Chapter 13

The auditorium is vast. There have to be several hundred students here, yet it doesn't feel cramped at all. It is probably because every other noble and I sit in booths on the second and third floors while the commoners huddle together below us. At the front of the hall is a small stage where our principal stands. He is a small man from a dark elf tribe, but his blood-red eyes feel like daggers when their stare at you. I should know he glared at me when Bozzair caused several girls to squeal in delight.

"Welcome, students," The principal smiles, but it feels forced. Bozzair is too cute for his own good as he runs in his sleep while laying down on my lap.

"Sister, pay attention," Noah says, nudging my shoulder.

"I am," I assure him as I stroke Bozzair under his chin.

"You will now begin two years of training to horn your magical abilities," The principal continues his speech. "Those of you who do well will be invited to work at the Ministry of Magic or serve the royal family directly. Those of you who fail will soon find yourself on your way back home."

It looks like the school is just as strict as it is in the game. When I was just a player, I received multiple game over screens for failing pop quizzes that would appear at the end of every month. The quizzes aren't challenging. They are just three random questions about stuff you learned in class that month. As long as I pay attention, I won't have… aww even when Bozzair sneezes, he's cute.

"Sister, you need to pay attention,"

"I am,"

"Over the next two years, you will be pushed to your limits and grow far more than you ever thought possible," The principal says, looking around the room. "Anyone who feels like they can't keep up is free to leave. We don't have time for those who are looking to just goof around to leave now. With that said, you are free to head to your homerooms now."

Well, his personality isn't any better than his in-game characters. I shiver, remembering him telling me game over while I was still only a player. But if things play out as they did in the game, then as long as I don't harm the heroine, I should never see the principal again. I can start by not being late for homeroom, but Bozzair is making that hard by refusing to wake up. I have no choice. I pick up my sleeping baby dragon and carry him as is drawing more attention than I would like.

<0>

This is more fancier than I was expecting. Every year, this school has four classes with thirty students in each class. One for high ranked numbles, two for lower nobles and the children of wealthy merchants and one for commoners. While playing the game, I only caught brief glances of this room from the eyes of the heroine, but it is more than I expected.

Each of us has a comfortable looking seat and a spacious table. I can see the maid my family sent along with me, and Noah stood to the side of the room next to a station for making tea and containing snacks. Even the way the walls are painted and the floors carpeted screams lavish. The heroine's class, for example, has wooden benches and two students share a desk, and she is only in the lower-ranked nobles class. With the drop in comfort between our class and the heroine's, I fear to imagine what kind of condition the commoners have to endure.

I find a free seat, and Noah and Marshall quickly take the seats next to me. Zeno enters the room next and quickly takes a seat in front of me. He hasn't changed at all since I last saw him as Zeno asks me if I reconsidered his marriage proposal even with Marshall sitting right next to me. Our engagement may only be for show now. However, Marshall still had no choice but to respond with so many people overhearing Zeno's words. Thankfully the teacher showed up soon after, so nothing happened.

"Welcome, everyone. Please take your seats, and we will begin,"

Our teacher is a foxkin woman with fox ears poking out from her long red hair and a tail-wagging behind her. Her skin is well tanned, and her eyes are sharp enough to scare me when our gazes meet. She is a short woman, and I struggle not to laugh as she stands on a small box to see over her desk.

"Welcome to the academy. My name is Athra Erlis, but please call me professor or miss Erlis. I will be your teacher for none practical studies for the next two years." Miss Erlis Politely bows her head before she waves a wand around, causing text to appear on the blackboard behind her. "I will start by explaining the rules of the academy, then move on to the subjects you will be taking and finally finish off with a quick Q&A before we begin your assessment."

The rules of the academy are simple enough. From tomorrow onwards we are to wear the school uniform well on school grounds. We were exempt from that rule for today since everyone had to travel long distances to reach the school. There is no fighting, cheating, bullying or stealing allowed. Finally, everyone must score eighty per cent on each months pop quiz to remain enrolled in the school. The last rule is harsh, but I think it is only there because the game makers wanted to make the game more challenging.

As for the subjects we will be studying. Every morning we will be studying in class with miss Erlis and spend the afternoon in a joint practical lesson with the other classes. I can hear some people complaining about studying alongside commoners, but miss Erlis quickly silences them. In the classroom, we will be learning history on Mondays, math on Tuesdays, science on Wednesdays, alchemy on Thursdays and magical theory on Fridays. Miss Erlis says are practical lessons will be exercised on Mondays and Fridays, weapon practice on Tuesdays, support magic on Wednesday, and attack magic on Thursdays. As for Saturday and Sunday, we don't have lessons, but club activities are on Saturdays, while Sunday is a free day.

I completely forgot about club activities. That is one of the main ways the heroine would advance down a capture route with her target. There are countless clubs, but the ones available in the game are fencing that Marshal is taking, book club that Noah wishes to join and hunting that Zeno told me he is planning on joining. It is a good thing none of them interests me, so I shouldn't interfere with the heroine's route. I am still not sure what club I want to join, but I am leaning towards a sports team. Miss Erlis mentions that we can observe clubs after being assessed today, so I still have time to make up my mind.

"Now, do any of you have any questions?" Miss Erlis asks, looking around, but no one raises their hand. "Okey then, if you have nothing to ask, please follow me." Once again, I struggle not to smile while I watch my teacher hop off of her box. "I will take you to the assessment area where you will meet your practical teacher."

