《The Tales of Draconic Warlock》 Chapter 1: My Awakening

Chapter 1: My Awakening

Awakening was what the Elders call the Ceremony of Blessings. This is what everyone has to go through when they reach the age of ten. In a way, it is considered the ceremony of blessing but also the cerony of curses. In the world of Ragos, where magic is dominant, failing to awaken would lead you to live the life of amon mortal. Only the ones that sessfully awakened are respected by others. It doesn''t matter even if you are a prince. To earn respect and the right to rule, you have to awaken or else you would be forgotten and have to live at the bottom of the society. Sure someone who has rich and powerful parents can live a better life whenpared tomoners, that is if their parents don''t care about the awkening. If their family cares too much about awakening, which has a fifty percent chance of failure, life would be worse than that of amon person. I am now in the same position. I am the third son and fifth child of Viscount Joseph Frostwolf. The House of Frostwolf was established more than a millennia ago by Aldwin Frostwolf. He was born amoner but through his achievements, he reached the rank of Baron before his demise. By the time of his death, he was not able to achieve the hereditary status for the family but his work gave chance for the family to have a better start than many othermoners. Slowly the family''s power increased and at present the Viscount status is hereditary. For amoner to fail the awakening would mean nothing but for a noble, it is considered as a dark mark. There would be a lot of pressure on the nobles to awaken and as a noble child, no matter how down the line I was, everyone expected me to awaken. This was something that was not as easy as one thinks. Sure, the nobles trained the children from the age of five and fed them nutritious food from infancy to increase the chances of awakening but it was not always sessful. Many fail to awaken and when they fail, their status goes down the drain. Today would decide whether I could retain my status or lose my status in the family. Don''t get me wrong about my family. My parents love me very much and they already prepared a good alternative path for me if I fail the awakening but the problem was the elders. For a house that was here for more than a thousand years, with prolonged lives, there would be a lot of family members. This means that there would be a lot of members who would be vying for the seat of the Family Head or at least reach the ranks of Elders of the family. This is the only way that many see to get the most benefits from the family. All my four siblings sessfully awakened, which is not an easy feat. This not only strengthened my father''s position but also my first sister or brother as the heir. Unless we fight with each other and destroy each other, the next head would probably be one of those two. Oh, I forgot to say that in the Kingdom of Glesaria, the first child has the right to inherit the title of the father, rather than the first son but ites with some restrictions. If the girl wanted to be the next head, the one she married should not be an heir to any noble house, whether it was a higher house or lower house. This was because the boy whom she marries has to change their family name to her name. Moreover, they have to marry only an awakened. These are the restrictions on them if they want to be the head. The second restriction applies to boys too. My parents had a daughter as their first child and then two sons before they birthed another girl. After them I came, making me the youngest child. So I can''t be the heir but I can still get a good position in the family. --- "Don''t be nervous. Everything will be alright", my mother said soothing my mood. I am surely nervous because I don''t know whether I will sessfully awaken or not. It would have been less stressful if it happened inside the familypound but that was not happening. The awakening happens at the local Magic Association branch, which has branches spread across nations. I was on my way to the magic association along with my parents in the family car. Yes, the world may still have aristocracies but it was developed in many fields, much more than Earth. The difference was that in this world magic was used as the energy. "Listen to your mother boy. Even if you don''t awaken, it won''t be the end of the world", my father spoke hoping that those words would boost my confidence. They didn''t. My mother red at my father, "Dear,..." My father understood that he had mispoke but luck was on his side at that moment, "Oh, we are here", he said hoping to escape my mother''s anger. She may look soft but she is the devil of the family, which my sisters both inherited. My father quickly found a spot to park and then led us inside the magic association. Iughed a little inside thinking about what would happen to my fatherter, and he sure undid some of my nervousness. --- Once we were inside oof fo the attendants led me to the awakening room, while my parents were led to the observation room. "Don''t think too much. Just close your eyes and ce your hand on the awakening tablet. Everything else would depend on our fate", the attendant who was overseeing my awakening spoke. I did exactly as said. When I opened my eyes, I was somewhere else. "Wait this isn''t the Magic Association. Where am I?" I yelled out loud hoping that there would be some kind of response. I have read many novels, where the MC would get some different experiences than others and I am not so sure and wanted to confirm that. What I read about the awakening process was that it would take less than a minute outside but to the one going through the process would feel like it was more than a minute. This was because it was said that one would enter their Sea of Conscious when the awakening was taking ce. Before awakening it was said to be almost empty but that was not the case for me. My Sea of Conscious wasrger than what was written in the books. It was supposed to be dark in color but there are a lot of colors, which I do think had to do with me retaining memories of previous life. Before I could understand more, I woke up in the real world. "Congrattions", the attendant said. I didn''t understand what happened and looked at the awakening tablet, it was glowing, which denotes that the awakening was sessful. I quickly checked my status to confirm my awakening. "Status" -- Name: Magnus Frostwolf Age: 10 Titles: Son of Viscount ss: Draconic Warlock Affinity: Shadow, Blood Bloodline: ck Dragon (1% Purity) Physique: Devourer Physique (EX) Talent: Ritualistic Summoning (EX) Rank: Tier-0 Level: 0 Health Points (HP): 100 Strength (STR): 9 Endurance (END): 10 Dexterity (DEX): 1 Agility (AGI): 9 Magic Power (MP): 200 ss Skills: Shadow Bolt Skills: None --- Wait, what? Seeing my status screen, I can only say WTH. Chapter 2: My Status

Chapter 2: My Status

Ever since I reincarnated in the world of Ragos, all I ever wanted was a peaceful life, which I know is not simple. To have a peaceful life, one has to go through the battle phase in their life. I wasn''t interested in gaining the life I wanted through bloodshed. SInce I was the fifth child of the Viscount, I hoped that it could be possible. Not many would pay much attention to me. Sure some have their eyes on me because all my siblings have sessfully awakened. Most of the noble children do awaken sessfully. The nobles have long decoded that the way of life is a major factor in the awakening process. As long as one is well fed and trained, their chances of awakening increases. It is why many nobles do awaken, only a fraction fail to do so. This was different from themoners who were the exactly opposite. Since I am o fnoble birth, though the title was way down on thedder, it was recognized that I would awaken sessfully. Even when I awaken, I thought that it won''t be bad but it is bad now. My chance at having a leisure and pleasant life ended when I awakened. --- "Status" -- Name: Magnus Frostwolf Age: 10 Titles: Son of Viscount ss: Draconic Warlock Affinity: Shadow, Blood Bloodline: ck Dragon (1% Purity) Physique: Devourer Physique (EX) Talent: Ritualistic Summoning (EX) Rank: Tier-0 Level: 0 Health Points (HP): 100 Strength (STR): 9 Endurance (END): 10 Dexterity (DEX): 1 Agility (AGI): 9 Magic Power (MP): 200 ss Skills: Shadow Bolt Skills: None --- When I looked at my status, the dream of having a pleasant and leisure lif shattered into a thousand pieces. My status doesn''t look like what it should look for a normal person. There are many things that I didn''t understand, so I clicked them to understand them better as clicking usually shows their details. -- Daconic Warlock: As a warlock, you can summon demons, and other creatures of hell to fight for you. You can also cast dark spells. Empowered by your bloodline, your ss became Draconic Warlock. Every spell you use has cost you 10% less than usual. -- Devourer Physique (EX): You can devour anything as long as there is no resistance or when the resistance is small that it can be neglected. You can acquire various attributes or skills or something else depending on what you devoured and its quality The physique works perfectly with the Devour (EX) Skill. -- Ritualistic Summoning (EX): You can summon otherwordly creatures through summoning and let them do your bid for a price. There are no restrictions on who you can summon as long as you have the required resources for the summoning. -- What are these? These all sound ridiculous. How in the world did I get all these? Is this because of my past karma, what exactly did I do to gain these benefits? Nothinges for free, there is a price to be paid. In addition to these, there is also the matter of bloodline. My parents never said that we are dragons. I am sure we aren''t, probably descended from them a long time ago. Though it was 1%, which maybe too high or too low because I have no idea about these bloodlines. I should check the family''s library or ask my parents after we go home. EVen if I forget about the bloodline, this status isn''t something that a person who was supposed to live a quiet life should have. These are the characteristics of the main characters, the antagonist, or the protagonist. I am more inclined towards being the antagonist of the story. There maybe protagonist who was OP from the beginning but in many novels it was the Viin who has excellent conditions, and then the poor Hero woulde and destroy him infront of everyone, gaining reputation. Almost everything fits. I am a noble child. I have a status that would make the world envious of me. I am sure that there would be a hero that would try to destroy me but I can''t let that happen. I should keep my details a secret. Luckily, no one can see what exactly you have awakened. You can lie that you have awakened a superior ss, but sooner orter it woulde out and what awaits is not a good thing. Hmm, what should I reveal the world? How about I just say that I am a Warlock, whose affinity is Shadow. I can ask my parents about the bloodlines and say about that. There was nothing else to tell others. Everything else would be my trump cards against others in case they try to do anything nasty to me. Hmm, that sounds perfect. Once I decided myself what to say, I left the awakening room to meet my parents who are smiling. They watched from the observation room that I indeed sessfully awakened and the reason behind their happiness. As soon as I was out, my mother hugged him, "I am so proud of you my son", she said, stroking the bcak of my head. "Ah, there''s myd. Haha, congrattions on sessfully awakening", my father said as he tapped my shoulder. "So, what ss did you awaken?" they asked after congratting me. I smiled and said, "Warlock and Shadow Affinity". They faces brightened even more after I said my ss and affinity. This was because, not everyone who awakens would have an affinity. It was considered rare for one to have an affinity and as I have one that total works well with my ss, they are happy. "Come, let''s talk after we go home", my dad said motioning us to go to the car. It wouldn''t be good to speak the secrets out in the public. It could be quite detrimental and we all understood that. Anything else can be spoken back at home. There is something that I have to ask but can''t at any cost ask them in public. Soon we left the Magic Association and returned home. Chapter 3: Speaking with my parents

Chapter 3: Speaking with my parents

"Now, what are you holding back?" my father asked me as soon as we got back home. I turned to my mother and there was no surprise reaction from her. She knew too that I didn''t tell them everything about the awakening. Ah, I knew that I couldn''t fool my parents. This is why I held back even the details I wanted to tell them. If I told them, they would still sniff around to see if there were any more details that I didn''t tell them. I fidgeted a little bit, acting as if they caught me stealing a cookie, I should win an Oscar for my performance, hmm, I think there is no Oscar but there are awards given for acting, wait I am diverting from the topic. Where am I? Oh, I acted out a little bit and finally said, "Mom, Dad, there is something called Bloodline in my status", I spilled the beans, at least some of the beans. I can deal with other features easily, possibly but this was something I can''t. There was no mention of bloodlines anywhere in the books that I read from the library. If this is going to be a problem, I need a quick solution and I believe that my parents would provide it to me and they did. They smiled when I said that I had a bloodline. My father practically jumped on to me, and asked, "What bloodline did you awaken and what is its purity?" Oh, it looks like the bloodline thing is a good thing, probably. It says that the purity is only 1%, then probably means the worst of bloodlines. It probably has no importance after my rank increases. "It says my bloodline is ck dragon and the purity is 1%. Is it good or bad?" I asked nervously. This time I am really nervous. I have no idea about these bloodlines. Sure there is a ton of information about them in the novels I read back on Earth but this is not Earth. So it isn''t always reliable. For example, there is no Intelligence attribute in my status screen. Though it was not shown, it was there and it was said that it would appear after one fully opens their Sea of Conscious. The reason behind it, there are theories, but no one knows for sure. Anyway, this is why I can''t totally trust the webnovel knowledge I got from my previous life. "Haha", augh startled me. It was my mother whoughed out loud. "Joseph, it looks like he is Mama''s boy", she lightly teased me or did she tease both of us? Is the bloodline from my mother, "What do you mean mother?" I asked cutely like a ten-year-old. I may have memories of past life but right now I am a ten-year-old and have to act that part. She lovingly pulled my cheeks and said, "My dear Magnus, let''s start from the beginning. Come sit down on the bed. There is a lot to tell you about". "First of all, bloodline simply tells us our origin. My family, the ckse from a ck Dragon. It was said that one of my ancestors had a child with a ck Dragon and the result was my family carried the dragon''s bloodline inside them, which gave them an edge over others". "Dragons usually have a high physical strength and also magical strength. Since you are a warlock, whiches under the spell crafter category, your magic power should be more than usual. There also should be a light increase in other physical attributes too". Indeed they are. My Magic Power is 200, which is 100 higher than others who awaken a spellcaster ss. Even my Strength, Endurance, and Agility are higher than others. Maybe the Agility has nothing to do with the Dragon Bloodline but I am sure the other two are high because of it. I simply nodded to my mother, confirming that my attributes seemed higher than others at my age. "Good", she said, "Now those increased attributes are due to the 1% purity. I won''t say that it is the worst but better than most. The bloodline may have been of high purity a long time ago but after years of dilution, the purity decreased". "This is so because the ck dragon that birthed my family''s ancestor should be an ordinary ck dragon. If it was a high-level one, the dilution takes much more than what happened in the family. With the dilution, the perks of the dragon bloodline decreased but a few decades ago, my family refined a pill that can improve the purity of the dragon bloodline". "There was one tiny bit of a problem. The ingredients that are used for the pill are very rare and so the pills are limited in number. So my family would hand them to the best of the generation but since I am no longer a ck, I can''t get you that pill", my mother said with a frustrated face. "It''s okay Mother, I don''t need that pill. From the way you speak, the bloodline is not amon thing. So even if I don''t stand at the top, I''ll still be powerful enough to survive", I said cheering my mother a little bit. She smiled, "Indeed, it doesn''t matter but remember not to tell anyone about it. Even my family wouldn''t be able to detect such a small purity level. So no need to tell others and bring problems to oneself", she said. Wait if I have the bloodline, shouldn''t my other siblings also have the bloodline, right? "Mom, do my brothers and sisters have the bloodline?" I asked curiously. Mother wanted to speak but Father interjected, "Indeed, except for your first sister who was the same as you have your mother''s bloodline, the other three have my family''s bloodline, Frost Wolf Bloodline", he said in a proud tone. Mother snorted at him for his petty behavior. It looks like they seemed to have gotten into some kind of game about our bloodlines. It has nothing to do with me, and I should stay out of this matter, or else Mother would turn on her Devil Mode, which probably will happenter. Not noticing the danger that awaits, my father said, "Now that you have awakened, it''s time to properly train you. Rest for today, your training starts tomorrow". Even if I wanted a peaceful life, I couldn''t be weak. So I have no choice but to nod. Chapter 4: My Training (1)

Chapter 4: My Training (1)

After rying some of the details to my parents about my awakening, we feasted for the night celebrating my sessful awakening. After that, I went to sleep. There are things to n but I postponed them forter. I have a lot of time to clearly think about it. I need the sleep as early in the morning as my training would resume, probably changing a lot due to my ss. It ismon sense that the training for each profession would be tailor-made to suit that profession. A warrior training for a mage is a waste of time and resources. A warrior needs to increase his Strength and Endurance, while a mage needs to increase Magic Power and Intelligence. Though Intelligence was hidden till the awakened unlocked their sea of consciousness, it improves as one trains and levels up nheless. The attributes can be increased either through training or by leveling up. The training though would almost be obsolete as you reach higher ranks, as increasing attributes through training at that point would be minimal and is considered as a waste of time and resources. Leveling up would improve attributes, that are required by their ss. For example, I am a Warlock. For me Magic Power and Intelligence are important. So every level up, I would get +10 Magic Power and +1 Intelligence. So I can still train to improve my other attributes to the limits even after I start to level up but it was not rmended to level up until your professional attributes are at their limits, which is problematic for spellcasters as Intelligence is not shown and we wouldn''t know if we have reached the limit. Moreover, magic power is something every awakener needs. So there are many meditation methods to improve the magic power bit by bit. As rank increases, so does the Magic Power for every awakened. So improving Magic Power by leveling was not impressive at all, as almost anyone can catch up to the levels of a spellcaster if they invest properly and work hard. Even with these disadvantages, spellcasters were the most feared profession. This was because everything would change once the sea of consciousness was opened by the awakener. So even if spellcasters were considered weak at early stages, they would totally be untouchable when they reached higher ranks. --- I woke up early in the morning as usual. This was since my family started to train me. Though as I was yet to awaken at that time, I knew that they were going easy on me and the training wasposed of simple exercises, and today that''s all going to change. I quickly refreshed and went to the training grounds. This was told to me by my fatherst night while we were having the feast. By the time I arrived, there was a burly man standing alone in the training grounds. This was the Guard captain of our family, Domer Frostwolf. He doesn''t belong to our house but due to his great services, he was rewarded with our house name, as he never had a surname before. "Hey Captain Domer, nice to see you again but why are you here?" I asked the captain as soon as I saw him. I didn''t understand why he was here. I am a warlock but I don''t think the family has a warlock trainers. So I presumed that they would send a mage or some spellcaster to train me but there is only one standing here other than me and that is Captain Domer. He is a Knight, which was a warrior profession, not a spellcaster profession. He is not suited to train me. The captain looked at me and sighed, "Sorry, young master. There was a little issue and most of the spellcasters were either away or had their hands full. So they can''t train you for today. I was informed that once they were avable, your training would be resumed by them", he said. Wait, how could be that there are spellcaster trainers avable for me? Ah, I see it now. This is the ploy of the other elders, who are trying to undermine my father and seize his power for themselves. My parents already have four sessful awakeners. If I was added to that, then my father would gain even more power in the family. Everyone can see it, even the captain saw the power struggle clearly. It doesn''t matter anyway. Even if they try to hinder my growth, they can''t stop me. I saw the use of my physiquest night when we had a feast and it was marvelous. After the feast, there are many changes in my status screen. "Status" -- Name: Magnus Frostwolf Age: 10 Titles: Son of Viscount ss: Draconic Warlock Affinity: Shadow, Blood Bloodline: ck Dragon (1% Purity) Physique: Devourer Physique (EX) Talent: Ritualistic Summoning (EX) Rank: Tier-0 Level: 0 Health Points (HP): 100 Strength (STR): 15 Endurance (END): 15 Dexterity (DEX): 1 Agility (AGI): 12 Magic Power (MP): 270 ss Skills: Shadow Bolt Skills: None --- Haha, my power increased with just a small feast. They can''t bring me down with their cheap tricks. I AM GOING TO BE OP. Chapter 5: My Physique

Chapter 5: My Physique

Well, they are stupid to think that if they can stall my training, they can weaken me. Sure it will dy my progress but that would only be confined to the control of my strength, not my strength itself. Every individual may need training or to increase their levels to improve their attributes but I don''t. My Devourer Physique as it states can consume anything and give me something in return which includes attributes, skills, etc... Though the information said skills, I didn''t get any, probably I have to use the Devour Skill to get such things. I have searched for it but couldn''t find anything. I never heard about this skill before, probably a secret skill or a unique skill that was hidden from others. I too would hide such a skill, as it clearly represents a threat to others and could bring disaster to the holder if others came to know about its existence. It holds the same for the physique too. It''s a good thing that I withheld the information about it. If not the troubles I have to face more troubles from those idiots who are trying to undermine my father. Also, there are enemies of my family outside. They would never let me live if they found I had such a special physique. Anyway, afterst night''s feast, my status changed. "Status" -- Name: Magnus Frostwolf Age: 10 Titles: Son of Viscount ss: Draconic Warlock Affinity: Shadow, Blood Bloodline: ck Dragon (1% Purity) Physique: Devourer Physique (EX) Talent: Ritualistic Summoning (EX) Rank: Tier-0 Level: 0 Health Points (HP): 100 Strength (STR): 15 Endurance (END): 15 Dexterity (DEX): 1 Agility (AGI): 12 Magic Power (MP): 270 ss Skills: Shadow Bolt Skills: None --- My STR (Strength) which was 9 increased by 6 points and reached 15 points. My END (Endurance) too reached 15 points from the previous 10 points. My AGI (Agility) though increased by only 3 points, increasing from 9 to 12 points. In addition to them, my MP which was already at 200 increased to 270 points. These increased after eating a ranked beast meat. I may have increased the consumed quantity by a little bit but it was not the first time that I ate a ranked beast meat, though it was only Rank-1 beast meat. I can only say that the awakening unlocked or activated my physique yesterday. If that was not the case then my attributes would have been much higher than what I am seeing now. I don''t know about the INT (intelligence) attribute as no notification appeared. Maybe it was too high for it to increase this way or this beast doesn''t help to increase INT. Also, since the beasts aren''t some creatures that create items, I believe the reason why there was no increase in my DEX (Dexterity). This attribute was also the weakest one I have. Though it wasn''t the most useful for my physique, it''s better to have a minimum number, but that seems can only be increased by training. It was something that I should think aboutter. For now, I should increase other attributes, especially my INT, which is the most problematic one. The information that I got from the books and my family was that, though INT was hidden in the status, it would still increase and when it did there would be a notification. This was the same as the notification that I got when my physique absorbed...no I should say when my physique devoured the meat and increased my attributes. [+1 Strength] [+1 Endurance] [+1 Agility] [+5 Magic Power] These notifications appeared a few times before they stopped. When I saw such a boon appearing, consumed more meat but it stopped after a while. I don''t know the reason but it has something to do with my level or that I can only increase a finite number of attributes from eating certain beast meat. Whatever the reason might be, I can slowly experiment and find out. Only then can I map a perfect way to increase my status to maximum. If I can make the best use of my physique, I am sure that I can''t overtake everyone sooner orter. Anyway, that was something for the future me to figure out, and I have a lot of time to figure out what exactly my physique can and can''t do. For now, though, I should concentrate on the training that I need to take under the captain''s supervision. "Captain Domer, I understand. They''ll train me when they are avable. For now, let''s do the training that you would make your men do", I said confidently. When the captain heard my words, he smirked and said, "I hope the young master doesn''t go back on his words". Oh shit, I shouldn''t have said that. He has a reputation among the trainees as a sadist. I have a bad feeling about this. Chapter 6: My Training (2)

Chapter 6: My Training (2)

Oh. I shouldn''t have said that, I definitely shouldn''t have said that. Now I can see the crazy look in his eyes that the guards usually talked about. I always chalked it as trash-talking about the boss. Everyone has done it in their life. No one would love their boss. Now I see I am wrong. He really is crazy. I wonder what he going to make me do. "Young master, since I am going to train you until further notice, I can''t properly train you if I treat you like a young master", Captain Domer said. What does that mean? Is this one of his nefarious ns? I can''t think of the reason why he said so. I can only ask him and know so. "What do you mean by that Captain?" I asked him. The captain smiled at me and said, "As the Guard Captain, I can''t order the young master to do things. So if the young master wanted to ck in training, then there is nothing I can do about it. If I am the master and you are the student, that would be a different situation though". Oh, so that was your intention huh? No way I am going to give him the chance to whip me around as he pleases. I am not a masochist and have no such tendencies. I waved my hand and said, "It doesn''t matter captain. I''ll not make excuses to get out of the training. I know how important it is to one''s survival. So there is nothing for you to worry about. Moreover, someone else would take care of training in a few days, right? No need to burden yourself much captain". Oh, he definitely didn''t think that I would steer the vehicle this way. His expression was very clear about what he wanted to do and how bad he was feeling now that he couldn''t get what he wanted. "I understand young master", he said with a depressed tone. Hehe, you really think that I am just a stupid ten-year-old kid. You n would surely had seded if I am really only ten years old. I maybe only ten years in body, but my mind is much older than. I have seen many things than you...wait I don''t think that he is younger. Stupid, how could I forget that the awakened would live longer than normal humans? "Ahem, let''s talk about your training young master", he diverted the topic easily as if nothing happened. "Since you are a spellcaster, I assume that you would use either a wand or magic staff. Usually, one of the spellcasting masters would train you but as they were busy at the moment, I shall train you in weapon Arts. What you are going to learn from me are the Staff Arts", he said. He continued his speech, "Spellcasters depend on magic power to fight and it would be always through long-range attacks. In addition to long-range attack spells, they learn some defense spells. There is something most forget about is that assassins were considered mage killers because the casting time of any spell would berger than the time it requires for an assassin to kill the caster". "The spellcasters may appear fancy but when ites to practicality they fail. Assassins have Stealth skills, which lets them approach anyone without being detected. Unless the person they were targetting has a passive magic perception or their rank is higher than the assassin, they wouldn''t be able to sense the assassin". "Sure if it was an experienced spellcaster, then their instincts would scream at them about the iing danger but that doesn''t mean that they can locate and eradicate the assassin before he can attempt to kill. If only the caster has some stealth dispelling magic spell or something like that, they can catch the assassin before any attempt was made". I can understand the logic behind learning other weapons in addition to magic spells. One can''t be too careful. There is only one life and that is something one should enjoy to the full. "Moreover, what if your magic is burned out or you are in a magic-locked ce, where no one can use magic? Then you can only depend on your physical strength to protect yourself. If you have a weapon, then it would increase the chances of survival", he said. What he said was a valid point. The world may be a magical world but there are ces where one can''t use magic. I have read about those ces. Spellcasters avoid such ces at all costs. Moreover, there could be skills that can lock your magic. There was no mention of such a thing but who knows. Everyone would keep their trump cards a secret. I just started out and I have many secrets that I wouldn''t divulge. Who says that I am the only one special in this world? Many can''t keep those secrets to satisfy their ego and would end up dead. If there are secrets like mine or if there are people who have skills that can lock their magic power, many wouldn''t like them as they can cause their demise one day. They would kill these special ones before they had the chance to bloom either to protect themselves well in the future or just of pure jealously. Whatever the reason might be, people who have no secrets usually end up dead. Even I would die if others knew about my physique or my talent. One may think that no one would touch them just because they are noble children. They would be so wrong to think that and when death appears, there would be nothing but regret for underestimating others or over estimating yourself. There is no regret pill, so caution is a prerequisite to survive in this world. "I understand what you are trying to imply captain", I said. "Good, now let''s begin your training", he said as he took out two wodden staffs and threw one to me. Chapter 7: My Training (3)

Chapter 7: My Training (3)

Training...Training...Training. This was all that I did for the past week and that too on how to use a staff. For whatever reason, those elders blocked the spellcaster training for me. Those fucking bastards. All I wanted was a peaceful life but that was something that couldn''t be achieved without enough strength. I know that fact. It is the reason why I am willing to train and gain certain strength enough to achieve my dream, no more, no less. Those elders though, are trying to sabotage my peaceful life, by doing this. For them to do this and get away would only mean that the main elders are behind this, and the number is not small. Though my father is the Viscount, there are a lot of Elders, who are in charge of the family affairs. They are there so that the family head won''t be burned by too much work and at the same time keep the head in check. They are present so that the family head won''t abuse his power and cause the family to fall. This was something that was observed in many noble houses, who lost their status and disappeared from the face of the world when a tyrant appeared as their family head. To avoid this, the family''s power was distributed. To the outside world, my father, the viscount holds all the power in the family but he doesn''t. There are nine family members who are present to oversee the family affairs. Though they were only Elders, they almost had the same strength as my father. So these nine are called Main Elders. There are other Elders called Minor Elders but they were not important. They don''t hold much sway in the family affairs. So there should be decent resistance against my father among the Main Elders. It would be the only reason why this farce is still going on. "Captain, when do you think that the family would have a spare spellcaster to train me?" I asked him afterpleting our gruesome training. It wasn''t a waste as I learning Basic Staff Arts without any problems and I am at Level 2 already. Hearing my question, a frown appeared on the captain''s face, "Young master, I know that you are excited to hunt monsters and improve your level but that isn''t the wisest choice", he said. "Huh? I never said that. I asked when would my spellcasting trainer would be avable", I said back to him. I mean those are the words I uttered right? I mean I said those in a sarcastic way but still I believe this is what I asked him. Did I say anything else? "Ah, captain, I think you misheard me. I asked when would...", I continued. "Young master, I heard it correctly. You wanted to train with a spellcaster trainer so that you could go out and hunt monsters. It was after all the best way to improve one''s strength", the captain said, interrupting me in the middle. "Even though you are a spellcaster, physical training is still important. One would need Endurance to survive a long battle. If they don''t have sufficient Endurance, they would fall easily. So from tomorrow, your training would be inside the gravity rooms", he said. Wait what? Gravity rooms. Those are the warrior professionals, who depend on strength and endurance to fight, not a spellcrafting professional like me. I wanted toin about this but the captain disappeared before I could. Looks like my training is going to increase. Shit, this was not how this conversation was supposed to go. That fucking captain, I wonder sometimes whether he is on my father''s side or not. Whether he is or not, he surely is enjoying torturing me. Instead of giving an answer, that idiot increased my training intensity. It looks like the captain is not going to give me the answers, even if I try to broach the subject again in the future. He may even increase my training. I should go to the source. I should ask my father about this farce at the dinnerter in the evening. --- "Father, why are there too many elders against you?" I asked him. My father was surprised, "Why do you think so?" he asked me back. Seriously, Is there no one that would give me a straight answer? Why do I think so? Is he asking me the reason behind why the elders are against him? How should I know? Wasn''t that the reason why I asked? seeing my frowning face, he rified his question, "I am asking why you think that there are many elders who oppose me?" Oh, is that what he asked? "It was simple", I replied, "If there were not many elders against you, why wasn''t there any spellcaster trainer avable for me even after a week of awakening? It means that there are more than a few elders that are against you and there are Main Elders who are supporting this decision". When my father heard my reply, he sighed and shook his head. He must be contemting whether to reveal something important or not. I have seen such a scene before. Seeing that my father wasn''t speaking anything, my mother nudged him, "My dear husband, he was suffering because of your deeds. He has the right to hear why he was suffering", she said in a stern tone. Oh, it looks like Father might have done something that pissed off the Elders or something. It was just more than greed or envy of the elders, there was something else. My father let out a sigh, "Son, there is something I should tell you. It is about your fiance". Fiance? What in the hell is he rambling about? Chapter 8: My Fiance

Chapter 8: My Fiance

Fiance? What the hell is this he rambling about? Did he go senile in his old age? No that was not possible for an awakened. Only if they were cursed or lost their power would that be possible. He looks fine to me. "What are you talking about father? What fiance? Moreover, that''s not what I asked you?" I said to him, correcting him. "I know what you asked me about. It is all connected. Let me finish and you will understand everything", he replied. What does he mean? Do I have a fiance? Wait, did someone fancy her and it was causing me trouble? "Okay father", I said, looking forward to knowing who''s behind my troubles. Only by knowing can I rectify the issues. "This happened when you were just an infant. You see we arend aristocrats, which means we were given ownership over a certain part of thend in a kingdom or empire to rule and protect it, but that wasn''t a simple matter. To do so we need many resources". "Those resources are not always avable in the territory. So you would make trades with neighbor territories and even ally with them to help you in time of need. One such ally, my friend Thomas Siren, Viscount of Siren province, needed my help". "Monsters have attacked inrge numbers and their people were in danger. As one of their neighbors, and being my friend, he asked for my help and we did. We were able to save the territory and in exchange, he decided to marry his daughter, Sophia to you. You both were of the same age and so I agreed". "It may have ended well for others when they see it but a battle means, there would be loss of soldiers. Among those who died were the sons of the 1st Elder and 9th Elder. 1st Elder who used to side with me stood against me from that moment. 9th Elder though was not on my side from the beginning but he was considered neutral, and that battle ended his neutrality". "They both lost their sons who are their only children. Luckily for them, they have grandchildren, so their line didn''t end. This was the only reason why they didn''t go all out on me. If their lines had ended, I would have faced their wrath", he said in an unhappy tone. He wasn''t pleased by the elders but I can understand them. They lost their children and gained nothing for that in return, whereas my father got a daughter-inw in return. They were pissed and wanted to get back at my father and especially me. Even if I had nothing to do with it, the sins of father would haunt their children. I don''t like it but...wait he only said about those two, what about the others? "Father, what about the other elders? If those two were the only ones against you among the nine, it shouldn''t have been a problem?" I asked him. Hearing my question, he sneered, "You are right. Some of them are neutral like the 9th elder used to be but still, there are some greedy and pesky ones from the beginning. The most dangerous one is the 3rd Elder. He along with 6th, and 8th were against me since the beginning". "5th and 7th Elders were neutral and they wouldn''t side with one faction, they always bnce things. So you don''t need to worry about them. The remaining areckeys of the 3rd Elder. I should have informed you sooner but I felt that it was too young for you to be involved in the politics of the family". "This was something that you shouldn''t worry about at this age. You should be concentrated on enjoying your life and training but I suppose they sabotaged your training, so it inadvertently involved you now", he sighed. Yes, they should have kept their politics among themselves. they have involved me and so I should also retaliate against them but with my status and strength, I can''t do anything against them for the foreseeable future. They have children or grandchildren who are around my age. I can beat the shit out of them but that wasn''t possible either for now. Except for me at the moment, I don''t think there is anyone who has awakened in the past six months. The others have a good six months of training. They can easily beat the shit out of me if I challenge them now. I should be clever about this matter. If not I would be the one on the losing side. There is still time. Revenge is served best Cold. Moreover, there is something picking my brain. My father has arranged a marriage too early. In almost all novels, such marriages don''t end well. Either the girl would be a genius or there would be too many suitors who would challenge the boy, causing endless troubles for the boy. This or some idiot hero, who thinks that the world revolves around him and things should be done his way, would try to interfere in the marriage for the girl. he would spout some stupid sentences saying that he was protecting a girl from the injustices. In either case, it would only mean trouble for me. I should have known that being noble not only means pleasure but also trouble. I should prepare for those or my future would be bleak. Heh, all I want is a pleasant life. Chapter 9: My journey of four years (1)

Chapter 9: My journey of four years (1)

Four yearster... Not much has changed in the past four years. After the day of awakening, my entire day would be either spent on training, eating, or sleeping. I was not allowed to go outside the home. Do you know what''s the advantage of one awakening over the one failing to awaken? The awakened would be able to improve beyond their race''s capacity. They can improve by leveling up and increasing their ranks. As they ascend through the ranks, it would increase their life span. I''m of the human race even though there is a small trace of the ck dragon. It doesn''t extend the lifespan as it is very diluted. I''m a Tier-0 human, which means that I have awakened by never ranked up. There is no difference in lifespan between an unawakened human and a Tier-0 human. One is weak and the other has power but their lifespans remain the same. Only by ranking up would it change. A Tier-0 human can live up to 100 years but they also age in these 100 years. So there is not much time for them. A Tier-1 on the other hand can live up to 150 years. The difference may look small but it isn''t. At Tier-2 rank, you can live up to 250 years. A Tier-3 can live up to 500 years. It keeps increasing as rank increases. So everyone would try to level up as soon as they awaken. This way they can reach higher ranks and can live longer. I thought so too, but was proven that it was amon misconception. Leveling up is the best way to improve one''s attributes andbat skills but it is also the most dangerous. Even if your life span was increased, it would only mean that you would age slower but still be killed. Commoners normally start to level up as soon as they awaken. For them, it is the best way to live a better life and there is no wrong with that but that is not true for noble children. Noble families have training resources to improve the chances of their children''s survival in the world. They train and train their children so that they can improve their skills in a safe environment before they have to face any dangers. This would improve their survival when they go out to level up. Moreover, by training they would max out the attributes before leveling up. This was becase once you reach a certain value, no matter the training there wouldn''t be any improvement. Only by leveling or eating some attribute improving treasures or potions can they be improved. Even a few attributes of difference can entirely change the oue of a battle. So, like me, every noble child would go through harsh training inside their homes, before they can reach the age of fifteen. At fifteen, every awakened would have the chance to enter the academies for better learning and to establish rtionships. There are a lot of academies but the best one is the Royal Academy. I am supposed to enter this academy but that was still a year away. For now, there are other things to think about. --- Well, anyway my status panel showed a lot of improvements over the past four years. "Status" -- Name: Magnus Frostwolf Age: 14 Titles: Son of Viscount ss: Draconic Warlock Affinity: Shadow, Blood Bloodline: ck Dragon (1% Purity) Physique: Devourer Physique (EX) Talent: Ritualistic Summoning (EX) Rank: Tier-0 Level: 0 Health Points (HP): 1612 Strength (STR): 311 Endurance (END): 369 Dexterity (DEX): 65 Agility (AGI): 301 Magic Power (MP): 2700 ss Skills: Shadow Bolt Skills: Evade Lvl. 2; Dodge Lvl. 4; Resistances: Physical Resistance Lvl. 4; Light Resistance Lvl. 3; Poison Resistance Lvl. 2; Weapon Arts: Intermediate Staff Arts Lvl. 3 -- In the past four years, even though I never leveled up, all my attributes have increased tremendously, except for my dexterity. This was due to my Devourer Physique. Training and my Physique helped me to increase my attributes beyond anyone. The issue was with the attribute known as dexterity. No matter how much you train, it is hard to increase your dexterity. I only reason why I improved this much was because I got some Dexterity from the beast meat that I ate and my physique granted me that. I believed that Dexterity wouldn''t be possible to get from this way. In books, it was defined as an attribute that was required by production-based professionals. So imagine my surprise when I saw a notification that my Dexterity improved while eating the beast meat. I felt that there is much more than what was described in those books. So I asked my trainer, Captain Domer about it. --- More than three years ago... "What exactly is Dexterity?" I asked. "What do you think it is young master?" he asked me back. "Hmm, I think it is what defines whether we can craft items or not", I gave a simple answer based on what I read in the books about awakening. They gave details of all attributes that the status screen would show and other discovered attributes that would be hidden unless you find a way to unlock them. Captain Domer smiled at me, "You are right young master but it was not as simple as they print in a book", he said. "What do you mean?" "Hmm, I can''t exactly tell you but remember this young master. The books are only a reference, but we have to make a conclusion based on our own experiences", he said but refused to exin further. --- Present Day... I still don''t understand but it doesn''t matter to me. It''s not like am a Schr or something rted who researches a lot to understand everything around us. Now that my attributes are done, let''s see my resistances. Now I have a total of three resistances and they are physical, light, and poison resistances. Poison resistance was something every noble child had to get. The process is excruciating but it is a lifesaver. As the posison resistance grows, the chances of dying due to poisons also decrease. So it is a must. The physical resistance is obviously due to Domer''s training. He trained me on how to use the staff for these five years whenever he could. As the captain, he wouldn''t always have time to train me but he trained me well. Not only has my physical resistance increased but my Staff Arts is already at Intermediate Stage Level 3. This would be well useful while fighting monsters or my enemies when I am out of my MP. Next is the light resistance, which I gained due to the Priest that the Elders sent to train me. I''m a Warlock, whose affinities always ally with the Dark Elements like Shadow, Curse, Poison, etc... which makes the Priests and all other professionals rted to elements like Light, or Holy elements would be our bane. I am someone who has Shadow Affinity. Those Elders knew that but still send the Priest, though he has no affinities, their profession goes against my Warlock profession. Those shitbags. They are truly crossing my line. One day I''ll make them pay. Chapter 10: My journey of four years (2)

Chapter 10: My journey of four years (2)

Four years of my training were wasted under that priest. Sure because of him I got Light Resistance but that''s the only thing that he did, that can be said to be useful to me. Even though the priest took up most of the training time, my light resistance only reached level 3, which is not much useful, when you consider that the resistance levels can go up to level 100. Though the poison resistance level is the lowest, it is because it was the poison. Poison resistance can be improved by taking small dosages of poison but too much may damage the internal organs of a person. So the dosage intervals are veryrge. The priest doesn''t have such a limit to train me in gaining light resistance. The Elders even imed that since I have Shadow Affinity, Light Skills would cause a lot of damage to me if used on me. They were right on that point and my father couldn''t argue after they said but the trainer is the worst. This was a training that was reserved for the members of the family who were considered average in talent. I shouldn''t have been considered average by any means. Though my family didn''t have Warlocks before me, there are many who awakened sses that associate with the dark elements. They are considered absolutebatants because dark elements would corrode the enemies if their attacksnded on them. The attacks would slowly kill the opponents. So normally no one would provoke someone of these sses. I was better than most of these dark sses. I was born with Shadow and Blood affinities. Though I only revealed Shadow Affinity, the family should have given me the top-ss preference, but politics always cause problems. This is the problem when someone is born to a noble. They would have to always watch their backs for such backstabs. Ifpared tomoners, in this aspect they are better off. Moreover, this isn''t some medieval age where themoners starve due tock of food. Ragos has developed a lot and everyone can afford food and a bed. The luxuries are the only things that they can''t afford. they can enjoy them if they have the gold to buy them. One doesn''t need to be a noble to enjoy luxuries. Gold speaks a lot more than the noble title in the category but being a noble has many perks, that gold can''t buy. --- Anyway, what I discovered in my four years was something very huge. Something that can help me save a lot of gold. When someone awakens, they would get a ss Skill, which means that this skill is connected to your ss and that skill would be already at maximum level. There is no need to train it as much as the acquired skills. Acquired skills are soething one can get from Skill Books or Magic Cores. Skill Books drop from a dungeon when you kill the final boss. This was not a guaranteed drop but if the dungeon was cleared for the first time, then it was a guaranteed drop. Since almost all dungeons across the world have been cleared at least once, if you forget about the ones in the forbidden zones, that would mean even if you defeat the final boss, you may not get the Skill Book. The other way to get skills is by absorbing the Magic Cores, which are obtained by killing beasts and monsters. When we absorb a magic core, it can either provide EXP to increase one''s level, which majorly happens or it would grant one of the skills of the monster or beat it once belonged to. This was not a guarantee. It was said that there is only a 10% chance of gaining a skill and that skill might not be the one that you are aiming at. So a lot of cores are consumed for gaining the required skills, which costs a lot of gold. This would be a burden even for nobles. So most concentrate on obtaining certain skills that would work well wth their ss or something useful but also mostmon by consuming the cores. These would be provided by the family of course but after that one has to earn their skills. The skills I got from those cores were Evade and Dodge, which are very useful for a spellcaster to survive. Even though I have abnormal attributes, getting hit by an attack is stupid. You should defence and render it useless or evade the attack. Those are the only two ways to survive. You see, when I started to absorb the cores that can give Evade and Dodge skills, I got certain notifications. [Detected Monster Core...Devourer Physique activated.] [Please select if you want EXP or Skills.] When I saw those notifications, I was surprised but was happy with how things turned out. I simply selected skills. [Detected skills: Evade, Dodge, Sprint,...] I selected Evade first, and the core dissolved, but my status showed Evade Skill. I repeated the process again, and this time, I got Dodge skill. This means that I can save a lot of cores to get the skills. I don''t need to buy too many cores to get skills or even buy expensive skill books. This would save me a lot of money. When I start hunting on my own, I can guarantee to get a skill from the monster I hunted and also if there are more of such, I can sell those cores in exchange for some other resource. This simply is the greatest luxury. Chapter 11: My journey of four years (3)

Chapter 11: My journey of four years (3)

After getting Evade and Dodge, I didn''t use the cores allocated to me. You see since there is only a 10% chance of sess and even the EXP one gains from these magic cores is very low, I decided not to waste the remaining of the allocated 200 cores. Magic Cores are very useful, not just for increasing EXP or getting skills. They are used in equipment production, alchemy, etc... So I am going to save them for my future use but not all of them. Even though it was said 10%, for some it would be more than 10% sess. I returned 20 magic cores and stored the remaining 178 cores forter use. I did that so that my family would recognize me as a good talent but not too good to be considered a genius. Only by showing that you are capable, you can get resources. The more capable you are, the more resources are allocated. Being a genius would attract unwanted attention and would put a mark on me, so to get good resources, I just needed to show that I was good but not too good. Moreover, the reason why I didn''t return the remaining cores is that these cores didn''t just have Evade and Dodge skills, there are other skills too. I stored them forter usage. They would be very well useful for my adventure that would start in a week. If I had absorbed them and gained them, then the entire family would have known about it. During the training period, we have to show the trainers the skill levels. They can see everything regarding the details and I didn''t believe that even Captain Domer would keep them a secret if he saw that I gained more skills. Even though he sympathized with me for bing a sacrifice of family politics, he was still bound to the family. He would report everything that happened with my training. Luckily for me, skills are the only thing that they concentrate on. If they had seen my attributes, I don''t know what would have happened. Coming to My ss skill, which is called Shadow Bolt. There is no level as it would be at level max. There is only one method to gain ss Skills and that is to rank up. Every time time you rank up you would be rewarded in ss skills and the number of skills you get ranges between one to three. I just hope that I get two ss skills. After all, I have two affinities and when I rank up I need to show a shadow-rted skill. If only one skill shows up, I can manage but it would be quite a hassle or a waste depending on the skill that I get. In addition to ss and Acquired skills, there are also Created Skills and Refined Skills. Created Skills are something that you created yourself and something that didn''t exist in this world before. Refined Skills are skills that are obtained from tweaking the already existing skills. For example, I have been thinking about my ss skills. Shadow Bolt is a single-target skill. If I can tweak it and make it a multi-target skill it would be a Refined skill. The Created SKills and Refined Skills belong only to the person but that doesn''t mean others couldn''t create using it as an inspiration. The only way to stop that would be to share these skills with the World System. In return, you would get something else based on the skill you shared. Once you share a skill, the world can give it to anyone who fits the profile. The skill may even burst from a dungeon. Most may share a low-level skill but no one would be willing to share a high-level one. They keep them for their families to inherit. It could be done by using an Inheritance Stone. The problem was only one can inherit at a time. Unless that person is dead, no other can get the inheritance. This is also an issue that is affecting my family at the moment. My great-grandfather, who inherited the ancestor''s gift to the family is about to expire. It was not due to age, but due to an old injury. If not for that he would still have survived a century or two. The thing is with him expiring, someone from my generation would inherit the knowledge and power. This one would most likely overrule the first child of the current noble title holder to be the next noble title holder. This is why everyone is trying to constrict each other and have their bloodlines promoted. If their branch member bes the next viscount, it means that they be the main branch, which gets the best resources and has more power whenpared to other branch members. Anyway, it has nothing to do with me. From my father, it would be either Eritrea, my first sister, or Rudius, my first brother that wouldpete for that. My bet is mostly on my sister. I have seen her beating the shit out of him when I was young and when they were still in the academy. Coming to my talent, that was the only thing that I couldn''t do anything about for now. I can''t use it here where anyone can see or feel what you were doing. A ritual would certain drag the elders eyes towards me. Rituals use a lot of magic and it can easily be sensed by others, so I can''t use it here, but I have ns for it. In a week, when I go on for an adventure, I can finally use my talent. I already studied everything that I could about the rituals and prepared well for it. Now I hope luck is on my side, as read, ritual summonings are not a guranteed event and it can even blow. It would be quite dangerous but I feel like I should dare, as it would change eveything. I don''t whether it could change my life for better or worse. I can only specte for now. For now, I should prepare for my upcoing adventure. Chapter 12: My Adventure in the Wild (1)

Chapter 12: My Adventure in the Wild (1)

Outside Winter City... "Remember honey, if you can''t fight, there is no shame in running away and hiding", my mom said while hugging me. She was worried about my safety and I couldn''t me her for hugging me tightly, even to the point of embarrassing me in front of the whole city. After all, today is the day I start my adventure in the wild. This was a tradition that was started by the founder and every awakened has to take part in it. After awakening, everyone has to spend nine months in the wild. Except for some initial resources, everything has to be earned by oneself in the wild. One can return before nine months are up, but would mean that they failed. Not everyone can survive in the wild for that long away from civilization, not after enjoying the benefits of civilization for more than a decade. Many give up and return, after a month or two in the wild. Even among siblings, Eritrea, survived in the wild for a full eight months, before she got mad and returned. This was the highest among my siblings. I want to survive the longest but can''t guarantee that. Everyone would boast that they can survive in the wild the longest but once they enter the wild and live for a few days, everything changes. They give up. Maybe I''ll too. Even in my past life, I grew up in a town, not the wild nor a vige which is the closest to the wild. I''ll try to survive, and if I can''t I''ll just give up and return home. There is no shame in that. "I understand mom. I''ll run back home if there is any danger", I said smiling. When my father heard those words his face twitched. Even though he wanted to say something else, "Be careful out there and return home", were the words that came out of his mouth. I snickered inside my mind. He may be a powerful Viscount outside but not in front of Mom. It was not just the couple dynamics or something. It was simple. My mother is a Tier-6 Storm Mage, while my father is a Tier-5 Spear Knight. She is more powerful than him and easily can beat him. "Okay, Mom and Dad, I''ll see you in a few months", I said as I started to walk towards the Orlum Forest, which is on the West of the city. They waved their hands, especially my mother. Whatever the world might be, the mother would always be the mother and the father would always be the father. --- Not long after I ventured into the forests, I came across my first monster, a goblin. This was easily identifiable even without any skills, but without any Identifiction skill it would be difficult to know their levels, unless you kill them. Not everyone can have those Identification Skills. They belong to the Appraiser ss. Only a few outside of Appraiser ss holders have that skill, as its burst rate from a dungeon is very low. This is where the Magic Braceletes in. This was a gift from my parents after my awakening. This is a technological marvel of this world. Sure it is not a weapon that can devastate countries nor something that can save lives but it has so many uses and is quite affordable by almost everyone. The first feature is, that it can show time, which is a requirement for everyone. The second feature is that it can store items. Yes, the magic braceletes with space storage. The size of the space storage depends on how much you can spend. The highest space one can get is 100 cubic meters. Mine was only 10 cubic meters, but it was more than enough. The third feature was themunication. As long as another user with a magic bracelet was in the area of the signal, they could speak with each other. The fourth and final feature is the identification. This isn''t like the skill but was close. It scans the creature and identify the species and probably its rank based on the data recorded in the bracelet. It would be updated every month. The species can easily be identified by rank was the tricky part. Only someone with identification skills can tell the correct rank and level of a creature. Others can only guess the level as long as theirs is above them. The manufacturers of the magic bracelet have been trying to replicate the Identification Skill using an Item, but there has been not much sess in that endeavor. It was just not them who were trying to do so. Identification Skills are very useful forbat-oriented professionals. They can identify the race and level of the creature and there by decide whether to act or not. If they go against a creature that is higher rank than them, they would do easily. It was the reason, why there are no Identification Skill Books on the market. If they find them, they will use them for themselves or their family members. Now let''s see what this bracelet can do. -- Species: Goblin Possible Rank: Tier-0 Possible level: 1-5 Info: Goblins are two-legged monsters who has a bit of intelligence but are too savage to be considered as a sapient creature. Even after they rank up, their Intelligence increases but their savagery doesn''t disappear. Weakness: As usual, eyes are the weakest of the creature. Most of the goblins don''t have magic. They use swords and axes. So a long-ranged attacker can easily take them out. Caution: The lower goblins are always physical attack creatures. Only when you go after higher goblins, you need magic protection. Never attack goblins when they were in groups, unless you can absolutely overwhelm them swiftly. There might be a chance of other goblin groups nearby. If they hear the cry for help from the group, they would swarm you and kill you. -- Hmm, it appears basic but it is kind of what everyone needs to know. Now let''s see if I can get rid of this lone goblin before more of themes. Chapter 13: My Adventure in the Wild (2)

Chapter 13: My Adventure in the Wild (2)

The battle was over before it even started. I only used a Shadow Bolt once, and it was done. It died after it got hit once. I used the Shadow Bolt skill because that was what was important for me as a spellcaster. I needed to adjust my mind and be able to cast spells when there was an enemy and no support to save me. I have used the skill when I am in the training grounds, against a dummy, which has no offense. It was easy to use it against, but in a real battle, many would freeze up and wouldn''t be able to cast the skill. I did, but that doesn''t mean I am not afraid. First, there was only one goblin and also it didn''t see me. I attacked it from a safe and secret position. It would only be exposed once I used a skill, which gave me an advantage over it as I could attack it first. [Shadow Bolt] After I did, the goblin screamed for a second, before going silent forever. Its death was validated by the two status notifications that I got. [You have killed Tier-0 Level 1 Goblin.] [You have gained +10 EXP.] I need 100 EXP to reach level 1. The goblin that I just killed yielded only 10 EXP which is only 1/10th of the required EXP. This means that I have to kill ten level 1 goblins to reach level 1. This is not the most important thing that was discovered from this short and one-sided battle. The damage caused by a Magical Attack always depends on the INT. Unless there are some buffs applied, the normal calction is like this. M.A (max) = 1 * INT There are some special skills thate with preloaded buffs, for which there would be something extra but for most skills, this was the form. If this was a game, I would have seen an attack value on the top and would have easily calcted my INT but it was not. The typical HP of a level 1 goblin would be from 20 to 35, which was much lower than my initial HP value when I awakened, long before my values skyrocketed due to my physique. A monster doesn''t always mean that their attributes are better than that of humans. Moreover, this monster may belong to the goblin race but it is certainly from the weaker sections of the race. There are goblins that have higher HP than a human but they would have a prefix in their names. Those are the ones that I should be careful against. They would have not only high HP but also higher attack or defense abilities. Now, I don''t need to worry about them, until I see them. Coming back to my INT, since it died with just one strike, I can now say that my INT is definitely not less than 20. The highest though has to wait untilter. It certainly seems disappointing if Ipare them to other attributes but it was a given. It was not easy to improve INT as it is improving other attributes, but I know once I open up my Sea of Consciousness, I will be able to rapidly improve INT. It was for the future. For now, I have to take the magic core from the goblin and also have to find a shelter to stay at night. Shelter is very important when you stay out in the forests at night. It is quite dangerous at night as they say in the novels. This was not because of some mysterious power that empowers the monsters at night but because of their habits. They usually tend to avoid humans, and so many appear at night to hunt for food. The reason was many of these predators have Night Vision, which is very helpful at night or when traversing through dark areas. I should get that skill for myself. It would be very useful. I should also absorb the cores and get those other skills that they have. First, though, I should get the core and find the shelter. The goblin corpse is useless. The monsters would eat it or it would dpose. --- A dayter... I returned back to the cave that I found on my first day. It proved to be a safe ce for my stay and would be my house for the next few days. I can''t stay here because the monsters around here are not of high levels. This is in the outermost section of the forest. It means that there won''t be much to hunt. There are a lot of slimes and weaker goblins to hunt but it is so tiresome, especially with those goblins. Most of my time here is wasted on them. Goblins appear in groups and rarely stray away from such a way. So even when I spot a goblin, I have to make sure that there are no other goblins in the vicinity first. Only then I can kill the lone one. It was not always how things went. I wasted two days on this. To kill one of the goblins, I have to wait and wait, patiently so that one of the goblins would stray from the group. I could easily eliminate the group of three or five easily. Heck, I can easily decimate the entire goblin vige using the items that my parents stuffed inside my Magic Bracelet but those are for emergencies. If I use those this early, it would defeat the purpose of this training. This training was not just to level up faster, but also to build character. Many things can be learned from this exercise. Even then, I have my own limits. A few more days, and I will leave this ce. I would proceed further into the forest, only then can I be able to level up easily. The character maybe important but so is strength. Only the words and character of someone alive matter. Without sufficient strength, living long would only be a dream. Chapter 14: My Adventure in the Wild (3)

Chapter 14: My Adventure in the Wild (3)

When I reached Level 1, my MP increased by 10 points and INT by 1 point, though I can''t see it in the panel yet. In the week before my adventure started, a few improvements were made. Due to my Devourer Physique, my attributes move upward without doing anything but eating food, not just any food but meat of beasts or something like that. When I ate bread, I got nothing from my physique. No matter how much I ate, bread could only fill my stomach and nothing else. I would be able to eat meat every day at home, so my status changed every day. To understand my growth, I maintained a diary, where I would update what I ate or did and what happened with my status screen. "Status" -- Name: Magnus Frostwolf Age: 14 Titles: Son of Viscount ss: Draconic Warlock Affinity: Shadow, Blood Bloodline: ck Dragon (1% Purity) Physique: Devourer Physique (EX) Talent: Ritualistic Summoning (EX) Rank: Tier-0 Level: 1 Health Points (HP): 1622 Strength (STR): 317 Endurance (END): 372 Dexterity (DEX): 65 Agility (AGI): 311 Magic Power (MP): 2710 ss Skills: Shadow Bolt Skills: Evade Lvl. 2; Dodge Lvl. 4; Sprint Lvl.1; Alertness Lvl. 1; Resistances: Physical Resistance Lvl. 4; Light Resistance Lvl. 3; Poison Resistance Lvl. 2; Weapon Arts: Intermediate Staff Arts Lvl. 3 -- Yeah, there aren''t many changes in the past week or so. Probably because there is a limit to the benefits gained from eating low-level meat. What my family eatses from animal pens, where beasts are grown but they never improve their ranks or levels. If such a thing happens, it would be considered dangerous, as these animal pens are usually located inside or near human habitats. So when the beast grows to a certain size, they are sent to get ughtered. If the beasts grow, it will cause injuries or even deaths. It was not as if everyone would awaken and be strengthened to fight the monsters. If they fight a beast that has leveled up, chances are that the normal humans are going to die. This is the reason why, the animal farms don''t let them evolve. Oh, speaking of my status, while I stayed the night in the cave, I managed to get other skills that are avable in the cores. There are two skills, namely Sprint, and Alertness. Alertness is used to find enemies that are in the vicinity. This is a passive skill, that would trigger an alert in your mind when there are enemies near you. The range depends on the skill level. Sprint as the name suggests is a skill to sprint away from the enemy, which is an active skill. The distance you can cover depends on your level. These two are the only remaining that the magic cores had, which consumed two cores from my secret stash of 178, leaving behind 176 cores. These corese from low-level creatures, which are good at hiding and running away but when a high-level creature attacks them, there is no survival. They are exclusively hunted for their cores because of their skills. There are dungeons where these little creatures are avable in plenty. It is from where my family as well as other noble families get these cores. They are used by the children of the noble families because any one of the four skills is very useful to survive. They give very minuscule EXP, so almost no one uses them to improve their levels. It would be a waste of good resources. They can be better utilized in making weapons and equipment, rather than that. Now that I have four skills, that would make others bleed, I shall use them well. By the time I return home, I hope that these four skills have reached level 10 and I am at the peak of Tier-0. I heard from others about this trial. There are some who died out here in the wild, but that was long ago when my family had very few resources. As time went by, almost everyone survived. This trip is not a guaranteed one as no one knows what will happen at the next minute. The longest one stayed was nine months, a record no one was able to break in the past six hundred years. My Eritrea came close to breaking it but she didn''t. She survived for eight months and six days, by that time she returned home. The question before me was, how long should I stay here? Even if I stayed here for a total of nine months, I would still have three months before it was time for the academy. It was a rule by the kingdom, that every awakened had to attend the academy. It doesn''t matter if it is the top academy or the bottom one, they have to attend one after they reach the age of 15. The academy is a ce of learning, but that was purely for themoners, not the noble children. After awakening, noble families would hire trainers to teach the children. For the noble children, the academy was a ce where they came to socialize and form connections with their peers. If they find a talented person, they can recruit them or at least form a friendly connection with them, so that they would be helpful to them in the future. This was important, especially for the heirs of the houses. They need many connections to rule their territories. Without connections, nothing moves forward. For me though, to speak the truth, I have no idea what I can gain from the academy. I am not an heir, but still, it would be good to make a few friends. Also, since I am not an heir, the time at the academy might give me some idea bout what to do in the future. For now, let''s level up and move further into the forest. Chapter 15: My Magic Staff

Chapter 15: My Magic Staff

It was too slow in my opinion. The family rule states that the rite of passage is to build some character, but that is nonsense. Back then, there were no resources in the treasury of the family and the reason why my ancestors went hunting in the forest. As time went on, the size of the treasury grew and it was not needed for the family members to go to the forest to do anything but the family thought that the members would be weak if everything was provided to them. They want the family to survive, and what was the best ce that they can learn to do so? So, the original way of obtaining resources became the rite of passage. Depending on your level of sess, the family would provide resources for the next five years, which you spend in the academy. After graduating from the academy, you have to start contributing to the family or else you can''t use your family name from then on. So even if I wanted to lie back and enjoy, I have to at least show I am worth the resources, or else I would be too weak to survive in this world. Lying back doesn''t mean that I want to die quickly. I have to show decent strength and talent to have a pleasurable life. It''s the only way. If only the family was small, it wouldn''t have been so hard. I could have lied down from the start, without worrying about anything. Father may have pestered me, but Mother would have taken care of me, after, I am the youngest of all, and who doesn''t love their youngest more than their other children? --- Anyway, I need to level up faster and leave the forest. It''s not like they can cut off my resources after I reveal my level which I hope would reach peak of Tier-0. This is the only way that I can reap maximum benefits from the family. I should start to use the staff from tomorrow. It would be quicker and easier to level up with that in hand. I quickly pulled and checked the staff that my parents gave me before I set off. -- Eldritch Staff Attribute: Shadow Magic Attack: +1,000 Dark Magic Attack: +3,000 Cast Range: +5-25 m Rank: Tier-4 Durability: 2000/2000 -- Eldritch Staff, was one of themon magic staffs that was made from Eldritch trees,monly found in the Torum Mountains. The forests there are filled with these trees, whose wood is very useful in creating magic staffs for spellcasters. They are one of the best for spellcasters as long as the rank doesn''t exceed Tier-4. This was especially true for the Dark Spellcasters. Anyone associated with the dark elements would gain a huge advantage while using the staff. Whenpared with normal spell attacks, dark spell attacks can cause more damage. This is why it is a perfect gift for me. I can use the staff until I reach Tier-4, which would take a long time. The only problem was that, even for a Tier-4 weapon, it has too low durability. A Tier-4 Staff usually has durability of around 5000 and that was for magic staff, not weapons like swords and spears. Those would have much higher durability than magic staff. After all, they had to sh with other weapons physically. It would chip away the durability faster and a lower durability means losing the battle faster. This staff may look weak for other spell casters, but it is very useful for me and anyone who learned dark spells. Even if it is not a dark spell, the attack power and range are much better whenpared to other magic staffs or wands. This would make it easier for me to eradicate enemies faster and thereby level up faster at the same time. Now let''s level up faster so that I can get out of here as soon as possible. --- A Weekter... With the help of the staff, I was able to reach level 10 faster whenpared with the time that it took me to reach level 1 from level 0. "Status" -- Name: Magnus Frostwolf Age: 14 Titles: Son of Viscount ss: Draconic Warlock Affinity: Shadow, Blood Bloodline: ck Dragon (1% Purity) Physique: Devourer Physique (EX) Talent: Ritualistic Summoning (EX) Rank: Tier-0 Level: 10 Health Points (HP): 1715 Strength (STR): 317 Endurance (END): 372 Dexterity (DEX): 65 Agility (AGI): 311 Magic Power (MP): 2800 ss Skills: Shadow Bolt Skills: Evade Lvl. 2; Dodge Lvl. 4; Sprint Lvl.1; Alertness Lvl. 2; Resistances: Physical Resistance Lvl. 4; Light Resistance Lvl. 3; Poison Resistance Lvl. 2; Weapon Arts: Intermediate Staff Arts Lvl. 3 -- Other than my levels increasing and thereby increasing the attributes, nothing much changed in my status. Only my Alertness Skill leveled up to the second level. This was all that changed with my status in more than a week. I need to ramp it up if I have to get stronger and also enjoy life here. If too much time was wasted on increasing strength, then what extent of my life would be able for me to spend leisurely? I would say not much. I would be like those old men in the family, who are desperately trying to break through the next tier in order to improve their life, only to see that their bodies aged too much and they can''t enjoy too many pleasures of the world. So the next part of my journey in the forest is important. It would be testing out my talent and how useful it would be for me. This would be like an experiment, as I have no idea about it. The Inner area of the forest would be the perfect ce. There are no people here and if anything goes wrong, no one would get hurt. Moreover, it offers some privacy from the prying eyes of the family. I don''t how, but I have a feeling that everything is going to change once I seed with this. Chapter 16: My first Refined skill

Chapter 16: My first Refined skill

Even with my staff in hand, my leveling speed hasn''t increased. It was not that my power was insufficient rather the monsters were. Most of the monsters at these levels move in groups. If I can''t eliminate all of them at the same time, they would invite their allies, which would be rather troublesome. The main issue was that I had only a single target attack skill, which is my ss skill. It means that I can only attack a single target at a time. This would hinder me when there are multiple enemies. I had to kill one by one, and that would give the other monsters a chance to call for reinforcements. Even with my high attributes for my level, I am not invincible against multiple opponents. I can only stand against them a bit longer than others, but eventually, I too will fall if I face too many enemies at the same time. So it was decided. What I need is a Group attack skill. There are two types of group attack skills. One is an AOE skill, which can target an area and the other one is a Multiple-Target attack skill, which targets enemies directly but there would be more than one target. Either of these skills can help me level up faster when faced with more than one enemy at a time. AOE skill might appear cool but it''s too shy and it was something one shouldn''t use in an enemy territory. I am now in the enemy territory, so to speak. Moreover, an AOE skill would have the best oue when used against a monster tide or enemy nation armies, not when there are two or three enemies. What I should do is find a way to get a skill that can attack more than one target but wouldn''t affect the area around, but how? Should I go out and find a monster that has group attack skills? or should I create my own refined skills? Creating an entirely new skill is not easy but for a refined skill, there would be something as a reference. The question that remains is whether I should use Shadow Bolt, my ss skill as my reference and create a refined skill from it or should I find some other skill for this. I can find other skills easily. I earned a lot of magic cores in the past few days, mostly belong to the goblins, but some belong to slimes and other low-level monsters. They have a few skills I believe, should I absorb them and get those new skills. No, it would be counter-intuitive for my growth. I should improve the skills that I already have and only when they reach a decent level should I try to get new skills or when I am in need. If I learn unnecessary skills before they are needed, then they are considered waste. It doesn''t matter if you have a lot of skills or a few skills. Without enough magic power, they are considered worthless. Anyway, it''s decided. I should create a refined skill based on Shadow Bolt. Let''s see how long it will take for me to make that happen. --- Three Weeks Later... Sess! It was a sess. I finally was able to create my first refined skill which was based on my ss skill. Though it took three weeks of my time, it was worth it. This was because, the skill would be mine and no one would have this skill unless they have a Copy Skill or Enlightenment Skill, which could put me in jeopardy. Hmm, I should create something to make sure that doesn''t happen. There are many novels where MC gets Copy Talent and he could copy every talent or skill of others. If by chance I encounter such a person, then they would get the benefits without the work. This I can''t let happen. At least the Englihtment Skill would pave the way to easily grasp everything but it wouldn''t outright give everything without any work from the MC. It is a very big bug. Sure, if I get that skill, I will be happy and will copy every skill out there. You may think I am a hypocrite and you would be right. Everyone is so and anyone who ims that they aren''t are the biggest hypocrites. Anyway, let''s check what else changed. "Status" -- Name: Magnus Frostwolf Age: 14 Titles: Son of Viscount ss: Draconic Warlock Affinity: Shadow, Blood Bloodline: ck Dragon (1% Purity) Physique: Devourer Physique (EX) Talent: Ritualistic Summoning (EX) Rank: Tier-0 Level: 15 Health Points (HP): 1767 Strength (STR): 319 Endurance (END): 372 Dexterity (DEX): 65 Agility (AGI): 314 Magic Power (MP): 2850 ss Skills: Shadow Bolt; Refined Skills: Shadow Bolt Volley Lv. 1; Skills: Evade Lvl. 3; Dodge Lvl. 4; Sprint Lvl. 2; Alertness Lvl. 2; Resistances: Physical Resistance Lvl. 4; Light Resistance Lvl. 3; Poison Resistance Lvl. 2; Weapon Arts: Intermediate Staff Arts Lvl. 3 -- In addition to having the Multi-target attack skill, Shadow Bolt Volley, my Evade and Sprint skills improved by a level. For now, my new skill can only hit two targets at a time but that was at level 1. It would improve as time goes on, so no need to worry about that. Within the next month, I should not just improve my levels but also my skills, with an emphasis on improving the skills. Levels can be easily improved by skills that aren''t easy to improve. So the main direction of hunting in the forest is to improve them. Facing dangers would always improve skills faster than training in a safe environment. I guess, I can hope that my skills would at least reach level 10. Shadow Bolt Volley would most likely be at a higher level than the other skills, that I can be sure of. Since there aren''t many threats for me here, most of my skills are not improving faster. I should do something about that soon. With the improved way of hunting and improving faster, I believe I have everything for the Ritual. It''s time to check what my talent can do and how it can help me be stronger. Chapter 17: Plans to use my Talent

Chapter 17: ns to use my Talent

My talent is Ritualistic Summoning, which is graded EX. The grades in the world of Ragos are as follows: F, E, D, C, B, A, S, SS, and SSS. The grades start at F, which is the lowest, and end at SSS, which is the highest. I have never seen any mention of grades above SSS. So I have no idea how high the grade is or how low it is. There is a chance that EX might be below F grade. Unless I test out the effects, I can''t say if the grade is better or worse. This was my opinion before I saw the results that I got from my Physique which too was graded as EX. From what I have seen so far, I can assume that the EX-grade is definitely not below F-grade. Though I never tried what my talent was about, I did read a lot of books in the library. In this world, knowledge ispartmented and restricted. The ess to knowledge about the magic depends on your rank. When I had yet to awaken, there wasn''t much knowledge regarding the awakeners avable to me. The knowledge avable was enough for me to under and prepare before awakening. Only when I awakened sessfully did I get ess to one of the restricted sections. Even though I have awakened, not all the knowledge was made avable to me. Since I was at Tier-0, knowledge up to Tier-3 was allowed. Only once I reach Tier-3 would the knowledge about the above ranks be opened to me. Even though most of the important knowledge was still restricted for me, I still was able to learn what I needed. I read books on Alchemy, Formations, Rituals, and every other subject that I can find in the library. Once I joined the academy, everything would be done online. The knowledge I could read was public knowledge or what my family collected on their own. Except for that, no one can teach others, even their family the knowledge that they learn at the academy. I don''t know why exactly such a restriction exists. Anyway, that has nothing to do with me. The thing was I was able to read some books on rituals. I copied those and stored them on my bracelet. Now I can review everything that I wanted. This was not against family rules but the knowledge can''t be shared. In this world Knowledge is power. This is something that they ept more than on Earth. The one who holds the knowledge would have the final win. This what they believe. This is especially hold true because, there a lot of skills that appear in the world but they weren''t revealed to the world. This is not just about power but also about wihing to live. If I had revealed about my physique or talent, no matter the protection my family can provide, there is no chance that I would have lived this long. It would be the same case if I had revealed my secondary affinity, Blood. My family has been for over a milleneia, and that means that there are a lot of enemies and that would like to crush our family if they got the chance. Moreover, anyone in power wouldn''t want other to hold that kind of power. Forget about anyone else, I wouldn''t like that. So if my family shows too much talent, that would give rise to new enemies that are willing to crush us before we can reach their level, as that would mean sharing power, which everyone hates to do so. There are many geniues that died because of that. If I hadn''t had read those webnovels in my past life, I would have naively revealed my talents, so that I would gain a good position in the family. I would temporarily but I wouldn''t live long enough after that. Normally, people can''t read other people''s status without permission, but this is a magical world where anything is possible. There is a high chance that out there is someone who has a skill that can read other''s panel without permission. It would be rather dangerous. Now, it looks like there are lot of things to do survive in this world. As time progresses, I feel that there is no way for me to survive in this life without going through the usual hassle that a MC goes through. I have no wishes like ruling the world or marrying a princess. So I should be good right? I hope so, if that is not possible, I hope that the talent of me would do something miraclous and help me have a safe and prosperous life without having to face so many dangers. Anyway, in these weeks hunting, I was able to get the materials that I need for basic rituals and summoning. I don''t know what exactly I am summoning through this ritual, as the name was not mentioned in the book that I found in the family library. The book though, didn''t seem to be in the index which showed all the book that are avable in the library. I didn''t understand why but it worked in my favor, but I am not an idiot. I prepared well for containing whatever thates because of this. If it was dangerous, I would be in danger and may have to lose my life, which I don''t want to. I am going through the ritual because of the items that were required. Most of them are low-level items, except the Ink that was used to draw the circles and inscription. The items required are also quite wierd, because it requires the body of slimes. Who would want their bodies? There is nothing one can do with their bodies. Even the cores are usually discarded or used in equipment making. Thinking about slimes, what are their skills? I never checked, infact I don''t believe anyone has checked what skills they possess. Maybe something useful or useless. I should check them just in case. If I am lucky, I might find something useful is there. Chapter 18: My new OP skills (1)

Chapter 18: My new OP skills (1)

Hahaha, I never I would find these skills in a slime of all creatures. Is my luck very high or what? I was only curious about what skills a slime core can give me but these are the definition of OP. It even has the skill that I was hoping to find a monster that possesses this skill but I never thought that I would find such a skill in the core of a slime. When I read the description of my physique, there was a mention of Devour Skill, which can work well with my physique. At first, I didn''t understand it but when I entered the forest, I understood it perfectly. My physique can extract attributes perfectly from the food or any material that I can consume but I can''t swallow everything. The first monster I faced in the forest was a goblin. The only useful thing from that creature is the magic core. Except for that, the body of goblins is not useful, so they were left to dpose naturally or serve as food for other creatures. I too discarded them because I can''t consume them, but now I don''t need to. Using the Devour Skill, I can directly extract the attributes from a corpse and into myself. I can use this skill on monsters that I can''t consume or carry on due to space restrictions. It''s not like I have infinite space storage, so I can''t carry every creature that I ughtered. I need to carry what I want and have to leave the unwanted in the forest. Now, there is no need. I can use the skill and get the benefits I get from my physique. Hmm, I wonder if I can devour other materials like ores and other things. I should test them outter. First, let''s get this skill andter there is the ritual that I need to perform. They are the first priority. I can experimentter. --- As soon as I got the slime core into my hands, my physique activated and showed me a bunch of skills that I could get. [Detected Monster Core...Devourer Physique activated.] [Please select if you want EXP or Skills.] "Skills", I chose. [Detected skills: Devour, Fusion, Split, Bounce, Water Ball, Acid Spray...] There are many skills that are helpful but I decisively chose Devour, as this is the most useful skill to me at this time. Also, I am not sure that every slime would have this skill. I mean the grade pretty much speaks that it was a rare skill. -- Devour (EX): This skill is used to devour anything in the world. You can easily absorb any item in the world and make it beneficial to you. This skill works better for creatures that have a Devourer Physique or Trait. -- Hmm, the slimes have such powerful skills, I wonder why no one uses their cores to absorb the skills. I should check the database. Are there any side effects? I should have checked them before I absorbed the core and got the skill. I immediately checked on the database about the reason behind this. I mean they offer such powerful skills. No one would say no to them. There should be a reason why no one has absorbed slime cores. I mean with skills like that, the cores would be sold at a premium but the cost is very cheap. ---- Hmm, what the hell? It says that humans can''t get skills from slime cores, but I just absorbed the core and obtained a skill !!! The database says that in addition to slime cores, there are a few monster cores that humans can''t absorb. No one knows the reason behind that but this was how the world worked since magic and monsters existed in the world. Many theorized that these are World Restrictions on humans and it was not just to humans that these restrictions apply. Every race has different restrictions. Some are known and some are unknown. Even then it was said that every race has a few restrictions upon them. These are not problematic for these races. They can level up, break through ranks and reach higher realms, live a long life. The cores though can''t be absorbed, they can still be used in equipment production. So there were no losses for humans. --- Hmm, if there are restrictions, why didn''t they apply to me? Is it because of my physique? Is that a one-time offer? Would I not get new skills if I absorb the slime cores? There is a chance that I can''t absorb and obtain skills from those other monsters that were mentioned here. I can check the slime core theory here and now, as I have a few more than I need for the ritual. I should verify this, the ritual can take a few minutes. As for the other monsters, I''ll find out about them when Ie across those monsters or their cores in the future. There is too much that I don''t know in this world. I think no one knows everything about this world. Even after thousands of years, there are so many things that one can learn new. Knowing everything about the world would be impossible, but I need to understand everything about myself as soon as possible. I need to understand what my limit is and whether I can cross that limit or not. Chapter 19: My new OP skills (2)

Chapter 19: My new OP skills (2)

I have no idea if I could learn more skills from slime cores, which were unattainable for humans. I just obtained one and I hope I can obtain other skills too, not just from the slime cores but also from other cores that humans can''t use to get skills. If that were possible, I can swap premium cores for cheaper ones to get the skills. It would save a lot of money for me. Not all cores are as cheap as slime cores, there are a few monsters whose cores are very costly, even if they can''t be absorbed as EXP or used to get a skill. This was because either the monsters were scarce or too powerful to hunt or they had other uses. It doesn''t matter anyway, if I can absorb all cores, then I don''t need to hunt powerful creatures to get most skills but it would be a waste to get so many skills if I can''t find a way to improve my skill levels. No matter how many skills I have, having them at the lowest level would make me a weak person. Only by improving my skills, can I be strong enough to deter the troubles that woulde my way. Anyway, let''s see if I can get other skills from the slimes. I took out another core and absorbed it. As I did that, the same notification appeared when I first absorbed the core. [Detected Monster Core...Devourer Physique activated.] [Please select if you want EXP or Skills.] "Skills", I chose. [Detected skills: Devour, Fusion, Split, Bounce, Water Ball, Acid Spray...] I already have Devour. Absorbing it doesn''t make it grow stronger, but the core would be wasted. So I chose the next skill shown in the sequence, Fusion. There is a reason for that, because, like Devour, it''s grade was EX. Normally the system doesn''t show the grade of the skills, because their power value changes with improving the skill level and also when you rank up. I wonder if EX is even a grade. I should check that up when I have time. Now let''s check whether it worked or not. "Status" -- Name: Magnus Frostwolf Age: 14 Titles: Son of Viscount ss: Draconic Warlock Affinity: Shadow, Blood Bloodline: ck Dragon (1% Purity) Physique: Devourer Physique (EX) Talent: Ritualistic Summoning (EX) Rank: Tier-0 Level: 15 Health Points (HP): 1767 Strength (STR): 319 Endurance (END): 372 Dexterity (DEX): 65 Agility (AGI): 314 Magic Power (MP): 2850 ss Skills: Shadow Bolt; Refined Skills: Shadow Bolt Volley Lv. 1; Skills: Evade Lvl. 3; Dodge Lvl. 4; Sprint Lvl. 2; Alertness Lvl. 2; Devour Lvl. 1; Fusion Lvl. 1; Resistances: Physical Resistance Lvl. 4; Light Resistance Lvl. 3; Poison Resistance Lvl. 2; Weapon Arts: Intermediate Staff Arts Lvl. 3 -- Ah, I got the skill. Let''s see what exactly it is useful for. -- Fusion (EX): Merge with your clones and obtain what they gained. The gains wouldn''t be between 1-100%. -- Say what? This is definitely an OP skill. If I merge my clone with me, then I would gain the benefits that my clone worked for. Even though the benefits gained were not 100%, this skill should be considered as a cheat, but there lies the problem. I don''t have a cloning skill to go with it. I should find a cloning skill after I...wait, for the slime to have this skill means that it should have a cloning skill. There are a lot of cloning skills. I should see what skills the slime has first, to verify if it has any cloning skills. I took out another slime core and absorbed it. [Detected Monster Core...Devourer Physique activated.] [Please select if you want EXP or Skills.] "Skills", I chose. [Detected skills: Devour, Fusion, Split, Bounce, Water Ball, Acid Spray...] I quickly browsed through the skills that the slime had. There it is. It''s called Split, right next to Fusion. Though I had never heard of a cloning skill with the name, I am sure that it is a cloning skill. First the other skills doesn''t apear to be a cloning skills and the second reason was the position of the name that it was disyed. I have a vague feeling that the system was disying the skills in the order that I needed. I can''t say for sure but that was the only possible thing I could think of. Well, even it wasn''t the cloning skill, it won''t be a loss. I can buy er when I return home in a few months. So I absorbed the core. -- Split (EX): Make a clone of you, and decide the attributes and skills that they would possess. The number of clones depend on the level of the skill. The attributes would be gone if they were destroyed. -- Yes, this is it. Split is a cloning skill. Now with this, I can not only improve faster but also can use them as decoys when I am in danger. Afterall, this is the reason why most learn the cloning skill. One of the cloning skill have a effect of rying information to the original if they were destroyed. I don''t know the name, as it was restricted and wasrgely used by spies. This way they can inflitrate but that wouldn''t put them in danger at that moment. I wonder if my skill does that? Hmm, there was no mention in the description. the only information avable was that I can make clones and allocate strength as I wish, ording to the skill level. Also that the attributes would be lost if the clone was destroyed. Except for this information, there is nothing, but like the two skills I got from the slime cores, this skill was also graded as EX grade. I should really find what this EX grade represents soon. Only by finding what it is can I understand what my skills can really do or else it would be considered as Half-assed work. For a pleasant life, I can''t have that. Chapter 20: Using my talent

Chapter 20: Using my talent

I don''t know what EX-grade is or why not every skill is graded. I mean if the skills are given levels, then what''s the role of this EX-grade that came along with it? I may never understand this on my own but if reveal this matter, it would cause sensations and then there would be no peace of mind, for me. Everyone would like to have a piece of me. In one or another, they would like to experiment on me and see the results for themselves. That would be bad. My family may be strong whenpared tomoners, but there are a lot of forces that are stronger than my family. If theye for me and I am sure that they will, even if my parents are unwilling, the others would eagerly sacrifice me to either avoid conflict with such big forces or to gain some benefits. Even if I don''t reveal the facts, there is a chance that someone can see my status one day. Everyone believed that they had seen every skill out here and they understood much of the world but they were wrong. There is too much out there that they don''t know or understand. I am such a case. I can consume the cores of monsters that can''t be consumed by others. Probably this has to do with my physique, which was never mentioned anywhere. There is a chance that it was ssified and restricted to the higher rank awakened. Then there is my talent, which is Ritualistic Summoning. Except for the introduction, I have no understanding of the talent. If not for that secret and forgotten manual that I found in the library, I wouldn''t have known how to proceed. These two are EX-graded which was never mentioned before. Also, the skills I got from slime are EX-graded. Why are they EX-graded? Are those skills from the monsters that are unattainable are EX-graded? Is that why they are EX-graded? Ah, my head hurts, thinking about that. I should deal with them when the timees. Now I have to deal with my talent. --- Pushing away all those distracting thoughts, I quickly arranged everything ording to the manual that I found about Ritualistic Summonings. There was no mention of what it does. There is a chance that it would summon some powerful and dangerous creature, which could kill me. So I prepared myself for that. I added some restrictions of my own, which I derived in the past four years. If I wasn''t satisfied, I wouldn''t be doing this now. I don''t have a death wish. Even if the chance of me dying was minuscule, I would still have stopped this from happening. I already lost one life early and was unable to enjoy it to the fullest, I am not going to lose another life. It''s not like I have unlimited reincarnations. I made sure that whatever came through the summoning would be restricted and would be unable to do anything. Even if the creature breaks from the restrictions, I already ced armor around me, and weapon in one hand, and some props in the other hand, which would disrupt or damage the other party. I am well prepared for whatever happens or at least what I think so. If this fails...no I can''t have those negative thoughts. In a magical world like this, there is no telling if thoughts can alter things. Anyway, it''s time to see what this can do. So I proceed with the Ritual. There was nothing much I needed to do. Take a core in your hands and chant a spell onto it before cing the core at the prescribed position. It was like a start key for an engine to start working. The materials are fuel, and once it is started, it only stops when the fuel is gone. I have nothing to do after starting the ritual, only have to wait and see what would happen. I did as it was described. "Atuva Bi''raka Sovem Ingi Lors Hir Bost" I chanted the spell and ced the core as inscribed. Once I did so, the ritual circles started to light up and as time went on they started to glow brightly, too brightly for my eyes to survive. So I had to close my eyes. Now my other senses are the only way to perceive what is happening around me, which is not as good as my eyes. I should train my other senses soon, or I would lose if I lost sight of the surroundings. There was no moment, at the time. Except for the circles glowing up brightly, I didn''t feel anything, but in a second everything changed. The materials that I ced for the ritual were burning at a small pace and started to be consumed at a faster pace, and distortions started to appear in the magic around. These are telltale signs that something is going to happen and with how these things are going, I have a bad feeling about this. "Who dares do disturb the sleep of GARUTHAT, the Slumberer?" bellowed the creature in anger. It was not happy to be here at all. Shit, shit, shit. This isn''t good. That is a demon. I summoned a demon and by the looks of it, its rank is very high, not just one or two ranks but a lot higher. What should I do now? If I leave here now, there is a chance of me escaping but the demon would surely cause havoc once I retreated. There is no guarantee that it won''t be able to find meter. If it does what could I do? At least at the moment, it was restricted. The next time it might not be. I should quickly think of a solution before those restrictions disappear and I am sure that will happen in the next few minutes. The rank of the demon is much higher than I anticipated. I have never prepared to deal with a creature of this rank. So I should do whatever I can do in the next few minutes or has to make peace with this life. Chapter 21: My first Demon

Chapter 21: My first Demon

I never thought that the manual was used for summoning demons. What was this doing in the family''s library? Is there a demon worshipper in the family? This would be bad, if that was true and who was it? Anyway, I should first find a solution for the situation in front of me, before thinking about the idiot who ced the book in the library. Now how to stop the demon from causing wreakage here? I have a lot of items that can help me escape from him, but the demon once released from the bindings, would start killings. Once that happens, the local powers would be alerted about ist presence. They would mobilize their armies to take care of the demon. Once that was over, they would surely investigate how a demon appeared here and they would find the ritual site and no matter what precautions I take, they would surely find a link to me one way or another. So, it is best to eradicate the demon here and now or make it go back to where it came from. The question is how? There was no mentioning of reverse summoning the creature. It was only mentioned that as long as the summoned creature doesn''t leave the ritual circles for an hour, they would be returned back to where they were before. With how things were going, there is no way that the demonwould stay still in the ritual circle for that long. It would escape the bindings in a few minutes. With no force returning the demon, the only way was to kill the demon. Even amed wth the Eldritch Staff, I am no where powerful enough even to crush his hand, much less his life. Wait, it is not wearing any armor. It means I have a chance to send it to the underworld. Demons were considered more powerful than humans both physically and magically, but nature always makes sure to have bnce in the ecosystem. They all have a weak point in their chest. It''s called Demon Crystal, which is simr to monster core but it would outside their body visisble unlike monster core which was hidden inside. This makes it their vulnerable spot. Like the monster core, once the Demon Crystal gets destroyed, the demon dies, the same as the monster. If I can get a perfect shot at the crystal, then everything would be good, but how? The demons know their weakness better than anyone else. This is why most of the time they would be wearing an armor around the chest to protect themeselves from enemy attacks. If the crystal shatters, then so would their life. It would be their end. It would be rare to find demons who aren''t wearing any armor when they leave their room. The reason why this particr one was not wearing was because he was forcefully summoned here, not by his choice. So theck of armor to protect his crystal. Even without the protection of armor, it wouldn''t be easy to hit the crystal, as the demon was of higher rank, so its agility would be good. It may not leave the circle but it can still move to the sides. if the shot misses the crystal and hits his bed, he wouldn''t even feel anything. Once I take a shot, I am sure that the demon would up his game to break faster from the bindings. Even if he couldn''t make them disappear within seconds, he could still mak ethem weaker, reducing the time that it has to stay in the circle. For now the demon''s senses are dulled and it was wary about me. When it learns how weak I am, it would surely make the bindings break faster, even if it burns a lot of its energy, as the demon can easily crush me even if it was only a 10% of its energy and still have enough to crush a lots of me. I would only have one chance for the shot to happen. If it fails, that would be it. How to make sure that I won''t miss the shot? Hmm, wait, I have the cloning skill. Though it was pitiful and I can only make one clone, it would be still used to distract the demon and give me a chance at getting rid of it. Though there is a high chance of my clone dying if I do this, and I would also lose the attributes that I allocate to it, but there is a chance of me getting out of this alive. Let''s do it. [Split] Once I used the skill, a clone of me appeared. I gave him some attributes and Shadow Bolt, along with my Eldritch Staff to make sure that the demon would be distracted by it. Once it was done, I sent it to do so. [Shadow Bolt] The clone cast the skill on the demon, but the demon which was looking out for enemies, saw it a mile awaying his way. It easily dodged the attack, and the attack touched his body but not the crystal, where it was aimed. "Hahaha", the demon started tough, "You are the one who summoned me. Looking at this ritual, you should have found one of those books and use it without knowing what it would but I see that you are smart to reprogram the ritual to restrict the summoned creature". "It''s a pity though. WIth your strength, you could do nothing but die" the demon shouted as he doubled his eforts to brek the bindings. With the demon became busy trying to break the invisible chains that binded him, gave me my chance. [Shadow Bolt] I used the skill before the demon could break away, or before it could see that the one it saw was a clone. Pfft! Aaaahhhh!!! Whether it was ignorance or arrogance, the demon lowered its guard and gave me a perfect chance to hit the crystal and end the demon. It was simply perfect. I killed the demon, wait, why am I feeling drowsy all of a sudden. Thud! Chapter 22: Changes in Me (1)

Chapter 22: Changes in Me (1)

What was that? My head hurts. I remember the demon that I summoned using the ritual, without knowing what I was going to summon. Then I remembered that I used my clone to distract it and attack its demon crystal, which is the only weakness that a demon has. After that, I fell unconscious. My mind felt heavy, I couldn''t think of anything and I fell. Why did that happen? Is that the attack on the demon? Is it still alive? No, it shouldn''t be. If it was I wouldn''t have woken up in the same cave where I summoned it. The demon would have killed me and there is a corpse of the demon lying in the ritual circles. It was probably the attack from a dying demon. I should check what happenedter. First I need to see what I have summoned and killed. It announced its name but what rank it was at should be my concern. I immediately checked the system messages. [You have in the demon Garuthat of Lethargy Tribe.] [You have in a creature of Tier-6, level 7] [You have gained EXP...] [You leveled up..] [You leveled up..] {You have reached level 100.] [EXP overflowing...] [You have in a Tier-6 creature while being Tierless.] [You have gained the title, Great yer] [You have cleared conditions for Tier Upgrade...] [You don''t have enough mental strength to connect with the WORLD''S WILL.] [You are automatically graded - EX] [You have been promoted to Tier-1] [You have gained 50x attribute increment.] [You leveled up..] [You leveled up..] {You have reached level 100.] [EXP overflowing...] [You have cleared conditions for Tier Upgrade...] [You don''t have enough mental strength to connect with the WORLD''S WILL.] [You are automatically graded - EX] [You have been promoted to Tier-2] [You have gained 50x attribute increment.] [You leveled up..] [You leveled up..] {You have reached level 100.] [EXP overflowing...] [You have cleared conditions for Tier Upgrade...] [You don''t have enough mental strength to connect with the WORLD''S WILL.] [You are automatically graded - EX] [You have been promoted to Tier-3] [You have gained 50x attribute increment.] [You are now eligible to obtain a Secondary ss.] [You have yet to open your Sea of Conscious.] [Selection of Secondary ss blocked temporarily.] [You leveled up..] [You leveled up..] {You have reached level 3.] [Your mental energy was exhausted.] --- Wow, that''s too many notifications. There are too many changes and surprises that happen at the same time. When one was still at Tier-0, for every level up they would get +10 HP, +10 MP, and +1 INT if they were a spellcaster. As I belong to the category of spellcasters that was exactly what my gains were as I started to level up. This would remain the same until you reach Tier-1. For every increase in level at Tier-1, there should be a minimum of +20HP, +20 MP, and +2 INT. This depends on how the promotion mission went. After reaching Tier-0, level 100, you have toplete a task issued by the system. The system usually was not interactive as it would show only our status panel and notifications of what happened to you. There''s nothing more that it would do, but there are ways to interact with the system and it would be possible at Tier promotion. There is a crystal called World Crystal, which when we interact with at level 100, would issue a promotion mission. It was not some cheap crystal that everyone could get hold of it. Only the Magic Association has them in their possession. When you are at the promotion level, you can go to the association to get a mission. Oncepleted, you''ll be promoted to the next rank. At the next rank, the attributes you gain would increase for every level up. It was just not that, depending on your profession, when the promotion mission ispleted you gain an increase in HP and MP, which would be the same as the total that you gained for the 100 levels or half of it. You would get a grade ofpletion and depending on that, the next level-up attribute is decided. The grade starts at F and ends at S. An F-grade means that the gains are doublepared to the previous rank. An E-grade means tripled and so on. It only changes at S-grade, which increases tenfold instead of seven times. This was how it should be, but obviously, I had skipped those steps and I had no idea that it could happen. Moreover from the notifications, it looks like I didn''t get what everyone thought was the best grade but something far better. The system graded my promotion grade as EX, which obviously increases attribute gain by 50 times. This means that my attribute numbers are going to touch the sky, especially with my physique helping along the way. I have reached Tier-3 directly, without going through the promotion missions. The notifications said that I was automatically graded as EX-grade. Why does that happen? Is that because I killed a demon or a one-time cheat that the world gave me for some reason? Is it rted to my memories of past life? There''s also another question, how to gain EX-grade next time, that is when I reach Tier-3, level 100. I don''t know whether it is a permanent buff or a one-time thing. Moreover, I got a title, Great yer. Is that because I killed a creature that was way above my league? Possibly. I mean not including that I have too many questions that I needed answers but that has to wait. I mean what is this lethargy tribe? Are they powerful? Would they track me or could they? There are too many questions but at the moment I am restricted. I was not given ess to knowledge above Tier-3 at the moment. If I needed to get ess, I should show that I have reached at least Tier 3. Even then it was not a guarantee, as the information would be considered secret by the families. From what I know, the knowledge above Tier-3 is not taught at the academy. To learn that knowledge, you have to join a noble house or have to find out things by yourself. So, should I return? It would surely help me to improve myself faster. Though I am tempted to do so, before doing anything else, I should check my status and see what exactly my status screen looks like now. After that, I can leisurely check about those details and think what to do in the future. Chapter 23: Changes in Me (2)

Chapter 23: Changes in Me (2)

Truth be told, I never dreamed that my status would reach a level of such abnormality. If anyone sees my status, they will surely get a mini heartstroke. Though I became powerful, this is also considered to be disastrous to me in a way. Let''s see my status. "Status" -- Name: Magnus Frostwolf Age: 14 Titles: Son of Viscount; Great yer; Primary ss: Draconic Warlock Secondary ss: [Restricted Temporarily] Affinity: Shadow, Blood Bloodline: ck Dragon (1% Purity) Physique: Devourer Physique (EX) Talent: Ritualistic Summoning (EX) Rank: Tier-3 Level: 3 Health Points (HP): 7,578,117 Strength (STR): 319 Endurance (END): 372 Dexterity (DEX): 65 Agility (AGI): 314 Magic Power (MP): 8,853,617 ss Skills: Shadow Bolt; Refined Skills: Shadow Bolt Volley Lv. 1; Skills: Evade Lvl. 3; Dodge Lvl. 4; Sprint Lvl. 2; Alertness Lvl. 2; Devour Lvl. 1; Fusion Lvl. 1; Split Lv.1; Resistances: Physical Resistance Lvl. 4; Light Resistance Lvl. 3; Poison Resistance Lvl. 2; Weapon Arts: Intermediate Staff Arts Lvl. 3 -- Looking at my attributes, I couldn''t help but sigh at my ridiculous HP and MP. Even though I can''t see the INT attribute yet, it also reached the ridiculous stage. I never thought my attributes would be like this, not even when I figured out what my physique could do. My HP and MP reached millions, while my other attributes haven''t even reached four digits, at least the ones that were visible on the screen. Let''s see what exactly happened. When I killed the demon, I was at Tier-0, level 15 but now I am at Tier-3, level 3. At Tier-0, there are still 85 levels to reach the peak before promoting to the next rank. At Tier-0, as a spellcaster, I would get +10 HP, +10 MP and +1 INT. So when I reached level 100, the gains were as follows. HP=>85*10= 850 MP=>85*10= 850 INT=>85*1= 85 In addition to those attribute gains, after thepletion of the promotion mission, I gained +500 HP and +1,000 MP. Coming to Tier -1, I gained 100 levels and there is also the 50x bonus of previous rank attribute gains. In Tier-0 I gained +10 HP/MP and + 1 INT. So with a 50x bonus, the gains per level increased to 500 HP/MP and +50 INT. The total gains are as follows. HP=>100*500= 50,000 MP=>100*500= 50,000 INT=>100*50 INT= 5,000 Same as before, in addition to those attribute gains, after thepletion of the promotion mission, I gained +25,000 HP and +50,000 MP. Next is Tier-2, where I also gained 100 levels from the kill. Simr to before there is a 50x bonus. I gained +500 HP/MP and +50 INT per level, and now it has be +25,000 HP/MP and +2,500 INT per level. The gains I got for reaching level 100 were as follows. HP=>100*25,000= 2,500,000 MP=>100*25,000= 2,500,000 INT=>100*2,500= 250,000 After the promotion, I gained an additional +1,250,000 HP and +2,500,000 MP. The EXP I gained was still enough to reach Tier-3, level 3 before it stopped. With the same 50x bonus, the attribute gains increased from +25,000 HP/MP and +2,500 INT per level to 1,250,000 HP/MP and +375,000 INT per level. With this, the gains per level, and as I only reached level 3, are very high but what I gained can be considered minuscule whenpared to what I would get when I reach level 100. The gains I gained for reaching Tier-3, and level 3 are as follows. HP=>3*1,250,000= 3,750,000 MP=>3*1,250,000= 3,750,000 INT=>3*125,000= 375,000 Yeah, it''s ridiculous. Now with each level, I can gain more than a million in HP and MP. If Ipare others from the knowledge that was imparted to us, the highest grade from a promotion is S-grade and the bonus is only 10x. Since I am a Spellcaster, let''spare with other spellcasters who achieved S-grade during promotion. So simr to me, his attribute gain would be +10 HP/MP and +1 INT initially at Tier-0. With a 10x bonus the gains per level would be +100 HP/MP and +10 INT at Tier-1. At Tier-2, if he was able to gain an S-grade again, there would 10x bonus again. His gains would be +1,000 HP/MP and +100 INT per level. If he continues such excellence at Tier-2 promotion to Tier-3, and gains S-grade. Then he would get a 10x bonus again. Now his gains per level would be +10,000 HP/MP and +1,000 INT. Whenpared to what my gains are at Tier-3, the one with an S-grade can be considered a pauper. If attributes such as HP/MP and INT are considered, I would be considered to be at the top but when other attributes or skill levels arepared, then my ranking would drop by arge margin. I have no idea how my attributes would bepared to others. I can say that I can easily beat a Tier-6 being, without sweating but that would be false. I can''t beat a Tier-6, because of many factors. One is because there is a chance that their attributes are much higher than my estimation because of several factors. There are resources that can increase one''s attributes. There is also the equipment that only high-ranking people can afford to wear. Many things such as this would change the result of a battle. Even though my attributes are high enough, my skill levels are very pitiful. Without proper skills and control over them, even having such attributes I wouldn''t be able to do much damage to a Tier-6. Sure I can kill a Tier-0 with a p or Tier-1 easily but as the rank increases, the difficulty of defeating them would also increase. Unlike me who jumped ranks, they would gain proper experience in battles while trying to reach such a rank. Their skill levels would also be very high, so even with such high attributes, I don''t think I can match other Tier-3 rankers either. Even though some of my attributes are high, not all my attributes are high enough to be considered a threat. It is not a problem. As I am a spellcaster, they were supposed to be low. My physique can easily take care of that deficiency sooner orter. The only other deficiency that I have is the low levels of my skills. It can only be erased by practicing the skills again and again, especially when you are in a crisis. With these attributes, I can never be in a crisis, for the foreseeable future. Though I reached a higher rank, this would have stunted my growth, if I didn''t have the Split skill. I believe with that skill, I can easily train other skills faster. Chapter 24: My first use of Devour Skill

Chapter 24: My first use of Devour Skill

I need to upgrade my skills as soon as possible. It was of utmost matter. With how things were going back at home, and also there is this academy that I have to attend in less than a year. I need to be strong before that and be able to beat the shit out of anyone that annoys me. All I want in this life is to live carefree, but that doesn''t mean I would let anyone walk all over me. I wouldn''t start a fight, but I would never let anyone go after they start a fight with me. So improving my skills to a maximum extent is a must. Before that, I should dispose of this demon''s corpse. If anyone finds this corpse, it will be a problem. Luckily, I gained the Devour skill. From the name itself, I am sure that the skill would clean the site of its existence and at the same time give me some benefits. I closed the distance between me and the corpse. I searched his body. The demon was wearing silk clothes, the top of its kind. There are two rings, one on each hand. Except for those there is nothing else on him. I removed the rings and checked. One of them is a space ring, which can store items in it, except living beings. It''s simr to the storage function of the bracelet, except that the ring has storage as the only function. The only good thing was it would be inconspicuous. No one would think that it was a space ring. The second ring was an Authority RIng. This is like an Authorization Card used by humans for entering important or secret areas. Wearing this ring could let people enter certain areas restricted for general popce. It won''t be much useful for now. I ce the space ring on my right ring finger, while the authority ring in the space ring. I decided to check the space ringter. Let''s see what the Devour Skill can do. [Devour] Once I used the skill, notifications started to appear. [You have Devoured the demon Garuthat''s corpse.] [You have gained +150 STR, +300 STA, +50 AGI, and +150 DEX.] [You have gained the Trait, Sleepy.] [You have gained the skill, Strengthen.] [You have Devoured the broken demon crystal.] [You have gained the skill, Demon Gaze.] [You have Devoured the Silk Clothes.] [You have gained the Trait, Silk Smooth Skin.] [You have Devoured the demon Garuthat''s soul.] [You have gained +5,000 Soul Energy.] [You have opened a hidden attribute.] [Detected that you have opened the hidden attribute, Soul Energy before reaching Tier-6.] [You have gained the title, Hidden Smidden.] Say what? What are those notifications? Did that read them right? Let''s check my status first and see what was going on. "Status" -- Name: Magnus Frostwolf Age: 14 Titles: Son of Viscount; Great yer; Hidden Smiden; Primary ss: Draconic Warlock Secondary ss: [Restricted Temporarily] Affinity: Shadow, Blood Bloodline: ck Dragon (1% Purity) Physique: Devourer Physique (EX) Talent: Ritualistic Summoning (EX) Trait: Silk Smooth Skin; Sleepy; Rank: Tier-3 Level: 3 Health Points (HP): 7,578,117 Strength (STR): 469 Endurance (END): 672 Dexterity (DEX): 215 Agility (AGI): 364 Magic Power (MP): 8,853,617 Soul Energy: 5,500 ss Skills: Shadow Bolt; Refined Skills: Shadow Bolt Volley Lv. 1; Skills: Evade Lvl. 3; Dodge Lvl. 4; Sprint Lvl. 2; Alertness Lvl. 2; Devour Lvl. 3; Fusion Lvl. 1; Split Lv.1; Demon Gaze Lvl. 1; Strengthen Lv. 1; Resistances: Physical Resistance Lvl. 4; Light Resistance Lvl. 3; Poison Resistance Lvl. 2; Weapon Arts: Intermediate Staff Arts Lvl. 3 -- Hidden Smiden: You can easily unlock hidden attributes. -- Silk Smooth Skin: Your skin will be smooth as silk. -- Sleepy: You feel sleepy more than normal, but there is a chance of improving your attributes in sleep, though the chances are low. -- Demon Gaze: You can intimidate the creatures and stun them through your gaze. The duration of the stun and the rank of the creature that you can intimidate depends on the level of the skill. -- Strengthen: You can temporarily strengthen your body, which can increase the defense against physical attacks and also improve the damage caused by your physical attacks. -- Wow, this is certainly not something that I dreamed that I would obtain by using the Devour skill. I certainly gained a lot of benefits from this demon. I didn''t know that I could devour souls too but why was his soul still here after the death? Do they have a skill that can resurrect them after death? Too bad I couldn''t see what skills I can get when I use the Devour skill. It was selected automatically. The demons probably have a skill that can resurrect them, as long as the soul and the body are intact. I mean except for that big hole in its chest caused by the destruction of the demon crystal, I can say that the body is almost perfect. The soul was probably lingering there because, either the body would heal itself and it could be alive again or someone has to heal the body and it can live again. Both factors are not good. I just hope that no one powerful is looking for this one. I hope that you are just an inconspicuous one that got stronger by chance. --- On arge continent, very far away from where Magnus lives... "Who dares to kill my son?" a creature bellowed in anger. This creature looks a lot like the demon that Magnus killed, but older. This was none other than Garuthat''s father, Garuthet, ruler of the Lethargy Tribe. He was peacefully sleeping when he felt the life tablet of his son broke. It was not just his life tablet but also his soul tablet that was broken. It only means that his son was killed by someone powerful, powerful enough to not only kill him but also his soul. "Your Highness, everyone is sleeping. You should sleep too. It is very necessary", the demon woman by his side whispered. She is the newest conquest, someone who has yet to bear a child for him. So she felt no trouble when she heard one of his sons had died. It has nothing to do with her, and moreover, when she births a son, he would have lesserpetition. "Ah, yes, sleep is necessary. I should properly sleep", Garuthet muttered in a low voice as he drifted back to sleep. Chapter 25: Training my skills

Chapter 25: Training my skills

Now that I checked out what my Devour skill can do, I should now improve the skills I have and only when they were improved, new skills would enter the foray. What should I improve first? Devour improved itself to level 3, probably because my first devour usage was on a demon corpse and also on its soul. It would be improved as I hunt and devour the corpses. So no need to specially train the skill. Some of the skills have reached at least level 2, leaving only a few skills still at level 1. Among them, I believe that the Demon Gaze is not easy to improve. So the remaining skills are Strengthen, Split, and Fusion. Fusion can be improved automatically as I fuse my split clones. So there is no need to train it. Stengthen is a physical skill and as a spellcaster, it is useless for me. This is what others would think about it but this skill would cover my weakness. As a spellcaster, I don''t use physical skills and that''s what others would think. Using physical skills would catch them off-hand, and it would be my trump card. In addition to Stengthen, there is Split that needs to be improved but I have no idea. Just like Fusion, it would improve as I use it more. Split is very useful in many ways. I can create a clone and use it as a diversion or as a substitution when my life is in danger. I can also use it to train my other skills easier. I wonder if I can improve my attributes as well. As you can see my HP, MP, and INT are off the charts, while my STR, STA, and AGI are very lowpared to them. Usually, there are only two ways to improve non-professional attributes. It''s either by training or by consuming attribute-increasing resources. To me though, there is a third option, by consuming beast or monster meat. My Devourer Physique would take care of my attributes, as long as I take the meat. It''s almost an extension of the consuming attribute resources method. People may think that this would be more than enough, but it is not. The more methods you have to improve your strength, the better it is that you can have a peaceful life. In this world, strength is what that always matters. If I can improve my attributes by fusing the clones, then it would be awesome but at this level, only the skill levels are improved when merged. Anyway, I can always find a clone skill that improves my attributes when my clone fuses together with me. Even though it was not known till now, doesn''t mean that it doesn''t exist. Maybe I''ll find it, maybe I won''t but that''s for the future. [Split] I used the skill and created a clone of mine with minimum attributes that a newly awakened would have. I also gave him my ss skill, Shadow Bolt, along with Strengthen, and Intermediate Staff Arts. Other than that, I didn''t copy my other talents to him. Those are far enough. If I make my clone OP, they would be rendered useless. It would be too powerful and my skills won''t improve. Even if I lose those attributes when the clone dies, it was worth the risk. It''s not like a death sentence, as it is only my clone dies. Moreover, I am not sending it to huntrge creatures, only goblins. I gave the clone my bracelet, after emptying it out. This would be useful to store the cores that it would get after killing goblins and such. I could have given the space ring but the space of that thing is much more than what I have in my bracelet. I can''t store everything that it has in my bracelet. If it was lost when the clone died, then I would beat myself for letting that happen. Instead of that, I transferred everything out from my bracelet and gave that to the clone. Even if the bracelet was lost, it wouldn''t cost as much as this ring itself. --- Now that my clone was off to do its own thing, I have something important to do. I need to open my Sea of Conscious. Only then can I not only see my INT attribute but also the way to reach Tier-4. Yes, I can reach level 100 of Tier-3, but I read that unless the Sea of Conscious is opened, one can''t get the promotion mission to reach Tier-4. they would be stuck at that rank for a long time. Moreover, there is my secondary ss which was temporarily blocked until the time I opened my sea of consciousness. This is the reason why many would try to each Tier-3 as soon as possible. A secondary ss would mean, another trick up their sleeve. It would mean that there would be new ss skills for them to use against their enemies. [Ding!] [Calctionpleted...] [New ss skills determined.] Huh, I forgot about the ss skills that I should have gotten when I reached Tier-1, Tier-2, and then Tier-3. Why have they arrived sote? Chapter 26: My new Class Skills

Chapter 26: My new ss Skills

[Ding!] [Calctionpleted...] [New ss skills determined.] [Tier-1 reward ss Skills.] [You have gained the skill, Blood Dominance.] [You have gained the skill, Draconic Magic.] [You have gained the skill, Shadow Curse.] [Tier-2 reward ss Skills.] [You have gained the skill, Blood Heal.] [You have gained the skill, Shadow Shift.] [You have gained the skill, Blood Lock.] [Tier-3 reward ss Skills.] [You have gained the skill, Draconic Pressure.] [You have gained the skill, Shadow Merge.] [You have gained the skill, Blood Drain.] --- Wow, just wow. I didn''t see thising. I mean, I got like 1,2,3,...9 skills for reaching Tier-3, which means that I got 3 ss Skills per Rank upgrade. You see, ss Skills are different from other skills that we get through magic cores or skill books or by our creativity. They all start at the lowest level which is level 1. ss skills however start at level maximum. Usually, the level maximum is considered to be level 100, but no one is sure. As no person would have a single skill and the person would try to improve every skill that they have, it was known that a skill level never crossed Level 100. Even with the increased life span of humans, it wouldn''t be easy to determine if there is a level above 100. Even if there are doubts, no one has seeded in crossing level 100. This was because every increase in skill level would mean that much greater increase in difficulty of improving to the next level. ss skill howeveres at level maximum, and that means one doesn''t need to train endlessly to improve skill levels. The skill would be the best from the start. So the more ss skills one has, the better. When a person awakens, they would get one ss skill, the same way I did. This was standard for every ss. The changes start to appear once you reach Tier-1. As you reach the next rank, you''ll be rewarded with 1-3 skills. The number won''t be the same every time you rank up and won''t be the same for everyone. So whoever gets the maximum skills i.e. 3 skills per rank increase, would have a head start to reach the top. Since I got nine skills in total for reaching Tier-3, it pretty much puts me at the very front and the next person would not be even right behind me but kilometers away trying to reach me. Well, it is true. I am not even fifteen. Most would reach a maximum of Tier-1 when they enter the academy and that was true for the noble children. It wouldn''t be the same for themoners, as it wouldn''t be easy to increase ranks without resources such as weapons, equipment, potions, etc... Without them, facing beasts would only mean death. So most of the children frommon origins wouldn''t have started the race by the time the academy started or the ones that started would have been running at a snail''s pace. Anyway, now let''s see my new status and see what these new skills would be useful for. "Status" -- Name: Magnus Frostwolf Age: 14 Titles: Son of Viscount; Great yer; Hidden Smiden; Primary ss: Draconic Warlock Secondary ss: [Restricted Temporarily] Affinity: Shadow, Blood Bloodline: ck Dragon (1% Purity) Physique: Devourer Physique (EX) Talent: Ritualistic Summoning (EX) Trait: Silk Smooth Skin; Sleepy; Rank: Tier-3 Level: 3 Health Points (HP): 7,578,117 Strength (STR): 469 Endurance (END): 672 Dexterity (DEX): 215 Agility (AGI): 364 Magic Power (MP): 8,853,617 Soul Energy: 5,500 ss Skills: Shadow Bolt; Blood Dominance; Draconic Magic; Shadow Curse; Blood Heal; Shadow Shift; Blood Lock; Draconic Pressure; Shadow Merge; Blood Drain; Refined Skills: Shadow Bolt Volley Lv. 1; Skills: Evade Lvl. 3; Dodge Lvl. 4; Sprint Lvl. 2; Alertness Lvl. 2; Devour Lvl. 3; Fusion Lvl. 1; Split Lv.1; Demon Gaze Lvl. 1; Strengthen Lv. 1; Resistances: Physical Resistance Lvl. 4; Light Resistance Lvl. 3; Poison Resistance Lvl. 2; Weapon Arts: Intermediate Staff Arts Lvl. 3 -- Blood Dominance: You can essentially stun creatures that have a lesser bloodline purity and bloodline rank than yours unless they are of a higher level or have skill resistance. -- Draconic Magic(Passive): Your magic skills are improved. The improvement depends on the bloodline purity. -- Shadow Curse: Causes continuous damage to the enemy. Only light-based skills can remove the curse. -- Blood Heal: Use blood to heal yourself faster. -- Shadow Shift: Move between shadows. Distance depends on your magic power. -- Blood Lock: You can block the healing of your enemies. -- Draconic Pressure (passive): Creatures with lesser bloodline purity and bloodline rank would bow to you unless they are of a higher level or have skill resistance. -- Shadow Merge: You can merge with shadows. In this state, 100% physical damage resistance and 80% magical damage resistance. The disadvantage was that light-based skills would cause double damage. -- Blood Drain: Drain blood from the enemies that are alive, and use Blood heal on yourself. -- Haha, I got two passive skills. This is bloody fantastic. Passive skills are not easy to find and they were preferred to Active Skills. So the demand for Passive skills is high. Whenever a Passive Skill Book appears, it would be sold for a huge amount at auctions. Speaking of auctions, I believe there should be one a few weeks before the academy starts. I should attend that one to see if there would be any useful items. My parents have already given me items that can be used far beyond my usage but they thought that I would at most reach the peak of Tier-0. After that, I would return home to take the promotion mission. So they gave me equipment that would be useful for even a Tier-4 individual. Now that things have changed. I would most likely reach Tier-4 or at least be ready to take a promotion mission for Tier-4 by the time I return home. So the equipment can be considered useful for a small time when I am at Tier-4. I should prepare items for myself before I reach Tier-5. If I don''t search for items from now on, then there will be problems. This is because Tier-5 and above items are rare and wouldn''t appear for months at a time. This was because the materials used to create those items are rare and the professionals are too. Unlikebat professionals who gain EXP by killing, Production professionals would only get EXP by producing an item. If they fail, that won''t give any EXP. So their improvement would usually be slow. These materials aren''t like Tier-0 or Tier-1 materials they can waste as much as they want but not these materials. Most of these materials are controlled tightly and mostly granted ess to someone with less probability of failure. Creak! Huh? Why is my clone back already? Chapter 27: My Sea of Consciousness

Chapter 27: My Sea of Consciousness

Damn it. How can I forget to give the clone potions? That was like the basic needs for a person to survive in wild. I emptied my bracelet and gave it to the clone forgetting to stock it with potions. Well, anyway, this looks kind of damaged. I think I should just create a new clone, rather than fixing this one. [Fusion] The clone merged with me without any problems. Hmm, I don''t see any improvements. Well, it hasn''t been long since the clone went out to hunt. [Split] I created a new clone with the same parameters. This time I equipped it perfectly and also ced potions inside, after taking out the goblin cores that the previous clone was able to acquire. Giving proper instructions to my new clone, I sent it off to hunt. The clone wouldn''t return, unless there was danger, or the potions were emptied out, or it was too tired to push forward. The only gains I got from my previous clone are small after all. I wanted to get as much out of the clones as I could get from them. After all, only by doing this can I increase my [Split] and [Fusion] skills, and at the same time improve my other skills. Now that my clone is away, it''s time for me to enter my Sea of Consciousness and open it for ess. --- Two Months Later... I learned how to meditate and enter my Sea of Consciousness. This was not easy, as one needs to be in One''s state to achieve that. One''s state is what people refer to as the state where one would forget about their surroundings. All their senses would be turned off externally and would be tuned to sense internally. You would clearly sense what was happening inside your body, to a minute detail. This was not an easy matter, and it would take weeks if not months to even see any progress. Probably because my INT value is very high or I unlocked my Soul Energy attribute, I achieved 100% One''s State within two weeks. I don''t if any of those two yed a part or it is the benefit of having memories of past life. Whatever the reason might be, I am happy with the oue. Within the next two weeks, I was able to I was able to enter my Sea of Consciousness. Entering was the easy part while one was in One''s State. It would be difficult to do so without entering One''s State. The reason was not stated in any book that I have ess to but it was said that it was important to establish a link, so that you can enter the Sea of Consciousness, whenever you want to. Only after that, one can see INT in status and be able to get a Tier-4 promotion mission. Usually, this should be done in a safe environment, but I need to do this as soon as possible. I am already at Tier-3. When I return, everyone would assume that I have at least reached level 100 by that time, and would take the promotion mission. If I was unable to take that, then I would bebeled as mediocre. That was abel that I didn''t want to be tagged with. If I get thatbel, then the resources that would be allocated by the family to me will reduce in quality and quantity. Especially there are many Elders who stand against my father, they would make my quota smaller than it should be. So I should show them I am an qualified for those resources. This is why I needed to open my Sea of Consciousness. Once I do that and each level 100, I will return home. At first, doing this in a forest was dangerous but my Split skill level improved and I was able to bring out two clones. One hunted outside, while one acted as my bodyguard. When I first entered my Sea of Consciousness during my awakening, it had a plethora of colors, but now it was only two colors. Red and ck covered the skies andnd in my Sea of Consciousness. There was a sliver of unknown color, which I believe to be Silver color at the edges. Red and ck, I understand those because my affinities are Blood and Shadow, but the silver color, I have no idea. Maybe I am hoping that I had another affinity and am seeing things. Anyway, if there is a third color, either my affinity is minuscule or I would know the reason probably when I get ess to higher level knowledge. Finally after two months of hard work from both myself and my clones, not only I was able to establish a link to my Sea of Consciousness but also was able to improve many of my skill levels. They reached further than I anticipated. The only bummer was, when merged with clones it only improved my skill levels. Everything else remained the same, including attributes and my level. "Status" -- Name: Magnus Frostwolf Age: 14 Titles: Son of Viscount; Great yer; Hidden Smiden; Primary ss: Draconic Warlock Secondary ss: None Affinity: Shadow, Blood Bloodline: ck Dragon (1% Purity) Physique: Devourer Physique (EX) Talent: Ritualistic Summoning (EX) Trait: Silk Smooth Skin; Sleepy; Rank: Tier-3 Level: 3 Health Points (HP): 7,578,117 Strength (STR): 489 Endurance (END): 672 Dexterity (DEX): 225 Agility (AGI): 386 Intelligence (INT): 630,130 Magic Power (MP): 8,853,617 Soul Energy: 5,500 ss Skills: Shadow Bolt; Blood Dominance; Draconic Magic; Shadow Curse; Blood Heal; Shadow Shift; Blood Lock; Draconic Pressure; Shadow Merge; Blood Drain; Refined Skills: Shadow Bolt Volley Lv. 3; Skills: Evade Lvl. 5; Dodge Lvl. 6; Sprint Lvl. 4; Alertness Lvl. 6; Devour Lvl. 3; Fusion Lvl. 3; Split Lv. 3; Demon Gaze Lvl. 1; Strengthen Lv. 4; Resistances: Physical Resistance Lvl. 7; Light Resistance Lvl. 3; Poison Resistance Lvl. 2; Weapon Arts: Intermediate Staff Arts Lvl. 5 -- Almost all my skills, physical resistance, and Staff Arts improved. Oh, yes, after sessfully entering my Sea of Consciousness and establishing a link for easier ess, INT showed up on my status panel. Also, I can now select my secondary ss, which is my next order of business. Chapter 28: My Secondary Class

Chapter 28: My Secondary ss

Now that I have unlocked my Sea of consciousness, I can choose my secondary ss. The reason why having a secondary ss is important is because of the benefits that it would bring with it. Firstly, there would be ss Skills thate with this new ss. These new skills have nothing to do with the primary ss. It means the original slots will not be reced by the new ones. The only rtion that they have would be the number of new skills that you can get. The number of skills from a secondary ss wouldn''t cross the number of primary ss skills. I got three skills when I entered Tier-3. So by choosing a Secondary ss, I would get up to three new ss skills that rte to the secondary ss. If I had gotten only two skills when reached Tier-3, then the maximum number of new skills would have been two. Secondly, depending on what the ss is there would be a permanent boost of one attribute. The boost depends on the ss itself. It can be 1% or 100%. Most professional boosts were recorded by now and choosing the profession is easy nowadays. Yes, the third benefit was that we could choose the ss, unlike during the Awakening, where one had no choice in choosing their profession. Though we can choose the ss here, it was still restricted. You would be given options of multiple sses and you have to select among them. Not everyone would get the same selectable options. Now I have to choose the best one from among these sses that are presented before me and also that''s suitable for me. The best one doesn''t mean that it''s the most suitable one for you. The secondary ss selection starts once you click the secondary ss on your status screen. Once you click it, the system would ept it as amand that the awakener was ready to select their secondary ss. [Secondary ss Selection Sequence Initiated.] [Seletectable sses are disyed.] [Mage, Dark Mage, Blood Mage, Dragomancer.....] Ah, there are sure a lot of professions avable to me. Hmm, from what I read, most of these choices depend on what we did in our lives and probably on our mindset, though this point wasn''t proven to be true. Hmm, what to choose? There are many ordinary sses, which are out. Selecting them would only mean that you are stunting your own growth. Even the sses like Dark Mage or Blood Mage were useless for me. sses like Dragomancer and such however were good choices. Let''s see all the avable sses before choosing a ss. Recklessly choosing the ss is itself a disaster. Wait, what is this? Soul Arbiter. What the hell is a Soul Arbiter? Damn it, it feels something Unique and powerful but there is no way of knowing what it can do unless you choose it. This is the problem that arises with this selection. New professions appear once in a while and one has to be a guinea pig to know what exactly does it do. After a short thought, I chose what my secondary ss would be. I selected Soul Arbiter as my secondary ss. Though I have no idea what it can do, still I believe that it would be the best choice for me. I mean I am a Warlock, and I feel that something that has to do with souls would resonate well with my warlock ss. [You have selected Soul Arbiter as your secondary ss.] [You have gained the skill, Soul Judge.] [You have gained the skill, Soul Prison.] [You have gained the skill, Soul Container.] Wow, I am in luck. I got three new ss skills from my secondary ss. Now, let''s check what benefits my new ss brought me. "Status" -- Name: Magnus Frostwolf Age: 14 Titles: Son of Viscount; Great yer; Hidden Smiden; Primary ss: Draconic Warlock Secondary ss: Soul Arbiter (Unique) Affinity: Shadow, Blood Bloodline: ck Dragon (1% Purity) Physique: Devourer Physique (EX) Talent: Ritualistic Summoning (EX) Trait: Silk Smooth Skin; Sleepy; Rank: Tier-3 Level: 3 Health Points (HP): 7,578,117 Strength (STR): 489 Endurance (END): 672 Dexterity (DEX): 225 Agility (AGI): 386 Intelligence (INT): 630,130 Magic Power (MP): 8,853,617 Soul Energy: 5,500 (+200%) ss Skills: Shadow Bolt; Blood Dominance; Draconic Magic; Shadow Curse; Blood Heal; Shadow Shift; Blood Lock; Draconic Pressure; Shadow Merge; Blood Drain; Soul Judge; Soul Prison; Soul Container; Refined Skills: Shadow Bolt Volley Lv. 3; Skills: Evade Lvl. 5; Dodge Lvl. 6; Sprint Lvl. 4; Alertness Lvl. 6; Devour Lvl. 3; Fusion Lvl. 3; Split Lv. 3; Demon Gaze Lvl. 1; Strengthen Lv. 4; Resistances: Physical Resistance Lvl. 7; Light Resistance Lvl. 3; Poison Resistance Lvl. 2; Weapon Arts: Intermediate Staff Arts Lvl. 5 -- Soul Arbiter (Unique): An out of the world ss. No idea how you got it. What''s the purpose of this ss? Search in your own damn time. I am not your nanny. -- Soul Judge: Judge a soul, whether it should attain Nirvana, Reincarnation, or go to Heaven/Hell depending on the Karma of the Soul. Each time you judge a soul, you get Soul Points. Usage, I just told you I am not your damn nanny. -- Soul Prison: Can''t you even read now? It''s a prison for souls. -- Soul Container: I don''t think I need to teach you what a container does, do I? -- What in the world is this? First, what''s with these descriptions? It was almost like the system had a mind of its own. No, it shouldn''t be me. It was said that the system was a link between the creatures and the world''s will. This was created by the gods because the world''s will can''t be heard by everyone and even the ones who hear it go insane. The system was a bridge and at the same time a restrictor. Wait, ..no, that can''t be. I have none of those professions. Only they were qualified for that. Maybe the system was updated or beta-tested or there is a chance that it was corrupted and started to act weirdly. Anyway, that''s not my concern. The issue for me is what is this OP ss. I mean everyone has souls, I mean every creature. Though it was stated that I can only interact with souls, it wasn''t written if the soul''s body had to be alive or dead. Even if it wasn''t possible now, I believe it would be possible in the future. The next issue was I got a +200% boost for my soul energy. Even though I have no idea about this, I believe this was something Tier-6 and above usually deal with. So this attribute should be very useful for me when I upgrade to a higher rank. There is no stopping me. Hahaha... Chapter 29: Who dares to ambush me?

