Chapter 20 - Wesley's First Day (3)

Wesley and Kellan almost simultaneously sat toward the back of the room. Neither of them was willing to sit too close to the front this time around, and it seemed that most of the students were also reluctant to sit at the front. However, some eventually took those seats since all the back ones were occupied.

The geography teacher was much younger than the history teacher. He seemed to be in his early forties or late thirties, and his face was full of laughter and friendliness as he looked at the students silently. He wore the standard blue robe of the elders, but his robust, well-built body made him look heroic. After everyone was seated, the teacher simply stood up and started speaking in an ordinary, calm voice:

"Welcome to Geography. I am the Seventeenth Elder. Now, let's do some basic introductions to get to know our classmates a little."

After everyone introduced themselves, the elder started speaking again:

"Good. Now, as you all no doubt know, Geography is one of the less popular subjects at the academy. However, always remember that it is no doubt one of the most essential. We live in a world of magic and mystery, and although it might seem powerful and random, there are far more powerful natural laws that govern this world. Geography is the study of these laws. It is important that we know the world we live in so that..."

The elder's speech continued until the end of the period, at which point Wesley and the other students headed to their next class. There was no incident like the one in the first period, but all the students behaved as if they had all gone through the same experience in their respective first periods.

Wesley's next class was Strategy and Tactics. The class was similar to the geography class in seating arrangement and had maps on the walls. However, these maps were clearly meant for military use. The instructor was a giant, burly man with scars all over his face. He seemed constantly agitated and spoke in a low, growl-like voice:

"I am the Ninth Elder. This class is to study and learn how to apply the principles of war. You will learn everything relating to war, from its conduct to its history. That is enough talking. Open the textbooks inside your desks to the first page. We will start."

'What a diligent and straightforward teacher'

Wesley was surprised they would immediately start learning, since in all his other classes, introductions and speeches took up the whole period. For the next hour, the teacher continued speaking about what war is and its many different forms: civil wars, offensive wars, defensive wars, and so on.

The hour went by rather fast since it wasn’t spent listening to long speeches. After the ringing sounded throughout the academy, Wesley immediately felt excitement well up in his heart. The two classes he was most interested in were Light Magic and Swordsmanship, and the next class was Light Magic.

'Finally, it is about time to test my theory.'

Wesley had concluded beforehand that if there were no Dark Magic classes, then his next best option was to learn the opposite magic and see if he could improve his own abilities. It is not uncommon knowledge that opposite affinities restrict one another, so by observing his natural opponent, Wesley hoped to learn how to better counter it.

Wesley found the Light Magic classroom with relative ease. Walking in, he immediately noticed that the seating arrangement was different. There were only chairs, no desks, and the chairs were arranged in a semi-circular pattern, facing one chair. There were about eighteen seats, and all but one were currently occupied by blue-robed students.

The moment Wesley walked in, wearing trousers and carrying a sword on his hip, all the other students looked at him in confusion. *Why would a swordsman attend a magic class?* Wesley ignored the confused stares and sat in the one unoccupied seat at the far end of the semicircle. As soon as Wesley sat down, the student next to him turned his head and spoke with a disdainful smile on his face:

"Are you lost, friend? This is the Light Magic class."

"So?" Wesley didn’t really want to chat with the guy, since he could hear the disdain in his voice.

The youth's brows twitched a little at Wesley's uninterested tone, but he still maintained his smile and spoke again:

"Are you a Holy Mage or a swordsman? I thought you were a swordsman from how you dressed and your sword."

'Holy Mage? What a condescending name. What’s holy about light magic, I wonder?'

"Yes, I am." Wesley's response could only be considered mocking, as it didn’t really answer the question he was asked.

Hearing Wesley's mocking response, the smile on the youth's face disappeared. Just as he was about to explode at Wesley, a blue-robed elder walked into the classroom.

This elder’s face was emotionless, without a single discerning feature. He walked slowly toward the single seat opposite the semicircle of students, his hands behind his back. At first glance, he appeared to be in his late thirties, but upon closer inspection, his mostly grayed hair indicated his old age.

The elder swept his gaze over the students, his gaze resting on Wesley for a moment before looking away nonchalantly in disinterest. When he reached his seat, he simply sat. After a moment of silence, he spoke in a slow and lulling voice, almost enough to cause people to fall asleep:

"I am the Third Elder, and this is Light Magic Studies. Please raise your hand if you can perform Light Magic."

'Hmm, it seems that last part is for my benefit.'

Wesley instantly realized that the question about whether anyone had practiced Light Magic before was directed at him since he clearly didn’t belong. However, he wasn’t alarmed, as all students were allowed to take whatever classes they wanted without restrictions.

