Episode 2

**Nonstandard** (規格外, **Kikaku-gai**?) is the second episode of the Anime. It aired in Japan on April 13th, 2022.

## Synopsis

On Ard's first day at the academy, he draws attention due to his written exam performance, revering him as a genius, and later gets roped into a duel with a top mage student. To make matters worse Olivia a prominent figure in his previous life suspects there's something suspicious about Ard that reminds her of someone.

## Summary

Ard and Ireena both meet with headmaster Golde of the Laville National Academy Of Magic. Golde cordially introduces himself to the two as headmaster of the academy and notes their lineage as the children of national heroes. Because of the feat that Ard accomplished in his childhood, he was exempt from the practical entrance exam for the senior division, but is requested to still take the written part. Vowing to do his best in that part, Ard later finds out that he academically failed the exam, however, in other terms as said by Golde his answers far surpassed those that have been hypothesized. In other words, the answers that Ard gave have greatly improved the modern-day magic techniques. It's then that Golde announces to the student surrounding the area of Ard's genius, but also how he's the son of the legendary mage Jack and warrior Carla who once slew the evil god Dycaeus. The announcement bewilders Ard as he's being put on the spot and an illusive figure, watches the scene as it plays out from the shadows.

Later, Ard and Ireena talk about their parents' past accomplishments while walking down a hallway. Upon entering their classroom, they're both confronted by most of their student peers who ask to be friends with them. Aside from those students, there was a small handful that did not show the same respect and they then witness a young succubus be bullied by a noble student. Ireena intervenes and the bully introduces himself as Elrado and the house that he belongs to and justifies his actions by claiming the girl belongs to a house that serves under his. Hence, she's his servant by default; Ard then steps in and demands that the girl be treated fairly and that he apologize to her. This leads to Elrado proposing a duel between them to settle the matter and Ireena then recognizes Elrado as someone who accomplished becoming a Mage Square at a young age. As Elrado boasts about his lineage, Olivia arrives at the scene and demands to know if Ard was the central cause of the scene. Sheepishly, Ard confesses that he was and internally hopes that Olivia doesn't recognize him as the reincarnation of Varvatos. During his brief conversation with Olivia, she permits the duel to happen between Elrado and him.

Later outside, Ard contemplates how he'd fight against Elrado without Olivia catching onto his identity. The duel then starts with Elrado hitting Ard with a bunch of different types of Flare spells, but Ard counters them all with barriers. In the end, Ard wins the duel with his own Giga Flare spell. After Ireena forces Elrado to hold up to his end of the bargain, she also assures the girl to seek her or Ard if she's ever in trouble again. Olivia then chimes in, which irks Ard and she asks him about how he was able to duo cast two spells amid the fight. Flustered, Ard gives a haphazard excuse as to why, but is told that what's called double casting was a lost skill in the modern age and common sense at that. Despite her apprehensive approach toward Ard, Olivia backs off, but claims that she'll get her answer soon enough.

The following day, Olivia starts to officially teach the class and breaks the students into groups. Seeing that the girl was by her lonesome, Ireena asks Ard to have her join there and he agrees. Ireena then invites the girl to join them; she agrees and introduces herself as Ginny Fin de Salvan. At the site of the class assignment, Olivia instructs the students to go to the dungeon's third floor and hunt and skin a Black Wolf. Turning her attention to Ard's party, she asks Ard if it'll be a cinch for someone like him. Once again flustered by Olivia, Ard pushes his group away from the scene. Eventually, the group encounters a pack of Black Wolves, and Ireena and Ard deal with them with a Flare spell. This, however, turned out to be rather problematic for them as the Wolves' remains turned out to be too charred to skin. Feeling self-conscious about her dependability to contribute to the team, Ginny apologizes for being useless and how Elrado berates her for her incompetence. To help Ginny gains some confidence, Ard offers Ginny some personal magic lessons. Despite her hesitance, Ginny ultimately agrees to the offer and they immediately start, but Ginny fails to compare with Ard's magical skill. Although Ard tries to cheer Ginny up, her self-confidence was destroyed by the harassment she experienced by Elrado and his cohorts'. So, Ard then displays a new kind of magic that he created called Script Magic and then proceeds to teach it to both Ireena and Ginny. Soon, Ginny is shown to have mastered the magical technique and then the trio falls into a trap door leading them to a level where they encounter a Minotaur. Taking advantage of the situation, Ard uses the encounter as a way to further teach the two about Script Magic and allows a mentally reborn Ginny to defeat the monster.

Back on the surface, the group turn in the horns of the Minotaur they defeated and although it's said that Script Magic was used to defeat it, Ard denies the fact. Elrado then berates Ard for what he considers relaying on the girls too much and Ginny speaks in Ard's defense and then smacks him aside while Ireena also humiliates him by putting a basket of Black Wolf pelt over his head. Amused by what happened, Ard tries to leave only to be stopped by Olivia who wants to have a nice long chat with him.

## Characters

Characters in order of appearance.

* Golde
* Ard Meteor
* Ireena Litz de Olhyde
* Jack Meteor
* Carla Meteor
* Dycaeus
* Olivia vel Vine
* Ginny Fin de Salvan
* Elrado
* Varvatos
* Lizer Bellphoenix
* Verda El Hazard
* Alvarto Exex