It's been three years and Thews is now ten years old. This meant that Thews had to hear troubling news from his mother. She said "Thews, you'll be going to Ilumland academy soon. Please study for the exam." To which Thews said quite bluntly "No."
Alice says "Thews, yes you will." Thews says "Don't wanna."
Alice says "This isn't a request, it's an order." Thews says "No. You can't make me."
Then Echo whispers something to Alice and then Alice says "If you pass the exam and attend the school, we will buy you a sword of your choosing in the capital per start of a school year." Thews asks "How many years do I have to spend in there?"
Alice says "There are eight years normally, but you can attend four extra years after the initial eight, making it twelve years in total." Echo adds "Also, if you are held back grades, this means that you won't gain that sword of that year."
Thews asks "What does "held back" means in this?" To which Alice says "It means you haven't passed the test in a satisfactory manner." Thews puts his thinking face on and ponders for a moment. Then he says "Make it two each year and we have a deal."
Alice says "We aren't negotiating. You will get what is offered to you as you will go and pass the exams." Then Thews says "In all honesty mom, do you expect me to actually pass these exams?" To which Alice responds with "I have given up on you getting actually good scores in both your written and practical exams. As long as you pass, that is fine by me."
Thews reiterates "But are you sure I, Mathews Witsur, will actually manage to pass these tests?" Alice says "There are still two months until the entrance exam is held, so if we manage to get you to study twice as much as you have before and we pray to gods daily, then perhaps you might have a chance."
Thews says "But actually needing to study… it'll be a pain in the ass." Alice says "And if you manage to get scores just below the passing score, I'm sure our treasury will be able to boost your score a little."
Thias says loudly "We can't just bribe the school to make them accept Thews!" To which Alice says "We can if necessary, but we'll make extra sure that it won't come to that. Thankfully, Echo has offered her assistance in this matter, so we should be fine while looking back at how well Rena did."
Thews smirks and mutters "Score. I don't actually have to study as I can just make Echo do her magic." And then Echo says "We won't be using the memory transfer method, as it will hinder you from learning how to actually study without my presence." Thews says bluntly "Shit."
And so the boy who has gotten used to slacking was forced to actually put some effort into learning. He had to also train in swordsmanship, but that was more of an excuse to take it easy as he didn't have to study. He did have to build up his body to a reasonable standard in order to use his former techniques.
The day of the entrance exam had come and Thews was standing in line of many other people. He looked back when he had to leave his home to get to the academy. When Lucy found out that Thews was leaving, she threw a tantrum like she did when Rena had to leave. When Lucy knew that Thews wouldn't return for a while if he got accepted, Lucy said to him "Whatever you do, you mustn't pass! Stay dumb! Stay lazy!"
This memory brought a smile on Thews' face, until it became his turn to do the practical exam. He was to face one of the teachers who specialized in swordsmanship. And as swordsmanship was not as favored as magic was in this world, there were much fewer swordsmanship teachers. In fact, there were only two in that huge academy. But luckily, this meant that there were only a few people who took the swordsmanship exam, as most aimed to use magic instead.
When Thews entered the arena, he thought to himself "Let's make sure not to make us look so good. In fact, let's just make sure we barely pass the test." And so Thews and the teacher Luke fought each other.
It was clear as day to others that Thews didn't have much skill in swordsmanship and that he could barely pass. But to Luke, he noticed subtle movements that no amateur would make and make a note of that. In Luke's mind, what Thews did could have been a fluke, but he couldn't rule out the possibility of him doing it on purpose.
As the exam had gone for two minutes, Luke called it off and said to Thews, "You pass, but just barely. I have to give you a plus on your physique though. You must have trained a lot." To this, Thews said "Oh, you looking at my body teach? Didn't know you were into that." Luke took this like a champ and said "You compliment yourself too much now. I wouldn't say I would sleep with you like that. Give it a couple more years and then we can maybe talk."
Thews smiled, turned around, waved and said "I will hold you on that then, teach" and left to take the magic exam, as it was mandatory in this country.
