Chapter 27: Team-Fighting Mechanics
(A/N: I recommend you skim through this chapter, there are a few edits like Gawain's addition in the conversation, but nothing special.)ARTHUR LEYWIN'S POV:My body couldn't help but tremble in suppressed anger at the thought of being in the same class as that brat Lucas, and of all classes, a team-fighting class. The sick irony of having that traitor in a class focused on learning team cohesion in battles almost made me want to laugh.Our eyes met but he looked at me apathetically, like I was an insect on the ground."Good! Everyone's here!" a loud voice suddenly booms over the field. As all of the students started turning their heads to locate where the voice had come from, I looked straight up to see a massive hawk-like mana beast hovering over the field.This beast was at least 4 meters long and its wingspan was well over 8 meters. With its sharp talons tucked underneath it, the beast slowly made its descent, revealing a well-toned woman with a giant sword strapped to her back, standing up on the back of the hawk."Welcome! My name is Professor Glory, and I will be the one teaching all of you brats! This Flare Hawk is Torch, my precious bond. "The first thing I did was measure the stage our professor's mana core was at, but upon trying to inspect her level, I felt a sudden sharp pain in my head as Professor Glory whipped her gaze at me. Giving me a confident smile, she gazed down in my direction. Hopping off of her Flare Hawk, she made her way around the group of students in her class. Studying each of the students she passed, she took a closer look at some of them before making her way towards me.It wasn't unusual for mages to build defenses around their core stages, especially the higher-level ones. It was also a lot more difficult to hide which element they used since the mana particles of their element naturally surrounded them. Most don't find the need to hide their elemental attribute so it wasn't a big deal even if they couldn't, but needless to say, it was surprising to see how strong Professor Glory's defenses were.I couldn't tell what her core stage was or even her elemental attribute. While I got the hang of masking my core stage level, I needed to use seals to completely hide my elemental attributes. I wasn't sure whether she used seals like I did but one thing was for sure: she knew I was the one inspecting her."I have to say, you guys have set the bar pretty high for all of the other classes," she announced after inspecting Lucas. She took quite a bit longer to inspect the disciplinary committee and the student council members, nodding every once in a while."Well if it isn't my newest colleague, Arthur Leywin. It's a pleasure to meet you," Professor Glory gave me a playful grin as if she was itching to tease me."Well, looks like the beans are spilled," Gawain muttered under his breath.The students started murmuring amongst the group in confusion.One of the male upperclassmen raised his hand. "Professor Glory, what do you mean by colleague?""Ah! Most of you probably saw him at the commencement this morning but this boy is a freshman disciplinary committee officer. A real prodigy if I do say so myself. He's also a newly appointed professor for the Practical Mana Manipulation class that you guys all took during your underclassman years." She gave me a firm pat on the back."WHAT?!!""You can't be serious, Professor!""If that brat is a professor then I'm the king of this continent!""What has this academy turned into, to accept a freshman as a professor?""How is that even possible? Even the best upperclassmen these days don't get picked to be professors, but that first year did?"The various noises of protests made me sigh. They were bound to find out eventually but it would've taken the upperclassmen a bit longer to find out this news, considering they didn't really get much information about the lower-division classes."GRRRR~" Sylvie's fur stood on end as she growled warningly at the group of students. 'Papa is stronger than all of you combined!'Everyone had seen Sylvie by now, whether it was from passing through the academy or at the commencement ceremony earlier today so no one really cared much about the tiny mana beast on my head that could turn big enough to swallow them whole."Now, now! Before we jump straight into complaints, we should have more faith in the director's decision. He has qualified to some degree by beating the professor who taught the class previously!" She shot me a wink."But Professor Glory! The underclassmen professors aren't all that great anyway! I bet some of the upperclassmen students here could beat most of them!" Another round of complaints was issued, making me grow sleepy. Must've been the food coma setting in from lunch."Haha! To be honest, I'm itching to test how strong you really are, boy! Unfortunately, Director Goodsky made it clear for us to not do that. So! These students here will test you in my place!" She put her hands on her hip, grinning in anticipation.By now, I noticed a sudden raging fire burning in some of the male students' eyes as they looked at me. I could almost see the words they were thinking etched into their face.'I'm going to kill this bastard.''Who does this brat think he is?''Murder, murder, murder, murder . . .''I'm jealous. Why is he good-looking too? He needs to die.'The female students, on the other hand, had a look in their eyes that scared me even more. Their stares remind me of hyenas looking at fresh meat as they almost drooled over the 'goods' that I suddenly became to them.Clive, on the other hand, scowled in contempt while Lucas looked at me with his brow raised in renewed interest as if I had gotten promoted from an insect to a mammal."Director Goodsky told me to take it easy on my upper division classes until I adjusted to school. This is my first day, after all," I tried to ease my way out of this. Fighting against these hormonal teenagers wasn't going to end well."Oh, come on! That's no fun now, is it? In order to get proper respect, a certain amount of skill needs to be shown, you know? It's just to prove to us that you are actually capable of being in this upper-division class. Isn't that right, class?" she shouted. "Yeah!"Was this a military boot camp or something? Why was there always a reason to prove myself in whatever situation came up?"Sigh... What did you have in mind, Professor Glory?" I said in defeat. This wasn't going to end and I didn't want to waste my breath in arguing with people who didn't want to hear logic."Fear not! I am a just and fair woman!" she harrumphed.Just and fair, my ass.I felt as if she had just read my mind because she wrapped her well-built arm around my neck and squeezed. Unlike the Twin Horns' Angela's chest, hers was muscular and hard, not much different from a man's.