Orion stood up, unlike the others, and smiled at the assistant. "Here, and nice to meet you, Emily."
Normally, with the confidence his stats gave him, he wouldn't bother with gestures like that. But memories from his old life still lingered, dragging a quiet melancholy behind them.
Emily smiled back as he sat down again.
"This year, Class 1-S has six students," she said. "Five are present. Thalia will join later."
Emily continued, sounding steadier now. "You may have noticed upperclassmen aren't here around lecture hall buildings.
They're currently selecting courses and meeting their advisers. First-years will choose theirs this afternoon."
Orion nodded with satisfaction. He had predicted correctly.
"However," Emily added, "1-S is different. Your core schedule is prepared by the academy. You may petition for slight changes later, but the base curriculum is non-negotiable."
Elara snorted. "So we're elite enough to get fancy chairs but not special enough to choose our own classes."
Cassandra added calmly, "Like everyone else."
Emily winced, then laughed weakly. "That's… one way to put it. But the academy believes this structure helps 1-S develop correctly."
She reached into her bag and pulled out sealed envelopes.
"These contain your basic instructions. Please take one when I call your name."
She walked down the aisle, handing them out. When she reached Orion, their fingers brushed.
Emily flinched like she'd touched something hot, then tried to cover it with a smile.
Orion raised an eyebrow. Okay. So the story had already reached the staff too. Even the teachers had heard the rumors about his lower side.
As Emily continued, Orion felt it again. Those quick glances. They weren't lewd. Just curiosity fueled by gossip, eyes dropping toward his waist, then snapping back up.
He wondered if this was their first time seeing a naked guy. He wondered how much of it had turned into gossip. If the story had been making rounds for three days, then every glance suddenly made sense.
Emily finished handing out the envelopes and clasped her hands at the front.
"The main instructor will arrive next week and her name is Vivienne Ashford, a genius Midka Graduate and Half Elf," she said.
"For now, please review the contents. If you have questions, you may ask me."
Orion looked down at his envelope and opened it. He didn't expect something modern or detailed, but it was surprisingly good.
Seconds later, some parts of the schedule sent shivers down his spine.
"Introduction to Alche-"
The paper in Orion's hands started with his personal academic record.
Specialization: Arcane and Combat Mastery (New!)
Mana Value: 0, No Mana Training
Combat Rating: Not Measured
Written Exam Score: 880 / 1000
Written Exam Ranking: 191 / 440,000
Hell Maze Exam: 1 / 10,000
Rank: 1 / 400,000
"Champion of the Year 880!"
Below that, the document laid out how the academy built schedules, how faculties worked and how students were sorted. Parts of it felt almost modern, parts of it felt like a kingdom wearing a school's skin.
It didn't matter what track you were on, mage, warrior or civilian, nobody got to opt out.
Orion was still trying to read everything when his eyes slid down and caught on a course title.
Introduction to Alchemy.
He remembered the book he had skimmed in the library and the things he had muttered under his breath.
"No student should ever take a course like this… may the gods help anyone who does… memorizing this is impossible…" When he looked up and saw four other students wearing the same pained expression, he felt a little better and returned to the schedule.
It seemed he was required to take courses from faculties unrelated to his specialization.
But the schedule prepared for him still wasn't what he expected.
Normally, Orion should have been enrolled under the Faculty of Civil, Administrative and Academic Sciences. Instead, the paper listed four core courses focused on mage and warrior disciplines. Worse, those core courses were split across two different faculties.
Still confused, Orion raised his head and called to Emily, who was watching him.
"Do we have to take all four of these no matter what? Is there really no way to change them?"
As if she had expected the question, Emily glanced at a note on the desk and read from it.
"This dual-faculty system was prepared specifically for you. The Academy will also allow you to change one course to account for personal preference. But…"
Orion had barely started imagining the cursed class disappearing when Emily cut him off.
"The Champion must take all assigned core courses without exception. The only courses you may choose freely are ten pre-approved electives. One must be from your own faculty and one may be from any faculty you wish."
She added, almost as an afterthought, "And while most students take eight courses in total, you'll only be taking six."
Emily lifted her head and smiled in a way that didn't quite reach her eyes.
"Every Solis (Monday), you'll also have an extra session with your homeroom teacher."
Orion lowered his head again and scanned the paper.
He could only choose two electives. They were divided evenly, two options from each of five faculties.
In an academy that likely offered hundreds of classes, he was considered eligible to choose two out of ten.
Being Champion had felt easy. The expectations attached to it clearly weren't.
As he read through the list again, Orion realized the courses chosen for him weren't as horrifying as he had first thought.
Except for the one at the bottom.
1 - Faculty of Arcane and Combat Mastery
ACM 102 - Combat Mastery I
ACM 119 - Introduction to Mana
2 - Faculty of Alchemy, Medicine & Production
AMP 119 - Transmutation & Material Conversion I
AMP 113 - Introduction to Alchemy 101
Orion stared at the elective list for a long moment.
Half of the options were extremely specialized, tied to bloodlines and rare abilities. The other half revolved around politics, ethics and bureaucracy.
There was even a course titled "Bureaucracy and Mana Law 101." The description was so long that Orion skipped it before finishing the first paragraph.
Magical Maintenance, for what? Pass.
After a few minutes, he crossed out everything he knew he wouldn't take. Three choices remained.
ACM 150 - Forbidden Combat Theory.
It was taught by a notorious professor known for dealing in the academy's darkest arts and focusing on ghosts and monsters. No one took it unless they had to.
Orion had to. One elective was required to be from his own faculty.
AMP 119 - Transmutation & Material Conversion I
This one was both an elective and a core course and compared to the others, it looked almost harmless.
Besides, if the Production Essence worked the way he thought it would, this class would let him kill two birds with one stone.
