It didn't take long for him to be discharged from the school's infirmary. In fact, he was discharged the the next day after miraculously recovering all the mana he had lost from the 'incident' over one night. But he was discharged in the evening after taking a few more tests.
The Academy's head healer, Miss Catherine had given him clear instructions on how to use his mana because he was apparently born with little of it. But to him, that came as no surprise since he could hardly do any magic in his previous life. He had been born with the ability to sense mana despite being a person who had a connection with the dark realm. Although, that was all he could do…the most magic he had ever done was a small breeze when he attempted wind magic. And that was equal to nothing.
His mother had explained to him that magic was drawn from the main elements that gave birth to mana: fire, water, air, and earth being the primal sources of this ancient power. All humans that possessed mana in their bodies could summon the primal sources or their variations that were called deviants. The deviants included gravity, ice, lightning, light, and sound.
The other primal source that wasn't talked about was The Void, a source so powerful that only a handful of magic users could handle its energy to call upon chaos magic. But such magic was forbidden since it was the same form of magic that paved a path for the demon race into the magic realm.
For a long time, it was no secret to him that his mother could use magic. And he knew she had her reasons for never using it when she was still alive. He could always sense the power lying dormant in her…waiting to be unleashed someday. But that never came, she was discovered as a demon-possessed and they tortured her…she chose not to unleash the dormant power. He remembered receiving her final kiss on his forehead and the sweet words "I love you" before being thrown into a hidden room that was underneath their home.
After that, all he recalled was the smell of burning wood and the thick choking air from the smoke that had risen around him. Her power protected him from the divine flames that consumed his entire home.
And when they were out, he was left traumatized after seeing a scorched corpse of non-other than his own mother lying on the ground. She could barely be recognized, but the dormant power in her hadn't died out yet. That was the day Arthur felt real hatred for the world, for it had taken someone he held so dear to his heart. He wanted to burn it, but he never had the guts to.
The Academy was huge. He had only walked a few minutes, but it felt like he had walked an entire hour because of how long the walkways of this place were. It felt endless from his perspective.
After hours of eavesdropping on Miss Catherine's conversations, Arthur discovered that he was a fourteen-year-old first year in one of the most prestigious schools in the magic realm. He had surprisingly passed the theory and practical entry tests and was offered a scholarship for being extraordinarily smart. It was a rare opportunity, that was not given to everyone so he was extremely lucky in this case.
'What am I going to do now? Luckily, I can read and write. But I don't know where my dormitory is. This is so frustrating.' He cried from the inside as he stared at the gray cobblestones that made the walkways of this school. The feeling was hypnotizing, seeing how clean they looked…in fact, everywhere was clean and the air felt very fresh as he inhaled it.
The school had a castle-like design with stone buildings that seemed to have been here for centuries. But even so, they had no signs of breaking down any time soon.
He still had his head in the clouds when he suddenly bumped into a random student that had appeared out of nowhere.
The boy didn't even move from the collision, but Arthur ended up falling on his bottom as if he had bumped into a wall. "Are you okay?" the boy asked, offering a hand to pull him up.
Arthur was still flinching since he wasn't used to pain. But when he looked up, he was shocked to see another kind human face looking at him. The first was Professor Obsidian.
He was a boy with shiny brown hair, bright ocean-blue eyes, and a young dazzling handsome face with a smoothly straight jawline. He was taller than him and had a well-built body that made Arthur feel ashamed of how small he looked.
He accepted the boy's hand and just the strength in his grip as he pulled him up was enough to explain to Arthur that this boy wasn't weak in any way. 'Why do I feel so pathetic in this demigod's presence?' He asked himself as he studied the boy's physique.
"Sup…I'm Bairon. And…as much as dumb as this sounds, I don't know where to find the dormitories." He sounded so casual as he spoke to him, probably overlooking the awkwardness Arthur was giving off.
"Are you a first-year too?" he asked.
Arthur nodded, trying to think of a correct word to say that wouldn't raise any suspicions of him not belonging here originally mentally. "I'm Arthur, Arthur Bellrock," he responded with a faint grin on his face.
They had only just met, but he had a feeling this wasn't going to be the last time they talk…It was a gut feeling that he couldn't ignore so easily.
"Hey, Bairon! Over here!"
A pair of students in uniform suddenly appeared behind Arthur, making him skip a heartbeat considering how loud they were.
The pair looked rather older than both him and Bairon. His first guess was that they were maybe seniors from how they looked—one was a tall black-haired girl and the other was a short chubby boy with brown messy hair. They both had sheathed magic swords in their hands since swordsmanship was one of the many things the school offered in the main curriculum.
