A Degenerate's Tale

Today's mandatory classes were Introduction to Elemental Magic paired with Mana Flow Theory. As such, Sheryl was nowhere to be found. Compared to Sheryl, the instructor for today seemed bleak.

He was an elderly man in the upper levels of the Expert level.

Shin and the other heroes listened attentively as their understanding of magic was elementary. Every word they were hearing was gold to them.

On the other hand, the other students seemed bored at the start of class. When they remembered the hellish experience they went through yesterday with Sheryl, this was nothing.

However, not every piece of information was boring. This was Ragnarok after all, the best magic academy of the generation.

There was an occasional sprinkle of gold that they were not able to hear from anywhere else.

For example.

"Now, our next point. Chantless Magic is the strongest form of magic."

The students immediately sat up in response to this information.

"What?"

In this age, Chanted Magic was still the norm. Everyone learned magic by memorizing chants. It was very rare to see individuals use Incantationless Magic, let alone Chantless Magic.

The elderly man named Horalf smiled at the class's response.

"Can anyone explain?"

"Allow me."

"Earl. Please go ahead."

Earl stood up promptly and began to explain.

"Fundamentally, spells are just the resonance between our mana and the atmospheric mana. This resonance is driven by 'thought', and chants are the simplest medium to achieve this 'thought'. However, chants take too much time, and the extent of resonance that can be achieved is limited by the words within the chant.

With Chantless Magic, the limitations of Chanted Magic are completely removed. Instead of driving resonance through 'thought', we are now limited by our imagination. Because the upper limit of a spell is increased, Chantless Magic is the strongest form of magic."

When he returned to his seat, there was a moment of silence as the rest of the class took the time to absorb the information.

They were in the highest grade class for a first-year so many could use Chantless Magic to a certain extent, but they've never thought so far about how it worked.

"A point of merit will be awarded to Earl for the great explanation. Now, I will demonstrate it."

"Let's take the Novice-level Magic, Ignite."

"The Chant for Ignite is 'Flames, come to life.'"

At Instructor Horalf's words, a minuscule fireball formed in one hand. Next, he lifted his other hand.

"Now, Chantless."

Immediately, a larger fireball formed in his hand.

The class nodded in understanding.

"That will conclude our class for today. Please make sure to go through your lecture notes and practice what you learned today to prepare for the next class."

The first half of the day was concluded.

It was now lunchtime.

The class trickled out as everyone went their own ways.

Shin and Kayo left together.

"See? It's obvious that they're together. I'm not tricking you." Earl told Mark, who was sitting next to him for some reason.

"Right. You are just chasing after a mirage. Open your eyes and take a closer look. She's flat as a board! Real men go for thick women with thunder thighs!" A big blue man who was also uninvited inserted his opinion while nodding as if he was agreeing with himself.

"Am I going crazy? Why do I always hear that bastard's voice?"

"Besides, don't you already have a wonderful woman by your side?" Earl eyed the lady who stood behind Mark with a knight-like posture.

Serena Brightwing from the Dukedom of Brightwing. Her family background was of knights who helped founded the Ofrain Kingdom. They carried one of the highest statuses in the Kingdom due to their great history and close tie to the Royal family.

She was a stoic beauty with rich brown hair and bright blue eyes. Coincidentally she happened to be talented enough in magic to accompany the prince to Ragnarok. She was one of the elites in the A-1 Humility Class.

"Her? She's too unladylike. Like a rock. Go away, will you? I'm trying to have a man-to-man talk right now." Mark man a shooing gesture like he was chasing away a dog.

"If that's what you wish."

After being chased away by Mark, Serena left to the back of the classroom but still kept her eyes on her lord.

"Hey. You bastards. Why are you guys here anyway? Who invited you over?" Luka sounded out irritatedly.

"Huh? I thought we were having lunch together?" Nolan stated like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"You fat pig, maybe abstain from lunch so you can lose weight and perhaps be more pleasing to the eyes."

"You're built like a beanpole, so perhaps you might not understand, but these are muscles! With a figure like this, I can get any woman I want, unlike you, huahaha!"

And so, the four had lunch together.

As they walked through the busy hallway together, Shin nervously gulped to calm his rapidly beating heart.

It would be their first time having lunch together in a long time. The last time they had lunch was almost a decade ago in their childhood. Back when he wasn't conscious of her and also back when she had yet to bloom.

Now, she was truly beautiful. The ideal Japanese woman, a Yamato Nadeshiko. That was her reputation back on Earth, the flower of the school.

Creamy white skin, long black hair, an angelic face, and a curvy yet athletic figure to top it off.

"What's wrong? Why are you walking so slow? Mister Boyfriend~?"

"I-I'm coming!"