I regressed and became the Sword Ice King

The Headmaster's discerning eyes, warmed by genuine interest, scanned through the Large halls of the Cafeteria, taking note of certain individuals as he did so.

It was a habit of checking the students, new and old, of their progress and his monocle assisted him in doing so.

"Good day Students". He greeted, after getting a firm grasp of the situation. 'The twelve great families are at it again. They've produced even more terrible monsters'

His thoughts lingered for a moment, but he shoved them away as they did.

"We at the Prestigious Homeric Academy of Gifted Children welcome you all, with an abundant heart.

Both the old, and new students.

I can still remember the days of the past, when demons ran rampant, and the Twelve great families struggled to get a hold of the situation, but a student of our Academy arose and took charge.

We are people of Great Foundational Power, and we are of vast knowledge.

I want to encourage you all to grasp everything you can within these five years of your Academy life, so that when you go back into the world. You will rise to your ranks, and improve the world in ways that could have never been imagined".

He took a brief moment of silence, taking in their fixed attention, and excited gazes.

These children were the future, times will come when the adults die, and the children become the adults. It is a never-ending cycle of teaching and being taught, a cycle that, once broken, would cause a catastrophe never seen or heard by man.

Richard Dreau was a man of principle and intellect. He was aware of his shortcomings more than anyone, and as a 10th-circle mage, he was aware of his duty to contribute to society as much as he could.

With his family line taking the position as the Headmaster for many generations, it had become a habit of them to look forward to seeing these children truly become adults, and nurturing them was his duty.

"With me are the heads of each faculty. The faculty of Melee Combat and Projectiles, Professor James Crockwell, The faculty of Magic, Professor Katherin Starblaze, The faculty of Physical Education, Professor Kazim Nakhr, The faculty of Alchemy, Professor Rona Wittkins, The faculty of Advanced Sorcery and Mage Arts, Professor Roland Sunrise and the faculty of Demonology, Professor Cadwin Junior.

I want to urge you, at this moment, to take each of these courses with the utmost diligence, as every course grooms you into the powerful mage or warrior you wish to become.

But do not fret; there is time, and we are here to help you; enjoy your time in this Academy, have fun, and make friends; hard times are upon us, and our friendships will be tested to the limits. But we will prevail!".

His voice sent a chilling shudder through the air, sparkling unknown currents within the heart of the Students, then he continued.

"I pray that you continue your journey with us with a light heart, and you live twice as big as you came in.

We are here to assist. We are here to help, and we are here to groom you all.

The power that you seek, is right here, in our very grasp".

With a sigh, he ended his speech, his gaze causing swarms of emotions to well up from the students.

Raph felt it clearly, growing from deep within, like an extra push he required whenever he fell.

It felt nostalgic, and he couldn't help but let a small smile find its way across his lips, his thoughts finding their way to his past life.

'I still remember that speech like it was yesterday'. He thought to himself. Headmaster Dreau was one of the few honest nobles he had ever known, and his time with him in his past life was nothing short of a wonderful experience.

'Though, his dedication and honesty led to a far more gruesome death than most'

With a sigh, he looked up as The Headmaster began to conclude his statement.

'Isn't it ironic? Why do the good people suffer the most?"

The HeadMaster continued his speech.

"I will leave you now to your classes and pray that all of you here graduate as Elites of this Academy."

The Academy was his pride. The number of students he had nurtured were now contributing to society in ways one could only dream of.

Professor walked forward, mumbling something to himself and glancing disapprovingly at his colleagues, who had their attention on someone or something else.

He sighed, taking a short breath in, as he commanded. "We Achieve Greatness through Strength!"

The old students rose in unison, the sound of the benches and eating utensils rattling to their sudden actions, while the new students struggled to keep up.

"Grant us the grace to foster Success into Strength!"

They chorused in unison, standing attention, with their gazes intense and brimming with energy.

