Chapter 11

  In my last life, school was just a means to secure the qualifications I needed for my career and I didn’t start dating until my 20s. So with that in mind, the idea of enjoying young love with my second chance had certainly entered my mind…

  “Argh! Why are you so rough?!”

  …And when Felicia led me off to a quiet spot behind the support class dorms, I admit my mind wandered a little. She was, after all, an incredibly attractive girl.

  “I’m already worn out, can’t you slow down a bit?”

  But reality soon settled in, and I reminded myself that nothing ever worked out for me since coming here.

  “Get up already, I know you’re stronger than this.”

  I was laid flat on my back with Felicia standing over me, her hand was still formed with the same fist that put me down for the third time since she dragged me here.

  “I’m really not…”

  I groaned in protest. Sure, I could get behind Spartan-style training methods, but I was already well past my limit, and this insane woman would not back off.

  “Fuse with your cat, then. You’re the only one here I can spar decently with.”

  “I don’t fuse for no reason, it really strains my body, I keep it to once a day whenever possible.”

  “Okay, then use it every day to fight with me.”

  She seemed to think I had no use for my ability besides entertaining her battle-mania.

  She was wrong of course, I would be needing to sneak out of town nightly to visit Soot and scout the Verdant Divide.

  I wasn’t going to tell her that, although I doubt she was the type to care about breaking school rules.

  “If we’re going to fight, that’s fine, but I won’t fuse outside of serious battles. The only reason I even did it before was to raise my evaluation.”

  “Tsk. Fine, do the other thing then.”

  “What other thing?”

  “You know, that thing you did in the second round.”

  “Oh. Yeah, that’s not as restrictive.”

  She meant the partial connection I could form with Tiara, which allowed us to share abilities to a lesser extent than fusion. Last time, I was just using Tiara’s reflexes and mana to buff myself. This ability was still a function of Primal Soul, but unlike complete fusion, it could be done much more frequently. The biggest hurdle was having a bond strong enough for the other party to agree to it.

  I should probably think up a name for it... Soul Link sounded pretty cool.

  “Tia, come here, baby.”

  Tiara had been watching from the top of a storage shed and eagerly trotted over at my call.

  Our eyes glowed, signifying the movement of her mana into my body, and I immediately felt my body become light. The aching pains were no longer crippling me, but were still noticeable in my joints when I moved.

  “Alright, go another round?”

  She grinned and came at me once more.

  ***

  The final score was 5-2, Felicia’s way. I could dispute the first three wins of hers were unfair, considering I was trying to fight without Tiara at first, but my most recent win was pretty cheap as well.

  “Cheater.”

  Felicia was on the ground; our initial positions had been totally reversed. Although instead of me standing over her, a small black cat was sitting on her chest.

  “You never said it was a 1v1. You should always assume a Druid isn’t fighting alone.”

  This was my usual fighting style, but it was the first time I had used it since coming to the IMA. I fought in tandem with a partner, and Tiara was my most trustworthy ally.

  “If Tia can share her strength with me, shouldn’t you naturally assume the reverse is also true?”

  “Tsk.”

  Felicia was moments away from knocking me out during our last fight, only for her to be tackled by a ridiculously dense black blur. It probably felt like she had been hit by a tiny cannonball.

  Magical creatures like Tiara could absorb mana from nature instead of generating it from a Mana Organ. And when we used Soul Link, I could do the same. What had just happened was a simple tactic we used, where we would both focus on gathering mana while staying on defence, then transfer it all into one body to release in a single attack.

  With Tiara’s current body, all she could really do was distract people. But with all that mana concentrated in her, even she could hit like a truck.

  “Fine, next time I’ll fight the cat too.”

  “Call her by her name.”

  I frowned at her lack of respect for her superior.

  Tiara rightfully slapped Felicia on the top of her head and hissed.

  “...Tiara.”

  Felicia grumbled.

  Tiara licked her cheek and came back to me.

  I stepped forward and took Felicia’s hand, but midway through lifting her up, a sudden noise caused us both to flinch and fall over.

  “You have no right!”

  A familiar angry voice comes from around the corner.

  I signalled for Felicia to keep quiet, and we snuck up to peek around.

  There, I saw exactly who I expected. Bridgit had Axel up against the wall. And Zachariah was by her side, though he didn’t look as hostile as she did.

  “No right? The glorious Black Crown Empire allows anyone to apply so long as they have official citizenship. And look here, I’ve got a civilian ID right here.”

  Axel still wasn’t taking her seriously and lazily pulled out a black rectangular card. With Tiara’s senses still being shared, I could clearly read the silver text carved into the metal surface.

  Name: Axel Lionheart - D.O.B: 1/1/862

  ID: 73248192

  Felicia and I shared a look of confusion.

  To explain why this was odd: Lionheart was very clearly a Solean name, and Axel, with his features, was clearly from Soleo. Soleans didn’t require an Imperial ID because they were officially recognised allies and could use their own identification system instead.

