When I opened my eyes, a large academy building stood before me. It was a bit far from where I was, but I could still see it clearly. The building was tall, a detailed structure using simple black and white colors. It was obvious that the area wasn't very large, and the academy building covered nearly half of it. I continued looking around. The surroundings looked exactly like the normal world. Young students were walking around and talking to each other. The buildings resembled ordinary neighborhood streets. Everything was just like the world back home. The only strange thing was this large academy building. I could see the building's emblem at the very top. The sky was clear for the first time in a long while. There was sun here. Why the lower part was dark, I had no idea. I had stopped questioning such things. But I was glad the weather here was normal.
I kept looking around. Just like in the normal world, there were shops and stores. People seemed to be living normal lives here. Compared to the previous area, it seemed like I was in a very normal place. As I continued observing my surroundings, I saw a man moving along the road in a vehicle that looked like a magical car. The vehicle was fast and smaller in size. I could tell that the technology here was mixed with magic. The car had no wheels. It reminded me once again of where I was.
A small flying robot approached the other people beside me, telling them to follow it. For that reason, the students began following the robot and moving away. When Ayame realized she had to leave, she tilted her head slightly toward me and nodded. I could understand she meant to say goodbye. Then Itsuki also waved his hand with a mischievous smile and said we'd see each other again. I waved back in response. I'd have to deal with the Itsuki problem later.
One of the small robots came up to me and told me to follow it in the same way. Its voice was an ordinary robotic voice, but higher pitched. It was small, almost the size of my hand. It began slowly flying through the air, and I started following it. I could guess it was taking me to my private room. After a while, we entered a black, tall, wide building that resembled a hotel. It headed toward room number seven. I continued following the robot. When the robot stopped in front of the door, the high-quality door opened. The interior was in shades of white and black. It looked detailed and modern.
When the door opened, it said this was my private room. It told me to rest for now and said it would come back to show me around the academy in a few hours before leaving my side. It was clear that the technology here was at a good level. Robots seemed to serve as our guides. I entered the room. The interior was small but had a modern corridor-like style. The bed was of good quality. The room smelled nice. There was a large window in front of me. I could see the city from here. The furnishings were high quality. The room was small but good enough. When I saw that my room was satisfactory, I felt a small sense of contentment and lay down on my new bed. It was better quality than my previous bed. I stretched out long to enjoy it. After stretching, my body felt better. I needed to plan what I had to do before touring the school. This was now my new area. I had to be prepared for new things. I had to stay alert at all times. This peaceful and normal area could secretly be a battlefield for me. I had to be ready for anything.
I kept thinking as I lay in my bed for a while. Then a notification sound came from my phone. I opened my phone and checked the screen. A message had arrived. The message was from the academy itself. The school's system and rules were being stated. I tapped the message and began reading.
ACADEMY INFORMATION
Violence outside of games is strictly prohibited in the academy. The entire area is affiliated with the academy. The region's center is governed by the academy itself.
Everyone in the academy zone is a student of the academy. There are no classes. There is no obligation to attend any lessons. However, there are four class ranks. The highest class is the fourth class, and the lowest is the first class. When you graduate from the academy, you advance to the fifth class.
Even if you have no lessons or classes, the academy organizes exams at certain times, either for your own class or inter-class exams. At the same time, students can challenge each other to duels. Either way, the points you earn increase. Your point total is compared with other classes. Depending on the situation, you can move up or down a class. If you defeat someone in a class above you, you earn more points than usual, and the person who loses loses more points.
As you advance in class, your value in the region increases. You can obtain certain privileges. Abilities in the academy are understood through games. You can earn game money from exams and duels. In duels, there is no limit on what you bet or stake, as long as you can carry out what you wager.
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The entire region uses game money. Your class determines your value. Continue waiting in your room. In a short while, the robot will show you around the academy. Everyone who receives this notification can assume they are in the first class. Good luck in your academy life. That was all for the basic information.
