“You’re late.”

As Dan entered the dojo-looking building, he was instantly assailed with a very deep voice.

He cast his gaze in the direction that it came from and his eyes met a goliath. The man appeared to be in his late thirties and was as huge as a giant—about three meters tall in height, with a very muscular body to accompany his tall stature.

He wore simple training clothes: a black sleeveless top, with shorts that clung tightly to his body. He had a headband tied around his forehead, with bushy beards and a very rough-looking face. The best way to describe him would be that of a barbarian or ruffian.

His eyes were kind, though.

Despite how rough and grumpy he seemed, his small eyes shone like little marbles as he stared at Dan, who remained calm despite the eyes that were on him.

It wasn’t just the Instructor that was present in the Hall, after all.

‘A total of seven students from our class chose this as a Minor, huh? Not a bad number for a start.’ Dan thought to himself as he observed the students that all stood before the teacher in a straight line.

He even noticed the weird red-haired girl among them, since she was the tallest.

‘She looks nervous, and she’s avoiding my gaze.’ Dan felt a slight smile tug at his lips, but he forced it away, not wanting to appear impudent before his new Instructor.

The reason he felt amused was due to the current situation that he was in and an opportunity that presented itself before him.

‘I was already planning on coming late, so there was no need to rush. However, the girl who nearly knocked me down thinks it’s her fault that I was late.’ His thoughts flowed. ‘That means I could choose to lay the blame on her or choose to take personal responsibility.’

Of course, he wasn’t going to do the former.

This wasn’t because he felt it was cowardly to assign blame or responsibility to another person. If the situation demanded it, and if such a person was indeed in the wrong, Dan wasn’t going to hesitate to call them out on it.

However, not only was the girl not directly responsible for his tardiness, but he could also benefit from omitting the part she played in his lateness.

‘She’ll owe me yet another one.’ He nodded to himself. ‘That’s not a bad thing.’

“I apologize for my lateness, Instructor. It was difficult locating this place, so I got confused and lost for a while before finding it.”

“Hmph! You had all day to prepare, so why didn’t you start coming for classes sooner?”

“Forgive me, sir.” Dan bowed his head respectfully. “I had Runecrafting lessons not too long ago, and our Instructor’s words were so profound that it took me a while to fully sort out my thoughts before leaving the class.”

“Runecrafting? I did hear that a few students were offering that this year. Hmm… you have Darwin as your Instructor, right?”

“That’s right, sir. You know him?” Dan smiled, glad to see that the conversation was successfully being led in the direction that he wanted.

“Know him? Pssh!” The Martial Arts Instructor quickly shrugged dismissively. “You’d do well to do a lot of personal research and cooperate with your coursemate if you want to pass that Course.”

“I will, sir!”

“And if you get lost or confused by anything in the Academy next time, you shouldn’t hesitate to ask any of the Patrol Officers around. That’s one of their uses anyway.”

“I will keep those words in mind, sir!”

“Also remember to read the Academy Encyclopedia and those scrolls that are in your room. All of them are important and valuable. Understand?”

“Understood, sir!”

“Good! Now come join the rest of your coursemates in the line.”

“Yes, sir!”

Dan scurried to join the line, a small smile on his face already.

‘What a gentle giant he is.’ His thoughts echoed within him. ‘Despite his toughness and clear no-nonsense attitude, it’s clear that he cares for his students.’

While the main reason Dan arrived late was to see the reaction of his Instructor when it came to Darwin Levantis—his Runecrafting Instructor—the other reason was to observe the response his Instructor would give him for coming late.

‘Not only did he chastise me minimally, but also gave me room to explain myself. After that, he gave me advice on how to improve and not make the same mistake again.’ Dan felt his smile growing bigger.

‘This is how an Instructor should be!’

The massive man that stood before him, as well as his coursemates, was a shining example of the true essence of an Instructor.

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‘The ability to discipline a student, listen to a student, and properly guide a student…’ He felt relief in his heart. ‘I’m glad to see that this place still has Instructors like this man.’

He was already looking forward to his Martial Arts classes, which was more than he could say for his Runecrafting Major. Dan found it incredibly ironic that his own specialty course turned out in such a way… but he knew the sole cause.

‘It’s the Runecrafting Instructor. That man… isn’t a good Instructor.’ Dan sighed internally.

From the reaction the Martial Arts Instructor made when the Darwin Levantis’ name came up, and the counsel that he gave afterwards, it was obvious that Dan’s suspicions about his nature wasn’t wrong.

‘Instructors usually frown at the idea of talking badly about colleagues. This is a workplace after all, and most of the staff try to set up a good name for themselves and the Academy. That means avoiding besmirching fellow staff and making sure everyone keeps up a good appearance.’

The fact that the Martial Arts Instructor—a man who didn’t seem to be a bad or biased person—showed such an expression when Darwin Levantis came up made it clear just how bad the latter’s reputation was.

‘He also didn’t directly say anything bad about him, which means he’s still trying to protect his colleague’s image. That makes what I have learned more reliable.’ Dan concluded.

