MOCK BATTLE (1)

Daybreak dawned on the students with the arrival of another day. It was the official beginning of their classes after the orientation yesterday.

Alab and Girth were early in the morning, munching on their food. Upon readying themselves, both went off to their learning quarter which was meters in the South.

Anastasia and Han Seo Yeon similarly prepared themselves and hurried to the Inner Core of Academia.

Their schedule was finalized and Copper Class had morning classes.

Girth scrolled through his system interface to look at Academia's sent S-mail.

[Copper Class 3 Schedule:

7:30 am - 9:30 am | Fundamentals of Academia

10:00 am - 12:00 noon | Magic Class

12:30 pm - 2:30 pm | Practical Class]

Their schedule was lenient and Alab was satisfied with it.

'I could visit the water training facility later and hunt monsters in the afternoon till dawn', he pondered.

Dark sacks loomed under his eyes. It was clear that he hadn't taken much sleep in the past few days.

In pure contrast, Girth was glowing under the invigorating daylight, leaping as he strode toward their learning quarter.

He was not the studious type but he felt that studying was better than hunting monsters.

"I will just sleep in class today! Ke!", Girth exclaimed.

Soon, they reached their room which was brimming with diurnal species, energetic as they exchanged greetings. The ambiance was calm, not that depressing or pleasing.

The students of Copper Class 3 harbored no ill intentions toward each other. Or rather, there was one...

"Gre"

The red ogre, Dennis, fumed as Girth entered the room. The flirtatious female students threw their morning adorations to Girth which made the latter scrunched up his face.

"Ke!"

Soon, the class proceeded as normal. Ms. Savra entered the room and threw jokes before she began her lectures. However, amid her lectures, Alab who was normally enigmatic had momentary fluctuations in his expression.

"As you can see, the world was under the dictatorship of the Absolute One, the creator of all. He deceived all his subjects into dictatorial rule. He implemented horrendous, self-centered, and corrupted rules all to sustain his goal. If not for the hero, the Great Necromancer, who battled and overthrew his ruling, we would be living in a harsh world now.", Ms. Savra narrated.

Alab found it contradicting the words of the Earth god. It was cunningly playing the Necromancer as the hero and the Absolute One as the greatest evil.

'What is the truth? Who is the real evil?', Alab pondered.

Still, he was lacking supporting data at the moment. He couldn't come up with a solid evaluation.

'I have to look at the two sides of the coin before coming up with a conclusion,' Alab pondered. He decided to brush it off for now as these matters didn't concern him at the moment.

Focusing on Ms. Savra's lectures, the students were deeply immersed and before they knew it, the 2-hour time had ended.

The class took a break and then proceeded to Lolita's magic class.

The young lower demon introduced further magic in her lectures. She narrated how the atmosphere in Academia was denser than usual since mana was inherent in the atmosphere.

They could suck in the mana to their bodies to restore and fill their mana pool. She also mentioned the best method to replenish mana which was to sit in the lotus position, a similar method that Alab was doing.

Alab learned that there were proper breathing techniques to either heal one's injuries, replenish mana, or even raise stats with utmost efficiency. The class grew dismal as the time reached noon and the class had ended.

'Ms. Savra is employing a student-centered teaching method whilst Ms. Lolita is using a teacher-centered. Different yet efficient in their own ways', Alab scrutinized the teaching method of the two professors.

After half an hour of break, it was finally time for their practical class.

The break was full of taunting their mock opponents and practicing within the room. Some couldn't wait to fight their opponents whilst some were reluctant like Girth and Felix.

"Ke! Do we really have to fight?! Ke!", Girth whimpered as he eyed the massive red ogre that was punching in the air in the corner of the room.

"Ke! Why of all people do I have to fight that blockhead?! Ke!", Girth nagged Felix to switch opponents with him.

However, Felix was equally fearful of Dennis due to his large frame that could send a shiver down one's spine. He didn't want to fight such a monster.

"I'm good with my opponent hehe", Felix denied timidly as he glanced at the relaxed Carl in his seat, being caressed by his fellow female trolls.

Somehow, Felix could see a sliver chance of winning.

'I just have to give it my best. As I had practiced', he pondered.

Alab on the other hand was tightly seated in his seat, with shut eyes and ears, he focused on replenishing his mana the full breaktime.

Soon, the door hissed open as their professor in the practical class entered the room.

"Is he a human? Ke?"

With a human frame, and tight skin huddling his petite figure, the man wobbled as he walked toward the teaching area. He was wearing an untidy brown sleeve and grey pants that had visibly been worn for days or even weeks now as stains dotted every corner.

A white coat cloaked his body with a belt bag wrapped around his thin waist. The man was around 30 years old but appeared younger with his poreless skin.

His black hair was tangled and his black eyes were dreary.

Opening his parched lips, he introduced.

"I am Heres, your professor for practical class *cough*", the man fixed his eyeglass.

*cough*

His weak stature coupled with his series of coughing, the students couldn't help but be dubious.

"Can he even teach us anything about practical class?"

There was a stereotype among the practical professors. Typically, the students heard bulkier or even higher beings teaching practical subjects in other classes.

They had never heard of a human professor who appeared more fragile than themselves to teach a practical lesson.

*cough*

"I believe that I sent an S-mail to your class liaison last time and I believe you have decided on your mock opponent, right?", Heres decided to ignore the students that erupted with gossip.

"Yes, Sir., garchu!", Carrot responded.

"Then I guess, we should proceed to the training hall now", Heres added and then led the reluctant students to the verdant rectangular space in between the four buildings.

The space was the training hall for the entire Copper Class. There were other students from other classes occupying spaces.

They were already conducting their mock battles as commotion erupted, throwing mockeries at the losing party. The jeering of students reverberated in the open space as the Copper Class 3 paved their way to the available area.

In the corner, roofed by the shade of the buildings from slanted sunlight, the class couldn't wait to battle other students.

Immediately, Heres didn't let them wait for long as he commenced.

"Mr. Felix and Mr. Carl?", he read the list of pairs sent by Carrot.

Felix was sweating profusely as he stepped forward.

"Keke, you can do it, joker elf!", Girth jested as he then stood into the corner where other students dispersed.

With Carl and Felix facing each other, Heres began explaining the rules of the mock battle.

"This is just a mock battle but I suggest that you give it your all. I will be creating a training routine for each student based on your performance today so I hope that you stayed true to your natural combat method", Heres paused.

"The first one to land a hit will be the winner. A gold coin reward will be given to the winning party and take note that killing or injuring the other is not allowed. You only have to land a hit to be the winner"

Felix rubbed his palm into his uniform as then pulled out his wooden sword from his inventory. Carl similarly held his weapon and took his fighting stance.

Seeing that they were both readied, Heres continued.

"With that explained, let the mock battle commence!"