Chapter 29: Who dares to ambush me?

Ok, enough with the goofing, but I feel that with the Soul Energy attribute already unlocked, I feel like I can easily climb the ranks whenpared to others. I believe that there would be hurdles simr to opening the Sea of Consciousness or staying in this rank forever. I mean there is a high chance of that happening. I came to this conclusion because when I was learning about the world, I learned a lot more than what my tutors tried to tell me. I probably observed those details because I was a bit mature due to my past life memories still inside my head. Children of my age probably would have missed those details. In the world of Ragos, it was said that Tier-9 is the highest rank. The ranks above them are mentioned in legends and myths and have not been seen in a millennia or so. In that time period, there was a war, a huge war that cost a lot of lives. It was said in stories that Heroes perished in that war, like flies. The war ended a millennia ago, but it also brought the disappearance of those heroes who crossed Tier-9. They became legends and myths in the eyes ofmoners. The nobles and the royal houses knew that they once existed but it was now a rank that no one was able to reach it. It was said even our king was peak of Tier-7 and has yet to reach Tier-8. The most powerful one was the Royal Ancestor, who was at Peak Tier-8. It was said that he failed to cross into Tier-9 and has already set one foot into the grave. This old fossil was said to have been alive since that great war. It was said that he was just a misceneous creature back then, but now the most powerful in the kingdom. He is also the reason why there were no major wars in the kingdom. Though he wasn''t seen in the past century or so, the other neighboring kingdoms feared him and wouldn''t take chances. Of course, that doesn''t mean that there were no shes with those kingdoms. The Kingdom of Glesaria neighbors four kingdoms. The north and east are considered monster territories. To the North, is the forest called Orlum Forest. My family''snds are one of the regions that borders this forest. This forest is one of the major hubs of monsters in the continent. To the East is the sea, The Sea of Whirlpools. The sea was famous for them. There would be a lot of whirlpools in the sea, so much so that, the sea trade is almost non-existent in the kingdom. This was why the kingdom had to turn south, to our neighbor kingdom of Neptune. Most of their kingdom was based on Inds and a small part of thend to the south of our kingdom. They were said to have one of the strongest navies on the continent. Many of their awakened were rted to Water and Ice elements. So they didn''t encroach into the main continent, just upied the coastal areas. This made it difficult for many nations as they had essentially cut off their connection to the sea and thereby the sea trade. This was why there was a battle between our kingdom and them. Even though we had a coastal area, it was almost useless, due to the constant whirlpools in the area. It waster settled through a treaty that made one of their port cities avable for our kingdom to use as a port city, and in return, we had to sell the resources that we obtained from the Orlum Forest at a discounted price to the kingdom. Even with the treaty in ce, the old wounds are still there. Unlike on Earth, here the people live longer after awakening and the ones who fought in those battles were still alive. The other three nations, well, it''s just for the good old reason, Expansion of their Kingdoms. So there were always constant shes every once in a decade or so. This was when the new blood appeared and was ready to take charge in battles to gain quick merits. So it was inevitable that shes happen every decade or so. Wait, what am I saying? Yes, I was talking about the ranks. The ancestor was said to be at the peak of Tier-8 and no one knows if he crossed the limit or not. In the records, there are a lot of Tier-5 awakened but as the rank progresses, the number drops drastically. It was considered a miracle that my mother reached Tier-6 rank. I mean it was the deterrence that kept the Elders from doing anything rash. With many having their eyes on my father''s seat, there is a high chance that they would try to eliminate my family, especially with every one of his children sessfully awakened. I was even sure that there would be some attempts on my life after I entered the forest. It has been three months, but there were no attacks. Maybe this is me bing paranoid because of my memories of reading those web novels, where killing thepetition even if they were of the same family is amon thing. Ah, I am influenced too much by those memories. Even though that was me, it was past tense. I am not that person anymore. I am Magnus of House Frostwolf and I should act as such. Those memories are quite useful for me but at the same time a hurdle. I should do something about that. Aarrghhh! Shit, my clone just died. It was clearly a de attack. As far as I know, no monster can use such a de attack. So monsters are out of the question. Who killed it? Who in their right mind dared to ambush me? Don''t they know who I am or Do they know who I am? Did those bastards finally show their hand? Chapter 30: My ambushers

