The headmaster led Alex to his office which was the same room where he was teleported into this world.
Compared to before, the room was filled with decorations and was very much like the office of the head of the institute. After asking about it from the headmaster, he replied,
"The room is cleaned and redecorated during the annual holidays. You must have seen the office when the furniture was being cleaned."
Moving on, we discussed some topics about my classes and what are his plans for teaching me.
The entire talk boils down to the fact that as a special student, I am free to choose my classes, as long as I get the headmaster or one of the head of the departments' permission.
Headmaster Hartley continued,
"Alex, I have already decided on your classes and have made the relevant arrangements."
Saying that he took out a box from a drawer of the table and handed it to me.
"This is a Myst-link. It can be used for communication and other purposes. I think your world should have something similar."
I opened the box and saw a mobile phone. Checking it and trying to use it, there was not much difference.
"Headmaster, this is similar to the phones in my world, but there is no place to recharge it, what energy is used?"
"Oh! So you needed to refill its energy in your world, it's pretty inconvenient. The energy source is a mined mana stone and it can last up to 10 years. And your virtual ID has been made and I have deposited some money in your school account, you can also find your class routine for the next month on it."
After asking about a few more things, Alex left the Headmaster's office and went to thoroughly explore the Academy.
There were two arenas separate for the magic and physical classes as training grounds. After touring around and seeing the cafeteria, the gardens, and other places there was not much to see. Deciding to see the classes for a bit, I headed into the buildings and checked my schedule. There were mostly magic theory and practical-based classes and an introduction to various crafting classes like Alchemy, Array formations, Artifact creation, and Monster Knowledge.
There were no classes for the day, so Alex went to look for his new dorm and saw a house, after following the navigation on his Myst-link.
Entering it, it was full of basic furniture, and no unnecessary decorations were in place. After settling down and browsing the School forum and FAQ page, Alex found some valuable information like the privileges of a special student which included the house, a weekly stipend, and a few other things. After checking tomorrow's schedule, Alex started his routine sword practice as he had missed it due to the entrance ceremony. After practicing in the backyard and deciding to skip magic training, Alex went to read the books, which were about to be finished but may take one or two more days based on the current speed.
…
The next morning,
After Alex ordered food from the school cafeteria as a special student, he went ahead and started his morning stretches as a warm-up which had become a habit after a few days of rigorous training with Max.
After breakfast, he headed towards the school gate and was considering calling a taxi or something as he already knew how to call one. He saw Mark coming toward him,
"Hey there Alex! How are you? You're becoming the talk of the Nexus after yesterday's speech."
"Hi, I'm fine. But am I that big of a deal."
"Yeah, your famous titles include The Headmaster's latest disciple, gutsy orphan, the new rising hero, and whatnot the students come up with."
The second title made a bad impression on him, thinking about it reminded him of some of his school bullies from a few years back. Deciding not to bother with it, Alex spoke,
"Well, if you put it that way then I suppose it makes sense. Well, what are you doing here anyway, don't you have a duty to do?"
"I was supposed to be the temporary guard during the holidays, but now I'm assigned as your driver and bodyguard when you go out of the school."
"I kind of get it, but what is your job exactly?"
"You know Alex, you ask a lot of questions. I'm working for the headmaster for a year to repay an old favor."
After that, I headed to the basement of Adventurer's Guild where my regular training with Max will start. Mark came along and sat at the side.
Max spoke,
"Pipsqueak, your swings are coming off decently. Now that you can handle a 2.5 kg standard rookie sword, we can now officially start with you practicing the basic swordsmanship technique that a beginner should start with on his first day."
Max started displaying the moves and asked me to observe carefully. There were a total of five moves which were Cut, Thrust, Block, Parry, and Counter. Max stated that I'll have to learn the moves one by one. The first one on the list was Cut.
Max brought out a large magic dummy for me to practice. It was pretty durable. After a few hits on the dummy, Max came forth and we started a spar. It was limited to me using cut repeatedly with Max mocking and criticizing me all the way.
Getting criticized heavily for every minor mistake did not leave a good aftertaste in my mouth. After persisting with the training for 2 to 3 hours, I headed back to the dormitory exhausted. There was still an hour before my first class. After taking a shower and changing into the school uniform, I ordered lunch after which I started preparing myself for my first class.
After seeing myself in the mirror and thinking about getting a haircut, I decided to head toward my first class. Anticipation filled me and I decided that in this world I would have a new start.