(Gray POV)
Class of 1-S.
Or the Special class to be more specific as meant in the "S".
This particular freshman class consisted of students who possessed a distinct set of skills, qualities, and magic that make them the cream of the crop, the ones who stood at the top of the food chain on their year level. They are also the ones who performed admirably during the entrance examination, deeming them to be prodigies in their own right.
Well, on paper at least.
To be frank, 1-S is actually the class of who I deemed to be the problem children of the academy, kids with their own bunch of eccentricities and shenanigans.
For example, Alexander Dragonheart, while maintaining a persona of a calm young man with a martial and tolerable personality, loses all reason the moment when his sister's life is on the line, indulging himself easily in his draconic rage.
He's also quite the schemer I believe. Does he really think that I won't notice his plot of allowing his sister and Mr. Bruce to get familiar with one another in a rather intimate way, for the sake of strengthening the Dragon bloodline?
Don't forget, I have the magic of Illusion on my side. With my flawless control of said magic at my disposal, I am capable of getting a glimpse of a person's mind and emotions.
In short... Mind reading.
Its overall effectiveness depends on the Mage's self-awareness. Thus, if they focus themselves in their own mind, they may be able to discern that something was amiss and some kind of foreign entity was making its way inside.
As a result, reading one's mind is more effective if one is distracted or preoccupied entirely with something else.
Then there's Anastasia Dragonheart, your typical Dragon with her extraordinary lust for battle. When she saw someone strong, then she won't hesitate to challenge them, just like she did with Mr. Bruce during the entrance exam.
While Mr. Dragonheart also favored the heat of combat as what he displayed during his Magicka after the events of Mr. Bruce and Ms. Dragonheart's injuries, he's still capable of restraining himself to an extent, unlike Ms. Dragonheart who does not know the meaning of holding back and even went so far as to taunt her enemy while doing so.
In conclusion, the young girl is a battle-freak, with an unhealthy penchant for arrogance that can either be her windfall or downfall someday.
And Mr. Ken Bruce, the new Magus of Infinity himself. While the child has shown some talent in both physical and magical combat, he's still basically a rookie with all things considered. From the recent information that I have gathered of him during the past week, he only awakened his Infinity magic just recently.
Of course, I took his training with his grandfather into account. It's safe to say that his physical combat skills are equivalent to that of a Knight.
Interesting then, a Mage with a Knight's training? While the notion was rather unorthodox, it's also not unheard of. Knights still utilize some form of magic to augment their physical abilities, so it's not so strange as to consider them as Mages but in a less traditional sense.
By textbook definition, a Mage is a person who is capable of using magic.
Someone like Ken Bruce is more than competent enough to allow both factors of physique and magic to incorporate into one, something that many Mages fail at the beginning of their career.
Being the Magus of Infinity, it would be a matter of very little time before he can catch up with his magic education.
Regarding his quirk though? The kid possessed quite a foul mouth. To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure how he managed a Knight's upbringing with that unpleasant attitude.
Well, Mr. Bruce technically was never a Knight since he never attended an academy for one, so who knows? Maybe Robert never bothered to teach him the dignity and manners of being one and instead, focused on its warfare aspect.
Thus, to infer and justify my reason as to why the young Dragon Mages belong to 1-S...
The three of them are crazy, plain and simple.
But I suppose being like that was not necessarily bad.
While the word was always associated with being deranged, a state that many people found to be undesirable, it's actually quite the contrary.
In this magical profession where one strongly pushed themselves forward in the pursuit of their magic, a significant degree of craziness is required for a Mage to truly advance themselves and hone in their respective craft.
The greater the risks, the greater the rewards.
While logic is indeed the universal truth, it is through the state of utter craziness where one utilized that logic to its full potential, reaching heights far beyond than they could ever imagine.
Even Vivian Algrande is a crazy person herself. No sane Mage would be inclined to risk everything, including their sweet freedom, just to defeat the Demon Emperor Asmodeus. The price was high and it cost 500 years of her imprisonment as a result.
Therefore, the crazy person is more willing to go far and take risks for the sake of their line of work than the average, sane, and boring individual.
And with Ken Bruce being surrounded by crazy Mages, I'm sure that he'll improve as a Mage and eventually see the advantages of being crazy as well.
