17 An extraordinary professor (1)

Two days had passed since the orientation of Mr. Voidwalker, and in between that time, rumors erupted among the students.

Although nothing was known about his past or his skills, Mr.Voidwalker struck quite a memorable impression on all the students that were present at his orientation.

Ironically, compared to the students from other orientations, the students from Mr.Voidwalker's orientation, didn't talk much about him.

Although many of the students were curious about what the class of the handsome professor had to offer, they didn't want to take any chances, as choosing the wrong class on the first day would lead them to suffer for an entire semester.

The reason for the students not talking about Mr. Voidwalker's class was quite plausible. As evident from the orientation day, having more students would limit Mr. Voidwalker's ability to focus on each person individually.

So directly after Mr. Voidwalker left the training center, everyone present struck a deal. They would not talk about the contents of that day, to keep everyone away from his course, essentially gatekeeping him.

Although that was quite a commendable idea, it backfired, as even the loudmouths of the class didn't speak about Mr. Voidwalker, which just produced more curiosity.

-Have you heard anything about Mr.Voidwalker's class yet?

-No, they all refuse to speak about it. Was it that bad?

-But isn't it weird that nobody from that day talks about it?

Suspicions arose, but nobody wanted to take the risk of suffering for a whole semester.

However, that line of thought only counted for the average students.

The students who were confident in their skills registered themselves in that class as they were confident that, no matter what kind of guy Mr. Voidwalker was, they wouldn't suffer.

After all, they would excel in any class they entered, so why not choose the most interesting class?

And so, Mr. Voidwalker's class was created.

Although it only amounted to little less than half of the maximum capacity, 29 out of 70, almost all the students in that class were elites.

The best of the best.

And then, on the long-awaited first day...

All the students sat in their seats, anticipating Mr. Voidwalker's arrival.

And then, finally, the door to the training center opened and the sound of steps rang out,

Revealing the familiar figure of Mr. Voidwalker.

***

***

'A little less than I expected.'

Although I certainly didn't expect to reach the maximum capacity, I hoped that it would be more than this.

My eyes skimmed over the students, counting them and familiarizing themselves with their faces.

Surprisingly, there were lots of faces that I could recognize.

'The prodigy of the empire's mage tower, the heir of Beelzebub, the second prince of the empire, a Siren, the Elven princess, and the heir of Leviathan.'

All of those people were largely known as geniuses or prodigies, with either great magic or combat capacities.

Sylpheon was a place where geniuses weren't uncommon, but even inside Sylpheon, those people stood out.

They were the true elites of Sylpheon. Geniuses even among geniuses.

There were also some other students that joined the course, but I didn't know their names yet. Among those new students, I could also spot some beast people, dwarves, elves, and orcs.

In addition to that, all the students that were present at my orientation were also here.

As I stood in front of the students, I felt a sense of excitement welling up inside of me.

'This would be my first real lesson.'

Looking at the eyes of the students, I could see a sense of anticipation in some of them.

A mixture of amusement and competitiveness arose inside me.

'It seems like they are assessing me.'

Even though I certainly didn't predict that they would emit such pressure on the first day of class, it was something that I could work with.

A faint smile appeared on my face as I looked at the students, accepting the challenge.

'Then I have no other choice than to exceed their expectations, do I?'

***

***

"My name is Mr.Voidwalker and I will be teaching you about combat and depths theory."

Celine watched as the professor in front of them started talking calmly, ignoring the pressure that was emitted from the students.

'Especially if you consider all the people in this class...it is quite an impressive feat.'

In her last year of Sylpheon, her pressure alone was enough to make the professors crumble in nervousness, and even on orientation day, it happened.

She didn't blame them, though, as trying to lecture a student who was on the same level as you would feel quite uncomfortable.

The professor would probably fear the possibility of making a mistake and making a fool of themselves.

Most of the professors of Sylpheon were tier 6 mages or fighters relative to the level of a tier 6 mage.

Although that was quite an impressive feat, she and some other students had already reached the same level or surpassed it, which made the classes at the academy pretty boring.

She and probably many other students attended this school solely because of the benefits and experience.

Graduating from Sylpheon would gain you large respect from everyone, as it is known as the best Academy on this continent.

In addition to that, Sylpheon provided everyone with a safe environment to improve their skills and spar with other students.

But the most important benefit of graduating from Sylpheon would be the depths and dungeon exploration.

If you wanted to go into the depths or enter dungeons, some requirements must be fulfilled.

First, you must possess satisfactory knowledge of these two places.

And second, you have to at least have some experience in both of them.

Which would either force you to undergo a process of different procedures that could take years...or you graduate from an academy.

The more convenient part for most people would be the second option. And if you were going to an academy anyway, why not the most prestigious one?

In the second year of Sylpheon, students gain access to the 'combat and depth theory' class.

Although it had 'theory' in its name, the highlight of that class was actually the practical experience that you'd made.

And as such, the class usually consisted of sparring, although it also discussed battle tactics or information about the depths.

However, at the end of every month, that class will enter a dungeon for a week, and at the end of every semester, you have the chance to go down to the depths for a day.

She had thought that this year too, would be a boring experience...until the rumors of a specific teacher erupted.

At first, she wasn't really interested in such things -rumors were only rumors, after all- , but as she heard that the leviathan girl was also present at Mr. Voidwalker's orientation, curiosity aroused in her.

It was weird that they heard nothing of that class from any of the present students, not even complaints.

