Legends of the University #1

Cliff was seated in the front row with his face buried in a book. As I walked in, Sylphy ran out in front of me.

"Hey, you're new here, right? Nice to meet you, I'm Sylphiette!"

Cliff set down the book he had been reading and proudly introduced himself.

"I'm Cliff Grimoire. I'm a genius magician."

"Pfft!"

I couldn't manage to hold in my laugh. Seeing my good friend introduce himself in such a manner caught me off guard. I forgot how he used to act so stuck up when we first met.

"What's so funny!?", He angrily griped.

"Rudeus! That wasn't very nice. Don't be mean to the new students!"

"Ha... I'm sorry. It's just... Isn't it embarrassing to call yourself a genius like that?", I asked Cliff with a friendly smile. "Besides, I'm a new student too, aren't I?", I halfheartedly complained to Sylphy.

"R-Rudeus? As in Rudeus Greyrat!?"

"Yeah. Have you heard of me?"

"Err... yes."

"Really? From who?"

"F-from... a couple people."

"...I see."

'Wait. Cliff had met Eris before he met me. Is that the case again? Is that where he knows me? No... He's acting strange about it. Maybe his Grandfather told him about me. Yeah. That's probably it.'

"I hope... I hope we can be friends"

As Cliff said this, he abruptly stood up from his seat and gave a nervous bow.

"Hey. No need to bow. And of course we can be friends! It's really nice to meet you! Where are you staying? Maybe we could hang out after class sometime."

I reached in for a handshake which he cautiously accepted.

'What in the world did Cliff's grandfather tell him about me? He seems scared stiff! I'll just have to show him that I want to genuinely be his friend.'

I pulled back the chair and sat down at the desk next to Cliff's.

"Hey, uh, Rudy... I usually sit next to Seren in the back. I think she already reserved seats for us."

"Oh", I answered Sylphy. "Sorry Cliff, I'm going to go sit back with Sylphiette."

"Yes. That's fine", he answered before sticking his face back in his book.

Sylphy and I walked past Linia and Pursena, who were both lazing about, and we took our seats in the back row.

Seren sat to the right of Sylphy and I sat to her left. Nanahoshi sat at the next desk left of mine. In the next row down, Zanoba and Aurora sat next to each other right in front of us.

Zanoba and Aurora both turned around in their seats to chat with us. "Master! I still can't believe I get to share the same class as you!"

"That's right! This year is going to be so much fun!", Aurora agreed.

"Rudeus, what classes did you end up taking this year?", Seren asked.

"Actually... I didn't sign up for any."

"What? Really? Hmm. I suppose that makes sense in a way. You're probably a better mage than all of the professors here, after all. But then... why did you bother enrolling here to begin with?"

"The Academy has a plethora of resources available other than just classes. The research lab they provided is a great example. If I'm going to be honest though, I think the real reason is because I wanted to enjoy the experience of going to school. I thought it would be fun, you know?"

"Haha! That's just like you."

"Is that really so strange?"

"I guess it might not be all that strange for noble kids. The tuition for this place is expensive as all hell! I can't understand how anyone would pay such a huge amount just to goof off."

"Hey!", Linia yelled from the seat by the window. "Are you guys going to be this loud every day, mew!? Some of us are trying to sleep!"

"You can't talk to Master like that!", Zanoba stood up in a hurry, breaking his chair in the process.

"What was that, mew? Do you need us to teach you a lesson, mew!?"

"Calm down, Zanoba!", I scolded. "Don't go starting a fight with our new classmates on your first day."

"I'm sorry! Please forgive me!"

Zanoba comically started groveling at my feet.

"Forget about it", *Sigh* "Just get back in your seat. Err... I guess grab another one?"

At this point the homeroom teacher walked into the room and introduced herself.

"Good Morning. I'm glad to see everyone was able to make it this morning. I am professor Allison and I will be your homeroom teacher this year. I hope we can all get along and strive together for a better knowledge and understanding of magic."

The professor gave us a more detailed explanation of what is expected of us as special students and provided each of the new students with a handbook detailing the school's rules. She also warned Zanoba to be more careful in the classroom. Any further damage to school property will have to be paid for.

After homeroom everyone parted ways and left for their respective classes. We all agreed to meet together and have lunch at our usual spot outside the cafeteria.

Once the noon bell rang, I made my way to the cafeteria. I happened to cross paths with Linia and Pursena in the hallway on the way there. I gave them a polite smile and then kept walking.

"Hmm? What is that supposed to be, mew?"

"What do you mean?", I stopped to ask.

"You're not even going to greet us, mew? Don't you know who we are?"

"I don't believe you've introduced yourselves to me."

"Nya!? Aren't you friends with Silent Sylphy? She didn't tell you about us, mew?"

"Hmm...?", I rested my chin in my hand and acted like I was deep in thought. "No, I don't think so."

