‘Seriously, how could I possibly know anything about teaching magic? They said I’d be a PE teacher, so how did I end up teaching practical combat?’
‘Wait, no!’
Aya Tone forced himself to calm down, a flicker of hesitation appearing in his eyes.
‘It’s not that different, really…’
Practical combat is a form of exercise, and exercise falls under physical education.
Therefore…
A practical combat teacher equals a PE teacher!
‘Holy crap, I’m a genius!’
With that simple logical substitution, Aya Tone successfully convinced himself.
Besides, a million a month for only two classes a week…
It’s an even rarer stroke of luck than pie falling from the sky!
“Gulp…” Aya Tone discreetly swallowed.
‘It’s just guiding students in magic, right? Even though he—’
‘—hasn’t gone through complete, systematic training, nor has he ever taken a single university course!’
‘But!’
‘He’s an expert, brimming with experience. (Experience in standing still and dishing out damage, that is).’
Coupled with the countless transmigration anime he’d watched, guiding magic would be a piece of cake!
Transmigration anime never lacked the school romance tropes; he understood them all!
Besides, even if he couldn’t truly teach them, it wouldn’t matter.
At worst, he could just swap in Big White.
‘⌓‿⌓: Heheheh—’
****
“Alright, you, you, you—yes, you, the one with that stray hair sticking up on your head.”
“Put some effort into it! Haven’t you eaten?”
“What? No time to eat before your 8 AM class? Then why the hell don’t you wake up earlier?!”
Aya Tone finally understood what it felt like to ‘smurf’.
Just one word: exhilarating!
His grin hadn’t faltered from the moment he started, and he even felt his face twitching from how exaggerated his smile was.
Watching these fledgling ability users, these mere ‘small fry’ who had only recently awakened their powers, he saw them unable to breach his defenses even with all their might.
Moreover, his own rude remarks were still perceived as guidance by them.
‘So this is what it feels like to be a senior educating their juniors?’
“Don’t you know how to use enhancement magic? Why don’t you cast one on yourself?”
Aya Tone sighed inwardly, frustrated by their lack of progress. Hadn’t he demonstrated the joy of being a melee mage during his fight with Ying Li? How could they still not understand?
“Yes, sir!”
The male student wiped the sweat from his brow, then channeled his dwindling magic to cast an enhancement spell upon himself.
He then picked up his fallen staff and charged towards Aya Tone once more.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk, a teachable youth indeed!”
Yet the very next second, as the student’s staff merely grazed the protective barrier around Aya Tone, a powerful repelling force instantly flung him backwards.
After tumbling twice on the ground, he succumbed to exhaustion and passed out.
Beside him lay several other classmates, all in the same state.
Without exception, their magic was depleted, and they lay unconscious on the ground.
“Hmm, teachable, but only just.” Aya Tone sighed, ‘Could it be that melee mages aren’t the meta after all?’
‘Damn it!’
The remaining students, barely able to stand, watched another comrade fall, a faint flicker of apprehension in their eyes.
From beginning to end, their teacher had remained rooted to the spot, not moving an inch, nor even launching an attack directly at them.
His only method was the faint golden barrier surrounding him, and the repelling force emanating from it—hardly an attack in itself.
‘Could they truly defeat this witch?’
At that moment, confusion filled the hearts of all those still standing.
“Are you all tired already? That won’t do. So weak at such a young age, how will you ever find girlfriends in the future?”
Aya Tone didn’t look at the girls, but instead cast a teasing gaze upon the remaining male students.
‘Men, after all, shouldn’t appear listless in front of girls.’
And sure enough, upon hearing Aya Tone’s taunt, the confusion that had clouded the eyes of the remaining boys vanished.
The first to act was the male student closest to Aya Tone.
“Taste my Blazing Flames! Incinerate!”
A magnificent torrent of flames instantly coalesced into a gigantic fiery blade, slamming heavily against the shield.
Aya Tone smiled calmly, ‘Indeed, boys need a little push.’
