Chapter 37 - First Assignment (1)

The day after the entrance ceremony ended.

The new first semester of the academy officially began. Acel woke up early in the morning, washed up, changed clothes, and then checked the schedule that Lacey had brought last night. It was a schedule with combat department and magic department classes evenly distributed. Since he hadn't applied for elective courses yet, there were quite long breaks in between.

With this much free time, I should be able to do research in between.

He wasn't sure how it would be once elective courses were added to the schedule, but for now, there was plenty of free time. While creating magic might be difficult, it seemed possible to investigate enchantment formulas or disassemble magic tools.

Both were nearing completion. Engraving formulas on jewels was already at a stage where some progress had been made. Now all that was left was to start proper crafting and infuse magical power into the formulas. Thanks to this being much easier than other research, he could finish it relatively quickly.

Disassembling magic tools was similar. However, this wasn't as easy.

The formula contained in the magic tool was a kind of defensive magic that automatically reflected attacks the wearer didn't perceive. Although it was the type of magic Acel wanted, it was difficult to directly test its effect because of this.

The condition of "attacks not perceived" was the problem. It wasn’t about attacks invisible to sight. Discovering and reflecting external attacks that didn't enter the realm of perception was impossible for Acel alone, and even with others' help.

So while he had dissected the formula, he couldn't try using the magic. He could change the activation conditions, but that would deviate from the purpose and be meaningless.

It was fortunate that he had at least grasped all of the formula.

I don't know what the first assignment will be, but I hope the magic tool activates then if possible.

Acel thought as he got up.

It was getting close to the time for classes to start. Today, being the first day of classes, there probably wouldn't be anything formal, but there was an explanation session for the magic department curriculum. He had to attend before it was too late.

He put on the coat he had taken off and left his dormitory room. Then he moved his steps towards the auditorium where the magic department explanation session was taking place. Fortunately, the distance wasn't too far, so he could arrive before long. He opened the door of the auditorium and rolled his eyes looking for a suitable empty seat.

"Oh, Acel!"

At that moment, Elena, who was sitting in the back row, spotted him and shouted. Acel looked at her smiling brightly and smiled back.

"You came early," He said as he sat down next to Elena.

Elena nodded with a chuckle.

"I had nothing to do, so I just came first. Ellen and Grace left first, and it felt a bit awkward to be alone."

"You should have waited for me."

"I thought about it, but I didn't want to wake you up unnecessarily. So I came first," Elena said while cutely twisting her body. 

Acel smiled gently at this sight.

He had thought this at their first meeting too, but she was really a bright child. A girl full of laughter who liked people. Just talking with her made his complicated feelings ease a little. Although her excessive clinginess was a flaw, even that didn't seem bad if one thought of it as part of her charm.

She doesn't cling to other people much, but she's especially like this with me and Ellen.

He wasn't sure of the reason. Perhaps she simply thought of them as her closest friends. They had taken the entrance exam together, and now there was no awkwardness between them. Acel also considered Elena quite close.

There was no reason to dislike or avoid her, so it was natural. He lightly patted Elena's head and leaned back against the backrest. Then Elena made a playful expression and poked various parts of Acel's body with her finger. But her fingers couldn't pass through Acel's shield and stopped in mid-air.

"Hup!"

Even when she applied force, the shield still didn't budge. Elena's cheeks puffed up.

"That's unfair! Take this down!"

"I don't want to."

"Eek...!"

Elena made a strange sound as if frustrated and kept poking her finger towards Acel's side. Acel left her alone and turned his head towards a familiar presence approaching.

He saw Celine standing with an indifferent expression in his view.

"Hello."

"...Why are you sitting in the back? I was in front, why didn't you come to the side?"

"I didn't see you. When did you come?"

Celine answered as she sat down next to Acel, “A while ago. I thought you'd come nearby if I waited. But here you two are being lovey-dovey. Are you dating?" She asked this without any particular emotion. 

Acel smiled bitterly, recognizing it as a joke, but Elena didn't. She blushed furiously and hastily dropped the hand that had been poking Acel. It was an unexpectedly intense reaction. Both Celine and Acel's faces turned towards her at the same time.

Elena rolled her eyes in confusion as she received their gazes. Then she moved her lips.

"I-I think that kind of thing should be done after getting to know each other better..."

"..."

"Of course, I don't mean I dislike Acel! B-but we're just friends for now..."

"For now?"

Celine grinned as she picked up on Elena's slip of the tongue.

