Chapter 5
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Episode 1 - Holy Academy [5]
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Director Bernice Ludwig looked at her assistant's report with an expression filled with emotion.
"A dark attribute has appeared at Santa Academy."
"That is correct, Director."
"Mhm."
Director Bernice read the results of the cadet who had placed first in the first two evaluations.
Of course, the third evaluation had neither a first-place finisher nor a ranking.
It only revealed the attribute to determine who was admitted to the academy and who was not.
At that moment, Bernice's pupils inverted for a few seconds.
Bernice was not human; she was of the race of the Great Ancients, descendants of the Primordial Dragon.
Naturally, she had met both the first and third Saints centuries ago.
"Should I expel him, Director?"
Director Bernice shook her head.
"You know I have a lot of respect for the First and Third Saint Ones, don't you?"
"Yes."
"The First Saint founded this academy so that everyone, no matter where they came from or what life they had had, could enter."
The assistant nodded.
"And the third saint changed the laws so that everyone could live in equality and peace, didn't she?"
The assistant nodded once more. Then Bernice said:
"Then why do you say he should be expelled?"
"Because there has never been a dark attribute user who has entered the academy before."
"And why is that a problem?"
The assistant remained silent. At that moment, Director Bernice continued:
"If you know, then why ask? But if you distrust a user of the dark attribute so much, I give you permission to keep them under surveillance."
Although Director Bernice followed the rules established by the First and Third Saints, it was undeniable that users of the dark attribute tended to become villains.
Nearly 90% of them ended up on the side of evil, and the remaining 10% simply hid.
"Got it, director."
The assistant left the office. Meanwhile, she looked at the report again.
'A blind swordsman with the Dark attribute... what a strange combination. It's as if this boy's fate were doomed to be hated.'
Director Bernice sighed and muttered:
"Maybe he'll be different... and finally fulfill the Third Saint's dream."
***
The Santa Academy was divided into different Parliaments.
Each parliament had a letter and a number. For example, there were buildings used for the opening ceremony of new cadets.
The A Parliaments were training, combat, evaluation, medical, and tournament facilities.
In total, there were nine buildings.
The B Parliament corresponded to the study halls where classes were taught. There were nine in total: three for first year, three for second year, and three for third year.
The Parliament of Letter C was intended for the dormitories. These only had five numbers.
Finally, the Parliament of the letter D was a city with everything necessary: stores, markets, and so on. It was the only one with a single number, D-1.
"Since I'm first in both the exam and the individual combat, my room is in building C-1."
Lumina and I tied on the written exam, as expected.
While searching for my room number, I thought for a moment:
"Tomorrow classes start."
The opening ceremony lasted almost the whole day, so there wasn't enough time to start classes.
Finally, I found the number of my room. I inserted the key and opened the door.
It was a bit difficult to find it, since, due to my completely black vision, I had a hard time differentiating the numbers.
When I walked in, the interior looked like a small house with all the amenities. However, there was an extra door.
"That must be the exclusive training room for the top ten."
I needed to get completely used to using my Traits and handling the sword.
Honestly, after my first combat, I felt uncomfortable.
Although wielding the sword felt natural, it still felt strange.
"And I'll be training for that the rest of the day, too..."
Thinking about Adel's story, since the game hadn't updated yet, I wasn't sure if his past really existed in this world.
Maybe I simply appeared in that inn and nobody questioned anything, as if they had seen me enter before.
Like everything had been set up.
Or maybe Adel's story really did happen.
"Well, I have the Immunity to Pain and Without Emotions traits, so the story I wrote for Adel probably exists."
Then I decided to take a bath and go train, although I was really just following my instincts with the sword.
After all, Adel learned to use it from a veteran mercenary, according to the story I wrote about her.
"But Mercenary Fencing only follows basic concepts. Eventually, I'll reach my limit with that."
With a sigh, I took a bath and spent the rest of the day training. Then the first day of classes arrived.
***
As I walked down the hallway looking for Room B-1 on the first floor, I noticed that everyone was staring at me with a mix of emotions.
