Ch 107 – Arthur Pendragon and Excalibur

Within the planet, Terra, consisting of five distinct landmasses, a particular kingdom located on the Northern Continent could be seen having a special day within its grandiose academy of magic. A building drastically large in size and holds a dome shape can be seen having countless students walking into it. Its walls are ivory in color, and its hemisphere roof glowed a brilliant rainbow color under the illumination of the grand star hovering above it.

The students have appearances of all shapes and sizes. Some were humans, others were demihumans, and the ones most rare are the elegant elves of the Western Continent. But the one single thing unifying them all was the uniform they were. It consisted of a white shirt lying below a black blazer, on the right side of their chest holds the insignia of the Sage's Magic Academy colored gold. For the boys, they wore dark pants and mostly leather shoes. For the girls, they all wore black skirts along with a pair of socks and shoes.

They all held a special air to them, and that's normal for they were all students of the Sage's Magic Academy, the greatest academy of magic to ever exist in the world. Each student can be considered tigers amongst men, geniuses of calibers one can say absurd. Most of them were from rich families, hold high talent, or have high achievements in the field of magic. Some were the princes and princesses of kingdoms or hailed from noble families.

One such man was the prince of the Pendragon Kingdom, Arthur Pendragon, the current wielder of the Excalibur. He was a tall young man, with a slim figure yet also held an athletic physique. His hair was draped in gold, his eyes were as clear as the light blue sky above them, his smile was gentle and admirable, and those who glanced at him, whether it be male or female, had their hearts racing. On his waist was the mythical sword of legends, Excalibur.

Foretold to be the gift of the Goddess of Light, Angelica, the sword can only be wielded by those of the royal Pendragon bloodline. The sword wields countless abilities, such as indestructibility, unparalleled sharpness capable of slicing through dragon scales like butter, giving the wielder an increase in physical attributes, borrowing the power of spirits, and much more. One can say it's a broken item with abilities seemingly popping out of nowhere as Deus Ex Machinas.

And the wielder in question was a dignified warrior and prince.

Entering the dome, Arthur felt calm at heart and had a strong sense of confidence. Considering he was in line for the throne of the greatest kingdom to currently exist in the present time, he exudes charisma and charm. Looking around the spacious building, he felt a sense of admiration for the man who has made all of this possible with his own might, Aldrich Stolas, the greatest mage to ever exist in the human race.

Walking forwards, he greeted the countless people who went up to greet him, most of them were powerful mages or hailed from powerful families. He calmly smiled and bid his farewell, before finally sitting on his seat which is in a vacant area as he wanted some peace and quiet to fully listen to the opening speech of Aldrich Stolas.

Looking up for a while, Arthur was greeted by a grand expanse of glittering rainbows above him. Like he was currently under the starry night even though he was inside the building.

But his attention was soon caught once more when he heard a flickering sound, and looked back at the wide stage in front of him and finally saw him—Aldrich Stolas.

Instantly, the whispers and mutterings of his fellow students amplified from his appearance alone, and Arthur only chuckled. Though when he looked at the powerful man in front of him, he felt a sense of wanting to learn under him, to know the deep secrets of magic.

'Sigh, but that's impossible, the Sage hasn't taken any disciples in ages, and all of the students he took were of the greatest caliber. I'm no more than a prince of a prosperous kingdom wielding a special sword, I can only be considered a second-rate mage.' Arthur humbly thought before focusing back on the man who materialized a light green magic circle over his mouth.

"Hello, dear students of my academy!"

And so, Arthur attentively listened to Aldrich's long speech, and couldn't help but feel a stronger sense of admiration at how great the speech was. One glance alone showed that many students' eyes were lighting up and being pumped at learning at the academy. Not only that, he even felt a bit shocked at the new curriculum added to their lessons.

From now needing to be proficient in Rune Magic, learning from many fields of Tier Magic, and such. Not only that, he even felt surprised to hear that school has been extended to 2 years instead of the normal 1 year.

