Today is the day. I, Vox Ross, am finally going to study at the international combat and magitech academy.

My dream is to become a top magic engineer and this school is the best in that department. All it took to enter was to win the random scholarship they give, fuck. I studied hard, and gave it my all as I wasn't some genius that could normally frequent this school, and when I was accepted, I thought my efforts ber fruits, until I read the first line.

^Congratulation! You've been selected as a scholarship student!^

This is part of the effort of the academy to diversify the population of students and spread knowledge to the poor and unqualified ones.

Please reply to this email if you wish to accept or refuse.

Lack of response within 48hr of this email will be considered a refusal.
^ ^

Yeah, what benevolence, they fucking called me poor and unqualified. The worse is that they are probably correct, I was top 3 in my previous school but that amount to nothing in this one. Also, this school is one where they form heroes, so my pitiful physical capabilities won't do me any favor.

Anyway, it is still a great opportunity that I don't plan on squandering.

I finished packing my box and exited my house, today is the inauguration and moving day. I already told my parents goodbye yesterday since they're working today.

I made my way to the station with my box in hand. It wasn't very far and the box was light so I walked the way there. I lived in an old district where most of the houses were pre-miracle, but it was well maintained and had a charm that the most recent and magical district didn't have.

I always have been fascinated with the pre-miracle days. It was nearly a century ago, but I thought it was fascinating how people lived without magic.

What we now call as the miracle was then called a calamity. In the 2020s, while the world was recovering from a worldwide pandemic, magic began to flow into the world. This caused the sudden apparition of monsters, dungeons, rifts, and various magical events, which caused millions of death.

But after a few years, humanity started adapting and fighting back, and now, in 2115, we started calling the calamity as a miracle that brought forth a new era for humanity.

Nowadays, pure technology is a relic from the past, and everything works with magic. If something doesn't have it, then it's an antique.

Talking of antiques, I stopped on my way and entered the antique shop that I regularly visited.

¨Hey Joe, any new arrival?¨

¨Vox! How are you? I heard you got into I.C.M academy.¨

¨Yeah well, it was because I won a raffle¨

¨Don't undermine yourself like that, anyway, we found books at least 95 years old yet practically intact!¨

¨Really!? And no, it really was a raffle, I am not joking.¨

Joe is the old guy who introduced me to the pre-miracle era, his grand-parent were engineers, and they passed their passion onto him. He tried passing this passion on to his children and grandchildren, but none of them were interested in dated things, so he was pretty lonely until I came along.

Truth be told, I prefer old engineering then the magic one, but I can't have a career in the old one.

¨Ok... Anyway, here they are¨

I took the three books he gave me. They were old fantasy novels. I always found the idea people had of magic before it actually came along fascinating.

¨Urg, this one an isekai¨

Isekai is a theme that was pretty popular at the time that consisted of someone going to another world. I never liked the concept, and I can't understand how people used to like it.

¨Yeah, yeah, give it back if you don't want it¨

I gave them back

¨I wasn't here for books anyway. Do you have any new electronics?¨

¨No, they are rarer and rarer to come by. Especially since you keep taking them apart¨

¨Sorry...¨

¨Dont be, I couldn't make a living if it weren't for you, Hahaha¨

I looked at him worriedly.

¨What are you going to do once I'm gone?¨

¨Dont worry about me, I got other income sources, and I know that if I tell you we got a new arrival of television you'll come to buy them where ever you are¨

I cough awkwardly

¨....yeah. Well, see you around Joe!¨

¨You too Vox.¨

I quickly cleared the rest of the way toward the station. The station was old, like everything around the district, but the train was not. It resembled one of those old bullet trains but was floating in the air. It also had various runes covering part of the exterior.

I quickly got inside before it left, and the train started going toward the next station. Those trains operate with air and spatial magic, air for levitation and spatial for space distortion. Teleportation is possible, but it's crazy expensive, so only the rich use it for anything other than traveling to another continent. Since it was much cheaper, we put distortion magic on a train so that 5-kilometer travel becomes a 2.5 km one.

After around 30 min of waiting, I arrived at the portal station. This time it was a marvel of magic, with a floating announcing board, patrolling golem, a floating fountain defying physics with its water loop, and the portal. The portals were like blue rings with white mist inside, and at the edge was the generator that made all the circumference with various runes and wires.