Chapter 30: My ambushers

This is why having a cloning skill is very important. This skill is useful in many ways, especially for protecting yourself from dangers such as what I just experienced myself. Someone or something just killed my clone. I have no idea who or what caused my clone''s death but I felt it. The death was certainly caused by a sharp de. I am 100% sure of it. So the most likely culprit that killed my clone has to be a human. Yes, there are some humanoid monsters like Goblins, Trolls, Ogres, etc... that use weapons but why I am sure it was another human because of how and where I died. If my clone had faced an Ogre, it would have made a run for its life. Ogres are huge and they smash, not sneak up and sh throats. Also, they don''t live in this part of the forest. Goblins and Trolls can do that, but this area is not something where Trolls live and Goblin Assassins are rare and they mostly live inrge goblin settlements. In fact, most of the humanoid monsters don''t appear here in this region as it is near to human settlements. Anyway, I would soon know who killed my clone and destroy them one way or another. --- "Hey, what happened?" one of the ambushers asked the others. "I have no idea. I obviously killed him, but the next minute his body disappeared, leaving behind his bracelet", the ambusher who killed the boy spoke. "Disappeared? Shit, he is not dead. It is a clone and now he knows that someone is out here to kill him. Watch yours backs", the first one warned hispatriots. --- Hehe, it looks like I was ambushed by humans like I guessed and they know that it is a clone and are vignt against me but that doesn''t matter. Feeling their energy, I don''t believe that they have crossed Tier-2 and reached Tier-3. Since they are below me and my attributes are obviously better than them, I should get rid of them soon. There are five of them, so it won''t be a problem for me. How do I deal with them? It''s obvious. I have only one Multi-target skill and it needs practice to level up and now it can get practice. [Shadow Bolt Volley] [Shadow Blot Volley] I spammed them with my multi-target skill. They missed to detect my first attack but they didn''t miss the consecutive ones but that didn''t matter. As long as they were hit, they lost a lot of health and died miserably. I even heard them crying, "Why me?" "How is it possible?" "I''m dreaming", and sentences such as those. They still think that I am a Tier-0 brat, who should have died at their hands but with the situations reversed, their mentality copsed easily. No wonder, these idiots didn''t progress much in their lives. I don''t recognize them, so I assume that they were hired by someone. Since they are dead, that means it could be said that whoever hired them is safe. Wrong. Even if they were dead, I have ways to extract the details from them. [Soul Prison] I caught all five souls of the ambushers using my Soud Prison Skill before their souls disappeared from this world. Though the system didn''t exin the details of my skills and started to act weird, I can concur with what exactly this skill would be useful for. It is used for souls to be imprisoned and tortured to learn their secrets, all of them. Huh! [You have killed Tores, Tier-2 Level 45] [You have killed Eddy, Tier-2 Level 27] [You have killed Valos, Tier-1 Level 51] [You have killed Estin, Tier-1 Level 100] [You have killed K, Tier-2 Level 13] [You have leveled up.] [You have reached Tier-3 Level 4] [You have gained +1,250,000 HP, +1,250,000 MP and +125,000 INT.] So, one can improve their levels by killing other humans too. No wonder there are a lot of criminals out there. I mean after awakening they can just hunt monsters and can be rich. If they live of monster hunting, the governments wouldn''t be after their asses but there are many who rob and kill other people. These people who have no morals consider other humans as EXP, and I don''t think people such as these would let go of easy EXP. Anyway, after imprisoning their souls, I searched their bodies and found their bracelets on them. They should have thought that since I am an easy and rich target, they should be thinking about taking the resources from my bracelet and disposing of me. To store the goods that they should have found on me if everything went well, they brought their own bracelets. Stealing another person''s bracelet would be a stupid idea. This was because it has a tracking feature. My family can track me using this. The feature was introduced to find the remains of people who were lost in the wild. This isn''t a GPS with maps and all such. They are used to alert the tracker to see if the person is nearby. They should first know the approximate area to search for this person, or else they wouldn''t be able to find others. Speaking of tracking, how did they find me in this forest? Were they searching for me in the forest all this time? Judging from their clothes, that doesn''t seem to be the case. Did they track my bracelet? How did they get the bracelet''s ID number? The only way for one to track using the bracelet was to know their number. Without the number, no one can track others. The number would be randomly generated after the bracelet was brought. Only my family knew the number. There is also a chance that the sellers or the manufacturers know the number, but why would they want to kill me? It''s not like that they would know who brought the bracelet anyway. The sellers won''t record those details and the number was generated after it was opened for the first time. So the chances of them knowing my number is NIL. Even if the manufacturers knew what the number of a bracelet would be, they wouldn''t be able to know who brought which one. So they trying to kill me, meh, I don''t think so. There are only two scenarios now. One, it was someone from the family, who wanted to eliminate thepetition. Second, an enemy of my father was able to get their hands on the number. Now the question is which one? Or did they track me using an entirely different method? Chapter 31 Using my Devour Skill to erase the traces Chapter 31 Using my Devour Skill to erase the traces I can think properly about how these idiots tracked me or who hired them to eliminate me. First, I need to get rid of anything that can say that I did this. If there were other ambushers out there, then it would be a problem. These idiots died because they were careless and didn''t put their guards up even after they found that what they killed was only a clone. They thought since I was weaker than them and there were five of them, I could be dealt with easily. If other groups, if they exist, find this mess, they surely would be on guard or they would leave and report to their client about what happened. That can never happen. When I leave this forest, no one will know that I am Tier-3. They should think and see that I am still on my way to Tier-1. To do that, I have to erase their traces. How to do that? It''s not like I came here to kill someone and cover it up. Wait, do they have any items that erase corpses? Let''s check. Indeed they have. Every single bracelet has a potionbeled Corpse Eraser and it was not even a single bottle but multiple bottles. I wonder how often they do these things. If I use this way to erase them, I am not sure that it would be traced. I mean, these assassins were experienced at these things. I don''t know if there are actually methods of identifying that these erasing potions were used. If they detect them, then it would be nothing but alerting them. If you think about what can detect these erasers, you would be wrong. Even back on Erth, everything could be traced, it just depends on luck. Many chemicals disappear after a certain time and would be impossible to track their existence. I believe this chemical potion certainlyes under that category. This may be why it was their choice of chemical to destroy the evidence. Even if it was their choice, there is a slight chance of them discovering this. So this is a no-go. What should I do? Ah, I should do what I did with that demon. [Devour] I used my Devur skill on all those five corpses and it worked perfectly. [You have devoured Tores] [You have gained the skill, Tag & Track] [You have devoured Eddy] [You have gained the skill, Night Vision] [You have devoured Valos] [You have gained +50 AGI] [You have devoured Estin] [You have gained +45 AGI] [You have devoured K] [You have gained +100 AGI] Wow, it worked more than perfectly. It looks like I can devour and get benefits even if the corpse doesn''t belong to a monster. It means that there is no limit for skill and I can use it to gain a lot of benefits. Now let''s check my status to see what changes have appeared. "Status" -- Name: Magnus Frostwolf Age: 14 Titles: Son of Viscount; Great yer; Hidden Smiden; Primary ss: Draconic Warlock Secondary ss: Soul Arbiter (Unique) Affinity: Shadow, Blood Bloodline: ck Dragon (1% Purity) Physique: Devourer Physique (EX) Talent: Ritualistic Summoning (EX) Trait: Silk Smooth Skin; Sleepy; Rank: Tier-3 Level: 4 Health Points (HP): 8,828,117 Strength (STR): 489 Endurance (END): 672 Dexterity (DEX): 225 Agility (AGI): 581 Intelligence (INT): 755,130 Magic Power (MP): 10,103,617 Soul Energy: 5,500 (+200%) ss Skills: Shadow Bolt; Blood Dominance; Draconic Magic; Shadow Curse; Blood Heal; Shadow Shift; Blood Lock; Draconic Pressure; Shadow Merge; Blood Drain; Soul Judge; Soul Prison; Soul Container; Refined Skills: Shadow Bolt Volley Lv. 3; Skills: Evade Lvl. 5; Dodge Lvl. 6; Sprint Lvl. 4; Alertness Lvl. 6; Devour Lvl. 3; Fusion Lvl. 3; Split Lv. 3; Demon Gaze Lvl. 1; Strengthen Lvl. 4; Tag & Track Lvl. 1; Night Vision Lvl. 1; Resistances: Physical Resistance Lvl. 7; Light Resistance Lvl. 3; Poison Resistance Lvl. 2; Weapon Arts: Intermediate Staff Arts Lvl. 5 -- Tag & Track: Urgh, seriously. Tag a target and track it damn it. What more exnation do you want? -- Night Vision: Skill useful for seeing at night or do you need an exnation for such easy words, that even a toddler would understand? -- Ah, what''s up with this damn system? Why is it acting sassy all of a sudden? I can''t deal with this now. I should search for this when I return home. Anyway, now that I got rid of those corpses, the question that remains is how to deal with these bracelets. I already transferred everything into mine. There is no need to keep these ones even if they give me extra storage space to store items. They can be tracked and I would be in danger if they track them back to me. I have no idea if these are the only ones or if they have a leader who reached a higher rank. I mean I can just drop them here, but when thepatriots of these assassins track them here, they would surely get suspicious if they see them lying around here. You see these trackers can be stopped if you turn off the bracelet but that also means that one wouldn''t be able to use any function at that time. If you are strong enough, you wouldn''t be afraid of any retaliation and would take these bracelets and sell them in the ck Market. There are technicians who can reset the ID numbers of the bracelets. So one would need these new IDs to track them. Any high ranker would know this and they wouldn''t let these go to waste, only a weak person does. To them, I am such a weak person and if they think that I somehow got the better of them by sneaking, they would surely try to get at me. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om Even if I take them away, who can say that they can''t track them back to me? I don''t like to gamble with my life. So destroying them is the best and only choice avable to me. Wait, I remember something. My Silk Smooth Skin trait and how I got that in the first ce. I wonder if that works here too. Chapter 32 My Devour Skills new uses Chapter 32 My Devour Skill''s new uses I don''t know whether it works or not. I should try them once and see if that works or not. If not I can directly destroy these bracelets. After cleaning up the battle scene, which was not that disturbed in the first ce, I returned to the safe ce where I had been living for the past few months. There was something I wanted to give a try and also I need to get out of here as soon as possible. I have no idea if these idiots have signaled their backup if there is a backup. Whether it exists or not, I can''t take the risk. --- After reaching my hideout, I ced those magic bracelets in front of me. I separated one of them, to verify if I could use the skill this way or not. [Debour] [You have devoured Magic Bracelet.] [You have gained, Aurum Skin Trait.] Oh, it looks like I can use the Devour skill on no-organic perfectly. Let''s see what I get from the other four. [Devour] [You have devoured Magic Bracelet.] [You have gained, Magic Resistance(Non-Attribute).] [You have devoured Magic Bracelet.] [You have gained,+1 Magic Resistance(Non-Attribute).] [You have devoured Magic Bracelet.] [You have gained, +1 Magic Resistance(Non-Attribute).] [You have devoured Magic Bracelet.] [You have gained, Space Affinity.] Huh, what are these? It''s okay that I gained Aurum Skin Trait. That was because a part of the magic bracelets was made from Aurum metal. It was understandable but what''s with the Magic Resistance and Space Affinity? Can I consume resources and improve my resistance that easily? I mean, to get poison resistance we have to take small amounts of poison, but that was for poison, not other resistances. Everyone has a different way to obtain, and most of thebat-rted resistances would be procured and improved through battles. Now a new door opens for me. I can not only get attributes, skills, and traits but also resistances using my Devour Skill. No wonder humans can''t get skills from Slimes. If they get this skill, it would be war everywhere and all the time. If not for my physique, probably I wouldn''t have gotten such a beautiful skill. Hmm, if the skill worked on the magic bracelets, then it should work on the space ring. I mean it would be good to have the ring as it would bring extra space to store cores or monster corpses, but I can''t truly keep it. It has markings on it, and one can easily determine the origins of this ring. So I can''t keep it nor I can sell it. It can be sold for arge sum but the troubles thate after that are not worth the money. Let''s see if I can gain any skill or something from devouring the ring. First, let''s empty the ring. There are a lot of items in there and I don''t want the skill to go into OVERLOAD. [Devour] [You have devoured Space Ring (High-grade)] [You have gained, Spatial Storage Skill.] [You have gained, Space Resistance.] [You have gained, +1 Space Resistance.] Hahaha, it worked. Though it looked like it didn''t yield much, it did. I have obtained Spatial Storage skills and Space Resistance. Now let''s see my improved status. "Status" Name: Magnus Frostwolf Age: 14 Titles: Son of Viscount; Great yer; Hidden Smiden; Primary ss: Draconic Warlock Secondary ss: Soul Arbiter (Unique) Affinity: Shadow, Blood, Space Bloodline: ck Dragon (1% Purity) Physique: Devourer Physique (EX) Talent: Ritualistic Summoning (EX) Trait: Silk Smooth Skin; Sleepy; Aurum Skin; Rank: Tier-3 Level: 4 Health Points (HP): 8,828,117 Strength (STR): 489 Endurance (END): 672 Dexterity (DEX): 225 Agility (AGI): 581 Intelligence (INT): 755,130 Magic Power (MP): 10,103,617 Soul Energy: 5,500 (+200%) ss Skills: Shadow Bolt; Blood Dominance; Draconic Magic; Shadow Curse; Blood Heal; Shadow Shift; Blood Lock; Draconic Pressure; Shadow Merge; Blood Drain; Soul Judge; Soul Prison; Soul Container; Refined Skills: Shadow Bolt Volley Lv. 3; Skills: Evade Lvl. 5; Dodge Lvl. 6; Sprint Lvl. 4; Alertness Lvl. 6; Devour Lvl. 3; Fusion Lvl. 3; Split Lv. 3; Demon Gaze Lvl. 1; Strengthen Lvl. 4; Tag & Track Lvl. 1; Night Vision Lvl. 1; Spatial Storage Lvl. 1; -- Resistances: Physical Resistance Lvl. 7; Light Resistance Lvl. 3; Poison Resistance Lvl. 2; Magic Resistance (Non-Attribute) Lvl. 3; Space Resistance Lvl. 2; Weapon Arts: Intermediate Staff Arts Lvl. 5 -- Aurum Skin: You can easily channel magic through your body. -- Spatial Storage: You can store any item as long as they aren''t alive. Seriously, you need an exnation for this too. Didn''t you read as a kid what space storage offers? -- Magic Resistance (Non-Attribute): You can withstand Non-Attributed Magic for a teeny tiny moment. N?v(el)B\\jnn -- Space Resistance: You are now a bit resistant to Spatial distortions. Congrats you can now use Teleport or Blink or such skills, without damaging yourself much. -- Huh, so that''s what the trait is for. Well, it was better than that Smooth Skin trait. It can improve my casting, there is no need to think much about it. After all, we cast magic through our body and there would be many things that can block or make it go smoothly. Well, the space storage would not be an issue anymore. The resistance is a good thing too. It even improved the resistance levels. There are not many that use Non-Attribute magic skills but skill such a freebie who would resist? If resistance can be improved this way, wouldn''t be able to improve them to Level 100 if I consume a few storage rings? Well, it''s not practical as it would burn away the wealth of the entire kingdom to do so, but I may be able to do so. If I can summon a few more demons like that one, I can get a space ring from them, and devouring that would certainly improve my resistance and may even get some surprises. The problem was that the ritual directly pulled a Tier-6 demon. I was luckyst time as I was well prepared. It consumed all of my savings to buy those materials that were able to constrain the demon for a minute. If my luck was bad, I may even summon the Demon King. Then it would be the end of me and my family. So, I shouldn''t rashly use that ritual. I should get some more information about these before I can tinker with them again. Chapter 33 End of My Adventure (1) Chapter 33 End of My Adventure (1) I spent seven months here in this damn forest. I say that was not an easy feat to aplish, especially for someone who lived in a modern world once. I feel like these memories of mine are a boon and a curse at the same time. When I was a kid, instead of enjoying such an innocent age, there were various thoughts swirling inside my mind that shouldn''t be there. Due to those adult thoughts, I couldn''t properly enjoy my childhood but those thoughts also saved me from falling into other''s traps. They were there, and though they appeared harmless on the surface, there were some pitfalls that some of the elders arranged for me. Luckily with an adult mind, I was able to bypass those pits. It was as I said, both a boon and curse. Even in the forest, it was both. I was affected by the modern facilities. Though they were absent even in the new home, but least there were soft beds and doors. Though there are assassinations that can reap lives even when we are at home, it is still safer than it was here. If not for my clones, I wouldn''t have been able to sleep well for long. Seven months, living alone for seven months is not an easy thing. This was only something that monks would do. Probably my ancestor was a monk or had a monk master. If not why would family have such a tradition? Can''t they be normal like other families? Couldn''t they have brought beasts and we could have trained to fight them in the training area, where it is safe andfy? Anyway, it was almost time for me to return home. I can enjoy some of the facilities that are avable in this world. I hope there are people who can bring all those modern appliances here. I miss my smartphone and leisurely browsing through social media the most. --- After the ambush, I stayed low for a few weeks to see if there were any more ambushers but luckily there weren''t. At that time, I moved to a different part of the forest. This was to check if those who were here to kill me could track me even after I switched off the bracelet. If they had such a thing, it would be truly troublesome. Moreover, I wanted to increase my levels and reach level 100 before returning home. In addition to that, I was looking for mind skills and mystery skills. There are monsters that have these special skills in this forest. It was one of the reasons why it wasn''t easy to conquer this forest. I didn''t go there to clear them or for something honorable. I don''t believe in that shit. It was something that the bad or weak people used to control the good and powerful ones. I would be powerful in the future but I am nowhere good enough to have such honorable ideas and stand up for justice. Justice always depends on strength. Whether it was here or on Earth, it was the same. On Earth, it was a bit colorful and they don''t tantly use it, at least most of the time. If you don''t have power in your hands you would be buried easily, no matter the world. I am going off-topic again. Anyway, I changed my shelter and kept my clones close, but as nothing happened, I started to hunt the monsters that were out there. In a few months, I was able to improve faster than I anticipated. This was because of a surprise that I got from one of those magic cores of monsters that humans can''t absorb to get skills. The monster was called Spirit Fox and the skill I got was Rank Booster. -- Rank Booster: Improves your level by meditating properly. Don''t think that you can conquer the world with this. You need a proper meditation technique to use this perfectly. -- A skill that can improve ranks without hunting. Monsters don''t have levels such as us but they improve their ranks by eating treasures or other monster cores, even humans. They improve their ranks by consuming resources. Even though I didn''t have an appropriate technique to get the perfect results, I know meditation, and using that I was able to improve a bit. Even if it appears to be small, that was because of my rank. If I was still Tier-0, the improvement would have been much more than this, in level numbers, not actual improvement. There were other skills that I procured from this fox. Namely Mind Control, Mind Probe, and Mind Defence. -- Mind Control: Boy, Mind and Control. What other exnation do you need? -- Mind Probe: I wonder if you have a mind. If you had, you would have known what this skill is for by reading the name. -- Mind Defence: Twoments are not enough. Read the name and you can understand what it is useful for. -- Those three skills ar mind skills. They would protect me from being controlled by others. I can control other''s minds or even see what was there on their minds. These are very rare skills, that were only avable through skill books. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om In addition to these, there was another skill, Spirit Evolution but I couldn''t find these foxes easily. After I appeared and killed a few of them, they disappeared. I am not trying to make their race extinct but I feel that they think that I am here to erase their race. maybe because they were rare species. I don''t know why but I left them. Though they might kill humans in the future, I am not a savior. I am a human and would take their side, but that was only in serious conditions. There is no need to erase a race just because they are a threat to humans. Almost everything on this world is a threat to humans, including humas themselves. Moreover, these monsters are resources. If I wipe them out, then where would one find those particr resources that are only obtained from thatparticr race. Even though I didn''t get Spirit Evolution, I got another skill that was very much useful for me. -- Dragon Blood Evolution (EX): You would be able to evolve into what you are meant to be, not this inferior product. -- Chapter 34 End of My Adventure (2) Chapter 34 End of My Adventure (2) The great things that I found in adventuring in this forest were not those skills. No, I found a dungeon and an unconquered one in the forest. Maybe it was new, that was my hypothesis but those were not my thoughts when I discovered not one unconquered but three unconquered dungeons. N?v(el)B\\jnn The issue was not that there were three unconquered dungeons in the forest, no, the issue was that these three were within a radius of five kilometers of each other. This certainly would be considered a problem. The world was Ragos was not a new world, where dungeons were newly discovered or started to form in thest century or so. They have been here for hundreds if not thousands of years. Dungeons were formed where magic power was highly concentrated. In such areas, it would be either dungeons or treasures formed. One or another, both are highly valued resources. The treasures can be used only once, so the benefits they give would be higherpared to a dungeon. Dungeons are considered long-term resource producers. They are of value if you are to settle in that area with your family and establish as a local power. If settlement was not in the works, then finding treasures would be a better choice than dungeons, as unlike treasures, dungeons can''t be moved. They can be destroyed or sealed but can''t be moved. Every dungeon would have a core called Dungeon Core. It is semi-sentient and would be responsible for producing resources like ores, herbs, or monsters. Everything that a dungeon creates would be useful. When I first discovered the dungeon, I was happy to go dungeon diving. They are after all controlled and can''t be used too much. Maintaining a dungeon like that costs resources and be used for training newbies in the families. For dungeons to naturally recreate resources from the surrounding magic power, it takes time. If you enter the dungeon before that time, you would not find the required resources, rather it would be ack of resources. When the controlled dungeons would only be used a certain number of times. So there was no possibility of me finding a dungeon in the nation because there would be too manypetitors. This should have been themon line, but I found three dungeons. Of course I found them, I cleared them, iming the first time clearance. There were three skill books that were acquired from them, in addition to various ores, herbs, and cores. Dungeon doesn''t leave corpses behind for us to use, only the cores of the monsters defeated but that was not a guarantee. Most of the time, there would be nothing left. the only thing you gain is the EXP, which would be twice as much as you get when you kill a monster outside. This was a bnce thing that the universe maintained or that''s the opinion of the schrs who studied the dungeons. In the outside world, when we kill a monster, the entirety of the corpse belongs to us but the EXP would be low while in the dungeon, EXP would be doubled at the cost of those corpses and cores. Anyway when I cleared those three dungeons, I got three skill books: Improved Perception (passive); de Swipe; Vertical sh; Of these three, I can make use of the first one only due to my ss, as it doesn''t require the specific ss to use that skill. The other two were definitely weapon skills. They are of no use to me. In addition to those three skills, I got the title Dungeon Conquerer. -- Dungeon Conqueror: Wow, you cleared three dungeons for the first time. Well done. Oh, yeah, the magic cores that you gain would be more than before. How many more? Depends on your luck. -- I gained a title because I was able to clear three dungeons. The use is that the drop rate of cores is increased by that depends on my luck, which is a hidden attribute much more difficult to open than a few other hidden attributes. There are descriptions of some hidden attributes but it was only said what they were. There was no information on how to unlock them. I feel that it would be not an easy thing to unlock those attributes. If it were, they would have mentioned to them how to. Luck, one of the hidden attributes determines the fortune of a person. For example, it determines whether one would get the item they desire or not. If one knew how much luck they have, they would take measures depending on their luck. There were no details because these hidden attributes depend on luck. If one tries to uncover them, maybe it would end badly. I mean in these centuries of existence, they surely should have experimented on that. They should have obtained some results which should have discouraged them from revealing the details. If those results said that it would be best to open them as early as possible, then at least a son of a noble, the information should have been avable to me. That doesn''t matter. I''ll know my attribute values of those hidden ones when they open up. There is no need to make a fuss over it. Now that I have already reached level 100 of Tier-3, I need to take the promotion mission from the magic association. So it is time for me to return home. Hah, in a few days, I would be back experiencing modern civilization, at least modern of this world. It was not because I reached Tier-3 Level 100 and I had to take the mission, that I decided to return home nor because it was already seven months since I entered the forest. It was because I found what I needed most here, and there was no need to stay any longer. Staying here would yield no more advantages. My sister Eritrea had to stay longer because she waspeting for the status of Viscount after my father stepped down. So she had to show maximum talent to the family, not all but maximum. I have no such burden and simply can return home. Chapter 35 End of My Adventure (3) Chapter 35 End of My Adventure (3) Since I have no desire to be a viscount, nor the right to obtain that seat, I have no scruples about returning home two months early, rather than staying for the entire stipted nine months. It would be a bore to stay here for that long and I already reached my goals anyway. Though the status of a person is private and can''t viewed through normal means, there are special ways of observing another person''s status. This is the reason why I decided to stay in the forest and look for a way to block such probes. It took me months but I was able to find a way to disguise my true status and project a false one for others to view if they used their special means. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om Like those special means, this skill that I came across that can block other''s probes and show a false status is determined as a Special Skill by the system. This was not the first special skill that I came across. Rank Booster was a special skill too, which has no levels showing, probably that was because it was level max or there is only a single level, I have no idea. There was no mention of these special skills in the database. Sure the database is seven months old, but I as far as seven months ago, there was no special skill or was it restricted due to my rank? Man, this rank restriction of knowledge is really impeeding me. I need to find a way to ovee this hurdle without revealing my true rank. The special skill that is going to help me, I obtained by chance. I have to thank the bandits that I encountered more than a month ago. --- A month and a half ago... As usual, I was running through the woods looking to hunt monsters, while my clones were far away doing their own things. Now I can summon ten clones, which started to push the levels of the skills faster but there were too many skills and the mind skills can''t be upgraded here easily. They had to wait until I returned home. So leveling up, practicing the skills that can be upgraded. This was my routine, until today. I came across a group of bandits treading deep into the woods. The usual policy was, if you run into bandits kill or flee. Those are the only two choices, don''t hesitate. They didn''t spot me, so I hid from them. They appeared weak, and I could have easily eliminated them but I chose not to. Bandits don''t do deep forests. There would be nothing for them to pige. No vigers, no merchants who would pass through. None. So they would choose forests, but that is in between cities so that they can attack and reap from the travelers. There are no people to reap here. So it has made me intrigued. I followed them deep into the forest until they reached a waterfall. They disappeared behind the waterfall. A cave, there was definitely a cave behind that waterfall. This must be their base that was hidden deep in the woods. They made quite a nice base in the forest, which everyone fears. I doubt this is where everyone is, but I bet they use this to store their valuables. I should check it out. --- Present Time... I did check that cave out after those bandits left. I clearly saw that they looked different from before but they were the same. When I entered the cave a few minutester, I did find the treasure hoard that was safely stored there. There are a lot of attires, including that of city guards. I then concluded that some guards colluded with bandits or they themselves were bandits but that has nothing to do with me. Those are not from my familynds. As I said before the forest borders a lot of territories. I would just warn my father that there were a lot of bandits active in those regions and need to increase guards in the borders. I took the treasures and left behind the waste. Among those treasures, I found the skill book, Status Disguise. In fact, there were three Status Disguise skill books. I used one and kept the other two for future use. There were a lot of goods that when sold would make me rich but I decided to hold onto certain items as these were all piged and would be considered as ck Market goods. I can most of these items but unless I needed money, I decided to keep the items. Who knows when I would have a use for those items? Money can be easily obtained, unlike items, which are always in shortage. Anyway after I left that cave, I leveled up as usual and reached this stage. Now, let''s check what my new status looks like this. "Status" -- Name: Magnus Frostwolf Age: 14 (halfway across to 15) Titles: Son of Viscount; Great yer; Hidden Smiden; Dungeon Conqueror; Primary ss: Draconic Warlock Secondary ss: Soul Arbiter (Unique) Affinity: Shadow, Blood, Space Bloodline: ck Dragon (1% Purity) Physique: Devourer Physique (EX) Talent: Ritualistic Summoning (EX) Trait: Silk Smooth Skin; Sleepy; Aurum Skin; Rank: Tier-3 Level: 100 Health Points (HP): 128,828,117 Strength (STR): 642 Endurance (END): 772 Dexterity (DEX): 315 Agility (AGI): 781 Intelligence (INT): 12,755,130 Magic Power (MP): 130,103,617 Soul Energy: 5,500 (+200%) ss Skills: Shadow Bolt; Blood Dominance; Draconic Magic; Shadow Curse; Blood Heal; Shadow Shift; Blood Lock; Draconic Pressure; Shadow Merge; Blood Drain; Soul Judge; Soul Prison; Soul Container; Special Skills: Rank Booster; Status Disguise; Refined Skills: Shadow Bolt Volley Lv. 6; Skills: Evade Lvl. 8; Dodge Lvl. 9; Sprint Lvl. 7; Alertness Lvl. 9; Devour Lvl. 5; Fusion Lvl. 10; Split Lv. 10; Demon Gaze Lvl. 3; Strengthen Lvl. 9; Tag & Track Lvl. 2; Night Vision Lvl. 5; Spatial Storage Lvl. 3; Mind Control Lvl. 1; Mind Probe Lvl. 1; Mind Defence Lvl. 1; Dragon Blood Evolution Lvl. 1; Resistances: Physical Resistance Lvl. 10; Light Resistance Lvl. 3; Poison Resistance Lvl. 2; Magic Resistance (Non-Attribute) Lvl. 3; Space Resistance Lvl. 2; Fire Resistance Lv. 2; Water Resistance Lvl. 2; Mind Resistance Lv. 1; Weapon Arts: Intermediate Staff Arts Lvl. 8 -- Oh, yes, everything exploded. Chapter 36 I am finally home (1) Chapter 36 I am finally home (1) Oh yeah. My status has increased a lot and it wasn''t easy to do so. If not for the fact that I had clones, and could absorb their skill progress, I would havegged behind. It''s a pity that I can only absorb the skill progress and nothing else. I mean when those progress while hunting, the clone''s level also progresses. Its attributes increase as their levels increase, but those will be lost when I fuse them back into me. As of now, the Split and Fusion skills are allowing me to only improve Skill levels but I hope that there will be more than that as those two skills increase their levels. These two helped me a lot. I mean who at my age would have that many skills? Most of them have between two and four. No sane person would have too many skills. They can''t be improved easily and as time goes on they would be a burden. So no one would try to get that many skills as me. Moreover, getting skills is costly. So they would mostly depend on their ss skills or try to create new skills, which would be their trump cards. I am not like them. I can get skills for cheap. So there is no problem on the Cost side. For improving those skills, there are clones that would do the work for me. I can just sit back and rx. Even my attributes are high enough to think I might be a Tier-6 ranker. If anyone sees my HP or MP or even INT, they would lose their minds. They have reached millions and are on their way to billions. I wonder what my attributes will look like when I reach Tier-6. It was not guaranteed though, as I needed to get a 50x bonus or the best status would be lost. No matter what, I have to get an EX-grade in my promotion mission to enter Tier-4. I gained more than a million HP and MP per level. If I get a 50x bonus, then in Tier-4 the gains would cross 50 million per level. I can cross the billion mark before I can even cross a quarter of levels. 50,000,000*20 =1,000,000,000 One can see from this simple calction that I can cross the billion mark by reaching level 20, but there are already millions of attributes and what I would get for crossing sessfully into Tier-4. No matter what, I would reach that mark by the time I reached one-fifth of Tier-4. As a living being I need my HP to be as high as possible and as a spellcaster, I need MP and INT to be high. I am happy with those but the issue was the other attributes. My STR, STA, DEX & AGI are very poorpared to my HP, MP, or even INT. Even the total of those four would be far less than my INT. The attributes are increased depending on what your profession is. Otherwise, you have to consume some special resources. They are very rare and not easily obtained. Well, the issue was that the resources were not rare but they are dangerous to even rankers when consumed directly. When consumed, they would poison the person. Unless you have level 100 in poison resistances, you can''t consume them directly. They needed to be processed by an alchemist before consumption. In the process, many materials are wasted and even then sess is not guaranteed. So they always cost more. I wonder if I can use my physique or devour skills to offset those problems. I should check if that is possible. If it works, for me it would be a reduction of burden on my financials. In addition to those attributes, my new attribute, Soul Energy was a problem. There was no improvement in that when I was leveling up. I have no idea about how to increase that. In fact, I know nothing about that. Unless the fact that it has something to do with my soul and the higher the number it is, the better it is. There was no information in the database that was essible to me. I wonder if I can sneak into those restricted sections back at home. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Anyway, everything went as I thought, except for one thing, the only issue I faced with what I expected. My physique is not working properly. When I used to eat at home, my attributes increased a lot easily but in the forest, they dropped significantly. At first, I thought that the improvement decreased because they had reached their limits at my rank or because I was eating low-ranked meat and its usage is only that much and nothing more can be extracted from eating it. I was wrong. There was no improvement when I reached Tier-3 nor when I started to hunt and eat meat from monsters higher than I used to. Sure the number I got was a bit higher but that''s it. It can''t bepared to the number that I used to gain at home. It was then I remembered something. In this world, there are professions of cooking. There are many professions and skills when ites to cooking and I am not one who has that profession nor the skill to cook. My theory was that my body would digest the food and convert it into energy. Some of this energy would dissipate but my physique would intercept that energy and convert it into attributes. For better digestion, the food has to be properly prepared and in the forest, I have no such convenience. Anyway, it''s my theory which I can check at home. Speaking of which, I am finally home. --- Winter City Entrance... As I reached the city, there was a queue trying to enter the city. Even though the world was a bit modernized, it was not as well connected as modern countries. There are gaps between cities which be a ce of stay for monsters and bandits. From time to time, these bandits would try to enter the cities, but they would be ousted as long as the guards were strong enough. There would be an Identity check before anyone is allowed. I too took my ce in the queue, not to draw attention, waiting for my chance to enter the city. Chapter 37 I am finally home (2) Chapter 37 I am finally home (2) Outside Winter City... I finally reached the Winter City and joined the queue to enter the city. Everyone who wants to enter the city has to go through the verification process or else there will be no entry. This was so that criminals wouldn''t enter the city using fake credentials. Even though I am the son of the Viscount, I still had to go through the verification process. Of course, there are different queues for different categories of people. The longest queue belonged to themoners and they had multiple checkpoints to make it easy and not waste time. Merchants have a different checkpoint because, unlike others, there would be caravans and it would be a disturbance for everyone. The nobles however have the shortest queue, as they have their own entry point and they were given priority. No matter the age, the people in power wouldn''t waste their time waiting in a queue that would take a long time. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om I could have gone through the noble''s entry but I decided not to. To protect important people, they were usually given different identities. I have two identities as of now. One was as the Son of Viscount which was the real one and the other one was that of amoner. I chose the identity of amoner this time to enter the city. This was because I needed to get rid of some materials before I returned home. As of now, there is no surveince upon me and I can use this as an advantage to sell some items that I obtained and buy a few items that I need without others knowing about these transactions. I mean times as these are not avable for a son of viscount. If not for the family tradition, once I leave the premises of my home, a guard would follow me at all times. There would be nothing that would be hidden from the eyes of the family. They would know everything. If it was just my parents, it wouldn''t be a problem but everyone in the family would know about these transactions. No one was an idiot, unlike the characters that were described in those novels. If they were idiots, they would have died long ago. They can easily ce one and one together and arrive at a conclusion, a conclusion that I wouldn''t like to be revealed. I can''t let others find out my secrets. They are my trump cards. No one knows how they would be killed or who would kill them. So showing off is never a good thing, especially when you are weak. Even if my attributes are high, there are skills that can render my attributes useless. In this world, there are a lot of ways to gain strength but also a lot of ways to render that strength useless. There are skills, potions, and equipment that can turn a hero into zero in seconds. Even without those, a Tier-8 or Tier-9 ranker can squash me like an ant. I may have attributes but it''s not like I am immune to attacks. They can easily chip away myrge HP and even make me lose all of my MP faster. Forget about someone else, there was an assassination attempt on me a few months ago. I interrogated those souls and was able to extract the details about the attempt on my life. Well, I was bad at interrogating, especially souls which was not my area of expertise. I failed to properly interrogate and two of those souls disintegratedpletely. Even the remaining three were in no good shape after the interrogation. I threw them into the Soul Container. They are by no means strong enough to use judgment on them. They would disintegrate if I used that on them. So I decided to look for other uses for these souls. For now, I have no idea but I am sure that I would find a use. Until then, they would be inside the container. --- Huh, what was that? Why are two idiots fighting over there? Is that my family''s crest on the car? Why are they fighting with amoner? Did some poor sod have a confrontation with one of my family members? I never thought that I would see such a thing here. Is this the setting for the Birth of a Hero? The stepping stone obviously looks like the downfall of my family. I can''t let that happen. Even though I don''t like to poke my nose in other''s businesses, this is regarding my family''s survival. The family doesn''t just include those idiots but also my parents and my siblings. There is no way that I would let something bad happen. The only way I see that from happening is that either I eliminate thatmoner boy or...wait isn''t that idiot the grandson of the eighth elder? I recognize him. I met this idiot grandson of the elder a few times as he was the same age as me. So of course there are some verbal shes and a few times physical shes with him. Hmm, why is he here? Shouldn''t he be in the forest hunting and improving his level? Did he reach the level 100 of Tier-0 already? How can that idiot reach the peak of Tier-0 so soon? He wasn''t as talented as me. Everyone in the family could see that. Moreover, he was three months younger than me, and even for me it would have taken a long time if not for my absurd skills and that demon. Whatever means he used to improve faster doesn''t matter for now. I can think about itter. His grandfather was one of the bastards who dared to shake hands with the third elder and send assassins to kill me. Now that there might be a chance for me to p that asshole''s favorite grandson to get back at him, it should be considered a good day. Now, let''s see what this fuss is about. Chapter 38 My familys entanglement with a Hero candidate Chapter 38 My family''s entanglement with a Hero candidate (Third person PoV) Dorian was the son of a farmer. He was the only child and that''s what his parents decided to do. Feeding themselves is already a trouble for the family with meager earnings. So he has to grow up alone, while his parents worked on the farm during the day. His parents saved every coin that they could. He couldn''t understand why, but that became clear when he came to age. They were saving for his awakening. The awakening doesn''t cost much due to the kingdom''s subsidies. The kingdom needs as many awakened as possible to keep the neighbors and the monsters at bay. So themoners would only have to pay 10% of the fee, while the kingdom bears the remaining 90% of the cost. The cost for awakening might be very low but the costs thate after that are very high. It was not easy to upgrade. The awakened need equipment, weapons, and potions to go into the dungeons or wilds. If they were ill prepared that could cost their lives. His parents were saving so that he could afford them if he seeded in awakening. It was after all not a guaranteed process, especially among themoners. So not everyone would go through the process. To many, it was a waste of money. Dorion''s parents never went through the ceremony, because their families couldn''t afford the cost, but they decided that their son should have a chance. Whether he seeds in awakening or not, as his parents they felt that they couldn''t deprive him of this chance. He was almost fifteen and once he crossed that age, the chances of sessfully awakening started to drop. When he bes an adult, the chances would be zero. So they saved as much as they could and took him to awaken. Luckily Dorian awakened. He got a rare chance during his awakening. He got a system during his awakening. He didn''t understand what it could do but with the help of the system, he started his great adventure and never looked back from that day, not until he arrived at the gates of Winter City. After awakening he spent all his time in the forests and dungeons upgrading his levels. After months of hard work, he reached the peak of Tier-0 and to move to the next rank, he had toplete the promotion mission. It can only be taken from the Magic Association branch in a city. The nearest to him was the Winter City, ruled by the Frostwolf family. Even though his vige belonged to another lord, this was the closest to his home. So he chose toe here for the promotion mission. When he arrived there were a lot of people waiting in multiple queues waiting for their turn to enter the city. He didn''t want to waste any time, so he directly chose the queue that had only one member passing through, but that''s when everything changed. "Boy, who do you think you are to stand in this line?" an arrogant voice came from the car in front of him. Dorion didn''t think about it and kept his silence. It was then the car driver got out, "Boy, didn''t you hear my master''s question? Why are you here?" he asked. Dorian curled up his lips and said, "To enter the city of course. Why else would I be in the queue?" He immediately understood that the one in the car might be from a noble family but he didn''t put him in his eyes. If it were before he had to be afraid but these past few months he saw the power of the system that appeared during his awakening. With the help of the system, he upgraded faster than anyone he knew. The children that awakened along with him, were still tens of levels behind him. In his vige, the chief was the highest ranked. He was said to be Tier-1 level 72. Dorian knew that one day he would surpass the chief and be the most powerful but his aim was not that. He wanted to be the strongest in the world and rule it. The driver snorted, "Boy, you are in the wrong ce. This entry is exclusively for nobles, go to themoner entry points and wait there for your turn". Dorian sneered, "I''ll be the most powerful one and will rule this world. So me in this queue is not wrong, it can considered as your honor that you are entering the gate before me", he said. "Presumptuous", the young master got down from his car. He was angry. How dare themer think that he should be honored that he was able to enter the gate before thatmoner. This was a naked spitting on the nobles. He can''t let it go or else the pride of the nobles, his pride would be tarnished. He wouldn''t be able to stand with his head up in the social circles if he let this go. "Guards", he shouted, "Kill this bastard who dared to look down on the nobles and the royals". The people who gathered around started to murmur in low voices. They felt that the young boy was done for. He never should have said those words. Even Dorian felt the murderous gazes of the guards. They were not weak like their chief. He could see that the weakest of them was Tier-2. He would be dead if he didn''t run. He was getting ready to run, as his life depended on it. It was then that they heard theugh of someone and everyone stopped in their tracks. The guards and even the young master easily recognized who it was that had justughed. When Dorian turned around he saw a young man, who slowly strode towards the guards and the young master, "I didn''t think to see such entertainment as soon as I returned home", he chuckled. Dorian felt that the young boy may lookmon but by no means he wasmon. "System, show me his status", he gave amand. [Yes Host.] n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om [Scanning...] Chapter 39 I dealt with the Hero Candidate Chapter 39 I dealt with the Hero Candidate Hmm, interesting. It looks like this boy hates nobles. Is that because he was envious that we live better than him or is it because something happened to him or his family? It doesn''t matter. if he has any bad ideas about my family, I''ll eliminate him. Now let''s first try to diffuse the situation. Killing a kid, just because he tried to enter through the noble''s gate or making a few rudements on a young master would be considered too much. Though the people won''t speak against the nobles, there is deep-seated fear and anger against many of them. They just kept their mouths shut because they were powerless. If one day, when the awakening rate increases, there will be more awakeners ofmon people whenpared to that of nobles. It would be bad. Even if that''s far away in the future, once in a while, amoner genius would rise and change everything in his vicinity. When such a person appears, it would be disastrous. Having a good name among the people is not required but a bad name is dangerous. So it''s best to show that my family is not a tyrant, well, at least not the main family. Moreover, whenever a hero candidate is in danger, something miraculous happens and saves him, even if that miraculous event is something that destroys the world. So I am sure that the boy would survive, no matter what. let''s hope that there will be no enmity between us. If that doesn''t work, there is always the option where I can just kill him and end it. I am not going to show mercy to my enemies. It would be the stupidest thing that one can do. Now, let''s end this drama before it drags my family down. "Haha, Cousin Gregor, I didn''t think to see such entertainment as soon as I returned home", I spoke chuckling as he moved to the front of them. As soon as my cousin and the guards saw me, they stopped. Not everyone might know how I looked, because I spent most of the time in the familypound, but still, my face was well known to the guards who watched the noble''s gate. They were supposed to know the young masters of thend and also some important ones from othernds. This was so that troubles didn''t arise when one of them visited the city. "What are you doing here, Magnus?" he started to shiver when he saw me. Whenever we fought, I always beat his ass. So he should fear them a bit or else how can I get back at those idiot elders? After all, he along with another girl who belonged to the neutral faction were the only ones near my age. So any duels would be among us three. Older members shouldn''t involve themselves in these fights and that''s why I got away with bullying him. If not, there are others who can beat me too, well at least back then. "What am I doing? I am returning home. I believe that my father still is the viscount", I said casually. Gregor understood what I was implying. It doesn''t matter if he understood or not. The guards understood what I meant and they retreated back to their posts. While I was dealing with this idiot cousin of mine, I felt a prick in my mind. Ah, what was that? Someone was trying to scan my status. Is it that boy? Hmm, I was right, that boy was scanning my status. He is definitely a hero or else how can amoner get such a skill? Now, should I let him know that I felt his probing or not? I should let him know in a way that he wouldn''t forget about it ever and it also should be imprinted in the minds of others. Did he believe that I was afraid of him? I just didn''t want to be entangled in unnecessary battles and gave him a way out. If he does anything that he shouldn''t, only death awaits him. p! "Who do you think you are to scan other people''s status?" I yelled out loudly. I pped him again before he could do or say anything. p! "Hmm, do you think you can do anything you want just because you have awakened? There are thousands of people that awaken just in Jund Province itself. Do you think you are special?" I pped him again. p! "Now get your ass and stand at the end of the line, where othermon-born people are standing. Remember boy, if you do such a thing again, I''ll personally end your life", I warned him. Now that my identity was exposed, I could only enter through the noble''s gate. --- (Third PoV) Dorian felt humiliated today. He almost died but that''s not the worst of it. His system was almost got exposed and that would have caused a lot of trouble for him. He heard tales that there were many who sought power and would experiment on anything that appeared strange. His system can be considered strange, 100%. When he scanned the new noble child, he was sure that he could just read his status without any issue but that boy saw through it. Even though he got the details, he was found. Luckily the noble boy didn''t murder him, probably because there were a lot of witnesses. "No matter what, I won''t forget today''s humiliation. With your meager power, you can reach nothing. One day I will reach a higher stage and will crush your entire family", Dorian cursed inwardly. He forgot the fact that the boy saved his life but that was forgotten by Dorian. He only remembered the humiliation he felt and he knew that these young masters depended on their family status. He scanned both of them and they looked average, especially of the boy who first saved him andter humiliated him. -- Name: Magnus Frostwolf Age: 14 ss: Warlock Rank: Tier-0 Level: 100 STR: 26 STA: 32 AGI: 39 DEX: 8 HP: 1600 N?v(el)B\\jnn MP: 2300 ss Skills: Shadow Bolt; Skills: Evade Lvl. 6; Dodge Lvl. 6; Weapon Arts: Intermediate Staff Arts Lvl. 5; -- Chapter 40 My sweet home Chapter 40 My sweet home Inside My Room... Well, I am home, just not the way I wanted to. I wanted to enter incognito so that I could sell all those useless cores and monster carcasses, without letting anyone know that I gained some financial freedom or got hands of certain items. Well, that n went down the drain after that idiot tried to enter the city through the nobles'' gate. If not for that idiot and the idiot cousin, I would have entered the city without anyone knowing. I could have easily sold everything on me that is not useful to me or doesn''t cause someone to track me down. After all, there are plenty of items that I looted from the bandit''s treasure cave, which are now considered illegal goods. Many of them are general items that are traded now and then. So selling them wouldn''t be suspicious. Sure some greedy eyes may try to rob if they were seen but not to the level that attracts the city lord or something. Well, my father is the city lord in name but most of the city was managed by various family members. So if there was something suspicious that appeared, then they would surely find it out easily. Well, there is no reason to rack my brains about them now. They would sit in my personal space storage for now. I''ll dispose of them when I can. Now, I need a bath and some sleep. --- Later at night... Aaaahh, it looks like I slept for a long time. Oh, it''s already time for dinner. Let''s wash and leave. I arrived at the dinner table a few minutester. There was no one else except for my parents and the servants. My siblings were either in the academy or doing their jobs, at the moment. They should have visited when I was away on my adventure. "Did you get enough sleep?" my mother took me into her hands and started to rub my head. I really enjoy the love shown to me by my family. When I arrived, I could see that they were happy that I was alive, but also the stress that they felt when I was not here. They knew that I needed rest, and as I had returned without losing any parts, they decided for me to take rest, the details could wait till Iater. So at that time, I just took a bath and slept peacefully after a long time. How could I sleep peacefully in a forest full of dangers? Even if I had reached Tier-3, I would not be the strongest being in the forest. It was said that there are Rank 9 monsters present in that forest, but that would be the core area. Even if that was the general consensus, there was no guarantee that would remain the same forever. They are living beings, and living beings always move from ce to ce. Even though they stay in a single ce for a long time, they do move from time to time, bringing disasters wherever they go. "Yes, I did mom", I said softly. I really miss this. As far as I remember from the memories of my previous life, I lost my mother at a young age and my father had to work hard to support two children alone. There were not many moments like this where we sat together and mingled with each other. I am really going to take the back seat and enjoy this life to the maximum. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om "Okay, let''s sit and eat. Today''s special is Prawns fry, your favorite", she spoke softly and started to fill my te personally. I knew that as a noble, she couldn''t exhibit her motherly feelings when we were not alone. When I was an infant, she could show all her love openly but as I grew, she couldn''t do as she wanted. "Mom, that''s more than enough. If I eat any more than that, I would be pregnant with food", I said. Hearing my words my fatherughed out loud, and even my mother had a smile on her face. What wouldn''t I give to mak this moment eternal but that is impossible and I know that. After eating the food on my te, my belly bulged out. The prawns here are not the same small sea food that was avable on Earth. Each of these beasts would grow to the size of a small elephant from Earth. As a Tier-3, it wouldn''t be a problem as it would soon disappear. With increased ranks, there would increased hunger and faster metabolism but even they have limits. Eating more than you should would still cause problems. "So how are Eritrea and others? Did they visit while I was gone?" I asked. It was more than a year ago that I saw my siblingsst. I wanted to know how they were doing now. "They were doing fine. Yes, they all visited but had to go because of something that came up", my mother said as she told all the details while we enjoyed the food, --- After the dinner was over, we returned to my room. Yes, my parents followed me back to my room. Before now, they didn''t ask because I was tired or there were others. Even though those servants worked for our family, not everyone was trustworthy enough to know all the details. It would be for the best. "Now, tell us what you have experienced in these seven months", my father asked once we were out of the other ''s ears. I sighed. There are a lot of adventures to tell but I can''t tell everything to them. I know them well enough. If they knew how strong I am, they there would tasks that would need me to work more than needed. All these years the family took care of you, now you should give something back. This was a rule in my family from which no one is an exception. Even though there are idiots sitting on the Elderr''s council, they are still family. My father wouldn''t let a talent like mine go waste. He would find a way to help the family gain some benefits, which would be eaten by those vultures. ''Sorry father, I can''t do what you want. So, I can''t tell you everything'', I thought inwardly. Chapter 41 Speaking about my adventures Chapter 41 Speaking about my adventures Since I decided not to show them all my cards, there are many things that I can''t reveal to them, not even about those assassins. If I told them about them, then it would mean I am strong enough to stand against a Tier-2 awakened, and that was months ago. Then that means I am even stronger now. Whatever I tried to hide woulde out if that was revealed. It would be best if my parents didn''t know about the assassins and those elders thought that I never met the assassins and they died in the hands of some monsters in the wild. It was quite possible for that to happen. Many die in those forests. Of course, I also decided to skip about the demon summoning. I need to find which idiot ced that there. If it was by mistake or on purpose that it was ced in the library, I need to find out but it would not be an easy factor. Since no one registered it and ced it there, that means no tracing back to the culprit, but it would give me a list of possible suspects. I can work with that. There are many things that decided to skip but I decided to tell them about two things, the bandits and the dungeons. I described to them about those bandits and how I obtained some resources from their treasure house, without doing any work. When I told them the story, my father startedughing out loud, "Hahaha, even the world favors my son", he spoke out loudly, too loudly. Doesn''t he fear that his enemies would use the details to gain benefits for themselves? My mother frowned at my father in displeasure, "Your son? Did you go blind or is your memory damaged? He is clearly mine. Every aspect of him is screaming my side rather than yours", she proimed proudly. Well, I can''t find fault with her for that. Except for Eritrea, my other siblings took after my father. So with minimum support, my mother is proud of me as that would bring her up a bit. All of this doesn''t matter in the end anyway. My mother is Tier-6, while my father is Tier-5. So she can just knock him down whenever she wants to, but it would be quite boring to do so. "Mom, Dad, first listen to me please", I said to them. Thisparison game between them has been running for years and I heard their stupid arguments over the years and that makes them look stupid a bit. "Yes", they responded and returned to being the listeners. "Okay, in the bandit cave, I found a skill book called Skill Disguise", I told them, even if that gives away that I am hiding something from them. Even if they believe that am hiding something, there is no way that they would think that it would be something as my real exaggerated status. "There were three books with that same skill", I said as I pulled out the remaining two and gave the books to them, "I believe that even though these won''t help you directly, it would keep those prying eyes from knowing your secrets". "Thank you", they both said and took the skill books. There is no need to reject something like this. I have the skill, so there is no need for that skill book for me. If it were a resource that could help improve my strength, they would have argued, but these skill books are of no use but to sell them in exchange for some other things. Instead of sending those to outsiders, good things like these should be exchanged internally. After all, my parents would repay me for these in one way or another. How do they pay, I have to wait. There is no immediate need for gold for me at the moment. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om "Next, I found three dungeons in the wild and cleared them. I got a skill book for clearing each. They are Improved Perception (passive), de Swipe, and Vertical sh. Two of them are...". My father interrupted me, "Magnus, you didn''t use the Improved Perception right?", he asked with a bit of worry in his voice. I shook my head, "No father, I didn''t", I said. "That''s good", he sighed in relief. "I know about it father", I said. Improved Perception is a good skill to have but it is an improvement of another skill, Perception. Unless one already has a skill, they can''t use the skill that has Improved in it. There is no damage by doing so but the benefits gained wouldn''t be 100%. I have read about that from the books in the library. If not for that, I would have certainly used the skill book, which would made a loss for me. That idiot trainer of mine didn''t teach me anything properly. He did everything half-assedly. I know that he was doing that on purpose as he belonged to the faction, opposite to my father. Did those idiots truly forget that we carry the blood of the same ancestors or that they don''t care about such things anymore? Anyway, it doesn''t matter. I need to keep my vignce up and that''s something I learned long ago. Everything those idiots taught me, I verified twice before epting the knowledge. "I may need the Improved Perceptionter but I have no use of the other two skills as they belong to the Weapon Skill sets of warriors.", I said as I handed them out, "You can use them as you see fit. Even if you want to award them to some of your loyal followers, I have no objection to that either". Skill books are not easy to get and are considered very precious. So no one would hand them out to others. Sword Swipe is a sword skill and Vertical sh can be used by almost anyone whose profession depends on holding a weapon in their hands. So it can be used by a lot of people without any issues. "Thank you, Magnus", my father said with a prideful tone. His eyes were shining because this can be considered as me contributing to the family. My father may want me to contribute to the family, but not this early and certainly not something like skill books. I already gave them two books before and now with two more, I am like the God of Skill Books to them. Wait, does the god of skill books exist? If you do, sorry I made a joke. if not, let''s forget about it and move on. After that, I gave them little details about what I did in those past seven months. I skipped a lot of my adventures as they would involve something I didn''t want to be revealed for now. "Okay, with that over, I think you should rest. Now that you have reached the peak of Tier-0, you have to take the promotion mission early in the morning. The faster you can reach Tier-1, the better", my father said. There was a reason for that, The Academy. The academies recruit any awakened irrespective of their backgrounds. What they don''t ept is anyone who is weak. So as per my parents, if I was Tier-1, then I would have an advantage, not a huge advantage but well enough for the academy to ept me. The academies recruit any awakened irrespective of their backgrounds. What they don''t ept is anyone who is weak. So as per my parents, if I was Tier-1, then I would have an advantage, not a huge advantage but well enough for the academy to ept me. Chapter 42 My weird promotion mission Chapter 42 My weird promotion mission Early in the morning, I went by myself to the magic association. There was a chauffeur of course who acted both as my driver and bodyguard. "Hello, I am here to take the promotion mission", I said to the reception. "Sure sir. Please follow me", she said as she led me to the third floor. Even though this was just a branch of the Magic Association, it was still a five-floor building. The top two floors are used by the personnel of the Magic Association. Only the three floors below are avable to outsiders. She stopped before a room and asked, "Do you know the procedure, sir?" "Yes I do", I replied. "Okay, you can take this room sir and I''ll be waiting outside", she said as she opened the door. Though I said that I knew the procedure, she already had details about me. My parents have booked a slot for this morning after I returned yesterday and they knew that I reached level 100. So to her, I am taking a Tier-1 promotion mission. It was said in the books a few people make mistakes and would need a guide. So the receptionist chose to stay outside the door to let me try it out first. --- The inside of the room is empty. Except for the door and the Promotion crystal, there is nothing when one observes the room from the inside. The crystal was ced on a raised tform, but not too high. It would be so that it would be essible to both tall and short people. The crystal was Scarlet in color. I have no idea why it was avable only in that color and neither do the Association. Many tried to know why the crystal appeared only in that color but were never able to find out the answer to that. It was something that I didn''t need to bother with. I ced my hand on the crystal and I soon felt warmth energy entering my body. It was said that it''s the Will of the World checking your status before allocating the mission. [Detected that the Awakener has reached Tier-3 Level 100.] n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om [Awakener is qualified to take the Tier-4 promotion mission.] [Choices were being generated...please choose one of the choices.] -- Choice 1: Take the virginity of your fiance with or without her consent and make it the legendary foursome. Oh, make sure all the girls are virgins too(Rmended). Choice 2: Take some poor girls'' virginity, with or without consent. Oh, those poor girls shouldn''t have had contact with you previously(Rmended). Choice 3: Spend time with your mother and your two sisters in bed and make them scream in pleasure and pain (Rmended). Choice 4: Enve a demon and bang her (Not Rmended). -- What in the world are these choices? I may have never taken promotion missions but, I know that there are multiple choices. The crystal would let take one of those choices as your promotion mission. What I got were four weird choices. It''s good that I got four choices as it wouldn''t guarantee that you a have good task to choose. Most people would get two choices and there were many that don''t even have a choice in the first ce. There would be a single task and they had toplete it no matter what. If they couldn''t, then they would forever be stuck at the same rank and never would be able to proceed any further. Even though I got four choices, none of those four is good. Seriously, the first two choices are telling me to be a pervert. Though the choice of girls was changed they were the same but if I did either of those, I would forever be branded as a pervert and psychopath. The third choice is the worst of the four. I love my mother and sisters but not in that way. I don''t intend to take that way of life. Moreover, even if there is magic here, it''s best to mix and breed with outsiders rather than inbreeding. These three were even marked as rmended. It means by choosing andpleting tasks, there is a high chance of getting excellent grades. Even though I want an EX-grade like before. I am not going to choose those three. So, I chose the fourth one. Out of those four, it was the best one for me, even though it was marked, Not Rmended, and also I have to enve a demon. It''s not like I am going to enve and sell them. Also, it would be just this one. Moreover, if the demon acts well enough, I would not treat her badly. It depends on her attitude and how she responds to my orders. I know if I do so, I would be a bad guy but in this rules are different than they were on Earth. I shouldn''t act as if I was on Earth but rather on Ragos. If I act as someone from Earth, that would get me killed. Even on Earth very existed once, so there is no reason to feel that Earth was better than Ragos. Moreover, I am not a hero or an evil person. I am just some nobody who was living this world and that''s the status and mindset I should have to live afortable and peaceful life. Moreover, I me the system and probably the world''s will for that. They gave me choices that were worse and this one is the only one that was a little worse of those four. "I choose, choice number four", I spoke inside my mind. There is no need to speak out loudly as the crystal is connected with the mind through the system. Once I chose it, a confirmation message appeared. [You have chosen the mission: Enve a demon and bang her.] [Pleaseplete the mission to progress to Tier-4.] [You can forfeit the choice if you can''tplete the mission. Rember by doing so, would reduce the grade of missionpletion.] After I got the confirmation, I exited room. Informing that I got the promotion mission to the receptionist, I left the Association. There are many tasks infront of me toplete and the one with highest priority is to reach Tier-4 as soon as possible. Afterall, thepletion time would be taken into ount for grading the missionpletion. Chapter 43 My mission and theory about food Chapter 43 My mission and theory about food After I returned home, I had no idea what to do. If it were a simple mission, then I would be doing that mission in order to reach Tier-4 but it was not. Toplete the promotion mission, I need to find a demon and has to bang her. It was the mission. Where can I find a demon to bang? It is a problem that I can''t solve easily. There are only two ways to find a demon. One was the way everyone does, on a battlefield. It was the battlefield of races, where many races fought each other. It was a dangerous ce, where deaths weremon. Almost nothing survives in and around that ce. Fortunately, my home is far away from the battlefield and it was rtively peaceful here. It was also why this method had to be abandoned. With my meager tier-3 strength, it would be a death sentence to even think about going there. The second method was to use the summoning ritual that I got from the family''s library. I need to modify it, to make the process safer. If I summon a Tier-9 this time, it would be game over for me. I was lucky and cautious back then but things don''t happen the same way twice. If I rashly use the summoning ritual, there is a chance that a Tier-9 demon may be summoned and that would be the end of me and my family. Hmm, maybe someone is trying to get rid of my family, and that someone is from the family itself. I need to find the person who hid this in the library and what their intentions were in doing so. If it was idental or because they didn''t know what to do with it, no... there is no way that they put it in such an open ce if they didn''t know what it could do. They would have registered this knowledge and should have ced it in a vault that was specially used for unknown items. Yes, there is a separate vault for that. The items that weren''t recognized would be ced in an istion box and then locked up in that vault unless someone was able to identify them. Anyway, there ends my chance toplete the mission quickly. I have still three months before the academy started, so it was all that I had toplete the mission. If I can''tplete the mission in that time, then I have to enter the academy as a Tier-0. This was because once the mission waspleted, you had to go to the magic association and have to touch the crystal again in order to proceed further. So I can''t just say I am promoted, and show it in my status without a visit to the association. If there was enmity between the awakener and the association, then that would be it. There would be no way to proceed further. Thinking about that, this makes the Magic Association the real ruler of the human race. They essentially control all of the awakened. Whether a person can progress or not, depends solely on the attitude of the Magic Association towards them. If there was enmity between the awakener and the association, then that would be it. There would be no way to proceed further. I mean there are ways to proceed further but those ways are lost to time and wars. The Ancient Wars destroyed many good things that used to exist in ancient times. Magic Association or to be said the founders of that association found the crystal that helps an awakened to progress in ranks. They could have kept that to themselves but they showed it to the world. This was because, there are other ways to progress, though they were lost or forgotten. So instead they showed the human race how to progress and easily controlled the human race from the shadows. It is really scary, to say the least. --- I may have not found a way to clear the promotion mission, but I found something way better, Food. It was way more important because of my physique. When I ate at home, my attributes increased a lot but when I was in the forest, they didn''t. This was because I had to make my own food. I never made food myself, even in my previous life. The only food that I cooked was the Ready to Eat food. There would be nothing much to do, just had to add hot water to them and it''s good to eat the food. The food I made in the forest, was mostly burned. It became better as time went on or maybe it was just my taste buds getting used to my burnt food. I theorized that it was why I didn''t get much increase in my attributes when I ate and I was right. When I ate the food at home after eating, the attributes increased much more than they used to when I ate in the forest. Even though that pretty much confirms whether I can increase my attributes based on how the food I intake was prepared, I made sure to test that out. There are two things that I concluded from the project. The first thing was that the increase in attributes depends on what food I consume. When I eat the meat of a Rankless beast, the increase is much less whenpared to a Rank-1 beast and so on. The second thing was the difference in gains caused by changing chefs who prepared my food. When an exceptional one makes the food, there would be more increase in my attribute gain but when a mediocre one cooks the food, even if it was the best meat, the gains would be minimal. This was the reason why I got so little gains from eating the food I prepared for myself. This tells me that I had to have a good chef, whenever I go out, but that wouldn''t be possible. N?v(el)B\\jnn Why would a Chef, whose profession has nothing to do withbat leave the safety of a city and enter the wilds? Inside the city, they can be safe and also improve their levels by cooking daily. The only problem that they face is that they have to find a job when they awaken. If the family has money, they can open a restaurant for themselves. It would be the best and safest way for them to improve their levels and never face monsters that can kill them with the swipe of their paw. Chapter 44: My thoughts about Soul and Bloodline In addition to the promotion, there are a few issues in front of me. Some of the prominent ones are my Soul Energy and Bloodline. I have no idea how to improve the Soul Energy. Well, I believe that there is a way to do so but I don''t know if that''s the best way or the worst way. The sole reason that attribute appeared was because I devoured a demon soul. So there is a chance that I can improve my soul energy by devouring other souls. I mean I have a bunch of souls from not just the monsters that I killed but also the souls of the assassins, at least the ones that survived my interrogation. In addition to that, I picked up more than a few lost souls wandering around. I threw them into the Soul Container to deal with themter. I have no ns to do with them for now, but I collected them because, I don''t think it would be a good idea for souls to wander thend of living unless it was the Ancestral Spiritual grounds, then they have a totally legitimate reason to wander around. From that devouring session, I only know that maybe I can increase the Soul Energy but that wasn''t a guarantee. Moreover, who is saying that there are no side effects? It was not a year since that happened, so I can''t conclude that there weren''t any side effects. I mean I kind of consumed a demon''s soul. Who''s to say that my character was the same? I have been in the forest without any human contact, well except for those five assassins. There was no way topare my character if it had changed from before. I should slowly observe, ande to a conclusion before thinking about consuming those souls. Moreover, I don''t want to consume innocent souls. Most of the souls I have no idea are either good or bad. I can use the Soul Judge to determine whether one of those souls is innocent or not. The reason I didn''t was because, anything rted to souls, would consume the soul energy. Sure it would recover after a few minutes, depending on how much was used, but there was a big gaping hole, I have no idea about the concept of soul energy. I don''t know whether the value I have is low or high. So I couldn''t do that in the forest. What if the minimum value was 5,000 or something? Would I get paralyzed if the value bes less than the minimum? There are many doubts in my mind that need to be cleared before he can use the skill or consume the souls. So the project to improve soul energy has to be shelved for now. Only my future self can pick that up again. --- Bloodline on the other hand needs a variety of resources and I collected most of them while in the wilds. Though mine is Dragon Bloodline, the Frostwolf family has a bloodline too and so there were books regarding bloodlines in the library. The only restriction to open those books was that one has to be awakened. Except for that, everything on bloodlines is open to all. This was so because there was no restriction of ranks on bloodlines. Anyone can improve their bloodline once they sessfully awaken their ss. So the family didn''t impose any restrictions on the knowledge. It was the same with the kingdom. Themon knowledge about bloodlines was avable to everyone, as long as they were awakened and could afford it. The specifics would change from bloodline to bloodline. So only the family would know about their bloodlines. This was where my mother came in. She has good knowledge about the bloodline. As both my mother and my sister Eritrea have ck Dragon Bloodline, they have knowledge about it, which made it easier for me to know about it without going to the ck family. Since my mother already knew that my bloodline was the same as hers, she imparted to me the knowledge she knew about the ck Dragon Bloodline. So it was only a matter of collecting resources required for the process. The issue was while improving the bloodline, one would feel immense pain throughout the body and would copse due to exhaustion of mind and body. If I tried to improve my bloodline in the forest, I would be in a vulnerable position, that could end my life. So I can''t do those things in the forest. I had to wait until I returned home. Moreover, there were a few items that I needed to get my hands on to go through the process. --- For ten days, I searched everywhere I could but I couldn''t find anything that could solve my issues with the mission or the soul energy but I did find something that could help me with my bloodline. After ten days of work, I got my hands on the items that I needed. I needed ten days because I couldn''t let my family know that I was trying to improve my bloodline. It would be problematic. So, I made use of the time, to make sure that if there was someone following me, they wouldn''t find out what I was up to. I am ready to upgrade, but let''s record my status first before I improve my bloodline. I canpare what exactly was that change with the improvement in bloodline. "Status" -- Name: Magnus Frostwolf Age: 14 (nearing 15) Titles: Son of Viscount; Great yer; Hidden Smiden; Dungeon Conqueror; Primary ss: Draconic Warlock Secondary ss: Soul Arbiter (Unique) Affinity: Shadow, Blood, Space Bloodline: ck Dragon (1% Purity) Physique: Devourer Physique (EX) Talent: Ritualistic Summoning (EX) Trait: Silk Smooth Skin; Sleepy; Aurum Skin; Rank: Tier-3 Level: 100 Health Points (HP): 128,828,117 Strength (STR): 675 Endurance (END): 775 Dexterity (DEX): 315 Agility (AGI): 784 Intelligence (INT): 12,755,130 Magic Power (MP): 130,103,617 Soul Energy: 5,500 (+200%) ss Skills: Shadow Bolt; Blood Dominance; Draconic Magic; Shadow Curse; Blood Heal; Shadow Shift; Blood Lock; Draconic Pressure; Shadow Merge; Blood Drain; Soul Judge; Soul Prison; Soul Container; Special Skills: Rank Booster; Status Disguise; Refined Skills: Shadow Bolt Volley Lv. 6; Skills: Evade Lvl. 8; Dodge Lvl. 9; Sprint Lvl. 7; Alertness Lvl. 9; Devour Lvl. 5; Fusion Lvl. 10; Split Lv. 10; Demon Gaze Lvl. 3; Strengthen Lvl. 9; Tag & Track Lvl. 2; Night Vision Lvl. 5; Spatial Storage Lvl. 3; Mind Control Lvl. 1; Mind Probe Lvl. 1; Mind Defence Lvl. 1; Dragon Blood Evolution Lvl. 1; Resistances: Physical Resistance Lvl. 10; Light Resistance Lvl. 3; Poison Resistance Lvl. 2; Magic Resistance (Non-Attribute) Lvl. 3; Space Resistance Lvl. 2; Fire Resistance Lv. 2; Water Resistance Lvl. 2; Mind Resistance Lv. 1; Weapon Arts: Intermediate Staff Arts Lvl. 8 -- Now, let''s improve it, and see what benefits would I gain by doing so. Chapter 45: Improving my Bloodline After returning home, I spent ten days, selling items that I acquired and in no need, while buying items that I need for improving my bloodline. In addition to them, I brought a few other items that would help me in the future. I did that because I knew that some of the goons of those elders should be following me to find out if I was the reason behind their disappearance. The third elder hired the assassins and they were supposed to report my death a long time ago. On the first day of my arrival, I saw the third elder''s expression. He was frustrated and angry but experienced well enough to mask those feelings. Though he may be good at hiding, but the others in his faction aren''t, especially the eighth elder, whose grandson I humbled at the city''s entrance. Even though I didn''t do much, except to tell him who in the family actually has power, I am sure that he should have exaggerated the issue. It has been the same since we were children. Whatever I do to him, he would increase the effect by ten times. Though they should be sure that I am not yet Tier-1 at that point, they don''t know if I killed them using any props that could have helped me to ovee them. Even if you are at a lower rank, there are many props in this world that can help you kill someone of a higher rank. The only problem was that they were not easy to make and were very costly. So unless you are a child of a wealthy and powerful family or the child of destiny, don''t even dream of owning props like that. I knew that they would want to make sure that I was not responsible for the disappearance of the assassins and I was right to take caution. They sent some Tier-3 agents to follow me in secret. The issue was they were so sure that I couldn''t detect them, they kept a close eye on me. If they were far away, they wouldn''t have entered my detection range but they got too close and found out about their existence. So I had to spend money on various items to confuse them and the reason why it took too much time. Anyway, now that everything is ready, I can proceed with improving the bloodline. I had to wait until it was night to do this, or else it could everyone about what I was doing. The night would be the only time that they would forget about my presence for a long time. Once the dinner was over, I locked my room and switched on the soundproof barrier. Well, it was said that the process would be painful and my screams could wake the others up. Now, the process begins. I drew the ritual circles on the ground. I have to stand inside them, then chant a few spells and consume the resources. I have no idea why I have to do that. It was only mentioned that this would be less painful. So I did exactly as prescribed. Why mess with something that''s already working? ... ... AAARRRHHHH....It hurts, it fucking hurts. It doesn''t work at all. Why do I have to go through this to improve my strength? There are many other ways to improve the attributes and most of them are much easier and not at all painful like this. There are treasures that directly improve one''s attributes, though there is a limit on how many that they can take. It still would be the best way to improve your attributes rather than by this way, where one has to go through excruciating pain. Ah, it seems that I going to lose consciousness. I really should think about my choices clearly after I wake up. Thud! --- Ahhhh-hhaaaaaa, Oh, it looks like it is already morning. Wait, it''s morning already? I immediately checked the time. It was only six in the morning. I breathed out in relief. I it was before I went to the forest, that I had to wake up at five in the morning for my daily training. Now, that I no longer need such training as I was at the cusp of reaching Tier-1. Speaking of Tier-1, I had some awkward talk with my parents when they asked me about the mission. Though the mission has to bepleted by the one who was taking the mission, others can help them indirectly. This is why the children of the nobles have a high sess rate and get promoted to higher ranks whenpared tomoner-born children. I couldn''t really tell them about my mission and the choices I got anyway. So I told them that I could easilyplete the mission on my own and didn''t need any help on that matter and that was it. They didn''t bring that up again. Now, let''s see what those pains and screams are worth. I hope that I improved something. "Status" -- Name: Magnus Frostwolf Age: 14 (nearing 15) Titles: Son of Viscount; Great yer; Hidden Smiden; Dungeon Conqueror; Primary ss: Draconic Warlock Secondary ss: Soul Arbiter (Unique) Affinity: Shadow, Blood, Space Bloodline: ck Dragon (2% Purity) Physique: Devourer Physique (EX) Talent: Ritualistic Summoning (EX) Trait: Silk Smooth Skin; Sleepy; Aurum Skin; Rank: Tier-3 Level: 100 Health Points (HP): 128,828,117 Strength (STR): 750 Endurance (END): 800 Dexterity (DEX): 315 Agility (AGI): 800 Intelligence (INT): 12,755,170 Magic Power (MP): 130,103,700 Soul Energy: 5,500 (+200%) ss Skills: Shadow Bolt; Blood Dominance; Draconic Magic; Shadow Curse; Blood Heal; Shadow Shift; Blood Lock; Draconic Pressure; Shadow Merge; Blood Drain; Soul Judge; Soul Prison; Soul Container; Special Skills: Rank Booster; Status Disguise; Refined Skills: Shadow Bolt Volley Lv. 6; Skills: Evade Lvl. 8; Dodge Lvl. 9; Sprint Lvl. 7; Alertness Lvl. 9; Devour Lvl. 5; Fusion Lvl. 10; Split Lv. 10; Demon Gaze Lvl. 3; Strengthen Lvl. 9; Tag & Track Lvl. 2; Night Vision Lvl. 5; Spatial Storage Lvl. 3; Mind Control Lvl. 1; Mind Probe Lvl. 1; Mind Defence Lvl. 1; Dragon Blood Evolution Lvl. 1; Resistances: Physical Resistance Lvl. 10; Light Resistance Lvl. 3; Poison Resistance Lvl. 2; Magic Resistance (Non-Attribute) Lvl. 3; Space Resistance Lvl. 2; Fire Resistance Lv. 2; Water Resistance Lvl. 2; Mind Resistance Lv. 1; Weapon Arts: Intermediate Staff Arts Lvl. 8 -- YES! YES YES!!!! My attributes indeed increased. It was not just STR, STA, AGI, and MP but also my INT increased. Though those improvements look insignificant with me having such huge attribute values, they are still wee. As I mentioned before, this is a magic world and anything can be possible here, as long as you the ways to do it and understand the rules to do so. Chapter 46: Improving my Perception After checking my status panel, I went to the washroom to tidy myself up. Though it was not as exaggerated as purifying bodies in the novels, I smelled. It was not best to stay like that for another minute. Afterpleting the daily necessities, I went to have breakfast. Though all three of us wanted to be at the table at the same time, but as a Viscount my father''s schedule wouldn''t allow so. So most of the time, it would be just Mother and I. When I was much younger, there were my siblings but after they went to the academy, it would be just the two of us who spent time together. We had our breakfast and I was about to leave for the training hall. Even though I am stronger, my skills were still at their weakest. I need to improve them, and only then I would be able to survive longer. As I was leaving, my mother called, "Your father wanted you to have this. It would be a pretty useful skill", she said. As she said, it was a skill book that I was much in need of, Perception. After learning and improving this skill, I can learn the skill book I had to keep away for the moment, Improved Perception. I have no idea why this has to be done in this way but those are the rules of this world. Some may appear weird to me because I have read many web novels, which are different from this but it also makes sense at the same time because of those web novels, where every world has its own set of rules. "Thank you Mom", I said and gave her a kiss on the cheek. She smiled and rubbed my head as she always did, whenever I did something that she liked or approved. I immediately used the skill book that my mother gave me. I need to improve my Perception skill as soon as possible so that I can learn the Improved Peception Skill as well. In less than three months, there would be the Academy Entrance test for the Royal Academy, which would select who can enter the academy and who can''t. I need to enter the Royal Academy at all costs. There are other academies in the kingdom but attending the Royal Academy is a matter of prestige for the children of nobles. Though my family''s status is at the bottom of the noble line, still we were not at the end of the line. Anyway, the reason I wanted to be at the academy was because, in every story, the protagonist would find one way or another to get into the best academy. If there was any protagonists of my generation, they would surely appear at the Royal Academy, if they were born or from this kingdom. Though I don''t want to mix up with those clowns, I do need to know how the story is going on, so that I can make ns of my own. In order to make sure that I can enter the academy and also make it to the top ten, I need to improve my perception. Top ten, because if the protagonist is there, he would most likely join the top ss. Though I don''t know how the academy allocates the children to a ss, I feel it is best to be in the top ten, which has a high probability of me getting into the same ss as the protagonist. So, one of the tests that the academy conducts includes, survival in a dungeon. The candidate has to survive for the whole time and has to collect as many tokens as they can from the dungeon. This exam remained the same for years. The only change that they made was the dungeon itself. Anyway, the main issue was that the dungeon would be full of dangers. Though I know that we would be given a protection talisman, which would activate once when we are in danger and can bring us outside, there is always a chance of failure. No item is 100% guaranteed. There would always be ws in the goods. That''s a rule that every world abides by. If it were weapons or armor, you can check them if they were working but talismans are different. They are one-use products, so you know what the talisman could do but not if that particr talisman works or not. Moreover, there are monsters with various sneak attacks, that would be failed to be registered by the protecting talisman in time. Even if your life would be saved, there is a chance of maiming. Unlike the ancient times, there were skills and methods to even regrow the organs of a person as long as it didn''t cross a certain time limit. Though the way is there, it was very costly and can''t be afforded by many. As a child of Viscount, I can afford such medical bills, but that would cause me to lose much of my pocket money that I get to spend every year. There is no way that the elders would let me enjoy the benefits of the family without contributing a little to the family, especially the ones who stand against my father. So the best way to deal with this was not to get injured in the first ce. This was why it was important to improve your perception as soon as possible. After learning the skill, I went to the training hall. The best way to improve Perception was to get hit and where can I find such a way to improve my skill without getting into a dangerous situation? It was the training hall. Improving the level of my perception skill would be the sole focus of my training when I am not busy finding a way toplete the Tier-4 promotion mission. I still need toplete that before I leave home to take the test to enter the academy. For the next two months, improving Perception and finding a way to correct the ritual, so that I canplete my promotion mission. Nothing else matters until these two arepleted. Chapter 47: My Fiances Birthday party I was so immersed in increasing my perception level, that I forgot the flow of time. I was lucky that I was born into a noble family, where there are a lot of resources avable to train myself. I increased my Perception level to six, within this month and that was possible only because of my clones. All my clones and I dedicated every minute of the day that I trained to increase my perception only. I mean, I know even with clones I couldn''t increase my level by much but that was the fact of the world. Only the ones who lived for hundreds of years would be able to reach level 100 of a skill and even they sometimes fail to do so. As the level of the skill improves, it bes difficult to increase the proficiency of the skill. They would need some kind of enlightenment to progress and that was not an easy feat to achieve. Even with my clones, I could go only to a certain degree. If I can''t find an epiphany, then my progress too shall stall after reaching a certain level. The only advantage that I got was that I can progress faster than others when ites to the Skill Levels and thereby I can have a lot of skills at high levels. It would also mean that I can offset any drawbacks that other skills may have and can use a variety of skills on my opponents, who wouldn''t know or think that I have a lot of skills in my possession. If I can find a way to bypass the hurdles and get epiphanies a lot easier, then I don''t think there would be anyone else in this world who can stand against me and still live. I heard that there are treasures that can help people gain some epiphany easily. I should find those, as I am sure that my family doesn''t have them or there are some restrictions on their usage. As you can understand, not every treasure would be useful in general conditions. Every skill would have its own treasure to help it. So it is normal for nobles to possess such treasures but not the right one for them. The only way was to find them in the dungeons, secret realms, or some ruins. If one was lucky they would find an unguarded treasure in the wilds, which is not likely as these types of treasures are all guarded by monsters that are Rank-5 and above. They are not easily defeated, as they would have their own personal armies at that rank. So to get those treasures, one has to defeat the army and then the Rank-5 or higher monster. Even then it wouldn''t guarantee that you can keep it. Battles mean a lot of noise and blood, which would alert other Rank-5 or higher monsters. So it wouldn''t be worth the trouble unless you have an army of disposable cannon fodder and a means of escape once you get your hands on the treasure. So no one would think of taking such a risk and try to get an epiphany by themselves without any support. --- Things were going as usual for the past month, but this morning things were not. My mother was in rather a different mood than she would be. She was happier than on other days. So I inquired about it and she told me what was happening, well at least partially. "Huh, a birthday party?" I asked them in confusion. I didn''t know anyone whose birthday was near. Even if there was someone in the family whose birthday was near, she wouldn''t be fussing over it that much. "Yes, it''s your fiance''s", my mother said, then looked into my confused eyes, "Oh, we forgot to tell you", she apologized. I shook my head, "It''s okay Mother. You have a lot of duties and I spent most of the time in training", I said. "Yes, but that shouldn''t be an excuse. Now go and put on your best dress for the night. You after all would meet your fiance for the first time. As the old saying goes, First Impression is the Best Impression", my mother said. I nodded and returned to my room to try on my clothes for the evening. I should select something that would highlight me in the party but at the same time doesn''t steal the limelight from the birthday girl. It would be awkward if my dress appeared more fascinating than hers. That would be a very bad start. Even though I don''t know her, she is after all the girl that my parents arranged for me. I may be a modern world person in my past life but that was the past life. Now I am a child of Ragos and should act like one, even though I don''t like their lifestyle. As long as that wouldn''t touch my bottom line, I would follow the customs of this world. Speaking of customs, there is that weird promotion mission. I made some progress in that matter. I was able to acquire the ve magic that would bind a creature or another being to me and make it my ve. There are ves in this world and even in my family as a matter of fact, something that I didn''t know before. Many of the servants that serve us in this manor are ves. I didn''t know that because they were treated as servants rather than ves. So anyway, part of what I should do what I should waspleted. Now I have to find a way to change the ritual so that the one I summon would not be dangerous and also the one I am seeking toplete the promotion mission. Now that there is a birthday to attend, I should postpone that and should find a Gift for the birthday girl. I want to remain low-key not an idiot. If I go there without any gifts, then I would appear a miser and a fool. After the dress selection, I should go out and find a good gift for her. --- What gift should I buy for her? I believe a ne should do. Though it wouldn''t be considered as a unique way, it is a ssic move and something that could never go out of style. Now what ne I should select among these various models. Hmm, what is that? Chapter 48: Meeting my Fiance She is a bitch. Elisha is a total bitch. Did she forget that her family still survives because of the sacrifices that my family and my father made? Looks like she is going to be a problem in the academy. I should prepare myself for any traps that she may prepare for me, and speaking honestly, with a bitch character like her, she would certainly do so. Oh, I a getting ahead of myself. Let''s start from the beginning. --- I spent a lot of time on her gift. While I was on that business of finding a gift for her, a mysterious scroll caught my eye. It didn''t cost me much, so I brought it alongside with a gift for my fiance. The ne is made for her. I chose this ne because my fiance is a mage, an Ice Mage. The ne is called "Ne of the Winter", and is a Tier-1 essory. -- Call of the Winter: Wearer would have serval advantages, as long as he or she is an Ice Mage. For others it is deadly. Casting time was reduced by 10%, and the range of spells increased by 10%. The boost is only for Ice Mages. -- Not only it was useful for Ice Mages, but it also looked beautiful. The chain is silvery-white in color, and the pendant has a deep blue jewel. I felt that this was the most appropriate gift for her but what did she do with it? She threw it to the corner where all other gifts that she didn''t seem important were kept. Sure it may not be the most expensive gift that she received but I am her fiance. Even if she didn''t like she shouldn''t have thrown the ne like that. Wait, I am getting myself ahead of the story again. Here''s what happened. --- As I am engaged to the birthday girl, my family was invited to the party along with me. The birthday girl was Elisha Siren. She was a bit older than me but I am he only one of my father''s sons whose age was near to hers. So I became her fiance. This deal was made when we were infants and I had no idea about it until a few years ago. I hoped that the girl knew about the fact or else everything would be awkward between the two of us. Luckily there was no awkwardness because of not knowing about each other but there was quite an awkward moment because of the Count''s Son, William Rutgurd. At first, everything was going well. My father introduced me to my soon-to-be inws. I introduced myself to them respectfully and all that. I would soon marry their daughter, so I need to be respectful even though I never met them before. Things were going well until the birthday girl made an appearance. Truth be told, she was really beautiful and I felt that I hit a jackpot if I could marry her. "Hi, I am Magnus", I introduced myself to Elisha, "Here''s my gift for you", I handed her the gift. "Oh, hello. Thank you foring to my birthday", she said perfunctorly and then moved on to the next guest. Unless there was someone important who showed up, she spoke to them in brief. She only spoke in a better mood when the nobles greeted her. She showed no enthusiasm whenever she met others. At first, I thought that it was just her character but it wasn''t. I came to know when she greeted another boy who looked more or less our age. "Happy Birthday Elisha", a boy greeted her and a smile blossomed on her face. "Thank you", she said with a smile but didn''t move on from him to the other guests. When I saw that expression, I felt that something bad was going to happen soon. So I learned everything that I could about the boy. The boy''s name was William Rutgurd, a nearby Count''s son. He is also two years senior to us. It means that he has already formed a group of idiots in the academy who would follow him around and he can use that power to suppress me. Why? I mean why does the universe create problems one after another for me, when my only wish was to live a carefree life? Forget about any future problems that may arise. I now have to deal with these two love birds before they can stab me in the back. The obvious way was that he would goad me to a duel and then defeat me in the said duel for Elisha''s hand. Though it was the obvious choice, I don''t think that this William is an idiot. He is after all a Count''s son and he can''t openly challenge a marriage deal between two Viscount families. If he does that, it would make his family lose face. Marriage between noble families wasmon and most of them were decided when the children were young. Many in his own family were married in this manner. So he couldn''t openly challenge and also he was two years older than me, so he couldn''t do anything in public. If he was an idiot, he would have done that but he was not. He didn''t make any moves during the party. He kept introducing himself to the Siren family. He made jokes andughed with my soon-to-be-inw family. He was trying to make a good impression on the family. To be honest, if the Siren family withdraws and pays thepensation for the withdrawal from the marriage, it would be for the best. We would get somepensation, which can be used to get back those elders who switched from neutral to the opposing faction. Since my father''s side would be getting nothing due to the cancetion of the marriage, then they would have no reason to be against my father. The problem would be when William would try to beat me down when we were at the academy. I have no idea what his rank was. Even if his rank was low, with the training he took for two years, I don''t think that his skill levels would be low. Moreover, unless we fight in an official capacity, there is no reason for him to fight fairly. He can bring his friends and goons. He can bring out the best equipment out there, just to defeat and humiliate me. Even if he doesn''t directly attack me, there are other ways that he can. I hope that he won''t cause me any trouble in the academy but I should be prepared well enough so that I can face whatever he throws at me and I started that from that party itself. Let''s see what he can do and I would show what I would to people that mess with me. Chapter 49: I summoned the Wrong Demon I had a feeling that William woulde after me sooner orter. So I bribed the photographer and got my hands on pics and videos of those two talking and spending time with each other at the party. This single piece would amount to nothing but I am sure that they would leave some breadcrumbs and I would surely be there to collect those crumbs. When theye after me, I''ll surely be prepared to p them in the face. With how those two were acting, I would get something that could abolish the marriage contract and make the Siren family pay for the dissolution and for the help that my father provided to them. It would be the wise thing to do. Anyway, that was for the future. Now, I have to reach Tier-4 first. When I reach that rank, the enemies that can harm me will drastically be reduced by a lot. --- A monthter... I finally did it. I was finally able to adjust the ritual and would control who would be summoned. I already have a way to enve the demon. So it is time for me to summon the demon and get on with it. I would soon be Tier-4. Let''s find a good time and ce for the summoning. I found a dungeon room near the family manor, which was not used for a long time. I only gave my parents a vague exnation that I was experimenting on something and didn''t want to damage my room. They agreed easily, after all, my room is expensive. So I easily got a dungeon to myself. I activated a sound barrier in the dungeon so that no sounds would be leaked outside. Now everything''s in position and time to start the ritual. "Atuva Vi''raka Sovem Ingi Lusti Hir Bost" Ah, it works. For a minute I thought that it would fail. The circles lit up as they did before when I summoned that demon. After a few moments, I heard a seductive voice. "Who dares to disturb my love session? I haven''t even started properly". "Shit, this is the wrong demon. It was a lust demon but the wrong gender. Oh, crap I forgot to change the gender of the summoned in the ritual. It seems the ritual summons random lust demons now. I don''t need an Incubus. So let''s get rid of this one and try again", I thought inside my mind. I am not an idiot to let the demon know that I am going to kill it as soon as it is summoned. Unlikest time, I didn''t need to destroy its crystal as the demon was of a lower rank than me. I can''t tell which ranks correctly but I can feel that its strength is definitely lesser whenpared to me. So I simply sted its head. "Shadow Bolt" [You have killed a Tier-2 lust demon.] [You can''t level up. Excess EXP is stored. Please rank up soon.] Now, it''s dead,es the next part of the procedure. I don''t want to leave any evidence of what I was doing down here. So this was necessary. Moreover, it also improves my power. So the next step is necessary. "Devour" [You have Devoured the Incubus corpse.] [You have gained +50 STR, +500 STA, +250 AGI, and +300 DEX.] [You have gained the Trait, Sexy Smile.] [You have gained the skill, Scent Recognition.] [You have Devoured the demon crystal.] [You have gained the skill, Sexual Stamina.] [You have Devoured the Silk Clothes.] [You have gained the Trait, Silk Smooth Skin.] [Detected that the trait Silk Smooth Skin already exists. The trait was further improved.] [You have Devoured the Incubus''s soul.] [You have gained +3,000 Charm.] [You have unlocked the hidden attribute, Charm.] Wow, let''s see what big changes this session brought to me. "Status" -- Name: Magnus Frostwolf Age: 14 (almost 15) Titles: Son of Viscount; Great yer; Hidden Smiden; Dungeon Conqueror; Primary ss: Draconic Warlock Secondary ss: Soul Arbiter (Unique) Affinity: Shadow, Blood, Space Bloodline: ck Dragon (2% Purity) Physique: Devourer Physique (EX) Talent: Ritualistic Summoning (EX) Trait: Silk Smooth Skin(A bit Improved); Sleepy; Aurum Skin; Sexy Smile; Rank: Tier-3 Level: 100 Health Points (HP): 128,828,117 Strength (STR): 850 Endurance (END): 1,370 Dexterity (DEX): 625 Agility (AGI): 1,090 Intelligence (INT): 12,755,170 Magic Power (MP): 130,103,700 Soul Energy: 5,500 (+200%) Charm: 3,009 ss Skills: Shadow Bolt; Blood Dominance; Draconic Magic; Shadow Curse; Blood Heal; Shadow Shift; Blood Lock; Draconic Pressure; Shadow Merge; Blood Drain; Soul Judge; Soul Prison; Soul Container; Special Skills: Rank Booster; Status Disguise; Refined Skills: Shadow Bolt Volley Lv. 6; Skills: Evade Lvl. 10; Dodge Lvl. 10; Sprint Lvl. 8; Alertness Lvl. 10; Devour Lvl. 5; Fusion Lvl. 10; Split Lv. 10; Demon Gaze Lvl. 3; Strengthen Lvl. 9; Tag & Track Lvl. 2; Night Vision Lvl. 5; Spatial Storage Lvl. 3; Mind Control Lvl. 1; Mind Probe Lvl. 1; Mind Defence Lvl. 1; Dragon Blood Evolution Lvl. 1; Scent Recognition Lv. 1; Sexual Stamina Lv. 1; Resistances: Physical Resistance Lvl. 11; Light Resistance Lvl. 4; Poison Resistance Lvl. 3; Magic Resistance (Non-Attribute) Lvl. 5; Space Resistance Lvl. 2; Fire Resistance Lv. 2; Water Resistance Lvl. 2; Mind Resistance Lv. 1; Weapon Arts: Intermediate Staff Arts Lvl. 8 -- Sexy Smile: A smile that can dazzle all the girls around you. Are you sure that you are not a pervert? -- Scent Recognition (Active/Passive): You can remember every scent clearly and can easily recognize anything based on scents. Hmm, Are you a dog? -- Sexual Stamina(Passive): Your stamina will increase during sexual activities. You are definitely a pervert. Pervert Alert!!! -- Sigh! What''s with this system? Why is acting like this? Anyway, forget about that. The skills I got are useful, though not always by looking at their descriptions. I mean, I unlocked the charm attribute, and with the trait Sexy smile, I can easily get things done and also pull people towards me. This would help to make people believe in my words easily. The sexual stamina may be useful to impress a girl in bed but that''s it. There is nothing useful from that. The best one that I got from this ritual was the Scent Recognition. This would be very useful to find out that if there are any poisons in the food or something. This skill would also be useful for tracking lost things. Hmm, maybe I am a dog? Anyway, In addition to these new joinings, I was able to improve a few of my skills in this time. They still are not up to par with the actual Tier-4 or even Tier-3 but they are on their way. It would soon be possible to reach those levels and then I can live peacefully. I wouldn''t need to fear dangers that can disturb my life then. Chapter 50: This time, I summoned the right demon It took me a week to prepare for another ritual. The changing of those runes in the ritual was not the main problem but the resources required to do the ritual were. Even though I gained a lot in those seven months of adventure, my worth didn''t increase as much as to support two back-to-back summoning rituals. So I had to sell a lot of monster corpses that I gained discreetly. I dared to do that because of my new skill, Scent Recognition. It can store every scent that I inhale, either on purpose or naturally. So it was easy to spot the family spies that followed me into the market. It also made it possible for me to escape their eyes easily. Even if there was no ritual, I would have to sell most of the loot that I gained and turn into something that can be useful for a long time. I had to get rid of those monster corpses because I came to learn that my spatial storage is not as good as the bracelet''s storage. Though it is muchrger than the storage avable from the bracelet and no one can see it, unless they have space affinity and are better than me, there is one disadvantage with my skill. It was the Time problem. The magic bracelet has a time-stopping function on the its that were stored in it but my spatial storage created from the skill doesn''t. Though the creators of the bracelet don''t know Time magic, they used formations to do the same, but that was not possible for me, well at least not at this point. I need to learn a Time skill or has to improve my storage based on the formations so that the corpses won''t rot away soon. As creatures filled with magic, the corpses wouldn''t rot as fast as normal animals. The higher their tier is, the slower the rotting would start. It would be the same for other items. They start to erode as time passes. Unless they are ced in a vacuum where Time doesn''t move forward, they erode as time goes on. Since most of what I stored in my personal storage space belonged to Tier-2 and Tier-3 monsters, I didn''t see that in the beginning. They were fine for a time, but I found that they were deteriorating little by little as time went on. So I had to get rid of them but was not possible, as my anonymous entry into the city was ruined back then. I could only sell Tier-0 and Tier-1 items at most in the market without raising vignce from the family elders. if they see me selling Tier-2 and Tier-3 items, there would be only three scenarios that would ur to them. One was that I stole them from the family treasury. The second was that I got them from my parents. The third was that I was powerful enough to get my hands on those items, None of these scenarios would end well either for me or for my parents, since I hid most of my status from others. Yes, when I returned home, there was a check that one of the elders performed. This was a usual operation. The one with the best results would get the best resources while they were in the academy. The flow of resources for the entire time you would spend in the academy is constant as long as you don''t do anything criminal. Then there is a chance of reducing the resources allocated or even cutting off the resources depending on the situation. If you show good results in the academy, there is a chance of increasing the resources allocated to them. Of course, these resources aren''t for free. Once the academy was done, they had to serve the family in different ways, depending on their capabilities and the resources spent. Even though I knew that taking the family resources would restrict my freedom a little, without them, it would not be possible to improve my strength in a short time. Those resources are invaluable in the growth period. So I showed good enough results but not good enough to call me once in a lifetime genius. If they find out I am indeed once in a lifetime genius, things would turn bad faster than I can blink. So things had to stay as they were but now with this new skill, I was able to escape from the spies and was able to sell all the corpses and get a shit load of gold. Since the inorganics were deteriorating slower, I had to turn every monster corpse I got into gold. I had no other choice. --- I went to the same dungeon that I failedst time. This time before proceeding with the ritual or sound barrier, I did something else. I used a magic item, called Video Interferer. This one would short out any video recorders that are in the vicinity. Last time, no one knew that I would take the dungeon and do something. So a sound barrier was enough but the week gave the family time to install secret cameras to know what I was trying to do. There is no way I would let them know. After clearing the bugs, I proceeded with the ritual as usual. "Atuva Vi''raka Sovem Ingi Lusti Hru Bost" The circles lit up perfectly as they did before. It means that the spell works. Whether it summons the right one or not, I have to wait and see. "Hmm, where am I?" A melodious voice came from the center of the ritual circle. Ah, finally. It looks like I did the ritual right this time and summoned the Subus. This time, I summoned the right demon, which would help meplete the Tier-4 promotion mission. First I need to bind it to me before I can proceed to the next step. Sorry, for doing this. "Ensalviga Ostem Ingi Lusti Hru" "Huh, what''s that?", a terrified and sweet voice could be heard but I kept my silence until I got the notification. [You have sessfully enved Tier-1 Subus, Inari] It seded, and now it''s time to introduce myself to my new ...ahem, new servant. I walked out of the shadows and appeared before the terrified demon, "Hello, Inari, I am Magnus Frostwolf, your master from this moment", I dered myself as an introduction. Chapter 51: Me and the Succubus (1) I finally summoned the subus demon, and can finally proceed to Tier-4. Now that I summoned her, there is just the procedure of us banging and then I can go to the association and be Tier-4, but that was wrong. I may have summoned her in a dungeon, but that doesn''t mean that I want to bang her here. No, it has to be done in a proper way, in a proper ce. There is no way that I would lose my virginity in a dungeon. If I took her to my room, then everyone would see that I summoned a demon and whatever I did to cover things up to now would be worthless. Everything would beid bare before the family. So I prepared for this long ago. Envement can be done in two ways. One is for personal use and the other is for general use. A general use means that the person who enved others for the purpose of selling them to others. The personal envement is different. You can''t sell your ve. They are for your use only. They are more like pets. So they can be stored in Pet World, where one can store their pets. Pet World wouldn''t awaken just because you got yourself a pet. It only awakens naturally if your ss is a Summoner or other rted professions. If not, one has to use the skill book to get this skill. This was why when I summoned the wrong demon a week before, my funds were almost nil, and have to sell those corpses to get new resources for summoning. Anyway, I got the skill book and this is the best time to use it. I didn''t use this before because I was not sure if this would work or not. If this way didn''t work, then the only way for me was to the demonnds to find a female demon that I could enve and bang, which would probably cost my life. Good thing that the ritual worked. After enving the subus, I quickly learned the skill PET WORLD. I introduced myself to the panicked subus, "Hello Inari, I am Magnus Frostwolf, and from now your master". This only frightened her more. I felt bad for her. Though she is a demon, she still is a sentient and sapient. This felt very wrong. Though I am not a hero, I am not a viin either. Either I do this or have to do something that I consider wrong to someone of my own race. Of all the options, this was the one that would leave me with a slightly lesser guilt. So I chose this in the first ce. "Don''t panic, I will exin everything once we reach my room. There is nothing to be afraid of", I spoke to her to assure her that nothing bad would happen. I mean that was obviously a lie but I can''t do anything about that. If only one of my promotion mission choices had been a simple one like killing a monster or a demon, I believe that it would have been much easier for me. I simply pulled her into the Pet World, before preparing to leave the dungeon. --- I cleaned the dungeon just asst time, to make sure that I won''t leave any evidence behind. After that, I returned to my room and acted as if nothing had changed. Once I activated the sound barrier, I summoned her out of the Pet World. For a second there was a surprise look on her face but that changed when she was me again. She started to panic. I mean that was to be expected, especially because I basically kidnapped and enved her. I sat on my bed and motioned her to do the same but she stood there like a terrified rabbit. Though she is a Tier-1, I don''t think that she gained that power throughbat, and also there is the ve magic that bound her to me. I shook my head when she didn''t respond, "Inari, It is like this..." I exined everything that was not a secret to her. I told her that my promotion mission was to enve a demon and bang the demon. It was the only reason why I even summoned and enved her in the first ce. "After Iplete my mission and get promoted, I will set you free", I promised her. Her eyes shined as her mind felt that there was still a chance of survival for her. She is a demon and to her, humans are the viins. This had something to do with the Order of Holy Light. They are some radical human group who hate other races, other than humans. "Once I find a way to send you back, I will free and send you back from where you came", I told her "Do we have a deal?" I asked after seeing that she was inclined to ept my proposition. "I ept the deal but I wanted to make a magic contract on that aspect", she replied. I had a feeling that she would ask that. I pulled out the magic contract that prepared long ago for this asion. I quickly wrote the terms. It was simple, she would help meplete the promotion mission by letting me bang her. Once the promotion ispleted. I would try to return her back to her and I shouldn''t ck on that aspect. Though the terms were a bit shaky, it''s the best at this time. Both of us signed the contract. "Now Inari, it''s time for you toplete your part of the contract", I said to her. Inari nodded and started to strip. There isn''t much to begin with, as subus are lustful creatures who spend most of their time having sex with others. That was their path of power. If they chose other ways, it would be unproductive. They wouldn''t be able to proceed much in their lives. In fact, this is the same with the entire demon race. They have to follow their Sin Destiny for the optimum way of gaining power. This also became the reason why they are at war with many races in the world and why many races hate them. Except for the Sloth and Lust-rted tribes, the other tribes can only survive by destroying others. So there were always wars with other races and even among each other. Wait what am I doing? This is not the time for the history lesson. I should get on with the banging so that I can be promoted to Tier-4. Only then can I have the choice to show others that I have reached Tier-1, otherwise I have to show others that my rank is still Tier-0. Chapter 52: Me and the Succubus (2) - R18 Wow, she really is beautiful. Sure her skin is pinkish red in color but that only increased her charm. Truth be told, there aren''t many differences between humans and demons in appearance or in character. The only difference was that they were born more powerful than humans. We too would have acted as they were acting if we were the innately powerful creatures. The only differences I could spot were the skin color and the horns on her head, which appeared to look like that of a ram. Except for that, there are no visible differences between any human girl I have seen to that of a subus. Hmm, I don''t even see her demon crystal, even when she is naked. Do the lust demons not have them? No, I remember that when I devoured the Incubus, I heard the notification about it. So it is present but not visible. Hmm, possibly an Illusion? I thought the lust demons were good at charming others. Hmm, charm is after all connected to the mind. The magic that they practice should all belong to the Mind Category, the same as the illusions. Then there is no reason not to believe that Inari hid her demon crystal using illusion. It was like a protection for herself. Nothing wrong with that. "Master, Where should I begin?" Inari asked me, interrupting my thoughts. Ah, this is one of the disadvantages of having an adult mind. I think too much, and not be able to enjoy the present as much as I like. "You are a subus, so you should have more experience than I do. So the decision is left to you", I said to her. Inari smiled sweetly and chuckled, "Master, I smell virginity from you. So, anyone who had sex before was someone with more experience than you", she said. Damn subus, did you forget that I am your master? How can you say such words in...wait, we are alone. So it doesn''t matter and after this night, I would no longer be considered a virgin. So no need to think about it. Wait, she said she could smell my virginity. Is that a skill? "Inari, Do you have a skill that can tell if a person is a virgin or not?" I asked her. "Yes master", she replied without thinking for a second. "Really, that''s something", I muttered in a low voice. It really would be useful for someone who likes to bang virgins and not sluts who like to sleep with anyone that moves. Hmm, should I get that? Meh, it won''t be that useful anyway. I like virgins but there was no way that everyone that I would like ore to care for would be a virgin. Also, virginity is not some seal of approval that defines someone''s character. Sure, having a virgin is a satisfaction that non-virgins can''t bring but that would be it. The satisfactionsts for a few minutes and then it would be gone. I am not a saint who chooses non-virgins but I would not make virginity the number one condition when choosing girls. It would be a factor but not the first priority. My thoughts were broken by a soft feeling on my cock. I turned my eyes and saw Inari was sitting near me and with my cock in her hand. Where are my pants? How did she get her hands on my cock, without me feeling anything? She definitely is good. Inari started to stroke my little dragon smoothly. Yes, it became a dragon in her hands. When my cock felt the touch of her hands, it stood up like a giant pir. After stroking for a minute, she moved her mouth towards my little dragon. She immediately lunged as some newbie, instead, she stopped at the head. She used he tongue to lick the head and caused pleasure tremors in my body. Oh god, this is so good. I remember the first time in myst life, the crush from my school. She didn''t know how to pleasure a boy and nearly choked herself at the first attempt. If not for my persuasion, my first time would have blown up. Though she didn''t give me a blow job, I was able to make love to her and lost my virginity back then. Though I lost my virginity, it was not as memorable as theter experiences that I had. This time around it seems it would be differentpared to thest time. I hoped that my first time in this life would be memorable and there is a chance of that happening. Aaaahhh, that''s the spot. Wow... Slurp! Slurp! She really knows how to satisfy a man. If she can do such things, I can''t let her go. She can serve me in this life and my life would be much more pleasant than I imagined. No, why am I having such thoughts? I promised her that I would send her back and that''s what I would do after I was promoted to Tier-4. I should say her technique with her mouth brings more pleasure than anyone I had in my past life. It is no wonder my brain, subconsciously wanted to keep her for myself. I mean there was no reason for her to leave except for the fact that she couldn''t move outside. Aaaah... I grabbed her head and started to move my hips up and down, in a way banging her mouth. Her ram horns were pretty useful in this. I could easily hold her head down and use her mouth as I wished. Finally, I am cumming. There you go. "Inari, don''t spill it. I want you to swallow the entire thing", I said. She nodded and swallowed my cum without questioning back. I don''t know why I felt that she should swallow my cum. It''s not like that it''s some divine grace that could not be wasted. If it was in her pussy, that would at least give her a chance of making her pregnant. Her mouth was just for satisfaction. "Wow, you really have some experience in pleasing in this way, I say", I spoke out loud praising her. She was very good her using her mouth. "Now, move on to the next phase", I told her. She nodded and started to climb onto my body, bit by bit. Chapter 53: Me and the Succubus (3) - R18 I have no idea how I even became naked. She handled the operation so smoothly when she removed my dress, that even I failed to realize it. Hmm, I should learn about this. This method would be very useful for thieves and also for spies. They can sneak and steal items of value or importance without others knowing what happened. I should ask her once this matter was over. --- Inari started to kiss me from my little dragon and started upwards. She kept biting and kissing my body and made it up to my neck. Oooohhhh, she knew all the best ces to pleasure men. It''s the difference between a virgin and an experienced one. They would know exactly what button to push to have the maximum fleshly pleasure. Wait, why am I the passive one? I should be the one who should be ravaging about her, not the other way around. Sure, giving her the charge would be pleasurable. She as a subus should know much more than me, who is a human but in the end, it would have a reverse effect. I should be banging her not her banging me. I am the one who dominates, not dominated. Oooh, ahhhh,... She really dominates me. If this continues, she can easily use some method to control me. Even though she is technically my ve, there was no guarantee that the magic is omnipotent. It can be broken by others but maybe there is a way for the enved to break free. I don''t know much about this world, especially about what this world had before the Great Wars happened. I should always be on....aaahhh. Damn it, I should take charge. I could hold on much longer, so I reversed our roles but the effects remained the same as before. "Inari, you showed your prowess. No get ready to feel the prowess of this master", I gave her a warning before I started to ravage her. The best ces of a woman''s body would be her holes, all of them. Only they can properly satisfy my little dragon. The hands can satisfy the dragon but that would not be wholesome. For the mouth though, my favorite spot is the boobs. They are the best ce for hands too. Even when it is not during a sexual encounter, they are the best ce for a man, at least in my opinion. So it was there I started my first attack. I took hold of her right boob with my left hand, kneading it as much as my mind and my hand wanted to. While her right boob was upied by the left hand, her left boob was upied by my mouth. Hmm, sucking on a boob is very good. Added to that, I could bite her properly as much as I wanted, which I did again and again. AAAAHHHHHHH Hahaha, does she think that because she is a subus, she holds the right to pleasure? I have some experience too in my past life. Even though they made me a bit paranoid, there are still some advantages, especially now. I had my own sexual experience and also the knowledge from the Inte, hehe. Speaking of the Inte, there is no Inte here but the foundations are already present. Maybe I can make a name for myself through that, hehe. "MAAASSSSTTTEEERRR..." Inari moaned in pleasure. Haha, though I am not a lust demon, my experiences are good enough to make a subus moan in pleasure. I shifted alternatively between the boobs. While my mouth is sucking one boob, the other would be handled by my hand. This kept her high and not cum before this is over. In sex, pain and pleasure go hand in hand or should I say...how should I put it? Meh, I can''t find the right term but this is something everyone understands anyway. So no need to exin that. Anyway, the best way to gain pleasure is through pain, as is the next part. It''s time to invade her sacred cave. My dragon easily entered her sacred cave, as she has done this many times I presume. I don''t think the cave is sacred anymore but still, it was a cave worth visiting. Thump! Thump! Now I am officially banging her. I did band her mouth before but that didn''t totally feel like a bang. This though feels like it is. Aaarghhh.... Oh, it looks like there is still some pain when someone bangs her pussy. Well, it doesn''t matter now. I can deal with thatter. There is still one hole after this, that my little dragon has to visit. Only then can I be truly satisfied. Moreover, I need to get the notification about the mission. Before that, nothing can be considered aspleted. --- A few minutester... [You havepleted the Tier-4 Promotion Mission.] [Please return to the World Crystal to get promoted to Tier-4.] Ah, finally it was done. I can finally be able to level up again and more than that, I can show that I have reached Tier-1, which would make me someone who is above average at the least. I mean I took more than a month toplete the Tier-1 promotion mission, in other''s eyes. So, I can be considered as an above-average guy. Now let''s rest for the night, and go to the Magic Association in the morning to get promoted to Tier-4. Hmm, it looks like she is still game, and because of the skill that I got from that Incubus, I still have much more stamina. We could go for a few more rounds. No, we should. "Master...Ahhhh" Inari thought that the session was over, but she had no idea that I had gained a skill that improves my stamina when I am performing sexual activities. Though it may not be useful in battles, it sure would impress thedies, at least the ones I can get to the bed. This world is a bit like the medieval era, where the virginity of the girls is important. So it would not be easier to get girls into bed for one-night stands or something like that. Only when you weremitted to the other, would something sexual happen, unless you go to a pleasure house. Anyway, whatever was supposed to happen would happen. No need to think too much for now. I have to concentrate on how to please this subus, so that she would be not too pissed to take revenge on me in the future, for enving her. Chapter 54: Tier-4 and My New Skills Ah, it felt so greatpleting that damned mission. Also, it made me too tiredst night. Sure I had the stamina to do the sex but once that was done, I felt a weakness creep all over my body. It looks like that skill takes the stamina from my body itself and I have to pay a price. This is good that I came to know about this early or else it could be dangerous. I should control my sexual desires, especially after I already made love to the girls once or twice. There is no need to go for more and make my body vulnerable to attacks. Now, let''s get ready and see what I would get for reaching Tier-4. --- After breakfast, I went to the Magic Association, where I was led to the room where the World Crystal was present. I simply ced my hand on it and everything else was automatic. [Detected that you havepleted the Tier-4 promotion mission.] [Your missionpletion was graded - EX] [You have cleared conditions for Tier Upgrade...] [You have been promoted to Tier-4] [You have gained 50x attribute increment.] [New ss Skills issued.] [You have gained the skill, Nether mes.] [You have gained the skill, Shadow Control.] [You have gained the skill, Blood Boil.] [You have gained a level.] [You have gained a level.] I have no idea why my missionpletion was graded EX but I feel better about it. If it was anything other than that, my attribute bonus would have been reduced. I can''t have that. If I needed to survive and live a peaceful and luxurious life, I needed strength. When I was in Tier-3, I gained 1,250,000 HP/MP per level. So by reaching Tier-4, I gained an extra of +62,500,000 HP and +125,000,000 MP. After reaching Tier-4, with the 50x bonus the gains would be +62,500,000 HP/MP and +6,250,000 INT for every level gained. These gains should be unprecedented. No one should have such high HP or MP or even INT. After all the highest bonus that was recorded was only 10x and they should be way below me due to a mere 5 times more bonus than them. I should be the strongest person in this world but that I won''t believe. Only a fool would think so. Like me, there all many who don''t publish their strengths. They kept it a secret unless it was necessary. I don''t think that 10x was the highest bonus gained in the world. It should be the highest gained that was exposed to the world. Anyway, that has nothing to do with me. Due to the EXP that was stored after I reached Tier-3 Level 100, I was able to reach Tier-4 Level 2 after promotion. I believe there should be much more EXP but it wasn''t stored for some reason. Everyone knows the fact but no one knows the reason. With those two level gains my HP, MP, and INT increased a lot. HP=>2*62,500,000= 125,000,000 MP=>2*62,500,000= 125,000,000 INT=>2*6,250,000= 12,500,000 Yeah, each level increased in more than a hundred million of HP/MP and more than ten million for INT. Haha, now let''s see what my new status looks like. "Status" -- Name: Magnus Frostwolf Age: 14 (Very near to 15) Titles: Son of Viscount; Great yer; Hidden Smiden; Dungeon Conqueror; Primary ss: Draconic Warlock Secondary ss: Soul Arbiter (Unique) Affinity: Shadow, Blood, Space Bloodline: ck Dragon (2% Purity) Physique: Devourer Physique (EX) Talent: Ritualistic Summoning (EX) Trait: Silk Smooth Skin(A bit Improved); Sleepy; Aurum Skin; Sexy Smile; Rank: Tier-4 Level: 2 Health Points (HP): 316,328,117 Strength (STR): 850 Endurance (END): 1,370 Dexterity (DEX): 625 Agility (AGI): 1,090 Intelligence (INT): 25,255,170 Magic Power (MP): 380,103,700 Soul Energy: 5,500 (+200%) Charm: 3,009 ss Skills: Shadow Bolt; Blood Dominance; Draconic Magic; Shadow Curse; Blood Heal; Shadow Shift; Blood Lock; Draconic Pressure; Shadow Merge; Blood Drain; Soul Judge; Soul Prison; Soul Container; Nether mes; Shadow control; Blood Boil; Special Skills: Rank Booster; Status Disguise; Refined Skills: Shadow Bolt Volley Lv. 6; Skills: Evade Lvl. 10; Dodge Lvl. 10; Sprint Lvl. 8; Alertness Lvl. 10; Devour Lvl. 5; Fusion Lvl. 10; Split Lv. 10; Demon Gaze Lvl. 3; Strengthen Lvl. 9; Tag & Track Lvl. 2; Night Vision Lvl. 5; Spatial Storage Lvl. 3; Mind Control Lvl. 1; Mind Probe Lvl. 1; Mind Defence Lvl. 1; Dragon Blood Evolution Lvl. 1; Scent Recognition Lvl. 1; Sexual Stamina Lvl. 1; Pet World Lvl. 1; Resistances: Physical Resistance Lvl. 11; Light Resistance Lvl. 4; Poison Resistance Lvl. 3; Magic Resistance (Non-Attribute) Lvl. 5; Space Resistance Lvl. 2; Fire Resistance Lv. 2; Water Resistance Lvl. 2; Mind Resistance Lv. 1; Weapon Arts: Intermediate Staff Arts Lvl. 8 -- Nether mes: Bathe the soul and body in Nether mes, and cut the chance of resurrection forever. There would be no reincarnation either for that soul. This is a skill for someone who was a Warlock and at the same time has at least some affinity towards Soul. Hmm, lucky indeed. You have an above-average affinity towards the soul but you are lucky. Work hard or else, you will remain average. -- Shadow control: Control anything and everything that casts a shadow. Dance puppet, dance. -- Blood Boil: Boil the blood of enemies, Muhaha. -- Hmm, why are the descriptions bing weird and weird? Out of the three, except for the first one, the descriptions of the second and third are almost simr to what I used to get, though I feel that they turned a bit evil. Anyway, the problem was the description of the first one. If I didn''t have a good affinity for the Soul, then why did I get that secondary ss that belongs to the Soul? Is that because I remember my past life and can connect to souls on some level? Whatever the reason might be, I should learn more about souls. I hope I can find some information about them soon. My status is bing weird and weird as time goes on. The main issue with the decision was the suggestion that it gave. Does the system want me to master souls? Is that the reason why I got that ss? What exactly is the system? I don''t think my family has ess to such knowledge. Maybe I can find it at the academy. There are many questions that I need answers to and the academy may be the only ce that I can find those answers. Anyway, looking at my status panel, those aren''t the only weird things. My HP, MP, and INT are way above my other basic attributes. If those attributes have feelings, they would be embarrassed because of their status values. I should find a way to improve them as well. Though I am sure that they can never catch up with the values of those three, I need them at least at a value, so that they wouldn''t be embarrassed. Chapter 55: Planning for my future in the academy Finally, it was done. I have finally reached Tier-4. Now my parents can allocate some resources to me from the family without those elders interferring. Every member would get basic resources from the moment they awakened but the quantity and quality depend on the talent of the person. During the training time, it would remain the same amount as decided after the awakening. The next decision would be just before the academy. After going through the adventure training in the wilderness, the family elders expect the kids to have reached level 100 before they return. After that, they have to reach Tier-1 and this would be taken into consideration. Not only that, but the time required toplete the Tier-1 promotion mission also would be included. Since Ipleted the mission and got promoted before the academy started, then it was basically settled that my resources wouldn''t be less. There are still a few problems that I need to ovee in the family, but there is one problem that stems from outside the family, a problem that may lead to more problems. My fiance. --- I had much time to think about the party of my fiance. My birthday is almost here and it made me think about my fiance''s birthday. My parents wanted to throw a extravagant party and I didn''t say no to that. Even though I want to live a peaceful life, a life wouldn''t be a life if you were all alone. I do need somepanions and possibly a few girls to apany me in my life. It would be the best way to live. The thing I remembered when my birthday came was about that peaceful life. At my fiance''s party, I met the guy who probably fancied my fiance and she is also into him. It kept me wondering what schemes those two would sketch and cause trouble for me. If Elisha''s family cancels the marriage on their own without any proper reason, they would lose their reputation and also would have to pay a penalty to my family for breaking the promise. If something happens to me and I die there would be n such thing. Death may not be the only choice to break the marriage arrangement but it was the easiest one. They can ruin my reputation and make my family cancel the marriage. It is also a good way but it takes a lot of time and I don''t know if they would think that it''s worth the wait. There is a high chance that they would n something to besmirch my name or something along those lines. I have read something of this plot in many novels. Though those novels only show that these kinds of situations only happen to the protagonist, that was not true. Many side characters face these types of situations but their stories wouldn''t be significant in the novel. So those stories are often buried. These can happen in real life very much but not many would see the light. This was because the victims most likely would have no strength to fight and would lose everything before they could even utter a word. The world continues to spin and move on. It happens even if something like this happens to someone important. It would be discussed for some time before it would be buried. Anyway, the reason I am sure was because of the Incubus that I have killed and devoured recently. I unlocked the Charm attribute and I am sure that it was very high with how other girls interacted with me at the party. Charm doesn''t work in certain conditions. The first one is obvious. If the other person''s Charm value is higher than yours, it would be of no use. The second reason was why I was rmed about them. If they have given their heart to others, there is a chance that the charm doesn''t work properly even if there is a huge difference. This holds the same if the other person hates you. The only way to ovee this was to use Charm Skills. I don''t have any charm skills but have a trait but I didn''t pay much attention to them at that time to make use of the trait. "Inari, you said that you could smell that I am a virgin before we did it for the first time. You said that it was possible because of your skill. Is there any chance that I can learn that skill?" I asked Inari. It would be useful for me to know whether my fiance already sold herself to William or not. If they already did the deed, then there is no way that we could get married. They would plot something against me and I would need to be guarded against them at all times. Seeing the hesitation on Inari''s face, "It''s okay. If it was restricted by your family or something, then forget about it", I said. There are many families that have their own inheritances that can''t be shared with outsiders. My family does too and I wouldn''t be too eager to spread them. They are after all the foundation of my family. If everyone had it, then it would bemon and so would my family from that point. Moreover, it doesn''t matter whether they had done the deed or not. I can clearly that they have hots for each other, and that means they would do it sooner orter. So it doesn''t matter at the end. I need to prepare for them, whatever the result might be. Inari was relieved when she heard my words and spoke slowly, "It''s not that I wouldn''t teach you. It''s that can''t. It was the racial talent of the lust demons. So unless you be one, there is no way to get it". Huh? Racial Talent? What is that? I never heard about this before. So not only there are awakening talents that I got when I awakened, but there are racial talents. Wait if there are racial talents, then shouldn''t I have one too but there was none? Do humans not have racial talents or is it because I have dragon''s blood? Inari spoke again, "Humans normally wouldn''t have a racial talent unless they have bloodlines. So say this is the racial talent of humans because they can pick whatever racial talent that they want". Wait, is there such a thing? I have a dragon bloodline but don''t have a racial talent. Hmm, looks like I should look into this further to understand more. Maybe I can find a way to awaken my racial talent. Chapter 56: I accessed a mysterious market Speaking of my fiance, I remembered that I brought another item when I went to look for a gift for her birthday. With the Tier-4 promotion still in progress at that time, I forgot about it. When I took it into my hand, I felt a mysterious power but I don''t think the shopkeeper did. I could say by the sly smile on his face that day when I brought it. The shopkeeper has no idea what the item actually is nor how to use it. Even then, I bought it along with the ne for Elisha back then. Since I bought a high-priced ne, the shopkeeper sold the item to me cheaply. I need to check what it is and how to use it. If I can''t it won''t be better than a decoration piece. No, it would be far worse as it can''t be even used as a decoration piece. It looked like a scroll tube, used to store scrolls inside them and send them to others without damaging the scroll itself. Whatever attracted me might have to do with the scroll inside. I have no idea what was inside and neither did that shopkeeper. For whatever reason he couldn''t open the damn tube and see the scroll inside. It was why he decided to sell the damn thing. Now it is in my hands, I hope that I can open it or it will be a waste and I am not a shopkeeper who sells junk. --- Hmm, nothing works. At least nothing I could think of works on it. The tube is sealed almost perfectly so that no one can open it. I mean I am Tier-4 and even I have a problem opening it. My attributes were far higher whenpared to other people. Even my STR is better than many whose profession is a physical-based fighting profession. So I should have been able to remove the top of the tube but I couldn''t. I even used magic to break the tube but to no avail. It was tightly sealed and couldn''t be opened. Where did this exactly originate from? If I know which ancient kingdom this came from, there is a chance to open this but that was something I don''t know. There were inscriptions on the tube, but I couldn''t understand them or even recognize them. Even the shopkeeper who sold me this didn''t know. The only reason why I brought this up was because of the connection I felt at that time but that disappeared after. I couldn''t feel the... Hmm...what was that? There it is. The connection. I feel it again. I should concentrate on it and see what happens. --- Cosmic Market? What is that? When I concentrated myself on the scroll tube, it opened a digital panel, like the status panel. Only this was called Cosmic Market. Let''s see what this is. Hmm, it looks like an online marketce but more magical. One can sell and buy items that they don''t have through this magical market portal. I have no idea who created this but I hope that it isn''t a fake. Let''s test it. If this works then I don''t need to worry about selling my loot secretly in the city market. This would be very useful for me but let''s test it with an item of small value to see what it can do and hope that it isn''t some scam. I took out a few magic cores and ced them in the market to test the waters. There was nothing much to do. I just have to touch the items I want to sell and think about cing them in the market. As soon as such a thought appeared, the cores disappeared from my hand and appeared in the market. Once the cores were ced to sell in the market, they showed the price of these cores. They were sold in minutes and I got a few coins which I used those coins to buy a few healing potions, which magically appeared in the thin air in front of me. I grabbed them fearing that they would cause fluctuations that could alert others but luckily they didn''t for now. I should be care whenevee I do this again in the future. --- There are many things I learned about this Cosmic Market. The currency of the market is called Cosmic Credits. Each item has a value and when they are ced in the market, it shows to others who have ess to the market. They can buy the item for the specified price. What would the market gain? It has to do with that specified price. For example, The item "A" was put on the market and it cost 100 credits. The price shown to the buyers would not be 100. It would be 110 credits. After it was sold, the seller would only get 90 credits. The remaining twenty goes to the market administrator known as Cosmic Merchant. It was all in the guide and it was clearly exined. Normally merchants wouldn''t do so, as they were afraid that their profits would be too low but that was not the case here. This may be because this type of market is rare or probably Unique in existence. If what I read was true, then the market connects a myriad of worlds. Though the specific number was not mentioned, it says that not many would have ess to it, and not all worlds in existence. There was also a note in brackets "Not at this time anyway". It would mean that they have ns to expand further than it is now. Whether it would expand or not, I don''t care. If it expands, then I would have a much higher range of products to browse from and if it didn''t, nothing would change for me. This provides me with an excellent path to sell the items that I should have in my hands. There was only one problem with this. I have to hold the scroll tube to ess the market. If I lose it, I can''t ess the market and the one who would get the tube would have ess to the credits that I earned in the market. So this has to be an absolute secret, like so many secrets that I kept. The issue was that many of those secrets could be shown once I crossed the threshold of Tier-6 and reached Tier-7. There wouldn''t be many that can threaten me at that point. The issue with this was, that once it was known, it could be stolen, unlike my talents or bloodline. Chapter 57: My journey to the academy (1) Time went by and it was almost time for me to leave home and go to the academy. The test day for the entrance to the Royal Academy is right around the corner. I had to leave now to reach the academy in time. Winter City is far away from the Royal Capital where the academy is located. The academy is a few kilometers away from the Royal Capital but it is the closest human settlement and also the only way for the students to enter the academy at this point. Anyone who wants to enter the academy has to go through the royal capital. the academy was built as such it would help the capital city grow. The academy would create a few high-tier people who would be the security of the capital directly or indirectly. After graduating from the academy, these people would still need a job to survive and increase their power. Though not everyone would settle in the capital, a few would which would increase the security of the capital. There is still the academy which admits a lot of Tier-1 professionals every year. If anything bad happens the capital can ask the academy for help and if the problem is not a big one, they would send these students to clear those through missions. This security would attract more people to settle in the capital or even do business with the capital as it would be the safest ce in the kingdom. To make that this should happen when the academy was built, the academy location was finalized to a ce that can be easily essed through the capital. The other three directions are dangerous and not advised formon people or even for the new admits. The seniors and staff are another matter. They can directly use the teleportation hub in the academy or open a personal portal for themselves. --- So for me, the only choice was to use the teleportation hub to the capital and then proceed to the academy but that would cost a lot and it would be a waste of resources on unnecessary things. At first, that was my thought of traveling onnd to the capital but I scrapped that ideater. Any travel in such a way is prone to attacks from not only beasts but also bandits. I thought it was a good way to train myself that way and also to gain EXP to increase levels and at the same time loot the belongings of those bandits along the way but that appeared to be not a good idea in the long run. This was because I learned that there would be dungeons in the academy and the students have to regrly clean up those dungeons and that would award them with points. These points were the currency of the academy. Everything that was bought or sold in the academy was through those points. Gold is useless in the academy. Unless you have other resources in your pocket to sell here for points, you have to work in the dungeons. Moreover, in a year, a secret realm was about to open and the restrictions were that Tier-5 and above