Life ain’t full of fun and rainbow. That, I know full well. Still, it’s pretty sad to see that all my expectations of throwing fireballs left and right had finally went through the window.

Just because you know people die when you stab their chest with a knife doesn’t mean you will become a professional assassin in a blink of an eye. It’s similar to my case as even though I inherited Deborah’s vast knowledge about magic, I still cannot perform the easiest baby-tier magics during the practice yesterday.

Deborah said that in order to use magic, I have to concentrate with your mind to use your soul energy. Well, I did what she said, but no matter how hard I concentrated, nothing came out. Deborah noted that due to me only possessed soul energy recently, so I haven’t got enough time to get used to it, while the native residents of this world were already born with it, thus made it easier for them to use magic.

Long story short, I have yet to be able to perform magic.

That day ended when both Deborah and I gave up on practicing further. The plan for today is the same as yesterday: Learn and keep practicing magic. That was the plan, until some unexpected things happened on this morning.

Deborah was forced to show up for class.

Apparently, the teachers were pretty pissed when she ditched their classes yesterday. Deborah didn’t tell me all the details, but from what I heard, it seems like coming from a prestige family net you a reputation to uphold, and for a big shot like her, ditching classes wasn't the best way to keep the face for your family. This is something I know well, maybe too well, in fact…

It wouldn’t be a problem if only Deborah is absent. Yeah, all I need to do is keep reading more books about magic in her room and keep practicing by myself. That would be my intended plan alright. At least until I too was called out by A-1’s class president, who is a face that I know full well - Iola Moreau.

Yep, that Iola, that shy girl in the cafeteria that day, is my class’s class president. I wondered who died and made her the class’s boss.

Back to the thing at hand, she came to see me in order to convey a request from the faculty office, which was asking about the answer for my Department of choice. Due to the unbalanced ratio of the periods between the common and specialized classes, it is not recommended for cadets to stay Department-less for a long, which is of course my current status as a newcomer.

The War Arts, Magic Arts and Alchemy Arts. Three options, and I have to make my choice for today. Despite the upcoming duel, it seems this school doesn’t hold any punches when it comes to students management.

And that’s how I ended up wandering alone in this huge castle they called a school, or academy, whatever.

It’s still in study hours, so there are no students or teachers in the hallway. Only I - a clueless guy with no idea where to go - am standing there. It would be nice if there’s someone I can talk to, or if I have a map in my possession. But life doesn’t works that way, doesn’t it ? Gifts that could solve your problems don’t instantly fall from the sky for every five steps you take. This isn’t a novel, afterall. I can’t expect nice things would be served to me on a silver platter.

“Well, I am not a kid who still gets lost in the supermarket anymore.”

I whisper to myself. Right, gotta think positive. It’s just a castle, right? A castle twice the size of Himeji Castle, with numerous hallways and rooms across all of its land. It’s not like I’m asking to get lost, right…? I mean, if I can find my way to the guys’s bathhouse which is located in the opposite of the girls’s dorm, then how hard can it be to find a simple faculty office?

“Yes. Gotta think positive.”

As soon as I make up my mind, I begin to depart for the faculty office, all while wondering what Department should I pick. Though it would be a good idea if I go and observe those Departments first. I know I’m not the physical type, so the War Arts is definitely not a choice. There’re still Magic Arts and Alchemy Arts, but with my current progress, I doubt I would prosper if I choose Magic Arts as my Department. That leaves Alchemy as the only viable choice left.

“…”

Still, even though I know what is the only choice for me right now, I still want to see how those Departments are doing.

Wandering across the lonely hallways, asking a few skeleton janitors along the way, after a while, I end up in someplace that could be called the castle’s courtyard. But instead of beautiful gardens, the castle’s courtyard in front of my eyes was modified to function as a barren, empty field for the school’s physical activities.

A cool breeze flows by from the outdoor sky. It’s rather cold, actually. While my black cloak does a good job protecting my body from the cold, my face however is laid bare unprotected. I breath out a while trail of smoke in the air. Is it winter already? There’s stil no signs of snow, however.

