Chapter 32 - The End of First Day
After eating something in the canteen, Zion and I met up with Cindy for a bit just to talk before the second class.
We found a quiet table near the edge of the courtyard outside the main dining hall, taking a brief breathers as the midday sun warm the surrounding stone benches.
And obviously, the three of us talked about our first classes.
The conversation naturally drifted back toward our morning schedules, comparing how the different classes handled the opening orientation routines.
Just like us, Cindy and her class also got physically evaluated by their PE professor. They also had a joined session with the an another class—it was the [C-Class].
She leaned back against her seat, crossing her arms as she explained how their instructors had pitted two different sections against each other to gather initial baseline performance data.
And Cindy—she aced two of the activities. A student from the other class overpowered her in the mana-reinforced strength one, then someone from her class beat him barely in the continuous endurance test.
She recounted the details of her drills, her voice filled with a familiar spark of pride as she listed off her top standings.
She overwhelmingly won the 50 meters dash and the reaction time activities.
Her natural agility and quick footwork gave her a massive advantage in those specific categories, leaving the rest of her peers far behind in the dust.
After her bragging, she asked me what about on our class, and immediately—
"I only aced one of the activities."
I told her that.
I kept my voice casual, shrugging slightly as I took a small sip from my drink.
"What, only one? Guess I beat you then."
Cindy smiled and said that. I just shrugged and nodded my head, the smile on my face not vanishing.
She smirked with a proud huff, leaning forward slightly as if claiming a decisive victory over my morning performance. Then she turned to Zion and asked the same thing—
She tapped her fingers on the table, looking at him with an expectant grin to see how the main character had fared during his own evaluation drills.
"Ugh, I won everything except one."
With a groan, Zion answered with that.
Cindy was suprised hearing that, but after processing it--
"...?"
She became confused. She looked at me and Zion alternatively.
And from her perspective, it looked really confusing—it seems like it was me who won three of the activities and only lost one based on our reactions alone.
She blinked rapidly, glancing back and forth between my relaxed, amused expression and Zion’s dramatic, lingering despair.
"Huh? So what did you won againts Zion?"
Cindy turned back to me and asked that. She tilted her head, trying to make sense of the strange dynamic between our responses.
"Reaction time."
I simply replied.
I offered a brief, plain answer without adding any extra flourish to it.
"What was your time in reaction speed, Zion? Mine’s 1.31 second."
She asked Zion. Zion looked at her, then to me, and with a small sigh—
"0.74 second."
He declared that.
"...!"
Cindy’s eyes widened hearing that, it was an absurb time, much faster than hers—and then, she remembered that even with that—Zion still lost that to me. The realization hit her like a sudden splash of cold water, her jaw dropping open slightly as her eyes locked onto my face.
Her head quickly snapped in my direction, and in disbelief—
"What time did you get?"
She asked me that.
Once again, I shrugged my shoulders, then with a confident smile on my face—
"0.42 second."
I stated that.
"Stop joking, what is it?"
Cindy immediately told me, not believing me in the slightest. But instead of saying anything, I just looked at her and kept my smile.
She crossed her arms tightly, shaking her head in complete refusal as she waited for me to drop the playful act and give her the real answer.
"No way."
She said and turned to Zion, her eyes asking if what I was saying was true.
Zion was looking at her, then he just nodded his head.
"WHAT?! THAT’S IMPOSSIBLE!"
Cindy exclaimed as she looked at me.
Her loud voice echoed across the open courtyard, drawing a few curious glances from nearby students passing by our table.
"Sure sure, don’t believe it if you don’t want to."
I just told her that before walking again. I was heading to the classroom, the second class is about to start after all.
I stood up from the bench, brushing off my uniform slacks before slinging my bag over one shoulder to get a move on.
Cindy walked beside me and kept asking how did I manage to do that, her classroom is near to ours. She peppered me with relentless questions, trying to figure out if I had used some sort of hidden technique or specialized mana application during the exercise.
Zion walked to my other side, telling Cindy what happened during our activities.
Anyway, she became even more suprised after hearing the scores we got on all of the activities.
If our classes were the ones who joined up during the PE session--then overall; Zion would’ve won, followed by Cindy, and with me in the third place falling shortly from tying to her scores.
*****
Anyway... my haughty expression immediately disappeared as soon as the second subject started.
The air-conditioned lecture hall was quiet and formal, a stark contrast to the open air and chaotic energy of the morning athletic grounds.
[The Study and Understanding of Dungeons]
While dungeons are interesting—sitting for hours listening to lectures drained me to no end. Our Professor in this subject is a fairly old lady named Professor Fez.
