"Is this a dream?"
Seeing what was happening in front of me, only this thought ran through my mind. But a certain sensation proved otherwise.
I looked at the young girl sitting on the ground in front of me for a few seconds before finally leaning down slightly. I then extended my right hand to the 'frightened' girl.
"I'm sorry, are you okay?"
I said with a comforting smile and a sympathetic tone.
"A-Ah, yes."
Surely not expecting my gesture, she stared at my hand for a moment before grabbing it. She then used it to help herself up, bowed, and ran off without saying another word.
As I watched this scene unfold before me, a hand grabbed my shoulder and forcefully turned me around. An ugly face then appeared in front of me.
It was a boy around fifteen years old, with brown hair and brown eyes, and slightly overweight. At the time, he was my lackey. I looked him straight in the eyes, and he spoke to me with a furrowed brow, showing his confusion.
"Young master Reyn, why did you let that wench go so easily?"
"Well, maybe because the person at fault this time was none other than me?"
As I said this, a great silence filled the Academy's hallway, which had been full of students' chatter just a few seconds earlier.
'Is it because of what I just said?'
"W-What did you just say, young master Reyn?"
'Sigh, will he never leave me alone?'
"Listen, kid, from now on, our gang is dissolved. I'm counting on you to leave me alone."
After those words, he looked extremely shocked, but I didn't care, and I walked away. If this wasn't a dream, as I had thought, and if I truly experienced this phenomenon called 'Regression' as described in certain novels, then there were many things I could change in the future.
'But before that, I need to get stronger, strong enough to counter the demon attack in ten years.'
There were actually many ways to become stronger. The first would be to use artifacts from ancient times. The second method is to learn martial arts, master aura, or learn magic—things that, thanks to my memories from my first life, would be much easier to learn.
And finally, the third method is to find and absorb a God's heart. In my previous life, only three hearts belonging to gods were found, one was destroyed, and the other two were absorbed by renowned swordsmen.
Except... one of those two swordsmen died of old age an hour after absorbing all the power from the heart.
'So I could go and take that heart, and the one that was destroyed so it can finally serve a purpose.'
Of course, I don't know how to absorb the powers residing in a heart, so I need to find someone who knows how. And obviously, I know who can help me with this; that person is in this Academy, but unfortunately, I won't be able to meet them for three months...
"Well, that gives me time to improve my reputation, otherwise I can forget about that person's teaching."
BEEP-!
BEEP-!
As I was thinking about future plans, the bracelet on my wrist began vibrating, warning me that the next class of the day was about to start. And if my memory serves me right, my next class should be sparring against other students from my class.
"Well, let's try to do better than last time..."
I then quickened my pace towards the training grounds, which were a little over a kilometer away from where I was. After about fifteen minutes, I finally arrived, only two minutes late.
The instructor spotted me from afar and, with a frown, shouted at me.
"HEY, YOU LITTLE BRAT!"
I pointed at myself, thinking I must have misheard. But eventually, that walking wall of muscle, who was obviously the instructor, came toward me with heavy steps.
"Hey, kid, where were you?"
I cautiously examined them before finally responding with a small smile.
"I had a problem earlier, it delayed me."
"You think I'm going to believe that?"
"It's the truth, sir."
He looked at me suspiciously before finally leaving me alone. He then positioned himself where everyone could see him and explained what our next class would be about.
Basically, we would be chosen at random and fight against other students. Each student would compete in a total of six matches, and for each victory, we would earn one point. With each point, we moved up in the rankings, but if we lost a match, one point would be deducted.
In my previous life, I had only managed to earn a single point… But in this life, I plan to gather at least five points for the reward that the Academy gives.
"Reyn Fiorsav and Judith Emalia."
After the instructor finished explaining the rules, he called out my name, along with the second strongest person in this year's student rankings.
'Did I do something for him to pit me against her?'
In my previous life, I never fought against this girl, so my chances of winning would normally have been quite low, but that's if I hadn't regressed. But, well, I only plan to win five out of six matches, so it won't be a problem to lose this one.
