Academy 101

"Welcome to Kexer special academy, class C of the 72nd cohort! I'm Vinc!" an instructor's voice echoed across the grandiose lecture hall, his tone trying to be as energetic as he could be.

He stood in front of the learning podium, his back facing the blackboard and his face facing the 50 or so students seated on their chairs. He's a man dressed like a mage, his eyes baggy and dark circles seem to have formed.

His black hair messy and his glasses, round, were so thick that it seemed to look like a mirror as it reflected all the light with its lenses.

The man continued.

"Now, I will explain to you the ranking system of our academy. Firstly, we start of with, 

Grade 1, beginner, in this stage, the instructors will teach and introduce you to the mana, affinities, aura and techniques. They will also prepare you for awakening your talents,

Grade 2, pre-intermediate, in this grade, the academy do their best to help you awaken your talent, either as an affinity with the elements or aura from techniques. The academy will not only focus on your theoric knowledge, but with physical activities, prepare yourself since things will get harder from here,

Grade 3, intermediate… uh, let me see my notes… ah there it is, intermediate, expect a lot of practical lessons, especially sparrings with fellow classmates. If you don't have a technique yet, the academy will try its best to provide you with one,

Grade 4, upper-intermediate, I wrote the word self-learning in this one, so expect nothing less than that. Ah, but there should be a ranking system between students at this point and to advance the next rank would be a test to see if you can touch one of the hall master,

Grade 5, advanced, a lot of boring ethics stuff and organization of the kingdom, also politics and history. But at the end of this stage, you are free to choose or are allowed to join an organization if they scout you,

Grade 6, finale, join an organization, be a part of them for 1 year to learn practical and real knowledge and experiences. Then the final test of graduation should be winning in a test against one of the instructors… you can challenge me if you want!

Now, the end of your journey, congrats on your graduation!" Vinc read out loud. In

his hand were a stack of papers held together by a paperclip

"Any question on the grade system?" the instructor faced the students, his eyes gleaming with anticipation, awaiting for any question that might struck him.

The students chattered among each other after hearing his brief and short explanation. They were all the new students that recently applied and were accepted to the academy, just like Hubert.

Hubert sat in the front chair among the crowds, his gloved hand slightly shaky from the unfamiliar atmosphere around him. He looked left and right, though none looked at him as they chattered among each other.

He was friendless, unknown by most.

"Anyone…?" Vinc repeated, his grin friendly, almost too friendly.

"I got one," a manly voice flew across the room from the very end of the rows.

The room that once was crowded with chatters and voices quickly died down.

"Ah yes! Finally, ask away, please!" the instructor said aloud.

All the eyes looked at the voice, it was a man of dark skin, with a long and ponytailed red hair and legs placed up the table. A scar was visible across his right eyes.

"So… if I beat you right now, it would be possible to graduate on my first day?" the man asked, his tone challenging and cocky.

"Hmm… well, I don't see anything wrong with that, but do you think you can do so?" Vinc replied, his tone calm and relaxed.

"Why don't we take it outside, then?" the man questioned, even getting more confident as his red eyes blazed with determination.

"I don't think that's necessary… cause you already lost," the instructor said.

Whoosh!

A thing flew across the room like a shot projectile from Vinc to the man. Its speed unperceivable, like a blur in the air, its shockwave caused the air to shake.

Then the stack of paper in his hand came loose and scattered away from the shockwave.

"What?" the man replied, his expression confused and his eyes widening.

He felt the thing hitting his face as something seemingly came out of his left cheek. He rubbed it with his bare hand, revealing it was his red colored blood.

Then he looked behind, the thing that flew across and grazed him.

A paper clip stuck in a wall.

"Ah… I missed, I should have aimed it a little bit more to the left," Vinc muttered.

"Can someone get me that paperclip? I don't have a spare," he asked.

The man quickly stood up from his chair and grabbed the paper clip. Once he was cocky, now he was like a humbled man that did everything the instructor requested.

"Here you go, instructor Vinc," his two hands trembled as he extended it to present the paperclip while bowing down.

"Ah, thank you, thank you. You still want to go out to the arena?" Vinc asked. His pressuring gaze dropped down on the man.

"N-no, thank you for the opportunity, instructor Vinc," the man, humbled, answered.

"Good… now, go back to your seat and listen carefully to the rest of the lesson, I don't have much time before the next instructor comes up," Vinc said to him.

The man, already learnt his lesson, quickly made his way back to his chair like a fleeing duck.

Vinc quickly picked all the papers from the floor and placed them as a neat and tidy stack on top of his podium.

"Whoa… the instructor is that strong, I wonder what he can do against that barbarian," Hubert muttered, stupidly reminding himself of that night, which made his body shiver in fear

"Calm down… Hubert, was it?" Vinc, his gaze fixed to Hubert, said to him.

"Ah… yes, instructor," Hubert replied.

But his curious mind wondered, the barbarian from the north or Vinc, the instructor of Kexer academy would win in a fight against each other. 

"Anyway! I mentioned something about the arena right? Well, it's not my lesson to actually talk and tour the grounds with you all, but I guess a little bit of introduction won't hurt!" Vinc continued energetically.

"Kexer special academy has 4 learning halls, each of them is different in their own way.

First, led by Veronica, is focused on the weapons, like sword, spear, axe, and many others! They mainly taught about weapon aura and techniques

Second, led by Marcus, is focused on the art of body strengthening and bare-handed fighting! They teach you about how to use your fist, legs, and your whole body.

Third, led by June, is focused on research and knowledge! I come from this, but don't worry, eventually you get so deep into it that you will forget that the entire world exists.

Fourth, led by Xillian, is focused on magic and mana! Instead of the borin- I mean, interesting research, they teach you about practical use of magic and its deadly capability.

Interesting, right? But sadly, you must advance to the second grade before you have the chance of deciding your path!" Vinc continued.

"Then there's the amount of land and facili-" his words got cut off mid sentence.

Knock

"Ah, it seems it's time up for me, we will start on the basic introduction, tomorrow!" Vinc quickly finished as his hand moved fast and clipped the paper together.

"Thank you for listening to me. Pardon my greetings and lecture since I kinda rushed to make them up among my research. See you all in the next lecture!"

The students murmured as Vinc made his way to the door hurriedly.

"Things have gotten interesting…" Hubert whispered to himself softly.

Then he left the room while also letting the next instructor in.

Murmur instantly died down, replaced by the sound of the floor vibrating in each steps he took.

The instructor was chest naked, his hair a yellow mohawk and his jawline sharpened like a block. His chest muscled, his arms trained, his abs showing and his neck thick like a tortoise.

"Vinc, that guy told you all about the learning halls, right?" the instructor asked.

The students nodded in silence as an answer.

"Haa… as he always did with the new class, every single time," the instructor sighed.

"Alright, then, class C of 72nd cohort! I'm Javarius and you should know which hall I'm from, right?" he asked the class.

The students had a wild guess of which hall master the man resembled the most, obviously, the answer was Marcus of the second learning hall.

"Exactly! I'm from the fourth learning hall, specializing in being a mage with an affinity to nature. Since Vinc had already told you, let's just go out there and walk around, familiarize and adapt yourselves to the new environment of a long, long years," the man continued.

Then the class went outside.