(A/N: Seriously! How come I never noticed while reading.)"We will start off this semester by playing a little game! Aren't I so nice?" By the look on her face, she was the most excited about this. Continuing on, she said, "So! What kind of game should we play... a mock team battle? War?""How about having the three disciplinary committee officers on the same team, Professor? I feel like that could be a good way to let us work on teamwork as well," Curtis raised his hand as Claire and Gawain nodded in agreement next to him."Hmmm, not a bad idea!" she responded while rubbing her chin."But Professor, both Curtis and Claire are top students in this academy! Not to mention, Gawain has been trained by Gladwin Ariosto himself! It wouldn't be fair to have all three of them on the same team as him," a tall, black-haired teen argued."That's true... Aha! I got it! For the DC team, we will have Arthur play the role of king, the match resulting in an immediate loss if he gets put out of battle. I think that should be fair. Now, what about the other team?" As if she was talking to herself, she started muttering off possible candidates when a hand raised."Professor. How about having the student council president, Elijah, and I as their opponent?" Clive suggested."What?" Tess turns her head to Clive in surprise. But before she had the chance to object, Professor Glory clasped her hands."OHH! Now things are getting interesting! But it would be unfair to have only the two of you against the three of them. " She looked around the group of students."I think the president, Elijah, and I will suffice if the immediate loss rule affecting Arthur Leywin is implemented," he said seriously."I'll volunteer to be on the Student Council Team," Lucas Wykes said calmly while leaning on his staff."Hmmm, Mr. Wykes, our other genius freshman... Very well! It would be a good chance to see your abilities in action as well!" I could tell she had a twinge of doubt. Maybe she'd heard some rumors about him and Elijah. Some of the other students groaned in disappointment that they didn't get the chance to beat me up and be on the same team as the student council president but everyone was clearly excited to see the match."The match will have a time limit of 30 minutes, where we will have a short discussion and a breakdown of it afterward. Please gear up!" With that, a pile of what looked like exercise gear dropped to the ground out of Professor Glory's dimension ring.Turning serious, she began explaining. "This is special equipment designed by artificers to measure the amount of damage that is dealt. This equipment will activate, releasing a shrill noise, if the damage it takes passes the threshold that's encrypted into it. If anyone chooses to ignore this warning and continues to fight or cast spells, it will lead to immediate expulsion from my class and other possible consequences regarding your stay here as a student . This rule goes for any upper-division fighting class in this academy, so engrave it into your guys' brains. All of you are at the level where protecting yourselves with mana shouldn't be a problem. Let me reiterate this but, this equipment won't protect you so don't rely on it as a source of protection," She announced to everyone else in the class as well. Clearing her throat, Professor Glory shouted. "Do I make myself clear?!""YES!""Good! Now, the eight of you gear up." She got back on her bond while the rest of the students headed towards the viewing platform.Curtis came up to me and patted my back before picking up his gear. "Well, it seems like we're going to have an early practice session! Let's do our best, Arthur. I still remember you wanting a sword back then. Let's see how good you are!""We can't embarrass the DC name now, can we? I'll make practice extra hard for anyone who doesn't meet standards!" Claire grinned evilly while grabbing her gear."Well! Let's show them who is the real boss!" Gawain shouted and grabbed his equipment.Clive and Lucas walked past me, ignoring me as I went after them to pick up my gear. The gear consisted of a tight jacket and a series of straps that I wrapped around my legs and arms. Gawain and I helped each other in binding the straps on each other hands."Do you know anything about Elijah? I kind of know pretty much about the abilities of the other three, but I had never heard of Elijah." Gawain asked me, looking at Elijah who was arguing with Lucas. "Elijah is an A-rank adventurer actually, one of my friends has actually been on a raid with him. From what she told me, Elijah is a conjurer with earth affinity." I told him keeping the fact that I already knew about Elijah. "I see, I think Claire should take Princess Tessia, while Prince Curtis would be enough for Clive. As for Elijah, why don't you—""I will fight Lucas," I said cutting him, my voice firm and confident. "Hmm, Are you sure? Lucas is a prodigy of the Wykes family, and their behavior is definitely not the best." He warned It was true, Lucas may try to create a problem for me in the academy, but I wanted to let off some steam. "Yeah, We had some things unsettled. I think this will be the best opportunity for me." I said, cracking my knuckles. "I see, then let's tell Claire and Curtis the plan." Saying that he started walking towards them with me following beside.~~A/N: I will release another chapter by evening as this is just copy-paste mostly.