The Academy's Doomed Side Character

Originally, I didn’t plan to go out today.

Yesterday’s outing with Leona had completely drained me, both physically and emotionally. I thought I’d spend the day resting, maybe recovering from the emotional damage caused by karaoke, kimchi, and her endless pride.

But staying in my room wasn’t exactly an option right now. For obvious reasons.

So, instead of lazing around, I figured it was time to address something that had been bothering me for a while.

A simple question, really—one that kept poking at the back of my mind.

I had talent. I could use magic.

Physically, I was still behind, sure, but I’d made decent progress. At the very least, I wasn’t a complete weakling anymore—I had the fundamentals to be considered a proper cadet now.

But even with all that... there was one thing I wasn’t certain of.

Could I actually fight?

I’m not talking about sparring in a classroom or playing the support role in some practice exercise. I meant the real deal—life-or-death combat. The kind of fights where hesitation could get you killed.

I was someone who came from a peaceful world, where the most violent thing I ever did was probably delete someone in an online game. Could I really stand my ground when faced with something that wanted to kill me?