"Good, it seems everyone is here," Amanda announced with a smile.
"Once again, let me introduce myself. My name is Amanda Arm, and I'll be your class professor for your first year, and possibly your second and third as well."
"Are there any questions you'd like to ask me?" Amanda scanned her students from left to right, ready to address any queries.
A female student with long black hair at the front raised her hand. "Are you the Sea Princess?"
"Indeed, I am also known as the Sea Princess," Amanda replied, and a wave of gasps and excitement rippled through the room. Many of the young aspiring heroes had heard of the hero named Sea Princess, but when she confirmed her identity, their surprise was palpable.
Clay, sitting at the back, was intrigued by the familiar name. The Sea Princess was an S-rank Hero, and had been his childhood friend's idol.
"I have a question," a dark-brown haired boy raised his hand.
"Go ahead," Amanda said.
"What are these desks made of?" The boy pointed to the desk beside him.
Amanda was momentarily confused by the sudden question, but quickly realized what he was asking. "These desks are not made of ordinary wood. They are crafted from Holly Trees by professional craftsmen."
"What is an Holly Tree?" the boy asked again.
"Holly Trees are uncommon trees that can withstand damage up to
"Any other questions?" Amanda asked, but seeing none, she continued. "We'll begin with choosing your main weapon, follow me."
The students stood up and followed Amanda, who led them to the academy's weapons area.
Upon entering the large room filled with weapons of every kind, the students' eyes widened with excitement.
"Listen up, these weapons are for your training and practice," Amanda announced, clapping her hands to get their attention. She picked up a nearby long sword and continued, "This long sword costs 15,000 M. If you break it, you must pay for it."
The students' excitement quickly dwindled at the mention of the cost, which was equivalent to around quarter of an years worth of food.
"Don't worry, though," Amanda reassured them. "The equipment is hard to break."
Relieved, the students cheered again.
"By the way, I recommend that you choose weapons that match your affinity," Amanda reminded them before allowing them to make their selections.
Clay scanned the room and saw swords, bows, axes, and more. It was like being in a weapon shop, but in the academy!
The students ran around like kids in a candy store, looking at the weapons up close for the first time.
Clay walked over to the area where swords were displayed and chose one from the back, still sheathed in leather. Slowly unsheathing it, he savored the classic sound of a sword being drawn.
It was a katana.
–Shing~
He marveled at the katana, as it was one of the finest sword forms in Clay's opinion. The lightweight and flexibility of the katana made it a weapon designed for swiftness and speed. As Clay liked to get things done quickly, a katana suited his taste best.
He lightly ran his finger across the katana's curved blade and sharp edge, it offered the wielder the capability to slice through flesh and bone. However, there was another reason why Clay chose a katana.
[Affinity: Swordsmanship]
His affinity with sword-type weapons could maximize his proficiency and learning speed by a huge margin with swords, inherited from his father's affinity for swordsmanship. Unlike talent, where inheritance is randomly decided like genes, children inherit both their parents' affinity. For Clay, he inherited the affinities of ice magic from his mother and swordsmanship from his father. Unsurprisingly, his father also wielded a katana during his younger years.
He sheathed his katana back into the sheath, hanging it on his waist with a belt. Having chosen his weapon, he returned to the entrance of the classroom to wait for the other students. As he surveyed his classmates choses of weapons, he noticed that the top students, William Aonsworth and Lucas Kael had both opted for longswords, while Rosette Everdeen had chosen a spear. It was already known that Rosette was the daughter of the academy's headmaster, but despite sharing the same surname, almost no one had suspected that they were related in the first place.
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Around ten minutes or so, everyone chose their main weapons. Amanda looked at her students and their chosen weapons, nodding in approval. But then she caught something in the corner of her eye.
"You there." Amanda looked at the petite brown-haired girl in the corner.
"Hi." The girl spoke weakly.
"Why did you pick that?" She pointed at the 'gun' that she was holding.
"Mana Pistol?" The girl held up the gun and spoke. The pistol was colored in full-night black
"Yes, why? From what I know Mana Guns are outdated in this age." Amanda spoke.
Gunpowder isn't effective against monsters and demons, and using mana as a catalyst didn't quite meet expectations. Mana Guns can only be fired once or twice before overheating, which could be fatal in a battle, where every second is important that could cost your own life.
