Chapter 33 - 20th
A week had passed peacefully in the academy, the time we would’ve spent on PE—I used it all training alone in my room and getting used to the academy life.
The quiet, structured routine of the school grounds had quickly become familiar as I settled into a daily rhythm of balancing classes, self-study, and physical conditioning.
Without the usual physical education lectures taking up our morning hours, I had a lot of spare time on my hands to focus purely on refining my body’s baseline stats and getting comfortable with the layout of the campus.
I hang out with Zion as well, and we had some spars from time to time.
We would go to the open outdoor training grounds after our afternoon theoretical classes finished, clearing out a wide space on the dirt to test our combat skills against each other.
Though I always lose, I can feel myself getting stronger just by training with him.
Every single bout against him forced me to push my reaction times and physical endurance past their normal limits just to keep up with his overwhelming pace.
’Is this the effect of being close to the protagonist of the world?’
I thought to myself, excited about the fact that I’m getting stronger.
It felt like his sheer talent and natural growth rate were spilling over onto anyone who stood in the same ground as him, pulling my own abilities upward at a rapid speed.
It’s not just us, Cindy would always train with us, and of course—we would spar with each other.
She would join us right after her own class section ended, bringing her twin sai daggers along to add more variety to our informal practice sessions.
Although I’m pretty much superior to Cindy physically, I still can’t win against her that much because of the difference in our technique levels.
My physical attributes and mana density could easily overwhelm standard strikes, but her movements were smooth, efficient, and unpredictable.
Although I’m confident with my fencing—my technique was purely made and used for competitions.
In my previous life, fencing was a regulated sport bound by strict rules, linear movement strips, and light touches meant to score points on a target vest.
Very diifirent from Cindy’s and Zion’s techniques where their movements and everything else are focused and made for combat.
Their styles were forged specifically for life-and-death encounters, designed to bypass guards, exploit openings, and neutralize lethal threats as fast as possible without any wasted motion.
And so, for the past week of training with them—I gave myself a goal to improve my technique, to adjust it—not just for a competition level; but to something that will help me survive.
I spent hours shedding my old habits, stripping away the artificial sport limitations from my stance while integrating practical evasions, fluid sidesteps, and harsh defensive parries.
And so far, if I have to say so myself...
"Even though it’s not the best, it’s satisfaction given the time that I have."
Zion and Cindy thinks so too; the two of them helps me and teaches me on what I should improve, remove, and add to my technique. They’re really big help.
Whenever my footwork became too predictable or my posture left my side exposed, Zion would point it out immediately, while Cindy offered sharp tips on how to read an opponent’s shoulder twitches before a strike.
With this and their help...
’I think I’m ready for the first small event that will happen soon in the academy.’
I thought to myself.
*****
Before I even knew it, it was monday again—and finally—it was time for us to know the result of our physical examination from the previous week.
The atmosphere inside the Class 1-F lecture hall was thick with nervous anticipation as all of us sat at our respective desks, waiting for the instructor to arrive.
Everyone was whispering among themselves, wondering how our scores stacked up against the hundreds of other new students enrolled across the entire freshman batch.
CREAAAk-- TAP!
Professor Russel entered the room exactly when the time hit [9:30 AM].
His heavy footsteps echoed down the front hallway before the double doors swung open right on the dot.
The whole class was quiet as soon as he came it, he was carrying a device on his hand as he walked straight to the podium.
The large, muscular instructor set a sleek digital tablet down onto the dark wooden surface, his strict gaze sweeping over the rows of seated students.
He greeted us good morning out of courtesy, and he just told us to not say anything and just stay seated and listen—which we all did.
"Good morning, class."
He rumbled in his deep voice, resting his broad palms on the sides of the podium.
"Quiet down and stay in your seats. I will not repeat myself."
The remaining whispers in the room vanished in an instant, leaving only the soft hum of the air-conditioning unit running overhead.
He announced that he had the results of the evaluation, and today—he’s personally going to tell each of our overall score against the whole freshmen.
He picked up the handheld device, tapping the glass screen to load the official academy rankings compiled by the physical education department over the past week.
"Zion."
Professor Russel didn’t beat around the bush and immediately called Zion. His deep voice cutting through the silent room like a bell.
He didn’t bother offering a long speech or introductory remarks before diving straight into the top tier of the results list.
Everyone’s eyes turned to the protagonist when his name was called, and Zion—
"Present."
He just raised his hand and spoke confidently. That’s really just like him.
He offered a casual, bright smile as he raised his right hand in the air, completely unbothered by the sudden weight of everyone’s stares.
Anyway, Professor Russel just looked at him like he’s such a weird guy, but then he suddenly congratulated Zion.
