Just as I thought, the cafeteria was already crowded with students by the time Myrla, Kelton, and I arrived. So it took us some time to get our lunches and find a place to sit. After that, I mostly hung around both my new friends and got to know them, before we headed off for our next class.

  It was our class on Combat and Consecration. Based on the class description, it was supposed to be a class that taught us about the typical rites that came with dueling, while also training us how to be soldiers if we ever joined the Holy Knights.

  But it was apparently just a physical fitness class, since our first session involved our instructor yelling at us to run more laps around the training field under the beating hot sun.

  “Keep it moving, keep it moving! Pick up the pace, you damn kids! This isn’t a hike, this is a race!”

  Our instructor— a burly man by the name of Seb— yelled from the side of the field, watching over dozens of tired students circle around the track over and over again.

  “If you don’t finish your fifty laps by the end of the hour, you’ll be doing an extra ten! So keep it moving! I see you slacking, Kelton! You too, Daria! Why can’t the rest of you be more like Sonia, huh? She finished nearly half an hour ago!”

  Fortunately for me, I had my Attributes distributed relatively evenly, since I did not need to spend any of my Free Points on my [Magic]. So not only was I faster than most of the other [Mages] and [Warriors] in my class, but I also had better stamina than them too.

  After all, as a [Healer], my Attributes should have ordinarily been similar to that of a [Mage]. And as an ordinary Level 1 Silver Rank [Mage], I should have maybe had around 100 points to 150 points at most in my [Magic] Attribute, while the rest of my Attributes would be around 50 points to 60 points, depending on a variety of factors, such as their exact Class.

  It was hard to give an exact estimate for certain, because everyone differed greatly in how they spent their Free Points. For example, there were some folks who believed in only spending them on their main Attribute, such as a [Warrior] only focusing on [Strength], or a [Mage] only focusing on [Magic].

  Furthermore, the Attribute Points that were automatically given out with each level up was often determined by the prior actions of the individual regardless of what they wanted it to go to. So a [Warrior] who was always training his endurance would receive Attribute Points to his [Vitality] even if he wanted to only increase his [Strength]. Of course, that was why said [Warrior] would ensure his training regimen specialized in making himself become physically stronger.

  But I didn’t know what specific strategies my classmates were employing, so I could only guess.

  All I knew was that due to my Titles and my past life’s vast mana pool being partially carried over to this life, my Attribute distribution looked… slightly different from the average.

  Name: Nox (Eli)

  Race: Human

  Rank: Silver - Level 1

  Class: [Soulfire Healer]

  Class Skills: [Lesser Domain Of Light], [Heal], [Holy Fire], [Basic Light Magic Conjuration], [Boon Of Vitality], [Aura Armor Of Light], [Boon Of Strength], [Purifying Touch], [Lesser Poison Resistance]

  Titles: [Returning Death God], [Velmond’s Blessing], [The Bloodied Blade]

  Title Skills: [Remembrance Of The Fallen], [Death Magic Supremacy], [Basic Blessing Of Life], [Aura Blade]

  General Skills: [Quick Dash]

  Attributes:

  [Strength: 80]

  [Speed: 80]

  [Magic: 599]

  [Vitality: 100]

  [Dexterity: 88]

  Free Points: 0

  That was why I was sitting here to the side of the training field, alongside a dozen other students— mostly those who had [Rogue] or [Archer] Classes— having already finished our run. The only two exceptions were Sonia and Claudius, both of whom had to have some kind of variant of a [Warrior] Class based just on how they looked.

  The former was a young woman with black hair tied into a ponytail, looking to be roughly seventeen or eighteen years old. She wasn’t very talkative, as evinced by the fact that she was barely acknowledging Claudius as he tried to strike up a conversation with her.

  “You’re Sonia Redheart, right? Your mother is Natalia Redheart— the Ruby Rank adventurer, isn’t she?”

  “Indeed.”

  “I’m Claudius Franz Dawnlight, prince of the Sanctus Empire. I’m sure you’ve heard of me.”

  “Yes.”

  “It’s an honor to have someone of your caliber as my classmate.”

  “Likewise.”

  She was giving the Seventh Prince curt responses, barely paying him any mind as her gaze was fixed on the dueling grounds next to the training fields. There were second-year-students— Acolytes that were also having a combat class. They fought each other with wooden swords, dueling without magic or any active Skills. It was purely a show of their swordsmanship abilities, nothing else.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  Claudius must have noticed her fixation on the duels as he flexed an arm and spoke cockily.

  “You know, I was trained in the arts of royal swordplay— I was actually taught by the Grandmaster Inquisitor himself!”

  But that didn’t pique Sonia’s interest in the slightest. Her gaze was drawn to a young man who looked to be perhaps only a year her elder, dueling against another Acolyte in one of the few small arenas in the dueling grounds.

  “I see,” that was all she said in response.

  “You’ve surely heard of the Grandmaster Inquisitor, right—” Claudius started.

  And I turned away. Even though I very much didn’t care for him, I was starting to feel embarrassed for him, seeing his failed attempts at getting the black-haired girl’s attention. So I looked towards our instructor as he continued to call out to the remaining students still running around the track.

  “Come on, Myrla! I’ve heard good things about you, is this really the best you’ve got?”

