Arc 1: Part 2

The semester started within three days. Before this, all students must have arrived at Costina already. Those who had arrived early could do whatever they wanted until the semester started.

Kyle, as one of the early people, had decided to spend his free time exploring the academy and the city of Suroff. For Costina Academy, he had already inspected its size and its facilities. The academy truly put everything to facilitate the students, and it was up to the students to use the resources well.

As for Suroff, it would become a place he would visit frequently during the weekends, and he needed to know what kind of city it was. Suroff appeared to be a busy city, and obviously, a busy city would attract many things. Fortunately, it seemed that the guards did their job well to maintain public safety and peace. Unfortunately for Kyle, he couldn't explore the city fully within the remaining days. However, Kyle managed to visit more than half of the important places in Suroff, so at least he became knowledgeable enough to not get lost.

Then came the day school began. All the students gathered in an auditorium to hear the Headmaster's speech. Like most students, Kyle didn't care about the speech and felt bored.

However, he was looking forward to one thing in this speech, and that was a chance to view all the students and see their worth.

{'Not bad .... Some even reached a level that was higher than what the students were supposed to have.'} Despite praising them, Kyle wasn't overly interested. That was because these students might only have good potential but would lack experience and Kyle valued experience more.

{'Even if they have promising growth, it doesn't mean that they can use their power well,'} Kyle mused while sitting down with Joshua beside him.

"Hm?" Kyle noticed something piercing coming at him. It wasn't a physical thing but rather something like a feeling. Following the feeling, Kyle found that it was from a person who was glaring at him and that he knew that person.

"Ugh…." Kyle looked away in guilt. However, that didn't stop the glare, which Joshua noticed as well.

"Hey, why is that girl glaring at you?" Joshua asked the innocent question, but Kyle felt he would be treated like a criminal if he were to answer that.

"Just ignore her," Kyle replied while looking around to avoid her glare. Eventually, though, the glaring stopped as the Headmaster took steps to the podium.

Kyle didn't listen to the Headmaster's speech as he was rather focused on the Headmaster's hidden strength.

{'He is strong ... but not as strong as them,'} Kyle eyed the two teachers. The Headmaster had a powerful strength hidden inside, but its amount was not even comparable to the two teachers. However, this didn't mean the Headmaster was by any means weaker. Kyle believed the Headmaster could defeat the two teachers singlehandedly despite being weaker.

Once the welcoming ceremony had ended.

"It is time we have to part our ways," Kyle said to Joshua as they walked out of the auditorium.

"Hahaha, don't be so dramatic. We will meet again, and our classes are just next to each other."

"True―"

"Kyle Welton!!" a shout was heard. Kyle immediately stiffened upon hearing his name being called.

Gulping while turning around. Kyle saw a girl with dark red hair and bright green eyes walking angrily towards him.

"How dare you leave me!" she said as she poked at his chest. "We decided to go together, and yet―"

"That was a one-sided decision!" Kyle interrupted. "Rather! Don't cause a ruckus in front of everyone!"

The girl stopped and glanced around. Kyle was right; everyone was staring at them. She took a deep breath before saying, "We'll talk after school is over."

Having said this, she immediately left.

"Who is she?" Joshua asked.

"My friend," Kyle answered with a dry laugh. "I left her early to come here. She is mad because of it."

"Is that so? You know which class she is in?"

"Uh, no." Kyle had a bad feeling about this.

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Class 1-3

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"Ugh," Kyle groaned when he saw a familiar figure sitting on the seat while glaring at him. He went to his seat and sat down.

Ignoring the said person, Kyle observed his classmates. {'Not bad ....'}

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"All right, everyone sits down," a voice came from the entrance to the classroom. It was the teacher, who walked to the front of the class and spoke.

"My name is Halbus Trozz. I will be your homeroom teacher from now on." Halbus was a man with a lean body. His appearance was still of a more academic teacher. However, Kyle sensed that Halbus had a lot of mana being suppressed inside him.

"While normally we would now pick the class president and other officials, but I won't be doing that until a week has passed. I need to see you guys' worth first before forming our small organization in class. Now, take your schedule," he gave the schedule for lessons to the student at the front, who passed them out to everyone else.

"Now, congratulations for enrolling in Costina, but don't be too happy yet because Costina demands the best from all of you. Being accepted here doesn't mean you are good, it means you have the qualification to become good!"

{'Oh?'}

"I'll be blunt with you guys. I expect all of you to improve, and the first step is by winning the class competition," Halbus told the class in a serious tone.

"It is a class competition, not an individual competition, so I hope you guys can help each other and work well together. But I want you guys not to forget to improve yourselves too, because only by improving yourselves will you be able to help others to improve!"

"Now, introduce yourself, starting from the front."

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Kyle watched his classmates begin to introduce themselves one by one. His friend, the girl, was Friena Kollstang. She was his childhood friend through their mothers' friendship. Due to this, they knew each other and became friends.

Friena had a straightforward personality that demanded obedience and perfection. It came from her upbringing of being raised in a knight family. Her father was a famed knight, and she idolized him. For this reason, she was quite a stiff person and tiresome for Kyle.

They were supposed to go to Costina together, but Kyle had left earlier, leaving Friena alone and angry. He knew she would not let him off for that, and he had to prepare for a fight.

Aside from that, Friena was among the students who had a better starting point than the rest. She had been trained in various weapons but mainly using a sword. And her magic prowess was at a higher level as well.

{'Aside from her, there are three others ....'} Kyle noted. There were three students who had better starting points as well. The first one was Eric Quasar. Kyle knew this person in the sense of his fame. Eric came from the Dukedom of Quasar. He was the heir of Quasar and basically had the best training available.

The second was Wanda Paycott. Her family name wasn't on the list of nobles he knew, so she must be a commoner. Physically she wasn't strong, but her mana was abundant and moved in a better control than anyone else's.

Lastly, Ninia Umell. Another commoner, but strangely enough she was comparable to Eric, someone who had been trained ever since a young age. He had to watch her more to see if she had something interesting.

This didn't mean that he didn't pay attention to the others. Having a better starting point didn't mean they would always be at the front. It was possible for the others to overcome them, as long as they were diligent, and if they had the fate to do so.

Then what about Kyle himself? He would rate himself in between. To play his part, he would be someone better than the most, but not enough to be a threat.

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After the introduction, Halbus told them to get to know each other and left them to do whatever they wanted during their free time. After all, lessons would not start until tomorrow.

"So, what should we do?" Someone asked.

"A deeper introduction?"

"Why don't we test ourselves?" Kyle immediately made a suggestion, which made everyone pay attention to him. "Teacher told us about the competition and that we need to get to know each other. So why don't we get to know each other by training or sparring? Two birds with one stone, right?"

"That's a good idea, but will the school allow us to use the training room?"

"We can ask the teacher," Kyle replied. "I'm sure he is willing to help."

"Then I'll go talk to him," Eric stood up. It seemed he wanted to take the initiative to be the leader.

"Wait, I'm coming as well," said another classmate. Two people took the initiative, but that didn't matter to Kyle. He had already contributed well by sharing his ideas.

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Author: Aida Hanabi

Proofreader: Teppo