Chapter 17 : First Class

"Hey have you heard? Apparently our 'Battle arts' lesson is gonna be entrusted to a new teacher"

"What was the headmaster thinking? Battle arts is one of the most crucial lessons and we are getting an inexperienced teacher for it?"

"It sounds too awful. At this point aren't we just getting abandoned?"

The class started to gossip as students started to enter the class one by one.

"Think positively. If a new teacher is getting assigned to teach the third year, don't you think they will be skilled enough to draw the headmaster's attention?" a green haired girl interrupted the students' gossip.

"Well it doesn't matter now. The previous teacher died in battle when he was supposed to be the one to teach us how to battle."

"At this point I don't even care anymore. All I need is grades to graduate"

"But what's mysterious is there is no background information about this man, only his name. I tried to search for it but I found nothing, he's a ghost."

"He's most probably a commoner then"

"Then it will be easy to get grades, hehe"

"Seriously, you people will never improve", disagreeing with the students, the green haired girl went to her own seat.

Soon Ethan entered the class he was greeted by the elite students of the current academy. They being in this class meant every one of them had the potential to make their name known throughout the continent. 

As Ethan made his way into his podium he told the class to sit down. He took a glance at his students. He was surprised to find that there were some students from other races other than human. He then took a chalk and wrote his name on the board. He decided to use his name 'Ethan Cross'.

"Pleasure to meet you all. I am the newly appointed Battle arts teacher, Ethan cross. Since it's still early in the semester I won't be going into lessons directly. However I will have you know that I will be teaching you the things you need to know about fighting. However the way I teach you would be different. I will focus more on practical applications rather than theory. Also let me warn you all, if there's anyone who thinks you will get easy grades, you better change your mindset or I will make you regret it." Ethan exuded some aura directed to the students he heard gossiping before entering the class.

"Also, I have another announcement", Ethan continued "My class isn't only limited to 3rd years, meaning even freshmen can enter my class"

The green haired girl from before raised her hand.

"Yes, Miss Jean?"

The girl was shocked as Ethan knew her name but maintained composure. "I have a question, is there any reason that you are allowing others to attend this class?"

"As an educator I believe it's my duty to not discriminate when teaching. Also if you are wondering if I have the permission to do that,... well I do. Any more questions?"

"The aura around him is no joke"

"Letting juniors attend our class? What is he thinking?"

"They will only drag us down"

Students started to gossip with each other as Ethan made his sudden announcement. "Seems there is no more questions,then this is the end of the entry ceremony, good luck"

[ Sigh ]

Ethan was now again in the hallway.

[ I tried to scare them as much as I could ]

[ The less the students come the better ]

[ After all which senior would have the pride to take the same class as his juniors ]

[ But did they really have no questions? ]

[ I thought they would ask questions to test the new teacher? ]

[ Then what about the answers I prepared all night, are they useless now? ]

As Ethan walked through the hallway, every student that saw him moved out of the way bowing slightly, there was clear fear in their eyes.

[ Seriously! What kind of rumors are circulating now? ]

"Professor Ethan?"

It was Seraphina, who is now going by the name Rose. Since Seraphina decided to act like a stranger Ethan understood her intent and went with the flow.

"Yes?"

"Nice to meet you, I am Rose. I was appointed at the same time as you. If you have not eaten yet, why not go to the canteen together?"

"Sure…"

"Hahaha! I am Brendon, in charge of summoning class. Nice to meet you"

"I am Norn, I am in charge of teaching curses"

"Ah greetings, I am Rose, I am the newly appointed teacher for alchemy. It is a pleasure to meet you all"

After Seraphina finished her introduction, all of them were looking at Ethan. Ethan with a deep sigh introduced himself. "Ethan. Battle arts professor."

"Hohoho, you certainly have quite the mood" Brendon gave a fist bump to Ethan's chest as he tried to cheer up the mood.

[ So is this some kind of meet and greet? ]

[ Why must it be when eating breakfast? Sigh ]

"If you have time to chat like that, you should focus on working more" A young man interrupted the group. He had jet-black hair, glasses, and an elegant outfit.

Without further continuing the conversation he went away.

"That's Professor Rudiger. Unlike us, he is of noble lineage. He has a high pride and can't stand nobles." Norn explained it to Ethan and Seraphina.

"Anyways I have a class soon so meet you guys later" Brendon excused himself from the table.

"Then I must go as well, good luck" Professor Norn did the same.

The next day came and Ethan was yet again on his way to his class.

[ I clearly made sure to scare them ]

[ There shouldn't be much students, maybe around 1/3rd of the total? ]

[ !!! ]

As Ethan entered the class he wasn't ready for what he just saw. All of the seats were filled. Even many first years came.

[ Aren't you afraid to take class with your seniors??? ]

[ I only allowed the juniors so that seniors won't come here because of their pride ]

[ The juniors are not supposed to be joining class in the first place because they would be afraid ]

[ Did I calculate it wrong? ]

[ Seems I have underestimated them ]

[ I can still scare them off ]

"Since there are many new faces today , I will introduce myself again. The name is Ethan Cross. I will be teaching you about Battle Arts."

"I have a question. Battle Arts is a huge topic so in which area are you going to focus more? Martial arts, weaponry or magic?" A young man amongst the students stood up.

