Greatest Academy's Student: Magic and Money

The students in the class were shocked by Finn's words. They all stared at him; John struggled to construct a sentence in reply to Finn.

"Do you... know... what you're saying!?"

Finn slammed his hands on his desk and stood up abruptly, a glint of ferocity in his eyes.

He stared intently at John, instilling fear.

"Of course!" he yelled with a grin.

"..."

The class fell silent.

A few moments later, Finn cleared his throat and picked up his tablet.

"Now, if you don't have anything more to say, I shall be excusing myself..."

Heading towards the door, Finn waved back at them.

"Just so you know, I'm not going to be a slave to your foolish social hierarchy. I've got other things to do here... so, if you try this with me again, it might just be your last!"

He instilled another wave of fear in them as he opened the door and shut it behind him.

The students gasped.

John shot the others a strange glance as he slowly walked back to his seat.

"That guy is a maniac. Who does he think he is? He won't last long; no, he mustn't. Every scholarship student must be gone!" John yelled in anger, throwing the textbook on his desk to the front of the class, frightening everyone for a moment.

...

Finn, now on his way to the main building, was revising the recent class on his tablet.

He glanced up and saw female students rushing somewhere. He paid them no mind and continued to his destination.

Upon arriving at the main building, it was empty, with only the receptionist present.

A young man, reading a fantasy book with his legs crossed, sat in the chair behind the desk. A cup of coffee, hot and well-brewed, was placed on the second section of the desk.

Finn approached the reception desk and tapped lightly on the surface.

Tap~

The young man, with big brown eyes, dressed in a white and black uniform and sporting dull features, jolted out of concentration from the book he was reading.

He turned to face Finn with a slight cough, immediately covering his mouth with a white handkerchief.

He raised his gaze slightly to view Finn's face, but upon seeing it, he turned his head back to the book he was reading with disappointment and asked, "What is your inquiry?"

Finn fixed his eyes back on the tablet he was reading and replied, "Further Involvements for Non-Magical Classes."

His gaze shifted to a glass name tag on the surface. It read: 'Murphy Murray'. That seemed to be the receptionist's name—what a unique style, with both the first and last names starting with 'M' and ending with 'Y'; the second letter after 'M' is 'U' in both.

Murray dropped the book he was reading and moved closer to the desktop, just a few inches away from the coffee. This was quite dangerous, as if the coffee were to spill, it could flow onto the desktop, potentially damaging it and causing a fire hazard if it got out of hand.

Murray began searching for the "Further Involvements" enquiry form on the Academy's personalised website.

After a moment of scrolling, he found the relevant section, but to his dismay, he saw a temporary notice under the tab:

Currently Unavailable

Due to bugs causing misassignment of classes, this information is temporarily inaccessible.

Murray reported this to Finn, who felt a bit disheartened, as he had hoped to invest more time in the unit. He decided to ask about something else that was bothering him.

"Can I possibly attend a Magical Class despite being a non-magical being?"

Murray shot him a bombastic side glance, as if to say, "You must be foolish!"

A few seconds later, he replied calmly, "No... you'd have to become a Mage at the very least. Currently, it is unavailable to you. Once you become a Mage, you can apply for the class and undergo a new verification process."

Finn nodded, as that was settled. He had another question.

"How do I become a Mage then?"

Murray sighed and picked up his book. Leaning back in his comfortable seat, he responded, "The answers are in the library. Specifically, you can search for the book titled How to Become a Mage."

Finn nodded again, thinking to himself, A very simple title...

He had already planned to visit the library earlier in search of the book 'The Breath of the Universe' to learn more about Aether.

After finishing his inquiries, Finn scanned the main building for the Top 10 billboard.

In one corner, he spotted a digital Top 10 Billboard mounted on the wall. The screen displayed the wealthiest students in bold letters, with their names and net worths clearly listed in a bright, easy-to-read font.

The vibrant colours and design drew the eye, making it simple to see who ranked where.