I positioned myself in the middle of the combat room, facing Judith. I then held the wooden sword in my right hand in front of me.
"Begin!!"
"I FORFEIT!"
As the instructor shouted the start of the match and Judith charged at me, I yelled my surrender at the top of my lungs.
The instructor, like many students, looked at me with an expression that said something like, 'What did he just say?'
"You... Are you sure about what you just announced?"
"Yeah, yeah, don't worry."
I put down my wooden sword and sat among the other students, pretending not to notice the many people mocking me.
*
Two hours passed, and most of the students had already fought. Among them, a few very powerful students for their age showed us incredible talent, making me wonder:
'Why did I never hear about such talent in my previous life, and where could people this skilled have been before my regression?'
Then the memory of a certain incident came back to me: when I had just become a soldier, there was a rumor that a secret society working with demons had attacked the Academy, killing many young talents who could have been useful to the Empire. But as I said, it was only a rumor intended to harm the Academy.
'But… what if the Emperor had hidden the whole story?'
Damn it... If all these rumors are true, then I'll have to work hard to prevent too many losses.
But anyway, let's get back to the practical class from earlier, which still hasn't ended. At that moment, I had a total of four points, and since my goal was to collect five points, I couldn't afford to lose my last match.
Unfortunately for me, I had never had much luck in my life, so when the instructor had to choose my opponent for my final match, I ended up facing that girl, Judith, once again.
"Are you going to forfeit again?"
"No, unfortunately, not this time."
I grabbed my sword and unleashed an overwhelming killing intent throughout the entire training ground. The girl's survival instincts must have kicked in because she suddenly rushed at me, swinging her sword toward my neck, hoping to decapitate me.
Clink
The dull sound of our swords clashing echoed throughout the training ground. In a smooth motion, I gently pushed her sword back before speaking to her in a serious tone.
"What are you doing, kid? The instructor hasn't announced the start of this fight yet."
"… P-pardon me, I don't know what came over me…"
She then backed away several meters and apologized softly.
"Can we begin, sir?"
I asked with a smile to the poor instructor, now unsettled by the killing intent coming from someone so young.
"H-hum, yes."
He raised his hand and shouted the start of this already predetermined match.
As soon as the instructor shouted, the girl didn't move, staring at me without blinking, as if she was afraid I might disappear from her sight.
While watching her, I also began gathering all my mana into my legs. Then, in the blink of an eye, I disappeared from where I had been standing earlier. I reappeared behind the girl and struck toward her back, but somehow, she managed to dodge my blade, which was dangerously close to her.
Immediately after dodging my attack, she turned and swung her sword in a horizontal slash. But unfortunately for her, I had spent half my life on the battlefield. Such an attack was nothing to me; I skillfully dodged her blade and kicked my right leg toward her left side.
Judith was forcefully flung into the air, finally dropping her sword against her will. Once her body hit the ground, she performed a backflip, landing on her feet.
But obviously, I didn't intend to give her time to recover from all that, so I rushed toward her. Then, once in front of Judith, I threw my right fist, coated with a thin layer of aura, toward her stomach.
In a hasty move, she shielded her belly with her arms, but unfortunately for her, being too weak, my fist—coated with aura—was enough to make her faint. And obviously, that's what happened.
A few seconds later, she collapsed to the ground, stiff and unconscious, and the instructor declared me the winner.
'Well, now I shouldn't be seen as a weakling anymore.'
After this fight, the class continued for another twenty minutes before ending, and finally, I received my ranking reward: a white mana crystal.
Mana crystals come in various colors, which indicate their level of refinement. White-colored crystals are at the highest refinement stage, stage 1. Thanks to this item, I'll be able to enhance my mana core, which will allow me to get stronger and finally perform aura techniques.
After that, the day flew by, and I was finally able to take a nice hot bath before eventually throwing myself into a soft bed, something I hadn't done in over a decade.
And finally, I just closed my eyes and fell asleep.