Kian Goldmaul POV

  A week has passed since the first day of the academy.

  Ever since the teacher explained the Core and how to do the third filter, I’ve been preparing for it.

  After that day, I started setting up the third filter, and now I finally have the Silver core. I managed to complete the process during the weekend, and I assume the others in my class did so as well.

  The third filter was easier than the previous ones, and the actual process was around the same, but I can finally tell why they didn’t allow me to do it before I turned twelve. It is mostly because the tube connecting to the core was not developed enough to handle the pressure of three filters at once.

  I am currently walking in the hallway heading back to the classroom. I just came out from the ethics class.

  The main teacher doesn’t teach everything, and unlike our normal sessions, the ethics class and others like it are attended by students from different classrooms all mixed together.

  The main teacher just focuses on teaching us combat, support magic, and other written subjects such as history and mathematics.

  After arriving at the classroom, I take my seat.

  We no longer have fixed assigned seats; it’s just that if we talk, we have to be quiet, and we are only allowed to speak when the teacher isn’t explaining something.

  I sit next to Rhaelor and Thibault. Thibault is the guy I fought in the semi-finals during that tournament for kids.

  We chat for a while as we wait for the teacher to arrive.

  After five minutes, he enters the room and puts his stuff in the usual spot. He doesn’t leave his items in here for fear they might get stolen and our information might get leaked. Although everything is digital and encrypted, he still does that. Cant blame him.

  “I hope you all enjoyed your weekend,” he says with a smile. “Today, I will be teaching you how to make a core compressor with some simple support magic.”

  The teacher seems to always be trying to be approachable, and it is probably to make the school seem less boring. It isn’t just that, as the afternoon freedom we are given assists in that feeling as well.

  “Before I start, can everyone who finished their third filter and obtained a silver core please raise their hands?”

  After hearing that, everyone, including myself, raises their right hand. He nods after seeing everyone.

  “Good, no one here is a slacker from what it seems. And how was making the third filter? It was easy, wasn’t it? After all, the guide only shows it the fastest speed at twelve years old, which you all are.”

  “Well then, I will be explaining how to make a core compressor.”

  “But first I have to explain the basics. The compressor sits directly between the tube and the core. It connects to the core and forces Veythar to pass through it before entering. Its job is to actively push in more Veythar than would normally enter just from normal breathing.”

  As he says that, an image appears on the screens showing a core connected to a compressor and a tube.

  “The core is small, really small, and a compressor of that level is needed if you even want to use real magic.”

  He shows a core on the screen next to a bean, and they’re around the same size. I never actually knew the core was that small.

  "The core is only 8 mm across, which is really small. But thankfully Veythar is extremely dense, so even that tiny 8 mm can hold a massive amount once it is compressed. The compressor is just 2 mm, but it's the only thing that forces enough Veythar through to make real magic possible without running out of energy before the magic even appears. Without it, you'd barely get anything from normal breathing, as you all already know."

  “Before I explain how to make a compressor, I need to explain other things first.”

  As he says that, the image on the screen disappears.

  “There are people who are born with more than just a core. For example, there are many cases of people being born with a filter, or an incomplete one. But it is not only limited to filters, as incomplete compressors exist too, although they are more uncommon.

  “Being born like that would fasten the process to make a filter or a compressor. And there is no need to worry, as there has never been a case where someone was born with one and it hindered his speed or caused him to regress or lose his core.”

  “Of course, if you somehow lost your core, we will just put you through surgery and give you a new civilian-grade Core.

  “Either way, everyone should check if they have an incomplete core,” he says. “To check, use the same method you used to see inside your body to make your filters. Just check if there is something sticking out from the core and connecting to the tube.”

  He puts the core with the compressor photo back up.

  “Here is an example photo, although the one inside you will not be as complete as this one, obviously.”

  After he finishes talking, he signals for us to check. I check my own body and find nothing out of the ordinary. After everyone finishes, the teacher continues talking.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “Did everyone check?” he asks. When everyone nods, he continues. “Well then, please raise your hand if you think you have an incomplete compressor.”

  Among us, only three people raise their hands: one girl and two boys, Rhaelor and Crispin. The teacher nods.

  “Alright, can you three come down? I still need to check for myself.”

  They nod and walk down to the front. He checks them one by one, confirming their compressors.

  “Alright, you three, after class go to the infirmary. They will guide you on where to start creating your compressors. You can return to your seats. As for the rest of you, please check again later to make sure you didn’t miss it, and make sure to tell me if you find that you have one.”

  After that, he starts explaining how to make the compressor and sends a step-by-step guide to the classroom group chat.

  “So now, do you have any questions?” he asks after finishing the explanation.

  One of the girls raises her right hand.

  “Erm, the question I have isn’t exactly about the compressor, but... from what I see, we have magic to see inside our bodies, the organs, the core, and so on. We can affect our bodies as we wish, so why can’t we use body enchantment magic using our normal core?” she asks.

  Now that she mentions it, I am curious as well as to why, and I don’t seem to be the only one. I originally thought it was because we cannot change or affect our bodies, but the way we make the compressor suggests otherwise. I think to myself while waiting for the teacher to answer.

  After hearing her question, he nods.

  “Well, it is true that you can affect and strengthen your body using normal magic, atom magic. But it has side effects.”

