First Class

"El, here," Ileana called the moment she saw Elior entering the classroom.

Elior entered the not so forgotten classroom. With him was the prodigal son shin—still in his get-up that asked for attention from the crowd.

He heard Ileana and saw her in one of the front seats. He walked on the fine marble towards the desk and Shin followed. The classroom was unusually big for only fifty students. Apparently, the freshmen were divided into three sections, the first two with fifty students each, while the last contained the leftover with the students from last year who failed to pass the exam.

Few of the students started talking about them the moment they entered. Shin put no ears to it, and Elior was too old for it.

"I do not like to sit at the front desk," Shin complained. "How about we go behind?"

"I'm alright anywhere," Elior laughed. "But you have to convince Ileana here to move first—Which I reckon will be close to impossible."

Before Shin could utter a word to Ileana, the chestnut-haired young lady glared at him curtly and Shin turned silent.

"I didn't even say a thing," he muttered.

"And you will stay like that," Ileana said. "I already got a bad reputation just being with you the other day."

"What did I do?" Shin asked, having no clue about the thing.

"Open your eyes and ears a little, you dimwit. Listen closely to what the other students are talking about."

Shin listened to Ileana and found there really was some talking about him, and their way of gossiping did not seem to be anything good for him. But Shin shrugged and glared at a few of them. The other students did not meet his eyes, but they were still talking about him, but rather quietly now.

In the end, Shin sat next to Elior.

"So what's today's class about?" he asked. Clearly, Shin did not bother to read the pamphlet where details about the courses were written.

"Basic mana application," Ileana answered. "By the way, why didn't you two bring in your hollowbook? Where would you take notes?"

"I did not bring mine because I do not need it," Elior answered, shrugging. It was quite true, if he liked, he might be able to teach others, though he did not know he could explain properly to them.

"So you are going to leach off my notes again?" Ileana glared curtly at him.

Elior smiled. In all these years, he had been studying off the notes made by her. Though he had no need for notes now, he did not clear out the misunderstanding.

"And what about you?" the chestnut-haired girl then asked Shin who just smiled embarrassedly.

"He probably forgot," just as Elior said that the instructor of the class entered. Behind him were a couple of upperclassmen carrying a piece of equipment. A crystal orb as large as a human head.

"Good morning class," Aleister said. A hollowbook and a few papers on his arm. "Is everyone here?"

The instructor checked his hollowbook and said, "Two missing out of fifty. Minus ten points to them." He left the papers and his hollow book on the desk and looked at all the students. "One thing you should all remember, I hate lousiness. I will cut point in any way that displeases me."

The students complained in a low voice among themselves.

"Silence," Aleister said. The upperclassmen left, giving a curt bow to the teacher. "If you want to ask something, stand up and ask."

The class turned into pin-drop silence. Elior smiled. His teacher was really good at this. He had his temper, but he never compromised with his teachings.

"No questions? Good," the tall instructor nodded. "Today's class is on basic mana application. But before that, let's finish some business."

The teacher took the papers from the desk and said, "These are the forms that were given yesterday. Supposedly, the students were given a week of time to decide their courses, yet some of you already submitted it." He paused for a while. "I know some of you have some background with Guardians, while some do not, but I still advise you to take your time.

"Some of you may have been pressured by your parents, but do not decide just thinking about your parents. This is your career. In the end, the one who would suffer is you. So you should make the call so that you can't blame others for your failure.

"If your parents have some problem or you are too afraid to discuss this with them. You can ask them to meet me."

The class opened in another low voice, but by just raising one arm, Aleister stopped the students.

He checked the formed one by one. After skimming through some, a frown appeared on his brows.

"Elior Vishwas," Aleister said. "Please stand up."

Ileana and Shin were a little startled hearing that, but remembering their friends' performance in the trial, they were relieved. The teacher probably would advise him or praise him. But their expectation was short-lived.

As Elior stood, Aleister did not praise him nor advised him.

"Are you an arrogant brat?" the teacher asked Elior, eyeing straight at him. "Or just another fool?"

The entire class was stunned. They might not have seen Elior during the trial, but the rumours already spread throughout the school. They know Elior was the top runner of the trial, and yet he was getting scolded by the teacher. Some seemed to take pleasure in his misfortune, while most were silent, waiting for the drama to unfold.

Elior was not one of the students who was startled by the scolding. He already expected some of it.

"Arrogant? Maybe a little," he said flatly. His voice was clear and quiet, but it reached everyone's ears. "Fool? Definitely not."

"I see nothing little in your behaviour," the teacher said back. "Did you think through completely when you submitted the form?"

"Yes," Elior gave a short answer.

"Are you sure you can keep up with all the courses you took?"

That was the main question here. In the form that Elior submitted, the number of classes he chose was not something a normal student could complete. From general classes of weapons mastery, such as Spear, Blade, knives, he also chose classes on the path of the mage. Spell casting, theory of Magical formula and all the various courses. Not to say there was still Mana Engineering.

Alone, Elior took almost a class of three students together. It was not unfounded. The teacher questioned him.

"I think I can keep up," he said humbly. While his mind sang, 'It is not a matter of me keeping up, I just fear I'll get bored in just a week or two.'

Elior did not just take so many classes for learning. If there was anything left to learn, then it should be about spell casting, but the real reason he chose these many classes was that he needed to scout some elite students and make a good connection with them.

Other than that, he needed access to all the training grounds. The institute did not allow all its students to access all the other training grounds. For instance, a warrior could not train on the training grounds of the mages.

Aleister frowned for a second. Noticing no fear or weaver in Elior's mindset, he moved to the other students.

"If the other students are not as arrogant as our top scorer, you can cancel your form and resubmit it."

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