couldn''t enter. So he has to stay at Tier-4 till then or else I would miss out on a great opportunity. So I decided to use the hub and pushed the date of travel to near the exam date. In the time I stayed at home, my EXP level didn''t change but a lot of things changed. I was able to upgrade my skill levels, though not much but they would be very much useful for me in that dungeon. "Status" -- Name: Magnus Frostwolf Age: 14 (Very near to 15) Titles: Son of Viscount; Great yer; Hidden Smiden; Dungeon Conqueror; Primary ss: Draconic Warlock Secondary ss: Soul Arbiter (Unique) Affinity: Shadow, Blood, Space Bloodline: ck Dragon (2% Purity) Physique: Devourer Physique (EX) Talent: Ritualistic Summoning (EX) Trait: Silk Smooth Skin(A bit Improved); Sleepy; Aurum Skin; Sexy Smile; Rank: Tier-4 Level: 2 Health Points (HP): 316,328,117 Strength (STR): 850 Endurance (END): 1,370 Dexterity (DEX): 625 Agility (AGI): 1,090 Intelligence (INT): 25,255,170 Magic Power (MP): 380,103,700 Soul Energy: 5,500 (+200%) Charm: 3,009 ss Skills: Shadow Bolt; Blood Dominance; Draconic Magic; Shadow Curse; Blood Heal; Shadow Shift; Blood Lock; Draconic Pressure; Shadow Merge; Blood Drain; Soul Judge; Soul Prison; Soul Container; Nether mes; Shadow control; Blood Boil; Special Skills: Rank Booster; Status Disguise; Refined Skills: Shadow Bolt Volley Lv. 7; Skills: Evade Lvl. 10; Dodge Lvl. 10; Sprint Lvl. 8; Alertness Lvl. 10; Devour Lvl. 5; Fusion Lvl. 10; Split Lvl. 10; Demon Gaze Lvl. 3; Strengthen Lvl. 10; Tag & Track Lvl. 2; Night Vision Lvl. 7; Spatial Storage Lvl. 5; Mind Control Lvl. 2; Mind Probe Lvl. 3; Mind Defence Lvl. 1; Dragon Blood Evolution Lvl. 1; Scent Recognition Lvl. 1; Sexual Stamina Lvl. 1; Pet World Lvl. 1; Resistances: Physical Resistance Lvl. 11; Light Resistance Lvl. 4; Poison Resistance Lvl. 4; Magic Resistance (Non-Attribute) Lvl. 5; Space Resistance Lvl. 2; Fire Resistance Lv. 2; Water Resistance Lvl. 2; Mind Resistance Lv. 1; Weapon Arts: Intermediate Staff Arts Lvl. 8 -- There were many skills that would need a push to improve with the meager resources of my family. It was why the academy is important to us. The growth would be much slower if I stayed home instead of going to the academy. It can already seen from my status that many basic skills that I learned didn''t move much in a month. I mean, I dedicated almost all of my time to training. I didn''t go out at all. The routine was the same for me for the past weeks. Wake up every morning, freshen up, and eat breakfast. Train till noon and then eat again. Rest for a while. This is so that my muscles wouldn''t go sore and decrease my performance. Some more practice till dark before dinner for the night. After that return to room and bang Inari at night. Whenever I found some rest time, I looked for a way to send Inari back but there was no knowledge about it in the family. I even looked for the person who ced that Demon Summoning ritual in the library but no luck on that matter. So the only way to either increase my skill levels faster and efficiently or send Inari back would only be possible through the academy. Royal Academy here Ie. Chapter 58: My journey to the academy (2) "Magnus, have you packed everything that you need?" my mother asked for the hundredth time before we set off to the academy. "Yes mother, for the hundredth time. Stop worrying about these small details. I can just buy at the academy if I have forgotten anything", I replied to her. She just smiled and rubbed my head. "Mom, you are disturbing my hair again", I said to her. Man, every time. I have tob properly and then she would change its structure. I am not thrilled tob my hair again and again. She didn''t say anything but hugged me. Sigh! Mothers were never good at saying goodbyes to their children. She knew pretty well that once I left today, there would be fewer and fewer interactions between us. Yes, with the development of the world, there are Mobile phones and we can speak with each other daily but that is not easy. We would have our own schedules and it would not be easy to speak with each other. She has seen this four times before me but each time there was another child to take care of at home and she didn''t feel that much but with me it was different. There were no children after me. So once I leave, there would be no children at home for her to take care of. She knew about this matter when I went on an adventure in the wild for almost seven months. Even if she knew about the matter beforehand, it was still not easy to say goodbye. From now onwards we can only meet each other when I have holidays and that would be in the first two years of the academy. Returning home would be less and less from this point. I have only seen my siblings a few times in the past few years. It was not the same when I was an infant or before my awakening. At that time, I could see one of them every month but that stopped. It would be the same with me and Mother from now on. I don''t know what she is feeling but I can understand her. So I hugged her back without saying anything. No matter how annoying her words appear, she is my mother and I knew that she cared for me more than anyone else that wouldn''t change until the end. --- After saying goodbye to my mother, my father and I appeared at the teleportation hub. Yes, he wasing along with me, though I clearly told him it was not necessary. I survived in the wild for seven months, so I am pretty sure that I can take care of myself in the capital. Moreover, it was only two days before the academy''s entrance exam, I thought I could survive but that was not at all what my parents thought. My mother insisted that I either go alongside my father to the capital in order to attend the exam or stay at home. So I have no choice but to keep my mouth sealed. In my past life, I never had the luxury of enjoying what it was to be a father but I had seen what parenthood is all about. It was not just taking care of the children part but also worrying about them. It was all part of the total package thates when one bes a parent. Anyway, my father and I were dropped off by one of our servants who then took the car back home. We can''t bring the car with us into the hub. There is a way to bring it but it''s not worth the cost. Moreover, parking outside the hub would cost money, a lot since the father would be able to return after a few days. I have used the teleportation hub only once or twice because it was not a journey one likes to have. Passing through the spatial tunnel was not afortable journey. Some people would vomit, so it was advised not to eat too much before using the teleportation. There are also small cases of temporary blindness. This was caused because people would have opened their eyes on the journey. The energies are not quite pleasurable to sensitive organs like the eyes. It was advised to close your eyes before the teleportation circle was activated. The longer the distance, the more difort one would feel. So it was advised not to be used frequently. The advice applies to themoners especially. Not every person in the kingdom can awaken their profession and can rank up. Many fail and many wouldn''t have the resources to grow even after they awaken. So a lot of people stay at Tier-0 or Tier-1 their entire lives. They don''t have enough strength to survive the turbulences of the space. It was discovered that passing through a spatial tunnel would cause changes in the body. It was space magic and could be considered simr to other types of magic attacks. Though the attacks are light and considered passive, going through the process a few many times would not result in a good oue. --- After entering the teleportation hub, my father went straight to Room 12. "Royal Capital for two", my father said to the operator and gave a sack of gold coins to him. I have no idea how much it was but my estimation was that it cost a thousand gold each at minimum. I should learn the transportation costs and other costs of living in this world or else I would be duped at every corner. the operator opened the sack and counted the coins within seconds, "Stand in the teleportation circle and close your eyes", he said. I could feel the energy fluctuations around me. The teleportation has started. I can feel it because of my connection to the Space element. The energy fluctuations have the presence of Space Element in them. A few minutester, the fluctuations started to subside. I heard someone speaking, "You can open your eyes". I slowly opened my eyes and saw that we were still standing in a teleportation circle that was inactivated in a simr room that we were in before but I knew that we were no longer in Winter City. Royal City, I have arrived. Chapter 59: I arrived at the royal capital Wow, simply wow. The royal capital lives up to its name. Compared to the Winter City the capital was much more advanced and also congested. Everything is different here if Ipare it to home. Winter city looks like a small town whenpared to the royal city. If Ipare it to Earth, then the Capital can be considered New York and Winter City can bepared to Long Ind or something along the lines. The difference is too much between them. There are many reasons for those huge differences. Unlike the Capital, there is no academy near Winter City. In fact, there are only four other cities besides the capital that enjoy the advantage of having an academy near them. Though these four cities are not as powerful as the capital, they are advanced and powerful whenpared to other cities in the kingdom. There is nothing one can do about this. The presence of the academies near these cities provides them with security and so there are a lot of people willing to live there or visit on a regr basis. There is no such protection for Winter City, so the economy is inferiorpared to these five cities. It doesn''t matter to me anyway. I love Winter City more than the capital. Sure it was advanced and there are a lot of opportunities here to be wealthypared to home, but for me, home is better than the capital. The man reason why the capital was built here was due to the dungeons that are present here. They are the livelihood of many people in this world. Where there are dungeons, there would be people and a chance at prosperity. There are no dungeons near Winter City. However, I found three dungeons that were not avable to people in the wild. They can be useful in the future but not at this point. To reach that ce, much work would be involved. So it was not a decision that could be made in a day or two. Even if the Winter City remains the same, the surroundings are much better whenpared to the capital. There are too many people for my taste. There shouldn''t this many people congested in a small ce. I like broad ces, not such narrow ces. Though the city looks lively, it would be best to visit once in a while but not suitable for living, well, at least for me. Even though this ce is not my choice of ce to live, this is the best ce to get goods that are rare and are not easily obtained. Every day, there would be merchantsing to the capital and their caravans would never be empty. Even when they leave the capital, they would buy the local specialties to sell in other areas where those are not avable. With the Cosmic Market in my hands, I can be the richest person in the kingdom easily without raising suspicions from others. There are a lot of people traveling through the city, so I can transact any item I want but they should be something the people of this world can recognize. If I try to sell something otherworldy, then it should appear to be from this world, if not it would be considered junk in the market. There would be a few who can estimate the item but that would be dangerous to go to them. I heard that there are different Appraisal skills. It was said that the head of Commerce Guild has a unique appraisal skill that can even pierce through skills like status disguise. His skill came to know because he was the head of a huge guild that controls a lot of people''s lives. It wouldn''t always be the case with others. Moreover, some believe that the leak was an advertisement that was done on purpose. There are many skills like that and if I sell them something that I shouldn''t, then it would only spell trouble for me. If they find that I sold something that had never appeared before, then they would want my source directly. If you can get the items from the source, why the middlemen? Many merchants do things this way, so no one would give up their source willingly. Even if the source was not given up the first time, there are many ways that greedy merchants can extract the source. I shouldn''t get into the eyes of such people or it would be like hitting myself. Anyway, though there are many potholes in the city, it still is the best way to get hands-on resources easily and faster. Moreover, whether I like this city or not, it sure is the best way to understand the kingdom. Being the capital of the kingdom, it attracts people from even the remote regions. So here I can be able to enjoy almost everything that the kingdom can offer without touring the entire kingdom. So living here for a short time is worth the time. --- Two days went by in a jiffy and now it was the time for the academy test. Whether I can join or not depends on the oue of the test. Who am I kidding? I am Tier-4, so there is no way that I would fail the test. I would certainly seed in the test, the only question that remained was what rank would I achieve and should. I should control the number of points that I can achieve in the test. Being at the top spot would have its advantages but I can''t be too high in points. After all, I can''t let people know that I am hiding my status. That skill though it was a rare one, was not a unique one. Many people know what the skill is and what it can be used for. Sure there would be differences between people at the same level but that difference wouldn''t be too much. There are only a few reasons behind those differences and I am hiding most of them. So it was best to act ordingly. If not, there are many who would love to get their hands on me both in the light and dark corners of the world. So I have to make sure that, there are enough eyes on me after the test but not too many eyes. Let''s see what will happen in the morning. Chapter 60: I faked on my exam We woke up early in the morning. There is a test that I had to go through today in order to gain entry into the Royal Academy. In fact, this test determines entries to the other four academies as well. There would be some observers from these academies. If one fails to get entry into the Royal Academy, but they did well in the test, then these four academies would most likely pick them to attend their academy. For me, the other academies don''t matter, only the Royal Academy matters. First, it was because I am a noble-born and it would be a matter of prestige to the nobles that their children have to attend this academy. Secondly, the facilities here in the Royal Academy are more advanced whenpared to others, or at least that was the talk. Royal Academy was backed by the Royal House itself. So there is a high chance that the information is true. So this would be the best ce to hone my skills. I am at Tier-4, so there was no need for me to increase my levels that much. My main concentration was to improve my skills. Only by doing so would I be able to surpass my peers or else I would forever be left behind and would be another extra character in a story whose life doesn''t matter. The training facilities here support almost all the skills. Even some rare skills can be sufficiently improved here through the training facilities. Of course, it was not possible for every other skill, but as a person who has too many skills, the need for these facilities for me is much more than whenpared to others. It was only a half an hour''s journey to reach the academy from the capital, if you used the transportation means that were provided by the academy itself. These transports are like trams on Earth and as they operate regrly, there was no problem finding a transport to and fro between the capital and the academy. After reaching the academy, my father and I were separated. It was the same for everyone here. The participants for the test had to take a different routepared to the guardians that came along with them. --- "Wee future guardians of the Gleseria", an old man appeared out of thin air and announced majestically. The old man took a nce over the youngsters who were ready to take the exam in order to enter the academy. He smiled and spoke, "It is so good that there are many good seeds this year around". "Normally in these situations, it was customary to make a big speech, but I am not a man of words. So I am going to say only a few words. My name is James Hestain. I will be your Headmaster if you are able to pass the test". "If you pass the test, you''ll be provided with the best of the best in the kingdom. So I say this, do your best in the test and I promise you that you have a chance to reach the pinnacle and the resources required to do so". "Good luck to everyone", he said and disappeared the next second. Hmm, he really is entric as my siblings said. This old man was the headmaster since Eritrea went to the academy. To survive such a long time in a ce like this, he should be doing something right. The most likely reason that he was able to stay as headmaster was because he was a Tier-8 mage. This is what many ay the reason why he was able to stay for so long but I don''t agree with that. Strength may have given him the position but without some correct choices that he made during the tenure, I don''t think that he could have survived this long. Once the headmaster left, a clerk appeared on the stage and started to call the participants one by one onto the stage. This is the part of the test where they check our status. To gain admittance to the Royal Academy, one has to have reached Tier-1. To manymoners, this wasn''t possible. So most of the kids who would get into the academy are either rich or from noble families. Even though themoners usually don''t get the admittance, there is a chance that they can get into one of the other four. If they can do that, then their lives will be changed forever. "Magnus Frotwolf" Finally, it is my turn. I slowly walked onto the stage and ced my hand on a stone tablet that was dark in color but had some ancient markings on it. A minuteter, my status panel appeared on the monitor that was connected to the tablet. -- Name: Magnus Frostwolf Age: 14 ss: Warlock Rank: Tier-1 Level: 2 STR: 36 STA: 38 AGI: 49 DEX: 11 HP: 3200 MP: 4600 ss Skills: Shadow Bolt; Shadow Shift; Skills: Evade Lvl. 10; Dodge Lvl. 10; Weapon Arts: Intermediate Staff Arts Lvl. 8; -- I adjusted my status a bit to show that I am indeed better whenpared to others. Since I am a Warlock which is considered a Spellcaster profession, the main attribute is Mana, which should be good enough to qualify for the entrance. The other attributes are not that important. I could have awed the spectators by showing a high attribute value and skills but I am not stupid to attract everyone at this point. There is another test, where everyone has topete against each other. If I showed all my strengths now, the others would group up and attack me. There is a high chance that it could spiral out of control and I may lose in the end. There was also another reason why I didn''t want to show off at that moment. It was because before I walked up to the stage, I felt many gazes on me. Most of them were curious gazes, trying to pry my details but some of them were outright malicious. I don''t know why there are that many who are against me but I recognized one of them. It was the one I confronted at the gate of Winter City because of my idiot cousin. He definitely has thoughts about killing me. If I show too much power, it may cause me to lose my chance to enter, unless I show my full power, which is not my n for the near future. Showing my true strength was part of the future that was a bit away from now. So I decided that in the second part, I would turn more eyes and that would be the best course of action. Chapter 61: We were thrown into the dungeon The status-checking process waspleted quite quickly. There are many Tier-0 candidates but there was no mention of failing them at this point. Even though it was said this was a Royal Academy entrance test, the other academies would also select a few students for themselves from among the group. So the test most likely wouldn''t eliminate anyone at this point. If the Tier-0 awakener shows potential in the next part of the test, then I assume that one of the four academies would select them. --- Now that the first part of the test was over, it was time for the second part tomence. I only showed that I was Tier-1, which was more than enough for the academy at this point. The second part, which is the Dungeon test part is the most crucial part that determines whether one can enter the academy or not. The first test was not important at this point. It was more useful after one got into the academy. From what my siblings said, there would be Status Checking every half year. It would bepared to the previous one. If there wasn''t improvement, one would be demoted to a lesser ss and vice versa. No academy would want someone who would waste their time. What they need is protectors for the kingdom. It was not just the monsters that threatened the kingdom. There are enemy kingdoms that surround our kingdom. In addition to them, there are many criminals roaming thends. Dangers are everywhere. The graduates of the academies y a major role in that category inparison to others who were not able to enter an academy. Awakening a profession doesn''t necessarily mean that we would get a spot in the academy. The awakeners that were here belong to the fighting category. The non-fighting ones don''t enter the dungeon but instead, they would have to pass another type of test depending on their profession. There are too many people but too little resources. So not everyone would get a chance to get their hands on quality resources. So most people would not have the chance of advancing easily. Unless they are the children of luck, they can''t proceed in their lives. It was not that the resources were low but if the resources were distributed fairly and equally to everyone, there wouldn''t be any top-tier awakeners, and would be destroyed easily. Those top-tier awakeners were the deterrents of destruction. There are many monsters that are in the top tiers and if they invade human habitats, they will be cleared in a few years at most. the only reason why those high-ranking monsters wouldn''t tantly invade was due to the presence of the high-tier awakeners. So there was nothing to say, even though I can see that there is no equality in this world. As someone from Earth, many think that they had to bring their ideas into this new world but that would only bacsh in a spectacr way. Change has toe from within and only then can the change lead to progress. --- After the first part of the test was done, we were led to a small hill outside the academy. A burly man appeared before us and started to give instructions. "This is where the next part of your test would be conducted. You will enter the dungeon and defeat the monsters inside and for every kill, you will be awarded a certain amount of points. The higher the monster, the higher would be the points". "The highest monster in this dungeon would be somewhere in the middle of Tier-1. So the candidate who has yet to reach Tier-1, I suggest running away". "We can''t see what was happening inside. So we will give each one of you a bracelet. This bracelet would not only record the number of points you gained but also protect your life. So when you feel that your life is in danger, press the red button on your bracelet". "This will eject you from the dungeon and that also means that your test has ended. Remember, you have to manually activate the bracelet in order to leave the dungeon. So the only protection that it facilitates is bringing you out of the dungeon". "Don''t waste your life in order to pursue some points. Your life is more valuable than admission to some academy. Now one by one, collect your bracelets", the man concluded. Wow, that is a very long speech. Though it was said that the academy was tough, they did care about the people. If not else why would they invest so many resources for this exam? Those bracelets are not cheap. Even with the advancement of technologies, the production of those bracelets costs a lot. Even my family has one or two, I believe. They didn''t hand out them when I went out to the wilds. To anyone who finds a dungeon, you either enter andplete it or die in there. The only other option was to give up entering that dungeon and sell the information about it to others. If there were some expeditions before, there would be information about it and the casualties wouldn''t be likely but that won''t apply to the new dungeons. So when entering a new dungeon, these types of protections arepulsory. However, those devices only offer protection and don''t include the number of kills, which was only required by the academies. It means that these are custom-made and would cost more. After we got the bracelets, we returned back to our positions as before. "Now the next part of the test wouldmence. Oh, there is one more thing that I forgot. Candidates can steal points from each other. By defeating them, they would get half the points and the loser would exit the dungeon", the man said as he opened the portal into the dungeon. No one was able to process what he said as they were busy cursing out loudly in despair. Even I had to curse the man because the portal he opened, appeared right below us. Instead of walking into the dungeon, we fell into it. That asshole literally threw us into the dungeon. Chapter 62: I aced the dungeon test I have no idea why that idiot threw us into the dungeon in that way. In fact, I have no idea how he did that. I always thought that there would be a single portal that connects the dungeon, not multiple portals, and definitely not under us. Something is different about this dungeon. That I am sure about. What it is though, I am not sure but that doesn''t matter anyway. Anyway, it has nothing to do with me. I need to acquire points, a lot of them so that I can be in the top five. Being in the top ten sounds nice but I don''t think that the resources tilted toward the top five are the same as the top ten. The top five would have resources higher in quantity and quality. I need to hunt a lot of monsters to gain such rank, especially when there is a suspected protagonist present in my story. When people like that appear, many unexpected events take ce. I can''tg behind or else I wouldn''t even make the top ten. So dungeon monsters here Ie. I hope your souls find peace in your deaths. --- Four Hourster... Ah, finally out of that stupid dungeon. These monsters are too weak for my taste. I am after all at Tier-4, while the highest of the monster was at Tier-1 level 65. Most of the monsters present here are at only Tier-0, and only a few reached Tier-1. So any monster that came at me died within seconds and didn''t even understand what happened exactly to them. Even the most powerful boss, which increased my points by a lot. It felt as if I was smashing an ant back on Earth. Except here when I killed a monster there were resources left behind, though not the quality I needed but the quantity is a lot. Anyway, a problem with this. Since I could solve these monsters in a few seconds, my points started to rise at a fast pace. My points outpaced everyone. At first, I thought that it may be a problem but then I thought this dungeon would be a good way to improve my skills. So I unleashed a clone to hunt the monsters. Though the pace at which my points umted decreased, they were still all-time high. By the time we exited the dungeon, I stood at the number one position in this dungeon point race. Unless there are points allocated for the status, I believe that I am now at first rank. Though it has its own advantages, it has its own problems too but there is nothing that can be done at this time. The only thing that I could do was to ept the fact and move forward by improving my skills and rank in the future. Only by doing so, would be a deterrence against anyone who has bad ideas about me. With the top rank, I believe that the academy would concentrate a lot of resources on me. So I believe that it would easier to improve my skills at a faster rate. With high-quality training resources and me at Tier-4, I can absolutely stay at the top for the full academy term. If there appears someone who can topple me, then I can jump into a dry well. Though I want a peaceful life, I can''t obtain that without sufficient strength and power in my hands. Only when I can control my destiny can I be able to live a life as I wish? --- "Hahaha", my fatherughed out loud as he hugged me. This was something that he hadn''t done in a long time, at least when we were in public. He used to hug me when I was a child but that stopped once I reached ten years. Only mother still continued. Unless we were in a formal setting like parties or something along those lines, she never shied away from hugging me. Though it was kind of embarrassing for my adult soul, I let her do whatever she wanted to, even though I protested a little on the surface. I silently agreed because I missed my time with my mother when I still lived on Earth. When she left me, there was nothing I could do that could bring her back. So I decided to spend all the time I could here in this world the way I like, without having any regretster. "Well done Magnus. you made me proud", my father said as he released me from his hug. The reason behind the hug was because of my rank in the exam. As I thought I reached the top rank. The father''s unbound enthusiasm was because there was a thousand-point difference between me and the next rank. He went to say what happened during the time I was inside the dungeon. With my fast progress, almost everyone knew who I was and by association, they now know my father and my family. My father is just a viscount and in the kingdom there are many. Not everyone knows about my father or family. Even if they knew, it was basic. There was no respect back then but now it was different. When a talented child appears in a noble family, it usually means that their status would improve. So everyone would pay more attention and would try to cozy up with them. --- "Okay, now that everyone has seen their ranks and received the invitation from the Royal Academy can say goodbyes to their guardians. In an hour, you should appear at Gate-1, which is half a kilometer in that direction", the man pointed to his right. "if you don''t appear within an hour at the gate, we will take that you are not interested in the academy and will void your invitation. Others who didn''t get the invitation, please stay behind. The other four academies would select a few that they like", he said and disappeared from the spot. I don''t know why he was in a hurry but he probably should. There were a few angry students and guardians. This was because the man was the same one who threw us into the dungeon. "Dad, it looks like it is time to say goodbye for now", I said as I hugged him tightly. He stroked my head, "Don''t worry, it was just temporary. You can visit us in the holidays. Oh, don''t forget to call your mother now and then, or else she will barge into the academy". Hearing those words, Iughed, because my mother would certainly do so. In fact, she did that before and that was something I don''t want to be repeated. Chapter 63: My first two days at the academy After the test was done, those who were selected would start their studies at the academy in two days. Those two days were the adjustment period allocated to us. Most of the students would have never left their homes and would have some problems in a new environment. This was especially true for many noble-born and rich children. They can''t enjoy the same advantages that they enjoyed while they were with their families. They had to earn everything here. Of course, it was not all bad for them. Except for the rooms that they live in and the training opportunities, everything else could be brought for a price. It was just a matter of number to many of these brats. Well, I am one of them but at the same time, I am not. They were still young and had yet to go through the difficulties of life but I had that experience before. The allocation of these rooms is different. The top ten have individual houses with various training rooms. As the top candidate, my house has almost everything. The academy provided me with almost everything that I needed, except for a few things. Training rooms like Gravity rooms are costly and so there are only a few. There are no personal ones given to the students. Everyone has toe to the open training grounds, where they are located. To use them, one needs the Points. Without them, no one can use them. Not even the top student. --- The two days were meant to make contact with others and that''s exactly what I did. There were a few students that I was unable to meet because they started training. The most important ones were the second rank, Malia, and the other one was the possible protagonist character, Dorian. He made it to the top ten, which means he already has a good foundation and can even reach the top rank. Too bad for him, I am here. If not for me, I believe that by the end of the year, he would reach the first rank. I think that he was indeed trying to reach such rank, and he neglected meeting others who would be with us for the next five years unless some unforeseen events happened, which are more likely with his presence. Anyway, if you have to march into battles, you needrades that you can trust in. Without them, no one is invisible. Even if the person is the child of luck, death would get him in the end. The longer one can survive would be if they haverades who can take some pressure off you. It was not just for battles, but also in other parts of life, they were needed. Without someone to help you, you can never proceed far in life. If that idiot spends all his time in training, then he would have no friends. Unlike Dorian, who is amoner, Malia has no such problems. From what I heard, shees from the Hasker family. They are from the south, so my family didn''t have much interaction with them. We only know that they exist and are a pure military family. Malia''s father is a Count and her family is high in the military. So everyone would understand her training. She would not face the same problems as him. Anyway, it has nothing to do with me. --- Even though I mingled with others, I kept it simple. I didn''t want to be entangled too much if something bad happened to them. This is the problem with having rtionships with others. Without them, life would be hard and when we lose them life would be worse. So I kept it light so that others wouldn''t see me as arrogant and cause me trouble. At the same time, I didn''t waste much time but allocated most of my free time to training. "Status" -- Name: Magnus Frostwolf Age: 14 (Very near to 15) Titles: Son of Viscount; Great yer; Hidden Smiden; Dungeon Conqueror; Primary ss: Draconic Warlock Secondary ss: Soul Arbiter (Unique) Affinity: Shadow, Blood, Space Bloodline: ck Dragon (2% Purity) Physique: Devourer Physique (EX) Talent: Ritualistic Summoning (EX) Trait: Silk Smooth Skin(A bit Improved); Sleepy; Aurum Skin; Sexy Smile; Rank: Tier-4 Level: 2 Health Points (HP): 316,328,117 Strength (STR): 850 Endurance (END): 1,370 Dexterity (DEX): 625 Agility (AGI): 1,090 Intelligence (INT): 25,255,170 Magic Power (MP): 380,103,700 Soul Energy: 5,500 (+200%) Charm: 3,009 ss Skills: Shadow Bolt; Blood Dominance; Draconic Magic; Shadow Curse; Blood Heal; Shadow Shift; Blood Lock; Draconic Pressure; Shadow Merge; Blood Drain; Soul Judge; Soul Prison; Soul Container; Nether mes; Shadow control; Blood Boil; Special Skills: Rank Booster; Status Disguise; Refined Skills: Shadow Bolt Volley Lv. 7; Skills: Evade Lvl. 10; Dodge Lvl. 10; Sprint Lvl. 8; Alertness Lvl. 10; Devour Lvl. 5; Fusion Lvl. 10; Split Lvl. 10; Demon Gaze Lvl. 3; Strengthen Lvl. 10; Tag & Track Lvl. 2; Night Vision Lvl. 7; Spatial Storage Lvl. 5; Mind Control Lvl. 3; Mind Probe Lvl. 3; Mind Defence Lvl. 1; Dragon Blood Evolution Lvl. 1; Scent Recognition Lvl. 1; Sexual Stamina Lvl. 1; Pet World Lvl. 1; Resistances: Physical Resistance Lvl. 11; Light Resistance Lvl. 4; Poison Resistance Lvl. 4; Magic Resistance (Non-Attribute) Lvl. 5; Space Resistance Lvl. 2; Fire Resistance Lv. 2; Water Resistance Lvl. 2; Mind Resistance Lv. 1; Weapon Arts: Intermediate Staff Arts Lvl. 9 -- There were not many changes in these past few days. With that dungeon experience and by using the training facilities in my dorm, I increased two of my skills. One was the Staff Arts, which was already on the verge of reaching the next level. All it needed was a little push and I reached level 9. Mind control reached level 3, which was due to the dungeon monsters. I kind of used that skill to control some monsters and kill other monsters. I have no idea how my bracelet counted those kills as mine, but it doesn''t matter much. Even if the academy knows that I am hiding my true strength, unless I do something bad, they won''t move against me. Moreover, I don''t think everyone would know that I am hiding some of my skills. Even if they knew about that, they would just think that I am keeping them as trump cards. Everyone has some trump cards. What they select those trump cards to be, depends on the person. The academy wouldn''t be afraid just because I have one or two tricks up my sleeve. So I believe that my secret is safe, as long as I don''t show everything. --- The two days went by without realizing that they had gone by. It was time for the academy to start where I could learn what I couldn''t learn at home. Chapter 64: My first class in the academy (1) I woke up early in the morning. It was a routine of mine that I wanted to continue. In the wilds, it may be different, where I have to sleep at odd hours and should always be vignt of monster attacks but it was different when I am at home or now at the academy. There are sses that I need to attend. In the first year, attending ss ispulsory. The academy is strict in this matter. After all, we are all young, immature and inexperienced. It was not like there was a threat of war or an impending apocalypse at this point. Though there are threats, the kingdom can improve in a slow and steady manner. It would be the best choice in the long run. If the advancement increases too high in a short time, there is a high probability of falling down. So there was no rush at this point to push the young students to their early deaths. These students would be improved step-by-step in an orderly fashion. It means training, training, and training for us, for two long years. The academy would be lenient from the third year as long as you can keep up with others and improve your status. At least, this was what my siblings have imparted about the academy. Most nobles had attended this academy, so they knew mostly how the academy worked. There would be changes at times, but the core remains the same. With my parents and recently my siblings, who have attended the academy, I have a lot of knowledge about the academy. I was already in the know about this training regime and I am more than happy about it. Most of the time this year, I decided to improve various skills instead of increasing my EXP by hunting and thereby increasing my rank. It would be a waste of time. There is a secret realm at the end of the year, which should provide a lot of ways for me to increase my level and reach the next rank. I mean there is no way that I can actually reach Tier-5 but I can reach peak Tier-4 in that realm. While others have to improve their ranks and reach at least Tier-2 to have a good chance of surviving in that secret realm, I have no such problems. I can fully concentrate this year on improving my skill levels so that I have a better chance of reaching peak Tier-4 by the end of the secret realm. After all the EXP required now is not the same as it was required for a level-up when I started. I need billions of EXP in order to reach peak Tier-4 and that means I can''t y with Tier-3 and lower monsters in the secret realm. Only Tier-4 and above can sate me at this point. Only by having good skills can Iplete my mission to reach peak Tier-4. Once I am out I can take a Tier-5 promotion mission and reach Tier-5 in the next year. Even though it may look like my progress has reduced by a lot, it wouldn''t be the case. With multiple skills at a very high level, I would be able to easily squash some at Tier-5 in seconds. --- A beautiful young woman walked into the ss and onto the raised tform. She was wearing a bright red dress which covered her entire body perfectly. Her hair was in a released position, which made her scarlet hair look like mes in the sun. She must be a teacher or else why would she go on to the raised tform? Oh man, she is quite stunning and sexy. I say she definitely has made it onto my to-do list. I mean who would miss such a sexy body? Though she is not showing any skin, her perfect curses are all but revealing. Her shape can properly be seen through in this dress, but that didn''t appear to be a problem for her. The woman ced a book on the table and turned towards us. She then muttered in a low, "Same old, same old. These young men are the same every year. Always coveting my body. It looks like I won''t see any good seedlings this year too...Huh?" She may have muttered so that it won''t be audible to others but that was not a problem for me. I could hear her every word. It looks like she wore that dress on purpose, mostly to see who is lustful and who is dutiful to actually improve themselves. She sensed me and was surprised to see that I didn''t exhibit the same lustful expressions as others. What can I say, I have lived an entire life before. As I remember those memories, I had to be very careful to act as a child in front of my parents or family. Otherwise, it would be disastrous. Sometimes I genuinely acted like a kid, because I missed the innocence of a child. When I was a kid on Earth, I didn''t know anything bad that was hidden in the world. I was free from the worries, which gradually disappeared as I grew up. I kind of perfected my acting skills and now no one can see what I am thinking. I can perfectly show a different expression than the one that''s currently upying my mind, but that was like wasting my brain cells. So most of the time when I don''t want others to know what I am thinking, I would just show a calm expression on my face. There would be no expressions on the face at all. There are even no indications that I heard her muttering. I yed the role very well. The new teacher looked impressed by me. She saw that I was not lusting like others, though I was lusting after her more than others. She thought I was calm in her presence, which usually rouses lust in men around her. A small smile appeared on her mouth for a second, approving my state of mind for a second before returning to the disgusted expression that appeared on her face after observing other male students. Man, I have scored some brownie points with her. I should make better use of those points before someone can take her away. While I was having dreams about how to make her mine, she introduced herself, "Hello students, My name is Ang zewood. I am your..." Chapter 65: My first class in the academy (2) The red-haired sexy woman, appeared while the entire ss was obviously in deep discussion. Most of them were known to each other, except for a few. As the top ranker, I was ced in ss 1-A, where all the toppers were ced. ss 1-A can be considered as the elite ss, and also the ss with the least people. A total of 600 students were selected for the first year. There are six sses in the first year, from 1-A to 1-F. 1-A was where the top students were ced, while 1-F was where the lowest rankers were ced. One would think that each ss has 100 students but that was wrong. ss 1-A has only 50 students while the remaining 550 were equally distributed among the five sses. It was said that 25% of the resources would be allocated to ss 1-A. It means the top 50 can enjoy a lot of resources and can improve faster whenpared to others. This would surely increase the difference between the students much wider. As time go on, the ones at the bottom would start to lose their chances of reaching the top. Anything that can be done has to be done in the first two years. After that, the ranks would stabilize and the changes would be minimal. Unless they were lucky and found some opportunities while out in the world, the difference between the top rankers and the low rankers would be quite vast and that would keep increasing. Anyway, most of the top ranks were upied by the nobles and the rich. Out of 50, except for 5, the other 45 either belong to the noble ss or their parents are rich. Only fivee from themoner ss. Most of these forty-five had contact with one or two before the academy started. I too met three students beforehand and that is after I excluded Dorian. Two of them, I only met once before we got to know each other once again in these past two days at the academy. Thest one was the son of a merchant who frequented Winter City. His name is Markus Villus. We met many times before the awakening. After that, the academy was the first time we met again. Winter City was not his home. So he never returned after awakening. For him improving is far more important than a friendship with a child of Viscount, who was not even the heir. I don''t me him. Even if he appeared in the Winter City, I wouldn''t have time to meet him. We were both busy improving ourselves in these past five years. Since we knew each other when we were children, it made it easy for us to connect immediately. The sitting position in the ss was beside him. On one side is the window that lets me watch the outside skies and the other side is him. It made it easy to speak with him the ss and not to be bothered by everyone. I am not an introvert who keeps to himself but I am also not someone who mingles with others too much. The entire ss was chatting with each other. Once the red-haired woman appeared, everyone turned silent, especially the boys. There was a look of lust in their eyes. Some were even drooling. Luckily I could show the expression I wanted to show, which let me escape from the dump. It was not just the teacher who looked at those idiots in disgust but also the girls in the ss. At this age, everyone wants to be admired by others, especially by boys, and at the same time they don''t likepetition. The red-haired woman is not a teen but a grown woman. Her body was better in every aspect and that was something they couldn''tpete with. I can see that these girls were extremely disgusted with my peers but it looked like I became a target for them. I don''t know if I did the right thing or not. I suddenly felt chill by the way those girls were looking at me. Did they make me their target? Man, I was happy thinking about the brownie points that I just scored with the new sexy teacher. Now I became a target of those weirdos. Though I am a bit lustful and dream about having a lot of lovers, it is not the time nor do I want to gain them in this way. It doesn''t matter. There are many ways to escape their grasp for the time being. In time, they would move on to different targets. --- "Hello students, My name is Ang zewood. I am a Tier-5 Firezer. To someone who doesn''t understand my profession, it is a hybrid profession. It belongs neither to the warrior profession nor to the mage profession but at the same time belongs to both". "So I can teach both spell casters and warriors at the same time. Though I can''t properly teach you, I think for most of you it is enough in the first, maybe even in the second year. Once you reach a certain realm, I''ll arrange you different teachers based on your fighting". "Until then, I am your teacher. I''ll be teaching you everything in the first year, and that includes not just theory but also the training part". "Unless you show that your talent requires personal training, you have to stay in my ss". "Now, since you are all in 1-A, that means you enjoy a lot of resources and the academy expects you to train hard and improve yourselves or face the consequences". "Remember, there is a test every six months. If you fail to keep up, you will be demoted to the lower ss, and at the same time, someone from the lower ss will enter this ss and upy your ce. Your residence would also change if you lose your rank in the ss. So don''t waste time and train diligently or you will be left behind by your peers". "Now, let''s go train for today", she said as she left the room. Most didn''t understand what she meant by that, but I did and so did a few. We got out of the ss, eager to follow her or else get lost on the first day itself. The others followed behind quickly. Chapter 66: My training in the academy (1) Ang was waiting at the far end of the corridor when we got out of the ss. I was among the first to leave the ss, and from the expression on her face, I would say that she was impressed. After seeing us, she turned around the corner and disappeared. Seeing her disappear, we increased our speed so that we could catch up with her, which I am sure is not going to happen unless she has reached the destination. As I thought, she would appear and disappear within seconds. This was to make sure that we knew where we were headed and did not lose the way. I don''t know what others were thinking but Ang looks like she is enjoying this. The others I don''t know whether they observed it or not, we have been walking for half an hour and we passed amon ce quite a few times. When I understood what she was doing, I slipped away from the others and entered the supposed destination. It was a gamble on my part, but from the first minute Ang appeared in the ss, she didn''t seem to be a normal teacher. If I am right, she should be testing our ''Directional Sense''. It''s not like we have GPS in this world. Though there are airnes, they still depend on the good old stars and sun in the sky to estimate their direction of travel. If a person doesn''t have knowledge about where they are and where we were walking, it would end in one way, death. We are all fighting professionals. Professionals like Alchmists or cksmiths are not in these six sses. They have separate sses depending on their profession. They don''t fight, and so they don''t usually go out without an escort. However, we are different. Others would depend on us when we leave the city borders and losing track of where we are would lead to air of some dangerous monsters and would probably end up in its belly. The first rule of survival is to never initiate a fight. After all, the demise of a person is due to a fight involving that person either directly or indirectly. The second rule of survival is to run away from the opponent if you can''t beat them. For this, you had to have good directional sense. If you identally wander into their of a powerful monster, then it is initiating a fight. When you are running away from an opponent and run into another powerful enemy, it is due to theck of senses. For a fighter it is essential. I think that was what she was trying to do or at least I hope so. If I am wrong, no, I don''t want to think about it. Let''s just see if I am right or wrong. --- Hahaha, I was right. The training ground is here. This was an indoor ground, which was not visible to others from the outside. It was probably constructed in this way so that outsiders wouldn''t disturb the students training inside. I went on to check what the training ground could offer me that my own personal training room in my quarters couldn''t. If I want to keep my progress a secret from others, I should try to avoid themon training grounds and have to use a personal training room as much as possible. While I was busy checking the training facilities, others entered after another half an hour. "You are not children anymore. You should be able to pick clues from your surroundings and understand what is happening. You disappoint me", Ang was lecturing the students, who followed her inside. I fear that she was not disappointed, rather she didn''t care about who arrivedte. She was only making words probably to inspire us or for something along the lines. As someone who is good at acting, I have a feeling that she already marked many of the students as unworthy. Unless they prove otherwise, I feel that she would do what she was paid for and nothing more for them. They all thought that everyone missed the clues but it wasn''t until they were inside that they saw me, checking the training facilities. They were surprised to see. While she continued berating others, she gave a look of approval. She was very pleased with how I acted, from the first minute. Though I was lusting after her body, I didn''t show any fluctuations on my face. Then when she walked out of the room, I was one of the first who started to follow her. Most of all, I was the only one who was able to detect that she was testing us when she gave us a tour of the academy. Hahaha, one day I surely would get her to warm my bed. That day would arrive sooner thanter. On that day, I could...wait why am I wasting time dreaming about that now? I can enjoy her when the timees. For now, let''s concentrate on the training. This is the best way to increase her favorability. Ang then directed the students to pick their weapons and train against the puppets that were arranged beforehand. These puppets, though didn''t attack, they are very mobile. Ang approached me, and said, "Magnus, I see that you are a spellcaster, and your choice of weapon is a staff and you are very good at using the staff as a weapon to beat your opponent. I can help with your casting but unfortunately, I can''t help with the staff as I am a de user and have never used Staff Arts before. I''ll arrange someone for you". Damn it, if she arranges someone else, I would lose the chance of getting to know her better. I need toe up with something that not only lets me keep in touch with her but also would be useful to me. Hmm, there is something that can achieve both. Hehehe, in fact, it can help me keep in "touch" with her. "Mrs. zewod, there is something I like to ask?" I spoke to her. She smiled and said, "What is it, Magnus?" "Do you know Hand Combat Arts?" I asked her. "Yes", she replied, confused by my question. Haha, there still is a chance of getting my hands on her. My luck is good. I wonder what my luck value actually is. Chapter 67: My training in the academy (2) Oh, she knows how to fight hand-to-hand. I can use this as an excuse for her to me a lot. Not only can I fill a gap in my strength, but at the same time, I can increase my interactions with her, which can lead her to my bed. Before I could ask her, she poured a drum of cold water on my head and my little brother. "Magnus, I know what you want to ask me. Learning more skills may appear as a good thing but in fact, it is not. Too many skills would leave you being a mediocre person", she said. Oh, Ang, what you said is true but that doesn''t apply to me. The problem is that I can''t just say that to her. So I need to pull up something or else the chances of getting her would reduce even further. "Professor, it''s not like I am trying to learn everything but I am trying to cover my weakness. I am a spellcaster and that means, if someone closes the distance between us, they can end me. So what I need is how to survive in closebat", I said. "Don''t let anyone get close to you?" she said. "Hahaha",ughed lightly before speaking again, "Professor, that was a ridiculous thing to say". "Why?" she raised her eyebrows to know the reason why I was contradicting her. "I am a human and though I don''t mingle much, it was not as if I would like to bury myself in a room forever. There would always be people whom I have to get close to", I said with a smirk on my face. Her eyes changed, "Even though to learn everything to fight closebat professionals, you can''t seed in defeating them and also wipe that smirk off your face". "Mrs. zewood, you misunderstood me. What I said was to survive not to defeat my opponent", I corrected her, without smirking this time. She smiled and nodded, satisfied with my answer. "Okay, I need to prepare before we start. I''ll inform you about thatter. We shall see when we can allocate time to teach you handbat arts", she said and left after that. Now, it is right on track. I can train under her and at the same time have the chance to increase her favorability towards me. Then it would be time to...hehehe. --- The day went by and what we did was training all day. First Ang brought us to the training center and let us train by ourselves. She woulde and speak with each student one by one at a time, giving them hints about how to increase their strength. The only break we got was two hours to get some rest and eat lunch in the noon. Excluding that there was no rest till dark. For me, it was a breeze because my stamina is very high even whenpared with those of Shield Professionals. Since I didn''t show that high value when I was tested during the entrance examination, I had to act like I was drained. So I can only train, taking short rests in the middle. Showing them that I can recover faster is not a bad thing. They would just link to that it was my hidden talent or something. There were skills that could improve stamina recovery or mana recovery but a person would naturally have those skills, those it was not shown on the status panel. So there was no problem for me to train for long, as long as I took adequate rest in the middle. This way I can use the best of the facilities and also create a way into Ang''s mind. As a teacher, she would definitely be willing to teach someone who was not only talented but also diligent in training. After all, talent does not always decide the future. It ys a role in deciding what step one can reach but that was it. Only hard work ys the main role for that to happen. So even though students with talents are favored, it wouldn''t be always the case, at least I assume that was not the case in the eyes of Ang. If she favored talents, then she wouldn''t have acted like that from the first minute. She showed contempt towards almost all of the students. It wasn''t just the boys but the girls were also included in this. The girls showed jealousy as soon as the boys'' attention turned towards Ang. Then those girls turned their attention towards me. I don''t think that she missed those little details. Those girls weren''t as capable as me in hiding those expressions. Anyway, from what I saw and observed about her, she belongs to the category of people who would favor people who work hard. Hmm, thinking about that, I feel like there is something wrong with this situation. What might that be? Wait a minute. In those web novels, the protagonist would get the favor of some teacher and improve a lot. Most of the time, the teacher would be female, who would be his future love interest. Hmm, that does mean I would fight with a protagonist. Humph, I am not afraid of some little jerks. Though I want to live peacefully and not involve myself in unnecessary conflicts, that doesn''t mean I am afraid of facing others. If that protagonist is that idiot Dorian, I would end him once and for all, so that I wouldn''t face problems in the future. From the way he was looking at me all day, I think he was having some bad thoughts about me. It would be best to eradicate such a problem, sooner thanter. Now, let''s rest for the night. It is going to be a long day from tomorrow. This was because I had to go to the dungeon. Ang''s ss is only once a week. That would be the day that we can use the facilities. The other days were assigned to other sses. There would be a day gap in between, when anyone can use the facilities, except that it would cost points. Before leaving Ang informed us about that. It was not just the facilities but also the food. The academy would provide basic food, three times a day but if you want nutritious food, you can only pay for that. I need that nutritious food. There is some food in the space ring that my mother packed for me that would be over in a few days. If I can''t get that food, there won''t be any changes in my STR, STA, AGI, or DEX attributes. So I have to visit the dungeon from tomorrow. Chapter 68: Me, grinding the dungeons (1) Early in the morning I woke up and refreshed myself before I went to eat breakfast. The meals can be ordered from the canteen and they are delivered to the residence that you are living at. The delivery agents were all the students. They can earn points in this way. This may be one of the safest ways to earn points but the pay is low and also the canteen wouldn''t hire too many. There is a requirement that needs to be fulfilled. The AGI status should be high enough in order to gain this job. Even though the pay is low and there are many requirements, there is too muchpetition for this job. It is the same for all other jobs that can pay you for working in a safe environment. Only by going through dungeons can one make a lot of points. The items that they received in the dungeon can be used to get points from the academy. These items are mostly herbs, monster parts, and other raw materials that were used by other professionals to create equipment, potions, etc... So going to the dungeon is the best way for me to earn a lot of points. Of course, since the dungeon monsters are weak, they wouldn''t yield much EXP for me to reach the next Tier easily. I have to go through thousands of such dungeons to reach peak Teir-4. It was just a waste of time to do so but these dungeons are useful for me in another way. --- After having breakfast, I split a clone, who would show my "status" ording to the academy. I even added the Mind Control skill, so that it can be increased while in the dungeon. After all skills like that needed to be practised on others. This ce is full of awakners and they wouldn''t probably be affected by the skill. They may even be alerted about me. So I can only use it on monsters in the dungeons. While my clone would go to the dungeon, I would train in my personal training center. This way I can use the best of resources and not be found by others. "Oh,e back by noon, and don''t do anything else other than go to the dungeon", I informed the clone. It was not a good idea to leave the clone alone for too much time when there were people around, especially people who had chance of finding that there was something wrong with the clone. So it was best if the clone kept interactions to a minimum. I can go to the dungeon and could have split inside but that would be just a waste of time. The entry dungeons that are avable for me are of low level, which can be easily cleared even by my clone. So I had to wait for the clone to clean the dungeon. It is a waste of time. If I use multiple clones, then the dungeon would be cleared but that would also raise suspicions about me. I already created enough suspicions as it is. I have made everyone believe that I am strong but not freakishly strong. It was only till I reached Tier-7, which I assume I can reach by the time I leave the academy. Once I reach that stage, there would be very few that can threaten me at that point. Even if theye to know some of my secrets, I would be strong not just in rank but also in skill levels, which can level the ying field. No need to hide from that point on. All I needed to do was to make sure that I made the optimum use of the academy resources and propel myself faster. If I can reach Tier-7 before the stipted time, it would be best but my calctions say that it would be at least by the end of the academy if there were no problems whilepleting the promotion missions. --- My clone went to grind the dungeons, while I started to practice my Staff. There are no live puppets here, just a static one. Those would cost a lot and though the academy is rich, they wouldn''t install those puppets in a first-year''s residence. If you want to practice, you can go to the closed-door training center that the teacher took us to yesterday. The live puppets were avable only in there. There are also some personal rooms inside, where you can use those puppets and keep your data confidential. I can use them when I have enough points. There are gravity rooms too but I suppose I should avoid them for now. As a spellcaster, there is no need for someone like me to use those rooms. Those are for the Physical fighting professionals like swordsmen, knights, etc... If you have hybrid sses, you can use them but for a spellcaster, it would be hell. So no one would use them. Arrrghhh!!! It looks like there are too many conditions. For now, I should concentrate on certain aspects that correspond to my profession. I can always use some other ways to improve my other strengths and the gaps in my power one by one. There is no rush. I have yet to cross fifteen. There is a lot of time for me to slowly improve. Let''s concentrate on what I can improve now and let my future self think about what to do in the future. --- Ang zebood is a top-tier beauty that everyone was trying to get into her good graces. It was not because of her beauty but also her strength. It was not just because of her rank that everyone was afraid of her. It was because of who her grandfather was. Tobias zewood is a Tier-8 fire mage. After reaching Tier-8, he became an honorary member of the royal court which made it possible to extend their family''s strength to a new height. Tobias was usually reclusive doing his own things and wouldn''t bother with much, which made him have fewer enemies. There was also another reason why he had fewer enemies. When he was angered, he would wipe his enemies clean. Such a fierce man has a soft spot for his granddaughter Ang. He pampered her from the beginning and if something bad happens to her, they have to pray that they die quickly. What they didn''t know was that a young man was trying to pierce that granddaughter''s heart. If they knew about that, they would pity his soul. Chapter 69: Me, grinding the dungeons (2) Something weird happened. I can feel it. I don''t know what exactly it is but something happened with my clone. When I started to use clones, I couldn''t feel anything. I would only know that they died after they did, but that began to change as my skill level improved. I started to feel the way that they diedter on. Now, I can feel the emotions of the clones. Though there was no direct link for me to know what was happening, I still felt that something was happening with my clone. Whatever it was, I could only wait until noon to know exactly what had happened. For now let''s concentrate on using this time to improve myself, rather than thinking about what happened. --- Afternoon... Hah, even with that much stamina, this was definitely tiring. Well, I say that the products work as they were advertised. Since I wouldn''t be able to enter the gravity rooms without rising eyes, I decided to use the best use of the Cosmic Market. I had already sold the items I don''t need or have no use in the future. I don''t want to answer questions about those items if someone sees them on me. I mean I looted a lot from that bandit cave and it was considered evidence or ck market material. There are also the carcasses of Tier-3 monsters that I held with me. I couldn''t sell all my kills at the Winter City without raising concerns. These were something that I should hang on to. So I sold those items and anything that I didn''t need to keep around. After selling them I got many credits, which I didn''t use back then. Rather than buying unnecessary items that I can''t use at present, I thought that it was best to leave them there and now I used them to buy weights. These weights are not like the usual weights. They are essentially innerwear. There is a vest, handcuffs, and leg straps. They are equally distributed weight, instead of having too much on a single spot like usual weights. There are settings that can vary the weight of these clothes. These clothes are essentially weightless in their inactive state. They can be turned on using magic and depending on the weight setting, the magic consumption would be. As I was rxing, my clone returned. Seeing it first I wanted to merge it with me but then I remembered the weird feeling that I had after letting it go to the dungeon. Moreover, I need to know what happened in the dungeon and outside to make sure that no one would get suspicious. My clone started to exin what exactly happened from the time it left to now. It was Ang. She met my clone when it was on its way to the dungeon. She gave him a timetable to him for our Hand Combat Arts. It was a good thing that I learned about this before merging it with me. Merging the clone back with me doesn''t merge its memories with me. So I need to know after I send my clone away. With how I only used those clones away in the wild, I forgot about that. If I hadn''t asked about it just now, there was a chance that I would have lost my chance with Ang. It would be pretty embarrassing for her if I failed to show up for the ss after I asked her for it. If something like that happens this early, then there is no way that I can recover. --- After absorbing the clone, I checked the details of my status. There isn''t any visible change in my status but I can feel that a few changes would appear in a day or two at thetest. Though it feels good that I can increase a level in two to three days, for me that kind of progress is too slow. There are a lot of skills in my panel, and to make them reach level 100 would take years. Though there is no cmity approaching to my knowledge, it would be best to improve my skills as much as possible. No one knows what will happen tomorrow. Moreover, I know that the knowledge that I can ess is not high, and there are many things that are not visible to me at this point. Though I am not interested in reaching Tier-5 at this point, I have to reach it after we visit the secret realm. There would be a lot of monsters and also the threat of others who enter the secret realm. It''s just not humans that can enter this realm. As long as they have the token, they can enter this realm. So being weak would get one killed in there. Moreover, in order to get my hands on that token, I have to work hard and maintain top rank in the first years. Though the restriction was not year-wise, the academy restricts entry to first-year students. This was the same for all humans. This was so because, if the seniors were still at low ranks and wanted topete in this realm, then they were considered weak. The academy always puts its efforts in the first years. Once you cross into the second year, the efforts would be concentrated around a few who showed their worth. Though the awakened is considered as a small portion of the poption, there was nock of awakened. What the kingdomcks is the talent and the ones who put effort into work. So If I show enough talent, there is a chance that the academy might provide some life-saving items for me. The secret realm is dangerous and not everyone who enters the realm, returns. They wouldn''t want to lose their best prospect. The only way for them to give me some life-saving artifact was to maintain my top rank among the first years. I love my life. So this was something that I needed. There are some artifacts in the Cosmic Market but those are very costly and I can''t afford them. So I can only pin my hopes on the academy. Chapter 70: My training with Angela (1) I continued with the same routine of grinding the dungeons for two more days and umted a lot of points. These would be useful for me in the next few days, but I believe that they would soon disappear, just as if they were never present. The resources cost a lot and high tier resources cost much more. The pitiful points that I earned in these three days, were not sufficient enough for me as I have reached Tier-4 and my attributes are very high, even the ones that have nothing to do with my profession. To further increase my ttribute value, I need rich food and that would cost a lot of points. So, every minute of free time had to be spent in the dungeon and earn as many points as I could. Moreover,pared to outside items sold here are a bit cheaper. This was done so that talented but poor students would have a chance to use these resources and quickly improve themselves. There are no restrictions on the items brought by the students but if it was found that they sold those items outside for gold, then they would be punished ordingly. The wealth woulde and go, and that depends on whether we have the strength to keep that wealth with us. So, what everyone should strive for was strength and then wealth, or else it would be disastrous to them in the future. Anyway, I need many resources that the academy is selling and to get my hands on them, I need those points. Points can be earned through doing tasks or clearing the dungeons and selling those drops that I can collect from the dungeon. There was almost nothing else that I could do in order to gain those points, at least at this time. There would be a monthly evaluation that determines the number of points awarded to a student. Of course, the points awarded would ording to the ss that they were. I am in ss 1-A, so if I get the top rank, I will get a lot more points whenpared to the top rank of other sses. From what I heard, even the lowest rank from ss 1-A would get far more points than the topper from 1-F. This is how it is and if you want to change that, you have to improve and upgrade your ss. This would be the only way one can increase their share of resources. Though a lot of points were awarded in these evaluations, they can''t bepared to the half-year evaluation. Though it is said to be half a year, it was done after five months. A month after that would be the holidays. This remains the same for the five years in the academy. This half-year evaluation is also where the students would be reshuffled and the points awarded would be ording to the new ces. This is like a big vicious cycle. The only way to earn points is through strength and for strength one has to have enough resources. These resources can only be obtained if you have wealth and that wealth can be gained if you have strength. Though the academy has reced the wealth with points and decreased the cost of the resources, the rich kids have better chances of gaining those points quickly as they would have a good foundation to do so. Unless your luck is good enough to break the chains of poverty, or it would take generations to get out of this issue. So I am happy that I was born in a noble house. Due to that, I have a good foundation. I can reach higher levels of power easily and faster than many other students in the kingdom. With that foundation, I can easily grind the dungeons and get points faster. Though the consumption would be very high, earning them would not be low either. So I had to constantly enter and clean the dungeon, well, my clone had to every day whenever I found some free time. This would be my schedule, this year. Today is not that day though. I have to stop the grinding for today as today is the day that my training with Ang starts. So I had to skip the dungeon grinding for this day. Usually, my clone would be in the dungeon and I would be in my quarters training. It was very efficient. There is a breakthrough in my skill levels. Though Ang''s ss would break my rhythm, it was necessary. I can''t just be happy with the few skills that I have. Though it can be considered as many, there are a lot of ws in my attacks and defense, that would make me vulnerable. I need to close those ws. Since I have clones, I can easily improve the levels of those skills. So there is no need to worry on that front. Moreover, having an experienced person as a person teacher would yield good results, especially when that teacher is hot. --- When I woke up, I got ready and then had breakfast. After that, I walked to the ce that Ang mentioned before to my clone. She gave me instructions on how to reach the ce, so it wasn''t hard to find the ce. When I entered the room, I was surprised. This was because this ce is a training facility but it was different. It has much more advanced equipment and tools than what we have in the training rooms. I believe that this is a faculty training room. Though they are teaching, they still need to be fit if there is a need for mobilization or if there is a monster tide. When I entered the room, there was only person training. I can easily guess that it is Ang. With my improved INT, it became easy for me to remember many things. I walked up to her and was about to greet her, "Ah, you are right on time", a sweet voice greeted me instead. Chapter 71: My training with Angela (2) Like on earth, there are seven days a week here on Ragos. There are twelve months too but the difference is that there are only 336 days in a year, making 28 days per month. The first day is when we have to attend the ss held by Ang zewood. This would be when we can enter the elite training facility that is indoors. The other five sses would follow us in the same manner. Only on the seventh day would it be free to use by all. This day is a free day for everyone. There would be no sses held on this day. When I asked Ang to train me in Handbat, she decided to teach me this day, which is the fifth day of the week. The ss would be held weekly on that day unless she says otherwise. This was what she said to my clone on the second day. When I arrived at the pre-arranged ce, I only saw her. The room was not big but it was enough for a person to train, simr in model to the personal training room that I have in my quarters. The only difference was that this room was much more advanced and sophisticated inparison to mine. This probably is Ang''s personal training room. We top students have our own, so why can''t the staff? They have to be fit in order to teach us. Moreover, they always want to improve themselves, even if they settle down to teaching. This doesn''t mean that they have retired from improving themselves anymore. --- As I entered the room, I saw Ang practicing with a sandbag. I have no idea what she was doing with that. She is already too powerful to p away that but everyone has their own routines. The main thing was that she was wearing sexy sportswear. Except for the important areas, everything else was exposed. This is good. If I can get the chance to get my hands on her, this type of dress would provide the best way of skin contact. After all if I want to ignite lustful thoughts in her mind about me, skin contact is a must. Without that, it would take a long time. To make sure that the first session would not turn into an awkward session, I pulled out my mind from other thoughts and approacher her to greet her. Before I could, she greeted me, "Ah, you are right on time. Good we can start your training". "First, you are a Warlock, and that means your attacks would be spells that would beunched from a distance. So usually, you don''t need to be afraid of the enemies as long as they are solved. The problem arises in certain conditions". "One was that the opponent was also a spell caster. As long as you have magic resistance to his attacks and he doesn''t to your attacks, you can solve this problem. With long-range attacks, there are professionals who would hurt their enemies using physical attacks. As long as you can cast a shield that blocks those attacks it would be fine". "I know that you should already have an idea about this but just in case I am reminding you again. This was because the magic defense is not as simple as putting up a physical shield", she said. "What do you mean by that, teacher?" I asked curiously, though I had an idea what she just said. "When facing a magic attack, you as a spellcaster would use a magic shield to protect yourself but what shield would you conjure?" she asked. "Hmm, from the books that I read, it was said that an Arcane shield is the best way to survive a magic attack", I said. "You were right and wrong at the same time", she said. Seeing my confused and frowned face, she chuckled, "You are right because, the arcane shield would protect you no matter the magic attack but at the same time it won''t youpletely, unless your skill is way higher than your opponent". "For example, if your opponent casts a Fire attack spell at you, then a Water or Ice shield would be the best to offset that attack inparison to others. If you use Wind shield, it would end up much worse than it should be". "Wind and Fire are best friends. They won''t offset each other, rather they would cause much bigger problems. So you have to find an element shield that can offset the other element, but that would be difficult. It was not easy to learn all elemental shields and improve them. So it was advised to learn Arcane Shield, which offsets every magic attack to an extent", she said. I nodded in understanding. It was true that certain elements would need another certain element to stop it. if you use a wrong element, it would do nothing which is the best case scenario, or make it worse, which is the worst case scenario. "Okay, you should learn about these from the books avable in the library. Now let''s actually discuss what you are here for" "You have Staff Arts and it is already at the Intermediate stage. I think that''s more than enough for you but sometimes there won''t be any weapons avable. So you have to turn your own body into a weapon. For that, you need to learn some type of body arts". "To make sure that you survive in any confrontation was that you have good defense and mobility. As you are not a physical profession, I decided that it was best that you learn some Movement Arts rather than Defence Art". "I will show some defense moves but they are actual defence moves. Remember that in mind". "Keep your hands up, like this", she showed me how to properly defend myself with my hands. The ss is now in session. Though I am disappointed that there would be only a few basic defense moves, while most of our sses would concentarte on movement, it wasn''t a total failure. I got some eye candy and more that, she was willing to appear in such a way in front of me. I don''t think that she would appear infront of other students in such a way. It is a small win for now. Slowly and steadily, I would earn a big win for myself. Chapter 72: My five months in the academy (1) Before I knew it, the first semester went by. Nothing big happened in these five months. Every week, one day was for the sses that were held for the entirety of ss 1-A. Another day for training with Ang. Except for these two days, I spent all other days either in training or in the library. There is a lot of knowledge that is avable here in the academy''s library. Unlike the outside world, where knowledge is restricted based on your rank, the restrictions here are much less. Except for some forbidden and ssified information, almost everything is avable to the students irrespective of their ranks or year of study. Almost 70% of the students who graduate from the Royal Academy have the potential to reach Tier-5 and above unless something unexpected happens to them. So the academies are allowed to let the students know the knowledge beforehand, but they shouldn''t spread the information. This was so because a lot of the information could cause mass hysteria among the poption. If these kinds of knowledge leak, there are many evil people who can use this knowledge to cause more damage to society than good. Even with a lot of restrictions, there are many problems that arise. If this knowledge was added, they it would reach a point that would be uncontroble. So there are a lot of restrictions ced on knowledge. --- Coming to the academy is the best choice, rather than hunting and leveling up in the wilds. Let me show you what I gained from the training in these five months and you can understand the reason. "Status" -- Name: Magnus Frostwolf Age: 15 Titles: Son of Viscount; Great yer; Hidden Smiden; Dungeon Conqueror; Primary ss: Draconic Warlock Secondary ss: Soul Arbiter (Unique) Affinity: Shadow, Blood, Space Bloodline: ck Dragon (2% Purity) Physique: Devourer Physique (EX) Talent: Ritualistic Summoning (EX) Trait: Silk Smooth Skin(A bit Improved); Sleepy; Aurum Skin; Sexy Smile; Rank: Tier-4 Level: 2 Health Points (HP): 316,328,117 Strength (STR): 943 Endurance (END): 1,487 Dexterity (DEX): 693 Agility (AGI): 1,128 Intelligence (INT): 25,255,170 Magic Power (MP): 380,103,700 Soul Energy: 5,500 (+200%) Charm: 3,009 ss Skills: Shadow Bolt; Blood Dominance; Draconic Magic; Shadow Curse; Blood Heal; Shadow Shift; Blood Lock; Draconic Pressure; Shadow Merge; Blood Drain; Soul Judge; Soul Prison; Soul Container; Nether mes; Shadow control; Blood Boil; Special Skills: Rank Booster; Status Disguise; Refined Skills: Shadow Bolt Volley Lv. 10; Skills: Evade Lvl. 12; Dodge Lvl. 12; Sprint Lvl. 10; Alertness Lvl. 10; Devour Lvl. 5; Fusion Lvl. 10; Split Lvl. 10; Demon Gaze Lvl. 3; Strengthen Lvl. 10; Tag & Track Lvl. 4; Night Vision Lvl. 10; Spatial Storage Lvl. 8; Mind Control Lvl. 5; Mind Probe Lvl. 4; Mind Defence Lvl. 1; Dragon Blood Evolution Lvl. 1; Scent Recognition Lvl. 5; Sexual Stamina Lvl. 2; Pet World Lvl. 1; Parry Lvl.2; Resistances: Physical Resistance Lvl. 12; Light Resistance Lvl. 4; Poison Resistance Lvl. 4; Magic Resistance (Non-Attribute) Lvl. 5; Space Resistance Lvl. 3; Fire Resistance Lv. 5; Water Resistance Lvl. 5; Mind Resistance Lv. 1; Weapon Arts: Advanced Staff Arts Lvl. 1; Basic Movement Arts Lvl, 6; -- There are many changes in my status panel. First of all, the attribute values of STR, STA, AGI, and DEX improved. This was due to my physique. I had a lot of healthy and nutritious food, far richer than what I used to have in my house. As my attribute values increased, the increase in attributes reduced if I ate lesser-category foods. As time went on, in order to improve, I could only eat higher-category foods in order to increased their value. It was not just in attributes but there are many changes that appeared in my skills and Arts. Ang didn''t teach me any defense arts or fighting arts. This was because she believed that my strength was still too low and I have better chances of surviving if I escape in such situations rather than fighting. She also advised me to learn the skill called Parry. It wasn''t exactly a defense skill, more live a divert skill. Instead of taking a shot head-on, it was best to guide it away. in this way, the damage received would be less and the consumption of energy would also be less. This would help tost long in a battle and also have extra energy to escape if wining is not in the cards. So she insisted on training me in this way. This was good for me, so I didn''t refuse her though I wouldn''t get any chances of having intimate contact with her. --- The training yielded in these past five months yielded me a lot of good results. From ANg I learned Movement Arts which I was able to train to Basic Lvl. 6. Due to her rmendation, I learned the skill Parry, which was only increased to Lvl. 2. My Staff Arts has improved and reached Advanced Lvl. 1 stage. Due to me concentrating more on these Parry didn''t improve much, which I should concentrate on in the next five months before the secret realm passage opens. There are a lot of skills improved. My refined skill, Shadow Bolt Volley improved by levels. In addition to this my Night Vision and also Spatial Storage improved by three levels. Evade, Dodge, Sprint, Tag & Track, and Mind Control have improved their skill levels by two levels. My Mind Probe and Sexual Stamina only increased by a level because I couldn''t concentrate on them. Of all these Sexual Staima could easily be increased as long as I have sex but with too much training, my mind would be exhausted and there wasn''t much time to indulge in those acts. Moreover, Inari spent most of her time searching for a way back home in the books that I brought from the library. The major improvement I made in these five months was Scent Recognition. It improved by four levels. There were too many people and monsters that I came into contact with on a daily basis. So it was rather easy to improve that skill. Coming to resistances, both Fire and Water Resistances has increased by three levels. This means that minor fire or water attacks would have no effect on me anymore. Due to training and dungeon grinding, both Space and Physical Resistance improved by one level. If I was at a low physical resistance level, maybe it would have improved by a lot but that was not the case. Such improvements can''t be obtained easily in the wild. Moreover, the chances of losing life without proper training are high. So training in academies is better to not only survive longer but also to reach greater heights in the future. Chapter 73: My five months in the academy (2) With the best training facilities that were avable to me in the academy, I was able to improve my skills faster than anyone else. Though the numbers didn''t improve faster, the increase in strength is very high. As the skill level increases, the rate at which they improve decreases. Increasing a skill level at level 1 by three levels is far easier than increasing a skill level at level 11 by one level. The difficulty rises as the skill proceeds further. The real problem would be after reaching level 10. It was not just after level 10. At every ten-level interval, the difficulty of improving skill levels increases much more than what it is at a single-level improvement. If there was no such difficulty, then all those old monsters who have been alive for centuries would have reached level 100 a long time ago. Though it was not made if they have reached level 100, it was said that the difficulty to reach such a level is very high. It was recorded that a decade ago, there was a small battle with one of our neighbor kingdoms and one of those old ancestors had toe out of the seclusion to deal with an old ancestor from the other side. They each mocked one another that they had yet to reach level 100. It was said that at Level 100, one can be said to be in perfect control of that skill. They would be the true masters and could even defeat creatures that were higher than themselves. If one of them had reached level 100, that country would have been the other one. These types of battles are quitemon. I looked into it and there were many asions that the old ancestors woulde out and use words to quarrel instead of power. At this stage, they know that if they battle each other, they could injure their own nation identally which would give ess to a third party. This was why they would never directly quarrel unless their levels were far above the other. It was recorded that the ancestor level crossed level 90 a century ago. Even a centuryter, he has yet to reach level 100. It was said that the other ancestors from those other nations would be around the same level. So there was no reason to fight each other. Fighting each other at this point can damage their armies or damage each other. This would give way to the other wolves, which they never agreed to. These ancestors are a kind of deterrent for each other nations to not cross a certain line. If that line is crossed, it would be mutually assured destruction. Though it was an unspoken rule that the ancestors shouldn''t attack each other, the nations would probe each other to verify each other''s level. This probing was to see if there was anyone who closing on reaching level 100. If one of them reached level 100, especially in resistance or attack skills, then it would spell doom for them. Like not to attack each other, there was another unspoken rule among them or at least that''s what I believe so. It was take down anyone who was close to reaching that level if others were far away from that level. They should know that an ancestor with a level 100 skill would be dangerous to their own nation. So I am sure that these old monsters would battle a great battle when one of them is near level 100. --- There is something else that I gained from the academy in addition to improving my skills. Well, I should say that it was Inari who gained something. She found a way back home. She found a ritual that can reverse a summoning. The summoned creature can be sent back from where it was pulled from. There are only two issues with it. The resources required to do the reverse summoning and the ce where it has to be done. The reverse summoning can only be done in the ce where the summoning happened. So I can only do the ritual back at home. This was the easy problem. I can reverse summon her when I am at home. The issue was the resources. They were considered rare and are very difficult to acquire. The only possible way for me to acquire those is through the Cosmic Market at this time but there were no items listed. From the information that I gathered from the Cosmic Market guide, it was connected to various worlds but I believe that it would be the same case as me. It was said that the market wouldn''t open to everyone who held the Scroll, only to a few. It means that the persons who can view the market don''t have any items that are simr to the items that I need. Hmm, it would have been nice if there was an option where I can order the required items and sellers can directly send them to me if they find them. I mean what everyone would sell is an item that can be sold easily. No one would like to sell items that are not needed much unless specifically asked. So there might be a chance that someone out there can get their hands on the items that I need but with no option like that, I can''t get my hands on them. Finding them in the real market out here can be considered a dream. Most of those items have other uses. So they have a great demand and once those materials appear, they would disappear within seconds. With no other way, my hopes of gathering those resources shifted to the secret realm. It was said that many resources that are rare in the world can be found in those secret realms but there would be danger associated with them. Afraid of those monsters, I don''t need to. I am at Tier-4 and the top boss would be at Tier-5 at the most. As long as I can avoid that one, most of the monsters there wouldn''t be any problem for me. This Tier-5 would be at the core and wouldn''t wander around other territories. So as long as I don''t enter the core where it is located, I can easily sweep all the resources in the secret realm. Hopefully, I will be able to pick up all the resources without needing to enter the core area. Chapter 74: My five months in the academy (3) In these five months, things are going very well, at least on the surface. Things would not be fine if I pulled out the cover. There are many undercurrents happening that could be a problem for me in the future. When I obtained the Cosmic Market, I saw that the worlds that were connected were not just medieval magical worlds but also advanced ones. The only prerequisite is that the world is based on magic. Don''t think about Ragos as an advanced world. Though there are many modern facilities like on Earth, there is a lot missing here. It can be only said that this world is better than the medieval world, where there are mobiles, the Inte, etc... Magic is something...how shall I put this... magical. Anything can be achieved through this but there are many avenues that were not even touched. They might touched such avenues in the past but lost in the subsequent wars. It happens. This was not unique to this world but to all worlds. Wars destroy knowledge. The knowledge that was gained by working for centuries. The knowledge that was gained through hard work would disappear when a war breaks. Of course, it was not easy to make that happen. To make such a thing happen, the war has to be a huge war that consumes countries and races. On Earth, these types of wars happen. Though not always huge, there would be many barbarians who would rather destroy and plunder, rather than create. There was much knowledge that was lost on an insignificant like Earth, which has a very small history cycle. Ragos on the other hand, has a history that goes back thousands of years. Many civilizations rose and fell in this world. Though all the knowledge was not preserved, from time to time there would be someone who unearths the ancient knowledge that was lost ages ago. Most of the time, the knowledge would be iplete but even iplete knowledge from ancient times was said to be much more profound than the present knowledge. It was said that the inte and mobiles were derived from that ancient knowledge. If not for that, there would have been no information boom in this world at this time. Of course, the knowledge that was gained wasplete, so many of the present-day powerhouses had to sit down and create the inte based on the knowledge that they obtained. The one who obtained this knowledge is now one of the powerful mogul, Jonas Ardey, whom no one dares to provoke. He is considered a neutral ground and whatever power initiates war with him would be considered an enemy of the other powers. This was because he kind of createdmunications in this present world. His customers include not just small kingdoms as I live in but empires that span multiple Gleserias. He was said to be from the kingdom of Konn, which is far away from Gleseria. So our kingdom doesn''t need to think about troubling Jonas Ardey. Though he doesn''t live there at this moment and was said to have settled in a powerful empire, the kingdom of Konn being his birtnd, enjoys the protection of the empire. Of course, it was sad in the books that Jonas has made an agreement to protect and develop Konn, but he also put some conditions. He didn''t want to cause too much trouble for his new home. So it was said that the empire would only save Konn if the threat was too much for them to survive. Even the development can be done as long as it is favorable to the empire, as long as Konn doesn''t suffer in the process. I can say that he was interested in being tied up by the empire but also not to his birth kingdom. From what I read, Jonas''s family wasn''t noble nor were rich. He was born in a poor home. He was lucky that he awakened among his family andter he was sponsored by the kingdom through the academies there. That was his repayment for the kindness that they showed but he knew that taking him was not some gamble but amon thing. The academy would provide a lot of students with such possibilities. When in the academy he was said to be average, so the resources that tilted towards him are not high. He was lucky to stumble into an ancient ruin and find the iplete knowledge that changed his life forever. That ruin not only made him rich but also powerful. If others had found that he obtained such knowledge, they would have taken it from him without paying a single coin but when he returned from that ruin he was not the same Jonas that everyone knew. His talent was considered average. It was estimated that he would only reach Tier-5 at best by the end of his time but when he came of the ruin, he was already Tier-5. From then onwards he progressed faster than his peers. This trend continued till he reached Tier-8. Once he reached that rank, his progress slowed down. He only showed that he has the knowledge after he reached Tier-7. After Tier-7, it was not easy to kill each other, if the other party wanted to run away. If they do something to the family of the escaped one, then there would be nothing holding them down. One day they would definitely return to seek revenge and would burn everything that they built. So normally, the families of Tier-7 and above aren''t touched unless that person is killed first. Until then the family would be just suppressed and controlled, so that they a have bargaining chip, if the escaped Tier-7 or above one has exceeded their strength. This was why I decided to show my true talents only after reaching Tier-7. I won''t put out everything but from that point, I don''t need to hide myself much. I can easily defeat or defend myself at that point. I would openly show some power but would keep some trump cards for myself. No matter what rank you achieve, some trump cards are always necessary. Wait, where did I go? Sorry, I was saying that... Chapter 75: My five months in the academy (4) Sorry for going off-topic. Where am I? Ah, yes, the Cosmic Market and technology. Ever since I attended that birthday party of my fiance, I felt something off with her. I felt that she was in love with William, who mixed with her parents well. I can''t do anything just because they appeared close. If I do anything, then it would only backfire on me. To others they appeared as close friends, not crossing the lines but I saw those subtle changes between them. So I asked the photographer to take photos of them and give them to me only. Of course, he wouldn''t do anything like that, until I ced a sack of gold. His views immediately changed and he became busy. He took a lot of photos and videos of those two at the party, without those two noticing anything wrong. There was definitely something going on between those two. I was sure after I observed those photos and videos. One of them is a senior at the Royal Academy, while the other joined the academy with me. Though she could only make it to ss 1-C, it doesn''t mean that there won''t be any problems for me. I don''t know what she and William nned but she came to my ss and announced about us in the second month after the academy started. This was after the monthly mandatory examination that was done for each ss. Though the examination is only for one ss each day, the other sses can watch other ss examinations. This was to motivate the students. For the lower ss, it is to say that there are more powerful students than them and they are climbing far and you would be left behind if you don''t work hard. For the higher ss students, it is to say that though they are lower ss students, they are working hard and would snatch away your ce in the ss, if you can''t keep up with your scores. In that exam, ss 1-A was the first to be examined and I came out first. Though I haven''t leveled up, I am far away from them and my skills were improved a little by the time of the test. After our ss exam waspleted, I attended the other ss exams, skipping dungeon grinding. I wanted to see how much the students from other sses improved. At that time, Elisha appeared before me and acted as if she was my fiance. That was the first time she did so. Naturally, I am suspicious of the behavior. She thought she was good at acting. If it was any other, she would have gotten away but she was dealing with me. I already knew that she didn''t want to marry me. So I bought mini camera drones from the cosmic market. No one knows that I brought those drones and they wouldn''t be cautious about me while making their little ns. With those, I followed and recorded everything they did, almost everything. Though she was a bitch, I didn''t make those drones follow into her room. They would only monitor her when she came out of the dorm and then follow her. When in the ss, they wouldn''t be monitoring her either. The teachers are quite powerful and I am sure that though these drones make sure to not make noise, one can''t estimate Tier-5 and above people. So I don''t everything that they did, but I caught a few times that they met in secret. Most of the time they were showing affection to each other but once in a while my topic woulde up. As per the marriage contract, Elisha and I would be married after we graduated from the academy. So if they want to cause damage and destroy the marriage contract, it has to be done before our graduation. William is a senior, and he would graduate before us. He wouldn''t be able to wait for five years. He would want to cancel the contract before he can graduate. As the death rate in this world is high, most people would marry by the age of twenty-five. Very few would be not married by that age. Even if not married, they would at least have a girlfriend/boyfriend by that time. This was especially true for the noble-born children. The noble families are always lesser in number whenpared tomoners. So they all try to have power that themoners can''t gain but the Awakening can makemoners much more powerful than nobles. So in order to make sure that this won''t happen, nobles would like to have as many children as possible. This was why the children who failed to awaken were shunned by their families and looked down by them. A higher number of children means that the chances of awakening increase. To have more children, it would be best to get married early. It was not just about that but in this world, though the lifespan has increased that doesn''t mean everyone would be able to enjoy that. Many would fall before their time. Marrying early means that they can leave someone behind to continue the bloodline. So for William, it has to happen before he graduates and that would be less than three years. So whatever n they hatched, the oue would be within three years, but I think that it would be probably in the secret realm. They have been meeting each other, but they didn''t do much after she showed herself as my fiance months ago. So the best way to annul the marriage contract is by killing me and the secret realm is the best ce. I am sure they would trap some idiots from the first year and make them send me through reincarnation. The problem was that I had no proof of that. All I have is that those two were being a couple behind my back. Though I know that those two are making ns against me, I can''t do anything directly. The simple enough proof is not enough because of William''s family. The Rutgurds are very powerful and they have a lot of sway in the kingdom. The best I can do with the evidence was to annul the marriage contract and make Siren family pay damages. It wouldn''t make my problem disappear. It may even cause much bigger problem. So either I need more than what I have now or I need to deal with him, without leaving any evidence behind that I am the reason for that. These are my only two options as of now. Chapter 76: My five months in the academy (5) Though on the surface, things went smoothly for me but that wasn''t the case. There were four monthly ss evaluations and in every ss evaluation, I ranked first. That wasn''t easy. I was improving, and so were the others. I had to increase the intensity of my training. So I increased the weights, thereby straining my body a little more. It was very effective while learning the Movement Arts and while advancing Staff Arts. Just like skill levels, advancing weapon arts is also not easy, especially breaking through the barrier between stages. Within a month and a half I reached Intermediate level 10 in Staff Arts but to advance to Advanced level 1, it took three months to do so. The only reason why I was able to keep was because of the points that I gained. Every time I gained a few points, helped me earn more points, which helped me to retain my number-one status. With me as number one, I gained more points, which helped me further. I was able to retain my rank because I was number one in the previous one. Every student stayed in the academy for these five months. The items they could get their hands on were practically transparent. There is nothing that can boost this power at that time. Actually, there is but that costs a lot of points, which I am sure that a first-year student can''t afford. Unless a senior or a teacher at the academy made those items avable to the students, there was no way for the students in my year to suddenly improve themselves. This is why I am sure that my rank in the half-year evaluation would remain at number one. What I needed to worry about was the changes that would happen after the holidays. Since I decided to level up in the secret realm, I remained at the same level and rank as when I entered the academy. The second ranker Malia, reached peak Tier-1 and she should have taken the promotion mission too. I don''t know if she could break by the time when the academy resumes next semester, but I have a feeling that she would break into Tier-2. This would be the best rank that would be in the first year if I had not appeared. I was lucky to have skipped Tier promotion missions three times. I mean I skipped from Tier-0 to Tier-3, in a single day, with a single kill. I was lucky in that way. For whatever reason, the Tier promotion missions were skipped and that helped me a lot. These Tier promotion missions are a hassle. It was not just my opinion but everyone''s. Even though no one likes them, they are something that one has to do. They were said to be testing from the world. It was said that the world is testing whether a person is worthy or not to be promoted to the next stage. I am not sure about that worthy part. There are many evil people who are promoted andter cause a lot of problems for people around the world. So I don''t think that the world was testing if we are worthy or not. Though I don''t agree with that part, I agree that the missions that we were assigned are pretty problematic. I myself got those weird choices for my promotion. I don''t think that I am the only one. There must be others. What I am worried about these promotion missions is that they would be more problematic as you rank up. So with how my Tier-4 promotion was, I am not sure what my Tier-5 promotion might be but I am sure that the mission would be much more cumbersome than it was before. The only reason why I was able toplete that Tier-4 promotion was because of the fourth option that I had. It was about a demon and that was the only option that felt less weird to me. I am no saint. Though I won''t go out and do evil acts, I am not someone who stands for justice and honor of others. I''ll do things that I want to, as long as it doesn''t innocent on purpose. That''s where my justice ends. Though I don''t know whether Inari was innocent or not, I took advantage of her at that time. So I repaid her back in full, at least I hope so. With the cosmic market at my disposal, I have ess to various resources. Many of them are not avable in this world. There are resources that don''t have an alternative here or it is very difficult to find. One such resource that I brought was something that could help her improve her bloodline faster. It was called Datum Flower. It has a chemical that can improve a Subus Bloodline much faster than what was avable in this world. It works on all Lust Demons, and if they find out that this existed, they would swarm over to get a piece of it. Even a piece of the flower can bring great effects for the lust demon. I gave Inari two of those flowers and they are in perfect state. It drained my credits in the market but that was able to improve her bloodline. Technically, it''s still improving. Unlike themon knowledge on how the types of resources would abruptly improve the bodies, this didn''t. It was improving her bloodline but at a steady pace. There was nothing to do on her part, except to take good nutrition. Everything else can be taken care of by the flower. I think this type of resource should be considered a national treasure. Think about it. Normally resources resources such as these would improve one''s strength exponentially. It would be too much for the body. If the strain is too much, the body can explode or the person can go into aa. It is not the best way to improve one''s strength. Any abrupt improvement can cause a lot of damage to the body in the long run. This was also one of the reasons why I decided to slow down and improve my physical condition. I mean I jumped from Tier-0 to Tier-3. It appears good on the surface but it was not. There are unseen damages in my body. Whether this is a magical world or not, there are rules that need to be followed. Though the rules were different if Ipared this world to Earth but there are rules, the rules of magic and they have to be followed. There may be someone who can break these rules but I am sure that I am at a stage where I can break the rules and not suffer consequences. Chapter 77: I learned a lot about Ragos Rules... There are something called Rules in the world of magic. Everything that urs in the world happen within the limitation of these Rules. It was said there were beings in ancient times who could y with these rules but that was way back in the past. Now whatever one does, they have to do things within the boundaries of these Rules. No one has such power to control these Rules in this world anymore or at least that was the consensus. From what I learned from those big volumes in the library, breaking through to that stage was not even easy back in ancient times. They were much more advanced than we are now and they found that to break through the Rules, one would have to spend a thousand years and even then they may not seed. Though many wanted to achieve such a state, where their lives weren''t determined by limitations, it wasn''t easy to do so. Moreover, it was recorded that one such figure who dabbled in ying those Rules wrote a book detailing their experiences. Though most of the autobiography was damaged and lost, a piece was recovered in one of the ruins. The Great One, as he was came known in this period, as that person''s name was lost, has written something no one thought. What they achieved was not the peak but just the peak of the world. Everyone thought that they cannow control the Laws and Rules but were wrong. They were still controlled by other invisible threads and they couldn''t escape from them, no matter what. The ancients had tried many ways to breakpletely free but they never could. In fact, they started to believe that they never could but in search of ways to free themselves, they unearthed a cosmic secret. It was recorded that there was one existence that was not bound by the rules andws of the world. What''s the name of the existence? No one knows. It wasn''t mentioned in the recovered part of the autobiography. What happened after that no one knows. If they were able to achieve such status that existence, no one can say for sure but in the historic records that remained, there was no mention of such a thing happening in that time. If I could reach that stage, then I''d be invincible, but I am not sure how to reach that stage. I mean there must be some knowledge in that era about the people who broke into the "Rule Stage". This was what the present powers named the stage where one can y with the Rules. There was no one in this era because all that knowledge was lost. So whomever was able to do so, has to start from the bottom level. It can be only learned through trial and error method. Such a method is not considered a viable option when there are too many options or when there are no options to choose from. Anyway, that was for the future me to worry about but what I wonder is what happened in that ancient era. There are very powerful people who can y with the World Rules. What happened to them? How did those ancient civilizations disappear? Did they kill each other or did someone powerful invade from outside of the world? I mean, I didn''t know whether to believe aliens existed when I was an Earthling but now, I am an alien to the Earthlings. It wasn''t just Ragos but there are various nes that intersect with this world. I mean those nes have life. Though as of now no Sapient life was found, there were traces that Sapient life existed on some of those nes. So it can''t be considered a stretch that there are other worlds where intelligent species are present. they could have invaded this world in those times. The ancients were advanced and said to have Teleportation Stations that could send people across the globe, no matter the distance between the stations, as long as they were on this. This was something, not avable anymore. It was said that there were floating cities, but to this day, no one has seen them. They most likely copsed due to depletion of energy resources or damages or wear and tear due to time. As there would be no one, they could have copsed a long time ago. It could have been so long ago that people might have associated those copsed floating cities with some of those ruins or those might have fallen into the ocean and forever submerged. If they have indeed fallen into oceans, then it would be difficult to obtain anything from those cities. To start, most of whatever those cities had would have lost due to water damage. Moreover, with how dangerous the oceans are, there was no way it would be possible even for the top powerhouses to gain ess to those fallen cities. It was written in ancient times that the deep dark parts of the oceans are home to various terrifying monsters that even terrified those powerhouses of those ancient eras. Even they didn''t dare to go too deep into the oceans, afraid of provoking them and cause disasters. They can be considered as a threat to my peace and safety but there was nothing that could be done. Those beings are beyond my limits, way beyond. So there was nothing to do about those. Moreover, they were enjoying their own homes. It was recorded that they wouldn''t take the initiative to surface and cause trouble without some kind of provocation. Whether they would appear or not, I just need to make sure that I be strong enough so that if such a scenario happens, I would be well prepared. I need to do my best in this half-year examination. Unlike monthly exams, this one would give more points. More points means more resources and that means my strength would increase faster. I was not afraid that I would lose but there is a term called Dark Horse and also another term called Disregarding the Enemies. These are something that brought down many powers just because they didn''t feel threat by some small-time yers. The only way, one can continue to survive is to never underestimate your opponent. It would be a death sentence of your power, one that I wouldn''tmit. Chapter 78: My performance in the assessment (1) It was like any other day. I woke up, cleaned up myself, and had breakfast delivered to my quarters. Unlike how it used to be these past five months, today it is going to be different. Today is the day the academy is going to assess the entire first year. Unlike monthly assessments where the participants are only from the same ss, now everyone from the entire first year would participate in this assessment and has to fight students from the entirety of the first year, instead of just the same ss. I observed the students from other sses and there are a few promises that have a chance of joining ss 1-A after this assessment. Though I can say that there are a few proising students that doesn''t mean that they can actually be powerful enough to defeat the students of ss 1-A. From what I heard about the exam, the chances of that happening are very low. Most of the exam results depend on luck. It was not just strength that determined the ce of the student. Luck ys a major role. This was especially true for the second and third parts of the exam. It would be fun. With my rank, luck wouldn''t change anything for me in this test. This simple test may not pose a challenge to me but I don''t want to underestimate others and lose my position. I would always be on guard, After having a good breakfast, I went to the venue of our assessment. --- All the students of the first year were assembled in the training grounds. This arena was the same ce where we were tested when we were trying to enter the academy, except that there was no one else except for the first-year students and teachers who were present to assess us. We were standing in the training ground ording to our sses. ss 1-A was standing at the forefront and the topper of the ss, I was the first in line, and beside me are the next nine members, forming ten lines. One of the teachers walked to the podium and spoke, "Students, you have been in the academy for a semester and enjoyed various facilities of this excellent academy. Now it is time to show what you have gained in this semester". "We of the Royal Academy would always be at the forefront when the safety of the kingdom is at stake. To make sure that we exhibit the best in battles, the academy provides the best resources to its students and expects them to be at their best". "We don''t need someone whocks conviction and those people would be excluded from the benefits that they would get from the academy and this exam is what determines what the student would get and what he wouldn''t". "The exam itself has three parts. The first is Status assessment, while the second one is dungeon exam and the third is duels between students". "Now for the first one, students will be called one by one and their status will be checked. Unlike the time when you joined the academy, this would be private. Now wait where you are until your turn", he said. One by one the students were called. they went into a room assigned to them. After a few minutes, they returned to their original position. The teachers didn''t say anything about what happened inside and neither did the students. It was because they had no idea what happened exactly. They knew that their status was checked but there was no feedback from the teachers. Once their status was checked, they were sent out. Without any remarks from the teachers, who could understand what exactly was happening? It was said this exam has certain points allotted but no student has any idea how they were allotted. When the resultse out, there will be no marks, except for the total rank that they obtained. The academy never posted what the students gained in either of the first two parts of the exam. The only exam that was transparent was the duels part of the exam. Even if that was transparent what can be it useful for? The most that it decides which one has gained the first rank in that part of the exam. No one knows who improved the best whenparing the status, or the points that they gained in the dungeon. "Magnus Frostwolf" While I was specting how the first test would actually work, my name was called out. immediately moved to the assigned room for the test. It was the same as what happened during the academy entrance test. The academy used the same stone tablet that has those ancient markings. I too used the Status Disguise and showed them what I wanted them to see. -- Name: Magnus Frostwolf Age: 15 ss: Warlock Rank: Tier-1 Level: 42 STR: 46 STA: 48 AGI: 52 DEX: 24 HP: 8,600 MP: 11,200 ss Skills: Shadow Bolt; Shadow Shift; Skills: Evade Lvl. 11; Dodge Lvl. 11; Mind Control Lvl. 2; Parry Lvl.2; Weapon Arts: Advanced Staff Arts Lvl. 1; Basic Movement Arts Lv. 6; -- I made sure that my status back then and now is different and improved whenpared. This was to make sure that the academy wouldn''t think I was squandering all their resources. Moreover, they have the records of my dungeon visits and then there is Ang who is our ss teacher who observed everyone from ss 1-A. In addition, she also taught me personally. So she knew my strength and if that didn''t reflect on the status panel, then it would be weird and the academy would definitely be suspicious. There is no reason to make them suspicious. Showing that I improved is the best way to make them stand on my side and provide me with the best resources. Being too low profile would only hinder my growth. Showing sufficient power is very much a requirement to survive in a world like this. Half an hourter, the status assessment was over. The teacher who spoke before returned to the podium, "The status check was over. Now it is time for the next part of the test". It''s Dungeon Time. Chapter 79: My performance in the assessment (2) The second part of the assessment is here. What we had to do was enter the dungeon and kill the monsters inside the dungeon. Unlike thest time, they didn''t open a portal under us. Instead, they opened a single portal through which we entered the dungeon. Same asst time, they gave bracelets, which would protect us and at the same time count the kills and assign points. The higher the rank and level of the kill, the higher the points. The thing was we can''t see how much others gained but defeating others stayed the same as before. Eliminating other students would give you half their points. Those at the top of the academy really want us to fight each other since day one. Competition is good but I feel that these events are creaking cracks instead of making the students bond. That was not good. I have experienced a life before. So I wouldn''t be offended by every act by these brats. My limit is far higher than these brats. Many of these kids had lived a luxurious life, from where they looked down on almost everyone. Now suddenly they were treated the same as the people that these kids looked down upon. This already caused shes among kids belonging to noble factions and kids who are frommoner backgrounds. Due to Ang, the shes in our ss were not visible but that wasn''t the case for other sses. Most of the top rankers would rather train themselves rather than waste time bullying others. Though they don''t like themoner kids that have entered 1-A, they didn''t waste much time with them. Sure there was gunpowder between them, but that was it. There were no physical alternations because whatever feud they had between them, they took out on each other during monthly ss evaluations. Most of the noble children in my ss hated thosemoner kids because of that fraud, Dorian. I thought that he was a talentedmoner, who would be blessed by the Heavens but I was wrong. He was a puppet as far as I can tell. I read many webnovels, where the MC would get a system and be the protagonist of the story. Whether the system chooses him either for a good cause or for an evil cause, the protagonist is a puppet of someone else. They think that once they get a system they be invincible and no one could defeat them but they were wrong. The one who gave the system to them can cause a lot of damage to them. Even if they knew that at that point, there would be nothing that could be done. I mean think about it. The person who could create such a system should have reached a realm far beyond this world. There is no way that the world would allow such an existence to exist if it has the power to destroy it. The system is considered as a disturbance of the natural order of things in a world. Anyway, that asshole tried to provoke me into initiating an attack against him. He thought he was clever. He provoked me again and again so that I would beat him up. When I was busy destroying him, Ang would see me hurting a fellow ssmate and I would end up in trouble but he was a fool that I would do such a thing in public. My rank has reached Tier-4, and that means I can hear better than others. I heard that someone was walking in our direction while he was provoking. Even if there was no sound, I wouldn''t have done such a thing, where one can easily find some evidence easily. I have no idea how he got this idea. So I used Mind Probe on himter when we were in ss and his focus was not on me. The thing was I had to cancel the probing as soon as I cast it because of what I heard in his mind. I heard the word "System", in his mind. I had to get out of his mind as soon as I heard that word. There was a chance that the system detected me but after observing for a while I concluded that either it didn''t detect me or they were nning something more, because, after that failed attempt to provoke me, Dorian remained silent and immersed in his own training. He would sh with other noble kids but kept himself away from me. From how he acted that day at the Winter City''s entrance or taking count of his behavior till now in the academy, there was no way that he would be silent just because his n failed. It was not like I beat the shit out of him and I didn''t bear any consequences. If such a thing happened, he should be afraid of me and should be avoiding me. If he had avoided everyone, I could understand that he was trying to improve to beat me when he got the chance but that''s not the case either. He was improving which I can easily tell because of the huge difference between the ranks. Though he was regrly visiting the dungeons, the improvement he gained was far greater than what he should have obtained. The system is possibly helping him to increase his strength fast. There are certain systems in the web novels that help the protagonist improve their strength fast. They vary in how they increase the protagonist''s power. Some systems require kills. The more you kill, the faster you can grow. Some do the Sign-In way. You have to sign in at certain locations or sign in daily to get various resources as rewards. Whatever the system might be, the way he was developing, it almost felt like he was preparing for the dungeon test. Though the teachers didn''t inform us till the start of the exam, it was an open secret. Hmm, let''s see if he has the courage to meet me inside the dungeon. System or not, I''ll beat the shit out of him. Chapter 80: Me showing off again in the dungeon (1) Well, we all entered the dungeon without any problem. We entered the same portal but we didn''te out at the same ce. It was established that we would be transported randomly but the only guarantee was that we would end up in the Outer Region of the dungeon. The outer region is the safest ce in a dungeon. As we go towards the core the more dangerous it bes. So the academy has set up this dungeon so that we would all end up in the outer region, rather than in the inner or core regions where the most powerful monsters live. Normally it would be difficult for that to make this happen in a dungeon. When you enter the dungeon, you would be randomly transported to anywhere in the dungeon or there would be a single point of entrance. It is either this or that, it can''t be controlled. The reason why the academy could do this was because the dungeon we entered was an Artificial Dungeon. These artificial dungeons were created by the academy in order to have a controble way to obtain resources. The natural dungeons would have their own way of creating resources, which may not be very useful for people. I mean if you are looking for an herb, you wouldn''t know when the dungeon would create that herb. You may not the conditions and when it is most likely to happen but that is not a guarantee. Artificial dungeons on the other hand would be able to create resources in a specific manner. In this way, there would be a continuous supply of resources. There wouldn''t be many fluctuations in the appearance of the resources, and the market would be stable. Of course, there is no way to create artificial dungeons that can hold Tier-4 and above monsters. Only such dungeons can be useful in creating certain rare resources but trying to create those dungeons leads to disasters. The losses outweighed the gains due to those dungeons. So no one wants to do such a thing. Haha, beforeing to the academy, I knew nothing. I thought that since I was a noble child, I should have learned a lot from the family''s library but I was wrong. I knew that there are restrictions before knowledge can be learned but I thought such knowledge was small but I was wrong. Even though I used my clones to read a lot of books from the library, I didn''t evenplete one percent of the library and that was considering only the part that was avable to the students. There is a lot to learn, which I will think aboutter. Now I should hunt these monsters and earn as many points as I can. So it''s time to SPLIT. --- Roar! "Wow, that''s big but useless", I muttered as I used Shadow Bolt and ended it in one shot. The monster was a Peak Tier-1 Frost Tiger, which was only found in the Inner region of the dungeon. None of the monsters here can withstand my power. Most of them are at least two ranks below me. The only one that even can fight me is in the core of the dungeon. It was said that the monster there would be peak Tier-2. Though I can easily take it out, it would just attract unwanted attention towards me. Moreover, killing these monsters would gain me much of nothing. What I need are monsters of high-level dungeons, which the first years can''t ess. Unless you show that your rank is Tier-3 or above, there is no way that the academy would unnecessarily put the student''s life in jeopardy. So for me, the only way that I can improve my level and reach Tier 5 is when I enter the secret realm. Until then, I don''t think there would be much change in rank. Hmm, I believe that by the end of this dungeon test, I may increase my level by one. I can feel it. Since I reached Tier-4, I would get only 1 EXP from killing monsters below Tier-2. The only monsters that give any EXP are Tier-2 and above for me. I could gain something from killing that peak Tier-2, but the rewards aren''t worth the risk involved. So the best use that I can make is by using clones to kill the monsters, thereby improving my skills a little bit, which is better than trying to gain EXP in this dungeon. This was what I had been doing since I entered the dungeon. While I was hunting these monsters, my clones were hunting monsters too. I don''t know how this bracelet works but I can clearly see my kills increasing even while I did nothing. I saw this happen during the entrance exam too. This was why I let the clones go whatever they wanted to and return to me every half an hour. It would be a waste of skill experience gained without gaining it. I would lose the gain in skill levels if the clone dies. So I merge and split the clones while moving slowly towards the core of the dungeon. When I entered the dungeon, I simply ran towards the inner region. It would be a waste of my time and energy to squat flies. They would be annoying and there are others who can take care of them. With me growing, I needed bigger and stronger enemies in order to improve further. Fighting weaker enemies would only make me weaker. Though there was no doomsday prophecy or something like that, this world is not safe enough for the weak to survive. The only way to survive is by being strong. Consider this scenario. Two powerful people started to fight in the middle of a street because one of them stole medicine that could have saved the life of someone. The one who stole the medicine wanted the person suffering to die. A Hero appeared and tried to stop the theft and it escted. What happens when two powerful people fight each other, Destruction. There would be a lot of damage and casualties. This would be considered as coteral damage. If you are one of those coterals, who can you me? Would you me the viin who stole that medicine and the cause of this fight? Would you me the hero who tried to stop that thief? The only person you can me is yourself for not being strong. It would be one thing if you had no talent but with the talent I have, I should sit at the top of the world. If I fail to reach such a stage, I can and should only me myself. Chapter 81: Me showing off again in the dungeon (2) It was alreadyte in the evening when we got out of the dungeon. Since I directly left for the Inner region of the dungeon, I didn''t encounter any students at first. As time wnt on though, I saw a few students started to enter the Inner region. So I went further in, towards the core region. I didn''t enter the core region, rather I was at the periphery of teh core region. Hunting monsters here was more than enough for me to gain the points that I need to make sure that I remain at the top. There was no need to overdo it, especially when there is audience. When I exited the dungeon, only a few students exited along side me. The count should be around hundred or so. From the looks of it, I think that the others were eliminated either by monsters or by other students. There are 600 students in first year but only a hundred or so made till the end. It looks like either the students were unlucky or they didn''t progress well in these five months because of low resources or they didn''t take the academy seriously. I think those students would never be able to reach the stages where your word would be thew of a nation. They would forever live asmoners or have to set their hopes on their future children. Well, what happens to them has nothing to do with me. The teacher that spoe before appeared before us agan, "You did well than I expected. If anyone was injured, seek the medics. Others return to your quarters and rest. The duels will start in the morning", he said and disappeared. Other teacher followed him, leaving behind us students and the medics. I am not injured, so I returned to my quarters. I am hungry and should order food. --- After I returned to my quarters and checked my status. There are a few changes that appeared in status. "Status" -- Name: Magnus Frostwolf Age: 15 Titles: Son of Viscount; Great yer; Hidden Smiden; Dungeon Conqueror; Primary ss: Draconic Warlock Secondary ss: Soul Arbiter (Unique) Affinity: Shadow, Blood, Space Bloodline: ck Dragon (2% Purity) Physique: Devourer Physique (EX) Talent: Ritualistic Summoning (EX) Trait: Silk Smooth Skin(A bit Improved); Sleepy; Aurum Skin; Sexy Smile; Rank: Tier-4 Level: 3 Health Points (HP): 378,828,117 Strength (STR): 943 Endurance (END): 1,487 Dexterity (DEX): 693 Agility (AGI): 1,128 Intelligence (INT): 31,505,170 Magic Power (MP): 442,603,700 Soul Energy: 5,500 (+200%) Charm: 3,009 ss Skills: Shadow Bolt; Blood Dominance; Draconic Magic; Shadow Curse; Blood Heal; Shadow Shift; Blood Lock; Draconic Pressure; Shadow Merge; Blood Drain; Soul Judge; Soul Prison; Soul Container; Nether mes; Shadow control; Blood Boil; Special Skills: Rank Booster; Status Disguise; Refined Skills: Shadow Bolt Volley Lv. 10; Skills: Evade Lvl. 12; Dodge Lvl. 12; Sprint Lvl. 10; Alertness Lvl. 10; Devour Lvl. 5; Fusion Lvl. 11; Split Lvl. 11; Demon Gaze Lvl. 3; Strengthen Lvl. 10; Tag & Track Lvl. 4; Night Vision Lvl. 10; Spatial Storage Lvl. 8; Mind Control Lvl. 5; Mind Probe Lvl. 4; Mind Defence Lvl. 1; Dragon Blood Evolution Lvl. 1; Scent Recognition Lvl. 5; Sexual Stamina Lvl. 2; Pet World Lvl. 1; Parry Lvl.2; Resistances: Physical Resistance Lvl. 12; Light Resistance Lvl. 4; Poison Resistance Lvl. 4; Magic Resistance (Non-Attribute) Lvl. 5; Space Resistance Lvl. 3; Fire Resistance Lv. 5; Water Resistance Lvl. 5; Mind Resistance Lv. 1; Weapon Arts: Advanced Staff Arts Lvl. 1; Basic Movement Arts Lvl, 6; -- Afterpleting this dungeon, my EXP enough to reach Tier-4 level 3. With the acumted experience of five months, my status changed by a single level. Even though it was a singel level my attributes changed by a lot. There was an increase of +62,500,000 HP/MP and +6,250,000 INT. I think those values, I may even be equal to that of Tier-7 or above probably. I can''t properly say that because there are many ways to improve the attribute values. So I may have values higher than that of ordinary Tier-7or above but there is no gurantee because the ones that can reach that level should have consumed a lot of resources. So I can''tpete with them but once I reach Tier-7, I can evenpete with Tier-9, if the oen I ampeting didn''t get the missionpletion grade as EX. Though there was no mention of such thing happening, I don''t believe that it has never happened. Someone should have crossed that S-Gradepletion but kept silent about it. This is what I am doing and someone out there should have done it before. Even if there was no one who reached EX, there shouls be atleast a few who should have reached SS or SSS grades, though not for all promotion missions. Forget about that. I am going too much forward. What I should contrate on is now. There are other changes that ured in my panel and they were my skill levels of Demon Gaze and Parry. They both increased by a single level, making them reach level 4 and level 3 respectively. By using clones too many times, both my Split and Merge have increased by a single level, reachin level 11. With this new increase, I am syncing with my clones, when they are nearby me. If they pass the one meter radius, the connection bes very weak. I believe in the future, this would improve. I would probably get to see or hear or feel, what the clones are seeing or hearing or feeling. If that happens, I can do multiple things at the same time without moving from ce. It would also act as an protection mechanism for me. I mean, there would be enemies that I need to face as I grow on. No one would be without enemies. Even if they were good and all, there would be enemies, there would be people trying to harm them. I am not a saint. So I am sure that there would a lot of enemies for me to deal with. Anyway, these are the only changes that are visible in my status panel as of now. The time inside the dungeon was not long, even though this dungeon wasrge enough for me to improve my skills multiple times. Ring! Ring! Ah, it looks like the lunch is here. I should eat first and then train for some time before taking resting for the night. I still have duels in the morning. No need to strain the body too much. Chapter 82: Me in the Duels (1) The morning came quickly and now it is the time for the duels. Once these duels werepleted, then the academy would announce the rankings of the first years. After that, it is holiday time. I can return home. wee-to-MVLeMpYr Mother has been pestering me for the past few days. She was afraid that I would go on an adventure or something like that. My second brother did that so. He is considered fully adventurous. He like me has no chance at getting the title and has to create our own power. Though the family wouldn''t abandon, it would be wise to not be controlled by the family. Though the support of the family is nice, it was best to keep some distance from their influence. They could only hinder growth. So my dear brother thought that the holidays were better used to create his own power and didn''t return home. What he foundter was an angry mother who beat him, so that he wouldn''t leave the house for a month. I am not going to piss my mother like that. She may appear like a calm person at home but not everyone knows how dangerous she could be if she wanted to. When I learned about my mother''s different side, I decided not to get to that side, no matter what. --- Unlike yesterday, when we all gathered in the training grounds, this time it was at the duel arena. It was like a stadium on Earth. The ying ground is in the middle, while the audience is seated around the ying ground. Here instead of ying ground, it was the Duel Arena, where the students would sh against each other. After I appeared at this stadium, I took a seat alongside the ss 1-A in the audience stands. At eight o''clock, a teacher appeared in the middle of the ground, "Yesterday, you took two tests and today is thest test of this Half-year assessment. Once it was done, based on the results, your position would be decided. If you want to get more resources, show your talent or forever make peace that you are mediocre". "This is not apetition. So each student would only fight one and that means, that match would decide how you were evaluated. So do your best in that match. Also to make the matches fair, the opponents would not have no more than a single ss difference". "For example, students from ss 1-A would either fight with students of 1-A or 1-B. They won''t fight students of other sses. ss 1-B on the other hand could face anyone from 1-A, 1-B, or 1-C. This remains the same for 1-C, 1-D, and 1-E. Like 1-A, ss 1-F would fight either 1-F or 1-E". "Now let the duels begin", he said before stepping away. Once he said that and stepped away from the center, the big board started to light up. This world has such advancements or else thispetition would have been a hassle. The students for the match are not chosen by the teachers or any other staff. It was chosen by aputer algorithm based on the parameters set by the academy. As the teacher just informed us, the algorithm would choose a student based on that. After a few seconds, twenty names appeared on the board. It means that ten games would happen at the same time. The arena is pretty big. If it was a truepetition, then they wouldn''t have conducted ten matches at the same time. This was done so that the matches would bepleted before the end of the day. With six hundred students, it means that three hundred matches had to be held. If they were done one at a time, it would take a lot of time. Having the matches at the same time would mean that there would be only third rounds, instead of three hundred. It would save a lot of time. Moreover, it was also the reason why they only chose to have one match for each student. I mean it can considered that if they were unlucky to face a superior student, there was no way that they could exert their full power and it would be a loss. Luck is also a form of strength. It determines what you will get when you venture out into the wild. For example, if one had gone into the wild to hunt, while that person is still at Tier-1, the dangers are everywhere for them. If that person''s luck is very high, he wouldn''t face monsters that cross his rank or he would get his hands on resources easily without much fight. If that person is unlucky, he could directly encounter a Tier-5 monster and die within seconds after the encounter. Who would that person me? Here the students may raise that it isn''t fair but in the real world, where luck ys a huge factor in survival, who can they me for such a situation? The academy has already made the matches fair but reducing the chances of getting matched with higher ss students who are way better than them. This was already the best that they could do, while also showing the students that luck is also an important factor in life and the students have to ept that. Soon the matches started. The first ten matches began but all the students were from lower sses. There was no student form 1-A or 1-B. It was quite boring to watch. Five rounds werepleted and it was almost noon. The sixth-round students'' names appeared on the board. Next, the teacher started to announce the students of the next ten matches. "Magnus Frostwolf Vs Dorian Halter" ... ... Ah, it''s finally my turn. I was getting bored watching others beat each other. I would like to train myself or rest, rather than watch these idiots trying to act powerful. Sure there are a few people who are worth my attention but I watched all their monthly evaluations. There is not much changeparing them to now. Anyway, I shouldplete the match quickly. I am quite hungry. Wait a minute...Dorian Halter...isn''t he that turd protagonist who tried to provoke me and failed a few months earlier? Are the heavens pitting him against me on purpose? Hmph, let''s see how much the system is truly worth. Chapter 83: Me in the Duels (2) After I heard my name, I got up from my seat and proceeded to Area 1, where I had to battle Dorian. I arrived first at the arena. Dorian arrived at the arena, giving me a look of disgust. He looked pretty angry at me. I kind of pped him once or twice before but that was because of his own fault. If he followed the rules, it wouldn''t have happened at all. Normally, such stupidity would only end in the death of the perpetrator. He was lucky that the punishment ended with ps. There are some nobles who kind of got the entire families killed because one of the family members did something against them. Don''t these idiots understand that this world is not ruled by democracy, but rather by strength? The one with strength is the only one who can speak. What he said would be the rules. He should be happy that I ended that by pping him and didn''t incriminate his family in that. Rather than thanking me for it, he even made a y against me. Wait, why did he make a y against me and stop after that? If he has learned that he can''t touch me, what''s with the look? He is looking at me as if I stole his girlfriend or something. Wait, he tried to make me a fool when Ang was near. Did he cast his eyes on her? Fucking Bastard. She is mine. Moreover, if he wants her to be his, he has to make his own efforts in wooing her, not targeting me. Since you wanted to humiliate me in front of Ang, let''s make sure that you would have no face in front of her. You thought that what I did that day was humiliation. You have no idea what humiliation truly is and I would make sure that you would experience it in full. --- The referee appeared between us after we reached the arena assigned to us, "Are you ready?", he asked. This was an official duel and the rules had to be followed. One can''t start the duel when one of them isn''t ready to start fighting. "Yes", we both replied at the same time. "Okay, 3...2...1, start", the referee said and disappeared from the battle stage. If he was a bit slower, he might get attacked. After all, in a battle, the first to strike would have an advantage as long as he can strike the opponent. As soon as the referee gave the green signal, Dorian cast his famous skill, Divine Light. I saw him using that before. When he casts that, his power would be doubled and at the same time the opponent''s power would be halved. This skill is especially problematic for me. He knew that my skill belonged to Shadow and his of Light, which is considered as a natural restraint to mine. He should be thinking that he could return the humiliation he experienced that day but he was so wrong. I disappeared from one ce and appeared in another ce. It was noon, so I couldn''t use one of my ss skills but with high-level Evade and Dodge skills, in addition to good agility values that I showed, I could easily escape those attacks. "Is that the best you can do?" I taunted him. I could end this game within seconds but I don''t want to. Though I didn''t cause any problems for him, he took the initiative to cause problems for him. So I think, he needed to be taught a lesson, or else he woulde at me again in the future. If he ever gets a chance to catch me unprepared, I would end up in a loss. So when a threat arises, the best way to deal with it is to end it. I can''t casually kill him but I can make sure that he would fear me and won''t think to raise arms against me. This is not an ideal solution but it''s the best solution avable to me now. -exclusive-content He was enraged as I hoped and started to charge towards me. His profession is Holy Knight, which means that he has to face me directly and can''t do much from afar. Even though I could easily tackle him at close range, it was best that others couldn''t figure out what I was hiding. So a direct sh is out of consideration. So I simply evaded him as long as I could. He could only swing his sword but couldn''tnd even a single strike on me. He is getting very pissed at me and at the same time, it was burning his stamina. Unlike me, who was wearing simple clothes, he was wearing heavy armor which was suitable for Knights. It was burning a lot of his energy. Hahaha, this was so funny to watch him struggle, but it''s time to end this farce now. I think, if I overdo it, the teachers of the academy may form a negative view of me, which is not a good thing. [Shadow Bolt] I simply cast my first-ss skills. Since it was a skill at the maximum level, I could easily control it. I made sure that he would fall after my second shadow bolt hit him. Letting him fall in two shots would make him sure not to y any more tricks on me again in this life. Dorian fell after the two Shadow Bolts hit him. I made sure they hit the body parts that weren''t protected. Though I can''t kill him, those bolts caused a lot of damage and he fainted due to the pain. "Magnus Frostwolf wins", the referee announced ending the match and the medics carried away the injured Dorian. Seriously, this is all that he was. Come on, with the help of the system, I thought that he could have progressed a lot but I was wrong. He was such a disappointment. I wonder what made the system choose him. Was he an easy mark? If that is so, the system may not have good ideas about Dorian. This is going to be a hassle. Though I don''t care about what happens to him, I can''t leave that system. I have no idea what it ns are. I should find a way to get rid of it. Chapter 84: I ranked first After defeating that turd, I returned to my quarters. I don''t need to be there to know about the results of other matches. They are not useful at this point. If it was apetition where we have to fight till only one of the students stands, then I would say it''s useful to observe others in order to prepare for the next round sh, but there is no need. Since my exam is over, I decided to go back instead of wasting time here anymore. It''s almost noon and I am hungry. So I ordered food on my way back to my quarters. I ordered Tier-3 Sheep monster meat for the day. It was very tasty and also the best that I can buy with the pitiful amount of points that I have. It was not me trying to cover up my strength or anything like that. The points that I can gain from the dungeons are pitifully low as those dungeons are only useful for the first years. The monsters are lower rank and the quantity of monsters would also be low in these dungeons. If there are more monsters, even if their rank is not high, they can dry out the energy of the person and kill them in the end. This was not something that the academy wanted. The academy knows that they can''t protect the students 24X7 and that they need to know what the world is really like but it doesn''t need to be done in year one. The academy is after all established to strengthen the nation not just in quality but also in quantity. The first-year students are still kids and there is no reason to put the burdens of the world on our shoulders at this point. There are many old guys who can hold the sky so that we who are still at the sprout stage can grow into sturdy trees. So the academy doesn''t allow students to go through high-level dungeons, which would give a lot of points in return. This was a negative for me. The lower-quality foods are losing their effect on my physique. The attributes that I am gaining are bing lesser and lesser in number. To make the best use of my physique, I have to eat high-quality food, which I can''t do asck the points to buy them. Well, I can buy a few times, if I count all the points that I spent in these five months but after buying a few times, my pocket would be empty. Also, it can only be aplished if I starve myself for weeks, which is not good. The more I train, the more I need to eat food. I can''t eat simple food and continue training either. One thing has to be sacrificed and I believe that postponing the high-quality food is best and continue eating as I did before. So the best food I could afford was Tier-3 monster meat, and that too not every day. Today is thest day here and for a month, those points are worthless for me. So it was best to spend them now, instead of waiting till next month when I have to return. I can buy some food and bring it with me, sufficient for the first few days after the holiday break. So I decided to use up all the points today, both for lunch and dinnerter, only leaving some for breakfast for the next morning. The lunch was delicious. The results will be dered at midnight. So I have to stay today and can leave early in the morning. There is still half a day, which would be best used for training and that''s what I did. There is still half a day and wasting it is not a good thing. After I return home, I am sure that I can''t spend this much time in training alone. My parents, especially my mother would love to spend time with me, because these holidays are all that she would get from before long it would be a few day visits. When my siblings were in the academy, she still had me but now, she has no child at home. She should be feeling lonely and that was a fact that I could feel clearly in her voice, every time I spoke with her. So I decided I make the best use of today and when at home, I can spend a lot more time with my mother and if possible my father. --- Midnight... Ding! Ah, a notification on the school website. It seems the results are out. I opened the list the academy published on the website. The result was obvious. I ranked first in the exam. It was a foregone conclusion. Though I don''t know how they rated my duel, still I won that match without getting hit by the opponent''s attack, not even a single time. Though it may have appeared to the teachers that I was ying my opponent, they should also estimate my battle experience. Coupled with my Status, that I let them see they should have estimated that I deserve the top spot, no matter what. The dungeon points that I gained should have made it easier for me to gain the first spot. There is no way that others could have gained that spot, no matter what. Ah, let''s sleep for now. I have to travel and using the teleportation circle is not a fun activity. My body needs to be in good condition so that I won''t throw up when I return home and be embarrassed in front of the family. That would be bad for life. It was okay if you were embarrassed in front of strangers, as long as you wouldn''t see them again in your life and they were not famous. The family though is a bitplicated. It''s not just family. If I embarrass myself in Winter City, it would affect not just me but also my parents. So proper rest for the body, so that my body would be in optimum condition and not be affected by the space tunnel. Chapter 85: I returned to home I woke up early in the morning, which is a habit of mine that I didn''t change, the same as the habit of going to bed early. I remember a study from Earth that indicated it was good for health to go to bed early and wake up early. It was found that people who sleepte into the night would develop various health issuester in life. I don''t if that is true or not, I didn''t have medical knowledge but in that life, I made sure to follow it. Though I could never verify whether it was true or not, I followed it. Just like every day, I woke up and washed myself. I had to go to the canteen today because of ack of delivery agents. The first-year students would leave the academy for the holidays. Today is the start of the second-year student examinations. So they would be busy. The delivery agents were usually first-year or second-year students. This was because, from year three, students can take missions to go out. These tasks may be safe but the pay is very low. So the third-year and above students wouldn''t usually stick to jobs like this. These are only for first and second-year students. As both years are unavable at this time, I had to go to the canteen for my breakfast. I locked my quarters and handed the keys to the staff of the academy before I went to the canteen. Normally it was not necessary as not all students would have space storage. So the academy would allow them to keep the keys. The problem for me was that dust would umte if it was left without cleaning it for a month. The cleaners would only be allowed with the student''s permission. So most cleaning would be done when the students are still present in the room. So if the student doesn''t hand the keys, the cleaning has to wait till after the holidays. I don''t want that. After all, those quarters would still be mine in the next semester. I don''t want to return to a dusty room after the holidays. That would be horrible. So I packed everything that belonged to me into the storage ring. After having breakfast I can head straight out. --- I left the academy after having my breakfast. There was a guard facility for the first-year students who couldn''t afford the services. They would help the students reach the capital city safe and sound. This was arranged by the academy because the passage between the academy and the city is not entirely safe, though it can be said to be safer whenpared to other directions. Sometimes, monsters would roam this path identally. The academy didn''t want to lose talented students, just because their luck was low. Most of the students are here because they were lucky to be born in a noble house or they have talent enough for the academy to be interested in. There are a fewmoners that did reach the same stage as that of the noble-born children but that doesn''t mean that they would be lucky all the time. Though the academy arranged guards for us. They would make sure that we reach the capital safely and that''s it. After that, the students had to find their own way to wherever they wanted to. your-chapter-source Not all students chose to leave. This was true