Michael listlessly walked down the stairs that led from the castle, flanked by his two friends who were wearing similar expressions of existential dread for what was about to come.
In fact it was not just them. The entirety of the first-years walked slowly towards the familiar fields for the first combat practice of the second semester.
Many had likely taken a break over the two week holiday and were not looking forward to jumping right back into the torturous physical training that professor Quinn was known for.
However, this was a core class of the academy's curriculum—which meant there was absolutely no way of avoiding it. As many students had learned partway through the previous semester.
It was also only the second year since the masochistic Quinn had joined the faculty, meaning she would likely continue to remain their teacher throughout their four years of enrollment.
