Chapter 34 - A Small Event
The PE finished not long; Professor Russel just told us our result for the evaluation and gave us the menu he created for each of us, and after that, he left, telling us that he still need to do something, so there will be no classes still today.
He tucked his clipboard under his thick arm and walked away without giving any further explanations, leaving all of us in the classroom dumbfounded.
I know what he was doing, he was probably preparing for the academy event that will happen at the end of the month with the other professors.
The faculty members were always busy behind the scenes, setting up safety barriers, spatial array markers, and evaluation metrics for the major trials that incoming students had to face.
Anyway, because of that—we have roughly 2 hours of free time before our next subject—
"What’s out next class again?"
Zion asked me. Our schedule isn’t fixed, it changes every week.
He stretched his arms above his head, letting out a relaxed yawn.
"It’s finally the combat class you’ve been waiting for, how come you forgot it?"
I told him with a shrug. I gave a small shake of my head, adjusting the small stick hanging at my hip.
That’s right, finally after a week of being here in the academy—Professor Ulfar, our homeroom professor; will be teaching us.
He hadn’t conducted a practical drill since our very first orientation session, spending the past few days letting the general physical department measure our basic limits.
’This is also the first small event that will happen in the story.’
I thought, getting curious and excited.
*****
To pass by time, Zion and I decided to jog around the academy—we considered it as our warm-up before the combat class.
We maintained a steady, easy pace along the outer ring road, sweeping past the grand marble arches, the administrative towers, and the sprawling courtyard gardens.
And before we even knew it... our free time was up.
The high chiming bell from the main clock tower rang across the entire campus, signaling the end of the break and the start of the late morning period.
We headed back to the classroom with 5 minutes left until the next class, we also bought and ate bread on our way here.
We grabbed a couple of quick meat-filled buns from a side stall near the main plaza, chewing through them while walking up the central stairwell toward the Class 1-F room.
I barely had any sweat on me and I don’t feel tired as well even after going for a run, but Zion—he still look spotless, like he didn’t do anything at all. The smile on his face never disappeared even during our run.
His stamina recovery was completely ridiculous, showing no signs of heavy breathing or physical strain after a full hour of continuous jogging.
He just really kept showing me why he’s the protagonist of this world.
CREAAAK—
The door of the classroom opened not long, and immediately; a familiar face entered.
The heavy double doors swung inward smoothly, cutting off the lingering conversations of the students sitting in their seats.
Handsome man with black eyes and hair, he was wearing full black as well; long coat over his turtleneck—It was Professor Ulfar.
His sharp, dark eyes swept over the room with a cold, quiet intensity, his dark coat fluttering slightly around his ankles as he walked up to the front podium.
"I believe we don’t need any more introductions; you already know me, and this isn’t our first time meeting."
He said with a straight face.
He rested his hands lightly on the edges of the desk, standing up straight as his calm, grave voice echoed off the walls.
"You also know my subject already."
The room was silent, but we all collectively nodded our heads to answer to his questions.
Not a single person dared to whisper or make unnecessary noise while he held the floor.
"Mhmn... Then I’ll say it straight. Since you already got evaluated physically, and Professor Russel gave me a copy of it—our first session will be sparring."
Professor Ulfar announced with a nod of his head.
"I matched your evaluations together to find a good match to each of you; this will also serve as an evaluation for your combat ability."
He added.
He tapped his dark leather glove against the podium, making sure everyone understood that this wasn’t going to be a simple practice session.
The students were really surprised hearing this, they murmured; some excited, some found it bothersome, some were caught unprepared, and many more.
A sudden wave of nervous energy swept through the desks as people realized they were about to be thrust into direct combat duels right away.
"Wait, practical duels already?!"
"I haven’t even warmed up my mana circuits properly today..."
"Who am I matched against?"
But they didn’t really voiced out anything, how can they complain in front of a professor, after all? Professor Ulfar’s presence was far too heavy for anyone to openly raise an objection or ask for a delay.
"That’s that, let’s not waste any time and head immediately to the training grounds."
Professor Ulfar ignored all the murmurings too and ordered that.
He turned smoothly on his heel, heading straight for the open doorway without waiting to see if anyone was following him.
I looked beside me, and there—I saw Zion smiling ear to ear; it was really obvious that he’s excited for this session.
He was practically bouncing in his chair, his hand already resting naturally near the hilt of his weapon as he stood up.
"..."
But I can’t lie—I’m the same.
A subtle spark of anticipation flickered inside my chest as I unclasped [Frost] from my desk holder.
And so, Zion and I stood up, and we joined everyone else in heading to the training grounds.
... ... ...
... ... ...
... ... ...
We reached the training grounds not long, and for some crazy coincidence—it’s the same one where Zion and I sparred on our first day here!
"We’re back here, huh. We’ll probably be against each other again because of our rankings in the physical evaluation."