for themoner children who arrived from faraway ces. They can''t spend money on teleportation and traveling throughnd would take a lot of time. they can''t spend much time with their families. Moreover, even bynd, it would be costly. It was better for them to stay and make use of the dungeons and training facilities. I didn''t utilize them. It would be a waste of time. First, I had to wait till all the students appeared. The students who were interested in using the guards registered themselves beforehand. If they werete, the entire group had to wait for them. Moreover, I can simply reach the capital before them, if I move alone. My agility is very high and my strength is more than enough to defeat the monsters that maye in my path. I don''t need to be dragged down by others. So I simply set off before anyone could see the anomaly of me being alone. If my parents heard about this, they wouldn''t be terrified but I don''t think that they would be happy. So I left before anyone noticed that I left the academy alone. --- I reached the capital faster than the time that we took back then to reach the academy. I should rest for a minute. Hmm, I should bring something for my mother and father. What do they like? What should I bring them? Huh, I have an idea. A ne or earrings would be best for the mother. For father, hmm... I think that a dish or some alcohol from the capital should do the trick. Let''s find them. --- When I entered the house, my father was not there but my mother was present, waiting at the door. I called her just before I entered the teleportation circle. There was already a chauffeur waiting outside the teleportation hub for me. So it was easy for her to calcte how long would it take for me toe home. As soon as I got out of the car, she ran towards me and hugged me. I hugged back and smiled, "Hey Mom, I am home". After a minute she let go of me, and led me back into the house. "Sit down, and tell me how the exams went?" she asked. This was going to be trouble for me but I made sure to skip the details of strength and told her about the exams how I did in all three parts of the exam and the rank that I obtained. "That''s my boy", she smiled. I pulled out the earrings and the bottle of wine from the storage ring and ced them before her, "The rings are for you and the bottle is for Father", I said. "Ah, thank you", she said as she snatched them. I don''t know whether she would give the wine to father but that''s between them. "I am a bit tired mother. I would like to freshen up a bit and rest till lunch", I said. "Okay, I will send someone when it is time for lunch", she said. I stood and walked to my room. It has been too long since I have been in my room. Chapter 86: Dorians time at the academy (1) Dorian''s life changed after his awakening. His profession was Holy Knight and more than that, he gained a system on the day of his awakening. Through his system, he acquired Light Affinity. He has learned that the chances of awakening a profession were low amongmoners whenpared to the nobles. That day he learned that having an affinity is very rare, even among the nobles. Having an affinity would essentially make the awakener reach the status of a noble, as long as he survives and grows up. This is a dangerous world after all, and there are monsters everywhere that can end you before you know it. More than that, there are many bad people who are envious of their peers who are more talented than them. they would turn to evil, even hurting their own people, just to be powerful. Even if they aren''t evil, many nobles hate it when themoners try to offend them. They could easily eliminate themoner alongside their family. This was something that everyone knew. So awakened or not no one would even think about offending powerful people and would have to be humble in front of others. Dorian on the other felt that it would be a mistake to not make proper use of his system. After all, he saw what the system would offer him. He can be the most powerful person in the world. There is no need to kneel before others. The system awards him points based on the enemy he killed. With those points, he can buy items that he wants from the system store. The items in the store would make the entire world his enemy. There are items such as the Nine-Colored Auspicious nt. This was said to bring luck to the holder. It has to be nted in someone''s property and as times go on, it would bring immense benefits. Of course, there are some problems while possessing this nt. Greed. People who look at it would be filled with greed to possess it. They would definitely try to kill the original owner and gain it. This nt only appeared twice in the world of Ragos, and it brought down two powerful empires. ironically, this nt was the reason why those two empires were formed in the first ce. The original owners who had that nt were able to turn their lives around and create the empires butter in life, it also caused problems among their family members, who each wanted to possess for themselves. They started to fight among themselves and that was how one of those empires fell. The other empire fell because somehow the news of its presence was known to outsiders and it spread far and wide. Though the empire was strong, many enemies of the empire pulled some neutral nations and destroyed the empire. The bad news was that both times the enemies failed to obtain the nt. They somehow disappeared from the world and no one knows how. What the historians were able to piece together was that these two events changed the entire course of the world. The empire and the enemies that fought each other disappeared from the world. The war that ensured between them destroyed most of their military power. The economic lines were disturbed, which caused all the parties that were involved in those wars to fall. The kingdoms and empires that existed in that era changed after those wars. New powers appeared and for the next few hundred years, there were wars everywhere and civilization declined. There were no more advancements in knowledge and the worst was that the knowledge that was there disappeared in those wars. Whether that knowledge was destroyed or buried, no one was sure. From time to time, there were small fragments of that knowledge that were unearthed once in a while. This nt caused a lot of destruction in the world. It pulled back the world from the age it is in to the age it was a long time ago. --- Now Dorain had set his eyes on it. This was something that would bring immense fortune to him, as long as it was in his position. He didn''t give a shit about the future. He doesn''t know what that nt''s presence in the world would lead to but even if he knew about that, he wouldn''t care. He may have remained humble when he had yet to awaken and get the system, but once that happened, he started to act differently. With the help of the system, he quickly improved himself by hunting monsters and reached the peak of Tier-0 before the academy started. To that point, he believed that nothing could stand in his path but something changed when he went to take on the promotion mission in Winter City, which was close to his home. At the city gate, he was confronted by a young master. He saw that as his moment of glory. This young master would be his first stepping stone to fame. When he first got the system and checked on how to earn points, the system didn''t specify whether the enemy should be a monster or not. He thought that it was implied. During his hunting to level up, he encountered a few bandits. He eliminated them and was surprised to see extra points. That was how he learned that he could earn points, even if he killed a human. With the points he started to earn, he was able to buy items from the system shop which further enabled him to improve faster. Having such strength, he believed that he could defeat the young master but then the guards intervened. He almost prepared to flee because he was sure that he would die but that was stopped by another young master. Instead of thanking him, Dorian spied on the new young master''s status panel, which made him p Dorian repeatedly, humiliating him in public. What Dorian thought to be a fame-making moment turned into a humiliating movement. He vowed to exact his revenge that day and left. Chapter 87: Dorians time at the academy (2) Dorian pushed the humiliation to the back of his mind. He decided that he would first improve himself and one day he would enact his revenge on these noble brats. At this point, he was not strong enough topete with those nobles, so he decided to improve his rank first. He would have a lot of time for his revengeter. He only saw the noble brat as a small hurdle and a one-time thing. With the system, there won''t be too many hurdles for him. This was his thought. It wasn''t until he went to the Magic Association that he learned that the hurdles had only started to appear. His Tier-1 promotion mission wasn''t easy. He had to kill a Tier-2 monster in order to be promoted to Tier-1. This was like an insane mission that anyone could get at that point. He was peak Tier-0 and it would be considered difficult if the monster that he had to kill was at mid Tier-1 or something. The monster''s rank that he had to hunt directly skipped Tier-1 and went directly to Tier-2. It was an impossible task, but with the help of the system, he was able toplete the task but all the items that he brought and the points that he umted until then were gone. The killing of the Tier-2 monster didn''t yield any points either. When he asked the system, the reply was simple. The task was issued by the World''s Will and the task would be under its purview. Altering it would cause unforeseeable consequences. The points can be considered simr to EXP. wee-to-MVLeMpYr The EXP is actually the energy that was released after the being''s death. A part of the energy converts into EXP for the killer, while the rest returns to the world. The system turns a small part of that energy into points that can be used to buy items from the shop. If it interferes with the mission, Dorian has to face something that would make him wish that he had never been born in the first ce. The only good thing that came from this was that his mission was graded S. Forpleting the mission, he entered the Tier-1 rank and also gained a buff of 10x. Though he had no ess to such knowledge before, after sessfully awakening, he got ess to the materials that were originally out of reach for him. He knew that the promotion missions would be graded. Depending on the grades, there would be a buff in attributes corresponding to the profession. He read that Grade S is the highest and it would give a 10x bonus. He understood why this grade is the highest and the recorded ones are very few. It was almost impossible and no one would be able to do that. The ones that got this grade were all geniuses of the generation. It would not be an easy feat, that can be replicated repeatedly. Though he has no idea how they were able to do that, he doesn''t need to be concerned about them. They may be geniuses but he was sure as time passed, he would be the most powerful one in the entire world. Those geniuses don''t have a system that has a lot of resources that can help them. They have to fight for resources in order to improve, while has no need to fight others for the resources. He can just fight monsters and earn points. These points would be turned into rare and unique resources that usually are not avable in the world. Though he has no need to fight other humans for resources, he decides to get them and not let them go. He wanted to be powerful but being only powerful is not enough for him. He wanted to build an army, an army that could sweep the world and then he could rule the world. Army needs resources, but the system doesn''t have that many resources. Even if it has, they can be brought through the points and these points can only be obtained if he kills the monsters. There was no other way. If he wants to clear out the system shop, it would take a lifetime to do so. He has to spend all his time hunting, which is a waste of his time and energy. So it was best to find a supply of resources in the world and those resources can be used to build his army. This would be the best way to improve his strength indirectly. For the army, he had already some ideas. He decided to attend the Royal Academy, where the students are mostly noble-born or have rich backgrounds. There would be a fewmoners, and he thought that they would be his first followers. He was sure that the nobles there would cause trouble for themoners and he could be their leader. The prerequisite was that he had to be the top ranker of the academy. When themoner-born children see that the top ranker is defending them, they would flock to him. He would be their natural leader. Though the army would be smaller, at this point he has no way to maintain more people under him. He would reach that stage one day and the followers from the academy would be his generals in his army. They would lead his army to defeat all his enemies. This was his ambition and to make sure that his ambition woulde true, he would do anything. --- Dorian thought that he would be the number one but he was defeated. It was not just anyone that defeated him. It was the same noble brat that humiliated him at the entrance of the Winter City. Though his rank was not even the second, and was in theter positions, he still felt humiliated. Those top rankers are all the noble children. If he can''t reach the first rank, there is no way that themoner children will turn to him. His n of world domination fell t and he started ming the noble who humiliated him months ago. Chapter 88: Dorians time at the academy (3) Dorian''s old target became his new target. Magnus Frostwolf, the top ranker of the first year. source-at-MVLeMpYr First, he was humiliated and now the same person who humiliated him took the top position in the entrance exam. This was the position he was after. Only when he was in this position would anyone respect him and follow without saying a word. Now though, that chance was gone. Though there are many students between them, Dorian still turns all his anger towards Magnus. It multiplied after the first week at the academy. On the first day itself, Dorian lusted after the ss teacher. He vowed in his mind that he would her his. He made many ns for that to happen, but they all came crumbling down in the next few days when he learned some information. The ss teacher Ang zewood, started to give Magnus some private lessons. When he heard about this matter, he was enraged. He wanted to beat the shit out of him but he also knew that he was not strong enough to do so. So he had toe up with a n and make Magnus do something bad in front of the teacher. In this way, he can break Magnus away from the teacher. After weeks of research, he came up with a perfect n. Ang has a schedule and she sticks to it almost perfectly. He found a time where and when she would be. So he nned a perfect time to make Magnus a bad seed in the mind of the teacher but it failed. He tried to provoke Magnus, which should make Magnus hit him. Dorian nned it perfectly so that it would happen in front of Ang but things didn''t go as he nned them to. Magnus didn''t pay any attention to him at all. He also had a small smile on his face, as if saying that he knew what he was trying to do. When Dorian saw the smile on Magnus''s face, he felt that he was sen through. he heard about psychic abilities. They are considered weird as though they are powerful, it isn''t easy to improve them, unlike other skills. There are some psychic skills that can read the thoughts of others. What Dorian feared was that if Magnus had read his mind, then he might have known everything about him, especially about the system. Heter consulted the system, and the system did a scan of Dorian''s Brian and found nothing different. Though Magnus did try to probe his brain, the probing time and area were very small. Magnus had withdrawn his skill after he heard the word system in Dorian''s mind. The Mind Probe skill only left a little mark on Dorian''s brain which would not be easy to detect. It would have been if the system was not at the Level 1 stage. Since Dorian is still young, his brain is not strong enough to contain the entire power of the system installed. So the system that he got was a simple version of it. The system only told him that it was still at level one and could be upgraded. The conditions for the upgrade though, it never revealed. Dorian didn''t question either. The reason the system didn''t tell him is because the system survives by burning some of his brain cells. The consumption may be low, but still, it is eating a part of his brain power, which reduces his INT. If he knew about it, he would have tried to get rid of it, even though he may not know how. Luckily for Magnus that small mark disappeared, after a few minutes which Dorian wasted when Ang passed through. If he had asked the system then, he would have discovered the real reason but instead, he settled for a fake one. After having a detailed discussion with the system, Dorian created his own reason for why Magnus saw his trick and that he was just worried for no reason at all. Magnus was being taught by Ang, so he should have already known that Ang would pass through there at that time, more or less. If he fights at that time, Ang wouldn''t have a good impression and could even cancel his private lessons. "He must have seen through my ns, even if he didn''t know anything", Dorian thought. Magnus was after all a child of a noble. He should seen such schemes since he was a child and his scheme was so simple that it definitely wouldn''t have missed the eyes of Magnus. If he had fallen, then he wouldn''t deserve the top rank of the first year. Since his schemes wouldn''t work, he decided to approach the problem directly. He would confront him in a duel and defeat him sooner orter. There were monthly ss examinations. By this time, they had all gone through a monthly exam and they all knew the ins and outs. The students of 1-A, including Dorian came to know how powerful Magnus was. There is no conventional way to defeat him. Though Dorian knew that defeating Magnus in a short time was not possible, he was reluctant to let go. He may be more powerful than Magnus in the future but what good does it do? Everyone may praise him, but there is no way that he would have the followers that he wanted. Themoners would most likely have chosen a house to serve. This is the mostmon way for themoners to survive and grow in this turbulent world. There is no way for them to venture into the deep woods at this stage to gain resources for their growth. One may think that they can grow just by hunting but they were wrong. It may help them reach higher ranks but that wasmon for every awakened. These resources would help them how high they can reach and how fast they can reach such heights. There are two ways to gain ess to such resources. One is to hunt and find those resources by themselves or buy them from the market. These two are impossible to do. So a third way was found, that is to find a rich thigh and hug it. This is the only way that the poor kids can grow. Chapter 89: Dorians time at the academy (4) Dorian is amoner kid. Normally after he awakened, the only way for him to advance was to find a rich thigh and be their servant. Only this way would he have a chance to grow fast. He could try his luck in the forest but the forest is filled with monsters and bandits. So venturing into the wild is not a good thing for the newly awakened. Most of the noble children would have started training their bodies since young. After awakening, they should have started to hone their weapons and skills. Even then there are chances of deaths. So they would have guards who would help the kids improve their levels. Only a few families like Frostwolf, would send their children into the wild without guards. Even though they send them alone, these children would be given sufficient food and weapons to protect themselves and survive in the forest. If they can''t they can return. The family would then provide guards but then the resources that would be tilted towards them would be bare minimum. This was a choice that amoner child like Dorian would have but he had another choice presented at his awakening. He was given a system. It was an existence that made him powerful, the more he killed. stay-updated-with-MVLeMpYr So his growth was much more than others who were at his level, which gave him the strength to hunt more. This was a repetitive cycle, that kept on increasing his strength to new heights as time progressed. With the help of the system, Dorian dreamed of bing the most powerful in the world and being able to rule the entire world. This was possible with the resources that were avable to him. As long as he can kill and earn the required points, he can easily get them and be the most powerful person. What he thought was that it wouldn''t matter if he just became the most powerful person. He needs a lot of followers. Only then, having that strength would matter. He also knows that people would betray their friends for benefits. So he was in need of loyal followers and they can be found mostly when they are still children. Their values would still be malleable and can be sculpted as he wants. After he awakened, a few of the children started to follow him but these are all who have failed to awaken or yet to grow through the awakening ceremony. All the others decided to find someone to depend on andter on they did. In this world, it is not easy to upgrade oneself without the help of others. Though the nobles usually look down onmoners, they are not idiots who couldn''t distinguish talents. All the awakened are useful in one way or another. So, many nobles would try to get them to join their families in return for benefits. Of course, that was not for free. These children have to repay the debts after they grow up in one way or another. Most nobles take the payment in the form of servitude. There are few who wanted to break from the servitude and for that, they had to pay the debt in the form of something extraordinary. What the noblesck is not some gold but rare and unique resources. There are many rare resources that can even save someone who has only a breath left in their body. Some resources can give the person who used them, an ability. This ability can be a skill or resistance or something else but what these give are at level max. It means there is no need to work tiringly to achieve this feat and can enjoy the benefits from the start. There are many rare metals that can be used in weapons, that would be far more powerful than the weapons of same grade. As long as materials such as those were presented, then they would be free. --- Dorian didn''t want to be bound like that. He learned a lot of things from children who went to work for those nobles. Though they are safe and their families have better amodation than they did before, these people were not happy at all. They wanted more but the conditions were something that they themselves agreed to. They weren''t forced to sign the contracts back then. The nobles did keep their promises back then but they now understood that they were underpaid. Some at their rank would be much more powerful and richer than them but they also know that they wouldn''t been able to reach such positions without the nobles'' help. They wanted to enjoy the benefits early and had to pay for that now. There is no other way around. If they had remained away, they would already be dead or still living in some small house in a city. There was no way for them to bloom without proper tools, which themoner childrencked. There is still a way to get out of this but they also know that this method is very dangerous and could end their lives. It would be best to develop slowly and steadily and live a long life, rather than trying to kill themselves. They have seen that happen to many of theirrades. Only a few seded and were able to gain freedom. It was tempting but it was a very dangerous path. They aren''t protagonists of a story who would survive no matter what. He would even return from the dead and would gain everything that he wants in the world. Most of these people are extras who wouldn''t survive a few chapters in a story but Dorian felt that he was the protagonist of the story. He believed that because of the system. He believed that this was a gift from the heavens, a blessing to him. With that, he can rule the entire world, which he was so sure of. Moreover, he found his own stepping stones, some noble brats who think that they are better than others. What other way is there for a protagonist to step onto the world stage, rather than by stepping on those noble brats? This is his story, he believed that very much in his heart. Chapter 90: Dorians time at the academy (5) Life has a way of making people do things that they don''t want to. Dorian, never thought that he had to seek the help of a noble. He wanted to crush them and be the ruler of the world but that appeared to be not an easy task. To be able to rule the world, first, you have to be the strongest. Second is that you should have enough strong people supporting you. The third one is to have a lot of resources on hand. Running a kingdom is already an expensive venture. The world would be on a whole other level. Without enough resources to satisfy the people, there would be no way to conquer the world. Conquering the world would require an army to do so. A few strong men would not be enough to do so. Even if they were enough, they couldn''t be enough to maintain the huge empire. Arge army would be required to maintain such a vast empire. To maintain such an army, there is a need for arge number of resources. Those aren''t easy toe by. You have to umte for years so that you would have more than enough resources. It''s just not the army. There would be millions of people in the empire and what they need are food and shelter. If the empire was unable to do so, then there would be rebellions. exclusive-to-MvLeMpYr If an uprising happens, then he would have no choice but to kill the same people that he once thought to be his people. For him, that can''t happen. Dorian was still at a young age. Though because of his family''s conditions, he was able to mature faster whenpared to his peers among nobles, but he still is a teen, who doesn''t know much about the world. There is no way he would think to do such a thing at this age. He has yet to taste the power and the corruption that apanies it. There are very few who can withstand such a temptation thates with holding such power in their hands. So there was nothing that was set for the future if he indeed would be the ruler of the world. --- "Are you the one who sent me that message?" Dorian asked the student who was sitting by the table. After the episode of failing to provoke Magnus, Dorian thought of another way to make him his stepping stone, but before he could think of another way, he got a mysterious text. He didn''t who it was but the text said, "I can help you in dealing with your enemy". He has never spoken to anyone about hating Magnus personally. Though he always stood up against other noble children, he made sure that he didn''t attack someone on a personal level. This was something he gained from other seniormoners who were able to attend academies. Even if you stand up against the nobles, they would treat you as some fly that can be squatted easily whenever they want. They wouldn''t take big actions against you, because they too know that themoners hate them and this fighting back is just a phase that would end soon. No need to take it seriously but that wouldn''t be the same if you target someone specifically. Sure by doing so there can be some unexpected allies who can help you but these allies are not actual allies. They would be using you to get rid of their troubles for them, without making it obvious to others. If amoner targets a particr noble child, he would target them too and that won''t end well either for themoner or for his family. The other noble who used would be fine as there is no evidence of doing anything against the noble that themoner provoked. Either the noble that he hated for some reason would die or themoner who he turned into a sword to hurt that noble would die. In either of these cases, he wouldn''t lose anything in the end. The one who suffers in the end would be themoner child who thought that he could take on the noble child. This was because whatever the result of the sh might be, the noble family wouldn''t leave themoner child''s family alone. They would be punished heavily, even would be condemned to death. This was something that manymoner-born children have seen happening to the ones who didn''t find some rich thigh in the beginning. If they have some support, there is no way the other noble would cause too much trouble even for themoner child. Dorian has no such support and what could happen to his family if he actively targets someone on a personal level, no one would know. So he kept that a secret. He appeared simr to othermoners who ahs grudges against the nobles. Though there were shes, there were no problems, no more than estimated. Everything was working fine until he received a message from an unknown number. He has no idea who it is, but he wants to know who it is that learned his secret, but he has no way of finding that. He was not into these technologies and there was no one that he knew who could help him in this matter. At that time, another message appeared. "Meet me in the Cafeteria. Tomorrow, 4 PM. I would be the one wearing the Blue Scarf", the message read. After reading the message, Dorian was in a dilemma about whether to go to the ce or not. There is no way that the person who contacted him was simple. I never said to anyone and yet he was able to find that. So either he is personally powerful or his family is powerful. Either way, it was trouble for him, but he wanted to know what he could gain from this. So he decided to go and see where it would lead him. "Yes, I am, and as I said I can help you. First, please take a seat", the boy smiled slightly at Dorian. Chapter 91: Williams time at the academy (1) The story began a long time ago. It was the story of two sworn brothers; Adus Frostwolf and Samuel Rutgurd. They first associated with each other at the Royal Academy, more than a century ago. They had the same ideals and goals. They were considered Battle Maniacs, who spent most of the time either eating, fighting, or sleeping. Except for these three activities, there is almost nothing that they did. Due to these qualities, they quickly became friends and then sworn brothers. It was said by the peers that they behaved as if they were twins and nothing could break them apart. The world always likes to do things that are opposite to people''s thoughts. The two who were once brothers, became rivals. As said in stories, the cause behind this was a girl, a beautiful junior who joined the academy two yearster, Serenna Siren. She was considered an absolute beauty that everyone tried to get. Even these two who were considered Battle Maniacs were no better than other boys. Although she was beautiful, it was not her beauty that attracted them but her prowess. She was the top ranker of their year. Like them, she spent most of her time training, unlike other girls. Most of the girls that attend the academy forget about training and spend time choosing a good man for themselves to settle down. There are very few who continue to strive to reach higher stages. After settling with someone that they like, it was the duty of that person to make sure that she would reach the next rank. It was not easy, especially as they reached higher ranks, but that didn''t matter much to them anyway. --- At first, it was a friendship between the three as they all loved fighting, butter both of them fell in love with her. It was difficult for Serenna to choose because either decision could hurt one of her friends but in the end, she chose Adus. They got married and had a child, Magnus Frostwolf, grandfather of the present-day Magnus, his namesake. Serenna and Adus disappeared and are said to have died on an expedition when Magnus was young. Later when his son Joseph had grown up, he went looking for his parents'' whereabouts. Though he wanted to do so for years, he had many things to take care of. Magnus lost his wife when Joseph was a child. So he had to take care of their child and couldn''t do things as he wanted to. Moreover, there is the viscount that needs him. So he waited for Joseph to reach the right age to take over his title. After handing over his title and territory to Joseph, he disappeared too after that, never to be heard again. To this day, Joseph has no idea what happened to his father and grandparents. Even though he wanted to know, he decided to push the issue to the back of his mind. He has a viscounty to rule. Due to his father and grandparents'' sudden disappearance, a lot of unstable factors started to appear in the family. He stayed behind and when the time came for him to hear about them, then he would hear about it. Until then he decided not to leave. He had a feeling that if he left, the family might crumble. This was something he wouldn''t like to happen. If his father had seen those cracks in the family, he might have not left, searching for his parents either. your-chapter-source --- Samuel on the other hand, couldn''t get the girl and lost the brother he found in the academy. He couldn''t really hate Adus for getting the girl and couldn''t me that girl for choosing Adus over him. Adus was from the line of nobles, who were descended from the Battle Tribes. These tribes loved violence more than anything. Many of these tribes were destroyed because of their excessive fighting. They made many enemies and after a lot of battles, very few tribes survived. Even after centuries of taming, didn''t totally clean out their fighting charm from them. Many of the Frostwolf family belong to fighting professions. Due to this, they remained moderate in the kingdom. Even though fighters are the mainstay, most of the wealth would be concentrated around professions like alchemists and cksmiths. They would control the entire economy of a nation, not these fighters. Rutgurd on the other hand has a good number of those professionals, making it richer than the Frostwolf family. Anyway, after Serenna married Adus, Samuel married Wellna Aster. It was supposed to be a good ending but it was not. Samuel couldn''t forget Serenna and failed to do his duty as a husband. Though he sired children with her, he was not 100% present for her. This angered Wellna but she couldn''t do anything at that time. After Adus and Serenna disappeared, Samuel also lost the will to live. He died a few years after their disappearance. This was because, when Serenna chose Adus, Samuel didn''t ept the result. He attacked Adus, injuring him heavily. Though there was no life threat, due to the injury, Adus couldn''t progress forward. They both disappeared while looking for a cure for that injury. With the injury, he wouldn''t be able to contribute to the family. So Adus made his son the head and left the family. Others may not know the reason why they left home but Samuel did and he med himself. In the end, when he was in bed, he always words asking for forgiveness, mostly from those two but also from his wife. Wellna forgave her husband and pushed the me onto the two families, Frostwolf and Siren. Time went by, but a piece of small news caused a storm in the Rutgurd House. Lady Wellna got news about Elisha Siren, who looks exactly as Serenna and she was engaged to Magnus Frostwolf. She wanted revenge. The Frostwolf and Siren families are the reason why she couldn''t be a wife of her husband. She always hated those two families for depriving her of her husband. So a n was hatched and her great grandson, William would y a major role in this n. Chapter 92: Williams time at the academy (2) Lady Wellna who couldn''t express her anger for years, found a perfect way to exert it. Elisha Siren was said to be an exact copy of Serenna. There was one difference but no one mentioned that. Elisha disdained to fight. She was more interested in maintaining her beauty, rather than fighting which she viewed as barbaric. She is more interested in vanity, rather than true power. The only reason why she was able to enter the academy was because of her family. Guards followed her to help her gain EXP and reach peak Tier-0. After that, she took more than half a year toplete the Tier-1 mission. She was carried most of the way and shouldn''t bepared to the warrior known as Serenna at all but people are people. Serenna was the most beautiful woman that the Siren family had seen in thest three centuries. So anyone who looks good would be automaticallypared to her. This trend would most likely continue until someone who was more charming and beautiful than Serenna appeared. Wellna heard that Elisha had a marriage contract with Magnus from the Frostwolf family. Apparently, Elisha''s family was in dire need and only the Frostwolf family helped them at that time, almost pulling them out of existence. The disaster almost ended the glorious Siren family. Except for Elisha''s father and one of her uncles, no one else in the Siren family survived. For their survival, Elisha was tied to Magnus. Lady Wellna hated everything about this marriage contract. Elisha looked like Serenna and Magnus is named after the son of Serenna. More than that Magnus is from the Frostwolf family. There is no way that she would let this marriage happen. She wanted to break the marriage and at the same time make Frostwolf and Siren families enemies. The Siren family became small and almost all its members are dead. Now it looks as if the Siren family rose to prominence a few years ago. The Frostwolf family has its own problems. Due to the disappearance of two heads, close to each other, cracks started to form. Those cracks becamerger after the affair with the Siren family. To protect them, Frostwolf lost a few members but to those branches of the family, it looked like Joseph gained everything with the marriage contract while they suffered losses. They couldn''t ept that started causing trouble for Joseph, making it harder to maintain the cohesion of the family. The family may break up any day and may fight each other for titles andnds. After the affair with the Siren family, troubles inside the Froswolf family increased. The only reason why they are not truly going out on out was because they knew that by doing that other families that had enmities with them would take advantage and absorb their family''s power. NovelBin-your-novel-source The divided factions have no reason to ept such conditions. They see that they still have a chance to bring down Joseph and take over the viscounty. No need to give their family assets to outsiders. --- What Wellna nned was simple. Out of all her descendants, she always favored her great-grandson William, who has familiar features of herte husband Samuel. William too would ept anything that she says to him and wouldplete any task that she assigns. So she naturally chose William to target Elisha, make her fall in love with him, and break the marriage contract with Magnus. This way, both Frostwolf and Siren families would be at odds with each other. Moreover, the ones who are vying for power inside the Frostwolf would stir up enough troubles using this and would be able to reduce Joseph''s power and influence. For them, though they might not get the title and thends, it would be one step closer. For Wellna, it was destroying two families at the same time. Though it wasn''t guaranteed to happen in a short time, it was a sure thing. When her timees, she can leave this world in peace, and the two families that wronged her and her husband will soon disappear from the world. Though it was a rivalry that was supposed to end with Adus and Samuel, it didn''t. Now it crept into their descendants'' hearts. This was not something that should be passed on. This is a dangerous thing to the family and would give no benefits. If only that battle between Adus and Samuel hadn''t happened, if only Samuel treated his wife truly, everything would have been different. A century-old thing is now going to haunt three families. --- For their n to work, William and Wellna prepared a well-detailed n and even contingencies in case they failed. Even crowded with anger, Wellna could see things clearly to an extent. She made well-detailed sketches on how to make sure everything went as nned. First, she invited various families including the Siren family to William''s birthday banquet. This was after the first semester of the first year. Normally, he had to be in the academy but William is considered a genius, so he can do whatever he wants but has to attend the exams without fail. That''s the only condition for him. After all, not only he was the top ranker but also broke many records of the seniors that came before him. To geniuses, the world would be their canvas. Lady Wellna made sure that this banquet was to show William''s strength to the world. So in addition to normal guests, she invited a few random guests. One among them is the Siren family. This looked random but the random noble families are indirectly associated with the Rutgurd family. Only the Siren family has nothing to do with Rutgurd but only a few knew that. Some of the Rutgurd family members knew what she Wellna was doing but they couldn''t stop her. She made a n that would make it look as if the matter involved only the youngsters and that would prevent the older people from intervening. This party was how William and Elisha would meet and then everything would be on track for her. She never thought that there was someone that could outsmart her in this game. Chapter 93: Williams time at the academy (3) A grand party was arranged for the sixteenth birthday of William Rutgurd. He is now a fresher in the Royal Academy but was praised as the genius of the generation. Unless anything unexpected happens, he was one of the guaranteed to reach Tier-7. He has a good chance of reaching much higher ranks. There was even chatter among the staff that his skill might reach level 50 or would be at the least next to it by the time he graduates. This was something that wasn''t easy. Many may have level 10 skills when they enter the academy but that doesn''t mean that they can reach level 50 in five years. On average the students would be around level 20-25 when they graduate. The best students would be at levels 40-45 by the time of graduation. This was the usual census. Even though the noble children would have trainers, their quality would not be the same as the teachers in the academy. These teachers would know the ins and outs. They would know where exactly the student is going wrong and what he is doing right. This was not something that the family trainees could observe and teach them properly. So attending the academy is a must for the awakened. Only here they can properly hone themselves. Moreover, when the child was at home, there would be almost no motivation for the child to improve themselves but that wouldn''t be the case at the academy. There would be enoughpetition in the academy. Some would concentrate more on training to be the best and some would want to show their value and some would want to take revenge on the students who bullied them. Whatever the case might be, the students here would try their best to improve their skill levels and ranks. They wouldn''t want to be treated as wastepared to others. powered-by-NovelBin There are many pretty good motivators. Even with those motivators, it would not be easy to reach level 50 in a skill. If the skill upgrade continues on the same path as it did till now, William is sure to reach level 50, and maybe one day he can reach the legendary level 100. This was the praise that the teachers at the academy all agreed on. So to make sure that everyone heard about this, House Rutgurd invited many nobles to the party and the Siren family was one of them. --- Lady Wellna had two reasons behind the party, one was to spread William''s name and at the same time make a path for William to conquer Elisha. For that to happen, the Siren family has to appear or else she has to think another way. Luckily for her, the Siren family indeed appeared and Elisha came along with her family too. This means that they can start from that moment. If the Siren family didn''t make it to the party or if Elisha didn''t appear, then it means that they have to make many changes to their ns. After the Siren family appeared they went to meet the count, who is William''s father. While those older people were busy, Elisha started to move away from them. For her, whatever they were talking about was boring. "Hello, I am William Rutgurd", William introduced himself to Elisha, seeing that she was alone. "Hello, I am Elisha Siren", she greeted back with a smile, "Happy Birthday". "Thank you beautiful", he said flirting with her. He knew that there wouldn''t be too many opportunities for him if he didn''t seize this moment. This night would be the foundation for what could happenter. If he couldn''t impress her, it would be wasted but he wasn''t afraid of that. He is considered as good looking and he has strength, which makes him the most sought-after boy in the entire academy. It was not just the girls in his ss or year who wanted to get with him but also girls from other years. This included some of the fifth-year seniors. They were shameless in situations like this. It was not easy to find good seedlings and early birds would get the worm. To have a good life, it was best to make sure that these good seedlings would be yours, or else that means that your chances are gone. Just as he thought, the conversation went perfectly and he was even able to exchange numbers. Though he showed interest in her, he didn''t want toe as someone who was too into her. It may send bad signals and everything could copse. He knew where to stand and where to retreat. --- That night after the party, William made a decision. He wanted to make Elisha truly his partner, not just act as his great-grandmother said. To him, she was the most beautiful girl that he hadid his eyes on. He wanted to make her his. For that, he had to make somepromises from his geat-grandma. William seeded in persuading Lady Wellna to ept his condition. She promised he could do whatever he wanted to do as long as those two families suffered. Everything else can be done as he wishes. Now he has mainly two goals to aplish. One, make Elisha fall for him and leave Magnus. Two, cause as much damage to the Frostwolf and Siren families. These two became his main goals in life. To make sure those two would be aplished, he walked to the ends of the world, if that''s what it would take to make those happen. --- William started to speak to Elisha, every once in a while. He would tell her some sweet words and he could feel that they were working. The only problem that remained for him was the marriage contract. It was something that her father fixed. Though it was a decision that her father took without her consent, she couldn''t do anything about that, and neither could he. He has other ns for that but first Elisha has to fall in love with him. To make sure that she would, he prepared a wellid-out n. All his hopes of making her great grandma''s dreams depend on this n. Chapter 94: Williams time at the academy (4) The trap was set. As nned, William made contact with Elisha and the conversation between them was good enough to get hermunication number. After returning to the academy, he kept in touch with her through this. This part was important because she had to fall in love with him. If not, he won''t get her and his great-grandma might not get the revenge that she sought. This was something he wouldn''t let happen. Though this n was supposed to cause damage to the two families, for him the girl was more important. Even if the part to cause tensions between Frostwolf and Siren''s family fails, he doesn''t care. What he cared about was whether he could get Elisha or not. He loves his great-grandma but this is not her life or era. It is his life and the final decisions have to be made upon what he desires, not what others desire. So he put in the effort to not only impress Elisha but also her parents. --- The n to trap Elisha worked perfectly. Even her parents wanted to give her to him but couldn''t say it out loud. Elisha was already bound to Magnus but they knew about the problems in the Frostwolf family. Moreover, Magnus is not even the heir candidate for the viscounty. If he was at least the first son, then the couple wouldn''t have had such thoughts. As the first son, there would be a chance for him to get the seat, though thew was for the firstborn to inherit the title. It onlyes into y if the firstborn stays in the family and their child bears the family name. If they want to leave for other families, they would lose the right of session. It was true whether the firstborn was a boy or a girl. Magnus has four siblings. So even if one or two leave, there would still be two more who would have more rights than him. The line of session for his family is like this. If nothing happened, his sister Eritrea would take the title and the seat as the next viscountess. Even if she doesn''t want it, there is still a sister and two brothers who are in line before him. So there is no way that he has any chance of getting the chair. discover-NovelBin-novels So the Siren couple started to think of a way to dissolve the marriage. Their first n was Elisha''s birthday party but it didn''t go as they thought that it would. --- Thomas Siren made a perfect y to antagonize Magnus. He knew the customs of the Frostwolf family. They would send their youngds before the academy year starts on an adventure in the wild. The process stretches for months and depends on the talent and will of that child. If thatd had good talent, he would be able to survive longer than others and improve their skills very well, bt even in that barbaric family, not everyone would have such a will and talent to persevere in that environment. He heard that Magnus returned from the forest seven monthster and had a sh with amoner at the city gate. Yes, he reached peak Tier-0 at that point. Who wouldn''t? Tier-0 is nothing more than an ordinary adult. They are not that powerful. They are a bit more than ordinary people who can use some magic skills and that''s all. There is nothing nothing more than that. Moreover, after returning from the adventure he took the promotion mission but by the time of the party, he has yet toplete the quest. As someone who has gone through multiple promotion missions, he knew that there are a few weird promotion missions, which would not be easy toplete, though they may appear to be simple on the surface. Even if Magnus has gotten a weird mission, he doesn''t care because those emissions would dy the progress, and that leaves the person pretty vulnerable at that time. If Magnus tries to do anything he can easily eliminate him. There are no eternal friends or enemies, only benefits. Anyway, he instructed his daughter to greet Magnus but show no enthusiasm and make sure that the greetingsst no longer than when greeting some stranger or someone of low ss. After that, she has to ignore him and meet others, especially William. If she acts closely with William, that may cause Magnus to burst out and cause a scene. If he does that, it would be considered inappropriate and it opens the door to cancelling the marriage without any trouble. --- Things didn''t go as smoothly as Thomas wished. He wanted to give his daughter to William and to do so, the marriage contract had to be broken. If they initiate the break, thepensation would be very high but if ites from the Frostwolf family or if Magnus bes the reason for the breaking of the contract, then they would be in the clear. The loss would not only be the resources but also their family''s pride. If the Siren family initiates the break, then it can be considered a Social Death among the nobles. They wouldn''t associate with a noble family that breaks their promises. It was not that they are saints but whatever they do, they would do subtly and never in the open. H tried to subtly make Magnus cause a scene but he failed. There is no need to worry, he still has three years to revert this. After three years, William might not be avable for her daughter and everything would be for naught. These three years, he wanted to make his daughter skillful enough to make Magnus break the marriage contract on his own or make himmit something bad that would be good enough to break away from this marriage without paying anypensation and at the same time keep their dignity among the noble circle. Even if his daughter fails, he is sure that William will try his best to break that contract before his hands are tied down forever. He was so sure because he saw how William looked at his daughter. He loves her and if given a chance William would make Elisha his. This gave him the confidence that the marriage contract would break within the next three years. Chapter 95: Williams time at the academy (5) The birthday n failed but there was something that William came to learn. The Siren family is obviously in his favor. They wanted him to marry Elisha, rather than Magnus. They would do anything as long as it wouldn''t cross the line or be traced back to them. This is like having a boost that can help him in the quest of getting Elisha. Even if she loves him, without canceling the marriage contract, he can''t get her. The Siren family was the one who actually initiated this contract and if they initiated to cancel it, then they have to pay a lot ofpensation and it would degrade their status in the noble circle. If the Rutgurd family was at least a duke family, then there would be no one who would make things problematic for them but the Rutgurd family is only a Count family. So there would be many who would make fun of the Siren family. In order to avoid such embarrassing moments, they can''t initiate the breaking. It has to be done by the Frostwolf family but there is no way that they would take such an initiative unless something happens to Magnus. Either that or Magnus has to be involved in a scandal so big that it would be remembered down the generations. The second path is quite problematic. There is no way that he would fall into such a trap and there would always be traces of doing everywhere. The easier the thing is the better it is. No need toplicate things unnecessarily. Since the Siren family failed to antagonize Magnus into making a scene at the birthday party, it can be considered a failure but even in a failure there is much to be gained. He learned that Magnus requested the photographer to take photos of him talking with Elisha. For the trouble, he was paid a lot of hush money but he was greedy and wanted to ckmail William and Elisha separately. This photographer could see that these two are close but the girl should have been close to the boy who paid him to photograph them at the party. He should have stopped there, but he followed them to private and took some photos that he didn''t give to the boy at the party. Instead, he used them to ckmail those two. The photographer made a mistake by doing so. He didn''t think what a Count''s family was capable of. On the surface, they paid some hush money, but behind the scenes, they eliminated the photographer and destroyed everything that he had on him about them. In the process they learned from him, originally it was Magnus who paid him to take photos of two of them but he didn''t hand over the private ones to Magnus. With this one thing was clear. Magnus seems to know that there was something going on between William and Elisha but for some reason, he doesn''t act upon it. Magnus didn''t appear as someone who was without a brain. This means that it wouldn''t be easy to make him fall into a trap. He would be on alert against such ns and it may even backfire. Getting rid of him is the safest best but since Magnus seems to have doubts about William and Elisha, it won''t be easy to do so. When they were crying about what to do, a chance appeared. --- It was the entrance exam for the first years. The audience there was the guardians of the students who came along with them. Among the audience, there are a few seniors mixed in. Most wanted to revel in the fact that most of these participating students would fail to reach the expectations of the academies and have to choose a different line of life. William was mixed among the audience. He was there to observe and assess Magnus. He may have heard that he reached Tier-1 but what exactly is his strength, that he didn''t know. Now it would be open for the entire world to see. Whatever the ns that he had to implement would depend on what he would see. If the strength of Magnus is too much, he needs to make sure that he won''t be implicated. He can sacrifice even Elisha if possible but he can''t sacrifice the Rutgurd family. If a powerful enemy knows about your involvement in the n of their demise, would they leave you alone/ Would they let your family live? The answer is NO. William would rather lose Elisha rather than implicate and cause trouble for his family. If he wants, he can get a new girl, and the revenge can wait a few years. After all, everything that he was doing was allowed only on the premise that the family wouldn''t face any losses. If such a timees, then the family would rather cut him off, even his great-grandmother. Lady Wellna may be the ancestor of the main line but she is not the only living ancestor. The others won''t let her do whatever she wants to if the cost of that is their family. . So whatever he does, it shouldn''t be traced back to their house. If that happens, those two houses would unite against the Rutgurd family. Since it involves an ancient tradition that has been followed for ages, the other noble families would frown upon what they did. The other families may never agree to cooperate with them, at least for a few years. A few years can damage a family and it can take decades to recover. --- In this entrance exam, he found that Magnus is stronger than any of his peers and would not be easy to eliminate but he also found something. A possible tool that can be used to kill Magnus. This tool can help him get rid of Magnus and at the same time keep him safe. No one would be able to associate Magnus''s death with him and then Elisha would be his. After that, there would be only a single problem for him; creating a rift between the Frostwolf and th Siren families and making them fight each other. If they copse it''s better but he can settle for some damage to them, after all, this entire thing started because of his great-grandma. Since she showed him Elisha, he has to repay her the favor. Chapter 96: Williams time at the academy (6) William found a tool to clear the problem he had been facing. It was a possible tool but it was not a guaranteed one. He had to make sure before he could act. Of course, it wouldn''t be easy to spy on the first-year students without the help of first-year students. So he dragged a few noble family children that he knew into his circle. As he was considered as the genius of the generation, there are families that wanted to make friends with him but the adults can''t directly do that. So the burden has fallen on the shoulders of their children. William knows this and this was what made him to form a gang easily. Though it was not an official one, his gang had a lot of people, especially the noble children. Even some seniors and teaching staff joined his gang. Of course, there is no shame in joining a genius. So there are some seniors who follow him. There are a few teachers who favor him because they see that he can reach Tier-9 in the future. Even with such power, he can''t use it. They were not loyal dogs that would do things without questioning him. They are only followers of him because there is a chance of him reaching Tier-9 and they want to ride the coattails. They want the benefits, not the problems thate with him. Magnus has never done anything to William and if these people investigate they will see that William is the instigator. So they would most likely use some excuses and not help him. They wouldn''t help Magnus either. They would be the fence-sitters. In this way, though they may not earn benefits, there would be no problems for them. So William can''t count on those to make his n a reality. He can only depend on the juniors to make that happen. Even if someone traces something, he can always feign ignorance. There is no responsibility as the followers are not registered officially. If it was a club, then the club president would be held ountable for the mistakes that their members make. If his gang was a registered club, everything that the members would do would be recorded but there for him, there are such restraints. He can do whatever he wants to do without leaving any traces. So he decided to use the first years. Most of them would be naive and would do anything that he would say. That is what he did. He didn''t use one or two but more than half of the first year, including the best candidate that can get information for him. The best candidate to collect the information would be Elisha Siren. She loves Wiliam, so he chooses her to maintain an eye on Magnus and collect information about the people around him. Unlike others who may give him false information for some gold and resources but no way that Elisha would give him false information. She is in love with him and she would do anything to get rid of the constraint known as the marriage contract. This was something he could truly count on but he also knew that only she couldn''t collect everything. So he assigned a few more and made sure that no knows about that, not even each other. --- He found the perfect tool to take out Magnus. The tool''s name is Dorian, amoner. At the entrance exam, he saw how Dorian looked at Magnus. There is a past enmity between them and that is something he can clearly see. It was not just him, there were others who can see it. The reason behind that, no one knew butter he found out the reason behind it. A few months before the academy entrance exam, Magnus and Dorian met and that was not in a friendly way. Apparently Dorian tried to do something stupid and almost got killed. If not for Magnus''s intervention, he would have died. Instead of being thankful, Dorian apparently tried to scan the status of Magnus. This was something that Magnus muttered while disciplining Dorian. Magnus pped Dorian repeatedly in public, which is humiliating to Dorian. That animosity against Magnus was because of that humiliation. When William heard about this, he was sure that Dorian would make a move against Magnus and decided to watch from the stands. Just as he thought Dorian made a move but that was a very stupid move and Magnus didn''t fall for such an obvious trap. Magnus who didn''t fall for the birthday trap that he and the Siren family nned would never fall for such a scheme. The only way to get rid of Magnus is to kill him, but that was easier to say than to make true. He would spend the next two years in the academy. There is no way for William to get rid of him at that time. Though there might be some chances in the third year, he wanted toplete this ordeal before Magnus reached the third year. This was because the fifth year in the academy is very important and he can''t waste time on other things. --- After contemting for a while, William finally decided on what to do. He decided to meet Dorian and have a chat with him. Depending on the direction it goes, he would change his ns. If Dorian agrees to do his bid, then it would be the best-case scenario for William. If he doesn''t, he can get rid of Magnus and frame Dorian at the same time. This would be the best-case scenario. That would be a hassle but needed to be done in case Dorian wouldn''t join him in getting rid of Magnus. There is also Dorian''s stupid n to make Magnus a bad seed in front of Ang zewood. She is not an ordinary person and William was sure that she heard everything and should have understood what he was trying to do. If something happens to Magnus and the evidence points towards Dorian, Ang would surely ry the incident that she witnessed. It would perfectly lock him away. So whether Dorian agrees to join or not in getting rid of Magnus, it would mean nothing much to WIlliam. Either way, it would be Magnus and Dorian who would suffer and he would be in the clear. Chapter 97: The conspiracy against Magnus A young boy wearing a blue scarf can be seen enjoying his tea leisurely. He was alone at the table, which had two chairs but at the moment he was seated on one of them. After a few minutes, another young boy appeared before the boy in a blue scarf. The neer had a frown on his face, but he still spoke, "Are you the one that sent me the message?" The boy ced the teacup down and said with a smile, "Yes, I am and as I said I can help you. First, please take a seat. We can discuss it properly". The neer was suspicious of the boy but there was nothing he could do. He wanted to know how this one found out about that and what he wanted to do. There was no way one would help someone in that way, without expecting something back. Yet he took the seat. He could do nothing about the matter. "How do you know?" he asked. The boy in blue smiled, "Direct, are we? Let''s start with introductions. We can see what will happenter". "My name is William Rutgurd, heir of the Rutgurd house", he introduced himself. "My name is Dorian Halter, amoner", the neer introduced himself. "I know that", William said, "I know that you are wondering why I sent that message". "Yes". "It would take some time. I hope you have nothing to do for now. It started like this..." William started to narrate the story of Magnus and Elisha and how they were tied together. He told Dorian about the Frostwolf family and the Siren family and how the Frostwolf family head helped the Siren family when they faced a crisis. In exchange for the help, the Siren family had made a marriage contract for their children. Elisha from the Siren family and Magnus from the Frostwolf family. He then continued to tell about how he met Elisha at his birthday party. He skipped the revenge part though. There is no way that he would spill such details to outsiders. It would be like strangling oneself. He described the first meeting as love at first sight and even Elisha fell in love with him but there was the marriage contract and with that, she can''t marry anyone else. . William said to Elisha that he would take care of the problem and so he approached Magnus to dissolve the contract and he was ready to paypensation but he was rejected. William said that Magnus demanded an outrageouspensation that could bankrupt a viscount family. Even though he was in love with Elisha, he couldn''t pay that much amount. The only way that remained was to get rid of him. There was no other way around. Hearing the story Dorian was furious. He wanted to beat Magnus but with the system''s intervention, he calmed down. He can''t believe this is real just because this person hates whom he hates. Though he didn''t believe it, for now, their goals were the same. So he decided to join hands in order to deal with Magnus. --- The first attempt failed. After having the meeting, William privately trained Dorian so that he would be able to deal with Magnus by himself. With the help of the system and William, he was able to surpass most of the students in the ss. At least that was what he thought so. He was proven that he was wrong about that. Most of his ss, that is ss 1-A, aren''t someone like him whock resources and aren''t diligent in improving themselves. They are in 1-A because all noble or rich children they are the best. Moreover, many of the parents have huge resources that support them even if they can''t get anything in the academy. It would be not easy to ovee them, just because he has a system or has private lessons from a senior student. Many of them were taught by professionals for years and that wasn''t easy to ovee just because he had a sparring partner for a few months. The kills that he was able to acquire were a bit decent but he lost to Magnus in a colossal way. He tried and tried but couldn''t evennd a single strike but Magnus was able to eradicate him in just two strikes. Magnus only cast the skills twice and was able to hit him both times ending the match with them. This caused him to earn the least number of points in the duels. Those points that he gained were because there are a few staff members who are partial tomoners, rather than noble children. They would mark less for noble children while promotingmoner children. Of course, there are a few staff that do the same in reverse. It may look like they are canceling each other out but that''s never the case. These kinds of operations only increased the differences between the two groups more and more. It was because of that he stayed at his original rank. If not for that, he would have fallen to the bottom of the ss. He got lucky. Since the first attempt failed, they decided to act once again in the secret realm. From what was known, this secret realm was yet to be explored fully. No one above Tier-5 would be allowed to enter, and as there are a limited number allowed each year, there would be quotas. As long as he can meet the quota requirement, he can enter the realm. There is no way that Magnus would miss this. He would surely take a spot. As long as both enter the realm, Dorian can make sure that Magnus won''t return from the realm. William wanted to continue training him and asked him to follow in the holidays. Dorian agreed to this because, even if he wouldn''t face Magnus inside the realm, this would be a great opportunity for him and that would be enough to crush Magnus even after they leave the realm. It''s a win-win for him. There is no need for objecting such a chance. He could get a lot of resources by himself but his system has no resources that can help him improve his skill levels. He needs the help of someone that can help him improve those. Of course, even with that, it wouldn''t be easy as he has too many skills but all of them at a very low level. Only one skill has reached level 10. This can be considered as the ss worst. He needed to ovee this problem or he would be left behind by others. So he decided to follow William for the holidays. Chapter 98: Malias time at the academy Malia was said to be the spitting image of Count Halon Hasker, her father. They were both cold and aloof, perfectly suited for the military, where emotions can put you in danger. The military after all faces enemies every day. Even if they don''t, they need to be alert and not be distracted by other affairs. . The Hasker family is considered as a pure military family. In its long line, there were never court officials that appeared in their house. The noble houses not just serve as lords of thend. Their members serve in both military and political systems of the kingdom. There are some houses that were well suited for military, while some were suited for court politcs. The Hasker family belongs to the military and they were not alone in that way. Even the Frostwolf family belongs to this category. Magnus''s siblings are now serving in the military after theypleted their five-year course at the academy. There are some schemers in the Frostwolf family but they are nothing. If one thinks that the elders of the Frostwolf family are ying chess, they should go to the court and see what real chess ying is. In front of those court officials, these elders would falter within three moves. Some families are best left for those politics and soem were left alone for military. This was something many epted. Even if one member of the family tries to do the opposite, there would be no problem. They can do so but there is no way for them to go further into the core circle. These seats would always belong to the families that are in their circle. For amoner, military would be more weing than the court. In those mind games, thosemoners would lose 99.9%. There was a little chance of sess but the achievements would be very much lower than they could in the military. In the military, as long as you have strength, you would be epted. There was no other criteria needed. --- To Malia who grew up hearing tales of their heroic family ancestors, the best way to serve the nation was by being able to reach the top. The more people could reach the top ranks, the better it is for the kingdom. She like her family aims to serve in the military and to do so one has to be powerful. There are always deaths when ites to the military. They have to secure the borders of the kingdom, not only from the border kingdoms but also from the monsters that roam thends. Every once in a while there would be some monsters which would inevitably run into human habitats. The military has to clear them. Though there are adventurers who usually hunt these monsters around towns and cities, most of these adventurers are not strong enough to hunt powerflll monsters. WHat they can clean are cannon fodder and nothing else. Moreover, adventurers act alone most of the time. There are a few teams but that doesn''t create cohesion between them while fighting. Inrge scale battles, team co-operation is very much needed. So whenever there was a monster tide or traces of possible monster tide to appear, military woulde and clean the surroundings. Unlike the adventurers, who can retreat whenever they wanted to, the military can''t. They have to make a stand because once they lose, a lot of humans would be buried forever forgotten. However, if the military falters, it would cause unrest in the kingdom. It was one thing to fail and die but faltering is another thing. They would stand till thest man, when there is danger and people lives are at stake. --- When she attempted the entrance exam for the academy, she was so sure that she would be the top rank among the neers but she was wrong. There was someone stronger than her. She could only settle for the second rank. She didn''t ept the result, but she was not a bitch who would try to destroy her opponent in other ways. No, for her having an opponent in the academy is the best-case scenario rather than being at the first rank. Now she would have a target to reach, otherwise, it would be a boring five years for her. This was perfect for her. She made her academy goal to defeat the top ranker, Magnus Frostwolf. As the academy monthly exams were held, the more exited she became. Magnus was able to retain his frst rank everytime. No matter who the opponent was, he was able to defeat everyone. If anyone has thought that the entrance exam rank was by luck, then he has proven that that was not the case and he gained that rank because he was powerful. This was further cemented his position as the top ranker. The first two tests may be unavable to watch but the third part of the half-year test, Duel was open to all to watch. They all saw how Magnus easily handled Dorian, who was alos from ss 1-A. They all saw how strong Dorian was with the assional fights he would have with the nobles from every ss. He was not weak but infront of Magnus, he was an ant that can easily be crushed. Not everyone would have observed the match. Magnus didn''t attack for teh first few minutes. He only evaded all those strikes from Dorian. The staff should have saw but the students wouldn''t properly see what exactly Magnus did. He gave the first chance to Dorian on purpose. It was not just the first chance but a few chances to hit him but Dorian failed. After that Dorian was taken down in two strikes. Many would have thought that Magnus stood a long time against Dorian and defeated him but only a few saw that Magnus could have defeated Dorian in seconds but didn''t do so. In the entire first year, there are no rivals for him. Maybe even many of the second years may falter before him. Malia didn''t get disappointed, rather the fire in her eyes burned brighter. She saw a milestone that she has a to reach while looking at Magnus. Chapter 99: Spending my one month holidays at home One month, that was all the time that I have to spend home after the first semester. After the second semester there is that secret realm. Since I wanted to enter that realm, I can''t return home. I am sure that the academy would give a few days for the students that enter the secret realm. After all, the ones that enter the realm would be tired after a month of continuous battles inside the realm but the rest would probably too small to enjoy time at home. With the teleportation circles, I can instantly return to home but the new year should have been started by that time. So the academy might allocate a few days to rest, probably until monthly exam but with that not far behind, I can''t enjoy the time I would get like I nned to do so in this month. So I decided to dedicate this month to the family. Moreover, Eritrea woulde home in this month. Her military contract has expired. So she cane home at this time. I don''t know whether she would return to the military or not but I recall my parents discussing her wedding before I went away to the academy. She is the oldest child and yet not married at this point. Though people has the chance to live longer, noble heirs married early so that they would leave a heir of their own behind in case of emergencies. Eritrea being Eritrea, didn''t follow the norm. Moreover, my family is the kind of people who don''t much follow those etiquette. Moreover, she left to serve in the military. So no one could say or do anything about that. Now that her contract expires, there are preparations to marry her off. Whether she would marry into other families or wanted to inherit after our father, was still not clear. --- Eritrea appeared two days after my arrival. The first thing that she did was "mother" me. Since there was a huge gap of age between us, she acted as a second mother for me. If it was back on Earth, she would have been married and probably carrying her own child at this age. How old is she you ask me? I won''t say as she would beat me up if she learned that I brought up the topic of her age. No matter what, I wouldn''t involve myself in that affair, as that would be considered as bad for my health. If she agrees to marriage, then I can be there for her as a brother. If she wasn''t interested, that''s her choice. Moreover, unlike on Earth, here people can live longer as long as they are awakened and ranked up. How long they survive depends on what rank they are able to reach. --- The month long vacation is almost over and it was time to return to the academy. I spent a lot of time with my family learning more about the family affairs. There was also a bit of shopping with my mother and sister. It burned a lot of my patience. Moreover, I decided to spend some more time with Inari. After I entered the secret realm, it would be time to say goodbye to her. Wasting too much time in the academy on sex instead of training is something that is not permissible. So whenever I got a chance here we did it. There was a neglection of training because of those reasons. A few times I did train and also a few spars with Eritrea but that was it. I can use clones when I am alone but that won''t be possible with others in the vicinity. So I could only do one thing at a time. Unlike at the academy, where one can''t barge into other''s quarters without persmission, Ick such privacy at home. So I could only do one thing at a time or I would get caught. There were only a few instances that I trained in the past month and these are not enough t cause too many changes in the status panel as it used to be in the past, but I feel that there would be some changes after the semester starts. I could, no I should increase my training during this semester or else I would not have enough strength for the secret realm. What I meant was for when I enter the secret realm, not that I can enter or not. I can enter the secret realm but what I can gain in that realm remains a question. Now, let''s see what changes ured the past month. "Status" -- Name: Magnus Frostwolf Age: 15 Titles: Son of Viscount; Great yer; Hidden Smiden; Dungeon Conqueror; Primary ss: Draconic Warlock Secondary ss: Soul Arbiter (Unique) Affinity: Shadow, Blood, Space Bloodline: ck Dragon (2% Purity) Physique: Devourer Physique (EX) Talent: Ritualistic Summoning (EX) Trait: Silk Smooth Skin(A bit Improved); Sleepy; Aurum Skin; Sexy Smile; Rank: Tier-4 Level: 3 Health Points (HP): 378,828,117 Strength (STR): 943 Endurance (END): 1,487 Dexterity (DEX): 693 reading here on mv _l _e _mpy _r Agility (AGI): 1,128 Intelligence (INT): 31,505,170 Magic Power (MP): 442,603,700 Soul Energy: 5,500 (+200%) Charm: 3,009 ss Skills: Shadow Bolt; Blood Dominance; Draconic Magic; Shadow Curse; Blood Heal; Shadow Shift; Blood Lock; Draconic Pressure; Shadow Merge; Blood Drain; Soul Judge; Soul Prison; Soul Container; Nether mes; Shadow control; Blood Boil; Special Skills: Rank Booster; Status Disguise; Refined Skills: Shadow Bolt Volley Lv. 10; Skills: Evade Lvl. 12; Dodge Lvl. 12; Sprint Lvl. 10; Alertness Lvl. 10; Devour Lvl. 6; Fusion Lvl. 11; Split Lvl. 11; Demon Gaze Lvl. 3; Strengthen Lvl. 10; Tag & Track Lvl. 4; Night Vision Lvl. 10; Spatial Storage Lvl. 8; Mind Control Lvl. 5; Mind Probe Lvl. 4; Mind Defence Lvl. 1; Dragon Blood Evolution Lvl. 1; Scent Recognition Lvl. 5; Sexual Stamina Lvl. 3; Perception Lvl. 12; Pet World Lvl. 1; Parry Lvl. 3; Resistances: Physical Resistance Lvl. 12; Light Resistance Lvl. 4; Poison Resistance Lvl. 4; Magic Resistance (Non-Attribute) Lvl. 5; Space Resistance Lvl. 3; Fire Resistance Lv. 5; Water Resistance Lvl. 5; Mind Resistance Lv. 1; Weapon Arts: Advanced Staff Arts Lvl. 1; Basic Movement Arts Lvl, 6; -- [A/N: Sorry I forgot to add Perception skill to the status panel though I mentioned it beforehand. After that, I forgot about its existence. So it was Lvl. 6 before the academy started and increased to Lvl. 12 at the academy.] -- There are only three changes in my panel. There is a single level increase in Devour, Sexual Stamina and Parry skills. Except for that the status remained the same. Chapter 100: I returned to the academy One month passed away like it was nothing. Though I didn''t train much, I have no regrets. read this on m _v _l _e _m _p _y _r What do we train for? It''s to gain strength and what is its purpose, if not to enable us to live longer? Long life is so that we can spend more time with the one that we care about. If we forget that and spend every minute only improving ourselves, then we might not be able to have what we should have. Memories. With the rank I am at now and the possible ranks that I can each in the future, I will live longer but that would be grown-ass me. I would miss out my childhood memories if I only keep increasing my strength and forget about other things. Before I could graduate from the academy, I would be an adult ad it would continue to be so till my end. There is no way to reverse to childhood and enjoy the life as a child. So whatever I could enjoy as a young child, I have two or three years at most and I intend to make sure I make unforgettable memories. When I grow old and about to die, I don''t want to have regrets. I am not sure whether that I can reinarnate again or not. It''s not like there is a guide book for reincarnates. Whether there is another reincarnation in line or not, that would not be me, certainly not this me. That me would be a different person. I can''t be thinking about that me but this me. Moreover, it was not a gurantee that I would retain my memories, even if I reincarnate. So I would do the best to enjoy this life as I like it. --- Today isst day of the holiday break. I said my goodbyes to my parents and my sister, before setting off. Too bad my other siblings were busy and couldn''t made home while I was here. I would be spending time in secret realm during next break and would only get afew days of rest to return home. I don''t know whether I can see those three again for a year. I miss not having them here but that is what life is. We have to make through with what we have. I left home after saying my goodbyes. I went alone to the teleportation hub. From there I can go to the capital. I wish I could be able to go directly to the academy but at this point, I can''t. The teleportation circle there is open to all students and staff of the academy but unlike other teleportation points where one has to pay in gold, here it is the points that were awarded by the academy. Going to far-away ces would cost more points, so many would travel first to the royal capital and from there they would use the telportation circle to the academy. Even then it was not cheap. It would be costly for a first year student, who has less oppurtunities to earn points. Only after reaching third year would students use the teleporation circle to enter and exit the academy. For them there are missions that generate a lot of points. Moreover, many missions are time-limited. So they wouldn''t dare to waste time just because of a few points. Though I earned a lot of points whenpared to other students but with my physique, I would need high-quality food and that requires a lot of points at the academy. So I don''t have a chance to save any points to use for teleportation. At the teleportation hub in Winter City, I paid for myself to the royal capital and entered the teleportation circle. Within a few moments, I woke up in the teleportation hub of the capital. I left the hub and started walking in the direction of the academy. It was almost evening, when I left home and in order to reach the academy before nightfall, I didn''t linger in the capital. --- By evening, I returned to the academy without any trouble in the way. I went first to the office to collect my room keys. I had left them, when I went on a break. I need to collect keys from them or else I couldn''t enter my assigned quarters. It didn''t take long before the keys were handed to me and I returned to my familiar quarters. When I walked by, I felt that there are some changes in the living quarters near me. I am first as before. So my quarters remained same. Malia remained same too. So she should be in the one adjacent to mine. I don''t know who the other ranks are but there are one or two auras that didn''t used to be herest semester. It looks someone cked just because they were top ten in the entrance exam and now has to face the consequences of that. They would lose out points that the top ten would get and that would mean that they would start to fall behind as long as these new members don''t ck. Anyway, from tomorrow my training restarts. I should n my training properly so that can maximize the benefits that I can gain in the secret realm. This was not something I can enter again. So whatever I can gain the first time would all that I would have. I should ask Ang to teach me thebat part of using hands. I would have to face a lot of monsters in the secret realm and if I ran out of mana, well I wouldn''t but that''s what I have to say to make her ept that there is no other way other than teaching me some moves to kill the monsters using bare hands. I am a spellcaster and by definition, I have to make killings from afar but killing them from far away seemed unfulfilling. Only when I used the staff did I feel the kill. I want to see what sort of feeling would rise if I did it with bare hands. More than that I want to see how strong my physical body is without any external help like magic or weapons. Hmm, the training remains the same but I should make Ang alter a little bit of her training me. I hope it works. Chapter 101: Start of my Second Half of First-year (1) Hmm, no new students. Everyone who was in the ss from the previous semester retained their positions in the ss. It was not like those novels where MC would suddenly rise from the lowest of the sses to the top ss after a single semester or a year. It would be not that easy to do so. It may be possible in the other four academies but here at Royal Academy, everyone was talented and had ess to various resources. There are very fewmoners here whenpared to the other four academies. Most of the students are either of noble origin or their parents are rich, which means that they had ess to various resources from a young age. That advantage won''t disappear just in such a small time difference. Unless someone gets their hands on some legendary and mythical items, that won''t be possible. Even then it''s difficult because those legendary and mythical items would be very powerful and are not easy to use. Those items if consumed by weak people, wouldn''t be able to withstand such power and could die. This is why it was advised not to use those category items. In the novel maybe the MC would gain such an item and would immediately be strongest but that wasn''t viable for humans. Even when I directly reached Tier-3 from Tier-0, I copsed for a few hours. That was because my mind and body couldn''t stand against such a great shift in me. Inparison to many legendary and mythical resources that can improve one''s strength, what I gained can be considered a drop in the ocean. Moreover, I remembered myst life. So I believe my mind was far stronger than an average person''s. If what I obtained was obtained by others, they could have stayed unconscious for days. Even after I woke up, I didn''t go out to hunt, because I wasn''t used to such changes at that point. I could only send clones out to train at that time. Now though, I can hold on to huge changes such as those but even then, I have my own limits at this point. As I progress, that limit would increase too making it easier for huge shifts in body. Without reaching the necessary conditions, I don''t think that it is good to consume such resources. They could faint or die. Fainting means that they would be vulnerable to attacks and if this happens out of the city, there is a high chance of dying. Truth be told, I was lucky that day that no monster came by for a visit. It was probably because of the demon''s lingering aura after it was killed by me. If any monster had dared to enter that hidden hole, then I would have be its food. Thinking about it still sends shivers in my back. That forest was not my home and being vulnerable there was a death warrant. So no matter how strong I was and no matter how useful a resource was, consuming there would be very dangerous. You may think that fainting at home is not dangerous and nothing might happen but that is also not true, not always. Unless you have a trusted guard, losing consciousness is not ideal for survival. This was only for someone who has guards and can protect them. Commoners wouldn''t. So even bringing such a resource back home after finding it in the forest is not easy. Resources emit smell or energy fluctuations to which monsters are sensitive and they would track them even when it is not visible. Unless stored in space storages, they can be easily identified. It was not just monsters but bandits and many other greedy people would be jealous of other''s prosperity and would try to snatch what they have. So the best for themoner-born awakeners was that they had to take time to grow in a proper step-by-step manner. Trying to cross steps would lead to deaths in many cases. Knowing one''s limit is the first step for survival. Without knowing your limit and crossing it would lead you to premature death. This is why I didn''t show off too much. I ranked first because they decide the resource allocations but showing too much talent without strength would be your doom. I am not talking about my family or my parent''s strength. I am talking about my personal strength. Without that, even if you are the prince of an empire, you would always be in danger. --- enjoy on m|v|l|e-m|p|y|r There are a few fes who seem to have increased very well during the holidays but most didn''t. It may appear that they were cking but for a person, rest is necessary as is work. When it is time to work, they should and when it is time to rest, they should. Most of my ssmates are showing fluctuations simr to a month ago. Hmm, Dorian...he feels different than before. He seems strong, much stronger than when we fought each other. Did he stumble onto something good or did his system give him that? Whatever the reason might be, I don''t think that he would let go of me. He would definitely try to attack me in one way or another to avenge himself. I should notck in my training and should be prepared for such circumstances. --- I didn''t see how she appeared on the tform but Ang appeared in front of the ss so fast that I didn''t even feel her appearing until my eyes saw her. Everyone seemed oblivious to her arrival. She watched everyone for a second before showing why she was our teacher. "Hmm, one month of rest and it looks like many of you have gone back to enjoying the luxuries. I think I should shape you back into warriors, not some entitled brats that want to spend time wasting on unnecessary things", she roared. Oh man, it looks like she is pretty much pissed at us. Haha, this semester should be fun. Chapter 102: Start of my Second Half of First-year (2) Ang was pretty pissed because she could feel that the auras around the students had changed. For an entire semester, she made sure that the students would improve, and due to that their auras started to appear powerful and dangerous. Now after a month of break, most students'' auras became tamed. Only a few kept diligently working while others enjoyed luxurious lives at their homes. It was like the fire she lit was doused in water. Of course, she is pissed, and moreover, they didn''t even react after her appearance. The academy might be considered safe but threats may appear even in the safest ces. It was said that we should be always aware of our surroundings and be alert for possible threats but we didn''t. Even I was not aware and alert. I only sensed her because of my rank and others failed to do so because of their low rank but that was something only I knew, Ang doesn''t. It earned me a few more brownie points. She roared and cursed the students for a few minutes before calming down. --- "Well, it''s good that everyone worked hard and didn''t lose your ss seats to others, though there are a few fluctuations in the ranks. If you continue to ck, then you might end up in the next ss, and for students of ss 1-A that is not a promotion but a demotion. Remember that". "Nowing to the important news. You may already have learned that the first years can enter a secret realm and that is at the end of this semester. Though it is for the first years it''s only for some of you and not every first year would be eligible to enter the realm". "Every year only a hundred people can enter the realm, and that means that there are only a hundred first-year students who can enter the secret realm. Though the entrance to the secret realmes under the jurisdiction of our academy, the kingdom''s rule allows students from other academies to enter as well". "Since the portal is in our academy, thirty spots are reserved for the Royal Academy. Two of those four academies would get twenty spots and the other two would get fifteen each. To make it fair, the spot allocation rotates every year". "So the twenty that one academy enjoys this year would belong to another academy next year. We are the only ones that enjoy the thirty spots reservation without any change". When the students heard about the news they started to chat about it. Everyone was excited about the news and didn''t see the obvious problem. Ang poured cold water on the students, "Don''t be too excited. Though it can be said to be an exciting chance at gaining resources and improving your levels, you forgot the obvious". "In our academy, there are six hundred first-year students, and out of them, only thirty would be eligible to enter the secret realm. It means that more than five hundred would get nothing in this event". "The spots are allocated ording to ranks in the second Half-year exam at the end of this semester. Of course, as going to the secret realm is not mandatory anyone of these thirty can drop out. If one of those thirty doesn''t participate, then that seat would belong to the thirty-first ranker but that usually doesn''t happen as everyone can understand the importance of the secret realms". "If there is anyone who doesn''t know about its importance, I say go to the library and read a book once in a while. The secret realms are more resourceful than the world and many rare resources here can be found in abundance in secret realms". hosted on m-v_l-e _m-p_y-r "As they are rich in resources they are also much more dangerous. The monsters inside would be much more powerful whenpared to the simr rank and even species on the outside". "It was said that the bloodline of monsters in there are more refined than the ones outside. So they are more powerful than their counterparts here. If you think that a Tier-1 Swift Leopard is only as swift as the one that you might have encountered here, then you are wrong and would die before you know it". "The only good thing was that the bloodlines would only improve what their main affinity is, but won''t bother about other things unless you meet monsters that have Mythical Bloodlines. They don''t follow the norms, so it''s best you run as soon as you perceive their presence. At your strength, you can''t beat them and even if you do, you wouldn''t be in any condition to survive. Any monster can appear and can kill you". "As always said, talent and hard work may enable you to reach higher ranks but you have to be alive to enjoy the benefits thate with those ranks. If you are dead, then it doesn''t matter whether you are Tierless or Tier-9. In the end, both are the same, dead and useless". "So what I am saying is, don''t ck this semester or you will regret losing such an opportunity. Many of the secret realms are inessible to us humans and the ones that are controlled by the powerhouses. Unless you work for that powerhouse, you can''t enter those realms". "That is all. Now move your butts to the training hall", she said and disappeared as she did at the start of the first semester. --- What Ang said was true. Secret realms that are essible to the public are zero. Unless you find one in the middle of a forest or sea, it would most likely belong to someone. Others have no right to enter those realms. This secret realm, though is only essible to the academy students, it allows people from various categories to enter it without any issues. I mean these students are not guaranteed to work for the kingdom or academies. They can do solo work or they could join some organizations that stand against even the kingdom. No one can know and the kingdom is gambling by allowing the students to enjoy these benefits without asking anything in return or even making an oath. Chapter 103: My new training regiment with Angela (1) It was the same as before. Ang didn''t wait for us and ran directly to the training hall. Unlikest time, she slowed down enough to follow her as we didn''t know the directions, this time though she didn''t. She went straight to the training hall. I was a bit surprised, not because Ang didn''t wait for us but because today started with training. From what my sisters and brothers informed me there would be theory sses in the second semester instead of the first semester. There also would be a theoretical exam at the end of the first year. So I thought that today would be a theory ss, instead of the training ss. Maybe we would have that on another day. After all, there are two sses per week in this semester. The remaining time is free to do whatever we want to do as long as we progress. The theory was introduced in the second semester with the secret realm in mind. The professors here were supposed to teach about the monsters and every other thing that appears in the secret realm. This includes herbs, ores etc... Though that was the main point, they would also teach about dungeons. One may think that all of the students here should already have gone through dungeons, and what would be the point in teaching about them now? There is. Dungeons are ssified ording to their difficulties. They are ranked from F to SSS ranks. Dungeons from Rank F to Rank D are ssified as low-level dungeons, while Rank C to Rank A are High-level dungeons. Dungeons that have the Ranks of S, SS, and SSS are Superior-level dungeons. For the first years, they have ess to only F and E-rank dungeons. Second years can ess D-rank dungeons butt above dungeons in the academy can only be essed by third-year and above students. There are exceptions once in a while but they are considered geniuses and a normal system of teaching would only degrade their talent. So they would be given special permissions. This was something that I too could obtain but that meant I had to out many of my secrets and that was something I wouldn''t befortable with. I don''t miss out on much. I thought that I would miss many things but that was before I got ess to the Cosmic Market and learned about the secret realm. With my strength, I can easily sweep the resources that are avable in the inner territories and even maybe from the core territory. If I want something, I can simply exchange the item on the Cosmic Market. Moreover, these things have to be kept hidden until I cross over to Tier-7. After that, there is no need to be afraid but that doesn''t mean I would spread the information about me. If others want to harm me, they can easily create something to counter me and render me useless. So I shouldn''t spread details about myself but there would be no need to watch the surroundings to protect my information For now, though, I have to reach the training hall before Ang blows a hole in the hall. --- Training Hall... Ang took her time giving instructions to others before approaching me. She should be confirming what they had gained in this past month or what they didn''t. She observed me from top to bottom and said, "I thought you were someone who would diligently work hard without wasting it". Seeing that I am losing points, I have to speak for myself. "I am not saying this an excuse but there is a reason why I didn''t train much in the past month. As you said earlier, I am going to enter the secret realm and won''t have time to spend with my family until the first half of the second year". "Why are we upgrading, if not to spend more time with our loved ones? If there was no reason behind the process, it wouldn''t be worth the effort. This is what I believe", I said to her. . She smiled lightly, "You are correct. There should be a reason behind you or you would lose the will to move forward. It was applicable not just for the professionals but for everyone. I didn''t think that you were this enlightened". Iughed off thepliment, "I am not but I can say that I think differently whenpared to others". While interacting in the past semester, I didn''t quote unnecessarily. It would make me look older than I am. The fact that I retained my previous life memories is a secret and that would remain so forever. Though this world is considered magical, there are many maniacs who would love to dissect people who are unique. I don''t want to end up on some table in aboratory. So leaving clues here and there that what I umted and showing that I am a bit different, not much, would keep me safe. "Okay I understand", she said and about to leave. "Teacher, when would be our one-on-one teaching?" I asked her directly. I don''t want to ask her to teach me rather I am making sure that she would teach me but when would that be? She raised her eyebrow a little, and a corner of her lips twisted up, "Today and tomorrow, I assume that you will be busy with the sses, so taking one day for either rest or personal training is good. Our ss would be held on the fourth day of the week", Ang said before she left. When I meet her three days from now, I need to ask her to teach me hand-to-handbat or else I will have no way to improve myself in that aspect. Also, there is something called seduction that needs to be fulfilled. All semester long what we did was train apart from each other. I should change that this semester or else the chances of that ever happening would be almost NIL and I should forget about her. That''s not going to happen. How can I forget such a sexy one? Chapter 104: Attending my first theory class (1) The ss with Ang was over and she showed us what the hell would look like. She might have taken us not training well as a personal affront and for that, we had to suffer during the training. Anyway after the ss ended, I decided to take a rest rather than train. I had a hellish training all day and that was more than enough for the day. I decided to spend the nights with Inari and increase my Sexual Stamina skill. It can be improved only through regr sexual activities. For now, except for Inari, there is no sexual partner. So she has to do and added to that after this semester, she would be able to return home and that probably would be the end of our time together. After she goes away, I am not sure when would I get another girl in my bed. I have a fiance but I don''t think that she would be mine. There is Ang of course whom I am eyeing but there was no progress at all. So I thought to make the best of the time that I had left with Inari. --- Today is the supposed theory ss. I didn''t know who the teacher was and was a bit worried about how they were going to teach us. I mean, these subjects are all avable in the library. One can easily find books on these subjects. There is no need to teach them personally, at least that''s the case for me. Maybe, at this age one usually can''t grasp the matter just by browsing through some books. They may need some guidance. It should be because I remember all those torturous sses I had to take back on Earth. I naturally feel against attending sses. Most of the theory sses are a bit boring and most of the theory can be learned from the books. So there was no reason to take sses again. The only reason that I am taking sses is because of the secret realm. I searched for the detailsst semester but there weren''t many details regarding the secret realm. This was probably because the realm was not fully explored. Since only the students were allowed to explore this secret realm, no one was able to reach the core part of the realm. It was estimated that a Tier-5 monster was present there. No one knows for sure about that. The monster could have progressed to Tier-6 but no one knows about this matter. They could send a strong man, a senior from the academies but for some reason, they don''t. Is there a special restriction on the secret realm? If there is, I have never heard about such a thing and that means there is a lot more that I don''t know about this world. Even if I forget about the core area, I believe a few should have ventured into the inner areas for sure. I mean at least a few geniuses should have appeared who were able to reach Tier-3 before they entered the secret realm. The problem was if there was someone who ventured in, they didn''t leave any details about that. They should have kept that as a family knowledge, only avable to members of their family. They are not afraid that the information will be learned by others given enough time. This extra time would be more than enough to benefit their family. Hmm, I didn''t see any such knowledge in the family library. Did no such genius appear in the family or did they keep it as personal wealth? I don''t me them if they did so. It was something that they bleed to earn and there was no reason to share with others unless they get something in return of equal value. This is something I would do so without a thought. Though everyone says that we are all the same blood, every one of us has our own thoughts and there is nothing wrong in doing things in our own way as long as you don''t cause trouble for the family or something along the lines. --- A few minutester someone walked in and who might be it, none other than Ang zewood. This made many students sigh in agony. It was already more than one could handle when we had to go through one ss of hers but now we have to take two sses. This is a nightmare for many of the students. From the looks on their faces, I can say that they were hoping to take it easy for the day and they lost that hope as soon as Ang walked through. Wait, why did she walk into the ss, instead of barging in? Hmm, her hair...it''s red but I feel something different about it. Even her demeanour... I feel I am seeing a new person, not the demonic trainer known as Ang zewood. The teacher stood on the stage and keenly observed us. "Hmm, why are you afraid of looking at me?" the teacher asked us after a minute. I know the reason and everyone here knows the reason but no one would dare to say it. Even though I was personally trained by her, I wouldn''t dare to speak out. It would be like killing yourself with your own knife. No one would want that to happen. "Oh, you think I am Ang, don''t you?", sheughed for a bit. No, it can''t be. "I am Celine zewood. I am Ang''s twin", she said in order to ease the students but the effect was different. It brought more fear into them. For them, dealing with one zewood was more than enough, but now there are two. Their tiny minds and hearts can''t deal with two of them. It was more than a burden that they could bear. For me though, it is like a Buy One Get One Free offer. Twins, this would turn out to be much better than I could ever hope for if I could pull it off. Let''s see how lucky I can be. m-vl|emp yr your novel source Chapter 105: Attending my first theory class(2) Celine was different from Ang. In Earth''s terms, one could be considered an Angel and the other a Demon, but the issue was that the demon was named an angel. I can see the differences between them. Though they look the same, their demeanour appears to be different. Even the shades of their hair are different. One is like Destructive Fire while the other is Life-breathing Fire. It''s good that there are differences. It would be like enjoying different vours. It would be boring if both of them were the same in all aspects. First I should concentrate on how to get Ang. Maybe she can pave a path to Celine. --- "They should be confusing me with my sister. Every time, the same issue. Anyway, let them form their own conclusions. It''s not like I would get close with them after this year", Celine muttered to herself. She may have muttered but to my ears, those words are clearly spoken. It looks like this isn''t the first time someone has confused her and her sister. With Ang''s character, there should be many who were angry at Celine or feared her because they faultily thought that she was Ang. She must be used to it and should havee to the conclusion that trying to correct the issue is just a waste of her time. So she focussed herself on doing other things. Whether they realize the truth or not, it has nothing to do with her. She started by saying, "Your physical trainer, Mrs. zewood should have already told you about the secret realm. As first-year students you have the eligibility to enter the dungeon but only thirty of you can enter". "This would decided at the end of the semester. So no one would know who can enter and who can''t. So even if you believe that you can''t enter the secret realm, you should have the knowledge regarding the secret realm, not just this one but others as well because you may get a chance to enter other realms when the timees". "So you should always be prepared for it". Celine continued, "Though those other secret realms, I can''t tell you anything, there should be somemonalities. About the secret realm that you can enter I can tell you a lot". "First the top monster is supposed to be Tier-5. This was estimated as such based on the maximum rank the portal allows inside. Only Tier-4 and below ranks can enter the secret realm. After promoting to Tier-5, the portal wouldn''t let people enter the realm". "From what was observed in other secret realms, the maximum rank of the monsters would be a rank higher than the rank that the portal allows to enter". One of the idiots interrupted her, "Teacher, has no one ever checked upon it?" he asked. "No one did", she replied. The students were confused by that answer. Even I did. Unless the reason is as I spected, there would be no reason for not finding out the rank of the top monsters. Celine continued to speak seeing our confused faces, "There is a restriction on the secret realm. Only people who are seventeen and under can enter the realm. The top one can reach is peak Tier-4 before they can enter the realm". brought to you by NovelBin-empyr "It means they have to pass four promotion missions. You may not know this but as you rank up, the promotion missions would increase in difficulty. Not only this, many faced some weird promotion missions that may appear easy on the paper but difficult toplete". "I know a person who was stuck at peak Tier-2 for years because he couldn''tplete his promotion mission. The mission he got was to kill a monster. The issue was that the monster rank was only Tier-3 but the ce where this particr monster appears". "It appears only in a particr dungeon. This dungeon was an S-rank dungeon which has even Tier-5 monsters. So he did what anyone would do. He hired some mercenaries to get rid of other monsters. With their help, he was able to get his hands on the monster and defeated it but it didn''t record aspletion". "Heter understood that he has toplete the dungeon on his own in order to get that monster and then kill it. Only then the promotion mission would be considered aspleted". Hearing that, the students gasped. If they ever faced such a mission, no matter how talented they were before, they had to settle for mediocracy at the end. They can''t ept that. No one can ept that. Even if I can''t ept it, what can I do? What can they do? I had to ept one such request. I shivered when I learned that it was not a one-time thing. In records, there was someone whopleted a weird mission once and thought that was it. He evenpleted one more mission but the next rank-up mission was weird again. It was at this time that he failed and stuck there forever. It was noted that the difficulty increased too along with the weirdness of the mission. Seeing the pitiful faces of the students, Celine didn''t stop and borate. It was not her duty. She already gave a lot of information to them. Whether they can find more or not, that doesn''t concern her. She continued to teach the ss about the secret realm and all secret realms in general. What to expect there and more than anything how to survive there. --- Ah, finally the boring theory ss is over. I almost fell asleep but for change, she seems nicer whenpared to Ang. Though they are both fire ss, they are different. I heard that usually fire ss people get angry quickly and would be explosive from the get-go. Celine is definitely different whenpared to the usual introduction. Anyway, now that the ss is done, I should prepare for tomorrow''s training. After tomorrow, there is training with Ang. She was a bit disappointed that I cked off my training. Though I gave a good reason that she epted, I don''t think that she would let me off. So I need to be prepared for the personal training or I may suffer in the end. Chapter 106: My new training regiment with Angela (2) A day went by as if it was nothing and now it is time for me to attend personal training with Ang. I made every preparation I could but should see what her mood was. Whether those preparations are not needed or sufficient enough, that can only be known after I meet her. Moreover, there is the topic of hand-to-handbat training. She only taught Movement Arts and showed some defence positions in order to protect myself. They are not good enough to be registered by the status panel. In addition to offensive, I need to learn defensive moves. I may have only a few months for that. There is no guarantee that she will continue to be our teacher next year too. So whatever I can learn has to be in these five months. There is also the seduction part, where can get her to climb my bed. Thinking about the time frame and the number of things that needed to be done, I am not sure whether that could happen but I have to try. Whether that happens or not, I leave that to the fate. If it was supposed to, it would. If not, I should try my luck elsewhere, maybe Celine. She looks like an easy target whenpared to Ang but I don''t have a chance to make that happen with her. With Ang, I have personal one-on-one training but that won''t be possible with Celine. Anyway, that doesn''t matter for now. Let''s think thatter in the future if the path through Ang closes. --- After I woke up, I washed up and got ready. Then I had my breakfast before heading for my training. As usual, she was training by the time I came. I always wondered when would she sleep and do other things. I wonder whether she does other things. Seeing meing, she stopped her training, "You are here. Let''s start your training". I nodded and approached her. If someone hears our conversation, they might think that we are total strangers who had met probably today or a few days earlier. There is no context in that short conversation we had that says we have known each other for half a year. It was as if all the brownie points that I earned for months were a waste. This is how she is. The only thing that can bring a smile to her is training. She is a training maniac. The only way to get on her good side is through training efficiently. If there was any other way, I would use that way but in order to win her, I can only diligently train and see if I can get close to her. "Teacher, can you teach me hand-to-handbat arts?" I asked. She suddenly turned around, "I told you I''ll teach you Hand Arts. Why are you asking again?" "The secret realm teacher. Though I can pack as many weapons as possible, I have to survive a month inside that. There is no guarantee that the weapons that bring along can survive till the end. There might be cases when I have to use my hand to fight the monsters in order to survive", I said. "Why would you need those weapons? You are a spell caster and can use your skills without any weapon in hand. The efficiency would be a little low, but you defeat monsters in a few more strikes. If that fails, you can always run away. With the movement arts that I taught, you can easily do so. If you still feel ufortable, you can learn some movement skills that can aid you", she said countering me. She thought that was the end of my reason but that was not it. "Teacher, you should understand that there is no way that would be possible, especially in ces where one has to stay for longer periods of time. There should be multiple ways to survive or else one might not survive. I can run away but in a ce like the secret realm, there is a high chance that I would run into something more powerful. So I like to be prepared", I said. This is the perfect counteract to her. There is no way that she can negate my statement. "Fine, I''ll teach you what you want", she reluctantly agreed. I don''t know why she was reluctant to teach me offensive arts but now she finally relented and agreed to teach me. With these, I should be able to achieve two things that I wanted to. --- Ah, finally, the hellish torture was but I can proudly say, Worth It. Now, I have another art in my status panel, Hand Arts. Through this Art, I can finally have contact with her body. Though it was her hands were the only thing that I could touch today, while she was using them to trash me, I call it progress. Whether I considered improving my strength or seducing her sessively, I took a step forward. Not many steps but a single step. It may appear to be low but as days go by, I am sure to improve on both fronts massively. I didn''t lie to Ang about my training though. I would enter the secret realm after a span of five months and have to survive for a month inside. No onepletely knows what exactly is inside. Everyone knows what''s avable in the outer region and a few details about the inner region but no one knows what lies in the core region. I want to enter the core region. Only by doing so can I be able to reach peak Tier-4 and also obtain many resources that may be rare or not avable in the outside world. With no data avable about the core, I need to be prepared well enough to survive there or everything that I did until now would be for naught. With how cautious I am, one would think that I am timid. Indeed I am. In order to survive, I don''t mind being a timid person. There is nothing wrong. The dead tell no tales. Chapter 107: I started grinding skills With the secret realm portal opening in the near future, it is time to grind again. Unlikest time, when I sent a clone to the dungeon, I am not going to do that this time. There were a few times the truth almost came out. Instead, I would do one thing, multiple times at the same time. Ang started to teach me handbat arts. With clones being opponents of each other, I can train the arts faster than others. Last semester, when one of my clones went to a dungeon, I didn''t dare to use clones for training. I avoided that because I didn''t know whether I could do such a thing for a long time. This reduced my training a bit. This time though, there is no need to go to the dungeon. Improving my ss skills is more than enough to stand tall in the secret realm. Grinding in the dungeon would be unnecessary at this point. I am sure to reach peak Tier-4 in the secret realm. So there is no need to earn EXP while I''m outside. It would be counterproductive. It''s not like I can skip promotion missions as I did before. There were no records of something like that happening before. If they did, people kept the matter under wraps. Skipping three promotion missions can be considered a miracle and I am sure that won''t happen again. If such a thing happens, I should be considered as the most lucky person in the world. It doesn''t matter if such a thing doesn''t repeat, as long as those weird promotion missions don''t repeat, I will call myself lucky. Since I have to receive the mission andplete it after I exit the realm, there would be no progress in this way. Moreover, with a higher rank level, the EXP gained would be low. Everyone who enters the secret realm would appear in outer regions and there would only be weak monsters. Even if I wanted to go to the inner region, there would be no way that the monsters wouldn''t tangle me along the way. If the rank level or skill levels are high, then the monsters can easily be defeated. The difference was with high rank levels, the EXP gained would be low but that would not be the case with high skill levels. If I can train skills to high levels, I can easily kill monsters saving time and the same time earn a lot of EXP. So I decided that training skills is the optimum way. --- One Month Later... Before I knew it a month went away. This month, a lot of changes appeared on my status panel. "Status" -- Name: Magnus Frostwolf Age: 15 Titles: Son of Viscount; Great yer; Hidden Smiden; Dungeon Conqueror; Primary ss: Draconic Warlock Secondary ss: Soul Arbiter (Unique) Affinity: Shadow, Blood, Space Bloodline: ck Dragon (2% Purity) Physique: Devourer Physique (EX) Talent: Ritualistic Summoning (EX) Trait: Silk Smooth Skin(A bit Improved); Sleepy; Aurum Skin; Sexy Smile; Rank: Tier-4 Level: 3 Health Points (HP): 378,828,117 Strength (STR): 1057 Endurance (END): 1,567 Dexterity (DEX): 799 Agility (AGI): 1,226 Intelligence (INT): 31,505,170 Magic Power (MP): 442,603,700 Soul Energy: 5,500 (+200%) Charm: 3,009 ss Skills: Shadow Bolt; Blood Dominance; Draconic Magic; Shadow Curse; Blood Heal; Shadow Shift; Blood Lock; Draconic Pressure; Shadow Merge; Blood Drain; Soul Judge; Soul Prison; Soul Container; Nether mes; Shadow control; Blood Boil; Special Skills: Rank Booster; Status Disguise; Refined Skills: Shadow Bolt Volley Lv. 10; Skills: Evade Lvl. 13; Dodge Lvl. 13; Sprint Lvl. 10; Alertness Lvl. 10; Devour Lvl. 6; Fusion Lvl. 11; Split Lvl. 11; Demon Gaze Lvl. 3; Strengthen Lvl. 12; Tag & Track Lvl. 4; Night Vision Lvl. 11; Spatial Storage Lvl. 8; Mind Control Lvl. 5; Mind Probe Lvl. 4; Mind Defence Lvl. 1; Dragon Blood Evolution Lvl. 1; Scent Recognition Lvl. 5; Sexual Stamina Lvl. 5; Perception Lvl. 12; Pet World Lvl. 2; Parry Lvl. 3; Resistances: Physical Resistance Lvl. 13; Light Resistance Lvl. 4; Poison Resistance Lvl. 4; Magic Resistance (Non-Attribute) Lvl. 5; Space Resistance Lvl. 3; Fire Resistance Lv. 5; Water Resistance Lvl. 5; Mind Resistance Lv. 1; Weapon Arts: Advanced Staff Arts Lvl. 1; Basic Movement Arts Lvl, 9; Basic Hand Combat Arts Lvl. 5; -- During the month, there was a huge increase in STR, STA, AGI and DEX. In the academy canteen, only normal meals can be bought with gold coins. Any nutritious food that the awakeners need can only be brought through points. Though I didn''t grind dungeons, there was food I brought from home. More than that I have acquired a lot of points by gaining the top rank in the semester exam. They were more than enough to buy a lot of high quality foods, which made those attributes soar greater than before. The attributes are not the only ones that soared. So did many of my skills. With many clones training at the same time, a lot of skills improved. Most of it was because they were on the verge of breaking through. I don''t think that such a thing would happen again. Evade, Dodge, Night Vision and Pet World skills each improved by a single level. Physical Resistance too increased by a single level. Strengthen and Sexual Stamina improved by two levels, while Basic Movement Arts improved by three levels and Basic hand Combat Arts by four levels which is the highest. It was not just me who was diligently working but the entire ss. Compared to students of other sses, ss 1-A students have the better chances of gaining those spots for the secret realm. So no one cked. Everyone acted as if they were injected with chicken blood. The monthly exam is here. Unlike before the academy has dered that the top ten of each ss would get extra points. These are something I am in need of. I spent almost all my points on the food to improve my attributes. Without gaining those points I can''t improve my attributes easily. It was not just me who was eyeing those points but many of the students from my ss. they thought that they improve and can defeat me. In fact, there was only one who was eyeing me. Dorian. He thought that he could take me down. He is dreaming. Did he get something that improved him faster? Let''s see how well you have improved. Chapter 108: I aced the monthy exam as usual (1) Today is the monthly exam, which will determine the top ranks of our ss. We all gathered in the training hall as we did before. We have done this four times before, so we already know the procedure pretty much. Unlikest semester, there is a lot of tension between among my ssmates this time. Everyone hase prepared to gain better ranks than before and many seemed confident that they can achieve good results. Even my neighbor rank Malia seemed to be prepared for everything. For her, I am the only obstacle in front of her in the entire first year. I believe defeating me should be her short-term goal. If she can ovee me, she can then look towards achieving other goals. I know that she is from a Military family and in families such as those, only the strength has the right to speak and Might is right. Though one may consider that they appear a bit conservative, they are not. Unlike some families where the girls born in the family have to listen to their elders and marry some noble kid, even if he is a disgusting one in order to gain some benefits for the family. In these military families, the girls can have a voice as long as they are strong enough. If they can show that they have the strength, the family will support their decision instead of imposing the family''s decision on them. In that aspect they are different. Even though my family is heavily involved in the military, it is not like other military families. Look at me. My father made a marriage pact with his friend that I and his friend''s daughter would get married. This was lying tying a rope around one''s neck. The girl was not interested and seemed to be in love with another. This is a trouble that my father created for me even before I could properly train ande out of the academy. William is considered as a once in a century genius. I heard many things about him after I came to the academy. Many say that he has a high chance of reaching Tier-9. It was said that he was already at peak Tier-3, waiting toplete his promotion mission. Once hepletes that, he would be regarded as the youngest Tier-4 in the history of the kingdom. Though that was wrong, I wouldn''t correct it for the time being. Anyway, he would be a thorn in my side. The worrying thing was that he hadn''t made any moves against me as of yet or did he make moves but I didn''t see them? I don''t know but I will be ready nheless. --- A few minutester, Ang walked in. "You already know why you are here today. So I won''t waste any time. I''ll call the names, as before they would fight each other. ording to your performance, I would rank you", she briefly told us and started to call names. The matches are boring to watch as they appear to be fights among children. Theyck fighting each other. They might have cleared dungeons or were carried through ranks but fighting other awakeners is a different thing. They should have understood that by now. They should have but it looks like they don''t. The academy has a protection mechanism when students fight. The most they can do to each other was hurt each other badly enough and that would be it. The academy protects them from dying. Many here shouldn''t have faced fighting other humans in a death match. It would be different when the oue of a match is decided based on who cane out alive. In the matches where the academy protects the students, they could still ck. The most that they would lose was a match and a few points. In death matches, even a mistake can end your life. Once you die that would be the end of the matter for you. You have to go through the cycle of reincarnation unless if there is a skill that resurrects the dead. I am not sure about that. This world after all is magical and there should be such skills. Maybe not in this era but at least should have existed in the ancient era. Thinking about those resurrection skills, they might appear asOP skills, but there should be a limitation to them. There is nothing with its own limitations. Everything in this world has limitations, even my supposedly OP physique which can give me attributes when I consume something. As I grew, I saw the limitation. It wouldn''t endlessly give me those attributes. As my attributes became huge, the attributes I gained from eating low-level food decreased. As time went on, increasing the quality of food was the only way to gain attributes. One day even eating a Tier-9 monster meat may not yield any attributes. When I saw my physique, I thought I could gain a million attribute points just by eating but I was wrong. I couldn''t get any points at all for eating Tierless and Tier-1 meat. Only Tier-2 and above yield some results at this point. Tier-2 meat appears to be a small issue but eating it every day would burn away even a count''s treasure house. Tierless monster meat every day, with Tier-1 meat every few days was the best my house could afford now. Anyway, the only reason why I watch these matches is to see various skills and their limitations. It would be very useful if I ever faced an enemy with those skills. --- "Next up, Magnus Vs Malia" Oh, it looks like I have to fight with the second ranker this time. She should be trying her best to ovee me but she doesn''t know that I have already reached Tier-4. It is a disadvantage to anyone in her position. Though she was cold and didn''t socialize much, she never provoked anybody or looked down on others. Unlike some idiots, she has a good character. I should go easy on her. If I defeat her too easily, she may lose the will to strive. It''s good to destroy idiots but not someone who works diligently has a good character. Let''s make it good so that she would convince herself that there is a possibility that she can reach me. Chapter 109: I aced the monthy exam as usual (2) After our names were called, both Malia and I walked to the center of the training hall. We would fight here, while other students would be seated around us, and watch the match. As we reached the center, Malia spoke, "Good luck". Huh? Why did she speak to me suddenly? She always used to be cold and aloof. Though that attitude is not good, I didn''t hate becase she never treated anyone badly. She just didn''t care about others and concentrated fully on herself. She was right to ignore others but she had to have a few friends. She never tried to and when someone tried to make friends with her, they failed. I say that she was right because most of these students here would die before they reach Tier-4 or would settle at Tier-4 at maximum. They are not destined for higher ranks. One would say that they are already at Tier-1 and a few are at peak Tier-1 almost reaching Tier-2. So it should be easy to reach Tier-5 o even above ranks but that was not the case. It was said after every three promotions, the difficulty to cross only increases in a major way. Many would falter after reaching Tier-3. In the entire world, the percentage of sessful awakenings is no more than 20-30% every year. Over half of them stop at Tier-2 or Tier-3 and stay there till their end. It doesn''t mean that the other half crosses Tier-3. Many of these remaining awakeners would die before they could reach their limit. It can be either they overestimated themselves or some envious idiots caused their deaths. Whatever the reason might be, as we go high, many of these ssmates would be forgotten. If they were the heirs of the noble house or to some wealthymerce guild, then there is a reason to keep in touch but for whatever reason, no one here in this ss inherits a title or huge wealth. Speaking of heirs, I heard that there is one in ss 1-B, who is a viscount''s son and said to inherit the title after his father. I heard about this matter because Dorian seemed to have shes with that one many times when the academy started but for some reason, they stopped suddenly after the first few months. No one seems to know why. That guy was said to be the worst of the kind. Being the heir of a viscount, he used his status many times to crush others. There were no children of higher noble rank than viscount in that ss, so he became the ss tyrant. It caused a lot of displeasure among the ss. I heard that even the children of nobles were against him and said to have supported Dorian behind the scenes. So there was no way that storm receded so quickly on its own. Someone should have intervened. Who, I have no idea but I can say that whoever that is, they were not the staff of the academy. The staff don''t get in the middle of the student conflicts unless it blows out of proportion. Something happened but I couldn''t find out what. The disappearance of the issue means a student helped, someone who has a higher rank. The student could be from a count''s house or above and the student should be the heir. I don''t think there was anyone in the first year and I have no details about the students from second-year and above. Though I have no details, there was someone I know who is a count''s son who should be against me. If he has learned about what happened at the Winter City, he could be trying to use Dorian against me. The problem was I didn''t have any evidence for that. From what I tell, they never met. I have a feeling that I was right. So I kept watch on all three, and when they eventually slip up, I would know what they were nning. --- "Start", Ang gave the start signal to my duel with Malia. As soon as the start signal was given Malia started her attacks. I easily dodged of course but she kept attacking trying to not give me any chance to attack. This is a good idea when your opponent can strike you down in a single strike but has weak defence. If you cannd your attacks before he has a chance to attack, it would end in your win, but the problem was that the opponent was me. Two minutes, the battle ended. Unlike my battle with Dorian or others, I gave sufficient chances for her to attack me and she did but my defence was much higher. So it didn''t cause any problems for me. I also didn''t attack as I did Dorian. Inded my attacks on her legs, making her fall. There would not be any damage to her physical, probably a bit to her ego. "I lost", Malia muttered as she pulled herself up and left. Though she lost, she was not sad about that. She seemed happy and why it was, I have no idea and to be frank I don''t care about the reason. I returned to my seat and so did she. After that, the exam continued as before. --- After the exam, I returned to my quarters. The day was not without its gains. I have seen a few new skills, that they should have learned in the holidays. Having a rich family background is also a strength. It can be used to buy various skills, that can fill the holes in one''s strength easily. Though it would be a hassle to have too many skills, at least in the beginner stages they would protect you. You can discard them after you reach a certain rank. Not everyone is like me who has clone skills to improve their skill levels. There should be but I don''t think the number should have crossed double digits. I am not an idiot who thinks that he is the chosen one. Clone skills are not unique but I think not every clone-type skill would feedback the skill to the original host. Most of them should work as distractions. I am just one of the lucky few and I decided to make the best use of my luck. Chapter 110: The next four months (1) Months disappeared before I could count them. Not one or two but four months were gone in the blink of an eye and the time for the secret realm is here. As usual, at the end of every month, there was a monthly exam and as predicted I took the top position every time. Malia took second ce after me but the surprising part was Dorian reached fourth ce in the ss exam. He quickly improved himself. The problem was that he ignored many of themoner student issues, which he used to take upon himself. Something changed after he settled with that noble kid or something changed that led him to make a settlement with the noble kid. When I learned about that, I had a bad premonition. So I kept an eye on Dorian but he didn''t make any wrong moves. Every day, he would attend ss or go to grinding in dungeons or training grounds. Except for those three things he did nothing else. I couldn''t find what was wrong. I couldn''t figure out why I had this bad feeling in my heart untilst month. Duringst month''s ss exam, he was able to secure fourth rank, a rank that he shouldn''t have reached by now unless he gained something big. I know that he has a system but I felt that the system shouldn''t have a power that can improve skill levels. From what felt a few months ago when we shed in the duels, and from what I sawst month, there was a qualitative change. If the system could have done that, what didn''t it do until now? Due to my INT, I remember everything I saw or heard. I recalled everything about Dorian in the entire year. Though I didn''t like to waste time, I attended every ss''s monthly exam at one time or another. Dorian is in my ss, so it was mandatory to attend, as I too participated in that exam. I remembered that he was not that skilled back then. He was wild and unrefined but now that was not the case. It wasmon amongmoner children. As they don''t have personal trainers, the wilds are where they learn to fight and survive. So their skill levels will be low when they enter the academy and that was not a surprise for me. That would change as time goes on. If that was the case, I wouldn''t doubt anything but that was not the case. After the holidays, there was a lot of change in Doian but he covered it up. I didn''t properly analyze his actions but looking at them now, there was fishy about how he did things in the training hall and monthly exams. I was improving myself too and paid not much attention to him in training as I did in the exam. Even then when I saw his clumsiness, I started to ignore him and that was a mistake. I say mistake because I am sure that someone trained him. There was no way that the system could have helped him. If it has such power, why didn''t it help him before? I believe that he had the system by the time we met. If not why would be so arrogant at the gate and try to enter Winter City through the noble''s gate? Though I didn''t know that he had the system at that time, I could say with a hundred percent surety that he had the system by that time. Only that could answer why he was so arrogant back then. If his system has the power to upgrade his skills faster, then he should have done it before he entered the academy. He could have been the top ranker. Probably they could have miscalcted but what about the next five months? At the semester exam, I fought with him and I didn''t see anything that could impress me. It all changed after the holidays. Did he find something good in those holidays? I never heard about any resource that can upgrade skill levels. Sure there are resources that can refill stamina, magic power and reduce fatigue. With those one can continuously train but a month''s training shouldn''t have done that. Did he find an ancient ruin where time flows differently from the world? If that was the case, then even without the help from others or even the system, he could have upgraded his skills faster. If that is the case, then why didn''t he stay behind? Why return to the academy? Is that because of the secret realm? Possibly. There are not many known secret realms in the world and most of them are upied by powerful forces and only they can enter those realms. Outsiders are not allowed in. Even this secret realm is upied by the Royal Academy and most of the spots to enter it belong to the academy itself. The main question was why did he tried to hide his skills? He could have gained a lot of points if he had ranked at the top, but he didn''t try to do so. Instead, he showed that he was in the same boat as many of them. Why go to such lengths in covering? If he has strength, he should show it. Only then he would be treated well and that was a point he knew well enough. It was not like mine, where others might covet your body to dissect and study it. When he arrived at the academy he didn''t try to be this low-key but did things in a high-profile manner but everything changed after the first few months. These questions ravaged my mind for a month long without any answers and then the answer appeared. Everything became clear after that. He was certainly trained and I know who. I now know why I had a bad premonition. It was all because of him. William Rutgurd. I was right to doubt him. He was not someone who wouldn''t let others get what he wanted. He made his move and now it''s my turn. Chapter 111: The next four months (2) William Rutgurd, heir to the Count Rutgurd house. He started the game behind the scenes long before I was aware that the game started and I was several steps behind but that doesn''t matter. I now know that the game has started and he was still in the dark that I know about this. I was preparing to deal a heavy blow to him at once. He should have no idea that I knew about dealings. I also recorded everything using the mini-drone cameras. I know what they are nning for me. William would provide weapons and items to deal with me in the secret realm. The secret realm after all is not a safe ce. So the entry has always been voluntary. If you don''t want to enter the secret realm, there are a lot more who want to enter the realm. The academy may have thirty spots, but that doesn''t mean that thirty has to be filled. If everyone declines to enter, they can sell it to other academies but that never happened before. Though it is dangerous, it is part of life here in this world. Where would there be no danger in this world? Everywhere you turn, there would be danger. It was just that the adults are protecting us as much as they can, providing a safe environment to grow before we can face those dangers. They know that not everyone can survive these dangers but they are trying everything that they can so that the fatality rate would be less. There is no way that they can make it zero. It can only depend on us. If one can''t face the smallest dangers and mostly known dangers with so many preparations, then what is the point of training so much? They would most likely end up dead in the near future. If any of the students pull back from entering the secret realm, the academy will most likely ignore them in the future, unless they show that they are worth of effort of investing in them. The academy is training the students so that they can be the pirs of the kingdom. They know not everyone can be a true pir but they wanted others to be a small pir of the localmunity. Even if they can''t do things at the kingdom level, the Royal Academy expects its students could be strong enough to support a small town or city. Not everyone can be a hero who can save kingdoms and the academy should know that too. I believe that they want the students to do their small part and when a lot of such people appear, collectively the kingdom would benefit. Most of the time, this is how a nation works. So only an idiot would reject the spot. Those idiots are sure that I can enter the realm and in there, they want to deal with me. If I die inside, no one can point fingers at them. They are safe. Haha, if they were not nning to kill me, I can say that it is a good n, but this one can''t be sessful or else I would lose my life. I''ll show them I am not someone that can be messed up easily. Dorian is going to be a trouble with or without William''s intervening in the matter. --- Oh,ing to personal, I celebrated my sixteenth birthday by myself at the academy. I could have gone home but decided not to. Only Inari and I are the participants of this small party. It was just not my age that changed but a lot of changes appeared in my status. "Status" -- Name: Magnus Frostwolf Age: 16 Titles: Son of Viscount; Great yer; Hidden Smiden; Dungeon Conqueror; Primary ss: Draconic Warlock Secondary ss: Soul Arbiter (Unique) Affinity: Shadow, Blood, Space Bloodline: ck Dragon (2% Purity) Physique: Devourer Physique (EX) Talent: Ritualistic Summoning (EX) Trait: Silk Smooth Skin(A bit Improved); Sleepy; Aurum Skin; Sexy Smile; Rank: Tier-4 Level: 3 Health Points (HP): 378,828,117 Strength (STR): 1,309 Endurance (END): 1,693 Dexterity (DEX): 911 Agility (AGI): 1,322 Intelligence (INT): 31,505,170 Magic Power (MP): 442,603,700 Soul Energy: 5,500 (+200%) Charm: 3,009 ss Skills: Shadow Bolt; Blood Dominance; Draconic Magic; Shadow Curse; Blood Heal; Shadow Shift; Blood Lock; Draconic Pressure; Shadow Merge; Blood Drain; Soul Judge; Soul Prison; Soul Container; Nether mes; Shadow control; Blood Boil; Special Skills: Rank Booster; Status Disguise; Refined Skills: Shadow Bolt Volley Lv. 13; Skills: Evade Lvl. 16; Dodge Lvl. 16; Sprint Lvl. 10; Alertness Lvl. 10; Devour Lvl. 6; Fusion Lvl. 15; Split Lvl. 15; Demon Gaze Lvl. 3; Strengthen Lvl. 12; Tag & Track Lvl. 4; Night Vision Lvl. 13; Spatial Storage Lvl. 9; Mind Control Lvl. 6; Mind Probe Lvl. 6; Mind Defence Lvl. 1; Dragon Blood Evolution Lvl. 1; Scent Recognition Lvl. 8; Sexual Stamina Lvl. 5; Perception Lvl. 15; Pet World Lvl. 2; Parry Lvl. 7; Resistances: Physical Resistance Lvl. 16; Light Resistance Lvl. 4; Poison Resistance Lvl. 4; Magic Resistance (Non-Attribute) Lvl. 5; Space Resistance Lvl. 3; Fire Resistance Lv. 5; Water Resistance Lvl. 5; Mind Resistance Lv. 1; Weapon Arts: Advanced Staff Arts Lvl. 1; Intermediate Movement Arts Lvl. 1; Basic Hand Combat Arts Lvl. 9; -- Due to my physique my STR, END, DEX and AGI improved by a lot this time. If I had a lot of Tier-4 meat, then the improvement might have been much higher but that costs a lot. Coming to the skills, with a lot of clones working every second possible for four months, I gained a lot of benefits. My Movement Arts upgraded to Intermediate Lvl.1 stage while Hand Combat Arts reached Basic Lvl. 9. It won''t be long before they can reach the Intermediate stage. I can feel my staff Arts would improve in a week or two. If it wasn''t almost time for the secret realm Staff Arts would be Advanced Lvl. 2. Mind Control and Spatial Storage increased by a single level. Night Vision and Mind Probe increased by two levels. Evade, Dodge, Scent recognition and Physical Resistance, each improved by three levels. Even my refined skill Shadow Bolt Volley improved by three levels. There was no improvement in this skill for a long time as it wasn''t used regrly as there was no use for it. Fusion, Split and Parry saw the highest improvement i.e by four levels. These are great but my greatest gain was something else. I finally created a path to use the Rank Booster skill. Chapter 112: My own Meditation Technique Though I have got my hands on a skill called Rank Booster, I couldn''t use it properly because I didn''t know how. Now I do. It belongs to the monsters and I was lucky to get my hands on it. Monsters can just sleep and level up. They don''t need to do anything but sleep. Resources would help them to be better than other monsters, so they still hunted though there was no need for it. How great would it be to improve ranks without doing anything? This was what I felt that day when I got this skill but there was a problem then. This skill belongs to monsters, not humans. The monster bodies are built in such a way that they can use this skill without using any other means. This was not the case for us humans. I tried to use the skill but failed miserably. So I thought that a technique was required in order to make it useful. There were no techniques for this, at least there are none in this era. I didn''t think that there were none in the ancient era. They were more advanced than the present era and they should have had something that imitated the monster''s path of growth. Even in this era, I believe that there should be people who are looking into ways that can improve a human professional. So there was no way that the ancients wouldn''t have thought so. Though the strength gained through such techniques might be mediocre, as the professional need not fight to level and rank up, the quantity would be more than before. If there is no quality, one can always use quantity and overwhelm enemies. For quantity, there shouldn''t be a problem. There are many professionals that are too afraid to go out and hunt by themselves, especially when they are children of nobles or rich. They would hire guards to take them through levelling. These would stand in the front of the queue if such a technique was ever introduced into the world. Even the ones who are courageous would choose to use the technique now and then, rather than going on killing for a millionth time. Unless the person was a battle maniac who was obsessed with killing, not everyone would like to go out only to kill and level up, if they were given a choice. There should be moderation in my opinion. When at lower ranks, it doesn''t appear problematic as one would be just starting but as this goes on, the ranking work would be tedious. Not everyone would like the monotonous grinding every day for years. Yes with rank increase, the lifespan would increase too but no one knows when they would die if they keep hunting monsters. Just because there would be a longer lifespan in the future due to the rank increase, doesn''t mean that one would live long enough. It is just the natural lifespan of the person. No one knows when you will die. It could be in the hands of an enemy, a friend or the monster that you went out to hunt. So what I think is, ranking up is important but enjoying the fine things at the same time is also important. If you forget that, then what is the purpose of extending one''s life? --- Anyway, with this technique, there is no need to blindly grind in the dungeons all the time. The only issue was that it was not perfect yet. So the gains are very minimal. Ick the knowledge to understand and perfect this technique. At this time, I can''t gain anything with it but I am certain that I can easily improve its quality, next year as long as I can get the knowledge that I need. What I need to know would probably be in the restricted section and it is not essible to everyone. If I could get those books, I could improve it within a few months. If not, I can only use the Trial and Error method. It may take a longer period of time but without sufficient knowledge, it is the only way. The knowledge that I can get about the elements is very vague in the books avable to me. I need to know more about them and how they react to humans. I don''t know if such knowledge exists in the library and if it exists it should be in the restricted section. Elements are present everywhere in the world. So I used the magic elements in the world as the basis of my technique and I named my technique, Elemental Breath Technique. This is a foundation stage, which means it works with all elements and that was the main problem. I don''t have an affinity with every element, so I have yet to refine the technique for my elements. I believe that was the problem. I can''t absorb every element that is present in the world. That would only contaminate my core, which doesn''t have any affinity with those elements. It may be problematic in the future if I use such a technique. So I need to change my technique so that I can absorb only the elements that I have an affinity with. My technique would probably only work for the spellcasters. I don''t know whether it can be used by the physical professionals. Even among spellcasters, unless they have an affinity with an element, it might not be useful. As I said, the technique at present is absorbing every element and I feel that would not be a good thing for one''s future. Anyway, that''s a problem that I can''t fully solve at this point. I can think of a solution after I return from the secret realm. I should do a final check. I have to spend a month in there and I would need a lot of things for survival. Though many could be easily obtained, my target was the Inner and Core areas. I have no idea what to expect in those areas. So it would be best to be prepared, just in case. Chapter 113: The secret realm opens In the morning thirty students from the first year gathered in the open grounds, where once the entrance exam took ce. They assembled here because today is the day that the portal to the secret realm opens. They are all waiting for the students from other academies to appear at the moment. The portal opens in an hour and after another hour, the portal closes its ENTER function and only the EXIT function remains. As long as the students can enter the realm within the hour after it is open, they can enjoy the benefits of the realm. No one is stupid enough though. They wouldn''t want to lose an hour of their time in the secret realm. No matter when you enter, everyone''s exit time is the same. No intelligent person would waste one hour of their time on purpose as it would give others more chances of gaining resources easily. In that hour, a lot of resources would be gone and they could do nothing but cry. Even then it is just useless as the resources won''t return. Every minute after the secret realm opens is important. Though it doesn''t matter who enters first or who entersst, one can''t say what can happen inside. The order of entering is mostly a prestige issue and one has to follow that order. The realm is very big and there would be a lot of monsters to kill and a lot of resources to gain but these aren''t always easily gained. Most resources are guarded by the monsters. So when you are fighting others might pick the resource and run away. This could happen because not always the students that appear in the realm are apart. When the students go through the secret realm portal, they are transported to different ces. No one would be side by side with each other but that doesn''t mean that they would be far away from each other. There can be students who appear close to each other. If there are any assholes nearby, they would fish in troubled waters and pick up the benefits of someone else''s hard work. While you are in a fight, they would pick away what should have been yours. So timing is always important. If only the fight had ended a minute ago, you could have gained what is yours, instead of ending up in someone''s hands. Such things are verymon in ces like these. This is why, every minute inside the realm is important. Wasting time inside the realm may lead to losing many resources that could have helped you in your growth. --- A few minutester, one by one the students and a few teachers from the four academies appeared alongside the teachers of Royal Academy. As soon as the students of the other academies appeared, tensions appeared between them. These hundred students arepetitors inside the secret realm. They have topete not only with monsters but also with other ny-nine students. There are obviously groups but they are notrge. In most cases, even students of the same academy would fight each other for resources. Whoever gets the resources can proceed further in their ranks easily. As one knows, leveling through EXP is not the only way to increase attributes. There are resources that can do that. In the secret realm, there is the highest chance of them appearing. With increased attributes the chances of reaching a higher rank increase. So there was always a lot ofpetition whenever such resources appeared, as they are pretty much rare and most can''t bear the cost of buying such resources. Even the rich and nobles can''t get their hands on them easily as every time they appear in the market, they go for sky-high prices. This is because, most of the time, when such resources are found, they are used. Only idiots would sell them or if they aren''t effective on them. Only under those two conditions, do these resources appear in the market. So whenever such resources appear in the wild, fights break out, even among group members. In the face of benefits, even brotherhood would be ignored. Inside the secret realm, there is no surveince. Though the academies have warned the students not to fight each other over resources, there is no way that they would listen. High-level resources can help them be powerhouses and they can settle easily in the future with huge wealth in their pockets. So when resources such as Attribute fruits (One of the resources that improves attributes when consumed) appear, there would be shes among the students. As long as there is no evidence left behind, they would even kill each other. Everyone who can enter the secret realm can be considered as a genius and are arrogant to the bone. They think that they are the protagonists of the story. They think that they are children of heaven and do whatever they want to do. They would not know how high is the heaven. There would be always such characters and they all fall down. Some would rise up but many of them would stay on the ground forever. --- After the four academies appeared, so did the staff of the royal academy. The one leading them was the headmaster. The headmaster went onto the stage and started to chant. The lines drawn on the ground started to glow as the chant continued. After a minute, as portal opened but the chant didn''t stop. This was because the portal is not yet stable. If the chant was stopped, the portal would copse and the students can''t enter the secret realm. After a minute or two, the portal stabilized. Once that was done, the head master turned towards the students and said, "Okay, I see that everyone is here. You should all know whatever you need to know. Now enter through the portal in an orderly manner". After the headmaster spoke, one by one, the students entered the portal starting with the Royal Academy''s topper, Magnus Frostwolf. Chapter 114: My adventures in the secret realm (1) As I believed before, I was able to enter the secret realm and was the first student to step into the