Ringing
Ringing.
Just after having the best night of my life, a shrill sound echoed throughout the room. That noise came from my alarm clock, which I had set to ring every day at five in the morning.
Still half asleep, I forced my body to get up to turn off the alarm, which kept ringing, refusing to stop. I then headed towards the bathroom, which was not far from my bed.
In fact, there were a lot of things I hadn't explained yet, but for now, I'll just talk about the dorms of the Academy.
The Academy has several dorms, and the one where I currently reside is reserved for students in the S classes.
Ah, should I also talk about that? Well, let's start with the different classes.
Actually, the Academy's classes are ranked, starting from rank E, where the weaker students are, those who either barely passed the entrance exam or paid the Academy's exorbitant fees, up to rank S, where the geniuses and children of the imperial family are. But how did someone like me end up in a class like this?
"Well, let's just say I got lucky."
But anyway, back to the point. Each class has its own dormitory. In each dorm, students from first to fifth year — the final year before graduation — live together. Each dorm has a different name. The one I'm currently staying in is called *Semeion*, which means "miracle" in the ancient tongue, if I remember correctly.
After rinsing my face with water, I got dressed in an old tracksuit I brought from home. I then left the dorm and started my morning jog.
Of course, I'm not the only one doing this early in the morning, so I ran into a few students who were already out of breath, taking a break.
I kept running for a good hour before spending several more minutes searching for one of the many gyms on campus.
After a good hour of working out, I returned to the dorms. Once back, I pulled out the white mana crystal I had hidden in my desk, then brought it to my mouth.
I hesitated for a few seconds before finally swallowing the mana crystal, which was about the size of a marble, with difficulty.
"Kurk!"
A few seconds later, a huge amount of energy violently surged through my body, causing some pain. But ignoring it, I skillfully manipulated the mana within me. Several minutes passed, and I finally felt my mana core become more refined.
Following the increase in my mana core's rank, a foul odor spread throughout the room, due to the impurities my body had expelled.
"A green-ranked core at only sixteen years old, am I a genius~?"
Mana cores are divided into several ranks, with the lowest being black. People with a black-ranked mana core can't use much mana because their core doesn't have enough space.
Then, there's the diamond rank, a rank that only a handful of people have reached in over a thousand years. As of now, only one person possesses a diamond-ranked mana core, and thanks to it, they can face legendary beings like dragons on equal footing.
"Too bad that bastard left the empire to get lost in 'that' part of the continent."
Anyway, my mana core had surpassed the black and red ranks and reached the green rank. Even though it may not seem like much, in reality, if everyone knew, I would probably be considered a genius throughout the empire.
I got up from my seat and finally headed towards the bathroom. I then took a cold shower for about fifteen minutes before stepping out. I started putting on the Academy's uniform.
The jacket of my uniform was cobalt blue, with beautiful golden patterns attached to it, while my pants were beige, and I wore a nice white linen shirt.
After getting dressed, I began tidying up my room before finally leaving the dorm.
I then made my way to the Academy's building C, where my first class of the day would take place. I had to walk ten kilometers just to reach building C, and once inside, I had to walk another kilometer to get to my classroom.
It was eight in the morning when I opened the door to my class, and while I thought no one would be there since it was still early, I was greeted by a young girl with pale, almost sickly skin but without any imperfections, long black hair as dark as ebony, and blood-red eyes.
The third princess, Analia, looked at me for a moment with her doll-like face before turning her head, as if to show her indifference towards me.
I walked up to her and spoke with a small, friendly smile.
"Excuse me, but you're sitting in my seat. Could you please move?"
The princess looked me straight in the eyes and opened her mouth.**
"Don't we have the right to sit wherever we want? You should have gotten here before me if you're not happy."
"Then can you explain why here and not somewhere else?"
"I like this spot."
'Is she trying to annoy me? If so, she's almost succeeded.'
"I see…"
I murmured, then turned around and sat a bit lower than where the princess was.
About twenty minutes passed, and the first students finally started arriving. After a few more minutes, only three seats remained in the amphitheater, and somehow, without me noticing, the princess was now sitting beside me, staring intently at me.
'How did she get here without me noticing? And why is she looking at me like that? Did I do something wrong?'
While this question crossed my mind, the classroom door suddenly swung open, and a man in his thirties walked cheerfully to the desk facing the students.
The man had long red hair that flowed like flames down to his waist, and flawless pale skin. He turned to face us, revealing beautiful light blue eyes.
"Good morning everyone, it's been more than a week since our last class, so I hope you still remember your teacher~."
'...Who is he? I have no memory of this teacher… Has my incredible memory finally failed me?'
"For those who may have forgotten this amazing teacher, let me remind you quickly. I am Professor Verdajin Decar. Here in this class, we learn how to survive against demonic monsters, and we also study their weaknesses. As I said at the beginning of the year – four weeks ago, this class is not mandatory, so you don't have to come, and you won't be suspended for missing it."
'Ah... now I know why I didn't remember him... I must have skipped this class, preferring to mess around outside the Academy…'
"Hey, you!"
While I was lost in my thoughts, Professor Verdajin's voice snapped me back. I looked at him, then pointed at myself.
"Yes, you, the kid with black hair, pale skin, and dull gray eyes."
'So it's me again…'
"How can I help you, Professor?"
"You'll come see me after class. I have something to give you."
I nodded slightly, and the professor began the lesson.
*
An hour passed, during which the princess paid more attention to me than to the lesson, but every time I mentioned it, she would turn her head and tell me not to say nonsense. So I eventually decided to act like nothing was happening.
During that hour, I realized something.
'This class is actually really interesting…'
Aside from a few lame jokes the professor made, he explained and spoke so well that it was quite easy to get drawn into his stories and understand what he was talking about.
And at the end of the class, as expected, I went to see the professor.
"You wanted to see me?"
"Woah?!"
I said softly with a friendly smile. The professor, probably not expecting to hear a voice behind him, suddenly jumped and looked at me with a pale expression.
"'Sigh'... Yes, that's right."
He said in a trembling voice.
"So, how can I help you?"
"I need you to deliver all this to a student."
After saying that, he handed me a pile of papers and continued explaining.
"The student didn't come to class today, so I need someone to give him these documents as soon as possible. Could you do that for me?"
"Yes, don't worry about it. But could you tell me which dorm this student stays in?"
"Oh, right, of course, he's in Lophlys dorm, room six hundred and two."
"Alright, thank you. I'll leave now, or I'll be late for my next class. Have a good day, sir."
"Yes, have a good day too, and thank you!"
After this little interaction, I left Professor Verdajin's classroom and headed to my next class.