"Still... this is harder than I thought."
Controlling the orb with pure willpower wasn't something that could be done easily.
Just like the student who'd been hit by his own out-of-control orb earlier, if you lost even a little bit of focus, the orb would dart off on its own.
It felt like suddenly having a third arm attached — an unfamiliar and awkward sensation.
The only saving grace was that Ihan didn't have to worry about collapsing from mana exhaustion.
Even after floating the orb and drawing circles in the air continuously, he didn't feel any noticeable drain on his mana.
"..."
Professor Voladi silently stared at Ihan without saying a word.
"Is he staring because I'm not running out of mana?"
Ihan wondered why the professor was watching him so intently.
It wasn't like Ihan was controlling the orb perfectly — even by his own standards, the circles he was drawing were shaky at best — so it couldn't be because he was doing exceptionally well.
Maybe the professor was just surprised that Ihan could keep this up for so long without showing signs of fatigue.
"No... he's probably just staring because there's no one else here."
Ihan realized belatedly that the professor was likely watching him absentmindedly with no deeper meaning.
If he was genuinely curious about Ihan's mana reserves, he would've asked directly.
Well, there was no one else in the classroom, so there weren't many other places for the professor to look.
Whether the professor stared or not, Ihan focused on spinning the orb diligently.
He didn't really know what the point of this was...
"Let's just assume spinning this thing earns me credits."
A magic orb that granted grades just by spinning it around and around.
With that mindset, he could keep doing this forever.
After all, Ihan was already far too used to enduring unreasonable situations under difficult teachers.
"Fascinating..."
Professor Voladi was genuinely intrigued.
It didn't show on his face at all — his expression was as stone-cold as ever — but it had been a long time since he felt this kind of curiosity.
And it was all because of the freshman sitting right in front of him.
Every year, a flood of new students would sign up for Repetitive Drills of Basic Magic Combat — only to disappear like the outgoing tide.
Last year, the number of students who stuck with it?
Zero.
But Professor Voladi didn't care in the slightest.
His contract with Headmaster Osu Gonadalthes simply stipulated that he teach the class every year. Nowhere in the contract did it say he had to attract students.
In fact, even if no one showed up, Voladi would sit in the classroom at the scheduled time, place the orb down, wait in silence, and then leave when the class was over.
Most people wouldn't understand it, but this was Voladi's principle.
Years upon years of repetition piled up like that.
And today, for the first time, an unusual freshman had appeared — breaking that pattern.
A handsome boy with sharp, chiseled features like a finely carved statue.
Just one glance and anyone could tell he was from the Blue Dragon Tower.
Judging by his speech and mannerisms, he was probably from one of the Empire's great noble houses.
And yet...
Without a single complaint, he was quietly and diligently spinning the orb.
Even students from the lowest-ranking Black Tortoise Tower would storm out of this lecture grumbling, "What the hell is this crap?"
But here was a Blue Dragon Tower student calmly focused on spinning the orb.
What's more, even after all this time, he didn't show a hint of exhaustion.
It was clear he possessed a naturally vast mana reserve.
Had Voladi been the type to mingle with other professors — perhaps chatting with the troll professor, Garcia Kim — he might have heard some rough estimate of Ihan's mana reserves.
But Voladi didn't socialize with other faculty.
There was no clause about that in his contract with the headmaster.
Thus, all Voladi could do was guess that Ihan had a lot of mana — but he had no way of knowing just how much.
"I hope he keeps attending."
For the first time in his teaching career, Voladi found himself hoping that a student would stay.
If Ihan kept coming, Voladi might actually, for the first time ever, get to move on to the next part of the lecture.
"I'm telling you, I've found the perfect class."
Ihan spoke with absolute seriousness.
Normally, he wasn't the type to hand out advice like this — but Yonere and Gainando were exceptions.
Yonere might end up becoming his business partner in the future, and Gainando might someday receive a friendship allowance from Ihan's mother.
There was no downside to treating friends from prestigious families well.
"I'm pretty sure no one else is going to sign up for that class. If you take it, an A+ is basically guaranteed."
"Uh... hmm..."
Yonere's face clearly showed her dilemma — How do I reject this offer without offending him?
A class with zero students sounded like something to avoid at all costs, but turning down Ihan when he was recommending it so sincerely... what to do?
"I mean, if you don't want to, that's fine."
Ihan said it casually.
He wasn't going to force them.
He was only recommending it because getting free credits for minimal effort seemed like a great deal.
"Hmm. Tell me more."
In contrast, Gainando seemed intrigued.
"What do you actually do in the class?"
"The professor has this orb artifact. You infuse it with mana and float it."
"Oh. Then what?"
"Then you practice drawing circles with it."
"Okay... and after that?"
"That's it."
"..."
Yonere and Gainando stared at Ihan like he'd lost his mind.
"Uh... are you sure this professor isn't a fraud?"
"Fraud or not, who cares? What matters is that he gives me grades."
Yonere was impressed.
When she first entered the academy, she thought to herself:
"Surely I'm one of the most practical-minded students here."
After all, many Blue Dragon Tower students came from noble families and had a rigid, outdated way of thinking.
Yonere had felt it many times.
But talking to Ihan made her realize just how big the world was.
This boy from the Wardanaz family was operating on a whole different level of practicality.
Even she couldn't keep up!
"Well, if you two don't want to take it, that's fine. Next up is Basic Swordsmanship."
"Wait... you're seriously going to take that too??"