Yet despite the cold, there are a bunch of guys still working out in the courtyard. A work out session under the cold weather, sounds like the go-to recipe for a cliché manly physical training session. Yes, but it seems like those guys aren’t satisfied with just that, so they take things up to eleven by throwing away their cloaks and shirts while practicing fighting techniques under the cold weather half-naked. So hardcore.

I wonder if this class’s name is How to get a cold 101.

“Hyaaahhhh!!”

Most of the students in this courtyard are guys, what a disappointment. They form lines based on their weapon of choice while practicing basic fighting techniques. Each time a line make a move, they all yell in unison like a real hotblooded army. The most common weapons they use are spears, axes and swords. All of the weapons were made from iron, not wood, though there are no signs of sharpness in those weapons. Of course, you wouldn’t want to practice fighting with something that could easily cut your flesh off, right? If they want it that way then they just have to use real weapons to go at each other.

“Gyaahhh!”

There are no sign of any teachers in this field, most students are practicing by themselves despite the absence of their teacher. What discipline they have. Though the same can not be said for all the students currently in the courtyard.

In the back of the courtyard, there’s currently a noisy crowd gathering around of something. They pique my curiosity, so I walk closer to observe what is happening.

After finding an ideal spot to become an onlooker, I throw a look into the center of the crowd.

Inside the center, there lie two guys standing five meters apart from each other. One is a huge, muscular green-skinned man, with some tusks in the lower jaw of his mouth and black hair braided with some beads. An orc, I presume. Without those exotic racial features however, the orc would totally look like an incredibly manly hunk. The orc man’s figure can make any body builders back in my world flee with shame. The guy is almost two meters tall, towering over the guy in front of him. He is also naked on his top, while wearing a brown leather pant along with simple boots. In his left hand is an iron axe, a blunt and somewhat harmless axe, but I doubt nobody would think it’s just a child’s toy in the hand of an imposing orc like him.

His opponent could be called a dwarf if we compare him to the orc, that is only to him though, because that young man is also pretty tall in normal standard. It seems like fate just have to pull another joke on me today, because the guy in question is in fact Caelan Eberstark – the class clown whom I met just the day before yesterday. Like most of the other guys in the courtyard, he too is also shirtless and laid bare his chest for others to see. While not exactly impressive, Caelan still got some muscles and abs on his somewhat skinny torso. That doesn’t make him less imposing than the orc, though, thanks to various subtle but observable old scars on his naked body. Caelan wields an iron spear on his right hand, and an iron sword on the other. Dual-weilding two weapon with different properties, I wonder how that could work.

No warning shots, no referee, the fight between the young devilman and the orc begins the moment Caelan rushes toward his opponent, with a bright and idiotic smile on his lips. The orc, still remain stoic, readies his axe in a defensive stance while waiting for his opponent to strike. And he does. One thurst. Using his spear on the right, Caelan aims and thursts his spear at the orc’s face. The orc doesn’t even bat an eye even in the face of danger, he calmly deflects the thrust, not with his axe, but with the back of his wrist. Aiming at the shaft, he bashes the spear using minimal force, yet still be able to deflect a spear thursted at him with full force away.

Despite the failure of his first attack, Caelan still maintains his facade of joy and amusement. The moment an opening shows up when the orc counters his thurst attack, Caelan swings the sword on his left hand, aiming at the orc’s stomach with a slash attack that can even cut the air into half. Victory seems to be in Caelan’s hand in that moment.

CLANG!

Yet, the orc isn’t someone to be underestimated. Despite the blazing speed of Caelan’s sword, the orc easily blocks the attack with his own axe. A little spark appears the moment both weapon trade blows with each other. At this moment, the stoic face of the orc changes into a subtle smile. It is an unfortunate cue that he is going to counterattack, with his elbow.

Yes, using his right elbow, the orc attacks Caelan. Despite trying to block the attack using his weapon, Caelan still gets hit hard. He staggeres for a moment after taking an attack to the face. The orc doesn’t let that small window slips by his head. He readies his axe to the left backside of his body, getting himself to an offensive stance similar to the Waki-gamae stance in Kendou.

