A few minutes later, Tatsu's friends gathered around him, gently patting his head and back as they tried to comfort him after receiving the lowest mana measurement from the magic crystal. Tatsu remained on his knees, hands on the floor, staring blankly at the floor as if his entire world had just come crashing down.
"It's alright, Tatsu." Said Haru.
"Don't worry about it. We'll still protect ya." Kenji reassured him.
"I mean, at least you have a speck of mana in you." Daiki added. "So there might still be a chance."
"What good am I supposed to be in this isekai...?" Tatsu murmured to himself, staring blankly at the floor.
"Alright, heroes! All eyes on me!" The lead mage shouted, grabbing the students' attention as they turned toward him and began listening to what he had to say.
"There is someone y'all want to meet."
The lead mage turned toward the massive gate as it slowly opened. A towering figure stepped into the chamber.
Standing nearly seven feet tall, the newcomer was a birdfolk, a bald eagle beastfolk clad in heavy steel armor. His imposing figure drew the attention of every student as he calmly approached them, his sharp eyes scanning the group with an inspecting gaze.
The students could hardly believe their eyes. A birdfolk was standing right before them, an actual humanoid with the features of a bald eagle, and he was far taller and more imposing than any of them had expected.
"This is Commander Corvik. He will be responsible for training you and preparing you for what you are about to face. And I will teach you all about magic."
"It's a pleasure to meet you all." Corvik said in a deep, commanding voice.
A few students shyly waved at Corvik. Kenji then turned toward his friends with an excited expression, clenching his fists beneath his chin.
"Whoa!! This guy is so cool!"
"Now, come with me. I'll take you to your dorms." Corvik said as he turned around and walked out of the chamber.
The students exchanged surprised glances and began whispering among themselves. None of them had expected to be given their own dorms.
"I SAID, COME WITH ME, THAT'S AN ORDER!!" Corvik bellowed across the chamber.
The students jolted in surprise before quickly scrambling to their feet and following him toward the dormitories.
A few moments later, Tatsu and Kenji stood inside their dorm room, dressed in unfamiliar uniforms with cloaks fastened around their necks. The outfits were surprisingly formal, looking far more elaborate than the simple student uniforms they had worn back in their world.
Kenji looked at the whole dorm, while Tatsu sat on a bed.
"This is quite nice." Kenji said. "We've got comfy beds, a large, fancy-looking wardrobe, our own desks, and even a window between us. They even gave us new uniforms, too. Has any isekai ever had something like this?"
"Probably, I guess?"
"Y'know, Tatsu, I've always wondered." Kenji turned to Tatsu. "Why us? I mean, specifically. Don't they have someone tougher than any of us? Or is there something special about us that we don't know about?"
"I'm not so sure." Tatsu placed a finger under his chin, thinking for a moment.
"There's gotta be a reason somehow. Or did the gods of this otherworld really choose us for a reason?"
"We can't know for sure, but what we do know is that I'm cooked." Tatsu dropped his head, covering his face with his hands in embarrassment.
"Awww, don't worry about yourself. At least you won't get yourself killed in a fight. Maybe they'll let you stay here for a while once we're done with this world."
"But I wanna go with you guys! I wanna go on adventures and fight alongside you!"
"Ha, maybe next time, Tatsu." Kenji patted Tatsu on the left shoulder.
They heard a knock at the door. Looking toward it, the mage spoke through the door. "Excuse me, the class is about to start."
"Ah, that must be what Corvik-sensei was talking about while they were taking us to our dormitories." Kenji walks toward the door, then turns to Tatsu. "You coming?"
Tatsu looked at Kenji and sighed before getting up from the bed. "Yep."
A few minutes later, all the students, now wearing their new uniforms, gathered in the training grounds. Corvik stood before them as their instructor for the day. Human knights and eagle birdfolk knights watched the students from around the grounds and atop the walls, observing the newcomers from another world and assessing what they might be capable of when they eventually faced the new army of monsters.