  “You really have no shame at all, do you?”

  This time, Zachariah was chiding Axel.

  “You could have remained where you were, even if it meant taking a light punishment. To think you would completely cast away your heritage.”

  Zachariah shook his head, a mixture of disappointment and anger in his expression.

  “Why the hell would I stay?”

  Axel’s voice came out as a growl.

  “Surrounded by weaklings who won’t use what they have and fear anything they can’t understand? The Empire’s values align with mine much better.”

  He sneered at both of them.

  “Did you two bring me here just to nag? Cuz I can think of a much better way to kill time.”

  His eyes lit up, and I could see his muscles tensing up beneath his shirt.

  “Sounds good to me, I’ll put you in your place once and for all.”

  Bridgit responded in kind. The scene I witnessed during homeroom was about to repeat itself, it seemed.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  “Stop. Both of you... It’s unbecoming of our positions.”

  Zachariah calmly stepped between them.

  “And if I don’t? Will you help your baby sister?”

  Axel only seemed to be emboldened by Zachariah’s interference.

  “...You’re right, brother.”

  But Bridgit was apparently pacified by his words, and they both turned to leave.

  “...Well, that’s a drag…”

  Axel was left alone and muttered to himself. But he suddenly displayed a wicked grin and his head snapped in our direction.

  “You two. You were fighting, right? Let me join.”

  I looked to Felicia for her opinion, but her expression mirrored Axel’s, and I immediately knew her response.

  ***

  After our meal break was over, the second half of the school day would begin. In the IMA, only the first six hours of the day could be called normal for a school. After the one-hour break, however, the last four hours would be more specialised.

  Students would be allowed to carry approved training weapons during this period. They would then form up in their classes and perform whatever tasks were assigned to them for the month.

  “Bluuurgh…”

  I heaved for what felt like the hundredth time that day, but there was no food left to vacate my stomach.

  “Harden up, man, it wasn’t that bad.”

  Axel and I were drawing many strange looks as he carried me over his shoulder.

  “M…monster…”

  Felicia weakly groaned from the other shoulder.

  Neither of us had the energy to argue with him, and any sense of pride that otherwise would have prevented us from falling into this situation had long since drained away.

  “You two are fun! Let’s make a regular thing out of this, yeah?”

  Axel, on the other hand, was in a fantastic mood.

  “Don’t worry, you’ll get better, then we can go at it for real.”

  His positive words of encouragement did little to improve my spirit.

  The gathering hall contained all the students across the three years, separated into their appropriate classes. But even with the whole student body present, the chamite and diamond classes still only contained the usual faces.

  Those same faces were looking at me with pity.

  “Here you go.”

  Axel dropped Felicia off with the gold class and kept walking.

  “...Hey…”

  I mustered my energy to speak up.

  “...She's in silver.”

  “Huh?”

  He stopped and took another look at her crumpled body, eying her uniform in particular.

  “Oh, my bad.”

  He continued walking to join the chamite class anyway. I could see some kind souls helping her to the right area. I could also see that all lustre had left her vacant eyes.

  Farewell, Felicia Pancia, you will be missed.

  When Axel put me down with the rest of our class, it took everything I had not to end up just like Felicia and instead maintain my footing.

  “Hello again to the returning students, and welcome to all the first years. I hope your first day has not been too hectic.”

  A woman with shoulder-length grey hair spoke at the head of the hall. The moment she arrived, all the students stood at attention. This was headmaster Lisa Stern.

  Her age had caught up to her, and she was no longer fit for active duty, but she had made a name for herself back in her day as an effective general.

  “Let’s not waste time, your homeroom teachers have already explained things to you, I’m sure.”

  She snapped her fingers, and a string of shining silver magic energy shot out from her fingertip. It latched on to an impractically large pull-down chalkboard, which rolled out from the ceiling above her head.

  The action reminded me somewhat of the spider-themed superhero show my son used to watch.

  “Let’s begin with the support class.”

  Headmaster Stern flicked her fingers around with remarkable dexterity, and the silver threads that whipped through the air rapidly recorded their task onto the board.

  The words she wrote would glisten like moonlight on wet grass and were written in a more beautiful script than I could do by hand. A feat that spoke volumes of her magic control.

  “Your assignment is resource development. You have until this month’s end to submit a design for any practical item that soldiers can use in the field. You will be graded on feasibility, cost-to-performance ratio, and you will be expected to develop a functional version later in the year. As always, the higher your year level, the more will be expected from you and the harsher the grading will be.”

  Another flick of her wrist and another portion of the board was filled out.

  “Bronze class. You’re next…”

  ***

  “...And that does it for diamond class.”

  The headmaster finished up assigning the monthly assignments for every other class, but none of us in the chamite class failed to notice the lack of space left on the board.

  She looked our way and cleared her throat.

  “As for the others, ask your homeroom teacher. You’re all dismissed.”

  “What the hell?”

  Axel frowned from my side.

  “What’s her problem?”

  Lily seemed annoyed as well.

