The Iceblade Sorcerer Shall Rule The World (Hyōken no Majutsushi ga Sekai o Suberu: Sekai Saikyō no Majutsushi de Aru Shōnen wa, Majutsu Gakuin ga Nyūgaku Suru) is a Light Novel series written by Nana Mikoshiba. Originally a Web Serial Novel which was first released online on the website Shousetsuka ni Narou in 2019, it was picked up for publication in 2020 with illustrations by Riko Korie (who also illustrated Unlimited Fafnir). It was adapted into an anime in 2023.
The Arnold Academy of Sorcery just got its first commoner student, the young and unassuming Ray Wise. As an 'Ordinary', he's looked down on by most of the student body. Unbeknownst to anyone, however, is that this supposed commoner is actually The Iceblade Sorcerer, the youngest of the seven Grand Sorcerers of the land. After helping win a massive war a few years ago, Ray decided to try and have a normal life and normal education, hence his disguise as a common country boy. But not all is as it seems at the academy, and Ray and his new friends may be in for a harder time they they could've expected.
Contains the following tropes:
- The Ace: Not only is Ray a trained soldier and a Grand, he's also an expert gardener and amazing at making friends (especially with girls).
- Bait-and-Switch: Episode 2 opens with Ray and his roommate Evi moaning as they're alone in their room. The camera and sounds make it look like a homoerotic scene, but they're just working out.
- Balanced Harem: Amelia, Elisa, Rebecca and Claris get screentime and Ship Tease with Ray who treats them all equally as his friends.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: In Episode 12, Carol blatantly states they have reached the end of the anime series.
- The Charmer: Ray has shown to be a complete natural as so many girls fall for him.
- Cosplay Café: In the third arc, the main characters' class sets up a maid café for the School Festival. Along with the female students, Ray decides to play a maid too.
- Crash-Into Hello: Ray first meets Claris when she crashes into him as she was running in the school hall.
- Deadly Training Area: The Kafka Forest is filled with monsters and students from Arnold Academy are sent to it in teams of four as a survival test.
- Fantastic Racism: Most of the noble students look down on 'ordinaries' in their presence. Albert in particular seems morally offended an Ordinary dared be in the same building as him.
- Magic A Is Magic A: Sorcery converts Prima Materia, the matter at root of all existence, into magic through a process called "Code Theory" and follows four steps; Encoding, Processing, Decoding and Embodiment.
- Over-the-Shoulder Carry: In Episode 8, Ray carries Claris over his shoulder after rescuing her from kidnappers.
- School Festival: The third arc takes place during the Cultural Festival of Arnold Academy.
- Secret-Keeper: Principal Abbie Garnet, another Grand and the only other person at the Academy who knows Ray's true identity.
- Shout-Out: Episode 6 features the iconic Cardboard Box disguise
◊ from the Metal Gear Solid series that is used by Ray near the end of the episode. - Title Drop: In Episode 12, Liselotte Eden drops the title by stating that "the Iceblade Sorcerer shall rule the world".
- Tournament Arc: The second arc has the Sword-Sorcerer Tournament held between three sorcery academies. Amelia participates with the goal of defeating her old friend and rival, Ariane Olgren.
- Training from Hell: In preparation for the Sword-Sorcerer Tournament, Ray puts Amelia through what he calls Ainsworth's Bootcamp, which is what his teacher did to train him back in the military. Amelia finds this training program to be Hell as she has to do exhausting physical exercise while carrying heavy boulders, with no magic allowed.
- Training Montage: Episode 6 has a small montage of Amelia suffering through Ray's hellish training regimen.
- Wizarding School: Arnold Academy trains sorcerers of noble birth.
- Younger Than They Look: With the exception of Ray and Evi, the members of the Environmental Research Club, also known as The Hunters, are all muscle bound Fitness Nuts who would look more at home in Fist of the North Star or JoJo's Bizarre Adventure rather than wizarding school students.
