Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy

'It's not easy.'

Controlling the marble with his will took a considerable amount of effort.

If he didn't pay attention, the marble would fly off, just as it did with the previous student who got struck in the stomach. It was a foreign feeling as if he'd grown a third arm.

Fortunately for Yi-han, he didn't have to worry about running out of mana, and he was fine even as he continued to revolve the marble in a circle.

“...”

Professor Bolady simply stared at him as he did so.

'Is it because I'm not running out of mana?'

Yi-han was curious as to why he was being stared at. Even from his point of view, his circles looked sloppy, so it likely wasn't because he was drawing them quickly or well.

Instead, the professor was probably curious as to why he wasn't getting tired at all this time.

'Oh, never mind. It's because I'm the only one in the classroom.'

He soon realized that the professor was staring at him blankly.

If he found Yi-han's mana capacity fascinating, he would've simply asked about it. Hence, the only explanation was that there was nothing else to look at inside the room!

Yi-han decided not to be bothered by the professor's stare and continued to focus on moving the marble.

Having said that, he still couldn't understand the point of this exercise...

'Whatever, I'll get my grades as long as I keep moving it around.'

A magical marble that would grant him his desired grade simply by rolling it around. When he thought of it that way, he felt the motivation to continue.

Yi-han was extremely used to following ridiculous instructions from professors.

***

'Interesting.'

Though he wasn't letting it show on his face, Professor Bolady found this entire situation fascinating, an emotion he hadn't felt for a long time.

And it was all because of the student in front of him.

Every year, students would come in droves to <Basic Repetitive Training in Magic Combat>, only to leave like water during a low tide. Hence, he had zero students to teach last year.

However, Professor Bolady didn't care in the least.

His contract with Principal Os Gonadaltes stated that he had to “teach <Basic Repetitive Training in Magic Combat> every year”. Nowhere did it state that he had to have a certain number of students.

True to his words, Professor Bolady always sat at the front of the classroom with his marbles when it came time for his class, only standing up to leave when the class time was over. He did this even when the classroom was empty.

Nobody understood why he even bothered, but he always abided by this rule. This had been the case for the longest time, but this routine had been broken by a freshman that joined the class today.

He was a handsome young man with masculine features reminiscent of sculptures, and one look was all it took to know that he was a student from the Blue Dragons.

From the way he spoke and carried himself, he was probably a descendant of some powerful family in the Empire.

And yet he continued to move the marble in circles without uttering a word of complaint...

Even the students of the Black Tortoise that had the lowest status would leave the class saying “Who the fuck has time for this?”, so it was a weird thing to see someone from the Blue Dragons behaving so well and focusing on his task.

Furthermore, the student didn't seem tired at all as he continued to move the marble, which told the professor that he was born with a lot of mana.

If Bolady had been at all close with the other professors, he would've known through a conversation with Professor Troll that Yi-han was blessed with abundant mana.

However, he didn't see the need to be friendly with his colleagues. After all, that wasn't part of his contract with the principal.

Hence, he only knew that Yi-han had more mana than his peers. As to exactly how much more, he was still in the dark.

'I hope he stays.'

For the first time, Professor Bolady wished for a student to continue taking his class. If he did, he could also move on to the next content, which would also be a first.

***

“I'm telling you, it's a great class!”

Yi-han couldn't be more serious as he said so.

Normally, he'd never be so kind to others, but he was willing to make an exception for Yonaire and Gainando.

Yonaire could become his colleague later on, whereas Gainando had a rich mother that might give him “friendship fees” in the future.

It was never a bad idea to be close to someone from a rich family.

“I don't think anyone else is planning on joining. In other words, you're guaranteed to get an A+ just by sitting in the classroom.”

“...Hmmm...”

Yonaire's face said it all. She was trying to think of the best way to reject the offer. Nobody else was taking the class, and for good reasons too, but she felt sorry for Yi-han who was desperately recommending it to them.

“...But hey, if you don't want to, that's your choice,” Yi-han said.

He had no intention of forcing them to take the class with him. He was simply trying to be a good friend by telling them about a class that they could cheese through.

“Hmm, can you tell a bit more?”

Gainando, on the other hand, seemed somewhat interested.

“What do they teach there?”

“There's this marble which is an artifact that the professor created, and by injecting mana into it, it floats in the air.”

“Oho. And then?”

“We practice and make it go around in circles.”

“I see. And then?”

“That's it.”

“...”

“...”

Yonaire and Gainando stared at Yi-han, tongue-tied.

“Y-you sure that it's being taught by a real professor?”

“Who cares if he's real or not? What's important is that I get my grades.”

Yonaire was impressed by his attitude.

- I doubt there's anyone as pragmatic and practical as I am in this group of students.

This was what she truly believed when she first entered the academy.

Since the members of the Blue Dragons hailed from rich and powerful families, they were often very opinionated and refused to take in new ideas. That was also the impression that she got from most of the students she interacted with.

However, after talking with Yi-han, she realized that she was a frog in the well. This man from the Wardanaz Family took practicality to a whole new level, a level she couldn't even fathom!

“Well, since neither of you is interested, I won't say anything else. I'll be taking <Basic Swordsmanship> next.”

