L.E. Miranda
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SSR - Book 2 Chapter 33: Beginning of Classes (3)
🕑 Added 2025-04-16 01:07:23 +0000 UTCThe next three days passed by in a flash. The first day of classes arrived.
Rylan looked through the window at the sprawling city illuminated by the golden sunlight. The light reached his body, shining upon his standardized uniform. The golden insignia over his chest seemed to gain an almost ethereal hue. He smiled to himself, his expression just as warm as the sunlight.
It was a good break.
For the past three days, he had focused entirely on simple training and just enjoying his time with Sarah and his siblings, including Regis and Lillia, who had dropped by once. Naturally, it wasn’t as if their relationship had been completely mended, but Rylan was utterly grateful for the simple fact that they had been willing to visit him, even if it had been mostly for Aelfric’s sake. Rylan’s smile widened. He could still clearly remember his younger brother’s happy expression once they all gathered.
And he’s making progress with Luna.
Rylan rubbed his chin, almost chuckling to himself like an old man. It was endearing to watch these young men and women discover love and attraction, especially because the ‘young man’ was Aelfric. Rylan’s gaze gained a sad edge. Because of him, Aelfric had missed out on far too much and gotten himself into terrible situations repeatedly. If it wasn’t for his mana circulation method, Aelfric would still be struggling against the withdrawals. Rylan let out a small sigh and stood up slowly. In any case, it was great that Aelfric was managing to get closer to a girl who seemed interested in him. She had even apologized to Rylan because of the way she’d treated him when they met and afterwards.
Rylan rubbed his shoulders and turned toward the door, away from the sunlight.
Love, huh?
Roland had never known anything about it. The sword had been all that mattered to him. It was ironic that the person he’d developed the closest relationship with had been his actual sword.
I wonder what you’re doing now, Yue.
Moonlight had likely spent a great amount of power and energy to transform the sword the Basilisk Wilds had initially rewarded him with, Silver Soldier, into Silver Twilight. Truthfully, Rylan didn’t know what the actual consequences of that would be, since he didn’t even know what Moonlight’s current situation even was. He narrowed his eyes and sighed again. He could only hope that his oldest friend was alright. Yue had been all that he'd had in his past life for most of it.
Maybe it was a type of love.
He shrugged to himself as he walked closer to the door. He could worry about that when the time came. For now, he should go to his first day of classes. Rylan opened the door and looked at Sarah, who was leaning against the wall next to it.
“Good morning, Sarah.”
She turned toward him and bowed calmly.
“Good morning, young master.”
Rylan smiled.
“I’m sad that you woke up before me and left the room. How could you abandon me like that? I had to be the one to wake Aelfric up.”
She raised her body and grinned at him.
“How could I ever compare to the Sword Saint at—”
Rylan’s hand shot forward before she could even finish her sentence. She tried to take a step back, but it was too late. The light flick landed square in the center of her forehead, strong enough to create a sound, but not enough to actually cause any damage. The loud noise resounded. She pouted and put her hands over her forehead.
“You need to stop doing that, young master,” Sarah said, still pouting. “You’re now too fast for me to even react. It doesn’t hurt more than before, but…”
“I’m controlling my strength. But if you want me to, I can stop. I won’t do it again.”
Sarah nodded repeatedly. Before she could reply, Rylan’s gaze shot to the person walking up the stairs. Aelfric was holding an apple, wearing the same uniform as Rylan. He took a large bite out of the apple with clear satisfaction and turned around once he reached the top of the stairs. Once he swallowed his food, he smiled.
“Oh, you got ready quickly, Rylan. Shouldn’t we go?”
Rylan nodded at his brother.
“Of course. Lead the way.”
“Oh, Luna’s joining us on the way there.”
Rylan raised an eyebrow with a knowing smile. Aelfric flinched. Shaking his head with a laugh, Rylan gestured to the stairs. Aelfric narrowed his eyes and turned around to lead the way. Once they left the inn, they joined up with Luna, who was wearing a similar uniform, and Karune, who slightly bowed at Rylan.
“Good morning, you two,” Luna said with a smile before immediately looking only at Aelfric. Rylan could see the emotions in her eyes.
Nice.
After sharing some more greetings, the party entered a large carriage that Luna had hired. Soon, they were making their way through the streets of Caer Rhelon. Rylan looked through the window. At least there wouldn’t be people swarming him like this.
After some time, the carriage arrived at the Academy. Rylan looked around as he stepped out of it. All around him were hundreds of students, all walking toward the Academy’s entrance. Some were stepping out of carriages just like him, while others seemed to have arrived on foot. Most wore the same uniform and robe as him, but some were different. Of course, there were also the guards at the gate, dressed in white robes; their number was much higher than before. Was it because this was the first day of actual classes? Or was there another reason?
“Damn,” Aelfric’s voice resounded from behind Rylan, making him glance over his shoulder. “I don’t know what I expected, but… that’s a lot of people.”
