Danmachi - Infinite Mana System! - Chapter 163 - Altena 03.

[Chapter Size: 2200 Words.]
Third Person POV
Orario.

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"Well... it's a bit surprising," Lucius murmured as he stepped into the room.

"I hope you know what you're doing, Lucius. We could get into trouble here," Riveria said by his side.

"Relax, it's just a class..." Lucius shrugged. He was curious to see what a magic academy in this world would be like. After all, this was the first one he had the chance to visit. Nobles and princes across the continent (and even beyond) usually learned through private tutors hired by their families or by members of their own households.

The interior of the classroom was spacious, with the teacher's area positioned near a light source by the entrance. In the middle, before reaching the students, there was a space for magical demonstrations and a training mannequin. The auditorium was built in tiers, with the students' desks arranged in rows forming three aisles that led to the back of the room. The space was shaped like a "V," with the teacher positioned at its point. At least fifty students were present, all observing Lucius with curiosity.

Some students were sitting on the desks, chatting among themselves. Others were reading, but they quickly stopped when they noticed Lucius’s presence. Some rested their hands on their faces, bored, while others fixed their gazes on the newly arrived teacher, as if eagerly awaiting him.

"Hey, so that's Professor Van Laiac!" someone whispered, and soon several voices began murmuring.

"He's really young. They say only people with great magical talents can become teachers so young. Even if he's a theoretical magic professor, that's still amazing!"

"Amazing! Do you think the goddess Athena put him in this position because of his family? Could he join the family like Victoria Roadster?"

"I'm so jealous! Do you think I'll ever be that talented?"

The students, who appeared to be between 16 and 19 years old, quickly began whispering, admiring the famous substitute teacher. Even as a substitute, it was considered a great privilege to hold a teaching position at the Altena Academy of Magic.

From what Lucius had read in the library, the academy functioned as one of the pillars of the city, training scholars to craft magical artifacts and even ensuring the city’s operation. There were two types of mages here: combat mages and theoretical mages. While the military wasn't entirely composed of mages, Altena’s army had soldiers wielding spears and shields on the front lines, but their main strength lay in the mages, who always supported the soldiers from the rear.

As all theoretical mages were professors, this was the most respected profession in the city, and everyone, without exception, had to show them respect. When a professor emerged under the age of 30, it was proof of extraordinary talent and a bright future. Now Lucius assumed the identity of one.

Lucius surveyed the room for a moment, watching as the students left their small groups and began to scatter, sitting politely in their seats as they awaited him.

"Well, let’s get started," Lucius said to Riveria, who looked at him with an expression that clearly conveyed her belief that this was a terrible idea. Nevertheless, she followed him as he moved to the center of the room. Lucius could feel the admiring gazes of most of the students, but he also noticed a few disdainful ones. It seemed Professor Van Laiac had certain enemies, though Lucius knew nothing about that. Perhaps it was more about his family—after all, the noble families of the city often competed over many things, causing even the governor, Athena, some headaches.

"Alright, young students..." Lucius began, maintaining a firm and confident tone as he walked toward his desk. The students paid attention without questioning his authority, even if he might be an intruder.

"This is the class on... magical concepts," he murmured as he approached the desk and saw a book titled Introduction to Magical Concepts. "I hope we get along well today," he commented, knowing he would only be there for one day.

"Professor, professor! I have a question!" A student raised their hand at that moment.

Lucius looked at the student and turned his attention to him with curiosity. "Go ahead..." he said.

"Patric Ubren, Professor Laiac," the student introduced himself before continuing. "I read a bit of your article, and it’s incredibly interesting how you view magic," he commented enthusiastically.

"Shut up, Patric! You didn’t even read it. You’re just trying to score some points!" another student mocked, making Patric turn red with embarrassment.

"I did read it!" Patric protested, trying to defend himself.

Meanwhile, Lucius observed the situation with boredom.

"It’s not even that impressive, your article. I’m sure my family, the Roadsters, could do better," a girl with red hair, sitting in the back rows, remarked disdainfully. Everyone in the room turned to look at her, suggesting she was somehow important and likely a rival of the family of the professor Lucius was impersonating.

Lucius shifted his attention to the redhead but decided to put an end to the subject.
"Well, it doesn’t matter. Let’s start the lesson and stop this nonsense about the article. We can talk about it later," Lucius declared, clearly wanting to avoid dragging the topic further. The students seemed surprised; after all, articles written and accepted by Athena’s family were a source of pride for anyone, but this professor didn’t seem to care to even defend it from the redhead.

"Alright... I want you to open your books to page..." Lucius began, stalling for time. He was more interested in accessing the mentioned article but needed to keep the students occupied. "Page 20," he said after finding a title that seemed simple to understand.

"But, professor, we’ve already studied that!" a student immediately complained.

"How about page 40, then?" Lucius suggested.

"We’ve already studied that too, Professor Van Laiac," a student in the front row replied.

"Then what haven’t you studied yet?" Lucius asked, looking at them.

"What an unprepared professor! He doesn’t even know where we left off," the same red-haired student from before said with a sarcastic smile.

Lucius looked at her, suppressing the urge to kick her out of the class on the spot. "Can you tell me where in the book you are, then?"

"We’re studying magical particles of the thunder element on page 130, professor," a student in the middle of the room replied, trying to help.

Lucius opened the book to the indicated page and quickly skimmed the content. "Alright. I want you to read this section and explain it to me later," he said calmly, leaving the students surprised.

