Chapter 2 • Calm Before The Storm

"Oh hey! Uh. Who were you again?"

All of a sudden, a random dude from my class walked up to me and asked what my name was.

"It's Delaerin Svar."

"Alright, Delaerin. Wanna get some snacks at the cafeteria with the others before heading back to class?"

"Nah, I'm good."

"Alright. See you in class!"

The guy said, waving at me whilst running back to the group of classmates heading to the cafeteria.

Honestly, I wanted to criticise him for not remembering my name. However, I would be a hypocrite since I myself didn't even know where he was seated.

There was thirty people in my class but I didn't really have an interest in socialising with people that some would inevitably leave the academy.

This was the most prestigious academy in the entire continent after all. Fyelanon.

Due to the long exhausting war spanning decades in the Hanteroh Peninsula, the Imperium realised that there was a shortage of people with great talents that would be of great help in the war.

The aristocratic society may be large with a number of people that had inherited the abilities and skills of their houses but even then, the aristocracy does not have as much people as the numerous commoners of the Imperium.

Fyelanon was notorious for having the most costly and pricey admission fee for even the aristocracy. It would've costed a baron to put down half of their fortune for the admission fee alone. Let alone some random rural commoner family in the middle of nowhere.

So, the institution of Fyelanon, alongside the cooperation of the Imperium, kick-started quite bizarre but welcoming change to the entrance fee of the academy.

They dropped the price of admission fee down by an enormous margin for students that had yet to become fifteen years of age. It was to the point that finally, regular people could actually begin to afford the admission fee of the academy. That way, more people with great talents would be realised.

There was also the matter of tuition fees but long story short, it basically got the same treatment of the admissions fee.

Obviously, there was a catch to this. By the end of the year, the students that were admitted into the academy through the lower priced fees would have to pass in a sequence of special tests completely separate to what other students would face.

I didn't know anything about this tests so I just had to experience it first to know.

However, why go through the effort of letting an abundant of commoners into the academy which would inevitably cost the academy a fortune to maintain? Something just doesn't add up.

Still, people could choose the normal way of entering the academy by using all of their life savings on the standard costly prices without going through these tests.

***

"So. What did we learn today? If anyone here has any questions, feel free to ask and I will try my best to answer your questions."

The professor said in the most professional and mature way. However, I could tell that he never wanted to become a professor in the first place based on what he was doing.

He was basically talking in his sleep through the whole lecture. His body was moving autonomously writing on the chalkboard and using sound magic to talk.

No, the professor probably wasn't even talking in his sleep. He likely created a whole god damn spell to fully automate his body into doing lectures without any effort and simply sleep through it.

How would I know? Every professor that has entered this class, which is especially full of commoners, has the same exact professional behaviour as if they use the same spell on themselves.

Most professors in this academy were of aristocratic blood after all. Perhaps they absolutely despised the sight of commoners and chose to the alternative option of ignoring and sleeping through the lecture.

"The War Hero, Fyelanon!"

"That's right!"

"Sigh..."

I sighed in regret.

What's worst was that my classmates didn't even realise that their professor, in reality, isn't doing anything.

Though, I couldn't really criticise his lecture itself since it made the janky and complex history of that hero really simple and clear for even an idiot to understand.

"All you people have to know about the war hero is that Fyelanon is the founder of the very academy you're standing on right now.

"Be thankful that he was the sole major defender of the capital against the demon onslaught during the Fourth Arrival Era because, if it weren't for him, you'd all be demi-human slaves."

"Class dismissed."

The professor said, instantly vanishing out of nowhere.

I kept forgetting that the professor was a mage capable of teleportation. It took me by surprise every time the professor teleported.

I lifted up my stack of books and was about to head back to the dormitory when the guy I met earlier came back for round two.

"Hey, Delaerin! That sure was a long lecture, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, but who are you? Never really bothered to learn about your name."

"Aha! The name's Alaric. Ain't you a forgetful one?"

Even the way he speaks was a whole another level of annoyingness.

How on earth was this guy talking in a way that could make everyone within a 1 thousand mile radius cringe?

"I see."

I simply said, just giving him the thumbs up and pretending to have never seen him before.

Instead of escalating this situation into something that could lead me to waste so much of my precious time dedicated to rest, I figured the best course of action would be to just get the hell out there as fast as possible.

"Hey! Where are you going? The gate is in that direction, not here!"

"Oh wait! Perhaps you're staying in a dormitory, just like me! Let's head there together!"

Alaric tossed his arm over my shoulder as if we were already close friends.

Of course, I had failed to consider whether or not this dude was persistent as hell.

Maybe I'll just try to politely ask for this idiot politely go away.

"Hey Alaric..."

"Hmm? What is it?"

Is it me or is that guy's ear growing as if awaiting for my response?

"Please, do me a favour. I'll say it blatantly."

"Yeah?"

The moment I uttered the mere word of a favour, Alaric's eyes seemed to immediately sparkle.

Maybe sparkling in the thought of making someone indebted to him and demanding unreasonable paybacks.

I didn't really know. There was a feeling that this Alaric guy was of aristocratic origin.

"Leave me alone."

I tried to say it in the most serious tone possible. So serious that it would match or even overtake the tone of doctors about to announce the death of a family's loved one.

"Hmm."

Alaric was slightly frowning as he folded his arms, perhaps in a deep sense of thought.

At least what I thought it would be. I was just standing there, watching the spectacle.