"First of all, you are not allowed to ask anything if you are not allowed to. If there are any actions that challenge my authority, his or her points will be deducted accordingly. Since it's the first class, I will let it slide. As for the answer to that question, I will be teaching all three of them."

[ There are mainly three topics to Battle arts that lays foundation to it. And he's gonna teach all three of them? Even being able teaching two is considered incredible and a new teacher is gonna teach all three? ] Jean, the green haired girl, had questions in her mind.

"Since this is the first class, I will be starting with something light that will pique your interest. So here's my question, what is the average time to cast a fireball?"

"It would be 3 seconds sir." Jacob, a student with large spectacles sitting across the room answered the question.

"That would be the average time for a normal full-fledged mage, yes. But from the standard of overall students in this academy, what do you think the time would be?"

"It would be around 4 to 5 seconds if we consider all of them."

"I see, sit down"

"In today's lesson I will be teaching you how to lower that time."

"!!!"

"Do you want to shorten the time of the procedure?"

"Is that possible?"

"Aren't you lying?"

Unlike the first-year students who do not know well yet, the second and third-year students doubted Ethan's words.

There was visible confusion in the face of all the students. After all, it is a fact that only advanced mages can lower their casting time. Yet the professor in front of them said he is gonna teach them how to do it.

For mages, it is more crucial to manage their casting time rather than their destructive power. Mages can only show their potential when they are protected since mages can't do anything else when casting. 

If the casting time can truly be shortened for everyone, even knights can use magic during a fight without letting go of their swords.

Ethan decided to teach the students the most fundamental things before going deep into lessons. Ethan wanted them to learn how to manage mana properly before it's too late. Ethan had to  spend quite a huge time studying mana when he became a knight.

Jean's best friend Fiona asked her, "Is- Is that true?"

"Impossible. Has there ever been a successful attempt in the last few years?"

There were ways to reduce the casting time by using a scroll or an artifact. But they were very rare and only influential nobles could use them. Also only lower grade magics could be used by them. After one use it would break.

There is also a highly advanced magic that can save a magic beforehand and be casted later. But it was a high level magic and it had a limited number of uses. 

There have been attempts on it throughout the years but all of them were unsuccessful. There is no way to shorten a spell without changing the spell's structure. And by changing the structure you would always lose something, it could be destructive power, travel speed or distance. 

To some, it may be only a third-level flame elemental magic, but behind the magic there are traces of countless geniuses in history. Even those who are called geniuses in modern times can't improve existing magic because it's so perfect that there's nothing to improve.

That was something that had already been decided over a hundred years ago. 

"Professor, that is impossible" Jean stood up from her seat.

"She's doing it again."

"Professor Ethan is doomed"

[ If I am not mistaken she is the one that had the tag- 'annoying' in her profile. It makes sense now. ]

"Why do you think that?"

"There is no practical way to shorten the casting time without changing the structure. However, changing the structure changes the spell itself." Jean was respected by all students. From first-year she was always first in overall results. A true prodigy. She was also the only daughter of Count Usher. She was a child of the upper nobility. She was not lacking in any way.

"Would you kindly come to the podium and demonstrate a fireball?"

Jean then came to the podium and wielded her wand and started to cast a fireball at the target beside the black-board. There was a target in every class for magic demonstration in-doors. This target had the ability to absorb mana. It could nullify magic spells up to fourth tier.

Just as she aimed her wand at the target, a magic circle started to form. Soon a second and a third appeared and they merged. Soon a fireball came out of it hitting the center of the target.

"4.05 seconds. Quite unbelievable for a student. The process was perfect. The execution was beautiful."

"I could do better if I focused" Jean said so arrogantly

"But it was slow"

"???" For Jean, who was revered as the genius of the academy, it was her first time a professor insulted her.

"A third class mage can cast a fireball within 3 seconds while a fourth class can do that within 2.80 seconds. However, even 2.80 seconds is slow. If something like a fireball costs you 3 seconds in a battle, you have no chance of winning."

Ethan then put forward his hands and aimed at the target.

"!!!" Every student in that room couldn't properly see what had happened. All they saw was something like a fire hitting the target.

"Did-did that even take a second???"

"I couldn't even see it?"

Some students even rose up from their seats in surprise.

"...How???" Jean standing at the podium was astonished as well. Something completely impossible just happened in front of her.

"Magic has now become stagnant. The tradition of following the rules has made the mages bound by it. Mages are those who break rules to create new ones. Then another mage breaks it and creates a new rule in that place. If you only follow rules like this, you will never improve. Just because it isn't supposed to happen doesn't mean it can not happen. Magic is like flowing water in a river. The moment it becomes stagnant, it dies."

Ethan then looked at Jean still standing near the podium with a surprised face."Jean Usher, do you have your answers?"

"...Yes"

"Jean Usher, you have interrupted my lecture. Do you admit your wrongdoings?"

"Yes"

"I will give you ten penalty points. Return to your seat"

The whole class was quiet. An incredible scene was being played in front of them. The academy's genius and the only daughter of a count family that even the teachers didn't talk informally to was being given penalty points.

The students stared at her in shock as she went back to her seat.