portal this year. It matters not much, just the fame in the outside world. Royal Academy as the host of the secret realm, has the first rights. It means they would enter first. I, on the other hand, am the first ranker, so naturally, I was the one who entered the realm first. They would remember me for a long time, which is both a good thing and a bad thing at the same time. Fame is good and it can get things done faster but it would also put a target on one''s back. There are many greedy and envious people who would want your things, whether it is wealth or position. They may do things that could put you in danger. So I never tried to be low-key but also know that being too low-key may cause more problems. There are assholes who would bully weak and fear strong. If I appear too weak, I will be their target. It would not be a problem for me but it would be a hassle to solve such things. Anyway, now that I have entered the secret realm, I should proceed towards the core as fast as I could. It would be problematic if anyone sees me moving towards the Inner region this early. There are students who would appear in the Inner region but just on the periphery. They wouldn''t dare to enter the Inner region as it is very dangerous at their stage. This appearance at the periphery of the Inner region would be just before the secret realm closes or a few days before if that person is powerful. So if they see me going, it would cause rumours. To go to the Inner region one has to be either powerful or mad. The mad ones would never make it out and die there. When the secret realm ends, they will see me outside and that would lead to only one possibility in their minds. That is I am stronger than I appear. So it is best to reach that part as soon as possible, without anyone noticing. When one enters the portal, it would drop them in the outer regions. It is a guarantee but it could be even near the Inner region. No one can say that might not happen. I am very far away from the Inner region. So if I came across any idiots that were near the Inner region, they would certainly spread news that I entered the Inner region at the beginning, rather than at the end. The news may stay inside the realm for a month but it would certainly spread across the kingdom after that. many would certainly know that I should have got something good and they might try to get those things from me directly or indirectly. I have to live with a big target all my life until I be far stronger than others. With such scrutiny, it may not be easy to do so. I could trust at least my parents and siblings but there are a few in my family who might backstab us for some benefits. To this day, I couldn''t find out who ced the demon summoning ritual in the library. There are backstabbers and traitors in the family. I don''t think I need to say about the academy. I have no connections with most of them and it might turn ugly, even if I stay in the academy. The academy might be established to bring out geniuses but the staff are still people. They would have their own personal interests and would act ordingly. So without sufficient strength, everyone is an enemy. --- A wolf, hmm...looks like Thunder Wolf. It would be a good mount in the wild but my profession is not a mounted knight category nor a tamer or summoner. If that was the case, I could easily make that mine. Hmm, wait, I should check the Cosmic Market to see if there are any ways to obtain a mount as a tamer could even if one is not. Ah....this is not it. No this is not either. Where is it? I don''t know whether there is such a thing like that. In the past year, I saw that the number of worlds connected has increased a lot and the goods that are flowing increased by tenfold. So I am hoping such a thing exists and is still avable here. It would not be for the Thunder Wolf but I am sure that something good exists in the core area. No one has gone there and returned alive. So there should be powerful monsters there, even some rare monsters or monsters that were never seen before in this world. Taming such monsters may yield some unforeseen gains. Hmm, I hope there is more than a single item that can tame monsters and is within my price range. I won''t be able to return here. So I wish to catch as many monsters as I can if they are not avable outside or have never been seen before in the world. Ah, there are scrolls that can tame monsters. It looks like the number is not too high but the price is cheap. I should buy a few for now. There might not be too many rare monsters here. The number of the same species could be high but I am not going to tame every monster. I injected my magic power into one of those scrolls and whispered, "Tame". After activating it flew out and appeared above the head of the Thunder Wolf. Lights fell from the scroll onto the wolf and then a magic circle appeared on the ground. The wolf fought against it for a few minutes but that ended in failure of the wolf and I got a mount. Yee-hah!!! --- Ah, finally the Inner region. I thought it might take me days to reach here with all those monsters. Luckily, I tamed that Thunder Wolf and because of it I arrived here within hours. Chapter 115: My adventures in the secret realm (2) With so many monsters in the outer region, and with therge area that it upied, I thought it might take me days to reach here. Even if one is fast enough, there are still a lot of monsters to deal with before reaching the Inner region. Luckily, I tamed the Thunder Wolf that I stumbled upon and was able to arrive here within hours. It took hours because there were a few monsters that were as fast as the Thunder Wolf and some were even faster than it. I had to deal with them before we could reach the Inner area. Many of these monsters are wolves which always live in packs. I was lucky to get a wolf alone and tamed it quickly. It was a few meters away from its pack and got caught in my. Once that was done, its pack came onto me. After I dealt with them, another pack of wolves came. There was arge group of wolves living nearby and they started to appear one by one as they heard theirrades cry for help. It was quite a headache to deal with them. There were a lot of them but they didn''t give me enough EXP to level up. After them, there were a bunch of other monsters, including bird monsters which were annoying to deal with. They would strike and they fly away, not staying where I could reach them. If not for my high rank and multiple skills, it would have been a problem to deal with them. Even with such an arsenal in my possession, dealing with flying enemies is quite a problem. I think I need to learn some flying skills but those are not easy to learn and more than that they are not easy to find. Any flying skill that appears would be consumed by the finder or would be reserved for his family. No idiot would sell such a skill, no matter the price offered. Flying skills are the best way to escape a powerful enemy. Unless the enemy possesses flying or some soul lock skill, it would be problematic to hurt someone who was keen on escaping through flight. So these skills are very much in demand. Of course, after reaching Tier-7 one can fly without these skills but would be limited. So even they prefer flight skills, instead of depending on their rank to fly. I read in books that a Tier-9 can ease this issue and fly without too much trouble. It was even said that if one crosses the boundary and reaches the stage above Tier-9, there won''t be any issues that can restrict flying. It was something that is out of my reach for now. So I can only look out for any flying skills that may pop out from dungeons or find them in other ces that I can ess. I looked in the Cosmic Market. There are no such skills but there is equipment that can help fly but it''s costly. If it was gold, I could do something about it but the only exchange is through resources. It is a little out of my budget at this moment. I shall think about itter. For now, I should find a way to bind a flying monster but that would not be easy. --- After reaching the Inner region, I let go of the Thunder Wolf. This monster is not rare and can be found in Ragos, though not everywhere it can be found with a little effort. I am a Spellcaster, not a Beast Tamer nor a Summoner to hold on many monsters to me. Simrly, they can''t do everything that spellcasters can do. Every profession has its advantages and disadvantages. One can only perform some basic things of other professions. I am a Warlock, so I can''t use skills like Long Range Teleportation. I can still use Small range Teleportation and it was said some spellcasters can teleport medium distances. I don''t know how true that is. So instead of tying the Wolf to me permanently, I used a temporary binding scroll. It canst a few days but that wolf probably won''tst if it enters the Inner area with me. I already killed a lot of its friends and don''t want to kill it. Though it may notst longer, with the students in the realm, it helped me. So in order to not be overflown by guilt, I am letting it go. Whether it can survive from this point or not, depends on itself. "Wait,e here", I pulled the wolf back. How can I forget? I am not an asshole. It carried me here and I killed a lot of its pack. It can''t get back to them, as they should see it as an enemy from now. So I decided topensate for it. "Here you go. Eat and then leave to wherever you want", I ced a few thunder magic cores and some thunder grass before it. The cores were extracted from its group and should belong to it. What I gave is the thunder grass which can help it evolve faster. To make sure that it has a ce to consume these resources without problem, I cleared a nearby cave. The wolf could use this cave to improve and can decide whether to make the cave its home or find somece else to settle. --- After departing from the cave, I released Inari out. Keeping her inside the pet world space for too long would be torturous. Since we are deep in the secret realm, no one would know that there is a demon here. Letting her out wouldn''t cause any trouble for me. For the next thirty days, before I leave the secret realm, she can stay out. "Inari, let''s go on a hunt", I said and released a few clones of me in different directions. Inari nodded and started following me into the hunt. By the time I reach the core area, I need to be between levels 70-80 at the least. This was nothing that could hurt me in the core area and I can simply sweep away everything. Chapter 116: My adventures in the secret realm (3) As I entered the Inner region, the number of monsters increased. It was not just the number but also the ranks of the monsters increased. Even with such an increase, they didn''t pose a problem for me. With my rank and skill levels, I chopped them as if they were vegetables. It was also good for me, as for a year, there was not much of a change in my rank. It has to change by the time I exit the secret realm. I need to reach peak Tier-4 so that I can show that I am peak Tier-1 to the people and take on my promotion mission. In this world, strength is the only thing that people respect. I stayed in Tier-1 for too long. If I stay in that rank anymore, they would think I am weak. It can be considered average to reach Tier-2 by the end of the first year. By the end of the second year, most students would reach Tier-3. This was the general average. After that, the rank-up takes a sharp turn. Most wouldn''t enter Tier-4 by the end of five years. This was due to the difficulty of the Tier-4 promotion mission. There is a huge difference between them, at least that is what I heard. I skipped Tier-1 to Tier-3 promotion missions. So I have no idea if there was a change in difficulty personally. In a few days, I might experience that. It was said that from the Tier-4 promotion mission onwards the difficulty ofpleting them would be increased exponentially. It again changes at the Tier-7 promotion mission. This was said after checking with various professionals who went through hell toplete those missions. Though my mission wasn''t that difficult on paper, it was. It caused a burden on my mind, that can''t be eased. --- Though the monsters are a lot, the EXP gain is low. This is because I teamed up with Inari. The EXP gained from solo hunting and group hunting are different. Though it was a disadvantage, I let her be my partner in hunting and gaining EXP. Though as a Subus, this is not how she gains rank, it can be done in this way too. I can consider this aspensation for keeping her with me for a year without her permission. Though we belong to different races, doing this felt wrong but to rank up I could only do this. Doing something wrong to strangers wouldn''t be as horrifying as doing something to people who I have known. This was why I chose such an option but as time went on, it became a burden on my consciousness. I looked everywhere to send her back and was finally able to find a way but the resources to do so are not easy to find. Finding those resources was also a reason why I had to enter this secret realm. Finding and sending her back wouldn''t erase the guilt I am feeling. So I thought it would be best to make her powerful than before and with that, she can have a good life when she returns home. I don''t know the specifics but from the conversations that we had, I don''t think that she had a very high status at her home but still she wanted to return. It is her home after all. The ces I live and move around are ces where humans live. If they see other races, it could cause a problem, especially when that person belongs to the demon race. Though my kingdom is not at war with them, that doesn''t mean that they tolerate demons on their soil. There would be repercussions if people saw her. So I could only let her out when we were alone and never in the out in public or open areas even if there were no people. I can''t foresee the future to know when people wille around. So to avoid problems, I kept her in the pet world space. After the secret realm is done, she will be returning home. So whatever I can do to improve her, can only be done now. Once I exit the secret realm, I will probably have all the items that I need to reverse summon her and she will be back at her home. Even if not all are avable in this realm, I am quite confident that the Cosmic Market would have them and I could earn the credits required to buy them through the resources that I collect from this realm. Anyway, having her as a partner is not much of a loss. I owe her this much. I can hunt a few more monsters to make up for the difference. --- Huh? What is that? I have never seen such a monster before. I should capture it. It looks small, so it probably wouldn''t hate me too much after I do so. It would be bad if the tamed monster riots against its master. There are such situations that urred in the past and were recorded. Most of the time, it urs when one tames an adult monster. They should have established their own life and family as an adult. Taming that monster means that you are tearing it away from its family and most likely starving its family members who could be waiting for the monster to bring food back home. These monsters would resent the tamers and when they have the chance, they would certainly betray their masters who might have caused their families to starve and die. Even though they are monsters, they too give birth and have families. Though they are not as civilized as humans and other races, they too care for their cubs except for a few which even eat their children. So it was decided that tamers have to bond with newborn cubs or unhatched monster eggs. They won''t have too much intelligence. As long as they were treated well, they wouldn''t go against their masters. There is one warning issued though about taming cubs or unhatched eggs. Make sure that their parents are nowhere near and they can''t track you. What I see is a cub but what I don''t see is its parents. If I tame it, there is a chance that the parents would appear and I have no idea what those monsters'' strengths would be or the skills that they would possess. Chapter 117: My first real pet After I set my eyes on the monster and decided to tame it, I didn''t make a move immediately. I first took a look at the surroundings. If its family is nearby, I would leave or else I can try my luck taming it. I looked around for a while but found nothing. The cub was eating a monster, hmm...looking at it, the dead one looked to be dead for a while, not a fresh kill. It appears that the cub is scavenging. There is no need for scavenging if the cub''s parents are already present but it looks like they are either dead or abandoned the cub. Since the possibility of it being alone is very highpared to having someone here, I decided to act and tame it before it see me and run away. Unlikest time, this time I used a permanent taming scroll. Unlike Thunder Wolf which wasmonly heard about, I never heard or saw or read about a monster like this. "Tame". The scroll flew out and appeared above the little monster. It rmed at first but it was quickly tamed. The moment it was tamed, inari ran towards it shouting, "So cute..." Inari lifted the cub and started ying with it. Though it is my pet, it doesn''t matter if Inari wants to spend some time with it. "Name me master" Huh? Who said that? "Name me master" "Wait is that you little one?" I spoke to my newly tamed monster, which was currently being cuddled by Inari at the moment. Cuddled might be a weak word to describe what she was doing to the monster. Yap! Yap! Oh, it looks like my pet is a telepathic monster, a very rare ability monster. No wonder I never heard about this one. Either the information is very restricted or it doesn''t exist in the world of Ragos. Anyway, that was for the future me to deal with. Now what should I name the monster? "It sounded female, so how about calling you Asya?" Woof! Woof! The monster gave its consent and a bright light appeared on its head before turning into a status panel, the monster''s status panel. -- Name: Asya Species: Psychic Fox Age: Young Cub Skills: Telepathic Communication; Confusion; -- Oh, cool. It looks like the master has to name the monster tamed or else they wouldn''t see the monster''s details. No wonder I couldn''t see the Thunder wolf''s status or even Inari. However, I doubt if Inari can be counted as she is not a monster and she has a name before I got to know her. Hmm, if naming is what determines whether one can view the monster''s abilities, then I suppose it is not best to tame adult monsters that made names for themselves in the wild. Though they may have no specific name, they should have earned a title, which essentially describes them as the name does. It is in a way, the title is the name for the monster. So taming an unhatched egg is the best way to make sure that the monster truly belongs to you. --- Is it a psychic fox? Hmm, looking closely it looks a bit like a fox but it didn''t appear to be one when I first saw it. Probably it was living without any protection and its features are covered by nature. I should bath it as soon as I find a river or ake that is safe enough to stand near it. I can see that my pet has skills. So that means it should be able to fight others using them but from what I see the skills it possesses are not fighter skills. One is a support type and the other is a control type skill. The first one is Telepathic Communication. From the name, I can say that it is used to speak with others through the mind. It can be used for good coordination between team members and to pass secrets without others knowing. The second one is Confusion. It can probably stop others from casting skills and stop them from doing anything. These are good skills but are never valuable as a single person, only when in a group. With these surviving is already a big feat, forget about fighting other monsters. No wonder it didn''t fight against taming like the Thunder Wolf did. I thought it might be because it is a cub but I bet that this one''s INT is very highpared to that wolf. It would not be easy to tame monsters with high INT. They would have their own thoughts and prefer freedom whenpared to other low-level monsters. I believe this one epted the taming because it should be suffering here. It should have known that it couldn''t survive here and when I opened a door for its survival it immediately took it, no matter how slim the chances of survival might be. Seeing Inari''s actions, it should havee to an conclusion that I am not a threat but someone who can take good care of it and so it started to act cute. I am not a beast tamer or a summoner but I am sure that these captured monsters wouldn''t get friendly with the capturers this quickly. As soon as I named it, I could see its panel, though it was not a full panel, from what I could see, I got an idea about it. This is like giving itself to me. Once I see the panel, I can take steps so that it can be mine forever. So monsters that are tamed are said to be against naming. They won''t ept names, much less ask on their own. This means that Asya epted me fully as her master and as long as I don''t treat her badly, it would not go against me. This can be said to be the greatest assurance a beastmaster can have against a tamed monster. I am not a beastmaster who would have precautions against such things. So I needed this assurance. --- "Inari, Asya, let''s continue the hunt". Chapter 118: My adventures in the secret realm (4) I resumed my hunting after I tamed the fox. Inari and Asya didn''t do much. The fox used its [Confuscion] skill to stop the monsters from running away, while the demon petted the fox. While I was hunting, I learned something. I am now sharing the EXP in three ways. Not just Inari, now Asya too is eating away my EXP. I didn''t pay much attention when I had the Thunder Wolf, but thinking about it, I did earn less EXP than I should. I didn''t think about it then, as the EXP gained was already less. Now it is different. We are in the Inner region, the ce where I can decently improve my EXP. I thought I could reach peak Tier-4 or at least be at Level 70 or something by the time I reached the core. Now though, it would be great if I could reach level 50 by that time. It looks like I have to reach the core before I want to and have to hunt the monsters there. Only by hunting there would I be able to feed myself and the twozy ones. I have no idea what''s the rank of the monsters in the core area. It probably be at Tier-5, if I believe the calctions of the academy. Maybe they are at Tier-5 once but it has been centuries, and they should have improved quite a bit. Unless there was a restriction ced on monsters that they can''t cross Tier-5, I think they should have crossed that rank by now and probably somewhere in the middle of Tier-6. This was why my n was to reach peak Tier-4 so that I would have the ability to run away if the monsters there had reached Tier-6. Now with this slow levelling speed, I have to go to the core area to level up faster. If I continue to stay here in the inner area, I may not reach peak Tier-4 by the end of the secret realm as I wished. I mean, I disguised myself as peak Tier-0 when in fact I was peak Tier-3. It was to take a Tier-4 promotion mission but what others thought was a Tier-1 promotion mission. So to everyone, I am still in Tier-1 for a year. In that year, there was no trouble but if I stayed in Tier-1 without taking Tier-2 promotion mission after the secret realm, there would be. This world is not made of fools. Some may think that I am a waste and have not made use of the realm properly but there are many smart people who would deduct that I am using [Status Disguise] and may not be at Tier-1 at all. The problem was that I took the mission once. So the conclusion that they arrive at would be that I have a way to skip the promotion missions. If such a thing appears in the world, then the entire world may go to war in order to gain ownership of the said item. If ever there was a suspicion that I held such an item in my hands, a war against me would be inevitable. Though I used Status Disguise, it isn''t omnipotent. There are ways to bypass it but no one uses that because it was not easy to do so and costly too. If I don''t take a Tier-2 promotion mission after a year of reaching Tier-1, especially after going through a secret realm, people would be suspicious and if they use the skill or item that can remove the status disguise, then everything would revealed. They would know that I am a Tier-4, not a Tier-1 warlock. It''s just not that. Everything about me would beid bare. Almost every secret of mine would be exposed and that is a trouble I am not looking forward to. It''s just not me who would be implicated but the entire Frostwolf family or at least my parents and siblings would be pulled into this mess. I can''t let that happen. There is no way that a small family that has no protection from a Tier-7 or above can survive if such a war happens. As long as I reach Tier-7, people won''t covet my treasures. They would be wary of what I would do if by chance I survived. So they would only concentrate on me and may try to get me in one attack and that would be it. I mean there are times when a Tier-7 or above escaped attacks andter returned powerful enough to stomp away their enemies. So when I reach Tier-7, there won''t be many that can dare to touch me. So for now, no matter what, I need to reach peak tier-4 before the end of the month. Once I leave the secret realm, I can go to the magic association and take the promotion mission. This way, I won''t be suspected by others, and my family elders won''t think I am a waste. If they think that I am a waste, they would reduce the resources I would get every year. If I can''t get them, I may have to find other sources to get those resources. Though the Cosmic Market is there, where I can get my hands on some rare resources, it works simrly to barter. I need resources to get other resources. The only way I could get items from the cosmic market was through using the resources that I got from the family. I don''t want to lose that source. After the secret realm ends, I would have a lot of resources but it''s not like I can get infinite resources through this realm. There is only so much that I can get from this. Until my third year at the academy, where I can leave the academy to gain resources outside, my family is the only resource point for me. There are only two goals toplete in the next few weeks. One is to reach peak Tier-4, while the second goal is to gather as many resources as I can before I have to leave the realm. Chapter 119: My adventures in the secret realm (5) I rested during the night and hunted during the daytime. As days went by, I continued to reach deeper parts of the realm. By the end of the tenth day, I was at the periphery of the core area. In these ten days, I improved a lot, even with two leeching of my experience. My original n was to allocate ten days for the core. Though the core would be where most of the resources are located and even the best ones would be there, so are the monsters. Look at my fox. It has Confusion skill which would daze me if it had been used on me. Though with my attributes I can easily overwhelm even a Tier-6 monster, that won''t be the case if there are multiple monsters or if those monsters have Skills that can render me useless. That was the n but ns change with time. So, before I enter the core, let''s check my status for the record. "Status" -- Name: Magnus Frostwolf Age: 16 Titles: Son of Viscount; Great yer; Hidden Smiden; Dungeon Conqueror; Primary ss: Draconic Warlock Secondary ss: Soul Arbiter (Unique) Affinity: Shadow, Blood, Space Bloodline: ck Dragon (2% Purity) Physique: Devourer Physique (EX) Talent: Ritualistic Summoning (EX) Trait: Silk Smooth Skin(A bit Improved); Sleepy; Aurum Skin; Sexy Smile; Rank: Tier-4 Level: 3>>20 Health Points (HP): 378,828,117 >> 1,441,328,117 Strength (STR): 1,309 >> 1,347 Endurance (END): 1,693 >> 1,724 Dexterity (DEX): 911 Agility (AGI): 1,322 Intelligence (INT): 31,505,170 >> 137,755,170 Magic Power (MP): 442,603,700 >> 1,505,103,700 Soul Energy: 5,500 (+200%) Charm: 3,009 ss Skills: Shadow Bolt; Blood Dominance; Draconic Magic; Shadow Curse; Blood Heal; Shadow Shift; Blood Lock; Draconic Pressure; Shadow Merge; Blood Drain; Soul Judge; Soul Prison; Soul Container; Nether mes; Shadow control; Blood Boil; Special Skills: Rank Booster; Status Disguise; Refined Skills: Shadow Bolt Volley Lv. 13; Skills: Evade Lvl. 16; Dodge Lvl. 16; Sprint Lvl. 10; Alertness Lvl. 10; Devour Lvl. 6; Fusion Lvl. 15; Split Lvl. 15; Demon Gaze Lvl. 3; Strengthen Lvl. 12; Tag & Track Lvl. 4; Night Vision Lvl. 13; Spatial Storage Lvl. 9; Mind Control Lvl. 6; Mind Probe Lvl. 6; Mind Defence Lvl. 1; Dragon Blood Evolution Lvl. 1; Scent Recognition Lvl. 8; Sexual Stamina Lvl. 5; Perception Lvl. 15; Pet World Lvl. 2; Parry Lvl. 7; Resistances: Physical Resistance Lvl. 16; Light Resistance Lvl. 4; Poison Resistance Lvl. 4; Magic Resistance (Non-Attribute) Lvl. 5; Space Resistance Lvl. 3; Fire Resistance Lv. 5; Water Resistance Lvl. 5; Mind Resistance Lv. 1; Weapon Arts: Advanced Staff Arts Lvl. 1; Intermediate Movement Arts Lvl. 1; Basic Hand Combat Arts Lvl. 9; -- By the time I reached the core, I was able to improve my level from 3 to 20. Each level of improvement would give me +62,500,000 HP/MP and +6,250,000 INT. It means as I improved by 17 levels, I got an attribute increase of +1,062,500,000 HP/MP and +106,250,000 INT. With this improvement, both HP and MP officially crossed the billion mark. Even the INT attribute would be able to cross the billion mark before I reach Tier-5. Due to the good amount of monsters and their meat, I was able to improve my STR and END attributes. As of now, those are the only ones that improved. Skills didn''t because I didn''t feel any threat until now so the growth is very slow and may take some time, but that would be before I exit the realm. --- In these ten days, my attributes soared and touched heaven. This means as long as the enemies are far away and have no protection, they are essentially dead even if they are Tier-6. The problem was even an idiot would have some sort of protection. No one would be foolish enough to venture out into the wild without protection and survive until they reach Tier-6. To reach such a Rank, they should be intelligent enough. Though I would only face monsters here, like my fox, many would have control-type Skills and I have nothing to counter them. They can easily control the battle and get an advantage over me. It''s not like my pet or the Demon that were leeching the EXP from my kills would be of any help. They are weak and the monsters in the core could easily wipe them off. Even if that''s the case, I need to go to the core. It is not just to cover my fake Status but also to see if any resources are useful to reverse summon Inari. Even if there are none, as long as good-quality resources are avable, I can make it work. I read that the resources in a secret realm would increase both in quantity and quality. If what I read in the books regarding secret realms is true, then I would have no reason to worry about it. My only worry was that no one had ventured far into the depths of this secret realm. No one knows how big it truly is or how valuable it is. Everything was calcted based on what one was able to collect about other secret realms. There is no guarantee that it would hold true. What I call the periphery of the core area was based on those calctions. Even if it wasn''t the periphery, I decided to act as if it was. From now on I need to be very careful. For me, it is time to enter the core area and see what the secret realm is all about. Whether it can live up to its name or not, I will find out in a few days. It was scheduled for tomorrow. Tonight, I eat and rest. I don''t want to venture into that dangerous area at night, without knowing what monsters prowl in the shadows. It is dangerous and I don''t have a death wish. It''s time to taste the beautiful Tier-3 Boar meat and increase my attributes, the ones that make me look like a weak person. Chapter 120: Me in the Core (1) It''s time to start hunting, It''s a fine morning and the weather looks nice. I feel that I am going to hit the jackpot soon enough. Though I don''t know what it is, I got this feeling since I woke up. Whatever is supposed to happen will happen when it should. There is no need to waste my time thinking about it. Whether it is good or bad, I have to concentrate on the present rather than on the future. Whatever I am feeling, it is just a feeling. Though it felt as if it was supposed to be important, I could only deal with itter. Now I have to level up quickly and find as many resources as I can. --- I continued my hunt, this time in the core area. This area was abundant with many Tier-4 monsters and there are many resources that became mine from the moment my eyes fell upon them. Hunting these Tier-4 monsters would easily push my EXP higher and faster. With two leeches attached to me, I can only hunt Tier-4 and above and this was why I am here in the first ce. Moreover, eating Tier-4 monster meat would easily give me attributes, much better than whenpared to eating Tier-1 and Tier-0 monster meat. I am sure that my attributes may even near the 2,000 mark by the time I exit the realm as long as I eat only Tier-4 monster meat from now onwards. Finding Tier-4 meat outside is not easy as it costs a lot and I won''t have any opportunities to hunt them either. So I need to clean out the core area of Tier-4 monsters, maybe even some Tier-5 monsters if possible. Though I have no idea if I can defeat the Tier-5 monsters here, I can clear all Tier-4 monsters and possibly a few Tier-5 as long as I fight them with my full strength. If there is a group of Tier-5 monsters, I should skip at this point, maybe when I am at peak Tier-4. This is what I decided before entering the realm. Most of my ns have changed and may be I would have to deal with a group of Tier-5 monsters. Hope I don''t encounter them. --- Day in, and day out, I was hunting the monsters, eating and resting. Except for these three, there were no other activities. Though Inari might be gone, I decided not to indulge in sexual activities while in the secret realm. It would be much more dangerous than sleeping. There is no chance of taking a bath either. It has been fifteen days since I entered the secret realm, but I took a bath only twice and that too with the water I brought with me. It was Inari who wasted most of my water, everyday. I am saving some for thest day, the day we have to leave this realm. I don''t want to appear disgusting when others see me. There should be a lot of people waiting for us outside, the staff of the academy and possibly the parents or guardians of the students who entered the secret realm. I mean we were like a month away in a dangerous ce. they should be worried about us. There arekes and rivers, but they are dangerous and there aren''t many to begin with. These water sources are home to many dangerous monsters like River Ice crocodiles, Flying Fish and monsters that can eat a human within minutes. Though they won''t pose a problem for me, it would be a hassle to fight them in their domain. They can attack whenever and however they want. Also, they can simply run away, as soon as they see that the battle they are fighting is not in their favour. If it was ake, they would go deep into theke. Most of the time, thekes would be deep enough for them to escape unless you have water skills. There also would be nt monsters that live in the water, which are the true problems when entering a water body. When ites to rivers, I don''t need to exin. They can swim away from you and in water, their speed would be very high. Most of these aquatic monsters would have water skills as they are pretty dependent on the water around them. These skills make them almost invincible when in water. Of course, there are ways to kill them even if they are still in water but that''s only possible when they are on the surface and the kill has to be done fast enough so that they won''t escape into the depths. Unless you are a strong powerhouse venturing intokes and rivers is not advised. This is the core area, which was left untouched by humans for centuries. There are a lot of resources in this area and those are the ones I retrieved and should have formed recently. Most of them should have been consumed by the monsters in the area, especially in water regions, wherend monsters would normally not dare to enter. So the monsters became powerful over the years, which was good to me in a sense but at the same time not. I mean, most of the resources are consumed by these monsters, except for resources that take too much time to be ready for consumption. Even then I made a profit. These monsters can only eat resources like fruit at once but can''t use resources like magic crystals. They can only bask in their presence and absorb the power passively. Many such resources became mine in the end. Moreover, with a high quantity of Tier-4, I am improving faster. --- As days went by my rank levels increased and so did my skill levels. With improvement in rank levels and having Tier-4 meat daily and Tier-5 meat a few times, my attributes soared. I had to struggle when I encountered a Tier-5 monster and that ends today. Now even a Tier-5 monster would be killed in seconds. Pretty soon I will see what this secret realm is all about. Chapter 121: Me in the Core (2) Twenty-five days. It has been twenty-five days in the secret realm and more than two weeks of these days, I spent in the core area. It was not nice but I gained a lot. There were a lot of rare and unknown monsters in this area but I didn''t try to tame any of them. This was because I learned a great lesson about taming. I have to split the EXP I gained with the tamed monsters. So even though it was tempting and this is an opportunity that doesn''te again, I decided not to tame more monsters, until I reached the peak Tier-4. Even with me hunting in the core area and with my clones spread across the core area, I was only able to reach the peak Tier-4 after fifteen days of hunting in the core area. This was done after I reduced the time that I would rest at night. With that, I was able to reach the level that I wanted to since entering the realm. Once outside, I can take the Tier-5 promotion mission but to others, it would be the Tier-2 promotion mission. No one would suspect that I am covering my status. I am safe. Now the only thing remaining was collecting the resources I needed for the reverse summoning. I got most of the materials required but there are a few that I didn''t find as of yet. There are still five days. I can search leisurely in these five days. If I can''t find them by the time I exit the realm, I can use the cosmic market to buy those missing items. Before that, let''s see my status once more. "Status" -- Name: Magnus Frostwolf Age: 16 Titles: Son of Viscount; Great yer; Hidden Smiden; Dungeon Conqueror; Primary ss: Draconic Warlock Secondary ss: Soul Arbiter (Unique) Affinity: Shadow, Blood, Space Bloodline: ck Dragon (2% Purity) Physique: Devourer Physique (EX) Talent: Ritualistic Summoning (EX) Trait: Silk Smooth Skin(A bit Improved); Sleepy; Aurum Skin; Sexy Smile; Rank: Tier-4 Level: 20 >> 100 Health Points (HP): 1,441,328,117 >> 6,441,328,117 Strength (STR): 1,347 >> 1,947 Endurance (END): 1,724 >> 2,036 Dexterity (DEX): 911 >> 1,246 Agility (AGI): 1,322 >> 1,978 Intelligence (INT): 137,755,170 >> 637,755,170 Magic Power (MP): 1,505,103,700 >> 6,505,103,700 Soul Energy: 5,500 (+200%) Charm: 3,009 ss Skills: Shadow Bolt; Blood Dominance; Draconic Magic; Shadow Curse; Blood Heal; Shadow Shift; Blood Lock; Draconic Pressure; Shadow Merge; Blood Drain; Soul Judge; Soul Prison; Soul Container; Nether mes; Shadow control; Blood Boil; Special Skills: Rank Booster; Status Disguise; Refined Skills: Shadow Bolt Volley Lv. 13 >> 15; Skills: Evade Lvl. 16; Dodge Lvl. 16; Sprint Lvl. 10 >> 12; Alertness Lvl. 10 >> 12; Devour Lvl. 6 >> 8; Fusion Lvl. 15 >> 16; Split Lvl. 15 >> 16; Demon Gaze Lvl. 3 >> 4; Strengthen Lvl. 12 >> 13; Tag & Track Lvl. 4; Night Vision Lvl. 13; Spatial Storage Lvl. 9 >> 10; Mind Control Lvl. 6 >> 8; Mind Probe Lvl. 6 >> 8; Mind Defence Lvl. 1; Dragon Blood Evolution Lvl. 1; Scent Recognition Lvl. 8 >> 10; Sexual Stamina Lvl. 5; Perception Lvl. 15 >> 16; Pet World Lvl. 2; Parry Lvl. 7; Resistances: Physical Resistance Lvl. 16; Light Resistance Lvl. 4; Poison Resistance Lvl. 4; Magic Resistance (Non-Attribute) Lvl. 5; Space Resistance Lvl. 3 >> 4; Fire Resistance Lv. 5 >> 6; Water Resistance Lvl. 5 >> 6; Mind Resistance Lvl. 1; Wind Resistance Lvl. 2(New); Lightning Resistance Lvl. 1 (New); Weapon Arts: Advanced Staff Arts Lvl. 1; Intermediate Movement Arts Lvl. 1 >> 2; Basic Hand Combat Arts Lvl. 9; -- Firstly, as my rank reached peak Tier-4, that means it is at level 100. In these fifteen days, I surprisingly gained 80 levels. I was surprised too with how much I started to gain but behind it, there was a lot of lost sleep. I should properly rest after exiting the realm. For every level increase, I get a +62,500,000 HP/MP and a +6,250,000 INT increase. This means by reaching level 100, I got a total of +5,000,000,000 HP/MP and +500,000,000 INT. My HP and MP are moving in billions and if I continue to get EX-grade in promotion missions, then I am not sure where those attribute values will be by the time I reach Tier-9. Think about it, if I get the EX-grade for the Tier-5 promotion mission, then I would get a 50x bonus and that means I get +3,125,000,000 HP/MP and +312,500,000 INT per level and there are a hundred levels before reaching the peak of the rank. It was only for Tier-5. There are still Tier-6, Tier-7 and Tier-8 before Tier-9. There is also the bonus HP/MP that I would get for crossing the level. Soon, even INT would be in the billions. Considering that, the improvements that I gained in STR, END, AGI, and DEX seem insignificant. With the abundance of Tier-4 and a small fraction of Tier-5 monster meat, I was able to improve these attributes very fast but still, whenpared to my HP, Mp, or even my INT, these four are very low. The Charm and Soul attributes are special. There is no need to think about them for now. It was not just these that improved. Many skills improved, even some resistances bringing in two new resistances. The resistances can only be improved or appear on the status panel when I fight with an enemy who uses that element. The only problem was the Earth element. I fought with quite a few monsters that used Earth Magic but for some reason, I didn''t get the resistance. I should look up information regarding other magics once I get out of here. Whether it is my element or not, I need to know the basics or else I would suffer when I meet the opponents whose magic I have no clue about. I should mainly know about how to gain various resistances. These are better than most skills. They act almost simr to passive skills. They both work passively and no intervention would be needed. --- Now that I reached peak Tier-4, maybe I will tame a few more monsters but I decided to keep the number to a minimum. This was because the little fox ate a lot of meat and if I got more pets, then I would be a ve to work and even then wouldn''t enjoy a decent life. That was not my goal. So unless there is an advantage in taming the monster, I would just ignore it. There is still a lot of unexplored areas in the core region. I could find some rare or unique ones and also would be able to know why the secret realm is the way it is. Chapter 122: Me in the core (3) I had only five days before the secret realm exit portal appeared and after that, it would be closed for a year. So I have to increase my pace of exploring the realm. If I can''t find the deepest part of the realm, I have to give up because, once the exit portal disappears, I will be stuck here for a year. The exit portal would be open for two days but it appears only in the outer region. So I have to explore the core as much as I can and return to the outer region or else I would be stuck here for an entire year, which is something I don''t have on my agenda. I decided to continue exploring without rest. With peak Tier-4 strength, I can afford a few days without sleep. I can sleep as much as I can after I leave this ce but this is my only chance to be here. I won''t be eligible to enter next year. Due to the restrictions that were on the realm, it became the training ground and a chance encounter space for first-year students. This was a tradition that was followed for years and moreover, by the time the secret realm portal opens next year, I would have crossed seventeen. So I can''t enter the realm, no matter what. Whatever I want to gain from this realm, has to be done in these five days. If I am lucky or was fated to gain something, I would but I can''t let my fate and luck. I want to break those chains, but I know that would not be easy. If I got tied down by luck or fate, I would never reach my true potential. Many people die before they can reach their true potential because of bad luck and fate that determines their fall before they can be able to understand what they are capable of. I have read many novels both myths of old andter the web novels that became popr on Earth. Both show that if your fate is not good, no matter how talented you are, you will never be able to reach that stage. There are many viins or antagonists of a story who have tremendous talents that make even the heavens envy die due to their bad fate. They would be stronger and have better talents than the protagonist but their fights either end in the protagonist surviving and escaping the battle or death of the antagonist. There are even times when someone who has no reason would suddenly get themselves involved in the matter and would protect the protagonist and even kill the antagonists. If it is not the work of fate and luck, then what would it be? I kind of shed with a possible hero. In those web novels, systems usually bond with the child of destiny or the son of the world or someone of that kind, unless the system is a parasitic type, which is syphoning off from the person it bonded to. I don''t know whether the system chose Dorian because he is the hero or because he is amb that it is preparing for ughter. If there is a system, there should be a creator of such said system, unless it was born like any other living being but I don''t think that''s possible. Whatever the case might be, it doesn''t look good for me. Only by fighting against fate and breaking away from the chains can I write my story instead of someone writing it. I should be the one who should write how my life goes on and how it ends. For that, I would fight. For that, everyone would fight. The only way to do so was to gain strength and for that, I need resources, a lot of resources. This secret was the only way to do so for the foreseeable future and I decided to make the most of it before I entered the realm. I had two main goals and one of them has been achieved and for the other one, all I need are resources. So before leaving the realm, I would spend the time solely on gaining the resources, instead of just taking down monsters. There are many monsters that are not useful like the goblins. Only their cores are useful. Except for that, fighting them would be a waste of time for me. If they get alerted, all the horde woulde out for me. It would just waste the precious time. If I have to fight, I decided to fight only the monsters that can benefit me after the fight. It means either the monster''s corpse has to be a good source of materials or it should be guarding something that is good. I had this feeling that I had to venture deep into the realm. The feeling was getting stronger every day. Whatever that feeling leads me to, I believe that would be very useful for me and if I fail to procure whatever was at the end, I don''t think I would be happy and would regret the rest of my life. So no matter what, I have to reach the deepest part of the secret realm and find out what it is and get my hands on whatever it is. --- I think I finally reached the deepest part of the secret realm. Though there is stillnd around that I can see, the realm probably is around. So I think this is the deepest part of this realm. There is a reason why I think so. This was because I could see it and I am sure this is the secret of this secret realm. Whatever the realm was made for and all its secrets should be here. I believe this is where I could what I need to be stronger if not the strongest. I wonder what I would find out and what the future might be after I gain whatever that is inside. Chapter 123: I entered the tower (1) There it is standing straight reaching the sky. What I found is a tower. There were no buildings in this realm, at least not in the path I took and I covered most of the Inner and Core regions. The outer region was mapped long ago by the students who enter the realm every year. There was almost nothing to map in the outer region. No buildings were found even in the Inner areas that some students were lucky to explore. This was one of the things about this realm that baffled the schrs across the kingdom. Other secret realms have buildings even in the outer regions. Of course, not all buildings were intact when they were discovered but traces of their existence were found but not in this realm. I believe this Tower might be the only building in this realm. Whatever secrets the realm has, I believe this tower would give the answers. --- "The Tower of Trials" Hmm, what was that supposed to mean? Would the tower test the entrants? Wait, that''s not what I should concentrate on. When I saw the tower and arrived at the entrance, I saw that there were letters carved on the entrance. It was anguage unknown to me, so I didn''t know what they were saying but now I can understand them. How? Is there an auto-trante function that was added to this tower? No, the words didn''t change but I understood them as if they were written in themonnguage. This is what they speak in the kingdom and it is called Common Language, as it is the most spokennguage in many human kingdoms and empires. Even other races can understand this much better than othernguages. So these races when they interact with humans use themonnguage as most humans don''t understand those foreign racenguages. What I always wondered was howzy was the person who named it. They just named it Common because it was the most used one. Did they think that they would be idiots if they used their brain cells to name thenguage, I wonder. If I meet anyone from Earth by chance, then they wouldugh at the name. I have seen such urrences in some novels and such but those are supposed to be fiction. This is real life and in real life, things had to have particr names. Aah, it doesn''t matter anyway. What I should concentrate on was the tower. --- There are only three days, no less than three days before the portal to leave this realm appears. After that, I need to reach it in two days or else I will be stuck forever here. It happened before. There were instances in the past, where some students couldn''t make it to the portal exit and got stuck in the realm. At that time many tried to open the portal to the realm but couldn''t. The families of the students and the staff hoped that they could survive until next year when the portal would open but their hopes turned into ashes. They were never able to survive the year and most likely ended up as food for the monsters. Though I am capable of surviving here for a year, I am not capable of surviving whates after the year, the wrath of my mother. So I shouldplete whatever the tower puts me through in these five days or else I would be stuck here for a year. Though the monsters are no threat to me, they would offer not much as I can''t level up until I rank up. The EXP gained would be saved but there is a limitation to how much can be stored. There are no facilities here either that can improve my skill levels. If I get struct here, I have to waste a year worth''s of time and in that year many things will change. Moreover, as I would be stuck at the peak of Tier-4 without being promoted to Tier-5 many of my ns would have to be changed. In addition to these, there are a few people that I needed to take care of. First, there is my fiance, Elisha, and her lover, William. Then there is that idiot, Dorian. In addition to those, there is also that unknown who ced the demon summoning ritual in the library. Whoever that was, they should have thought that someone ignorant would perform the ritual out of curiosity and disaster would strike the Frostwolf family and even the entirety of Winter City. I don''t know whether that is a member of the family or did an outsider found a way to enter and ce that. The list doesn''t end with this. Those elders tried to assassinate me but failed. I am surprised that they didn''t make any moves after that, especially after what happened at the city gate more than a year ago, which involved my cousin and Dorian. They are probably afraid to do such a thing when I am at the academy. So the third year would probably be the best time for them to strike me. So I need to get rid of those bastards and that has to be done in a perfect way. There are many things to do and if I miss out on that, it would be quite problematic. --- It''s time to see what secrets it has and stop thinking about it. It is just a waste of time. "Inari, Asya, return to the pet space. I don''t know whether we would be together or the tower would treat us as separate contestants and put us in a different space", I said to them. I read many novels where even two people who are a team would assessed differently. I don''t know whether they can survive whatever trials await or not. Those two understood my concerns and entered the pet space without question. Now I can enter the tower and see what I can gain from it. --- Hmm, it looks pretty basic. The surroundings are white in color, just as the assessment rooms described in some of the stories that I read. "Okay, I am here. What''s the test?" I shouted out loudly hoping that the assessment would start quickly so that I could leave quickly. Chapter 124: I entered the tower (2) It was as I thought. Nothing grand, just a basic look. This was simr to what was written in the web novel stories that I read. The room was white and there were no windows or doors of course. It was like I was in an underground or closed space with no way out. This is how a horror part of the horror movies starts. The character who finds himself or herself in such a situation most likely dies unless the character is the MC of the story or saving the character would make the MC famous. Only in such situations, would the confined character survive. In other scenarios, it would be the end of the story for them. I hope this is not like the situation in a horror movie. I don''t even have anything that can pull me out of a situation like this. I never thought I would be in a situation where I would need escape or teleportation talismans. Once I leave this secret realm, I should buy some. It would be best if they were of the highest order, no matter the cost. Being alive is more important than having luxury. Gold can be earned as long as you are alive and its only purpose is to live a good long life. It was not like one could take the gold earned to the afterlife. I should know and I definitely didn''t. Wait, why am I thinking of getting those after I leave this? How could I forget about the cosmic market? I don''t know whether this is a trap or not. So I should get those items now if possible. Let''s see if there are any...huh? Why is it not responding? Wait, does this area have restrictions on using certain items? The space ring is not restricted but the cosmic market ess is. If that''s the case, then there is a chance that having some scrolls or talismans wouldn''t help me. The only things that are of any use here would be my skills and weapons that I can take out of the space storage. I am a warlock and that means I can''t properly use teleportation abilities but that changed when I got the space affinity. Though it won''t be as effective as a Space Mage, I think as long as I can learn some space skills it would be easy to break restrictions like this but all of that was for the future. Now if I am truly stuck here, I need to find a way out of here first. As I was thinking about the simrities in the novels and possibly some horror movies, and how to escape, a red portal appeared in front of me. "Please enter the red portal to start the Trial of Strength". As I was contemting what the portal was for, I heard a mechanical voice, which sounded a bit like a female voice. So this portal would lead me to the ce where the trial takes ce, so why didn''t I directly go there instead ofing here? It was a waste of time. Let''s do this. With determination, I entered the portal. There was no other choice for me from that point. Luckily it was not a horror movie where I would be confined and be asked toplete certain tasks to escape the room. Wait, this is exactly like that horror movie. --- After entering the portal, I appeared on what looked like a in desert. Thend is dry and there are no trees or anything in the visible range. Thendscape looked as if it was going through droughts for the past few decades or so. The creator probably thought that would be a waste of time and energy, and decided to make the battlefield a barren ce. I agree with that view of point. This trial is called the Trial of Strength and by that, I am sure that I have to fight someone or something. In a fight, the surroundings are sure to get destroyed. So what''s the point of having build all that, so that it would be destroyed in the trial anyway? It surely would be a waste of time and energy. Enough of that. Now where is my opponent? Roar! A huge monster appeared five hundred meters away from me. Ah, it looks like my opponent is here. Huh, it looks like an Asorian Lion monster. They are known for their strength. A Tier-6 Asorian lion can easily smash a small city with two or three strikes. This is why it was issued to not anger them. If there appears a situation where one has to fight an Asorian Lion monster, then kill the monster. It is the only way. scaping is not an answer as it would track the hunters back to human habitats. It would lead to a catastrophe if there were no high-ranking humans present nearby. So in a fight with these monsters, either kill them or die there. No other option is avable. The human official won''t like dragging such monsters to the human habitats and there would be punishment mostly in the form of payment. It doesn''t matter whether you are rich or poor, you have to pay the amount depending on the damage that the monster caused. Usually, such crimes may lead to imprisonment or death, but this world''s people have seen that no matter what punishment the used faces, it doesn''t bring anything useful. So there would be only the choice of repayment. Of course, they can repay the debt slowly over arge amount of time and if not paid, it would extend to their descendants. There is a small loophole of course. It is that this person can escape to other nations that have enmity with their nation or be a bandit. Except that, there is no choice of escape. Oh, death is also an option that they can take but no sane person would take that. Wait, why is that monster roaring and not moving? "Defeat your opponent in twenty minutes to pass the exam". The mechanical voice once again appeared and gave me the instructions. Match begins in... 3... 2... 1... START. Chapter 125: I cleared the trials easily (1) Huh? It died like that. The Asorian Lion monster is said to be one of the strongest species. Their strength was said to be on par with dragons but it died with three shots. Hmm, is it that weak or the details I read are wrong? No, idiot, how can I forget that? The magic resistance of Asorian Lion is pitifully low and when hunting this monster, mages or other spellcasters who can use attack spells are preferred by the hunting party. However, with my huge INT, the damage it took should be very high. It took three attacks to die and that means it is very good. With a freak like me, there was no way that monster would have won the match. Even if there were ten of these monsters, I would have easily won, though it might have taken a long time. Right then, the mechanical voice came dering my win. You have cleared the trial within ten seconds, creating a new record. You have been awarded 100x strength as the trial of strength reward. You have been awarded a 100% strength bonus as the new record creator. You would be the sole holder until you die. Note: One can gain the extra reward if they either equal or cross the previous record. These are the rewards for clearing the trial. It can be that it is almost free. Haha, this is a call for celebration. While I was thinking about the rewards a huge white energy ball appeared and entered my body. I couldn''t stop it before it entered my body but I believe that was the reward. Let''s see how much the STR attribute has changed. -- STR: 1,947 >> 194,700(+100%) -- Hmm, it looks like the STR attribute was multiplied by 100. I thought it be 101 STR after the reward but it looks like whatever STR I have would be multiplied and there is also a +100% STR gain, which is the greatest gain. Every 1 increase of STR would mean that I gain 2 STR in the end. This is the best reward of this trial and if there are more such trials, I shouldplete them the same way. At that time two portals opened. One is on my left and it is white in color while the other is on my right side and it is red. Please enter the White portal to the rest area or the Red portal to proceed to the Trial of Endurance. The mechanical voice came, informing me about the portals. The red one is for the next part of the trials, and the white one is to rest for a while. I didn''t burn any energy during this. So I decided to partake in the next trial, the Trial of Endurance. Deciding that, I entered the red portal. --- This time I appeared in a desert. There is nothing but sand and what the hell...two suns? Did the creator of this trial make this ce based on that? Maybe, it doesn''t matter anyway. As long as I can clear the trial fast, whatever the problems that could hinder others wouldn''t be a problem for me. Roar! Roar! Unlikest time there were multiple roars It means that there are more enemies this time around. No wonder it''s called Trial of Endurance. Under so much heat, I don''t think many could survive the fight. Most of them would lose and have to pack up. Maybe that was the idea. I mean, for clearing the trial, I got 100x strength attributes. Think about it, even if that was low who clears it slower, they still would have gotten something from the trial as long as they cleared. This kind of bonus is not a small thing. Many would kill each other for such an opportunity. The mechanical announcement came and broke my thoughts as usual. Survive ten waves of monsters for ten hours. Each wave of monsters would have ten monsters. There are a lot of monsters and at the same time, these monsters don''t belong to the same race. I recognize a few and these are known for their endurance. The others might belong to the same category. It looks like the trials are based on the monster''s main quality attributes. The trial''s monsters would have the same attribute as the trial''s name. The reward probably would be the same attribute. I wonder what would happen if I cleared all the monsters before the stipted time. I may get rewards like before and that would be very great. Match starts in ...3...2...1...Start. First Wave of Monsters Once the start signal was given, ten monsters started to run to reach me. Each vying to rip me apart but why would I give them the chance to do that? I used Shadow Bolt, instead of Volley as this was better than using Volley in this battle. It was best to use only ss skills as they were already at the top level. I evaded and dodged their attacks, while I used Shadow Bolt, Nether mes and Blood Drain. I quickly killed this wave of monsters using these three attacks. Second Wave of Monsters ... Tenth Wave of Monsters I tried other skillbos to quickly eliminate them. I have used thesebos before when clearing groups in the inner region of the realm but they are not always effective. This was because not every group would have the same race of monsters. Monsters mostly go together with their own race but sometimes there are subordinates to a powerful one and at that time there would be a mingle of different races. The Inner area was not disturbed much and the core area was never touched, making it possible for the rise of powerful monsters and to slowly bring various race monsters under their rule. It took some time but I figured out mostly about whatbo I had to use for a certain group of monsters and what I shouldn''t use. You have cleared the trial within thirty minutes, creating a new record. You have been awarded 100x endurance as the trial of endurance reward. You have been awarded a 100% endurance bonus as the new record creator. You would be the sole holder until you die. Note: One can gain the extra reward if they either equal or cross the previous record. -- END: 2,036 >> 203,600 (+100%) -- The increase of END was the same as it did with STR. After that two portals appeared the same as before. Please enter the White portal to the rest area or the Red portal to proceed to the Trial of Agility. Chapter 126: I cleared the trials easily (DOnt BuY>>>REPETED) Huh? It died like that. The Asorian Lion monster is said to be one of the strongest species. Their strength was said to be on par with dragons but it died with three shots. Hmm, is it that weak or the details I read are wrong? No, idiot, how can I forget that? The magic resistance of Asorian Lion is pitifully low and when hunting this monster, mages or other spellcasters who can use attack spells are preferred by the hunting party. However, with my huge INT, the damage it took should be very high. It took three attacks to die and that means it is very good. With a freak like me, there was no way that monster would have won the match. Even if there were ten of these monsters, I would have easily won, though it might have taken a long time. Right then, the mechanical voice came dering my win. You have cleared the trial within ten seconds, creating a new record. You have been awarded 100x strength as the trial of strength reward. You have been awarded a 100% strength bonus as the new record creator. You would be the sole holder until you die. Note: One can gain the extra reward if they either equal or cross the previous record. These are the rewards for clearing the trial. It can be that it is almost free. Haha, this is a call for celebration. While I was thinking about the rewards a huge white energy ball appeared and entered my body. I couldn''t stop it before it entered my body but I believe that was the reward. Let''s see how much the STR attribute has changed. -- STR: 1,947 >> 194,700(+100%) -- Hmm, it looks like the STR attribute was multiplied by 100. I thought it be 101 STR after the reward but it looks like whatever STR I have would be multiplied and there is also a +100% STR gain, which is the greatest gain. Every 1 increase of STR would mean that I gain 2 STR in the end. This is the best reward of this trial and if there are more such trials, I shouldplete them the same way. At that time two portals opened. One is on my left and it is white in color while the other is on my right side and it is red. Please enter the White portal to the rest area or the Red portal to proceed to the Trial of Endurance. The mechanical voice came, informing me about the portals. The red one is for the next part of the trials, and the white one is to rest for a while. I didn''t burn any energy during this. So I decided to partake in the next trial, the Trial of Endurance. Deciding that, I entered the red portal. --- This time I appeared in a desert. There is nothing but sand and what the hell...two suns? Did the creator of this trial make this ce based on that? Maybe, it doesn''t matter anyway. As long as I can clear the trial fast, whatever the problems that could hinder others wouldn''t be a problem for me. Roar! Roar! Unlikest time there were multiple roars It means that there are more enemies this time around. No wonder it''s called Trial of Endurance. Under so much heat, I don''t think many could survive the fight. Most of them would lose and have to pack up. Maybe that was the idea. I mean, for clearing the trial, I got 100x strength attributes. Think about it, even if that was low who clears it slower, they still would have gotten something from the trial as long as they cleared. This kind of bonus is not a small thing. Many would kill each other for such an opportunity. The mechanical announcement came and broke my thoughts as usual. Survive ten waves of monsters for ten hours. Each wave of monsters would have ten monsters. There are a lot of monsters and at the same time, these monsters don''t belong to the same race. I recognize a few and these are known for their endurance. The others might belong to the same category. It looks like the trials are based on the monster''s main quality attributes. The trial''s monsters would have the same attribute as the trial''s name. The reward probably would be the same attribute. I wonder what would happen if I cleared all the monsters before the stipted time. I may get rewards like before and that would be very great. Match starts in ...3...2...1...Start. First Wave of Monsters Once the start signal was given, ten monsters started to run to reach me. Each vying to rip me apart but why would I give them the chance to do that? I used Shadow Bolt, instead of Volley as this was better than using Volley in this battle. It was best to use only ss skills as they were already at the top level. I evaded and dodged their attacks, while I used Shadow Bolt, Nether mes and Blood Drain. I quickly killed this wave of monsters using these three attacks. Second Wave of Monsters ... Tenth Wave of Monsters I tried other skillbos to quickly eliminate them. I have used thesebos before when clearing groups in the inner region of the realm but they are not always effective. This was because not every group would have the same race of monsters. Monsters mostly go together with their own race but sometimes there are subordinates to a powerful one and at that time there would be a mingle of different races. The Inner area was not disturbed much and the core area was never touched, making it possible for the rise of powerful monsters and to slowly bring various race monsters under their rule. It took some time but I figured out mostly about whatbo I had to use for a certain group of monsters and what I shouldn''t use. You have cleared the trial within ten seconds, creating a new record. You have been awarded 100x endurance as the trial of endurance reward. You have been awarded a 100% endurance bonus as the new record creator. You would be the sole holder until you die. Note: One can gain the extra reward if they either equal or cross the previous record. -- END: 2,036 >> 203,600 (+100%) -- The increase of END was the same as it did with STR. After that two portals appeared the same as before. Please enter the White portal to the rest area or the Red portal to proceed to the Trial of Agility. Chapter 127: I cleared the trials easily (2) I entered the red portal towards the trial of agility, and I cleared all the monsters that the trial had thrown at me. So I am still full of energy. I don''t have much time before the secret realm exit opens. I need to clear this trial tower before that happens. So I chose to continue the trial. The scenery changed. This time it was not barrennd nor a desert but a forest full of huge trees. I mean they are pretty huge both in size and height. Hmm, I thought that the creator of the trials didn''t add beautiful scenery to thendscape because he might have thought that it was a waste of time but that doesn''t seem to be the reason. Did I miss something? Roar! Roar! Survive the monsters for ten hours toplete the trial. Huh, it looks simr to the trial of endurance but at the same time different. There are multiple roars confirming that there are a lot of monsters but the announcement didn''t say how many. So I was supposed to survive ten hours. Is that the mission? I suppose after I defeat them, I probably have to waste ten hours it seems. Let''s get on with it. Match starts in...3...2...1...START. Once the Start signal was given, monsters started to run towards me at an unimaginable speed. I don''t need to know what these monsters are to know that they belong to agility-type monsters, as I see a lot of cat monsters in the horde. Let the culling begin. I started to kill them and run away at the same time, trying to not get caught in their hands. --- Ten hourster... Ha-ha-ha-ha... I didn''t think that the trial would run for a full ten hours. I thought I could clear the monsters that appeared and the trial would be over. After that, I would get the rewards but I was wrong. You have cleared the trial by surviving for ten hours killing more than ten thousand monsters, creating a new record. You have been awarded 100x Agility as the trial of agility reward. You have been awarded a 100% Agility bonus as the new record creator. You would be the sole holder until you die. Note: One can gain the extra reward if they either equal or cross the previous record. The notification came and the rewards were distributed and absorbed by my body. -- (AGI):1,978 >> 197,800 (+100%) -- The reward was the same as the previous two trials. As before after I got the rewards, two portals appeared, one white and another red. The mechanical notification followed as before. Please enter the White portal to the rest area or the Red portal to proceed to the Trial of Soul. I need to rest. Unlike the first two trials, where I could eliminate the monsters and move on, this trial was a bit different. I have to survive. No matter how many I killed, they kept respawning again and again. I have to run through that forest, where there are trees everywhere. I can''t run in a straight line. It became a problem. I not only had to dodge the monsters but also the trees that stood in my path. Though it gave a reward that I was hoping for, it also drained my energy to stand. So this time, I am taking the white portal and have to rest for a bit. Though I already know what the next trial is, I don''t want to put too much stress on my body. --- After I entered the white portal, I returned to the white room but now there was an extra bed, probably for me to rest a bit. I don''t need to sleep, though I am a bit sleep-deprived. If I fell asleep now, I don''t think I would be able to wake up in time. After I entered this trial tower, I was ced under a lot of restrictions. I couldn''t speak with my fox and demon. I could feel them but I can''tmunicate. So if I fell asleep for too long, there would be no one who could wake me up. So I decided to meditate to recover my lost energy and at the same time think about the next trial. When I saw the names of the three trials before, I could vaguely understand what they were about. Going through the first one just confirmed my thoughts but this one is different, I feel it. The first three are Strength, Endurance, and Agility. As the trial name suggested the monsters belonged to the three attributes and so were the rewards. This one is said to be the Trial of Soul and that means whatever the test might be, it would be testing my soul or would there be some soul monsters or something? I have no idea but maybe once Iplete this trial, I could get some answers about the soul. With my secondary profession rted to the soul, I need a lot of information about it. In all the information I read at my family library and the academy, there was no mention of the soul attribute but I can tell that after reaching a certain stage, people can open that attribute in the status panel and I believe that should be probably at Tier-7 or above. So the information is out of my reach. The only way I could get could be at ces like this. I need to pass the next trial whatever it takes and for that, I need to be in the optimal state. --- This looks different. There are stairs, a lot of stairs. I wonder what they are for. Ascend the stairs as much as you can. Rewards are based on how many steps you can take. Oh, it looks like there are no monsters but the stairs here are the trial itself. I remember such scenarios in many novels. I believe that for every step taken, the pressure on my soul would be increased. I said soul because that''s the trial''s name. So let''s begin. Chapter 128: I cleared the trials easily (3) I started to climb the stairs. When I took my first step, I felt nothing. It was the same for the second, third and so on. It wasn''t until the hundredth step that I first felt a light tingle. Even then, it was almost negligible. I felt nothing, so I continued to climb on. Every hundred steps I could feel that the strain started to increase. After five hundred, it started to increase every ten steps and after reaching seven hundred, it became every five steps. It was not like the strain didn''t increase for every step taken but I didn''t feel much difference. The real trial started after I reached the nine hundredth step. From then onwards, for every step taken, I can feel the stinging pain caused to my soul. This trial was as I thought it would be. This was testing my soul but for what purpose? I was able to reach this far because my soul energy was very high. Months ago, I didn''t know if my soul energy was high or average but as started to take the stairs. a small rity. I could understand that my soul energy is pretty high whenpared to others. I don''t know if there are other geniuses or what the soul energy would be for someone who is at a higher rank than me but I know that I possess strength far beyond what I should at this point. With such soul strength, I didn''t feel much but that changed after the nine hundred steps. The difficulty increased by a lot. Each step felt as if I had taken two or three hundred steps. The closer I came to the thousand steps, the more the pressure on me was. It was quite difficult but I managed to reach the top of the stairs, which was the thousandth step. Hmm, there seems to be a pce and a fort in front of me but I am not sure whether it is real or not. While I was looking at the pce/fort before and contemting about it, the mechanical notification came announcing the end of the trial. You havepleted the Trial of Soul perfectly. You have gained 100,000 Soul Energy. Huh? Is that it? There was no extra reward or wait...the reward is different. It is directly adding 100,000 points and that''s it. Aah, I thought I might get a 100x bonus like the other three. From what I read in other stories, improving the soul is the most troublesome thing as there are not many things that can do so. It doesn''t matter anyway for me as I have other ways to do so. The only thing stopping me was whether it was good to do so at this point or not. I mean it''s the soul and I have no knowledge regarding that. If any body part of me gets injured, there are healing potions and healers that can help me but what about soul injuries? Is there anyone who can heal an injured soul? Are there any items that are capable of doing so? I don''t know. So it''s best that I don''t experiment with them without knowing more about it. You can now enter the Nexus. Huh? So it''s called Nexus and it seems I can enter. I believe whatever the secrets this realm holds, I can find them there. Before that let''s check my status screen once more. "Status" -- Name: Magnus Frostwolf Age: 16 Titles: Son of Viscount; Great yer; Hidden Smiden; Dungeon Conqueror; Primary ss: Draconic Warlock Secondary ss: Soul Arbiter (Unique) Affinity: Shadow, Blood, Space Bloodline: ck Dragon (2% Purity) Physique: Devourer Physique (EX) Talent: Ritualistic Summoning (EX) Trait: Silk Smooth Skin(A bit Improved); Sleepy; Aurum Skin; Sexy Smile; Rank: Tier-4 Level: 100 Health Points (HP): 6,441,328,117 Strength (STR): 1,947 >> 194,700 (+100%) Endurance (END): 2,036 >> 203,600 (+100%) Dexterity (DEX): 1,246 Agility (AGI): 1,978 >> 197,800 (+100%) Intelligence (INT): 637,755,170 Magic Power (MP): 6,505,103,700 Soul Energy: 5,500 (+200%) >> 105,500 (+200%) Charm: 3,009 ss Skills: Shadow Bolt; Blood Dominance; Draconic Magic; Shadow Curse; Blood Heal; Shadow Shift; Blood Lock; Draconic Pressure; Shadow Merge; Blood Drain; Soul Judge; Soul Prison; Soul Container; Nether mes; Shadow control; Blood Boil; Special Skills: Rank Booster; Status Disguise; Refined Skills: Shadow Bolt Volley Lvl. 15; Skills: Evade Lvl. 16; Dodge Lvl. 16; Sprint Lvl. 12 >> 13; Alertness Lvl. 12; Devour Lvl. 8; Fusion Lvl. 16; Split Lvl. 16; Demon Gaze Lvl. 4; Strengthen Lvl. 13; Tag & Track Lvl. 4; Night Vision Lvl. 13; Spatial Storage Lvl. 10; Mind Control Lvl. 8; Mind Probe Lvl. 8; Mind Defence Lvl. 1; Dragon Blood Evolution Lvl. 1; Scent Recognition Lvl. 10; Sexual Stamina Lvl. 5; Perception Lvl. 16; Pet World Lvl. 2; Parry Lvl. 7; Resistances: Physical Resistance Lvl. 16; Light Resistance Lvl. 4; Poison Resistance Lvl. 4; Magic Resistance (Non-Attribute) Lvl. 5; Space Resistance Lvl. 4; Fire Resistance Lv. 6; Water Resistance Lvl. 6; Mind Resistance Lvl. 1; Wind Resistance Lvl. 2 >> 3; Lightning Resistance Lvl. 1 >> 3; Weapon Arts: Advanced Staff Arts Lvl. 1; Intermediate Movement Arts Lvl. 2; Basic Hand Combat Arts Lvl. 9; -- Everything looks good. Sprint increased by a level, probably because of the Trial of Agility. There are two resistances that improved and that was a bonus that I gained from the Trial of Agility. The other trials didn''t improve any skills, probably because I wanted to end them quickly and did so. To achieve that I used the best skills which are very high. These are skills I presume won''t increase easily anymore. The trials are weak for me but I know that they are very strong and probably no one can achieve a win. My STR, END, and AGI now appear decent but my DEX still looks bad and that was something I need to think boutter, in addition to finding ways to improve those skill levels without others finding out about that. Well, no one knows that I have so many skills. So if they see me finding ways to improve them, then they woulde to the conclusion that I most certainly have those skills. if not why would anyone take an interest in improving other skills, with the limited amount of time one has? Anyway, that is something I need to think aboutter. Now, let''s enter the Nexus and see what it is all about. Chapter 129: I entered the Nexus With everything sorted, I entered the pce/fort that the mechanical notification called Nexus. Naming it Nexus, it should be an important ce. Everything that I need to learn about this secret realm, and I believe this ce might give me the answers. The outside mostly looked like a fort but a bit like a pce. I don''t know how to exactly exin that. The entrance doors are huge and I pushed them hard to be able to enter. If a weak person gets here by chance they may have no chance to enter. The mechanical voice said that I could enter the Nexus but what it is and what for I have no idea. I don''t know what is on the other side of these doors, so as cautious as I am, I am in full guard mode. I can''t die after achieving such great things as clearing those trials so quickly. --- As I entered the Nexus, I could only say one thing, Exquisite. It was so beautiful that I couldn''t speak any words. The outside looked more like a fortress than a pce. The inside though, looked more like a pce. As I was praising the interior, an old voice greeted me, "Hello my young friend. Wee to Nexus". I turned towards where the voice came from and saw an old man but something about him felt weird. "Who are you?" I asked him calmly. I am not nervous as I didn''t feel any malicious feelings towards me. "My name is Argus. I am the former owner of the Nexus", the old man introduced himself. "Huh?" I tilted my head in confusion. If he is the former owner, then there should be a current owner. So why was he greeting me? "I died a long time ago. I don''t know how long but it was a lot of centuries back. I saw youngsters like you who enter the realm every year but most stayed in the outer region. Only a few ventured in the Inner region but very few survived. I was here before they started to appear". "Why are you here? How are you here if you are dead? Is this your soul?" I asked him. As someone whose profession has something to do with the soul, I feel that what I see is a dead man''s soul but something is different. "Soul? You could say so, but not exactly", he said. "What do you mean?" I asked for rification. "What you see was just a remnant will of myself. My true soul I believe was gone from this world a long ago", he said. It looks like in those web novels, where some old geezer would leave something that can guide the neer. "You said you were the former owner. If so, who is the current owner of this Nexus? Is he busy and sent you to greet me?" I asked him. "Current owner, I should say that it is you", the old man chuckled. "Say what?" I shouted out in surprise. "To be the owner of this Nexus, one has toplete all those trials. Of course, there should be no owner to im the Nexus or else the rewards you gained so far would have been the end of it", he calmly spoke. "I don''t understand", I told him. In fact, I understand what he was saying but it was not properly registering it. "As I said, I was the owner of this magnificence but that was a long time ago. What you see is a small remnant of my soul that would have to stay here until a new owner appears. After centuries, you were the first one to clear these trials". "Now if you want you can im this as yours or you can reject as you wish but remember iming or rejecting would have consequences that you can''t forsee", the old man said. Both have consequences. What does he mean by that/ Oh, I believe means that every action one takes has consequences. It is pretty normal and most of the time, we don''t see or experience those consequences until muchter in life. "Are there any benefits if I be the owner?" "Indeed there are", the old man introduced them briefly, "If you want to know everything, then you can read the guidebook after you take over as the owner of this Nexus". It looks like only after I be the owner would I have the privileges open to me. Until then, I won''t have such privileges. I can understand that. It was the same in the kingdom and around the world. Giving unlimited ess to everyone would only create chaos easily. It has perks but the problems thate with that are much more than the perks thate. Though limited ess may hinder some people, there is a way to gain ess. Show the kingdom your talent and they will open everything to you. Nothinges for free. After thinking for a minute or two, "I ept". The old man smiled, "Good, now drop your blood on the gem", he showed a bracelet that had a white gem embedded in it. I did as he told me. I heard about Blood Bound items. They would need the blood of a person and once bonded, unless the person dies, the item would be his forever. No matter where the person is, the item will be returned to him. Normally this was done to weapons, as many would throw their weapons at the enemies surprising them or lose their weapons fighting enemies. This way, they don''t need to worry about losing them. The weapons would always be with them. The gem turned red and after that, the bracelet disappeared and appeared on my left hand. "Now that''s done. It''s time for me to go", the old man said. "Huh? You are leaving so soon. I thought that you would stay until I get a grip on the Nexus", I spoke. The old man smiled, "I am dead boy, a long time ago. I only stayed to transfer the ownership and nothing more. Dead shouldn''t be in thend of living. I believe that you of all people should understand that more than me", he said as he disappeared. "Huh? What did you say?" I shouted but there was no answer. What does he mean that I of all people? Chapter 130: My Tier-5 promotion mission Ah, there is a promotion crystal as Argus said there would be. I could wait till I exit the realm and then take the promotion mission at the Magic Association branch in Winter City. I mean, this is what I should but the pressure is picking my brain. I got a weird promotion mission. Now my brain was thinking what kind of shit hole I would find myself in. So after the bonding with the Nexus was over, I took the guidebook and searched for the promotion room that he had mentioned. Though he only said that there is a promotion crystal present here, he never said where it is. The Nexus is huge, muchrger than what appeared outside. If not for the guidebook, I might have got lost. --- The room where the promotion crystal was present looked very simple. This was probably so that the elements present in the room wouldn''t cause any disturbances during the connection. I walked towards the crystal and ced my hand over it. An unknown energy of warmth passed through me before a notification appeared. [Detected that the Awakener has reached Tier-4 Level 100.] [Awakener is qualified to take the Tier-5 promotion mission.] [Choices were being generated...please choose one of the choices.] -- Choice 1: Permanently enve Inari (Rmended). Choice 2: Be a Sis-con and make Eritrea yours(Rmended). Choice 3: Kill Dorian Halter (Not Rmended). -- What is there to think about? I choose choice 3 as my promotion mission. I wouldn''t choose any other option. I only enved Inari because I needed to at that time and I didn''t know anything about her but now it is different. I promised her freedom and I will keep my promise. Bing a Sis-con? That''s out of the question. It would appear funny in novels but that is not my choice of life. They are my sisters and in no worldly way or otherworldy way would do such things. Killing Dorian, though it appears bad, is not. He is already my enemy and he nned together with William to kill me. So I won''t have any grievances in getting rid of him. It was something I would do even if there was no promotion mission. Now I have a promotion mission to kill him, I call it a bonus. BUY ONE, GET ONE FREE!!! So I decisively chose what I would do. "I choose, choice number three", I spoke inside my mind. Once I chose it, a confirmation message appeared. [You have chosen the mission: Kill Dorian Halter.] [Pleaseplete the mission to progress to Tier-5.] [You can forfeit the choice if you can''tplete the mission. Rember by doing so, would reduce the grade of missionpletion.] Now that I got to see what my promotion mission was, and as there is still a day in the realm, I should check out the other facilities, especially the surveince room. Argus told me that everything that we did in the secret realm was being recorded, even what happens in the Nexus itself. I have a promotion mission, Kill Dorian Halter. There was also my personal agenda to eliminate him. Though I knew that William was probably using Dorian as a tool to get rid of me without staining his hands, I have no sympathy for Dorian. I collected a little bit of information about him and his family. He should have been thinking about how to help his poor parents, but he was interested in how to gain power and one-up others. He was no different than the noble brats that he fought saying that they are bullies. If he was a noble child, I believe that he would have been worse. Maybe his character was due to the system supporting him or he was like that from the beginning, I don''t know and I don''t care. I don''t care about him but after knowing about his family, I do feel bad that they would be alone once he was gone and there is a chance that they would die without his existence. I know that was a possibility but I still chose the third option because even if I don''t make a move, he would and that would be on his terms which would be to my disadvantage. I can''t have that. When I face him, it has to be on my terms, not his. Only then I would have a chance of defeating him and not suffer in any way. I believe his parents are still young enough. If they give birth to another child, I can anonymously send some money to raise the child or something like that. It''s the best that I could do. There are always consequences for our actions and those are faced by even not you but someone else. If he dies, his parents suffer and If I die, my parents would suffer. I would rather choose the others to suffer rather than my family. --- Hmm, it looks like he killed two students and the reason, they were nobles. These two kids found a resource before Dorian. They were fighting some monsters to gain ownership but he entered at the end and seized the resource by killing them at the end of the battle. Well, those two are not honest either. They seized items from others too but that was something Dorian shouldn''t know, yet he acted without remorse and killed them. I say he killed them because they were nobles as there was a reason. One of them is...no was, notorious for bullyingmoners. He was from ss 1-A. Hemands other ss nobles to bullymoner kids. I didn''t know about that until recently. It came out as I was checking why that bully from 1-B and Dorian stopped fighting each other. I watched Dorianseverly injure noble children whenpared tomoner children from our academy. The other students, I don''t know who''s who but I can understand who''s who from videos. So I can''tment on that. Dorian has to die and I have a perfect n for that. Chapter 131: Me dealing a problem forever (1) With the surveince of the entire realm in my hand, I easily pinpointed where Dorian was and what direction he was going to take. Now what remained was to make sure that whatever happened, everyone would think that Dorian was the culprit, not me. To do that, I need a good n of ambush. No, it should be him ambushing me. Only this way, if one sees us fighting, then I won''t take any me for his ''idental'' death. So what should I do in order to make it look like I am the victim and he is the aggressor? Ah, the answer was already in front of me. There was no need to look for it anywhere else. If possible, with this I can even cause damage to William. Wait, should I drag him into this? In fact, if there were no witnesses, it would be for the best but fighting would definitely attract others. It would be troublesome. With the system in hand, he might use something to escape death. He would be quite troublesome in the future. So even though the battle should show that I am the defending party, not the aggressive party, I need to end the battle quickly. I might have won in the duel that was held by the academy but I am not sure that victory would be mine where there are no restraints and observers. Simr to me, Dorian might not have used his entire arsenal in the academy. He has a system and I am sure that it should have provided him ways to improve faster. The only reason why he didn''t show all his cards was because he was afraid that the system would be found out. The academy is filled with powerhouses. Without the enchantment around my living quarters, I wouldn''t have dared to use clones or bring Inari out. They could probably detect the system if it was used in their presence. So he should be keeping its use minimal in the academy. Now in the secret realm, there should be no such restrictions for him. If the system has a shop avable for him where he can buy items, then he most likely would have a teleportation item, that can help him escape danger whenever he wants to. So the best way was to have no human witness to our fight and have to finish it as quickly as possible. Hmm, but I need to have something that can say that Dorian was at fault and not me if it were ever traced back to me. The world is full of weird abilities. So there could be a way to know how Dorian was killed if they find the right person to find evidence of our fight. Hmm, how to create a scenario and create evidence against him? Ah, I am an idiot. He targeted nobles who were collecting resources and I should appear in such a situation. Once he sees that, it would be enough to hook him. Hmm, how to create the perfect bait? I should be battling a monster over a resource. The battle should appear that we are both on equal stands but the monster has a little edge over me. It would be difficult but it could be done. I need to sell that to Dorian for a few seconds. He would definitely see an opening and would try to take my kill and the resource I was fighting for. The second part was to create evidence in my favor. There is surveince in Nexus which records everything that happens in the realm, which means that there is evidence of every actmitted in the secret realm. This should be enough but to be on the safe side, I would deploy some miniature drones so that they would capture our fight from the get-go. If there was a reason to produce the source, I could just show them the drones. Though such things don''t exist in the kingdom, it doesn''t mean that they don''t exist in this world. No one has imed that can develop such advanced technology but that doesn''t mean that no one has the capacity to do so. These are the trump cards of the nations. No one would willingly give out such information to others or even acknowledge such a thing exists. Once he starts the fight, I will have all the evidence that I need. No one can touch me officially even if I kill him, as the fight would be his fault. Ah, there is one thing that I need. I need to make sure that he utters the words that he was willing to kill me. As long as he utters those words, my defense would be perfect, without any holes. If possible, I should make him spill about the conspiracy that he was brewing with William Rutgurd. If I can do that, I can openly take action against him and not suffer severe consequences. Even the academy would side with me. William would still be at the academy for the next two years but he would be out on missions. I would have the chance to leave for missions in my third year. That would be the perfect time to end him. If could deal with him without going through the hassle of defending my actions against him, it would be best. Ah, let''s think about thatter. If Dorian doesn''t reveal the matter, then that doesn''t matter. I''ll deal with William sooner orter. Now the remaining question is where the ''ambush'' has to happen. Let''s see where he was going at this point. Oh, he was heading west from...ah, what''s this is called? I checked the guide. There it is, Northern Wastnd...wastnd? There are so many treasures and monsters there and still, it was named wastnd. Whenpared to Core and Inner regions that ce can be described as a wastnd. Hmm, he is moving towards, Con Heights. There are a lot of mountains and valleys in that area. It would be the best ce to ''ambush''. Chapter 132: Me dealing a problem forever (2) He fell for trap and now it is time for me to get rid of him forever. The flying miniature drones are in position and started to record a long time ago before even Dorian appeared. Everything was in ce and it was going perfectly. --- As nned, I perfectlyid an ''ambush'' for Dorian. I found a Mountain Bear monster, that was known for its strength as my opponent. It was guarding an "Earth Fruit", which can improve one''s strength greatly when consumed for the first time. The more one eats this fruit, the less benefits it would yield. I am a Warlock, a spellcaster, which means my Strength attribute should be low. This is a weakness that physical ss awakeners would love to exploit, especially Assassins. Whenever a physical ss professional faces a spellcaster, they would try to reach the spellcaster as soon as possible, no matter the damage they receive. This would be the only way that they can eliminate a spellcaster. So spellcasters like me would try to cover up those weak points. Due to this even Earth Fruit, which was actually suitable for Warrior and like professionals, drew the attention of almost all professionals. He would perfectly believe that I am trying to get that fruit to cover my weakness. --- I arrived a few minutes before Dorian and started battling the Mountain Bear monster. I made it look like I was not at an advantage in this battle and Dorian who wanted to kill me, waited for his chance to take me down. He waited until thest moment, when he struck the monster, thereby gaining the EXP that should have been mine. This is called a Kill Steal. Unless people were in a party beforehand, the EXP gained would belong to the one who gave the final blow that ended its life. It is frowned upon but that doesn''t mean that there aren''t people who dare to Kill Steal someone''s prey. I dramatically turned around and looked at Dorian in anger and frustration. I shouted at him, "Dorian, what are you doing?" No one would be pleased that their EXP was stolen by someone else. So I need to be angry in front of him to sell the n. I am angry of course, not because of the Kill Steal, but because he was nning with William to get rid of me. So making him believe that I was pissed off was not a problem. "What am I doing?" he chuckled and said, "I am going to kill you and collect the spoils". I frowned, "You do know that killing other students is forbidden by the academy". "Heh, if they know about this. When you don''t return, they would just think that you died in the hands of monsters here and would be forgotten", he smirked as if everything was under his control. I didn''t respond back but made sure that angry fumes were overflowing from my face. If I speak sentence for a sentence, he could wise up and see that this is a trap and that he was the ambushed, not the ambusher. I can''t let that happen. "Is this because of what happened at the entrance of Winter City?" I asked him slowly in a way that showed I was a bit afraid of him. Normally, I shouldn''t show fear in me as I defeated him before. The only reason I should show fear was if I already knew about his growth. Of course, my show of fear didn''t rm him because I fought the bear for a long time and ording to him, I drained a lot of my mana and stamina. This speech is to recover some mana and stamina, which could only dy the inevitable. Dorian didn''t answer but his smirk grewrger. "Asshole, I tried to save you but you scanned my status panel without my permission. It was an offence, that required the death of the offender. I left you with only a few ps. You should have been thankful after I saved you, yet you offended me. I let you go without making you pay severely for what you did. Now you are nning my death. You are a snake who bites the helping hand. People like you shouldn''t be allowed to live". "Try it if you can", Dorian sneered at me. He is pretty confident that he could defeat and kill me here. Is he that dependent on the system? Fool, no matter how powerful he bes, it was due to external assistance, not his own. Someday, that external factor would disappear and he would be too weak to do anything. He is weaker than me, no matter what type of assistance that he got from the system. He should be probably in Tier-2 at most, whereas I am at peak Tier-4. Even if he had reached peak Tier-2, I am two full ranks ahead of him. Now that I have the evidence that I need to make sure that this won''te to bite me in the ass, I can easily kill him and end this farce. "Nether mes" I used one of the least used skills as this is considered very dangerous to use on others, even on monsters. This skill would even burn the soul of the creature. The souls are a resource too, though I have no idea how to use them of yet. AAARRRGHHHH! Dorian screamed in terror as soon as the skill took effect. "Mmm, where do you think you are going?" I felt that the system was bailing out as soon as it saw him in danger and no way out. I already prepared a way to trap it, if that bes a problem. Though it didn''t cause much trouble for me, I can''t let it go away. Whoever the master behind that was wouldn''t be pleased with Dorian''s death. It would be a problem for me. Moreover, it is a resource unlike any other. I have no idea how it works but if I refine it and make it truly mine, I could ascend faster. This is something I can''t let go, no matter what. Chapter 133: I captured a system Dorian burned away in the most anti-climatic way. He is all talk and no content, I know right? If he had developed in a low-key manner, with the help of the system, he could have reached the top ranks. With high strength, his family could have been out of poverty and would have reached noble status. Instead, that idiot got the power to his head. He thought that with the system in hand, he was invincible. From the first time I saw him till now, he remained arrogant. It''s okay to be prideful but arrogance leads to demise. It looks like he had to learn it the hard way. This would be hisst life. Now he has no chance of reincarnation either. When I first got Nether mes, I wanted to check what it could do. Normally it is what the skill description was for but my panel was different. It makes some sassyments and the information it gives is as low as possible. I could only use the skill and learn its usage by myself. After I got the secondary profession, Soul Arbiter, I could see souls everywhere. Whenever I kill a monster, a part of the soul remains every time. Sometimes, the entire soul remains. I collected them because I know they could be useful through my second profession but I don''t know the proper path to do so. It was designated forter. When I used Nether mes for the first time, there was no soul remnant. Since I didn''t know much about souls, I never thought that it had to do with my skills. Only after using Nether mes for a bit more, I could discern that it possibly burned away the soul. After learning the fact, I decided against using Nether mes again. There is no reason to waste such a rare resource. Today, I changed the rule because I wanted to avoid any future problems. This world is made of magic and there was almost no knowledge about souls, at least openly. I don''t know whether souls can remain after death and seek revenge simr to what happens in certain novels. So burning away a rare resource in exchange to avoid further trouble in the future, is considered a good exchange. There are many novels where the souls would search for a new body or a disciple to train. Once they are ready, then it is time for revenge. An unknown enemy is very dangerous. One wouldn''t know when they would strike, and wouldn''t be prepared enough for the fight. In such situations, one would be killed or at least severely injured. I don''t want to be in such a position, ever. The only way to deal with my enemies was topletely obliterate them, not just their bodies but also their souls. Only this way can I live in peace. Knowing that there is such of possibility of my dead enemies retaliating in the future is not a good thing. I want a peaceful life and for that, it''s best to have less number of enemies, zero if possible. --- After Dorian died, the system which was supposed to be helping him, tried to escape, possibly to its master or to search a new host. Whatever might be the case, I can''t let that happen, as it is a future threat. If there is a chance to eliminate them in the present, I would take the chance, unless they have nevermitted anything against me as of yet. There are skills and even many professions that can see the future, though how much, only they would know. No one would spill everything, which may be disadvantageous to them. So it is possible to know future threats as long as one pays the price but it was said that the future is always fluctuating. Even knowing a piece of the future would alter many things. So even though these professions are revered, no one blindly does things ording to their words. What these Seers and Prophets speak would be just used as a referral, rather than as a main script. --- Anyway, I prepared a way to deal with the system and that help came from the Cosmic Market. After I got hold of this treasure, I felt that a brand new future appeared before my eyes. Though the world is of magic and anything can be possible, it was not easy to do so. With ess to the market, I have ess to various resources that don''t exist in this world. With these resources, I will be able to achieve something that wasn''t easy or impossible in this world. With the Dormant Crystal of Solitude, I was able to imprison the system or at least I hope so. From the user guide, the colour of the crystal changes when something is imprisoned inside and it did. So I think that the crystal sessfully captured the system. The question that remains now is, what to do with the system? Dorian had ess to whatever features the system brought since it was in a symbiotic or parasitic rtionship with him. I don''t want that. I need to find another way to ess it without infecting myself with it. If that fails, it means that I would have a worthless prisoner and that''s all. If it is worthless, it should be disposed of. It is a burden to carry it, if I can''t find a way to make use of it. I should look for a way to make use of it. The way possibly would be avable in the cosmic market. I should check the items regrly to see if they appear. It would be too bad if such an item appeared and disappeared fast. I have no idea how the system was made. There should be some master who created it or controlling it. If it was created, then as long as I can figure out the code that runs the ''system'', then I can use it without problem. The problem was how to view such code. I don''t have anything that can be used to view its source code. Chapter 134: I finally left the secret realm The time is almost over. So I didn''t go back to the Nexus but stayed in the outer region. I found a secluded ce to rest, waiting for the portal to open, which would be after a few hours. Instead of sleeping, I meditated as in this way, I wouldn''t be sound asleep but could rest my body. The trial of soul was not easy, though it appeared easy for me. Moreover, I had the promotion mission toplete, which should be easy but being overly cautious and paranoid, had to create evidence and for that, I had to act weak, which was very burdensome. It put a significant strain on me. So I decided to rest for a while meditating. After that, I should find a water source, so that I can clean up myself. Acting was really difficult. My clothes were torn and dyed red and brown. It was the only that Dorian would have believed that I was in a pitiful state and made a move. Since he wanted to kill me, he would have made a move even without me being in such a state but I needed to record his statement. Though I have never heard about the academy using professionals who can trace back deaths with the help to find about students who died in the secret realm, it is not a guarantee. That bastard William might use such a method to find out if I eliminated Dorian or if he died in the hands of others or monsters. He would certainly do that because there was a chance that their n was known to me as I killed Dorian. These professionals, can''t see everything about a person''s death, just thest few seconds. It was used to find the culprit but that would be a huge problem. William would know that I killed Dorian and he may cause trouble for me in the future using that information. The idea of recording is also for that purpose. If William uses the academy to cause me trouble, then he would be the one who would end up in trouble. William is a third-year student and Dorian was a first-year student. Normally we wouldn''t have any interactions with each other. William belonged to the noble ss, a Count house no less, while Dorianes from amoner family. They don''t belong to the same social circle either in the society. William and Dorian don''te from even the same province. So there shouldn''t be anymunication between them. William made sure that they were not seen together in the academy. So suddenly taking interest in amoner''s death would raise suspicions. If William was smart, he wouldn''t use Dorian''s death against me through the academy. The people there are not stupid, they would see that William sought them out with other agendas. Even if they believe his ''justice'' or some other bullshit, I have video evidence regarding what Wiim was nning with Dorian and there is a self -incriminating evidence regarding Dorian, who approached me with malicious intent. The problem would be if he doesn''t choose the academy but tries to act in another way, which may not be possible to know beforehand. I should clean myself, as the time for the exit is near. --- A few hourster... The portal to exit the realm was finally open. It was easy to know where it was as a light beam would be projected into the sky. I quickly ran in that direction, and with my high AGI attribute, I was able to reach the portal in minutes. I entered the portal immediately and got ejected back into the academy. Aftering out of the secret realm, I didn''t wait up for others and turned to leave the academy. The academy has already informed us that the students who entered the realm would get a full week as a holiday. After that, we have to report back. I wanted to return home as soon as possible. I should go to the magic association in Winter City, and act as if I were taking the Tier-2 promotion mission but instead, I would use that toplete the Tier-5 mission and be Tier-5. Only after that, could I be able to upgrade my level whenever I hunt. Moreover, a lot of EXP is still stored after I reached peak Tier-4, especially the EXP I got from the trials. I need to reach Tier-7 at the least to feel secure about my life. When I was about to leave the grounds, I saw my father amidst the people waiting for the students. I was surprised to see him here because I already informed my parents that I would return home by myself after the secret realm was over. I quickly approached him and posed a question, "Father, why are you here?" "Hehe, your mother sent me to pick you up", he said. "Huh,st time I came by myself but why would I need a chauffeur this time around?" I asked him. "No reason", he said avoiding further questions. I didn''t believe what he said. There must be a reason why mother sent father to pick me up. Were they afraid that something might happen to me inside? No, observing my father''s expression, that may not be the case, at least not fully. He was here for some other reason but I don''t think that it was a bad one. Since it may not be because of trouble, I decided to y along with him. They should be thinking to surprise me with something and whatever the surprise was, I can wait till I reach home. "Okay then, let''s head home Father", I said to him. He nodded and then we went to board the transport that my father had arranged for the two of us to the capital. We reached the capital city in half an hour, too slow for me but since my father is here, I can''t act on my own as I wish. We proceeded to the teleportation hub and paid to teleport us to the Winter City. Home, I am back. Chapter 135: I returned home It took just a few moments for us to return to the Winter City from the capital. We took my father''s car which was in the parking lot for thest few days, to reach home. When we arrived home, I instinctively felt that the atmosphere was different here. My family is happy but I could see that some members of the family are not. They belong to the faction that was against my father. If anything good happens to my father''s branch, obviously they wouldn''t be happy. --- "So what is it?" I asked my father, as soon as we entered our personalpound. My father who kept a straight face, trying to not tell me burst out. Apparently, my big sister Eritrea was in love with a fellow colleague and that was the true reason why she avoided marriage all this time. The colleague only epted her proposal recently. The wedding preparations were along the way and the marriage date was fixed and to be held in a month''s time. As of now, only two sisters are here at home and they were busy shopping with our mother so much so that, they were not even here to receive me. From what father said, they are not even in Winter City. This was why mother had sent father to pick me up, so that I don''t feel abandoned. I was happy hearing the news, so I immediately messaged Eritrea congratting her. Since my mother and sisters were not here, I decided to take a proper bath, before going to the magic association toplete the promotion mission. --- After celebrating for a little bit at home, I went to the Magic Association branch and I didn''t go alone. I took a driver with me. I did this because, when there is a driver, they are also the chauffeurs of the passengers. They would report where I have been and what I did. After we return home from the association, the driver would report that I went to the association and the time I spent inside to the family. They would think that I took a Tier-2 promotion mission and nothing else. There aren''t many reasons for me to be there except for taking the promotion mission at this point. The family need to know that I am still weak. This was because there were still problems in the family. If they ever find my progress, they will be alerted. Some of the Elders from my family tried to assassinate me, almost two years ago. There is also the one who ced the demon summoning ritual method in the library. If anyone other than me had got their hands on it, it would have been disastrous. Many human nations are at war with demon nations. Not all demons are bad and not all humans are good but instinctively when one race sees members of the other race, they would be at each other''s throats. This was why I had to kill that demon. He was going to kill me as soon as the wards failed and it would be a disaster for the kingdom. So I had no choice but to kill him. If I had the ritual to send him back then, I would have. Luckily Inari was not as aggressive as him and it worked out for the better, at least for me. After Iplete the promotion mission and reach Tier-5, I will find some time to send her back. With everyone home, it became quite troublesome to send her back. With too many back in the familypound, someone might find out what I am up to. It would be bad In addition to sending Inari back without anyone knowing about it, I need to clean the house as soon as possible. The internal threats are much more dangerous than external ones. The external ones can be seen by us and could be taken care of properly but the internal ones, no one can see them before they cause immense damage. I need to eradicate these idiots but at the same time not get caught or have some proof of their wrongdoings. Instead of eradicating them personally, if the family sees them as bad for the family, it would be for the best. There is no concrete proof of the assassination attempt on me. Though those guys failed their job, that was because they underestimated me but they are professionals. There was no evidence linking the family elders to that. Wait, is there no evidence? I don''t think that those guys are idiots to blindly take the job to assassinate me. I am not some orphan ormoner who has no power to retaliate. My father is a viscount. No matter the differences in the family, most elders would put a united front on the outside. Assassination of a Viscount''s son would be a ck mark on the family. They would try everything to find the culprit. I don''t know whether they would get justice for my death and punish the elders who plotted against me but the assassins wouldn''tst long. They should have known that fact, but they didn''t have any evidence at that time. It means that they were hiding the evidence against the family elders who hired them, but where is that evidence? --- "We are here sir", my driver broke my thoughts, as the car came to a stop. "Thank You Stephen", I said and got out of the car and went straight inside. I approached the reception and said, "Hello, I am here to take the promotion mission". "Sure sir. Please follow me", she said as she led me to the third floor, the same as before. She stopped before a room and said, "I believe that you know the procedure. You can take this room for the promotion sir. If you need anything I''ll be outside" I said, "Thank you", and walked through the door that she opened for me. Once I was inside the door was closed, so there won''t be any disturbances. I walked towards the promotion crystal and ced my hand on it. A warm energy passed through my body. [Detected...] Chapter 136: I reached Tier-5 rank [Detected that you havepleted the Tier-5 promotion mission.] [Your missionpletion was graded - EX] [You have cleared conditions for Tier Upgrade...] [You have been promoted to Tier-5] [You have gained 50x attribute increment.] [Dual ss detected.] [New ss Skills issued.] [You have gained the skill, Shadow Clone.] [You have gained the skill, Blood Clone.] [You have gained the skill, Space sh.] [You have gained the skill, Soul de.] [You have gained the skill, Soul Ascension.] [You have gained the skill, Soul Avatar.] [You have gained a level.] [You have gained a level.] [You have gained a level.] [You have gained a level.] [You have gained a level.] Ah, I am at Tier-5 after staying in Tier-4 for an year. It looks the EXP I gained in the trial is very high, enough to reach fe levels. Let''s check my status and see how much I have improved. "Status" -- Name: Magnus Frostwolf Age: 16 Titles: Son of Viscount; Great yer; Hidden Smiden; Dungeon Conqueror; Primary ss: Draconic Warlock Secondary ss: Soul Arbiter (Unique) Affinity: Shadow, Blood, Space Bloodline: ck Dragon (2% Purity) Physique: Devourer Physique (EX) Talent: Ritualistic Summoning (EX) Trait: Silk Smooth Skin(A bit Improved); Sleepy; Aurum Skin; Sexy Smile; Rank: Tier-4 >> Tier-5 Level: 100 >> 5 Health Points (HP): 6,441,328,117 >> 25,191,328,117 Strength (STR): 194,700 (+100%) Endurance (END): 203,600 (+100%) Dexterity (DEX): 1,246 Agility (AGI): 197,800 (+100%) Intelligence (INT): 637,755,170 >> 2,200,255,170 Magic Power (MP): 6,505,103,700 >> 28,380,103,700 Soul Energy: 105,500 (+200%) Charm: 3,009 ss Skills: Shadow Bolt; Blood Dominance; Draconic Magic; Shadow Curse; Blood Heal; Shadow Shift; Blood Lock; Draconic Pressure; Shadow Merge; Blood Drain; Soul Judge; Soul Prison; Soul Container; Nether mes; Shadow control; Blood Boil; Shadow Clone; Blood Clone; Space sh; Soul de; Soul Ascension; Soul Avatar; Special Skills: Rank Booster; Status Disguise; Refined Skills: Shadow Bolt Volley Lvl. 15; Skills: Evade Lvl. 16; Dodge Lvl. 16; Sprint Lvl. 13; Alertness Lvl. 12; Devour Lvl. 8; Fusion Lvl. 16; Split Lvl. 16; Demon Gaze Lvl. 4; Strengthen Lvl. 13; Tag & Track Lvl. 4; Night Vision Lvl. 13; Spatial Storage Lvl. 10; Mind Control Lvl. 8; Mind Probe Lvl. 8; Mind Defence Lvl. 1; Dragon Blood Evolution Lvl. 1; Scent Recognition Lvl. 10; Sexual Stamina Lvl. 5; Perception Lvl. 16; Pet World Lvl. 2; Parry Lvl. 7; Resistances: Physical Resistance Lvl. 16; Light Resistance Lvl. 4; Poison Resistance Lvl. 4; Magic Resistance (Non-Attribute) Lvl. 5; Space Resistance Lvl. 4; Fire Resistance Lv. 6; Water Resistance Lvl. 6; Mind Resistance Lvl. 1; Wind Resistance Lvl. 3; Lightning Resistance Lvl. 3; Weapon Arts: Advanced Staff Arts Lvl. 1; Intermediate Movement Arts Lvl. 2; Basic Hand Combat Arts Lvl. 9; -- Shadow Clone: You are Tier-5 and have such high INT. Do you still need descriptions for the skills that can be easily deduced from the name? -- Blood Clone: Dude? Read the name. -- Space sh: Lucky. You can sh anyone. Only space-rted defence can stop this attack. -- Soul de: Lucky again. You can sh anyone. Only soul-rted defence can stop the attack. -- Soul Ascension:You can send souls through the reincarnation cycle or to Heaven, or Hell or let the soul obtain Nirvana after the judgement. -- Soul Avatar: You can use a wisp of your soul to project yourself into a faraway ce. Why did you get this? -- The status panel skill descriptions are the same as before. There was no change. I wonder why my skill descriptions are like this. I checked with Inari before and her skill descriptions arepletely different from mine. The descriptions should be neutral, not what I am getting. Anyway, I got six skills this time due to me being a Dual professional. It''s good to have more skills but they are getting outrageous. I don''t know where I would use most of them but it''s good to have them now, rather than feeling bad in the future hoping that I had more skills. These six are good and two of them are clone skills. I can use them as my substitution when I feel cornered. Hmm, I should learn Switch Skill, which would help me in that manner. Space sh and Soul de can be used against an enemy who has high resistance against attacks and or has armour that deflects the attacks. Space attack resistance or defence items are rare. I have never seen or heard about a soul-rted item to this day. If they exist, they are far away from my reach. So I believe these two are perfect attacking methods against almost every person. There is the Nether mes skill but using that, I obliterate the souls of the opponent. Unless there is some personal grudge between us, I don''t want to use such a method. Ah, I had Sould Judgement and I didn''t know what to do with the souls that are kind and honourable. Even though I didn''t devour the bad souls, as there was no knowledge of what might happen if I did so, I wouldn''t have done anything against these kind souls. Now I do. When I judged them, I could see all their memories. So, I can send them on to their next adventure or rest, depending on their wishes. Though I got this skill, I decided to withhold, it until I got to know more about this topic. I don''t know what this skill might consume. I mean, I don''t think that sending a soul to reincarnation might not be an easy matter. There should be some suffering that the being that does that has to bear. Now,ing to my attributes, I gained +62,500,000 HP/MP and +6,250,000 INT per level in Tier-4 and now with a 50x bonus, it became +3,125,000,000 HP/MP and +312,500,000 INT per level. I gained five levels. HP=>5*3,125,000,000= 15,625,000,000 MP=>5*3,125,000,000= 15,625,000,000 INT=>5*312,500,000= 1,562,500,000 The total I gained for just five levels had reached the level of attribute gains in billions. There is also the bonus of reaching Tier-5, which is +3,125,000,000 HP and +6,250,000,000 MP. The INT, HP and MP were leaving my STR, END, DEX and AGI in the dust. I need to find a way to improve them faster. I know that they can never reach the same level but there shouldn''t be so much disparity. I hope the answer will be found in the guidebook that I got from the Nexus. It was an ancient construction and I believe there are many secrets buried there, forgotten by time. I need to unearth those secrets if I want to be the most powerful person in this world. Only by being powerful can one have a peaceful life. Even an idiot wouldn''t dare to agonize the powerful. Chapter 137: I found new suspect(s) After reaching Tier-5, I looked through my improved status and new skills. I felt more than satisfied with them. Now there is almost no one who can challenge me and win the battle unless they have some weird skills. There are people who has skills that can block other people''s skills or even reduce attribute values for a while. Of course that can be countered as long your skill levels and attribute values are very high. There is also a constraint known as Rank. As long as your Tier is two ranks above the opponent''s, there is a high probability of the opponent''s skills ending in failure. This is not a guarantee. There are various factors that decides the oue of a battle. The first one obviously is strength. As long as your rank is high, you are the one to win the battle but that''s not always the case. Long ago, people discovered that rank hopping can be done. A low rank awakener can defeat someone of higher rank but the rank disparity shouldn''t be very high. If there was too much rank disparity, then the oue is obvious. Battle not only depends on ranks and skill levels but also on attribute values. Not every person would have the same attributes as the next person. It depends mainly on their background and the grade that they gained in the Tier promotion mission. A person with a poor background wouldn''t have good resources in the early stages that can improve attributes. If attributes can be improved at an early stage, the more advantageous it would be inter stages. This is why someone with a rich background would have an advantage as long as they continue to improve, and notg behind. This is to say that they have to find many resources on their own and reach S-grade evaluation in the promotion missions. Only in this way that they can keep themselves on the top. Increasing attributes to a very high level at an early stage and getting good evaluations in the promotion missions, both are important. This is the path I prepared for myself. I should always get an EX-grade in the promotion mission evaluations, no matter what. --- The days went by. Most of the week, I was helping my father with regard to the uing ceremony. My mother is not here and that means that the work of being a viscount has to be his sole burden. So I helped him here and there. I was doing some work in my father''s office when a middle-aged person walked in along with some elders and other rtives who appeared in thepound these days. Hmm, who is that? Why is he giving me a weird look? Something is wrong with him. I feel a bit of malicious intent from him. It was not just directed at me but also at my father. It looks like he is from the faction that is against my father. It looks like the list of people that should be eliminated is growing bit by bit. I hope by the end of the marriage, I can eliminate all those tumours that have been causing damage to the family from the inside. There are enemies outside and they would always be there. It''s not a problem but having enemies inside the family who could damage the family is not a good thing. I have only the basic details of a few people who oppose my father. It won''t do. Thought there should be opposition as a head without any opposition could turn into a tyrant but the opposition should be the kind that opposes bad policies not good ones. I need to collect all the details of the people who belong to thetter category as soon as possible and prepare for their termination or at least expulsion from the family. Though this may cause some damage to the family, it is a necessary damage. The family can recover as long as all the parasites are removed from the family. "Magnus, you may leave. We need to discuss something", my father''s words rang out. I need to know about this one, the one who subconsciously emitted malicious intent towards me and my father. I don''t think that Dad missed that. I need to ask my father about him but now is not the time. "See youter father", I spoke and exited the office. Since I am young and not an official working for the family, there are things that I can''t know. --- Later that night... "Master, can we speak?" Inari''s voice came as soon as I entered my room. Due to a lot of people in the familypound, I couldn''t pull out either Inari or Asya. They could onlye out when we were alone in my room. It was sound-proofed and no one could enter the room easily. This also caused me not to be able to send Inari back home. I feel bad about that but I can''t risk others knowing about her existence. It could be a disaster for the family. Of course, nothing matters as long as there is a Tier-9 powerhouse in the family. So improving my rank quickly could remove those troubles but I also know that doing so would only hurt my foundation and my development toter stages. There is no need to worry about things for the next year or two. Only after things might get a bit hard. "Yes, Inari speak freely as you would always and I am sorry that I can''t probably send you in the near future, probably only when the next semester holidays start", I apologized to her. "No master, it''s okay. I understand the problems that you are facing now. Consorting with a demon, no matter what tribe the demon belongs to or what''s the purpose behind that, people would me you and your family. It''s not like I miss much by returning home a bitter but that''s not what I wanted to talk about", she said. "Oh, then what do you want to talk about?" I asked her. "It''s about that person, who viewed you and your father with a malicious gaze", she said. "Ah, what about him?" I asked her. I am intrigued about why she picked him specifically. "He has a demon scent, master", she said. "Say what?" Chapter 138: Matthiass thoughts Matthias has been in the Frostwolf family for nearly three decades. He was not part of the family by birth but was married into the family. His wife was from a distant branch of the family. As he was amoner by birth, he entered the house and their son took his wife''s surname. In the beginning, everything was fine. He worked his ass off for the family so that his son would get some resources and recognition from the family. Everything was going as he intended until his son died. He was far away when that happened and has no idea how he died. No one did. He died under mysterious circumstances and many were suspicious about his death but there was nothing was found. He and his wife had only one child and she loved him with all his heart. She couldn''t bear the loss of her son andmitted suicide. Matthias didn''t see thating and it broke his heart. Everything he cared for was gone and all he had was revenge. He wanted to find out what happened to his son and avenge him. So he went to the head of the family, Joseph Frostwolf. Joseph refused to use family resources to look into the death of his son, and for that he had Joseph. He already lost his son and his wife who couldn''t live without her son. All he wanted was revenge but Joseph denied that to him. This made him hate Joseph and the entire Frostwolf family. He could see that there are many snakes living in the family but he believed that Joseph was not one. Today though he changed his opinion. He started to hate everyone. What Matthias didn''t know was that Joseph started an investigation the moment the news of the boy''s death came. He found out why he was dead. The boy though appeared as a good boy, he was not. He used to bully themoner children from the city but as he had the Frostwolf family name, no one dared to go against him but one did. That day the boy was bullying two orphans, a boy and his younger sister. The orphan boy was angered because of what happened and in anger struck Matthias''s son. Normally that was not enough to kill someone but due to that strike he slipped and his head fell on the nearby rock and broke his head. He bled and diedter. The two orphans disappeared from the city and so did the families of the boys that usually followed Matthias''s son. They were all afraid of repercussions. So rather than dying, they decided that it was best to live in a slum in some other city. Joseph couldn''t find them all but he caught one family and extracted everything that happened from the beginning. When Joseph learned what happened, he decided to bury it. Matthias worked for the family with everything so that his son would have something that he never did. The boy instead wasted his father''s efforts and did bad deeds and paid dearly for that. The boy didn''t deserve death but that was an ident. Joseph didn''t know what Matthias would do to those two orphans if the truth ever came out. More than that, he was afraid of what would happen to him if he learned the truth about his son. So he buried everything and denied any investigation using family resources. --- As time went on, the hate increased and all he wanted was to make the family but he had no way to do so. It was at that point, a stranger approached him iming that he was an agent of the demons. He had a proposal for him from the demons. The Agent came to him with a simple deal. Matthias has to find a way to ce a demon-summoning ritual in the Frostwolf family residence. When someone uses that summoning without knowing what it does, they would be in for a surprise. This ritual would summon a demon from the Fury demon tribe. These guys were not known to sit down and talk. They would talk with their fists. There is only strength, no diplomacy. If they abruptly appear among humans, they would surely start to burn everything around them. They would massacre the people and would show no mercy. The Winter City would die and why they targeted this remote ce, they didn''t answer. As long as his part of the deal waspleted, the demon would give him the person who killed his son and also the destruction of the Froswolf family. Matthias didn''t know whether that was feasible but he said that he would use the ritual himself but the agent disagreed. It has to be done by someone who is from the Frostwolf family and t has to be done voluntarily, without other''s cohesion. Matthias could only nod and agree to the deal. --- As per the deal, he ced the demon summoning ritual in the library, without anyone noticing him. This act is considered treason, not just against the family but against the kingdom. Even if he escapes from the wrath of the family, he can''t escape from the wrath of the kingdom. Making deals with demons to cause damage to humannds is frowned upon by almost all humans. Though most had no conflict with demons, if given the choice to choose between demons and fellow humans, the choice of the people is obvious. They would choose their own race rather than a foreign race. By doing this, he would be a fugitive of his home kingdom, and no human kingdom would want such people in their kingdoms, at least officially but things can change as long as there are benefits for them, such is human nature. --- It has been years since he ced the ritual manual in the library but there were no significant movements. He wanted to check it by himself, but he couldn''t return to the Winter City without proper reason. He stormed off back then. Though it was years, he couldn''t casually show up in the family residence but finally, a chance came. Joseph''s first daughter was being married. Every family member was invited, including him. he finally had a chance to see why nothing happened. If his part of the deal doesn''t happen, then the demon would never keep their part of the deal, something Matthias can''t let happen. Chapter 139: I returned to the academy I was shocked when I found out from Inari that one of the men who came in today into the office had a den scent on him. Inari exined that the demon tribes of lust depend mainly on scent and they can easily smell anything, even faint traces. I too have that skill but the level is too low to recognize a faint smell or even detect it would be not possible. For Inari though that was not a problem as ites with their race. I may have found the culprit who ced that demon-summoning ritual. Well, he is at the top of my suspect list. There is a chance that he came across demons while travelling. Though the demonnds are far away, there is a chance of some demonsing to this kingdom. So I can''t tell for sure that he is the traitor who turned against us. Back then I forgot that there were other rtives of the family that could have ced the ritual in the library. Some belong to distant branches and some are married into the family. Anyone could have ced it there when they came to visit our home. If not for Eritrea''s marriage ceremony, I wouldn''t have thought about this. With my INT I should have thought about this but it looks like the disparity in attributes is showing itself. INT just represents the capacity of my brain to process but it was physical work and for that END is required. Without a huge END value, I think that all that INT is going to waste. This is why I am trying to improve the attributes that don''t level up with my rank. Unless I find something like those trials to enter Nexus, I don''t think I would ever gain such high values again. Attributes usually improve with ranks, and that is it. The increase from other sources is minimal, but that doesn''t mean that people ignore that improvement. They would like to have that improvement. Any improvement of one''s strength is like an extra way to save oneself. Who would say no to that? I don''t either. I am actively seeking to improve my attributes. If not the advantage of having such high attributes can be wasted. Anyway, for now, my first focus should be on the one that Inari pointed out. I need to find out as much as I can about him. --- The next morning, I went straight to my father. This time around he usually would be alone. As soon as I walked in, he spoke in an apologetic tone, "Ah Magnus, today you are leaving right? Though I want to apany you, there are many things that need to be done, sorry". I waved my hand and smiled, "I am not here for that father", I said. "Oh, do you want something?" he asked. "Yes, about a man who came into the office yesterday", I said with a straight face. My father sighed at my request. He already guessed which one I was talking about. After a few seconds he spoke, "It looks like you are progressing very well. You can sense other''s malicious intent at this stage. Haha, my son is a genius", he suddenly shouted. "Father", I shouted back. Cough! Cough! "Ahem, sorry for that. You want to know about him right?" I nodded. Then he started to tell me what happened. he told me everything without concealing anything. He told me who Matthias was and how he lost both his child and wife, one after another. Matthias wanted revenge to fill the hole in his heart but my father apparently found out who the actually wronged party was. He didn''t want this to escte and at the same time tried to not break Matthias''s heart further. So he kept the truth buried. This is the reason why Matthias started to hate my father and probably hates me. Ahhh, one thing after another. I felt that it was better before I knew what kind of shit my family is in. --- Matthias is a problem but at this point, there was nothing I could do about it. Though I knew that the elder known as Matthias was most probably the one who ced the summoning ritual manual in the library, there was no proof. Inari could smell demon scent on him but that was something I can''t disclose. I need to find something else on him to prove his treason. Though I feel bad about his losses, they weren''t caused by my father. My father, he is an idiot. He shouldn''t have sealed the truth. It created a rift that could have destroyed our family. I wonder how many things did he bury like that. I don''t have time for those now but I need to bring them out and clear any other troubles that could have been caused due to the misunderstandings. It was forter. The holidays are over and I have to return to the academy. Maybe I would be lucky and would find a way to cancel my marriage contract with Elisha and bring some benefits to the family. The Siren family may be rted to us by blood but the one who made the connection between us is no longer with us. If they want to hurt us, I should respond in kind. Anyway, in three weeks most of the family and any rtives of my family would be here for the marriage ceremony. By that time, I need to improve my scent recognition. I also need some other way to know who in the family are traitors and who stands with the family. There are many that stand against my father but that doesn''t mean that they want our family to get destroyed or assassinate my father or his bloodline. I am not against opposition, but against the ones who were trying to harm the family and do things in the dark. The only way I could do that was by using Nexus. There are so many benefits that I can get through this and I am not even past ten percent of the guidebook. In the next three weeks, I need to find a way to find a way to find out all the enemies in the family. the evidence can wait tillter. First I need to find who most likely would do evil things for their gains and then concentrate on them. It would save me some time and energy. --- I learned as much as I could about Matthias, but that was not enough. So I learned a bit about the other rtives that are present in the house. In the evening, I returned to the academy. Chapter 140: My second year at the academy "Good morning students. It''s good to see you again. For those who don''t know me, I am Ang zewood". Ang is the ss teacher for us again this year. It looks like the first-year teachers would continue to be the ss teachers of the ss till graduation. Of course, if the students can''t keep up their scores, their teachers would change between the six. Each of the six sses has its own ss teacher, who would be responsible for every aspect of the ss. Though Ang was our ss teacher during our first year, this time there were some new students. At the end of the first year, not all thirty that were chosen from this academy for the secret realm were from ss 1-A. There were students from 1-B and 1-C who were able to enter the secret realm. Now those students belong to ss 1-A. In the secret realm, there were a few casualties. So the ones who were supposed to be in 1-B got a chance to enter 1-A. I learned that a total of five students from the Royal Academy died in the secret realm. Except for Dorian, the remaining four are noble children. When I returned, I heard rumours regarding their deaths. Normally noble children carry life-saving items on them. There was no restriction on how many items one could carry into the secret realm. So everyone should have stuffed a lot of food, water, clothes, equipment, potions and life-saving items if possible. If there was anyone that''s dead, they probably belonged to amoner family, not the noble family. So someone started rumours that someone broke the taboo of killing fellow students. There was a rule between the academies that students can''t be killed by other students. It was said that someone from one of the four academies killed someone from the royal academy. Though there was no proof, the rumours about this spread across the academy. Even the new students who just entered the academy heard about this. It was not a rumor as someone did kill students in the secret realm. The problem was that there was no evidence of such things happening. It was not the first time students died in the secret realm, but I don''t remember such rumours spreadingst year. It means only one thing. Someone was deliberately spreading this. Who would want such a thing? If such rumours spread too much, the students might openly kill each other in the next secret realm opening. It would not be good. The kingdom would lose many of its talents and future pirs. This is not a good thing. Whoever spread this should have great ns but who could do this? It should be either one of the students or the staff of the academy. No one should have ess to the academy to spread such nonsense. Well, if I think that the world revolves around me, I would think that William or Elisha did this. There is a chance that they did this but they should have known that if the academy finds about this, they would be severely punished. It''s not the only thing that makes me think that they were not behind this. It was insinuated that students from other academies were the ones that did this. If they wanted to insinuate me, there was no need to drag other academies or is there? Hmm, if the academies were dragged, there was a chance that they would try to find out about the deaths of the students, just to disperse these rumours. At present, they are not much of a problem but that won''t be the same in the future. If the academies see that there is a possible sh between the students of the academies, they might hire some Death Seekers or Seers, to know who was behind the deaths. If the deaths were caused by the monsters, then there would be no problems among the students. With an official deration, the academy could wipe out the rumours. The problem would arise if the results deem that the deaths of the students were in the hands of other students. There is no way that the academy would let the students go after breaking the rules. It is a perfect way to get me into trouble and damage my image. I would be expelled from the academy and there is a possibility that the Siren family could break away the marriage contract without paying anypensation or face any consequences for doing so. I prepared well. So there was no reason for me to fear that. I can produce the evidence and exonerate myself. Let''s see if they really nned something big like this for me. --- "First things first, let''s congratte the students who were able to enter the secret realm. These students would have a chance to reach a higher stage in life", Ang said and everyone pped their hands. "Secondly, let''s spend a minute in silence, or the dead students", she spoke and the ss went silent and everyone stood up with serious faces. There is some sadness on many faces. Three of the five dead belonged to this ss since the start of the first year. We had spent a year in the academy, so there would be some sadness over their deaths. I wonder how Dorian''s parents were doing. With things bing hectic at home, I had no time to see how they were after learning about their son''s death. It wasn''t that I am insensitive, I didn''t find a chance to send Inari home either. I should check on them when I find time. Though Dorian tried to kill me, his parents probably had nothing to do with his stupidity. He deserved it but his parents didn''t. "Okay, now it''s back to your studies and training. You should already have this information. From next year, you could do missions for the academy and to do that you have to leave the academy and it could be dangerous outside. So whatever the safety training time that was left is this year". "After this year, there would be not much safety for you. So use the time you have to train in theing year or you may face death sooner thanter". "Now, let''s go to the training hall", she said and walked away from the ss. We went through this twice, so we know what to do. We followed her to the training hall. Chapter 141: Training in the Nexus (1) After a day of training in the ss, I returned to my quarters. These were not the same that we had in the first year. Every year, the quarters change. Though I still have the top student quarters, the one I have now is different from the one I had in the first year. The facilities inside are better and more advanced than before. The academy should understand that as the year grows so does the skills of the students. Training with old and outdated equipment would only hinder the students'' growth. I wonder where they get the money to buy all these. Are the drops from the dungeon sufficient? No, I don''t think so. Most of these drops were refined and used by the students. The prices here are cheaper whenpared to outside. So no matter what, the drops can''t be so much that they could be used to provide these facilities. There was no admission fee, so there should be some money infusion some other way. It looks like a lot of taxpayer money goes into the academies. It is the only way for the academies to have such facilities. I mean, the academy has to pay the staff too right? If they depended only on the dungeons, it wouldn''t be sufficient. This is probably why our Academy has to share the entrance tickets with the other four academis though the entrance is in the royal academy. These facilities are nice and good but I don''t think they would be of much use for me. After dinner, I am going to enter Nexus. If what the guidebook said is true, there should be a training room inside and it was said that it is one of a kind. --- Late at night... After having dinner, I entered Nexus. In the guidebook, there was a mention of a training hall. The only description it had was that it was the best training hall that ever existed. I don''t know if it is but there should be something that can help me progress fast. I mean, this is after all a product from ancient times. Much of the knowledge from back then was lost. The powerhouses that existed back then are too much for the present era. Even 10% of the ancient powerhouses can bring today''s powerhouses to their knees, all the powerhouses. So I hope the training hall is better than what was avable in the academy. Even if it is not, having Nexus means ess to the secret realm. Oh, I forgot to say that. There is an entrance in Nexus through which one can enter the secret realm that I came out from a week ago. It was not the only secret realm that the Nexus has ess to. There are nine more but at present, these portals are in a dormant state. To activate them, a lot of resources are needed. Even maintaining them meant that a lot of energy was being burned. So they were turned off. I can turn them when I need them but before that, I should find which secret realms these portals lead to. These secret realms could be in the wild. If that is the case, then it would be for the best. I can freely conquer them. It means that I would have ess to a lot of resources. I can sell the abundant resources in the cosmic market and get what was not avable here. The problem arises if the portal leads to a secret realm that is already under someone else control. If I enter such a realm, there will be conflicts. I can''t brashly enter them without knowing what the realm that it leads to is. I nee to read the guide book as soon as possible. Only after that should I make my decision whether to activate these dormant portals or not. Moreover, I don''t think I have the resources to activate them anyway. It takes some time before I can collect those resources. Also, a stealth-type skill. I should get one. It should be useful if I stumble onto an upied realm. I want to know whether that realm is upied or not but there is no guarantee that I could recognize all. It was said that many big families have secret realms and it was also said that the number known to the public was not the true number. Some were hidden from outsiders. Whether it was a rumour or true, I believe it to be true. No family would publicly show all their trump cards. It would only make it easy for the enemies toe up with strategies to neutralise these trump cards. Dungeons and Secret Realms are also trump cards. The more dungeons and secret realms that a family controls, the stronger they could be. In this world, abat professional needs EXP that they gained from ying monsters. The more monsters that they can y, the more EXP that they would gain and the faster they could reach higher ranks. Moreover, the resources to craft equipment, potions etc... mostlye from dungeons and secret realms. So resource points such as these are important to the families and the more they have, the better the strength of the families would be. There is another reason why they wouldn''t show everything because there are many ways to sack someone''s wealth. The wealth would be safe as long as others don''t know about its existence. There was a saying. Holding a gem in one''s hand is not a crime but being weak and holding it is a crime. --- You have entered the Training Hall. Say START or STOP to activate or deactivate the training. As soon as I entered the training hall, I heard the mechanical voice. This was the same one that I heard during the trials. Why did it announce itself now and not when I entered the promotion room? Well, whatever. I don''t need to know everything. Let''s start the training and see how good it ispared to the academy''s facilities. "START". Chapter 142: Training in the Nexus (2) "START", I shouted out loud. Training session initiated. Monsters would keep spawning until STOP. As soon as I started, a mechanical notification came. After that, monsters spawned. The numbers appear to be around thirty but the strength of these monsters appears to be very high. If I don''t fight with them with my strength, then I would only lose. With so many monsters and future monsters to fight against, my skill levels would definitely increase, maybe even my EXP. If I could increase my rank using Nexus, then I don''t need to worry about anything. Let''s rumble. --- I was wrong. There was no EXP gained from killing these monsters. These are not real monsters but virtual projections. I can kill them but I don''t gain any EXP from them but my skills are getting sharper than ever before. It was true that only when you fight against someone threatening the skills progress faster, rather than just by training in a hall. Though I know that fighting with these projected monsters doesn''t threaten my life, I have to fight with my full strength to survive as these monsters act as if they were real monsters. So they always go for the kill, unlike trainers who trained me or like Ang in the academy. Though the training is efficient, it isn''t perfect. The strikes Inded on these monsters seemed low. It is as if the room was calcting the strikes based on my rank rather than my INT value or skill level. I matter not. It was not as if I got EXP anyway. Whether they die or not, there are always the same number of monsters every time. When one dies, another takes its ce. It looks like the number would be recorded. There are no rewards for total kills anyway. It was training, so I didn''t need to think about whether the monsters die or not. All I had to do was fight them without thinking about anything else. Though I would lose and there would be permanent records of such failures recorded in the Nexus, living long is more important than some fame in the future. I mean if I can''t improve my skills faster, I won''tst longer. Instead of my record saying that I failed multiple times, it would say that I died young because I am weak. I prefer to be recorded as a constant failure than die young in the history books. It sounds so much better both for me and the future readers. Ah, now I need to sleep. There is a theory ss in the morning. Though as a Tier-5 ranker, I can live without sleep for a few nights, it''s good to refresh my body and mind regrly. Using anything for too long with rest and maintenance would lead to early retirement. From now on, I should visit Nexus at night when there are sses. On other days, I should allocate some time for dungeons and the rest for training in the Nexus. --- Three weeks went by before I knew it. In these three weeks, there were a lot of improvements, but they were confined to my skills. "Status" -- Name: Magnus Frostwolf Age: 16 Titles: Son of Viscount; Great yer; Hidden Smiden; Dungeon Conqueror; Primary ss: Draconic Warlock Secondary ss: Soul Arbiter (Unique) Affinity: Shadow, Blood, Space Bloodline: ck Dragon (2% Purity) Physique: Devourer Physique (EX) Talent: Ritualistic Summoning (EX) Trait: Silk Smooth Skin(A bit Improved); Sleepy; Aurum Skin; Sexy Smile; Rank: Tier-5 Level: 5 Health Points (HP): 25,191,328,117 Strength (STR): 194,700 (+100%) Endurance (END): 203,600 (+100%) Dexterity (DEX): 1,246 Agility (AGI): 197,800 (+100%) Intelligence (INT): 2,200,255,170 Magic Power (MP): 28,380,103,700 Soul Energy: 105,500 (+200%) Charm: 3,009 ss Skills: Shadow Bolt; Blood Dominance; Draconic Magic; Shadow Curse; Blood Heal; Shadow Shift; Blood Lock; Draconic Pressure; Shadow Merge; Blood Drain; Soul Judge; Soul Prison; Soul Container; Nether mes; Shadow control; Blood Boil; Shadow Clone; Blood Clone; Space sh; Soul de; Soul Ascension; Soul Avatar; Special Skills: Rank Booster; Status Disguise; Refined Skills: Shadow Bolt Volley Lvl. 15 >> 18; Skills: Evade Lvl. 16 >> 17; Dodge Lvl. 16 >> 17; Sprint Lvl. 13 >> 15; Alertness Lvl. 12; Devour Lvl. 8; Fusion Lvl. 16 >> 17; Split Lvl. 16 >> 17; Demon Gaze Lvl. 4; Strengthen Lvl. 13 >> 16; Tag & Track Lvl. 4; Night Vision Lvl. 13; Spatial Storage Lvl. 10; Mind Control Lvl. 8; Mind Probe Lvl. 8; Mind Defence Lvl. 1; Dragon Blood Evolution Lvl. 1; Scent Recognition Lvl. 10; Sexual Stamina Lvl. 5 >> 6; Perception Lvl. 16; Pet World Lvl. 2; Parry Lvl. 7; Resistances: Physical Resistance Lvl. 16 >> 19; Light Resistance Lvl. 4; Poison Resistance Lvl. 4; Magic Resistance (Non-Attribute) Lvl. 5 >> 7; Space Resistance Lvl. 4 >> 5; Fire Resistance Lv. 6 >> 8; Water Resistance Lvl. 6 >> 7; Mind Resistance Lvl. 1; Wind Resistance Lvl. 3 >> 6; Lightning Resistance Lvl. 3 >> 4; Weapon Arts: Advanced Staff Arts Lvl. 1 >> 2; Intermediate Movement Arts Lvl. 2 >> 4; Basic Hand Combat Arts Lvl. 9 >> Intermediate Hand Combat Arts Lvl. 1; -- Shadow Bolt Volley increased from level 15 to level 18. Both Evade and Dodge increased from level 16 to level 17. Fusion and Split