First Lecture

"Now, I understand there might be some idiots questioning the tower's difficulty. Rest assured, it is definitely doable," Magnus said, shooting a glance at everyone present before turning to the board and beginning to scribble some numbers.

"The headmaster studied the statistics and power of each first year class that came before you, and he has come to the conclusion that it's time to increase the stakes," he added, finishing the scribbles and filling the number-covered board with three lines down the middle.

Pointing at the first line, he spoke, "These are the results of the first batch—not that great. 19 failed; only 1 passed. Absolutely terrible results."

Wiping away the first line, he pointed at the second. "The second was a little better: 12 failed and 8 passed—a considerable improvement from the previous year."

Magnus suddenly turned to look at all the students present before stating, "But it worked. Those who managed to successfully overcome the 10th floor became much, much stronger."

He took another dramatic pause, circling the last line on the board.

"Now it's your turn. If at least one of you fails, you will all be expelled," Magnus remarked in his usual emotionless voice. However, that did not stop the others from voicing their thoughts.

"Excuse me!? If one of us fails, we will all be expelled? How does that make sense?" one of the students in the very back spoke up. It wasn't anyone Neraxis knew, but from the wand on his waist, he could at least tell he was a mage.

Magnus simply ignored the student's outburst and continued providing information.

"Lastly, the rankings. There are only 500 first-years in the academy—an all-time low, actually. Therefore, we will be conducting ranking evaluations in a couple of months," he stated, scribbling a few dates on the board.

"You should expect to see at least one important test during this period. Now then, since I've gotten everything out of the way, it's time to start the lecture."

The mage student from earlier tried protesting, but not even the students listened to him. Neraxis could only inwardly chuckle at the sight.

He was an instructor Neraxis remembered from the past. Despite his stern looks and the eerie energy he gave off, he was one of the kindest instructors in the whole academy.

"Now then, onto the trials, specifically the first floor," Magnus said, getting everyone's attention before writing a few words on the board.

"The first floor: Arena of Beginnings." he remarked before continuing.

"It is the simplest floor of them all. You appear inside an arena and have to kill as many monsters as you can within ten minutes. The more you kill, the higher your final evaluation will be."

Magnus proceeded to draw a few figures, actual art compared to the scribbles he had done earlier.

They depicted goblins, venomous wasps, and even some low-level demonic imps.

However, Neraxis's eyes widened as Magnus continued drawing every single monster he could recognize.

Dire Wolf...? Troll scout? These are E+ and D- ranked monsters. What the...

There were a couple more monsters, but none that deviated too much from their F ranked counterparts. Yet their strength, for his current self, was no joke.

If he went in, he'd be dead without a doubt.

But he could not understand one thing: what was stopping someone from simply going in once they were stronger? It seemed like an S-ranked individual could just come in, pass all these trials, and get the highest result.

However, before he could raise his question, Magnus answered.

"We will be aiming to pass the first floor in two months maximum. If you kids get too strong, the monsters will start scaling with your rank. E rank is the sweet spot for anything under floor five."

Oh, that makes sense. Neraxis nodded while listening along. This kind of information was something he could have probably found online, but it was still interesting.

"Now then, my main focus as your instructor will be to make you strong enough to complete all those trials—and, of course, put some general knowledge into your brains." Magnus chuckled with his emotionless voice, sending shivers down everyone's spine.

Neraxis noticed that the short lecture was coming to an end, so he decided to take a look around the classroom.

It didn't take long to spot her—she was the most eye-catching of all the women in the class, coupled with the girl she was sitting next to.

The girl seemed like a complete polar opposite of Celina, both appearance-wise and in the way she held herself.

Like a meek girl who couldn't do anything. But, obviously, since she was in the special class, she was strong unordinary by default.

Celina noticed him and waved, and he waved back before looking around some more.

The class seemed pretty proportionate—10 girls and 10 boys. Neraxis wasn't sure if that was done intentionally, but no one seemed dissatisfied with their seating arrangements.

Aside from a few more individuals who seemed less ordinary than the others, nothing else really stood out. Therefore, he placed his gaze back on the board, where Magnus was writing something again.

"What's a better way to start off the year than with an outing in the first week?"

Goblin rift? I guess he's trying to prepare us for some of the monsters we're going to be facing.

"We will be going tomorrow. Try not to be late to the first lesson," Magnus added while shooting both him and Kael a look.

"Yikes, you think he's going to scold us after class?" Kael whispered and Neraxis quickly replied, "Shut up."

However, Magnus seemed to notice their little interaction as he suddenly halted and announced, "Lecture ends for now. I'll continue in exactly 1 hour—don't be late."

As his words landed, the students looked around with slightly confused expressions but didn't dawdle before heading out.

That only left the two of them as well as their instructor, who, for some reason, was looking at them with a fierce glare.

"Why did you two spar on the first day? The special class is supposed to be a role model for the other classes. If you walk around with charred clothes, what does that make us besides pigs?" Magnus scolded.

Neraxis was about to speak up, but before he could, Kael stepped forward and spoke.

"Instructor, it's my fault. I forced him to spar with me."

"And it seems like you lost? How did you manage to lose when you are the most promising candidate in this entire class?"

As soon as Neraxis heard those words, he immediately put the puzzle together.

The only reason Magnus was even bothering them in the first place was simply because Kael lost when he should have won.

Though I can admit... If I didn't use my new skill, I would have lost without even standing a chance, Neraxis thought while listening in to their discussion, which quickly turned into an argument.

"So what if I lost? He was simply stronger than me, that's all."

"Kael Sylvran. You are the strongest student I've seen out of all the past first years. Stop spewing nonsense. You didn't use your gauntlets, did you?" Magnus pressed.

However, as soon as he said that, Kael fell silent—his playful expression vanishing, replaced by a look of pure repulsion.

"You should watch your tone, Instructor. You know I hate when people dictate what I do."

Without sparing another glance at Neraxis or Magnus, he exited the classroom with a sour expression.

I can see where Kael is coming from—it did look like Magnus was pushing his buttons a bit too much. Neraxis thought as a sigh escaped from his side. He was met with the conflicted look of the instructor.

"Can we have a word, Neraxis?"

"...Sure."