Chapter 23
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: Elective Subjects (2)
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Academy Imperial Swordsmanship Professor Kael.
With his slightly thuggish speech, gangster-like appearance, brainless actions, and boundless enthusiasm,
among all the characters in the game—excluding the Magic Tower Lord, whose quests and events were entirely random—he held the record for the most random trigger events, making him infamous among players.
"Alright, let's get right to it! Today's first Imperial Swordsmanship lesson is—!"
Such was the content of the first Imperial Swordsmanship class under his lead.
'No clue...'
Of course, it was random.
Sometimes, since it was the first class, they'd just take it easy.
Other times, he'd have the students spar among themselves.
And yet other times, just like Elina's Practical Combat class, he'd step in personally under the guise of gauging their levels and beat them black and blue like rats—utterly unpredictable randomness determining the lesson.
'Whatever this class ends up being, it doesn't matter.'
The sole goal of taking Imperial Swordsmanship was to acquire the {Imperial Swordsmanship} skill, so the first class was irrelevant.
The key was the subquest {Transmission - Imperial Swordsmanship} that granted the skill... but
'That's random too...'
This quest popped up randomly as well.
It was guaranteed to appear if you enrolled in the class,
but unlike other lectures where the timing and difficulty for skill transmission were fixed,
if your luck was abysmal, it might trigger at the end of freshman year with insane difficulty,
or if luck was on your side, you could snag it for free right from the first class—a total crapshoot quest.
The goal was to trigger it before the first break.
Praying for it to come soon,
that's when today's first lesson was decided.
"Simple sparring! Head to the training grounds and pair up with whoever you want—!"
Sparring.
A straightforward class where you nominate a desired opponent, and if they agree, you two duel.
Of course, unlike Elina's survival-focused lessons, this emphasized swordsmanship, so mana use was forbidden.
Not for safety reasons.
More students couldn't use mana yet than could, so banning it leveled the field.
A duel between a mana user and non-user wouldn't even be fair.
Anyway, aside from the no-mana rule, the class was simple enough,
but the problem was refusing a challenge would be tough for me.
If I turned one down here,
it'd fuel rumors alongside my entrance exam speech, spiraling out of control.
Considering the unfriendly stares since entering the classroom, challenges were inevitable anyway, which made me feel a headache coming on.
Sure enough, at "pair with whoever you want," several sharp glares turned my way.
"Then let's head to the training grounds right now!"
As I mulled this over,
Kael wasted no time and started marching to the training grounds.
The other students soon followed suit.
Heading there, a building different from the auditorium came into view.
'How huge is this academy...'
The more you saw, the more unreal its scale felt.
'This might as well be a small city...'
Entering the building with that thought, the training grounds' interior appeared—multiple small arenas set up inside.
"Alright! Freely spar here from now on. I'll patrol and supervise, so call if anything happens!"
Kael spoke once everyone was inside.
Some cadets were still caught off-guard by the abrupt start, while others moved as if they'd already picked opponents.
'Like that guy...'
Yeah... the jerk who'd been glaring at me rudely from the start.
"Hey, commoner."
A hostility-laden word pierced my ears.
'Commoner, huh...'
First time hearing that title since the entrance ceremony speech.
Frontier Chronicles clearly divided nobles and commoners, so I'd expected it post-possession... but
'Feels worse than I thought...'
Like at the ceremony, hearing it directly soured my mood more than anticipated.
"You lucked into top rank and now act all high and mighty without knowing your place."
"You...! How rude!"
Libia erupted in fury at his utterly insolent words from beside me.
"Lady Libia, long time no see. Rude? Hardly—I'm just teaching this clueless commoner his place."
"That's rude—"
"It's fine, Libia."
I cut off Libia's retort and stared at the brown-haired guy spewing nothing but rudeness.
Taking that as acceptance, he turned toward the arena and continued.
'I wasn't planning to refuse anyway...'