"Wait, aren’t you going to teach? Most of us haven’t studied this yet!" the same red-haired student protested, slamming her book on the desk and glaring at Lucius indignantly. She couldn’t believe the professor would leave them to study on their own.

"You’ve already studied hundreds of pages of this subject. I want you to form your own ideas. If you’re not satisfied with that, you’re free to leave my class," Lucius replied firmly.

Riveria, standing beside him, was shocked at how Lucius was handling the class but remained silent. The students, astonished, turned to the complaining girl, who clenched her teeth in anger but said nothing more. She sat back down, lacking the courage to continue questioning him. No one else dared to speak, surprised by how strict the professor could be.

Finally, Lucius sighed and settled into his chair. He opened the article mentioned by the red-haired student and began reading it with interest, completely ignoring the murmurs still echoing in the room.

As the students read, Lucius noticed some empty chairs in a corner of the room. Without hesitation, he used magic to make the chairs disappear and reappear next to him.
"Come sit by me," he asked Riveria, who, still incredulous at how carefree he was as a professor, nodded and followed him.

Some students, noticing the use of magic, were shocked by what they saw. After all, moving objects with a simple hand gesture was unheard of among the mages of this world. However, no one said a word. Lucius, for his part, seemed unconcerned about their reactions. He continued focusing on the article while Riveria sat beside him, trying to understand what Lucius was really planning.

"Let’s see," Lucius said, starting to read the article. Ten minutes later, he frowned. "Who writes this kind of nonsense? This is lazy and idiotic research!" Lucius suddenly exploded, appalled at how flawed the supposedly fantastic thesis was.

His outburst caught the attention of all the students, who looked on curiously. "Look at this! Can you believe this guy?" Lucius mocked, showing the book and notebook to Riveria. She sighed and began reading.

"Well, it's just a theory. It's not meant to be taken so seriously," Riveria said, though she didn't think the article was as significant as everyone had made it out to be so far.

"Theory? This guy didn’t even do the calculations! He's completely wrong in so many ways. Even I, who haven’t studied much magic, know better than this!" Lucius retorted, marveling at the level of magical understanding people seemed to have here.

"Well... you know it’s different, don’t you?" Riveria replied, trying to calm him down.

"Professor, we’ve finished reading. Can you start the lesson now?" a student asked, interrupting the moment.

Lucius looked at her for a moment and then nodded. "Go ahead," he said, barely paying attention as he returned to the article, trying to understand the flaws the author had made.

"Well... I’d like to understand the extraction of magic from lightning. It’s extremely powerful and chaotic..." the student asked, her voice tinged with doubt.

Lucius glanced up for a moment, then turned to Riveria. "Can you explain it to her? I’m busy here," he said nonchalantly.

Riveria sighed deeply. "Fine. I’ll answer their questions." With no other choice, she stood up. The students were surprised to see the assistant, and not the famous professor, addressing them.

Riveria began to speak, answering the students' questions with precision and patience, while Lucius remained engrossed in the article.

"Wait a moment!" a student suddenly burst out. "Why is she answering? It should be the professor! He’s been sitting there for over an hour reading instead of teaching!" she exclaimed, visibly outraged.

Lucius stopped reading, looked up, and stared at her. It was the same red-haired student who seemed to act like the queen of the class. "Who are you to demand anything from me?" he said, his tone dry. After all, he was the professor. The students seemed to gulp nervously at that moment as the girl stood up with her chin held high.

"I’m Victoria Roadster, a member of the main branch of the Roadster family and a member of the Athena Familia! I’m a Level 2 mage on the rise," she declared proudly, looking at Lucius with confidence. "You should know that!" she added, her arrogance palpable, as the other students remained silent.

"Big deal," Lucius replied without hesitation. "Now, please, sit down and don’t say another word. Otherwise, I’ll ask you to leave the class," he said firmly, as if it were no big deal.

Victoria was completely shocked. The other students were equally stunned. No one expected the professor to ignore such a high status.

"You can’t be serious!" Victoria responded incredulously, while Riveria watched her with a look that suggested this probably wouldn’t end well.

"Whatever... Well, I think it’s time for a break. You can all come back later," Lucius simply said.

"But there’s still an hour and a half until the break!" a student protested.

"Then that’s an extra hour and a half for you to have fun. Now go, go," Lucius said, gesturing dismissively, leaving all the students frozen in disbelief at this substitute professor.

"You can’t do this! You haven’t even taught us anything!" Victoria complained.

"If you all want to learn, fine. Just answer me one thing: how many of you here want to be battle mages?" Lucius asked, setting the article aside for the first time.

Several students raised their hands, almost the entire class. It was clear that being a battle mage was far more prestigious.

"I’m already a battle mage," Victoria said proudly.

"Big deal... since most of you actually want a lesson, I’ll give you one after the break. So, go take it now, and when you come back, I’ll teach you something," Lucius said simply.

Without another word, the students began to leave, pondering Lucius’s words. Still stunned, they had no choice but to follow the first few students out of the room.

Victoria stomped out, her footsteps echoing as she shot Lucius an indignant glare. But he didn’t care in the slightest, continuing to read the article and jot down its mistakes.

"Lucius... are you sure about this? We’re going to get into trouble..." Riveria commented.

"But that’s exactly what I want, my dear. After all, we need to draw attention, and I know how to do that now... It won’t be long before the Athena family comes here," Lucius said with a smile.

Author’s Note: I made this a lighthearted chapter. It’s time for Lucius to get a student, and I thought about making that redhead OC his apprentice.