Magic Life in the Empire

Remembering the thugs earlier introduction to their groups business, Cyril took out a gold coin "Listen here, I want you to find out everything you can about Alvin. Take this coin for now; there will be more depending on how well you do your task." Maybe the local thugs could find out something.

"Sure thing, leave it to us, sir!" Many of the denizens here had never seen a gold coin in their lives, so Cyril's offer immediately ignited the greed within them.

"Great, now I hope that the next time I visit, you all will have something for me." He tried to sound as intimidating as he could.

"We will find something, no doubt! We've done similar things before! When the time comes, just knock on the doors of house 10 here and tell them Flick sent you there." With that he gave them the coin and sent them on their way.

Supporting their almost unconscious friend, they quickly left in the direction of the clinic, leaving Cyril alone on the street.

"Let's hope they don't mess it up." There is not much to lose from this, but a lot to gain; it's fine. Cyril didn't mind losing a coin like that.

More importantly, did you see how I launched that thug in the air with a single punch? I didn't even use all my strength! It seems like, aside from you, there is also something with my body... just what is going on?

"To me it looks like a good thing; you've got the most beautiful woman in the world with you and physical strength beyond normal humans." How humble. "That's what you think of me, though; thank you for that." Not responding to her words, Cyril moved on from the slums.

...

The following day, morning.

All of the students from class I were gathered outside the castle in the dedicated zone.

Away from them was placed a target surrounded by light, a shield of some kind.

For the later part of the lesson, they were taken here. It is the first time the students will cast an offensive spell, a simple fireball.

Cyril even heard rumors from his classmates that the Arken family insisted on carrying out this lesson. "The boy must be anxious to prove himself; how pathetic."

As usual, their professor first let out a lengthy lecture on all the precautions and required steps, but he himself didn't look that engaged.

"Are you confident, Cyril? I don't see you practice magic much." Myra was standing close to Cyril, not paying attention to the professor.

"I'll be fine, don't worry about me." It's true that he seldom visited the training field to cast some spells; he preferred spending time increasing his martial techniques instead, and so far there have been no problems.

"He can take care of himself, Myra; I am more worried about you; your theory is a little shaky." Rose was also looking confident.

"I don't need to understand exactly how these magic circles work to cast them; the effect is the same anyways," she was quick to defend herself with a subtle blush on her face.

"No, it's not. By understanding the structure of the magic circle, you can change how the spell behaves. For example, here, to properly hit this target, I'll add barrier penetration but decrease the burning capacity to make up for the natural mana cost. You should know this; you have good grades." Rose was looking more like a professor than the one teaching them right now.

"We are not getting graded for this lesson, and you'll see, magic doesn't have to be complicated." Cyril agreed with her on this one: you don't have to be a fully-fledged mage to be a good fighter.

After the long speech, everyone started to shoot the target one by one. Among the first to start was Cyril and his group.

Rose's spell was indeed a shining example of a well-made fireball; it easily pierced through the barrier and left an obvious scorch mark, earning her a half-hazard praise from the professor.

She long since cemented herself as one of the best when it came to magic and earned her classmate's admiration and envy.

Myra's performance was impressive in its own way; her magic circle gathered quickly, and her spell flew fast, hitting the magic barrier and changing its color to red.

"See! I memorized this magic circle, and it's enough for me. It might not be that powerful, but in the heat of battle, its speed is just right." After returning, she smugly explained to Rose.

"Whatever, as long as you are happy." She decided to let it go for now

Next in line was Cyril; his natural mana capacity was quite high, so he simply increased the spell's power and speed to the maximum. The blast directly destroyed the barrier, leaving new marks on the target.

"I'll try harder from now to reach that level."

"All of the best mages in our class formed a group; that's so unfair."

"Hey, don't say that. What if Leo hears that? You know how touchy he is on this subject."

Cyril noticed that his senses were enhancing lately; he could hear his classmates whispering and gossiping among themselves clearer than ever before.

Now the three of them didn't need anything to do for the rest of the lesson, so they observed their classmates in a relaxed manner.

Successfully casting a more difficult spell like this on their first try was not something a regular student was capable of, even if they were in class I.

In most attempts, the fireball fizzled out in the air, not even reaching the barrier, but that was already considered pretty good.

I've been steadily getting stronger in all aspects; even my mana capacity is increasing at an incredible rate, so what is happening to me? Who are you? I am getting more and more curious. Getting bored, Cyril got absorbed in his own thought.

"I don't know." Rhamn was standing in front of him, raising her shoulders in indifference. "We are in no hurry; let's wait and see if the 'Red Snake' can find something about that phony first; that should be interesting."

That's true, still... His thoughts were interrupted when he heard Myra calling him, "Look, it's Leo's turn; he looks determined."

Leo went in front of the target with great momentum; his face was solemn as he cast the spell with intense focus.

The fireball managed to hit the barrier with enough force to change its color closer to yellow.

Originally this was an impressive result, but with the previous example of Cyril and his group, it appeared slightly lacking in comparison to some students.

Apparently this was also what Leo felt. When he stepped away from the target, his face was more bitter; he was obviously in a bad mood.

Coincidentally, it was Cedric's turn next. "I hope he will get a better result than Leo; that will be really funny!"

Cyril didn't share Ramn's feelings; he could understand having a strong desire to win. "Being a sore loser is different, especially with his reactions."

Cedric was standing straight and confident; he cast the fireball in a relaxed manner.

Immediately one could see that it was bigger and faster than Leo's, reaching the barrier with ease.

The resulting force made the barrier change its color to deep yellow; Cedric himself was very satisfied with this.

Cyril couldn't help but look at how Leo was like at the moment; it turned out many had the same idea as him.

Leo Arken was clearly in a bad state right now; under the eyes of his classmates, he pointed at Cedric while barely holding back his frustrations.

"You! You must have cheated somehow! I challenge you to a duel; do you dare accept?!" He was not thinking properly at the moment.

Cyril thought that the professor would surely intervene and put this conflict to rest, but he was only partially correct.

"You are in luck, Leo, as it happens, the Academy will soon host a competition; all classes in the first year will participate. That will be a perfect chance for you." Is this really how a professor should handle this? "I like it."

This was unexpected news to everyone present; the students started flooding their teacher with questions, but the only response they got was, "Your combat instructor will explain later," and the lesson continued as usual.

Soon reason returned to Leo's face. "You better be ready when the time comes." After saying this to Cedric, he walked away from him with a frown.

From the remaining people, none were able to hit the target, aside from the prince, who managed to get the yellow grade, eliciting cheers from some of the students.