Everyone in the class immediately raised their hands, everyone except for Wesley, who sat there unblinking, as if this whole matter didn’t concern him. The elder, seeing this, simply nodded and continued speaking:

"I see. Hmm. Well, welcome to Light Magic Studies. As you all know, light is the strongest and noblest of the affinities, and its practitioners are also the strongest and noblest. Light magic is also the most versatile and adaptable magic. There is one thing you should know about this class: I will not teach you any advanced spells, as every Holy Mage applies their magic differently, so it is hard to teach one’s spells to another."

'Strongest and noblest? I wonder if there is a limit to the narcissism of light mages.'

"Now, Light Magic has three basic spells used by all Holy Mages. This class will focus on improving and expanding your understanding of these three spells. These three spells are not too powerful on their own. However, the higher your understanding of them, the more applications you can think of. Take, for instance, the spell Holy Jump, which enables us to teleport to another place as long as it is within our line of sight. However, this can be a slow process, but if your understanding is sufficient, you can..."

The elder, who had been speaking in a lazy tone while sitting in his chair, suddenly shone in bright light and disappeared from his seat. He then reappeared near the entrance behind the students and continued speaking as if nothing had just happened:

"...decrease the time it takes for the spell to be invoked or alter it completely. What you just saw was my version of Holy Jump, called Holy Port. Unlike Holy Jump, which requires time to be invoked, Holy Port is instantaneous, albeit with a range of about thirty feet."

Wesley was really surprised. This Holy Jump was similar to his Dark Warp, but Holy Port was unlike anything he had ever seen or heard before. To be able to teleport instantaneously is no small matter.

'I wonder if I can modify my Dark Warp to do something like this.'

The elder lazily walked back to his seat, of course continuing to lecture while he did so.

"Do not for a moment think that the fact that there are only three basic Light Magic spells makes Holy Mages inferior to other mages. The fact that there are only three basic spells is precisely what makes Light Magic the strongest. It has unlimited potential; you can apply it in multitudes of ways, come up with multiple spells, and so on."

Wesley was immersed in his thoughts and didn’t pay any more attention to the teacher’s lecture. The one-hour period flew by in an instant, and Wesley was roused from his thoughts by the ringing that signified the end of class.

'Haha, it was a good decision to attend this class. I’ll have to see if I can replicate that so-called Holy Port.'

Wesley immediately stood up and was about to walk out when a voice called to him from behind.

"You, with the sword. Stay behind."

Wesley turned around immediately and saw that the one who called him was the teacher. Wesley walked back toward the teacher’s location. As soon as he was within five feet, he slightly bowed and spoke in a respectful voice:

"Yes, Elder."

The elder looked at Wesley with eyes that seemed to have just been woken from a deep slumber. But Wesley noticed that behind the hazy sleepiness in his eyes, a deep light that hinted at his wisdom shone through.

"Are you able to practice Light Magic?"

"No, Elder."

"Then why are you in my class?"

"Elder, I needed an extra class to take. And since I have no elemental affinity, I wanted to at least have a glimpse of the strongest magic, so I chose this class."

'I hope a little flattery is enough to appease his curiosity.'

"No affinity? I could have sworn you were a mage, given your physique."

The elder looked at Wesley with suspicion. His assumption wasn’t far off, since mages often have slender bodies, while those who rely on the sword are usually burly and muscular. Wesley’s face didn’t change at all as he responded.

"Elder, I am a practitioner of the Silent Techniques. My physique is necessary to be able to practice these techniques."

"Is that so? Hmm, well, get going then, or you’ll be late for your next class."

"Yes, Elder."

Wesley curtly bowed and immediately left the classroom. The elder's gaze was still on his back as he walked out, but the suspicious look seemed to have lessened.

Wesley’s third class was Swordsmanship. This was one of the two classes, besides Light Magic, that he actually looked forward to. Since Wesley relied on his Silent Techniques often, he wanted to improve his mastery of them, so that he could at least convince people that he was a genuine swordsman.

Wesley reached the Swordsmanship classroom after a while, as the class was held in a building outside the main school building. He walked in and noticed that there were no chairs or tables anywhere inside the open interior of the classroom. This classroom was five times the size of the other classes in the main building, and there were training dummies lined up around the circumference of the room.

There were currently about fifty students standing randomly around the classroom, each with a sword. Wesley immediately noticed that Kellan was also standing amongst the students alone, so Wesley headed toward him, as he was the only person he recognized.

'This Kellan and I share three classes, so it shouldn’t hurt to get to know him.'

"Hey, Kellan, I’m Wesley," Wesley spoke in a friendly voice with a smile on his face.

