On the teaching platform stood a middle-aged professor with a monocle. He was Professor Harris, a senior earth mage known across the academy for being strict.

Harris was just about to open the heavy Advanced Elemental Resonance Theory when the classroom’s thick soundproof wooden door suddenly let out a sharp creak.

"Creak..."

The door was pushed open.

Arthur stepped in with both hands in his pockets, walking with a lazy, careless stride, and entered the most sacred classroom in the entire academy.

The Outer Academy uniform on him had been washed so many times that the color had faded, and even the cuffs were worn. In this place, it looked painfully out of place.

In an instant, every eye in the room turned into sharp blades and shot straight at Arthur by the door.

The classroom, quiet just a moment ago, seemed to drop to freezing point.

Arthur stopped and casually swept his gaze across this group of so-called geniuses.

Sitting in the center of the first row was a girl with long silver hair that fell to her waist.

Elena Klein, the academy’s "Ice Rose," the beloved granddaughter of Headmaster Alberto, and the owner of an S-rank ice mana affinity.

She was looking down at a thick ancient magic book, her stunning profile cold and distant, like a moonlit spirit.

From the moment Arthur walked in until now, she had not even raised her eyes once, as if the one who entered was nothing more than a bit of worthless air.

Around her, even the moisture in the air had turned into tiny ice crystals because of the ice magic power she gave off without meaning to.

It was arrogance to the extreme, indifference to the extreme.

Arthur did not care at all. If anything, he thought this way of staying out of each other’s business was pretty nice.

"So you’re Arthur Voss?"

Professor Harris on the platform pushed up his monocle. His brows were pulled tightly together, and his eyes were full of doubt and scrutiny.

"That’s me, Professor."

Arthur gave a polite nod and casually placed the dark gold badge on the corner of the desk closest to the platform.

When Harris saw the badge, the one that stood for the headmaster’s highest authority, the corner of his eye twitched hard.

Half an hour earlier, he had received a notice from the academic office saying that a new student was to be placed in Dawn Class.

When he learned the new student’s name and that awful "double F-rank" talent, he had honestly thought the head of academics had gone mad!!

"Find an empty seat and sit down. Try not to disturb the other students."

Harris’s voice was cold, and his tone carried the distant chill of pure official business. It was clear he had no good opinion at all of this "trash" who had come in through the back door.

Arthur shrugged and was just about to head for the seat by the window in the very back row, the classic "main character seat."

Bang!!!

A loud crash suddenly exploded through the classroom.

A blond boy in the second row slammed his hand hard on the desk and stood up without the slightest courtesy.

Andrew Walter, second son of the Finance Minister of the Kingdom of Oran, and owner of an S-rank fire mana affinity.

Andrew’s eyes burned with open anger and contempt. He stared at Arthur as if he were a toad that had somehow slipped into a flock of swans.

"Professor Harris, please forgive my rudeness!!"

Andrew lifted his proud chin, his voice loud enough for everyone in the classroom to hear every word clearly.

"But I need an explanation!!"

"Dawn Class is the holiest elite hall at Lancelot Academy, a place only geniuses like us with S-rank talent or higher are qualified to step into!!"

He suddenly pointed a finger right at Arthur’s nose, his voice thick with mockery.

"How can a total trash with F-rank Mana Affinity and F-rank Mental Power sit in the same classroom as us??"

"Was it only because he cheated with some cheap alchemy trick at the Awakening Ceremony and put on some cheap illusion to show off??!"

The moment Andrew finished speaking, low murmurs and scoffs broke out across the classroom.

"Exactly. I heard he even broke the Awakening Stone with his cheating tricks."

"That’s a 9th-Level Forbidden Spell. How could some commoner who can’t even sense magic power cast it??"

"He really brings down the whole level of our Dawn Class. Just smelling the poor stench off him makes me want to puke."

Those talented kids in fancy robes looked at Arthur with a cold, high-and-mighty look.

In this magic world where strength rules and bloodline is everything, a commoner trash with no background was just bottom-tier dirt to them.

