It was my first day at the academy, and I was excited. Before coming to this world, I had attended school, so I was used to the idea—but I had never really had a close friend. This time, though, I had Sebastian. At least, I believed I did.
The academy was divided into two main departments: Magic and Knight Training. Our schedules and classrooms were different, though we did have some shared subjects. Today, we were headed to the training grounds for swordsmanship class.
As we arrived, a loud, commanding voice echoed across the field.
"I am Professor Alex Tlon. For your first lesson, you will only be using horizontal and vertical cuts."
The professor was a tall, muscular man with a completely bald head. In the novel I had read, there wasn't much information about him—only the basics were given.
While I was walking toward the rack to pick up a training sword, I overheard a few noble students complaining.
"I came to this academy to master swordsmanship and make connections," one of them muttered arrogantly. "But the professor wants us to practice basic movements? What a waste of time."
The professor clearly heard them. He turned around, his tone sharp.
"If you're that talented," he said, "then go ahead and cut off the arm of the training dummy behind you with a vertical slash. If you manage it, you may leave class early and earn ten points."
Those points were valuable. They could be used to rent private training facilities or access high-level books in the library.
A student named Reon stepped forward confidently. "I'll do it, Professor," he said and began walking toward the rack to grab a real sword.
But the professor stopped him. "No. You'll be using the wooden sword in your hand."
Reon frowned. "Professor, how do you expect me to cut with a wooden sword?"
The professor scanned the class. "If anyone here believes they can do it with a wooden sword, raise your hand."
Tempe and I raised our hands.
"Professor," I asked, "if we succeed, will we get the same reward?"
He smirked. "Of course. Two of you—two rewards."
Grinning, I stepped forward and faced the training dummy. This will be easy, I thought. I've done this exact training with Adis before.
Taking a deep breath, I raised my wooden sword and brought it down with a clean vertical slash.
The dummy split in half.
The entire class fell silent, staring at me with wide eyes. I calmly returned the sword to its rack and walked over to the professor.
"I'll be heading out, then."
The professor smiled. "It's been a long time since I've seen talent like that. You may go. I've already loaded the points onto your card."
He handed me a small card. "Normally, I would give these out at the end of class, but you might want to use the points right away. Consider this your student ID—your points are stored inside."
Taking the card, I left the training grounds and returned to the dorm room I shared with Sebastian. I sat on my bed and opened the sword style book Adis had given me.
A while later, Sebastian walked in and gave me a strange look.
"You're reading a book while we're still stuck practicing the basics?"
I smiled at him. "The professor told me I could leave, so I did."
He shrugged. "Alright, want to grab lunch?"
"Sure," I said, standing up and grabbing his arm. "But not there."
"Huh? Where are we going?" he asked.
"To lunch," I replied. "But I've got ten points. Let's eat in the VIP section today. They're offering discounts for the first day."
He grinned. "Fine by me. You're paying."
As we entered the VIP dining hall, all eyes turned toward us. We were the only first-years there. We took our seats and placed our orders.
Not long after, an upperclassman approached us.
"First-years earning points on day one? How?"
I smiled. "The professor gave us a test. I passed it and earned the points."
"I'm Roman," he said. "Impressive. You must be quite talented. Enjoy your meal."
"Thank you, senior," I replied respectfully.
After eating, we headed out toward the classroom building for our shared class. As we walked, I turned to Sebastian.
"We may have made a huge mistake," I said.