9 Chapter 9. Valkyrie's Spirit

Many things that people once considered indispensable were simply erased by the irresistible tides of change, and many lives were sacrificed in the process. Such is the essence of civilization. People are like sediment in a river, destined to flow with the current. Preserving the status quo is simply a path. Revolution always happens with pain and suffering. If you compare individual gain with social improvements, people naturally prefer the former.

What am I getting at? In the world of DxD, the status of humans is, to put it mildly, miserable: most users of Sacred Gears are recruited from other races, the Heavens rule over the Church, and the part that is considered "free" is largely made up of elite madmen, rapists, and maniacs. In the end, only magicians were left, although they too are not doing so well: after all, before saving the drowning man, you must first not drown during the storm yourself.

"It's funny that the only organization left shoulder to shoulder with humans is headed by four magicians, among whom only one is human."

The Association of Magicians "Grau Zauberer," better known among magicians as the "Four Towers of Magicians," is an organization led by four of the strongest magicians whose main task is to unite magicians into one faction and strengthen the position of humanity on the world stage. Naturally, to accomplish such complex "quests," many tools and enormous influence are necessary. And one of such "quest items" are magical academies.

The main task of any magical academy is to teach magicians the art of magic, as in any other academy, and teach them about life, as in any courtyard of your childhood. And to combine these two points in one educational institution and not turn it into a regular scam, magicians resorted to a very interesting method at its core - to completely rebuild the life of a young magician for academic and military training. That is, starting from the age of twelve, young apprentice-magicians begin to literally live for their education.

The magician's apprentice starts classes at nine in the morning and finishes at six in the evening. After classes, they have free time from six to ten, which is mainly spent on additional training, as the exam difficulty level is intentionally exaggerated, and it is impossible to pass it with only the knowledge gained in class. And to top it all off, there are no holidays.

So, the inevitable question is, what do young magicians do for recreation? Competitions! Absolutely everything: Enchantment, Alchemy, Research, and even sports-magical tournaments - in all of these disciplines, students can compete. The academy encourages them by giving tempting rewards. But, remembering the situation that magicians find themselves in on the world stage, one can understand that all these disciplines are secondary, because there is something much more necessary in such difficult times. Battle Magic!

Naturally, battle magic was the most popular subject studied in the academy and the most rewarded discipline of competitions. In addition, high scores in battle magic instantly put a student among the first contenders for a successful career in the "Four Magical Towers". In Grau Zauberer, there is even a tournament among young magicians, in which they fight for the title of the best in their generation.

Something similar existed in my academy, and then the professor responsible for teaching battle magic was appointed the best magician in the educational institution, Professor Vince.

In fact, Professor Vince had a very successful life as a battle magician, and he even gained some influence among the Four Towers magicians. But, it seemed to simply irritate him.

"Magicians have had close relationships with war since ancient times. There are two simple reasons for this: First - throughout their history, magicians had to fight for every breath they took, so we had to hone the art of war to perfection," said Professor Vince, making a small pause and looking around the large round platform where we were all located.

"Second - magicians are extremely effective. While a well-trained inquisitor will slaughter a dozen of his enemies, a 4th Circle magician will incinerate a hundred."

None of the students paid attention to the professor's harsh words. And even those who chose their main path of development not in favor of battle magic got used to such cruelty during their training.

It is worth mentioning that there were also those whose eyes shone as if they wanted to rush onto the battlefield right now, waving spells in different directions. For them, becoming a real battle mage was the key to success. These students belonged to the type of people who wanted their merits to be recognized by everyone and therefore mindlessly rushed to study even deadly spells.

Either way, for now, they are just young fledglings. I assessed such people with a sober look. Thanks to Nagi Springfield's experience, I knew that it was better to avoid those who were too eager to become battle magicians. Not every person can become a real combat unit on the battlefield... And to become a combat mage, a special mindset is required.

"This academy was once a means of attracting new mages who would eventually go to war. Although you now have a choice in which direction to develop, the course of combat magic remains so that students like you can develop the necessary skills in case of a real threat," the professor's rough voice did not allow the students to relax.

The curriculum that Vince used to teach his students included several elements. One of them, sparring, was precisely the legacy of those days. Although magical duels were conducted with modified rules, there simply was no better way to identify a student's personal qualities.

During the sparring, the following situation was supposed to occur. Two students took turns playing the roles of attacker and defender, and whoever prevailed was declared the winner. Despite the step-by-step nature of the duel, this teaching method was tried and tested.

