Ah, I already feel like dying.

I had only just come to the training field, and I already dreaded what was coming next.

In front of me is Prof. Seris Dawn, Knight commander and drill instructor for the Imperial Knights Corps. She is now teaching here due to an injury suffered during some mission. It was all very covert, so I have no idea what happened either. The game won't have much info about it too.

The woman herself is really imposing.

If I compare myself to the measurement system of my old life, I'll put myself at about 6ft '3. While she herself must be almost 7ft tall.

And while I'm more lean and wiry muscle, she is really a mass monster. Muscle bulging, almost bursting from her instructor uniform, making me feel like it must be very uncomfortable.

Her hair is wheat-colored, tied into a neat bun to keep it from interfering with physical activities. Her sky blue eyes are fierce and calculating, like a predator waiting to pounce on any hapless prey (which in this case is me). Her jawline is strong, yet overall, her face is still somehow feminine. Like some God had carved her face in the perfect way to make one question their sexuality.

The moment I set foot on the training ground, her eyes had already trained on me. That, coupled with the deafening silence of the place only increases the pressure that I'm under.

"You again." Her tone is calm and even, yet since this is not the first time I've been here, I know she is angry.

"Hello...Instructor..." my voice slightly raised.

"It seems you haven't learned."

"I apologize."

"Come." She said and toss at my feet a wooden sword. "Actions speak louder than words."

Picking up the slightly worn sword, I turn my gaze, finding her retrieving another from a rack.

My mind had already calmed down from the fear before. It was not because I'm confident I can win her at a spar, but because I had already accepted my fate. It is the kind of peace that one feels when they know they're about to die, and cannot do anything about it. Yep, I'm already dead.

But. This feeling is not too bad. There is also anticipation. She is the only Knight Instructor to ever spar with me, after all. The others would never do such a thing because it would seem like they are bullying the Mage students. So if I want to raise my Swordsmanship skill, this is the only way. Thinking about such things, the moment when we both face each other, I charged at her.

===

"Urg....." I groan out loud.

This last bout was much more intense than the one before. Although, every time I face her again, she would raise the difficulty.

Well, at least I got to hit her sword once. We had been fighting for half an hour non-stop, and I only manage to hit her sword once. And I'm pretty sure it was just a lucky hit.

I enter my dorm in a slightly higher mood. It seems I have improved. And the easiest way to know it is to check.

'Status'

I gained a tier in Endurance. Well, I had to endure a lot of hits from the Instructor, so it raising is understandable.

The status sheet is only to track your progress. There have been debates on when and where this Status originates from. Some say it was a gift from the Gods, specifically the God of Magic, Al-Verite. Others say that Awakened naturally gain this Status when they awaken, and the Status is an extension of their will on the mana of the world. Whatever it is though, it looks very much like the interface of the game. Well, there are some differences though.

Firstly, there are no Body, Mind, and Soul in the game, only overall health indicated by a health bar. Secondly, there are numbers instead of letters to indicate the stats. It is interesting to see the difference since we only see the world through the protagonist's eyes in the game. The individual stats are the same though.

Strength is strength. More specifically physical strength. The more you have the harder you hit with any physical weapon. Yes, even bows. You need strength to pull the bowstring after all. But there's also more. An increase in Strength also increases the health bar of the character, or in this case, the Body portion.

The only way for you to get more permanent stats for characters in the game is by increasing their levels, and their stats automatically increase by a set amount by the devs. But there are also gears that increase the stats as well, so those who want to min-max invest in gears instead.

Dexterity measures your character speed and accuracy. Since the game is turn-based, characters with higher speed act first in a round. In reality, it also measures speed and accuracy, but since no one would actually wait for turn order, its meaning is more literal. Dex also raises Body health, but at a lower margin than Strength.

