Chapter 352 Doing Some Swings
The first quarter of the academic calendar, with each quarter taking around seven weeks, was entirely done with academics alongside the introduction and tour in the first week. During that time, we digested the lessons by writing notes, which we had to apply to written exams. In the second quarter, the time for the practical lessons had begun, where the students were required to perform empirically, thereby, we had to show off our actual skills. So, personally, I was a bit excited about it. Some of the new lessons were etiquette classes, alchemy classes, magical classes, and physical education. Those classes definitely needed some practical skills, but more on the physical aspect. In the first week of the quarter, the students were attending the physical education class, the basics of practical lessons, to enhance and improve their physical capabilities. We had been doing exercises, such as running around the academy's own arena for several laps, to improve our bodies and stamina so that we could prepare ourselves for the future classes. Class A evidently had no problem with performing vigorous exercises, as each of us was at least Level 200. Though there were a few classmates who complained that these exercises were a waste of time and effort and we should skip them, for me, loosening our bodies was essential before the actual performance. Practice makes everything perfect. By the way, some students in this section were apparently forced by their parents to strain themselves to reach Level 200 so that they could be automatically admitted to the elite class. In layman's terms, it was like stereotypical yellow parents forcing their kids to take piano lessons. The academy offered two curricula: the general and the high classes. The high classes could only be attended by nobles and children of very wealthy families, with very few exceptions for commoners. It was the curriculum where students were nurtured to become proper nobles. On the other hand, the general class was mostly attended by commoners and children of vassal families like baronets and knights. A noble with a low chance of inheriting their domains could attend the general class as they saw the other curriculum irrelevant. In the second week, the students of Class A are gathered in an indoor training area in the academy with our training uniforms equipped to attend our first combat class. Regardless of the curriculum, every class was obliged to attend the physical and combat classes. There were many classes within this field, as there were various weapons that could be used in combat. But for today, our first lesson was how to wield a sword. It was kind of a pointless lesson for me since I already mastered the sword, and I was literally the son of the Sword Saint and personally trained by her herself. But even so, there was no way I would skip a lesson in the academy. "Have you ever been doing some formal training with swords?" I asked Iris as soon as we picked up our blunt and pointless iron swords. There were various types and sizes of swords to wield, but I chose the saber one since it was curved like my katana. We could use wooden swords, but they did not feel as much as the real ones. It was just my personal preference, but the clanking sounds of two blades colliding were soothing to my ears. It is also good for triggering the PTSD of shell-shocked warriors. "As a member of a mage family, I have been introduced mostly to magic since childhood," she replied as she gripped her shortsword with both hands upright. "My brother and I only took a few basic lessons about swords just in case magic is not available, so this is relatively new to me." "Fair enough." Even if you were the purist of a mage, you still needed to at least improve your physical attributes and skills. Close quarter combats were basically every magic caster's Achilles heel, so they must learn how to wield at least a weapon or practice martial arts to counter the problem. "Also, I used to have a friend who was really good at swords, so it inspired me a little to give it a try." "Is that so?"
"But it was a long time ago, so it's pointless to delve deeper into it." "If you say so." It seemed like Iris had read my curiosity to ask about that person. If she does not want to talk about it, then I just don't have to bother her. "Once you get your swords," our instructor reminded the class with a loud voice. "Please take a line so that we can start immediately." Following his words, we quickly assembled at the center of the training area and uniformly formed lines of five columns and four rows. We were around six feet apart from one another so that we could swing our swords without scraping anyone's skin. After that, we uniformly did hundreds of swings on our spot. There was nothing like a match or mock battle that happened, as the instructor said it was saved for another day. Some students were complaining again, but our instructor simply told them how important a proper stance was to improve our basic skills, as it was the foundation of swordsmanship. We continued swinging our swords for the whole session, and some of us broke sweat after straining our bodies. Sophia was surprisingly fresh and had quite an endurance in spite of exerting such physical efforts after years. Perhaps it was because she was around Level 400? Once the swordsmanship class was done, we went straight to the bathrooms to get off the sweaty smells before taking our lunch break, which took an hour from twelve to one in the afternoon. "—I heard that you are making a new type of transportation, Raphael. The emperor was said to be thrilled by it. Could you please tell me some of its details?" "You heard that much, huh? Well, I call it trains. It could bring you from one place to another with a distance of six hundred kilometers as short as two hours." "Wow! That's really fast! That distance would take weeks on a carriage, yes?" "Yeah." In the cafeteria on the first floor, the first-year students were having their lunch. I was with Iris on the same table as we were eating our expensive one gold coin or ten thousand fenns full-course lunch. By the way, one fenn was roughly equivalent to $0.02 of Earth's 2020s or fifty fenn a dollar. There were various budget meals for those who could not afford the full-course meal, which cost as little as one silver coin or a thousand fenns. Meanwhile, scholarship students always get the lowest-priced meal for free. At this time of the day, I used to have a few female students approach me to get closer to me. But probably due to the closeness I had with Iris, they must have thought that I had chosen my partner, and they ultimately gave up their hopes. I should thank Iris for making my academic life more peaceful. But no matter who I was with, there was always one person who would still approach me, and she was about to reach our table. "Raphael, we need to talk." With a serious face, my sister said that to me in the middle of my lunch break.
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