<0>

Our class is the first to arrive, but the others are close behind us. The room is just as big as the auditorium, so it easily holds everyone. But unlike the auditorium, there are no booths for nobles, only chairs at the front of the room while the commoners stand behind us. At the front of the room is a small stage where all the homeroom teachers stand in a line making miss Erlis seem even smaller. Standing in front of them is a stern-looking woman with a giant sword strapped to her back and two smaller swords sheathed at her waist. The woman is strong with bigger muscles than most men I saw while still taking quests at the adventures guild. She has short black hair and grey eyes and is easily the tallest teacher on the stage.

"Listen up, brats!" The woman's voice is just as powerful as her body, quickly making all the students silent. "My name is Sara Carlyle. I was a former mercenary working for the Rabid Shields, and I am known as The Giantslayer, but you will all call me ma'am."

Sara is a living legend who earned her nickname after she single-handedly defeated a group of giants that wandered into the territory of a nearby kingdom. At the guild, I heard stories about her exploits and even got to see her once while I was leaving the guild. It was only a quick glance, but I never forgot the sight of a woman soaked with blood dragging the body of a troll into the guild.

"I will be your teacher for your practical lessons," Sara continues glaring at every noble, including me. She really is intimidating as even Bozzair cowers under her glare. "I don't care if you are a noble or a commoner. I will work you all just as hard. Now I will begin your assessments. When I call your name, step forward." I remember this from the game. Sara, hearing about the heroine's strong magical power, makes her go first. "Angelina Lamonia. Get up here. You are going first."

What? This shouldn't be happening. At first, I thought she had made a mistake, but when Noah nudged me forward, I realised she really did call my name. But why me and not the heroine? Oh… I think I get it now. After defeating Bozzair, my identity became known to the guild. Hence, a highly ranked adventure like Sara probably learned about me from the guild. I wasn't expecting this, but it should be no big deal to go first instead of last, as my character did in the game. I walk forward, leaving Bozzair behind, who is still shaking.

"I'm interested in seeing how strong you are, dragon slayer," Sara comments, causing the room to erupt into chaos.

"Dragon slayer? She said dragon slayer, right?"

"It's probably a joke there is no way a girl like her defeated a dragon,"

"Haven't you seen that dragon she has been carrying around?"

"It must be true!"

"There is no way it is true,"

"Everyone shut the hell up!" Sara finally brings order with a mighty yell. "I will only say this once, and if you make a commotion about it, I will tie weights to you all and make you run laps around the school. This girl is an S ranked adventure who killed two dragons, a flock of wyverns and many more monsters single-handedly." Everyone looks like they are about to speak up again, but one look from Sara is enough to silence them. "Now, we will see how strong she truly is. Angelina, put your hands on the crystal and show us your strength."

There is only one object on the stage. A small stone pillar with a black crystal. It's cold. I shiver just by touching the smooth surface. But if this works the same way as the one at the guild worked, then it won't end well for me.

Unreadable.

The exact words I saw at the guild reappear now. I don't know the exact reason, but I think it has something to do with the boost god gave to my magic, making it too strong to measure. At least this time, I won't be labelled an F rank and forced to do gathering quests until I prove my worth. Sara seems like the type of person to realise I am too strong to be measured but… but for some reason, she is laughing.

"Ha! This is my first time seeing a human being too strong to measure," Sara says before looking to the homeroom teachers. "Bring out the one we use for elves and dwarfs. I used to be in a party with a dwarf that had the same problem. Still, it is strange this usually only happens with long-lived races after over one hundred years of training."

I wish she wouldn't stare at me so much. It is scary. When the crystal is swapped out, it is a relief to be able to distract myself with the assessment.

Magical Strength: God-Like

What? Was it really that strong?

"There must be a mistake…."

This time, the teacher created a scene as they made me repeat the test multiple times and even switched the crystal to ensure there was no mistake. But there is no mistake, and Sara quiets the teachers down just as quickly as she does with the students.

"Angelina, return to your seat," She tells me, and I find everyone watching me. "Next up is Ellis Lockridge."

"Sister, are you really that strong?" I nod my head to Noah's question. "Wow. I knew you were strong but not that strong."

"Our kingdom will be safe with you around," Marshal comments. I hope that means he will talk my family into letting me take quests again after I graduate.

"You shouldn't waste your time with humans," Zeno says, standing up from where he is sitting behind me. "Only us elves can bring out your full protentional."

"Another strong one," Sara comments before I can turn Zeno down. Up on the stage, I see Ellis has just finished getting assessed. Like in the game, she received a high ranking. "If this keeps up, I will have some promising students." Ellis smiles as she leaves the stage, meeting my eyes briefly before quickly turning away. "Next up is…."

I stop paying attention after this and stroke Bozzair trying to calm him down. I can't blame him for being scared. I certainly would if be scared I had someone like Sara trying to kill me. At least time passes quickly, and the assessment ends without any more scenes.

"Are you three going to sign up with the clubs you want to join?" I ask as I leave with Marshal, Noah and Zeno.

"Yes, and if you excuse me, I need to hurry as I hear the fencing club fills up fast," Marshal nods before we part ways.

"I should leave too," Noah replies looking around the campus. "The library is on the other side of the school grounds."

"And now it is just the two of us," Zeno says once we are alone. "Care to accompany me to the hunting club?"

"I'll pass," I tell him. "I am going to check out the other clubs before I pick one."

"Don't be a stranger," Zeno smiles. "I will be more than happy to give you archery lessons."

I bet he would. I still remember the CG image of him getting handsy with the heroine when he gave her archery lessons during the game. But at least he leaves me alone without trying to drag me away with him. Now then, which club should I check out first?

"Excuse me, lady Lamonia," I turn around, surprised to see the heroine standing nervously right behind me. "I... I am unsure which club to join as well. May I accompany you in viewing the school's clubs?"