Howard Carnus sighed and eyed the two newcomers, getting upset over them would do nothing—if anything, only a lesson could provide them what he deemed to be fit.

"Alright, to welcome your classmates properly into this class. It only seems to be fit that we have a full-on duel, the Trial Test that occurred yesterday measured your ability to think on your feet. But combat wise? I feel that a lecture is in order." Professor Carnus grinned.

And that was how Han Jing found himself blasted into one of the stone walls by a very nice elf. Before he could even grab anything from his inventory, he was already feeling his entire body ache.

"Good demonstration of the [ Wind Gust ], Ellynn." Compared to Headmaster Pierce, Professor Carnus seemed a bit more amiable to the girl.

The young elf gave a quick bow before returning to her seat. Han rubbed his sore back and fought himself from grumbling.

This duel the Professor had in mind was a complete magical duel—and well Han didn't know any spells but he was sure that procuring some shell from his inventory could have been a nice little magic trick in some way.

Han trudged back to his seat and sat back with a slightly grubby Timothy. The guy had dealt with a [ Rock Fist ] spell that probably hurt more than a [ Wind Spell ].

But at least their Professor now seemed satisfied as he once again took the center of the class. "I'm quite proud of how far you've all gone through with learning [ Elemental Spells ] and finding your affinity with one of them. In the battlefield, these kind of [ Spells ] are the ones mostly used to change the tide in battles. A [ Fireball ] can cause a massive damage and lower the morale of the enemy. These spells as you know are mostly categoried in the House of Evocation, unleashing most of magic's raw power."

And the Professor wasn't that bad actually.

"Now then, I suppose that because we have completely unlearned students, I may have to reiterate some things. Similar to how we all have our [ Classes ] and respective levels in them, in [ Spells ] we also categorize them based on the difficulty in learning and performing them. Tier 0 are the easiest ones and we continue to count up until Tier 6."

Somebody's hand shot up.

Han blinked and realized it was Timothy's.

"What is it boy, am I going too fast for you?" Professor Carnus raised a brow.

There were a few snickers, but at least it wasn't full blown laughter at their expense. If anything, Han even noticed that Penelope was glaring at some of the people who'd been snickering. She wasn't as bad as he thought her to be.

"Uh...I recalled through some books I read that there are [ Spells ] that can be classified up to Tier 9 even. [ Archmages ] and even more ancient [ Races ] capable of great feats."

Professor Carnus rubbed his chin, "Young man, it may be true that there are possibly higher Tiers than Tier 6, but it is mostly rumors and folk tales, even the most magically attuned of [ Races ] are facing a stagnation. There's actually a misconception with that, for example [ Elves ] are said to have a higher capacity for magic, but that is only in the case of them having a higher well for mana."

"So [ Elves ] aren't actually that great huh?" Someone spoke up.

Professor Carnus winced for a brief moment, their gaze falling on a certain lady in the group. Han felt a certain animosity stir up in the air. Were things really that bad here between [ Races ]?

"Then there's nothing for her to act so arrogant about." He heard someone whisper.

Another rolled their eyes, "I still can't believe they let her in here—"

A loud bang interrupted the class as Professor Carnus looked mildly irritated, placing back a wand into one of his robes' sleeves. "I will not tolerate noise in my class. If you have time to chatter about, then I suppose that all of you could present to me if all of you have mastered a smaller version [ Mana Shield ]."

A few groans erupted in class.

Professor Carnus adopted a more lecturing tone, "Now this is tackled more into 'Defense Against Physical Combat' but even being able to put up a small shield of mana to prevent an arrow lodging itself in your neck is essential, alright, form a line and show it to me. It'll be our Ranking Test today."

The people around them were quick to shuffle up their feet, another atmosphere forming in the air. Han looked at Timothy who seemed nervous as well.

"What's a Ranking Test?"

"We're graded in our class performance by giving us ranks from rank 1 to the lowest of the low based on tests given by the Professors." Timothy answered him with both mild irritation but also fret. "I don't think we'll be excluded from this though."

"But we haven't even—"

"Ahem, I did tell everyone to form a line, didn't I?" Professor Carnus gave them a look.

Han spread his arms out, trying to grin, "Professor Carnus, we've just arrived yesterday, don't you think that we should at least be exempted from this?"

"I give no favors to anyone, young man. It is only bad timing that you came here on my scheduled Ranking Test." The older man eyed him without even much a blink. "If the two of you can't perform it. Automatic Lowest Ranks for the two of you, both of you can share it."

He could see the attention of his fellow classmates shift over to him, more hushed whispers that soon erupted.

An ear-piercing alarm sounded in Han's ear as a flashing red menu appeared before him:

[ Student Class ]

[ Failed To Obtain Basic Combat Spell Lvl 1 ]

[ Demerit: Fail A Ranking Test ]

[ Outcome: Rank N/A ---> Rank 999+ ( Lowest Rank in Kraelonia Academy ) ]

[ Fame: Kraelonia Academy: 2 ]

[ Evaluation: Extremely pitiful, the bottom of the bottom-feeders, expulsion is nigh ]