Kellan turned his head toward Wesley and looked at him with a confused expression. He was used to most people avoiding him because of his temperament and appearance since he always looked so imposing, but this slender youth actually approached him with a smile.

"Uhm, hello," Kellan spoke in a friendlier voice than his usual growl, though it still sounded rather forced.

'Haha, this Kellan seems to lack basic social skills. What an odd fellow.'

Wesley was about to say something to Kellan when the entire bustling room suddenly quieted down. Wesley looked around and saw that everyone was currently staring at the entrance to the classroom.

Wesley immediately turned to look at the entrance as well. However, upon seeing the blue-robed silhouette with almost closed eyes and a short stature, his face turned ugly, and he felt his heart almost stop.

'This old freak again. Is he appearing in front of me on purpose?'

This was indeed the second elder who had conducted Wesley’s first entrance test. He had left a lasting impression on Wesley when he caused him to feel an incomparable dread and fear. This was one of the few people Wesley wanted to avoid at all costs.

The elder looked at the students' faces, then noticed the expression on Wesley’s face and proceeded to flash him a reassuring smile. This smile seemed friendly, but to Wesley, it resembled the kind of smile a devil might have before claiming your soul; he was not comforted by it at all.

The elder walked all the way to the front of the class, then simply faced all the students and spoke in his usual amused and amiable voice:

"Haha, hello again. I am the second elder, and I will be your swordsmanship instructor. I believe you’ve had plenty of chances to introduce yourselves to your classmates in other classes, so we won't bother with that. Now, this class will be a little different: since there are too many styles of swordsmanship out there, it is impossible to teach each one of you the same thing, so this class will focus on building your bodies and foundations. Of course, there will also be a lot of sparring, because we can't grow without constantly testing ourselves against others."

Wesley didn’t hear a single thing the elder said. He was truly too traumatized by this elder from their last encounter, so the moment he laid eyes on him, he started planning his escape.

'Dark Globe should slow him for a second, and then a Dark Warp should get me away. I hope.'

"...Now, line up in two lines. The first line is for those who use agility-based techniques, and the second is for those with strength-based techniques."

'Huh?'

Wesley was instantly intrigued by the elder's last words. Why were they dividing into lines based on their technique types? But Wesley didn’t think too much about it and immediately joined the agility-based line. After everyone joined their respective lines, the elder spoke again:

"Good, now I know what methods of practice each of you should follow. Now I should tell you some regulations for my class. First, you must attend every class—no exceptions. Second, you cannot injure or kill sparring partners. And third, you must never be seen without your swords."

The smile on the elder's face vanished, and a cold light flashed across his eyes as he continued speaking:

"It is common for people to look down on swordsmen since they are not as flashy as mages. But swordsmen don’t run out of mana; their bodies are stronger, and their abilities are their own, not just borrowed powers. If I ever see any of you hide your sword because of shame from being looked down upon, then you have no place in my class. Any questions?"

The elder still had a rigid expression as he waited for someone to ask a question. Suddenly, a hand shot up from the back of the room. A tall youth with an arrogant face spoke up:

"Elder, you tell us that we must never walk without our swords, but how come you don't carry one yourself?"

The youth's tone contained a hint of condescension, but the elder only looked at him. Then, the rigidity left his face, and a smile crept in as he spoke with a hint of laughter:

"Haha, good question. My sword is always with me; only I don't need to carry it. Here, have a look..."

The elder removed his right hand from his back and extended it forward. After two breaths, a long sword—at least five feet long—materialized in his arm. The sight of the sword appearing from thin air left all the students slack-jawed. This elder clearly wasn’t a magician, so how in the world did he manage to make a sword appear out of thin air? The elder simply laughed at the surprised expressions of the students and spoke again:

"When you reach a certain level, you will be able to bond with your weapon and keep it within your body. You don't have to worry about that for now. Just remember that swordsmen are not inferior to mages—we have our own techniques and methods."

'What an odd technique. I felt minute mana coming from his body, but not enough for a spell. Odd.'

Wesley was truly interested in that technique and wanted to ask what it was, but he still harbored some fear of the elder in his heart, so he didn’t dare ask anything. In fact, he really wanted to leave this classroom. Fortunately for him, the remainder of the class went by pretty fast, and soon a clear ringing sound reverberated in the ears of all the students, marking the end of the day.

"Good, that should be all for the day. Remember, you must come to class every day. Now, get going."

Wesley didn’t need to be told twice, as he immediately left the classroom in haste.

'That should be it for me. From now on, I will attend Light Magic class and... swordsmanship.'

Wesley really didn’t want to attend the swordsmanship classes anymore, but he had to for two reasons. One, he needed to improve his Silent Techniques. And second, he was really scared of the second elder, and since the elder said that he must attend daily, Wesley would attend daily.