too increased their levels from level 16 to level 17. With Inari still present, Sexual stamina increased by a level, reaching level 6. The only issue with skill levels was that there wasn''t an improvement in Scent Recognition level. I didn''t spend that much time in the dungeon and there weren''t that many students that came into contact with me. Physical Resistance increased from level 16 to level 19. Non-Attribute Magic Resistance which has been dormant for a long time improved from level 5 to level 7. Space Resistance increased by a level and reached level 5. Fire resistance increased by two levels reaching level 8, while water resistance only improved by a single level reaching level 7. Wind resistance improved by three levels, reaching level 6. The lightning resistance on the other hand only improved by a single level reaching level 4. Staff Arts after a long time progressed from Advanced level 1 to level 2. Movement Arts increased from Intermediate Level 2 to Level 4. Handbat Arts moved up from Basic level 9 to Intermediate level 1. Everything went well. Though I couldn''t develop as much as I thought, these developments are very good. Everyone knows that improving a skill from level 2 to level 3 is more difficult than improving a skill from level 1 to 2. At first, I wanted to improve scent recognition but I saw that it was not improving as I thought, so I found a new solution for the problems in the family. With that, I believe I can mark every traitor in the family. It''s time to start weeding. Chapter 143: My Sisters marriage Ceremony (1) The day of my sister''s marriage is fast approaching. I took the headmaster''s permission to leave and attend it when I returned for the second year. The leave was granted, as the first monthly exam would be over by that date. So leaving the academy for a few days wouldn''t affect anything. As usual, I was ranked first just like in the first year. Malia kept her second rank as before. The other ranks shuffled a lot. I mean it should. Many of the students in the ss have gone to the secret realm. Whatever they gained in that realm, should have changed their power status. The ranks changed, especially of the students that were in the top twenty-five. The others, I have no idea. I don''t remember most of them. They are from other sses, who came into the ss after the first-year exam or because there were five vacancies that appeared after the secret realm. Things were going very well. The rumors about the students'' deaths were causing a small stir though. There were no interactions with other academies as of yet and the first-year students who entered this year have nothing to our year students. Whether we die at the hands of monsters or other students has nothing to do with them. So they were rtively calm. The seniors were away. So not many have heard these rumours. They are intelligent enough to survive for long outside without the academy''s or family''s protection. So they won''t believe the rumours easily, I hope. If they do so, shes are bound to happen sooner thanter. I hope that they aren''t dumb to believe everything they hear. If they do so, then the academy would definitely check into the deaths. Anyway, I have nothing to fear. Dorian killed two students, and I killed Dorian.have no idea who the other two were and how they were killed. Though I should have a recording of those student deaths, I was not going to waste my time or resources to look for someone I had nothing to do with. I didn''t check and I don''t intend to do so in the future either. If the academyes to me about Dorian''s death, I can just show the evidence I collected. I''ll show them what Dorian did in the secret realm and what he did in the academy too. The trouble would then turn towards William and he would be expelled from the academy. What I wanted was his death, without anyone suspecting that I was the culprit. Many see that I have yet to reach Tier-2 and am two years younger than William. My family don''t have a rich background simr to the Rutgurds and their house ranks above us in nobility. So even if I kill him, I could get away without raising suspicions. It would be problematic if the academy looked into Dorian''s death. It means I have to show the role of William in this conspiracy woulde to light. If anything happens to him afterwards, I would be suspect number one. As I said before, though I have Status Disguise skill, there are skills that can see through such skills. The only reason why that doesn''t happen frequently is because those skills are rare and the cost on a person''s mind is very high. Without high INT or MP, it is not easy to use those skills. If William dies after that, his family might hire someone to see if I had anything to do with it or they may even make me their target without any evidence. Such a hassle. Whether I get rid of him or not, there are troubles waiting for me at every corner due to that family. I should get rid of that problem forever, and leave no residue. Heh, anyway, I should concentrate on my family first. There are people who are willing to kill me and my direct family. Let''s find these bastards and clean the family. I would need a safe ce to live. If my own family had such problems dwelling inside, there would be no safe space for me. After the monthly exam was over, I left the academy and reached the capital. Winter City, I aming. --- As soon as I returned home, my mother and sisters appeared and hugged me at the same time. They didn''t say anything but hugged me tightly. As the youngest child, they see me as a child even at this point. I understand that no matter how much I grow, I would be a child in the eyes of my mother but these girls are treating me as a child. It''s okay for Eritrea as there was a huge age gap between us but why was my second sister treating me as a child too? She was not that older than me. She just graduated as I entered the academy. Though I felt this embarrassing and unnecessary, I didn''t say that. "I miss you too", I said to them. I am not looking for an early grave. I have no idea but these girls are quick to lose temper. Sometimes it makes me wonder which ones of us five are boys and which are girls. It looks like they may have gotten Mother''s temper and I know how much she tortures my father whenever he angers her. So I never dared to cause trouble with my mother or sisters. They greeted me too. "We missed you too, little brother". "I missed my little boy", my mother said as she rubbed my head. I shook, "Mother I am not a child anymore". Those three just chuckled and let me go. After my mother and sisters came my brothers. It has been too long since Ist saw them. Unlike thedies, who squished me, we brothers gave a small hug. It was more than enough to understand what each other was conveying. My father just tapped on my shoulder. Unlike others, it has been just three weeks since west saw each other. "Magnus, quickly go freshen up. The feast is almost ready", my mother said to me. I nodded and left them. Chapter 144: My sisters marriage ceremony (2) After greeting every one of my direct family, I went to my room to freshen up. It has been a very long time since everyone in my direct family was in the same ce at the same time. My mother has already prepared a big feast. She ryed this to me before I left the academy. She warned me not to eat much as there was a feast prepared. I even made sure to only eat enough so that I wouldn''t feel hungry. Tonight I have to fill this body with the food that my mother has prepared for us. I don''t know what she prepared for us, but I would devour them as if my life depended on it, maybe it would. --- After I got refreshed, I went to the family hall. With the marriage in two days, everyone was busy. There are always things to do. Everything needs to be perfect. This was not amoner marriage but the marriage of a viscount''s eldest daughter. So the scale would be big. Many nobles would be invited. Since Eritrea served in the military as did my parents and other siblings, a lot of military personnel would attend too. I learned that my soon-to-be brother-inw, Essan Rowler, served in the military alongside Eritrea. They were ssmates in the academy and after graduation as per rules had to serve in the military. They served in the same regiment. So there were a lot of interactions between them. I learned that both Eritrea and Essan had reached Tier-5. They were almost on the same track page when levelling up, so they were assigned to the same missions too. They got closer and closer. Funnily it was Eritrea who proposed first but Essan only agreed to her after she agreed to certain conditions. This was the gossip that my brothers whispered in my ears when we chatted or spoke with each other after it was known that Eritrea was getting married. What those agreed upon, no one knows. Maybe Mom knows but no one was daring enough to ask her. I saw that everyone in the hall was busy, so I returned to my room and started chatting with Inari and Asya for the time being. I can return in the evening to eat. With my training schedules, I don''t get enough time to have proper chats with the two. They work for me, so I should show some decency and speak with them every now and then. --- When I arrived in the hall to eatter, everything wasid out and others were waiting for me. My father sat at the head of the table. My mother to his right. My two sisters sat on her side. To my father''s left, my brothers sat and the third seat was left vacant for me. Seeing that they were waiting for me to start, I quickly my seat. After I took my seat, my father spoke, "Everyone, it has been too long since we seven sat at the table and this may no the possible until one of you marries. So to enjoy this evening, your mother ordered a lot of food. I hope you enjoy it". My father raised his wine cup, "To the family". "To the family", we all raised our cups. We started to eat the food slowly while speaking with each other, telling stories of their own lives. The table was filled and there are still other tables filled with food. If this was Earth, every one of us would get stomach aches after eating this much food. I don''t believe that we could eat all this if we weremon people who didn''t awaken. As the seven of us had awakened, eating so much food was not a problem for us. There would be no food wastage, but even we can''t each this much every day. To enjoy this feat, I had to starve a bit and I believe everyone here did so. Moreover, much of the food made would go to the servants of my family. There are a lot of servants who serve the direct family itself. --- It was dark when the feast was over and I was able to return to my room. Now that the feast part was over, I should go to Nexus and train for a bit. No, I should postpone that. Though I have high INT and all that, I need to appear fresh when the wedding takes ce. There would be photo sessions and my body may appear in a bad state if I keep up with my extensive training. I can take potions to restore but those potions have toxic residues, which is not good for the body in the long term. Normally there shouldn''t be any toxins but low-rank alchemists are not powerful enough to achieve the best results. Only a high-rank alchemist can remove almost all impurities that are present in the low-level potions but they won''t do so. It is wasting precious time for them. Simr tobat professionals, where one can''t gain EXP for killing low-rank monsters, it was the same for the creation professionals as well. They need to up their work as their rank increases but it is not as easy as one thinks. Combat Professions gained EXP by killing while professions like Alchemists would get EXP by sessfully creating potions and other alchemical products. The issue was that the output was not 100%. So to reach a high rank, they should have a rich or noble background. If not, they would stay at the bottom of the society. Simr tobat professionals, creation professionals gain almost no EXP for creating low-rank products. So they won''t waste their time and resources on that. Instead, they try to achieve higher ranks. So potions have toxins and using too many would cause problemster. I know this because it was recorded clearly in the family library but outside they won''t say that. This is why I try to not use them at all. I should take a break for a few days from training. I can restart after I return to the academy. Missing three days of training wouldn''t cost me anything. I can rest my body and mind for these three days. Instead of training, I should use this time to find who in the family has turned against the family or would cause problems for the family or help out the family during the ceremony. Chapter 145: Eritreas Life Eritrea had a simple life when she was a kid, when she didn''t know anything and the world around her was good. It started to change after she went through the awakening ceremony. The profession that she awakened was called Shadow Dancer. This is a rare assassin and swordsman hybrid ss. Moreover, she inherited her mother''s bloodline, the bloodline of a ck dragon. Until that moment she had no idea that her family had bloodlines of monsters. She only read in stories that monsters are bad and humans are heroes of the world but after awakening, she learned a lot of things that changed her perspective. Humans aren''t always the heroes as described in the stories and monsters in stories aren''t monsters as these stories describe. Humans always say families are important and they should serve their homnd when they grow up so that the young generation would have a chance to grow up without seeing disasters at a young age. This was just propaganda that appeared only on the surface but was not followed. She saw the cracks in her own family. The kingdom of Glessaria states that the firstborn would have the right to inherit their parent''s titles andnds. It means that Eritrea would be viscount after her father and rule over the Wintend province. When she was young and alone, she didn''t see anything but as time passed, she started to see a few things. Some people in the family supported her brother, who was born after her. At first, she didn''t understand anything but she saw that her parents were concerned about this. It was only after the awakening that she started to slowly understand what was truly happening around her. Many members of the family were trying to break the family apart, though that may not be their goal. What they wanted was a puppet that they could put on the Viscount chair. As long as there are descendants of the direct line alive, whether it was male or female, they would inherit the title andnds. So when there was a girl and then a boy, what did they do? They supported the boy. This was because as the firstborn, the girl would inherit the title, unless they marry into another family. If not, the title andnds would belong to the firstborn child, that is Eritrea. Her father already said that she would be her sessor unless she chose not to. So these worms that vie for power even at the cost of destroying the family, decided to support her brother who was born after her. It backfired of course. The one that they thought could help, gave them the middle finger. He followed Eritreas''s steps and joined the military after graduating. Everything that they had nned to do after he returns home after graduation, went down the drain. This was also a factor that made them attempt to assassinate Magnus when he was in the forest, as a training. The third child was in the academy at the time when they learned that what they did was in vain. The fourth child was a girl and matters not much to the family. She would be married into another family. It was only when Magnus appeared, they made an attempt at assassination. They failed at that and that attempt is going to be the cause of their end, which would be in the near future. The important thing here was that their lives would turn for the worst as soon as Eritrea''s wedding happened. This they have no idea. --- Eritrea knew that some family members were trying to use her. So she decided to be stronger and more influential. There are two ways to be influential. One is to invent something but her profession was abat category profession. So the only other choice was through the military. As long as she makes waves against monsters or enemy nations, she will gain a lot of military merits. Even higher noble families wouldn''t be able to easily touch a person who has a very high status in the military. There are consequences that they may not be able to face if such a thing happens. Though it is the Royal family who rules the kingdom and there is a Royal Army that serves them, the military is not like that. They don''t serve the royals or the nobles, rather they serve the kingdom. They protect the kingdom from monster tides and foreign invasions. It was their duty and even the royals respected them. This was because the Military was the only powerful faction that wouldn''t seek their throne. In the beginning, there were some suspicions but the Military never involves the internal matters as long as there were no monsters. They always have eyes against the exterior troubles. There was one exception though. If a hero of the military was humiliated or if something happened in that manner, then they would take action. They kind of did. Once a noble killed a military war hero. This person was a retired general, who was in his waning days. This noble prick one day crossed this old man and killed him after an argument. The Next day, the military made camps outside their city. No one was allowed in but were allowed out, except the noble family members. Everything that came to the city was turned away and this continued for months. Slowly the city became a deserted ce. It was only after the noble was killed and the noble family was stripped of their title andnds, did the military left thends. So seeing it as the only option, after graduating from the academy, she joined the military, escaping from family affairs for a while, but she could only run for so long. One day she has to face the politics of the family. There was no other way. She knew that but she wanted to find her own way to live before that and she did. As the graduates from the academy, many would serve in the military. Though it was said to be mandatory, rich kids don''t follow rules. They can escape enlistment using some donations to the military. Of course, when there is war, they would too receive orders. In those times, they can''t escape their duties. They have to report to the military but with enough connections, they can still escape from being a cannon fodder. Eritrea, of course, to escape family drama joined the military. Since she would be busy with military affairs, no one caused problems for her for years. They might have thought that they had time for that. In a world where people live for hundreds of years, a decade doesn''t matter. They chose to wait, as there was no option avable for them. They can do anything inside the family but touching the military would cause severe bacsh. While in the military, she found herself a permanent solution. She fell in love with a fellowrade, who graduated from the royal academy, same as her. Back then, though she had a crush on him, she didn''t make a move. She was more involved in improving her rank and knowledge. While in the military, they became close, as they did missions together many times. Eritrea proposed to Essan, instead of the boy proposing to the girl. He agreed on conditions that she would be his family, rather than he be her family and also she has to retire from the military. She agreed to the terms. After the contract with the military was over, she didn''t renew it and the marriage ceremony is near. --- In two days she is supposed to get married and no need to worry about the family politics, which would be her brother''s burden from then on. Though she felt a little guilty for doing this, she was not that interested in the viscount''s seat. It was when something interesting caught her eye. The youngest of the five, her youngest brother, Magnus, started to greet everyone enthusiastically. She had never seen him greeting someone with such enthusiasm. At first, she thought that he was making sure that her wedding was going well but something caught her eye that changed that perspective. He only showed such a manner when he spoke either with Frostwolf family members or the ck family which was their mother''s family. He didn''t show much interest in interacting with others. Then she saw him holding a small device whenever he interacted with the rtives. After speaking for a few minutes he leaves them and writes something down in his phone. What he was doing, she had no idea but she didn''t ask him or make him stop what he was doing. This is her time of joy, other things don''t matter at this time. So she decided to ask Magnus what that was at ater time. For the next few days, only her soon-to-be husband, Essan, would be in her eyes. What everybody else does, has nothing to do with her. Chapter 146: I recorded a few traitors The feast was good and the sleep that apanied afterwards was also very good. There are only two days yet to the ceremony. For the ceremony, a lot of rtives appeared at thepound. I never thought that there were this many rtives. I shouldn''t be surprised by this. As someone who belonged to the family which has a lot of awakeners, there are a lot of people that are quite old who should have been married to the members of the family. One can live a long life by improving one''s rank but has to deal with a lot of family members. I mean every year a few new rtives are added through birth or marriage. If a person was able to live for a hundred years or in many cases three hundred years, it means that they would have a lot of rtives. Many would be connected through marriages that happened a long ago. On Earth, people usually die around eighty years. So most rtives would be connected by one or two generations on both sides. With three-hundred-year-old people present in this world like cabbages, there are many rtives. This means that my workload has increased by a lot. I am not sure that I canplete the work in these three days. I would work as much as I can and see how much I can uncover. It doesn''t matter if I uncover only a small fraction of filth. I can use that as apass andpletely pull all the filth from the family and also from a few rtive families. I am not a saint who would work for good without wishing anything in return. I am someone who believes that there should be something one gains from their work. I am also not an idiot that believes everyone would get their fair share if they worked hard. No, I am someone who knows that was not the case most of the time. What I want is that there should be some kind ofpensation for the work, in one or another, though not in the same way one hopes so. --- With too many rtives, there should be all kinds of filth merged in the family. So I need to make a priority of who to deal with first. First, I need to get rid of the demon associates, if there are any. I know that there is one but I don''t believe that he was the only one that they contacted or the only one that epted deals with them. I need to deal with them first because they might have something that can detect Inari. I can''t let that happen. Whether they have such means or not, I can''t take the risk. If I can remove this filth, then I can move easily, without others ever knowing that I have a demon as apanion. Once I find who these demon associates are, I should get all the evidence that I can before eliminating them. Only this way, I can be at peace. It was because, any member controlled by external forces is very dangerous, especially when that force is not even human. They don''t share any bond with humans, so they won''t feel any guilt when killing off humans. This was especially true for many demon tribes. Humans were one of the major races that were at war with demons. So it wasmon for demons to kill any humans that they encountered by chance or on purpose. Though Glessaria was far away from that area, the demons don''t care. It was the same with humans too. Inari was from a subtribe of Lust. They don''t fight to improve their strength. No, what they do involves sex and every lustful thing that exists or might exist in the future. Even though that was the case, it didn''t stop humans from entering theirnds that were deep into the demonnds and killing them, sometimes even capturing and enving them. From what I heard, in many nations, having ves is legal. In Glessaria, though there was now regarding ves, it wasn''t epted. This was because the only enemies that this kingdom had were either monsters or humans from other kingdoms. Monsters are usually tamed and it doesn''te under enving as many regard that monsters have no intelligence or civilization-forming capabilities. Though the same-race enving was said to have happened, it was very rare. In a world where there are many races, the chance of such a thing happening would be very rare. So in Glessaria, there was no very but there was no prohibition on very resources and knowledge. It was through this, that I was able to enve Inari back then, though I didn''t treat her as a ve. Anyway, I decided to deal with the demon associates first. Then I had to deal with the idiots who were causing losses to the family by taking bribes. I mean, there should be many who were taking advantage of a huge family who would not spot any mistakes in their ounts easily. I understand that many work for nobles for certain kickbacks, but there are many who would take too much. No matter what, bribes will never disappear but as long as we can control them, the economy of the family will not fail. Net I have to deal with my assassins...no assassin taskmasters. I need to get rid of those elders or else no matter what I do, it would be worthless in the end. I can''t take them down on my own and that''s why I took the help of Cosmic Market. With this help, it would be easier for me to collect the evidence. --- Memory scanner, this is the name of the device that I bought from the Cosmic Market. It works simrly to Mind Probe skill but my skill level is too low for it to be effective. So, I had no choice but to buy this. This will help me with finding the filth that was living in the family. Since a lot of rtives appeared at this wedding, I decided to not only get the filth but any enemies of my family among the rtives. Most of these rtives are rted because someone was married into another house more than a hundred or two hundred years ago. If considered like this, almost every noble in Glessaria is connected to one or another nole house. So even though on the surface it was maintained, they won''t be treated the same under the surface. Many would have thoughts of taking advantage of my family. That was not a nice thing but this is human nature. Even I would be the same, except I have certain rules that I won''t cross. I would take care of the assholes who would have no lines that cannot be crossed. --- Nowes the hard part of the n, the execution. nning was never the hard part, the execution is the hardest as even a mistake can ruin everything. In order to collect the evidence by using the device, I need them to rx their minds, rather than being defensive and controlled. It was easy of course with all that wine flowing around. The hard part was my acting. For the Mind Reader to work, I need to be near them. If I am near that means I have to speak with them, and that too with a smile on my face and can only use polite words. It''s a torture. --- Two days went by. I recorded the thoughts of as many as I could. Tomorrow, my sister will get married. So I can''t be busy with my n of finding the filth of the family. After tomorrow, I would leave too, along with most of the family rtives. Except for my grandparents from my mother''s side and some others, they are just here to bless the couple. So they won''t stay and I can''t get anything more. Whatever I got had to do. I collected a lot of evidence. Well, I can''t say that it is evidence but I know many of their filthy secrets and how to uncover them. The only problem was that I would be away at the academy. So I can''t do these things immediately. Should I hand the work to my father or maybe my brothers? My brothers wouldn''t have resources that can be used to uncover all this shit. I should give this to my father, not everything but regarding the details about the filth that was hiding in my family. As the viscount and the head of the family, this is his responsibility. About others, he couldn''t do anything even if he had the evidence. This was because he is a viscount and he can''t punish others for crimes that don''te under his jurisdiction. He can only submit the evidence to the relevant authorities. These authorities wouldpensate my father appropriately for the efforts. What happens to this evidence and the culprits, that don''te under my father''s purview. If they escape death, they will definitely seek revenge, one day or another in the future. I should take care of that part. I can''t let others write my story. Only I can and should. Chapter 147: Me planning for what to do next The thing was that I would be confined by the academy. I can''t take care of the problems. Moreover, there are a lot of problems, which shouldn''t be mine to solve. So I decided to dump everything that was directly rted to the family on my father. The morning after my sister''s wedding, I dumped everything I got onto my father. When he asked for the source, I simply refused. I said I have my own secrets. I did as much as I could, now it''s his turn. I dumped that and left for the academy. I have been away for three days. If I miss any more training, Ang might whup my ass ad I am not joking about that. --- I returned to the academy before ten in the morning. The talk with my father took most of my time. The transportation from Winter City to the Capital and from there to the academy didn''t take much time. I used the teleportation circle to reach the capital. With my high AGI, it took a few minutes to reach the capital. It only took as much as it did because I had to leave the teleportation hub and reach the gates, in a normal manner. I am not the king nor a capital city guard. Only they can move fast without caring about others in the streets. Of course, they would choose to fly if they have the abilities or mounts but usually flying or dashing in the capital is considered a crime. So I could only walk slowly through the streets of the capital, before reaching the gates. Once I left the city, using Sprint skill along with my high AGI, I was able to reach the academy in record time. After reaching the academy, I went straight to my quarters. I missed three days of training for the wedding. The reason why everyone pushes youngsters to improve is because this age is the age when a person''s potential would be highest. As one age, the potential reduces, making it difficult for people to reach higher ranks. It doesn''t matter how long one lives, the potential shown by people before they reach thirty is always the highest. After thirty, the growth would be pretty much stabilized unless one can find treasures that can improve their talent or improve ranks directly. Though work and rest had to go hand in hand, it is best to allocate more time to train rather than rest at this age. Normally on Earth, working too much can strain a body and reduce future potential but those were on Earth''s terms but here on Ragos, it is a bit different. Sure one can''t ignore rest but working a bit more wouldn''t hurt, rather it can push forward in life. --- After returning to my quarters, I let Inari and Asya out. Due to the ceremony, there are a lot of people at the familypound. I couldn''t let them out for long periods. They could onlye out to eat and return to the Pet Space. Now that they are out, let''s n for the next four months, no...I should n for the entire second year. In the third year, I could ess missions to earn points and that means going out. So I need to n how to develop for better before that, in order to increase my survivability rate outside. A lot of students did die while they were out on missions. Now, let''s check what my details are once more. I need to improve many of my skills but I know that I can''t do that. So I should prioritize a few and these skills have to reach level 20 by the end of the semester. Let''s see which I select. [A/N: I am only showing skills and not the entire status panel as it is not needed in this chapter.] -- ss Skills: Shadow Bolt; Blood Dominance; Draconic Magic; Shadow Curse; Blood Heal; Shadow Shift; Blood Lock; Draconic Pressure; Shadow Merge; Blood Drain; Soul Judge; Soul Prison; Soul Container; Nether mes; Shadow control; Blood Boil; Shadow Clone; Blood Clone; Space sh; Soul de; Soul Ascension; Soul Avatar; Special Skills: Rank Booster; Status Disguise; Refined Skills: Shadow Bolt Volley Lvl. 18; Skills: Evade Lvl. 17; Dodge Lvl. 17; Sprint Lvl. 15; Alertness Lvl. 12; Devour Lvl. 8; Fusion Lvl. 17; Split Lvl. 17; Demon Gaze Lvl. 4; Strengthen Lvl. 16; Tag & Track Lvl. 4; Night Vision Lvl. 13; Spatial Storage Lvl. 10; Mind Control Lvl. 8; Mind Probe Lvl. 8; Mind Defence Lvl. 1; Dragon Blood Evolution Lvl. 1; Scent Recognition Lvl. 10; Sexual Stamina Lvl. 6; Perception Lvl. 16; Pet World Lvl. 2; Parry Lvl. 7; Resistances: Physical Resistance Lvl. 19; Light Resistance Lvl. 4; Poison Resistance Lvl. 4; Magic Resistance (Non-Attribute) Lvl. 7; Space Resistance Lvl. 5; Fire Resistance Lv. 8; Water Resistance Lvl. 7; Mind Resistance Lvl. 1; Wind Resistance Lvl. 6; Lightning Resistance Lvl. 4; Weapon Arts: Advanced Staff Arts Lvl. 2; Intermediate Movement Arts Lvl. 4; Intermediate Hand Combat Arts Lvl. 1; -- ss skills and Special skills don''t have levels. So I can ignore them. Refined skills, huh, I have only one. I created this so that I have a skill that can target multiple enemies. Except for that, there are no Multi-target attack skills in my possession. There is an AOE skill but that is not an attack skill. Should I find an AOE attack skill? Up to now, Shadow Bolt Volley was very useful but one day that might not be the case. Light is considered as a restraint for Shadow or any other Dark skills. If the opponent was someone who was proficient in light skills or had Darkness resistance, then I can''t beat them. This is why any spellcaster should possess multiple elemental attack skills. It was easy to get skills or resistances whenpared to improving them. So normally any awakener would only have a few skills or resistances. which would usually rted to their profession and their weakness. These are enough for them but I am different. I want to reach the top and at the same time have no weaknesses. This can be only possible because I have cloning skills. If they were not there, I might have followed the general pattern. Sure, my goal is unattainable. Nature never likes beings with no weakness. It would create a new being for that specific purpose. What I wanted to do was to limit my weaknesses. As long as I did that, not everyone would be able to defeat me. So there would be no need to be worried about everything around me. At present, though I am Tier-5, I am only considered an Elite in Glessaria, not in the world. There are empires, where Tier-5 awakened would be present at every corner of a street. There are a lot of ss Skills avable to me. Though not all are useful to create some new skills based on them, there are still some skills that I can look into. There are Blood Drain, Blood Boil, Space sh and Nether mes. These are all single-target skills. I think that based on these skills I can create AOE or Multi-target attack skills. I can use the principles of Blood Drain or Blood Boil and create a field attack. Enemies inside the field would have their blood drained or their blood would boil and kill them. I think Nether mes'' skill could be like Shadow Bolt. I can create Nether mes Volley, which can attack multiple enemies. The problem was with the Space sh. What could I create based on this skill? --- Anyway, after looking at the status, I believe that it would be best if I improve Evade, Dodge, Sprint and Strengthen to Level 20 first. The Split and Fusion Skills won''t need my intervention. As I train, I would use them so that many skills are improved or a skill improves in a major way. Once that ispleted, I should concentrate on Alertness and Perception. They are a bit far away from level 20 but they would be useful in year three, when I can take missions that would take me outside the academy. Coming to resistances, only Physical resistance is near level 20. Once it does, I should find a way to increase Light Resistance. This was because as an awakener whose profession belongs to Darkness, Light is the main problem for me. Having Light Resistance at a high level would eradicate one of my major weaknesses. I should also improve Non-attribute Magic resistance. It would be a ck mark if I get defeated by a magic skill, being a spellcaster myself. These are my primary goals to achieve in this semester. I hope I can do more than this or else I can''t reach the top position in the world. Even though I am on top at this moment, no one knows what happens next. So what I could was to progress faster than others. Only by this can I be at the top, no matter the changes that happen around me. Only by being at the top, would the chances of survival increase. Everything that people do is to survive for a long time and I am no exception. Chapter 148: My next four months in the academy (1) With Dorian dead, a thorn by my side was removed. It is one danger less. When I thought I had one less enemy, I found that there were too many to celebrate the removal of a single enemy. There are many in the family who turned against the family but maintained the status quo, waiting to reveal themselves when the timees. I already gave the list to my father, so that would be his problem. My problem was that I couldn''t dump everything. The external forces that were not part of the family, and are hostile to us under the surface. Moreover, with too many people, I couldn''tplete the list. It matters not. The people that I missed were not of the family. As long as the family is stable internally, any attack from external forces wouldn''t easily shake the family''s foundation. If anything happens, father can take care of it. I am only sixteen and should not be thinking about these things. I should put improving my skill levels or improving my rank on the agenda. The only threats I should consider for now are from William and Elisha. I wonder how they were doing, ever since their n to use eliminate me using Dorian went down the drain. --- (Third PoV) "Do you think this would work?" the girl asked the boy beside her. "Don''t be nervous, it would work", the boy replied. The girls started to be pretty nervous ever since she learned about their pawn''s death. This is none other than Elisha, Magnus''s fiance and the boy she was speaking to was William, the one who conspired with Dorian to kill Magnus. It was due to William''s enticement that Dorian dared to attack Magnus in the secret realm. Even with the system in his possession, Dorian was not on hundred percent sure that he could kill Magnus but what made him sure was William. William oversaw Dorian''s training for a month. Doarian followed him when the first semester of first year ended. In that time to earn Dorian''s loyalty, William sent his personal trainer to train Dorian. His growth was far higher than what it was in the first semester. When the second semester started, William advised him to be low-key and not attract too many eyes. His decision was made on the fact that if Magnus learns that Dorian became powerful suddenly, then he would escape the fight before it can start. The secret realm would be the best ce for Dorian to get rid of Magnus without leaving any witnesses. Dorian had no idea about professionals who could see the death of a person. So he believed William''s words. William knew about these rare professionals. It is easy why he kept his hands clean and used Dorian as a pawn to get rid of Magnus. If the academy or the Frostwolf family tries to see how Magnus died, then they would see that Dorian was the reason and he would be safe. Even if Dorian uses that William was the one behind this, there would be no evidence for the academy to pursue William. The Frostwolf family may try to cause some problems but in the end they are jst Viscount and William is the heir to a Count''s house. Without proper evidence, they can''t even touch a hair on his head. That was his confidence, but everything went wrong. Dorian kept his head low but was able to get a spot for the secret realm. There he was supposed to en Magnus but the opposite happened. Dorian got himself killed. William didn''t know at that time whether Dorian was killed by monsters or other students. If that was the case, there should be nothing to worry about but he was worried if the person that killed Dorian was Magnus. There was a chance that Magnus learned everything from Dorian. He has read a lot of stories where thick-headed viins spill everything out when their opponents are on the verge of defeat. It is their ego that makes them spill their ns. They wanted to be recognized by others and wanted to show that they were better and superior to others. It was also something that brought their doom and destroyed their ns. William feared that Dorian might have spilt the beans before his death. There was no way to know that but he knows of a way to know who killed Dorian. If he was killed by monsters or other students, it was well and good. Though his n failed, it won''t be a problem. The only issue would be if he was killed by Magnus. If it was indeed the case, whether Dorian spilt the beans or not, William needs to take care of Magnus as soon as possible. His fears came true. Dorian was killed by Magnus. William paid a lot to hire this rare professional, Death Seeker to know about Dorian''s death. Though these professionals can''t know what exactly happened, they can see who was the killer. These rare professions may not have value inbat but not for the city guards. They were often hired by the investigative squads to find the criminals whomitted murders inside the city. Sometimes nobles would use them if a member of their family died under unknown circumstances. These professionals are rare and hiring them would cost a fortune but sometimes money to spend would not be a problem for these employers. So though they were of no value for anyone in battles, they were pretty much in demand. --- Though William found who killed Dorian, he couldn''t do anything directly to Magnus. If he does, everything that he did before coulde out and the losses he had to incur would outweigh the gains. The best way to punish Magnus was by going to the academy with the evidence provided by the Death Seeker. This way he may not get rid of Magnus, but with such infamy his marriage contract would sure to be broken. He may even be exiled depending on the mood of the academy. Whether he was killed or exiled, Elisha would be free from contract and he would be able to get her legally. All this time, every time he met with Elisha, was in private and it was kept a secret. The only times that he could meet her and not face any troubles was if they were attending the same parties. Even then, they had to keep their distance or else things may go out of control. If it was known that a noble child was sleeping with another noble child''s fiance, then he would be an outcast in the noble circle. Nobles may look down onmoners but they have some rules when ites to other nobles. Stealing someone else''s fiance would be frowned upon. Only by deleting Magnus from existence or from the noble''s circle can he gain Elisha''s hand. William promised his great-grandma that he would cause the downfall of the Frostwolf and Siren families. If Magnus takes the me for killing a fellow student, then it''s a big ck mark that can''t be erased easily. He knew that there were cracks in the Frostwolf family. It was normal for a noble family. Which family doesn''t? The issue was that the cracks in Frotwolf were prettyrge. All that is needed for the family to fall apart is a push and Magnus''s infamy would do that. The only problem with that n was the academy would definitely suspect foul y if he directly reported the crime. So he decided to take a roundabout route. He created a rumour and spread among the students. He didn''t me Magnus but other academy students for the deaths of the five students. he knew that if the rumours grow, then everyone would believe that the students from other academies had a hand in their deaths. This would cause a rift between the students from the Royal Academy and students from other academies, which may lead to shes and possible unnecessary deaths. Though there were not frequent interactions between the academies, there is the secret realm that the first years enter. Moreover, third-year and above students would meet other academy students every now and then. Many times, they would be on a simr mission. The once cooperativepetitions might turn into enmity between them. Once such a thing happens, there would be no going back. To prevent such an oue, the academy would definitely use a Death Seeker to see who killed these five students. Once the result was known that their deaths had nothing to do with other academy students, everything would go to normal and rumours would die. Those would be their thoughts but when they investigate, they would know that Magnus killed Dorian. Magnus would be punished and it wouldn''t be traced back to him. He would gain what he wanted to and his great-grandma would gain her revenge, though maybe partially. If she wants to destroy the Siren family, that would be only after Elisha marries him. Now, everything was perfect for William. Chapter 149: My next four months in the academy (2) The rumours were in full swing when I returned. If this continues, there could be shes between the students of the Royal Academy and students from the other four academies. The head of the Royal Academy wouldn''t sit still, and neither would the heads of the other four academies. They would definitely hire a Death Seeker to see what exactly happened. The academies were established to stop unnecessary deaths in the first ce. They know deaths would be inevitable but they want the deaths of the geniuses to be meaningful. They may not be able to prevent every possible death of a genius but they try their best to avoid unnecessary deaths. With how the rumours are going about, they would soon learn about the deaths in the secret realm. I am not in any trouble even if the staffe knocking early in the morning. The issue was whether I should show them everything or just the video of how the fight between me and Dorian started. I mean showing everything has its own advantages and disadvantages as does not showing the full evidence that I collected in the past year. If I only show that Dorian tried to kill me, and so I killed him in defence. I can just walk away without facing any consequences, as it is self-defence. The advantage was that I could exact my revenge on William by myself. He plotted to kill me with Dorian, just so that he could get Elisha. I want to kill him but that can bring a whole lot of problems to my door. If I show them everything, then William would be punished for conspiring to kill me using another student. He would either be exiled and/or fined in a huge way. I can walk away, and stop thinking of that piece of shit. I want to live a peaceful life. Though I decided to train and rank up fast, it was so that others wouldn''t disturb me and I could live without any worry, not to attract trouble to my door. So it''s best that I make William disappear from the academy. I can train in peace. Hmm, I should spice it up. It would be for the best. --- For the next few weeks, I attendedmon sses and also personal sses from Ang. The sses started a year ago but I couldn''t get her for myself. No matter how much I try, she has escaped my grasp in the past year. Now it is a bit different. With my increased attributes after the Trials in the secret realm, I am getting closer to her more than I did in an entire year. I suppose I can get her in this year and I should. From next year, students take missions outside of the academy. Unlike the points earned in a dungeon, a mission provides a lot of points and various benefits. So everyone would partake in them. It means that I would be away from Ang most of the time. Without maintaining proper contact with Ang, there''s no way that I can make her mine. Moreover, there is her twin, whom I can''t get before I get Ang. So whatever happens, I should make her mine before the end of the year. After that, I can think about the twin sister. Days went by. I trained and trained but at the same time used a clone to collect some more evidence against those pricks. I feel the tension among the students increasing. I heard that there was a sh between a fourth year of the Royal Academy and a student from another academy. Luckily they were not dead but severely injured. I feel that the academy would soon hire a Death Seeker and see who or what exactly killed the students. Before they summon me, I should be prepared for that, so that I can milk as much as I can and at the same time remove as many thorns as I can. --- Knock! Knock! It was still early in the morning but the knock on the door woke me up. I was tired from the excessive training that I had been doing for the past few weeks. I know it would be bad for the body if I exert more than I should but there are many things to be done and so little time. I thought as the is not facing any impending doom, I could take it slow but I was wrong. There was a doom, not for the world but for my family. If things continue as they do, my family might shatter and would be forgotten in the long river of time. A, who could be this early? Hmm, did they find out how those five died? It''s tme for me to start acting. I immediately initiated a micro-camera drone to film everything that would happen from this minute. I opened the door, half-awake, half-asleep, yawning at the the visitor. It was a middle-aged man. I believe that he was one of the professors here at the academy. Hmm, which ss does he teach? Ah, he teaches ss 2-D now. "Magnus Frostwolf, you have been summoned by the Headmaster of the academy", the professor said to me. "Huh, why?" I asked him, fainting ignorance behind the summons. I knew exactly why I was summoned, but I couldn''t show that to others. They have to think that I knew nothing for my n to work seamlessly. I suppose this is a dick move on my part. The academy was trying its best to make the students stronger and protect them as much as they could but something like what I have in mind can''t be gained easily. Only by going through this shall I be able to gain something like this. The professor sneered, "When you are summoned by the headmaster, you should go and meet him, not ask questions boy", he said, and turned away. Ha, this one is definitely one of those who hates nobles. It looks like he is enjoying this. I''ll make him regret itter, when I have to y the role of a victim. For now, he can do whatever he wants. "Let me wash and put on fresh clothes", I said to him and disappeared into my room. I came out half an hourter on purpose. Even though the headmaster called me, attending morning rituals is more important. Moreover, the professor seemed quite furious for making him wait. "Why were youte?" he shouted at me. I rubbed my ears, "Don''t shout professor. I can hear clearly. There are morning rituals that need to be taken care of. So I waste", I said as I shrugged him off. He wanted to berate me but we arete, so he showed the way. Along the route, there were students who were muttering in low voices but I could clearly hear them. It looks like the naughty professor has spread about the matter of me killing Dorian. Huh, what was that, they were saying that I had killed all five students. Some are saying that I even killed other academy students too. It sounds ridiculous but in the end, I would win. The more wrong things you say, the more I win. "We have been waiting here for more than half an hour. Do you know you wasted our precious time? Where were you?" one of the old men asked. Before I answered, the professor took the stage and made up shit about how I behaved when I was told about the summons. He degraded my character to some barbarian. "Is that so?" one of the old men asked us. His eyes were burning. It was as if he was going to burn me with fire that would spew from his eyes. "The professor said that right. So that must be true", I said to him with a smirk. I want to see what they would say. The headmaster looked at me with a frown. It was not a frown that said I was disappointed but a frown that said I felt something bad about this and should stop this now. "Magnus Frostwolf, do you know why we have summoned you here?", the headmaster spoke to me in a stern voice. "I am a Warlock, not a Seer or a Fortune teller or not even a Mind Reader. If I were any one of those, I could answer that question but I can''t", I said shrugging off my shoulders. This kind of pissed them off, except for the headmaster. Hmm, looks like he won''t be falling for the trap. Well, he is the headmaster and the others here are quite the buffoons. "You should have heard about the deaths of students in the secret realm?" the headmaster spoke before anyone could do more damage. "Yes". "There is a profession called Death Seekers. They can see moments before the death of a person, as long as they have any item that once belonged to the dead one. We hired someone and he found out that you killed your ssmate, Dorian Halter in the secret realm, burning him alive", the headmaster said and stopped at that moment. It was my moment to say what I could but someone directly pointed and used me. "You are used of murder. Now what do you have to say for yourself?" one of the old men asked. "Hearsay", I said as if I didn''t give a shit about their judgement. Chapter 150: My next four months in the academy (3) They were surprised by my answer. Normally, when there was an usation, one would say that they were not guilty or that they killed the other in self-defence, but I said Hearsay. This shouldn''t be how they thought that it would go. So the surprise on their faces and the constant mutterings. "Hearsay, boy what do you mean by that? We have the statement from the Death Seeker that you killed Dorian Halter", one of the old men spoke. "Hmm, are you alright?" I asked in ''concern''. "Why do you ask?" he asked me back "Because what you said sounded like Hearsay. You believed someone''s word that I killed a student, and using me of the crime but I see not a single shred of evidence", I said. It made everyone in the room frown. One of the old men mmed his hand on the table and stood up, raising his voice, "Death Seekers are someone who can see what happened just before the death of someone as long as they have the dead person''s items. It is a known fact. How can you say that it''s Hearsay?" "You are using me based on someone''s words. That is what HEARSAY means. Can''t your brain understand that? oh, it looks like old age is catching up", I chuckled at the old man. It infuriated him and he almost flew up to me to strike me down but the headmaster stopped me. "Stop it Orlen. This is an academy, where we nurture young minds, not kill them because they belittled you", the headmaster warned the old man. Hmm, it looks like the headmaster has a head on his shoulders, which othersck. "Haha, you dared to strike a student just because of a few words. I wonder how you survived this long with so many battles that happened in your lifetime or you never participated and sat at home like a coward", I provoke the old man. It infuriated the old man but before he could say anything the headmaster inserted himself. "That''s enough, both of you", he shouted. "Mr. Frostwolf, Death Seekers are used by everyw agency in the world to find out the culprits who might havemitted the murder. It was something that was followed everywhere. As a noble descendant, you should be aware of this fact but why are you saying Hearsay?" the headmaster asked. "Tell me, headmaster, are there no corrupt kings, nobles, merchants...?" "You don''t need to answer. That''s rhetoric. There would be good and evil, irrespective of their position or profession. You used me based on the words of one person. Can you gurantee that he wasn''t bribed by someone?" I asked them, and they were stunned. They couldn''t say that they guarantee the results as I said before, Death Seekers can lie too if they were paid or something along the lines. There was no guarantee. "Except for his words, do you have any shred of evidence that can say that I killed him?" "Forget about his credibility. Let''s say I killed him but do you know what caused me to kill him?" There was no answer either. I knew that. As long as they use me directly or indirectly, I would produce evidence of my ''innocence'' and the guilt of the other party. It would be a big win for me but now it is going to be a huge win for me. They started chatting and there was a lot of nodding among themselves. It looks like they were thinking that were quick to use him and had to search for the evidence. "Haha, you are very funny. You want to look for evidence now, after using someone of murder, how hrious? Don''t need to suddenly stretch yourselves for something you don''t do", I made a jibe at them. Sure the academy is supporting the students as best as they can, and I respect them for that but that changed when they sent that asshole of a professor. They should have known that this one hates nobles, yet they sent him. If not, I would have directly shown them the video when they used me. I wouldn''t have dragged the matter for this long. "What do you mean?" one of the old men asked me. Instead of answering their questions, I pulled out a drive, "Do you have a video yer?" I asked them back. "Yes, we do", the headmaster said, "Thomas, set up the video yer". Thomas, the assistant to the headmaster, was setting up the yer while the stupid professor extended his hand, indirectly asking for the drive. I am not going to trust that idiot with such important evidence. "No thanks. I know how to use it", I said as I ced the drive into the device and it started to y the videos, one by one. The first one was of course the conflict between me and Dorian for the resources. I edited out the fight, as I didn''t want to see my skill. Though they knew that he burned, I am not showing the exact skill. When these audiences saw that the fight was instigated by Dorian, they gasped. They already knew that Dorian killed two of the students. Those two were noble children and they believed that those two provoked Dorian but now their assumptions might be wrong in those cases. This is a disaster for them. "Headmaster, now you can see that I killed him in self-defence. At that time, it was either I kill him or he kills me. So I chose something that was in my favour", I said to them. "We can see that. It was wrong of us to use you without proper proof. My apologies", the headmaster bowed his head slightly. "It''s okay headmaster. There was no need to bow. I wasted too much time here. I need to be some ce else. Now if you excuse me", I said as I excused myself. "Go, we''ll take care of this", the headmaster spoke. I was at the exit when I made a dramatic turnaround. "Headmaster, before I go, I believe when you summoned me here, that was because I am under investigation, correct?" I asked him with a smirk. "Yes", he replied but his face says it all. He understood that something bad for the academy was going toe out. "Huh, I thought it was a fish farmer wives gathering", I spoke with a sarcastic voice. "What do you mean?" "Well, it looks like someone leaked that I killed Dorian to the students, which I suppose shouldn''t have happened while the investigation was in progress", I said with a smile. "No, it should", the headmaster said with a frown. It is a serious breach of code if the investigation information was leaked before it waspleted. He already made a mistake about me. So there was no way that he would let it slide. The professor is in trouble I believe or probably it was William. I don''t care which one it is but those two or this idiotic professor would be in trouble nheless. I should help with that a bit too. "Oh, and professor, I recorded everything since I opened the door", I gave him a sinister smile, turned and left to exit the room. The professor was horrified as soon as he heard me speak. He tried to make me an asshole in front of the leaders of the academy but now he became the biggest buffoon. It would be a miracle if he could keep his job after the shinaniganes out. he would be out of the academy or at least from my life. I was about to leave but turned around again, "Headmaster, I believe that you hired that Death Seeker to find the culprits that were responsible for the deaths of those five students, because of the rumours. Am I right?" "Yes", he replied. "You might want to take a look into this", I said as I threw another drive towards the headmaster. This has evidence about the conspiracy that William and Dorian nned and the reason behind the conspiracy, my fiance Elisha. Though I never got any evidence regarding the rumours, I believe that at least the headmaster has a head on his shoulders to know what was happening. he can easily conclude who spread the rumours. The direct evidence regarding that, they can find it on their own. I am a student of the Royal Academy, not their servant. There is going to be a storm in the near future, which will change the lives of a lot of people, including that of my family. This storm would clear a lot of thorns from my path and probably even in my father''s path. I only see chaos in the future. I look forward to the chaos that is about to descend, as this would be in my favour, no matter what. Everyone thought that they were the kings or Queens and saw me as a pawn. Now they would learn who is the pawn and who is the king. Chapter 151: My next four months in the academy (4) After the brief conversation with the leaders of the academy, I left for my training with Ang. On my way, I got a lot of stares from the students but I didn''t care. Most of these idiots are simr to extras in a story, who would die sooner thanter. So, I have no need to worry about their thinking. Anyway, the headmaster would clear my name in a few minutes and the stares would die away after that. What I need to think about is Ang. She wouldn''t help a murderer, so I have to show her the video of what happened in the secret realm. I already showed it to the leader, so there was no problem with another seeing the video. --- Speaking with Ang, was not easy. She too thought that I had killed Dorian but she was not as using as those old men were. With her, it was a simple misunderstanding. After all, I am trying to earn enough brownie points and pull her to my bed. It was not the same with those old men. After I showed her the video, she was relieved that it was done in self-defence. Moreover, she wasn''t surprised by the fact that Dorian acted like that in the secret realm. When I asked her, she said four words, "I am not dumb". At first, I didn''t understand but then I remembered what happened a year ago. Dorian tried to make me look like a bully in front of Ang. She is not a weak person. She should have heard what Dorian was doing and should havee to an conclusion on what he was trying to do that day. Moreover, there were many sses and monthly exams that we attended in the first year. She should have observed his behaviour and should have seen that he was not a good person. Probably it is one of the reasons why she didn''t appear to use me. "Now, forget about that", Ang spoke, "Let''s begin our training on..." --- As promised earlier, the headmaster has dered to the academy students and staff, how the five students died. Two of them were killed by monsters, who overestimated their strength and entered the Inner region on the second day itself. They should have thought that because the outer region monsters were weak, they could easily defeat the monsters of the Inner region and get their hands on the resources of that region. I mean, the Inner region was practically untouched for who knows how long. Anyone would be tempted but the test was whether they could stand such a temptation. The inner region is not a safe area, and it was advised not to enter prematurely. In their arrogance and greed for the resources, they entered the area prematurely and died because of that. If they had entered the area at the end of the thirty days, they might have been alive now. This was why it was advised not to try doing things that you are capable of doing. Two were killed by Dorian, which I knew from the footage in the Nexus. When they learned that, they should have thought that the noble children went over the line and ended up dead, but I seeded and eliminated him. Now they know and so does everyone in the academy. The headmaster dered that I had killed Dorian in self-defence, only after Dorian tried to snatch the resources and kill me. Whatever contempt that was there, disappeared. Though the noble children look down onmoner kids, most of them don''t think to attack them, even if they are outside. Being a noble doesn''t mean being ignorant. Maybe a lit be arrogant but most understand where the line is. They wouldn''t cross such a line. Most of the students'' view of me changed to disgust when they learned that I killed a fellow student but it reverted back to good when the headmaster had publicly cleared me of all charges and gave an exnation about the incident. --- Weeks went by after the headmaster dered that I was not guilty but there was no movement in regards to William. I wonder what made them summon me for the death of a student without proper evidence but they didn''t make a move against William even after I provided them with evidence. It looks like one can''t trust others even if they appear to be trustworthy. I should have not given them the evidence. They called me without proper evidence but there was no movement with respect to William. It was almost as if they were ignoring the fact and letting him go. Professor Dumbass was still in the academy and that means they tried to punish me immaturely without proper evidence but didn''t make a move even where there was proper evidence. Is there someone behind this that the academy can''t touch? So it means that William now probably knows that I have surveince on him. Once I submitted that evidence, I thought that the academy would take care of him. I didn''t want them to find my cameras when they came to confront him and also I thought the need for those cameras had ended. It looks like has not but with him probably knowing that I am spying, he wouldn''t spill anything unless there was a powerful sensor nearby. So there would be no more spying. It doesn''t matter. As long as I find him outside in the wilderness, he would be dead and whoever was protecting him. --- It was the end of the semester and the exams were over. I secured the first rank as usual. This time the opponents were not the students but monsters in a dungeon. The winners are based on the time taken by a person toplete a dungeon. The dungeon is the same for everyone and each one would enter their own instances. So it doesn''t matter if one enters a few minutes before others. The timer starts once we enter the dungeon. I set a record in clearance. The reason behind that was my improved skill levels due to my training in the Nexus. At first, I didn''t get how to properly use the training hall in the Nexus but once I did, my improvements in the skills reached the sky. Let''s see what improved in these four months at the academy. "Status" -- Name: Magnus Frostwolf Age: 16 Titles: Son of Viscount; Great yer; Hidden Smiden; Dungeon Conqueror; Primary ss: Draconic Warlock Secondary ss: Soul Arbiter (Unique) Affinity: Shadow, Blood, Space Bloodline: ck Dragon (2% Purity) Physique: Devourer Physique (EX) Talent: Ritualistic Summoning (EX) Trait: Silk Smooth Skin(A bit Improved); Sleepy; Aurum Skin; Sexy Smile; Rank: Tier-5 Level: 5 Health Points (HP): 25,191,328,117 Strength (STR): 194,700 (+100%0>>194,800 (+100%) Endurance (END): 203,600 (+100%)>>203,780 (+100%) Dexterity (DEX): 1,246>>1,500 Agility (AGI): 197,800 (+100%)>>197,900 (+100%) Intelligence (INT): 2,200,255,170 Magic Power (MP): 28,380,103,700 Soul Energy: 105,500 (+200%) Charm: 3,009 ss Skills: Shadow Bolt; Blood Dominance; Draconic Magic; Shadow Curse; Blood Heal; Shadow Shift; Blood Lock; Draconic Pressure; Shadow Merge; Blood Drain; Soul Judge; Soul Prison; Soul Container; Nether mes; Shadow control; Blood Boil; Shadow Clone; Blood Clone; Space sh; Soul de; Soul Ascension; Soul Avatar; Special Skills: Rank Booster; Status Disguise; Refined Skills: Shadow Bolt Volley Lvl. 18>>21; Blood Drain Field Lvl. 3 (New) Skills: Evade Lvl. 17>>20; Dodge Lvl. 17>>20; Sprint Lvl. 15>>20; Alertness Lvl. 12>>15; Devour Lvl. 8>>9; Fusion Lvl. 17>>20; Split Lvl. 17>>20; Demon Gaze Lvl. 4>>5; Strengthen Lvl. 16>>20; Tag & Track Lvl. 4; Night Vision Lvl. 13; Spatial Storage Lvl. 10; Mind Control Lvl. 8; Mind Probe Lvl. 8; Mind Defence Lvl. 1; Dragon Blood Evolution Lvl. 1; Scent Recognition Lvl. 10; Sexual Stamina Lvl. 6; Perception Lvl. 16>>20; Pet World Lvl. 2>>3; Parry Lvl. 7>>10; Resistances: Physical Resistance Lvl. 19>>22; Light Resistance Lvl. 4>>5; Poison Resistance Lvl. 4; Magic Resistance (Non-Attribute) Lvl. 7>>10; Space Resistance Lvl. 5>>7; Fire Resistance Lv. 8>>11; Water Resistance Lvl. 7>>10; Mind Resistance Lvl. 1; Wind Resistance Lvl. 6>>8; Lightning Resistance Lvl. 4>>6; Weapon Arts: Advanced Staff Arts Lvl. 2>>3; Intermediate Movement Arts Lvl. 4>>6; Intermediate Hand Combat Arts Lvl. 1>>3; -- There is a small increase in the attributes but those are not what''s important but the improvement in my skill levels are. As I nned, a few of my skills reached level 20 and even crossed my expectations. Shadow Bolt Volley reached level 21, which made it easier to kill more monsters easily. In addition to that there was a new Refined Skill, Blood Drain Field, which can drain the blood of all creatures in a certain radius. Evade and Dodge increased by three levels and reached level 20. Fusion and Split are the same in both improvement and the current level. Sprint increased by five levels, whereas Strengthen and Perception increased by four levels to reach level 20. In resistances, Physical Resistance improved by three levels and reached Level 22. Light Resistance increased by a level from level 4 to level 5. Magic Resistance (Non-Attribute), and Water Resistance increased by three levels to level 10. Fire Resistance improved by three levels and reached level 11. Space, Wind and Lightning Resistances increased by two levels reaching levels 7, 8, and 6 respectively. Alertness and Parry improved by three levels and reached level 15 and level 10 respectively. Devour, Demon Gaze and Pet World each improved by a single level and reached Levels 9,5. and 3 respectively. Coming to Weapon Arts, there were not many improvements. Staff Arts improved by a single level while Movement and Hand Combat Arts improved by two levels. By the end of next semester, my skills would reach levels that even many veterans have yet to reach. Anyway, now that the semester exams are done, it''s time to return home. Chapter 152: The Sensational news that I needed When I was thinking about leaving, a voice interrupted me, actually, it interrupted everyone in the academy. "Students, and the Staff of the Royal Academy, please be at the Central training Grounds in fifteen minutes", the headmaster ordered us. Why was he summoning everyone from the academy to be at the grounds? Did something big happen? No need to fret about it. All will be revealed in a few minutes, let''s wait and see what this is all about. I went directly to the grounds to find out why the headmaster summoned us all. --- By the time I arrived at the grounds, there were already a few people. A few minutester the grounds were filled with people. All the students who were in the academy were present at the grounds, along with the academy staff. "I hope that everyone is here", the headmaster spoke as soon as he appeared. "Even if they weren''t, I believe what I say now would be spread to all. A few months at the beginning of the year, there was a rumour that students from other academies killed five students from this academy. At first, we didn''t think that it would cause any problems but we were wrong". "The rumour spread like wildfire. This led to a few minor shes between students from this academy and the other four academies. So we immediately started to investigate the deaths. The investigation results regarding their deaths, have already been public for months". "The issue was the rumour. We believed that someone spread this on purpose with malicious intentions. We found some evidence in the beginning but we wanted to be through and had everything to bring the punishment to the culprits". "When we investigated the deaths, we came upon an intrinsic conclusion that this was done to trap a single person. I believe you all know who I am referring to", the headmaster said and the students that were near me, turned towards me. "Yes, we followed the lead and we came upon a conspiracy. The boy Dorian Halter killed two boys because he hated those two boys. He had shes with them from the beginning. Those two belonged to the nobles while he was amoner". "Though we say that everyone is equal, but I know that wouldn''t always be the case. He also had a sh with Magnus, not because he was noble ormoner but on a different issue. Someone decided to use this and tempted Dorian into attacking Magnus while in the secret realm". "When Dorian didn''t return from the secret realm, they checked who killed him and when it was known that Magnus was the one, they conspired again spreading rumours. This cost a lot to the academy and damaged many students". "The ones who conspired was William Rutgurd, a fourth-year student at present. He was in love with Elisha Siren, a second-year student now and she has the same feelings for William. The problem was that Elisha was bound to Magnus by the marriage contract". "The only way to get out was either to get rid of Magnus or defame him. First, they tried to use Dorian, though I should say that he might have willingly epted that and when that n failed, they spread rumours in order to make sure that the academy would find who killed the students and hopefully punish Magnus, but their ns failed". "I, Arathos Odium, headmaster of the Royal Academy, hereby dere that William Rutgurd and Elisha Siren were expulsed from the academy for conspiracy to attempt murder, defamation and damages to students and the academy". "That''s it. You can return to whatever you were doing", the headmaster said and disappeared. Once the words of expulsion were heard, the entire grounds boiled. Everyone was discussing about, but I slipped away. There was no way that I would want to get caught in that. Forgetting that, this is the best day of my life. It shouldn''t be. This was because my idiotic father agreed to a marriage contract without the permission of the parties involved. People change after a few years. The ones that agreed to something at this moment may not agree to the same thing after a while. My father shouldn''t made this deal. Let''s return home at once and see what was going on there. I believe that the headmaster should have informed the concerned families before dering it publicly. I wonder how pissed Mother would be Father after they learned what happened. --- After returning home, I went straight to my father''s office. The servants informed me that they were inside the office. "So you have heard father?" I asked my father who was in his office. My mother sat beside him fuming because of what happened. When she saw meing, she appeared near me and checked me once over, "Are you alright? Why didn''t you tell us that someone attacked you in the secret realm?" I should have guessed that would be their first set of questions. "I am alright Mom. You can clearly see that and this is why I didn''t tell you that I was attacked. Moreover, that fool overestimated himself and got himself killed. I came out without a scratch", I said with a smile. She nodded to me but she turned around and spoke to my father, "All of this was because of you. I told you not to ept such outdated traditions, especially as a payment for help. Now we made enemies both internally and externally for our child". Father didn''t utter a single word but kept his head down. She should be ming him for the things that happened, which almost took me away from her permanently but I don''t me him. The ming should have started a long time ago but there was nothing that could be done. He made a mistake that almost cost his son''s life. The Siren family is where his grandmother came from and more over the head of the family was his friend or so he thought till now. He made a few enemies to strengthen that small bond between the two families because he might have thought that the family might need their support one day. He should have never thought that it would backfire in such a way. As I thought Mother was pretty pissed at Father. Though it was a mistake on his part, he did that to probably to strengthen famly ties between the two families. I should rescue him so that he would implement my n and not some other stupid n that might cause trouble for me again. "It doesn''t matter what happened in the past, mother. The Pertinent question is how we deal with this issue", I calmed my mother. My mother nodded in agreement, "What you said is true. Joseph, I want those pay for what they nned to do to my son", she said as she stormed away from the office. Neither I nor my father stopped her. She needs to cool off and it''s best to leave her alone to do so. After she stormed out, there was only absolute silence for a few minutes. "I have a n Father", I said after standing awkwardly in front of him for a few minutes. "I am listening", he said. "Since Elisha has joined hands with William to get rid of me, there is no way that this marriage would happen. Tell her parents that we would let it go, as long as they cancel the marriage and offerpensation both for the losses that happened in that battle and for conspiring to kill me". "Send thispensation to the families of the ones that died that day helping the Siren family. Also, add an apology as a bonus when you deliver thepensation to them. You can cool most of them by doing this, as you know that they were angry because they thought that you held a major profit for yourself by arranging marriage with Elisha". "Though they may not forgive you and support you again Father, I believe that they won''t make it difficult for you unless you give them a reason to. It means the internal stability of the house increases", I pitched him the perfect n. Now it is his decision to make. Whether he agrees or not, the marriage is not going to happen. What he had to do was how to deal with the situation and make it beneficial for the family. Only this way the problems inside the family would be reduced and he can easily eliminate the filth that was living in the family. While I was at the academy, he didn''t disclose any information regarding the traitors. I handed him a lot of information regarding the traitors of the family and where to collect this evidence. Was the collection of the pieces of evidence not over? I have no idea. Whatever the reason might be, I may have to make sure that our house wouldn''t be screwed up. Chapter 153: Many changes in my life Things have changed for better and worse at the same time. The best thing was that I could finally get rid of the marriage contract. I don''t like to be bound by anything. What I want to do with my life should be based on my decisions, not someone else''s. My father agreed to my n. He too understood that making a marriage contract between me and his friend''s daughter was the cause of all these problems. He shouldn''t have agreed in the first ce. Never mix personal with business, it would only cause troubles in the long run. The Siren''s family head was my father''s friend, so helping him when he was in trouble was not a bad thing. The Siren family has married a girl into the Frostwolf family. So helping them when in need is a good thing but the pay should not have been set in personal terms. Due to this, some elders who were either on my father''s side before or neutral turned against him. This made it difficult for him to implement things that he wanted smoothly. With the emergence of this scandal that involved Elisha and William, my father can get the Siren family to cancel the marriage contract and at the same time make thempensate for the losses that the Frostwolf family had to suffer when they came to aid the Siren family and also for trying to kill me. He too understood that by using thispensation, he could bring a few back into his faction or at least to the neutral faction. This would smooth his road whenever there was something that he needed to implement. Moreover, there were a lot of traitors in the family. With less thorns in his path, it would be easy for him to get rid of the traitors easily. I want those bastards to pay for what they did but I can''t go off and kill my own family members. I don''t have that power and when I say power, I don''t mean personal power, rather I am talking about political power. Since my father is the head of the family, it could be only done by him. Moreover, if he was the one who punishes them, then his ce as the head would be strengthened and the next one would have a better chance at being the head. I could search for sudden riches elsewhere. I left my father in the office and returned to my room to rest for a while. At dinner, my father was absent but my mother told me that he was still in the office. He probably was thinking about how to present my n without bringing trouble back home. I didn''t think much about it. After dinner I returned to my room to sleep, well actually to enjoy some time with Inari. She would be leaving soon, so I decided to spend much of this month with her. Training could wait till the academy starts. Though I would keep up with regr training during day time just for the show, the real training has to wait till I return to the academy. --- The next morning my Mom told me that my father was away to visit the Siren family and demand an exnation andpensation for what happened. She praised me for the idea that I presented to my father. It looks like he told her about what he was going to do withe the issue brought by the Siren Family. For the Rutgur family, I have no idea what to do with that. They are a Count family. Even if their child just conspired to kill me, we can''t directly go to them and demand William''s life or something. First, let''s deal with the Siren family and how to deal with the Rutgurd family, it has to wait for some time. One issue at a time. --- Three Weeks Later... "Are you sure about this Inari?" I asked her one more time with reluctance. Inari was supposed to have left for her home months ago but due to my sister''s marriage ceremony, I couldn''t send her back. The reverse summoning ritual would burn a lot of resources and there are too many people. Normally they shouldn''t feel any fluctuations as I would put on the formation that stops the energy leakages but there are many weird abilities and skills in this world. Who would know if such a person is in thepound and finds out about this matter? So I had postponed that matter and I got to keep Inari a bit longer but it is now time to say our goodbyes. Though I felt wrong to keep her here from her home and family, I couldn''t send her away. As the time we spent increased, the rtionship between us is improving by a lot. "Yes", she said, "Don''t make a sad face. We will meet again". I merely nodded, "We will do the ritual tomorrow. Tonight, you belong to me", I said as I tossed her onto the bed. Inari chuckled but they turned into pleasant moans a few secondster. --- The next morning, I sent Inari back to her home, or at least that was what I hoped I did. Though it said that the reverse summoning would send the summoned being back to where it was summoned from, I am not entirely sure about it. So I prepared for the worst-case scenario. I ced a lot of food, potions, protection talismans and other resources that were required for survival and to fight back in a space ring for her. If this ritual doesn''t work as advertised and sends her to somece else, she can use it to survive. There are other items that I want to buy from the Cosmic Market for her but they are too costly and I can''t afford them at this point. There were items that can alert me if she was in danger and I would appear beside her if want to but those items were way too pricey for my range. Though now I have a Nexus and a secret realm, I am still poor if I open the damn Cosmic Market. I mean even though I have ess to the secret realm, it was located within the academy''s boundaries. So it should be considered as their property. The birth of monsters inside is much more than outside and that means that I can ess various products that can be obtained from their carcasses but there should be a limit. I mean, I killed a lot of Tier-3 and above monsters because the core areas were untouched for years. There are still a lot of monsters but if I kill like I did in that month, the realm would be emptied out in a few years. I can''t let that happen. A dungeon or a secret realm is a point of resources that supplies goods regrly. Extracting too much at once would empty these resource points and that means there would be no resources after a short time. Only idiots would deplete thempletely or damage them without reason. A constant supply of resources is way better than a huge influx of resources. Anyway, since I couldn''t send her the best items, I made sure that she had a good amount of resources that I could supply her so that she could get out of any bad situation. Only after giving her these resources, I did send her back home. It may be thest time before I can see her again in a few years. Only by reaching Tier-9 can I move as I wish, even ignoring national boundaries or even racial boundaries. The one who has a bigger fist would always be right. --- It took almost a month for my father to get thepensation or at least some sort of security that sufficientpensation would be paid in full. After that, he distributed the funds that he gained through this to the families of the people who died in that battle. There were a few that died and left no family. In honour of them, my father decided to give the money as a bonus to all the soldiers who fought and survived that battle. Even the Rutgurd family came to our house and paid a hugepensation. This became my personal wealth. When Inari left, almost all my wealth was depleted. Except for some rare items, I gave them to her or sold them to buy items for her survival. The conditions that the Rutgurd family ced was that we shouldn''t seek revenge for William''s actions. We agreed, but also told them our bottom line. As long as he stays away from me, I won''t seek him but if he decides toe after me, then that would be a different matter in its entirety. Now that those idiots were dealt with, and father would now have better support than it did before, my work here is done. I am off to the academy early in the morning. Woo.. "Ah, I know Asya, I too miss Inari", I petted my fox. It looks like she misses her. After all, they were kind of roommates for half a year and Inari always cuddled her. It would be my first time at the academy without her. Without knowing, I spent almost two years with her. I hope that I will be able to meet her again under better conditions. "I hope that I will meet her sooner thanter", I sighed as I fell into sleep. Chapter 154: My fourth semester (1) I returned to the academy early in the morning. It was time for the second semester of the second year or the fourth semester in the entirety. Next semester we would be allowed to go out on missions, so I believe that the training and the studies in this semester would be different. Anyway, after returning to the academy, I checked the sses that we had. I thought that as ss 1-A, our ss would be on the first day but it was not. I checked other sses too but they too have nks for today and tomorrow. There was abined ss on the third day for all students of the second year. I didn''t know sses were held like that here in this world, where hierarchy is an important part of the world. Whatever, let''s wait and see what that was about. Since there was no ss today and tomorrow, I went to meet up with Ang. It has been more than a month since ourst contact. It''s best to say that I returned to the academy and see if there are any more practice sessions with her. Speaking of her, I should make her mine before the end of this semester or else I have to say goodbye trying to make her mine. From next year, the chances of meeting her would thin and that means the probability of her falling for me would be reduced. --- The training remained unchanged. Now due to thebined ss, the personal training would be held on the fifth day of the week. Everything was fine but I felt a lingering look on my back when I was leaving. I am sure that it was Ang but I didn''t understand what the lingering look meant. Normally it means that I like you dumbass, why can''t you see that? I should think that was the case but I didn''t see any signs of her falling for me in the past year and a half. If she did, then either she was very good at concealing the facts or it was a recent change. I am her student, so she might have concealed her feelings but if the feelings are recent, I have no idea why that is. Though I felt her look on my back, I didn''t turn around and left. I am sure a Tier-2 can''t pick up the gaze and ording to public knowledge, I didn''tplete the Tier-2 promotion mission. After speaking with Ang, I returned to my quarters. It remained the same for me as it was in the previous semester. Since I have today and tomorrow all to myself, I decided to enter Nexus and train as I used to. First, let''s see what my status panel looks like and decide what to concentrate on. "Status" -- Name: Magnus Frostwolf Age: 17 Titles: Son of Viscount; Great yer; Hidden Smiden; Dungeon Conqueror; Primary ss: Draconic Warlock Secondary ss: Soul Arbiter (Unique) Affinity: Shadow, Blood, Space Bloodline: ck Dragon (2% Purity) Physique: Devourer Physique (EX) Talent: Ritualistic Summoning (EX) Trait: Silk Smooth Skin(A bit Improved); Sleepy; Aurum Skin; Sexy Smile; Rank: Tier-5 Level: 5 Health Points (HP): 25,191,328,117 Strength (STR): 194,800 (+100%) Endurance (END): 203,780 (+100%) Dexterity (DEX): 1,500 >> 1512 Agility (AGI): 197,900 (+100%) Intelligence (INT): 2,200,255,170 Magic Power (MP): 28,380,103,700 Soul Energy: 105,500 (+200%) Charm: 3,009 ss Skills: Shadow Bolt; Blood Dominance; Draconic Magic; Shadow Curse; Blood Heal; Shadow Shift; Blood Lock; Draconic Pressure; Shadow Merge; Blood Drain; Soul Judge; Soul Prison; Soul Container; Nether mes; Shadow control; Blood Boil; Shadow Clone; Blood Clone; Space sh; Soul de; Soul Ascension; Soul Avatar; Special Skills: Rank Booster; Status Disguise; Refined Skills: Shadow Bolt Volley Lvl. 21; Blood Drain Field Lvl. 3; Skills: Evade Lvl. 20; Dodge Lvl. 20; Sprint Lvl. 20; Alertness Lvl. 15; Devour Lvl. 9; Fusion Lvl. 20; Split Lvl. 20; Demon Gaze Lvl. 5; Strengthen Lvl. 20; Tag & Track Lvl. 4; Night Vision Lvl. 13; Spatial Storage Lvl. 10; Mind Control Lvl. 8>>9; Mind Probe Lvl. 8>>9; Mind Defence Lvl. 1; Dragon Blood Evolution Lvl. 1; Scent Recognition Lvl. 10; Sexual Stamina Lvl. 6; Perception Lvl. 20; Pet World Lvl. 3; Parry Lvl.10>>11; Resistances: Physical Resistance Lvl. 22; Light Resistance Lvl. 5; Poison Resistance Lvl. 4; Magic Resistance (Non-Attribute) Lvl. 10; Space Resistance Lvl. 7; Fire Resistance Lv. 11; Water Resistance Lvl. 10; Mind Resistance Lvl. 1; Wind Resistance Lvl. 8; Lightning Resistance Lvl. 6; Weapon Arts: Advanced Staff Arts Lvl. 3; Intermediate Movement Arts Lvl. 6; Intermediate Hand Combat Arts Lvl. 3; -- There are not many changes in the status panel. Only in thest week did I train a bit more but not by much whenpared to how I train at the academy. At first, Inari would leave me at the end of the holidays. So I decided to invest my time on her. So the training time and intensity reduced. Moreover, I wanted to spend as much time as I could with my mother. After graduation from the academy, the chances of holidays are slim. So returning home would be very rare. These holidays that I have now and after the second year, would most likely be the longest that I would be with them. Unless I decide to settle down in Winter City as some guard or maybe a businessman, I would probably see my family less and less. Hmm, maybe settling down as a businessman might not be a bad idea. I have ess to Cosmic Market where items that are not avable here in this world can be obtained. Moreover, there is an entire secret realm (partially), where I can get a lot of resources. In Nexus there are nine inactive portals, which could lead to other secret realms. If they were unupied, I can make them mine. It would give me ess to a lot of resources, which I can sell and earn money faster than anyone. Thinking hard, I think maybe settling down as a businessman might be a good thing. I want afortable life and as a fifth child, I wouldn''t inherit anything from the family unless I work for the family. Though it is now filled with a lot of assholes, I believe that they would be cleared in a few years. I could work but being in the family means that I can''t be independent. Unless I be an ancestor, every move of mine would be under watch and restricted. I found a few filth hiding in the family and it would be removed but that doesn''t mean more filth wouldn''t appear again. Family is aplex thing. You can''t be with them or get rid of them. It''s best to be near them but not away from them. It''s the best way. --- Anyway,ing back to my status panel. Since I already achieved level 20 in a few of my skills, I should improve the skills that I have been neglecting or couldn''t improve because of the conditions. One of them was Dragon Blood Evolution. I didn''t use that because I feared what would entail by trying the skill. I read many novels where certain abilities would leave one vulnerable during the process or after the fact. Neither is good. So it can''t be done in the wild or in locations where safety is not guaranteed. Safety means there are many people around. Unlike the summoning rituals which took a few minutes, evolution may take a long time and there might be a chance that I could faint due to exhaustion. It would be bad if anyone found me in such a condition. I would never have a good exnation for such a thing. So I had to postpone it but now I have a chance to do it without attracting anyone''s attention or putting myself in danger. Nexus is my own personal space, where I can use this skill without getting harmed. Using this skill would help my dragon bloodline, which looked almost useless with all that was going on. Unless it improves, I can''t say that it was because of my bloodline. Sure, due to my bloodline, some of the attributes are far higher than what others would have but now that improvement has be obsolete. Only by increasing it further, can I say that I have a dragon bloodline or it''s best not to say at all. In addition to Dragon Blood Evolution, I need to increase my Mind Defence skill and Mind Resistance. These are the ones that are utterly low andpletely neglected. There are also a few that are very low like the Poision and Light Resistances. Tahg a& Track and Scent Recognition skills needed improvement as well. So before the end of this semester, I need to improve these skills and also maybe try to reach as close as I can to peak Tier-5. Taking a promotion mission orpleting it, only the person involved would know as it follows the same procedure. So by taking the promotion mission for Tier-6, would the people believe that Ipleted the Tier-2 promotion and had reached Tier-2. It would be embarrassing if a student who entered the secret realm had not reached Tier-2 before year three, not just to me but also to my family as well. Chapter 155: My fourth Semester (2) The n is set for the next five months and I should prepare for that. These skills that I want to improve can''t be improved easily. Most skills can be improved through normal training but some need to be improved by fighting enemies or using some special means. For example the Poison Resistance. It could be improved as you fight against enemies that have poison skills but these are pretty rare. Moreover, fighting them head-on without having resistance most probably would lead to death. So the best way to improve poison skills was by injecting poison into the body. The amount should be small and the poison''s potency should be low. There should be Antidotes nearby or else there is a chance that you may die. Poisons are the most deadly way for one to die. Death means corrosion of the meat suit we were wearing. When important organs are corroded to a degree, death would be inevitable. Out of all, poisons are the most potent way for that to happen. So when there was no poison immunity, paralysis poisons would be used to slowly gain immunity at the beginning. These are not dangerous directly but they would leave us in a state of danger. Anyone can kill a paralysed person as they can''t defend themselves. Unless there are passive defences, even paralysis poisons are dangerous to lives. This is why, once poisoned in a battle, they would most likely lose their life. This is why my parents increased my poison immunity to level 4. After reaching level 4, it is rather difficult to improve, unlike other immunities. To this day, there is no record that a person achieved level 50 in poison immunity. It was not the only immunity that was hard to reach higher level. So for resistances like these, it would be best you reach a higher level and forget about them because the chances of getting attacked by a higher poison skill or potion is very low. Coming to my other resistances, Light creatures are very rare. Most of these monsters were reared by the Church of Holy Light. They believe that Light Beasts are sacred beings and it is illegal to hunt them. Moreover, without the Chruch''s permission, no one can breed them or use them as mounts either. Of course, it led to a severe bacsh as there is a kingdom called, Brilliance Kingdom, where the monsters ore Light Elemental Affinity. These monsters were their source of life. Not using them means, they would lose their mounts, food supplies and way to improve their levels. It was not just them but many spewed fire on the church for that. Though the church said that they retracted their statements, it was recorded that these fanatics would attack anyone who used Light Element Beasts as mounts or was seen hunting them. Originally the church was formed to counteract the demons as they seemed weak against light, which gave the church too much. As with any other organization that has too much power, it got corrupted too. At least that was my opinion of them after I read about them. They were supposed to be the protection dome of humans against demons but it was said that they were acting differently for the past century or so. Why? No one has any idea. I say that they were tired of being the meat shields and wanted to take over humanity. Whatever their ns were, it has nothing to do with me. Their sphere of influence is very far away from here. So what I should concentrate on is to find if the Nexus can create only specific monsters for training. There is also the preparation needed for the Dragon Blood evolution. I think that would be best done after Ang''s ss, as I would get three nights and two days to see what would happen if I tried to improve my skill level. --- Today is the third day and that means it is time for themon ss for the entire second-year students. I freshened up as soon as I woke up, ate my breakfast and went to themon hall, which I didn''t know existed before today. This is where the ss would take ce. Everyone in the second year is here, except for the six students. Five were dead after the first year and Elisha was expelledst semester. With those two troublemakers gone, there would be no issues for me at school. I was so immersed in my training for thest three semesters that I never knew that this room existed before. The room is veryrge, that can easily amodate over three thousand students. I can''t think of the reason behind this room''s construction. The room was too big. Maybe it was supposed to amodate all five years at the same time but my siblings didn''t say anything of any asion that requires all five years to be assembled here. Of course, they didn''t say about thismon course that we have to see through in the second year either. It means that I can''t depend solely on the information that they provided me. I have to navigate the waters on my own. I can''t just depend on what others say. We waited for a few minutes, and before long Ang walked through the entrance, no, that was Celine, Ang''s sister. Man, why do I keep mixing them up? If I want to have a rtionship with them, then I have to do better than that. If I mix them up, there is no way that Ang would believe me that I am a good pick for her. Celine walked up to the dias and started to speak, "Good morning everyone. Some of you might know me. Some of you don''t. My name is Celine zewood. I will be your teacher this semester. In this semester what you have is my ss, that is theoretical, not practical ones". "You can go to your previous trainers during other days for training but that depends on whether the teachers were avable". "You must be wondering why it was amon ss for all the students from the second year. Don''t think too much. From next year, you will all be able to go out on missions. Though it was notpulsory, know this, missions outside the academy would yield more points than you can get in the academy". "Moreover, you would be able to meet people all over the nation and can understand their way of living. The missions are paving a path for your future directly and indirectly. So doing missions is a must if you want to grow". "Missions are mostly dangerous and it was always advised to move in groups rather than going out alone. Sure you have to divide the points among the group but staying in a group increases the chances of survival, than when alone". "For a year and a half, there were ss divisions. It is the same now too as the elite sses would get more resources than the lower sses. It stops from next year as most of the time you would be staying outside the academy doing missions, not taking sses". "Housing would be the same as what it was. You can rest in your quarters when you are not away doing missions". "The academy would act as a way for you to get the missions. Missions you get here are verified and most likely not a scam. If they were, the academy would providepensation unlike what happens in guilds outside". "These missions create paths for your future, so it''s best that you seed inpleting them. So in order to properly execute these missions, this ss came to be. Here we not only discuss the types of missions that would be issued but also on how to act in various scenarios". "You should know that the intelligence provided for a mission might not be perfect. This ss would tell you how to act on various known scenarios". "This ss is not only for that but also for how to act with various people. Some of the noble children should have learned etiquette, but that was on how to act with other nobles, not withmoners. When we are out there toplete our missions, we depend mostly on themoners, not the nobles". "Though most of the missionse from guilds, they were mostly operated bymoners. So acting inappropriately might cause you to lose the chance ofpleting the mission". The ss continued till noon, before we were allowed to leave. --- Wow, that was nice. I learned a lot about the kingdom through this than books. That is why there are schools. Though there are books, it was written ording to a single author and one can''t buy every book out there regarding a single topic. Even if one can, it is not always possible to grasp the meaning of every book. Moreover, many minds can discuss about it and one can form their own opinion based on the point of view from various sources. Chapter 156: My fourth semester (3) With Elisha, William and Dorian gone, I am free in the academy. Though those that caused me problems are no longer a problem, there are a few problems with my social life. Though it was dered that I killed Dorian in self-defence, there are many students in the academy who are wary of me. They only see me as a murderer. It is somethingmon even on Earth. I read many articles about how people would see others after they killed someone, even if that was done in an act of self-defence. The people of Ragos were no different. Of course, it would be different with adults but these are children who most likely never saw people killing each other. I believe they would change their views once they see the danger humans pose to each other, which is way more severe than the monsters pose to humans. Whether they believe it or not, I don''t care. I went on with my life. There is much to gain and I have no time to waste on gossip. --- Five Months Later... Five Months went by before I knew it. Of course, in these five months, the greatest of surprises came. In terms of quantity, I should say that it is two. In terms of quality, I have no scale to check andpare them to. What I achieved was something that could shake the entire world if it was known. There was a huge problem with one of the special skills that I had no way to ovee but when I was concentrating on another skill, a solution appeared before me. The skill was Dragon Blood Evolution. It was only at level one at the start of the semester but through burning a lot of resources, I increased the level to level 10. This brought various benefits. The Blood Purity of my bloodline increased to 10%. With that increase, I obtained a small increase in INT and Mp, but what I truly gained was not these attributes. At first, I thought that the Dragon Bloodline would improve these attributes only but I was wrong. When the purity reached 5%, the attributes that improved were STR, and END. Now that I am at 10%, I am not sure if those would be the same attributes that would increase or revert or if new attributes would increase, I have no idea. Anyway, the true gains were that with the improvement in either my Bloodline and/or the Blood Evolution skill, I was able to improve my Rank Levels. In the beginning, I didn''t see an improvement as the skill level and the purity were very small. With the increase in these two probably, I increased by twenty levels in just five months. Now I am at Tier-5 level 25. Moreover, the technique was recorded. I didn''t know there was such a thing. Maybe the knowledge was lost and forgotten. The technique is called the ck Dragon Essence Breathing technique. It was also recorded by the status panel, which didn''t show before. Now with its appearance, I can say that it works, even if there was no improvement in levels. If there was no improvement, then I should think that the technique was a low-level technique but gaining twenty levels in a few months means that I can say that the technique is a high-level technique. With me reaching level 25, there were a lot of changes in me in the past five months. Three of my attributes exploded like crazy. At Tier-5, every level would give me +62,500,000,000 HP/MP and +6,250,000,000 INT. HP=>20*3,125,000,000= 62,500,000,000 MP=>20*3,125,000,000= 62,500,000,000 INT=>20*312,500,000= 6,250,000,000 With these improvements, I should be a quarter on the way to trillion points. I don''t know if a Tier-8 would have my attribute points at this point. As long as the opponent doesn''t possess some weird skills, I am sure that I would win the battle even against a Tier-8 being. I am so OP. No one at my level could stand against me, not even if they were a rank or two higher than me. Leapfrogging across ranks is what makes one OP. --- Okay, let''s check how much my status has changed in these past five months. "Status" -- Name: Magnus Frostwolf Age: 17 Titles: Son of Viscount; Great yer; Hidden Smiden; Dungeon Conqueror; Primary ss: Draconic Warlock Secondary ss: Soul Arbiter (Unique) Affinity: Shadow, Blood, Space Bloodline: ck Dragon (2% Purity) >> (10% Purity) Technique: ck Dragon Essence Breathing Physique: Devourer Physique (EX) Talent: Ritualistic Summoning (EX) Trait: Silk Smooth Skin(A bit Improved); Sleepy; Aurum Skin; Sexy Smile; Rank: Tier-5 Level: 5 >> 25 Health Points (HP): 25,191,328,117 >> 87,691,328,117 Strength (STR): 194,800 (+100%) >> 200,800 (+100%) Endurance (END): 203,780 (+100%) >> 240,100 (+100%) Dexterity (DEX): 1,512 >> 1,579 Agility (AGI): 197,900 (+100%) >> 198,800 (+100%) Intelligence (INT): 2,200,255,170 >> 8,450,256,200 Magic Power (MP): 28,380,103,700 >> 90,880,105,300 Soul Energy: 105,500 (+200%) Charm: 3,009 ss Skills: Shadow Bolt; Blood Dominance; Draconic Magic; Shadow Curse; Blood Heal; Shadow Shift; Blood Lock; Draconic Pressure; Shadow Merge; Blood Drain; Soul Judge; Soul Prison; Soul Container; Nether mes; Shadow control; Blood Boil; Shadow Clone; Blood Clone; Space sh; Soul de; Soul Ascension; Soul Avatar; Special Skills: Rank Booster; Status Disguise; Refined Skills: Shadow Bolt Volley Lvl. 21; Blood Drain Field Lvl. 3; Skills: Evade Lvl. 20; Dodge Lvl. 20; Sprint Lvl. 20; Alertness Lvl. 15; Devour Lvl. 9; Fusion Lvl. 20; Split Lvl. 20; Demon Gaze Lvl. 5; Strengthen Lvl. 20; Tag & Track Lvl. 4; Night Vision Lvl. 13; Spatial Storage Lvl. 10; Mind Control Lvl. 9; Mind Probe Lvl. 9; Mind Defence Lvl. 1; Dragon Blood Evolution Lvl. 1 >> 10; Scent Recognition Lvl. 10; Sexual Stamina Lvl. 6; Perception Lvl. 20; Pet World Lvl. 3; Parry Lvl.11; Resistances: Physical Resistance Lvl. 22; Light Resistance Lvl. 5; Poison Resistance Lvl. 4; Magic Resistance (Non-Attribute) Lvl. 10; Space Resistance Lvl. 7; Fire Resistance Lv. 11; Water Resistance Lvl. 10; Mind Resistance Lvl. 1; Wind Resistance Lvl. 8; Lightning Resistance Lvl. 6; Weapon Arts: Advanced Staff Arts Lvl. 3; Intermediate Movement Arts Lvl. 6; Intermediate Hand Combat Arts Lvl. 3; -- As one can see from my status panel, there was not much increase in my skills except for one, Dragon Blood Evolution. Reaching level 10 was not an easy feat. It burnt a lot of resources. I think this may be even more problematic than any other skill I can think of. I thought those skills like the Poison resistance would be troublesome but this was more so. I literally burnt every resource and money I had on this, well except for a small amount of gold that I would need to leave at the end of the second year. I am literally broke at this point. I probably should enter the secret realm, and sell some resources from there in order to get some gold to survive in this world. I should also look into those nine portals that are inactive at the moment. Originally those were on the agenda along with the improvement of levels of a few skills but that all changed when I saw the changes that started to ur in my Rank level. I totally concentrated on this. This was because I was still at level 5 of Tier-5 at the beginning of the semester. I was in dire need to improve my Rank Level as soon as possible and take Tier-6 prmotion which would appear as Missionpletion for Tier-2 to others. It was already a year since I took the mission. If I drag this anymore longer, others might get suspicious or think that I am weak and useless. Even if my father was in the process of dealing with the filth of the family and soon these traitors would be removed, that doesn''t mean I would get any preferential treatment. To the outside world, one has to reach the minimum rank of Tier-5. Only after that one would think about the skill levels. This was because after reaching Tier-5, the difficulty of upgrading was too high for more than 95% of the awakeners. Only 5% would cross to Tier-6 and only 1% of awakeners would enter Tier-7. This 1% is a rounded figure, the actual rate is much less. So to the outside world, if you can''t reach Tier-5 quickly, you are weak, even if they aren''t. It doesn''t matter to all but what my family members think would dictate how much I could gain as yearly allowances. I believe that my third resource might be reduced. There is no way that I can reach peak Tier-5 before the third year starts. I will reach the peak before the end of the first of the third year, as long as I hunt higher-level monsters and do what I did in this semester. --- The second greatest surprise was what happened after the exams at the end of the second year. This was something I wanted to happen but showed no signs of happening, yet it happened. I am happy that it happened, though I am not sure how or why. It looks like though I may not be as dense as the protagonists in the novel, there is much for me to learn and understand. Hmm, you can''t understand what I am saying? I am saying that... Chapter 157: Me and Angela - R18 You should have understood what I am trying to say. If you can''t then, I can only say that your brain is not working and should consult a doctor immediately. --- Two Days Ago... It was the end of training with Ang. Also, it would be thest ss that I would have with Ang but I failed to make a move on her. She was definitely not someone who would fall for some cheesy lines. So I thought the best way to seduce Ang was through intimate contact with her. During the training, I could take advantage and touch her at certain ces, which could rouse her but that failed spectacrly. I couldn''ty a single finger on her. The only contact that I could get her was her hands and feet when she used them to defend herself from attacks or when she beat the heck out of me. I may be a Tier-5, but I can''t show her that. I had to act weak but acting takes most of my energy and I couldn''t take any advantage of the situation. It''s official, I can''t be with her. There are plenty of fish, I should start fishing elsewhere. That was the decision I came to as the semester is almost over. In the future, the chances of encountering her would be very few, and the interaction time would also be small. That means I couldn''t make any moves on her, even if we interact in the future. So, there is no need to think about her anymore, even though the chances of gaining twins as lovers would be gone. There is nothing I can do at this point. It''s not like I can force myself on her, no matter how beautiful she is. I thought about that lingering look that I felt at the beginning of the semester and hoped that it could lead to something. At the beginning of the semester, I had some hopes but they were dashed as I never again felt that lingering look. The training session ended in the afternoon and it was time to leave and move on to other targets. "Magnus", she called me as I was leaving the hall. Hearing her call her only to be surprised by being on the receiving end of her soft lips. She ced her lips on my lips and started to devour them. I was stunned for a moment but came out of the daze and started to take advantage of the situation, which I am not sure how came to be. It was a surprise but a wee one. Ang started to be aggressive, which made me think whether I was the boy or is she. I had dreams about this moment but many of the details changed and when I say changed I mean the things that I should have done were done by Ang. First, she kissed me, so I took a small advantage and ced my hands on her breasts and squeezed them hard, for which I could only hear her muffled moaning. She didn''t let go of my lips, or my body which were now explored by her hands. She then tore my shirt and exposed my chest, which I say is way better than I had when I was on Earth. She then pulled down my pants, exposing my entire body. I always want to be the dominant one but that appeared to be quite difficult in this situation. I was getting what I wanted, so there was no need to fight for dominance as long as she was able to satisfy me. After she pulled my pants down, she started working on my cock, which was already standing tall. This was a side effect of my Sexual Stamina skill. My dick can stay awake as long as there were sexual thoughts in my mind. It was so troublesome when I was standing in public. With my INT, it is not a problem though because I can control my mind better and not let my brain release hormones that cause arousal when not needed. It would be an embarrassment if the arousal happens while in public. Ang directly swallowed my dick and started her work, which I say she is very good at. She made me climax in five minutes, which I say should be the best among humans. Inari could make me climax in two minutes but because of Sexual Stamina and better control over my brain and hormonal secretions, my dick would stand tall till I say not to. She once again started to use her mouth on my dick, and I climaxed again in five minutes but my dick stood tall. Ang started to work again and again, not epting the defeat and I took won''t ept defeat, something that would cause a lot of trouble. Sighing softly I spoke, "Ang try other holes to sate my cock". She gave me a look and then nodded. She stripped herself without any help, which attracted my hands to the body that was glistening with sweat. Before I could do anything, she pushed me down and ced herself on the top of my dick. She slowly pushed my dick into her vagina, which looked as if it was hurting her. ''This isn''t her first time, is it?'' I wondered. Only a few secondster did I confirm that it is indeed her first time. This was based on the blood that came from her vagina onto my dick. I wonder why she has never fucked anyone. This world may look like it follows many old customs but that wouldn''t always be the case. It matters not. I am lucky that I am her one and only sexual partner. There would be no future sexual partners. She moved up and down my dick with all her energy, while my hands grabbed and squeezed her boobs. This was the only work I had to do, in addition to keeping my dick straight. "I aming", I warned her before I climaxed. Thoughing inside would feel good, I am not looking to be a parent at this time. I am still young, even when considered ording to Earth norms. It is why I avoideding inside Inari every time we had sex. Ang pulled away as I warned her. there is no way that she wants to be a mother at this stage either. As before, Ang had to work again on my dick more than once. After a few times, she fell on the floor, breathing heavily trying to catch breath. Battling my dick was a strenuous work. It needs a lot of stamina. As an awakened, she was able to work until now or else she would have lost the battle long ago. "Now it''s my turn", I dered as I turned her over. Though she used two of her holes, there was still one more, which I know thatdies wouldn''t let guys enter it but the greatest pleasure a guy could have was when he could use this hole or at least that was the case for me. When I flipped her over she understood what I was trying to do and tried to push me away, which only earned a few ps on her ass. She moaned in pleasure, which made me p a few more times. Once I was satisfied, I pulled her ass towards me, while I stood on my knees. This is the best position while having sex. Of course, I heard that there are a lot of positions that are better than that but I didn''t know how to implement them. As her ass came near, my dick entered her hole immediately. No mercy for the enemy. We battled till dark before I had to stop. I could go on but disappearing for too long would cause others to look for us. So we had to separate and leave, for now. --- It happened two days ago and we acted as if nothing happened. It would not be pleasant for Ang if anyone finds that she started to have a rtionship with a student. This is not Earth. The rules here are different. The problem would be whether she is partial to me or treats all students the same. Of course, no teacher would treat every student the same but on the surface, it has to look like they were treating everyone the same. The talented would get the best and as long as you prove yourself talented enough, you would get the best of resources. That may not be the case if she was involved with me, though that was not the case. She trained me because she saw the potential and of course, I always took the top spot of the year. So of course I would get the major share of the resources but not everyone might see that way. Some people were born to cause chaos and couldn''t see if others were happy or if there was peace. Anyway, I didn''t want to risk her job, so we acted as if nothing happened. After the exam, I directly left the academy and returned home. Chapter 158 My return to home and plans for next Chapter 158 My return to home and ns for next Year two is officially done. I am the top-ranked as usual and the only benefit that it gives is the points that would be awarded to me as soon as Year Three starts. With these points, I can get resources cheaper than I would be if I were outside. This is whypleting the missions issued by the academy or by a third party through the academy is essential. After the exam was done, I returned home. When I returned I heard some good news. My father was able to eliminate some traitors from the family but the Elders still were the Elders. The third elder was pretty cautious. Even with the device that I got from the Cosmic Market, I could only read bits of information. The evidence rted to crimes was not uncovered. From what my father said, the elders seemed wisened up when the purging started. They are not blind, nor are they stupid. They should have seen what was happening in the family and should have guessed that my father was able to obtain evidence regarding the crimes of many family members. Many of them were allies of these elders. They probably destroyed whatever evidence that existed. Since using the clues that I provided my father failed to obtain any information regarding those assholes, those assholes are still alive but from what my father said, they were lying low. With the recent elimination of traitors, my father''s reputation in the family soared. Unless he does something drastic that could harm our family, there should be minimum to no opposition to him. This is a great opportunity for him, and also for the one thates next after him. My elder sister Eritrea had decided that she wouldn''t be the Viscount after my father, so it is most likely that my brother would be the next viscount but he has been away from the family, same as Eritrea. I hope that idiot would not have any ideas about adventuring or something. The chances of me bing the Viscount have increased after my sister decided not and if the other three also decide not to inherit then the position would be ced on me, which I am not interested in. Anyway, there was another good news that my family shared with me. My father didn''t say that when he met me in the office to tell me about the situation of family members. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om At dinner, my mother was the one who shared the news. My mother sessfully reached Tier-7 and my father reached Tier-6. They thought that it would take years when they reached the peak of their previous ranks but the promotion missions were easy. My mother got a family mission, to make my Sister''s Wedding as best as possible. Father''s mission also fell into the same category but his was to eliminate as much filth as possible from the family. Both of thempleted and promoted in thest semester while I was away. The missions they got were weird but they were better than many other missions that actually fall into the weird category. I didn''t think much about it. After having dinner, I returned to my room. --- Now that year two is done, what to do for the next three years? This is a big question in my mind but at present, I can only say what I could do for the next month, and that was practising the Breathing technique with all my strength. Skill level improvements can wait for some time. After year three starts, I will take some missions and leave the academy. While doing that I should also look for the secret realms. I now severelyck resources and am in need of a lot of resources. Father promised that since I provided a lot of evidence and was in a way the reason why the family was cleansed of all the filth, he would give some of the seized resources from those traitors. Though when those woulde to my pocket I have no idea. I hope that he can send them to me by next morning at thetest. To improve my level fast, I need the resources that can improve my Dragon Blood Evolution skill. Even without its improvement, I can move the Rank level by a lot but with its improvement, the levels that I would gain would be higher in the same amount of time. For the night, I should enter the secret realm that I have ess to (the one that I entered in the first year). There should be first years who should have entered the secret realm by now, but I have no reason to cross paths with them. My reason was to enter the core area and collect a few resources. Back then I didn''t collect all the resources that were avable in the core. I will keep out of the Inner area, as there are high chances of some idiots being greedy and idiots, thinking that they can easily faze through the monsters in the secret realm. If they see me, it would be problematic. I can''t just kill people because they saw me in the secret realm. I am not that evil, but the fact that I entered the secret realm should be a secret no matter what. If otherse to know about this, then I would be under extreme scrutiny. The resources that I could gather from the core of the secret realm may support me for a month or so. After that, I need a source of resources and that shouldn''t cost me, as my pockets are almost empty. Except for the space ring and some more essories, I don''t possess any items in my hand that would be considered worthwhile. These are some things that can''t be brought easily and are considered as prestige. Though I have no use of the space ring and could sell that away, it would hurt the family name. Space rings are for nobles and the rich. If they couldn''t afford one then there would be no difference between them and the poor. Though these ideas are not good ones, there is nothing one can do to eliminate such problems. When one is solved, another one will rise. As I said before, I am not a saint. What I should and would concentrate on is me and my family. Others matter not to me. --- The one month of holidays disappeared as if there were none at all from the start. In this one month, I was able to improve by five levels in Tier-5. This was not just because of the Breathing Technique but also because of killing a lot of monsters in the core area. At Tier-5, every level would give me +62,500,000,000 HP/MP and +6,250,000,000 INT. HP=>5*3,125,000,000 = 15,625,000,000 MP=>5*3,125,000,000 = 15,625,000,000 INT=>5*312,500,000 = 1562,500,000 This is the total gains in attributes. My bloodline''s purity improved by 2% and the Dragon Blood Evolution skill improved by two levels. These caused a small improvement in STR and END. "Status" -- Secondary ss: Soul Arbiter (Unique) Name: Magnus Frostwolf Age: 17 Titles: Son of Viscount; Great yer; Hidden Smiden; Dungeon Conqueror; Primary ss: Draconic Warlock Secondary ss: Soul Arbiter (Unique) Affinity: Shadow, Blood, Space Bloodline: ck Dragon (10% Purity) >> (12% Purity) Technique: ck Dragon Essence Breathing Physique: Devourer Physique (EX) Talent: Ritualistic Summoning (EX) Trait: Silk Smooth Skin(A bit Improved); Sleepy; Aurum Skin; Sexy Smile; Rank: Tier-5 Level: 25 >> 30 Health Points (HP): 87,691,328,117 >> 103,316,328,117 Strength (STR): 200,800 (+100%) >> 203,000 (+100%) Endurance (END): 240,100 (+100%) >> 241,000 (+100%) Dexterity (DEX): 1,579 Agility (AGI): 198,800 (+100%) Intelligence (INT): 8,450,256,200 >> 10,012,756,200 Magic Power (MP): 90,880,105,300 >> 106,505,105,300 Soul Energy: 105,500 (+200%) Charm: 3,009 ss Skills: Shadow Bolt; Blood Dominance; Draconic Magic; Shadow Curse; Blood Heal; Shadow Shift; Blood Lock; Draconic Pressure; Shadow Merge; Blood Drain; Soul Judge; Soul Prison; Soul Container; Nether mes; Shadow control; Blood Boil; Shadow Clone; Blood Clone; Space sh; Soul de; Soul Ascension; Soul Avatar; Special Skills: Rank Booster; Status Disguise; Refined Skills: Shadow Bolt Volley Lvl. 21; Blood Drain Field Lvl. 3; Skills: Evade Lvl. 20; Dodge Lvl. 20; Sprint Lvl. 20; Alertness Lvl. 15; Devour Lvl. 9; Fusion Lvl. 20; Split Lvl. 20; Demon Gaze Lvl. 5; Strengthen Lvl. 20; Tag & Track Lvl. 4; Night Vision Lvl. 13; Spatial Storage Lvl. 10; Mind Control Lvl. 9; Mind Probe Lvl. 9; Mind Defence Lvl. 1; Dragon Blood Evolution Lvl. 12; Scent Recognition Lvl. 10; Sexual Stamina Lvl. 6; Perception Lvl. 20; Pet World Lvl. 3; Parry Lvl.11; Resistances: Physical Resistance Lvl. 22; Light Resistance Lvl. 5; Poison Resistance Lvl. 4; Magic Resistance (Non-Attribute) Lvl. 10; Space Resistance Lvl. 7; Fire Resistance Lv. 11; Water Resistance Lvl. 10; Mind Resistance Lvl. 1; Wind Resistance Lvl. 8; Lightning Resistance Lvl. 6; Weapon Arts: Advanced Staff Arts Lvl. 3; Intermediate Movement Arts Lvl. 6; Intermediate Hand Combat Arts Lvl. 3; -- Except for the mentioned changes, there were no improvements at all. It doesn''t matter. I should reach peak tier-5 as soon as possible. Other things can be done after reaching that and take the promotion mission, in the presence of others. It would be weird if I couldn''tplete a Tier-2 promotion mission for too long. After taking the Tier-6 promotion mission, I would turn around to improve my skill levels again. --- Now it is time for me to return to the academy and start my third year. Chapter 159 My first mission from the academy (1) Chapter 159 My first mission from the academy (1) I returned to the academy and got the keys to my new quarters. As it was in the second year, the third year quarters are away from the first two years. The quarters are better amodated whenpared to the quarters I was assigned in the first or second year. The living conditions here are better too, but too bad that I have to spend most of the time away from the academy doing missions. I need toplete as many missions as possible or take on missions that can give me a lot of points so that I can exchange them for a lot of rare resources that are useful to improve my Dragon Blood Evolution skill, thereby improving the purity of my ck Dragon Bloodline. I am still seventy levels away from reaching the peak of Tier-5. I need to reach that as soon as possible, so as not to attract any prying eyes. Even if it is not for that, resources are needed to improve myself faster in other aspects like skills and attributes. As I said long before, there are resources that can improve attribute values without the need to increase one''s rank. These are rare and not easily avable. Training improves skill levels but no matter how strong one is, there is a limit one can endure during training. How to ovee this? Of course, it is through potions that mana and stamina that were burned can be recovered. There are many potions that could do it, and theye in all qualities. The highest quality would have less side effects and have the best benefits in less time. These would be costly and can''t be purchased easily. It is only possible for academies and the military. The military is the defender of the nation. So there is no suspense that they would have ess to the best quality resources. Academies are where the future pirs of the nation grow. To have a bright future, these pirs are to be protected and the reason why it is easy for one to obtain rare resources in the academies whenpared to the outside market. So unless I find a source that can constantly supply me with resources, the academy is the only way that I could get my hands on many of the rare resources. There is the cosmic market but there gold has no value. Nothing could be brought with gold. There is only the barter system avable there. though items are usually sold and bought using credits, unless you sell an item there, there is no other way to get the credits. Wait a minute. Where do these creditse from? When this market first opened, there should be no items to buy using credits, no matter who was willing to buy. So the first credits should havee from the administrator. Whatever he paid should have been the price of an item. Hmm, it looks like the administrator must have gained a lot of resources for free, or maybe I should say that they are gaining instead of saying gained. Well, I can''t say that they were free, as this person has provided many to break through the restraints that the world has. Anyone who can ess this market can buy items that are not native to their world or are rare in their world but are cheap in other worlds. This was the greatest treasure that anybody could get their hands on. If the existence of such a thing was leaked then it means war. I mean this tool can help them exchange resources from other worlds. From the time I got my hands on this to now,can see that the items have increased and so do the worlds that are essible. The cosmic market guide has said that not everyone can use the market, even if they get their hands on it. There are only a few that could do it. This makes the war of this treasure less likely but that also means if the holder dies, the resources from that world would disappear too, unless a new holder who can ess the market appears. There was another problem. If by chance any idiot leaks that not everyone can ess it, instead of killing the greedy ones would definitely enve the person who can ess this market. It would be worse than death. Though this is a treasure, I say that this is a disaster. So I am not going to be that idiot who spilled the secret. --- When I returned to the academy and collected the keys to my quarters, they provided a small guidebook. This was given to all third-year students. This was a guidebook for the third years, who want to go out andplete missions, that were avable in the academy. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om There were a lot of sses that were held on this topst semester but the academies love talented students to live and reach greater heights, not to die because of a clumsy mistake. No matter how many guidelines were provided, there were always idiots who believed that they were invincible and died at the hands of monsters or other people which could have been easily avoided. Anyway, it has nothing to do with me. Let''s rest for the night and wake up early so that there would be fewer students present in the mission hall. I don''t like wasting time by standing in line for long, and this is the only way to avoid that. Coming inte means that I have to waste more time in the queue. So as soon as I entered the quarters, I ate the food that my mom packed up for me. Then I went to bed to rest. To take up the mission, I need to be in my best state. Training or meditation is the not best way to rx a body. I can think about thoseter. --- Next Day... It''s time for me to select a mission. The teachers had advised us to form groups while taking on the missions. For third years it was notpulsory to take on missions outside the academy but those are the only ways for one to gain experience and points. When I say experience, I don''t mean EXP required to upgrade ranks, rather I am speaking about life experience. Staying in the academy might sound nice and safe but living in a world like this, it is best to learn how to live sooner rather thanter. It''s not just this world but it is important to learn how to live and survive, no matter what world you live in. I mean, everyone has to learn how to act, depending on the situation. If not the consequences would be frightful. The missions are like introductions to what life would be like after bing an adult. Everything that you learn will be helpfulter in life, whether to rule your territory or to work as a soldier or mercenary. After the academy, I have no idea what to do exactly. There was an idea of bing a merchant but that is not easy. There is a profession known as Merchant and the skills they have would make them spend less to buy an item while they can sell for a profit. Of course with how rare the awakeners are, Merchant professional awakeners are not that many. So most of the merchants aremoners or ones who are too old to go out and hunt. I should check what happens in and around the world by the end of the academy. It would make my decision for the future easy. Anyway, in the morning I woke up, freshened up, had my breakfast and then went straight to the mission hall. If possible I would like to go and meet Ang but that has to wait for now. --- Mission Hall... The mission hall was buzzing with students even though it was still early in the morning. I thoughting early would give me a chance of taking missions easily but that doesn''t look like a choice now. Most of these students are probably from the fourth and fifth years. Making my way through the crowd, I reached the mission board that was specifically for third-year students. The academy has the idea that not everyone was born to be adventurous but to survive in this harsh world, one has to bebat-ready, even if they are notbat-oriented professionals. I don''t need to tell about what thebat professionals had to do separately. There are a lot of missions that were separately ced for the third-year students. These are mostly in the capital or around the capital. The academy knows that the third years who have no experience would probably fail if the missions are too difficult or far away. So most of the missions that were near the capital belongs to the third years as long as these missions were of not much importance. I neared the mission board and started to sweep through the missions. What I want is a mission that can give me a lot of points. The threat would be minimal for me by default as these missions would require Tier-2 at the highest. I am Tier-5, so there is no need to worry about that. Chapter 160: My first mission from the academy (2) Ah, I believe this one would be the best mission for me as a newbie. There are other missions but they are missions that would take a team toplete. If I try to take on such a mission, everyone here would think that I am arrogant or something along the lines. Moreover, it''s not like there are a few students here, there are too many. I will think about these missionster. Let''s register this mission first. -- Mission: Burry has be rampant in the capital''s South Dorsk district. The city guards were overwhelmed due to the recent small monster tide a few kilometres away from the capital, which destroyed three viges and a small town. Find the burrs and report them to the City Guard station or if possible take them down. Time Limit: One month Rewards: You''ll be rewarded points based on how the mission goes. -- The mission is simple. I need to find the thieves who were responsible for the disappearance of a lot of valuables from their original location. The rewards that I may earn from thepletion may differ it seems. If I can catch them, then the points that I gain should be much higher than if I just pass on the information to the city guard. Well, there should or if the rewards are the same for every scenario, then no one would be motivated to catch them even if they have the strength to do so. Rewards are what motivate people to work hard and toplete tasks properly. If the rewards werecking or stayed the same no matter how hard you work, then even the ones that usually work hard would be tempted to stop working andze around like others. This would not be beneficial to the society, rather it could degrade the society. This was something that the academy knew very well. So there were no definitive rewards but the rewards are based on how the mission goes. It is a good way to make the strong ones take action. These battles would help in the future if they have to fight against bandits or an enemy nation''s army. Though it looks like the nations are at peace they are not. There are border shes every now and then. Though the shes remain small, there are fatalities every once in a while. No one can say whether that could stay the same in a few years. The reason every nation would fight each other is for only one reason, resources. If a poor nation suddenly finds a high-level dungeon or a secret realm or a mine that can provide tens of thousands of tons of any magic metal, then they should be prepared to be invaded. There are only two ways to protect themselves. One was to hide the recent findings of these resources. In this way, if others don''t know about the existence then there would be no invasion but it is quite difficult to keep such a thing secret for long. No matter how high the security is, anyone can slip up the secret either in sleep or when they are intoxicated or due to simple greed. It would be a huge disaster. The only other way to survive was to bend their knee to someone powerful and be their vassal. In this way, you have to give away some resources to this empire or something that you became a vassal and can keep some for yourselves. The quota would depend on the resources and also the empire''s policies towards the new territories. There are many other factors that decide that. So what I am saying is that, if a new resource point was found in one of the kingdoms, then the other nations surrounding them would definitely invade them. So one should be prepared for attacks from both monsters and humans. --- "Hello, I am here to register a mission", I approached the window, where mission registrations would happen. The girl smiled at me, "Hello, Student ID and the Mission Pamphlet", she asked. The mission pamphlet would be only one and it has to be taken from the mission board to get registered. If not, someone else can register and it would be theirs. Even if youplete the mission, the rewards will be issued to the one under whom the mission was registered. Of course, there are repetitive missions, which don''t need to be registered. These include monster parts, herbs and other items that people would stumble upon in the wilds. These types of missions don''t need registration but mission materials can be submitted directly at the missionpletion counters. They would just hand you the mission rewards but the mission would remain on the board for others to take it as well. Not all herb collection missions are repetitive. There are one-time missions that require some herbs that were useful to create something one time or probably because they are rare and wanted to collect them beforehand for a rainy day. I handed her my student ID and the pamphlet which had the mission printed on it. As soon as I decided, I tore it from the board. This is so that it belongs to me and others have to select something else. She took a look at my ID and the mission, "Are you the only one?" she asked. "Yes", I replied. I am not interested in forming teams with anyone. I have way too may secrets and having teammates means one or two of these secrets would be revealed in time and maybe even all of my secrets. This would be disastrous for me. I don''t need to be this strict once I reach Tier-7 but even at that rank, if all my secrets were revealed, there would be many greedy ones that covet what I have. I could be ab rat, as my body holds too many secrets. There is also the cosmic market, which should be kept a secret no matter what. Even if my talents are known by outsiders, it wouldn''t be problem as long as you are strong. Whoever wanted to get their hands on me would try underhanded methods but once the secret of the cosmic market was known to others, then everyone would want such a treasure in their hands rather than in other one''s hands. So no teammates for now. It is also why I didn''t socialize with others that much. Another reason was that most of these idiots would lose their lives on missions or after graduating from the academy. "Okay, it''s done", the girl handed my ID back, "You have a month toplete the mission and submit it to the city guard. After one month, it would automatically regarded as a failure, and you can''t take this mission again. However, this is an investigation mission. So if you can show that you made huge progress, you can get an extension depending on what you have uncovered", she said. I nodded, said "Thank you", and went on my way. This was already said duringst semester and it was also mentioned in the guidebook that was supplied when we returned for the third year and went to collect the keys for the quarters where I had to stay. --- I reached the capital city in minutes. After entering the capital, I went to the city guard''s post. Though I took the mission, the details of the mission are still with the city guard. They may have posted the mission but that doesnot mean that they wanted everyone to know the details. From what my sibling said about such investigative missions, most of the details had to be learned on our own. The guards would have the statements from the victims and whatever they were able to uncover when they searched the residences to find any trials left by the thieves. It was already mentioned in the mission that the guards were busy dealing with the recent monster tide that happened nearby. They wouldn''t have focused whatever strength they had on thefts. The capital is a veryrge city with a huge poption. There are many crimes that ur every day within the city limit. There is no way that they can manage everything. Most of the time the tasks would be handed over to the adventurers, mercenaries or students from the Royal Academy. Since they are busy, I can''t depend on what they have uncovered. After getting the files, what I would get is the Initial point from where I have to start my investigation from. Based on what they did, I should try other things but I shouldn''t. I should verify whether the results obtained by them were true. Though they are the city guards, they are still humans and prone to make mistakes. So I should verify the findings before I could go and try other ways to see if there would be any results. Many times, it was human errors that made people not see results no matter how much they tried to. Oh, the city guard station is here. Let''s go and meet the person who is incharge of the missions. Chapter 161: Completing my first mission (1) It didn''t take long for the city guards to procure the data that they had collected on the burries, which was not a lot. It seemed that they were truly busy with other affairs. The only details provided were the statements from the victims and what the guards observed on the premises of the victim''s residencies. They didn''t follow much after that. They had other priorities rather than thinking about some low-ss thieves. The district where these happened is a neighbourhood of the middle ss. It means that the items stolen were not costly and moreover, the victims don''t have that much influence to make the city guards turn their eyes to these crimes. If the thefts had happened in the houses of someone influential, then the city guard would move their asses to find the culprits. Everyone thinks that this is unfair. I would say to them that life by itself is unfair and nothing could be done about that. The rich and influential are the highest taxpayers in any kingdom or empire. They pay a lot of money to the kingdom as taxes. The economy of a nation would depend on these rich and influential people. So, the hurdles to them are the nation''s hurdles. No nation would like something to hinder the person who can stimte their economy and bring wealth to their nation. All their problems would be solved as quickly as possible. If such a person was not satisfied with the kingdom, they could leave and settle down in various kingdoms that would wee them with open hands. Of course, the greeting would purely depend on the benefits that the person can bring to their kingdom. This is why it is not easy formoners to move to other kingdoms easily. Sure they can bring hugebour but they are not what a kingdom or empirecks. What theyck are the awakeners. There are other reasons why no nation would allowmoners to enter their nations easily, at arge scale. Too much influx of poption means there would more chances for the spies to slip in through security and enter their nation. Sure there are no border walls but cities and towns would have walls. Even the viges would be surrounded by wooden walls, though they won''t do shit if some awakener or a monster attacks the vige it can stop normal animals from attacking the vige people. It was not easy to break through into cities and towns as there would be sentries and walls keeping the spies away. Of course, it''s not foolproof and a few would enter the habitats. They would cultivate some spies from the locals promising them various benefits. This was the normal procedure. Entering the vige would be much more difficult. I am not saying that their security would be high but vigesmonly have a few hundred to thousand people. Everyone would know everyone there. So if an outsider appears, then it would be easily registered in their minds. Moreover, infiltrating viges is not of much use. They are not much of a target, as there would be nothing of importance in a vige. The only thing the enemy nations could do was nt a spy in a vige and have a child with the locals. They can turn the child that they bear into a spy but the chances of them happening are 50-50. Moreover, there is a chance that they will be caught, the longer they stay. So operations like these are not viable for a world like this or at least that was what I was told. Of course, since it involves spies, there would be a lot of lies involved too. They could be just doing that. So I can''t say for sure but I am sure that vigers know everyone in the vige and a new guy would definitely get reported by the vige chief to the nearby town or city authorities. Only once they verify would the neer would be weed into their vige. This is not an Isekai story where the MC would visit a vige near his spawning spot and the vigers would eagerly wee him into their houses unless it was a child. No one would have their defences up against a child. I don''t think Glessaria or the nearby kingdoms would use such a tactic. I think that because I believe Glessaria is not that corrupt or immoral to so do. I am also not naive to believe that no nation in this world wouldn''t opt for such a strategy. There are many sick bastards who would do such a thing in this world. Lucky for me I was born in a kingdom that was far away from such nations. Truth to be said, though there are shes every now and then which cause soldiers to lose their lives almost every day, Glessaria and its surrounding nations are far better than some nations like Spear Kingdom, which was known for its barbaric ways. They would make children who are not even ten, have to kill other people, not monsters. These people would probably be war prisoners or criminals caught by the kingdom. They say that it would build the children''s character but they are assholes who are traumatizing the innocent minds. Even in my family which was considered a bit barbaric by the other nobles, we go out adventuring at the age of fourteen, just before attending the academy. Of course, it now is voluntary but without this adventuring, the resources that would be tilted towards you would be minimal and would not be enough for long. So most would choose to go on the adventure. --- Anyway, after getting the information from the City guard, I went to check the first crime scene, at least ording to the records. Not every crime that happens would be reported. Either the victim was hiding something that he didn''t want to be found about or the crime was so small that the victim didn''t bother toin as he should have felt that the guards would use their time catching a thief for such a small amount. I don''t know if such a person(s) exists but I believe so. It can only be found after I can create a pattern in which the thefts were happening. Nothing happens randomly. There is always a pattern in that randomness. Everything people do has a reason behind that. people onlybel something as random if they can''t find the pattern or the reason behind that, not because there was no reason or pattern in which the vents are happening. I just have to find that pattern, and catching the thief or thieves behind these burries would be a piece of cake. Now, let''s go see our first victim and see what he has to tell me about the theft. As I said, the guards are not diligent about these little crimes that happen in the not-so-important district of the capital. I should just assume that everything that was recorded in the file is false and have to do my own research and see what happened and what to do after that. There are ten thefts, one happened just two days ago. I should record the statements from the victims as soon as possible and solve this or else there might be an eleventh theft and if that happens while I was here, that might not look good and the city guards may even pressure me to close the case as soon as possible. I should be on my way to the victim''s house instead of thinking useless things. --- I approached the first victim''s house and knocked on the door. There was no doorbell, so knocking on the door was the only way. "Hello, Mr. Shawn?" I asked the young man who opened the door. The young man nodded, "Yes, who are you?" "I am Magnus, as student from the Royal Academy. I took on the mission that city guard posted about the burries", I told him. I skipped my family name, as it is not good to announce your family name everywhere you go, especially when one is on an investigation. If the thieves learned that some nobles were involved, they might hide in their burrows and would nevere out. It would be problematic if that happens. I would defiantely fail to catch them if they disappeared from the capital or moved to another district. The districts in the capital upyrge areas, especially the rich areas. I can''t track them easily if the area of their movement increases. I need to keep it to a minimal size. "Of course they did", Shawn blew up a little, "Sorry, I should be happy that they at least appointed someone to deal with these burries and it is not your fault", he apologized for the outburst. "It''s okay", I said. I understand their frustration. The city guards were supposed to protect them but there is not much protection and now the issue of catching a thief was given to someone who has yet to graduate from the academy. "What do you want to know?" he asked. "I want to know..." Chapter 162: Completing my first mission (2) I recorded everything that the young man said to me and took a look around his residence, with his permission of course. I wanted to see how the thief broke into the house. After that, I nced around the neighbourhood. There are only two reasons for theft to happen. One the house held something valuable that tempted the thief or the thief saw that the house was an easy mark. Of course, there is another reason. the thief hates the person and tole the items to make the owner suffer but if that was the reason then only one person would be a victim or did something change? I need to find that out by myself. In a neighbourhood such as this, having a valuable in their possession is likely impossible. Of course, they could have gotten it recently and before it was sold, the thief appeared. The problem with that was that there were no records of anything pricey stolen from among the items the victims had told the city guard. Did they hide the information about such an item? There is a chance that the victim wanted to retrieve it by themselves. The item probably is a stolen item or they were afraid that someone would swallow it if they knew such a costly item was among the stolen. There is also a chance that the victim has nevere forward about the theft in the first ce. If that''s the case, the person I just interviewed might not be the first victim. Well, I don''t if that is the case. As long as I follow wherever my investigation leads, I think might find the answers. After observing the neighbourhood, I recorded everything that I observed and left. Next, I went to the other victims. There are still nine more left to observe. --- It took four days to observe and record every theft that happened, which shares simrities with the first theft. In these four days, there were other thefts that happened in this district but only these ten bored simrities. It is the reason why the city guard believed that these thefts were done by the same person. I too believe it so after taking a look at the crime scenes and talking with the victims something started to bother me from the start and it became more prominent as I was examining the fifth victim and his residency. What it was I had no idea at that time. So I decided to take a rest for the evening and think about it the next morning. When the morning arrived, a surprise awaited me. Another burry happened and it can be seen that the thief was the same as before. This was because this time he left a clue for me, my name on the walls of the victim. Asshole. He thought that he was clever by writing my name on the walls. It was like telling the city guards that they couldn''t find him no matter who they brought in because he had eyes on them. Eyes on them?...NO. There is no way that a small-time thief or thieves would have their eyes on the city guard. Even if they stayed outside the station, there was no way that they could find out what was happening inside the station. It means that they learned my name and my purpose outside of those walls. The only way that could have happened was when I visited the victims. Wait a minute...it can''t be right? I need to check this out before I can tell the city guards anything and moreover, I need toe up with a n. Now that the thief has made a mockery of me, then the pressure on me would increase from this moment. I need to catch this bastard if I want to escape the pressure. Moreover, if I canplete the mission quickly, I can do another mission or use the saved time to fully invest in improving my Rank level. I already wasted four days on this simple mission. I need to wrap this up within three days. I can use the remaining three weeks to improve my level, which is paramount. --- Three Days Later...At Night... "Damn it. He ran away", the city guard cursed. I found the pattern in which the thief picked the houses to loot. Tonight it was supposed to be a trap but that didn''t work. After I identified the pattern, I went to the city guard station with an idea but they were too busy and the manpower was too low. They only gave a single guard for me. I wouldn''t need the help of the city guard but in the city, I can''t use my full speed or my skills easily. So I decided to use the city guard and apprehend the thief or thieves with their help but that failed. They could only allocate a single person for the work and that created a lot of gaps in the trap and the thief easily escaped but that doesn''t matter. All I wanted was to see if what I found was true. My Scent Recognition skill picked up some clues that the city guard didn''t at thetest crime scene. The issue was that I didn''t have enough evidence to prove that as my skill can''t be used as evidence of that. So a trap was needed. Now though the thief escaped, he would lead me to the evidence. If I am right, he would definitely destroy all the evidence that can send him to prison. I already Tagged him and Tracking is the only part that remained for me. "No, he didn''t", I chucked at the city guard and disappeared in the direction that the thief escaped to. --- City Slum Area...An abandoned house... "Fuck, Fuck, Fuck", the young man cursed, while trying to catch his breath. "If I was a secondte that brat would have caught me and everything would have been for naught. I shouldn''t have given into greed and taunted that school brat. What they say is true. It''s better to avoid those academy brats", the young man cursed out