“Uohhhhhhhh!!”

The orc lets out a battle cry. His roar makes the ground tremble for a brief moment. If you stand in the side near his back, you could see that his blood veins have fully gather in his left arm. Like a mad War God readied to deliver judgement on his enemy, the Orc performs an uppercut with his blunt iron axe, using such force that make you wonder if he could cut the earth appart. In an desperate attempt to defend himself, Caelan pulls his spear and sword back to perform an X-shaped guard form. Both of their weapons clash. However, the fight is decided the moment Caelan gets himself pulled up by the force of the Orc's attack and blows him up to the sky, five meters from the ground along with his weapon and ends up not far from the place he begun the fight.

Their duel has settled. An overwhelming victory for the stoic orc. Caelan doesn’t look like he stand a chance against a guy like him.

Despite the odds however, after taking such an attack directly, one can hear a loud laugh coming from Caelan, who’s still lying on the ground after getting himself beaten.

“Ahahaha. As expected of the famed Koros Hafner. You put other guys in our class to shame.”

The orc named Koros Hafner just closes his eyes while he gives out a brief smile as his silent answer.

“So…”

Caelan jumps off from the ground and takes on his weapons again. There is no sign that he is heavily affected by the attack earlier.

“Shall we get serious then?”

Caelan takes a lower stances, readies his weapons like that of a praying mantis. For some reason, I can feel a faint sign of soul energy in this stance of his. The orc’s answer to Caelan is also readies his weapon and back to the defensive stance earlier, preparing himself for round two of this fight. And he too reaks out some soul energy from his body.

Still, before their fight gets started again, a loud, very loud voice suddenly appears, ringing the ears of those who are unfortunate enough to stand near the source.

“What the hell are you maggots doing!?”

A shadow jumps out from the crowd, weilding two…bricks(?) on both of his hand. The guy who just appear suddenly smashes the Orc’s head with the brick on his right, and Caelan’s head with the other. While the orc doesn’t seem to faze even by a bit, Caelan however is dropped down to the ground, again.

“Are you maggots idiots or what ? I just went to the toilet for ten minutes and yet you maggots started fighting again! Is my order that hard to obey? Just practice, practice and more practice! What should I do to stop you maggots from getting more idiotic by day!?”

He could start by stop smashing his pupils’ head with bricks.

And yes, the loud-mouthed guy who just appears is the head of the War Arts Department – Mr.Bjarni Lodbrok. Of course, he’s also half-naked like every other guys standing in this courtyard, except for me. Why am I not surprised to see this is his class?

“I apologize for this little…mess of mine, teacher Lodbrok. It’s not Caelan’s fault for proposing a practice duel, it’s my fault for accepting such thing to begin with.”

“No no, Mr.Lodbrok. If you have to punish someone, please punish me! It’s all because I want to have a duel with him so…”

The bearded muscular man crosses his arms while thinking about how to resolve this situation. Though that doesn’t take longer than five seconds. As loud as how he entered the scene earlier, Bjarni announces his verdict.

“That’s it! I don’t care who’s at fault here. For you maggots, the answer is always just one. That is punishment! Ten laps around the school. Now run you maggots!”

The man shouts again, hurriedly forcing both Caelan and the orc to run their asses off. Despite all that, both of them just put a smile on their face like this punishment of theirs is nothing more than daily chores.

“And you guys too! How dare you let such fight unfold before your eyes, and you even held a bet on top of that! Ten laps for you maggots too! And the result from your bet shall be confiscated to the class fund!”

Despite the boo coming from the onlooking students, after Bjarni pulled some WWE-tier wrestling moves on several guys to make an example, all of them instantly run their asses off before he make them his next practice sandbag. What a lively class this is.

“Shall I take my laps too despite not being a part of your class?”

After all the students here ran off for their punishment, I approach Bjarni before he gets even me involved to the running practice.

“Well of course you too !...Ehh, why, isn’t it Akuma ?”

Bjarni lowers his voice after he turns to my direction.

