Sunlight streamed in through the large bay windows of Brian’s room at the Academy as he woke up, letting out a loud yawn. Sitting up in the soft bed, he quickly got up and dressed in his robes, making sure his staff and sword were securely attached to his back and belt respectively. He quickly checked his storage bracer, trying to feel out how much more weight he could carry with it before it was full, just like how Brenda had explained he could do the night before.
He estimated he only had about a hundred kilograms of various items, most of it made up of books, in the item, meaning if what Lavernia had said was correct, he still had at least two tonnes of space, probably more. Nodding, he quickly headed out of the room, following the corridors down to the cafeteria of the Academy, joining in the line to get some breakfast.
“Hey, I don’t recognise you,” someone said from behind him, “When did you get here?”
“Last night,” Brian answered, turning to the weaselly looking man behind him, “My name is Brian.”
“Hmmph, only a first name?” the man snorted, “Well, consider yourself lucky to have been spoken to by the great Archibald Luster! Now, get out of my way commoner.”
“Commoner?” Brian blinked, looking at the man in confusion, “I think there’s some confusion here, my full name is Brian Andrews.”
“What?” the other man, Archbald, blinked, looking Brian up and down again, “I don’t recognize that family name.”
“I’m from outside of the kingdom,” Brian smiled, “Something of a diplomat and transfer student combined.”
“D-diplomat?” the other man actually squeaked, his face going pale, “Well then, I apologize for my rudeness! I hadn’t realized.”
“It’s fine,” Brian shrugged, looking up as he reached the front of the line, “Anyway, I’m just going to eat my breakfast, then I have a meeting to get to.”
“Of course,” the noble Mage nodded, watching after Brian as he left to find a free seat, “A diplomat? I wonder which kingdom he comes from. Dammit, I should have asked!”
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“Someone wants to meet us?” Dylan asked, looking at the king and Arch Mage as they both nodded, “Who?”
“Someone who claims to have been brought with you when you were taken from your world,” the Arch Mage said, “While it is unlikely to be true, we wished to check with you all first.”
“You mean that old guy?” someone said from the back, “He was actually here as well?”
“So, there was someone else with you?” the king asked.
“Yes, one of the Theme Park workers that was walking through our class when we got…picked up,” Dylan nodded, the king and Arch Mage nodding back, “We didn’t really talk much, he just spoke to Fiore a bit then went off to the side by himself.”
“You speak of the goddess of reincarnation and life, Fiore, correct?” the Arch Mage asked, “What did he speak to her about?”
“Just some weird stuff about Isekai and the powers we’d get,” Dylan shrugged, “He was…well, not rude, but kind of blunt with her.”
“Hmmm, interesting,” the king nodded, “So? Do you wish to meet with him?”
“I don’t see why not?” Dylan nodded back, “When will it happen?”
“He is already waiting in your private tearoom,” the Arch Mage replied, “You may see him at your leisure.”
“Oh,” Dylan blinked, looking back at the rest of his class, “Guess we should just go now, right?”
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Brian looked up from his book as the door to the tearoom opened, a young face looking in at him.
“Hi,” he smiled as the students walked into the room, counting nineteen of them, feeling a pang in his chest as he realised the fate of the missing member, “I’m not sure if you remember me, but I’m Brian.”
“I do,” the boy who had opened the door nodded, Brian noting that he was wearing a suit of half-plate and carried a well-crafted bastard sword at his hip, “I’m Dylan.”
“Pleasure to properly meet you,” Brian nodded, looking around the room, “So…do you guys want to come in and sit? The biscuits they brought are really good.”
“Sure,” Dylan nodded as he glanced at the rest of his class, the others all moving to take up their own seats, “So, why did you want to meet with us?”
“Just an old man worrying about the youth, I guess?” Brian chuckled, stopping when he got strange looks from the kids, “Okay, honestly? This is mostly because of some of the things I’ve heard about what happened to the previous Heroes.”
“Previous Heroes?” some of the other students asked, looking at each other.
“Yeah, like dying,” Brian nodded, the room quickly going silent, “I see there’s one of you already missing. Did they die?”
“Yeah,” Dylan replied, feeling slightly annoyed that this stranger had brought that up again, “Is that all? You just wanted to come check on us?”
“Mostly,” Brian nodded, “I also wanted to find out if I can help you guys. Do you have scrolls? I’m a Scribe, and apparently a very good one, so I can make you a lot of pretty powerful ones quite quickly.”