After reading the notification, I understood the situation better. There was an intelligence-focused system in place. It seemed I needed to raise my class by defeating opponents and winning exams. I was concerned about the topic of magic, but instead of dwelling on it, I waited for the robot to come to my room.
An hour later, the door quickly opened on its own. The small robot was flying in the air, standing at the entrance waiting for me. I knew it would show me around the school. I stood up and began following it. We went outside the building. I looked around again. Similar types of cars were moving quickly along the road. I could see some students. The back side of the area was covered with a forest in bright green colors. I continued following the robot. After a while, we arrived at the academy entrance. I needed to do a facial scan. I showed my face to the screen. The scan was approved. Then I entered the academy garden.
When I looked around, there was a short river inside the garden. It was covered with a wide, beautiful lawn. Some students were sitting across the small river. Others were standing elsewhere, spending time with their friends. Some were alone. When they saw me arrive, they looked at me for a brief moment, then stopped looking. I didn't seem to be well known here. The robot spoke and said this was the academy's front garden. The front garden was peaceful. It seemed like a nice place. After looking around for a while, I nodded in approval, and we continued forward. We headed toward the academy entrance.
When we arrived at the academy entrance, an officer was waiting at the entrance. He could have been security. He looked like a middle-aged man. He looked at me for a short moment. He seemed to understand there was no problem. The small flying robot continued forward from the entrance. The academy entrance was spacious. It had a high-quality entrance. We climbed the stairs and entered.
When we entered, the interior looked like an ordinary school. On the first floor, there was a regular long corridor and empty classrooms. The robot indicated that these were the classrooms. We continued moving toward the other corridor. I was looking around as I walked. When we reached the beginning of the other corridor, the robot stopped in front of a door labeled Production Room. It stated that this was the production room, where students could invent things. Then it said there was a lesson going on inside, so we wouldn't disturb them, and continued toward the next door. From the fact that it mentioned a lesson, I could understand that lessons were not mandatory but were being held.
When we moved toward the next room, the door across from it read Magic Room. We entered the room. It was empty. There was a strange smell. The curtains were drawn. The room was a bit dark because of this, but I could see the room thanks to materials that emitted a faint light. There were strange materials around. It was clearly related to sorcery. In the corner, there was a wooden chair and a wooden table. The robot said that if I wanted, I could hire a tutor cheaply here and learn magic. There was a large magic book on the table. I could learn something from this book.
It said that spells didn't work by chanting them like in movies. When you learned them, they were displayed on your phone. I could understand, as always, that phones were an important tool for this system. The robot continued speaking. It told me not to lose my phone. If I lost it, it requested that I notify the academy. Then it returned to the topic of magic. It stated that the spells I learned were recorded on my phone, and that to use spells, it was enough to imagine them in my mind and focus.
The robot continued to inform me. It said we couldn't use spells as much as we wanted. Generally, most had a duration or limit, and I could experience physical fatigue the more I used them. I could understand that I had to be careful when using them.
It continued informing me. I also learned that I could earn various types of spells as rewards among the prizes from exams or matches. Even if I couldn't directly use the spells I won, I could get the chance to learn them. I was beginning to fully understand the magic system.
I learned that we could limit the rank levels of spells in matches. First rank were ordinary spells. There were five ranks. The higher the rank, the more powerful the spells became. I understood the logic. Then, since I was curious about something, I asked the robot if there was a sphere here, because I hadn't seen the sphere surrounding us that had been in the previous area.
The robot said that the sphere existed but was too thin to see from this distance. At the same time, it said it was covered with a defensive spell, so there would be no problem in the event of any attack. When it mentioned an attack, I asked what it meant by attack. It told me that large rocks occasionally struck from the skies, since we were located in a space between the universe. Meaning, we were actually in space.
Thanks to the robot, I was reminded that we were in space. I nodded in approval at its words. I had naturally already stopped questioning how we were breathing. Since we now understood what this room was, the robot slowly flew out of the room. I followed it. The door closed behind us. We continued touring the area. I couldn't help but wonder what else I would see.