“...F-for real??”

“Wardanaz, that's a bit...”

They tried their best to stop Yi-han, but he couldn't be convinced.

Other than the mandatory courses, he was determined to take the classes he chose. After all, that was the rule of Einroguard!

'Are we really supposed to leave him alone??'

Gainando even considered running to the principal for counsel.

***

There were a lot more students in <Basic Swordsmanship> as compared to <Basic Repetitive Training in Magic Combat>. In fact, over a dozen students were waiting for the professor in a courtyard located south of the academy's main building.

'Huh, there are more students than I expected.'

Yi-han quickly realized the reason why. The students gathered there were from the White Tigers. Though they came to the academy to learn magic, they were originally from a knight's family. Naturally, they were familiar with the methods of wielding a sword and were much more serious about it compared to the others.

People of the other towers wouldn't continue dabbling in swordsmanship at the academy, but the same couldn't be said for the people of the White Tigers.

'I guess I was lucky with <Basic Repetitive Training in Magic Combat>.'

Yi-han felt slightly disappointed. However, not all classes were jackpots like <Basic Repetitive Training in Magic Combat> where he could get first place in a class of one, so this wasn't too bad either.

Not to mention, he had trained in the way of the sword for a long time.

“...Who's that?”

“Isn't he someone from the Blue Dragons?”

The students of the White Tigers were likewise surprised by his presence and began whispering amongst themselves. They hadn't expected to see a student from the other towers here.

“I know who he is. He's the guy from the Wardanaz Family.”

“The Wardanaz Family!? Aren't they a famous family of mages?”

“But why would someone from the Wardanaz Family take this class?”

“Maybe he learned a trick or two from being tutored at his estate and got confident with his skills.”

“So he thinks lightly of swordsmanship.”

Most of the students present seemed hostile toward him. Though their skill levels differed, they all prided themselves on having seriously trained in the way of the sword.

On the other hand, children of nobility often learned swordsmanship as a way of protecting themselves, meaning they only ever bothered to graze the surface.

The White Tigers assumed Yi-han wasn't taking the class seriously, hence their reaction.

Yi-han wasn't oblivious to their stares either.

'As if I care what they think.”

These teens were trying to pressure him into folding, but he wasn't silly enough to play along.

“Hey.”

Eventually, one of the students was fed up with Yi-han's silence and called him out.

As expected of someone from a knight's family, the student that stepped forward was well-built. He was also an orc, and his bulging muscles could easily be seen through the rags that had been given to them as uniforms.

The orc approached Yi-han and stared him in the eyes, a gesture Yi-han gladly returned.

As intimidating as the orc may seem, Yi-han wasn't a greenhorn that was easily scared.

“Got something to say?”

“Yes. You're Wardanaz from the Blue Dragons, correct?”

“And what if I am?”

“I think you've come to the wrong class. We're here to train in the swords. We're not here to flail about for appearance's sake.”

“I see. Thanks for the notice.”

“...”

Seeing Yi-han ignore his kind words, the orc frowned.

“It seems you still don't understand correctly. The swordsmanship we learn here is completely different from the random swinging that you nobles do at your estates. We'll be having spars here, and there's a real chance of being seriously injured. The students here don't go easy on their opponents.”

“Yeah, I know. Don't worry about it. I'll take care not to injure you too badly when the time comes.”

“...”

It took the orc a moment to realize what Yi-han was implying, and when he did, his face became red in anger.

It was then that someone gave a light cough. The professor had arrived.

“Now, is everyone ready for class?”

The professor's voice was soft, but his appearance betrayed their expectations.

Elves were naturally gifted with beauty, but the students felt nothing but pressure seeing the professor's body that was filled with scars all the way from his face down.

He had a prosthetic leg and arm, not to mention a scar over one of his eyes which led to the mismatched size of pupils.

“I'm Professor Ingurdel, and I'll be responsible for teaching you students swordsmanship during this semester.”

The elven professor introduced himself while using his long sword as a cane.

“Since you're willing to take swordsmanship class in Einroguard, you've probably learned it before and wish to hone it further, or at the very least, make sure that you don't get rusty.”

Yi-han felt slightly guilty upon hearing this. Of course, getting better with the sword would be great, but his main goal was to receive good grades.

“As that's the case, I won't be teaching you from the beginning. Instead, you'll be focusing on honing the skills that you've learned.”

The young knights listened to the elven professor's speeches with twinkling eyes.

Magic still felt foreign to them, and they were much more comfortable listening to a class about swordsmanship.

Tap. Tap.

“?”

Yi-han turned his head as he noticed someone tapping on his shoulders. It was an elf, just like Professor Ingurdel, but their image was the complete opposite.

The student had short, blond hair along with a beautiful androgynous face.

'I bet he's popular with the ladies.'

“What's up?”

“You're the one from the Wardanaz Family, right? I was wondering why someone from a family of magic would be interested in learning swordsmanship.”

The question was asked without any hint of ridicule or disdain. He seemed much more friendly and approachable than the rude orc from before.

“With how few students there are in the class, I thought I'd be able to get a good grade.”

“...”