Antelina frowned at the question. There was only one transfer student, it was written on the notice board, so how did they end up with two? Was someone from the upper echelon testing the class? That would explain it. How else could an ordinary looper dodge thirty-seven times in a row?

She smiled, feeling confident she had found the root of the problem.

On the other hand, both the older man and the green-haired girl squinted to identify the young man sitting on the test chair.

"So, none of you is familiar with him?" She asked them.

They shook their heads.

It was at this moment that they all decided to stop beating around the bush and ask the boy in question. She removed the blindfold.

Gaus

Once blindfolded, he couldn't hear any sounds. Some races could hear murmurs from many meters away, so instead of feeling the mana in the charged tablets, they would just use sound to pick it, making the test useless. So the academy invented sound blockers and put them in the blindfolds.

He'd lost count of how many times he dodged when they suddenly stopped coming. A familiar hand removed the blindfold.

By the left, the teacher, Linc, and the class representative, Antelina, stood, and by the right, a green-haired girl, who wasn't previously in the class, and another man stood. Both stared at him with furrowed brows. Although not wearing any uniform, the green-haired girl looked like a student, but the man was different. Experienced. Determined.

The silence reigned for a while before Linc cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.

"It seems there's some misunderstanding going on here. Mister Gaus, can you be kind enough to stand?"

Gaus stood up slowly. He walked to where Antelina was and stood beside her so he could see the rest of the class.

"Now, can you tell us who you are?" Linc asked.

There was a sudden urge to frown but he resisted.

"I'm Gaus Lake. I was admitted yesterday. My guarantor is XM9999."

Linc frowned at the mention of XM9999.

"Er... look, Gaus, we care very little about your guarantor. Just tell us why you're here. You should be in junior class 1," Linc said with a bit of annoyance.

Was that what happened? He sighed. "I followed the map to get here, I must have messed up somewhere. Sorry about that. I'll look for my class," Gaus said as he started to walk toward the door.

"Wait."

Gaus stopped and turned around.

"Have you ever attended any class before this?" Linc asked.

Gaus shook his head. "No."

"So this is your first class in the academy?"

Gaus nodded. Linc scratched his temples, breathing heavily. They shared a bizarre look with the other man before they both turned to him.

"This is your first class?" They asked again in unison.

Gaus nodded. He didn't like the look in their eyes or the one in the eyes of Antelina and the others.

"Is something wrong?" He asked.

"You didn't find being in the loop overwhelmingly emotional?" The other man asked. He was inching closer to him which made it even creepier than it already was.

"I... did." Gaus stuttered. He was beginning to see where the conversation was going.

"All loopers experience emotional outbursts in their first two weeks. Many just stop talking and become depressed, some start throwing fireballs and other dangerous spells around, and some even ran out into the street, shouting words about the loop. Many times junior initiates will run back to their fathers and mothers to complain. Telling them about this cult that has tried to recruit them. A few nobles have successfully brought an army here. These emotional and physical manifestations are called LA syndrome. Loopers who learn how to control their syndrome earlier are the best. Any looper who controls it on their first week is considered a talent. Anyone who controls it on their first day is considered a genius and a candidate for mind magic. You need exceptional willpower to do that, you know," Linc explained a bit more enthusiastic than before.

Gaus didn't like the 'lust' in the man's eyes but he remained still.

"For how long have you suffered the syndrome before accepting your new life as a looper?" Linc asked after a moment of silence.

Gaus didn't want to draw the attention of the 'upper echelon' to himself, so he decided to inch slightly away from the truth.

"To come to terms with it? Several hours, maybe more. My mind is a bit fuzzy, so it may probably be up to twenty-four hours, especially since I was supposed to start my classes yesterday." Gaus answered, trying as much as he could to unreasonably extend the time. He met XM9999 yesterday in the evening around 7:30 pm. The man brought him to the academy somewhere after 8 pm. When he woke up, it was past midnight. In truth, he suffered no syndrome because he was already in the loop, but he couldn't tell them that, could he?

