The Academy's buildings were built using bricks and were toughened by being imbued in barrier magic thanks to the great Zenki. Half of the Indian Ocean was occupied by the Assault Faction and the other half was where the Academy Faction situated—well, let's just call it the Academy. It doesn't make sense to call it 'Faction' when it's a group of people formed to educate and learn.

The Academy consisted of various sections and classes—as in subsection, not a classroom. Each class was that of your typical three-floor school building. This was because the new design of the Academy was aimed at creating more knights for the upcoming war, so the sections consisted of different groups required in a war: Ranged(Physical); Tank; Fighter; Ranged(Magical); Rouge; and lastly, Support. The classes—or subsections—were more specific roles, like a Healer class in the Support group.

Putting the gaming roles aside, the knights who specialized in swordsmanship or any form of close weaponry and those who could defend, parry, and block incoming attacks were placed in the front. Of course, if there were also monstrous people that could fight on equal using their fists then they were positioned there as well. As for the back and middle row, archers and magicians attacked from a distance. Ninjas and assassins were mostly used to stealthily move through the battlefield to kill important figures and troublesome opponents, and relay intel.

No, I didn't forget the support units. Healers, doctors, buffers, and debuffers were looked down upon here. In this nation where everyone had absurd strength, there was rarely a need for anyone to require healing. Also, after it was confirmed that humans weren't that strong, the support role was abandoned further.

With that being said, the Academy was divided based on your class, not section. I took the Support section, Doctor class. I wanted to become a doctor so I could cure my illness. It was hindering my efficiency. I wanted to be more useful to my sister. But...

"Ohhhh, look who we have here, gentlemen. It's devilboy," a broad boy called out, inviting his friends to join in his childish remarks. "Oh boy!" He rubbed his stomach. "It looks like I have a stomachache. Why don't you cook me up something, huh?! Dooooocter!"

I turned around to glare at the source of the derisive laughter.

That's right. Not only were people afraid of my terrifying appearance, but I was bullied for joining the support unit. Some people turned their fear into disgust and disdain after I took a support role, which in this discriminatory Academy was considered 'the low-ranked scum'.

"Oi, oi, oi, there's no need to look like that, bud." The very same broad boy casually wrapped his arm around my neck. "We just want to have a loooong, nice talk with ya'. Right, gents?" He asked, looking back at his friends with a threatening gaze. They quickly nodded, then dragged me into a secluded area.

"Just get it over with," I said with a calm, impassive face. But that only riled them up further.

The boy grabbed me by my collar and raised his hand, threatening to throw a punch.

"What's wrong? Are you scared of this devil?" I taunted.

"You...YOU BASTARD!" He shouted, enraged at the sight of his pride being on the line. He punched my face. He punched, punched, punched, and punched until his friends were clapping in amusement and awe, and until he relinquished all of his fueled-up anger. Who knows, maybe he had some terrible home circumstances that made it irresistible to lash out at others. But... weren't we all experiencing something similar? Although sometimes one was more unreasonable than the other.

Like that damn geezer.

Well, it mattered not to me. After discharging all of his pent-up anger and frustration on his favorite daily punching bag, he hurled me to the ground and left with his friends.

"Good grief. Couldn't you disfigure my face a bit more?" I muttered to myself. I got up and spat out blood before wiping my mouth clean. "Don't half-ass such an important job, asshole."

I didn't care about how others perceived me. I wasn't attending the Academy to entertain and befriend others. I was only there for one reason: to become a doctor. Even if everyone in the world loathed and looked down on doctors and healers, I didn't care at all as it was the class that could help me improve my health...as long as it gave me the ability to take better care of my sister.

Even if my limbs were severed, my body decorated in scars, beaten to a pulp...it was all good. All I needed was for my brain to still be intact so I could receive the necessary knowledge for my goal.

"There you are," my teacher called out. "It's almost time for class. Aren't you going to attend?"

Even if this man could see my bruised face, he wouldn't question nor worry about the state it was in. Everyone, him, that bully, and me. We were all people following our own goals, and we didn't give a single fuck about anything and everyone else.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Oh, my student's face looks like it was beaten to a pulp by a student who was clearly breaking the rules. But that doesn't relate to my work, so it's none of my business. All I need to do is teach him.

Maybe something like that. Well, that was what I wanted to believe, but the moment I moved out of the shadow and entered the light, he immediately approached me. He worriedly grabbed my face and looked at me filled with concern.

"Who did this?!" He asked in an abruptly loud tone, but I couldn't feel any ill intent from it.

"H-huh?" I asked, flabbergasted at his unexpected reaction.

Is this man worried about me? Why? I'm just one of his many students. Nobody important to him. Nobody necessary for his goals.

"[Heal!]" He breathed heavily and a drip of sweat ran down his forehead while he attentively cured my bruised face.