“What is your business here? Observing my class for your choice in Departments?”

The guy is surpsingly sharp.

“Yes, Mr.Lodbrok. It’s actually a coincidence that I stumbled upon your class today, though.”

“Ha ha. So, how was it ? Lively, isn’t it. If you think this is lively, then you’re dead wrong. Today is just a somewhat boring day for the class. Just you wait until an ordinary class of mine.”

I’m not sure if that would be a good sign.

“Why did you make your students practice half-naked in the cold, Mr.Lodbrok?”

“To toughen them up, of course! If you can’t even handle a little cold then you should never pride yourself as a warrior of the War Arts Department ! Also, it helps for communication between classmates. MANLY COMMUNICATION, that is.”

Is he talking about how people bond when they get into difficult situations?

“Since you’re here already, shall I enlighten you on this Department of ours then? Can you use a weapon, Akuma?”

If what he meant is swords, spears or such then the answer is no.

“I saw some back in my old world. But I don’t now how to use any of them.”

Of course, richman everywhere have weird tastes, and to have some decoration swords is the go-to cliché when you talk about a rich guy living in a mansion. And unfortunely, my father is such a man to an insane degree, so there are some pairs of swords that are used as decoration near our fireplace, and that's only the start...

“I see, what a pity. But maybe it’s your fists that are strong! There exist several physical type familiars, after all!”

Too bad, I tried punching a wall before during my confinement in this world, the result wasn't pretty at all.

“As you can see already, Akuma. Our Department deals with the education of physical combat for the students. No matter the weapon they choose, we will make the best out of their abilities to make them master their techniques to the utmost. Be they swords, spears, axes, hammers, shields, bows…we will teach them everything we can to mold them into fine warriors worthy of our school! After all, they will become the bulk of the forces defending our realm’s most important warzone – the Dark Line.”

“The Dark Line?”

Sounds important enough from the sound of it.

“You didn’t know of such thing? What have you been doing for all those days you got?”

“I studied magic.”

“Oh, right…Those mages never give a damn to things other than their researchs, I forgot. But no worry, for I shall enlighten you on this subject! It is my duty as a teacher to teach, afterall!!”

Bjarni takes a wooden branch on a nearby ground and uses it to doodles on the earth.

“More than a hundred years ago, a war broke out between Demon Realm and Heaven Realm, again like it has been for thousands of years before. This time our force took the intiative and crossed the Floating Sea for an invasion on our enemy’s own soils! It was a success, and we had sucessfully invaded the frontline nation of the Heaven Realm – Metallum, the Kingdom of Metal. Using that nation as the base, we launched numerous invasion attempts on the nearby countries, yet only a handful could be counted as success, thanks to the intervention of their Heroes. So, our Demon King got dispatched in order to deal with them.”

So the Demon King vs Heroes is still a thing in this world, interesting.

“Our King did very well against the heroes. The more they come, the more they fell before him. Yet, their persistency was top notch, even with our King taking on the field, those bastards didn’t yield and keep on fighting. Even though they are the enemy, I respect that foolishness of theirs. Thus, the war continued as a war of attrition. And that…became our failure.”

As he keeps talking, Bjarni continues to draw a simplified map on the ground with his wooden stick. For a brutish-looking man as him, his drawing is suprisingly beautiful for a ground drawing. It’s easy to look, easy to understand yet at the same time is a little pretty for the eyes to feast on. He even draws a flower as decoration!

“The moment the war turned into a war of attrition, everything quickly ended. The supplies routes from the Demon Realm were slowers than that of our enemies. When our armies got weak for long periods of fighting, they rallied their forces and allies for counterattacks. Things probably wouldn’t looked so bad since we have the Demon King, but the unexpected happened. He was attacked and defeated by a young group of daring heroes, and while he survived the encounter, they dealt some unhealable wounds on him, rendering him incapable of fighting for the rest of the invasion. And thus, one by one, we lost our gained territories and netted ourselves a counter-invasion, thanks to the Heaven Realm’s reserve armies.”

After Bjarni finished drawing his map, he crossed a line from a part of the demon’s realm’s continent.

