After being escorted to my next class by Odeta who kept on insisting on it until I gave in, I settled down into my seat inside the class.
It was only then did I realise that my classmates were not from my year but actually my seniors. Is this what happens when I join an intermediate class?
I suppose such a thing should have been obvious considering that most first years come in without any skills and learn them while they were here.
The good thing was that even though everyone here was supposed to be older than me, I looked like I belonged here since I look the same age as they do in this body.
The bad thing was that all of them knew who I was, both because of the fact that this class seemed small enough that all the students knew each other and also because they saw me on the first day of school issuing my challenge.
Oh, when I said small, I really do mean small since there’s literally only two other students aside from me, both of them male Mahuns.
Since I’m a newcomer, I guess I should give them my greetings.
“Good day, may I know if this is the class for Umbramancy?”
Surprisingly, both of them ignored me, going so far as to look at the other side of the class to avoid eye contact.
Hmm… I’m not sure if this is because they are shy or they didn’t like me, but I’m going to guess it’s the latter.
Since they don’t seem interested in interacting with me I decided to take the seat furthest away from them on the other side of the class.
They didn’t even look in my direction as I sat down, concentrating more on their notes in front of them instead.
No big deal, I’ll just be taking out my class materials that I needed for this class.
The teacher came in a moment later, yawning as he did so.
[Name: Fabian
Title: Umbramancy Teacher, Slacker, Shadow
Race: Mahun
Gender: Male
Current Mood: Tired
Stats:
20 Strength
13 Dexterity
12 Endurance
240 Magic
Skills:
Teaching (Tier 2), Alchemy (Tier 1)
Magic Skills:
Umbramancy (Tier 3), Cryomancy (Tier 1)]
He’s a teacher in this Elite school? Should I be worried?
At least his stats do show that he has the skills to back it up I suppose?
“Hey guys… Welcome back to Umbramancy class I suppose. I’ll be your teacher for your intermediate studies for Umbramancy. Why you people even choose to study this magic is truly beyond me…”
He stopped when he saw me sitting at the other side of the class.
“Huh… Even the famous special class student is here huh… Seriously, what’s wrong with you all?”
Well then… Should I just walk out of this class? I’m not even sure if I’ll learn anything here now…
He let out a loud sigh and scratched his head, “Alright… For the newcomers, I’m Fabian. I don’t really care what you call me since I’ll probably forget your name anyway.”
The other two guys didn’t show any reaction to his words so I assume they were already used to it or they just plain didn’t care.
He then leaned against the teacher’s table, “So anyway… Just so that we’re all on the same page, all of you here are already familiar enough with Umbramancy to cast some spells of your own… At least I hope so… That’s why we’ll have an impromptu test now to see if you should be here or I can avoid teaching this class altogether. So let’s just start with [Shadow Forge], which I sure hope you all know the chant for because I’m not going to write that down for you.”
Damn, I think I might actually just leave this class and study on my own after all…
One of the other students stood up, “Teacher! Could I go first?”
The teacher looked at him with a bored expression, “I suppose so… Go on then.”
I watched as that student reached out his hand in front of him and closed his eyes, “Forge of darkness, form the shadows and remake them as I require. Be it shield, sword or spear, the limit shall only be self-imposed. With my strength of will, the darkness shall bend, form and coalesce as my creation. The shadows are my ingots, the darkness my hammer and anvil. [Shadow Forge].”
Shadows rose up from the ground and formed themselves in front of his palm, slowly taking the shape of what appeared to be a knife.
He snatched it out of the air and held it in front of him, showing it to the rest of us.
Even from here, I could see that the knife wasn’t even made that well considering parts of the blade were chipped in several places. What’s the point of him making such a bad knife with that magic though?
Our teacher narrowed his eyes at the construct, “What is that? Is that supposed to be some kind of saw that you failed to make? How did you even make a knife that bad? Were you thinking of your father’s crooked teeth or something when you made that knife?”
Oh wow… He doesn’t pull any punches when he’s critiquing huh?
The teacher then went up to him and chanted the spell to materialise his own weapon with a shape similar to a tonfa.
He swung the tonfa into smash against the blade and the knife the student had made immediately shattered into pieces without much resistance.
The teacher shook his head, “Your mind is distracted when you casted the spell. I taught you before that the imagery of the object you are trying to form is also important. If you concentrate too much on the words of the spell, you’ll end up forming something as weak as that, especially when your own will is weak too. Or… You had other thoughts when chanting it.”
Woah, what? He’s actually teaching him seriously? I don’t get it, does he actually want to teach or not? I can’t even tell with how he seemed to flip his attitude around so quickly.
“Sorry teacher… I was… Indeed a little distracted…” The student apologised sincerely.
Our teacher huffed, “Hmph, if that is the case then perhaps you should consider visiting the toilet and take care of your needs before coming back here. Otherwise, I have absolutely no problem with embarrassing you either.”
“S… Sorry, teacher Fabian… I’ll err… I’ll keep what you suggested in mind…”
Huh… Does he have a stomachache or something? Well obviously you won’t be able to cast this spell properly if you were distracted by a bad stomach ache.
Our teacher then turned to the other Mahun and raised an eyebrow.
The other student stood up and chanted the spell needed to summon his own weapon with his palm thrusted out and pointing upwards.
He had more success than his friend considering a normal looking axe appeared in his hands which he held it up with both hands so that everyone could see it.
He looked so proud of himself that I actually felt a little bad when Fabian went up to him and swung his shadow tonfa down right on top of the axe’s handle, causing it to break into half and disappearing into thin air.
“And here we have the most prime example of someone putting so much attention to outer appearances that they completely neglected the insides! Did you seriously think you can get away with that hollow of a construct?” Fabian scoffed.
“N… No, teacher…”
“That thing can’t even take a blow from a Horned Rabbit, what’s the use of it? Sit down.”
The student sighed in defeat and sat down, leaving the teacher to walk towards me next.
At this point, I’m already suspecting that this guy is actually a strict and competent teacher but he just finds the act of teaching bothersome.
“Ah, we can’t forget the special student of course… How bothersome… Shall we see how yours would compare to everyone else’s?”
I shrugged and chanted the spell that would also materialise a weapon for me, creating a dagger with a blade as long as my forearm.
He was in the middle of taking a step towards me when he suddenly stopped and narrowed his eyes at the dagger I created, inspecting it for an entire minute before taking a step back to stare at me.
“You had an extremely competent teacher before coming here, didn’t you? Or else you have real life combat experience before you enrolled into this school. Or Maybe… Even both?”
Oh wow, he managed to guess that just by seeing my spell? Yeah this settles it. He’s actually a really competent teacher but just lazy or maybe he doesn’t like kids?
I nodded, “Yes, I did have both.”
His eyes narrowed even further before stepping away from me, “How old are you, really?”
“Umm… Twelve?”
At those words, his demeanour suddenly changed, “Who are your parents? Why did they even let a child like you get involved in live combat? Are you being threatened? Blackmailed? Abused? Where do you live? Do you need help?”
Oh… Oh my? Isn’t he actually a really nice guy?
I couldn’t help but giggle at him, “It’s alright, teacher Fabian, I’m not involved in any abuse whatsoever. All of it was done by my own will to get stronger so that I can one day explore the world on my own. You do not need to worry about my safety.”
He breathed out a sigh of relief before catching himself and scowling, “Why the hell would I be worried about a brat like you? Shut up, I’m starting the lesson now.”
Aww, he’s cute too.