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An Otherworldly Scholar - 205
🕑 Added 2025-02-22 02:55:54 +0000 UTCYvain slammed against the wooden floor before the incredulous gaze of the cadets.
“First lesson of the Rosebud Fencing Academy: you don’t need the System to be a good sword fighter,” I said, offering Yvain my hand.
Superhuman strength, speed, and endurance started to show around Lv.20, but a Lv.10 could endure a simple throw without much problem. Yvain was a bit disoriented, and his uniform was mangled. He grabbed my hand, and I pulled him back to his feet.
“Are you okay?”
The boy nodded.
I turned toward the cadets sitting by the side of the training arena.
They were as confused as Yvain.
“I want to make this extremely clear. Your fighting prowess doesn’t only come from the System. Your powers are a tool, and it is up to you how to use them,” I said. “Yvain had the level advantage but lost because he let the System control his attacks.”
Leonie’s hand shot up.
“Can we learn to do that without leveling up?”
“I can teach you, but it’s up to you to learn,” I replied, putting a hand on Yvain’s shoulder. “That was a good fight. Go get some rest.”
Yvain walked to the platform's edge, saluted, and sat by the sideline, his pride wounded.
I recovered Yvain’s practice sword and returned it to the swords rack, giving the cadets a moment to discuss the duel. Despite my performance and big speech, I still saw hesitation in their faces. Not only were my promises too good to seem real but they contradicted everything the System was. For System users, progress looked like sudden jumps. Progress was every time they obtained a new level or skill. The ease with which the step was achieved was called potential. Such reality benefited a certain type of person: tenacious, competitive, and driven. There was little room for self-doubt, but the road to improvement was rarely devoid of it.
“I like to use the first day to get to know us better,” I said, clapping my hands to get the cadet's attention. I needed to convince them. “Someone else wants to spar with me? Any girl?”
The cadets looked away, avoiding my glance. Losing face on the first day was the ultimate sentence for a teenager, even in this world.
“I will.”
A girl stood up and walked through the group of cadets. Her blonde, almost silvery hair was tied in a loose braid, adorned by a simple bronze circlet with a nephrite stone embedded in the center like a green star. Long, pointy ears protruded from her hair. Her skin was golden and bronze, shining like she was made of desert sand. Despite her ethereal appearance, scars traced her knuckles up to the sleeve of her black uniform. Her accent was thick as honey.
The girl climbed the platform with a confident step. She moved like a seasoned warrior but couldn’t be older than the rest. The last signs of childhood still lingered on her face.
“Where is your accent from, miss?” I asked.
“Irdun, the Valley of Wind. I’m Aeliana Un-Osgiria. Blade Dancer Lv.9,” she replied. “I apologize if my words and actions are not proper. It’s not been long since I arrived at Ebros. It will be an honor to cross swords with you.”
I wasn’t particularly familiar with the territories outside Ebros, but the Valley of Wind was a massive desertic area south of the Osgiria Dukedom. Ebros, Irdun, Tagabiria, and the western territories used to be part of the same empire hundreds of years ago. It was unclear why the old empire shattered, but Scholars point to several Monster Surges occurring simultaneously across the territory.
Most of House Osgiria’s wealth came from trade with the southern kingdoms.
I signaled Aeliana to the weapons rack.
“Are you relatives with House Osgiria?” I asked.
Aeliana frowned, trying to decode my question.
“I have not taken a warrior-partner, but my warrior-sister married into the Osgirian Clan… House. I and other warrior-brothers are her cohorts,” she picked her words with some difficulty.
Aeliana put three swords under her arm. As she walked to the center of the platform, mana swirled around her hands, forming three sturdy threads connected to her hands and her right foot. Like snakes, the threads curled around the hilt of the swords.
“I won’t forfeit my warrior-arts unless you prove your words,” she said.
The swords floated around Aeliana like scorpion stings.
“When you are ready,” I said.
It took Aeliana a moment to realize that was the sign to start.
She started to dance. Slow at first, she moved her hands and body like the waves of the sea, and the swords answered, turning and shifting. Her movements were precise as if she had practiced them ten thousand times. Aeliana danced like a ballerina.