The magic exam went as expected and it was found out that Thews had no talent in magic. This was something that Thews didn't even have to purposely hide, since his skill in magic was terrible even in his old world.
What Thews was a little surprised about, that he had a high aptitude for dark and space type of magics. Other types were null, meaning that he couldn't use them without the help of magical tools, and even those would go mostly to waste.
Echo explained to him that his dark and space type magic aptitudes could be explained by using his past life. Dark could be explained via his connection to death, though dark magic in this world wasn't necessarily meant to inscribe it. Spacial magic could be explained by his overwhelming control over swords, meaning he could levitate them, summon them and store them with ease.
Thews' mana pool was little above average, most likely due to Alice being a legendary class mage. Rena had the same thing going on with her mana pool, but hers was much larger than Thews. Some even tried to scout Rena to study magic instead, but she refused.
The next exam was the written exam, to which Thews was prepared to give his all since "I know I won't be getting a high score, so let's give our best." But due to his enthusiasm, most of his text was hard to read due to his handwriting being terrible. It wasn't as illegible as it was that new year, but it was pretty out there to say the least.
When the written portion was over, the applicants were sent away for a week. Most students had to stay in an inn, hotel or any other place that allowed them to sleep there. Going back home would be impossible for some people, since traveling from town to town usually took so long that they wouldn't be able to reach the place in time and turn back. Thews was one of those people, as traveling from the academy city to his home would take about a week using a carriage. Thews could travel by using one of his swords abilities that connect two places using a door that warps space, or by flying on one of his swords through the skies. However, he could not do either of those as it would bring too many questions. As such, he stayed at a cheap inn for the week.
If it was legally acceptable, Thews would use this week by taking missions that the adventurers guild offered, but as the youngest age one can register as an adventurer was twelve, he could not enter. He considered lying about his age, but as it would bring more trouble than it would be worth if it got public, he decided to let it pass.
However, out of boredom, Thews went to the nearby forest and "go for a walk". There he had some encounters with monsters, but since it was near the academy city, there weren't that many dangerous monsters roaming around. And that's how he spent his week.
When the week had passed, the results were up and Thews went to look at them. He looked at the board for a while and began to get worried when he didn't find himself at the lower scored ones. He looked and looked, until he found that he realized that he had been reading from up to bottom. In his mind, the first number represented the amount of points that the applicant had, so naturally the number one would be the lowest score.
Then he looked at the real lowest scores, he saw that he was one of the lowest scoring people that passed. Did Alice do a little bribing? No one knows.
Satisfied, he left the place to pick up his uniform and from there, he was guided to the student dormitories where he would be placed in a room. The day after that would be the day when the school actually started.
After waiting a while, someone else came to the room. A boy that had a black hair and blue eyes. The boy said "Oh, you must be my new roommate. Nice to meet you. My name is Nicolas Lyrelius. What's your name?" To which Thews said while laying in his bed "Name's Mathews, but you can call me Thews. Wait… now that my dad is not here, I might as well be called Matt. But then it gets too complicated. Hmmm… On second thought, just call me Thews and I'll call you Nick."
Nick said "I… sure… you don't have a last name?" To which Thews said "I do have one. Did I forget to tell you?" To which Nick said "You did." Thews said, still laying in his bed, "Mathews Witsur."
Then Nick said "Witsur. Witsur. Witsur? Oh that's right. Witsur. That new barony that was established in Altren. The barony that was established by a hero named Alice." Thews opened his eyes for a moment and said "Mom did say something like that."
Nick says "It's an honor to meet a son of a hero and it's even greater honor to sleep in the same room." To which Thews says "Oh don't you worry. You won't be saying that for too long." Nick is a little confused by this, but says "Sure."
Then Nick starts to unpack his things and somewhere along the way, Thews asks "So where are you from?" This question surprises Nick for a moment, who then asks "You don't know?" To this, Thews says "Why would I know where a stranger is from?"
A moment of silence passes and then Nick bursts out to laugh. To this, Thews starts to laugh with him just for funsies. Then Nick says "That was a good one" and then Thews says "Sure, but seriously, where are you from?"