Such is my love as an educator showing deep concern for the sake of his student's overall improvement.
(Ken POV)
"And here we are."
Alex informed Ana and I as we finally arrived at our destination... The Class of 1-S.
Well, not really since the three of us are still outside, in front of the door. A sign hanged right above it, displaying the words "1-S" for all to see. There are glass windows on the walls, where anyone can see the interiors of the classroom from the outside and vice versa.
Alex took charge and opened the door for us, entering the classroom without any hesitation.
Ana and I followed shortly as we stick close by to him since we are new and practically in an unfamiliar environment. Thus, comfort still has not befallen the two of us.
My eyes unconsciously roamed around to survey the classroom that we are now in.
The classroom is fairly small actually, arranged in an inclined manner with stairs right in the middle. A blackboard made its presence on the front, and long tables with two chairs are the norm inside here, with the tables numbering by six, two in each row and three in each column.
With these numbers, I assumed that there are only twelve students here, the three of us included.
The number of students is kind of low than what I expected. I thought that we are going to be thirty or something.
Hmm, I guess the academy preferred quality over quantity then? The fewer students there are, the easier it was for the instructor to monitor them, all for the sake of more effective learning.
"Hey, class rep, took you long enough!! And it looks like you brought company too."
A particular brown-haired Mage directed his full attention at Alex with a friendly grin on his face as he stood up from his chair.
Now that I saw him up close in person, he's a tall guy, with the build of a muscular brute. At first glance, not many would think that this guy is a Mage.
If I'm not mistaken, this was Davis Ulford, the guy with Earth Magic from who I copied his Earth spells.
And also... class rep?
"Yes, Davis. I present to you all, our two absent classmates who will be joining us starting today. You all know Anastasia Dragonheart, my sister. And of course, the one and only Magus of Infinity, Ken Bruce."
The instant when Alex mentioned my name, all occupants of the classroom ceased at what they are doing in favor of turning all their judgemental gazes right at me.
Truthfully told, I find their stares to be somewhat off-putting, their eyes scrutinizing in every way.
Hey, hey, I'm not the only person that you should be paying attention to!!! For crying out loud, you also have Anastasia Dragonheart as your classmate right beside me!!!
In the end, their demeanor softened and the seemingly present tension of the classroom faded away in favor of their wholesome curiosity being piqued.
"Ehhh... so it's really him!!! Hehehe."
"Fascinating. The Mage who can copy any spells thrown at him."
"I wonder if he can mimic Miki's awesome magic as well? Then Miki is going to have a new partner in crime!!!"
"Ah, so the rumors are true. Hopefully, he's not like other Mages who rely only on their magic."
"Fufufu, so he really is our classmate then."
"Mugen no Majutsu-shi."
"I hope he's nice."
"I wonder... can he stand against the almighty winters of the North?"
Okay... I'm not blind to see that two of the comments were directed at challenging me. The others though were genuinely eager to say the very least. Although I'm not so sure about the Mugen no whatever statement coming from a certain blue-haired samurai girl.
Anyways, I simply smiled in a friendly manner and proceeded to introduce myself by bowing with a straight posture.
"My name is Ken Bruce. I look forward to getting along with you all."
As I ended my brief introduction by standing properly once more, I was suddenly approached by one of them... a girl.
She also held a notepad and pen while doing so.
It's her...
The one who first commented of my arrival.
And most importantly, the weirdo who sat beside me at the stands during the Magicka part of the entrance examination.
The girl with eyeglasses and short brown hair. A yellow hairclip was also seen to elevate the left bangs of her hair, displaying her green eyes behind her glasses. She also sported a yellow hairband as well.
Not to mention, the creepy smile adorning her beautiful face.
Beautiful but creepy!!!
"Hello there Ken, my name's Nora Leliana, and I know that this is all too sudden since we just met and all, but I have a question for you, something that's of dire importance for me to pass up."
Dire importance? What in Arkadia's name was she up to?
I'm probably... definitely gonna regret this, but for the sake of quickly getting this over with, I decided to indulge in whatever schemes she plotted on.
Not to mention, she's quite close to my sheer unliking, even when she smelled kind of nice.
"S-sure. Ask away."
Nora's grin never faltered and her glasses twinkled in response to her overall fervor.
Then came the inevitable question, one that made me double-take.
"Top or bottom?"