughout the dining hall but failed to hit its target.
"Fighting on the first day of school? you kids are really hot-blooded now."
A stout man with black hair and yellow eyes caught Kein's fist with ease.
'This man... he's very strong, the strongest I've ever seen besides my grandfather.'
"I don't think this is a good way to introduce myself, but I will anyway, Lucius Belmut, your combat teacher."
He said it with a beaming smile as he released Kein's fist.
"I can see you both have a lot of potential, but you're wasting it on these stupid fights."
"That guy started it first!"
"You dare to point at me!"
"Fine!"
Lucius shouted, causing everyone to cover their ears.
"I see that this problem can't be solved so easily, so I propose something."
He put his hands on both of their shoulders and said.
"How about you two have a duel in 2 weeks? what the winner will win, you can decide."
Kein didn't think long before agreeing
"Sounds like a good idea; if I win, then you'll have to stop bothering us."
"Ha! Do you think you can win? if I win, then you'll be my slave for the rest of the school year".
"Good, then it's decided, the duel will take place in 2 weeks, don't fight until then, okay?"
They both nodded and the lunch break was over.
"I look forward to seeing your duel!"
-Pam
"Ack!"
"Phew!"
Lucius said before slapping them both hard on the back and leaving.
Arthur just threw one last glare at Kein before leaving as well.
"Kein!"
Anisa, who until recently was silent, ran up to Kein and started shaking him.
"Are you crazy? Why did you do that? It's Arthur Reclesia we're talking about now!"
"Wait, Anisa, stop shaking me first!"
"Ah!. S-sorry, no! Wait! Why did you accept that duel!"
"Come on, you know it won't stop bothering us if we don't do anything."
"But if you lose..."
"Don't worry about it; I'm strong."
He said with a wide smile as he flexed one of his arms.
"Sigh~, it's okay."
Resigned, she stopped insisting and decided to rely on her new friend to get her through this situation
***
Lucius was walking along with his colleague while talking.
"And how about this year's students?"
She asked
"Well, today I met two who almost got into a fight on the first day."
"Haha, that sounds problematic."
"But they really surprised me; one of them had huge raw strength and a tough body, I'm sure he will be a very powerful warrior in the future, but the other one caught my attention more."
"Oh? why is that?"
"His body was also tough but also flexible; it was a polished body that can only be achieved after arduous training."
"Oh really? Who was it?"
"Mmm, I think it was..."
Lucius rubbed his chin as he tried to remember the student's name.
"Ah yes! I remember now, Arthur Reclesia; that was his name."
Suddenly, his companion stopped walking at the sound of the name.
"Wait, wait, wait, are you sure it was Arthur Reclesia?"
"Yeah, I'm sure it was him; what's up?"
"You don't know... that guy has the reputation of being a playboy who only drinks and goes to the brothel every night to spend hundreds of gold coins."
"Really? but his body was definitely not that of a person with that kind of lifestyle."
"Maybe you were wrong."
"No, it's impossible for me to be wrong about something like that, although now I'm more curious."
He said this as he thought about what happened a few moments ago in the dining room.
When the black-haired boy threw the punch, he felt Arthur see it coming even before he threw it, but he didn't move an inch from his spot, as if he knew I would intervene
"Arthur Reclesia"
Suddenly, he felt like their duel would soon begin
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