Maybe even wipe out the whole flock with one throw.
Once Orion finalized everything, an ugly timetable stared back at him, classes scheduled every day of the week.
Combat Mastery I
Introduction to Mana
Transmutation & Material Conversion I
Introduction to Alchemy 101
Forbidden Combat Theory.
Transmutation & Material Conversion I
He signed the bottom and handed the paper to Emily.
"There's nothing else for you to do today. Your basic training with your homeroom teacher begins next week, same day, early morning. Pay attention. Failing even one core course will make you repeat the year."
Orion saw the other students lift their heads and stare at Emily like she had just sworn at them.
The girls had been glowing with pride minutes earlier. But now they looked unsettled.
Orion didn't leave right away.
He watched the room for a few seconds and understood from their eyes that no one else was close to deciding yet. Some looked at him as if they couldn't believe he had chosen so fast.
He quietly asked Emily about the first week and which books he needed. Most of her answers were some version of, "Do whatever that instructor deems appropriate."
It felt less like a school and more like territory. Like each teacher owned their classroom and the students only entered at their mercy.
The course lists were structured, but the actual teaching sounded random, chaotic and heavily improvised.
"If there's nothing else, may I go?"
"One last thing."
Emily lifted her voice and for the first time she sounded like she belonged behind a desk.
The nerves were still there, but she had finally found her footing.
"All students, including the Champion, are forbidden to leave the academy grounds in their first year. And it's not as simple as you think. If you fail even one core course and repeat the year, the restriction continues through your summer break and the following year. If you repeat again, the restriction continues again."
She continued in a blunt tone.
"Some people working in the academy's businesses, training buildings or farms used to be students. They were unable to leave for so long that they eventually gave up and built their lives inside the sacred grounds."
"Don't assume the rule will bend for you until you quit being a student. Not even the Headmistress can break the rule."
Orion had been planning to slip out and meet the family of the body he now inhabited. Hitting a wall like that crushed the plan.
Then I'll focus on life inside the academy. See them during summer break and figure out what's really going on.
Should I risk sending letters?
Questions still swirling, he stepped away from Emily and returned to his seat at an even pace. He winked at Elara on the way, grabbed his bag, gave a small wave and left the classroom.
He didn't notice that his sudden stress and sour mood were leaking from him in scattered waves of aura.
The moment he left, everyone, including Emily, stood and watched his back.
"Was that aura?"
"Hey, Southerner! What was the Champion's warrior level?" Isabella asked, astonishment in her eyes.
Elara smiled thinly as the room, and even Emily, turned to her.
"I'm flattered you're giving me that much credit, sunshine, but I didn't sense anything special from Orion. I can't measure his level."
Cassandra adjusted her glasses and looked out the window. As more students gathered, they saw Orion slipping between the buildings, with Warlord Kalista trailing behind him in silence.
"I learned during the Hell Maze that his combat training was zero. But is he already close to becoming an Aura Master?"
"Impossible!"
As Isabella and Cassandra's voices bounced back and forth, Seraphine turned to Elara.
Even knowing she might get brushed off by this fallen noble, she asked her, since she was the only warrior in the room.
"Is there a special way to use aura without being a Bearer? Something even we didn't know before…"
Elara looked like she wanted to snap at the princess. Then she noticed Emily watching and only shook her head.
"Aura has nothing to do with bloodlines, abilities or divine physiques. It comes from raw force and control."
"So… are you saying there's a Bearer among us, even though we're all newly Awakened?" Isabella asked.
The sheer absurdity of it made the other three remember their own limits.
They were geniuses by common standards, students with rare bloodlines or exceptional talent. But their mana cultivation was still low.
They watched Orion disappear between the buildings.
"How…?" Cassandra was in her own zone. She was mumbling random things.
They were still learning the basics of the basics. The first baby steps of their path.
Even with their Awakened title, reaching the second stage would take months at best.
Cassandra ended her mumbling with a louder voice. "I didn't think Champions were this terrifying…"
The four of them were kids who had grown up believing they were the most gifted in the world. But they had to quietly return to their desks.
Their faces were shaken. They tried to hide it, but Emily could see it easily.
Jealousy, unease, fear and more. So much more.
Meanwhile, Seraphine drifted deeper into her own thoughts, replaying what she had seen a few days earlier.
A naked young man with eerie eyes returning from death. Walking like he commanded monsters and abyssal creatures and so much else.
Every time she picked at the memory, her mind added another absurd ability, another exaggeration.
Over time, a second reality formed inside her head.
She started seeing Orion as some kind of god of death and believing it.
Her heartbeat sped up. Strange fears and fantasies tightened around her, making it hard to focus on her own course selection.
Her eyes eventually fell on the paper left on the teacher's desk, Orion's course list.
What if I follow him and learn his secrets? Someone that strong and smart must be planning far ahead. I doubt any course he chose is useless.
Luckily, she was sitting at a table near the teacher's desk.
She concentrated for a few seconds.
A tiny spark appeared in the depths of her eyeballs. She began to notice and memorize details that no one should normally see. Within seconds, she had memorized all of the Orion's weekly schedule.
Three of her core courses already matched Orion's. One didn't.
"PRL 102 - Intercontinental Diplomacy & War Ethics."
I suppose I don't need this. I'm a crown princess.
She used her one allowed change to drop the Diplomacy lesson and replace it with "Introduction to Alchemy 101".
Then she chose the same electives as Orion.
"Forbidden Combat Theory" and "Transmutation & Material Conversion I".
Both impressive and weird subjects. He must have a reason to select these.
Seraphine finally let out a slow breath. She felt relieved after embracing the frightening aura she felt from Orion.
"I'll keep close to him and I'll learn everything."
That choice would cause her a great deal of trouble later.