Nick says "You… are you seriously asking that?" To which Thews says "Yes."
Nick says "But you laughed with me as if it was a joke." To which Thews says "It looked like you were having fun, so I joined in."
Both look at each other for a moment, until Nick says with a smile "I'm from Terras." Thews asks "Where is that?" To which Nick says "In the bronze country."
Thews just says "Never been there. Maybe I should visit sometime." To this Nick says "If you will, be sure to tell me first. I'll make sure you will be pleasantly welcomed."
Thews smiles and says "I'll hold on to that offer then" and Nick says "If you don't, I'll be deeply hurt." Thews says "I'll make sure I don't break my new roomate's heart then."
Nick returns to unpack his things for a moment, until Thews asks "So why is it called the bronze county?"
The next day Thews is woken up by Nick, who's already ready to go. Nick says "If you don't get up now, you are going to be late for the first class." Thews says "Then why didn't you wake me up sooner?" To which Nick says "I tried, but you kept saying "Just few more minutes" and the like."
Then Thews raises up and says "You go on without me. I will ready myself up, but I won't be in any hurry to get to class in time." Nick chuckled and said "Sure, but don't tell me I didn't try." Nick leaves the room and Thews sluggishly readies himself to the first class.
When Thews is walking around, he sees three older students seemingly bullying a first year student. Thews was going to leave the situation be, but as he noticed that the first year was a girl, an idea rose to his head and he couldn't help himself from doing it.
And so Thews yelled very loudly "Looks like someone isn't getting any pussy tonight!" This got everyone's attention.
Thews continued yelling "Some older classmen looking for some freshman pussy since any of the girls in his year would give him any!" The bullies started walking towards Thews, who continued to yell "I mean it's alright to be assertive, but there is a limit of how much you can do that! Especially with faces like those!"
Then the main bully said "What the heck are you babbling on about little twerp?!" To which Thews said, still in a loud voice "I just said what I saw big bros. No need to be shy, we all lose sometimes. But unfortunately, with your faces, I think it happens more often than not."
The main bully said "Do you know who you are messing with here? I'm Torus Ranhteri of the great Ranhteri house. You better shut your mouth before we have to give you a lesson."
Then Thews said "Ranhteri? Never heard of it. Assteri would fit your face better if I'm being honest."
Torus then says to his buddies "Kill him." and then Thews makes a motion that looks like he is looking behind the group of bullies and says "Oh, teacher! Good timing."
This makes the bullies turn their heads for a second and in this time Thews kicks Torus right on the balls. This makes Torus drop down to the floor heaving in pain. The other two bullies are confused and Thews manages to kick one on the balls as well during the confusion.
After this, the third one shouts "You fucking rat!" and tries to punch Thews, to which Thews briefly considered to dodge, but thought that it's better to not cause any more ruckus and take on the proceeding beating.
While the third one is punching Thews, Thews just says between the punches "Are you sure you don't want to send those two to the nursery? I mean healing magic works, but I hear it is harder to do to dead body parts." This stops the third one for a moment and proceeds to think for a moment.
Then a teacher comes to the scene and separates the third bully from Thews. He wants to ask what happened here, but as there were two injured people, he said to the third bully "You. Help me get these two to the nursery. And you, go to the principal's office, now."
The teacher leaves with the bullies and Thews says "Nah. I think I'm good." And proceeds to go to the class as is.
Due to this being the first time in the building, Thews gets lost and wanders around the campus for quite some time. Together with his waking up late, the confrontation with the bullies and the lack of direction, Thews ends up coming to class almost forty minutes late.
When he gets inside the classroom, Thews says "Present." and this makes the teacher say "And who are you supposed to be? And what happened to your face?" To this, Thews says "Oh don't worry about my face. I just had a fun conversation with someone a moment ago. Name's Thews by the way."
The teacher says "Go to the nursery… No, class ends early. You, come with me." Thews managed to look at the class and he saw Nick flabbergasted at Thews. Then Thews and the teacher went to the nursery.
