Chapter 15
Its not easy.
Controlling the marble with his will took a considerable amount of effort.
If he didnt pay attention, the marble would fly off, just as it did with the previous student who got struck in the stomach. It was a foreign feeling as if hed grown a third arm.
Fortunately for Yi-han, he didnt have to worry about running out of mana, and he was fine even as he continued to revolve the marble in a circle.
Professor Bolady simply stared at him as he did so.
Is it because Im not running out of mana?
Yi-han was curious as to why he was being stared at. Even from his point of view, his circles looked sloppy, so it likely wasnt because he was drawing them quickly or well.
Instead, the professor was probably curious as to why he wasnt getting tired at all this time.
Oh, never mind. Its because Im the only one in the classroom.
He soon realized that the professor was staring at him blankly.
If he found Yi-hans mana capacity fascinating, he wouldve simply asked about it. Hence, the only explanation was that there was nothing else to look at inside the room!
Yi-han decided not to be bothered by the professors stare and continued to focus on moving the marble.
Having said that, he still couldnt understand the point of this exercise
Whatever, Ill get my grades as long as I keep moving it around.
A magical marble that would grant him his desired grade simply by rolling it around. When he thought of it that way, he felt the motivation to continue.
Yi-han was extremely used to following ridiculous instructions from professors.
***
Interesting.
Though he wasnt letting it show on his face, Professor Bolady found this entire situation fascinating, an emotion he hadnt felt for a long time.
And it was all because of the student in front of him.
Every year, students would come in droves to , only to leave like water during a low tide. Hence, he had zero students to teach last year.
However, Professor Bolady didnt care in the least.
His contract with Principal Os Gonadaltes stated that he had to teach every year. Nowhere did it state that he had to have a certain number of students.
True to his words, Professor Bolady always sat at the front of the classroom with his marbles when it came time for his class, only standing up to leave when the class time was over. He did this even when the classroom was empty.
Nobody understood why he even bothered, but he always abided by this rule. This had been the case for the longest time, but this routine had been broken by a freshman that joined the class today.
He was a handsome young man with masculine features reminiscent of sculptures, and one look was all it took to know that he was a student from the Blue Dragons.
From the way he spoke and carried himself, he was probably a descendant of some powerful family in the Empire.
And yet he continued to move the marble in circles without uttering a word of complaint
Even the students of the Black Tortoise that had the lowest status would leave the class saying Who the fuck has time for this?, so it was a weird thing to see someone from the Blue Dragons behaving so well and focusing on his task.
Furthermore, the student didnt seem tired at all as he continued to move the marble, which told the professor that he was born with a lot of mana.
If Bolady had been at all close with the other professors, he wouldve known through a conversation with Professor Troll that Yi-han was blessed with abundant mana.
However, he didnt see the need to be friendly with his colleagues. After all, that wasnt part of his contract with the principal.
Hence, he only knew that Yi-han had more mana than his peers. As to exactly how much more, he was still in the dark.
I hope he stays.
For the first time, Professor Bolady wished for a student to continue taking his class. If he did, he could also move on to the next content, which would also be a first.
***
Im telling you, its a great class!
Yi-han couldnt be more serious as he said so.
Normally, hed never be so kind to others, but he was willing to make an exception for Yonaire and Gainando.
Yonaire could become his colleague later on, whereas Gainando had a rich mother that might give him friendship fees in the future.
It was never a bad idea to be close to someone from a rich family.
I dont think anyone else is planning on joining. In other words, youre guaranteed to get an A+ just by sitting in the classroom.
On the other hand, children of nobility often learned swordsmanship as a way of protecting themselves, meaning they only ever bothered to graze the surface.
The White Tigers assumed Yi-han wasnt taking the class seriously, hence their reaction.
Yi-han wasnt oblivious to their stares either.
As if I care what they think.
These teens were trying to pressure him into folding, but he wasnt silly enough to play along.
Hey.
Eventually, one of the students was fed up with Yi-hans silence and called him out.
As expected of someone from a knights family, the student that stepped forward was well-built. He was also an orc, and his bulging muscles could easily be seen through the rags that had been given to them as uniforms.
The orc approached Yi-han and stared him in the eyes, a gesture Yi-han gladly returned.
As intimidating as the orc may seem, Yi-han wasnt a greenhorn that was easily scared.
Got something to say?
Yes. Youre Wardanaz from the Blue Dragons, correct?
And what if I am?
I think youve come to the wrong class. Were here to train in the swords. Were not here to flail about for appearances sake.
I see. Thanks for the notice.
Seeing Yi-han ignore his kind words, the orc frowned.
It seems you still dont understand correctly. The swordsmanship we learn here is completely different from the random swinging that you nobles do at your estates. Well be having spars here, and theres a real chance of being seriously injured. The students here dont go easy on their opponents.
Yeah, I know. Dont worry about it. Ill take care not to injure you too badly when the time comes.
It took the orc a moment to realize what Yi-han was implying, and when he did, his face became red in anger.
It was then that someone gave a light cough. The professor had arrived.
Now, is everyone ready for class?
The professors voice was soft, but his appearance betrayed their expectations.
Elves were naturally gifted with beauty, but the students felt nothing but pressure seeing the professors body that was filled with scars all the way from his face down.
He had a prosthetic leg and arm, not to mention a scar over one of his eyes which led to the mismatched size of pupils.
Im Professor Ingurdel, and Ill be responsible for teaching you students swordsmanship during this semester.
The elven professor introduced himself while using his long sword as a cane.
Since youre willing to take swordsmanship class in Einroguard, youve probably learned it before and wish to hone it further, or at the very least, make sure that you dont get rusty.
Yi-han felt slightly guilty upon hearing this. Of course, getting better with the sword would be great, but his main goal was to receive good grades.
As thats the case, I wont be teaching you from the beginning. Instead, youll be focusing on honing the skills that youve learned.
The young knights listened to the elven professors speeches with twinkling eyes.
Magic still felt foreign to them, and they were much more comfortable listening to a class about swordsmanship.
Tap. Tap.
?
Yi-han turned his head as he noticed someone tapping on his shoulders. It was an elf, just like Professor Ingurdel, but their image was the complete opposite.
The student had short, blond hair along with a beautiful androgynous face.
I bet hes popular with the ladies.
Whats up?
Youre the one from the Wardanaz Family, right? I was wondering why someone from a family of magic would be interested in learning swordsmanship.
The question was asked without any hint of ridicule or disdain. He seemed much more friendly and approachable than the rude orc from before.
With how few students there are in the class, I thought Id be able to get a good grade.