Vince began to explain the rules of sparring:

"Well, the rules are simple. I will be watching over you, so don't worry about injuries. Just do everything you can. However..." for a moment, a warning spark flashed in Vince's eyes. "If you commit a foul, for example, ignore the order of attack or strike from below... I will use all my power to have that student expelled from the academy. Is that clear to everyone?"

"Yes!"

Looking us up and down, Professor Vince smirked slightly, which was incredibly rare. This caused all the students, including myself, to look at him in confusion.

"Your lackluster response makes me think that you are not very motivated," at that moment, Vince turned his gaze to the stadium stands and said, "In that case, I will be incredibly ashamed of you in front of Valkyrie."

At such unexpected words, we all fell into a stupor, not knowing what to say. But in the next moment, as if enchanted, we turned our gaze to where Professor Vince was looking.

There, on the empty stadium seats, stood a group of people, among whom one person stood out. Her long straight silver hair cascaded down below her knees, and her sensual figure seemed to want to break free from her strict office suit.

Rossweisse... How divinely beautiful she is! It can't be compared to what was shown in the anime... I wonder why she's here? Pondering this, I turned my gaze to Vince.

But the professor, seemingly unaware of the suddenly changed mood of the students and the dozens of questioning glances, shouted:

"Georg Garcia! Choose your opponent!"

***

*Boom!*

A dozen small fireballs slammed into the shield with a loud noise and exploded. Then dozens of magical rockets soared into the air, causing the shield to lose its shape. Lightning got stuck in a curtain of water, and the wind deflected the magical arrow.

The presence of a woman, a valkyrie, in particular, spurred on the students so much that they tried their best to crush their opponent. I'm sure that if this wasn't a training match, these unfinished Einherjar would have killed each other... The beauty of women truly does terrible things to men's hearts.

The students who didn't participate in the sparring watched Rossweisse closely, and as soon as she looked at their crowd, they started loudly discussing the match and pointing out their comrades' mistakes that led to defeat. Some even gave their own ratings.

What a clown show! I didn't find a single real combat mage among you, and you dare to brag like this! How can you even try to attract the attention of Valkyries with such crude and obvious use of magic? Why do they use 2nd Circle spells that take more than a couple of seconds to activate? If this were a real match, their dead bodies would have long been devoured by scavengers.

There were so many mistakes that I began to massage my forehead with two fingers, trying to hold back a painful sigh. This spectacle gives me a real headache due to the memories of Nagi Springfield. The legendary wizard, who spent his entire life on the battlefield, the Thousand Master, saw absolutely all the flaws. Having adopted some of his experience, I too could form a certain opinion.

The professor must also be aware of all this... But he said he would be ashamed, yet looking at him now - a stone face. On the other hand, Rossweisse. I can't say for sure, but all of this probably doesn't impress her... I wonder how strong the Valkyries are?

My thoughts were interrupted by the booming voice of Professor Vince:

"Emmanuel Laz Tueze, choose your sparring partner."

Tueze is a fairly influential family among the magical society, so to speak, true representatives of the blue blood. It's amusing that in such a scientifically progressive society like Grau Zauberer, there is still nobility.

Upon hearing the name Tueze, the students suddenly fell silent. Thanks to the support of his family, Emmanuel's amount of magical power was close to the 4th Circle. In addition, he had a good understanding of combat magic and had high sensitivity. No one wanted to be his opponent.

And, as befits a young nobleman, this guy knew that the other students were praying that he wouldn't choose them, and he looked around with leisurely arrogance... A typical arrogant idiot. And he even decided to show off in front of the Valkyrie, isn't he a typical young master?

Maybe it was my mistake, but soon this guy noticed me with a completely calm face and emotionless gaze. Clearly thinking that I was challenging his pride in this way, he opened his mouth and impulsively spat out:

"Ryan Romano."

Upon hearing this, absolutely all the students, the professor, and the spectators in the stands fell silent and looked at me. Some with pity, some with mockery, and there were those who were curious. The professor was among the latter, and although I didn't know it at the time, Rossweisse, this beautiful Valkyrie, was also interested in me.

Still calmly, I stepped into the middle of the arena, accepting the challenge of this rooster.

Because of you, I'll have to come up with an alibi for how I became a 3rd Circle mage in two months, so I hope you're strong enough to be a training dummy, and that your pride won't break from a couple of kicks in the butt... Otherwise, this game isn't worth the candle.

*****

A bit of post-chapter coddling:

I am going to save up some chapters, so there won't be any new chapters published on weekends. However, if you guys collect 100 power stones, I will immediately release the next chapter.