The professor stared at Zion’s overly relaxed demeanor for a brief second, shaking his head slightly at the boy’s endless lack of formality before looking back down at his tablet.
"Congratulations."
Professor Russel said, his tone turning surprisingly firm and respectful.
And before anyone could even ask—
The surrounding students exchanged puzzled looks, wondering why a strict teacher like Professor Russel was offering direct praise so early in the session.
"You’re 12th place on the overall physical evaluation of the freshmen—Good job, you will get an extra points."
Professor Russel declared that.
He tapped the screen to lock in the score, letting the official ranking number display clearly on his records.
Collective gasps was heard through the room when they heard that.
"12th place...? Out of the entire freshman year?!"
"Are you serious?! He beat out almost the whole upper-class sections!"
"That’s crazy... 12th place overall!"
Surprised mutters instantly broke out across the desks as everyone stared at Zion in complete awe.
Hundreds or even thousands of talented people becomes freshmen students every year—so the fact that Zion was ranked that high—means that his talent is the real deal.
Star Academy gathered the absolute top martial prodigies, noble heirs, and elite mana users from all over the world, making a top-fifteen placement on the very first evaluation an astounding feat.
I clapped with a smile on my face after hearing that, and following me—some of the classmates joined, and we all end up clapping and telling congratulations to him.
I brought my hands together, genuinely happy to see the main character securing his rightful place among the elite ranks of the student body.
"Nice job, Zion!"
"Congratulations, man!"
The rest of Class 1-F quickly picked up the momentum, filling the lecture hall with warm applause and supportive cheers for their classmate.
Zion rubbed the back of his head with a sheepish chuckle, giving a quick wave to the room as the praise poured in.
"Haha, thanks everyone!"
He said, leaning back in his chair with a proud smile.
As that was happening, Professor opened his mouth again, and this time—
Professor Russel tapped his podium loudly to bring the room back to order, his dark eyes scanning the seating chart once more.
"Vael."
He called my name. My clap froze mid-action, and confused—I looked toward the professor.
"...?"
My hands stopped in place right in front of my chest, my mind briefly blanking as I met the instructor’s firm gaze from across the room.
’Me?’
I thought, wondering why my name was being brought up right after the protagonist’s.
"Congratulation too, you placed 20th overall in the evaluation."
And then he told me that. I expected my score to be high—but I didn’t expect to be in the rank 20s!
"20th place overall..."
Professor Russel repeated, nodding his head with a look of genuine approval as he recorded the figure on his digital tablet.
"Breaking the top twenty as an F-Class student is an exceptional result. Keep up this level of performance, you will get extra points as well."
My jaw loosened slightly in surprise as the gravity of the announcement settled in my mind.
Given the sheer number of high-tier students from Class 1-A down to Class 1-C who possessed powerful combat abilities, landing straight into the top twenty was a massive jump from my character’s original starting point.
Our classmates congratulated me and clapped for me as well, with Zion even leading them, and feeling that sensation—I would be lying if I said that I didn’t like it.
"Whoa! Vael got 20th!"
"Two top twenty rankings in Class 1-F?!"
"That’s amazing, Vael!"
Zion was practically bouncing in his seat beside me, slamming his hands together with a huge, loud burst of applause that forced the rest of the class to clap even harder.
"I knew it!"
Zion laughed, leaning over to pat my back with a heavy strike.
"You got 20th place, Vael! That’s incredible!"
The entire room was filled with cheering and clapping directed straight at me, a sharp contrast to the quiet, ignored existence my character usually had in the background of the original game world.
I let out a soft breath, feeling a warm surge of pride and satisfaction rising in my chest as I offered a polite nod to the class and the professor.
"Thank you, Professor."
I replied quietly, a genuine smile spreading across my face as the applause gradually died down.
... ... ...
*****
After that, Professor Russel continued telling everyone else’s ranking overall--Marcus got 25th overall, it was actually really high too, and there’s a girl in our class that got 32nd place.
That’s above average as well, that’s for sure.
Everyone got their ranking directly from the professors, if they have questions, if they’re happy, sad, or even disappointed--the professor answers them, not pushing them away.
He is a strict educator, but as a person in the profession--he can’t hate the students who gets down and goes back up, wanting to improve even more.
Anyway, after giving everyone out ranking; all of our phones suddenly received a notification.
PING!
"You can go to your devices and open the file I sent each of you."
Professor Russel instructed, and we all followed him.
I took out my phone, and from the app of the [Star Academy]--I received a file from Professor Russel called [Training Menu--Vael Frostguard].
Just as he annouceed on his first day before the evaluation; he really did created a training mana individually of each of us!