Seirei Gensouki ~Konna Sekai de Deaeta Kimi ni~ (Volume 1)

Chapter 8: Failure

Five months have passed since Rio entered the Royal Institute.
Currently, Rio had become the target of bullying.
On his first day, he was not able to read letters or numbers resulting in him becoming the subject of ridicule.
But by reading books in the library, he taught himself how to read letters and remarkably was able to catch up with the rest of the class.

In the first place, he was a University student in his past life.
With the exception of the common sense in this world, as expected there were almost no issues.
Even though it would seem like Rio's progress suddenly sky-rocketed, the person himself faked a gradual learning curve in order to avoid attention.
It could not be helped since he was aware of his circumstances; nobody knew his true level of intellect.
By the time he caught up with the rest of his classmates, Rio's grades placed amongst the top ranked students.

None of the surrounding students expressed any interest at all.
Those with childish pride satisfied themselves by continuing to look down on him, while others who previously saw him as a failure still saw him as one.
All the more since he was formerly an orphan.

However Rio did not intend to interact with other students either so he had no connections with anybody in his class.
Rio only used the Institute as a place for acquiring knowledge about the world; that was all.

Since the surrounding students continued to ignore him, he led a lonely school life. Not that it mattered because he was already used to being alone during University in his former life.
Rio did not form bonds with any students as he did not need their help for any of his school work. He was not bothered by the degree of ignorance he received from the students either.
It seemed there were various slanders made behind his back due to their envy of his results.

However an event that allowed the surrounding students to openly express their resentment finally occurred in magic class.
When the time came where he could perceive magic, Rio was finally allowed to perform the Contract Ceremony.
The steps to performing the System Contract were very simple.
A geometrical pattern called the magic formation was drawn on the ground; the contractor then stands on top of it whilst meditating while releasing magical power and chanting an incantation.
If the contract is successful, the magic formation drawn on the ground disappears and becomes engraved on the contractor's body instead.
The contract formation's pattern increases in complexity proportional to the rank of the magic.

"I did it! I was able to do it!"
"Oh that's just the elementary class magic <Ignition>. It's to be expected that you'd succeed. There never has been a case where someone failed."

Lectures were carried out about different types of magicians by different lecturers.
Because Rio was an all-rounder type, he had to attend lectures from both sides.

The nearby students raised their voices in glee as they succeeded their Contract Ceremonies.
Unfortunately, Rio had yet to succeed in performing a contract.

(Why? This is... I understand the procedure yet for some reason... Contract attempts keep failing.)

Rio was puzzled.

When he stood on the magic formation and channelled magical power into it to create the contract, he somehow acquired an understanding about the details of the magic.
However before the contract could complete, his body rejected it.

One person, two persons, the students who successfully completed the contract continued to increase.
Until only Rio was left.
The astute among them quickly picked up on that.

"Oi, that Rio can't complete his contract!"

Eyes of many students practising their magic in high-spirits gathered on Rio.
There was a large distinction between those who could use magic and those who could not.
This became increasingly clear during war where magic users became the leading actors.
Even if they did not approach the front lines, magic users still gained that kind of prestige.
In addition, those who awakened to their magical prowess gained longer lasting youth.
That was why many among the privileged class learned magic as a testimony to their status.
It was due to such a reason that the Royal Institute incorporated magic into their curriculum as a mandatory subject.
And because the amount of magical power is inherited from a child's parents, noble children were sent to school in search of potential marriage partners. Therefore for most students, it was necessary for them to attend lectures pertaining to magic.