Once every single student had been placed in a group, they were told to follow the professor assigned to them to a specific area in Lorem forest. Group one, the group that Cadmus was in, had been placed under the care of the ever-ditzy Professor of Magical Combat, Carmen Pugnae. Understandably, many people seemed to worry that she would get them hopelessly lost or something.

They entered the forest warily, and as expected, Professor Carmen confidently got them lost. She didn’t say so of course, but Cadmus was pretty sure that they had passed by the same tree at least three times.

Fortunately, by the time evening hit, their group came across a contingent of Academy gaurds, who told them which way to go. Professor Carmen thanked them and finally led them safely to their destination. They were all ushered into a large pavilion-like tent that could fit hundreds. There were beds for all of them, and rucksacks filled with all kinds of supplies lay beside each bed. There were also a large number of guards dressed in the usual midnight-blue Academy staff uniform posted outside the tent to keep them safe from any beasts and the like.

Professor Carmen clapped cheerfully, “Alright, we have separate tents with portable toilets set up, so you guys don’t need to worry about anything! Just relax for today, and we’ll get started tomorrow.”

There was a wave of grumbling, and having presumably had enough, a student who carried himself like a noble raised his hand,

“Professor Carmen, why are we doing all this?” he whined more than asked, “I thought this was a magic school. What’s the point of learning how to survive in a stupid forest?”

It was a valid question, Cadmus felt, even if it was asked as though a nine-year-old were complaining about not receiving their favourite treat. While he was excited at the prospect of earning more points in this activity, he still didn’t quite understand what the point was in having an activity like this in the first place.

Professor Carmen gave the whining student a curious look, “Wait, do you guys really not know why we’re making you do all this?”

Almost everyone shook their heads.

“How about why we use the duelling system?” Professor Carmen asked, “Do you guys at least know that?”

Once again, everyone shook their heads.

It was an interesting question, now that Cadmus thought about. He had simply considered the duelling system to be a method for him to receive the resources that he needed, but now that he was actually considering it, why would a school for magic decide the worth of a student through combat instead of, you know, magic?

“Well that’s not good, is it?” Professor Carmen said, “You guys have to know why we teach like this!”

She gave them a smile, but this one felt a little different to Cadmus. There was something dark hidden behind this smile,

“In terms of practicality, magic is most useful for only one thing: warfare.”

The students remained silent at her words, and Professor Carmen continued,

“Of course, that’s not to say that there aren’t any other uses for magic. We use it a lot for utility as well. For example, the voice-enhancer spell is a spell classified as utility-based. However, in terms of destructive potential, nothing surpasses magic. Magic is multi-purpose, it’s powerful, and it’s far cheaper to utilize than technology. Thus, there is no tool designed for warfare greater than magic. And every kingdom knows this, so they place the utmost emphasis on grooming their mages for combat.”

This was news to Cadmus, and a cursory glance told him that it was the same for the other students. Professor Carmen raised a lecturing finger,

“That’s why we’re having you learn how to survive in the forest as well. So that when many of you go to fight in the future, you’ll be able to survive if you’re forced to navigate through a forest.”

A few people audibly gulped. It seemed that the prospect of fighting was making them nervous. However, surprisingly, they weren’t protesting against the thought. It was strange just how well they were taking the fact that they would have to participate in warfare in the future.

Cadmus knew for certain that he himself had no intention of joining the army after he graduated. There were far better uses for his time and talents.

Professor Carmen clapped her hands together again cheerfully, “Ok, now that I’ve answered your questions, please find someone to pair up with. You and your partner will be stuck together this entire week, so choose carefully!”

Everyone slowly began talking amongst each other and pairing up. Ardea Regis chose to pair up with her friend, the steady-looking woman with black hair and brown eyes. Elise Auxil, if his memory served him correctly.

Cadmus looked around, there was only one other person in this group that he knew. And she was currently nervously looking around, looking overwhelmed at this herculean task that Professor Carmen had set before her.

Cadmus walked over to her and asked,

“Candice, would you like to pair up?”

Candice Regis seemed to be even more afraid at the prospect of pairing up with him than not being able to find a partner at all. However, she finally decided to nod,

“S-sure…”

If Cadmus had been a nicer person, he would have probably decided to leave her be to find another partner who wasn’t as scared of him. However, he didn’t particularly care whether Candice was afraid of him. He just wanted to get done with this unimportant part of the task as quickly as possible.

