24 Before the First Class

The academy grounds were particularly bustling this morning. Many first-years could be seen throughout the pathways leading to the faculties, indicated by their overly excited or nervous faces that was in contrast to the upperclassmen who were either walking calmly or engaged in serious discussions.

Among these first-years was Drai, who was heading to his faculty alone. It was a rather unfortunate coincidence that none of the members of Drai's small circle of friends belonged to the same faculty. Christo was in the Faculty of Generality, Jian was in the Faculty of Combat, and Auri was in the Faculty of Magic.

Drai himself belonged to the Faculty of Body Transformation, which he assumed had been chosen either by his parents or Ravi, since he didn't even know that they were supposed to enter a particular faculty. Drai felt that this suited him though, as the other faculties seemed too unrelated to his class.

Drai didn't have mana or the like, so he didn't suit the Faculty of Magic. As for the Faculty of Combat, it was said to focus more on skills rather than body prowess, so it didn't fit Drai whose forte was brute force instead of finesse. Perhaps if there were no Faculty of Body Transformation, he would've been admitted to this faculty.

Meanwhile, those belonging to the Faculty of Nature had powers that represented elements of nature or were related to nature in some way. Drai could be said as a freak of nature, but it didn't mean that he belonged to this faculty.

Lastly, the Faculty of Generality encompassed those who wasn't really suited to the other faculties. Christo, for example, had a class that only dabbled in the aspects which were the main focuses of the other faculties, so he opted to enter this faculty instead. Classes that were directly related to society, such as politicians and tradesmen, also belonged to this faculty.

The faculties were separated from each other, which resulted in Drai's having to walk alone to class. After all, he didn't really know anyone from his faculty yet. Drai wasn't alone though, as some of the other students were also walking without any company.

Arriving at the faculty, Drai entered the front lobby before checking his comm. After confirming the location of his class, he headed toward the stairs. Elevators were available, but Drai liked to exert his body at every opportunity. Besides, he didn't enjoy the awkward silence during elevator trips.

Shortly, Drai arrived at the classroom. As he entered, many unfamiliar faces were already sitting there. Most of them had chosen to sit in the middle and back rows. The seats were gradually elevated, so those at the furthest back were literally looking down on the rest of them.

Drai spotted a particularly tall and big man among those sitting at the back. He wondered if the guy chose that seat due to his consideration of others, since he would've definitely blocked the view of those behind him had he sat somewhere at the front.

Drai himself headed toward the center of the class before choosing a frontmost seat. He didn't want to get distracted by others by sitting somewhere in the back, since he knew that it would probably require his total focus for him to follow the class lessons. After all, he hadn't received verbal lessons in such a formal setting since forever, not to mention his single digit intelligence.

Like many other student, Drai didn't bring anything to class. Nowadays, the comm could be used to record such lessons, so many people had opted to forgo traditional stationery unless they were obligatory. Drai also felt that taking notes during the lecture would hinder his comprehension instead, so he also decided to record the lesson instead.

While fiddling with his comm, Drai sensed someone taking a seat beside him. He turned to look and was slightly surprised when he saw a familiar face. It was the azure-scaled girl who he saw during the entrance ceremony. She was among the students whose features stood out in comparison to their contemporaries.

Seeing her scales up-close, Drai couldn't help but smile as he was reminded of Alancho. He wondered if he would be lucky enough to meet him during his stay at the capital.

The girl was also glancing at Drai when she saw him break into a smile while looking at her scales. This made her turn to face Drai, coldly staring at him while saying, "Laugh at me one more time and you'll be wishing you were back home sucking on your mom's tits."

Drai who was currently thinking of Alancho became stunned upon hearing this. His eyes widened as he looked closely at the girl, wondering how this fair girl could spout such uncouth words. He then realized there was probably a misunderstanding here.

"Uhm… I'm sorry if I offended you. I was just admiring your scales," Drai hurriedly apologized.

"Oh, really? And why would I believe you? You're not the first guy who looked at me funny and probably won't be the last," the girl remarked.

"Well, I don't know how to make you believe me. I'm just being honest here. Your scales reminded me of a great person who I respect. I was thinking of him when you blurted those words. Like I said, I'm sorry if I somehow offended you," Drai helplessly explained. He wasn't eloquent like Christo, so he could only tell her the truth without any embellishments or made-up excuses.

However, the girl seemed to be slightly convinced as she was looking at him differently, as if trying to find out from his face if he was telling the truth. Not long after, she seemed to have accepted Drai's words, as her stare gentled. She then resumed what she had been doing before the confrontation, which was apparently preparing her stationery.

The girl set a notebook and pencil case on her desk. Drai saw her pull out a pen and write something in the notebook. Drai was slightly intrigued that someone was still using stationery.

'She must be smart,' Drai thought to himself.

Sensing Drai's stare, the girl turned toward Drai once again.

"What is it this time?" she asked with a much gentler tone compared to her earlier remark.

"Ah, I'm sorry. I was just thinking that you must be smart," Drai immediately apologized, not willing to be the recipient of such crude words once more.

The girl seemed confused by this sudden praise before she saw Drai gesturing toward her stationery.

"I think only smart people use them," Drai added, noticing her confusion. "If I try to take notes, I'll probably miss ninety-percent of the lecture."

The girl looked at Drai in contemplation before finally smiling.

"I'm sorry for the previous misunderstanding. I'm Natalia," she said as she offered a handshake.

Drai was slightly stunned by this sudden development, but he quickly recovered as he shook her hand and said smilingly, "No problem. I'm Drai. Nice to meet you, Natalia."

"Me too, Drai," Natalia said as she nodded. Then their hands parted as the two resumed their own things while waiting for the class to start.

Before long, the flow of students stopped entering the class and it looked like everyone except for the professor was there.

Noticing that the class was supposed to start in less than a minute, Drai wondered if the professor in charge was going to be late. Suddenly, he heard a commotion coming from the back seats.

Drai turned around only to see something shocking. A huge round thing was rolling down the stairs, shocking the all students. Drai watched the object roll down until it neared the last stairstep.

Most students thought the "ball" would slam into the ground before launching itself toward the front of the class. But what they expected didn't happen. Before it slammed into the class floor, it unfurled itself and stood up.

Drai watched with mouth agape at the sight of a hulking man walking toward the professor's desk. He wasn't alone, as most of the students were also stupefied by this scene. They were staring in daze as the previous human ball came to a stop behind the professor's desk before turning to look at the rows of students with a mischievous grin.

"Welcome to System Introduction! I'm Paul, the professor in charge of this class. Nice to meet you all!"