"Wardanaz... I really think you shouldn't..."
No matter how much his friends tried to dissuade him, Ihan didn't budge.
Unless it was a mandatory course, he would only take classes based on his own standards.
That was the rule of this magic academy, Ainrogard.
"Should I stop him for real...?"
Gainando seriously contemplated whether he should run to the headmaster for a counseling session.
Basic Swordsmanship had a lot more students than Repetitive Drills of Basic Magic Combat.
At a glance, there were over ten students gathered in the southern courtyard of the main building, waiting for the professor.
"Huh. This is more crowded than I expected."
Ihan was surprised but quickly understood why.
These students were from the White Tiger Tower of Lightning-Biting Storms.
White Tiger Tower students were from imperial knight families who had come here to learn magic.
Naturally, as descendants of knightly families, they were skilled in swordsmanship and approached this class with a far more serious attitude.
Students from other families might have learned swordsmanship, but none of them came here to study it further — White Tiger Tower students were different.
"Well... that other class was too much of a freebie anyway."
Ihan was slightly disappointed, but after thinking about it, he realized that being first out of one was the exception — this class wasn't bad at all.
Besides, Ihan had been steadily training in swordsmanship himself.
"…Huh?"
"Aren't you from the Azure Dragon Tower?"
Just as Lee Han looked surprised, the students from the White Tiger Tower began murmuring in shock.
They clearly hadn't expected a student from another dormitory to show up here.
"I know who that guy is. He's from the Wardanaz family."
"The Wardanaz family...?! One of the Empire's most famous mage houses?"
"But why would someone like that take this class?"
"Maybe he got a few fencing lessons from a family tutor and decided to show off?"
"There's a limit to how much you can look down on swordsmanship, you know."
Most of the students openly expressed their displeasure.
While there were individual differences, the students of the White Tiger Tower were, at their core, serious practitioners of swordsmanship — proud of their training and dedication.
In contrast, nobles from other families typically learned swordsmanship as little more than self-defense or as part of their cultural education — just enough to look respectable.
It was only natural for them to feel uncomfortable seeing someone attend this class with that kind of casual attitude.
Lee Han, of course, noticed their reactions.
'Like I care.'
And naturally, he didn't care in the slightest.
He wasn't foolish enough to waste his energy getting worked up over petty squabbles between a bunch of teenagers.
"Hey."
As Lee Han ignored them, one of the students finally stepped forward.
He had the well-trained physique of someone from a knightly family.
On top of that, the heavy, powerful build unique to the orc race made him seem even more imposing, his broad frame obvious even beneath the ragged school uniform.
He stepped up in front of Lee Han, glaring down at him.
Lee Han met his gaze without flinching, as if to say, "What do you want me to do about it?"
The orc looked intimidating enough, but Lee Han had far too much experience to be scared of something like that.
"Got something to say?"
"Yeah. You're from the Wardanaz family, and from the Azure Dragon Tower. Right?"
"That's right."
"Then it looks like you came to the wrong place. This is a serious swordsmanship class — not a class for people who just want to wave their swords around looking cool."
"Is that so? Thanks for the heads-up."
"..."
The orc frowned at Lee Han's calm response despite his attempt at a 'friendly warning.'
"You must not understand. Real swordsmanship isn't about the fancy swordplay nobles like you practice. There will be sparring in this class. If you're not careful, you could get seriously hurt. And don't expect the other students here to hold back."
"I see. Well, if I end up sparring with you, I'll be sure to go easy so you don't get hurt. Since you're so worried and all."
"..."
It took the orc a second to fully register Lee Han's words.
When he finally processed it, his face turned a deep shade of red.
At that moment, a light cough echoed across the training ground.
The professor had arrived.
"Alright, everyone. If you could gather around, please?"
The professor's voice was soft and gentle — in stark contrast to his appearance.
He was an elf, a race known for their natural beauty, and yet his presence radiated sheer intimidation.
It wasn't because of his expression — it was the countless scars covering his face and body.
One arm and one leg were replaced with magical prosthetics, and one of his eyes appeared smaller, distorted by an old scar.
"I am Professor Ingeldel. I'll be teaching swordsmanship this semester."
Using a long sword like a cane, the elf continued speaking.
"Since you've chosen to study swordsmanship here in Einroguard, I imagine you've all had some training already — whether to sharpen your skills or to prevent them from getting rusty."
Lee Han flinched slightly at that.
Sure, that wasn't wrong — but truthfully, he was here more because it seemed like an easy way to pick up some credits.
"So I won't be teaching swordsmanship from the very beginning. It will be far better for you to refine what you've already learned."
The students from knightly families listened with sparkling eyes, hanging on the professor's every word.
Magic was still unfamiliar territory for many of them.
For students like that, talk of swordsmanship sounded far more convincing and inspiring.
Tap tap—
"?"
Lee Han turned his head. Someone was tapping his arm.
It was another elf — but this one was the complete opposite of Professor Ingeldel.
The student had short, golden hair barely brushing his neck, and delicate, androgynous features that made him look effortlessly charming.
'Looks like the type who's popular with the ladies.'
"What is it?"
"You're from the Wardanaz family, right? I was just curious why someone like you would want to study swordsmanship."
The student spoke in a light, friendly tone — casual, but not rude.
Unlike the orc from earlier, this one clearly knew how to talk to people.
"Low attendance means easier grades."
"..."
Support us - https://ko-fi.com/pokemon1920