The First Drink
Should I use a sword?
Before, I simply hadn’t tried handling one, so I never did.
But the Demon Realm training changed that. A single swing three days ago had planted the thought in my mind.
Kaang!
For his sake, I was using the martial arts comprehension period to spar with Charles using a standard-issue sword.
‘My stance is decent enough.’
Allen and Vincent had said my posture had always been that of a swordsman rather than a fist fighter, though I couldn’t tell the difference myself.
‘Did Instructor Charles not notice either?’
I suspected she had. The instructors here generally preferred letting students reach their own realizations.
“So you chose to grip a sword rather than change your stance?”
Charles spoke while throwing a punch.
Her words confirmed it.
‘She knew all along.’
Like the other instructors, Charles wanted me to figure things out on my own.
Kaang!
I somehow managed to block her fist with my sword. I couldn’t activate Mana Blade. Whenever I tried, the condensation refused to stabilize. I could only use it back then because of that sudden realization and the vast fire energy I possessed.
“I’m still thinking about it.”
“Hmm, is that so? You should ask Cain about swords. He’d be more helpful.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Charles smiled faintly and reset her stance.
‘Is it over already?’
Our sparring sessions never lasted long. The martial arts comprehension period itself was short, and she still had to oversee everyone else’s matches.
Clap!
Charles moved to the center of the plain and clapped her hands, drawing everyone’s attention.
“That’s it for today. Keep in mind what I said, and we’ll end here.”
Once the plain reverted to a classroom, I watched Charles leave before following her out.
“Haa……”
A sigh escaped me as I considered what came next after finishing my schedule. I headed toward a certain place as quickly as possible.
***
Kaang!
A student was sent flying after taking a hit from my sword. I approached and pressed the blade to his neck. He shouted.
“Hah, I surrender!”
An instructor I had never seen before approached to act as referee. He looked like one of the upperclassman instructors.
“Winner. Adel Ifrit.”
His voice was calm, yet infused with mana so everyone could hear.
The defeated student quickly stood and left the training ground.
‘……Sixteenth.’
The number represented how many students had lost to me today.
After finishing all my regular tasks, I had been accepting sparring requests from other students. Originally I hadn’t planned to do them all in one day, but the matches ended far faster than expected, so I kept calling in the remaining applicants.
‘……Is this right?’
Something felt off no matter how I looked at it. Even if students couldn’t refuse sparring requests, having one person fight sixteen matches in a single day seemed strange. Especially when losing meant being kicked out of Class S.
‘It doesn’t really matter to me, though.’
Had I gotten stronger? I didn’t particularly want to spar against people weaker than me when there was nothing to learn.
After sixteen matches, I figured enough time had passed and checked the clock.
[6:00]
The training ground’s operating hours had ended.
“Thank you for your hard work.”
The referee instructor gave a small nod. I thanked him and left the training ground.
‘Is there anyone I can ask?’
I had questions about the sparring rules. Checking the academy regulations would work, but I didn’t know where they were posted.
“Haa……”
With a sigh, I wandered around the academy grounds.
‘……Where should I eat today?’
Finding someone came second; I was hungry. Since I valued my free time, I didn’t bother searching for acquaintances or heading to a private training room. Instead, I leisurely looked for a cafeteria.
“Adel?”
While walking, a woman called my name.
Shane stood before me, her red hair blazing like fire.
“What are you doing here?”
“Shane.”
I met her eyes and spoke her name. Her face turned as red as an apple.
“Shane?”
When I called again, wondering if she was unwell, she shook her head.
“It’s nothing. So, what were you doing?”
“Nothing in particular. I was thinking about getting something to eat.”
Shane’s eyes lit up at my words.
“Food? Then how about drinking with me?”
“Drinking?”
“Yeah.”
Alcohol, huh. I was an adult, so there was no reason I couldn’t drink. The only reason I didn’t answer right away was because I wasn’t unwilling. Quite the opposite, actually.
‘I want to try it.’
I had never drunk alcohol before. In my previous life, I never had the time.