Suddenly, the mana threads attached to her hands tensed, and the swords snapped at me. [Foresight] yelled in my ear for the danger, but my arms had already raised my sword. I parried the first blade and jumped back to dodge the second. The third sword came from my blind spot and would almost hit my head if not for the golden mana thread pointing its presence.
Malkah’s henchmen cheered.
Aeliana danced. I tried to count her steps, follow her rhythm, and find regularity in her movements, but even with [Foresight]’s help, I couldn’t find a pattern. She was using a skill, that was for sure. I parried her attacks. The System wasn’t controlling her dance, which meant her weakness wasn’t the swordplay itself but the strands of mana.
Aeliana’s attack pushed me back to the edge of the platform. No matter my skill, there was a limit to how fast I could swing my sword. Three simultaneous attackers were above what I could deal with at Lv.1.
I channeled my mana, weaving a bright, strong white strand of magic like I had taught Ilya years ago. I wasn’t just feeding the skill. I was controlling and refining the flow of magic to my will. After all, the shape of mana was what mattered the most.
I countered Aeliana’s attack but didn’t aim at the scorpion’s stinger. The edge of my blade gleamed with a blue aura—a weaker version of my mana blade. I cut the golden mana thread like butter, and Aeliana’s sword flew out of control.
Hidden runes gleamed at the platform's base, and a barrier rose, stopping the sword before it exited the dueling area.
Aeliana’s eyes shot open, but she couldn’t stop her dance in time.
With a swift movement, I cut the remaining threads and rushed her.
The girl reached for her belt, but the sheath of her sword was empty.
I raised my sword and gently touched her sternum.
“You said no skills on your part!” the girl protested, her accent even thicker now that she was angry.
“That wasn’t a skill. That was a passive. You can do that using [Mana Mastery] or [Mana Manipulation],” I explained, summoning my Character Sheet and turning it around for everyone to see.
The cadets leaned forward in awe. Was showing one’s Character Sheet the equivalent of a teacher telling stories of their personal life? The cadets looked very invested in my sheet.
“Isn’t revealing your Personal Sheet a tactical liability?” Leonie asked.
“Well… if any of you want to kill me by the end of the month, I will have failed as a teacher,” I said apologetically.
Only Kili and Malkah’s henchmen laughed at my joke.
Aeliana sighed, her ears dropping.
“I recognize my defeat.”
“Thanks, Aeliana. I enjoyed our match,” I said, sending the girl back to the bench.
There was another cadet who had caught my attention.
“Miss Kili, would you mind coming up to the platform?”
Kili froze. Of all the cadets, she was the one who least resembled what an Imperial Knight was supposed to be. Yvain, Malkah, Leonie, and even Aeliana all carried a certain gravitas, an aura of dignity that was hard to mimic. Kili, on the other hand, looked like a little lost kid. Her uniform wasn’t properly ironed, and her jacket fell too wide over her shoulders. Still, she almost had managed to steal from me under the very noses of the city guards.
“I’m not feeling well today, sir,” she said with a tiny voice.
I raised my eyebrows and used The Glance.
It took me a second to break her.
Kili walked through the cadets, her shoulders dropping to her knees. She faced the weapon’s rack and grabbed a rapier, a parrying dagger, gloves, and mask. A strange choice. Dual wielding required a lot of practice, and Kili didn’t strike me as someone who had undergone formal instruction.
I left my longsword in the rack and copied her loadout.
“Have we met before, Kili?” I asked as we took positions in the middle of the platform.
Kili stuttered.
“I don’t think so, sir.”
“Really? I can swear we met in the market near the eastern gate yesterday, and I have an excellent memory. I guess my face is sort of forgettable after all,” I said, poking fun at her.
Kili panicked.
“Anyway, miss, tell us about yourself.”
“My name is Kili. I’m from Cadria. I’m a Lv.5 Trickster,” she said.
Compared to Aeliana and Yvain’s introduction, Kili’s was on the underwhelming side. However, Trickster was an Advanced Class.
It was rare for a noble to get a martial Advanced Class from the start and even rarer for commoners. Janus and Izabeka had gotten Basic Classes when they turned fifteen, Sentinel and Knight, respectively. Firana was the outlier, but she was true to her essence and didn’t seem to feel any sort of external pressure that could ‘muddy’ the ‘contents of her heart’. I wondered if Kili was anything like Firana.
“Something else you want to add?” I asked.
