In the Southern Empire, there exists a social hierarchy.

First is the Imperial Family, headed by the Emperor who rules the land.

After the Imperial Family are the 6 Noble Households, which are basically treated as royals and the foundational pillars that hold up the Empire. Naturally, these six households possess the highest caliber of Mages and hold vast influence in the Magus Community.

They have existed for centuries, with three existing since the conception of the Empire nearly a thousand years ago.

After the 6 Noble Households, the other noble families are the most influential in the Empire. Noble families usually have a monopoly on the economy, and it’s impossible to rise to a high point in commerce without being a noble.

That’s why a lot of merchants save up money to buy noble titles, just so they can improve their business prospects. Even then, due to the considerable number of nobles, there exists competition among themselves. To have the edge, a lot of nobles curry favors or become affiliated with one of the 6 Noble Households, which creates its own complications within the Empire.

However, there exists one family that rose in status to even rival the 6 Noble Households without relying on their power or authority.

Just pure merit.

That is the Kendou Family, and with their Martial Arts and incredible contribution to the Empire… they became recognized as a force equal in rank to the 6 Noble Households. The only reason they weren’t officially a part of them was due to their lack of proper Mage Arts.

Everyone knew the qualifications for a Noble Household was to possess an Archmage and at least three Grand Mages. However, since the Kendou Family was comprised of Martial Artists who weren’t that highly versed in Mage Arts, they couldn’t qualify.

Still, their authority and recognition did not fall behind the 6 Nobles.

‘So… what could have happened?’ Dan asked himself, his mind still stuck on Kai and his introduction as the other students introduced themselves.

He heard all familiar names from his coursemates, but none of them really stuck out to him.

‘Most of them will probably quit this Martial Arts after a while anyway.’ He told himself, and this was due to what his experience had shown him.

Even though he made sure to memorize the names and faces of all his classmates, he recognized that not all of them would be essential to his own growth or the advancement of their class as a whole.

Some would drop out, while others would have to be polished so they could keep up.

‘Not everyone achieves success… and the same principles apply here.’ Martial Arts was about discipline, so the students who couldn’t keep up would have to drop out.

The pain and effort required to excel in this field wasn’t one that just anyone could give.

‘Still, the rewards are worth it.’ Dan smiled.

It was unfortunate that a lot of people didn’t recognize this, but he wasn’t going to let their ignorance shackle his progress.

“My name is Britta! Nice to meet everyone here!” The red-haired girl beside him finally introduced herself, her voice loudly echoing in the hall.

It was like she had forgotten about their Instructor’s admonition regarding modesty in Martial Arts.

Dan glanced at Instructor Beck and realized his expression was unchanged.

‘I see…’ He smiled and nodded in acknowledgement. ‘So he’s also patient enough to understand that not every student will be able to follow his instruction immediately.’

Once more, his respect for the Martial Arts Instructor deepened.

“My name is Dan Nilrem. It’s a pleasure to meet everyone here.” He introduced himself normally, glancing at Britta—who had now realized her mistake and covered her lips.

He was tempted to chuckle, but he suppressed the desire.

“Great! I have memorized all of your names. However, for the purpose of order and efficiency, I will be assigning numbers to everyone present. As such, whenever we are in class like this, I will call you by your number. Understood?”

“Yes sir!”

‘Did he really remember our names?’ Dan somehow felt doubtful. ‘Isn’t he doing this just for convenience sake?’

“Kai is Number 1, Jake is Number 2…” He assigned numbers based on the order of introduction. “... And Dan Nilrem is Number 7.”

Dan noticed two things after the numbers were assigned.

‘It looks like he actually remembered all our names…’ A wry smile formed on his face as his doubts regarding his Instructor’s competence was dispelled. The gigantic man even made a proud smile, as if already aware that some students would have doubted his recollection.

Then, there was the second thing he noticed.

‘Everyone here… aside from Kai… is a commoner.’ No one had family names except for himself and the former.

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Even those with family names didn’t seem that relevant.

‘Kai isn’t allowed to use the Kendou name, and my Nilrem family name is as good as garbage.’ He thought to himself. ‘So, functionally speaking… we are all commoners.’

Why was no noble taking this course?

Dan already knew the answer to that, and it involved the public perception of everyone regarding Martial Arts and Mage Arts.

Mage Arts were regarded as more sophisticated and complex—something worthy of dedicating one’s life to and attending an Academy for. As a result, Magus Academies held more prestige than Martial Arts Schools.

Only true Martial Artists understood the importance and relevance of Martial Arts.

‘The problem is that most Martial Art Techniques are kept hidden from the general populace and are only passed down to direct disciples. The more powerful the Technique is, the stricter the process is.’

As a result, knowledge of Martial Arts was not as readily available as that of Mage Arts—which fundamentally relied on sharing information in order to advance.

