Beyond the city gate, the School District's massive warships rested at anchor, surrounded by a steady stream of merchants and students buying supplies.
Officially named the "Maritime Academic Institutions District," the super battleship itself was called Herlinghorni. Its structure featured three enormous discs between the bow and stern, the Control Layer, Living Layer, and Academic Layer. Each cylindrical level stood at least 20 meters high, creating a self-contained community despite being at sea. With capacity for up to 10,000 people, its scale rivaled a major city. At the center of the discs rose a bridge tower resembling the Tower of Babel.
Once aboard, staff members, acting like gatekeepers at the port, greeted visitors. A gangway descended from the Control Layer, like a drawbridge, and they entered the School District.
After showing Leon's pass, a familiar-looking student approached them.
"My name is Alisa. It's good to see you again, Commander Shaka."
The bespectacled girl had the demeanor of a class monitor. She was Lefiya's roommate and dreamed of becoming a teacher to follow in Leon's footsteps.
"Where's that little elf?"
"I'm sorry, but I have no obligation to disclose personal information about students or guests," Alisa stated matter-of-factly.
Shaka shrugged: "Then take me to the Forging Department first."
She nodded slightly: "Please follow me."
Led by Alisa, Shaka reached the Academic Layer. His target was the Forging Department, where Cecil was already working, she'd come to learn new skills and recruit promising trainees to the familia. While she was new to the group, Astraea's fame gave them a good chance of attracting talent. Many blacksmiths from sword-making cities also aimed to enter top institutions like this, with entrance exams held regularly.
Shaka gently tapped Cecil's shoulder and pulled her aside.
"What is it? I'm really busy!"
"Stop messing around, something's come up."
Cecil shifted awkwardly: "If it's important, I can make time to help."
Shaka drew a strangely shaped short blade from behind him: "I need you to ask the blacksmiths if they recognize this emblem."
The weapon was a special magical item taken from Lightning Keno, designed to enhance magic power, not a monster drop. Its blade bore a blacksmith's mark and a guild emblem depicting a peculiar large bird.
Cecil nodded: "The School District gathers elites from across the continent. Someone here should know it. I'll inquire right away."
She hurried off and soon returned with a dwarf.
The student blacksmith, named Grimm, examined the blade carefully before asking: "Where did you get this weapon?"
Shaka replied seriously: "To be honest, it's spoils from a siege monster leader."
Grimm looked surprised, lit his pipe, and took a puff: "This mark belongs to an old blacksmith from my hometown but he's been missing for several years now."
"I see. Thank you anyway."
Shaka thought the trail had gone cold, but Grimm added: "The other emblem is from the Phoenix Merchant Guild."
"The Phoenix Merchant Guild?"
Cecil explained: "They're a small guild that buys rare ores and trades in weapons."
The name sounded familiar to Shaka, but he couldn't place it. Better leave this investigation to Lulune, he decided.
After bidding farewell to Cecil, Shaka went to observe other departments. Sora was auditing a class in the Command Section, listening intently, while shiro slept soundly beside him.
The instructor, Falm a human with a receding hairline tapped his pointer on the board and said: "You there, stand up and answer this question."
The students glanced at each other before nudging shiro awake.
"What's wrong, brother?"
"The teacher noticed all the ink on your face."
Shiro's eyes went wide. Why didn't you wake me earlier?
Sora winked: He ambushed you!
Reluctantly, shiro walked to the front of the class. She looked at the question on the board:
Our side has five Level 1 adventurers of different classes; the opponent is a Minotaur. Like shogi, the monster has greater mobility and attack range. The goal is to reach the evacuation point with minimal casualties.
Shiro held the chalk, tilted her head in thought, then began writing equations on the board.
Falm's hand paused mid-stroke as he stroked his beard: "What are you calculating?"
White replied: "How to kill it."
The class fell silent in shock. The instructor looked on with disdain.
Shiro finished her calculations and started moving pieces on the demonstration board. Her first move was to advance the mage.
The teacher and students were confused.
"If we don't protect the mage and instead send them forward like bait, how can we win? Sacrificing the slowest mage and priest would let the others escape safely."
"Foolish!"
But as Shiro continued, the five pieces positioned themselves to support each other and split the Minotaur's attention. In the end, the mage stood perfectly still and the monster couldn't land a single hit. Every three rounds, the mage cast a spell.
The classroom erupted in an uproar.
Sora spoke up: "Teacher, you didn't set a health value for the Minotaur. But even a Level 2 monster would die after ten magic cannon hits."
Falm rubbed his beard, pulling out two hairs in frustration.
"Alright, you may sit down. You did very well."
Maintaining his dignity, he dismissed shiro and explained: "Real battles aren't this rigid. When facing a Minotaur, you should run away."
Still, Falm was impressed, the plan required perfect execution at every step, and the young student had calculated it flawlessly. What a formidable kid.
The teacher then noticed Sora: "Young man, what would you do in this situation?"
Sora pointed to himself and grinned: "Me? I'd prepare in advance."
Falm frowned: "Preparing in advance to kill a Minotaur? You'd need a magic sword novices can't afford that."