Alaric could be thinking of reasons why I needed to be left alone. If he had truly thought that, he ideally would have realised that I should just be left alone regardless of the disclosure of my reasons.

-Wooosh!

Suddenly for no reason at all, an outburst of wind was blowing from Alaric.

He was showing a expression of pure maturity and seriousness which indirectly screamed that he had chosen his final decision.

Alaric heavily breathed in and out as if preparing for what he was about to say.

"Nuh uh."

What?

That was his final response to my overly serious request? All that dramatic shit for one crappy conclusion?

I was speechless. I really wanted to crack open his head and dissect his brain due to how unbelievable his response was.

I was the one to be blamed though. Yet again, I didn't consider the already confirmed fact of Alaric being an idiot.

There was a saying to this after all. "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."

"Come on. I just want to go back to my dorm and become a lifeless corpse. Can't you just mind your own business? Hah..."

I sighed.

I was tired of being nice. Thus, I didn't bother sugarcoating my words anymore.

However, I could already tell that this man here isn't going to do as I say. Just his simple expression of raising an eyebrow already told me what his intention was.

"...!!"

Then, I realised what I just said.

What I said could've been interpreted as an attempt to remove my life force from this plain of existence.

I immediately realised this due to the fact I had told him to leave me alone in the most unnecessarily serious tone. With the addition of my "joke" earlier.

In my defense, it wasn't a joke but rather an expression of immediately falling to sleep upon touching the surface of the bed within less of a second.

Could it be that all the thinking that Alaric was doing was about this particular situation? If so, I couldn't really call him an idiot anymore.

"Forget what I said earlier. Look, I'm not gonna kill myself so just mind your own business. Alright?"

When I said that, Alaric gave me the same treatment and raised his eyebrow again. Basically telling me that he didn't believe me.

"If you don't believe me, let's just say fuck it and have a sleepover at my dorm. That way, you can watch over me so that I don't, you know."

I, kind of, respect him though. He's not an idiot-

Alaric raised his eyebrow again. I supposed that he might be thinking of something else that would happen in a sleepover.

Then again, it could just be that he's an idiot.

"Okay... See you next week!"

I walked away as fast as stealthily possible. When I got enough distance away from him, I looked behind for the last time and bro was still raising his brows in the same position like a statue.

I wouldn't be surprised if someone gave him some cents for his immaculate acting of a still statue.

Besides, I didn't know where his dorm was in the first place. The same could be said with Alaric as well.

Fyelanon was absolutely gigantic. It could house tens to hundreds of thousands of students all at once.

It was basically like a large city state within a city which so happened to be the capital of the entire imperium.

Inevitably, there would be students that would be staying in the academy for various reasons.

Due to the numerous amount of students, there would logically be a lot of dorms. Trying to find his dorm was akin to trying to find a needle in a haystack.

There was no plausible way that I would even encounter that guy. Not in a million times.

***

"...I think I jinxed it."

Speak of the devil.

Yet again, I didn't consider whether or not encountering him was possible or not. It wasn't plausible but it sure was possible. The chances of encounter was low but never zero.

Basically, I met up with this dumbass again.

"Hey."

Alaric said, right beside me in an awfully close distance. Laughably, he was trying his hardest to put his eyebrow back in it's original place since the eyebrow kept being raised without his command.

When I meant his hardest, he was using the entirety of his combined physical and mental strength into his hands to forcefully put the disloyal eyebrow back in place.

"Ugh.. Done."

Alaric immediately gave me the thumbs up after succeeding in putting back in place. I would've commended his achievement by responding with another thumbs up if it weren't for the amount of sweat he produced during his struggle.

His sweat could've filled up an empty lake with the amount he produced.

No, even restoring the lost legendary sea of Aquanix. A mythical sea in mythology that harboured the powerful water bird, the Aquanix. Basically a phoenix but water.

"You look dreadful."

"Tis' but a stratch."

This idiot.

That phrase doesn't even fit with the current situation.

Anyways, coincidentally, his dorm... was right beside my dorm. Not a few dorms apart but right beside it.

"Let's at least get some rest, alright? You like rest?"

Alaric nodded while smiling without any reason at all. This would've been a red flag for some people but I knew this guy was just doing it for sake of doing it.

"Yeah? Then let's not bother eachother and go sleep on the ridiculously comfortable beds provided by this generous academy."

I took out my keys and opened the door into my dorm. Of course, there wasn't a random pitch black void that greeted me which was fantastic.

-Thud.

I closed the door, put my bag on the floor and immediately jumped into bed. It didn't matter that I was still wearing my outfit into bed since there wouldn't even be a difference to how comfortable the bed was.

I laid in bed. Speaking of the void, when was that chaotic event going to happen? I didn't have any interest in it since I dismissed it as something that would never happen.

However, the academy was just a bit too boring. Of course, there was amazing lessons and lectures about magic and swordsmanship but once you get used to it, things were just boring and repetitive. The lessons of magic and swordsmanship taught one thing and that specific thing only.

Supposedly, people who enter the academy through the lower priced fees would have to deal things themselves. As in, actually learning things that the lectures wasn't going to teach.

It was to be expected though. The lower priced fees are meant for students that are yet to actually attend the real academy.

In dungeon terms, it would, sort of, be like a tutorial stage before actually going to the real dungeon.

Then, wouldn't the tests be the boss stage of the dungeon?

I supposed that would be the equivalent but I had other matters to focus on. Sleep.

Thus, I immediately slept into bed.

Without even changing clothes.