Endurance raises your defense and health in-game. It's a dump stat in the game since it doesn't raise damage, but I know the truth. In the real world, Endurance could be the difference between surviving a hit or not. And considering that my main objective is to live, Endurance is best. Bow down before my superior intellect mortals! Muahahaha! Ahem... anyway, it also raises stamina, so you can run away longer.

Focus is the main stat for Mages. Technically, Knights can use focus too, as it raises maximum mana, but Mages need it more. For Mages, the more Focus you have, the more you can draw mana from the environment. Since Mages manipulate external mana, they don't actually have a mana pool, only how much mana they can manipulate at once. And since higher-level spells need more mana, more Focus means higher tier spells, which leads to higher effectiveness.

Willpower is also important. In-game it is mana regen per round of combat. It is actually so much more. For Mages, casting magic requires one to focus their mind, but doing so causes strain on their brain. Therefore, having more Willpower allows you to take more strain and cast more magic. It also measures your mental defense against mind attacks, which are Mages' worst enemy. If you can't think straight then you can't cast, it's rather simple.

The strangest stat though is Presence. It measures the influence you have on other beings. It's vague as hell.

In the game, Presence can't be raised by any items, just the base stat.

There is something called a Combo move, wherein one character initiates an attack on a target, and another character in range can attack the same target in the same turn, even though the character is slower. It's some sort of shounen bullshit where the power of friendship triumphs all or something. Presence dictates how many times a character can use a Combo move and how strong the move is.

Even scholars of this world have a hard time figuring out the truth of it.

The most widely accepted theory is that Presence measures your Soul, but it had never been proven. Soul attacks are virtually non-existence and are crushed by the Temple if any trace of soul attacks are to be found. It is considered blasphemous since souls are meant to return to the Heavens when one dies.

There is also another observation, that those who experienced a near-death encounter have a chance to increase their Presence. But nobody is dumb enough to subject themselves to that repeatedly to gain some stats. The fact that my Presence was originally F is a testament to my dumbness. Well, a high Presence is required in leading positions, since it makes giving orders much easier.

===

I finally reach my dorm room. The sparse, single-bedroom apartment is bigger on the inside than on the outside. Some sort of dimensional fuckery that I have no idea how it works. Well, doesn't matter. I have the policy to leave the complicated stuff for smarter people.

Right after I enter my dorm, I immediately strip to my underwear because my uniform is all dirty from rolling in the dusty training ground. I then enter the small bathroom that comes with my dorm to look for the first aid kit.

Facing me in the mirror of the bathroom, lit by magical lights, was...well me, in all my non-existence glory.

I'm a tall guy, with lean muscle, a six-pack, and a strong build.

Well, strong compared to Mages at least.

Most Mages tend to not care for their physique, so they look thin and weak. Not me though. I dreamed to be a Knight, so I trained really hard to get a body that can be Knight. But when I awoke...Well, it's better to think about the positive.

When I look at my face, I am confident to say that I look handsome.

High nose, strong jaws, straight eyebrows. My dark brown hair is cut short on all sides, making me look even more like a military man. My eyes the color of hardened steel shine with determination. When I tried to smile, a slight crook to it makes me look more mischievous than happy.

Overall, I'll give myself an 8/10. That's self-evaluation though, so maybe more of 7 or 6,5.

Ahhh, who cares. At least I'm happy with my looks. It won't measure up to any of the Heroes though.

I tried flexing a bit in front of the mirror, and I think I can feel my muscle flexing harder, no doubt due to the increase in Endurance. I have been taking a beating for more than a year in this academy now, and my Endurance only raises 2 tiers, from F- to F+.

Well, it's good to progress.

I have been stuck with regaining my past life memory before, so now, I'll have to think about progressing further. I want to get a cheat item, so I have to work hard so I have enough power to get it. And the best way forward is to be a Mage.

I can't keep holding on to my dream of being a Knight if I wish to save my loved ones. So from this day onwards, I, Alean Steelight, solemnly swear to be the best Mage I could ever be, for the sake of those I love.