“Park Min-Jun..!”
Bright blue eyes, gray hair indicating old age, and a muscular build that screams “I’m strong”... on top of that, his uniform was laced with gold. He was obviously a swordmaster.
The man sprinting towards me—he’s the head of this academy’s swordsmanship department.
“Son! You’re moving in the department, hah?”
“Yes. It seems that I have been unable to use magic for quite a while. Glad to be under your care soon.”
“Ohoho! Lucky boy. Tonight, swordsmen all having big great party! Ahahahah!”
His grammar was a little broken. I assumed he was a foreigner.
“Sword and body, so we are going to eat lots, boy.” He tucked me under his arm. “Better be prepared. Roseberry Cafe.”
I pictured myself with other muscular men who looked similar to the head of the department eating large dog-sized sandwiches. I felt anxious already.
“Tell Servela I’m taking you with me early. Come to the sword department in second class. До скорой встречи.”
“Yes sir.”
I didn’t understand what was said after “Come to the sword department in second class.” When the swordmaster walked away, a familiar tiredness took over my body.
“Huff..huff…”
Why does this keep happening?
[You are exhausted from lifting something that exceeds your normal strength.]
[The mysterious illness within you is worsening the exhaustion!]
“Shit.”
I heard laughs and snickers around me and felt a strong presence. My vision darkened.
“Damn it. It’s going to happen all over again,” I muttered.
The laughing got louder as every second passed by. Memories of the time I got bullied flashed back.
.
.
.
“Hey, Min-Jun. Tell your loser father to play this game next time.”
“Are you sure we won’t get in trouble for this?”
“C’mon, man. I'm Xavier. A few magic orbs won't get us in trouble.”
“…”
“Chew well and make sure you leave none behind, Park Min-Jun!”
.
.
.
Something told me nobody was there, and that everyone already left for the next lecture, but I ignored it. I was not hallucinating this, was I?
[Your mental health is deteriorating!]
My consciousness slowly slipped away from me and I gave in to the blessing called sleep.
*
“Min-Jun.. Why are you on the ground? I was looking for you.”
A woman was kneeling in front of me. She looked concerned.
“I permitted you to switch departments and classes, so you shouldn’t be sleeping near the school’s gym. Head to your Physical Body and Sword Training class.”
Who was this?
I quickly looked at the nametag on her suit. Ah, it was her. I’m glad to have a school guardian like her—she does as I ask.
“Thank you for all you’ve done, Madam Servela.”
“Call me Servela. We’re pretty close,—like family.”
“Right. Thank you, Servela.”
I pulled out the school map. Two years was enough for me to forget most of the locations in the school. It was easy to remember the garden and infirmary because I went there frequently back then. The magic department was located on the left side of the academy, and the sword department was on the right side.
“Goodbye, magic department.”
…
The door slid open.
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
“Boy, you’re one second late! Why?”
“I’m new to the Royal Academy, so I was lost around the campus.”
That was a lie.
“Alright, I excuse your tardy for now. Go to big square.”
His grammar and vagueness were like a foreign code you had to decipher. I spotted the square formation the students were standing in and joined in the empty spot in the group.
“Today, we have new student. He just walk in late. Everyone go greet him.”
All of the students greeted in sync, “Welcome, new swordsman, Park Min-Jun!”
“Louder!”
Even the teacher joined in. “WELCOME!! NEW SWORDSMAN, PARK!!.. MIN-JUN!!”
“That’s the spirit!”
“....Why do we have to do this?”
“Man.. a week ago, we did this fifty times for everybody in the class. That was the first day of the academy.”
That’s funny.
I should get strong as soon as possible during my last year in this school. Regaining my strength was a necessity.
…
“Today, we practice lifting weights! Arm strength is need for sword strike!”
“Isn’t that just like the strength training class?...”
Surprisingly, when I was lifting, no one harassed me for being weak. They were focused on their friends and weightlifting.
When I was lifting five pounds on my right arm, the swordmaster approached me.
“Min-Jun, see me after class.”
Confused, I nodded.
…
The lecture ended and I stood behind after class to talk to Sir Lev.
“You called for me, sir …” I waited for him to tell me his name. I merely knew that he was a swordmaster; I never found out his name.
“Sir Lev,” he answered. “I give you swordsmanship department lecture schedule. Here, take paper.”
I took the paper and glanced at its contents.