'They're strong.' Arthur thought as he studied the two students.
He didn't know why, but he felt excited after sensing their auras respectively, and confirming they were strong.
"I can't believe they would send upper-class students to come for me. Ugh…this is embarrassing," Bairon mumbled with a controlled smile as he faced the two students.
'Upper-class…? So I was right, that's why they're strong.'
Bairon sighed after seeing that Arthur was silent. "Anyway, see you around Arthur Bellrock. I'm looking forward to working with you to reach the top," he said with a gentle tone before patting his shoulder and running past him to join the pair. None of them even bothered to glare at Arthur because he was basically useless in their eyes.
.
.
.
He continued walking for about another ten minutes. But currently, he was moving at a slow pace in order to capture more about his surroundings and the school itself.
'I need to hide the fact that I don't belong here so learning more about this place would really help.' He thought.
Suddenly, he found himself reaching an area that he hadn't seen ever since he started his search. It was a more open part of the academy that revealed the greenest part of the academy for him, a beautiful small-scale park in the center of the Academy.
He noticed Professor Obsidian seated on a wooden park bench, doing nothing…but staring at the grass. From just the few conversations they had exchanged, the Professor was merely a young man in his mid-twenties tasked with a lot of responsibilities because of his power.
"It's better if I avoid him."
"There you are, Arthur! Come sit with me and we talk, I have bread if you are hungry." The professor spotted him right away and was already waving at him with so much energy and a cheerful smile to top that.
Obsidian was so far the only person he had a full conversation with ever since he woke up in the infirmary and confirmed he was reborn. And so far, Obsidian was the only professor that agreed to become his mentor since everyone on the teaching staff had named him a 'special case' special as in he was too weak to fit their standards.
Arthur sat just next to him. He was surprised that the bench was oddly comfortable for something made from wood and iron.
Obsidian opened the paper bag and pulled out a piece of bread that he broke in two and handed the rest of it to Arthur. "So…How do you feel about the academy?"
Arthur smirked at his question, "I don't know, my first class starts tomorrow with you after all," he answered.
Obsidian leaned back. "Oh yeah. You're right," he said. "It's hard to keep track of the days when the world is so peaceful, and I hope it stays that way."
"Yeah, I hope so too." Arthur agreed.
"By the way Arthur, I forgot to give you this back at the infirmary," said the professor as he put out his hand and a bright blue rectangular prism of light appeared in his palm.
Arthur pulled back a little after sensing the condensed mana coming from the thing Obsidian had summoned, but quickly recovered when he noticed that his name was on it. "What is that Professor Obsidian?" he questioned.
"This is a status card, every student in this academy owns one. It identifies your rank in the academy, and the skills you were able to awaken in your early days." He answered, "…but for your case, you have none."
"Skills?" Arthur was baffled.
"Yes. Think of it as a boost for every human with mana in their bodies. Everyone in this school has a skill that gives them an upper hand in this academy. Arthur, you don't have one—you're practically the weakest person in this academy," he said, handing the card over to Arthur.
The moment he touched its glass-like surface, the card glowed and revealed his status as an individual:
[ "Status card"]
Name: Arthur Bellrock
Species: Human
Student rank: F
Mana: 50/50
Personal skill: None
Luck: E
Arthur sighed, knowing that this was a tougher spot for him. He knew he was weak all along, but he didn't expect it to be this level of weak. At this point he was completely powerless when it came to everything, they might as well call him a normal human for the fact.
'Shit, how will I survive.' He turned off the status card with a thought. And grunted after realizing how hard his school life is going to be, especially when everyone else is more times powerful.
Obsidian saw the look on his face and heaved out a gloomy sigh, "You've seen for yourself. If you can't handle this school, then I can always issue a transfer to another academy, one that has weaker magic users like you. And you don't have to worry about losing your scholarship."
"No…I can handle this. I've already worked so hard to get in, throwing this away will be showing everyone that I can't do it after all and proving them right."
Obsidian smirked at his statement and then rose from the bench with a complete smile on his face. "That's the spirit. Then I will see you in class tomorrow morning. Remember, you'll have to work harder than everyone in order to advance to the next class or earn a higher student rank."
"I know." Arthur nodded.
'If it means I have to work hard to keep this life, then I will.'
"And by the way, the dormitories are that way," he pointed at a building in the direction he was from.
'How did he…"
"You've been walking around them like an idiot."
"Oh, you noticed?"
"I know a lost student when I see one," laughed the professor as he left the bench to Arthur and walked away.