Chapter 16
The main advantage of Class S, in my opinion, was simply that its small size allowed the professor to focus more on each student individually.
Beyond that, the so-called “special curriculum” seemed like just another course, differing only in the number of students.
I hadn’t taken formal “lectures” or “classes” here in Arkaria, but I realized this in my first session of Fundamentals of Magic.
I was fine with the idea that they were using the same magic textbook I had given up on during my independent studies. Having a trained professor teach from the same book could yield different results than self-study or learning from peers.
But that was a bit too optimistic. The older professor teaching Fundamentals of Magic—I hadn’t caught his name—was very passionate about his explanations, but none of it sank in. It was as if Addy’s simplified explanations were clearer.
Sigh.
Fundamentals of Magic, which I’d been looking forward to, turned out to be as uninspiring as most of my other classes. Other than the smaller class size, there was nothing that made it particularly special.
‘At least I’ve gotten to know everyone’s names.’
Class S, with only seven students out of over a hundred freshmen, is the top class.
At first, I assumed all freshmen would be about the same level, but after a few events, I realized that my classmates were quite talented.
Elaine, being from the Sinclair family, needed no explanation, and while Kane Hover was arrogant and irritating, he was exceptionally skilled in fire magic for his age.
I later found out that Cynthia’s family, the Surplus, is famous for archery. Knowing that helped me understand how she’d managed to spot that moment when the firebird disappeared. For an archer, the ability to spot a target in an instant is vital.
The others, too, each had their own strengths.
First, there’s Agnes Kessler, the red-haired girl who constantly tries to befriend Kane Hover. It wasn’t just Kane—she’d approach Elaine with a friendly smile, clearly aiming to get close to prominent aristocratic families.
But Elaine, unlike with me, was particularly stiff around others, so Agnes mostly stuck to Kane. While her actions annoyed me, I couldn’t deny her impressive swordsmanship. Her quick, hit-and-run rapier moves during fencing class showed why she deserved to be in Class S.
Next was Marie Scylla. Wielding a spear, a somewhat unusual weapon for a woman, she fit in naturally with Kane and Agnes. Her spear techniques, also shown during fencing class, had a certain grace that reflected her extensive training, even if they lacked power.
And then there’s the last member of the class.
“Ah, um, h-hi.”
“Hey. You’re early today, aren’t you?”
“Ah, y-yes. I stayed up all night researching…”
“…What?”
“Oh no! Was that too much information? Sorry, I’ll go on ahead!”
With that, Emily Franz, the last member of Class S, hurried up the stairs. Her blue hair swayed as she quickly disappeared from view. She, along with Kane, was one of the only pure mages in the class, though she was a bit… unique.
‘Stayed up all night researching? Did she just come straight here from the lab?’
She vanished too quickly for me to ask, but I wouldn’t be surprised.
Emily was the only one in Class S who seemed to move around by herself. Since the first day, the scene in our class had looked the same: Elaine, Cynthia, and I would sit together on one side, while Kane, Agnes, and Marie were on the other.
Emily, however, was always somewhere off on her own, either reading something intensely or tucked into a corner.
“But what kind of research could a freshman be doing?”
No one was around to answer my question.
‘Maybe I should be doing some research myself.’
Watching the direction Emily had vanished to, I was reminded of my current priority: finding out how to acquire “skills.”
After clearing the main quest of getting into the academy, I had received the class choice reward, which allowed me to select “Mage” with great anticipation.
I even gained a new Skills tab in my status window. Finally, I could envision myself teleporting and casting spells like a true mage.
<Skills>
You have not acquired any skills.
After several days, the Skills tab still had that same useless message. Apparently, studying magic alone wasn’t enough to unlock skills. Despite my reluctance, I even went back to the basics, hoping something might change in the status window, but there was no difference.
So how does one acquire a “skill”?
Ugh.
I sighed in frustration. Nothing ever comes easy, it seems. When it comes to the status window or system messages, nothing is straightforward. But when it’s a request for the Black Shadow Corps, things often go smoothly.
