Chapter 1: Bad Start

As he propped himself up with his left forearm on the ground, right arm slightly bent for support and balance,  he gripped his wand on his left hand tighter. 

There was smoke and dust covering the area. As the smoke began to fade, in front of him a human silhouette started to form. 

Then suddenly a gust of wind blasted away the smoke, clearing the place. As the surrounding area became visible, there were cracks on the ground, craters, and debris all over the place — signs of an intense battle that took place. 

The man stared intensely into the eyes of the man in front of him. Both men were heavily injured and clothes tattered. The former had several lacerations while the latter had a puncture on his left thigh. 

Both were not merely staring at each other but were actually concentrating magical energy. And without any signal, both raised and pointed their wand toward each other — a blinding flash of light enveloped them. 

Chapter 93 End. To be Continued Next Week.

Damian has just finished reading the latest chapter he bought of Clash of the Wizards. Binging the comic book has left him empty with nothing else to do for the rest of the weekend. He stowed the comic in his interspatial ring provided by the academy for book storage. Interspatial accessories sure are useful, he thought.

The next day was the start of another school week. It has been a month since the start of school and three weeks since class started. 

The first day of school was a welcome assembly. Like always, annually, the school director gave his ol’-regular-mundane-formal speech (well at least to Damian).

The school director, in the blue suit, was a wizard. A wizard is a title given to a mage who reaches a certain level of knowledge and proficiency in a particular field. His appearance was your stereotypical wizard in the olden times — long white hair, long white eyebrows, and lastly, a long white beard. 

The speech lasted for half over half an hour which consisted of congratulating , commending, and encouraging the students, and glorifying the school. Seriously, couldn’t the man keep it brief? 

Well, at least, Damian admitted he was captivated at the start with how the director used magic to amplify his voice and evenly distributed the sound throughout the assembly hall with just the right amount of volume. 

However, if it wasn’t for the annual presentation by the fourth year representatives, he would’ve been bored to death. The presentation utilized various kinds of magic such as fire, water magic, levitation, ice, and many other kinds of magic spells.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

It was truly cool!

The first day for the freshmen ended differently for those who were staying in the school’s dormitory and those who were not. Damian was part of the former. For students staying in the dormitory, they were introduced to their rooms and roommates, and instructed on the rules of the building. 

It was emphasized that curfew was at eight in the evening for the first years. Break that and you’re immediately sent to the disciplinary office even if you were just 5 minutes late. 

A good advice for the first years: Never Take The School’s Rules For Granted. 

The school has quite known what would happen if a student of theirs gets into a mess — some parents would be quite a pain in the ass to handle.

On the other hand, the second and the third day were allotted for the new batch of students to explore the campus. The first years were grouped into fours and fives and were assigned with two third year students to guide them.

Damian was grouped with people he did not know. More like, he did not know anybody in this school. (Though he recognized some students in the academy, they were neither his friends nor his acquiantances). Putting that aside, the group's assigned third years assured them that the “first year of school is the most exciting period as a student” with a seemingly innocent smile. This couldn’t be farther from the truth.

Apparently, it was a traditional gag among the third years.

They get to find out later that the first year will mostly be about the basics — learning theories, memorizing incantantations gestures, and so on — nothing much that will make your heart throb throughout the year!

The fourth and fifth days were used for getting to know one’s class, advisers, co-advisers and (magical and non-magical) subject teachers. Along with the grading system and other rules regarding class, the general outline of lessons were also provided.

One student in his class asked whether they would be learning how to use wands in their first year. The answer was “no”.

Quite a disappointment to find out.

As first years they would be taught how to cast spells without the use of wands. Wands would come into play in their second year. 

If we are just gonna use a wand in the end, why not start learning now? Damian wanted to ask but could not get himself to. 

As his class had a scheduled test on two non-magical subjects the next day, he decided to begin studying. It was time to procrastinate!

* * *

When the tests in mathematics and literature ended, it left many in Damian’s class perturbed — including him.

Most of them underestimated the test since it was still the third week of class. It was still the third week for God’s sake! Was this not part of the time to let the students get accustomed to the pace of the academy?! 

Most of them were unquestionably not expecting to be bombarded with such long and challenging exams early in the school year. It looked like they still haven’t gotten over their grade school life, where almost everything was a piece of cake.

The test caused Damian to facepalm. He certainly did not want to let his parents find out about this. Not that they’re strict with grades or anything . . . but they surely would be upset and disappointed.

With his fingers, he brushed his spiky-reddish-dark hair from the forehead towards his ponytail and let out a sigh.

He just hoped he at least passed.