The international combat and magitech academy, or I.C.M for short, was located where England was previously. Wich is a country that fell during the miracle.

Before the miracle, the world was divided into 190 countries, but, a lot of them fell and got absorbed into bigger ones leaving only around 30.

Anyway, England became an island where scientists, alchemists, and magicians gathered to discuss various subjects, so the logical course of action was to build a school over there.

I quickly found the portal leading towards Magetopia and showed them my ticket. Yeah, the place is named Magetopia, the guy who decided the name was too strong for anyone to disagree.

After vomiting my breakfast in a trash can after my first time teleporting, I made my way toward the other teleporter that leads directly to the academy.

Being an island of rich magicians, the main way to travel is by teleporter. It means that I need to get used to it, or I'll vomit when I go somewhere.

Luckily, the second time was way less rough since the distance was smaller, so I only felt dizzy for a short time.

I got out of the station and marveled at the academy.

It was a ten-stories behemoth of a building with tons of different auxiliary. Heck, some parts of the building were literally floating in the air connected to the building with only a bridge. I guessed that even with four years of studying, I wouldn't be able to explore all of it.

I looked around and found a map. I quickly located my dorm and made my way over there. After 30 min, I had to ask for help from a staff member because I was lost.

The dorm was closer to a five-star hotel than a dorm, so I was really excited to see what my room was like until I found out that random scholarship students like me had a room in the basement.

I opened my door and found a tiny room with only a couch, a TV, and a little window close to the ceiling. On each side of the room, there are two doors, one leading to the bathroom, and the other to the bedroom, which consists of a small single bed and a studying desk.

The bathroom didn't even have a shower. Those were at the end of the corridor.

I expected some favoritism but not at this level, shit, will they even let me study in a regular class, or do they have a dummy class for the random scholarship student.

Anyway, I unpacked my thing and waited for the start of the year ceremony to start.

After a couple of hours, I made my way toward the auditorium, and since I managed not to get lost, I was 30 min early.

I found myself a good seat and waited.

Finally, the ceremony started, and the director started his speech which was as dull as any other. He then called the five higher scores in the entrance exam to come on stage.

Rank 1 - Vincent Portem

He's a handsome and muscular 6-foot guy with a face that evokes confidence and benevolence. He had soft features with short brown hair and equally brown eye.

From what I heard, the guy's a saint. He's an orphan, but he got in after saving a school from a monster attack. While he doesn't have the best score in the written part, his combat score was so high that it got him first place.

Rank 2 - Richard Cromwell

An equally handsome guy, but distinctly different from Vincent. He is 5 foot 9, has piercing eyes that seem to kill, sharp features, and a face that seems perpetually stuck into an arrogant smile. He had near shoulder-length blonde hair and bright blue eye. All-in-all, he was the opposite of Vincent.

This guy is the heir to the Cromwell, and he's exactly what you'd expect of someone like him, smart, talented, proud, arrogant, and egotistical.

Rank 3 - Shion Requia

She is a small 5 foot 4 girl with long black hair. She's Japanese with clear skin and black eyes and is easily one of the most beautiful women in the world.

She's the princess of Japan. After the miracle, japan managed to survive and went back to monarchy. She is the only daughter of the current king, and the only thing I know about her personality is that she's called the ice queen.

Rank 4 - Emma Dupuy

She's as tall as Vincent with a ponytail of auburn hair, black eyes, and a charming smile.

Emma is the daughter of probably the strongest hero of his generation, Francis Dupuy. I heard that she has been training her whole life, and because of her father's minimalist lifestyle, she's known to be kind and generous while lacking some common sense.

Rank 5 - Ivan Smirnish

He's a 6 foot 5 Russian with the body of a bear and a scarred face. If I didn't know that it was a school for 16 to 20, I would've never guessed he was 16.

To be honest, I have no idea who that guy is.

Currently, Richard was glaring at Vincent like he wanted to kill him, surely because Vincent got the top spot. Meanwhile, Shion was coldly looking at the crowd, and Emma yawned. Ivan was looking around as if he was looking for something.

They were all impressive people, but I will have nothing to do with them for the rest of my school years.

After some congratulatory words, the ceremony ended, and I got back to my room. A letter was waiting for me inside.

^You have been assigned to the class ¨TRUTH¨^

Please make your way to the second floor of the main building tomorrow at 9h a.m for your first class.
^ ^

Well, at least they didn't put me in a random building far from everything.