Chapter 8— School Life! (1)
‘And thus, this is why students who were sent to the Beta Class are unable to properly
grow,’ Desir thought.
Alpha Class students received excellent lessons from the faculty’s most brilliant
professors. As such, the faculty, carefully and with great passion, nurtured the
Alpha Class and ensured they received the best attention the professors could
offer. With this, their talents would surely awaken. They would inevitably
become excellent combatants that would conquer the Shadow Worlds.
Yet Beta Class was the complete opposite.
It was mostly composed of commoners who lacked any kind of support. Care
and passion was not pointed towards the students of the Beta Class as almost
none of the lectures had proper professors assigned to them. Because of this, it
was extremely difficult for these students to reach their full potential.
Desir smiled bitterly. ‘Even in my past life, I was a Beta Class student.’
Desir had been born as a commoner. So, of course, due to his social status, he
had been assigned to the Beta Class. And without proper education, it had been
impossible for him to improve. So, when he’d first entered the Shadow
Labyrinth, he had only been a 1st circle mage.
‘In an environment like this, many talented people were buried. The system was at
fault. If it weren’t for a system like this, Beta Class students would have been able to
become stronger. They wouldn’t all have been massacred so easily, nor so quickly.’
Yet, the only person who had survived to the end as a Beta Class student was
Desir. Being reminded of such end results, Desir decided on one goal in his
heart. ‘I will make sure the most talented students in the Beta Class will be promoted
to Alpha Class.’
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In the past, Desir had failed to clear the Shadow Labyrinth. But there were
many hidden gems in the Hebrion Academy. And he knew that if he was able to
properly nurture them and guide them to their best potential, then it wouldn’t
be impossible to clear the Shadow Labyrinth. ‘To do that,’ he thought. ‘I must
move together with them. In other words, I’ll create a party.’
He would find the ones with the most potential based on his past life
experience and knowledge. He would find these hidden gems, convince them to
join his party, and then he would ensure their promotion into the Alpha Class.
And he knew who the first gem would be: Romantica Eru, the Wind Mage who
had taken the entrance exam with him. She was the esteemed daughter of
Baron Eru and was called the Tempest Sage. Her specialty was chant-less
magic. In the past, she’d also been a veteran mage who’d survived in the
Shadow Labyrinth for 8 years.
And Desir was determined to win her over and make her his first party
***
A girl with clean, lustrous hair cascading down her shoulders sat at a desk in a
lecture room.. Her snow-white skin clashed with her red cheeks. And her
usually bright coral green eyes exuded a gloomy darkness.
“To think I would end up in Beta Class,” she sighed.
The ancient clock on the wall screeched with every movement the minute hand
made. The lecture room’s damp atmosphere, creaking chairs that gave off a
rotting cucumber smell, and marked up desks with gashes carved into them
only proved to make the girl’s shoulders slump even more.
It was truly a horrifying scene.
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Romantica could not believe this was a classroom. At that moment, a shadow
loomed over her open book.
“Hello. Are you Romantica Eru of the Eru Barony?”
Romantica raised her head. Three people stood before her, wearing the shiny
blue badge on their right chests, which represented the Alpha Class.
The person who’d spoken was the tallest person amongst the three. With thick
eyebrows and thick lips, he exuded a heroic aura.
“You know my name, but you haven’t introduced yourself yet,” she said.
“Pardon me.” He sat down across from her. “My name is Doneta Hadun. I’m a
new student just like you...and I’m currently looking for a new party member.”
He spoke very politely, the dulcet tone of his voice flowing between them, so
different from the atmosphere of the room.
“I hope you find a good party member who suits you,” Romantica said.
“I hope so, too. That’s why I came here,” Doneta said.
“Do you have some business with me?” she asked.
“I wanted to meet you, but it was difficult to do so. As you know, the lecture
rooms for Beta Class and Alpha Class are quite far apart.”
‘In more ways than one.’ “Well, yeah,” she said.
“I heard you are an exceptional Wind Mage. Furthermore, I heard your family
has the title of Baron. For an exceptional Mage with noble status to end up as a
Beta Class student, the academy must have made a mistake.”
A stiff smile stretched across Romatica’s face. The awkward moment spread out
before her, as she tried to maintain her poker face. “Well, even the academy
professors are people, too. They’re bound to make mistakes.”
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“Oh, right. However, it’s still unacceptable for the academy to assign you into
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“I said I wish we could start dating.”
So, she hadn’t heard him wrong. “Have we met before?” Romantica asked.
“At the entrance exam’s banquet hall. It was love at first sight, Romantica.”
She forced Doneta to let go of her hand.
“There are no reasons for you to decline, Romantica.”
“I just need some time to think about it.”
Doneta’s face wore a dumbfounded expression. “Why?”
“I need some time to think.”
“Of course, but...this is—”
Romantica’s green eyes, which looked like the wind itself, glittered sweetly at
Doneta. “You should give this lady some time to think. If you truly are a polite
gentleman.”
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“It’s a tradition followed in my Kingdom’s military where we gift this Kemubin
to the person we love.” Pushing the groove of the handle with his fingers, the
knife and the handle separated with a click. At the same time, a smooth golden
chain necklace trickled down from inside the dagger.
Doneta gave the necklace to Romantica.
But, she shook her hands to politely decline. “This is too much.”
“You don’t have to feel pressured.” After lightly bidding his farewell, Doneta
headed towards the exit.
As soon as Romantica saw him leave, she went limp. She felt like a tempest had
passed by. But without even a moment’s reprieve, another person approached
her from behind and stopped at her side.
“You surely are popular, Romantica.”
“Kya!” She yelped. With a crash, Romantica’s chair fell back. She had been lost
in thought, so she did not notice another person’s presence from behind her. It
was her bad habit to yell when she was taken by surprise.
As if untouched by this scene, Desir Arman nonchalantly sat next to her. “I
greeted you five times, but you wouldn’t respond. So, I decided to personally
come to you.”
Embarrassed, Romantica quickly pulled her chair back to its original spot and
settled back into her seat.
“We first met at the entrance exam. So, I guess it’s been two days since we’ve
met?” Desir said.
“What do you want from me?” Romantica cleared her throat, her face pinched
with annoyance.
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Naturally, Desir was unfazed by it. “I came here to invite you into my party.”
Party invitation.
She responded back, uninterested. “I have nothing to talk to you about any
party.”
“Are you declining my invitation because you don’t want to date me? Don’t
35
“That’s because...I needed some time to think. But thinking about it now, I
made a bad call. Doneta was right. From the beginning, my answer was already
determined. I can’t think of a reason to decline his offer.”
“Even if you have to date him?” he asked.
“It’s actually more beneficial for me to go out with the Hadun family’s child as
a condition to join the best party.”
“That’s quite cold and calculating.” Desir said.
Despite Desir’s sarcasm, Romantica’s decision did not change. Rather than
being shaken, it seemed like her conviction became stronger. “Since we’re done
talking, can you leave?”
‘I guess it can’t be helped.’ Desir reached into his pocket, feeling as if he was
pulling out a knife, but his hand only held a slip of paper. A letter. Calmly,
Desir passed the letter to Romantica.
However, Romantica tried to get rid of the letter without reading it.
But then Desir spoke. “Best to dispose of that quickly. Though, you should be
more careful with it since it contains all of your secrets.”
Startled by his sudden declaration, Romantica looked back and forth between
the letter and Desir, now unsure of what to do. Her previous haughty attitude
had vanished, and Romantica sat frozen in place.
Raising his eyebrows, Desir simply urged her on.
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