Once everyone had partnered up, Professor Carmen said,

“Make sure that you remember who your partner is, everyone! You may do whatever you wish for the rest of the night, but remember that you have to wake up early tomorrow morning, so don’t overdo it! Also, we have guards posted outside, so you can sleep without worry!”

She passed out grilled food for dinner (Cadmus guessed that the guards had cooked it for them nearby) and then left them to it.

Cadmus took this moment to ask Candice a question that had been bothering him,

“I don’t understand. Why does everyone look like they’re fine with the prospect of fighting in the future?”

Candice gave Cadmus a nervously curious look,

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“D-do you really not know?”

“I wouldn’t have asked if I did.”

Candice blushed, “O-of course… Everyone is fine with this thought because it’s what we’re supposed to be doing, right?”

The fact that she had phrased her answer as a question didn’t inspire much confidence in Cadmus, but he pressed forward anyway.

“What do you mean?”

“W-well, everyone knows that mage units in the army receive a lot of money, so many commoners aim for that,” Candice explained, gaining some confidence as she continued talking, “As for the nobles, it’s required by law for nobles to join the army for at least four years. Laurucium is a militaristic country after all.”

No, Laurucium being a militaristic country was just part of the reason why these laws and incentives were put in place, Cadmus guessed. Four years in the army would deepen these nobles’ loyalty to the nation. And this law, combined with the large pay to attract mages from commoner backgrounds, meant that there was almost always at least some mages in the army to strengthen it.

After all, as Professor Carmen had put it, there was no tool designed for warfare greater than magic.

----------------------------------------

After a few hours, night completely fell, and the students went to sleep one by one under the light of the moon. There had still been a fair bit of grumbling among the students concerning their current situation, but after Professor Carmen’s lecture, no one was willing to do anything more than grumble.

It was a bit hard for Cadmus to go to sleep as well, a problem which he attributed to him oversleeping till noon, but soon enough, he too began to drift off. However, before he could allow the blissful arms of rest to take hold of him, he heard Alice,

“Can’t sleep?”

His sleep was shattered, and he suppressed a groan. So close…

He opened his mouth to answer, but surprisingly, Alice hadn’t been talking to him,

“O-oh, sorry. Did I wake you?” Candice whispered from the next bed over.

Cadmus closed his mouth and tried to ignore them. He had no desire to participate in this conversation if it didn’t involve him.

“Not at all,” Alice said, “I was just thinking about what Professor Carmen said. It’s a little sad that most adults think about magic in that way.”

“Do you… think that magic should have a different purpose?” Candice asked hesitantly.

“I don’t know,” Alice said, “I was born with the knowledge of magic already in my head, and I’ve only used it to clean up our house in Benig or when Cadmus was testing the range of my knowledge, so I don’t know how it should be used in the wider world.”

“I see…” Candice seemed dejected, judging by the sound of her voice.

“However, I’ve seen Cadmus using magic more times than I can count,” Alice said, “And every single time he always seems like he’s having so much fun with it—as though he’s a child playing with his favourite toy. Something like that… something that brings someone so much joy… I think that it deserves to be thought of as more than just a powerful weapon of war.”

“I… agree,” Candice sounded relieved for some reason, “I wish everyone thought the same as us, Alice. I’m… scared.” Her voice was quivering now, “When Professor Carmen talked about how we might have to fight in forests, I felt so scared. I don’t… I don’t want to fight!”

“Hm?” Alice sounded confused.

Had she forgotten? Candice was the daughter of the king’s brother. In other words…

“After all, I’m a noble as well. I’ll also have to join the army for four years…”

“Oh no…” Alice gasped.

There was a somber silence for a while. Then, Candice asked very timidly,

“Would you… would you mind taking a small walk outside with me?”

“I can’t walk with you, but if you put me in your breast pocket, I can still accompany you,” Alice said.

“Th-thank you!” Candice said happily.

Cadmus felt Candice’s hand brush him as she scooped up Alice.

“A-are you sure Cadmus won’t mind?” Candice worried.

“As long as you get me back safe and sound, he won’t mind,” Alice said.

And indeed, she was correct. However, Cadmus couldn’t help but worry that Candice wouldn’t be able to get Alice back safe and sound. With how timid and uncertain Candice’s bearing was, Cadmus was half afraid that she would just trip and fall, crushing Alice underneath.

However, in the end, he decided to say nothing and simply kept his eyes closed as they left. It was just a small walk, surely nothing would go wrong—

“AHHHH!”