“Ryu?”
Just as I was feeling another wave of frustration, someone called my name from behind.
It was Cynthia.
It seemed everyone had agreed to arrive early today. Behind Cynthia, Kane Hover was slowly walking in as well.
“What’s this, some kind of ‘arrive early’ day?”
“…What are you talking about? Don’t you know?”
“Huh?”
I could read the surprise in Cynthia’s gaze. Her eyes shone as she closely examined my expression—sharp as always.
“Do you really not know?”
“Huh? Know what?”
“Hmmm.”
“Why? What’s going on?”
Cynthia tilted her head slightly, still looking at me as if I was suspicious, but this time, I genuinely didn’t know. Last time I was faking it 100%, but this time it was 100% true—I felt wrongfully accused. After scrutinizing me for a while, Cynthia finally dropped her doubtful look and started explaining.
“A notice went up this morning.”
“A notice? Where?”
“You… you do have a communication orb, right?”
“Ooh? I don’t think I have one.”
I did have an emergency communication orb to reach Addy, just in case, but other than that, I had nothing else.
Cynthia sighed, shook her head, and pulled a small crystal orb from her pocket. Muttering, “How can you not even have this,” she infused it with mana, and words formed in the air, looking somewhat like my own personal Status Window.
“Take a look. It was just posted this morning.”
“Hm?”
<Notice>
The Crescent Academy headquarters announces that the ‘Class Competition,’ originally scheduled for May, has been rescheduled and will now take place in two weeks.
…
Apart from the first sentence, there was some additional information like dates and contact details, but the main point was clear: the Class Competition was moved up.
“The Class Competition?”
“Yes, the Class Competition.”
“Huh. So they do things like this.”
“Wait, you seriously don’t know about the Class Competition?”
I shook my head.
“Um… well, it’s basically a competition among each grade’s representatives… but how should I put this?”
While Cynthia seemed to struggle to explain the concept of the Class Competition, a new voice joined the conversation from behind us.
“In short, it means the second and third years are going to beat you down, commoner.”
“…Huh?”
The owner of the hostile voice was none other than Kane Hover, who had been slowly following us. Despite getting knocked down by me before, he was openly expressing his hostility rather than hiding it.
“Hmph. No other freshmen will want to team up with you. The only one you might get is the hypocritical ‘equalist’ standing beside you.”
“…What did you just say?”
Cynthia clicked her tongue in irritation at Kane’s comment, but I was briefly distracted by something else.
<Main Quest (2): ‘Make a Mark’>
Goal: Win First Place in the Class Competition
Details: Win first place in Crescent Academy’s long-standing tradition, the Class Competition.
Rewards: Skill based on chosen class, 5 stat points
Penalty: End of Game and Reset
Once again, a system message appeared before me, completely out of the blue.
“Oho!”
I was actually looking forward to when a new main quest would pop up, so I was excited. And this time, it wasn’t even the quest details but the reward that caught my attention.
“So that’s it!”
I wanted to shout with joy but managed to hold back. No wonder I couldn’t gain any skills no matter what I did. Thinking about it, it made sense. The class choice was a reward from a quest, so it follows that skills would also come as quest rewards. It seemed obvious, but after years of no quests and paying little attention to the Status Window, I hadn’t considered it. I had gotten too used to a life of self-sufficiency.
“Equalist, huh. Got a problem with that?”
“…Hah, whatever. I’d rather not waste my time talking to someone like you.”
“Hm?”
While I was basking in the joy of the new quest and its rewards, the atmosphere between Cynthia and Kane had become quite tense.
“Uh, guys?”
At my words, both Cynthia and Kane looked at me.
“…Hmph.”
Kane scoffed, tapped Cynthia’s shoulder with a sneer, and headed toward the lecture hall first.
“Annoying guy.”
Cynthia followed, scowling at his back.
“Um… so, who’s going to explain the Class Competition to me?”
Again, there was no one to answer my question.
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