After a week of severe stomach problems, the relatively short walk from the dormitories to the main building of the Royal Academy caused Rotsard to be out of breath.
Not to mention that he even ended up late for the first lecture.
"...student Vallhall, I didn't expect to see you today… Take your seat."
The teacher said to him upon his arrival, but instead of admonishing his tardiness, she simply motioned with her chin at the bleached-blond-haired boy's seat and then continued with the lecture.
Rotsard wasn't bothered by the stares and glares of his classmates, particularly of those who were centered around the handsome blond boy.
Similarly, he wasn't bothered by their confused looks when, instead of his usual seat from where he could steal creepy glances at platinum-haired Amelia Edemsworth, he sat in the front row, close to the exit, where he sank into the seat without any energy left.
The initial wave of whispers died out after a while, and the lecture could continue without any issue.
Things went a bit different once the second lecture with another teacher began, and the teacher in question seemed to be overdoing it a bit…
"Student Vallhall, I've heard about a rather unbecoming incident that happened this morning, with you as the main culprit. That's not what's expected of the first-year student at the Royal Academy. What do you have to say about it?"
"Nothing, teacher."
"...!"
The teacher asked in confidence of a moral high ground, but the only response she got was a relatively polite but dismissive shrug that caused countless murmurs amongst the other students.
"Are you saying that assaulting your servant and harassing a female student is nothing?"
The teacher asked, puffing out her chest while making a sophisticated expression.
"Forgive my forwardness, teacher, but isn't this lecture supposed to be about history?"
"It is a lecture about history. Now answer my question."
Without fixing his position, Rotsard asked, to which the teacher responded with a confident smile.
"Teacher. Some of our families pay for tuition, some even give the Academy generous donations, out of which you get paid. How about you allow the disciplinary committee to do their job, and you will focus on yours? From the notes I received, it appears that we should continue learning about the Third Deofolic War. We already covered the battle of Garland Bridge, so you should start with the retaking of Aphaldia territory."
"...!"
The moment Rotsard pointed out the money coming from the noble families, he hit two birds with one stone. He shut up the teacher, who realized that her comfortable bonus was at stake if she won't back off, as well as insulted the commoner student, Justin, who wasn't bringing the Royal Academy any money but was literally costing them since he was a scholarship student.
"Ehem…! B-battle of Aphaldia, commonly known as retaking of Aphaldia, happened during the second year of the Third deofolic War…"
The teacher turned away from Rotsard, cleared her throat, and began acting as if nothing at all had happened, ignoring the smirk of the bleached-blond-haired boy.
Disciplinary committee?
Yeah, right!
There was less than zero chance they would lift a finger against Rotsard Vallhall, the Vallhall family was the biggest sponsor to the Royal Academy, being more generous than even the Royal family itself, even though Rotsard was the first student from their family for literal decades!
Although he earned himself a bit more peace, Rotsard's abuse of power also earned him more than a few hateful glares…
…which he completely ignored while taking notes without putting his mind into it…
In the end, he will receive perfect notes after the lecture, with the most important points highlighted. Like always.
…like…
…like always…?
"!"
Rotsard suddenly flinched and jolted himself up, forcing his lethargic brain to focus.
He could no longer act like always!
Once the cold room was completed, it will require all of his time outside the lectures!
If he wanted to keep up with the theory, he had to learn it all during the lectures, not after!
His sudden actions did get him even more negative looks, as everyone, without exception, assumed it was him just trying to disturb the class.
The remaining lectures actually went by without an issue, leaving the entire afternoon for the magic practice.
Just as always, the class divided into pairs and began practicing, and just like always, Rotsard walked to the very edge of the training field and sat down cross-legged and placing his hands on his knees.
While both the teacher and the assistant teachers were walking amongst the other students, giving them advice and correcting the flaws in their chanting or mana flow, no one came even close to Rotsard.
This had nothing to do with him personally, though, but everything to do with the trait of his family.
Depending on how one wanted to look at it, the Vallhall family was either blessed or cursed when it came to magic.
They were unable to use the common magic system, which meant no spell from any attributes, no matter whether it was from the lowest tier 1 or the highest tier 10.
What they had instead was a magic system completely separated from the norm.
Its name?
Essence of Winter.
A magic system that, instead of using the mana in the body to influence the mana of the outside world and processing it into a spell of an attribute, was channeling ice mana directly.
Spells of essence of winter also didn't have the tiers like the ones in the common magic system.
Although there was a certain order in which the people of the Vallhall family learned the spells, the fact was that it was only something they themselves decided upon.
The strength of Essence of Winter's spells was decided by the individual user's mastery of them.
Not that it was easy to learn, or rather, unlock. Even the most basic forms of those spells were more difficult than tier 3 or 4 spells of the common magic system.
Each and every one required extreme dedication and self-control.
Which obviously meant that Rotsard couldn't use any...
During each practice lesson, he would sit by the edge of the training field and circulate his mana in a pattern his father taught him and meditate.