Inside the nursery, Thews and his teacher saw the bullies and the other teacher doing some healing. The teacher who sent Thews to the principal's office said "Why are you here?" To which Thews' own teacher says "Should he get treatment as well?" The first teacher said "Fine, but after we are done, we'll go to the principal's office."
Thews gets healed using magic after the balls of the two bullies get healed. Then all four of them go to the principal's office.
In the principal's office stood a dragonkin, a humanoid that looked like a human with the exception of horns, some scales and a dragon's tail. She had silver hair, her tail was white and she also had light pink eyes. She had three pink gems in her forehead, two half the size of the middle one and she looked like a fine young woman in her twenties.
The two teachers explained what they had seen to the principal, who then dismissed the teachers and asked the four students "What happened?" Thews just said bluntly "Those three annoyed me, so I kicked two of them in the balls." The honesty shocked all of the bullies.
The principal asks "Why only two of them?" To which Thews says "I didn't have time for the third one." and the principal went further to ask "So you would have if you had the time?" To which Thews said "Yes." The blatant honesty shocked the three bullies even more.
Then the principal asked "What did the three of you do to annoy Mathews here?" Torus said "We only talked to a girl."
Then Thews said "They were hitting on a younger girl so that they could sleep with her later." This angered one of the bullies, who retaliated "No we didn't!"
The principal says "Mathews, don't interrupt me when I'm talking to those three." to which Thews answered "No promises."
The principal asked the bullies "You three have been on thin ice for a while now, so tell me, other than your family statuses, what other reasons do you have to stay in my academy?" To this, Torus said "I'm a genius and you know it! Me being here brings your school more fame in the future if you ignore this from happening."
Then the principal says "So you do have something that could be perceived negatively." Torus said "I didn't…" But the principal stopped him as she said "I'm willing to let this slide, Torus, Arn and Urs. You three indeed have gained favorable grades from our teachers in this academy. But if I hear that you have gotten involved in further trouble, all three of you will get expelled. And each of you knows what being expelled from Ilumland means." This brings shivers down the bullies' spines.
Then the principal says "You three are dismissed. Go to your next class." Then the three bullies leave the principal's office and Torus gives a glare at Thews before he leaves. Now Thews and the principal were alone in the office.
The principal says "Mathews Witsur. Son of Alice and Mathias Witsur. Brother to Rena Witsur. Now starting as a student at my academy and already getting himself in trouble." Thews says "Those are indeed true things. I think."
The principal continues "I heard a lot from your mother and sister. Both of them warned me about your troublesome nature." Thews asks "Why would big sis say anything about me?" To which the principal says "Well whenever the topic of her family comes up, he makes sure to say that she doesn't want to make an enemy out of you."
Thews says "Isn't that a normal thing for a sister to say?" To which the principal says "It would be, if that wasn't the most common thing she said about you. But then there is your mother who describes you as a slacker who brings her name back to its roots."
Thews says "I don't get it. I do slack a lot though." Then the principal rises from her chair and starts to walk towards Thews as she says "And then there is Mr. Luke who felt something off when she had a match with you. Truly intriguing."
Then the principal places her hand on Thews' shoulder and says "And then you manage to overpower two fifth year students in a matter of seconds." To this Thews says "I mean if you manage to break anyone's guard, you can attack them on their weak spot easily. And when it comes to men, there is always that one spot, so…" The principal says "So?" and Thews continues "I'm just good at looking for opportunities, I guess?"
The principal looks at Thews for a moment and lets go of his shoulder. Then she says "You are now suspended for a week. You may stay in school grounds, but you aren't allowed to attend classes. If you try to attend any classes, this privilege will be annulled from you. Congratulations Mathews. You are the first first year who was suspended during the first day in this academy's history. You may leave now." With that, Thews leaves the office with a smile on his face and when he could no longer hear, the principal muttered to herself "Why on earth would a child that young smell like an ocean of blood?"
When Nick eventually came back to his room, he asked Thews straight away in a loud tone "What on earth happened?! Did you get into a fight or something?!" To this, Thews just gave Nick a proud smirk and this made Nick ask "What is that supposed to mean?! Explain!"
