As the wind blew in a pleasant manner, carrying around the flower petals, the boys and girls at the ate of late 10s, with that of enthusiasm and excitement, walked down the wide road. Their eyes were ambitious as they looked ahead at their destination, a huge, castle-like, white-colored building that was known as:
The National Academy of Friggen Kingdom.
It was the largest and the most prestigious academy of Friggen Kingdom. Every year, there were over hundred thousands of applicants, of which only 5% of them were successfully admitted.
The criteria by which the staffs judged the applicants were the following: intelligence, physical aptitude, or magical aptitude. There was no need for the applicants to meet all the criteria, but it was important for them to showcase their extraordinary talent in one of those to be considered competitive.
So why was I saying this?
"Good luck, buddy."
Picking my ear lazily, I waved my hand at my blonde and blue-eyed friend who stood in front of me: Ricardo Nimbus. A fine-looking guy he was, earning the eyes of the other fellows at our age.
"Are you sure about this? Huh? Merlin?"
"Yeah."
"Think twice! Just come with me and give it a shot! It's the best academy in the whole kingdom, you know?"
"Which means it's just as troublesome."
I checked my watch,
"I'm busy enough working anyway. I'll just go to an academy close to my home. Besides, the best academy is bound to be the hardest of them all... yeah, no thanks. I don't feel like working my butt off."
"You...! Ha... whatever."
Sighing, Barnon finally gave up. Scratching his head in frustration, he mumbled,
"Well then, wish me luck."
"I already did."
Waving, I sent him off, watching for a brief moment as he walked down the road just like the other students.
All of them were heading to take an examination; for many, today was definitely the most anxiety-inducing day of all.
For me? Not really. I already got myself admitted into some local academy. All I'm interested in is a proof of education, which is just enough for me to not get looked down upon...
"Meh."
I, now named... ugh, Merlin Wizardo, was currently 17 years old. Now about to begin what could be considered the post secondary education in this world, I aimed to build a stable life where I could be as lazy as I wanted.
So I walked, in a direction opposite of any other. Some guys and girls looked at me strangely, since I was the only one walking against the flow. Ignoring the stares, however, I continued to walk without any particular thought in me.
Then, I stopped in realization. Looking up at the sky, I thought,
'It's already been 17 years since I reincarnated, huh...'
It was a strange feeling.
However, I didn't have the time to immerse myself in this emotion, as I was suddenly bumped powerfully—enough to knock me off to the side.
There was no pain, but there sure was an annoyance. With a frown, I looked up and found a... haughty-looking guy.
Tall, silver-white-haired, red-colored eyes, and based on the luxurious clothes that he wore...
'Is he a noble?'
There was a class system in this kingdom. At the top of the pyramid, there was a king and his royal family. Below, there was the class of Duke, followed by Marquess, Earl, Viscount, and at the lowest, Baron. Below the nobility, there were commoners, though some occupations earned more respect than the others. Finally, there were slaves... yes, slavery was a thing in this kingdom.
"Who are you to block my way?"
The guy in front of me snarled. His eyes flashed in wrath, and I found myself dumbfounded.
"Er..."
It was indeed true that by standing still in the middle of the road, I was, to some extent, serving as an obstacle for others, but still, the road was wide enough, wasn't i?
"My bad. I'll be more careful."
Still, I apologized as I stood back up and dusted myself, wishing to let the feud subside peacefully.
However, this guy seemed to think otherwise.
"Hah! Do you think mere words will suffice as an apology? To me, the oldest son of duke Cannon, Reminicus Cannon the third?!"
"What do you want me to do then?"
"Kneel!"
I had a sudden urge to groan. I had a 'spoiled child' case in front of me.
"O' the great son of duke Cannon, I am far too lacking to comprehend the profoundness of your diction. Please, my lord, define the word "kneel" for me."
"Huh?"
The guy, the self-proclaimed Reminicus Cannon III, raised an eyebrow.
"Like, your knees touching the ground!"
"O' the great son of duke Cannon, I am far too lacking to comprehend the profoundness of your diction. Please, my lord, define the word "ground" for me."
He angrily pointed at the ground,
"That! That is the ground!"
Dropping the sarcasm, I then asked,
"Say that I lift a piece of stone. Can that stone be considered the ground as well? If I grab your hand and move it to the sky, can the sky be considered the ground as well? If I grab a pile of sand and rub on my knees, am I kneeling?"
"Uh..."
Reminicus seemed to be at a loss of words, as if his brain has stopped functioning. He eventually shouted,
"Y-You!! How dare you play with the son of duke?!!"
"Do you see over there?"
