[---]
According to what he'd heard from the head dean, Regis, Thorfen Academy strives to create an atmosphere of equality in education. However, despite this ideal, rankings and rewards were still necessary to push students toward greatness.
Damian could see this clearly as he looked at the building that housed the Diamond Class.
Compared to the other classes, their building looked much newer and more advanced. It had its own cafeteria, which resembled a restaurant, a fully-equipped training room with a simulation system, a luxurious lounge, a swimming pool, and even a direct path to the gardens.
It felt less like an educational institution and more like a five-star inn.
Putting those thoughts aside, he made his way inside and headed towards their classroom, which thankfully enough was on the ground floor. He stopped by the entrance of his classroom and took a deep breath.
After flipping the switch on his head, he opened the door and walked through.
What greeted him was the sight of five figures, sitting far apart from each other, and all their eyes instantly locked on Damian the moment they noticed him. There's a certain pressure coming from the stares of such celebrities, but Damian easily breezed through it as he stepped up to the podium.
He placed his suitcase down, pretending to arrange some papers as his eyes darted around the room.
The first ones that he noticed were Luna and Richard, who were sitting beside each other. Luna greeted him with a smile the moment she saw Damian looking at her before sending a side-eye at Richard. It seemed that their little bickering from yesterday hadn't been resolved.
Richard didn't seem to be fazed though... if anything, it seemed that he was deliberately ignoring her animosity.
The next folks were two peerless maidens who were also sitting beside each other, but he could notice quite a distance between them. One of them had short brown hair and was blankly staring at the ceiling with her blue eyes. She seemed to be stuck in her own little world...
But more importantly...
"..."
Damian's eyes landed on the black sword that was at her desk... he didn't notice it once he walked in, but now that he was directly staring at it, he could sense a malevolent energy coming off from that sword. It was also an awfully familiar one, similar to what he once encountered during his time on the battlefield.
This girl was none other than the disciple of the woman who claimed the title of the god of the sword...
Saika Fujimoto.
He had heard of some rather nasty rumors about her... there's a bit of a possibility that she could be the great evil that the oracle was talking about, but...
"That's an issue for another time, I suppose..."
He decided to put it aside as he observed the one beside her.
Her black hair had the same form as seaweed, and her eyes were also carefully observing the entire classroom. A normal person couldn't notice it, but Damian was immediately able to tell that she was looking for the quickest exit routes, a perfect point of attack, as well as gauging the strength of everyone...
"She's well-trained..." Damian mused.
Sayaka Kurosawa. A deadly woman sharing the same trade as him and belonging to one of the deadliest families of killers in the entire Eastern Island alliance.
Last but not least was a person sitting in the corner who seemed to be testosterone incarnate.
He was incredibly tall, possibly standing at a whopping seven feet. His grey hair was slicked back, slightly covering his wolf ears which were poking out. Despite students having their uniforms specifically tailored to their size, his wasn't able to contain the massive muscles sealed within...
Sigrid. A beastkin who was next in line to become the next chief of the biggest clans in the north...
He wasn't staring at Damian, but rather at Saika and Richard. That was good news for him because getting in the crosshairs of a beastkin meant they'd acknowledged your strength, and him catching the attention of a big-shot beastkin was the last thing that he wanted...
He was honestly expecting each member of the Diamond class to be present, but it seemed that there was only half of them this time around...
Once the clock landed on seven, Damian cleared his throat.
"Alright, let's start class, shall we? My name is Damian Russleborne, and I'm assigned to teach you war history as well as military tactics. It's a pleasure to meet you all."
Saying this, he took a piece of chalk and began writing his name on the board.
"I'm gonna be your advisor up until you all graduate, so I hope we get along. Since it's way too early in the morning, I'm not gonna force you all to introduce yourselves to me. I already know who you all are, and I'm pretty sure that some of you are aware of just what kind of class this is..."
He then took out the instructor handbook from his suitcase.
"For the first day, I'm just gonna give you all a brief overview of the rules of the academy, as well as your responsibility as a Diamond-class student. As you already know, the rank of Diamond is the highest ranking the Thorfen Academy can give to students... it essentially means that we've recognized you all as the cream of the crop for this school year. But don't get too conceited, as if another class gets more performance points than us, then there's a possibility that they could usurp-"
Damian's words were cut off by the door of the classroom suddenly being opened.
