The teacher explained that the field training was simple. All the first-class students needed to do was survive one night in the forest. Low-rank monsters had been released around the area, and each team leader carried a sheet of magic paper that could activate a barrier and call for help. But there was one terrifying rule attached to it. The moment a party used that paper, the party would be removed from the first class.
At first, everyone thought it would be easy. Even Levin, the arrogant noble in Oscar's group, acted as though he could protect everyone by himself. But after they walked deeper into the forest, Oscar sensed that something was wrong. Before anyone could react, a strange magic circle activated beneath them, and the whole party was teleported away. When they opened their eyes, they were no longer in the training zone.
They were in the fifth graveyard, a dangerous place meant for senior students. Oscar immediately realized that this might be a trap, and he told the others to use the emergency paper. But Levin, being a complete idiot, tore it apart, because he wanted to use the chance to show off. At first, Levin and his lackeys managed to fight off a few beasts using their proud noble teamwork.
Levin made shields, the others fired spells, and they carried themselves as though this were some grand display of elite magic. But when one beast slipped past them and charged straight at Lily, it was Oscar who stepped in and cut it down with a single fire blade. Later that night, the real nightmare came. A giant dragon appeared out of the forest, and everyone lost hope.
Levin, the one who had kept bragging about protecting them, instantly hid inside an earth cocoon like a turtle and planned to survive alone. With no help, no escape, and a dragon preparing to burn them alive, Oscar stepped forward. Instead of panicking, he studied the way the dragon gathered mana for its breath. Then he took that idea and joined it to his own magic theory, condensing mana the way a swordsman condensed sword ki.
The dragon fired its flames. Oscar answered with a single fire bullet that blasted straight through them and killed the dragon in one shot. That was the moment they understood that the commoner they had mocked was the truly dangerous one among them.
To understand how a mere fourteen-year-old could defeat a dragon, the story has to go back a little.
In this world, fighters had to choose one of two paths. They could become a mage, wielding powerful supernatural magic, or they could become a swordsman, relying on overwhelming physical skill and sword techniques. Oscar chose the path of the sword. From childhood he trained relentlessly, and eventually he became a legendary sword saint, the highest rank a swordsman could reach. He was respected by everyone, he defeated powerful monsters, and he lived the kind of life most people could only dream about. But despite all his achievements, Oscar secretly regretted his decision. Deep down, he had always admired magic, and he wished that he had become a mage instead.
It all took a dark turn when Oscar was ambushed by mysterious enemies, their leader wearing a unique pendant. Even someone as powerful as he was struggled, because the attackers had carefully planned everything. During the fight, his innocent disciple was dragged into the chaos, forcing Oscar to prioritize his disciple's life instead of his own. As he reached the end of his life, his greatest regret became painfully clear.
He realized that although he had mastered the sword, he had never truly understood magic, and that missing knowledge might have cost him everything.
However, fate suddenly gave him another chance. Instead of dying permanently, Oscar regressed back into his younger self, with all his memories intact. He looked around frantically, wondering how he was still alive, and he soon noticed that he was back at his village.
He was holding two invitation letters, and they were from the two academies he could choose between. When a person reached the age of fifteen, an envelope arrived from the government containing invitations to both the magic academy and the sword academy. Once the candidate decided where to go, they took the letter to that academy and were granted access.
Seeing the letters in his hands, and seeing the village so close by, the realization that he had gone back into the past dawned on him. This was when he was fourteen years old, and had not yet chosen the path of a swordsman.
Suddenly a frightening presence appeared behind him, asking him what he was doing all alone out there. Oscar turned around in shock and found himself looking at his father, Brian, which confirmed the fact that he had truly returned to the past.
Brian scolded him, telling him that he had been growing arrogant of late, because he neglected his training more and more often. Little did the man know that Oscar was not being arrogant at all. At that time, he had been standing there contemplating whether he should reveal his desire for magic to his father.
Brian was a sword master with several disciples under him. The rank of sword master stood just below sword saint and sword emperor, which showed how proficient he was with the blade. Since he was a respected sword master, it was only expected that his son would begin learning the way of the sword, and that was exactly what had happened. His father had made sure to praise him as his talent for the sword improved.
Then, one day, Oscar had rushed back home to tell his father that someone had shown him magic, and that it was beautiful.
That was when things became clear to Oscar. Brian grabbed him and told him that magic was only meant for the weak, and that Oscar was going to wield the sword. From that day forward, Oscar kept swinging his sword to make sure he was not abandoned by his father. He could not let go of the blade, even though what he truly wanted was to practise magic.
In the end, he died at the hands of a mage. Because of that, he was determined to walk the path he actually wanted.
Brian repeated his question, asking him why he had been neglecting his training. Oscar told him plainly that he had already spent a lifetime with the sword. Brian heard this, and his anger rose from somewhere deep inside him, and he unleashed a massive sword aura, light swords surrounding him where he stood.
The overwhelming pressure from Brian knocked those around him to the ground, but Oscar remained calm even under such intense circumstances. The others, flattened against the earth, wondered how Oscar could stay that calm when Brian's aura was about to crush them. Seeing how composed his son was, Brian finally took a step back, and he admitted that Oscar had not been playing around after all.
He walked up to his son and patted him on the shoulder, telling him that if he continued this way, he would be glad to entrust the guild to him. After saying this, he departed. The three young men who had come with him rushed over to Oscar to tease him, telling him that they had been looking forward to coming home from the academy just so they could spar with him.
One of them was already volunteering to give Oscar a sword lesson. Oscar remembered that the trio had been his companions, the ones his father always ordered him to spar with. When they had entered the sword academy and awakened their sword ki, they had begun giving Oscar sword lessons as though they were venting every frustration they had ever carried, and now they were back at it again.