  After saying that, he moves his hand across his tablet. after a while, an image appears that says “The World Races.”

  “Now, you must be wondering why I put this on the screen for her question. Well, the races that exist other than humans are the cause of the side effects of using enchantment magic with the normal core. When you use your normal core for enchantment magic, you are changing the structure of your body’s atoms, and even after you stop the magic, the atoms don’t return perfectly to how they were originally and through many repetitive uses, the side-effects become more and more obvious.”

  He says this as he shows images of a human's appearance starting to change in the photos.

  “The images you are seeing are from the time body enchantment magic was still being used. Photos were taken monthly to document the changes.”

  “Those photos are older than 3,000 years. The person in the photo was using speed and agility enchantment, which slowly turned him into what we currently call the race of Aleran. Just like us humans, the Aleran have their own empire.”

  He shows a photo of an Aleran. They have longer arms and legs with thinner waists, and their bodies seem to be slightly thinner than a normal human. As for the face, it is the same as ours but slightly sharper.

  I nod to myself. When I first saw them, I originally thought they were just slightly weird-looking humans, probably from other regions. It wasn’t until I checked the internet that I confirmed about the existence of other races.

  He changes the image to someone with a big chest, thick arms, and heavy legs.

  “This is a Durlan. They came from humans who used strength enchanting magic. Unlike us, they don’t have an empire but are more widely spread through the world.”

  They look like fantasy dwarfs, but the only difference is they’re the same height as normal humans, or at least from what I have seen.

  He changes the image again, showing a human with wings, no arms, a thin waist, and standing slightly shorter than the average human.

  “Those are the Wingfolk. You will not see them commonly in our empire due to political reasons. They are humans who tried to imitate birds to get the ability to fly. After repetitive uses, they lost their normal arms and instead developed wings. Their wings are five meters long each.”

  Afterward, he changes the image again, but this time it shows multiple people instead of one, with each of them resembling an animal slightly.

  “Those are Animalfolk. They became like that by trying to imitate animals, but unlike the Wingfolk, there are multiple variants, as you can see.”

  He changes the image again, now showing a human with a fin on the ends of their legs and gills on their faces.

  “This is the Waterkin. They are the side-effect of people who tried imitating fish by having fins on the ends of their legs and gills to breathe underwater.”

  “Now, the last one.”

  He shows an image of a normal human.

  “This isn’t a normal human. This is a Giant from the Giants race. They look like normal humans. They are the side-effect of multiple enchantments: physical durability, speed, and so on.”

  “Now you know why you shouldn’t use normal magic to enchant your body, and why it is illegal to do so.”

  The same girl who asked the original question asks another one. “If so, isn’t humanity the weakest among them?”

  The teacher shakes his head without needing to think. “Of course not. Every race besides the giants has a weakness. For example, the Aleran are weak physically, and the same goes for the Wingfolk. As for giants, they are just bigger humans, and so there is no specific weakness when comparing them to us.”

  After he finished explaining everything, he gave us a small break before he started teaching us some other magic.

  After class finished, I went to the cafeteria to eat lunch while thinking about what I should do in the afternoon.

  Like I mentioned, the afternoon is a bit of a freedom time, as we can go to whatever class or teaching facility we want. People in this world are smarter on average, and so learning normal subjects is easy.

  After I finished lunch, I decided to head to the gym, as I had never been in there before.

  After arriving, I scan my digital school identity card and enter.

  I look around confused. The equipment is extremely advanced and I am not familiar with it, as it doesn't all look exactly the same as it did in my past life.

  I head to the front desk. “Hello, I am new here. Can I get some assistance?” I ask the person at the front desk.

  He nods. “Alright, I will call for a gym instructor to help you. Please wait.”

  After saying that, he presses a button on his desk and says there is a new student who wants help.

  After waiting for a while, a person arrives. He is around 2.2 meters tall. The person at the front desk points at me.

  “You're new here?” he asks, and I nod in response.

  “Very well. Training is good for you, so I hope you stick around. Follow me; we have to see what level you are at before I start actually guiding you.” He nods back, smiling, before he starts walking.

  “Let’s start with a deadlift.” He picks up a bar and puts it on the ground. “Have you ever trained in martial arts or similar things?”

  “Yes, since I was six. My parents are knights.” My grandpa told me that if someone asked when I started training, I should answer that it was at age six.

  He nods and loads 150 kg onto the bar, which stuns me. 150 kg? I look at my own body. Can I even lift that off the ground?

  “Alright, let’s start with this.” I look at his face, which seems to be saying that this is a normal weight. I swallow back my words and prepare myself. And to my surprise, I lift it easily.

  Huh?! Am I really that strong?

  The instructor nods casually and adds more weight. My maximum ended up being 270 kg.

  Next was the squat, and I was able to do 230 kg.

  As for the bench press, I was able to do 180 kg. All three of those results shocked me equally.

  The final one was a speed test. I got 31 km/h. It didn’t shock me as much, as I was already aware of my speed from quite early on.

  Just how strong are the muscles of humans in this world? And an adult can easily lift much more than I do.

  After that, he guided me through training my body for the next hour before giving me a digital guide to follow.

  “If you are confused or want to know something, come right to me. Don’t hesitate.”

  I nod as he leaves.

  Sigh... seriously. At this point, my knowledge from my past life is almost useless.

  Chapter End