"Hah! Got some pride, huh? Follow me. Time to learn your place."
Despite seeing my strength, his tone assumed victory—it felt utterly ridiculous.
'Thinks he can win without mana?'
If so, he was subpar, unable even to read movements.
Either way, I'd crush him overwhelmingly.
Not just because he pissed me off.
The stares in the classroom weren't one or two,
this extra was just the quickest to act.
Fail to dominate here, and during class, I'd get challenge after challenge from those thinking they could take me.
"Let's get started."
The guy who'd dragged me to the arena spoke.
He charged, swinging his sword.
'Trained in systematic swordsmanship, I see.'
Like most noble students, he had formal training.
But that was it—full of openings compared to Elina or S-Classers, with overly broad motions.
No need to clash blades.
Without mana, relying on physicals, I could show a move to deter easy challenges.
One came to mind instantly.
The motion I'd seen most in Practical Combat:
dodge the sword with minimal movement—
Whoosh—
Grab the wrist of the opponent whose blade sliced air.
While he panicked from the grab,
hoist him up and slam him into the ground.
Bam—!
"Guh... ah—"
The guy who'd swung at me with gusto let out a death rattle and collapsed.
"Hup—"
"No way..."
'Good reactions.'
The exact responses I'd predicted erupted around us.
Normally, it wouldn't provoke such drama, but...
'Thanks, Professor Elina...'
Perfectly recreating Elina's infamous ground-slam—something every freshman had endured—drew fear from most.
Those with PTSD would rethink challenging me.
'Did this guy pass out...?'
I poked the man I'd just planted with my foot to check.
But between his full-force swing's recoil,
he seemed knocked out—no reaction to nudges.
"He's out cold!"
As I pondered what to do with this trash,
Kael's voice came from right beside me—he'd snuck up.
"I'll take this cadet to the infirmary!"
Kael hoisted the ragdoll-like body and vanished in a flash.
'Thought I'd get chewed out...'
Maybe since it happened in sparring, no big deal.
His personality was cooler than expected.
"Aden! That was satisfying—like watching Professor Elina!"
Descending the arena,
Libia ran up to me.
"Glad you think so. Seemed like you knew him—friends?"
"Eww—! Don't even joke! Just a guy I briefly greeted at a banquet ages ago."
Libia recoiled in genuine disgust at my question.
Banquet, huh... As Duke Clawit's lady and Sword Saint's disciple,
it made sense she'd attended socials like other nobles from age 12 in Frontier Chronicles.
'Must've been exhausting.'
Noble socials—that tiring word alone made me pity her subtly.
"Anyway, Aden! Spar with me!"
"Huh? Spar?"
"Yeah! Let's pick up where we left off from the weekend!"
'Ah...'
Weekend.
Referring to when we'd briefly crossed blades to confirm her sword path was back to normal.
'Not a bad thing...'
A bit annoying, but ultimately beneficial.
Chance to check her growth.
As I opened my mouth to accept—
"Sounds great! A duel between our class's top two talents—plenty to learn from!"
The reply came not from me, but beside us.
Kael had returned to the training grounds, addressing us.
'Already...?'
Did he dump the fainted cadet on the floor instead of the infirmary? Insane speed.
"Perfect! Both cadets can use mana, so mana use permitted for this spar—!"
His follow-up,
'Knew he'd say that...'
Given his personality, it fit.
Honestly, mana or no mana didn't matter to me.
Just that Libia's inferior mana control would make it tougher for her.
"I'm good with that!"
Before I could think further, Libia boldly accepted and entered the arena.
'Whatever...'
Training swords, low injury risk,
and mana use would reveal her current level precisely.
"I'm fine with it too."
Not the worst situation, so I entered without refusing, facing her.
"Alright, Libia—let's see if you can handle yourself now."
She froze briefly at my words.
Then her expression twisted.
'Solid taunt...'
Looking ready to charge any second,
it seemed to hit perfectly.