'The Sage truly is wise, with these additions alone, I can see that most students would be exponentially greater than the ones from last year. I truly wish the Sage would join our kingdom.' Arthur sighed in admiration, before suddenly widening his eyes at the last bit Aldrich Stolas said.

"Mmm, most of you are perhaps wondering about my sudden decision at changing the education system this school year without any warning. Well, I'll have to thank my very own disciple, and son, Lute Stolas," Aldrich grinned playfully, before clapping his hands and Arthur almost choked on his own saliva.

'S-son?!' Arthur thought, and looked as three humanoid figures appeared on stage wearing the same school uniform as his, yet wore a black cape tied by a golden cord along with a featureless white mask.

The one in the middle was a short boy, even shorter than the two others beside him, yet he exuded an aura that only appears from those that are grandmasters in their field. His eyes were dark purple, and his hair was long.

On his right was a brown-haired girl with ocean blue eyes, she had a friendly aura to her that would make anyone wants to be friends with her.

And on his left was a blond-haired girl with sky blue eyes, her body language was closed and meek, yet she also exuded a charm that would make any guy and gal want to protect her from harm's way.

"Eh hem, thanks for the introduction old man, now it's my time to shine," the boy chuckled after he materialized the same green magic circle over where his mouth is supposed to be behind his white mask and introduced himself.

"Good morning, dear fellow students of the Magic Academy, my name's Lute Stolas, the adopted son of Aldrich Stolas. So don't worry, that old geezer didn't become a pedophile and married a girl many decades younger than him. Okay, it's time for proper introductions. As all of you can see, us three currently standing on stage are the Student Council members for the two years we will learn with each other. And I'm your Student Council President, it's nice to meet you," Lute said with a confident tone, his arms waving expressively in the air and was like a confident speaker, not wavering even when he was talking to a crowd filled with powerful people throughout the world.

"Pss, it's your turn, Emily," Lute whispered, yet his voice reverberated throughout the whole area inside, causing some to chuckle. Passing the green magic circle to the brown-haired girl beside him, Emily laughed lightly before introducing herself.

"Hello, my name is Emily Crest, the current Vice President of the Student Council. Even though I am inexperienced, I hope to learn with my fellow council members and with you, fellow students of the academy. It's nice to meet you all!" Emily greeted herself, showing the charm of a cute and youthful girl in the prime of her life.

"A-and I'm Maria F-Fluoret. I-I might not be the g-greatest at magic, but I still hope to learn with you all. And I'm the c-current Secretary of the Student Council. I-it's nice to meet you all, and I hope we can take care of each other!" Maria stuttered continuously, yet she exuded the charm of a maiden anyone would want to take into a hug and protect with their life.

"Okay! Now that's all done, we can wrap this up all nice and tidy. Unless… anyone wants to ask any questions?" Lute added before Arthur suddenly raises his hand to the air.

"If I may."

"Sure."

Standing up, Arthur cleared his throat and asked loudly, "Though it might be presumptuous to ask, can I know why you three are chosen as the Student Council members? And you, in particular, considering you have family ties with Aldrich Stolas, you might have been chosen as President out of bias."

"Oh, that's fair. Well, you see, Arthur-kun, it's simply because…"

"Because?"

"Because I'm the greatest, of course! You might not believe this, but I'm like the Demon King when it comes to magical mastery compared to all of you here," Lute arrogantly proclaimed and chuckled loudly.

"Oh, really?" Aldrich asked with a smile, but inside, he can't help but feel angry at Lute.

"Indeed! In fact, I might say I'm stronger than your dear hero, Louis-sama, when it comes to magic," Lute laughed loudly. That was the last straw for Arthur before he unsheathes his Excalibur and points it towards Lute in the distance.

