Chapter 195

Ajax spent his last few free days getting used to working with his new alchemy equipment as well as tending to his plants by infusing them with mana. From the looks of it his first batch of honey should be ready around the same time that his first year at the Academy ends and they all go on their two month long school break.

As for the alchemy equipment it was all very high grade. It would be if he needed to pay three hundred and fifty gold even after the biggest discount they could give him. Two hundred and fifty of that price he would be paying on his next visit when he would be selling things and picking up supplies to take with him into the dungeon.

The return to school wasn’t as awkward for him as the first day. Now that everyone had gotten a bit more used to him and begrudgingly respected his level of power a new dynamic had sprung up around him. The prince’s faction had maintained their distance, not looking to interact with him all that much. But considering his friendly interaction with Annabeth and Lexi as well as his constant sparring sessions with Benedict he found himself with a foot in both camps.

Personally Ajax was leaning more towards the Goldmancer camp but unlike the students of the class he didn’t have to make a definite choice. Not only that but the less determined members of the two sides used interacting as a bridge to interact with the other group without the usual competitiveness. This wasn’t something he enjoyed but he could see the benefit as it got him his first dedicated social skill [Conversationalist]. It was only a Common skill but it was a start towards [Detect Lie] which he really wanted to get.

Unlike their first cycle the opening homeroom class with professor Silvertongue was a lot more interesting to him this time around. He had moved on from the basic concepts of mana saying that anything more advanced will be something that the mages will focus on in their training with the combat instructor as it wouldn’t make sense for the physically focused students to have dedicated class time for that.

“Then what was the point of having us learn that during the first cycle?” on of said physical students asked as soon as the announcement was made.

“That cycle was actually done more for you physical students as well as for the benefit of catching up any students who didn’t have it drilled into them as part of growing up.” the professor responded.

Despite the politically phrased answer everyone knew that he meant that the curriculum had been made with specific lessons introduced to cater to commoners who sometimes joined the class. The more curious students who had pestered their older sibling or parents about their time in the academy would have already known that if no commoner was part of the class those lessons usually ended up getting skipped.

“We will now be moving on to something that could pertain to all of you.” the professor continued. “How to lead mages in battle.”

“Why is that something all of us have to learn?” Another physically focused student asked, this time one that was the son of a Marquis.

“Because, despite the fact that a physically focused fighter shouldn’t be the squad leader of a mage squad in practice, that has been known to not always be the case.” the professor blew out a sigh of disappointment at that, this was something he personally despised.

“Why is that something that shouldn’t happen?” one of the people in Benedict's camp asked as he looked towards the archduke’s grandson. “Many of our generals are physically focused.

“I don’t mean that you’ll be learning how to use a mage battalion. Thankfully our kingdom has made enough progress that command and tactical positions are always given out by merit. What I mean is that you all need to learn how to lead a squad of mages.” Ajax had a confused look on his face at that explanation.

“The royal family is aware enough to know that such positions almost always go to the highest ranked nobles. With the importance of mages during a battle their squads are the best protected, meaning it's the best spot for commanders to put inexperienced members of houses who would hound them should their members die in combat” professor Silvertongue drew another breath. “As such the least we can do is make sure that when that happens you at least know what to do so that you aren’t a detriment to the squad you end up on.”

The explanation had left quite a few of the students indignant, the idea that they would take such a position for the sake of personal safety seemed insulting to them. Ajax however was 100% sure that as soon as they were faced with a real battle most if not all the ones who acted insulted would forget their reactions right now and would be thanking their commander as they headed for the squad assigned to them.

The rest of the class was very interesting for Ajax. Not only because this was information that he hadn’t already gone over as with most of the mana lessons in the previous cycles but because of the skirmish he had participated in before he joined the Collectors and started delving.

He still remembered a lot of the battles that had taken place back then. During those battles he hardly ever focused on the mages as they mostly only canceled each other out, with it being a skirmish the winning mages wouldn’t really start bombarding the infantry as this would lead to heavy casualties.

Magic squad combat mostly resorted to three simple steps. The first was positioning, getting the squad in a good position, this meant that not only could they not be ambushed but also that they could target the enemy infantry, protect their own infantry and also be prepared to engage with enemy mage squads.

The second step was fortifying their position. The only reason why he had managed to ambush a few mage squads during the skirmish was because they were always in transition and they were inexperienced, once the mages had time to set up ditches and small walls anything short of a warrior with a large level advantage or another mage squad will pose little threat to them.

“Next lesson we will move on to talk about the best way to engage with another mage squad. I will end this by saying that if you are physically focused and end up leading a mage squad the best thing you can do after you get yourself positioned is work as a scout to ensure your squad doesn’t get surrounded by a flank or a stealth focused assassin somehow slips in.” With that the professor ended his lecture and walked out.

On their way to the next class Ajax was excited. Despite knowing that the alchemy class in and of itself would probably still be something basic Ajax was actually hoping to ask a few questions of the other teaching assistant as well as professor Vilethorn after the class finishes. Ideally he would get their input for crafting inside the dungeon.

Much to Ajax’s disappointment however not only did the class cover something very basic that he had already learned from a village apothecary but the material also needed to have both the professor and the teaching assistant helping the students, more so because those not interested weren’t putting in all that much effort.

Today the class focused on preparing ingredients. Where their first class had focused on crafting some basic increased regeneration potion they were now learning how different types of ingredients could be prepared. Some plants could be used as picked, others needed to be crushed, shredded, or dried. Not only that but they had to be prepared in an easy way to measure.

The class had started relatively controlled so Ajax quickly set to prepare his ingredients before he could start asking questions however the class went off the rails. Out of the twenty five students almost fifteen had no interest in alchemy so they just wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible. This seemed fine however where physically focused students had an easier time preparing the materials due to their higher Dexterity the mental focused students ended up making a lot of mistakes trying to keep pace with them.

“Stop just trying to rush through it,” professor Vilethorn snapped after passing by the eighth student who wasted his vibrant pound grass by mincing it at nearly half the length he was supposed to. “Alchemy takes time and patience.”

The few chastised students muttered a group apology that came off slightly insincere despite their social skills. This only served to upset the teacher more as she decided enough was enough.

“You had all better pay attention and make sure you learn how to do this as for the rest of the year you will be responsible for the ingredients you ruin with improper preparation.” she threatened.

The threat wasn’t anything that worried the students as anything they worked with in the first year class wasn’t going to be all that expensive and their families would easily be able to afford a few replacements here and there.

“You’ll also be paying for them by working as a gardener in the school alchemy gardens, don’t think you can get out of this by just tossing a few coins at it.”  This time the threat made clean contact as the students started requesting help and clarification.

“Oh, is there something I can help you with?” professor Vilethorn asked Ajax after he remained behind despite the rest of the class moving on, he had seemed dismissive after their first lesson when she approached him about him possessing some skill for alchemy.

“Yes professor.” Ajax answer. “I'd like to ask you about crafting potions and elixirs inside the dungeon.”