"It seems the rumor has already spread."
Even though I was at the Holy Academy, where equality should be upheld, but...
This place is full of nobles who look down on commoners, and even more so on someone with the Dark attribute.
Naturally, among the nobles, gossip meant to discredit others spreads absurdly fast.
"In any case, their reactions are quite interesting. As a game creator who has never seen a scene like this, it's… curious."
After listening to the murmurs of those annoying kids for a while, I finally found Room B-1.
On the way, unfortunately, I ran into the character I least want to be near.
When she saw me heading to the classroom, Clementine fixed her gaze on my bandaged eyes. She looked disappointed.
"I've been thinking... shouldn't I feel disgust instead of disappointment? What exactly changed?"
I probably caught her attention because I'm the best first-year student, even though I'm blind.
She's the type of person who's attracted to what's special or interesting.
That would be a clear case. But, probably due to my dark attribute, she now sees me with disappointment, and her interest disappeared.
"But she knows I'm in first place."
Maybe that's why she doesn't show disgust, since she doesn't give too much importance to attributes.
In any case, I passed by them and went straight to the classroom.
When I entered, several cadets were already talking to each other.
When I entered, the atmosphere changed to one of silence, followed by murmurs.
"It's the blind guy from the Dark Attribute class."
"Tsk, if I hadn't come in first in both evaluations, I'd probably be in room B-3."
"He actually came to class... I thought he'd skip it."
"I thought the director would expel him, since there has never been a dark attribute in the Holy Academy."
That first comment was unnecessary.
I simply ignored his words and went to a corner away from the others.
"Honestly, I don't feel emotions in this body, so his words don't affect me."
I found a seat in the corner and looked toward the front, toward the podium where the classes would be taught.
I didn't know what the first class would be.
Since I can't see flat things like letters, I couldn't read the schedule.
I knew the classes started at eight, so I tried to arrive early, but I ended up arriving just in time.
"I have problems with these basic things. Although I can see as if everything were a black sketch, I can't perceive anything beyond that."
With the help of my senses and the Mana Sense, I could easily perceive both physical things and living beings.
That made my life a little easier.
On the other hand, anything to do with texts, signs, and places I haven't been to becomes complicated.
"That last one is manageable, but I can't see the text."
After a few more minutes, all the cadets took their seats and, finally, the professor entered the classroom.
As soon as I heard his voice, I knew right away what kind of class it would be.
"Today is the first day of class, so we will only cover theory: the basic law of attributes and their use in different specialties, as well as their affinities."
Of course, the first class was Mana Theory.
The professor, along with her assistant, wrote her name on the blackboard.
"I'm Evangelina Elizon, the professor of Mana Theory."
Then she turned to her assistant and said:
"She's my assistant, Scarlett. She's a commoner, but she's still my assistant, so watch out, nobles. Got it?"
Some, who were probably nobles, looked at the assistant before reluctantly nodding or shaking their heads.
Then, Professor Evangelina asked a simple question:
"All right, let's begin. First question: What are attributes for?"
Someone raised their hand. Due to my vision, I wasn't sure who it was, but after hearing their heartbeat and breathing, I deduced it easily.
"Yes, Princess Clana."
After raising her hand, Clana began to explain:
"Attributes are what give mana its form and purpose. Without an attribute, mana cannot be used outside the body, which is inconvenient since it limits what a user can do with it."
"That's right. Next question: What are the existing attributes?"
This time, it was Clementine who raised her hand.
"The elemental attributes are: water, earth, fire, wind, lightning, ice, wood, and metal. The rare attributes are lunar, void, blood, solar, and stellar. The unique ones are light and...dark."
For some reason, she paused briefly before mentioning the dark attribute, deliberately saving it for last.
Naturally, everyone turned their gaze toward me, including the professor and her assistant.
"Correct. Then, how do they function in different specialties?"
Sure enough, the first day of classes was exactly as I had imagined.
'Ugh... I need to get used to this new life.'