"You dare claim you are stronger than the mightiest heroes of this world! Then I must protect their dignity and challenge you to a duel, oh mighty son of Aldrich Stolas. Though I might not be the greatest mage to ever existed, I can say I'm one of the strongest there is in this world with Excalibur by my side!" Arthur challenged, his eyes turning into a glare as everyone else was riled up.

"Ohoho, then I shall accept your challenge, dear hero who shall face the Demon King of Magic! [Mass Teleportation], [Create Arena]!"

Instantly, the students all around disappeared in a burst of white light and reappeared far away in a circular manner. In the middle of the dome, a ginormous arena formed while the space inside the whole building seemingly expanded as Arthur saw Aldrich casting a spell of sorts in the distance.

"C'mon! I didn't expect a fight against the dear prince of the Pendragon Kingdom. I've been really itching for a challenge right now, [Teleport]."

Closing his eyes, Arthur opened them once more only to find himself standing in the arena hundreds of meters large and looked at the students sitting in the far distance. Tightening his grip over Excalibur which was colored blue and gold, he looks at Lute appearing far away from him with a sense of fear and shock.

'Spell Name Incantation? Only Don Will Dead can do that!' Arthur thought, but he steeled his heart and his sword glowed a golden light, before enveloping him in the same glow.

"Old man!"

"Start in 3!"

And so, Arthur crouches down and took in a deep breath, before his eyes stared intensely at Lute in front of him.

"You might wonder how I'm the greatest there is in this current building we are in, huh? Well, let me show you, Arthur Pendragon, and thanks in advance for bringing me such a wonderful gift, [Structural Analysis]."

With a burst of white light, Arthur squints his eyes and felt mana coursing through Excalibur, yet noticed that nothing seemed to happen. That was until he looks back at Lute whose eyes curved upwards as if it holds boundless joy.

"[Create Item: Excalibur]."

And so, many shouted in surprise as they started to see a sword manifest in Lute's right arm. Its appearance is a perfect copy of the sword wielded by Arthur. His eyes widened, and he can't help but feel his heart palpitating from the fear he currently felt, because if the item wielded by the man in front of him is the real deal…

"Thanks for the meal!"

A golden glow erupted from the sword wielded by Lute, before it encapsulated him in the same golden glow. In just an instant, Lute suddenly appeared right in front of him and he can feel the sword showing him the way to deal with the strike as if he became a grandmaster of the sword.

"[Earth Bump]."

But in a single spell, Arthur felt his leg firmly planted to the ground being pushed away, and he slowly fell to the ground. Without even a hint of resistance, he found himself now lying on the ground while the replica Excalibur was stabbed to the ground just beside his neck, one single move and that sword would have pierced his head by now if not for them just doing a friendly spar and not an actual fight.

"Huh, indestructibility, unparalleled sharpness, spirit magic, that's the normal stuff. But to think it would also guide you, allowing one to wield grandmaster levels of swordsmanship, gain unparalleled instinct, and all the qualities needed to be unparalleled with the sword. But the most important part of all… Is that this item holds a fragment of a god, I really must say my thanks, Arthur-kun."

And so, Lute disappeared from Arthur's view, leaving him alone lying on the ground with a dumbfounded gaze.

***(A Few Hours Later)

'Ugh… I'm so bored.' Imerda thought, her eyes wandering around the classroom she was in, and can't help but groan in her mind from sheer boredom. With her cheat, she can just have the spirits write down her notes or boost her mental prowess to instantly understand the subject at hand.

But as she looked to her left, she can't help but squint her eyes and slowly noticed that what she thought was a vacant seat suddenly have a boy sitting on it.

His hair was long and dark, his eyes shone a dark purple behind his pair of glasses, and the only thing Imerda can evaluate about the boy was how plain and average he felt.

'Eh?'

AN: This chapter has 2374 words.

GIVE ME POWERSTONES! Also, goodbye, see you never again, probably.

(August 3, 2022 – 252nd day of writing)