Facing the angry crowd, a bead of cold sweat slipped down Professor Harris’s forehead.

He certainly didn’t believe Arthur could cast a Forbidden Spell either, but he was even more afraid to go against the Grand Archmagus’s order.

"Quiet!! Andrew, watch your words!!"

Harris banged hard on the blackboard, trying to shut down the noise.

"Letting student Arthur join Dawn Class was a direct order from Headmaster Alberto himself!!"

"This is a decision made by the highest level of the academy. It’s not your place to question it!!"

The moment they heard "Headmaster himself ordered it," all the complaints in the classroom stopped dead.

The Grand Archmagus’s authority in this country was absolutely untouchable.

But Andrew clearly wasn’t convinced. His face turned bright red, his fists clenched tight, his knuckles turning white.

"Even if it’s the Headmaster’s decision, I will absolutely not accept this cheating trash as my classmate!!"

Andrew ground his teeth and sat back down, shooting Arthur a dead, hostile glare.

Elena, who had been quietly reading in the front row the whole time, finally let her pretty brows furrow just a little.

She didn’t turn around. She just paused for half a second while turning the page, then let two barely audible, yet ice-cold words slip from her thin lips.

"Boring."

No one knew if she meant Andrew’s noise was boring, or if she meant Arthur this "cheater" was boring.

But that cold, unapproachable vibe made the air around them drop a few more degrees.

Meanwhile, Arthur, right in the center of this storm, reacted in a way that left everyone completely stunned.

He wasn’t angry. He didn’t argue. He didn’t even look at the mad Andrew.

He just let out a big yawn, even squeezing a sleepy tear from the corner of his eye.

"Professor, hey... where exactly is my seat??"

Arthur dug a finger into his ear, his tone as lazy as a bum who just rolled out of bed.

"Those rich kids have big tempers. They’re giving me a headache."

The moment those words left his mouth, the entire classroom fell dead silent.

Provocation!! This was a straight-up challenge!!

Andrew’s eyes instantly turned red, his inner fire mana practically boiling over, struggling to stay contained.

Professor Harris’s mustache twitched with anger. He jabbed a finger at a lone seat in the far corner of the last row.

"Sit over there!! Shut your mouth, Arthur!!"

Arthur just smirked. Under the gaze of dozens of killing looks, he slowly made his way to the back row.

He pulled out a chair, sat down, and tossed his tattered canvas bag into the desk drawer.

Then, he pulled a crumpled sheet of parchment and a piece of charcoal out of his pocket and just slumped over the desk, starting to scribble.

What was he even doing??

A few noble kids nearby couldn’t help but steal a quick glance.

It was covered in tight geometric shapes, weird symbols, and tangled energy loops.

"Tch. Show-off."

A girl with water magic scoffed and looked away.

In this world, spell formulas were already set by the ancients. You just had to memorize them by heart.

Who the hell would bother drawing nonsense that looked like scribbled curses??

But they had no idea. Arthur was currently tearing apart the DND 1st-level spell—[Magic Missile]—in his head.

"If I turn force damage into straight arcane pierce..."

"Then cut the messy hand signals and make it a quick-cast version powered purely by mental focus..."

"In three seconds flat, I can fire five tracking missiles like a machine gun."

Arthur’s eyes were locked on the paper, a crazy little smirk playing on his lips.

In a world stuck on boring, rigid spells like [Minor Fireball], he was going to show these so-called "geniuses" what real firepower meant!!

As for the cheap looks from these rich kids??

Arthur didn’t even blink.

Right now, all he cared about was getting out of class and heading to the Inner Academy magic warehouse to pick up his "unlimited" free supplies.

On the platform, Professor Harris took a deep breath and forced his anger down.

He glanced at the magic clock on the wall, then slammed the heavy [Advanced Elemental Resonance Theory] shut.

"Alright, put your theory books away!!"

His voice suddenly shot up, a sharp, cold glint flashing in his eyes.

"Morning class plan just changed."

"All of you in Dawn Class, report to Arena One right now!!"