Principal of Froelia Royal Academy

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[Status]

Name: John Colton

Age: 14

Level: 5

Experience: 300/500

HP: 100/100

Mana: 80/80

Strength: 17

Intelligence: 16

Dexterity: 15

Agility: 15

Wisdom: 16

Unspent points: 0

Skills: Identify, Intermediate Magic Focus, Primal Instinct, Indomitable Will, Sword Training - Intermediate, Magic Creation - Beginner

Spells: Fireball, Light, Aqua, Wind Slash, Raise Earth, Blind, Fire Bullet, Earth Bullet, Wind Bullet, Water Bullet

Boons: Wadur's Blessing

Curses: -None-

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It's been a couple of weeks since the first day of classes. It was pretty normal from what I expected. It was just like school in my old world, minus the technology. We learned history, math, noble etiquette and of course, combat training.

After the first day of school, people heard about my capabilities. The teachers of the upperclassmen would sometimes come to watch during my magic training and observe me. It sort of felt like they were trying to gauge my strength.

During those couple of weeks in school, I managed to learn a lot. My assumption of the treatment of the different noble rankings outside the school were very apparent. The higher ranking nobles had bigger rooms and did not need a roommate. I also never see Luna or Hannah in the cafeteria to get food, most likely they had their own chefs that prepared the food that they liked. They were also allowed to bring in some staff to help them around in school.

Compared to magical training, the physical training was a lot easier. It was just exercises and workouts paired with weapon training. We got to choose what weapon we wanted to use and were paired against each other for when we spar.

Our physical instructor was a woman. She had short black hair, brown eyes and a small scar on her cheek. Her name was Katie Mills and surprisingly she was our magical instructor's sister. She had the same taste in style with her brother. Instead of just blatantly showing off her chest and abdomen, she wore a sleeveless shirt underneath her vest. 'It seemed like this runs in the family.' I thought to myself when I first saw her.

Everyone was uncomfortable with the way she dressed at first and the way she trained us. She wasn't conservative at all and would wrestle the guys as well as the girls to show them their weaknesses. Since they were all just children and most of them came from noble houses, they weren't used to a woman being this rough with them. They got used to it after a while and Instructor Katie even seemed to have developed a kind of fan club from the male first years.

I didn't have any problems in the academy except for the 'coincidental' accidents with Julius. Sometimes it would be accidents during magic training, where his spells would go 'out of control' or it would be during sword training where he would hit too hard when we were sparring. It was very evident that he had something against me. It was probably how close me and Luna were, seeing that he was one of her suitors.

We were currently in history class learning about the founding fathers of the Qaviel Kingdom. Surprisingly, this kingdom of ours was a fairly new kingdom with only a century worth of history. It would make sense since there was only one duke, who I found out to be the principal of the academy, and only three earls governing the territories of the kingdom.

Knock! Knock! The door of the classroom opened after the knock.

"Sorry, to disturb you, Miss Sasha, but Duke Lawrence is calling for these students. John Colton, Luna Thomas, Hannah Williams, and Julius Pearce. Please step forward and come with me." A man clad in white-armor said.

"Go on, if the Duke is looking for you, it must be important." Miss Sasha addressed us as he gestured her hand towards the door.

The four of us stood up and followed the man in white armor. We went up the top floor and headed down the hallway towards a huge double door.

"Your Grace, I've brought the last of the students you've asked for." The man in armor said.

Promptly, the door opened and revealed a giant office. It had a huge round table in the middle and there were multiple students seated, with the Duke sitting in the middle opposite of the door, Katie and Brandon Mills standing behind him. It looked more like a place for meetings than the principal's office that I was used to.

"Come in and take a seat." He stood up and gestured to the empty seats at the round table.

The four of us gave him a slight bow and headed to the seats. Once we were seated his voice echoed in the room.

"I've called you all here for a very important reason. The students you see in front of you, including yourself, are the ones that were handpicked from the first years by your teachers to join in a monster hunting expedition. This expedition is for you to get actual combat experience." He said as he looked at us one by one along the round table.

"Of course, you will not be going alone and will be accompanied by both your physical and magical instructor, Katie and Brandon Mills" He gestured to them as they walked forward at the mention of their names.