  Myrla was running alongside Kelton. But unlike the latter, she didn’t seem too exhausted. She was just slow.

  Hearing Seb’s words, she picked up the pace, all the while Kelton just mustered up a weak grin behind her.

  “G-good job, Myrla.” He heaved between each word he said. “You’ve finally gotten the attention of your teachers… maybe you can actually call yourself Eli’s rival!”

  “Shut up, Kelton! I’m making a bad impression— how is that a good thing?”

  “All attention is good attention. It means they’re actually thinking of you.”

  “That’s not how it works!”

  I ignored my two new friends as I looked towards Seb. Our instructor had his hands on his hips, an almost disappointed look on his face. Shaking his head, he muttered under his breath.

  “Disappointing. I should’ve expected it, but all these [Mages] are so weak. As usual. At least someone here has actually lived up to my expectations.” He looked towards me as he spoke, giving me an approving look. “A [Healer] that isn’t as fragile as a twig? And at your age too? Hah, I guess Archdeacon Emmett was right about you.”

  I scratched the back of my head as I heard the compliment, however I couldn’t help and point out the obvious. “But isn’t it normal for most [Mages] to have lower physical Attributes, Professor Seb?”

  “Just call me coach.” He waved a hand dismissively at me, before looking towards the rest of my classmates. “While that’s generally true, that doesn’t mean you cannot train your other Attributes as well, otherwise you’d be useless if your opponent takes away your only weapon. I mean, look at me.”

  Seb gestured himself as he flexed. His muscles rippled, and he grinned at me as I raised a brow.

  “I don’t look like a [Mage], and yet, I am one. In fact, I’m a [Magepuncher].”

  “A [Magepuncher]?” I blinked at him.

  Seb just nodded. “It means I’m a [Mage] who punches, and I punch [Mages].”

  Even though I had plenty of experience to draw from my previous life, I had never heard of his Class before. I knew of melee-type [Mages], however they usually utilized weapons as well like [Spellswords] rather than their fists, so this was certainly unique. It was suffice to say that Seb was the most interesting teacher I had so far.

  “...that makes sense, I guess.”

  ***

  After my class on Combat and Consecration ended, I parted ways with Myrla and Kelton, heading for my final class of the day. And it was actually my elective on the Sacred Art of Spirit Summons. That was why I was in a different lecture hall from my two friends at the moment.

  However, I was in the same lecture hall as both Cecil and Claudius. The former, of course, sat at the back of the class once again, allergic to interacting with any other human. Meanwhile, the latter sat in the middle of the lecture hall, glaring at me the entire time as I strode into the room and took a seat in the front row like with the rest of my classes.

  It was an evening class, and it was after a short break, so it took time for the lecture hall to fill up. They trickled in slowly, over a hundred of them— students from not just the Class of Solarin, but the Classes of Caelrix, Noctis, and Viridane as well. By the time the room was fully packed with nearly a hundred and fifty students, it was ten minutes after the allocated time for the class to start.

  However, our professor was nowhere to be found.

  The students in the lecture hall began to grow restless, turning to each other and starting conversations while waiting. And that was when a spell circle shone right before the blackboard at the front of the room.

  I narrowed my eyes, instantly recognizing what was happening. But most of the students in the room— including the girl with glasses sitting next to me— backed away nervously, looking on in shock.

  “W-what’s happening?”

  And with a flash of light, something appeared in the middle of the spell circle. Smoke puffed out as a gust of wind swept over the room. A dark silhouette emerged, standing on four legs as I saw it.

  It looked like a wolf, but its fur was completely white, and a horn protruded from the middle of its head. It was—

  A summon.

  The door to the lecture hall swung open as a familiar voice spoke up. I knew who it was immediately, but I hadn’t expected to see him here as my professor.

  “One of the most common misconceptions about spirit summons is that they can only be called forth by a [Priest]. And certainly, while it is mostly utilized by us members of the clergy, it is not limited to us in any way. It is something even a commoner is capable of doing, as long as he understands the fundamentals behind it.”

  An elderly man spoke as stepped to the front of the class. He smiled, sweeping his gaze over the room as the smoke cleared. For a moment, he paused as we locked gazes, then he just nodded my way, before addressing the rest of the room.

  “Apologies for my late arrival,” he said simply as his summon walked up to him and nuzzled its head against his hand. “But there were other duties that occupied my time. However, I am sure all of you already know me as we have met during the entrance exams, so I shall not waste time with introductions.”

  It was Archdeacon Emmett.

  I was surprised to see him here. I hadn’t thought he would be a lecturer at the Holy Academy, but I guess it made sense considering that he had also been an examiner.

  “Now then,” Emmett said as he clapped his hands, and his summon stepped back into the spell circle and vanished, “let us begin this class.”

  ***

  And as the first class on the Sacred Art of Spirit Summons, the first day of classes also came to an end. All the while, Claudius observed the boy sitting at the front of the lecture hall.

  The Seventh Prince of the Sanctus Empire was no fool. He had seen the way Archdeacon Emmett nodded at Eli. Not only that, but Claudius remembered what Professor Andra had said earlier in the day as well.

  And his mind began to whirl with various schemes and plots to get back at the young boy.

  By the end of the week, you’re going to wish you never made an enemy out of me, Claudius thought as he sneered to himself.