Cæ ended up failing to win even a single fight.
He was a pretty good fighter, certainly. However, he was not equal to an actual elite professional who had far more experience than he did; all the years that he had spent with brawling were good, but his lack of actual training and form hindered his true combat power.
By the time they were done, Cæ was completely floored, panting with exhaustion and drenched in sweat.
"Hehehe…" Professor Mercile chuckled as he wiped his face with a towel, throwing one at Cæ. "You're good."
He grinned with appreciation. "The only ones as good as you tend to be students from magical families that specialize in martial magic. Turns out all the millions they spend on training with the best resources and mentors are only as good as brawling your entire life in the slums."
Cæ huffed, wiping his face, before taking a sip from a bottle of water.
"With some training, you would be a monster," the professor remarked with a more serious tone. "You have experience, you have fluidity and reflexes, you make the most of what you have. Now, if we could fix the technicals. Teach you how to guard better, teach you how to strike better, teach you how to throw blows better, and also condition your body, you would be a top-notch fighter in unarmed combat."
Cæ huffed with a hint of dismissal.
"I have more important things to do with my time than waste it on unarmed fighting."
His two agendas sapped away far too much time for him to possibly spend any of it on unarmed combat.
"Fool," the professor knelt before him. "You think you're never going to end up in a situation without your wand? Think again, magical conductors are not inseparable from your body, and they're certainly not indestructible. You will find yourself in a day wishing you had honed your unarmed combat, especially if you intend to become a magetant. Not to mention…"
His smile deepened as his ruby eyes bore heavily into the gray in Cæ's.
"Unarmed combat does directly enhance martial magic, I'm sure you have chosen that, haven't you?"
Cæ shook his head.
"I have not."
Professor Mercile's eyes widened as he gazed at Cæ with a stunned expression. "You didn't choose martial magic despite your affinity for it?! Are you fucking with me?!"
His loud voice drew attention from the other exhausted and beat-up students, who turned towards them with a curious expression.
"It's simply not a priority for me at this moment," Cæ calmly replied as he finally caught his breath. "I deemed it not pressing and important enough for me to choose right away. And no…"
He turned towards Professor Mercile with a sharp gaze.
"I don't intend on becoming a magetant exclusively."
Professor Mercile's eyes widened with shock. "…What?"
"I am already on track to becoming a powerful magetant," Cæ added with a composed tone. "It was not worth sacrificing other subjects to pursue even more combat for my plans of the future."
"…Then what subjects did you choose?" he asked with a dumbfounded expression. "What other plans do you have in the future if not for becoming a magetant?"
He didn't understand why someone with Cæ's talent for combat was wasting time on other fields of magic.
Yet, what Cæ said stunned him.
"All of them."
The professor grew even more astonished by his words. "…What?"
"I chose a variety of fields and industries across the board," Cæ remarked with a calm tone and steely eyes. "I intend to become the ultimate all-rounder and diversify my area of expertise as much as possible."
STEP
He got up, glancing at his watch. "Class is almost over, so I will depart for now. Thank you for the tutelage. I hope that I qualify for serious combat magic from this point forth, having demonstrated worthy combat-readiness."
He walked away from the stunned professor.
"Wait."
Professor Mercile stopped him with a serious tone.
Cæ paused, turning around partially to stare at him from the corner of his eye.
"I don't know what the hell you're thinking, but I can't allow such combat talent to rot." The tall, gargantuan combat magic professor folded his arms as he glared at Cæ.
Cæ shrugged. "I might choose it next year, but there were no more spots in this year's electives."
"I don't give a damn about the electives," the professor barked. "I will personally train you myself if you can make one forty-five minutes every day for an impromptu combat magic session."
Cæ's eyebrow rose. "Why would I accept if there's a good chance that I'm going to take it next year?"
"Because the Magic Contest is this year, goddammit," he growled. "There's no point in taking it next year."
Cæ heaved a sigh. "I don't have the strongest concern for the Magic Contest, but…"
He turned towards the professor with a knowing glance.
"I don't mind taking free classes from you if that's what you're offering."
The professor grinned.
"Then I'll see you here after class tomorrow."
Cæ simply nodded before departing from the class, heaving a soft sigh.
He knew that he was probably not doing himself any favor by making his schedule even more packed and filled with things to do than it already was. However, he knew that he didn't have all the time in the magicademy so he wanted to be as perfectly efficient and productive with his time as possible.
By the time the academic classes ended that day, he immediately headed to the administrative wing of the Elendir Institute of Magic, heading towards the student council headquarters.
He couldn't afford to miss the student council meeting in his first year.
He knew that they were going to be dealing with all the important matters regarding the Elendir Institute of Magic.
