My summon to another world was even weirder than I expected

(This is terrible) thought Zack as he walked down the hallway with his four companions, having just finished attending class.

“This is fantastic,” said Austin, cheerfully leading the group with a spring in his step and a smile on his face.

Nadia noticed it, but if Zack’s parents had been present, they would have known that Zack had just given Austin a decidedly unfriendly look.

If Zack could, he would have punched that fool for not realizing the gravity of their situation.

What was worse was that Shun and Miyu seemed to have bought into the nonsense Albert had been spouting. After all, what he said seemed to make sense. What’s the use of knowing complex theories when facing someone intent on killing you?

Maybe Austin and the others couldn’t tell the difference between a regular mage and a combat mage, but Zack could.

While a regular mage and a combat mage might have the same magical class, their approaches were entirely different.

The key difference was that combat mages specialized in using magic on the battlefield.

At first glance, combat mages seemed like an improvement. After all, they focused on practical applications of their magic instead of spending time locked away studying complex magical theories—or at least, that was the idea Austin and the others had gotten from listening to Albert.

The truth was far from it.

Essentially, combat mages were mages who had abandoned anything that wasn’t useful on the battlefield. For example, a regular mage, when learning the fireball spell, not only learned how to cast it but also how to adjust its size, temperature, speed, and even the number of fireballs. A combat mage only learned how to cast it.

Zack recalled one of the books from the central library that delved deeply into this type of mage.

Combat mages had emerged as a response to a problem with the traditional positioning of mages on the battlefield.

Traditionally, mages had always been positioned at the rear. Their role was to use complex magical formulas to create super-spells by working in synergy with other mages, then unleash those spells on the enemy, causing massive devastation.

The role of other classes was to serve as a human shield, ensuring the enemy couldn’t get close to the mages’ formation.

That was the traditional setup.

The problem arose during a war between two small neighboring countries a long time ago.

The book Zack had read didn’t specify when this war took place, nor did it preserve the names of the countries involved.

Apparently, the disparity in power between the two nations was considerable.

When they met on the battlefield, the aggressor country had three times the soldiers and five times the mages as the defending country.

Even if the defending mages focused all their efforts on forming a magical shield around their troops, the super-spell of the enemy mages would render it useless.

At that moment, a general from the defending nation had an idea that would revolutionize warfare: turning mages into a mobile unit.

The concept was that instead of mages staying at the rear preparing spells, they would advance with the rest of the army, solving problems the regular troops couldn’t handle quickly.

The plan was for the army to advance fast enough to reach the enemy mages before they could unleash their combined spell.

The plan succeeded.

Since then, this strategy has been adopted by other nations, leading to an unprecedented development of military arts over the next decade.

There was just one small problem.

Only one-tenth of the mages from the defending nation survived that battle.

In the following years, while the strategy evolved dramatically, it also led to the deaths of an unprecedented number of mages.

The situation became so dire that many mages began threatening to abandon their countries if they were sent to the battlefield. Considering that most mages came from noble families, this wasn’t ideal.

Training a mage was expensive, and only noble families could afford it.

That’s when the idea of training mages from commoner families arose, in exchange for a period of service in the army as combat mages.

These were mages who survived daily on the battlefield, discarding anything that wouldn’t help them survive in the short term.

What’s the use of learning that if you’re dead? That is the combat mage’s mentality.

Some combat mages take this to such an extreme that they know fewer than ten spells.

But the most important reason Zack nearly flipped the table when Albert explained that he was a combat mage wasn’t because they were being sent to the most dangerous position a mage could take on the battlefield. The reason was entirely different.

Combat mages were trained to fight non-magical combat classes quickly and effectively, but this also gave them a fatal flaw.

A standard mage had to go through rigorous training before earning the title of mage; combat mages didn’t have to endure such learning.

Because of this, when the two types of mages faced off, the outcome was always the same. Massacre.

From a standard mage’s perspective, combat mages’ spells were incomplete, lacked variety, and couldn’t adapt to their offenses.

On the battlefield, this wasn’t an issue. Standard mages stayed in the rear, and the only mage a combat mage might face was another of their kind.

But Zack and his companions were in a different situation.

Zack hadn’t forgotten that the possibility of being eliminated the moment the kingdom was done with them wasn’t low.

If Zack and the others dared disobey orders or act against the kingdom’s interests, they could be disposed of.

Zack had been wondering what method they’d use to control them and prevent escape.

He wasn’t naive enough to think people accustomed to being obeyed wouldn’t have a way to enforce their orders. At first, he thought they’d try to cultivate loyalty step by step, showering them with the best treatment as “heroes.”

Now, Zack realized he had been overthinking.

Although Zack didn’t know what methods they’d use on his companions, judging by the way the nobles had treated him, it was likely a simple and crude strategy exploiting their lack of knowledge while lowering their guard with flattery and empty words.

The nobles of this kingdom valued honor, duty, and justice—when it suited them. The moment Zack or his companions rebelled, their masks would fall to the ground at lightning speed.

Zack hadn’t forgotten how all his companions with tier 1 classes had been forcibly separated from the others by the guards while those bastards laughed.

Even now, no one had told them what had become of them.

Realizing his thoughts were growing darker, Zack shook his head and forced himself to think of something else.

(Now that I think about it, having a combat mage as an instructor isn’t so bad), Zack thought, trying to look on the bright side.

Combat mages had significant gaps in their knowledge, which depended on the mage’s mindset. Judging by Albert’s attitude, it was easy to see that they wouldn’t be learning any magical theory in the future. Still, combat mages could provide practical knowledge that a regular mage couldn’t.

Normally, that wouldn’t be enough to choose Albert over a traditional mage, but Zack was different.

His title not only allowed him to read at an impossible speed but also helped him internalize that knowledge as if he’d been taught by a master of the subject.

As Zack walked with his companions as though nothing had happened, he made a decision he’d been pondering all week.

Screw this kingdom. Once I’ve learned everything I can, I’m out of here. I won’t spend a single second on the battlefield for these bastards.

Zack’s pace didn’t change, but he walked with a newfound determination.

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