“Eh… I don’t know. Once I escaped from a pack of wild dogs?”
I let [Foresight] examine her. Despite her apparent resting position, Kili was on guard. Every single muscle in her body was like a spring ready to jump. Her eyes jumped from my hands to my feet, but never my sword or dagger.
Her hair was tangled and voluminous. Through the messy strands, I noticed half of her ear was missing. The cut was clean. Wild dogs had not caused it.
Nobles got better Classes than commoners because the competition against their peers pushed them to their limits. Commoners had other ways of standing out, usually surviving the harshest conditions. I wondered what had happened in Kili’s life for the System to give her the Trickster Class.
Kili intrigued me. Maybe her appearance was deceptive.
“Whenever you are ready,” I said as she put on her mask.
Suddenly, [Foresight] showed me Kili’s phantom moving left. I changed my stance, but Kili attacked for the right. Standing on one foot, I twisted my body to parry her sword. [Foresight] continued showing me nonsensical movements, so I completely shut down the skill. I almost fell into the trap I’ve been warning my students to avoid.
Kili had some sort of scrambling skill.
It took me a moment to regain the tempo of the fight.
Kili fought like Firana: zero form, all instinct. Her movements were chaotic, seemingly sluggish at times, just to show a sudden burst of speed. Her feints left huge openings in her defense, but it was all a ruse. Behind every opening, there was a sharp edge ready to sting.
Our blades crashed in a weak bind. I tried to redirect the attack, but she disengaged, slipping through my guard and striking toward my open flank. I parried with my dagger, my arms crossed in an uncomfortable stance. Kili didn’t fight by the book—no structured guards, measured steps, or chained attacks. She was a storm, advancing, turning, and retreating with each blow. A reckless advance. A sudden retreat. A feint so wild it looked like she had lost control, but she hadn’t.
Still, Kili’s lack of form prevented her from capitalizing on the openings she created. She couldn't tell when the risks outweighed the benefits.
I retreated, waiting for Kili to overstep, and she eventually did. She parried my rapier and aimed at my ribcage with her dagger, but with a swift movement of my wrist, I hit the top of her mask and stepped back. Her dagger cut thin air.
To the external observer, the strike must’ve been seen as childishly easy.
Kili pulled her mask and dropped her shoulders.
“Doesn’t the Trickster Class have many movement and illusion skills? You held back,” I said, recalling the information from the Book of Classes.
Kili shook her head, her brow soaked in sweat.
“I was using all my mana to scramble your detection passives,” she panted.
“Really? I stopped using it after your first attack,” I pointed out.
Kili deflated like an old balloon.
I smiled.
“Good fight, now go take a rest. You are low on mana,” I said as the girl returned to the sideline. “Also, see me after class. We have to talk.”
Kili deflated even further.
The cadets received her with reverence. It was a good sign, as cherishing a failed attempt required a great amount of maturity. I gave them a moment to process the match while I returned the weapons to the racks. They were starting to realize the real extent of the difference in our skills, comparing me with what they already knew and trying to place me among the warriors they had seen in action. I could almost hear their thoughts. If a Duelist, a Blade Dancer, and a Trickster can’t defeat him at Lv.1, he might be as skilled as an Imperial Knight.
“Leonie? Want to give it a try?”
The girl took a deep breath and climbed the platform. After examining the weapons rack for an instant, she picked an arming sword. I followed her lead. While longswords were my specialty, and I was a reasonably good rapier user, I had spent the past two years honing my skills with arming swords and sabers.
“Please introduce yourself to the group,” I said.
Leonie nodded.
“I am Leonie Almedia, daughter of the Imperial Knight Gerar Almedia,” she said, prompting a wave of murmurs. Was Leonie’s father a famous person? “I am a Lv.11 Sorcerer.”
Leonie’s Class caught me by surprise. Not only was she an Advanced Class, but a magical one at it. Magical combatants usually entered the Imperial Library’s Magicians Circle, while martial Classes entered the Imperial Academy. As far as I knew, there were no rules against magical combatants in the Academy.
Fighting against a magical class would be harder.
“Might I ask why you chose the Academy instead of the Library?” I asked.
“I never considered the Library. I want to become a Knight like my father,” Leonie replied, raising her sword.
I got the memo. She had nothing else to say.
“When you are ready,” I said.