He was a knowledgeable instructor, but he lacked the mana to make use of his wide range of support spells. So, he decided to become an instructor to keep his knowledge fresh in his brain while he researched ways to improve his mana capacity. He didn't intend on shoving some grand dream—like becoming the greatest healer—on his students, nor was he enthusiastic about teaching others. It was for the sole purpose of retaining the fundamentals—to ensure what he knew didn't escape him.

But that was exactly why I didn't expect someone like him to waste mana on someone and something so trivial and irrelevant to him. Mana is linked to one's mind, and it can result in negative symptoms such as fatigue if you expend too much.

For this man, even the simplest healing skill was enough to make him sweat. No, it could also make him tired. The day had only begun, and he had hours of teaching waiting ahead. This wasn't beneficial for him at all.

"W-why...?" I muttered and averted my gaze. "Why are you helping me?"

"What are you talking about?! Do I need a reason to tend to my precious student's wounds?" He glared at me.

That expression...it's just like hers.

I couldn't help but tug a smile. I was relieved to see that there were others like my little sister and mother. A loving and benevolent person. Someone who wasn't blinded by their goals.

Who knew a glare...such an angry look could hold such a kind intent?

"There!" He took a step back to get a better view of my face and grinned. "All clear and good-looking again!"

Good-looking...

"But, sir..." I called out to him, guilt and a bit of concern were written on my face as I reached out to him.

"Don't worry~ Don't worry~ I'm tougher than you think, hehe!" He comically flexed his biceps with a toothy grin. "Oh my, would you look at the time..." He looked down at his watch. "We're going to be late." He started walking to the Doctor class in the Support section. "Let's go..." He then looked back and called me by my name.

Don't call me by the name that asshole gave me.

My instructor was popular amongst his students, so we didn't have any opportunity to converse. I was usually too focused on my studies to notice this fact. If I had known earlier, maybe I wouldn't have considered him to be bad.

Anyway, the Support section had four classes: The Doctor class, the Healer class, the Buffer class, and the Debuffer class. The difference between being a doctor and a healer was that doctors helped and cured others using scientific and medical means, whereas healers used mana and spells. My instructor taught both, the Doctor class and the Healer class, because he was also considering the doctor route if he ever gave up on trying to expand his mana capacity. As for me...

I looked at my hand and clenched it into a fist.

I wasn't blessed with mana. With my weak immune system, that would be wishful thinking. Mana was another energy source, so your body needed to be an extraordinary vessel to handle said additional energy source. It wasn't anything unusual, but I was more unlikely to awaken it. Many others didn't have access to mana, thus some classes didn't involve mana.

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With how interesting and entertaining my instructor made the classes, time always flew by. But if your brain only remembered the fun parts of the lesson then your energetic instructor would be dejected.

Before I could exit the classroom, my instructor called me by my name again.

"Can you wait a moment?"

I responded with a slight nod. We both stood together, waiting for the students to leave.

"Are you sure you don't want me to deal with the students troubling you?"

"I'm sure." I walked away. "If that's all you want to talk about then goodbye." I waved my hand, disappearing from his sight.

Like I said, I didn't care about those bullies. They weren't affecting my studies.

"Yooo! If it isn't devilboy!" The broad boy called out, waiting for me at the entrance of the Academy with his friends. "What a coooincidence~ Let's walk home together."

Fools that don't study clearly don't have a goal in mind. And so, they make it their goal to interfere with other people's goals. I don't have time for this.

I increased my pace, ignoring them, but they followed me from behind, matching my rhythm. My sister knew when my classes finished so she always took the liberty of cooking me another nutritious meal. I didn't want the food to get cold.

"Look at this punk running away as if we're the monsters! Hey!"

My quick steps turned into a jog. My jog turned into a sprint.

"HEY! COME BACK HERE, YOU BITCH!"

I need to lose them somehow. If I remember correctly, there is a lower ground level somewhere around here. It's deep, but not deep enough to suffer any injury.

I continued sprinting, darting my eyes left and right, searching for the area I was looking for.

"Hah...hah...hah..." I struggled to catch my breath. I was at a disadvantage.

There it is!

I took a right, jumped over a fence, and landed on the surface which was 20m lower than the ground I jumped from. With proper form and execution, I didn't sustain any injury. The bullies who were in offensive classes couldn't determine the safety of the jump, and their classes didn't strictly focus on increasing their physical strength, so they didn't want to risk jumping down with poor form.

"Tch! Damn punk! We'll get you tomorrow!"

I then sat down to catch my breath so my sister didn't find my exhausted state concerning.

"Hah...hah...hah..."

Those fucking idiots. Keep your bullying strictly on the Academy grounds.

"Good grief," I muttered. I then got up and walked home. Fortunately, this was also a shortcut to my house, so I might get home earlier and catch my sister cooking.