Chapter 19 - Wesley's First Day (2)

Leaving the assembly hall, the students were directed to the next hall, where they would receive their schedules. The students were instructed to remain in their respective lines, at which point staff members from the Academy would give them their individual schedules.

The whole procedure was not too complicated. The student would present their identification tablet to the staff member, who would then pull out a corresponding sheet of paper from a box in front of him and proceed to the next student.

Wesley was standing near the back of the line, so it took almost thirty minutes before he reached the staff member and had to present his tablet. The staff members were all wearing blue robes similar to the ones the elders wore. However, their robes looked less impressive than the elders'.

The staff member in front of Wesley was a young man in his early twenties. He looked at Wesley's valiant appearance and spoke with a serene, clear voice:

"Identification tablet, please."

Wesley immediately handed over his tablet to the young man. The staff member looked at the tablet for a short moment, then pulled out a sheet of paper from the box. He spoke again:

"Here's your schedule. You will proceed to your first class immediately. But before you go, there are a few more questions I must ask you."

'Hmm, I didn’t see him asking the people in front of me any extra questions. Odd.'

"Of course." Wesley's reply was short and to the point.

"Since you are a swordsman, we had no way of ascertaining your affinity during the entrance exam, so we would like you to submit to a test."

'An affinity test? I wonder why.'

"Why do I need an affinity test since I am a swordsman?"

The staff member was quiet for a moment, as if pondering something, then he spoke again in his clear voice:

"The test is to better determine each student's abilities so as to decide which method of teaching best suits them."

'Something seems off.'

"Is the test mandatory?"

Wesley was unwilling to submit to an affinity test. It is impossible to test someone's affinity without their permission when they are older because the mana that builds up in their bodies over the years repels the tester's mana. So, if one wants to test a person, the person must suppress their own mana to allow the tester’s mana access to the core of their mana pool, which contains their affinity. Wesley knew he couldn’t be tested against his will; he was just worried that he would have to give up on the Academy.

"No, the test is not mandatory. However, you will be listed as without an affinity, and your ranking in your class will be dropped to the bottom."

'Good, it seems my admission is not dependent on this test.'

"That is acceptable. Is there anything else?"

Wesley's words caused the staff member's face to show an expression of surprise. He hadn't expected that someone would forsake their ranking as easily as Wesley just did.

"Are you sure? Rankings are hard to gain, and this will put you at the very bottom of your class."

'Rankings? I couldn’t care less about such things.'

"Yes, I am sure. Now, is there anything else?"

"No, that is all. Please proceed to the interior of the Academy and head to your first class."

"Thank you."

Wesley immediately walked past the young staff member into the door behind him.

- - -- - - --

A little while later, in a large rectangular office located on the fourth floor of the Academy's staff building, three blue-robed elders stood in front of a desk currently occupied by an elderly man in white robes with white hair.

The three blue-robed elders were the same ones who had presided over Wesley's second test, while the elderly man in white was the Academy's Headmaster. He stared at the middle elder and spoke in a soft but rigid voice:

"Speak."

"Headmaster, we tried to determine his affinity, but he refused to submit to a test, even at the cost of being dropped to the last spot in the rankings."

The Headmaster furrowed his brow, his expression thoughtful, as if pondering a complex problem.

"Rale mentioned in his letter to simply teach the child well. Surely, there is something beyond his identity that makes him worthy of Rale's attention."

The left elder immediately spoke up:

"Headmaster, that kid was very proficient in the Silent Techniques that Rale was so fond of in his youth. Perhaps he simply inherited Rale's sword techniques."

"We all know where Rale's true strength lies. Those sword techniques were little more than a childish hobby," the right elder chimed in, a hint of irritation in his voice.

"Headmaster, this child is undeniably talented in swordsmanship. However, I find it highly unlikely that he could be so proficient in sword techniques if he were a dark mage like Rale."

The Headmaster remained thoughtful, then shook his head slightly and spoke in a resigned tone:

"Considering how rare it is for someone to have a high affinity for darkness, this child is most likely not a dark mage. However, we can't completely disregard the possibility. For now, we will simply keep a close eye on him. The moment he shows even the slightest indication that he is like Rale, we will expel him."

"Yes, Headmaster," the three elders responded in unison.

--- -- -

Wesley walked through the hallways of the academy's main building, searching for his first class. The first class on his schedule was History. Wesley searched for the room number for almost ten minutes, as the academy's halls were almost like a maze, but eventually, he found it.

Wesley immediately walked into the classroom. The room had three columns of seats arranged in five rows. The rows in each column were paired in twos. Wesley immediately noticed that the class was almost entirely filled, save for two seats at the very front of the room. He also noticed that most of the students in the class wore shirts and trousers, and all had swords.

*This must be one of the favorite classes for soldier types.*

Wesley was not entirely wrong. Since most students at the academy were mages, they preferred magic classes. However, the academy also accepted non-mages, and these students took classes like this one, as there was no point in taking a magic class.

