Chapter 62: Magic Lesson
"Good morning, class. I know most of you already know who I am, but I’ll reintroduce myself. My name is Dora, a proud teacher and elite soldier of the empire. I welcome all of you to the academy and sincerely hope you survive... and graduate," Dora said with a stoic expression as murmurs rippled through the classroom.
"Silence!" she barked. "Some people don’t make it to graduation. The path to becoming an elite soldier is a brutal one, filled with challenges. If you think you can sit here and yap your way through it, I promise you—you won’t survive the second year!"
Immediately, the entire room went quiet.
Then, Dora let out a sharp whistle, and an elite soldier stepped into the room, one with only a single arm.
"Julius here was once a student just like you. He graduated not long ago. Do you know how he lost his arm?" Dora paused, her eyes scanning the students. "It happened during a duel. The Yearly Tournament between the coalition of races. It’s a savage competition where even our best magical defenses sometimes fail to protect the participants. Julius had his arm severed by an opponent who used dark magic. Not even the top-tier healers in the empire could regenerate it."
Gasps and shocked whispers swept through the class. Awe and disbelief were etched on everyone’s faces.
Then, Dapper raised his hand.
Seeing him, Dora narrowed her eyes slightly.
"Go on."
"May we know what the tournament is really about, and which race was responsible for severing Sir Julius’ arm?" Dapper asked.
"That’s a fair question. The Yearly Tournament is, in essence, a political power play, a competition to determine which race has the strongest elite soldiers. While there are rules forbidding killing, the battles are often brutal. As for which race was responsible for Julius’ injury... that’s not my place to say. It could have been anyone. Rather than pointing fingers, focus on surviving and making it to the next tournament," Dora replied, signaling for Julius to leave.
Next, she picked up her levitating tablet and tapped on it.