"Are you, by any chance, acquainted with Professor Thunderfoot?"
"How did you know? I'm Lightningstep, Thunderfoot's aunt."
"Wait—she really is related?"
Ihan had assumed not all dwarves who looked similar were actually related, but… apparently, sometimes they were.
"You know Thunderfoot personally?"
The dwarf pushed her pilot goggles up her forehead and asked. Ihan instinctively felt a sense of dread creeping in.
Being remembered by a professor—name and face—was rarely a good thing, whether on Earth or in this world.
If it was anything like Earth, he'd end up dragged off to grad school...
"I don't really know her that well—"
"Wardanaz is Professor Thunderfoot's prized pupil!"
"That's right! He's recognized by Professor Thunderfoot herself! He can even visit her hut!"
"..."
Ihan turned to look behind him.
His fellow Blue Dragon Tower students were all giving him proud little winks, as if they'd just done something wonderful.
Clearly, they were beaming with pride at Ihan, their leader from the same tower.
"Useless little brats."
Ihan cursed them internally. Meanwhile, completely unaware of his true feelings, the Blue Dragon Tower students were just pleased with themselves.
"Of course! If you're Thunderfoot's prized pupil, that means you're practically my prized pupil too!"
"I-I wouldn't say prized exactly..."
"And to think you've even been granted access to her hut! You must truly have earned her approval."
"...Yes. That's actually true."
At that point, Ihan gave in and accepted it.
Now that things had gone this far, his only real option was to play along and leave a good impression on the professor.
Professor Lightningstep dismounted her beast and stood before the students.
Then, in a booming voice that echoed across the field, she shouted:
"Alright, listen up!"
"Um, Professor—what about the ones who are still unconscious...?"
"Leave 'em! They'll wake up soon enough!"
Lightningstep barked confidently. Medically speaking, that was total nonsense—but not one student dared argue.
"I'll be your instructor this semester—Lightningstep Choidar. Originally, your professor was supposed to be Professor Bendozol, but he disappeared while searching for a unicorn. So I was brought in as a replacement."
"Why is no one surprised that someone disappeared looking for a unicorn?"
Rather than reacting to Professor Bendozol's bizarre fate, the students were far more awestruck by the name Lightningstep.
"The legendary explorer Lightningstep?!"
"The same Lightningstep who tamed a Behemoth and turned it into a mount?!"
"She's the one who explored the Spirit's Crater—no one had ever set foot there before!"
"Huh. Guess I should've read more than just the economics section of the newspaper."
Ihan felt a little left out, unable to join in the excitement.
Apparently, she was a pretty famous explorer.
Several students looked at her with awe and admiration in their eyes.
"Now! Who wants to guess why I showed up today riding a thunderbird?"
"!"
Thunderbird.
Even Ihan had heard of that monster—it was that famous.
Enormous, almost too big to call a "bird," it was fast, aggressive, and had the terrifying ability to control thunder, lightning, and cyclonic winds.
For anyone flying or traversing high mountains, it was the stuff of nightmares.
Just thinking about having one of those coming at them sent chills down his spine.
"This school seriously needs an imperial audit."
While Ihan was muttering mentally, one student raised a hand.
"Is our goal for this semester... to ride the thunderbird? So you brought it here to help us get used to it—?"
"Wrong! Ahahahaha! What a ridiculous idea. Even if you practiced for ten years, you'd still be unfit to ride a thunderbird!"
Lightningstep burst into laughter as if the very thought were absurd. The student who asked shrank back, clearly flustered.
"Ah. Not many here have taken alchemy class, huh?"
Come to think of it, alchemy was an elective.
Mount training, on the other hand, was a core course.
Which meant... most students here probably weren't familiar with the teaching style of the [X-step] dwarf family professors.
"Did you ride the fastest possible mount to get here in a hurry?"
"If I needed the fastest mount, I would've taken Sleipnir. Wrong again. Hmm. Wardanaz! You tell me."
"..."
He really didn't want the attention, but dwarf professors never left Ihan alone.
Controlling his expression, Ihan answered.
"You brought it here so we can build experience responding to dangerous monsters like the thunderbird, didn't you?"
A few students around him chuckled at the seemingly absurd answer.
The mount training class was supposed to be about riding adorable, well-trained horses around the area—not Surviving Monster Attacks 101.
Why on earth would they need that kind of training...?
"Correct! No wonder Thunderfoot thinks so highly of you!"
"You've got to be kidding me."
He'd only said it as a throwaway idea—and it turned out to be right?
Ihan shook his head in disbelief.
If he was going to keep crossing paths with Lightningstep through his association with Thunderfoot, he might as well lean into it.
Getting a professor's attention was dangerous—but getting on their bad side was even worse.
A little favoritism was better than outright hostility.
"P-Professor? Wasn't this supposed to be a horseback riding class?"
"That's right… Why are we training to avoid thunderbirds?"
Some students still hadn't fully grasped the situation and asked in disbelief.
Why were they practicing evading thunderbirds instead of riding horses?
"If you run into a thunderbird while riding a horse, what are you going to do? Of course you need this kind of training!"
Professor Lightningstep snapped, as if the students were being ridiculous. The ones who asked flinched, visibly intimidated.
"Thunderbirds are rare monsters only found high in the sky or deep in the mountains…"
That was what Ihan thought, but he kept it to himself.
You had to be careful even with honest opinions when speaking to a professor.