She stood at the front podium with a long wooden pointer, adjusting her thick spectacles as she flipped through endless slide projections detailing ancient spatial rift formations and historical monster migration patterns.
And it’s not just this subject—we have four classes each day, each lasting for couple of hours.
And the remaining two classes... [Monster Biology] and [Mana and Magic Theories], are also lectures.
The sheer volume of theoretical knowledge packed into the academy’s daily curriculum was overwhelming, designed to force students into rigorous study habits from day one.
Our professors are named Professor Mizz and Professor Pama in those subject in order, by the way.
"Ugh... I wan’t to move my body."
I hear Zion whisper beside me. He was slumped deep into his desk chair, resting his chin in his palm while staring blankly at the complex lectures projected on the screen in front of us.
I very much feel the same way as him.
But even with that—the two of us sat in all of the lectures for hours, finishing our first day in the academy peacefully and quietly.
We forced ourselves to take notes, enduring the long, dry explanations until the final bell rang out across the main academic building.
... ... ...
... ... ...
... ... ...
The sun was turning orange when all the classes finished.
A deep golden light filtered through the high windows of the hallway as the remaining students filed out toward the residential district.
"Fuuuuuh..."
I let out a sigh as soon as I entered my dorm. I was tired mentally from all the lectures I sat through for hours. I felt like my brain melted.
The quiet solitude of my living quarters felt like a massive relief after enduring hours of dense theoretical instruction.
I took off my uniform and placed [Frost] neatly on the table. I unbuttoned my formal shirt, hanging the jacket neatly in the wardrobe.
I took a quick bath, and after doing that—I dressed casually and slumped on my bed.
The warm shower helped wash away the physical tension from the morning drills, leaving me feeling clean and somewhat refreshed as I fell backward onto the soft mattress.
I opened my phone and looked at the summary of the event that I wrote in my journal that will help me keep track of the story I remember from the game. I read it for a bit.
I scrolled through the encrypted notes application, double-checking the main storyline flags, character introduction arcs, and upcoming academy events to make sure nothing was veering too far off course.
Then after that, I opened the record of the lectured earlier. My brain was so fried already midway the third subject, so I barely understand the professors after that.
The sheer overload of terms and historical dates during the afternoon classes had turned into a complete blur by the time the final bell rang.
It’s good that we’re allowed to record classes so we can review them on our own.
The academy provided official digital audio logs for every theoretical lecture, allowing students to access the raw data at their own convenience.
I reviewed the lecture—I had it all summarized using an app, then skimming through that; I started studying on my own by searching the internet and stuff. It was less consuming mentally when I’m doing it on my own pace and intensity.
Breaking down the information in a quiet room without an instructor pacing in front of me made digesting the complex magic theories much easier to handle.
... ... ...
I only did that for about an hour before standing up and stretching my body.
I closed out the application on my screen, rolling my neck and shoulders to work out the stiffness from sitting at a desk for so long.
And after that—FWISH~
I materialized an ice rapier in my hand and held it firmly—I didn’t use [Frost]. I’m just going to train after all.
A pale, translucent blade of solid ice crystallized smoothly in my right palm, radiating a faint blue chill that cooled the air inside the room.
It was good that the dorm was spacious enough to allow me to do casual training inside. The layout of the room provided plenty of open floor space between the bed and the desk, giving me enough room to execute footwork drills without bumping into furniture.
I swung my ice weapon, thrust it... I practiced my techniques, my footwork.
The sharp hiss of the icy edge cutting through the air echoed rhythmically off the walls as I shifted my weight back and forth in a low fencing stance.
"..."
As I was doing that, I remembered my performance this morning at the reaction time activity. I tried to recall the sensation I have then, the adrenaline, the feeling...
The exact moment my mind went completely silent, hyper-focusing on the subtle spatial shifts before the targets even fully materialized on the grass.
And as all of those were in mind, I fasten the pace of my swings and thrusts.
The translucent blade transformed into a blur of silver and blue light, piercing the air with rapid, sharp extensions as I pushed my physical reflexes to match that morning’s baseline.
*****
I trained until it was night, and after eating dinner—I played some games on my phone, watched some videos, and stuff until I got sleepy and fell asleep.
The night quieted down completely as the academy grounds settled into darkness, leaving only the soft glow of my phone screen illuminating the dark room.
"..."
I closed my eyes... and with that, my first day in the academy is done.
The quiet exhaustion finally pulled me under, drifting off into a deep, dreamless sleep as my body recovered from the day’s physical and mental strain.
... ... ...
And before I even notice it—a week had already passed since the start of the academy.