Sword, Magic and Academic Society

It was one of the afternoons in the Royal Academy, after the start of the second half of the year, and classes had just ended.

"Good day to you all, I’m Daniel Serdos from Class 1-A, and I’ll be a part of the Emission Magic Club starting today. I hope I can learn from all of you.

I've opted out of the knight course and I want to… master wind magic......"

Dan introduced himself in a quiet tone, his potato-like face turning into a sweet potato as a crimson shade took over his cheeks.

Some of the club boys immediately showered him with thunderous applause.

"Woohoo!! One more comrade has come to join our cause!"

"Yeah, we're all open-minded people, so no need to be embarrassed! Let's chase our dreams together!"

"Let's ride the wind together under the command of our great leader!"

While the male students welcomed Dan with enthusiasm, hollering unashamedly, there was one more side who looked at Dan… as if they were staring at trash.

They were the girls, and perhaps also the most sincere members of the magic club.

"I never expected Daniel Serdos, the 2nd rank prodigy right after Leo-san, to be no different from the scums of the club......"

"Look at his red face... Why is he even joining the club when the thought makes him so embarrassed?"

"But don't you think he looks a bit… cute?"

"Nooope!! I definitely can't get along with taciturn ones! I would rather choose one out of those idiots, at least they're honest and loud!"

"True, who knows if it's just a facade while in reality, he might be dreaming of flipping skirts each night."

The girls, thinking that Dan's reason for joining was to learn the art of flipping skirts, muttered their criticisms one after another.

Ever since Allen's 'effort' during the Rising Star Cup, the boys had been working hard all to achieve their ultimate goal of… flipping skirts. At least, the girls thought so, while the folks unrelated to the club were even giving them the cold shoulder due to that.

The girls were more bothered because their families were telling them 'We beg you, just leave that place'. The hassle and bad reputation unfortunately was the reason behind their sharp tongues.

In fact, the girls in the club were wearing pants, which came with their uniforms, as a countermeasure against wind magic. The uniform pants were more often a part of students’ uniforms in the knight course.

As someone who had a thin face, Dan couldn't bear the gazes and seriously contemplated running from here. But before he could, Al, the president of Emission Magic Club and known to be a determined man, stepped up and offered him his words with a smile.

"Yes, it's our pleasure to have you, Dan! I'm really glad to see you joining us, truly! But before anything, there's one 'ironclad rule' in this club that's of utmost importance. You will be instantly kicked out of the club if you ever so fail to adhere to this chivalric code of a 'Mage'.

Fret not, it's nothing complicated. As a mage, you should just make sure to keep chasing the endless possibilities that lie ahead!"

After Al, Dol tapped on Dan's shoulder with a wry smile.

"Yo, Dan. I heard from Allen that you guys are going to create a Sailing Club? I guess it's not actually smooth sailing for you either, huh? I think I know what you want to learn, but wouldn't it be a burden on you to actually attempt to control that big of a ship with wind magic?"

It was natural for Dol to have his doubts.

Bernoulli's theorem in this world was a new phenomenon discovered by Allen (or so the setting went), instead of some well-crafted theory with examples like in the science of Earth. And Dan himself hardly knew much about it except for what Allen explained to him. That by urging the wind the same way mages circulated their mana outside their body, it was possible to generate a dynamic force that would propel the boat forward.

However, it was easier said than done, so Dol had his own questions about the principle's feasibility. He was sure that while Dan was blessed with huge mana capability, moving such a huge ship was just an impossible matter.

Meanwhile, Allen, Leo, and Jeu were absent today due to their respective busy schedules.

"You can't consider something impossible without trying, right? I seriously want to give it a try, so please point me in the right direction. If it's not too much, can you show me what kind of magic you all are researching?"

A huge smile blossomed on Al and Dol's faces as they eagerly nodded at Dan's suggestion.

◆◆◆

"Haaaaa!"

Al released a spirited shout and created a wall of ice.

Allen had given this magic the name ‘Ice Wall’, saying that it was one of the most basic spells to train on. The ice wall was 2 m in height and 1 m in breath while being 20 cm thick.

The ice construct was completely translucent, so the area behind the wall was clearly visible.

"Woah, that's sick!"

Tap-Tap

Dan knocked on the ice wall with his fingers to check its sturdiness and immediately received his answer.

"Al's Ice Wall is truly a marvel. Do you know it can even completely block Leo's fireball? One time, Leo was so irked that he ended up shooting 30 fireballs at it one after another, but Al also kept reconstructing the Ice Wall and not a single fireball managed to touch him. You would be surprised too once you see how quickly and efficiently Al can create ice walls."

Dol words praised Al, though the man himself scratched his cheek and denied it.

"It was just a matter of affinity. I'm still too far from the ideal building speed and sturdiness otherwise. Allen had already seen through it when he asked me some questions. Like, can it stop Leo's sword? Was I confident it could withstand Leo's kick? What were my plans if he turned around and attacked me from the flank?

Though yeah, it would be a lie if I said I wasn't happy. I never expected I had it in me to win against that prodigy Leo no matter if he chose close combat or magic. I… I can become that mage for sure...... Maybe Allen was indirectly implying that.”

Al chuckled, his expression tinted with his typical carefree smile as usual.

"Man, only the gods know where that fella forgot his common sense and typical thinking. I really suspect his brain doesn't have that function."

Dol remarked jokingly. Though he, too, understood what Al was hinting at.

Allen would continue to nag him, too, with 'Watch the club and don't let yourself be tied to simple achievements', or 'Expand your outlook, because magic is filled with endless possibilities’.

Typically, having a big mana capacity wasn't actually rare in the Royal Academy, even commonplace to put it in another word.

