The First Lesson is Survival

They had just plummeted into a magical rift, landed in a world that wasn't theirs, and now they were facing a man who was both absurdly powerful and, it seemed, completely indifferent to their crisis.

Most of them, still in shock, their minds desperately scrambling to digest what had just taken place. The redhead girl had her fists so tightly clenched that her knuckles were white. I noticed that the guy with dark hair was nervously looking around.

None had any idea what was happening — or why they were here.

Orthus, however, knew precisely what was to come.

He stared down at the gathering of students in a disapproving manner. His purple eyes, glimmering dim with power, tracked each of them closely. They didn't seem like much. He could already identify the ones who would have trouble, and the ones who might impress him.

Still, they were his only chance to break the curse.

"Well, if you're all quite done with your panicking, let me get on with this."

He raised a hand, and with a snap of his fingers, the room changed.

The air quivered as a huge arena unfolded around them.

The students gazed around them, confused. They were no longer in the stone tower, but on what seemed to be an enormous training ground, surrounding by walls of strange magic.

"What is this place?" Or, one of the students gasped, eyes wide in shock.

Orthus waved a hand dismissively, the same bored expression on his face. "Welcome to your first lesson, here. I hope you're ready to die."

The students collectively gasped.

"Die?! " The redhead from earlier screamed, eyes bulging with shock. "You can't be serious!"

Orthus narrowed his eyes. "You would prefer to remain a prisoner at the tower for all eternity? You'll die either way. This is your only opportunity to survive and learn magic. Or you can return and be plain old human beings — no magic, no meaning, no future."

He waited, allowing his words to linger. The students looked around at each other and then yelped panicked or defiant.

But Orthus wasn't done yet.

"Alright then." He raised his hand. "Your first test will be an easy one. I'm going to summon creatures — monsters, specifically. Your job is to survive. Do that, and you'll be lucky if you make it through this lesson alive. Fail, and…" He waved his hand dismissively. "Well, it wouldn't be the first time someone died in my class."

One of the students, a tall guy in a leather jacket, stepped forward and clenched his fists. "You're kidding me, right? This is insane!"

Orthus raised an eyebrow. "No, I'm not kidding. You'll find out the hard way that you don't mess with magic. You have been summoned because you still have a lot of potential. But potential isn't enough on its own."

He snapped his fingers again.

The earth quaked, and something thick splattered in the air as a gigantic creature materialised before them.

It was massive — a black-scaled serpent, its burning eyes slithering toward the group, its maw wide open and dripping with venom. The students yelped as the monster closed in, but Orthus didn't budge.

"You have half a minute until it strikes. Make it count."

The students broke in different directions, some pulling weapons — others just fleeing for their lives.

The serpent emitted a bone-rattling hiss and its titanic body flailed. It lunged for the nearest human being, the guy in the leather jacket. He jumped out of the way just in time, before a gale-force blast from the monster's giant tail knocked him into the wall.

"Get up!" Orthus roared, a voice of iron. "You have no time to be weak!"

The students panicked, there were makeshift weapons, a sword, a staff, a couple of knives, and they fought back with trembling hands.

Happy little Hana had been hiding behind a rock. She was wide-eyed with fright. "I can't… I don't know how to —!"

"Figure it out!" "Enough!" snapped Orthus, his voice ice cold and commanding. "You think magic is just flashy spells and pretty lights? It's about survival."

The jaws of the serpent closed around Leon Kisaragi, the sharp-eyed guy who had attempted to charge the monster from the front, but he just barely teleported out of its reach in time. He produced a glowing dagger with runes carved into it, his expression grim and resolute.

"All right, you ugly son of a bitch, let's see what you got!" Leon cried out, half anger, half defiance.

He raced forward; his entire body moving at lightning speed — he was beginning to get the hang of his new abilities. But the monster's movements were quicker than expected. It lashed its tail, sending him crashing to the ground with a thundering thump.

Hana, in a panic, attempted to cast a spell but only managed to spark a couple of embers. "I don't—how do you do this?! " she yelled, glancing back to Orthus.

Orthus leaned against a pillar, arms crossed, and watched impassively. "The spell's in your head. Don't think too hard. Magic isn't control. "It's about trusting yourself."

Hana's eyes widened. For a moment, it looked like she'd run again — but then she took a breath, closed her eyes and steadied herself.

To everyone's astonishment, the air around her rippled, and a glowing, flame-filled sphere blasted from her palm and straint onto the serpent's face. The beast flinched and hissed, pulling back:

"Nice job," Orthus muttered, as though it were nothing.

Hana was panting, her hands shaking. "I… I did it?"

"Yes," Orthus said, smirking. "You didn't die. Congratulations. You learned your first lesson," says he. Magic is survival."

The students, whose shock from the attack had not yet faded, gazed at one another. They had just stared death in the face — and somehow, some of them had lived.

Orthus looked to them, his eyes now serious. "You'll learn more

in the coming days. But keep this lesson in mind—you must survive before you can learn to use magic."