“We have plenty of scrolls and potions, thanks,” Dylan shook his head, “The king provides us with everything we need.”
“Good to hear,” the older man sighed in relief, “And no problems with…I don’t know, princes or princesses that might be trying to manipulate you?”
“W-what do you mean?” Dylan gasped, feeling his cheeks flush.
“If by manipulate, you mean shamelessly flirt, then yeah,” Miles suddenly cut in, “This guy practically has Princess Renaria wrapped around his little finger!”
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“I do not!” Dylan shouted, “I don’t like older women anyway!”
“Aw, you’re going to break her heart if she hears that!” Miles chuckled, shaking his head, “And anyway, isn’t she like nineteen? That’s only two years age difference, man.”
“So, you’re all seventeen?” Brian asked, breaking off the teasing as Dylan continued to blush harder and harder, “That would put you in your second year of high school, right?”
“Last year, actually,” Dylan let out a quiet sigh of relief, “We were set to graduate at the end of the year, the trip to the Theme Park was part of a reward for doing well on our pre-lims.”
“I see,” Brian nodded, getting up from his seat, “Well, I’m glad most of you seem to be doing okay. I’m going to be hanging around the capital for a while, so feel free to look me up if you need anything.”
“Hold on,” Dylan said, looking hard at the robed man, “You said you’d heard stuff about the previous Heroes, right? Anything about us being able to go home?”
“Yeah,” Brian nodded, a slightly sad look flashing across his face, “You guys will be able to go home after you defeat the Demon Lord if you want to.”
“Wait…we will?” one of the other girls asked, “Just us? What about you?”
“Apparently only those with the Title of Hero can be sent back,” Brian shrugged, “So I guess I’m stuck here for the rest of my life. No big deal, really, I’ve been enjoying myself.”
“Enjoying yourself?” some of the class muttered, looking at the man in confusion.
“Yeah, turns out breaking the system in that safe space we all first appeared in gave me more than enough Skill Points to make myself pretty overpowered,” Brian laughed, “Though I did put most of them into my Job. That turned out to be a good idea, because it got me in good with the Mage’s Guild.”
“Wait, you broke the system?” Dylan blinked, “How?”
“Well, I started with three hundred and thirty of the special Skill Points,” Brian explained, “And I used them to buy a Title for two-fifty. That Title gives me a boost to the number of Skill Points I earn per level, and it apparently applied retroactively to the special ones.”
“Damn dude,” Miles hummed appreciatively, “That’s a pretty big hack right there.”
“I know, right?” Brian grinned, “Anyway, I don’t want to keep you all waiting for too long. I understand you have training to get to, right?”
“Yeah,” Dylan nodded as the man started to leave, a thought occurring to him, “Hey!”
“Yeah?” Brian asked at the shout.
“Want to join us?”
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“A Mage using a sword?” the trainer scoffed, looking at Brian in contempt, “Unless your Class is something like a War Mage or Spellblade, it’s pointless.”
“I have a very good sword though,” Brian said, patting the rapier at his hip, “It’s a Soul Blade.”
“Soul Blade?” the man choked, staring at the weapon in shock, “Show me! Now!”
“Alright,” Brian shrugged as he drew the Mithril blade, already able to feel its influence on him as he stood in a loose stance.
“Hmm,” the trainer growled, suddenly whacking him in the leg with his own wooden sword, “Bring that foot further forwards, and raise you leading arm more. That is a good blade, but you’re using it all wrong!”
“I look forward to your tutelage, sir,” Brian nodded as he followed the instructions, “Like this?”
“Better, but still pathetic,” the other man barked, “Where is your strength? Where is your dexterity? I would shame myself if I were to let such a blade be wielded so poorly after seeing it!”
The rest of the frontliners watched as the trainer continued to scream and hit the Mage with his wooden sword, correcting his stance and ordering him around. For his part, Brian seemed to pick up on what the trainer was talking about quickly, soon standing in a way that made the man happy enough to stop hitting him.
“Right, now, STRIKE!”
Brian lunged forwards, the instructor immediately shouting again.
“No! What are you trying to do? Tickle your opponent to death? More power! More spring in your step!”
“Yes sir!” the man shouted, before the trainer suddenly seemed to remember something, turning to look at the students.