If the Martial Arts instructor had run his mouth and spoken particularly poorly about his colleague in front of all the students present, Dan would have lost some respect for him and would have even questioned the validity of the information he was receiving.

After all, envy and ill will wasn’t uncommon in a workplace. It was possible that a fellow staff member would want to sabotage another.

It wasn’t an ideal practice for Instructors, but it still happened on occasion.

‘But, with this brief interaction, I can tell that this Instructor has no ill will towards Darwin, but also doesn’t approve of him.’ Dan kept his expression stable at this point. ‘And now that I know of his current position in the system, it won’t be difficult to shake things up for him to make sure he does better.’

And… if he failed to improve, Dan would to take the more extreme measure.

“Welcome to Basic Martial Arts Training. My name is Beck, and I’ll be your Instructor for this Course.”

“A pleasure to meet you, Instructor Beck!” Everyone yelled out, almost all at once.

“Sheesh! Tone it down a little.” He responded, rubbing his head a little as he responded with a suppressed smile. “There’s no need to be so loud in greetings. A popular misconception about Martial Arts is that it is always brazen and loud, lacking sophistication… but that isn’t true.”

Silence wafted in the air as he said this.

“However, Martial Arts actually values modesty. It is an art that is complex, built upon the foundation of discipline and silence. Martial Artists often train in seclusion for several years, only revealing their strength when necessity calls for it. So remember, students… loudness isn’t considered a value in this place. Instead, always strive to be solemn and cultured in your pursuits.” He smiled at everyone, his small eyes glittering as he did so.

“Is that understood?”

“Yes, sir!”

Dan joined everyone in saying this, his voice kept minimal in order to emulate the qualities he had just been taught by the man before him.

‘I find it a little funny that he talks about sophistication when he looks so huge and wears tight shorts in a formal setting, but I suppose this is one of the cases where appearances can be deceiving.’ He thought to himself.

Unlike a lot of students his age, he knew enough about Martial Arts to understand why Instructor Baek chose such a fit for class.

‘The practicality of the tight, but elastic shorts allow for free, unrestricted movements of the legs and all the joints—almost as if they’re a part of one’s body. The same could be applied to the sleeveless tops, since they do not restrict the shoulder or extend beyond it.’

The reason the top wasn’t tight like the shorts was that one’s upper body had a lot more movement and strain when practicing Martial Arts, while the feet was usually rooted or had more straightforward patterns.

‘As a result, a tight top will end up restricting some of the movements of a Martial Artist—even if it is elastic. The muscle movements wouldn’t flow as much as they were supposed to, and that would reduce efficiency.

‘The lower body would have suffered the same problem if the tight wear extended beyond the knees, but there’s a reason why they are shorts instead.’

All of this analysis in Dan’s mind was for the sole purpose of arriving at the conclusion that his Instructor was indeed correct for choosing the kind of outfit he wore.

‘His bushy beards have no practical use, though.’ He silently added. ‘He should shave them away.’

“In order for all of us to be familiar with one another, each of you will introduce yourselves.” Instructor Beck interrupted Dan’s thoughts and continued. “Let’s start with the earliest to arrive… you over there.”

He pointed at the boy who stood at the far right of the line.

Naturally, Dan turned to look at him.

The student had a serious demeanor on his face—one he had worn throughout the time Dan was in the dojo. He was also dressed in Martial Arts wear already—though his shorts were not tight, but loose.

Based on the definition on his neck, arms, calves, and other visible parts of his body, it was clear that the boy was a Martial Artist.

He also partially reeked of sweat, which meant he had been training prior to the start of class.

‘What dedication…’ Dan felt a small bead of sweat fall from his face.

“My name is Kai Kendou… a pleasure to meet you.”

‘Kendou? From the Kendou Family?’ The name sparked memories in his head. ‘They’re the only Martial Arts Household that’s recognized to be on the same level as the 6 Nobles in the Empire.’

The Kendou Martial Arts School was popular in his time, so he understood the weight behind the boy’s words.

‘So he’s on the same level as Lyla Raeven and the other two Nobles that registered in our year, huh? Looks like we have quite the interesting characters in our class.’

Dan could not help but wonder why he didn’t hear Kai’s family name when he was being introduced in the General Assembly. The Academy Head only called out his name, and even now… the expression of Instructor Beck was that of disapproval the moment Kai was done with his introduction.

“Kai…” He spoke in a low, disapproving tone. “... You know the rules.”

“But I thought—”

“....” A stern look from the Instructor was enough to break his stubbornness, after which he re-introduced himself without the family name.

Everyone in the dojo remained calm and didn’t show any sign of surprise by what just happened, which further raised Dan’s curiosity.

‘What in the world? Why was he made to hide his family name?’

A family name was something that belonged exclusively to noble households. Anyone with one was regarded higher than a commoner, so it was only a given that it would be worn with pride by those that had it.

Even commoner families who used to be nobles held onto their names.

‘So why…?’ There were a few reasons that flashed in Dan’s mind, but he chose not to draw any conclusion at that moment.

He could only remain curious.