While still having a shit eating grin on his face, Thews explained "Well if you are that eager to know, then I'll tell you. And once I tell you, be sure to spread the story around the school. The thing is…" Nick waits in anticipation.
Then Thews says "Three upperclassmen annoyed me, so I kicked two of them in the balls while the two of them weren't looking. Then the third one caught me and went ham on my face."
Nick asks "Why did they annoy you?" To which Thews thinks for a moment, until he just says bluntly "Don't know."
Nick shouts "What do you mean you don't know?! If word got around that you kick people between the legs just because you feel like it, then your reputation will be ruined!" After which Thews gave it a moment to settle, and finished it with a proud smirk.
This made Nick shout "Why are you giving me that face?! You… you… *sigh* You know what, forget it. I suppose your reputation does do you justice."
Thews spends a couple of days in his room, just chilling, until Rena comes in his room with a not so happy face. Still, Thews just says "Sup sis." To which Rena says "I knew I expected something to happen, but this…"
Thews just says "Is it so unusual for me to just lay around in my room doing nothing?" To which Rena says "You must be joking." To which Thews says "What do you mean?"
Then Rena says "You know that I came here to talk about your suspension." To which Thews says "Oh right. There was a thing like that put on me."
Rena asks "Are you saying you forgot?" To which Thews says "I mean, I was lying in a comfy room like always so well that I forgot that this place is supposed to be a school or some shit."
Rena stares at Thews for a moment, and after a while Thews asks "Now that I think about it, isn't this supposed to be the boys dormitory?" To which Rena says "I got a special permission from the principal whenever the matter concerns you." And Thews just says "I see."
And then Rena says "I'm going to send a message to mom and dad about this matter soon. Do you have anything you want me to write on it?" To this, Thews says "Just tell them I ain't done yet."
Rena responds by saying "I hope this is meant to imply that you will continue to study hard and not that you will cause more trouble." And Thews just says "Whatever you say sis. Whatever you say."
Rena sighs and then says "I heard that your roommate is the Lyrelius boy and I heard that he is diligent. Has he at least given you some material to go through on your own?" Thews responds with "He did give me a couple of pieces of paper and some books along with them, but I haven't read them."
Rena says "So start reading them." And Thews says "Now?" Rena says quite sternly "Now." Thews tries to argue by saying "But…" but Rena says "I won't repeat it a third time."
And so, Thews meekly goes through the things that Nick provided him with. Rena stayed in the room to supervise Thews, which made Thews question her at one point "Shouldn't you be in a class or something?" To which Rena says "I got permission from the principal. Now what is the answer to this question?"
With that, Rena continued to come to Thews' room every day for the remainder of his suspension for at least two hours a day.
On one of those times, Thews had a chat with one of his swords. A pleasant man's voice started talking to him. Saying "I heard you got in trouble, master." To which Thews said "Oh, it's you Idiot. How's your teaching going? How many have quit since we last talked." To this, Idiot says "Changing the subject from the get go. I see you have improved, however little it may be. Also the direction you are improving is… troubling. But I'll humor you by answering you first, but I'll expect you to answer me later."
Thews says "Sure sure. I'll say what I want to say later. So how has it been?" To this, Idiot says "I bear great news in saying that I have more disciples come than go since we last talked. In fact, only one has left since then."
Thews says "You seem quite happy about it, but when was it that we last talked?" To which Idiot answered by saying bluntly "Seven months." Thews repeated "Seven months, huh. I mean that is some time, but still. Don't you feel a little shallow for not being able to go a year without someone leaving?" To this, Idiot responds with "Attacking my character are we? But yes, I do feel a little disappointed in myself for not being able to have a full year without someone quitting. Luckily, one of my most promising disciples has said to me that I just have generally bad luck with picking students."
Then Thews asks "So how many have you been sleeping with now?" To which Idiot answered with "Ah, now you are trying to provoke me by making it seem that my character has stooped so low in the past. No, I haven't slept with any of my students, be it in this world or the previous one."
