Academy Regular Classes
"So, you were developing a spell for gliding through the sky?"
"That's right! You catch on quick."
First things first, calm down a bit.
The girl in the white robe, who had introduced herself as Professor Raphel Strahct, giggled and continued.
"You kids are still too low-level to know this, but if I perfect it, it'll be a monumental achievement! The problem's with the magic circle, though—no matter how hard I try, I can't glide for more than ten seconds. You caught me safely when I fell, so I'll treat you to a meal someday! Now, tell me your names!"
For starters, I had no idea who this Raphel Strahct person was. She didn't appear in the original story.
That said, I had heard the name Strahct before. Not from the original story, but from Kael's memories.
If memory served, it was the prestigious magic family, House Strahct. Makes sense—among the countless magic tutors Kael had driven away as a kid, a few had been from House Strahct.
"I'm Elia Adventus."
Elia bowed her head first.
No reason to hide mine either, so I gave it.
"Kael Lotus."
"Ah, so you're Kael Lotus! I've heard so much about you!"
My name lit up her face like she already knew me.
"Nothing good, I bet."
Kael's memories surfaced. The arrogant, rude young master chasing away all his tutors. It wasn't me who did it, but it still made me cringe.
"What are you talking about? The magic world has its eyes on you!"
But contrary to what I expected, Professor Raphel beamed.
"They say you use mana like a muscle! Skipping magic circles and manipulating raw mana directly!"
"What's this now?"
"Magic! Show me some magic!"
Suddenly, she demanded a demonstration.
Not her intention, probably, but with her looks, she came off like a niece begging her uncle to show her his video game skills.
I had no clue what she was talking about, though.
"Magic isn't that easy. Can't cast without a focused environment."
I'm bad at magic. All Kael inherited was sword talent.
I need a high-focus setup and sustained mana flow just to barely pull it off.
"Not much talent for it."
"What? What do you mean? You can't use magic? Impossible. The other professors said you have tremendous—"
Suddenly, Professor Raphel grabbed both my shoulders.
Her face was inches away. Now she was practically hanging off me.
Madness gleamed in her eyes. I could tell—this woman's a total mad scientist.
"If you can skip magic circles... even shrink them... it could revolutionize magic development!"
"Excuse me, Professor. Even for you, this is unacceptable."
Then Elia snatched her arms away.
She smoothly inserted herself between me and the professor.
"Kael's in the arts department, and I'm in politics. Making undue demands on another department's student? And..."
Elia glanced up at me with narrowed eyes.
"Kael and I were on a date."
"A date...?"
"Professor. Even as faculty, interrupting nobles on a date?"
"You two are like that, huh? Got it. Sorry about that. Ahem. Young love. Cute."
Only then did she pull back, that manic gaze fading.
Still eyeing me with interest, though, she grinned.
"Arts department? I'll invite you specially to my magic class. See you later."
With that, she sauntered off.
What an overwhelming first impression.
"What was that?"
"No idea. But she's definitely weird."
Her words lingered in my head, though.
Magic class. The phrase filled my mind.
Honestly? Smashing monsters with a sword is fun enough, but blasting them elegantly with magic? How much cooler would that be?
I lack talent. But studying could fill the gaps—maybe let me use magic like anyone else.
As explained, this romance-fantasy world has sword and magic. I've got the sword down, but no magic yet.
I need it. Not just for fun.
Forget the romance angle—this is a webnovel. Incidents pop up mid-story, crises hit characters.
The heroine overcomes them with spirit magic, sparking episodes with her reverse harem guys.
To meddle in those episodes, sword skills alone won't cut it.
A regular magic class could boost my lacking skills. Worth it.
"Elia. You know magic?"
"I can manage... this much."
She extended her hand, and a white light bloomed in her palm.
Luminescence spell. Simplest magic, but one I could never nail.
How does she cast it so fast?
Mind-blowing.
Nah, my modern Korean memories make it hard. Magic's everyday here.
Academy enrollment day three: done.
Recap time.
I entered the academy to normalize the original major characters.
Some successes already. But fixing them—will it stop the kingdom's invasion?
Say we don't flee to an island. End of story?
As if.
Kingdom's conquest gears turning right about now.
I wanted a happy, chill life this time—no regrets.
Easier said than done.
War's coming. Normalizing characters won't change things overnight.
Plan: Detach originals from Maria and prep for war steadily.
Start with Prince Lucas.
This shithead prince was a romantic fool and a treasury-drainer extraordinaire.
"What's wrong with spending my money on my girl?"
Lucas Deverlu spouted that crap, but it was the nation's money.
Next, Hydele. Eldest son of a knight house, yet when his dad stepped down, he dumped his inheritance on his brother.
Reason? Wanted a normal life. Surface-level bullshit—really, just ditched duty to hang with Maria.
And that's not all. Two more reverse harem members for Maria haven't shown yet.
What I can do right now...
"Summarize art history briefly... Kael Lotus. Are you listening?"
Suddenly, the professor called my name.
Dude, don't you know orientation's the first-day rule?
Bit my tongue and just looked up.
"I am."
"Talking back to a professor, student?"
"I don't use formal speech except with my father."
"Rumor's true—you're a total punk... If you're so confident, come solve this."
Thwack.
He tossed chalk at my desk.
Snickered too.
Not a likable prof. Hell, not sure he's legit.
No choice—I grabbed the chalk and headed to the board.
From art history, describe examples and characteristics of art from the Mythic Age.
First arts department class: art history.
Learning art's history before art itself.
Didn't compute. Like teaching math history first? Or science? Skip Aristotle's atomic theory—modern theories rule, not history.
Math and science chase truth—keep the close stuff, ditch the rest.
Art? Doesn't discard. Each piece holds value, persists.
Art's value is relative. Deem it valuable? Art. Not? Not art.
Banana on a wall—art to some, trash to others.
To me, no Mythic Age art exists.
Yeah. No knowledge, so fancy excuse.
Thud.
Chalk to board.
Started to write Mythic Age art does not exist, but...
A movie line popped up.
This'll be fun.
To me, the art of the Mythic Age is murder.
To me, soccer is murder.
Something like that.
"..."
"Can I go back now?"
I finished, returned to my seat.
A sigh followed.
"My god... Brilliant!"
"What?"
"A fresh perspective!"
The professor gushed over my answer.