"Only twenty-four hours?" They asked.

Shit. Despite adding several hours to make it less conspicuous.

"Wait, it might be more than that, I kinda lost track of time. It's..." Gaus tried. He didn't want to attract any attention.

"Look, Zeir," Linc said with a stern voice, turning to the other man. "There might have been a mistake before but there isn't one now. These pupils," he pointed at Gaus and the green-haired, "are members of this class from this day on. You can leave."

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Zeir raised both shoulders and brows, apparently one wasn't enough. "Don't be greedy, friend. I understand the need to take a promising student, but don't you think one is enough? I'm also in need of a good student if my application is to be renewed. You can surely help me, eh?" He gave a wry smile.

Linc harrumphed. It was his lucky day. There was no way he would let a lower-class looper rob him.

"Gaus isn't only good in controlling his syndrome almost as soon as he became aware of the loop, but he's better than most in mana sense. Do you think I'll let you have him? Scram, friend."

The two teachers decided to go out and settle it away from the prying eyes of the students. Once they were out, Antelina and Ariwen turned to him.

"How did you learn mana sense before coming to the academy?" Asked Antelina.

"Or better how did he learn mana sense but he can't get a simple direction to a class?" Asked Ariwen.

In response, Antelina narrowed her eyes. She seemed to be thinking about something before she turned to the green-haired girl.

"Hey, green hair, this is not a proper way to speak to a classmate. As a class rep, I'm compelled to advise you on the truth."

The green-haired frowned. Just now they were on the same side.

Antelina was probably trying to win him over to her side in a desperate attempt to maintain her control in the class, but he'd very little interest in any child's play between two teenage girls, so he remained silent and uninterested.

The teacher came back a few minutes later, carrying a smaller version of the punch bag he saw yesterday during the recruitment process.

"Do you know how to use this?" Linc asked him.

Gaus nodded. "I've seen it being used."

"Good then. Come forward and try it."

"Teacher, shouldn't I introduce myself first?" The green-haired cut in.

Linc smiled apologetically. As a teacher, he must treat all students equally since that would factor in his basic assessment when it was time for the renewal of his loop contract. Besides, the green-haired was probably just as good as Gaus was.

"Er... sorry about that. I go by XM1002. Call me Linc."

The green-haired bowed deeply. "I'm Ariwen, Longevity Child of House Avianti. It's an honor to be under your tutelage, sir."

Suddenly there were gasps from the class.

"Huh? House Avianti of the First World?"

"Longevity Child?! But that would make her... hell!"

"Don't tell me it's that Avianti."

It appeared house Avianti was popular.

"Nobody told me you are from the First World," Linc said thoughtfully. "But it all makes sense now. Anyway, you're welcome. We'll have plenty of time to know each other. Now, Gaus, come forward. You just need to punch this bag so we can save your starting physique. The junior classes use it to fish out the incompetent ones, but it's mostly formality here," Linc explained.

Gaus punched the bag. It was soft and yet so heavy he couldn't even move it. The force of the punch passed through the glass wall in the middle and hit the whiteboard at the back. In response, several black dots appeared on the board. A few dots were clustered in the center but most were sparsely distributed around the board.

The class erupted into laughter.

"He doesn't have focus..."

"He doesn't."

"What a surprise!"

"Shut up," Linc snapped at them. "It's still good for a first try." He turned to Gaus. "You can sit."

After he was seated. Linc turned to Ariwen who was now waiting calmly beside Antelina.

"It's your turn, Ariwen."

"Please, sir, I have a request."

Linc nodded.

"I want to be tested in private."

Linc frowned. According to the new student privacy act, a student had the right to be tested in private, but none of the teachers had implemented it yet for obvious reasons that had to do with time and motivation. Once you started then everyone would want to be tested in private, away from the prying eyes of their colleagues, which would be a massive time-waster, not to mention the estimated 24.7% fall in the overall students' academic performance.

"Ariwen, I don't think we can allow..."