Wesley immediately sat in one of the open seats at the front. He was reluctant to sit there, but there were no other open spots. Moments after Wesley sat down, another person sat in the spot next to him. This student was burly, with excessively bulky muscles, and was almost half a head taller than Wesley. He carried a giant, four-foot-long greatsword on his back, which he set next to him as he sat down.

*This is that guy from the exam. The one with the graduation question.*

This burly student was one of the few who had left a favorable impression on Wesley during the entrance exam. He not only exuded an air of martial prowess but also seemed to be more mature than the other kids. It was not easy for anyone to be recognized by Wesley, as he viewed everyone his age as children. But this burly youth seemed to have plans for the future.

While Wesley was thinking about the youth next to him, a door opened at the front of the class. A blue-robed old man, who seemed to be in his late eighties, with a hunched back and drooping eyebrows, walked in. He moved at a slow pace with a cane in his right hand and his left hand behind his back. His slow walking pace made it look like he would keel over at any moment, but he eventually reached the teacher's desk at the front of the class and immediately sat down. The old man then sighed loudly and spoke while sitting down, his voice almost a whisper:

"I am the Eighth Elder. I will be your History teacher for the year. Start introducing yourselves to your classmates. You begin."

The elder pointed toward the burly youth next to Wesley with his cane. The youth immediately stood up and spoke in a deep, clear voice:

"My name is Kellan." He then sat down without another word.

*Ha, what an odd guy. A ‘nice to meet you’ wouldn’t kill him.*

"You're next."

The elder pointed his cane at Wesley. Wesley stood up as well and spoke in a stoic, clear voice:

"My name is Wesley. Nice to meet you."

The introductions continued for five more minutes since there were around thirty students in the class. Once all the introductions were done, the elder slowly nodded his head and spoke:

"Good. Now that we are done with the introductions, let us talk about history. History is perhaps the most fascinating of the social studies. Imagine living the lives of the greatest people in the world, imagine living through the most profound and historical moments of our world. History is one of the only classes where you escape the shell of your own existence and look back into time to learn from it, to understand how and why we are here, and what caused these events..."

While the elder was ranting about the greatness of history, some students in the back started whispering and giggling. Then, one of them spoke out, not so much in a whisper:

"Haha, this geezer is so excited about a useless class like this, it’s almost heartwarming."

Everyone, upon hearing the student's words, looked toward the elder. The elder, who had been speaking about history in an excited voice, suddenly stopped. The moment the elder stopped talking, an eerie silence descended upon the classroom. After a short moment of silence, the elder began laughing amiably and spoke:

"Haha, a useless class indeed. But would you like to know a fun fact?"

The elder directed his question to the student who had spoken out. Then, all of a sudden, his laughter died out, and a tremendous pressure emerged from the elder as he looked toward the student.

Wesley and Kellan, who were sitting closest to where the elder was, immediately jumped out of their seats, drawing their swords and taking defensive stances. The other students, however, were frozen in their seats, barely breathing from the deathly pressure the elder was emitting. The elder didn’t even acknowledge the two who had bolted out of their seats as he kept staring at the now-sweating, pale student at the back of the class. He then spoke, his voice now more vigorous than before:

"You might believe that my class is useless. But if you ever speak again while I am speaking, then..."

The elder didn’t even finish his sentence—he didn’t need to. Everyone understood the meaning behind his words. Considering the pressure, they all truly felt that they would die instantly if this elder desired it. The pressure immediately disappeared, and the elder spoke in his original, whisper-like voice:

"Now, let us continue. You two, put away those dangerous things and return to your seats."

Wesley and Kellan exchanged looks, their faces covered in sweat. They then sheathed their swords and reluctantly returned to their seats.

*Damn this place. I don't even think I'll live long enough to graduate.*

The class continued as the elder went on about what they would learn in this class. He continued his excited speech about history as if nothing had happened, but the students were all pale from the experience. None of them dared speak. In fact, none of them even dared to breathe too loudly, lest they offend the elder.

After an hour of listening to the elder’s excited speech, a loud ringing reverberated throughout the academy. This signaled the end of the period and that students should head to their next class. However, no one in the classroom dared move. The elder stopped his speech and spoke:

"That is all for today. Remember, you must attend class at least once a month."

With that, all the students hastily left the classroom, some vowing never to return, and others vowing to return daily so they wouldn’t offend the scary elder.

Wesley started walking around the hallways again, searching for his geography class. Fortunately for him, some of the students from his history class, specifically Kellan, also had the same geography class as him, so it wasn’t hard to find the classroom this time.

Unlike the history classroom’s unadorned walls, the geography classroom was far more vibrant, with charts and maps lining the four walls. The seating arrangement was set up the same as the history class, and the teacher was already sitting behind his desk when the students walked in.