I pointed at the entrance of this road. Where I currently stood could be considered the inner area of the academy that was separated from the outside by an outer wall. The entrance was where the outer wall and this long road met.
"Yes! What about it?!"
"We are in a property that is under the academy's ownership. And the academy specifically states that within their ground, all students and future students have the same and equal status, regardless of how high and low they may be outside."
I shrugged.
"That means that I shouldn't need to get myself down and beg to you for forgiveness. I already apologized, no?"
"Y-Y-You lowly son of a bitch...!!"
"Wow, I never expected the son of duke to have a foul mouth—"
A white glove was abruptly slapped to my face.
'...Huh?'
"I request for a duel!!!"
The white glove fell off my face and to the ground. I tried to process what was going on, ignoring the large crowd that gathered around us in such a short period of time.
There were murmurs among students.
'...Huh?'
And I was still trying to process what just happened.
__________
"What the f—"
"Hahahaha, you're a dead meat, commoner!!!"
I found myself standing on a barren ground, surrounded by a huge crowd of people around my age. Facing me was Reminicus Cannon III, the good-looking guy whose entire attitude could be defined by arrogance.
"Alberto!!!"
Reminicus shouted, and another boy who was smaller and had a black hair that covered his eyes hurriedly ran with two swords in his arms.
Reminicus checked the swords in satisfaction before throwing one in front of me.
"If you are a man, grab the sword and face me fair and square!!"
"I refuse."
With that of seriousness, I spoke before turning around with my hands in my pockets and casually walking away—
"Hey, hey, hey!! Let me go, you bastards!!"
—only to have myself brought back by two other boys holding my arms; these two were probably the lackeys of this Reminicus guy.
"Damn it!"
I never wielded a sword in my life! All I did was to workout to maintain a healthy routine, since it's hard to enjoy laziness without a healthy body!
I raised a sword. It was a manageable weight, but that wasn't the point. It was a real sword! Real, sharp sword, enough to slay another mankind!
"Hah, look at your face."
Reminicus grinned dangerously as he raised his sword.
"Regretful? Well, too late! The moment you refused to kneel was the moment you were fucked!!"
He then began to rush at me as if eager to see blood. The crowd gasped. Some yelped in an excitement. I heard the noises all around me, but as Reminicus closed in, I felt the threat. My body recognized the danger. My eyes locked on the sharp blade that my foe held, and I instinctively raised my own,
CLANG!
I was forced to take steps back as the powerful blow slammed against my blade. Without stopping, Reminicus dashed further as if trying not to give me a chance to retaliate. This guy wasn't joking around.
My wrists were already sore from the first clash, and I could already tell that my enemy was well-trained with swordsmanship. A direct clash with swords would result in my quick loss, but the idea of winning wasn't what was important here; the fact that I may get injured was the problem!
'What then?'
If I was unable to use sword to ensure my safety, there was really, only one option left.
Magic.
In this world, there existed a mystical substance named 'mana'. Roaming around everywhere just as how oxygen does, mana was the most pure and basic form of energy that people were able to utilize for many things.
Out of curiosity, I often spent time playing around with this concept of mana. Though I was by no means talented, I wasn't necessarily a helpless fellow either.
As Reminicus's sword was on its way to slash me, I raised my empty left hand, and snapped.
'Light.'
In front of Reminicus, a small burst of light flashed for a brief second, enough to blind him. Using that moment of time, I dropped my sword and dashed forward such that Reminicus's swung sword was behind me. That's right, I now stood between Reminicus's sword-holding hand and his body.
"You—"
I grabbed his sword-holding wrist.
'Light.'
It was the same type of magic, but a different application. A direct flash of light occurred between my hand and Reminicus's wrist. A sudden burst of light gets transmitted to a heat energy. Though not hot enough to be harmful,
"Ah!"
it was hot enough for Reminicus to yelp and let go of his sword. Hurriedly, I kicked the sword far away from him, before I was pushed away strongly.
Huffing and wiping sweats, I looked up to stare at Reminicus who seemed to be in a state of shock. His face, crestfallen, seemed to be in that of a disbelief, as if unable to believe that I was able to de-arm him.
"Uh..."
I voiced in caution,
"Why don't we stop here?"
"SHUT UP!!"
That's when he screamed with a reddened face and ran at me impulsively. Judging by how his fists were tightened, he was aiming to punch me, I assumed.
Then, he tripped, falling face-first.
"...?"
At the same time, the crowd split into two before the adults, supposedly the professors of the academy, made their way.
"Stop! Fight any further and... oh?"
"That boy is... Reminicus Cannon III, the anticipated genius of sword!"
"He's defeated?"
Everyone's eyes were on me at this moment, and I stood, frozen and confused.
'What is going on?'
The situation left my hands.