  “Let it go. Let’s just see what Professor Kuhn has to say about it.”

  I spoke up to prevent any outbursts that might reflect poorly on us.

  “Her problem is probably with Kuhn or the class itself, not us specifically.”

  “Tch. Still… She pretty much just gave permission for the other classes to look down on us.”

  Paris was already returning a scowl to the group of gold-class students, as if to prove her point.

  Out of our class, nobody looked particularly happy about how this played out. The next four hours were meant to be dedicated to working on our assignments, but we had no assignment, so we could only stand around like idiots.

  I was trying to keep the peace in the class, but truthfully, I felt wronged as well.

  “Well, if she won’t give us any direction… we can always assist the other classes.”

  A fun idea came to mind.

  Paris, Axel, and Lily looked at me in outrage at first, but something about my expression must have clued them into my intentions.

  “What was the gold class assignment again?”

  I asked with feigned innocence while directing my gaze to the small group of first years that Paris had been glaring at.

  “Heh… Hahaha… HAHAHA!”

  Axel covered his face but failed to muffle his uproarious laughter.

  “If we don’t want to be looked down on. We just need to prove our superiority.”

  I began to share my idea with the group.

  ***

  Leon Goldklinge was the second son of the illustrious and noble Goldklinge family. They were the users and makers of the renowned Goldbrand blades, and their bloodline Gift, Cutting Flame, generated flames second only to the Sol Proudmane’s Sol’s Breath.

  Leon had entered the IMA with aspirations to reach the diamond class and graduate at the top of his class. It was a shame he had to start in gold class, but even he had to acknowledge that he was not yet at the level of Lloyd and Zachariah.

  So when he saw his monthly assignment, he could only revel in his good fortune.

  “Gold class students are encouraged to focus on duels, and will be rewarded on a points system based on who you challenge, and what the results are. Keep in mind, the usual perks still apply, thus you could elevate to the next class if you defeat enough strong opponents.”

  The headmaster’s voice resounded in his head.

  “Leon, what should we do?”

  The boy talking to him was Arnold Donnerschnitt; his family were servants to the Goldklinges, and he had always faithfully followed Leon.

  “Hmm… Well, obviously, as the top-ranked gold student for our year, I should aim high, right?”

  “So you’re going to challenge one of the diamond students? Lloyd already beat you, though.”

  Leon glared at him for that comment, but exhaled in resignation as he realised his own childishness. It was true that Leon fought Lloyd yesterday during the entrance exams, and it was also true that Lloyd’s skills were far beyond what he could overcome right now.

  “No. Not them… I’m thinking second-year gold students would be better to begin with.”

  “Oi, Leon!”

  Three other students from the same class approached him. Leon had already sussed out the worthwhile figures in his class, so he knew these three ranked near the bottom of the class.

  Still, they were gold ranks, so he would hear them out.

  “What is it Donald?”

  “We couldn’t help but overhear your conversation. Don’t you think there’s another option?”

  He and his two followers looked at the mysterious chamite class.

  “Them?”

  Leon scratched his chin as he thought about it.

  “There certainly are some people there who would be worthwhile… But headmaster Stern didn’t seem to evaluate them highly, she might not give many points for crushing them.”

  Leon quickly dismissed the idea. It looked like Donald just wanted to pick on some girl who was glaring daggers at him anyway.

  “Just ignore that lot, you guys would be better off slowly gathering points from the silver class. Look, they have a half-dead Therian who looks like easy pickings.”

  He pointed to the tan-skinned, white-haired girl being held up by two fellow classmates.

  Leon intended to just scout the competition today and start fighting tomorrow. To that end, he turned from Donald and tried to find a quiet corner to observe from.

  “Hey there, got a second?”

  However, an unexpected person blocked his way.

  “You’re Leon, right? I saw your name at the top yesterday, pretty impressive!”

  “...What do you want?”

  Leon eyed the strange person cautiously. He hadn’t seen their exam fight because he had to go to the medical tent, but he heard it was spectacular.

  “Hm? Nothing much, we just thought we could lend you guys a hand, seeing as we’re free and all.”

  “How do you plan to do that?”

  “Isn’t it obvious? Let’s fight. We can do 5v5 or a series of 1v1s…”

  The red-haired boy with the bags under his eyes talked smoothly; he reminded Leon of the merchants who would talk nobles out of their earnings in exchange for meaningless baubles.

  “...Or maybe we can do a 5v1 if that makes you feel more secure…of course, it would be you five versus our one.”

  Leon narrowed his eyes.

  “You’re picking a fight? With us? You can’t be serious.”

  “Oh, we’re serious.”

  Leon looked at the voice that came from behind and widened his eyes.

  Axel Lionheart, the Slaughterer of Soleo, was bearing down on Arnold with a grin. Two girls in the same uniform had also crept up behind their group.

  “Won’t you show us what the gold class can do?”

  “...I’d be happy to.”

  Leon planned to thoroughly discipline these upstarts.