Idle Mage: Humanity's Strongest Backer-Novel

"Ah, darn! Asked the wrong person!" The 'arm' guy took a glance at his robes and said: "I should've known, you're wearing robes after all."

The uniforms of Mystic Academy varied depending whether the student is a Mage or a Knight but not that much. Mages will have a robe and knights will have a royal blue cape with golden epaulettes. It's impractical but looks cool so who wouldn't want to wear it?

"I swear if you try to ask another person I will smack you again." The girl who's sitting in the middle of the 'arm' guy and the 'leg' girl threatened. She looked at Ashton and said: "Sorry about them, they can be a little bit rude. I hope you don't mind."

"It's fine." Ashton waved his hand. He then looked at the 'arm' guy and said: "As for what's better well...isn't that why were here? To figure out how to become stronger? Why don't you two wait until the start of the class then you can ask a professor about it. I'm sure they'd be able to tell you which is which."

The arm guy looked shocked and said: "Oh, yeah. You're right. Dude! You're like...smart or something! That's awesome!"

"Nah, you're just an idiot." The girl in the middle interjected again. "And rude too. You didn't even introduced yourself yet. I'm Mary by the way. This idiot guy is Blake and this timid one is Alice."

"Hey! You stole my chance to introduce myself! You can't tell me I'm rude. Plus, I was planning on doing it anyway!"

"Nah, you're fine. Your name is Blake and you're an idiot, there's not much to say. I did for you and for free so you're welcome."

"Grr..."

As the two bickered with each other, Ashton looked at the girl named Alice and nodded at her.

Alice shyly nodded back and fiddled with her fingers, it seems that she's not used to talking to strangers since she obviously looked uncomfortable.

Ashton guessed that these must be childhood friends or at the very least neighbors. They seem to bicker a lot and it looked natural on them so they must be very close.

'A loud idiot, the haughty one and the timid one. What an odd set of friends.' Ashton mused inwardly.

They seemed to have completely forgotten about him already which is fine. Ashton went back to browsing online using his watch.

A couple of minutes passed like this until the clock hits 10:30am.

Strangely enough, the courtyard suddenly turned silent. A tense air filled the surroundings and anticipation started rising up from the students' hearts.

At very front where the podium is, a flash of light made itself visible. An orb of golden glow appeared before the students and from it, several figures emerged.

Ashton felt the wild fluctuations of mana on his surroundings. It's times like this where his sensitivity towards mana backfires since this was making him feel uncomfortable.

Thankfully, it didn't last long. When the last figure stepped out, the fluctuations of mana ceased and a row of adults presented themselves before the students.

One of the, stepped forward and cleared his throat...

"Welcome to Mystic Academy, Freshmen. Thank you for attending the Welcoming Ceremony we prepared for you. My name is Yohan Muller, I am the Events Administrator of the Academy and will be the spokesperson for today."

Ashton didn't see Yohan wearing a mic or something to amplify his voice but strangely enough, he sounded clear to him and he didn't look like he was screaming either. It must be the work of some spell.

Yohan then proceeded to give his welcoming remarks for the new students and started introducing the important personnel of the Academy.

The Head of the Teaching Department is Alicia Selner. Oh her right is the head of the Knight's Department - Ludwig Sawyer and on the left is the Head of the Mage's Department - Julius Chrome.

There's also the Head of the Disciplinary Committee - Charles Randall and Academy Guardian - Jeeves; the Giant Stone Gargoyle. Fun fact: the statues he had been seeing all this time are Jeeves' children and all are connected to him in a tight web that allowed the gargoyle to see what's happening all over the Academy.

Them there's the Headmaster of the Academy - Siegfried Armond III. He's a tall man with a long golden hair and eyes. He looked kind and scholarly but Ashton knew that this guy was someone nobody should mess with. He can't see through him but that's natural given the disparity between them.

He already knew about this people thanks to the guidebook. Their faces are in there as well but it's different when seeing them in person.

Yohan continued his speech about the Academy and told them about its brief history, all of which were boring and mostly ignored by students. Ashton thought so as well but he at least spared some attention to it since it could prove useful in the future.

According to Yohan, the place where the Mystic Academy is right now was once a hostile dimension filled with invaders. This used to be a dreaded place, one that ended many lives of humans but as Heroes rose, humans managed to get this place under their control, wresting it away from the invaders for their own benefit.

All of the threats that once walked this dimension are long gone. None will come back and that is assured by the fact that the Academy stood tall in this place for almost 3000 years without facing any kind of threat.

Yohan ended the boring lecture then since he seems to have noticed that majority of the students are ready to fall asleep.

"...as part of the Welcoming Ceremony, we prepared an event that will help our students determine the most suitable path for them to follow."

This part caught Ashton's attention. Not only him, the bored students are now paying attention again.

"With the rich history of Humanity's Cultivation. It is safe to say that we have come far. The knowledge we possessed had been refined and tested by time. We've come up with plenty of methods to improve and ensure that we can become strong enough to reach the apex."

"The said methods include what we now call 'Specializations'."

Ashton's eyes widened upon hearing that. He focused and made sure to listen to whatever Yohan was about to say next since he had been waiting to figure this one out.

"Not everyone follows the same path. In fact, when it comes to cultivation, one's own understanding will differ from another. What works for you, works for you. It is neither wrong nor right, it all just boils down to preference."

"Still, there are certain aspects of physiologies we are born with that makes us resonate with a certain 'way' or 'path'. To put in a simpler terms; not all Knights are comfortable using a sword and shield, some preferred Spears, or other types of cold weapons."

"Some mages find it difficult to cast the Fireball Spell but finds casting Water Orb Spell or the Icicle Arrow Spell much easier to do."

"This is all due our 'Specialization' trait. Finding the path that resonates with you will make it easier for you to perform certain spells or skills."

"In the end however, where you end up will ultimately be decided by you. Specialization will only help you figure out what path is most suited for you to follow. It's a recommendation at best. Whether you decide to follow it or not, that will be up to you."

'Ahh...so it's the Class/Job System in RPG's. I should've known.' Ashton mused inwardly.

Yes, it is exactly as he said. Although there's a specific way on how this system works for this world, in the end it basically follows the same idea which made it easier for him to understand thanks to his familiarity with it.

[Specialization knowledge received. A Quest had been issued to the Host.]

'Hmm?' Ashton was surprised. He divided some of his attention to the system to check was his new quest was all about.

[Quest: Determine your Specialization Path!]

• Host has received knowledge about what Specialization is. Now is the time to discover which path suits you the most and whether you'll decide to follow it or not.

• Rewards: ???

• Time Limit: Until the end of the current week.

• Punishment for failure: Specialization Function permanently locked.

'Uh...'

Before Ashton could even think about the implications of the Quest, his attention was once again caught by Yohan.

"Since all of you attended today's Welcoming Ceremony, the Academy decided to reward you with the one time assistance of discovering what your Specialization is, free of charge."

Ashton was gobsmacked...

"But before we proceed to that event, let me just remind you all again that this is just the initial stage of your Specialization. This might change in the future depending on your actions so it's almost certain that you will have to go through this process again."

"Don't think that today's result will be a permanent one, alright? Just work hard and you'll carve your own path just like the Heroes before all of you did."

'Okay, I guess I'll discover what my specialization is before this day ends.' Ashton mused inwardly.