Curiosity piqued, Finn moved towards it, eager to discover who the Top 10 richest students were.

It was ranked as:

Rank Name Worth (in Pounds)

1 Aurelia Blackwood £20,000,000

2 Finnian Gray £16,500,000

3 Isabella Chen £10,750,000

4 Sebastian Thornton £8,500,000

5 Marcus Sterling £7,800,000

6 Cassandra Devereaux £7,500,000

7 Oliver Kensington £6,900,000

8 Talia Morgan £6,500,000

9 Jasper Reed £6,200,000 

10 Daphne Rivers £5,800,000

An extra detail was under the rankings: Last updated - A month ago.

Finn placed a hand on his chin and smiled. "So Sebastian is number 4 on the list, and..."

His words were cut short by a sound from beside him.

"Humph."

His eyes slowly rolled to the side; he was certain no one had been standing next to him just two seconds ago. Even if someone had sneaked up on him, he would have noticed.

His gaze met a boy with green hair, holding a short wooden wand and resting it on his temples while staring at the billboard. Finn shifted his head slightly to get a better look at the stranger.

The boy turned to Finn with a smile and introduced himself.

"Oh, hi! My name is... erm... that's me at number 10." He gestured towards the billboard.

Curious, Finn glanced at number 10 on the list: Daphne Rivers, with a worth of £5,800,000. He looked back at the boy with a composed expression and said gently, "Nice. Congratulations, Daphne."

Daphne was taken aback by Finn's reaction. He showed no sign of surprise, which made him very happy to engage further.

As Finn walked towards the main building's exit, Daphne followed him enthusiastically. "Wait, aren't you surprised that I'm on the list?"

Finn sighed deeply and responded with a question. "Why should I be? Is it that amazing?"

Daphne's smile widened as he clapped his hands and stood in front of Finn, blocking his path. Finn rolled his eyes in annoyance, raising an eyebrow.

"Sorry, but are you a magical student?"

"No!" replied Finn, now staring at the wand in Daphne's hand. He added, "But you are one, right?"

"Precisely, yes! Let me show you a spell."

Is this guy joking, or does he not know I'm a scholarship student? Finn thought.

That's odd; I expected him to be like those other brats... Is he pretending?

Back when he was Ethan, he had always been cautious of the people he associated with, studying them and keeping them at arm's length to avoid conflict or betrayal.

Now, in this new life, having seen most of the paid students' reactions towards students like him, he felt that they would all behave similarly. But Daphne was acting differently—either he was naive or pretending.

Daphne raised his wand, and with a flourish, he declared, "Silencio Mutta!"

A soft glow enveloped the area around them as Aether swirled from the wand, creating a shimmering white barrier.

The air seemed to thicken for a moment, and then a wave of energy rippled outward, sealing off their conversation from anyone outside the spelll.

The Aether danced in ethereal patterns, forming a protective cocoon around them, turning from bright white to invisible to the human eye.

Murray, on the other hand, was too engrossed in the book he was reading and didn't notice them. He even brought out a pair of blue headphones with bunny ears and placed them on his head, now playing an upbeat song as he whistled along while reading.

"Now nobody can hear what we're discussing," Daphne said proudly.

"It's a simple spell that a novice mage like me can cast."

Finn thought to himself, So that's how you cast a spell? That's astonishing...

He pondered whether a non-mage like him could use a wand infused with Aether to cast a spell, but he decided to save that question for later.

Just as Finn was about to say something, Daphne rapidly interjected, "I have a question. And yes, I know you're a scholarship student; a list of all of you was posted on the Academy's forum, so everyone knows your faces. Well, I couldn't memorise all the names, but I've seen your face on the list..."

There's a forum...?

Daphne continued, "My question is, would you like to be my friend? I can help you learn how to become a mage and many other things."

Finn scoffed in disbelief.

"Uhn? Friends? With me?!"

How many brain cells have you lost to come up with such a thought?