“And you lot, quit gawking and get to practicing! I want one thousand reps by the end of the hour! Begin!”
The group all groaned as they hurried to their places, leaving a space near the middle that some of them looked at sadly.
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“Do you have any direct attack Abilities?” the Mage trainer asked, Brian shaking his head.
“Nope, just Status effects and Curses,” he replied, before recalling something, “Actually, I might have one attack Spell, but I haven’t unlocked it yet.”
“Can you do so now?” she asked, Brian nodding, “Then if you would, just one level should be fine.”
Brian shrugged as he opened the Ability Screen for his Class, selecting Umbral Bolt and spending the fifteen points to unlock one level of it.
“Done,” Brian nodded again, “Now what?”
“Attempt to fire it at one of the golems,” the woman said, pointing at the hulking stone figures in the distance, “Do not worry if you miss or cannot cast it at first, it is a new Ability for you.”
“Right,” Brian nodded, pointing his palm at the group of stone constructs, darkness suddenly coalescing in his hand, before it shot forwards like an inky streak and slammed into one of the golems, enveloping it.
“W-what?” the Mage trainer gasped, “Silent casting? For a level one Ability? What Tier is it?”
“Tier Four,” Brian said as he watched the golem struggle against the binding darkness, before it suddenly crumbled to pieces, “Oh damn, I think I broke it, sorry.”
“No, that is quite alright,” the Mage trainer muttered, fanning herself with a hand as she turned pale, “That is to be expected of a T-Tier Four Ability. The golems are only able to recover from Tier Three attacks and lower.”
“Right, so I probably shouldn’t do that again,” Brian hummed, “I don’t want to break all of them.”
“That would be for the best, yes,” the Mage trainer nodded, “Now, about your other Abilities, you said they were Status effects and Curses? How do they work?”
“Well…” Brian said as he started to explain.
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“You really are OP,” Miles laughed as the entire class sat at the dining table, one seat left open as Brian sat at the head between Dylan and the Rogue.
“I guess I am,” Brian chuckled along, “I mean, I did break the system and give my self and extra seven hundred and twenty Skill Points, so it’s kind of to be expected, right?”
“How does silent casting work?” Gregory suddenly cut in, a look of excitement on his face, “Is it a function of Ability Level, or Tier?”
“Neither, I think,” Brian said thoughtfully, “Or well, it hasn’t felt like it for me. I just sort of assumed I could cast my Spell Abilities without saying the names, and I could. It was tricky to get it right at first, but I figured that was just because I was new to magic.”
“I see,” the Black Mage nodded, “So, is it more like a matter of will and intent, then?”
“Yeah, that sounds about right,” Brian nodded, “Though it probably took a lot less for me due to my Spell Abilities being max Level from the start.”
“Right,” Gregory nodded, a thoughtful look on his face, “I only brought mine up to Level five with the special Skill Points, so I know what I’m doing with the rest of my Skill Points from now on!”
“Just be careful,” Brian hummed lowly, “Having a max Level Spell Ability may seem great, but you also have to learn to control its output. If I use more than about ninety percent of the full power of pretty much any of my Abilities, my target will die instantly.”
“Oh,” the Black Mage nodded, “Good to know. Wait…control the output? You can do that?”
“Probably because I have a maxed-out Mana Manipulation Ability, but yes,” Brian nodded, “What’s yours at?”
“Also at Level ten,” Gregory said, “But we haven’t gotten to that part of our training yet. Right now, it’s all about power and basic control.”
“Well, then I guess you might as well do some practice on your own,” Brian shrugged, looking up as he realised the entire table was listening to their conversation, especially the other Mages, “What?”
“It just feels like you’ve learned a lot more than we have in the same amount of time,” Mary said as she sipped her water, “It’s…strange.”
“Put it down to me being more experienced, then,” Brian chuckled, “Not that I’m saying I’ve ever been to other worlds before, just that I’m older, so I have a bit more real-world knowledge than you guys.”
“That’s fair,” Dylan nodded, looking thoughtful, “Hey, I don’t have the Mana Manipulation Ability, but I apparently have something similar. DO you think what you said could help me too?”
“Don’t see why not,” Brian nodded, “What’s it called? Oh, if you don’t mind me asking, seeing as it’s rude to question people about their Abilities.”
“No, it’s fine,” Dylan shook his head, “It’s called Divine Channeling.”