Chapter 182 - Class Is In Session

"It's not often that a new student wins their first duel, let alone through knocking their opponent off the edge," The instructor said as he stepped into the ring. "Congratulations, and welcome to the finest magical educational institution in all of Arcadia."

'Finest? Isn't this the only...' Merlin thought to himself, but he didn't bother finishing it when he was suddenly handed a strange gold badge.

"Please channel your mana into this badge," The instructor asked.

As Merlin did as he was instructed, the badge started faintly glowing.

Merlin quickly inspected the item, causing an information window to appear before him.

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[Wizard College Badge. (Unique)]

This badge holds your unique magic signature, it can be used for identification within the wizard college, such as for borrowing books at the library.

You can upgrade the badge by attending classes at the wizard college or by completing extracurricular activities, this will grant you access to more advanced classes and resources.

• The badge will glow faintly if the attuned user channels their mana into it.

• Attuned User: Merlin

• Rank: New Student

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The instructor took the badge from Merlin's hand and pinned it to his cloak, this action caused a notification window to appear before him.

「You have no empty soul slots, "Class Soul: Wizard (Level 1)" has been sent to your soul receptacle.」

"Now that you're a student, you may wish to attend your first lecture. Might I suggest starting with the class orientation lecture?" The instructor asked while signalling for Merlin to step off of the stage. 

A quest notification appeared before him.

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[Common Quest]

Orientation day!

An orientation lecture is going to be held for new students. This class will detail what core classes are available, some basic information about magic, as well as any extracurricular classes and activities that the school provides. 

The class isn't mandatory, but it is recommended for new students to attend.

Attend the orientation day lecture.

• Reward: 400 Wizard Soul EXP

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Merlin accepted the quest after reading it, even if he didn't need the information as bad as others would, he couldn't pass up four hundred free experience points.

"Where do I go for the orientation?" Merlin asked the teacher.

"I'd recommend asking that question to whoever is at the front counter where you need to go, they'll always provide guiding magic," The instructor told Merlin, "The layout of the building is quite tricky to wrap your head around, but do try your best to memorise as much of it as you can."

Merlin followed the instructor back to the equipment room where he returned the duelling shield glove and the duelling wand.

"Right, now how do I find the receptionist..." Merlin muttered to himself as he wandered through the door he came from originally, leading him into the room of illusions where he saw the same students struggling, alongside a new addition.

"Oh wow, you passed so quickly, you really are a natural," The previously grumpy wizard shouted as Merlin walked past.

Merlin gave him a wave as he made his way to the exit.

'Right, now which way did I come from.' Merlin thought to himself as he walked down the hallway he remembered entering from, 'Why are ancient catacombs easier to navigate than school buildings...'

Merlin wandered around the facility for a little while, walking past a room that was leaking an eerie black smoke from under the door. He eventually found himself at the receptionist once more, only to find that the same receptionist was there at the desk, seemingly asleep.

"What do you need?" The woman's voice rang out as Merlin approached the desk quietly.

"I'd like directions to the orientation lecture, please," Merlin said with a soft voice.

The receptionist began chanting without lifting her face from the desk, and like before, a ball of light appeared in front of him and began moving.

"Thank you," Merlin said as he began following the guide.

The ball of light took Merlin around the facility once more, however, this time he travelled up a set of stairs and into a large lecture hall where barely a fraction of the seats were already filled.

The ball of light fizzled out as Merlin walked over to an empty seat closest to the front and sat down.

Merlin stared at the stage, where he saw several large chalkboards with runes and equations scribbled on them. There was a singular piece of chalk floating around the stage, writing more runes on one of the boards, before it suddenly stopped.

A rag hovered into the air and wiped off a couple of numbers on the centermost chalkboard, only for the chalk to come back and write other numbers.

Merlin noticed that the number was specifically a timer that counted down until the lecture started, and the number currently indicated that there were only seven minutes remaining.

Merlin decided to just read his stream chat while he waited for class to start. It seemed as though everyone was excited to see magic cast for the first time, although they would have to sit through a lecture first.

The seven minutes had passed by in a flash. A couple more students seemed to have entered the lecture hall during that time, but the number of players present in the room right now could be counted on only one hand.

"My, it seems we've got a full class today," A woman's sarcastic voice rung out, reverberating throughout the room.

"I welcome you all, our new students, to our humble little wizard college," The voice said.

A small cloud of smoke filled the centre of the stage before compressing and taking the form of a tall woman. As the smoke dispersed, a tall woman with long silky black hair appeared in its place.

This woman was wearing a slit dress rather than a robe, like many of the wizards that Merlin had seen around the college were wearing. And instead of a stave or a wand, she was carrying around an elegant-looking pipe with a red crystal embedded on the front of the bowl.

The crystal glowed slightly as she took a sip of her pipe, before exhaling the smoke into the room.. The smoke rose into the air before compressing into letters, eventually causing a name to appear in the air before dissipating a few moments later, "Elore".