Leonie channeled her power, and bright arcs of mana crackled to life around her hands. I got goosebumps, [Foresight] yelling in my ear to run away. Unlike Yvain, Leonie wasn’t holding back. With a hand movement, Leonie unleashed a mana bolt.
I raised my mana barrier just in time. The bolt crashed against the surface, shattering the barrier and exploding into blinding white sparks. I squinted my eyes, letting my mana sense take control. Leonie was preparing a second bolt.
Mana surged uncontrollably through her body.
Adrenaline rushed through my veins.
How could a Lv.11 have so much mana?
I didn’t have enough energy for a second barrier.
I channeled my remaining mana around my blade, shaping it in such a way as to optimize each strand. I rushed her. Leonie’s bolt crackled in her hand. It was a prediction game. I had only one chance to block her attack. She let me come closer, but I didn’t lose my cool. The world slowed, but it had nothing to do with [Foresight].
Leonie’s hand moved.
I pushed my remaining mana into [Foresight]. The skill came back to life for an instant, but it was enough for me to predict the attack's trajectory. I struck the mana bolt mid-air. The spark curtain blinded Leonie just enough for me to surprise her. I grabbed her wrist before she summoned another bolt and pointed my sword to her stomach.
Leonie’s eyes had turned ice blue, but when I blinked, her eyes were of her usual amber color.
Was I seeing things?
My heart raced.
Leonie cast her spells just like I did. She wasn’t just tapping in her mana pool but weaving her mana into compacted white strands. Regular people didn’t use refined mana.
“Where did you learn to do that?” I asked, letting her go.
“Do what?” Leonie replied.
“Your spells. You aren’t just tapping into your mana pool.”
Leonie gave me a baffled expression.
“I felt like this was the correct way to use it. Am I making a mistake?”
I massaged my temples, holding back the desire to use [Identify] on her.
Ilya had an innate ability to control mana, but even she had taken months of practice to refine her mana like Leonie had just done. Ilya had the advantage of weaving mana before she even got her Class. I looked at Leonie, and the girl gave me a puzzled glance.
“No. You are doing great,” I said.
Leonie seemed satisfied with my words.
Sealing my powers to Lv.1 might have been a bad idea after all. I took a deep breath and grabbed small strands of Fountain mana to replenish my reserves. Leonie’s spellcasting was as good as mine, but her swordsmanship was lacking. If she had reacted faster, I wouldn’t have won.
“Well, considering Leonie failed her assassination attempt, who’s next?” I asked.
The cadets laughed.
A deep blush spread across Leonie’s face.
“What if we continue with you, Sir Laugh-a-lot,” I said, pointing at a boy with a big smile and messy curly hair.
The smile on his face disappeared.
My [Teacher’s Sense] told me he would disturb the peace of the classroom.
“What’s your name, mister?” I asked.
“Fenwick, I’m a Lv.7 Beastmaster,” he said, walking to the teacher’s desk instead of the platform. “I will be up there in a moment. I just need to lose some weight.”
Fenwick emptied his pockets on the teacher’s desk. He had two hamsters, a mouse, a squirrel, and a toad. I thanked the System he didn’t pull his petting zoo sooner because everyone lost focus on the activity and focused on the animals. Fenwick just smiled.
I wondered if pets were allowed in the cadet’s barracks.
Talindra was as surprised as the rest of the kids but didn’t say anything.
Fenwick climbed the platform and grabbed a spear. However, bells echoed through the Academy before I could pick up my weapon—saved by the bell. My inner clock told me it was midday. Lunchtime.
Fenwick raised his fists in victory.
I clapped my hands.
“We will continue with the introductions after lunch,” I said as the kids stood and walked to the exit. “Feel free to discuss how to defeat me. If you do, I will tell you the three things you need to become the greatest warrior.”
Comments
Trevayne
Thanks for the chapter. Looking forward to seeing more of the students. In about six months I can see everybody who tried to get out of this class cursing their stupidity.
Ben Bass
TYFTC! I love seeing the differences in each student and how Rob is coming up with ways to help them grow down their individual path already!
David Ellis
Cinderella: Lv 15 Beastmaster?
dumbo3k
Interesting, finding another student that intuitively weaves their mana. I think she's going to be one of Rob's top students.
Patrick
I enjoyed this chapter a lot.