- First. Sword & Magic Mechanism and the System, Lecture A (Seniors)
- Second. Sword Training, Lecture B (Seniors)
- Third. Strength Training, Physical Education B (Seniors)
- Fourth. Diplomacy & History, Lecture A (Seniors)
- Fifth. Language & Arts, Lecture A (Seniors)
- Sixth. Bodybuilding, Gym (All)
It was the same as my previous schedule, but magic training was strength and sword, and the empty elective was bodybuilding.
“Thank you, sir.”
…
I slept through most of the fourth and fifth lectures. Now, the last class of the day was bodybuilding.
I arrived at the gym. There were different types of equipment to exercise—most of them I had never seen before.
We were given instructions on a sheet of paper to use whatever equipment to train our bodies. The paper also included which exercises to do for a specific body type. There was the jacked up and muscular body like Sir Lev’s, a “Zeus” body, sporty, and “Lean and Attractive,” with, parenthesis, “for young men!”
“I don’t want to be a big target in combat.. Hmm. The lean and attractive body here should be my goal, then.”
…
For two months, I trained vigorously. I got stronger due to the help of having three classes that were enthusiastic about exercising and lifting weights.
[Your body health has skyrocketed!]
[Some gains have been nerfed because of your illnesses.]
[+20 Charisma!]
[+35 Strength!]
[+25 Agility!]
[+25 …!]
[‘??? Lv. ???’ has deducted 10 points from each stat.]
“...I knew that would happen.”
[ Current Stats: (Charisma: 15 -> 25) (Strength: -5 -> 20) (Agility: 0 -> 15) (Endurance: 0 -> 15) (Dexterity: 15) (Vitality: 15) ]
Even though it had been two months, I still knew nothing about the sword. Sir Lev wanted us to train our body and get fit first. The school also assigned everyone dorms. I had the dorm, “RM 202.” ..I must thank whoever gave me no roommates.
I looked at the full-length mirror beside the window and striked a pose. I could see my abs under my shirt. My physique was divine in my opinion.
“Heh,” I smirked.
[A divine being is watching you.]
“AAH!” The system notice scared me.
I came to a conclusion weeks ago that the divine and demonic beings were stalkers. I have wondered many times about their purpose and meaning in their lives.
I looked out the window. Today was a bright, sunny day… Not really. It was about five in the morning, and the sun barely rose.
Anyway, my social skills have improved and I experienced no bullying this year. This was a nice start.
I took a stroll every morning out of boredom. Expectedly, I still had no friends this year. Two years ago, before I stopped attending the academy, I had a friend who was a bully victim like me. I tried to look for him a few weeks ago, but the instructors told me that he left and transferred elsewhere shortly after I shut myself in.
…
The garden of Royal Academy of Vervillia was as vibrant and graceful as ever. Four large pillars surrounded the giant statue of the ruler, beautiful flowers of all kinds were planted around each pillar. Trees bordered the garden and silver and gold human-sized statues were placed at each corner of the garden.
I’d gaze at this sight until the first lecture of the day started. The statue of our emperor… no, empress definitely enhanced the beauty of the garden. I looked at my usual sitting place, the fourth bench beside the infirmary.
Yuck.
I spotted a black speck sitting in my usual place, eating its same cookie and steak meal. It noticed me and waved gleefully.
“Oi! Moron, come here!”
I obediently jogged towards Choi Yeong-Ja. She smiled at me with a sly cat-like expression.
“What. What do you want?”
“This steak tastes really good.”
I noticed her cookies were untouched, and she added vegetables to her meal this time.
I see. We’re both progressing towards greater means.
“So you became a little more decent, Choi Yeong-Ja.”
“Hah?? Are you saying that I am indecent?”
“No..”
Breakfast, huh. I should start eating breakfast in the morning. I don’t think breakfast was a necessity, though. Everyday after school, Sir Lev treats the swordsman to a meal at Roseberry Cafe. A swordmaster always had plenty of money, so I’d eat to my heart’s content.
Choi Yeong-Ja unexpectedly started packing up her breakfast.
“Leaving so soon?”
“I have something important to attend to. It’s quick, so I’ll be back in about thirty minutes.”
‘Don’t come back, please…’ I wanted to say, but I ended up replying with, “Alright.”
…
The sun was visible now. How many minutes have passed since she attended whatever? I missed her presence a bit. Everyday was another lonely day, so she filled up the isolated tranquility a bit.
I sighed and rested on the bench. Choi Yeong-Ja will surely wake me up when she comes back.