‘But now……’
If there was ever a moment of free time that might disappear at any second, this seemed like the perfect opportunity. And if my first drink was with the woman called the academy’s strongest and most beautiful, all the better.
“Shall we?”
After thinking it over, I answered immediately.
Shane stared at me for a moment, slightly surprised.
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
She clapped her hands together with a bright smile and turned around.
“Just follow me. I’ll show you the best restaurant in the academy.”
***
The place Shane led me to, smiling as brightly as if she were truly happy, turned out to be a restaurant everyone except me already knew. Quite a few students were already there. Whether they were too focused on drinking or not, no one made any comments when they saw us.
Thud.
We sat across from each other at an empty table in the corner.
After Shane ordered from the approaching waiter, she looked at me.
“……”
“……”
We simply stared at each other in silence, yet she continued smiling happily.
‘Should I ask?’
The food hadn’t arrived yet, and it would take some time. I decided to ask the question I had been meaning to ask someone I knew.
“Shane, does Class S have to accept every sparring request?”
“Huh?”
Shane gave me a puzzled look.
“What do you mean?”
“You can’t refuse a sparring request in Class S, right? So do we have to fight them to the end? And if we lose, we get kicked out of Class S?”
I had already cleared sixteen of the requests sent to me, leaving 255. The number had grown even more while I was away at the Demon Realm training.
‘It wouldn’t be fair.’
I wasn’t weak. Today’s matches had made that clear. But among those 265 people, there had to be at least one stronger than me. Losing to that one person and getting kicked out of Class S would feel incredibly unfair.
Shane, who seemed to have already known about this, slowly explained.
“Well, you can only send one sparring request to any given person. Since I already sent you one, I can’t send another.”
It was either withdraw the requests or win them all.
“Losing a match does mean leaving Class S. But that rule only applies for one semester. Didn’t Instructor Cain mention that?”
“……”
I stayed silent and recalled that day’s memory. Cain had definitely said we couldn’t refuse requests, and I had felt completely screwed, my mind going blank……
‘Ah.’
I remembered. Right as my mind was about to go blank, Cain had said something like that.
—This rule only applies for one semester. Even if you leave Class S, you can always win your way back in after one semester, so don’t despair.
Shane noticed the realization on my face.
“Heh, you remembered?”
“……Yeah.”
After obtaining that information, we moved on to talking about alcohol.
“Adel, have you ever drunk before?”
“No. This is my first time.”
“First time?”
Shane seemed most surprised by the fact that it was my first time rather than anything else. She even looked pleased about it.
“Yeah. It’s my first time. You’ll help me out, right?”
“Got it.”
After answering, Shane covered her face with her hands and giggled. She seemed to find it amusing that this was my first time.
While we chatted, the food arrived.
A steaming red-tinted chicken dish appeared alongside several bottles of alcohol and glasses. My appetite stirred at the sight.
“Try it.”
At Shane’s words, I nodded and took a bite first.
“……It’s good.”
I wasn’t particularly picky or a gourmet, so I didn’t offer any refined commentary. Still, that seemed to be enough for Shane, who beamed at me.
“Right? Then shall we have a drink?”
When she looked at me after saying that, there was something strangely seductive about her expression.
Shane kept smiling as she picked up a bottle.
Pop!
After opening it, she poured into the glasses.
“Here.”
I accepted the bottle she handed me and poured for her in return.
While receiving the glass, I thought to myself.
‘Should I drink properly?’
Since I had never drunk before, I didn’t know my tolerance. I had no idea how much I could handle or what my drunk behavior would be like.
‘There was something about using mana to burn off intoxication.’
I had read about it somewhere. Whether it was actually possible or not, if it worked, I wouldn’t have to worry about getting drunk.
‘……She’ll take care of me if I do get drunk.’
Shane seemed like she could hold her liquor. It was just a feeling.
“Cheers, then.”
“Cheers.”
Clink.
Our glasses touched, sending ripples through the liquid inside.
“……”
After staring at the glass for a moment, I drank.
Gulp.
‘……Mana should handle it somehow.’
With that thought, I began drinking alongside Shane.