“The war continued to break out on our own soils. Weakened by many years fighting on foreign lands, we lost our territories to those bastards. The Dark Line is the border which we were able to hold the line, preventing them from invading further. There were several small wars happened during this period, but not even once was the line broken. We have a temporary ceasefire since ten years ago, and so, aside from small conflicts here and there, the war, called the Hundred Years War, still hasn’t ended. Whether it continues or not is just a matter of time. That’s why we warriors have to train to surpass our own limits! For one day it will be us who will stand on the battlefield and defend the Realm with our lives !”

It’s pretty cliché, but still an interesting story nonetheless. This world’s Demon Realm isn’t that scary or strange as I thought, they’re pretty human-like themselves, despite fighting against the so-called humans. If so, then what of this world’s humans…I wonder.

“Let me summarize this Dark Line thing for you a bit. It’s a vast defense network made up from numerous outposts across the front line, acting as the line of defense. Using the Melas academy as the main base, we can provide constant supplies and reinforcements to maintain the front line. With this system, when some outposts get attacked, the other ones will get alerted, and reinforcement from other outposts and in the worst case, the academy’s reserve forces itself, will get mobilized to quickly deal with the attacking enemy without dropping down our defenses, since other outposts can cover the holes left by the mobilization of our reinforcement.”

On the north and south side of the Melas academy, there are lines and lines of mountains, thus make it hard to traverse armies through the land for an invasion. The easiest path to enter the Demon Realm's interior land is through Melas Castle, but crossing the Dark Line where these demons are defending with their lives won't be an easy task for the human armies.

“We of the Melas Academy have a very important mission, that is to protect this Academy and the Dark Line, in that order, to the death! It’s not just the soldiers' duty, but the students too. That’s why, you should be proud of yourself to be a Melas cadet!”

Though this world’s politics and wars doesn’t concern me, the teacher’s words however make me really feel compelled to enlist to their cause and fight together with them. Well, just a little bit.

“We warriors are the first man to serve and the last man to die. That is our creed, represented by our War Arts Department’s crest.”

“You guys have your own crest?”

“You don’t know?”

Bjarni walks to a pile of cloaks nearby on the ground and take out an armband attached on one of the cloak before showing it to me.

“You don’t know of this?”

“An armband?”

I know my eyes aren’t the best in the world, but to think I don’t even know the students have armbands on their arm is just…

“Every students from their own Department are required to wear these armbands as an identification of their chosen Department. In our case, this is our Department’s symbol.”

The armband Bjarni showed me is a black one, with a white circle act as an outer ring, along with a sword, a spear and an axe banded together as a symbol, making it look similar to that of a peace sign back in the war eras of my world.

“The unity of warriors, no matter their chosen path of fighting, weapons, ideologies, races, still band together for a common cause. That is the symbol that represent us warriors of Melas!”

“Chosen path…?”

That sounds like another branch of techniques, like those magics I learned yesterday.

“There is the Wrath Path, the Patience Path, and the Calm Path. The were represented by those three weapons on our symbols. The Axe is Wrath, the Spear is Patience, and the Sword is Calm. It’s just for symbolism, though. It’s not like every guy who use axes is a practitioner of the Wrath Path.”

I guess he meant Koros Hafner, the ealier orc?

Speaks of the devil. The moment the thought about that guy runs through my head, Koros and Caelan appear when they finish their punishment, with the earlier onlookers follow behind in a trail, finishing roughly the same time.

“Seems like our times it up. I don’t know if you’re interested in my Department, but it would be a pleasure for me to have you as one of my maggots, heh heh. If you do, you and I and those bunch of maggots shall have more MANLY COMMUNICATION in preparation for the frontier!”

As much as I admire their devotion for the frontier, I’m more worried about my rear guard, though.

No goodbyes, Bjarni just leaves my side after his students return to the field, he probably knows I can’t pick his Department as my choice. Despite that, a smile still appear on his face as he approach his students for more lessons.

“…”

This place is too good for me.

Thus, I continue my search for a fitting department, a choice, for the uncertain future ahead.