While there were some exceptional gunfighters, they were not very well-known.
"Ehh.. It's because I like guns.." She twirled her long hair while she weakly spoke.
"Do you have affinity with guns though?"
"...Yes"
‘’Haa, it’s your choice, I won't force you. But I remember that you have to take responsibility if you fail.’’ Amanda sighed and spoke.
The profesor turned her attention back to her class. ''Now...'' Amanda closed her eyes for a second, making the black ring on her index finger glow bright blue.
Swoosh!
Fifty black rings were materalized floating in the way, but before any of them could land on the ground. Amanda waved her other hand and created small water waves carrying the rings. She waved her hand again, making the waves split into fifty ones carrying one ring each, quickly floating to her fifty students standing in disbelief and shock. The students picked up their own rings and curosily inspected it. ''Isn't this an Storage Ring!'' Someone shouted.
''Indeed.'' Amanda nodded her head. ''These are storage rings that have their own space inside the rings. Use the rings to store your weapons.'' She spoke.
''Just imagine puting your weapons inside the ring...'' She guided her students. The students put on their rings either on their index finger or ring finger.
Clay closed his eyes and imagined puting his katana inside the ring. The ring glowed bright blue and the katana vanished from thin air.
''Wow..'' Clay quietly marveled the ring.
"I believe it's time for you to test out your new weapons," Amanda declared, looking at her students.
Without delay, they made their way to the Training Field, a designated area for honing their combat skills.
***
The training field was a vast, open plain, perfect for practice without any obstructions from nearby buildings. Its size was almost equivalent to two football fields, making it an ideal area for the first-year students to hone their skills.
'Amanda's voice echoed across the training field as she addressed her first-year students. "Welcome to the official training field for first-year students," she began. "Before heading to the battle plaza in thirty minutes, make sure to get comfortable with your weapons here." With a wave of her hand, she dismissed her students, allowing them to begin their training.
As Amanda dismissed the class to practice with their weapons, many students from other classes had already started practicing with their own weapons, some hitting against the training dummies with a forceful impact.
Clay headed towards an empty area on the plain, covered with artificial grass. He unsheathed his katana and began to move it skillfully with a series of swings, slashes, and cuts.
Shing Shing
'Maybe I can learn a skill from this,' Clay thought, feeling hopeful.
Skills were abilities that could be learned and were recorded by the System. They were similar to RPG game skills that could be discovered and learned, making them more potent against enemies.
One way to learn a skill was through the repetition of actions and movements. This method required a great deal of patience and dedication, as it could take weeks or even months to learn just one skill.
Clay was deep in concentration, trying to perfect his movements, when a loud scream interrupted him. Looking up, he saw a boy had shattered a wooden board with his bare hands.
'Some students are really giving it their all,' Clay thought positively as he sheathed his katana and sat down cross-legged on the grass, closing his eyes.
Clay raised both of his hands and circulated the mana within his body. He focused on controlling and directing the flow of mana towards his hands, which was the most efficient place to channel magic. As humans rely heavily on their hands for various tasks, they are easier to control and direct for mana use.
Mana, generated from the heart and running through the veins, is the source of magic. By controlling and manipulating the flow of mana, one can cast spells such as fireballs or drops of water. Stronger individuals could even create magic beyond their body zone, which normally could add up to a few diameters away from their body.
With a swift motion of his hands, Clay conjured two ice shards above his palms. The shards made of ice, reflecting the sunlight, were the size of his palm. He aimed and swiped his hands towards an unoccupied training dummy a few dozen meters away.
Crash Crash
The ice shards shot out from his palms and crashed into the dummy with a satisfying sound. Clay nodded in approval, feeling a sense of pride in his achievement.
For the past year, Clay had been practicing his mana control with his mother, who was an adept Ice Magician. He started earlier than most teenagers because he aspired to become a Magic Swordsman who wields a sword and harnesses the power of magic. He had the advantage of his mother's guidance, which made his progress faster and smoother.
You may wonder why he didn't start even earlier. It was because practicing mana control during growth phases could lead to unexpected variables and cause lifetime injuries or even coma. However, Clay's mother was highly skilled in mana control, especially with Ice Magic, and she helped him towards learning it.
He glanced at the clock on his watch before resuming his short training session.