A loud, frightened shriek echoed throughout the forest, and Cadmus was the first to leap out of bed.

Had his premonitions actually come true?

He rushed outside and spotted Candice, who had collapsed onto her knees. However, it seemed that Alice was still safe and sound in her breast pocket. Although, she too looked severely shaken.

Wait… then why had Candice—

And then he spotted it.

There were dozens and dozens of bodies littering the ground, all of them dressed in the same midnight-blue uniform. All of them had been killed efficiently and silently, as though they had been killed without putting up a fight. This should have been impossible considering the number of guards that had been guarding them.

“Alice!” he exclaimed as he held out his hand.

Alice, understanding instantly, jumped onto it, and Cadmus quickly stored her into his own breast pocket.

‘Oop! Can’t let you go now, kids,” A rough-looking man said as he walked out of the forestry, the light of the unusually bright moon illuminating him and his smug smirk. “Surrender, and I won’t harm you.”

He already had a magic circle drawn for [fireball], which instantly put Cadmus at a disadvantage.

Cadmus lowered his centre of gravity to prepare to dodge, however, before either of them could do anything, a [rock spike] came flying from behind him, and pierced the man right through the abdomen.

The man collapsed to the ground with a shocked look on his face.

Cadmus turned to look, and saw that it was Professor Carmen who had fired that spell. There was an unusually serious expression on her face.

“Are you both alright!?” She asked as she dashed to them.

She looked them over, and after noticing that they had no injuries, breathed a sigh of relief.

Suddenly, a [fireball] was fired straight into the sky. Professor Carmen reflexively aimed her spell at the source.

It was the man she had already defeated with her [rock spike] earlier. He laughed weakly at them, and then finally went slack, the light of life in his eyes gone forever.

Professor Carmen clicked her tongue in annoyance, “That was a signal…”

She rushed back inside the tent, and yelled, “EVERYONE, WAKE UP! THIS IS AN EMERGENCY!”

Hearing the panic in her voice, people quickly began getting up from their beds, looking disoriented and confused. There was a lot of whining and complaining, but that stopped soon once they saw the grave look on Professor Carmen’s face.

“We are currently under attack!” She announced, “Everyone, stick together, and head…” she took a moment to remember, “…south!” She pointed where South was, “There’s another camp there headed by Professor Mackenzie. She’ll guide you to safety. I repeat, remember to stick together! Make sure no one gets separated!”

A student cried, “B-but Professor, what about you?”

“I’ll—”

Professor Carmen was interrupted when a few blasts of powerful wind tore their tent open. Professor Carmen turned to face the attackers—a horde of people that all had at least one magic circle ready to fire.

“GO!” She yelled, “I’LL HOLD THEM OFF HERE!”

The students all complied at once, and took off in one massive group. As they were leaving, Ardea Regis fired off a [flame dragon] behind her and aimed it at the mob of enemies to provide Professor Carmen with some parting support.

Professor Carmen didn’t turn back to thank Ardea—she was too focused on watching the enemies in front of her—but she did give Ardea a small thumbs up.

As their group made their way South, with Ardea at the lead, the bright light of the moon illuminated the many bodies of the Academy guards beneath their feet. Cadmus quickly drew a magic circle for a [basic shield] and pondered. It seemed that the Academy had taken every precaution and covered the entire forest with guards, and yet, somehow, they had still been ambushed.

Each one had been killed with a single clean stroke. How was this possible…?

Unfortunately, as their group continued moving forward, they came across another large gathering of enemies. Both groups just looked at each other for a second, dumbfounded expressions on their faces, before Ardea threw up her hands and two magic circles for [fireball] instantly shined into existence.

Before the enemy could do anything, Ardea fired her spells at the enemy, killing a large chunk of them. However, that wasn’t enough to deter them.

The enemies fired a multitude of spells right back, including [fireballs], [rock spikes], and [ice shards]. For some reason though, the spells were all aimed at the ground in front of them, throwing them off their feet.

One of the enemies, a particularly competent looking mage, fired an [exploding wind bomb] right into the middle of their group. As per its name, a powerful explosion ripped the air and sent everyone flying in different directions. Cadmus tried using his [basic shield] to protect himself and Alice, but the impact of the explosion was too powerful, and he was sent tumbling down a small, muddy cliff, his ears ringing with a high-pitched whine.

His head struck a tree with a terrible ‘crack!’, and suddenly, the world ceased to exist.