Sora shook his head: "Just ordinary items a bucket of cooking oil, pepper powder, and chili powder."
Shaka, watching from outside the window, was taken aback before realizing the logic.
Sor explained: "Minotaurs have great strength and endurance, but poor agility."
"So when you spot one, run immediately pour oil on the ground as you go, then use chili bombs..."
That's devious. Shaka considered the feasibility and found it plausible, though chili peppers and black pepper were expensive in the DanMachi world, making this approach quite extravagant. Still, Minotaurs were indeed slow; Bell had killed one even with agility below 100.
"Coming here was worth it, I've learned so much about monster behavior."
Ancient warriors had no advantages beyond thorough research into their enemies studying their habits, attack patterns, even dissecting them to find weaknesses.
He moved on to the training ground, where Yuki, Dekomori, Black Cat, and Yui and the Takemikazuchi Familia were practicing combat coordination with a squad from Baldeban.
A Minotaur boy flexed his muscles and struck a pose: "Channel your magic torrent through your chest, that's how you gain power!"
Each time, the Yamabuki fairy retorted loudly: "Verdine, if that were true, all fairies would have huge breasts!"
"Hahaha! The Chest Faction is power! Power is faith! So the Chest Faction is the greatest!" Verdine laughed heartily, his chest muscles jiggling.
Alisa, who'd followed Shaka, approached and asked: "How's practice going?"
Verdine gave a thumbs up: "As expected of the God of War's children, truly amazing!"
Shaka watched the training for a while. The School District students had excellent knowledge and teamwork, but their perfection made them inflexible in crises. They were "trainees," not true adventurers like the difference between professionals and amateurs in the real world.
Verdine was already Level 2, but Shaka estimated he'd last less than five minutes against three Minotaurs. In contrast, mikoto could handle herself in Level 3 battles.
"They're so inexperienced, no wonder the School District invited us to spar..."
Dekomori dropped his massive warhammer with a thud, then soaked with sweat, tried to lean against Shaka: "Shaka! You're here!"
Shaka grabbed his cheek his hand came away damp: "Stay back, you fool!"
Dekomori waved his hands excitedly: "I heard from the Chest Faction elders that cultivating enough magic in your heart will help you grow healthy breasts!"
Maybe drink more milk instead, that might help.
Ignoring the chaos, Shaka looked at Black Cat, who held Mamenosuke in her arms: "Where's Kanade?"
"She's in the Pharmacy Department, it seems she's really interested in developing medicine."
Shaka wondered if she wanted to become a healer to help more people...
He turned to Mikoto: "How are their training results?"
Mikoto frowned: "Honestly, the students have great foundations, but experience can't be gained overnight."
"Just do what you can."
Soon after, Leon arrived at the training ground carrying a large bag of monster drops.
"As we agreed, first we'll test the monsters' strength and characteristics."
This visit was to fulfill their promise; if the School District was to allocate resources, Shaka needed to prove their plan's value.
He sorted through the bag and selected several typical dungeon monsters: Unicorn Rabbits, Hellhounds, Minotaurs, and Killer Ants, all troublesome foes whose weaknesses trainees needed to understand to reduce risks during internships.
Shaka summoned them one by one, with the Seventh Squad and his own group as test subjects.
The Seventh Squad used a traditional formation: heavily armored Verdine at the front, dwarves Nathan and Alisa directing tactics and restraining enemies, and Lefiya the "magic idiot", delivering finishing blows.
Monster after monster fell to her artillery spells.
Alisa pushed up her glasses: "As expected of the magic idiot, she took them all down!"
"Stop calling me that, Arisa!"
Nathan complained: "Verdine, you went overboard again!"
"Haha! I could sense incredible chest potential!"
"Don't say 'chest'! It's embarrassing!"
Shaka wasn't concerned with the outcome – his limit was summoning Level 2 monsters, and the four students were at least Level 2 themselves, with Leyfia as heavy artillery.
"No wonder she's considered a problem child."
Leon jotted down data in his notebook: "Excellent spells, safe even without lifting restrictions. Can you simulate a full dungeon environment?"
Shaka nodded: "We need materials and time. We'll start with small-scale simulations, and can even recreate dungeon anomalies like monster feasts or floor collapses during training."
After summoning 12 more monsters with the remaining materials, Shaka drank a large bottle of spiritual potion to recover.
"Use these to get familiar with monster traits. If you treat them like wild creatures, my mana won't hold out forever."
Leon said with anticipation: "I have high hopes for your work, Commander Shaka."
Before leaving, Shaka approached Lefiya, the only reliable member of the group and bowed slightly: "My familia members are a bit rowdy. Please take care of them."
Lefiya blushed, flattered: "It's us who need help, verdine always leads us into nonsense."
Looking at the quiet, gentle fairy, Shaka sighed: "Orange haired elfs really are the cutest."
After saying goodbye to everyone, Shaka headed to the library.
The School District was a treasure trove, containing nearly all knowledge of the DanMachi world. For a typical isekai protagonist, spending a year or two studying here would be ideal.
Unfortunately,the others probably won't be that keen on learning.
Shaka sighed as he dove into the "magic" section, absorbing knowledge like a sponge.