26. The academy days.

"Is he the one?" 

Even if Dereck wasn't looking at them, Dereck had no problem understanding they were talking about him.

"Look at the bracelet in his hand. That is the one from the magic tower."

"Oh! Is that true, then? Did he really join the magic tower even before graduating from the academy? Does that even make sense?"

"If it isn't him, who should join the magic tower? He is already a four-circled mage. He can defeat a five-star warrior. What about you? You are still a three-circle mage even after…"

"It looks like you are already very famous in the academy," Novela said as she was attracting all those gazes just by walking beside him. "You have even joined the first class on special permission. I think…"

"What do you think?" She didn't think Dereck would grab her hand in front of everyone. She tried to free her hands as she could hear a few onlookers gasp.

She would have been his consort if Theo had not almost kidnapped him to train him for a month every day. As they were not, their public display attracted much-unwanted attention.

"It's just that…"

"You are going to be my consort. You should never forget that. If it wasn't for…"

Dereck didn't complete the sentence. He and Theo decided to avoid exposing their relationship as master and disciple to prevent any unwanted attention from him.

Being a four-circle mage was already impressive, but the fact that he mastered elemental evolution and could use two elements would make him a political chesspiece in the kingdom. There was no way the king would lose another talented youngster to the magic tower.

Moreover, Dereck wasn't unaware that the magic tower was still a place where politics played a role, regardless of the absence of noble titles.

A small number of magical families refused to accept any kind of official recognition for their position in the magical council. Although Theo was the tower master, the magical council had considerable power in the tower. 

As a long tradition, the new master was always the disciple of the old master. 

Understandably, they were trying hard for one of their own to be Theo's disciple. So, they decided they wouldn't accept it publicly until Dereck was strong enough to protect himself.

That was perfectly acceptable to Dereck. He had no desire to become the tower master or a great mage. His only reason for joining was to avoid his brother thinking he was vying for the title. And he had achieved the result already.

"Are you saying something?"

"Always remember, no matter what others say, your position will always be beside me." He pecked her cheek.

"I… I…" With a flushed face, Novela stepped away from him. "I have my class now. If you follow the corridor, your class is in the room closest to the stairs on the upper floor."

Dereck smiled, reminding me, "I hope you don't forget our date after the classes." 

Even without Novela, he still continued to attract a lot of attention from other students. Dereck didn't need to waste much effort to find his class.

The gallery-type classroom was half-filled with students when he entered the room. The entrance was on one side of the spacious podium, while the stairway was on the other. 

As he walked through the podium, he could almost feel the intense gazes of his future classmates. He climbed the stairs and sat in the last row, hoping more students would come to fill up the rest of the seats.

Alas! When the teacher entered the room, Dereck's row was almost four rows behind the last rows of the students.

"What are you doing there? Come forward," the teacher said, attracting the attention of the other students towards him.

'It looks like the last row is unpopular among these people.' Dereck shook his head and sat behind the row with the last people.

"I am Amish Loneguard, a six-star mana warrior. I will be your teaching co-ordinator. I will be in charge of your basic physical training and here to help you with any issues that may arise throughout the year."

"As today is the first day, let's start with the introductions…"

Among those who rose to the occasion to introduce themselves, the first to do so was Silva Hyde. "The kingdom counts me as its eighth prince. I am a Mana Warrior with three stars. My goal is to gain knowledge from both the instructor and my fellow students."

The others clapped as he returned to his stage, and the next one appeared. 

"I am Hera Hyde. The sixth princess of the kingdom…"

The people came according to their social status. After the princess, those who were related to the dukes came. The descendants of the marquis were the next.

There, he found the only person in the classroom he had met before.

"Ashely Redscale. I am the advisor to the general of the East." To his surprise, she didn't give the identity of her Marquis father. None cared.

The introduction section continued until it reached the girl sitting in the row in front of him.

"May Shinoda. I am the second princess of the kingdom of Shinoda." She gave everyone a deep bow to show her gratitude before saying, "Thank you for giving me the opportunity to learn."

'No wonder she was a loner.' If her skin tone wasn't the telltale sign, her introduction was enough for Dereck to understand why all these teenagers were keeping their distance from her.

"And you?" Only when the instructor asked for it did he remember that he was also a student.

He followed Ashley's introduction style. "Dereck Longhorn. A four-circled mage of the magic tower."

Till now, only those who had reached three-star or three-circle status had used the term to show their ability. Still, the room's ambient noise level dropped a couple of notches after Dereck's introduction.

"So, you are the special admission that the headmaster himself scouted?"

Dereck gives him a nod, and at the same time, the sound of whispers continues to increase in the room.

"Why don't you give some demonstrations?"

"Sorry?" He had become an intriguing subject due to the fact that he was one of the few individuals personally scouted by the headmaster.

The fact that Dereck sensed Amish's genuine interest rather than sarcasm prompted him to accept his proposal. 

"How should we do that?" Dereck asked. 

Even before Amish could answer, a magical water golem formed behind Dereck, almost reaching the roof while holding the 

There was more than one. Soon, four simultaneous golems formed behind him. 

It was the spell of which Dereck was most proud. He finally succeeded in casting the spell after nearly a month of rigorous training.

At first, Dereck thought he had nothing much to learn, as he had experienced a fair share of magic over his thousand lifetimes.

The issue was that he hadn't had much opportunity to receive personal training from a trainer. Even if he had, none of them were as knowledgeable as Theo.

After receiving instruction from one, he was able to identify and correct his own mistakes quickly. To top it all off, it improved his mana efficiency, which in turn impressed Theo even more.

"Instructor, I don't think repeating four iterations of the same spell proves that one is a four-circle mage."

Dereck couldn't help but take a look at the boy who just pointed it out. Dereck had no idea what he had done to draw his lousy attention, but he could not help but smile.

"Absolutely true, esteemed prince. Even if I cast four advanced-level golem spells, it doesn't prove that I am a four-circled mage." Dereck's brain was trying hard not to draw any unwanted intention from the jealous prince, but…

[Mizo Golem]

[Aqua Shield] 

[Water Lance] 

[Water Bomb]

As Dereck uttered the name, four iterations of the spell appeared behind him.

"It is as the esteemed prince had said. To prove whether one is a true four-circle mage, he must multicast four spells simultaneously. However…"

Dereck looked directly at him and smiled as all the spell disintegrated in thin air, without leaving a single trace of water in the room.

*Clap**Clap*

Upon noticing that May had clapped first, Dereck could not help but wonder if the princess from another land was cognizant of the fact that she was merely a foreigner here and should not oppose the prince, regardless of his rank.

Only when the instructor joined in did other people start to clap again.

"It is very understandable why the headmaster directly scouted him." The instructor didn't care about the prince's dark expression.

"Now that we have been done with the introductions, let's get some rules straight before we go for a run."

"The workload of the first year is simple. You have to take four major classes and two minor classes. You can find the list of classes in the booklet, and you have to submit your registered classes within the first month."

"Five of you who did poorly in class will face off against the top three against each other in a final tournament at the conclusion of the year. You risk being demoted to second or even third class if you lose all of your assigned fights."

"Everyone must adhere to the rule, whether they are a prince or a specially selected student. You risk expulsion from the academy if you do not comply. Do you understand?"

After everyone nodded, he added, "If you do, then follow me. This will be your only compulsory class in the first year."