Zion told me that with a small smile on my face. He nudged my shoulder with his elbow, grinning as he looked at the open dirt ring in front of us.
"Probably."
I just smiled and replied with that. I already know what’s going to happen, but I wouldn’t spoil the fun for Zion.
I kept my mouth shut, letting him enjoy his misplaced confidence for just a little bit longer.
Anyway, our entire class stopped in front of one of the arenas in the training grounds. We gathered in a tight semicircular formation near the edge of the stone boundary, waiting for the instructor to give his orders.
"I’ll personally watch and grade your performance, so we’ll only use one arena. I’m just one person, after all."
He said with a monotone voice. Then without waiting for anything—FWISH!
He pulled out a small black metallic cylinder from inside his long coat and clicked the top button. He pressed something on his phone, and a hologram appeared. The technology in this world is really fascinating.
A pale blue light shot upward from the device, expanding into a floating, semi-transparent projection screen that hovered three feet in the air.
The hologram was empty, but opening his mouth—
"Once your name appears here, climb up the arena."
Professor Ulfar instructed that.
He adjusted his dark leather gloves, stepping over to the side of the ring near the recording terminal.
"One minute rest, after that—we start."
*****
The sparring matches started not long; the order was randomized, names of students just appear on the hologram Professor Ulfar summoned match after match.
The floating blue screen flickered rapidly, pairing up names and displaying them in bold digital letters before each five-minute bout.
Just as he said, he really compared our evaluation to find a match against each other—all the fights until now were even, with one side barely winning.
The duels were surprisingly competitive, with classmates pushing their physical skills and basic weapon arts to their absolute limits to earn a decent grade.
Sparks flew, weapons clashed loudly, and small bursts of low-level mana swept across the dirt floor as each pair fought for dominance.
Though, when it was Marcus’ turn—
"Marcus won—stop the match."
He won overwhelmingly. As expected of one of Zion’s rivals.
Before his opponent could even set up a proper defensive guard, Marcus executed a lightning-fast triple thrust that disarmed the other student in less than ten seconds.
"Looks like it’ll be us again, except you and Marcus; I can’t think of someone else that Professor Ulfar might match me with."
Zion said after watching Marcus’ fight.
He crossed his arms, nodding thoughtfully as Marcus stepped down from the arena platform.
"..."
I just smiled at him.
I offered a silent, subtle smirk, watching the blue holographic screen flick violently as it prepared to load the next pairing.
And in the next moment—FWIP!
The digital screen flashed brightly as a single name materialized in golden text right in the middle of the floating display.
[Zion Braveheart]
His name appeared on the hologram.
"Ohhh, see you at the arena!"
Zion told me and immediately stood up, he even went straight to the arena with [Excalibur] on his hand. He hopped over the stone boundary rail with ease, walking confidently toward the center of the dirt floor with his holy sword resting loosely in his grip.
But seconds passed... and no other name appeared on the hologram...
"...?"
This confused everyone, they were all looking at me like it was obvious.
The surrounding classmates glanced back and forth between the empty second slot on the hologram and my calm figure sitting on the bench.
"Wait, why isn’t Vael’s name popping up?"
"Isn’t Vael the only one close to his ranking in our class?"
"Is the system lagging?"
Then, in that moment—TAP.
Professor Ulfar stepped onto the arena, his shoe echoed through the silent crowd.
The heavy sound of his heel striking the firm dirt ring cut through the confused chatter of the students in an instant.
"Your level is too high for a freshman, especially in this class. So I decided; I will be your opponent for this evaluation."
And then, he declared that, standing a few paces away from Zion with a calm expression on his face!
He unbuttoned the top latch of his long black coat, letting his dark eyes fixate entirely on the protagonist.
"...!"
Zion was caught off guard, his eyes widened and his mouth dropped after hearing that.
He froze in place, his grip on [Excalibur] loosening slightly as he stared at our homeroom teacher in absolute shock.
"Wait... Professor?! You?!"
He stammered, completely failing to process that he was about to duel an elite S-rank combat instructor.
"Haha..."
A short chuckle left my mouth seeing that.
I leaned back against the stone railing, genuinely enjoying the hilarious look of sheer astonishment painted across Zion’s face.
Though, unexpectedly—
Professor Ulfar’s dark gaze flicked away from Zion for a brief split second, cutting straight across the arena floor toward the spectator bench where I was sitting.
"..."
Professor Ulfar suddenly turned to my direction, and before I could even say anything—
He raised one gloved hand, pointing his index finger directly at my chest.
"Vael, you’re next—get ready."
Then he told me that.
His voice was dead calm, laying out the order as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"Huh? What?"
My playful smile froze instantly.
My jaw dropped as I pointed a finger back at my own face, my brain completely short-circuiting at the sudden, unexpected announcement. Looks like something outside the sttory happened again.
"..."
My eyes wandered to Zion unconsiously, and there, on the arena--I saw him smiling at me with cresent eyes.