He then saw a familiar figure walking in, and the moment their eyes met, she froze...
"Professor... Damian..."
Her words made him raise a brow.
How exactly did she know his name?
Well, it's true that his name is on the class handbooks for students, so there's a chance that she might've known it there... but he highly doubts that anyone would be psychotic enough to read through the student handbook without having a knife pressed to their backs.
"Uhm... Miss Mellaina, right? You're a bit late, but I suppose I could overlook it since this is the first day. Please take a seat and-..."
"Professor!"
"-!"
Then the unthinkable happened.
Mellaina seemed to charge at him out of nowhere with her arms spread out...
Damian didn't know what was going on, but a switch in his head was immediately flipped. He instinctively released his magic limiters and enhanced his eyesight, which made him perceive his surroundings much slower...
Why was she doing this? This was an irrelevant question that he could ask later. What matters is that someone was possibly out for him.
Her form was a bit sloppy, but there's a chance that she's going for a tackle and then straight to a takedown.
High elves were said to be a species heavily reliant on magic, so he found it strange that she wasn't using magic to enhance her strength.
Nevertheless, she was fast. Damian's mind immediately raced, thinking of a counterattack.
He could hold both her hands, crush them, and then kick her in the stomach before sending her flying. Or he could sweep her off her feet and restrain her on the ground.
"Yeah, no way in hell I can do that..."
He'd be incurring the wrath of the academy along with the entire Elven race.
So, he decided to go with the safest choice, which was to slightly move out of her way...
"Eh?" She passed by him, and while he didn't intend to do it, she also tripped at the podium and had her face hit the floor.
The entire class went silent.
And for the first time in ages, Damian felt a sense of fear brew inside his heart. It was a feeling comparable to when he fought the demon king. His mind raced, and he tried to come up with a possible solution to this situation.
Elves were a prideful bunch, and high elves even more so. There's no way in hell they would let things go after being humiliated like this.
One of the possible solutions that he could see working was groveling way lower than she was right now. It's a shot in the dark, but if he sounded really sorry, then there's a possibility that-
"Ehehe... Professor, you're such a tease~"
Before he knew it, Mellaina was up and enveloped him in her warm embrace. He could feel her smooth skin upon his as well as the lovely scent of flowers tickling his nostrils.
Tons of questions were flooding his mind right now, but he forcibly calmed himself down.
"Miss Mellaina, what are you doing right now?-..."
"Ssh." She placed her fingers on his lips.
"I know that you're confused right now, but please just let me have this... it's been a tough ride for me..."
"..."
After a while, she reluctantly let go and walked forward to the class.
A mischievous smile spread across her face as she took a deep breath.
"Well, well, well. I'd heard that this year's Diamond Class is hailed as having the best prodigies in the history of the academy... but you all seem pitifully ordinary. Nothing more than a gang of riff-raffs running from their problems."
"What did you say?..." Saika asked as she slowly reached for her sword.
"It seems that you're all not just slow, but deaf as well... but so be it, I'm a benevolent being, so I'll repeat myself. You're all a pathetic bunch. In all honesty, I can't believe that the academy was foolish enough to put us in the same rank."
"Big words for someone who tripped and fell like an idiot."
"Touche. On an unrelated note, didn't your dad die an idiot as well?..."
"-!" Once her hands landed on it, she seemingly disappeared.
The rest of the class began to look around, unable to find her.
But Damian was easily able to follow her movements.
She was swiftly bouncing all around the classroom, making sure to get into Mellaina's blind spot, and once she was able to find it, she immediately went for the kill.
A quick slice to the neck. It was clean and perfect. Anyone would've died without being able to realize what was going on... at least that was the case if it hit.
"Fufu, slow and sloppy... do you seriously think you can amount to your master?" Mellaina was surrounded by a spherical, green barrier that stopped her attack.
"You better watch your tongue, you elven whore, unless you want me to cut it for you."
"Awww, are you gonna cry? Just like how you did back then with your family being-..."
"I'll kill you!"
Damian could only sigh as he watched the scene in front of him.
True to his experiences in the military... almost nothing goes the way it's planned to be.