"They will only act when things get too dangerous for all of you. Now, you all have a choice on whether or not you want to participate. We will not force you, but just so you know, the completion of this expedition will earn you a right to fight for a spot on our academy's team that will be joining the Inter-Kingdom tournaments being held eight months from now." He added.

Nervously, I raised my hand and when he acknowledged me I stood up. "Your Grace, what benefits will we have if we were able to join the team for the tournaments?" I asked, balls of sweat starting to form on my forehead.

"You are John Colton, correct? I've heard a lot about you." He scanned me with his eyes. "Well, since they will be fighting to show the prowess of our Qaviel Kingdom, they will naturally be provided with personal training from one our best warriors and mages, as well as equipment and items to further enhance their capabilities. And of course, don't forget that the King really loves talented people." He added.

'I asked because I was curious and was most likely gonna join the monster hunt anyway, but getting those benefits would be great as well.' I thought. "Thank you, Your Grace." I gave him a solemn bow and sat back down.

"Now that you know the benefits and are still unwilling to join the expedition, you can either say it now or tell me privately through letters. If you are to send letters, give them to Katie and Brandon here and they will personally deliver them to me." He said.

As he finished speaking, the room went silent and no one voiced out their opposition to joining. I believed that no one wanted to speak out in public because of their pride as nobles. Even more so the commoners that were able to join, they were the ones that wanted to prove themselves the most.

"The expedition will be held a week from now. Prepare your personal items, train and you and your instructors will leave with you towards Willow Forest. The details of the expedition will be explained further in detail on the day of departure." Duke Lawrence said before he let us go back to our classes.

As we were walking back with our fellow classmates, Julius' voice was heard. "Luna, just stay behind me during the expedition, I'll protect you." He said with kind eyes as he looked at Luna.

"I-I-It's okay. I can protect myself." Luna replied as she instinctively walked closer to me grabbing the edge of clothes.

'Luna, Luna, Luna… Don't make him hate me even more.' I thought as I felt her hand on my clothes. I looked at Luna and then at Julius and saw that Julius had a scary look on his face. He was still smiling but you could feel the negative emotions he hid underneath it.

The negative atmosphere was promptly relieved by Hannah.

"Ahhh! Since you got someone to protect you, I'll just have John to protect me, right John?" Hannah linked her arms around one of mine and looked up towards me.

I chuckled nervously. "Well, we're all going to be on the same team so I guess it's only right we protect one another? Being in the same class and all." I try to set my arm free from her grasp, ultimately failing.

We got back to the classroom and continued on with our classes. I could feel Julius' jealous and hateful gaze on me for the entire day. Class ended and the sun began to set as we all returned to our respective rooms.

"Say, John. What was the reason you and the others were called out in the middle of class?" Daniel asked as he lounged on his bed.

"Oh, we were just selected to join a monster hunting expedition. It's no big deal." I replied.

"Monster hunt?! Aren't you scared? Monsters are monsters you know!" He was shocked as he sat up on his bed. "Have you ever seen a monster, John? They're really strong and scary!" He added.

"No… But isn't that why we are training? To be able to fight against monsters and the enemy of the Qaviel Kingdom?" I said as I looked at him.

"You're really brave, John. I can't even imagine doing that yet." Daniel slumped back down on his bed, now staring at the ceiling.

"It's okay, you're still young. You'll get used to it when you get older." I replied out of habit.

"What do you mean I'm still young, we're the same age!" Daniel looked at me, visibly annoyed.

'I gotta remember that I'm no longer 28. I'm in a 14 year old body.' I thought to myself. "Oh, hehehe." I laughed it off.

I went down to the first floor to take a bath and headed back to the room. I sat by the window side and looked up to stare at the stars.

'Monsters, huh. I guess it won't be as hard as killing a human being…' I recall the man that I've killed. His face and the blood in that carriage when I cast my spell on him. "I'll be fine, they're monsters anyway." I tried to convince myself.

I sat there for a while, not noticing time pass by. I only got up when my body started feeling weak. With heavy eyes and an aching body, I walked towards my bed and prepared to get some sleep. 'It's fine, they're monsters.' This singular thought echoed in my head until I fell into a deep slumber.