The main subject textbooks numbered three, covering the primary disciplines of magic, alchemy, and magitech arts. All contained the foundational knowledge that first-year students were expected to master. Ye Xu flipped through a few pages casually before closing the book.
Beyond that, there were popular science readers on history, politics, cultural etiquette, and topics like magical beasts, foreign races, herbs, minerals, and more.
After all, the Magic Academy recruited from across the entire region and supplied elite talent to the whole human world. It certainly didn’t want its graduates seen by the outside as uncultured illiterates.
As for the so-called school supplies, they included a pointed magic hat and a slender short wand — both basic pieces of magitech equipment.
The magic hat, when infused with mana, could grant the wearer a buff, helping to calm the mind, improve focus, and thereby increase spellcasting success rates to some degree.
The wand was the most ordinary type of staff, with effects that reduced mana consumption and slightly boosted spell power.
Even though humanity’s modern warfare system revolved entirely around Magitech Knights, people couldn’t stay inside them forever.
As the common wisdom in this world went:
The most direct way to deal with a powerful knight was always to assassinate him before he could board his Magitech Knight.
Humanity’s fragile flesh was at a disadvantage not only against magical beasts and foreign races but also created countless vulnerabilities in conflicts among their own kind.
Thus, while high-end military magic research focused mainly on Magitech Knights, personal protection and support magitech had actually advanced more significantly than before their invention.
Items like the magic hat and staff were prime examples.
You could go without using them, but you couldn’t afford not to have them. No one could guarantee they’d never face an ambush.
Though pitting mere flesh against a Magitech Knight often meant certain death, “whether you could fight back at all” was an entirely different matter.
Moreover, the very essence of Magitech Knights was to replace humanity’s vulnerable bodies with armored steel in combat.
A skilled knight felt no difference or discomfort between piloting a Magitech Knight and using their own body.
Thus, every bit of technique honed in human-scale combat training could be fully applied to Magitech Knight battles.
The only differences in fights between people versus fights between Magitech Knights were thinner health pools, lower attack power, slower speeds, and weaker defenses.
“Wow, this is actual magic equipment?”
“The Magic Academy is amazing — they even give these out for free!”
As Isxila distributed the textbooks and supplies to each student’s desk, the classroom gradually split into two distinctly different reactions.
Some noble students casually stowed the textbooks into their storage devices but disdainfully pushed the hat and wand aside, their faces full of contempt. The commoner students, however, treated them like treasures, cradling the hat and wand in their hands and examining them repeatedly, unable to put them down.
It was understandable — these basic magic items, which cost three or four silver coins apiece on the outside market, might require months of scrimping and saving for commoners to afford. For most nobles, though, they were simply too cheap.
Many commoner students had only received basic cultural education through mandatory national schooling before enrollment and had zero foundation in magic, let alone experience with magic equipment.
This was precisely why the academy provided free basic gear at the start of the year.
After all, having inferior magic equipment was still worlds better than having none at all.
Coincidentally, these items were just what Ye Xu needed.
He genuinely didn’t own any magic gear. With his abilities, he could face several Magitech Knights head-on even in his human body. Magic equipment offered him negligible improvement.
In situations he truly couldn’t handle, finding a Magitech Knight to pilot would be far more useful than carrying some trinkets.
So, after trying them out and confirming they fit well enough and felt comfortable, Ye Xu praised them with a simple “Not bad” before putting them away.
— After all, attending this school without using any magic equipment whatsoever would stand out far too much.
“Alright, everyone, remember to put away your supplies and textbooks. We’ll be using them later.”
“Now, let me explain our school’s academic system.” Teacher Hera clapped her hands with a warm smile, and the classroom chatter died down instantly.
She turned and lightly tapped the massive blackboard behind her. Images emerged one after another on the surface, drawn forth by her mana — displaying the Magic Academy’s academic structure and schedule.
“Our school year is divided into spring and autumn semesters, each lasting four and a half months.”
“The winter semester is for new student enrollment and always starts on August 1st. For example, today is ‘Tianluo Calendar Year 9998, August 1st’.”
After covering the structure, the teacher moved on to the part students were most eager for: vacation schedules.
“Summer break runs from mid-June to August 1st, and winter break from mid-December to February 1st of the following year. Students must arrive one day early for registration, with classes officially starting the next day.”
“And ~”
“Our system is very flexible. Classes run Monday through Friday, with Saturdays and Sundays off.”
“Each day has two morning sessions from 9:00 to 11:20, with a twenty-minute break in between, and one afternoon session from 14:30 to 15:30, after which there are no fixed courses.”
The first morning class was mandatory magic studies, held in each student’s respective class. The afternoon session allowed students to choose between magitech arts or alchemy, attending the corresponding department.
The second morning class was unique: though still within one’s own class, the subject changed daily and weekly, arranged based on the class’s specific needs.
Over the five weekdays, these covered four minor subjects — history, politics, etiquette, and general knowledge encompassing magical beasts, foreign races, herbs, and more — plus one fixed weekly practical Magitech Knight piloting session to consolidate the week’s learning.
After all…
With over ten thousand students school-wide and only three thousand training Magitech Knights available, scheduling had to be staggered for fair resource allocation. One class might have practicals on Monday, another on Tuesday, yet another on Wednesday, and so on.
After classes ended at 15:30, students could head to the library, join club activities, or wait until official dismissal at 16:30.
On weekends, they could rest in the dorms, take missions from the task department, or continue club activities to earn credits.
School rules were mostly common-sense matters; anyone with normal thinking and behavior was unlikely to break them.
Since a thick rulebook was already included with the textbooks, Teacher Hera didn’t bother repeating them.
As long as students avoided violations, accumulated enough credits, and passed monthly quizzes, midterms, finals, and various irregular school assessments, graduation was assured.
Excelling in school or inter-academy tournaments to bring glory to the academy earned generous rewards.
Even a direct school recommendation for post-graduation placement as a knight under a nation or major noble house — complete with a dedicated Magitech Knight — ranked only as an above-average reward.
“My god~~” The commoner students gasped in outright shock, while even the nobles couldn’t hide their excitement. “A direct recommendation letter to become a knight with your own Magitech Knight is just an ordinary reward???”
This time, nearly every student was fired up. After all, not everyone entered with a personal Magitech Knight already assigned.
For commoners especially, this was essentially a guaranteed ticket to social ascension.
At least forty percent of the school’s students would never pilot a Magitech Knight again after graduation, not even outdated training models.
Owning one meant becoming a true knight.
Just as a soldier who didn’t dream of becoming a general wasn’t a good soldier, a mage who didn’t aspire to knighthood wasn’t a good mage.
A mage wasn’t necessarily a knight, but every knight was inevitably an outstanding mage.
— In this world, “knight” wasn’t just a status or position. It was a symbol of honor!
“Huff~ Huff~” Watching the students’ burning enthusiasm, Hera couldn’t help but place her hands on her hips and chuckle lightly.
“Alright, alright, that’s still far off for you… well, for most of you, anyway.”
“Focus on studying magic and improving yourselves for now.”
“Now, everyone, line up!”
With the explanations done, the teacher began organizing the students to further familiarize themselves with the campus and experience academy life.
This time, she didn’t use any magic. Yet under her energetic command, the students rose even faster, forming neat lines at the bottom of the tiered classroom.
Ye Xu stood as well, choosing an inconspicuous spot toward the back.
Seeing everyone ready, Hera straightened her robes and led the entire class out of the room.