Kyle stared blankly at the black-haired boy sitting next to his dream goddess.
That damn guy had taken the seat right between him and his goddess, completely blocking her from view.
What was the point of buying this seat, then?! This is outrageous!
The other male classmates also gritted their teeth in frustration, thinking:
"If I had gone over and sat down first, would the goddess have rejected me?"
What a waste! That black-haired brat stole the chance!
Ashura, oblivious to the growing hostility, instinctively shrank his neck and lowered his head, pretending to study his notes.
Beside him, Clara seemed unaware of his awkwardness. She absentmindedly twirled a lock of her silver hair, appearing to be in a rather good mood.
Before long, the instructor entered the classroom, and aside from Kyle, the other students finally tore their eyes away from Ashura and began focusing on the lesson.
But after two classes, Ashura's expression darkened.
He could only understand the basics of the magic theory lessons. Anything slightly advanced was completely beyond him.
This is a waste of time.
He buried his head in his arms, deep in thought.
Clara glanced at him, wanting to poke him with her finger to wake him up, but after hesitating for a moment, she withdrew her hand.
On the other side, Kyle scoffed in disdain.
"Sleeping in class already? And it's only the second day?"
"There's no way my goddess would ever fall for such a failure!"
"She must be getting tired of this guy by now. How should I rescue my goddess from this loser?"
Before Kyle could finish scheming, Ashura suddenly sprang to his feet. His eyes were bright with determination.
Without a word, he turned and ran out of the classroom.
The instructor and students were stunned.
"Did he go crazy?"
But since the academy encouraged freedom, the class quickly resumed, and the incident was forgotten.
Only the silver-haired girl beside the empty seat seemed a little unhappy...
Ashura rushed out of the Magic Academy and headed toward the martial training grounds.
He wasn't losing his mind—he had just thought of a way to stay at the academy.
A last resort… but a possible one.
The Headmaster, Sanning, had said that as long as someone reached the level of Martial Warrior or Mage, and could land a successful hit on the training dummy, they would pass the assessment.
Right now, he was just a third-tier Magic Apprentice, but in terms of martial arts, he was already a third-tier Warrior!
If he trained hard for three months, wouldn't he be able to break through to Martial Warrior and pass the test?
The more Ashura thought about it, the more possible it seemed!
Besides, the academy rules never said that a magician couldn't attend martial arts classes!
"Damn, I'm a genius."
But as soon as he stepped into the training grounds, he instantly became the center of attention.
Students whispered and pointed at him, puzzled.
"A magician… in the training grounds?"
"Has the academy ever seen something this bizarre in the past hundred years?"
Ashura ignored the stares and started scanning the crowd, trying to find Arthur's class.
Arthur, his second-in-command, was a fellow Warrior student. If Ashura could sit in his class, he could ask for help when needed.
However, the training grounds were huge, and with nearly 2,000 new Warrior students, Ashura couldn't find Arthur right away.
Just as he was wandering around like a lost duck, a loud voice called out to him—
"Hey! The magician in the robe—yeah, you! What are you doing in the training grounds?!"
Ashura followed the voice and saw a middle-aged instructor clad in silver light armor, staring straight at him.
Upon closer look, Ashura realized—
It was the very same instructor from the entrance exam!
Ashura quickly responded, "I'm here to sit in on some classes, Instructor. Please don't mind me!"
He turned to leave, wanting to escape before things got troublesome.
But the instructor recognized him.
After all, this black-haired boy had left quite the impression on him during the entrance exams.
The instructor paused for a moment, then smirked knowingly.
He had already guessed Ashura's true intentions—after all, he knew Ashura's background.
"If you want to attend a Warrior class… then come over here. I happen to be teaching one right now."
Ashura froze.
Attend his class?!
He had just tricked this very instructor two days ago!
Wouldn't that be like walking into a trap?
He waved his hands frantically and said, "No need to trouble you, Instructor! I'll just find another class!"
The instructor chuckled meaningfully and said, "If you want another class, that's fine. As for your assessment…"
He didn't finish the sentence, but Ashura stopped in his tracks immediately.
Damn, he already figured it out!
This instructor knew his real reason for coming here!
Without hesitation, Ashura turned back and ran up to the instructor, putting on his most flattering smile.
"I just didn't want to waste your valuable time, Instructor! It would be an honor to learn from you!"
The instructor nodded in satisfaction.
"Then go join the others and line up."
As he turned and walked toward the class, Ashura silently cursed the instructor's entire family tree in his mind.
But when he saw the class lineup, he froze again.
"Why are there so many students?!"
Most classes had only thirty to forty students.
But this class had over a hundred!
Is this old man… actually that good of a teacher?
The other Warrior students also eyed Ashura suspiciously, whispering amongst themselves.
"Why is this magician here?"
"Is he planning to challenge someone?"
Just then, the instructor spoke again.
"Alright, get in there, kid. By the way… your name is Ashura, right?"
"I remember you. If you want to attend Warrior classes from now on, you come to my class. Otherwise…"
Ashura's head drooped in defeat.
"Understood… Uncle."
The instructor's vein twitched.
For years, no one had ever called him that.
His forehead throbbed, and he muttered, "My name is Enger. You will call me Instructor Enger."
Ashura pretended to be serious and said, "Alright, Uncle Enger!"
Enger remained silent for a long time. Instead of getting angry, he smirked, then waved Ashura into the lineup.
Sweeping his gaze over the Warrior students, he announced, "This black-haired kid is Ashura. From now on, he'll be joining Class Eight for lessons."
"Now, let's resume our combat training. Everyone, form groups of ten and attack me with full force. Begin!"
Ashura was dumbfounded.
"Wait… Warrior training is this straightforward and brutal?"
Before he could process it fully, he watched as the first group of ten charged at Instructor Enger.
Yet, moments later, every student was sent flying in different directions, landing on the ground with groans of pain.
Ashura gulped as he observed team after team rushing in—only to be knocked away one after another.
"If I go up there… will I be the one who flies the farthest?"
Thinking back to when he had just called Enger 'Uncle', Ashura wanted to slap himself.
But before he could regret it too much, his turn came. His row of ten was up next.
His eyes darted around, and after a moment of hesitation, he rushed forward with the rest.
"Puh-puh-puh—"
The sound of fists meeting flesh echoed through the air.
Unsurprisingly, their entire team was sent flying. The students crashed to the ground, groaning in pain.
But Enger frowned slightly.
"Something's off… Did I… only throw nine punches?"
He scanned the students sprawled on the ground.
One particular student in a magician's robe was rolling around dramatically, crying out in pain—drawing attention to himself.
Enger snorted coldly.
"This brat thinks he can pull tricks on me? Oh, I'll make sure to deal with him properly!"
Ashura lay on the ground, clutching his side and writhing like the others, shouting, "Ow, ow, ow!"
In truth, he had intentionally dodged the fight. The moment the others charged forward, he jumped backward on his own, making it look like he had been hit.
I'm here to learn martial arts, not get beaten up!
Absolutely no guilt about this!
Just then, the final team of students charged at Enger, while Ashura continued playing dead on the ground.
But suddenly—
BAM!
Something slammed heavily into his back!
Ashura sucked in a sharp breath as pain shot through his body.
A fiery-red mass of hair fell over his face.
What the hell?
Gritting his teeth, Ashura pushed the weight off of him.
However…
His right hand landed on something unexpectedly soft and bouncy.
On reflex, he gave it a light squeeze.
Just as his brain caught up to his actions, the owner of the red hair slowly turned their head toward him.
A face of sculpted perfection, with sharp, heroic features, stared at him coldly.
Then came the chilling question—
"Did you enjoy that?"