‘Without being pushed, how can they reach their limits?’
The flames before him were roughly equivalent to a mid-C-tier ability.
While a mid-C-tier attack might sound weak, one shouldn’t forget that everyone here was a fledgling, having awakened their abilities less than a year ago.
The tier at which one’s ability awakens isn’t everything.
For instance, if you own a professional race car, does that automatically make you a professional driver?
Even Li Huaiming, who advanced to B-tier in his third year of university, was considered a genius.
Yet, not a single one of these current prospects had talent inferior to Li Huaiming’s.
But!
To break through my defenses, these aggressive yet ultimately hollow magic attacks simply weren’t enough!
Aya Tone flicked a finger, and the repelling force on his barrier instantly surged.
Before the fiery blade could unleash its full power, it was sent flying backward by the repelling force.
Moving even faster than it had approached, it offered no time to react before crashing heavily into its owner.
The fiery blade’s radius was too wide, and the unlucky student nearby, unable to dodge in time, also suffered the consequences.
Comically, that unlucky student was still conjuring a spell in his hands, only to be struck by his ‘pig teammate’ before he could even release it.
He tearfully typed ‘gg’.
Two more fell.
‘Let’s see, how many are left?’
Aya Tone began counting through the shimmering barrier.
Still standing were two girls and one boy.
The boy stood resolutely in front of the two girls, his expression grim, staff raised as if facing some bloodthirsty demon.
A protective barrier enveloped them.
Behind him, the two girls had their eyes tightly shut, murmuring incomprehensible incantations.
‘Interesting.’
Aya Tone did not interrupt them; he simply watched in silence.
‘Hopefully, they’ll give him a surprise.’
As time passed, Aya Tone was surprised to discover that the magic from the two girls was converging.
Moving in sync, their staffs crossed.
In an instant, a crimson, blood-red magic circle abruptly materialized above the three students.
The two girls simultaneously opened their eyes and shouted in unison, “Roar of the Blood Dragon!”
As the final, high-pitched note fell, a massive head slowly emerged from within the blood-red magic circle.
Without further movement, the Blood Dragon opened its gaping maw, unleashing a world-shattering roar that instantly surged towards Aya Tone.
Powerful aftershocks swept across the entire training ground.
The three students, being the closest, bore the brunt of the aftershocks, the boy frantically channeling his dwindling stamina and magic into his staff, desperately maintaining their shield.
‘So that’s what that shield was for?’
Aya Tone glanced at the roaring Blood Dragon, paying it little mind.
His gaze remained fixed on the three students, and finally, a knowing smile graced his lips.
‘Finally, he could see a satisfying outcome.’
‘After all, he was playing the role of the BOSS in this practical combat session.’
‘These little noobs were so utterly useless, yet they kept lining up to ‘feed’ him kills.’
‘They were even more prone to ‘feeding’ than the Calabash Brothers trying to save their grandfather.’
‘But no matter how one put it, at least none of them were cowards; their sheer guts were enough to overshadow the mistakes they’d made this time.’
Thinking this, Aya Tone gently waved his magic staff towards the unconscious students on the ground.
Several golden magic shields simultaneously descended upon them, protecting them from the aftershocks of the Blood Dragon’s roar.
Otherwise, their defenseless bodies would never have withstood this B-tier magic.
‘That’s right!’
The magic jointly cast by the two girls had already reached B-tier power. If, in time, these two girls were to break through to A-tier, or even S-tier, and then cast this spell again…
‘Tsk, tsk, tsk, that would be something truly formidable.’
As the blood-red light dissipated, not a single person remained standing in the entire training ground, save for Aya Tone.
The shield protecting the three students ultimately failed to withstand the B-tier magic’s aftershocks.
Magic Class One’s first practical magic lesson.
It ended with total annihilation!
Aya Tone then glanced at the time.
9:12 AM.
‘Damn it! It’s not even time for class to end yet!!!’