I Became a Murderer in the Academy.

Chapter 9

I Became a Murderer in the Academy. - Chapter 9

I dreamed of rummaging through garbage cans and stealing bread, unable to overcome hunger.

I raised my upper body, feeling slightly dizzy.

When I opened my eyes, my whole body was drenched in cold sweat.

Is this Beorn’s memory?

It’s not the first time someone else’s memories have appeared in a dream.

Taking away abilities was essentially the same as taking away memories entirely.

But it’s the first time such a dark memory has appeared so realistically, like reality.

For some reason, I felt I understood why he was obsessed with money.

Is this a nightmare too, if it can be called that?

Thanks to this, my condition is the worst.

It’s the perfect state to go to the academy.

I decided to wash my body, which had become uncomfortable from being soaked in sweat.

***

The Basics of Mana.

It’s a subject where you learn to efficiently use mana, which constitutes the human body.

This is a mandatory first-year subject regardless of department. Because many students take it, it’s usually held in a large lecture hall.

Every human is born with mana in their body.

Although there are differences in the amount people are born with, everyone must have it.

After all, how efficiently one handles the given mana often determines the level of one’s power.

“I’m Albert, in charge of teaching the Basics of Mana.”

A person was standing at the front of the large lecture hall, facing the many students.

He was a young man with calmly settled blue hair and glasses.

The dark circles under his eyes gave him a somewhat sharp impression.

But anyone could tell he has had a few sleepless nights.

After a brief self-introduction, he adjusted his glasses and opened his mouth.

“I’ll be teaching you all for a year. Nice to meet you.”

The Basics of Mana was a mandatory subject for the entire first year.

That’s how important it was.

Whether they liked it or not, they would have to face each other for a year.

Albert didn’t bother doing the foolish thing of conducting a class from the first day.

“Today is the first class. So before we start the main lesson, I plan to take time to explain the subject.”

Albert explained slowly like that.

Mana is the most basic substance in practical combat.

Its utility depends on the user’s capability; in some cases, it can manifest as one’s own special ability.

In this subject, we will first learn how to control that mana.

Most first-year students can’t properly use the power they have.

They have no practical combat experience, nor have they learned how.

Therefore, a lot of mana is unnecessarily wasted.

Just learning to correct and control this greatly increases one’s capability.

And.

It was important to accurately know and understand one’s capabilities to do this.

Albert pointed to the purple crystal ball placed on the podium.

“This is a mana meter. Today, we’ll end the class by determining the total amount of mana you possess. I’ll demonstrate first.”

Then he placed his hand on the crystal ball.

He infused mana into it.

Then, the crystal ball emitted light and displayed a calculated figure in the air.

[37000]

After confirming the displayed figure, he removed his hand from the crystal ball.

“After placing your hand, you infuse the mana in your body. On average, the total mana amount of an ordinary person is about 420. You’re all first-year students who haven’t learned yet, so you probably won’t be much different from ordinary people.”

It was spring.

***

It was break time after finishing morning classes.

As I sat on a chair outside the classroom, feeling the wind, Rena came and sat beside me.

“It’s okay. There must have been some error. You don’t need to be too discouraged.”

“......”

For some reason, she started comforting me.

Is she sympathizing because of the mana measurement result?

In fact, I wasn’t really concerned about it.

Originally, I didn’t have a body that could use mana.

That’s because I wasn’t human.

Rather, it was fortunate that I could use even a tiny amount.

Even that was only because I had eaten a mage with a mana regeneration ability last time.

Perhaps I am the first among magical beasts to use mana.

So, I was satisfied with this measurement result.

“I’m fine.”

I really was fine.

According to Albert’s lesson, it would gradually increase from here, and later, it might be possible to use magic like an ordinary human.

For me, who didn’t couldn’t use magical energy, this was hopeful news.

“Don’t lie! Your face looks so gloomy!”

But Rena didn’t believe it.

She pinched my cheeks hard on both sides.

After pinching, she pulled.

There was no particular reason for doing this. She just wanted to pull because it was soft.

“My fash is alwaysh like thish......”

“How upset must you be for your face to be like this......”

“What’sh wrong with my fashe. Lef go.”

She looks somewhat displeased.

Rena kept touching the soft cheeks for a while, then let go when she was satisfied.

And.

“Hehe, I’m just kidding. Let’s go to the next class.”

She grabbed my hand and left for somewhere.

“......”

People were watching this from beginning to end.

Among them was Lucia, a recommended student of the Imperial Academy, and her subordinates.

“So, is that the famous top student?”

“It seems so.”

At first, they were interested because she was the first-year’s top student, but soon lost interest.

It was disappointing in many ways, different from what they expected.

She neither had the overwhelming presence befitting a top student nor did she have a large amount of mana.

Seeing that her department is Combat Magic, they were expecting at least something.

A mage with less mana than an ordinary person. At first, it seemed like a joke.

But that was the truth.

It doesn’t seem likely that the Imperial Academy would make a mistake in grading.

Then, the conclusion leads to another direction.

It’s not that Iria was strong, but that all the competing students were weak.

Lucia, who had been aiming for the top position, smiled slightly.

“Looks like I can take it more easily than I thought?”

Recommended students are excluded from the first ranking because they don’t take the entrance exam.

Lucia sincerely believed that if she had taken the entrance exam, she would have surely gotten the top position.

It seemed like a ranking battle would be held soon.