"Then later?"

"...Stop it!"

Elena couldn't hold back and shouted loudly. Celine chuckled and shook her head side to side.

"Sorry, sorry. It was a joke. But if you react like you dislike it so much, won't Acel get hurt? Right, Acel?" Celine asked while poking Acel's side. 

Acel decided to willingly go along with her rhythm, "I am a little hurt. Do you dislike me that much? Then I'll move seats."

"N-no! Don't go. I don't dislike you..." Elena said in a whimpering voice as she hurriedly pressed down on Acel's thigh.

Her eyes became moist, and tears slightly welled up in the corners of her eyes. 

Acel, who hadn't expected her to cry, soothed her with a flustered expression, "I-it's a joke, Elena. I had no such intention at all. I'm not hurt either."

"...Sniff, really?"

"Really."

"...I'll believe you," Elena muttered as she buried her head in Acel's shoulder. 

Judging by her not shaking, it seemed she wasn't shedding tears. Acel let out a deep sigh of relief and patted Elena's shoulder. As he did so, he glanced at Celine.

She immediately lowered her gaze.

"I'm sorry."

"Bad beach!" Elena mumbled with a completely slurred pronunciation. 

Celine caught the meaning of what she said and chewed her lips.

Bad bitch?

"Quiet."

At that moment, a man climbed onto the stage of the auditorium. The noisy atmosphere instantly subsided, and the gazes of the seated students fixed on the man. Acel looked at him and narrowed his eyes.

Roughly 7th rank upper level.

Not quite at the threshold of 8th rank. But he was clearly counted among the strong even within the 7th rank.

Just because the rank was the same didn't mean mages were at the same level. To begin with, rank itself was just a concept created to divide mages' levels more intuitively. It couldn't be an absolute indicator. If one looked, there were quite a few cases where lower-ranked mages won in duels against higher-ranked mages.

Though that man probably can't beat an archmage.

Still, he had clearly reached a similar level. If an archmage were careless, it might not be entirely impossible to take their life.

The magic he's learned is... wind-based?

Wind mages' magical power had the characteristic of flowing faster and more refreshingly than others. That man was like that.

It was Acel's first time seeing a high-level wind mage, too. He stared with interest at the magical power floating around the man.

"Nice to meet you. I am Firenze Killian, professor in charge of wind magic and magical combat studies. I also belong to the Airos Magic Tower."

"...Airos Magic Tower?"

"Isn't that the magic tower that handles wind magic? I heard they turn a blind eye to their mages wandering, is that why he's also working as a professor?"

The students whispered. But when Firenze opened his mouth again, it became quiet as if by magic. The words of a high-level mage carried such weight.

"There are surely some among the new students here who belong somewhere. Or you might be children of noble families. But your status in the academy is all the same as students. Keep in mind that any attempt to oppress others based on affiliation or status will immediately lead to suspension or expulsion. There will be no leniency."

"..."

"Well, that's enough for warnings. Let's start the explanation session right away," Firenze said and then asked a question to a student sitting in the front row. "You. What do you think magic is?"

The student answered without hesitation in a confident voice, "Magic is a miracle that can directly cause various mysteries existing in the world, and a study that explores the secrets of the world."

It was truly an exemplary answer. If one read books about magic, almost all books would explain magic like that. But Firenze's expression wasn't very good.

"Wrong."

"...Pardon? What do you mean…?"

"I said it's wrong. If magic is a study as you say, why are you in the combat department? Shouldn't you just sit like a bookworm and study endlessly?"

The student was at a loss for words. Firenze didn't even pay attention to him and spoke looking at everyone in the auditorium.

"As that guy said, magic is a miracle. But this isn't a study. It's a miracle of killing designed to protect myself and kill others on the battlefield. That's how the first magic was born. It's a power created by stealing the power of devils and reversing it to kill them."

"..."

"That's why we classify magic under the combat department. We won't do such stupid education where you just sit and read books to learn magic. We will teach you by directly using magic, dueling, gaining experience, and making sure you can do your part even if thrown onto a battlefield. Those who don't like this should submit withdrawal forms within a week."

Firenze stared straight at the students who were frowning.

"I'll state my personal view. I despise those who strut around calling themselves mages just because they can handle a bit of magical power. I also despise those who can use magic but tremble in fear when it comes to actual combat. And I have no intention of producing those I despise in any form other than 'graduation'. I don't know about other professors, but at least that's what I think."

"..."