"Sir," she interrupted. "I need to be tested in private."

That attracted glares and some angry murmurings from the other students. Meanwhile, Linc and Ariwen silently stared at each other.

"Alright, but you won't be allowed in class whenever we're testing any of your colleagues."

"I understand, sir. Thank you." She bowed her head deeply until it was touching the chair in front.

The introductions were over and it was time for some teaching.

"All of you must have noticed that physical damage disappears once the loop resets. It's also expected that some of you have noticed that only the dark arts - mind magic, soul magic, and time magic - truly injure a looper. Outside the academy, mind magic is highly restricted only a few selected government officials are allowed to reach level 10. Soul magic has always been ostracized as evil by almost all countries. Anyone caught practicing soul magic risks imprisonment depending on his expertise and crime. Many high skilled soul mages have been imprisoned for life.

"On the other hand, time magic is a religious taboo. Six of the seven most practiced religions have prohibited it. Once caught you'll be killed on the spot. The marines actively chase anyone practicing it. You may be spared if you're caught with mind magic, sometimes they may even hire you to do their dirty jobs, but you won't be spared from time magic. By being here in this class, the academy has recognized your efforts and is willing to teach you the dark arts, however, you should all know the risk you are taking. Do not, I repeat do not practice what you are going to learn here anywhere despite the loop. Are we clear?"

The class shared anxious looks for a long while that Gaus thought they would sign out, but they finally nodded their agreement.

"Good," the teacher said. "The dark arts are controlled through world essence and mana. What you've seen earlier is a demonstration of mana sense, but what I'm about to show you is a demonstration of mana tame."

He retrieved a small knife from his inventory and put it on the table.

"What do you think this is?" He asked.

"A rare 5 God sword," a girl answered thoughtfully.

"Wrong."

"An archaic 1 flying knife," a boy said.

"Wrong."

"Demon summoning anchor," Antelina said.

"Wrong."

While the rest of the class was thinking of highfaluting answers, Gaus looked at the knife carefully. It had a sharp point and two sharp edges, and he thought it was only a...

"A dagger," said Gaus.

"Yes!" Linc commended. "This is just a dagger, so stop calling stupid names. If you want to make it something more then you've to use mana."

He channeled mana into the dagger. A reddish smoke popped out of nowhere and covered the knife. It remained like that for a few seconds before it disappeared. The knife looked more or less the same as before. It wasn't until the teacher used it to punch a hole in the stone wall that they realized it wasn't just a dagger anymore. "I used mana to make it sharper." He levitated the dagger above his palm and then spun it. "When you master sharpening, levitation and spinning will be next. Only then will we be talking about the dark arts."

Gaus Rewound the whole process and saved it. The save library would pick all the skills and make a copy of them.

"Sir, I... don't get it, can we have demonstration?" One student asked.

"Of course," Linc said with a wicked smile. He retrieved a bunch of daggers from his inventory and gave it to them. Their job was to just channel mana into it. Linc personally observed each of them.

"You are all doing it wrong," Linc declared. "You have to first sense the mana in you and then try to channel it to your palms. If you can't sense it, you can't channel it. It's that simple. The dagger in your hands absorbs mana: it'll automatically absorb mana from your palms as long as there's a difference in mana concentration between your hands and the dagger. We'll withdraw the mana absorbers after a week and you'll be forced to use plain weapons." He warned.

Two hours of nonstop, tedious practice, and only Antelina, Ariwen, and three others got it. Linc was disappointed when Gaus couldn't do it even after spending extra time explaining it to him.

"Today's class is over. Class rep, Ariwen, and Gaus stay behind."

Once everyone was out, the teacher turned to him. "Do you know why the class was laughing at your earlier performance?"

Gaus shook his head.

"It's because your demonstration was awful and because you don't have an ordinary skill that's so common some even consider it mundane."

He gave Gaus a suspicious look before he murmured to himself, "Hiding skills won't help." Though he was loud enough for Gaus to hear.