Blade of the Goddess-Chapter 10 - It’s time for school

"So what classes do you plan on taking?" Lidia asked, still clinging to Zion.

"Advanced martial arts. While I don't need to take the class, some of the tests and training will take us into battle against monsters and mana beasts. Sometimes they even have us fight against criminals who have the death penalty."

"You take that class every year, try something different."

"I am. I'm taking a magic class and a rune class." He poked her cheek playfully

"You can't even use magic." She pouted

Zion smiled. "Not yet."

Five minutes later, they arrived at the Academy. The massive school, built from towering gray stone, resembles an ancient castle with its grand archways, soaring spires, and ivy-covered walls.

Inside, vast halls lined with stained glass windows and chandeliers lead to endless corridors of classrooms, libraries, and hidden passageways.

Zion looked at the school and sighed. This year marked his 7th year at this school and every single time he stepped foot in the building, he would get lost in its vast corridors.

"Come on, don't wanna be late." Listening to Lidia's words, Zion stepped out of the carriage, holding how his hand to help Lidia out as well.

"Why thank you, Sir Zion."

"My pleasure, Lady Lidia."

The two laughed and walked together, their arms linked, to the Academy entrance. Upon entering, many students were standing in the halls waiting for the professors to arrive, some obviously nervous while others were excited beyond belief.

Once the doors closed, all eyes turned to Zion and Lidia. He smirked at the attention, relishing the fact that he could hear some of the students huff and puff as their jealousy was apparent.

"Oh my gosh! That's Zion Zagan! Son of Duchess Zaleena Zagan, one of the twelve Warlords!"

"He's so hot!"

"I'd give him all the babies he wants!"

All the girls went crazy for him. Not only was he popular, but he was criminally handsome. The guys on the other hand were not impressed.

"Pfr, he's not that impressive."

"I bet he uses his mother's influence to do whatever he wants."

"I bet he can't even fight!"

"The only thing special about him is that handsome face."

"..."

"Sorry."

"Look! He's walking with Lidia Brightburn! The second daughter of the Brightburn family."

"She's so beautiful!"

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"I'm so jealous of that bastard! He's super rich and has a beautiful fiance."

"I bet I can take her from him."

"..."

"What?"

"They're looking at us." Lidia frowned

Zion pulled her closer to him. "Let it be. They're just jealous."

"I just don't care for the attention but I know it comes with the territory of being a noble."

"Being a noble and engaged to the most handsome man in the world."

She chuckled while playfully slapping his chest. "Yeah, yeah, you're pretty good-looking I'll admit it."

"Hahaha! Come on, let's register our names before we accidentally forget and get kicked out on the first day."

---

"Listen up everyone! I'm sure that each of you here is eager to start your classes immediately, however, before you get put in a class, we need to know what skill level you are, how much knowledge you have, and how you can use your abilities in action." A professor spoke.

"Again?! Why do we have to do this every year?"

While anyone could join the academy, there was one thing they had to do each year, take the entrance exams.

The exam varied each year so no test would be the same. People hated this because they could do well their first year, get placed in a good class, then do okay the next year, and get placed in a lower class.

If you did poorly overall, you were simply kicked out and couldn't even start school until the next year. This meant that if that was your final school year, then you wouldn't graduate from the academy and have to take the year over again.

While this was okay for nobles since they had resources, it was detrimental to commoners whose lives were hard enough to begin with.

"QUIET! As in years prior to this, we shall test you on your knowledge, your ability to combat mana beasts, and lastly, your ability to fight against a person. Since this is the third year at the academy, each test will be harder than the last. If there aren't any questions, please follow the instructor to the right of your seating row."

Although Zion had been in school for 7 years now, this was only his third year at the academy. This was because nobles had the option to attend an optional pre-academy school program that lasted 4 years. He decided to attend to learn as much as he could. It's also where he met Lidia.

Following the instructor, every student made their way to a classroom where pieces of paper were handed out to them. The test was about their knowledge of magic, martial arts, the world, and important figures.

Zion had studied for years, cramming this world's knowledge in his head to the point where something like this was easy for him. Within ten minutes, he finished and turned his paper in.

An hour later, when the time for testing was over, everyone was brought outside where they would make their way to the next testing area.

"How do you think you did?" Lidia asked eagerly

"It was easy. I'm sure you saw me turn it in within the first ten minutes. And I'm sure I got the bonus question right."

"That question stumped me, to be honest. Like, what do you mean by "What is mana made out of?" Mana is just mana, right?"

The concept that everything is made out of energy is foreign to this world. Although you could make the argument that mana is energy like how Zion answered the test, truthfully, he didn't know the answer to the question.

However, he did know that not everything could be done with mana, which made him come to the conclusion that Mana is energy, but energy is not mana.

"Haha, I'll tell you some other time. Let's get ready for the field test."