One would assume that this would just mean that the class was so boring that the students just had no reason to talk about it, but there was one thing that was suspicious about it.

If the class were bad, Seraphir would have definitely made fun of it.

That girl had a tendency to ridicule professors, which, although quite amusing, was a flaw in her personality that she should fix.

Celine couldn't really blame her, though.

Considering with whom she grew up with, it was only natural that her standards would be high.

Lost in thoughts, she forgot that Mr. Voidwalker was still talking.

"Are there any questions?" he asked as he seemingly finished talking.

Luckily, it seemed like he only explained the rules of his class and how the system worked.

Even though every student already knew how the system worked, all the professors repeated it at the start of every semester.

'If you do well, you get benefits, and if you don't, you'll get a penalty.'

That was essentially the entire system, so she didn't understand why they always had to repeat it.

"Yes, I have one."

Raum, the Beelzebub heir, raised his hand.

Celine turned his face to him, spotting a devilish smirk on his face.

She rolled her eyes at that discovery, knowing that he had probably planned something stupid again.

While Seraphir was known for ridiculing professors when they made mistakes, Raum did it out of pure malice. He had fun asking the professor questions, of which he knew that they wouldn't be able to answer them.

Those professors then made a fool out of themselves in front of the whole class.

'Devils will always be devils.'

"Yes?"

"It is widely known that the combat class usually consists of sparring between the students. Wouldn't that mean that our professor has to be well-versed in both martial arts and magic to be able to help everyone out?"

Mr. Voidwalker nodded.

"That would be correct."

Celine sighed.

What Raum was going to do was criticize a flaw in the idea of the combat class.

As there were magicians and martial artists, the professor had to be good in both of those areas to sufficiently give the students advice on how to proceed.

However, such a person would be almost impossible to find, as it was just more efficient to focus on only one area of expertise.

The only solution to that would be hiring two professors for a single class, which would then, in turn, cause an imbalance between the class itself as one half could potentially progress way faster than the other.

That would affect the overall performance on a test, as everybody in the same class would be doing the same test.

The overall problem was not one that a mere professor could solve.

It required all academies to change that, which was quite a difficult thing to achieve, although the principle of Sylpheon was already trying to push that change.

"Then would you say that you are qualified to teach us?"

The grin on Raum's face widened even further and his voice started to have a ridiculing undertone.

"Yes."

Contrary to his expectations, Mr. Voidwalker confidently said that he was able to advise both mages and martial artists.

"Is that so? Then I would kindly ask of you to show it to us."

Whispers erupted among the students as Raum challenged the professor to showcase his claim. Some of them doubted his words, while others just stared at him in anticipation.

'Was he really not bluffing?'

"Sure. Even though I wanted to start with the class immediately, I guess that I'll show you something to motivate you all."

He then turned his head to Seraphir.

"Miss Leviathan, would you please come forth and lend me a hand?"

"...sure?"

The sudden mention of her name startled Seraphir. However, at the same time, she also felt honoured that he asked her for help.

"You got this, Sera."

Ellen gave her a thumbs-up before Seraphir stood up and went to the centre of the arena.

"While I have to admit that I am not a good magician, I can still give the mages of my class advice and potentially even teach them things."

"And that would be?"

Raum sounded doubtful at his claim, not believing that a non-mage would be able to teach the mages something.

"You'll see."

He then leaned down and whispered something into Seraphir's ear. Her eyes widened for a split second before she calmed herself down and nodded.

She distanced herself from him before she raised her arm and proceeded to cast a spell.

A yellow magic circle appeared before her, slowly rotating and expanding.

More and more runes appeared on the yellow magic circle, which was an indicator of a lightning spell.

All the magicians leaned forward, curious about what would happen next.

"It's only the tier 3 spell, thunderbolt! There is nothing special about it!"

Raum shouted. His face grimaced in irritation, seemingly disappointed that Mr.Voidwalker couldn't fulfil his claim.

And as if to confirm his words, Seraphir finished casting.

"THUNDERBOLT!"

SHATTER

But instead of a thunderbolt appearing, the yellow magic circle in front of her disappeared and another circle by her side appeared.

This time, it was a light blue one, an indicator of ice magic.

Instantly, swords of ice shot out of the magic circle, barraging him with them.

Mr. Voidwalker dodged the swords and raised his hand, opening a dimensional storage and pulling out a small wooden knife.

With a swift movement, he threw the knife at the magic circle, destroying it instantly.

Everyone was quiet, looking at the man with widened eyes.

"...what just happened? Wasn't she going to cast 'thunderbolt'? I read the runes on her magic circle!"

Raum was the first one to speak. Even though he shouted in an irritated tone, excitement could be seen on his face.

"And how did you destroy the magic circle?! You can actually do that?!"

Mr. Voidwalkers blank face gradually formed into a faint smile.

"That...that worked?"

Seraphir looked at her hands as if they weren't hers. She couldn't believe what she had just done.

And soon, others also began to speak.

"What was that?

"I thought she was going to cast a lightning spell?!"

"You can actually stop a mage's magic?!"

Voices of different kinds began to talk, all asking different questions.

Even Celine, the prodigy of the empire's mage tower, could just stare at her professor in fascination.

"How...interesting..."

Amidst the chatter, Raum was the first one to confront the professor.

"What the hell was that!?"

Mr.Voidwalker crossed his arms behind his back as he slowly turned to Raum and then all the other students, skimming through their reactions.

He then chuckled shortly, seemingly amused by the surprised reactions of his students.

"It's called feint casting and magic cancellation."