Yet, he somehow couldn't forget Allen's face when the latter said, "The moment you firmly realize your advantage lies in your mana capacity, an inherent trait that can't be overcome by any means, will be the day you become a prodigy even above Leo in a certain way".

He couldn't remove from his memory Allen's frustrated expression from his mind. It was as if he wanted to say "Why can't you understand this simple logic?!"

Whether it was the young Dol, who was capable of doing anything with efficiency in a matter of seconds, or the now student Dol, who had his pride shattered into a million pieces after his enrollment— it had always been his utmost desire that someone say those words to him.

"The world is the stage, and you're its lead actor," Dol thought Allen was implying that.

"Dol, why don't you show your magic that you and Allen researched together? What was it… yeah, earth blast.

Hey, you guys! Please leave the area for a while. Dol’s going to try his magic!"

Seeing that everyone had cleared the grounds, Dol placed his hands on the ground. Soon, the soil started to swell up like a balloon, big enough to actually fit in his hands like a volleyball.

Dol however didn't stop and continued to pour his mana into that soil lump.

"......Earth blast? What in the world is he trying to do?"

Confused, Dan tried to ask Al.

"Well, it began when Allen said something about incorporating the theory behind 'steam explosion' into a magic technique. The first step is to create an earthen ball, then gradually heat it with fire magic. Create a hollow cavity inside the ball so that heat doesn't transfer and then add some water with magic. By doing that—"

As Al explained, Dol was finished with the earthen ball and tossed it at the wall.

Booooom!

The earthen ball created exploded as soon as it struck the wall, its fragment flying around.

"So in this way, when the ball struck the wall, the hollow cavity crumbled away and gave way to the sudden rise in steam. The attack requires mastery over earth, fire, and water magic, so only Dol can use it."

Dan was impressed, but he also felt something was amiss.

"Err... it's truly amazing, but...... is it more powerful than your typical fireball? It even seems to take a long time to set up."

"Well~, the setup time can be reduced gradually by training external mana circulation, much like emission magic.

Before I talk about how powerful it is, I guess I should explain that while it is called earth element, it's not about controlling the 'soil', but the minerals and other inorganic substances. Hence, it might not appear powerful, but once he can reach the stage where he can shape the same ball using tougher minerals, it might be able to store even more energy which would mean it would shatter apart with more force."

Dol grimaced at Al's cheerful explanation.

"Allen put it like it was an easy matter, but it actually takes more effort to freely manipulate hard substances. Also, you're right, Dan. I still need to work over my setup time, after all the enemy wouldn't stay still like a sitting duck and wait for me to finish my spell."

Dol said this with a wry smile.

"Haha, so you say, but this isn't a bad result considering you’ve come this far in just a few months. Plus you're even controlling three elements at once, which isn't easy at all.

I can also freeze anything at touch, but the magnitude of difficulty rises up when I have to produce the water and freeze it at the same time. I’ve been practicing since the age of 9, and I still fumble more often than not. Let alone when we're talking about three elements, I can't even begin to describe how long it must’ve taken.

Do you know, Dol is even practicing to end the attack by detonating it with light magic?!"

Al praised Dol without reservation.

"Truly, no one can leap to your height, Dol-kun!"

" "Yeah, we can see why you're our devilish vice-president~." "

The female students watching them giggled and praised Dol. As students of the mage course, they knew it was easier said than done to control three elements with such precision.

Dan squinted and fell into silence, then gradually his face turned pale from realization. It would be a lie if he said he understood how difficult it was to pull that off. But the final burst at the end gave him a vague hint about the true potential of the attack.

Basically, everything about this spell boiled down to 'setup'.

Ordinary magic couldn't maintain its power for long when cast away from the caster's body. However, the final burst of the Earth Blast magic wasn't about doing 'elemental damage', but was instead reliant on 'physical damage’.

Once proficient, no one could stop Dol from creating more replicas and then quietly burying them into the ground. Due to their delayed reaction, it wouldn't matter even if they were left intact for a while. As long as an enemy even faintly stepped on one while clad in body-strengthening magic, it would explode.

However, at the same time, it was a tremendous magic. What if after he entered into the knight order, he was asked to chase down the user of this magic—

"Hey, Dol. Do you know—"

'What you’re getting yourself into?' Dan was about to say this when he was interrupted by someone suddenly tapping on his shoulder.

Dan turned around and saw a plump boy there. He was wearing glasses, along with a tacky, red bandana on his head. The very definition of a nerd.

"Hello, I’m Banana Shake from class 3-D...... They're someone who has the best of the world, while we don't even have the crumbs. That it may be, our coach, Allen, once said— wind magic is just as much of a treasure trove of endless possibilities, it's no less magnificent than the others. Throw away your 'What would people say' mindset and follow the calling of your heart. Anyway, let's go!"

Banana said while pointing toward the setting sun.

"Huh? No, shouldn't you explain where we're going first? Also, I am currently busy. I need to learn from Al and Dol—"

Suddenly, a tall, eccentric guy wearing his blazer tucked into his pants grabbed Dan's shoulder firmly.

"Hello comrade, I am Chross Ucchari. Excuse our suddenness, but we're someone who believes in imparting, rather than hoarding. We have acquired quite a fruitful result in our journey so far, thus we would be happy to have you.

Let's start with 3rd grade <Silent Gust>. By the way, as long as you can hear the wind in a 20m radius via detection magic, you would be able to unlock your advancement as well."

On the one hand, there were Al and Dol, happily chatting with girls.

On another, there was Dan, besieged by the members of Wind Magic Order. The Wind Magic Order was a group of people who uses their youthful energy to secretly spirited away the prospective candidates of Royal Academy to further broaden their boundary.

Naturally, Dan, too, was taken to become their next sacrifi---ahem, their next comrade.