110 The Special Class Challenge

"Welcome and congratulations on your successful entry into the special class of Crown Capital City's Aerialla Academy. I am Mister Kobos, the teacher in charge of this class," The man with his hair tied up in a ponytail introduced himself to us.

Similar to the other classrooms I saw on my first visit here, our classroom also looked like the stereotypical classrooms except it was much smaller in size. I counted the tables that were arranged in columns of two and it looked like it could only hold ten students at maximum.

Incidentally, I took the 'main character seat' at the back corner of the room with the window to my left while Odeta took up the seat on my right.

I was later told that this classroom was not used for lessons but more for the students of the special class to conduct our own self study sessions if we required it.

Speaking of which, I had to go ahead and check the teacher's status.

[Name: Wex Kobos

Title: Special Class Instructor, The Lucky One, Nerd, Quickshot

Race: Mahun

Gender: Male

Current Mood: Bored

Stats:

20 Strength

15 Dexterity

15 Endurance

182 Magic

Skills:

Alchemy (Tier 1), Teaching (Tier 2)

Magic Skills:

Astromancy (Tier 3), Clairvoyance (Tier 2)]

Oof… Those titles though… Just what did he even go through in his life?

At least he does have quite an impressive amount of magic I guess? Not as much as mine but definitely more than an average person.

Looking at his skills though, I can see that he basically devoted his time to learning and teaching magic, though his current mood doesn't make it seem like he's having a good time.

Lucas, the classmate who specialises in Pyromancy, raised his hand, "What do you teach, Mister Kobos?"

He scratched his neck, "Ah… Well, I suppose you can say that I specialise in Astromancy… It's quite a useful magic even if it's not that powerful. If you are interested you can sign up for my classes later."

"So err… What is this special class?" Charles, the classmate who specialises in Aeromancy, asked.

The teacher looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "Charles right? I suppose it's normal you don't know so I'm here to explain anyway. As I had mentioned before, you are all now students of the special class, such a position comes with its own benefits and restrictions."

He moved to the board at the front of the class and wrote the number ten on the board with a piece of chalk.

"There is a maximum of ten students for this type of special class every year and only the best students of that batch are selected. That means the seven of you are the best amongst your peers for this year, though if you don't maintain your strength, someone else might take your position."

I raised my hand at that, "About that… How does that work? The thing about people taking our positions?"

Hearing that question, a grin materialised on his face.

"Now, there is a tradition within Aerialla Academy itself where our founders believe that people will only strive when they have a target to work towards. The name may differ from branch to branch but the idea remains the same. Can you guess what it is?"

"The special class," I stated the obvious.

He nodded, "That's right, Aster. All of you are the targets for your batch of students. You are what they see as the pinnacle of their year and the position of being a special class student gives you a lot of benefits, one of which is a guaranteed admission to the main Aerialla Academy itself. In case you're wondering why this class isn't full, there is still a minimum standard to meet to get here of course and all of you have met that standard."

One of the Heres brothers, Jules, frowned, "So how exactly can our positions be lost?"

Wex gestured at us, "All of you are required to put forth a challenge for your position in this class. I believe student council president Daniel has already given you some examples of what it can be. So if your forte lies in Geomancy, you can set a challenge that someone has to beat you in a Geomancy duel."

"Can there be two of the same challenge then?" The other brother, Henri, asked.

Our teacher nodded, "You can, actually. Your challenger will pick which one of you they will challenge for the spot."

The two brothers look at each other worriedly.

Wex grinned at their reaction, "No need to worry. Even if you lose your spot, you can always get it back by challenging them again. Once a challenge has been set, no one can change it even if someone else has completed it."

"Huh… Doesn't that mean other students are forced to adapt to our challenge or else they will not stand a chance?" I asked.

He raised a finger, "Not standing a chance at becoming a student of the special class, yes. But if they do well enough, they can be admitted to the main Aerialla Academy as well through their own specialties."

I see… So this is like the privilege that we have for entering the school with exceptional skills. In order to take our place, they have to be better than us in our own respective fields or they won't be able to dethrone us.

And for us, in order to defend our own seat, we have to make sure we are also unbeatable in our own fields as well.

"What happens when someone challenges us and loses? It can't be that people are free to challenge us without repercussions if they lose, right?" Lucas asked.

Our teacher smirked, "That's right. The challenger has to put forth something of value before they can challenge any of you. If you deem the prize worthy then you can accept the challenge. The prize they wager will become yours if they were to lose the challenge."

Paul, the classmate who specialises in hydromancy, suddenly perked up, "Does that mean we can simply reject any challenges we might face and not risk our position at all?"

"Ha! That would defeat the whole purpose of this system, boy. They can also challenge you through the student council as well. The student council can review their case and if they deem the challenger and their prize suitable then you will have to accept the challenge."

Seems reasonable, although favouritism would probably be a problem but I guess the argument for that would be to just get good.

Also, it seems like the teacher got quite fired up for some reason, even his status showed that his current mood was 'excited'.

The teacher then cleared his throat to get our attention again, "Now… Aside from the challenges that you will need to submit to me later, I also need to tell you all about what privileges you are granted as well. The first thing is that you are free to attend any class, even those that you have not indicated your interest in on your enrollment form."

Odeta immediately turned to me, "What classes are you attending, sister Aster?"

"Umm… I was looking at advancing several of my magic proficiencies and also taking some combat classes as well as learning alchemy too."

"Yayy! I'll attend the same classes as sister Aster then!"

I supposed I wouldn't mind that.

"By the way… Where are you staying?" I asked the Amrap.

"Eh? Umm… Inside the school?"

"Wait… This place is a boarding school as well?"

"There are students who come from outside the capital city as well, Aster," The teacher explained, having overheard our conversation. "Students of the special class get their needs provided by the school though, so none of you would need to worry about food or shelter either."

That sounds nice, though it's obvious this was just a way for them to attract students to come here instead of the other schools in the other cities.

Wex continued on, "I'm sure all of you also know that you're honorary members of the student council as well?"

All of us nodded in response.

"As for what that entails, it means that all of you possess voting powers for anything the student council would like to do. For example, they might want to host an event involving the rest of the student body and they will need to put that up for vote. All of you are able to vote if they should or should not make this event happen."

Lucas raised his hand, "Are we able to make our own suggestions to improve the school as well?"

"Ah, technically you can. Why? Do you have something in mind?"

"I do, actually."

"Hmm… You can put forth the suggestion with the student council in that case and they will consider it. If they believe it's a good idea, they can put it up for a vote with everyone."

Lucas then looked contemplatively in the air, though I'm not sure where exactly he was looking considering his hair was covering his eyes.

Wex then clapped his hands together, "Alright. There will be a school assembly later where all new students would have to attend including all of you. For now, I'll need all of you to set your challenges that will be announced to the school during the assembly itself."

Odeta immediately stood up, "Beat me one on one in unarmed combat!"

Our teacher took a second to smile wryly at her before clearing his throat, "Ahem… Alright, that's one I suppose. Anyone else?"

The rest of us started to think about our own challenge to put forth, myself thinking about how to best word it to make my challenge harder for anyone else thinking of contesting with me.

I'm definitely going with the eight different magic one of course, so I'll be really surprised if someone really takes up this challenge~