"If you've entered the Academy, it means you've basically reached the 4th rank. But it takes an average of 6 years to go from 4th rank to 5th rank. 5th to 6th rank takes 8 years, and 7th rank takes 15 years. I plan to drastically shorten this period through classes. My goal is to produce strong mages by doing so. The headmistress also looks favorably on this goal of mine, so she personally gave us the first assignment."

First assignment. Acel's face wrinkled at those words. He never imagined that phrase would pop up on the very first day of school.

"The first assignment starts in two days and continues for a total of 2 weeks. It's a group assignment and you'll be doing it together with non-combat department students."

"Wait a moment, together?"

A student sitting in the front row questioned. Firenze nodded.

"The participating students are from the Magical Engineering Department and Alchemy Department. These two. Each group consists of 4 members, and except for one non-combat department member, the affiliation of the members is all random. In simple terms, it means everyone except you could be from non-combat departments."

"Isn't that too unfair?"

"Why is it unfair? I didn't say a word about the assignment being combat."

The student's mouth closed. Firenze pushed up his glasses with his index finger and continued speaking.

"Group members are randomly assigned. You'll draw papers and follow the numbers that come out to determine your group, and if there's a gold circle on the paper you draw, it means you're the group leader, so keep that in mind."

"..."

"Now I'll explain the assignment. The assignment starts with solving requests that have been reviewed by external guilds and deemed safe for the academy to handle. These requests range widely from simple herb gathering to monster hunting and investigating strange phenomena."

"..."

"You will choose and solve such requests, and then use the money, items, etc. that you can obtain as rewards to create items related to the non-combat department student's major. If your group has an Alchemy Department student, you should make potions, and if you have a Magical Engineering Department student, you should make magical engineering machines."

The students' faces changed subtly. But Firenze didn't care and had an assistant professor bring a box for drawing group members.

"Grading will be based mainly on the completeness of the created items. As this assignment is reflected in your first semester grades, I hope you won't do it carelessly. And buying items for the assignment is only possible with money received from solving requests."

"..."

"What you can buy with your own money are only things necessary for solving requests. I plan to ask for submission of receipts later, so make sure to record the items purchased and the amount spent whenever you buy something. If it's discovered that you bought tools needed for item creation with your own money, you'll be immediately disqualified. Any questions up to here?"

"...Is this really an assignment given by the headmistress? It seems like it's rigged."

"Be quiet. You call that a question?"

Firenze rebuked the student who asked the question, and when no more additional questions came, he called students to draw papers from the box. Acel quietly waited for his turn while folding his arms. As he turned his gaze, he saw Elena and Celine rubbing their hands together.

"Please let me be in the same group as Acel..."

"Please don't let my request overlap with this crazy guy..."

There's no sane person here.

Acel thought this and chuckled. Not long after, Elena was called. She drew a paper from the box with a solemn expression and checked the number.

[13●]

It meant she was the leader of group 13. She nodded with satisfaction and returned to her seat. Then she immediately started rubbing her hands again.

"Please let Acel come to group 13...!"

Acel laughed at her earnestness. At that moment, Firenze called his name. Acel patted Elena's shoulder and then stood up.

"Draw."

Firenze said as he held out the box when Acel approached. Acel drew a paper from the box without hesitation and checked it.

[2]

It was group 2. He immediately showed the paper he checked to Elena. Elena's eyes widened and her mouth drooped at the number that differed from hers from the first digit. Celine, who came back after drawing her group right after Acel, showed a similar expression.

"What group are you?"

"...Group 11."

"That's quite far," Acel said while chuckling. 

Celine lightly hit his back with her fist like a cotton bat. Firenze looked at this scene, then caused a wave of magical power to silence everyone and spoke.

"Then I'll end the explanation session. There are no more classes today so act as you please, and attend regular classes normally tomorrow. After that, from the day the assignment starts, all schedules will be focused on solving the assignment instead of academy classes for two weeks, so you only need to pay attention to that. That's all."

As soon as Firenze finished speaking, he instantly disappeared riding the wind. Along with him, a disorderly atmosphere formed in the auditorium. Acel looked at the students who started complaining noisily as soon as the professor disappeared, then looked down at the paper in his hand.

A black arrow had appeared on the paper that had nothing written on it except the number. Since Elena, who drew the leader, didn't have one, it seemed to be an arrow indicating the leader's location. It seemed the group drawing had ended in other departments too.

Acel quietly thought while staring at where the arrow was pointing.

Should I go take a look at their faces?