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.”

If you have talent or experience, you might get a figure over 1,000.

“Mana is a power that increases in total amount the more you use it. Of course, there’s a limit to how much it can increase. Just as people have different levels of intelligence, the limit of mana each individual possesses also differs. Depending on talent, some people’s mana amount increases faster than others.”

Albert took off his glasses and wiped them once with a handkerchief.

Then he said nonchalantly.

“So please don’t be disappointed with the figure that comes out right away. You just haven’t handled mana yet; it doesn’t mean you don’t have talent. Even I don’t know whose limit will be the highest.”

He’s seen many things while serving as a professor.

In some cases, a student close to failing suddenly grew rapidly and took first place. Another was where a student who had a high number at first but didn’t grow at all afterward.

So, the result of the first measurement is not an absolute figure.

All the students here were like unscratched lottery tickets.

“Then I’ll call you one by one in order, so please come out and measure.”

So Albert called out the attendance numbers, and the students who were called out measured their mana one by one.

As they were first-year students, most recorded similar figures, but students from the Combat Magic Department generally scored higher than those from the Swordsmanship Department.

That’s because the Combat Magic Department had many students who had manifested magical talent before entering the academy.

Among them, some outstanding individuals recorded figures that even surprised Albert.

Notably, Rena from Class A showed 2700 mana, and Wendy from Class B showed 3200 mana, attracting attention from those around.

The two recorded the highest mana amounts in their respective classes, and there was a bit of controversy among the Combat Magic Department students, who originally liked to build their pride on such things.

“So is Class B superior to Class A? No matter how good you are, you can’t match our Wendy.”

“Yeah, Wendy is 4th in the year’s grades.”

If a Class B student lit the fuse.

“Don’t talk nonsense. Don’t you know the top scorer on the entrance exam was from Class A? We just haven’t measured yet, but we’ll easily surpass 3200.”

“Why wasn’t Wendy first in the entrance exam?”

A Class A student laughed as if it was ridiculous and took up the fight.

There were still students who hadn’t been measured.

Class A students seemed to be saying there was someone noteworthy among them.

“Look over there. She’s walking.”

A Class A student pointed and said.

The Class B students also watched with bated breath.

They had heard the rumors too.

The rumor was that she had dominated the entrance exam with overwhelming grades.

It’s said that not only the Combat Magic Department students but even the Swordsmanship Department students couldn’t handle her.

At first, it seemed unbelievable, but it’s true.

After all, she is currently the first-year’s top student.

The anecdote about her breaking the measurement dummy with her bare hands was especially famous among the students.

Iria from Class A. Finally, it’s her turn.

Her snow-white hair fluttered as she walked.

“Is that her?”

“She’s really pretty.”

Her long, settled hair flowed with a silky smooth sheen, and her symbolic red eyes looked like well-crafted jewels.

She’s always mentioned at least once when asked to name the prettiest person in the academy.

Today too, she went up to the platform, unknowingly striking the hearts of many.

And she slowly placed her hand on the crystal ball.

It was when everyone was looking towards Iria with expectant eyes.

However.

[84]

The result came out a little different from their expectations.

They thought she would show the dignity of first place with an overwhelming score difference.

“……”

“……”

However, she was first from the bottom.

After a moment of silence, someone said.

“Is she an idiot?”

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.