Thews says quite cheekily "How can you say that when you have thrusted yourself inside so many people's bodies in the past?" And Idiot responds by saying "And now you are saying something misleading on purpose. I'm not happy that I have been used to shed blood in the past, but as I was created a sword meant to send a message, I cannot say that it is an unfounded thing."
There is a small pause, until Idiot says "Now that we are done with your questions, how about you pay me in kind and answer mine." Thews asks "What was that you asked again?" To which Idiot says "I brought up the fact that I know that you got yourself in trouble not long ago."
Thews says "I mean, are you surprised?" To which Idiot says "You're still asking questions when it's your turn to answer. But no, I wasn't that surprised by the fact that you got in trouble yet again. But what I am curious about is the circumstances behind why you got in trouble."
Thews says "I just saw a bunch of people whose faces I didn't like, so I kicked some of them in the nuts." Idiot says "From what I have observed, you don't strike me as someone who would go that far for that meek of a reason."
Thews says "It is what it is. I don't know what else to tell you." Idiot digs further and says "We both know that that is not the entire picture. And you know somewhat how my ability works, so there is no trying to argue against it."
Thews then pauses for a moment before he blurts out "I got thinking about your story about equality." Idiot says "Oh that. What made you connect that conversation to your actions?"
Thews says "I don't know. Something about humanity seeing true equality in a wrong light and then seeing a girl being bullied somehow ticked me off. So I made sure to lower those shitheads' reputation to where it suited them." Idiot responds by saying "It sounds like something you would do."
Then Thews asks Idiot "What do you think about the… what you call it… image of true equality?" To which Idiot says "What do you think someone like me would feel about it?"
Thews mutters "A sword used by an infamous philosopher who challenged many minds in near lunacy. The sword she wielded was called "The idiot's solution". What would someone like that think of equality that forsakes one person's viewpoint and humanity with it?"
Idiot waits for a while for Thews to answer, until Thews says "Yeah. I have no idea what you would think. In the first place, I haven't even figured out what the punchline of your name means." Idiot then says "How long has it been since we met each other? Was it a century? Two perhaps. Or maybe even a third."
Thews just says "How am I supposed to remember? Go ask Echo." To this, Idiot responds with "You failed to see my point yet again, yet sometimes you spew words of wisdom like no other. Curious. Truly curious. Perhaps those are what we call moments of wisdom."
Then Thews asks "And why would someone call themselves Idiot by choice? That makes no sense. I mean I was called Centipede, but that was something that I didn't choose." To this, Idiot says "You may have lived for centuries, but that has only shown that you are a living proof that no amount of time can cure stupidity. No offense, of course." Thews just says "None taken. I'm completely aware."
Then Idiot says "I think it is high time I return to see what my students are up to. Take care master. I know that this won't change anything, but do not be the cause of future troubles and try to distance yourself from troubles that you see. It has been proven that you are the cause of many headaches. Oh, and try to study, won't you."
After that, Idiot stops talking to Thews and now it was only Thews alone with his thoughts. He had learned that it's about time for Rena to arrive, so he opened the window and jumped off it to avoid her. Rena had her way of locating Thews, but that time Thews can spend lazing around.
When Rena entered Thews' room and noticed that he was not inside, she sighed and pulled out a magic device that showed Thews' exact location. A countermeasure that Mira came up with due to Thews' habit of disappearing.
Is tracking a person without their permission legal? No.
Does Mira care about the legalities when it comes to Thews? No.
Can Rena let go of the legality of her brother being known to her, Mira and Alice? Questionable.
Does Thews know? No.
Will Thews eventually know? If no one tells him outright, not likely since he doesn't think that anyone other than Lyke can do it. Lyke is one of Thews' swords that can track a person by the drop of their blood and their relatives for up to three generations.
Will someone tell Thews? Those that are in the know have sworn to secrecy. Even Echo and a couple other Thews' swords.
Will they ever stop tracking Thews? Not likely.
With that being said, Rena eventually found Thews and Thews got a huge scolding by Rena due to his resistance.
And so the first week of school life was spent by Thews.