HeadMaster Dreau seemed satisfied with their response, waving his hand in the air as he turned around and retreated towards the door he came from.

Five of the other Professors walked out as well, glancing at their colleague, who stayed behind to instruct the Freshers.

"Good luck," Professor Katherin Starblaze teased, as they laughed out loud in unison.

Professor James Crockwell clicked his tongue, exasperated by the whole situation. He would have preferred if they had drawn the lots again because he kept on getting the feeling that he had been duped.

'Those assholes. I'm one of the oldest lecturers, and they keep stressing me with meaningless things like this'. He thought, scratching the back of his neck as the students returned to their chatter.

With a sigh, he began his announcement. "classes will begin in ten minutes; all Freshers gather in your Lecture Theater in the next five minutes."

With another sigh, he turned around to walk away, while the students began to return their dishes to the long line of serving counters by the side of the Cafeteria.

Cooks stood behind these counters to serve food to the students and retrieved those plates from those who returned theirs.

Raph took a glance at the commotion around him. The sound of growing adults conversing and laughing out loud had caused some sort of nostalgia.

'Well, it feels good to be back…even though I'm starting all over again'.

He glanced at Elsie beside him when he noticed Ciara standing up from her position.

He looked up at her, his eyebrow arched upwards.

"You know where to find me. Gather the other group members and call me then". With a last look at Elsie, she picked up her plate while holding her book and walked away.

Elise's gaze followed her actions, but her teeth remained fixed on the piece of meat she was eating.

"She doesn't look like someone you would fall for". She commented after swallowing it.

Raph remained silent for a while, then turned towards Elsie. "Never in a million years". He replied, getting up with his tray of empty plates and cups.

"Are you coming?" He asked, walking away without getting a reply.

Elsie grumbled, hurriedly stuffing her face with her food, and chugged her cup of tea thereafter.

Within the next few seconds, she had stood up and quickly gotten next to Raph, slowing down as she got next to him.

"You couldn't even wait for a little longer?" She puffed her cheeks, turning towards him, as they walked towards one of the counters.

Raph's eyes flickered, and shifted to her direction, then shifted back to the front, as he raised his shoulders in a shrug. "We need to hurry and gather with the rest of the freshers. It won't be good on paper if we're late to our first class".

Elsie stayed silent after that, following his actions as he returned his tray to the open arms of the cooks, greeting some of them at the same time as he turned around to walk away.

Classes usually begin at 8 am, while the Morning Bell wakes up the students by 7.

It was expected that they finished preparing themselves and had their breakfast before getting to class before or by 8.

And at the moment, time was ticking.

Raph continued to walk forward, his eyes scanning through the students as they exited from their seating positions to return their plates.

There were a lot of familiar faces, but at the same time, there were some new faces. Perhaps some students joined the higher classes with a High Recommendation.

While his thoughts were lost in the middle of his mind, Elise walked quietly beside him.

It seemed evident that she would stay by his side for as long as her eyes and nose were set on him.

At least this was much better than going about the Academy on his own as he did in his past life. He had a friend or acquaintance on the first lecture day.

"Are there people worth noticing?" She asked, glancing at Raph from the corner of her eyes and turning away as soon as he turned towards her.

"Of course there are. This is a prestigious academy, after all; it's expected you would find some growing younglings".

"....true, but so far, all I've seen are 1 star and 2 stars amongst the freshers, it's disappointing. They're all weak".

They reached one of the large doors and walked out, their destination southwest to their current location and the location of the First-year Lecture Theatre.

Raph sighed. "We're a lot different from them. We see the NEED to get stronger".

A crimson light sparkled in the depths of Elsie's eyes as she met his gaze, and a small smile began to form.

"That's true, The need for power varies in human culture". She was glad, the reply to her statement had harmonized deeply with her past.

'The need for power. He understands well. She looked away, their attention now fixed forward as they headed towards the next destination.

'Hm. I found a good husband'.