“We need to get used to it. I’ve heard there are a lot of people in each class, too,” Luna said from next to Aelfric. She was also looking around. Despite her words, she appeared to be a little overwhelmed.
Sarah and Karune stood to the side with serene expressions. Rylan took in his surroundings for a bit more. The young students’ expressions were filled with excitement and anxiety as they ran toward the gate, laughing in groups and pulling on each other’s robes. Some were louder than the others, drawing side glances from the crowd around them. The girls gathered up in tight groups as they slowly walked toward the gate, eyes darting around and lingering on the faces of some of the more handsome boys, who puffed out their chests after noticing it.
Rylan felt like he was almost entranced by the sounds of laughter and yelling. How long had it been since he’d gotten to experience something like this? A peaceful environment where teenagers could be themselves and do everything that teenagers want to do. Laugh, flirt, fall in love, cry. Whether they were returning students or freshmen, the Academy represented a new step in their lives. How long had it been?
…Never.
It had never happened at all. There was no point in thinking about his current life – he had lived as a waste of space before his eighteenth birthday. But he had never gotten to experience anything like this even in his past life. After the death of his parents, Roland had single-mindedly pursued power. He hadn’t spent years in an academy or institution, or even made many friends. He had been so focused on reaching the end of his path that he hadn’t stopped to smell the roses along the way. Because of his Prodigy Trait, which later evolved into Complete Prodigy, he had been able to advance faster than anyone else. On his road to absolute power, there had been no time to experience anything like this.
I… should protect this.
A strange emotion filled his chest. These children weren’t like him. They were young people with hopes and dreams. Some likely dreamed about becoming a powerful and influential Mage, while others only wanted to help their families, especially those who had received scholarships. Children who had never seen the horrors of war or killed so many people that their corpses would form a mountain. Ordinary people living ordinary lives. If he had the power to do so, shouldn’t he at least try to keep them from experiencing the same things he had in his past life?
With a pensive expression, Rylan watched the teenagers run toward the Academy’s entrance.
“Rylan?” Aelfric’s voice suddenly reached his ears, making him flinch. “Shouldn’t we go?”
Rylan let out a small sigh and shook his head to organize his thoughts. A second later, he looked at Aelfric and smiled.
“Of course. Let’s go.”
Sarah and Karune bowed at the same time.
“Young masters, I’ll see you two later,” Sarah said.
Rylan nodded at her. It was one of the rules of the Academy that aides weren’t allowed in unless in special circumstances, including those of the various noble families. With Elizabeth’s help, Sarah had managed to easily find a place to stay in the capital, even though Rylan and Aelfric would now live at the dorms. Naturally, they could leave and meet up with her at any time. There was simply no meaning to having her return to Cantavega, as she was Rylan’s caretaker and now Aelfric’s as well.
“Yeah,” Rylan replied with a smile. “See you later.”
He turned around and started walking toward the Academy’s gate, followed by Aelfric and Luna. As he walked, he noticed more and more gazes falling upon him. His hearing, which had become several times sharper because of the increase to his physical stats, managed to grasp the increasing wave of whispers.
“Hey, that’s Rylan Flameheart, right?”
“Yeah, I’m sure of it. Isn’t he tall? He looks muscular too.”
“Look at you. How can you even tell? He’s wearing a robe.”
“Listen, you shouldn’t doubt my intuition about things like these.”
On the opposite side.
“The strongest student of our year, huh? Do you think some of the senior students would be able to take him on?”
“Maybe the student council? I heard they were pretty strong, but I don’t know. Rylan’s a monster. He beat Hayden.”
“Do you think he’s gonna draw attention from day one?”
“He drew attention before he even became a student, dude. I don’t think there is a single person in this city who hasn’t heard about his fight against Hayden.”
Rylan let out a breath as the whispers only got louder. Voices were drowned out by even louder ones. By the time he arrived in front of the gate, he could feel countless gazes, making him furrow his brow. He glanced at Aelfric. The boy was shifting uncomfortably and glancing over his shoulder. Rylan nodded to himself, then at the guards in front of the gate. They bowed almost at the same time, some even more deeply than they probably should have.
Rylan raised an eyebrow but said nothing. Once inside the Academy, they followed the white-robed students’ directions to arrive in front of their classroom after quite a bit of walking.
Rylan looked at the large double doors, feeling the mana coming from them. Curious, he pushed them. The thick doors slid open as if they were weightless, letting him understand what kind of magic had been cast on them.
The moment he stepped inside the classroom, dozens of gazes landed on him. Among them, he was intimately familiar with one of them. He looked at Alice, who stood on the small stage at one end of the classroom. The sunlight illuminated her crimson hair and green eyes. As usual, she was wrapped in tight clothing. He smiled at her.
The first class of his first school year would be Battle Fundamentals.
Comments
Some Guy
TFTC
thaughton2
Oh dear. This will be an eventful class.
