Alina led Jae to the beginners' classroom.
The teacher there, Han, a bearded man, was surprised at the interaction.
Alina pulled him aside and told him that the king had requested for Jae to join the class.
Han frowned in confusion. "Isn't he too old to be here?"
"He is not a noble," Alina said, "so he needs to start in a beginners' class."
"Oh wow, I see," Han said and pushed up his glasses.
"Well then, okay." He gestured at Jae to come to him. "Class, meet your new classmate, Jae. Be nice to him. Jae, go and sit down."
Jae nodded, waved goodbye to Alina, and went to sit at the back.
The class was short. It was about channelling mana into objects.
Some students got it while some struggled with it.
Soon, it was Jae's turn. He focused on his mana pool and infused it into the ball. It slowly began to levitate and even spun around.
"Wow," Han breathed. "You said you haven't had any classes before?"
Jae shook his head.
Han stroked his beard, then he decided to set a harder test.
"Okay, Jae, I have a new test for you." He brought out a smaller set of balls and channelled his mana into them.
The balls soon started to expand and grew larger. The class was amazed at this.
"The key," Han explained, "is to infuse enough into spaces in between the atoms of the balls to strengthen the walls, then channel mana into the ball to inflate it."
This was a more difficult act to perform, as the user would have to channel a bout of mana into the walls, then channel stronger mana into the center of the ball while still maintaining the set volume of mana in the walls.
Any slight imbalance would cause the ball to either shrink or burst.
He gave the balls to Jae. "Now try to see if you can do it."
Jae focused on the balls, channelling his mana into them. Soon the balls began to inflate and even began to spin at the same time.
Han couldn't hide the shocked expression on his face.
"Okay," he said. "We need to meet the principal, because there has been a mistake somewhere. You're too advanced for this class. In fact, I recommend class four."
Soon Han and Jae were at the principal's office. Han excitedly narrated what had happened to Principal Kine, who watched with amazement.
"You're sure of this?" he said.
"As sure as anyone can be," Han replied.
"I see," the principal said and sighed. "You're going to cause a lot of trouble here, Jae."
"So you'll move him to class four then?" Han asked.
"Yes," the principal said. "You can escort him there." He turned to Jae. "I was trying to avoid this, but it seems you cannot be kept from controversy." He then chuckled.
So Jae was escorted by Han to class four.
Inside, a woman taught them. She was attractive and quite tall. She had her glasses on and turned to face them. She looked at Han, questioning, who motioned her closer with an apologetic smile.
When she was with them outside the class, he whispered. "The principal has asked me to bring this new student to your class."
"A new student? At this time?" she questioned.
Han smiled. "Yes, it is special circumstance. The king just sent him with a royal letter."
"Oh wow," the woman replied. "He must be important."
"He is," Han replied. "He is very important in fact."
The woman nodded. "Very well, come in," she said to Jae.
"Oh and one more thing," Han said as he turned to leave. "He is not a noble."
"What?" she yelled in surprise, but Han had already walked ahead.
As Jae stepped into the class, he heard a familiar voice call out to him.
"Hey, scrawny boy."
"Oh god, tell me it's not true," Jae prayed inwardly as he followed the direction of the voice to see Byun waving excitedly at him.
Jae managed a small smile.
"You know each other?" the teacher asked.
"Yes," Byun said just as Jae was about to say no. "We met earlier in the courtyard today," Byun explained.
"Well, if that's the case," the teacher said, "then you should go sit beside him," she said to Jae.
"Okay, ma," he said as he inwardly cursed.
The class was about coating one's self in mana and hardening it just like a shield. After she explained it, she demonstrated it to them, shielding her body in aura and hardening it.
"Now it's time for you guys to try it," she said.
Most of the students struggled with it no matter how hard they tried.
Jae however did it effortlessly, although he wondered what the point of it was since he already had the Iron Skin skill move.
The teacher gave props to the only three people who got it right: Jae, Byun, and one other girl, Lin.
After she was gone, a boy with dark hair came to Jae.
"Newbie, you don't look familiar. Which house are you from?"
Jae swallowed his breath. He had been hoping to get through the day without anyone knowing he wasn't a noble.
The class was now focused on the two of them.
"Well, none," Jae said. "I'm not a noble. I'm here specially on the king's orders."
The class gasped. Several voices began to whisper, horrified.
"A non-noble? In our royal academy?"
The boy with dark hair, Sun, hardened his look.
"So you're a non-noble," he spat, saying the phrase like it was a slur.
"How can you master an advanced technique so early then?"
Jae couldn't resist throwing in a sub. He shrugged. "I dunno, it was pretty easy to me. Wasn't it for you?"
This statement enraged Sun, who raised his hand to swing a punch at Jae.
It was at this moment that Jae realized the massive error in his actions. He couldn't fight back because Sun was a noble. He would get in trouble for hitting him.
This meant he had no way to defend himself against his attack.
He closed his eyes and braced himself for the swing.
But it never connected. Jae opened his eyes to see Byun in front of him, holding Sun's punch.
The class held their breath.
Sun was a royal prince and as a result had the most influence in school, but Byun was the best mage in the academy. Coupled with the fact that his dad was the most powerful duke, he had influence almost comparable to Sun, so their confrontation was equally matched.
Sun was enraged. "What are you doing, Byun?" he asked angrily.
"Let the boy go, Sun," Byun replied.
"The rest of them will support me." Sun said, gesturing to the class. "You really want to put your reputation on the line for this newbie?"
Byun turned to look at Jae, then he faced Sun. "It's not worth the fight. Leave him be."
Sun couldn't challenge Byun to a fight, he knew he would lose, so he turned away and walked off angrily.
"You shouldn't have done that," Jae said.
Byun smiled. "Oh, he'll be fine. Besides, I'm the one person immune to his influence."
"Why did you stick up for me?" Jae asked, confused.
"I don't know. I guess I find you interesting, you scrawny boy," Byun replied. "Now come with me. Something tells me you're going to need my protection a lot these coming days."
"I don't need anyone's protection," Jae retorted.
"I don't doubt that," Byun replied. "But you know what I mean."
Jae said nothing as he walked behind Byun. He had hated the kid one hour ago, and now it seemed he was his only lifeline.