The imperial academy

Holden was having trouble distinguishing exactly which genre the building before him would fit into. The fact it was made of stone bricks should've made it clearly fantasy, but the intricate golden lines that occasionally pulsated with blue energy reminded him of a certain high-tech race of aliens from a strategy game.

He had seen this place in 2D, of course, but seeing it now in 3D, with all his senses feeling the cool wind and the warm sun on his face—it was utterly breathtaking.

As Holden slowly stepped forward, he felt the eyes of the students turn to him before they, out of reflex or perhaps some minor respect for Alvric's family, turned their heads back. Alvric's actions, his duel, and his loss—and most importantly, his punishment—had been publicly announced.

This led to two conclusions: first, any respect that the student body had for his strength had vanished, and secondly, the 'friends' Alvric had made similarly vanished due to his situation becoming disadvantageous.

Holden silently cursed these so-called friends in his mind, even though he himself knew he would've done the same thing.

Holden walked through the hallways, which were lit by orbs attached to the wall by lamp posts.

Holden sighed a bit at the aesthetically pleasing view before remembering which classes Alvric had picked.

In the Imperial Academy, there were the seven noble subjects: mathematics, history, science, literature, combat, and strategy. And then there were the seven mystic subjects: element manipulation, mystic theory, artifice, mystic ecology, dueling, alchemy, and divination.

A student had to pick any seven to study, and of course, Alvric—with his stern disapproval of magic—had picked the seven 'noble' subjects. Couldn't he have at least picked mystic theory? Holden lampooned inwardly. The worst part was that even though he had picked the seven noble subjects, other than combat he barely participated in any of the others.

In his previous life, Holden had agreed with the sentiment that most of the things taught in schools were useless for practical use. However, he also believed that some things would still be useful.

Since he and Alvric had become one in mind, body, and soul, it was obvious Alvric was vying for the crown. Alvric had blatantly ignored the fact that he was the seventh prince and one of the younger ones, but now he had little to no chance because of his own hedonistic nature backfiring on him.

Holden entered the class that reminded him more of an opera house than a classroom. In the front of the room was a podium with a lectern, which had on it implements similar to keyboards and tablets back on Earth. Behind the lectern was a large screen which had golden pumps attached to it.

The golden pumps were actually an alloy of gold and a mixture called electrum, which was apparently very good at conducting spirit energy—the basic fuel for mystic arts and mystic crafts.

The implements worked similarly to the smart teaching boards back on Earth—anything typed on the keyboard and drawn on the tablet would be displayed on the screen behind the teacher.

As students began to enter, Holden searched his memories and sat down at his usual seat as he waited. The first class would be history.

As soon as everyone had seated themselves, Madam Moira, the history professor, entered. She had a tired expression on her face and bore weary eyes that had seen and survived the hardships of life in this world.

"Everyone be seated. I know all of you are excited for your vacations, but don't get lenient with your studies—I assure you this will show up in your second year here."

Everyone nodded. As Holden stared, he heard the doors slam open. As he turned, he couldn't help but widen his eyes a little—another main character appeared. This time, it was Alvric's sister, Morgheas. There she stood with blonde hair which ran down her back and gray eyes that could turn people to stone with a glance.

The sixth prince, Morgheas..."Excuse me," she spoke in an apologetic yet cold tone.

Professor Moira nodded. "Seat yourself, Morgheas."Morgheas nodded before walking up the stairs and taking her seat on the row parallel to mine.

Professor Moira took a moment to compose herself. Seems Morgheas's sudden entry startled the poor thing.

She cleared her throat before speaking in a dignified voice. "Where was I?"

The professor continued as Holden watched. He was trying his best to act like he didn't care, while still managing to listen in. He wanted to glean as much useful information as possible—even if it was just scraps. Anything useful would've been appreciated.

However, it didn't seem like it was good enough, as the professor shot a curious gaze at Alvric.

"Prince Alvric, do you mind answering a question for me?"Alvric's eyes shot up. He could refuse or say that he didn't know the answer, but that would further soil his reputation, so he simply nodded.

Professor Moira nodded before clearing her throat once more and speaking:"What were the traits that made Sir Rodrik of the Midnight Forest such an excellent commander?"

Holden closed his eyes, then made his best Alvric expression, answering in an annoyed and cocky tone:

"He was respected by his underlings, split his armies into corps to live off the land allowing them to move fast, and... he isolated his enemies before attacking them."

The room turned silent as everyone stared at Alvric. Professor Moira caught herself and spoke in a shaky tone:

"C... correct. Thank you, Prince Alvric."

Holden sat down, noticing the gazes—particularly that of Morgheas, who gazed at him like she wanted to remove him from the face of the earth.

Similar incidents continued to happen as the lessons continued.