"But don't worry. You'll still get to ride the horses you all love so much. Wardanaz, come up front. You'll be helping me with this class."
Under a mix of reverent and jealous stares, Ihan stepped forward.
Reverence he could deal with. It was the jealous looks that made him want to punch someone.
"They don't know a damn thing about what I'm dealing with."
"Horses are the most common and fundamental mounts in the Empire. If you can't even ride one of these, you have no business calling yourself a traveler. If you want to ride something more advanced, you'd better learn to ride a horse properly first."
At those words, a number of students looked visibly bored.
That's because more of them knew how to ride a horse than didn't.
They had plenty of experience for various reasons, and were now thinking, "What's left to learn?"
But Lightningstep didn't get angry at their reactions.
Instead, she smiled kindly.
Chills.
"Oh no…"
That smile sent a bad feeling crawling up Ihan's spine.
"This is no ordinary riding class."
Why was there never a moment of peace in this school? One thing was clear: this was not going to be your standard horsemanship course.
"All right. Move to the stables!"
The stables near the main building were clean, spacious, and well-equipped.
Looking like a massive three-story warehouse, the stable doors opened on their own as the professor approached, as if the building were alive.
"Enchanted."
Ihan could feel the magic energy infused into the stable.
Well, if they were keeping more than just ordinary horses, it made sense to protect them with spells.
"Wow!"
"Oh my...!"
Gasps of awe rose from all sides.
The horses lined up on both sides of the stable easily impressed the younger students.
White, black, brown, golden—horses of various coats and colors, each clearly of fine pedigree.
The idea of riding such magnificent animals was thrilling.
Naturally, the students' eyes lit up with excitement.
But Ihan wasn't fooled. He leaned toward Yoner and whispered:
"Be careful."
"About what??"
"Think back to the alchemy class. Lightningstep is related to Thunderfoot. Do you really think there's no trap?"
"...!"
Yoner's eyes widened with realization, and he nodded quickly.
Professor Lightningstep stroked her beard with a mischievous grin, then addressed Ihan.
"Since you'll be assisting me in class, you get the first pick of the horses."
Sounds of resentment and jealousy rose from behind him.
Getting special treatment was one thing—but being allowed to pick a horse first? That was too much.
Whichever horse he picked would become his partner for the rest of the semester. So letting him choose first was like handing over the best one.
"...That's what they're probably thinking. Idiots."
Ihan remembered the glint in Lightningstep's smile just before.
"No, thank you. I'll pick later. I'd rather let the others choose first—it wouldn't be fair otherwise."
"Wardanaz…!"
"You're incredible!"
His fellow tower mates were in awe.
While everyone else was practically foaming at the mouth to pick first, here he was, stepping back and showing grace.
It was the kind of noble honor only a true aristocrat could show.
"Then how should we do this?"
"Let each tower decide their own order. One at a time. If there's overlap, we'll draw lots again."
"Sounds good."
The students began forming lines by their towers.
The Blue Dragon Tower students gathered and drew lots to determine their order. The first name to come up was Gainando.
"Yes!"
Gainando cheered.
It felt like justice for his earlier misfortune of getting snatched up by the thunderbird.
The rest of the Blue Dragon Tower looked openly disappointed.
"Ugh, why him?"
"We should've just let Wardanaz go first after all."
"Hmph. The losers speak."
Gainando ignored his friends' complaints and strutted up confidently. Ihan turned to Yoner, curious.
"Does Gainando even know how to pick a horse?"
"Uh… I don't think so."
Gainando marched forward and picked the biggest, meanest-looking white horse in the stable.
The other tower students stared at him in disbelief.
Just because a horse was big didn't mean it was better.
Especially considering you had to tame and bond with it yourself—choosing one that looked this aggressive was a mistake.
If he wasn't careful, things could go very wrong when he tried to ride it...
Whack!
"Ugh!"
Thud!
"Argh!!"
Spit!
"Gaaah!"
"?!"
The gathered students were stunned.
It was one thing for Gainando to get headbutted by the horse and fall flat on his back—but then, every other student who approached got either kicked, bitten, or spat on.
The horses…
Why were they so aggressive?
Snort!
Snort! Snuffle! Hrrrgh!!
The once calm and composed horses in the stable suddenly began neighing and snorting all at once.
They glared at the students like they were looking at mortal enemies.
Their hidden wild instincts were erupting all at once.
"Hahahahahaha! I told you—you need to learn how to properly ride a horse. Your first task isn't riding. It's bonding with one. Did you really think I was going to let a bunch of green rookies choose their own horses?"
"W-What…"
"That's so unfair…!"
Some students—especially the ones who hadn't attended the alchemy class—were on the verge of tears from disappointment. But Professor Lightningstep just kept laughing.
"If you care for them every morning and night—clean them, feed them—then maybe one of the kinder ones will open its heart to you. That's your goal. Just one horse! Befriend one, and you pass!"
"..."
"These definitely aren't normal horses."
Ihan was certain of it.
No matter how he looked at it, these were not ordinary animals.
What kind of horse behaves like that?
Clunk—
As he was wondering which one of the beasts might be the easiest to bond with, a hand the size of a pot lid landed on Ihan's shoulder.
"?"
"Oh, right. Wardanaz. I'll pick a horse for you."
"..."
Does it… have to be this way?
READ MORE CHAPTERS HERE - https://ko-fi.com/pokemon1920/shop