"Well I guess we'll just have to introduce ourselves then!", Linia said proudly. "I'm Linia Dedoldia, a second year, mew. I'm the daughter of Gyes, the Warrior Chief of the Dedoldia tribe. At some point, I'll inherit the position of Village Chief!"

"Pursena. I'm basically the same as Linia", Pursena lazily added, freeing her mouth of jerky just long enough to say that one sentence.

"It's nice to meet the two of you. My name's Rudeus Greyrat."

I gave a formal bow to the two of them as I introduced myself.

"It's good to see that *someone* in our class has some manners, mew. You should ditch that annoying group you sit with and start servin' us!"

"Heh. Yeah, I don't think so."

"What!?, mew! Who do you think you are, mocking us? Just because we lost to Sylphy doesn't mean we have to put up with this from her underlings, mew!"

"Her underling? Look, I understand that this is just what you two are like so I'm going to let this slide for now, but I think it would be best for everyone if we all get along."

"You're going to *let* this slide? You gonna act all tough like that and then back away from the fight? What a coward, haha!"

*Sigh*

'This is getting annoying. Maybe I should put them in their place so I don't have to deal with their nonsense all year.'

I lazily reached up my right hand and pointed it at Linia.

Both Linia and Pursena took aggressive stances towards me. Seems like they were itching for a fight. Pursena even stopped chewing on her meat.

"Oh, hey Rudy!", Sylphy called out as she approached from the side hallway.

"Eep!"

Linia and Pursena both jumped back and adopted neutral postures.

"We weren't fighting, mew!"

"Linia was gonna start a fight! I didn't want any part of it!"

"Yeah! Pursena had nothing to do with- Wait, what?"

Sylphiette just looked their way and laughed.

"What do I care? If you two are dumb enough to start a fight with Rudy that's your problem."

"Nya!? Who are you calling dumb!?"

"Yeah! Linia's the only one here who's dumb!"

"That's r-... Hey!"

"Linia, Pursena", I interrupted their comedic routine. Both of their heads snapped my way. "Let's be honest. You're both pretty dumb."

"Nya!?"

"It seems he's looking for a fight after all. Let's get him, Linia!"

Pursena crouched low to the ground as Linia reared back and prepared to howl at me.

*MROWWW!*

Linia's face went red with embarrassment when what escaped her mouth wasn't an intimidating howl, but rather sounded like a kitten's yowl.

Pursena, meanwhile, ran straight into my quagmire and faceplanted straight into the muddy ground, her momentum kept her sliding partly forward.

*MROWWW!*

A confused and frustrated Linia tried her howl magic again, only for it to be countered by my disturb magic once again.

Angered and embarrassed by her repeated failure, Linia gave up on her howl magic and instead charged straight at me. I easily countered her straightforward charge and swept her leg, knocking her to the ground. Once she hit the ground I held her down by stepping on her chest.

I hadn't struck her head so she was still fully conscious, but when she looked up toward me in a rage, she saw me pointing directly at her with a waterball prepared to be fired. Instead I just let it drop harmlessly on top of her, leaving her soaking wet afterward.

I took my foot off of her and took a couple steps back as I laughed at their antics. All the other students surrounding us in the populated hallway were laughing as well. Even Sylphy giggled a little.

"Grrrr! You'll regret this!" Linia shouted as she got up, evidently still not ready to admit defeat. She charged towards me once again, this time on all fours.

I stopped laughing as I pointed my right hand at her one final time.

"That's enough!", I yelled out in an annoyed tone.

As I yelled that, I hit her with gravity magic, causing her to fall from her stance, already low to the ground, to lying prone on the ground right at my feet, held in place and unable to move thanks to the gravity magic.

Linia couldn't even muster the strength to turn her head to look my way. The force holding her down was such that she struggled to breathe.

Then it subsided. I had only held her there for maybe five seconds. That, however, was enough to get the message across.

Linia immediately got up and sat up on her knees in a subservient position.

"I'm sorry boss! Please forgive me!"

*Sigh*

"You don't have to call me boss. Just behave yourselves, alright? Don't go bullying the other students anymore. The whole reason Gyes sent you here was because he wanted the two of you to get humbled. He was tired of everyone doting on you in the Doldia Village. If you keep this up, I won't have any choice but to tell him how badly you guys have been behaving."

"Nya!? You know my father?"

"I do. I saved his life when he was ambushed by some smugglers."

"Really, mew?"

*Sniff, Sniff*

"He seems like he's telling the truth", Pursena added. She had pulled herself out of the mud and sat beside Linia, mimicking her subservient position.

"Well, I don't know about the rest of you guys, but I'm getting hungry. Let's go get lunch", I said as I lost interest in the two Doldia princesses and started walking with Sylphy back to the cafeteria.

"Wait for us, boss!"

"Yeah, mew! Let's eat together!"

Starting from today, Linia and Pursena made a habit of eating outside with the rest of us. I had to extend our little outdoor venue to include the two of them. I made the stone table slightly longer and conjured two more stone chairs.

[Legends of the University #1: The Boss can control people with his voice alone]