As a new student, he was officially registered as a C-Rank Blazer upon enrollment, possessing an absurd Ability that allowed him to manipulate all elements.
With a single blow, he could shake the earth, his gravity could crush the very ground into dust.
With a wave of his hand, he could generate a localized storm rivaling a typhoon, nearly slicing the spectators in the stands to pieces.
He was an incredibly ferocious terrifying guy!
Because of that single destructive battle before the start of school, Noah's fame had instantly reached a level comparable to Stella's.
Also made famous at the same time was Ikki Kurogane.
Unfortunately, there were far too few spectators actually present in the arena at the time of the duel.
Mere rumors alone were not enough to change the arrogant upperclassmen's ingrained opinion of the "Worst One."
They were highly displeased!
By extension, the specific way Noah had become famous was also highly irritating to people.
In many people's ignorant eyes, Noah had deliberately picked on the weakest student in the entire school—the Failed Knight—and then had the faculty spread wildly exaggerated rumors of the destruction to boost his own fame.
Who couldn't beat a mere F-Rank Failed Knight?
The second-year students, in particular, had a very poor impression of both Noah and Ikki Kurogane.
Just then, a familiar, battered figure entered the classroom.
It was Ikki.
His arrival also sparked a massive wave of discussion.
After all, a student who had been forced to repeat a year was about as rare as a giant panda—in terms of sheer statistical rarity, that is.
"Morning, Kurogane," Noah took the initiative to greet him from his desk.
Aside from Ikki, he didn't know anyone else at this school.
They were classmates, so a simple polite greeting seemed perfectly normal to him.
It was the exact same with their previous duel.
Ikki had said beforehand that he didn't care who got the dorm room, he was only in it for the fight.
Although he had lost, he had gained much more.
"Noah? Princess Stella is here too. Are we actually assigned to the same homeroom class?"
"Looks like it."
Having learned his lesson from his last invasive experience, Noah didn't rashly try to Appraise him this time.
Instead, he asked politely, "It looks like you have fully recovered?"
"Ahaha, thanks to the expensive IPS Regeneration Pod. And thank you. I benefited greatly from our mock battle."
His eyes were clear, he wasn't lying or just being polite.
It was evident from the nature of his Device.
An Intrinsic Device is the physical manifestation of one's soul and Noah had long since sensed this man's incredible fortitude and open-mindedness from Intetsu.
This guy was a true warrior and a friend worth making.
"The feeling is mutual."
Noah smiled and extended his hand, formally shaking hands with Ikki to officially get acquainted.
...
It seemed all the students in the classroom had finally arrived.
Although it was the first day of school, it was highly rare to see such a full, perfect attendance during Hagun Academy's regular morning classes.
Today, the homeroom teacher would officially announce the tournament information regarding this year's Seven Stars Sword Art Festival.
This was public information Noah had already received from the student handbook.
"Greetings, new students. Congratulations on your official enrollment."
The homeroom teacher of Year 1, Class 1 walked up to the podium.
She looked like a profoundly sickly working woman.
Although she wore a nice white chiffon blouse and a black hip-hugging skirt, her pale, bluish-purple complexion was impossible to associate with human vitality.
Her sickly appearance made one worry she might suddenly collapse on the floor. She literally had the face of death.
She took a shallow breath, yet dared not inhale too deeply. After steeling herself, she managed to force a highly cheerful expression.
"Hello, everyone! I am your homeroom teacher, Yuri Oreki!"
As she spoke, the pale woman suddenly pulled out a small ribbon-popping party cracker, as if happily celebrating a birthday.
"I would be very happy if you all could casually call me Yuri-chan!"
"Ahem... ahem."
The homeroom teacher, Yuri Oreki.
'Is this person really okay to be teaching? In every sense of the word, seriously...'
"She feels like a pretty sketchy teacher," Stella remarked, unsure how else to politely describe her.
But Noah shook his head. "Don't be fooled by her frail appearance. She is one of the most powerful teachers in the school."
According to the leaked faculty information he got from the student handbook, the teachers at Hagun Academy were certified D-Rank.
Even so, their actual combat power was countless levels higher than the sheltered students.
Because of the massive gap in real-world practical experience, a veteran D-Rank teacher and a rookie D-Rank student could not be compared.
"Is that so? But I can't sense any motivation from her at all," Stella said, seeming a little worried about the swaying female teacher on the platform.
Noah discreetly Appraised Yuri Oreki and thought to himself, 'It would be a literal disaster if she got too physically motivated.'
'With a constitution like that, its a miracle of modern science she is even alive today.'
At this moment, Ikki interjected softly, "She is a very good teacher."
Yuri Oreki continued, "Although there is no formal lecture today, I will tell you all the updated rules for the selection of representatives for the Seven Stars Sword Art Festival."
Noah listened patiently to all the details, automatically summarizing them in his head.
First, last year's selection method was entirely non-public.
Knights with higher raw ability stats and Ranks were simply chosen as representatives by the school board.
This year, however, it was changed to a massive, public combat-based selection tournament.