The two biggest agendas on the docket for them to deal with were the slums, student-related matters, and, of course, the Magic Contest. Given how different the atmosphere was in the Elendir Institute of Magic compared to last year, he could tell that it was undoubtedly something that the student council would take extremely seriously.
CLACK
He opened the door to the Student Council Headquarters in the Administrative Wing of the Elendir Institute of Magic, pausing at the door as his steely gray eyes found themselves stopping on a familiar figure.
Silian Sylvester.
He was a few inches taller than when Cæ fought him in the combat exam, having undergone a final growth spurt as a seventeen-year-old boy.
His disposition had changed a lot since they first ran into each other.
He had had an air of derision and contempt about him, not to mention the arrogance. His ego wasn't able to tolerate that someone from the slums was able to have better magic aptitude than he did, and that led to their confrontation exactly a year ago on the very first day of school, where he essentially attempted murder.
Since then, however, he had changed.
The penalty of the loss of several credits was undoubtedly painful, and he had undoubtedly gotten more than just an earful about it from his family, who had high expectations of him.
He had grown colder, but also quieter.
More driven.
He had attempted to get revenge for all the suffering that he had gone through, but Cæ had managed to obtain victory against him nonetheless.
Silian's expression crumpled with cold hostility as Cæ simply stole a glance at the student council badge pinned on his shirt with his name on it. It appeared that he had managed to get into the student council despite being disqualified for his actions last year.
His brown hair was shorter and less ostentatiously groomed, while his green eyes had only grown sharper.
He closed his eyes, breaking eye contact before leaving.
Cæ simply stared at him for a moment before heaving a sigh and heading to the Student Council conference room. Within the conference room were all the gathered members of the student council who took their seats across the entire table.
He spotted many old members of the Student Council he recognized, as well as some of the students who had been on his task force, who had managed to get an early treatment and be discharged from the hospital, who regarded him with a nod of acknowledgment and respect.
He also spotted Melia, who waved at him with genuine delight.
And there was, of course, the student council president, Mileila Karjakin.
What surprised him the most, however, was the fact that despite the clear reasons they had not to like each other, she still smiled at him warmly as she sat authoritatively at the head of the chair with steepled fingers.
Cæ wasn't sure what to think of her, considering she was the heir of the family that basically tried to kill him in the slums and would have loved if he had died inadvertently, causing the operations in the slums to fail.
However, he knew better than to judge people by their families, and he had to admit that she had operated in good faith with him each time they had interacted. He held no personal ill-will against her and could even regard her with amicability, even if he needed to be wary and mindful of her background, unfortunately.
Her features had grown even more mature since he first met her exactly a year ago. Her green hair was smooth and silky, descending to her shoulders, while her golden eyes were clear and direct.
"Cæ," she smiled at him. "Come, take a seat. We have been waiting for you."
"Thank you, Mileila," Cæ replied with a casual tone as he took a random empty seat at the conference table while everybody settled down for the Student Council meeting.
Opposite him, however, was not somebody he expected to see.
It was none other than Vloria Milnir, the honors student.
Her light green eyes were sharp, bearing deep into the calm intensity of Cæ's steely gray eyes, before breaking away and shifting her gaze to the president.
"Alright, everybody except for those who couldn't make it due to health reasons is here," President Mileila began. "We will be commencing the first Student Council meeting of this academic year. We have many topics to discuss at this meeting due to all the events that have happened and events that are yet to happen. However…"
An expectant gaze swept across the entire student council.
"The previous vice-president, Kiln, graduated from the Senior Program last year," she remarked. "Naturally, this spot is open, and I am open to several candidates in mind. The vice-president role is an extremely important role vital to the functioning of our executive wing and, by extension, the entire magicademy. And naturally, it is very time-consuming. However, it comes with a lot of power and authority and is a very powerful credit to have on one's resume. It will serve as a powerful credit to your experience in management and leadership, which many enterprises, sectors, and employers are looking for in mages."
Several students grew eager at the prospect of becoming the next vice president.
Cæ, however, remained unmoved.
He had far, far too much going on in his life to possibly undertake another responsibility of such importance. He needed to drown himself in mastering magic and focusing on figuring out new commercial ventures and enterprises to commence.
Even for him, it was pure hubris to think that he was in any position to take on being vice-president.
"I choose Virlyd Mir." Her gaze shifted, focusing on one man several seats away from her.
He was perhaps the only man who looked to be about as old as Cæ was, with a neatly groomed five o'clock shadow. He had a muscular body and short hair, giving him an air of solidity with his composed demeanor and the way he comported himself.
"You have been in this institute for many years and are the oldest member of the Student Council," President Mileila remarked. "You know this council better than anybody else and are most equipped to be vice-president."