"Mana is an invisible life force and source of raw energy that exists within every one of you. It can be used to cast spells if you're a mage, imbue your weapons, enhance your physical strength, and accomplish many other things. The only way to use mana is to channel and shape it, directing its flow toward whatever spell you wish to cast."
Some of the students nodded in understanding, taking in Corvik's explanation of mana as they listened closely to what he would say next.
"I'll demonstrate how you can channel it."
Corvik gives the students a demonstration by holding a greatsword, moving his sword stance into tall guard, lowering the tip of his sword to the ground. He shuts his eyes and focuses, channeling his mana and infusing it with swirls of mana around the blade. Corvik immediately glanced to the sky as he raised his greatsword high and launched a large vertical wind-slash, splitting a cloud in half; students and the knights felt a strong wind blow through them in the training field after Corvik threw a slash at the sky.
The student gasped, speechless at how strong Corvik might be, then looked back at Corvik as he stamped his greatsword into the ground.
"Right!" Corvik pointed at the students. "Now it's on you to channel the mana inside you."
Later on, every student attempted to channel their mana with the help of the mages and knights assigned to them. However, Tatsu still couldn't channel his mana because he had only the tiniest speck of mana within him, leaving him feeling discouraged.
"Dang, you really don't have any mana, do you?" The steppe eagle birdfolk knight said.
"Yeah..." Tatsu's expression fell, clearly discouraged.
"Don't worry. Your mana capacity will grow eventually."
"How?"
"You just have to exhaust your mana repeatedly and let it refill itself. This will gradually increase the amount of mana you can generate, causing your mana pool to expand over time. Alternatively, you can compress your existing mana into a denser state, permanently increasing your mana capacity."
"Great, if only I can use it."
"Just try to cast the smallest spell you can. Hold on a moment." He looked around for a nearby mage and asked them for assistance.
"Ah, hey! Leo!"
The steppe eagle birdfolk knight asked a mage named Leo, who was giving Daiki instructions on magic from a spellbook. Leo then looked back at him.
"Yeah, Teba?"
"Can we take a look at the spellbook so the kid with extremely low mana can cast the smallest spell and replenish his mana?"
"Ah, yeah, sure, we can pair up-" Mage Leo was suddenly interrupted by a brownish gas explosion accompanied by a loud farting noise.
The students, knights, and the mage were startled by the explosive brown gas. They began coughing and covering their mouths and noses. Teba covered his mouth with his arm, while Tatsu coughed and waved the gas away from his face.
"Oh, was that a fart spell or something?"
"I believe so." Teba said, coughing.
Everybody watched as the mage, Leo, emerged from the brownish gas with his mouth covered by his arm, coughing before immediately passing out. Once the brownish gas cleared, they saw Daiki lying unconscious on the ground with a spellbook covering his face, leading them to assume that he had somehow cast a disgusting spell.
Corvik stepped forward and glanced back at the healers. "Get the healers over here, now."
Then, two healers walked past the students, covering their noses with the sleeves of their robes.
"So... now what?" Tatsu now looked at Teba.
"We'll just have to look for another mage with a spellbook."
"Right..."
Then the students mumbled loudly behind them, which brought Tatsu and Teba to look behind them. Teba groans, thinking it's gonna be another rookie mistake.
"Ugh, what now?"
Teba and Tatsu turned their attention toward the commotion and found Hirito standing among the other students, a brilliant vortex of mana swirling within the palm of his right hand. The dazzling energy twisted and spiraled like a miniature tornado, its radiance illuminating the faces of everyone nearby.
The students and knights could only stare in awe at the sheer amount of mana Hirito possessed and the remarkable control he displayed over it. To many of them, it was already clear that Hirito was destined to become a hero far greater than any of his classmates.
"Whoa..." Tatsu stared at Hirito in awe, falling silent as he watched him. Yet beneath his amazement, Tatsu couldn't help but feel a twinge of envy.
The lead mage watched Hirito from beside the window with keen interest, a grin spreading across his face. He saw Hirito not only as a prodigy, but also as a valuable addition to the kingdom's arsenal.