Because the selection was public, there was a major tactical risk of leaking the representatives' unique Abilities and combat habits, as rival students from other academies would use this broadcasted information to formulate counter-strategies.
Within the school, however, this brutal method ensured absolute fairness.
Combat strength spoke for itself—simple and direct.
All students from first to third year had to officially participate in the selection.
Students who did not wish to participate in the Festival, or who were absolutely certain their strength was not suited for this violent stage, could legally waive their right.
They just had to email their formal withdrawal request to Yuri Oreki's inbox.
Following the grueling match schedule, everyone would have at least one intense match every three days.
In the end, only the top six people would be selected as the academy's official representatives to participate in the Seven Stars Sword Art Festival.
Stella bumped her fists together in sheer excitement.
"Not bad. I can fight many strong opponents."
The young princess radiated powerful, burning self-confidence.
As an A-Rank Knight, there were almost no students at her level.
However, she had no intention of arrogantly underestimating everyone. After all, besides the monster sitting next to her, even an F-Rank Failed Knight at this academy possessed such reality-breaking strength.
The possibility of other hidden powerful individuals existing in the upper years was very high.
Rank didn't mean everything.
Noah also always said that there was always someone better out there.
"Although the selection tournament will be incredibly tough, I, your teacher, still sincerely hope everyone will participate as much as possible! This kind of combat experience, which you can only safely gain now, will surely become a valuable asset for your future careers," Yuri Oreki said, her genuine sincerity overflowing.
All the students could feel her kindness and warmth.
The last of the skeptical chatter in the classroom completely died down.
They had acknowledged this frail woman as their teacher from the bottom of their hearts.
'She really is a very good teacher.'
After perfectly explaining the rules of the selection tournament, Yuri Oreki gathered all her remaining physical strength, intending to rouse the students' morale for the semester.
"Alright everyone! Let's work hard and study together from now on! Join me in a big cheer! Hey! Hey!... Gack... Blergh!!!"
After a brief enthusiastic wind-up, she raised her arm high.
But just as the cheerful words left her mouth, a massive jet of thick blood suddenly shot out from between her lips, spraying across the podium like a crimson fountain.
The students were utterly dumbstruck.
"Sensei?!"
"Sensei, whats wrong with you?!"
"That is so much blood... What do we do?!"
While everyone was screaming and panicking, Ikki Kurogane calmly stood up from his desk.
He didn't look worried at all and seemed completely unsurprised, as if a teacher violently hemorrhaging in class were a common daily occurrence.
He turned his head and asked, "Noah, can you give me a hand? Let's take the teacher to the infirmary."
Noah stared speechlessly at the sizable, morbid pool of blood that had already formed on the floorboards.
With that terrifying amount of rapid blood loss, he estimated it to be around 800 milliliters.
It was technically minor blood loss for a Blazer, but her life wasn't in immediate danger.
"I'll help."
Noah quickly came to the teacher's side and knelt down in the puddle.
Seeing his face, Yuri Oreki weakly struggled to explain. "I... have a chronic condition where I vomit a liter of blood every single day. Don't worry about me... cough, cough... splurt!"
Before she could finish her reassuring sentence, she sprayed out another massive mouthful of blood over his shoes.
The classroom was now entirely indistinguishable from a gruesome murder scene and in fact, looked even more brutal than most!
It had to be said that the medical technology in this modern world was several eras more advanced than Orario.
If not for that, this teacher probably wouldn't have lived to see this day.
Because Ikki had enrolled last year, he was already very familiar with this teacher's bizarre medical situation.
"This is bad, Noah! Hurry up and heal her!" Stella, unaware of her true condition, saw how much pain Yuri Oreki appeared to be in and how exaggeratedly she was vomiting blood.
She urgently prompted the boy she trusted most to save her life.
Noah nodded, helped Yuri Oreki sit up and then began healing her.
She quickly regained full consciousness.
"Huh? This isn't the infirmary. Noah-kun, you know healing magic too?"
"I'm not very good at it, but if it is just replacing blood loss, its no problem."
'Amazing.'
Seeing Noah casually display a healing ability, Ikki who was standing to the side was utterly astonished.
Strong melee combat ability, terrifying magical power and range, and now healing ability on top of that.
He was practically an impossible, all-around perfect knight!
After the emergency treatment, Ikki and Noah still escorted Yuri Oreki down the hall to the infirmary just to be safe.
Before they left the sterile room, the pale homeroom teacher called out to Ikki and warmly spoke.
"Last year was highly regrettable, but this year, you will definitely achieve your dream. I will be cheering for you, Kurogane."
Ikki was deeply moved by her sincere words.
...
The two boys left the infirmary together.
Noah sighed. "For now, let's head back to the classroom?"
With that, he walked on ahead.
Watching his broad back, Ikki thought to himself, 'I look forward to fighting you again. Next time, I will definitely win.'
When the two boys returned to the classroom, the gazes of their classmates focused on them almost simultaneously.
One energetic girl, in particular, holding a digital camera, shoved the lens right into their faces.
"Noah-kun! Senpai! May I interview you two for the school paper?!"