‘Since Martial Arts is an individual disciple, rather than a collective one, there is no innate need to form a community and share knowledge. Sure, there exist Martial Arts exhibitions where skills are displayed, but core techniques are hidden and will only be taught to the inheritors of the techniques.’

In the Magus Community, Spells and Runes were also hoarded in some cases. However, the system was designed in such a way that in order to gain recognition and advance in the society, one needed to share their research and contribute to the advancement of Mage Arts.

It wasn’t enough to simply be powerful or knowledgeable.

‘In any case, since Martial Arts isn’t very respected by Mages, which means the families of those Mages would rather choose something else than follow the path of Martial Arts—especially since it involves hard labor and a lot of physical exertion.’ He concluded.

For commoners, however, Martial Arts was a lot more appealing.

‘A lot of Commoners can’t read and write, so learning Mage Arts—which is heavily based on research and intensive study—is very difficult for them. Martial Arts is a lot more straightforward, and since most commoners have experienced hardship growing up, the hardship involved in learning it is considered a lot more bearable.’

However, just because it was considered bearable didn’t mean that was really the case.

‘It’s a lot more difficult and technical than a lot of people give it credit for, which is why most of the commoners that remain in the Academy still end up dropping Martial Arts in subsequent years.’ Dan wasn’t like those people, though.

He had no intentions of backing out of what he started.

‘My body isn’t the best, but I’ll make sure to train it and learn as much as I can about Martial Arts before graduating from this Academy.’

“Now… here’s what we are going to do!” Instructor Baek’s words echoed in Dan’s ears, waking him up from his inner thoughts. “You’re all going to spar with each other—right here and now.”

A few students gasped or expressed surprise, but Dan remained calm.

He also noticed that Kai’s expression didn’t change, though Britta had a rather excited smile on her face.

“There are two reasons for this: one is for me to see how skilled and strong each one of you is, and the other is to establish a hierarchy amongst yourselves.”

Just now, the Instructor had given them numbers arbitrarily, but he now wanted them to earn the numbers that they were given—or higher ones if possible.

“In Martial Arts, power is everything. The power to protect yourself, your belongings, your friends, your family… that power is what we strive for as Martial Artists.” He explained even further. “As such, a hierarchy of power will be established in this class. You will have to call those with a higher number than you Senior and do whatever they tell you to do within the class—as long as it is within reason.”

Many students exclaimed at this, but a single glare from Instructor Beck caused them to mellow out very quickly.

“If you’re so dissatisfied with answering to someone else, make sure you get Number 1 then!”

‘Ohh… I plan to do that.’ Dan’s eyes glimmered, and he noticed the eyes of Britta did the same as he glanced to his side.

Some students seemed nervous, but for the most part… they were excited.

And why wouldn’t they?

Even if they couldn’t all get first place, as long as they didn’t get last place, they would still be called “Senior” by at least one person, and would be able to boss that person around. This single allure of power gave many the much-needed motivation to fight.

‘It’s funny seeing how many people get giddy at the allure of having authority over others.’ Dan mused.

It was clear that the students were only interested in selfishly using their elevated positions of authority selfishly, merely basking in the fact that they had someone they could lord over in their social setting.

Such was the nature of a lot of people: even the nobles that existed in the Empire.

However—

‘These people miss the true essence of such power: it is meant to protect.’

Even though the Martial Arts Instructor had just mentioned the meaning of power for a Martial Artist, many people didn’t grasp the values he was trying to impart.

‘He didn’t mention using it against people, but for the sake of oneself and others…’ Dan’s respect for Instructor Beck deepened again.

‘Those at the top should have enough power to remain there… while doing their best to protect themselves and those under them.’ As an Instructor in his past life, who rose to the position of Head of Department, he was able to realize this after years of experience.

As such, Dan couldn’t really blame these young ones for not realizing these things yet.

‘Some may never grasp it, but I have hope that a good number of them will understand if they’re shown the way.’

It was a good thing they had such a competent Instructor.

‘That said, I really should aim for the top. If I can be Number 1, I’ll be able to gather allies a lot quicker and coordinate this class and ensure they all grow sufficiently.’

He could also prevent any ‘abuse’ of power by the people below him.

‘The Instructor did say we can only make reasonable demands from our juniors, so I doubt he’d allow such abuse. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to place myself in a position where I can make my own precautions.’

Instructors were Instructors and students were students.

These two weren’t the same.

As long as the Instructor didn’t belong to the circle of students, there would always be places his regulations couldn’t touch and his eyes couldn’t see.

That was why a responsible leader for the class needed to exist.

‘I can be that leader… though it won’t be easy.’ Dan told himself. ‘There are two people here that pose the most challenge to me at the moment.’

One was Britta and the other was Kai.

‘I’m not sure I can defeat them…’ He could feel a bead of sweat form on his face.

Still, he had to try.

‘If I win, I can help everyone and myself… and even if I lose, I’ll still be able to secure a decent rank and gain their respect.’

There was no loss in giving the match his all.