loudly, knowing that no one would be around "You are right at least about that", a voice chuckles from the shadows. "Who?" the young man shivered knowing that he was not alone. A boy who is in his teens walked out of the shadows pping his hands and with a smile on his face. The young man recognized who the neer was, but what he didn''t understand was how he was here. "Ah, Mr. Magnus, Nice to finally meet you and that too in a ce like this. You know it would be dangerous to wander in ces like this at this time", the man said, hoping that Magnus wouldn''t recognize him. Magnus pped again, and said, "I say Four out of Five". "I don''t understand", the young man said. "Give it up. Your gig is up, Mr. Shawn", Magnus smiled, a smile that said that you are done for without any chance of escape. Seeing that he was caught and there was no escape, he tried to attack Magnus but Magnus already reached tier-5 and Shawn stopped at Tier-1. It was easy for Magnus to beat him down in seconds. Magnus recovered the evidence needed to prove that Shawn was the thief from the abandoned house. Shawn was very intelligent. He didn''t take a direct line to here but made the roundabout way. he wanted to shake off any tails but what he didn''t know was Magnus was always beside him but Shawn had no idea at all about his presence. After that, Magnus presented Shawn and the evidence at the City Guard station. once everything was checked, they gave him the slip that said the mission waspleted. --- I never thought Shawn, the first victim was the thief himself. Who would have thought that? Even I didn''t think of that possibility when I started the investigation. Many ideas started to appear in my mind but I never thought the thief portrayed himself as a victim of a theft and then proceeded to steal items from others. It is an excellent way to take yourself off the suspect list. It only works if he knew one of the victims and could possibly have a motive against them. By being the first victim, he cleared himself of any suspicion that would rise in the future. This was because he had prior connections with one of the victims, Mr. Shrof, who was the fifth victim. Shawn and Shrof were small-time business partners. Shrof came into a small inheritance recently and Shawn wanted him to invest that into their business but Shrof rejected it. This was because Shrof understood the business better. Never put all your eggs in the same basket. Moreover, he had other costs that needed that inheritance. So he rejected Shawn''s idea. The problem was that the business didn''t show much of a profit and Shawn had debts to clear. He saw that the inheritance was the only way to clear his debts. Anyway, now that was done, it''s time to return to the academy and collect my points. Chapter 163: Completing my first mission (3) I returned to the academy swiftly after that. While Ipleted the work at night, it took till morning to verify whether Shawn was the culprit or not. Even though there I was handing them the stolen items, though some were missing from his cache, what remained should be more than enough to say that Shawn was the thief. Even with all the evidence I procured and presented, they had the rule to re-verify the evidence. Unlike the investigation, it wouldn''t take too much time, especially when there was a confession from the culprit himself. Yeah, I recorded the conversation that we had at the abandoned house. To be exact, I started recording the moment that thief appeared before me and the city guard, where we hadid out a trap for him. It has everything that the city guard needed to book him. Normally they should thought, How was I able to track him? That was not their concern, as long as they had all the evidence. Ragos is unlike Earth where one needs to show how they got the proof of the crime as long as it is genuine. In Ragos, there is something called court. Unless you are a noble and are dealing with Internal family affairs, courts are where the culprits are prosecuted. This was established so that the nobles wouldn''t outright killmoners, though it was still prevalent as no one would be willing to collect the evidence ore out as a witness for the crimes of nobles onmoners. So courts became the ce where crimes rted solely tomoners were dealt with. Though Shawn is awakened, he stopped at Tier-1 and never reached Tier-2 rank. So he was considered a low-ss citizen, which is not much different frommoners who haven''t awakened. Only Tier-2 and above have certain privileges that others don''t. Since the crimes associated with the culprit were all thefts, the city guard had to send them to the court where the judges would decide what punishment would fit the crimes. Greed leads to crimes but he was lucky and had a brain, though it didn''t work perfectly well. If it did, then he wouldn''t have challenged me by writing my name on the walls of a victim''s house. The reason why I said that this fool has a brain was because, even though he was greedy, he didn''t resort to killing his business partner. If he had done that, the punishment would definitely be a lot more severe than it would be once he was presented in court. Lucky for him, he only did robberies, but hemitted ten of them and also falsified a crime. I don''t think that he could get out of this mess easily. Anyway, it has nothing to do with me. So I escaped from there as soon as I could after I got my Mission Aplished slip, which is the only thing that can be used to get my points forpleting the mission. --- It didn''t take long for me to reach the academy and once I reached the academy, I went straight to the mission hall where I received the mission a week ago. Unlike when I took the mission, this time I have to go to the mission submission orpletion counters. Only by registering there would one get the mission points. The city guard has posted the mission for the academy students. Not every mission would be outsourced nor would go to the academy. Since the mission was inside the capital and the guards were swamped, the mission went to the academy for a third-year student like me to solve. If it was to hunt some monster or a criminal who escaped, it would probably go to the guilds, where the adventurers would pick those up or that was what I was told. "Hello, I am here to submit my missionpletion", I spoke to the young student who was at the counter. "The missionpletion slip and your student ID, please", the boy at the counter asked and Iplied. He took a moment to check before he spoke again, "Everything is in order. Please check that your points were credited and here is your ID". I checked and there they were, "Yes the points were credited and Thank you", I said and disappeared from there. I already wasted quite some time on this mission. I should buy the materials I need and should seclude myself to improve my skill and bloodline but that would not be possible. This is not a cultivation novel, where a person would disappear for years trying to improve their cultivation. If the society where I am living was like that, then disappearing for a few months wouldn''t be a problem but it was not. I have to call my family every now and then. If not, the consequences would be severe. Though I don''t know what might happen I don''t intend to find out anyway. If I was away in the wilds hunting, then my mother would understand that there would be no signals but even then I may have to call in every two or three weeks at maximum. The main problem was that I was still in the third year. The missions that were allocated to us would be near the academy and the capital itself. So it wouldn''t take too long toplete the mission and return. I can''t go on a long journey for the missions. it was not allowed. the third year was like an intro into the outside world. There was no urgent need for soldiers at this moment. So we are allowed to grow in a safe environment in a constant path. It is not the same for every kingdom in this world. Many countries face constant threats from monsters and surrounding nations. There are also some racial wars ongoing in some kingdoms. There the kids are to grow quickly into adults, so that they would be ready for wars. I don''t know whether I should be happy that I was born in such a normal country or not. I should be happy, I suppose. Sure in a war-torn country, upgrading is paramount before anything else but those countries alsock families, families that were not broken. For me, they are more important. I can always find another way to get out of this problem. --- After I got the mission points, I immediately converted them into resources that can be easily traded on the cosmic market at high prices. There are many worlds connected through this. Not every world has the sameposition of resources. Suremon metals like Iron may be avable in abundance but certain magic metals that are abundant here would be scarce somewhere else. In addition to that, the herbs and magic fruits that grow here may not be avable on some other. So the best way to earn credits was to use the cheap items here that can sold for high prices. Only this way can I be able to afford the resources that are required for my Dragon Blood Evolution skill. The materials I needed for this skill improvement were to be associated with dragons in one way or another. This was why the resources I needed were rare and costly. In Ragos, it was almost impossible to get these resources without enough power and wealth. So, the cosmic market became my source for these materials. There are a few sellers who sell draconic materials. What I observed was that a few of these sellers, only have items that have something to do with dragons. They sell everything draconic from meat, skin, bones, and blood obtained from dragons or rted monsters to herbs, fruits etc... that were tainted by the dragon blood. There are a lot of materials but no matter the world theye from, they are pricey. So I can''t get too many. Moreover, thepetition for such rare resources was too much. These resources would be emptied within hours after they appear on the market. I wonder how they were able to supply so many draconic materials in a constant manner. To be able to supply like that, there should be an abundance of such materials. Are there too many dragons in their world? Are dragons like sheep or goats in their world? I have no idea and I don''t care if they were massacring them in order to gain wealth faster. Wherever that was happening, it''s not my world. Moreover, even if that was happening in this world, it has nothing to do with me. As I said before, I am not a Saint, who would worry about everyone. I would only care about the people I care about and no one else. This is my stand now and forever. Now, even though I have some materials, I don''t think it would be easy to reach peak Tier-5. I think that I should visit those secret realms whose portals are inactive. I hope that no one is currently upying them. Chapter 164: I gained a secret realm (1) Improving my rank levels is of utmost importance. I gained a few resources for that purpose but that was not enough to reach the stage that I have in my mind. I need more resources. Moreover, I can''t just depend on the resources. What I need is more than that. I need monsters to hunt. There are dungeons in the academy but to them, my rank is not high enough to enter certain dungeons. The monsters in the dungeons that I have ess to wouldn''t yield much EXP. The small amount of EXP that I can get here is not enough to gain levels at my current state. So what I need is to find another way to find to gain higher EXP. The only way is through high-level dungeons or secret realms. The problem was that those are not easily essible. All of the dungeons and secret realms are under the control of one organization or another. There is no way that they would allow outsiders to make use of these dungeons. Unless you join an organization or a family who controls the dungeon entering the dungeons for EXP would be nigh impossible. Of course, as long as there are benefits, such restrictions disappear in seconds. This had put a strain on the kingdom. So the five academies are formed. The young would have a chance to enter the academies and use the dungeons under their control. The academy is also like an organization. Only by bing a student can one have a chance of entering the dungeons under its control. The problem was that they wouldn''t allow free reign to the students. Only when they show that they have sufficient strength would they be allowed to enter the dungeons. This became a hindrance for me. I can''t show them my true rank and that means I can''t enter the high-level dungeons in the academy. I can only search for them in the wild but the missions at most lead out of the capital. There are no more dungeons around the capital that don''t have owners. Almost every piece ofnd was explored. The only reason why there are wilds around here is because they are a source of resources for the capital. If everything around was destroyed, it would make the capital the weakest ce in the kingdom and thereby, no one would want to settle around the capital. I don''t think that they were idiots to do that and they didn''t. The wilds and the monsters survived, which became the levelling area and source of ie for a lot of people. The capital remained the capital instead of a deserted ce. Another way of finding the monsters was the secret realms. These are rare whenpared to the dungeons. Finding them would depend solely on luck. Dungeons and Secret realms work differently. Dungeons have no restrictions on who can enter and who can''t. Unlike them, secret realms have restrictions on the ranks based on the ranks of the people. The entrance and exit of a dungeon would be avable all day long. After entering a dungeon, one has to find the exit to the dungeon in order to leave the dungeon. Secret realms work in a different manner. The entrance and exit portals only appear at a certain time. If you want to enter to enter or exit, it can only be during those times. If you enter a secret realm and don''t exit when the portal appears, then you will be stuck there until the next rotation. This made secret realms more dangerous than dungeons. There are a few secret realms that were conqueredpletely. They are considered safe, even after the exit portal disappears and you get stuck inside. Whenpared to the world, the density of the magical energy of the secret realms is so much more. This is why the owners would often use them as herb gardens. The growth of herbs in the secret realms would be faster whenpared to elsewhere. Of course, this can only be done if the secret realm ispletely under their control. The owners would send workers into the secret realm and they would stay for months inside the realm. They would return when the portal opens again for the new season and the new workers would take over their work. The secret realms are the major source of low-level herbs, but they could never cultivate high-level herbs. Though the herb would be of low or mid-levels, they bring huge returns. The high-level herbs may be costly but most can''t afford them. People depending on the low-level herbs are in high number. Even if there were no herb gardens, the carcasses that were obtained from the dungeons or the secret realms were very useful. It means that they earn a lot and that means the security of the dungeons and the secret realms would be very high. There would be no way to sneak either into dungeons or into the secret realms to hunt the monsters and gain EXP. This is a problem for me. --- The only way that remained for me to level up by hunting monsters was through the secret realms that are essible through the Nexus. There are ten portals but only one is active and the other nine are inactive. I didn''t activate them at that time because they need resources to activate and also I have no idea where they would lead to. If the portals led me to a secret realm that was already upied, then it would not be of any use to me. It only meant a waste of resources for me that I had to use in order to activate the portal. If the realms are already upied then they would fight me if they see someone trying to steal their resources. Even if I am stronger, I can''t fight them recklessly. If they see then that means that the world would learn that I could enter the secret realm without the need of the main entrance. This would cause a lot of problems. To make sure that my secret remains a secret can only be done by silencing the people who are present inside the secret realm. I may not be a good guy but I am not a bad guy. I don''t go on killing people wantonly. Even if I try to silence them, there is a chance that one or two might escape. Since the owners were rich, the overseers might have some protection talismans that could save them at critical moments. They would spread the news of my trespassing and what I did. So it''s best not to wander into secret realms that were upied. If I want to upgrade by hunting monsters, then I could only do that in the wild, which I can''t go to. There is another way which I was not so sure about. Now that method remains the only way to do so. --- After returning to my quarters, I entered the Nexus, where the portals to secret realms are present. I don''t what''s behind these portals. I know that they would take me to secret realms. The issue was that I didn''t know whether it was a fortune or a failure. With no other choice remaining, I decided to gamble. I chose a portal to activate from the nine that were inactive. At the moment I don''t have the resources that can activate the portal. All the resources that I have would be useful to improve my Dragon Blood Evolution skill and improve my Dragon Bloodline purity. As my bloodline purity increased, my breathing technique became better. It means that I can level up even without hunting monsters. Without immediate ess to higher-rank monsters to hunt, I could only depend on the breathing technique to improve my levels faster. Moreover, with its help and the promotion crystal in the Nexus, no one would ever truly find out what rank I have reached. It''s the best way to avoid obligations and gain loot from idiots who would foolishly challenge me. Anyway, let''s improve myself first. --- A few dayster... I was able to obtain all the resources required to activate the portal. I had to go through a lot of dungeons and through them, I amassed a lot of materials that can be useful for this venture. Once I had all the materials, I activated the portal. It remained the same as the first portal that leads to the secret realm which is partially controlled by the Royal Academy. This secret realm is partially under their control and so I can''t do much over there. Moreover, the ranks of the monsters there are way lower than my rank. So the EXP gained from hunting those monsters is pitiful. It means I wouldn''t be able to level up faster. This was why I was in dire need of a new secret realm for my EXP. To reach the peak of Tier-5, I need a lot of EXP. hope that I can reach the peak before the end of this semester. Anyway, hoping for a miracle, I stepped into the portal. Let''s find out what is behind this. Chapter 165: I gained a secret realm (2) I stepped into the portal hoping that it could lead me to a fortune. When I exited the portal, I was standing in what appeared to be a swamp. I directly entered a swamp. Luckily, I didn''t wear any expensive clothes when I entered the portal. I wore a simple adventure costume. The costume consists of boots, pants, a vest, a belt and an overcoat. Except for boots and the belt, the remainder are made of cloth. Those two were made of leather. In addition to this, I hold a staff weapon and also have essories like rings and nes, which provide protection and improve my casting power. This is what I wear when I go out to hunt monsters. The world may have developed but the strains did too. The blood from monsters doesn''t easilye off. So before entering the portal, I changed my clothes into adventure clothes, which can be cheaply reced. Now what remains what to explore this possible secret realm and see what resources and monsters appear in thesends. I need some powerful monsters in order to upgrade my rank levels quickly. I hope I can find those monsters here and in abundance. --- It has been three days. I explored quite a bit in these three days. To make sure that the academy wouldn''t be suspicious, I would return in the morning and order food for three at the same time. This is to make them think that I am busy training in seclusion and don''t want to waste time ordering three times a day. If I disappear for too long, someone will notice my absence. This is not like a cultivation novel where one would disappear for months if not for years into seclusion. Since I am in the academy, I should appear once in a while to someone. When the food gets delivered, I will be seen by the delivery agent. Moreover, I call home once in a while. It was more than enough for them to keep them out of my quarters while I would be busy exploring the secret realm. Nowing to the secret realm, I believe I did hit the jackpot, though the fortune may not be as easy or high as I hoped. I need to further explore the realm to see what this realm is about. So far the swamps are the onlyndscape I came across. There are monsters and all of them are swamp monsters, mostly crocodiles. Their skin would go for a premium, as they were known for their toughness. The problem was the insect swarms that popted these swamps. These are not normal insects but mutated ones. Killing them would give EXP but the loot would be very minimal and the work would be very high. There are only two items that can looted from the insects and that is either their poison or poison needles. Assassins and Alchemists would be very interested in the poisons, while the needles are only good for assassins. A lot of gold can be earned from them but extracting poison and the needles from the corpses is too tiring. It''s not like they would automatically appear in the Inventory after the monster was killed like in those game novels. If it was like that, there''s no need to worry how you fight but that''s not how it works. When the monster is killed, either you have to extract the resources from it or collect the corpse, which would be sold directly to a merchant. They would hire some butchers and skinners to extract the resources from the dead monster. Unlike in games, the monster corpses with huge damage would give less profits. So it was advised to kill a monster quickly and efficiently. Destroying the corpse would yield nothing, except as fertilizer for the earth. Insects appear in swarms and that means one has to deal with thousands of insects at the same time. The most efficient way was to use AOE attacks. The problem was using such attacks, everything would be destroyed including the insect corpses. There is a high chance that there would be no chance of getting any corpses. Even if by chance a few corpses survive the destruction, collecting them from swamps would be a hassle. So normally no adventurer would go out to hunt insects on their own unless it was a paid job. Having too many monsters near a habitat would be disastrous. Adventurers were always trying to earn gold to retire and have a good life. Hunting insect monsters is a waste of time and the yield would be too low. So the guilds or the local nobles sometimes release tasks to clear some insect nests that were too close to towns or major highways, through which trade happens. Though there would be no loot, when such tasks appear, the adventurers take the tasks as most of the time they could be cleared using some Ice AOE attacks, which are very good at clearing crowd monsters. For their trouble, they would be awarded a lot of gold. The problem was that there was no one releasing such a task for gold to clear these insect nests that I stumbled upon. I had to clear them for no gains at all. Sure they give some EXP but that''s it and it is very small for each insect, though collectively it is a huge chunk if I was still in Tier-3 or below. With me at Tier-5, this EXP doesn''t satisfy my levels. The level number doesn''t move for such small changes, especially now that my level has crossed thirty. I need to find if there any monsters that can fill up the EXP bar quickly or has to abadnon this ce and search another realm soon enough. --- Two weekster... It took me two weeks to find something useful from this hellhole. The swamps would kill the mood to life, forget about hunting the monsters there for earning and increasing your power. Unless those monsters attack, no sane person would attack swamp monsters. People prefer to fight onnd. Even a Tier-9 person likes to have battles onnd but they know that if their battles happen onnd, there would be irreversible damage to thend. Sure thend would heal itself in time but that wouldn''t happen for centuries. In these centuries, people still have to live onnd. If there are fights between Tier-9 everywhere, then in a few years there will be nond that supports living. Moreover, healing a piece ofnd means taking the energy from somewhere. There would be severe changes in the environment of the world. So it was an unwritten rule that Tier-8 and above shouldn''t fight onnd, especially Tier-9 people. To make it better, most of the time, Tier-9 wouldn''t even fight properly but theirckeys do. The battle''s oue would be decided by theirckey''s strength. Of course, it has to be epted by the two parties before the battle. No one would cultivate a Tier-9 or be a Tier-9 to be like an Idol. They are the defenders of the kingdoms and empires. So keeping their battles out of the war would always not be a possibility. Even though the Tier-9 people like to keep the fight between them short and try to contain them to the sky, it is not their domain. When the battlests long, knowingly or unknowingly these fights would be dragged on to thend. This was because, by birth and gics, humans arend-based beings. Even if they get the ability to fly or swim freely, activities like battles are restricted if they fight in other domains. Only when onnd can they fight as they wish without any restrictions. Anyway, what I am saying is that people like to fight onnd, especially drynd, not on wends like swamps where moving is a nightmare, no matter the direction. When even movement is problematic forget about fighting. It would not be just the water in the swamps that would be problematic. The swamp monsters hiding in these swamps, overgrown trees and the horrible insects that are present everywhere flying over the swamp waters. Swamps are a total nightmare. I wanted to abandon this secret realm but unfortunately, I spent a lot of resources to activate the portal that would lead me to this secret realm. So in order to abandon, I needed to find sufficient resources to activate another secret realm. Lucky for me I had to stay behind because I found a gold mine, not a literal one. What I meant was there are a lot of Tier-5 and Tier-6 monsters. There is a possibility that Tier-7 monsters are also present but I haven''t encountered them as of now. The final decision is out. I am going to make the best use of this realm and reach Peak Tier-5 before the end of the semester. After that, I can take on a Tier-6 promotion mission, while the world would believe that I reached Tier-2, and wouldn''t get too suspicious of my rank. Chapter 166: Reaching my goal Before I knew it the semester ended just like that. Five months went by before I knew it. There are no sses from this year but the teachers that taught us in the previous years are avable to us if we need any help. After settling down in the secret realm, I went to visit Ang. Though it would have been weird with what happenedst semester, she was my ss teacher and personal trainer. It would be rather suspicious if I didn''t go and see her. So, I went to meet with her. The meeting was nice. There was no awkwardness between us. It was as if nothing happened between us during the end of the second year. It was not until thest moment when I was ready to leave that she pounced on me, trying to ravage me and berating me, punching me for not meeting her soon. Someone was horny and couldn''tst more than two months. After that, you can imagine what happened between us. A pleasurable day, no I should say a lust-filled day. --- This continued every few days, as this was what I promised her. As long as I was not away on missions, I would visit her every now and then. I thought I was the horny one but never thought she was hornier than me. I saw her lustful eyes when we had sex for the second time, that is during my first visit in the third year. Anyway, it didn''t disrupt much of my time. Moreover, I needed sex so that I could relieve some stress and frustration I built up by just meditating or killing monsters in order to increase my rank. Before now I had Inari but she is back at home and I had the hots for Ang. So I am notining about that. Also, I want to get her twin onto my bed, and the only way to do that is through her. Twins, any man with a harem dream would want at least one set of twins in their harem. It would be even better if it was triplets, but the chances of that happening are too low. So satisfying her as much as I could was the best way to have the twins join my harem. Though I want her twin to join my harem, I am not going to make a move now. If I do so, there is a chance that I could lose Ang too. Though I see that Ang is interested in me with all that sex, I have no idea how much she likes me. I have no idea if she is open to the idea of me having a harem much less her twin sister. It''s best to know her better on a personal level before I make moves on her twin. --- Even with all that stress-relieving sex I had with Ang for the past four months, I wasn''t distracted from achieving my primary goal. Before the semester, I reached the peak of Tier-5, meaning I had achieved seventy levels. It didn''te easily. I had to forgo sleep and rest a lot of nights. It was only possible because I increased my bloodline purity as the Dragon Blood Evolution skill level increased. The resources came from the cosmic market, where I sold all the resources that I got from the secret realm. Yes, in addition to the meditation, I had to hunt a lot of monsters. Even my pet fox, Asya helped me. Well, it hunted low-rank monsters, while I hunted high-rank monsters. I was lucky as the secret realm I opened has Tier-7 monsters. Though they are not easy to kill, they provided me with a lot of EXP. This was why it was easy for me to reach the peak of Tier-5. I was seventy levels lower when I started the third year. Only yesterday did I manage to reach the level 100. It was not a simple feat. --- As I am still in Tier-5 rank, every level I gained would give me +62,500,000,000 HP/MP and +6,250,000,000 INT. HP=>70*3,125,000,000 = 218,750,000,000 MP=>70*3,125,000,000 = 218,750,000,000 INT=>70*312,500,000 = 21,875,000,000 Look at those numbers. I gained more than two hundred billion HP and MP and even more than twenty billion in INT attributes. With these additions, my HP/MP value has crossed the quarter trillion mark. I believe if my attribute improvements continue like this, then it won''t be long before they reach the trillion value. Even my INT has crossed thirty billion. Even this would reach the trillion mark by the time I reach peak Tier-6. I don''t know if a Tier-9 powerhouse would have such exaggerated values. At this point, I can swiftly deal with a Tier-7 being, as long as they don''t have any underhanded tricks. Monsters wouldn''t have such methods but once they reach Tier-7, they develop intelligence. The only reason that I was able to defeat the ones in the secret realm was because they were still in the early stage of Tier-7. Moreover, monsters are not the only enemies that I have to fight. humans are much moreplicated, but as long as they don''t have powerful protection artifacts, I can deal with them even I they are in the mid-stages of Tier-7. --- By reaching the peak of Tier-5, a lot improved. It was not just my attributes that increased. In addition to attributes, Bloodline Purity and Blood Evolution skills, other skills also improved. I didn''t specifically train to improve the skills but hunting monsters means indirect improvement of skills. Though there are a few improvements, they are minimal, as my concentration was not on them. Let''s have a look at my new status panel. "Status" -- Name: Magnus Frostwolf Age: 18 Titles: Son of Viscount; Great yer; Hidden Smiden; Dungeon Conqueror; Primary ss: Draconic Warlock Secondary ss: Soul Arbiter (Unique) Affinity: Shadow, Blood, Space Bloodline: ck Dragon (12% Purity) >> (25% purity) Technique: ck Dragon Essence Breathing Physique: Devourer Physique (EX) Talent: Ritualistic Summoning (EX) Trait: Silk Smooth Skin(A bit Improved); Sleepy; Aurum Skin; Sexy Smile; Rank: Tier-5 Level: 30 >> 100 Health Points (HP): 103,316,328,117 >> 322,066,328,117 Strength (STR):203,000 (+100%) >> 215,000 (+100%) Endurance (END): 241,000 (+100%) >> 250,000 (+100%) Dexterity (DEX): 1,579 Agility (AGI): 198,800 (+100%) Intelligence (INT): 10,012,756,200 >> 31,887,756,200 Magic Power (MP): 106,505,105,300 >> 325,255,105,300 Soul Energy: 105,500 (+200%) Charm: 3,009 ss Skills: Shadow Bolt; Blood Dominance; Draconic Magic; Shadow Curse; Blood Heal; Shadow Shift; Blood Lock; Draconic Pressure; Shadow Merge; Blood Drain; Soul Judge; Soul Prison; Soul Container; Nether mes; Shadow control; Blood Boil; Shadow Clone; Blood Clone; Space sh; Soul de; Soul Ascension; Soul Avatar; Special Skills: Rank Booster; Status Disguise; Refined Skills: Shadow Bolt Volley Lvl. 21; Blood Drain Field Lvl. 3>>Lvl. 10; Skills: Evade Lvl. 20; Dodge Lvl. 20; Sprint Lvl. 20; Alertness Lvl. 15; Devour Lvl. 9; Fusion Lvl. 20; Split Lvl. 20; Demon Gaze Lvl. 5; Strengthen Lvl. 20 >> Lvl. 21; Tag & Track Lvl. 4; Night Vision Lvl. 13 >> Lvl. 15; Spatial Storage Lvl. 10 >> Lvl. 12; Mind Control Lvl. 9; Mind Probe Lvl. 9; Mind Defence Lvl. 1; Dragon Blood Evolution Lvl. 12>>Lvl. 20; Scent Recognition Lvl. 10; Sexual Stamina Lvl. 6; Perception Lvl. 20; Pet World Lvl. 3; Parry Lvl.11; Resistances: Physical Resistance Lvl. 22; Light Resistance Lvl. 5; Poison Resistance Lvl. 4>> Lvl. 10; Magic Resistance (Non-Attribute) Lvl. 10; Space Resistance Lvl. 7 >> Lvl. 9; Fire Resistance Lvl. 11 >> Lvl. 14; Water Resistance Lvl. 10 >> Lvl. 12; Mind Resistance Lvl. 1; Wind Resistance Lvl. 8 >> Lv. 11; Lightning Resistance Lvl. 6>> Lvl. 9; Weapon Arts: Advanced Staff Arts Lvl. 3; Intermediate Movement Arts Lvl. 6; Intermediate Hand Combat Arts Lvl. 3; -- There were a few skills that improved but what needed to be paid attention was the improvement of my second refined skill, Blood Drain Field which increased from level 3 to level 10. In addition to that the elusive Poison Resistance improved from level 4 to level 10. Many of the resistances have seen an increase in their level this semester. These usually don''t improve fast when we train but has to go through real battles. Anyway, I am happy with these improvements and I can take it slow from next semester and spend more time on the preparations for my future. What to do after graduation and how many lovers would I want, topics like that. --- Now that I reached Peak Tier-5, when I return home I should go to the Magic Association branch in the Winter City. Once I made that visit, everyone would think that I had sessfully reached Tier-2. Regarding mybat power, there are many examples where even though the awakeners were unable toplete the promotion mission, their skill levels reached very high and by that, theirbat power would be very highpared to others. So it was advised not to underestimate others. The reason why I was in a hurry was that there were too many unknown variables in and around my family. My father eliminated most of these variables from the family but there are others who covet what our family possess. If someone wants to collect some intelligence on the family and if they were even a little bit suspicious, they would definitely use something that could see through the Status Disguise skill. If that happens, it would be problematic. It is the reason why I was in a hurry. If I was not part of the vicious noble circle, there would have been no need to hurry as I did. I could have slowly improved my self. Chapter 167: My Tier-6 promotion mission Unlike the first two years, there are no semester exams, only yearly ones. The students had to be at the academy by the time of the yearly exam unless they had a good reason for their absence. If not there would be a deduction of points from the student''s profile. This would be for third and fourth-year students. For the fifth year, students had to take the exam or they wouldn''t graduate. It was as simple as that. As there were no semester exams, I returned home promptly, once the semester was officially over. There are a few things to do at home. --- After returning home, the first thing I did was to go meet my mother. I had a small chat with her before I went to my father''s office to have a chat with him. Since I was busy improving my rank, I didn''tmunicate with the family much during the semester. Though my father has eradicated most of the traitors from the family, a few escaped. They didn''t run away, rather whatever evidence was supposed to exist disappeared, probably destroyed. Only an idiot would keep any incriminating evidence of their crimes. There was no news if there was anything new. There was a saying that a tiger can''t change its stripes or a leopard''s spots. Crooks too wouldn''t change easily unless there was something that was forcing them to. They should have done something in the five months that I was away, though they might be more cautious when they were doing such things. My father''s power in the family has increased after that fiasco that involved my ex-fiance and her lover. They nned to break the marriage pact by getting rid of and that has cost them a lot. All the resources that came from that fiasco were put to good use. The ones that had turned against my father when that marriage pact was made, turned into a neutral party. It was more than enough. As long as my father brought sufficient evidence against family members who were causing damage to the family, he was able to punish them. Most of the people who stood against him were no longer against him now. They acted ordingly. This made the third elder faction suffer a lot. My father was able to break down almost all but was cut short as evidence disappeared but we are patient. Those bastards would act again and as long we keep an eye on them, and are ready for them, then we can capture them with perfect evidence. The problem was that the awakeners live long life. So they were patient as our vignce was high at this point. It would not be easy to watch them forever. It would be a waste of resources. They are waiting for that time when we won''t be watching them to make their moves. This was what my father informed me about the present situation. It has now became a wait and see game. Who has the patience would win this game. Though I understood that they won''t make any assassination attempts or like that, it''s best to watch my back at all times. After having a chat with my father, I returned to my room. Except for those two, none of my siblings were home. When Ie home, they won''t be and when theye, I won''t be. Meeting each other is bing rare and rarer. If not for Eritrea''s marriage, we wouldn''t have met each otherst year. It''s sad but they are all doing their own things and that means they won''t be avable all the time. There was not much to do about that. It was already night and the time for dinner was near. I freshened up a little before having dinner. After that, I wen to bed. Tomorrow morning, I have an appointment to keep up with the Magic Association branch. --- Next Morning... I went to the Magic Association branch in the city after having my breakfast. Technically, I was dropped by the chauffeur who drove me to the magic association in the city. It looks like even though the resentment has decreased, they have their defences up against my father''s blood. The chauffeur should have something that can identify my rank. He wouldter report what he saw to the family. Anyway, it wouldn''t be a problem for me. Moreover, if they see that I am Tier-2, there would be no need to spread about my rank on purpose. "Hi, I am here for the promotion mission", I said to the receptionist. After that, the procedure was the same. She took me to the room where there was a promotion crystal. I ced my hand on it. A small energy entered my body. --- [Detected that the Awakener has reached Tier-5 Level 100.] [Awakener is qualified to take the Tier-6 promotion mission.] [Choices were being generated...please choose one of the choices.] -- Choice 1: Kill a Tier-7 Thunder Eagle, whose level is higher than level 50. (Not Rmended) Choice 2: Massacre the Darke City. Leave none alive. (Rmended) -- Hmm, there are only two choices this time. Why so? When I first took the Tier-4 promotion mission, there were four options to choose from. The options were reduced to three when I took on the Tier-5 promotion mission. Now for the Tier-6 promotion mission, the number of options reduced to two. Does the number go down to one option when I take the Tier-7 promotion mission? If that happens it would mean that I won''t have a choice from that moment. Looking at the options that I have been getting, the only option that would remain would probably be something that I won''t ept to take on, no matter what. It means that I would be stuck in Tier-6 forever. I hope that never happens. I mean with how things were going, if there was only one choice, I can say that with one hundred percent guarantee that the choice would be something weird or outrageous. There is a high chance that the mission would be something that I would probably decline. --- ANy for this mission, the first choice for me was to kill a Tier-7 level 50 or higher Thunder Eagle. The second choice was to massacre all the inhabitants of Darke City, without leaving anyone alive. Out of the two options, the first one appears as a normal mission but both of them don''t belong to the normal category. This is a Tier-6 promotion mission and that means the one who takes it is at Tier-5, which is my rank. For a Tier-5 person, it should be considered impossible toplete this task. If anyone would get this mission, they can forget about that and should choose some other mission toplete. The problem was that the second choice that I got. A massacre! The mission was to massacre Darke City, which is against my principles and moreover, it is almost impossible to kill everyone there, unless you can make a nuclear-sized explosion. If you attack the city, there will be always one or two that will be sure to escape death and survive. It means that the mission was notpleted and that means no Tier-6. There is an option, where one can abandon the current mission to take a new one. The only issue was that the mission one could take should be from the choices that appeared the first time taking on the promotion. If these options were to be given to anyone else, they most probably would fail. I, on the other hand can handle it. "I select Choice 1", I thought in my mind as my hands were on the promotion crystal. It is the only option for me. There was no way that I would take on Choice 2. [You have chosen the mission: Kill a Tier-7 Thunder Eagle, whose level is higher than level 50.] [Pleaseplete the mission to progress to Tier-6.] [You can forfeit the choice if you can''tplete the mission. Remember, doing so would reduce the grade of missionpletion.] After selecting the mission, I returned home. From now on, I will be a Tier-2 ranker ording to everyone. This would what others would see if they tried to see my status unless they use something that can see through Status Disguise. "Status" -- Name: Magnus Frostwolf Age: 18 ss: Warlock Affinity: Shadow Rank: Tier-2 Level: 0 STR: 126 STA: 132 AGI: 139 DEX: 78 HP: 65,000 MP: 67,000 ss Skills: Shadow Bolt; Shadow Shift; Shadow Clone; Skills: Evade Lvl. 16; Dodge Lvl. 16; Parry Lvl. 12 Weapon Arts: Advanced Staff Arts Lvl. 1; Intermediate Movement Arts Lvl. 6; Intermediate Hand Combat Arts Lvl. 3; -- Now, my secret is safe for the time period. Even if a few of my secrets are leakedter, I would be ready by then. After disguising perfectly I exited the magic association. The chauffeur had his eyes on the door, clearly waiting for me. He probably wanted to see if I genuinelypleted the mission and reached Tier-2 or not, toter report the same to the family elders. Chapter 168: The start of my slow life Everything was almost where it should have been. Now, there is no need to push myself. I am leagues above others whenpared with my skills. Sure, their skill level should be near or the same or even crossed my highest but unlike others, I have a lot of skills. Improving so many skills means the skills wouldn''t level up faster. It takes a lot of time. I had some problems. In order to survive those, I had to push myself without proper rest. though this is a magic world, reckless training without resting body and mind would cause cracks in the foundation, which would lead to troubles at ater stage. My father eradicated most of the traitors from the family. though a few were able to survive, they would hide in their Burroughs like rats. Elisha and William were the main troubles I had before at the academy and Dorian too. Now Dorian is dead, while the other two have a lot of fires to put out. They wouldn''t have the time to think about me at this time. Moreover, if anything happened to me at this time, they would be the prime suspects. So, there is no way that they would act recklessly at this point. The greedy bastards who are either eyeing my family assets or trying to destroy others just for pleasure would be the only problems that I have. To be exact it''s not personal problems but family problems. They would concentrate on a small fry like me. I am not yet powerful (ording to the public) nor am I the heir who would inherit the family''s noble title and territories. So there was no need to rush. I can develop myself slowly. After all, I want to have a life that is less stressful and it would be best to start how to live such a life from this moment onwards. --- Aftering home from the Magic Association branch, I went to my room and took some books about monsters. Even though I read quite a few books about the monsters, most of the books were on monsters from Glessaria and the surrounding Kingdoms. Most people don''t leave the kingdom that they were born in. They wouldn''t encounter most of the monsters that were present in their kingdom. So there was no need to learn about monsters that were not living in the home country that they were in. It is a waste of their time and also resources. Only the ones who intend to travel would learn about the monsters, as they would most likely encounter them when they visit the countries that are the home of these monsters. The ones who travel could be people who are interested in bing merchants or bodyguards for the caravans. It could also be people who are looking for a new ce to settle to restart their lives. Whatever the reason might be they are usually the ones who had to read about the monsters from the ces they intend to go. In addition, there are schrs and researchers who would be interested in knowing about the flora and fauna across the world. I am interested because what could happen in the future I can''t say. I do want to travel the world. Yes, I want a slow and peaceful life but I am not even twenty years of age. I should travel around the world to see how people of this world live in various conditions and their cultures. Only then would I be able to n for my slow and peaceful life. Without knowing how others live, there is no other way for me to create a way for my own slow life. As a start, I should start with the Winter City. Though I lived in the city, I didn''t go out to the city much. Even when I did go out, I didn''t see how the city works. There was much to learn and I decided to start with my own home first. --- The n isplete, or I can say that the basic n for my future isplete. After surveying the city, I came to a conclusion. The only way to have a peaceful and slow life was to open a shop in a city and sell the goods that merchants bring across cities and nations. The main thing to do was to form rtionships with these travellers. Moreover, I have to identify which ones are genuine and which ones are greedy bastards who would rip off even their mothers if there was a profit in it. If I couldn''t do that, then there would be losses most of the time and I would end up in debt. The loss would be either because the merchant sells me items for more than they were worth. If the prices were too much, there was no way that I could sell them. I would end up with losses. There are times when the merchants would not supply some small shops with the items that they already paid items. I mean, no one would be truly honest when ites down to money. The merchants would travel through various cities, bringing resources from one nation to another nation across the world. It is not a safe profession. There are monsters that roam the wild and they have to pass through the wilds most of the time. There are also bandits who would instead of working honestly rather steal from travellers, especially from the merchant caravans. As the roads are always dangerous, the chances of losing the goods are very high. So the merchants would have nothing to give the shop owners for real. Sometimes, greedy ones would say that the goods were lost because of such attacks and cheat small-time shop owners. These goods which were already paid for would go to other shops that were either under these merchants or had a partnership with them. Unless you have a significant background or you yourself are powerful, there is a high chance of this happening to the people. In any case, one would end up in losses and that means debt. I don''t that to happen. If that happens, I would probably end up fighting some goons. That is no way the slow and peaceful life that I envision for my future. Whatever fighting that is to happen, I would fight now. When I settle down, I hope to actually settle down. I want to have a family of my own. I am even trying to build a harem to have a nice family in the future. Anyway, as I said, settling as a shopkeeper was a basic ide that I have for now. I may change my choice in the future. --- Thirty days were over before I knew it. Unlike before when I used to spend too much time hunting or training, this time I took enough rest. This time around the only one who got to spend time hunting was Asya, my pet fox, while I increased my knowledge about the world. My fox was too low-ranking. It would be an embarrassment for me, while I am Tier-5, almost Tier-6, it was not even Tier-4. Though no one would know, I would. It''s like self-embarrassment that I feel even if there were no one with the knowledge of this matter. Even though she is my pet, I am interested in restricting it in the future. One day, in the distant future, I would let it go. A fox has to live in a forest, not in some contract space or in a city. If she wants to leave, I would grant her freedom. If not, it would stay in the secret realm, after I subdue it properly. Though I have eradicated a lot of monsters from the realm, it was not truly under my control. In order to bring it under my control, I have to clean out any monster that has a chance of bing a powerful monster in the future. I can eliminate all, but I want to turn it into a farm for low-rank monsters. I can breed them in the secret realm. They would be a constant supply of monster meat, and other monster products for me to sell. High-rank monsters would probably give more money but the time gap would be too much. It would be like gaining too much at once and then there is no ie. No, I would rather choose the other one. --- The time hase for me to return to the academy. Now that ording to the public I have reached Tier-2, I can spend more time with Ang, and see if it is possible to drag her twin sister into the harem. Last semester the improvement of my rtionship with Ang was only minimal. This was because I was busy with improving my rank. So I couldn''t concentrate properly on improving our rtionship. Thising semester, I will concentrate more on improving our rtionship. As long as the rtionship strengthens, I could try to pull her twin. Whether that could work or not, I can''t say. I can only wait and see. Chapter 169: My Slow Life (1) I returned to the academy as the semester holidays ended. This means I have to increase my concentration and improve my skills a bit more than I used to do in the past month. My main concentration is going to be Ang though. This is because I have to improve my rtionship with her. Before now, there are only casual sex encounters. We never spoke about our rtionship. Moreover, she was the dominant one most of the time when we had sex. She could be the dominant one in our rtionship which would be bad for my harem. If she is the dominant one, then that means what she says would be thew in our rtionship. If that happens and she doesn''t want me to have a harem, then I have to forget about that. I can''t let that happen. I have to turn the tide. If I want the harem, I should be the dominant one. It was not just that. I want to be the one who dominates our rtionship, not the other way around. If anyone learns that she has the final say in my life, then I would be theughing stock. I can already see that in my father and mother''s rtionship. I believe she was the reason why he never had a harem. Which man would willing to give up the chance of having multiple lovers? I am not. I won''t let what happened to my father happen to me too. Why can''t Ang be like her sister? Hmm, maybe that''s a good thing. There is no way that one would initiate a rtionship like Ang did. If Ang was like her sister, maybe we wouldn''t have what we have now. --- It was night when I chose to return to the academy. After arriving at the academy, I took the keys to the quarters before settling for the night. My mom packed fod for he night. So there was no need to waste my personal funds for dinner tonight. I ate what my mom packed for me, while Asya ate what she could hunt in the secret realm. I chose to not feed her and she had to hunt on her own whenever she felt hungry. This is because it''s not easy to feed a monster that eats food that can feed a few hundred people. It started recently after it started to grow. Any adult would eat more than a child would eat. Back then it was easy to feed but now if I keep on feeding her, I would go bankrupt soon. Well, technically I am now poor. Most of the resources that I gained from missions, dungeons and the secret realm were used for the improvement of my Dragon Bloodline. Though I still have the secret realm, I still have to mine those resources in order to use them. So technically I am still broke but that doesn''t matter much as I am trying to take it slow. I don''t want to rush but to enjoy my youth and the second life I gained. I was given another chance at being young again. I should be enjoying it but I was wasting my youth by thinking too much and stressing out my brain. I am now 18, and that means my youth is almost over. After awakening, I had to waste a lot of my youth n thining about who would backstab me and how to prevent that. Now that I am in a good position, there was no need to rush and enjoy the moment. I should enjoy the next few years of life including for what I missed out on in the past few years. After eating dinner, I went to sleep. In the morning I have to visit Ang and knowing the lustful nature of that girl, I need a lot of rest. If she wanted she would go on for hours having sex but couldn''t as others in the academy would be suspicious if we spent too much time together. I have the Sexual Stamina skill to survive that long which makes me wonder if she too had such a skill. If only I had an Identify skill or something like that, I could see all her secrets easily, as long as she doesn''t have Status Disguise or something like that. I know that it would be like spying on your girlfriend and that doesn''t look good but those are required for me to know. Moreover, I want to find an Identify Skill, not just for this but also to estimate my enemies. Sure things are going well for now, too well if I say so. Yah, yah, yah, I sound like a hypocrite. I have too many secrets but I want to know other''s secrets as that is how the MC acts as a protagonist. Jokes aside, I may not be a protagonist but as I want to have a peaceful life, I don''t want to include any wild cards in my life. Wild cards are people who would causemotion even if they don''t do that deliberately. --- "It has been a while", Ang said as she pounced on me. "It has only been a month", I whispered while kissing her. "A month too long", she whispered, devoring my lips. It looks like being away for a month has increased her lust. I wonder how she survived till now before she met me. A lustful person like her should have a lot of lovers. Even if the lustful person was someone who would have only one lover at a time, they should have had sex a long time ago and not taken a break. Ang didn''t have a lover. I wonder how she controlled herself till now. Looking at her enthusiasm, she shouldn''t have been able to hold all those years. "What are you thinking? You look distracted?" she paused for a moment to ask me. "Nothing", I replied and started to ravage her lips, and then moved lower. --- After spending some time with Ang, I returned to my quarters. It was already noon, so I ordered some lunch. I was quite hungry, especially after the steamy session I had with Ang in the morning. Being at peak Tier-5 doesn''t help either. If I activate my Devour physique or my Devour skill, then the amount of food that I would need would increase by a lot. Devour skill, I could control from the beginning, whereas my physique was not controble as the skill. So whenever I ate anything, it would convert some of the food into various attributes. It made me hungry easily and I had to eat more for someone of my age. Luckily that was after I awakened and no one thought much about it. If I ate as I did at the beginning, my pockets would be empty on any given day. I have to work every day to fill my stomach. Not working on a single day would mean, no food for that day. Luckily, as I started to get control over my physique, it made it easy for me to activate or deactivate as I wished. --- After having my lunch, I went to the mission hall to see if there were any interesting missions to take on. What I learned in the first semester was that the first morning would always be full of people, to either take new missions or submitpleted missions. This was because there were many who would be returning from home like me, would take on the new missions, while a few would stay through the holidays and pick up missions during the holidays. They are the ones that would be returning at this time. So I decided to visit Ang first before I went to the mission hall. Moreover, she warned me to visit her first after returning or else she would beat me up. However, I think that may not be possible anymore as I believe our ranks are the same more or less. She may have some tricks up her sleeve but with my increased attributes, there is no way for her to beat me. The issue was she may hold back having sex with me. It may possibly be the only weapon that she has against me. Other than that, there is nothing. Ah, there are not many missions still avable for me to pick from. The interesting ones and the highly paid ones should have already been picked up in the morning. I could have arrived here in the morning and then could have gone to see Ang but I didn''t. One,ing here in the morning would waste a lot of my time. Two, I am not the Magnus who used to rush to reach the higher stage. I am the Magnus who wants to have a slow life. As I said before, there are not that many threats remaining. Most of them would probably target other family members rather than me. So no need to rush. I can do things much more slowly now. Chapter 170: My Slow Life (2) The mission that I decided to take is a delivery mission. It was issued by the academy itself. A package has to be delivered to someone in the capital. The mission page on the mission board didn''t specify the details; it was just a package delivery to the capital. More than two years near the capital, yet I have to take a proper tour of the capital. It is high time that I take some time touring the capital city. Even during my mission about burries, I didn''t spend much time in the city. The time I spent back then was in a single district and that too to catch a thief. This time, I will spend some quality time in the capital. I could reach the target location in minutes but there is no need. Moreover, it will recorded by the academy when I take this mission. If I appear too quickly it would be problematic. So, first I intend to waste some time after I reach the capital. Technically it''s not a waste of time, as I am going to improve my knowledge of the capital. It would be embarrassing if I didn''t know the generalyout of the capital before graduation. The capital was near the academy and it woulde in the path of the journey from or to the academy, no matter what the end or the start point of the journey is. If I want to establish a shop and have a good business, I need to learn what to sell and what not to sell. the items that were sold are as important as where and when they were sold. For example, let''s consider Water. In most of the kingdoms, water is not amodity. It is avable for free, simr to the air we breathe. You would only be charged for bringing that water to theforts of your home. If you go and pick the water yourself from ake or a river there would be no charges. Much like what it is like on Earth, Water is free unless it is delivered or purified. This is not the same when ites to a Desert nation. There the water sources are controlled and will charged if anyone wants to use the water. The charges may not be gold or some resource that offsets the price of water, rather it would be servitude most of the time. The rich may afford the water but the poor can''t. So they either be ves, soldiers, mine workers etc.. based on the nation and its lords. The thing was that no matter how good the lords were, they couldn''t give up water, which is the lifeblood of their nation for free. So the people who couldn''t pay would usually be soldiers or cheap workers if the lord was a good one. In deserts, food and water may be low but there are other resources like metal ores, gems etc... which would fetch a lot in other nations. They needed to be mined and guarded by these soldiers when they were in transit. First, it would be from the mines to the lord''s treasury and from there to the buyers whoe to the desert nations to buy some exotic items that are avable inrge in these nations. These buyers are merchants from faraway nations. They bring food and water resources to sell here and buy the gems, metal ores etc... which are avable here. The merchants would sell the food and water resources for steep high prices but buy the items from the desert at low value. Merchants buy items for cheap at one ce and sell high at a different ce where these items are rare but are in high demand. Only by this can they make huge profits. They may appear greedy but these items that they transport are quite in demand. It means that there would be a lot of bandits always eyeing them. The merchants have to hire guards and they don''te cheap to ces like these. Anyway, this is to say that opening a mining business might not be profitable but selling water or food in desert nations would be profitable but these often attract bandits and any other forces that are envious of your wealth. There are many issues that needed to be identified and properly nned before settling on an idea. --- "Hello, I like to register this mission", I said to the receptionist. This was not my first time here. So I handed her my student ID and the mission pamphlet. She quickly registered it. A few minutester, she handed me a package to deliver along with a form. "This form needs a signature from the person to whom this package was to be delivered", the receptionist said to me. I nodded and left after I got the mission. I went straight to the capital but didn''t fulfil my mission as soon as I entered the city. It can be der and should be. if it was done quickly, someone would definitely find the anomaly. I decided to enjoy the streets of the capital. There is so much to see and enjoy in the city and I have nothing to do except to deliver the package for today. --- It didn''t take much time for me to find the house I was looking for. The house door was closed, so I rang the doorbell. The people of this area are rich, not unlike the nobles or some elites who have heaps of gold coins and various resources sitting in their home treasury. Though these people aren''t quite at the top of the rich circle, the people here touched the rich circle. It made it easy for me to find the right address quite quickly. If the people are poor, their houses would be switched together and it would be a mess. Where the street starts and where it ends no one can find out. The problem would be the same for the ones who are too rich. Their houses would be too vast and have to go long distances to find the right address. This might not be a problem for me but, what I want to do is to live quite normally, a decision I came to a month ago. If not for the waste of gold, which is quite low at this point in my reserves, I would have taken a carriage to the capital, enjoying the scenery of the path. Life has to be enjoyed. Rushing means many good things would be skipped along the line. An elderly man opened the door, answering my doorbell. "Hello, is this the house of James Vert?" I asked the man who opened the door. "Yes, I am James Vert. Who are you?" the man asked me. "Hello, my name is Magnus. I am from the Royal Academy. There is a package here for you from the academy", I said as I pulled out the package that I secured in my space ring. "Ah, yes. I have been waiting for you", the man said. "Sir, can I see your ID?" I asked the man. Though he identified himself as the recipient, I don''t want to make the mistake of delivering it to the wrong person. It could bite me in the asster. The man didn''t cause any problem and showed me his ID. I verified that it was the same. "Please sign here sir", I gave the form that the mission hall gave me when I took the mission. The elderly man signed for the package and then I handed him the package. Once that was done, there was nothing for me to do there. So I left swiftly. Now that I delivered the package, it''s time to return to the academy. Maybe I should take a walk. It would be one way to time pass and would make my return to the academy slow. --- It took more than an hour to reach the academy. This was because I walked. Nowhere on the road, did I jog, sprint or run. I just walked all the way to the academy. It was said that there would be some rare cases of monsters appearing on the road but I didn''t face any. It may be either luck or those monsters they were very sensitive to danger. From the academy, one side leads to the capital but the other three sides are vacant. There are only forests covering those three sides. There are a lot of monsters and these would appear on this side, which leads to the academy. Though there was no road, the academy makes it a point that high-rank monsters don''t appear at all near the academy. This is why I am surprised. Normally, low-rank monsters don''t possess high intelligence and would attack anything as long as they are hungry or the opponents are alone or appear weak. I was alone. So I should be the prime target of these monsters. Anyway, it has nothing to do with me. If there are any issues, the academy will deal with them. What I have to do now is to submit the signed form and collect my points from the mission hall. Chapter 171: Elishas Life after expulsion (1) Things didn''t go as nned for Elisha, which caused a lot of damage to her life. Everything started with her stupid family bargaining her away with someone that she never met. This was done when she was just an infant. To save the family, she was used as a tool by having a marriage contract with another noble family. However she understood that these types of things weremon and if it had not been done, her family might have been in ruins. Since she was enjoying the family benefits, she had to pay back to the family. So she epted her fate but things changed when she met William, the heir of the Rutgurd family. Unlike her fiance, who belongs to a Viscount family and is not even the heir, William is the heir of a Count family. Things changed when she met him at his birthday party. They fell in love at first sight with each other. Though she liked William, she couldn''t express herself due to the marriage contract with Magnus. So she stayed silent at first but the persistent pursuit of William couldn''t be ignored. Soon she expressed her interest in him but there was a problem, Magnus. Her supposed fiance could cause trouble for her and her family. Before that, she has another hurdle to cross first, her parents. Even if there was no Magnus, her parents had to agree to her marriage with William. If not, nothing would matter much. She can run away with William but she knows the noble circle well enough not to make such a mistake. William might be in love with her now but that won''t matter if she doesn''t have her family behind her. No one in William''s family would respect her if she just ran away from her family to be with William. As long as William was the heir and became the Count, there won''t be any problem but things never go as nned. If something happens to him in the future, she won''t have a ce in either of the houses. It would be bad for her. William might himself change and don''t love her anymore one day. It happens from time to time. In this scenario too, she wouldn''t have a happy life and no other life to return to. She knows these things because of her mother. The noble wives formed a tea club kind of thing, where they would discuss things with other members about the current issues of what''s happening among the noble circle. There was always news about some noble who would seek out pleasure from younger women, sometimes even abandoning their wives. Elisha''s mother informed her about these matters to her, so that she would always keep her future husband in her hands. She didn''t want her daughter to feel the same pain that those wives would when they were abandoned by their husbands. Since Elisha is not naive to believe that William''s love for her is not eternal, she doesn''t want to waste her life on what she believed was a short-lived crush. So she suppressed her feelings at first but when William won over her with his persistence, she truly wanted to be with him but she needed her parent''s consent. So the first part of the n was to let William meet her parents on their terms rather than his terms. The first time they met each other was when they attended William''s birthday party along with Elisha. So it can seen that they met him on his terms and that means they are below him. Though Elisha''s father is just a Viscount, a rank lower whenpared to William''s family, he would have his pride. So Elisha made a n to introduce him to her parents in a perfect way. It was the same way as she came to know William. Her Birthday Party. --- Elisha invited William as a courtesy after William invited their family to his birthday party. The Siren family is only a viscount family. Though they have a lot ofnd in terms of area under their control, the profits are too low whenpared to the Inner areas of the kingdom. Thend they control is mainly unhabitablend filled with rocks. The best feature of theirnds is that they have a lot of Iron mines. It means a lot of Iron would be produced every year. It was not like magic metals, which are high in demand whenpared to ordinary Iron, that the viscount produces. On top of that, the monster tide that tied her and Magnus caused a lot of poption and resource loss. The mines were damaged and the family had to spend a lot of gold for the repairs. The poption decreased and that means the number of miners decreased. Many miners died when the sudden monster tide appeared, especially when they targeted the mines and caused the copse. It would take a few years for the poption boom and train new miners. Though mining looks simple it is not. Whenpared to a skilled and unskilled miner, the quantity of the ore changes. Skilled and experienced miners mean they know where to mine and get maximum output for their efforts. In a mine, there would be a lot of metal traces but that doesn''t mean to mine every inch of the mine. Those are for when the mine is about to be emptied out. When there is still a lot of ore, it means to mine where there is arge deposit. A person would hire a lot of miners to gain maximum benefits in a short time. Anyway, with the insufficient number of miners, there are almost no profits from the mining business. This made their family status much lower than before. The only good thing that happened was that most of the Siren family was wiped out, except for Elisha''s father and uncle. This made division of properties easier between them. The issue was that Elisha''s family status was lower than William''s. So she could only make her parents send an invitation to William, though on the surface it was intended for William''s family. --- The n worked. Her parents liked William very much. Even though there was a marriage pact with House Frostwolf that Elisha would marry Magnus, they were more than epting of its dissolution. Only this way can Elisha could openly be married to William. Though the Frostwolf family are family friends and are rted, which noble family isn''t. Moreover, the one that made the rtion possible was missing. So in a way, they are not rtives anymore. There was the issue of them helping the Siren family and for that, they made a marriage agreement. The problem was that belonged to the past. As of now, as a close family to the Frostwolf family, they know that there are a lot of troubles lurking in the shadows of the Frostwolf family. There was a high chance that they would fight among themselves and that could reduce the overall strength of the family. If they disappear in a few decades, it won''t be a surprise. So Elisha''s parents started to seek a way to dissolve the marriage pact without causing losses to their family. There were only two ways that could be possible. The first was that Magnus gets involved in a scandalous situation, and that would give them a chance to dissolve the marriage pact, with the leastpensation possible. It would be just to give their old friend some face. The other way was to get rid of Magnus. Dead men don''t get married and have families. The issue was that implementing either of the solutions was not as easy as it appears. While Elisha''s parents didn''t think that they had to do either of that. They wanted to ask their friend and try to dissolve the pact without causing any trouble but for that, they needed good leverage. It may take some time. While Elisha''s parents were busying up with an idea that didn''t revolve around making the Frostwolf family their enemies, William and Elisha had other ideas. If something happens, there is a chance that they would be at the top of the list and they needed a scapegoat. They found one, amoner who hated nobles, Dorian. They wanted to use him to eliminate Magnus in the secret realm. It was the perfect n. --- The n seemed almost perfect but it has failed and she has no idea why. She knew that Magnus was suspicious of her and William from her birthday party that he attended just before joining the academy. Even then, there was no way that he could have about William and her. Dorian didn''t know about them. What he knew was that William wanted Magnus to disappear. Unless Dorian said so, there was no way for Magnus to make the connection between them. Even then, the academy found much incriminating evidence of their conspiracies and that was more than enough to expel them from the academy. The problems didn''t end there. That was just the beginning. Chapter 172: Elishas Life after expulsion (2) The problems came one by one. First, when the Royal Academy staff found that she and William were conspiring with Dorian to kill Magnus in the secret realm, they were doomed. The academy expelled both from the academy. It means that there was no way that they could gain a foothold easily in society. The nobles wanted their children to graduate from the Royal Academy because it was a very prestigious institute. Graduating from that means that you are one of the best. There are many in the society who graduated from the Royal Academy. They are the elites of the society and the pirs that support Glessaria. Though their allegiance doesn''t belong to the academy, as alumni of the academy, their decisions would probably be in favour of the academy as long as it won''t conflict with their interests. Elisha and William are small fries, and that means that they can''t find anything good in society as they were expelled from the academy. No one would go on their way to make it easy for them in the future. After all, these two were expelled from the academy for the crimes of being in conspiracy to kill a student of the Royal Academy. Since they were not the ones who tried to kill the student directly, and the one that they tried to kill was alive, these two were only expelled after having talks with the families of the two used. This was their punishment. If they ever want to reach the sky, that may not happen in the kingdom of Glessaria. They have to leave this kingdom, which would be their only chance unless something big happens that can cover what happened. For now, the topic of the town was the conspiracy of Elisha and William to kill Magnus. In the noble''s circle, conspiracies to bring one another down aremon but they are always done in a fashion such that no one points out at them for that. Everything should be done in shadows and leave no evidence of what happened. If there was any evidence, they would be done, and that was what happened to those two. Even though they were clever and didn''t directly n to eliminate Magnus, they did leave some breadcrumbs for Magnus to follow. Whatever he was able to find, gave the staff of the academy a way to dig out everything that happened and caused their expulsion. The only reason why those two were still alive was that one of those two was an heir to the Count''s house, while the victim was just a son of a Viscount. If he was the heir, then the oue might have been much different. The oue of a prosecution depends on your ability, either your direct ability or your background. If Magnus was in a higher position whenpared to William and Elisha, then the punishment would have been severe. The highest punishment would have been dealt if they were ofmon origin. Luckily those two are of noble birth. One was from a Count''s house and the other from a Viscount''s house. Whenpared to Magnus''s position, either they are on the same level or a higher level. So the punishment from the academy stopped with expulsion. One may think that it is not fair and the punishment for a crime should be equal but that was not the case. There is no fairness, no matter what world you look at. Even on Earth, someone with a lot of wealth can get out of trouble just by paying some fine instead of going to Prison for the same crime that imprisoned some poor man. Normally in Ragos, one can only be a noble if they have made any achievements that would help the kingdom or the empire. It means the higher the family''s noble Rank is the greater the contributions they made to the kingdom or the empire. So when there are any prosecutions regarding that noble family, as long as the crimesmitted by the noble house descendants are too vile, they won''t face any repercussions. If Magnus had died and the crime was uncovered then they would have faced much severe punishment. The only issue was that the staff of the academy didn''t find out about the crime on their own. If not for the rumours spread by William himself, everything would have been buried and forgotten by everyone. William and Elisha could have gotten away without any issues. -- Once she was expelled and due to the reason behind the expulsion, her family had to pay a lot to the Frostwolf family. In the first, the Frostwolf family helped the Siren family without getting anything in return. The only thing that they were going to get was Elisha, as a wife to Magnus. Now that the same girl conspired to kill Magnus. It means a lot ofpensation. First, the Siren family had to pay for the help that the Frostwolf family lent back then, and the interest for that was more than a decade of interest. Second, since she tried to kill Magnus, the marriage pact was automatically dissolved and for that act, the family has to pay anotherpensation. To be said, the Siren family is the true loser of this incident. Elisha learned that William''s family paid a smallpensation to the Frostwolf family and that was the only thing that she heard about William''s side. After the expulsion, the contact between them was lost. She hasn''t spoken to William in half a year. She lost her chance to marry into the Frotwof family, and what she is concerned about is whether she can be the wife of William or not. With no contact for over six months, the chances of that happening ever were decreasing day by day. She knew that there was a chance that the entire me would be ced on her, even though William was the reason behind that. William knew that she had a fiance but still, he pursued her. He was the one who nned everything. He was the one who decided to get rid of Magnus and used Dorian as a pawn to do so. When that failed, he even created rumours that would make Magnus expelled from the academy. What happened in the end was that they were the ones expelled from the academy. Moreover, her family had to pay a lot of gold and resources to theFrostwolf family aspensation. t kind of ruined her family. The Siren family had seen a lot of destruction a few years back. They were slowly recovering, but now, with this, if not properly handled, one of the bigger noble ns could swallow them. Her mother was angry with her, as she was excluded from the noble wives club, which is the way to gather some information that could be helpful for her family. Even her father is facing bacsh. No one would wee a backstabber into their circle. It was one thing to cause damage to a stranger but to harm someone who was once closer to you, who would believe in you afterwards. The Frostwolf family came to the aid of the Siren family, while no other responded. They even took a lot of hits in that disaster but gained nothing in return. The idea of marrying Magnus and Elisha came from the Siren family. Now they found some rich thigh and wanted to hop ships, they tried to get rid of Magnus, who was not only Elisha''s fiance but the son of a friend. No one would believe that Elisha did everything behind her family''s back. So, the me shifted onto the Siren family. What they didn''t know was that the ming game was started by someone, someone that they thought would do something like that. --- One thing that can be said for sure is that Elisha didn''t have experienced a good day since that day. What her future holds, no one knows, not even her. For now, all she could do was work hard to recover from the recent devastation to the family''s treasury. What was supposed to be the capital for their family''s future, now belonged to someone. Since she was the reason for the family''s misfortune, she had to do her part in improving the family''s situation. She has no reason to say no and she didn''t either. Elisha decided to undo the damage that she caused to her family for her selfish reasons. She could have just stated that she didn''t like Magnus and her heart belonged to someone else. There was a chance that she could have gained what she wanted without losing anything. To Elisha, she lost a potential powerhouse as her husband, and also, there is a high chance that William left her to dry. If that was not the case, he would have contacted her a long time ago but didn''t. Even if she knew that there was nothing that she could say or do about it. It''s time to move on with her life. Chapter 173: Williams Life after expulsion For the first time in his life, William faced defeat and that was not a simple one either. It was a rather humiliating one, one that he can never forget in his life. What he wanted was a girl, Elisha, the most beautiful girl that he had everid his eyes on. There was only one problem that stood in his path, Elisha''s fiance, Magnus. There was only one way to get what he wanted, and that could be done only by eliminating Magnus. So he nned to kill Magnus using Dorian. If, by any chance, the Frostwolf family uses a Death Seeker, then they would know who killed Magnus. To make sure that he wouldn''t be entangled in such a mess, he decided to use Dorian as the perfect tool. He could eliminate Magnus and won''t be punished for his death. Once Magnus dies, Elisha will be free, and he can marry her. It was such a perfect n, but that failed and, at the same time, caused a lot of damage to him. If only he had made a different n, instead of causing the academy to investigate the deaths of the five students in the secret realm. William has no idea how the academy found out about the dealings he had with Dorian. Once the academy had enough proof, they expelled both him and Elisha from the academy. The expulsion led to greater losses for him. --- The reason why he even became part of this drama was because of his great-grandmother, Lady Wellna Aster. The reason for his losses could be truly attributed to her. He as the only son of the count, is regarded as the next count, after his father. None couldpete for the noble title but that changed now. House Rutgurd is not a small family. To reach the rank of a Count, they should have existed for hundreds of years and that means there are a lot of descendants. Even if a few died as time passed, there are a lot of members in the family, but they all belong to the side branch now. Even William''s uncle belongs to the side branch. Only an heir from the main line can inherit a noble title andnds unless there is no one left. With him as the sole main line in his generation, William was sure to ascend that chair but that changed with the expulsion from the academy. His uncle, who was his father''s brother, though born in the main branch of the family, became a side branch once William''s father took the Count title. After that moment, there was no chance of his blood ever gaining the title unless something happened to William. The problem was, as an only child of his, the count had set up ten guards, who would protect him every minute of every day. Every one of these guards has reached Tier-6 and that means the enemy had to be Tier-8 or so to defeat them. Ten Tier-6 guards can defeat even a Tier-7 professional. Sure, there would be damage on their side, but they woulde out victorious. Moreover, no Tier-7 and above would take assassination jobs, unless they are assassins through their ss. Even the ones that take the job would charge a lot for the job. With such a price, there is a high chance that it would be found out by the family. So he wouldn''t dare to make ns against William, but that doesn''t mean he gave up. He has been waiting for the right time and the time has arrived. William got expelled from the Royal Academy for conspiring with another student to kill a student of the academy. Normally, in such cases, William should have been executed, but lucky for him, the student they conspired against is still alive, and that William is the heir to a Count. These two reasons saved him from death but they couldn''t save him from expulsion. This became a weapon for his uncle to drag William from the heir position. Since William was the only child of his father, if William couldn''t take the noble title, then it would go to his uncle or his son. The others have no right to the title unless William, his uncle, and his uncle''s children disappear or lose their im. That would not happen easily. So they would usually select their position in the family and work hard to gain that position. After all in a family, the elders have a major say after the head of the family. Most of the time, the head would be busy. So the administration was usually carried out by these elders. So, even though they would never have power outside of the family, they can still subtly influence the family. So the only one who enjoyed his expulsion was William''s uncle. With the help of other elders, after promising them various benefits, he took away the heir position from William. The only issue was that William''s father didn''t want to let his brother or his sons take the title. So he created a way for William, giving him a chance at regaining the heir position andter the Count title after him. In three years, there would be apetition to decide who would be the heir of House Rutgurd. Which was once his by birth, is no longer his. He has to work hard to regain the title. All of this was due to his great-grandmother. He was quite furious about that. --- If she hadn''t wished him to take revenge on the descendants of her rivals, this couldn''t have happened. Even though that was true, he can''t me her. She is the reason, he still has a chance to regain his heir position. Without her support, there was no way that his uncle would have agreed to thepetition. He was already facing bacsh for trying to kill a student of the academy. It was a mark that couldn''t be erased easily. To smooth over things, his father went to the Frostwolf family offering a huge sum aspensation. The Frostwolf family agreed that they won''t retaliate but Magnus added that as long William won''t cause trouble in the future, he won''t try to take revenge for the conspiracy to murder him. William went ballistic when he heard about what Magnus told his father and their entourage. To William, the root cause of his losses was Magnus. To him, if he had died in the secret realm, as he was supposed to, everything would have been better. Wim, lent his trainer to train Dorian for a month. This was when the first-year students went for a break for the first time. In those thirty days, thebat experience of Dorian improved a lot. To make sure that nothing goes wrong, he even lent an artifact that can vaporize any enemy as long as you can supply energy to it. Unless the enemy was two or more ranks higher than you, it would be a piece of cake, but Dorian botched it. There is a chance that the artifact fell into the hands of Magnus. It was a huge loss and then now as pensation his family had to pay a lot of sum. Luckily, his father was rich and thepensation came from his father, rather than from the family. If thepensation came from the family, then it would be even worse for William inside his family. There are already a few who are looking to pull him down. When he was the heir, those guys used to shiver before him but now they are acting as a bunch of bandits. Back then they had no other choice. William was the heir and then he would be the Count and head of the family but now there are chances for others as well. Yes, thepetition was for all eligible ones from William''s generation. Anyone who is near his age canpete in thispetition that would be held in three years. This was like a huge chance for everyone who has high ambitions. They can bring down the main branch and they themselves can be the main branch. Such a chance wouldn''t appear easily and to achieve that they are prepared to do whatever is needed to be done. This even includes ying dirty. If one of thepetitors couldn''t make it to thepetition, then that would mean one lesspetitor for the title and an increase in their chances of winning. They are circling him to understand him and sabotage him. In these times, a divided mind would be problematic. So he came to a decision. No matter what he has to win thispetition. Until then, he has to forget about Magnus. His revenge has to wait till the end of thepetition. After dealing with him, he has ns for the bitch Elisha. Yes, for William, tough Magnus is the main culprit, and his great-grandma was the reason that happened, it all started with Elisha. She bore the features of his great-grandma''s rival from a long past. If not for that, this wouldn''t have started in the first ce. He wanted to marry her back then, but those ns changed. What he nned for her would be revealed in the future. Chapter 174: The end of my third year Before I knew it, the semester came to an end and that means the third year is. In two more years, I would graduate from the academy and settle down in a manner of my own choosing. The year ended with the exam that was held at the end of the second semester. I came at the top as usual. Since from the third year, students can take on missions, which would take them outside of the academy, there were no semester exams but there was a final exam at the end of the year. If there was no exam of such kind, it would be impossible for the academy to observe whether the students had made any progress or not. After all, based on these exams the academy allocates resources to the students. If they forgo these exams too, then the allocation of resources would be either based on previous year ranks or everyone would get the same amount of resources. Either of these options is not considered as a good choice. If the academy distributes the resources based on the previous year''s performances, then the ones who made progress in this past year would be at a loss. A lot of people went out on various missions. A few of them are likely to stumble onto something good in their travels. Skills not only improve through training but there are other ways to improve them. Those are very rare and mostly discussed in theory. The first way was through a resource known as Skill Stone. This can upgrade the level of the skill, irrespective of what the skill is or at what level it is at the moment of its use. Yes, it can improve the skill from level 99 to level 100, even if the person uses a skill stone that can increase the level by one. Skill stonese in various levels. Most seen ones improve the level by one, which is the lowest grade improvement. The highest that a skill stone can do is a three-level jump. This means that if one uses the high-grade skill stone, one can reach level 100 if one uses it at level 97. Of course, the skill stones are already rare and a high-grade one was only recorded once in history. It was used by a prince of a far-away empire. Of course, that empire fell a few yearster because the surrounding nations feared them. Before the act of the prince was known, the empire was powerful and made many enemies due to its aggressive nature of annexing small kingdoms that bordered the empire. With a prince of that empire emerging as someone who reached level 100 in a skill, the threat to their existence became imminent. So many kingdoms and two other empires that share a border with this one made an alliance to end this empire and they did so. Of course, the alliance didn''tst long and internal fights started, destroying a few kingdoms. The alliance that was formed was very powerful. It even had a name, Sha-Rock Alliance. In their nativenguage, it loosely trantes as Enemy of the Rock. The empire that they formed alliance against was called Rock Empire. The alliance identified themselves as the enemies of the Rock Empire. The war between the empire and the alliance started with a demand from the alliance. They wanted the life of the prince who had just reached level 100 in one of his skills. Without him, the empire wouldn''t dare to start new wars. The old wars had already depleted a lot of the empire''s ability to fight wars. With the emergence of the prince, they can start new wars, though it might take a few years. The alliance didn''t want to take such a chance. If new soldiers appeared, the Rock Empire surely would restart its wars against the border nations. The two empires might be safe as the Rock Empire might not attack them, as attacking one of them would invite the third empire to either help the invaded empire or sack the Rock Empire from the back. Either case wouldn''t be too good for the Rock Empire. Moreover, the empires could easily pull the small kingdoms around the Rock Empire into the conflict by offering benefits for joining them. So the Rock Empire never did anything against them in the light. As usual, there are activities in the dark that all three empires conduct against each other. When the Alliance asked for their prince''s life, who is the future of the empire, they refused. This prince was their chance to be the most powerful empire, if not the ruler of all humans. War ensued, and the Rock Empire fell after months of battles. The issue came when the division of the Rock Empire came onto the table. Each of the two empires wanted arger piece, which put each other at one another''s throats. The small kingdoms joined one or another empire and the alliance ended because they became greedy. Luckily for them, that happened after the Rock Empire disappeared. --- Ah, I was distracted again. I am going away from what I wanted to say. These skill stones that can improve skill levels are only avable in dungeons. The problem was there was no data on how to obtain them, except one to hope that their luck was good enough for them to obtain those stones. There was no guarantee that one could obtain a skill stone, even if they went through the dungeon a thousand times. It is said that you need to be lucky to find one. I went through dungeons a few times but never saw one. If I could find one, I could directly skip a level. This would help me be stronger fast. Though I want a slow life, it doesn''t mean that I wouldn''t want something like that. With that stone, I can work less but be stronger. That would be the perfect slow life. There are other resources but they won''t give instant level up. I read in a book that there is a tree that produces Enlightenment Leaves. Drinking Tea made of these leaves would induce enlightenment in the person who drank it. There is one problem though, no two problems. This tree only bears ten leaves, every decade. It means even after a century of waiting there would be only a hundred leaves and that means only a hundred chances of enlightenment. The problem with this was that there was only one tree in the known world. It was located in the Empire of Luxem. This empire is known for its luxury and high-quality goods. The tree is called "The Enlightment Tree", and is protected by a thousand Tier-7 guards. Moreover, it is located at the centre of their capital city. It''s impossible to obtain these leaves unless they sell them, which didn''t happen as of now. It was said that they gave a few leaves as gifts but that was just a spection. Who would give away such items as gifts to others? Probably someone who is rich, like the Empire of Luxem. As I mentioned before, they produce a variety of luxury items and earn a lot of money. To them, cost doesn''t matter. if they gave away those leaves, it definitely meant as a favour, that the other side has to repay when the timees. There was another problem with these leaves. As I said, these resources would induce enlightenment into one''s mind. Enlightenment means that they can grasp something that they want to. The problem was that how much one can grasp depends on one''s own talent. Not many could make the best use of these leaves. So it was said, that even in the empire, no one would use them on a whim. In the first ce, the empire won''t hand them to people whocked talent. There would be apetition among the youngsters of the empire, that gives them a chance to gain a leaf. Enlightenment, as I said could be induced but also could be gained naturally, though it is very much rarer than the resources that can artificially induce enlightenment but there is an advantage if the enlightenment happens naturally. It means you are truly ready to understand whatever you were trying to understand and that means you can understand much more than what you can in an artificial induced one. Gaining enlightenment on our own means, that talent is very good and as long as no idents happen, the person with such talent will reach the peak of the world. Since reaching the peak is a goal of mine, I hope I can gain enlightenment at least once in my life. There are a lot of skills in my bag. It is almost impossible for me to reach level 100 without such a push. --- In this year, as I lead a slow life, it wasn''t the same as before. Though there weren''t as many improvements asst two and half years, there is still some improvement and that was in my skill levels. Now that everyone is thinking that I was Tier-2 and was on the way to reaching the peak of Tier-2, there was no need to improve my rank levels. The greatest feat that I achieved in the third year was toplete my Tier-6 promotion mission. Other than that, most of it was very slow. Chapter 175: My Tier-6 Status It took me some time but I did reach Tier-6. The reason for myte promotion was that I couldn''t find that damn bird. Though I decided to lead a slow life from now on, I didn''t want to miss out on the 50x bonus from the promotion mission. There was no info on how it was given. Should Iplete the mission as soon as possible within a time limit? Would the 50x bonus disappear if I take too much time? I have no idea. So I decided not to risk it andplete the mission as soon as possible. I can stop levelling quickly once I reach Tier-6. I can upgrade the skill levels first at a normal rate, simr to others, rather than going frenzy while levelling up. So even though I started to have a slow life, I kept searching for that stupid bird. It was in the third month after the semester started that I was able to find it and kill it. It was not an easy endeavour. The monster that I had to hunt down was a Thunder Eagle, and its rank should be no less than Tier-7 level 50. Thunder eagles are very fast and they can fly, and that means it''s almost impossible to hunt them at my rank. Even for me, it took three hours to kill it. Whenever I fired a shot, it escaped easily. Onnd, it would be a 2-D fight but in the air, it is a 3-D fight. The problem was that I couldn''t fly. Maybe I should be on the lookout for flight skills. They woulde in handy. With my huge AGI and high MP, it''s easy to cover hundreds of kilometres in minutes. Unlike onnd, the traffic in air is much thinner. So I can go as fast as I can. Yes, onnd, I have to limit my speed because there is a chance of running into buildings and destroying things or running through a person. So, even with high AGI, it''s not advisable to run at such speeds. In the air, there would be only the flying monsters. There are airships in this world but they are costly. So they are only seen in empires, not kingdoms like the one I live in. So not much to care about while flying. --- Anyway, after killing the damn Thunder Eagle, I went to the nexus to use the promotion crystal there. To the world, I had only recently been promoted to Tier-2. If I go too quickly, it would be suspicious. So I used the crystal I had. If not to keep appearances, there was never a need to use the Magic Association for my promotion. After I submitted for the promotion missionpletion, this was what I got when Ipleted the promotion mission and submitted it. -- [Detected that you havepleted the Tier-6 promotion mission.] [Your missionpletion was graded - EX] [You have cleared conditions for Tier Upgrade...] [You have been promoted to Tier-6] [You have gained 50x attribute increment.] [Dual ss detected.] [New ss Skills issued.] [You have gained the skill, Shadow Storage.] [You have gained the skill, Blood Rain.] [You have gained the skill, Space Break.] [You have gained the skill, Soul Arrow.] [You have gained the skill, Soul Defence.] [You have gained the skill, Soul Lock.] --- While I was still in Tier-5 rank, every level I gained would give me +62,500,000,000 HP/MP and +6,250,000,000 INT. With a 50x promotionpletion bonus, I now would gain + 3,125,000,000,000HP/MP and +312,500,000,000 INT per level. The attributes that I gain for every level rise would be in billions and trillions. These three attributes are reaching the heavens, but my other attributes like STR, END, AGI and DEX have yet to touch the million milestone. Coming back to my promotion missionpletion. Since there were no levels gained as of now in Tier-6, due to my slow life, attributes didn''t improve but there was an increase in attributes HP and MP for reaching Tier-6. As a promotion missionpletion bonus I gained +3,125,000,000,000 in HP and +6,250,000,000,000 in MP Let''s see what my status looks like now. "Status" -- Name: Magnus Frostwolf Age: 18 Titles: Son of Viscount; Great yer; Hidden Smiden; Dungeon Conqueror; Primary ss: Draconic Warlock Secondary ss: Soul Arbiter (Unique) Affinity: Shadow, Blood, Space Bloodline: ck Dragon (25% purity) Technique: ck Dragon Essence Breathing Physique: Devourer Physique (EX) Talent: Ritualistic Summoning (EX) Trait: Silk Smooth Skin(A bit Improved); Sleepy; Aurum Skin; Sexy Smile; Rank: Tier-5 >> Tier-6 Level: 100 >> 0 Health Points (HP): 322,066,328,117 >> 3,447,066,328,117 Strength (STR):215,000 (+100%) Endurance (END): 250,000 (+100%) Dexterity (DEX): 1,579 Agility (AGI): 198,800 (+100%) Intelligence (INT): 31,887,756,200 Magic Power (MP): 325,255,105,300 >> 6,575,255,105,300 Soul Energy: 105,500 (+200%) Charm: 3,009 ss Skills: Shadow Bolt; Blood Dominance; Draconic Magic; Shadow Curse; Blood Heal; Shadow Shift; Blood Lock; Draconic Pressure; Shadow Merge; Blood Drain; Soul Judge; Soul Prison; Soul Container; Nether mes; Shadow control; Blood Boil; Shadow Clone; Blood Clone; Space sh; Soul de; Soul Ascension; Soul Avatar; Shadow Storage; Blood Rain; Space Break; Soul Arrow; Soul Defence; Soul Lock; Special Skills: Rank Booster; Status Disguise; Refined Skills: Shadow Bolt Volley Lvl. 21; Blood Drain Field Lvl. 10; Skills: Evade Lvl. 20; Dodge Lvl. 20; Sprint Lvl. 20; Alertness Lvl. 15; Devour Lvl. 9; Fusion Lvl. 20; Split Lvl. 20; Demon Gaze Lvl. 5; Strengthen Lvl. 21; Tag & Track Lvl. 4 >> 6; Night Vision Lvl. 15 >> 17; Spatial Storage Lvl. 12 >>14; Mind Control Lvl. 9; Mind Probe Lvl. 9; Mind Defence Lvl. 1; Dragon Blood Evolution Lvl. 20; Scent Recognition Lvl. 10 >> 20; Sexual Stamina Lvl. 6 >> 7; Perception Lvl. 20; Pet World Lvl. 3; Parry Lvl.11 >> 14; Resistances: Physical Resistance Lvl. 22; Light Resistance Lvl. 5 >> 15; Poison Resistance Lvl. 10; Magic Resistance (Non-Attribute) Lvl. 10; Space Resistance Lvl. 9; Fire Resistance Lvl. 14; Water Resistance Lvl. 12; Mind Resistance Lvl. 1; Wind Resistance Lvl. 11; Lightning Resistance Lvl. 9; Weapon Arts: Advanced Staff Arts Lvl. 3; Intermediate Movement Arts Lvl. 6 >> 7; Intermediate Hand Combat Arts Lvl. 3 >> 5; -- Shadow Storage: Damn, you have a lot of storage. -- Blood Rain: Use fallen enemies'' blood to cause rain. It is corrosive and causes continuous damage to the enemies. -- Space Break: Break space skills like sh, Teloportation etc... -- Soul Arrow: Can''t you guess? It''s an arrow that attacks a creature''s soul. -- Soul Defence: Seriously? It''s a defence skill for your soul. -- Soul Lock: Lock onto a soul while attacking. Once locked, your attack will never miss its target. --- My system was still as sassy as ever. The descriptions are as short as ever, never describing what they do and I have to find out about them. Luckily for me, for a few skills, there is a description, even though it''s short and a lot of information was skimmed. The first one is not that useful as I have Space Storage and Space Ring to store items. The second one is an AOE attack, which Ick but this attack is like a curse, which depletes the enemy''s strength over time. If the enemy got out of the field, then it is useless. The third one is very useful. though it is neither an attack nor a defence skill, it can still stop enemies from fleeing easily. I mean if a defeated enemy flees away sessfully, then they might return in future and that is a nuisance that I would avoid at any cost. Others should too. Fourth, Fifth and Sixth skills belong to the soul category and all of them are very useful whenpared to what I gotst time. Who needs a Soul Avatar at this point? These three skills are perfect. One is an attack skill, one is a defence skill, and thest one is a support skill. Since I learned that there are soul skills, I had a small fear that someone might use them on me. if they did, I didn''t have any way to protect myself from them. There was but a little knowledge about souls in the books avable to me. Now with these skills, I feel that my soul would be safe. --- Compared to when I took the promotion mission, there are a few skills that improved but these didn''t need much work from me. Tag & Track, Night Vision, and Spatial Storage increased by two levels, which are from Level 4 to 6, Level 15 to 17, and from Level 12 to 14 respectively. Sexual Stamina increased only by a level reaching level 7 from level 6. Scent Recognition had the greatest improvement. It reached level 20, from level 10. It means the improvement is 10 levels. Coming to the resistance category, as I didn''t fight against monsters that much in thest semester, there was no improvement, except for one. It was my light resistance, which improved from level 5 to level 15. The reason for that is because I subjected myself to a lot of Light Element energy. Since I had Shadow Element, when Light Element touches my body, it acts violently. This was why I was able to increase that in such a way. This semester, I didn''t just have sex with Ang, we trained too. Due to the efforts that we put in, my Parry skill raised from level 11 to level 14. There is also a single-level improvement in my Intermediate Movement Arts and two levels in Intermediate Hand Combat Arts. --- The third is finally over, and it is time to return home and rest for a while. I should give a good thought about what to do in my life. There are only two more years before I graduate. After that, I have to find a job with constant ie. Though I vie for acklustre life, any life would cost money unless you decide to live in a forest. Even there, you have to work to earn the right to life there and obtain food. Chapter 176: My journey to Valtis City (1) When I returned home, my father and mother were quite busy with their work. So I just greeted them lightly, before going to my room. Since my father is the viscount, he has to deal with a lot of things. I wonder how much of a burden it would be on a king or an emperor. There is no way that a single person can oversee everything in an empire. The tasks had to be assigned to various people. When the ruling area was small, the rulers could personally select the people who would oversee such matters but as the size of thends increased, there was no way for them to do so. After, even if the emperor is a good person, he wouldn''t be omniscient. He wouldn''t know everything. Though he may appear as someone who controls everything, he can''t control everything. Even though in this world there are awakeners, the emperors are not gods. Even gods wouldn''t have control over everything. There would be a lot of subordinates who oversee things in the empire. With too muchnd to cover and too many people, many things would be handled by the nobles below the emperor and government officials who would be in charge of the various departments that deal with specific areas. For example, there would be officials of the Agriculture Department, who deals with issues regarding the production of food. In order to properly do their duties, these officials should have proper knowledge not limited to nts. They have to know about thendscape, and weather in that region. Without the proper knowledge, the solution might not be a good solution. This would lead to a decline in the economy. Moreover, if food production was affected, it would affect every other department, as people need food to survive. Without food, they would die sooner thanter. This is something that everyone knows but the emperor can''t possibly oversee everything. So whatever the high-level officials of these departments decide, that would be how things work, even if they were against thews. When there is no proper oversight, then there is a high chance of corruption. In empires, the chances of that happening are very high. No wonder there is a lot of corruption inrge empires whenpared to the small kingdoms. Though the small kingdoms may not have a secure life, the corruption in such states is usually very low. Of course, usually, life in empires would be way better whenpared to such small states. If you want one you have to leave another. It also doesn''t mean that small nations have corruption-free air. Here, there would be lessplexity and the chances of that are very low and that was it. --- Anyway, I am lucky that I wasn''t born as a prince or something. If I was in that position, the stress on me would be high enough to kill off some years of my life. There would have been less familial love too. The only pro was that I would have a lot of resources since birth and with enough talent, I could easily reach the sky. If given a chance, I wouldn''t exchange what I have. Though there were a lot of parasites in the family when everyone was counted, I believe it would be far worse for the royal families. Here the people are fighting just for a Viscounty but with royals, the interest is the ownership of kingdoms and empires. Moreover, parents would be fully busy for most of your life. There would be not much time to spend with them. Most of the time would probably in court has to call your own parents, YOUR MAJESTY or YOUR HIGHNESS. It''s bloody ridiculous. Sure they may be the King/Emperor and Queen/Empress of the Kingdom/Empire, but they are your parents. When children address their children, it should be using the words that say you are their parent, not some job title. After all, being a king or a queen or any other noble is just a job. You have to work hard to keep that and if you make any mistakes, there is a chance of losing it. There is something called REBELLION. This is what is used to rece a king or emperor. --- Huh, why am I getting off-topic? With too much INT, I am thinking too much. I should stop that. It''s a waste of my precious time and energy. Since my parents were busy, I had to have my dinner alone. Though it appeared a bit different than what it used to feel when I had meals alone in the academy, the difference I feel is quite minute. After having dinner, I returned to my room. I entered Nexus, not to practice but to enjoy some time with my fox, Asya. With me back at home for the next thirty days, I may not be avable much to apany her. So whenever I find some time, I have to spend with her. Speaking about mypanions. It has been a year since Inari left for her home. I wonder how Inari is doing. I miss her. Hope, I will see her again. --- Early Next Morning... "Valtis City? I have never heard about that?" I said to my father. "Of course, you wouldn''t have heard about it. It''s a port city, and also a hidden city", my father said. "Hidden, why?" I asked my father. "Think about it?" my father replied instead of answering me. What does the old man want me to find out? I mean, the only reason why the city was hidden should be that there is a secret production or experimental house in that city. If not, there was no need for it to be hidden. Since it is a port city, they should be either building a powerful naval fleet or experimenting on sea monsters. Except for those two reasons, I don''t see any reason why a port city was kept hidden. I mean there is another reason for that, but that just coincides with my two reasons a bit. The city would be used as a waypoint for attacking other nations. If that is the case, then it would be of no use in the long term. Maybe the purpose is only for short-term usage. "Well, I don''t care. Why do you mention the city anyway?" I asked my father. There shouldn''t be too many reasons why my father who is only a viscount would learn about such a secretive city. "It''s because of your mother. Since she reached Tier-7, many eyes turned towards our house. These eyes are not those greedy eyes that want to make our family part of theirs or take away what is ours. Those greedy bastards are now afraid". "The ones who are interested now are some of the top military members. You should know it was not that easy to reach Tier-7, especially as the promotional missions increase in difficulty as the rank increases. This takes a major turn for the Tier-7. the promotion mission wouldn''t be easy toplete usually". "For some reason, your motherpleted it very quickly and now is considered the fastest to reach Tier-7 and also the youngest". Why is my father praising my mother non-stop? Is there something he had to say and using this to smoothen things over? What''s the need? "Father, stop. I asked why you mentioned the Valtis City. How is mother involved with this?" I asked him directly. "Don''t rush, I am getting to that. Your mother was invited to visit Valtis City and take a position there", he said. "Oh, then shouldn''t we congratte her, and have a celebration, rather than having small now or did you call me here, so that we can n a party in secret?" I asked my father. "No...maybe we should n a surprise celebration for her but that''s not why I asked you here. When she got the chance to enter Valtis, she was also given a chance to bring one another as a temporary visitor", he said. "Oh, you are leaving for Valtis City and probably won''t be here. I understand", I said. Well, they deserve a vacation. I mean, ruling over a viscounty and raising five children while trying to make sure that the family won''t break up is not an easy task. "No, your mother didn''t choose me, rather she chose you to apany her to Valtis City", he said. "Wait, what?" That was a surprise. Why did my mother select me, instead of my father or any of the other four siblings that I have? Probably they are all busy now and at the moment, only I have enough time to waste. Though it was not my schedule for the holidays, there is no actual schedule as of now. So I can waste a few days visiting this hidden port city. Maybe I can learn something new. After all, the knowledge I have about this world is very minutepared to what I don''t know. Chapter 177: My journey to Valtis City (2) I wonder how my journey to Valtis City would be. Since it was a hidden city, there should have been a lot of unknown things there. If I was allowed to see those things, I could understand a bit more about this world. Moreover, I believe if I want to understand more about this world, I need to visit the empires. With their huge resources, they are very well developed whenpared to the kingdom I am in or the kingdoms that surround Glessaria. Going to those empires at this stage is not advised. I am only at Tier-6. It may appear strong in the eyes of the people of a kingdom but I heard that Tier-6 are considered as guards in the empire. With high poptions, there are many awakenerspared to the small kingdoms which have a low number of awakeners. The resources would be high too. So the chances of bing Tier-6 are very high as long as one works diligently. So a Tier-6 awakener is nothing in the empires. Moreover, the journey to the empires is costly and dangerous. There are no known teleportation nodes between nations. This is to stop other nations from infiltrating their nations. Even the empires would be wary of small nations or else they would be history. Only through physical travel, can one cross the borders. Even then, entering other nations is not so easy. Nations wouldn''t just allow others to enter their nation easily. They are afraid that the travellers might be spies. So any entrants have to go through a lot of screening. It may hinder the economy as merchants are usually the ones that travel through various nations but nations that they belong to usually try to recruit them as spies. This was because, even though they could be spies, nations would allow merchants to enter their nations. After all, without merchants, the flow of goods between nations would be stalled. Not even an empire would have everything in the world. They may have the required goods to run an empire smoothly, but that doesn''t mean that they have everything that the world has to offer. So they would allow the merchants in but they would usually be under surveince. Even with the surveince, messages would be passed easily. Merchants would meet a lot of people and the country may not easily identify who the spies are among the people that they met. There is no stopping but for the sake of faster investigations in the future, everything would be recorded and saved. Since they couldn''t stop the merchant spies, they too would also use their own merchants for the same purpose. Truth to be said, being a merchant gives easy ess to almost all ces but at the same time, it doesn''t. Maybe if I be a merchant in the future, I can travel easily through the border, whenpared to others. --- "So, how are we travelling there and when?" I asked my father. Though I was surprised at first, I pulled myself back into the moment. Other things can wait. First I need to find out how to get there and how long would the journey would be. After all, I have only a month of holidays and then my fourth year at the academy would begin. As the top ranker, it''s not a good thing to be absent on the first day of the year. It''s not a good role model behaviour. "Tomorrow, you''ll leave but don''t know how you leave. There is a military officer currently present in the guest building. She would take the both of you there. Don''t worry about the academy. You will return by the time the academy starts", my father responded to my questions. Oh, there is a chauffeur it seems. The military arranged an officer probably because the destination is a hidden one and we have no idea how to reach it. Hmm, the officer is a she. I wonder what she looks like? I can see her tomorrow. Wait, if the journey starts tomorrow, that means I have to pack up for the next month. Also, the ce we are going is a hidden city. It means there are formations and devices that would be probing everyone and everything all the time. I can''t summon Asya nor I could enter the Nexus. If I do so, I believe that the guards would be on me within minutes. No need to make such stupid decisions. I should inform Asya that I would be unavable for a few days and she shouldn''t be worried about me. Also, I should find her some gifts because I am kind of abandoning her for a while. What should I get her? The most she likes is to eat, especially high-quality meat. I should find some high-quality meat for her as an apology. In addition to food, maybe some toys so that she won''t get bored being alone for almost thirty days. "Oh, are there any restrictions on what to take there and what not to?" I asked my father before leaving. "Hmm", he thought for a minute, "Not much but you can''t take pictures or say about the ce to anyone else. Those are the only two restrictions. Don''t fret much. They would make you sign an NDA, and it would automatically stop you from revealing information about the ce unless you were given permission", he replied. "Cool", I muttered and left the office. Much like on Earth, here on Ragos, there is an NDA, Non-Disclosure Agreement. Once signed by someone, the signed party can''t reveal anything regarding what he signed about. If he does, the other party can sue the signed party in court. Of course, the NDA only gives the other party after the signed party breaks the pact but here it is not. Magic. There is magic in this world and once a party signs a magic contract, the contract would make it impossible for the signed party to reveal anything. Of course, such contracts cost a lot. I wonder why they are allowing me, which should be costing them a lot. I can ask my motherter about it. Now, I need to find some gifts for Asya and spend the day with her. From tomorrow, she has to spend her time in the secret realm for a very long time. --- "Magnus, this is Colonel ckfire", my mother introduced me to the young woman who appeared before us. "Hello Colonel'', I greeted the woman. Hmm, she doesn''t look that old and also she is very beautiful. Being beautiful is like a default setting for the awakeners unless they are injured severely, where their skin is damaged and can''t be recovered. With so many improvements to the body during levelling up, being beautiful is something thates naturally to the awakeners. "Hello Magnus, you can call me Sister Rose", Rose ckfire replied. I was surprised by that. From what I heard, the military is usually strict. So there was no reason for her to be nice and act free with me unless there was a reason to be. Though I wanted to know the reason why she was easygoing, I restrained myself. Maybe it was due to her personality. I smiled and said, "Yes, sister Rose". "Good, now if you are ready, let''s start our journey", she said. The curious me asked her, "Sister Rose, how would we get there? I don''t think that there is a direct route to that ce, is there?" "First we would go to the Summerset City using the teleportation", she replied not getting angry that I asked about the route, but she stopped there. "Okay, after that", I asked. She smiled and replied, "Wait and see". Wait and see what? I hope there is something amazing. We were dropped off at the city''s teleportation hub by our driver. After that, we took three tickets to the Summeret City. Using the teleportation circle, we reached our destination within minutes. As we reached the city, it smelled of sea. Summerset City is a coastal city and that means, it smells of sea and fish, a lot of fish. The main food here consists of mostly sea-based, due to arge number of monsters present in the seas whenpared to thend. Luckily, the powerful sea monsters would sally settle in the depths, rather than near the surface or else, there would be no coastal cities and no sea travel. There are monster tides from the sea from time to time but similiar to other cities and towns, people here survive by fending them off or die trying. --- "Follow me", sister Rose said as she led us through the city. I wanted to see what the surprise was. So I followed her enthusiastically. After a few minutes, she took us to the port area and led us to a ship to board. Wait, is this the surprise? We are getting onto a ship to reach another port city. What is there surprise in that? I gave sister Rose a re, to which she chuckled. "As I said before, Wait and See", she said again in a mysterious way. Chapter 178: Valtis City (1) What is there to see? This is just a ship. Why is she being cryptic about this? Is there something that will blow my mind as we go on this journey? Let''s wait and see. --- An hour after we boarded the ship, it started to sail. We were not its only passengers. There seemed to be at least a thousand people on board, and the goods that were loaded onto the ship were too many for me to even think about counting. The ship left the port. Nothing new. It started to sail in the open seas. Nothing new. It has been an hour. I waited on the deck to see what the mystery was about. Nothing... Wait, why is the ship shaking? This is not the usual ship shaking but as if... "Wait, what''s happening?" I shouted in rm. "Quiet down. There is no need for rm. As I said, wait and watch", Rose smirked. As I watched from the deck, the ship left the water beneath and started floating towards the skies. This is not a ship but an airship. I was really surprised by that. I only heard about airships but had never seen one before. Airships are costly. The consumption of resources is a lot even building one. Maintaining an airship is also not cheap. It burns a lot of resources every day. So normally, kingdoms don''t possess one, only empires do. The only exception was if your kingdom was rich but that would never be the case. There is never a reason for the empires to let a rich kingdom be independent. Empires always want to expand, but maintaining an empire is expensive. So they wouldn''t want to expand their area of rule that easily. This was because if there were too many poor regions in an empire, it would cause a lot of trouble for the ruler and the officials. The people from poor regions would want to develop their areas and the rich regions would hate when all their taxes are diverted to other regions. Since they are the ones that generate the maximum ie for the empire, they would argue that their regions have to be developed far beyond any other region. There was nothing wrong in either case. The poor want to develop and get out of poverty. They would want better healthcare, education and employment. There is nothing wrong with that, but to do so would cost a lot of money, which they couldn''t generate. It has to be borrowed from somewhere else. The rich want to develop too. though they look developed whenpared to the poor regions, there is no such thing as the end of development. There would always be new things invented and discovered. No rich person would say no to new luxuries. In fact, no one would say no to luxuries but the poor can''t afford them and would be against them. This was because anything new wouldn''te out of thin air. There would be research, sometimes for years and research means a lot of cost of resources and gold. This would mean there would less resources for the poor to develop. It means that they would remain in poverty and that means chances of bandits appearing and rebellions in the empire. It would cost both resources and men. The losses would be not small and it would be always substantial, something that the empire couldn''t bear. So unless the territory has a strategic or resource value, they won''t care about those territories. Having too much territory is a hassle and does not always show the strength of the empire nor would it help increase the strength of the empire. So usually empires would let many kingdoms be unless required. The presence of other kingdoms and races was also the reason why there was never a single human empire that united all of humanity. Humans were scattered across the world. There was no continuation of human settlements. There are other races'' kingdoms that exist in between human nations. Attacking them would incur the wrath of that race''s kingdoms and empires that stretched throughout the world. So uniting all humans into a single empire was never possible. This was especially improbable due to the Human-Demon wars that have been ongoing for centuries. It was already troublesome that humans had demons as their enemies. Adding more races would spell their doom, even if those races hate each other. This was why even though some humans hated other races, they kept their distance. It doesn''t mean that they didn''t make any moves. I reckon, whatever bad things that they did, were always in the dark and made sure that there would be no evidence left behind. --- There are only a few reasons why a kingdom with a lot of rich resources would still be independent. One, there are too many high-level powerhouses in the kingdom. Two, the kingdom is too remote and the travel is highly dangerous. Third, if the kingdom borders another empire that is also trying to capture the kingdom. When we consider the first reason, having too many high-level awakeners as opponents, the losses wouldn''t be small, which would defeat the purpose of even upying this new territory. It would also give a chance for some others to cause chaos in the empire, such as invasions or rebellions. Coming to the second reason, the travel of goods and soldiers is very important when invading any territory. If the line is broken or dangerous, the losses would be higher whenpared to the gains that could be realized from upying the territory. The third reason, another empire near the territory would mean prolonged conflict, which is not good for either of the empires. Instead of that, buying the goods from the territory would be cheap and involve less work. Of course, these reasons may not keep the independence of a kingdom alive as that depends mostly on the ruler of the empire, but these are the main reasons why an independent kingdom could keep its independence after some rich resource point was found in their territory. The resource point could be a Magic Metal mine that has a lot of ore that can be mined or a high-level dungeon or a secret realm. Whatever the reason might be, as long as there is a rich resource centre in the kingdom, the king has to bend his knee to an emperor in order to keep his title and probably his life. Of course, tax has to be paid, and that would be a different issue. --- "Surprised are we?" Rose asked me, seeing that I was gaping at what was happening. I nodded, "Yes, I have never seen an airship. It was said that it costs a lot and usually kingdoms won''t keep them even if they are second-handed". "You are right. Officially that was the line but there are many things that may appear different than what they appear on the surface. Not everyone would be able to know these things. Only someone high in the kingdom is cleared to know such knowledge". "Of course, if you were to serve the kingdom, there would be many things like that you woulde across. There is of course the rule that you can''t tell others about those things", Rose exined to me. Though it may appear as a simple exnation, she was also wooing me to join the military. Why? I don''t know the reason and maybe can''t know the reason unless I ask her. When I asked my mother why was Rose nice to me, she had no answer. In my mother''s words, Rose acted strictly even when she was dealing with my mother and father. For them, she showed some respect, whichcked when shemunicated with the other family members. When she came to bring my other to the Valtis City, she met a few of the elders and she as a military colonel, showed no respect to them. The ones that she respected were the ones that previously served in the military or were still part of it as reserves. For some reason, she was nice to me. Though she was beautiful and her beauty is a very distracting thing to my thinking, I wouldn''t easily fall for her tricks. There was no reason for someone to be nice to others, I wouldn''t believe it. There''s always a reason. It would have been one thing if she was nice to everyone but she wasn''t. Even to my parents, she was sincere and respectful but she acted all nice and cozy with me. There should be a huge reason why she was nice to me. I will find it and based on that, how I will be with her in the future will be decided. --- Three-hour journeyter... "We are here", Rose announced suddenly. We are where? I can''t see anything but a lot of mountains. Wait, is the entire area clocked? Possibly. It is a hidden city after all. If one can see it through their eyes, there is no meaning in saying that the city is a hidden city. I didn''t need to wait for long before the airship passed through a mountain and there was our destination, Valtis City. Wow, this is better than I imagined. Chapter 179: Valtis City (2) I have never imagined that a hidden city would be like this. When people look at the location, they would see nothing but vast mountains with a few scattered viges around these mountains. The inside was much more luxurious than what it looked from the outside. If byparison, this city looks like the noble''s district in the capital city. Well, the people who knew about this city''s existence were all at the top of the kingdom. If they were to stay or visit the city, it would need to be top-of-the-line. Moreover, there are nomoners or poor living in this city. It means, there are no small rooms that house a family in them. Looking at the city''s infrastructure, I believe that it is a research-based city, which means that most residents are either military or research scientists. There is no way that this city is being used just as a military city. If it was, thendscape would have been much more different. --- The city was a port city as my father said. There was a river passing through the city but I can''t remember what this river is. There was no indication of such a river passing through the kingdom of Glessaria. The river''s colour is too blue. The blue here is a bit darker than what the usual river blue looks like. The airship descended into the port, where there were two medium ships docked. These two ships can move through the river if needed. If they were any bigger, the river may not be able to amodate their movements. After we entered the city, the first thing that they did was to take our biometrics. My mother and I were separated as she would stay here. So the checking and recording of her details were different. The personnel here took my details as well, but they just took my fingerprints and asked me to sign the NDA. The fingerprints were done online but the NDA was physical. I have to sign on a physical parchment using my blood. Yes, it was not signing my name but I had to print my thumb onto the paper after it was soaked in my blood. I never signed a magical NDA before and as far as I know, the contract would absorb your blood and use that to mark you. It works simrly to Blood Magic skills. I don''t exactly how that works but once I signed it, I did feel something being ced inside my body. I can''t clearly exin it but I feel that a parasite has entered my body and it won''t activate as long as I don''t try to break the contract. There are other magic contracts, where the effect takes ce after the contract was broken. It would most likely be a curse would be ced on the person who breaks the contract. Whether it was a curse or something else, it would only take effectter. It means the parasite probably would be in an inactive state, rather than in the passive state like it is now. Since it may be rted to blood, I could remove it if I try enough. I have the Blood Affinity and that means, I would be aligned very well with Blood Skills. Having an affinity with Blood means, I could use Blood Skills very well and when others use blood skills on me, they would have a lesser effect. This was why people would love to have an affinity. It doesn''t matter what the element is, but having one means that it can be useful to attack or defend themselves better. I should make proper use of my affinities. I only depended on the skills that the system gave me. Sure, I deduced two skills but those are based on what I already have. Those are not my originals. Of course, there are no originals. Everything would be inspired from somewhere but directly inspiring from the system is the worst. I should make my own skills. They probably would be my legacy. --- "This is where you would stay for the time you spend in the city", Rose showed me my room. My room was not in the same building as my mother. Before even we signed the NDA contract, we were split. This was because my mother would have her own quarters to stay here, while I am only visiting. There would be no permanent room for the visitors, as visitors only stay temporarily and most probably it would be their one and only visit to the city. I was given a single room with an attached bathroom. That was nice. All the necessities required are provided in the single room, from bed to passing time watching something online. In this single room, I can say that the facilities could rival a three-star hotel back on Earth. "Stay here, unless either me or your motheres to pick you up. Food would be delivered three times a day. If you would be out for the day, inform the front desk" Rose informed the rules and regtions of my stay here. She left a few minutester, making sure that everything was fine. Now I can take a rest. --- I was informed that the airship would leave twice in the next thirty days. The airship would travel to and fro to bring goods and people from other ces and it was done twice a month. After I returned home, I spent a day at home and another for travel and settling here. So I have only twenty-eight days before I should return home, in order to get to the academy on time. It means that I can''t wait till the second run. I have to leave when the airship leaves Valtis City to pick up goods from the outside world next time. I only have a two-week period to enjoy whatever the Valtis City can offer. Though I most probably would miss out on many things, I have to make the best out of it. --- The two weeks that I had were over before I knew it. I toured the city as much as I could with my mother or sometimes with Rose. Though I came along with my mother, she still had duties to fulfil. So she couldn''t be there with me all the time and the movement in the city was restricted. A lot of ces can''t be visited without someone with ess to those areas. My mother has some ess, as she would stay here, even after I leave but as far as I know, she doesn''t have ess to every area and for those areas, I am not allowed, even if Rose was with me. There is a NDA that prevents people from spilling things that they saw or heard here but that''s almost impossible. Humansmunicate with each other and when they do a few things spill even if they don''t want to. One may think that the magic contract is absolute but is not. For that to work a lot of resources are used and there is an expiry date as there is to everything in this world. Since the cost is very high, the contract would prevent people from spilling the core secrets or information that may cause trouble for the kingdom. Most other things can be spilt if you are strong enough to withstand the contract countermeasures. So it was not included when we signed the contract. Coming to the expiry date, since this contract uses magic as its base, it would remain intact as long as the magic that entered us is still there. If it was burned up, nothing would stop the person from spilling everything. Anyway, with my mother at work some of the days, I got to spend time with Rose alone. It also gave me a chance to ask her about why she was nice to me. I wanted to know that because it kind of creeped me out a bit. She belonged to military and those are not nice to anyone. For them to receive such behaviour, the person had to have done something great. When I asked her, she just smiled and didn''t say anything. Now, I have to find out on my own. --- "Goodbye Magnus, until I see you again", my mother hugged me as I was leaving. I hugged her in response, "Bye mother, until we see each other again". My mother would be staying here from now on. She woulde visit us at home but with this job, I believe that she would have too much work to take a leave whenever she wants to. I don''t know when we''ll see each other again. After a minute or two, she let me and so did I. Then I went straight to board the ship. I waved to her, from the deck ship as it started to rise from the waters. This may be thest time I would see her for a few years at least. Though I don''t want that to happen but I feel that would be the case. Chapter 180: Return to my home It didn''t even take a day for me to return home. The airship took me to Summerset City. After that, I had to pay for myself to return to Winter City using the teleportation hub. From there, I returned home on my own, just like when I returned from the academy. First, when we were in Valtis City, personal phones were not allowed. Everything has to go through the official lines, where everything would be recorded. So no privacy there if you speak with outsiders. Even the city was fully under surveince, recording everything that is happening in the streets. There are cameras in the buildings too. The only private ce would be your quarters, where things won''t be recorded by the officials. So whatever you want to do or talk and for that to remain private, it can only be done in your own quarters and nowhere else. Everywhere else, there are recorders and everything would be recorded. Even though the rooms are private, the phones won''t work as the signals were blocked there. Information can only flow through authorized devices. This was why I didn''t even call my home beforehand. Once I left Valtis City, I would be home in a few hours. So I felt that there was no need to call my father and tell him that I was returning home. When I followed my mother to Valtis City, there was no information on when I would be able to return. So he shouldn''t be expecting me back this soon. --- "I was not expecting you back this soon. I thought that you might return a day or two before the academy year starts", my father said to me as soon as he saw me standing in his office. Yeah, I went to my father''s office, once I returned home, instead of my room. Though I didn''t say that I was returning, I should inform him that I did return. I will be at home for the next two weeks. So if he has any ns, he may need to adjust those ns ordingly. "Yeah, I didn''t think that I would return this soon either", I replied back to him. "So how is this Valtis City?" he asked me. "You know father that we can''t talk about it. I signed a magical NDA and if it prohibits me from breaking the confidentiality", I said to him with a straight face. "Oh, yes, yes. I forgot about that in an enthusiasm when I saw that you are back", he responded with a serious face. He thought that he made a mistake and couldn''t see the expression on my face. I was just ying with him but I hid those expressions well. I could say that it came easy with years of experience. I hid a great many things from my family. It started the moment from my birth. I was born with my memories from my past life and that made me different from other kids. At that time I didn''t know what my family would be like. So I hid everything and acted like an infant. As time went on, I realised that my parents are good parents. Even if they knew about my memories, they would have loved me, no matter what but my decision was right nheless. My parents were good but not everyone in my family was good. If news about me were leaked, then I don''t want to even think what could have happened then. There were a lot of scum in my family. Most were eliminated recently but there are still a few and that would always be a constant. No way an entire family would be good. As the old saying goes, Good and Bad live side by side. One won''t be without the other. As there is good, there would be bad. Without one, the other one loses its meaning. Back then, even after I started to trust my parents, as there were too many troublesome ones in the family, I hid most of my awakening details. I was lucky that only the awakener would see what they awakened, and nobody else. What others could see was whether the person had awakened or not during the ceremony and that''s all. Of course, there are devices and skills that would let people see what the awakener abilities are but they are rarely used and most of the time used by the military. They use them to scout enemies. The enemies could be monsters or even fellow humans. This was because people with such abilities were very few and high in demand whenpared to the devices. This was because, using the devices means burning resources, while a skill would only use magic power that they possess, which can be recovered easily. There was another problem. People can lie and also they demand too much for their services. There are people who would pay for it. Military, on the other hand, can''t base their operations on high costs. they would rather burn some resources that use people with these skills who can change their demands and increase them. Wait, where was I going? Yeah, I hid my awakening results, only slipping out a few details. After that, for years, I hid even when I was at a higher rank. This was because my skill levels were too low whenpared to people who were at my rank. I am still weak and showing my true rank could have more cons than pros at this point. I should tell my parents some of my secrets, soon enough. --- While I was reminiscing what I did with my life and my family all these years, my father kept apologizing for what he almost made me do, well ording to him anyway. Though he was not the one who signed a magical NDA, he knew about it and what are its effects. He thought he was causing me pain. Okay, it''s time to end this. No need to cause him to suffer more for something that didn''t happen. "Pfft...hahaha...Sorry, I can''t keep a straight face any longer", Iughed. My father didn''t understand at first but quickly understood what was happening. He understood that I was ying him. He didn''t get angry at me but sighed in relief that nothing bad happened to me.I should let them on a few of my secrets, sooner thanter. We spoke for a little while about what happened in the past two weeks. With mother''s departure, the workload on him increased and he said that he would call my first brother home soon, as his term at the military would expire soon. --- After speaking with my father, I returned to my room. The first thing I did was to visit Asya. It had been two long weeks and she was alone all this time. She was not alone actually, as she had those monsters to hunt to pass time when I was not avable for her to spend time with. She may have gotten used to me being with her in the past two years but before that, she lived on her own in the secret realm with nothing but monsters. So I don''t think that those two weeks are that much of a problem for her. --- Ah, the two weeks are over. It''s time to return to the academy and start the fourth year. In the two weeks at home, I spent some time training and allocated some time to be with either Asya or my father. Since my father was busier than he used to be when my mother was there to support him, I only saw him a few times in these two weeks. Unless my brotheres here to take off some burden from my father, I don''t think that he could have any free time. It shouldn''t have been like this. If only my family was not as problematic as it was back then, many of the responsibilities were to fall on someone else''s shoulders. The recent purge didn''t help either With a lot of gaps in management, the remaining ones were to bear these responsibilities. Though most of the scum was gone, a few remained. He didn''t want what he achieved in all those months to be undone. So unless he was sure that the other party was trusted or the responsibility was of not much importance, he decided to bear the responsibility. This is not good. Hope my brother can bring some relief to our father. --- After I return to the academy, it means the start of my fourth year. Three years have passed since I arrived here. It feels like I didn''t achieve much but that would change from now on. From now on, I will be able to take missions that will take me far away from the academy and the capital city as well. These missions not only reward a lot of points but also let me travel a great distance, with the possibility of encountering something wonderful on the journey. Though the chances of such encounters are very low, going on such missions would give me a chance to know more about the kingdom personally, rather than from reading a book. This was what interests me more than gaining some mythical encounter with the Goddess of Fortune. Chapter 181: Start of my fourth year (1) I am back at the academy, ready to start my fourth year. First, I collected the keys to my quarters, where I would stay for the next year. After I got my keys, the first thing to do was to go to my room but that was not what I intended to do. This evening, I intend to spend time with Ang. Over thest year, the rtionship between us entered a stage where Ang became dependent on me. I became the dominant one, well most of the time. There are still times, when I have to listen to her, just like now. She informed me toe to her, on the same day that I returned to the academy. This was why I returned to the academy in the evening, instead of at night. If there was a romance option for the night, I don''t want to wake upte in the morning. I want to pick the best of the missions and see if my luck is on those missions. Yes, I was hoping to have some favourable encounters during the mission. Thinking about the next day, I reached the training room of Ang. --- "Oh, Celine, I didn''t think you would be here. I cane backter," I said to the twins as I was about to leave. Celine stopped me saying, "You can stay Magnus. I am about to leave anyway'', and then turned to Ang, "Think about it, Ang. See youter", and then she left the room. Looks like I walked into a private situation between the sisters. It felt a bit awkward, though I have no idea why. Wait, she knew my name. SHE KNEW MY NAME! WHY WOULD SHE KNOW MY NAME? I never had interactions with her. I only attended the sses that she taught but thest ss was more than a year ago and that was when she taught more than five hundred students. The only time she could have known me from sses was more than two years ago and she still remembered me from then. Probably, but less likely. Did Ang mention me to her? Wait, Ang, what were they talking about before I interrupted them with my untimely arrival? "Ang, is this a bad time? Should I leave?" I asked her, who had been silent since Celine left us. I don''t doubt that she doesn''t know about my presence. Celine spoke my name. So Ang should know that I am still here but she didn''t greet me or anything. Whatever they spoke about must have involved some pretty heavy stuff or she would have at least acknowledged me by now. The longer I stay here, the more awkward it would be for her to greet me. So instead I broke the ice between us. If it were any longer it would be too awkward for either of us to speak up first. It would be a just waste of time. Since there might be something serious happening between the twins, I decided to give her a break and started the conversation. Ang didn''t answer for a few seconds and then she spoke, "I''ll contact youter Magnus". I nodded, "Okay, I am leaving", I said and left her training room. I don''t know what happened between those two but I am not going to poke in that matter unless Ang wants to. Though our rtionship progressed very much, it was not at a stage where we would speak about our worries to each other and help each other in quelling those worries. We are partners but not a couple yet. If we are categorized, I say we are sexual partners at this point. Of course, we would speak about each other to one another but the matters remained to the ones on the surface level. We never involved ourselves in speaking matters of heart to each other. Maybe I should, if I ever hope our rtionship to progress any further, but not today. If I suggest that at this point, it would look like forcing my opinion on her. No, if she wants to talk, that shoulde from her. The decision in matters such as this shoulde from both of us, not from a single partner. She would talk to me when she wants to talk to me and if she wants to talk to me about it. Until then, I decided to give her some space. --- I returned to my quarters after leaving the training room. Once I was back, I ordered dinner for the night. Usually, with my mother present, she would pack some food to take with me whenever I returned to the academy. Now though, she was not present. So no food for me from the home tonight. I had to fill my stomach from the academy''s canteen. Since not all the students had arrived by then, the delivery was a bit slow. This was because these are usually taken by the first to third-year students. Since the first years had yet to join the academy and the ones who were third-yearst year were now the fourth year, the students who are on those jobs are low now. Anyway, after having my dinner, I spent some time with Asya and then went to sleep. --- Ah, the sleep was not enough. I want to sleep for some more time. I kind of became azy ass in thest six months or so, after I sessfully took the Tier-6 promotion mission andpleted it. It has been months but not even a single level in my rank moved. I wanted to have a slow life but I feel that this life is too slow. I should improve myself at a constant rate, but while I improve myself, I should keep in mind that levelling up is not the only thing in this world. I need to enjoy what the world has to offer. I got a second life and have a chance to not repeat the mistakes that Imitted in my past life, but here I am almost making the same mistakes in a different way. First, I worked too hard and improved faster than anyone else. Sure that "idental" demon kill helped me to achieve such rank faster but in order to not fall into the schemes of others I worked harder than anyone. No one can me me for that, not even me. There was an attempt on me when I was on my adventuring session before I got into the academy. There were assassins who tried to kill me in the forests. Though they failed to do so, nheless there was an attempt and that means there could be others if there was a chance. The worst was that the attack was initiated by someone from my family. This made me hide even more than I used to and work harder than anything before. One after another there was one reason or another that made me push forward pretty fast. So when I got a chance to slow down, I did but I slowed down too much that I appear as azy person. Once I enter such a stage, it would be difficult to pull back myself up. The fall is easy while the rise is very difficult, no matter where. I should pick myself up quickly before I fall into that zone. If I fall into that zone, then there would be nothing that could save me at that point. In this world, beingzy would mean signing their own death certificate. Even in the 21st century Earth, society was never nice to the weak. Sure it appears that it was nice but it wasn''t. The only pro was that it was possible to be strong as long you worked hard and talent to reach the top. Sure that was not a hundred percent guarantee, but the odds were pretty goodpared to the society that I live in. Thews now are not as tight as they were on Earth. In this world, the word of a noble or an awakener weighs more than that of amoner. Unless you have proper evidence that the one you are fighting against in a court has done wrong to you, you can''t win. Even if you win, what then? If that person was a sadist, then would that one would leave you alone? Would he leave your descendants alone? An awakener can live longer than someone who didn''t awaken. It means though he may not act against you, he can still wipe out your descendants in the future. The fear of such happenings had stoppedmoners from fighting someone higher than them most of the time. There are a few who would fight, not fearing for the future but for the present, hoping that their future can be bright, but that''s not always possible. Wait, what am I saying? Yes, I should stop beingzy. I should enjoy life but should work hard enough to not end up in the weak zone. Chapter 182: Start of my fourth year (2) It''s time to choose my mission. Once I got up and refreshed, I ran towards the mission hall. Now as a student in my fourth year, I can take tasks that are a bit difficult in the eyes of the academy for a third-year student. The academy didn''t want to lose students before half time. I learned that long ago there were no such restrictions, which caused a lot of fatalities among the young talents, which caused damage to the kingdom in turn. In order to not repeat the same mistakes, a lot of rules and regtions are ced. The students have to follow these or incur the wrath of the academy. For example, it was what happened to Elisha and William who nned with Dorian to kill me. They were expelled from the academy. This was something that was not aligned with my personal interests but for other reasons, I kept my mouth shut back then. Of course, not everyone would face such punishments as it was not easy to find evidence of the crimes. Many get away with their actions but I can''t me the academy on that. They were trying their best to keep the nation going. They don''t want the kingdom of Glessaria to be weak and the only reason why those two were just expelled instead of the usual execution for the guys who broke the rule of killing fellow students or even trying to kill them. One was the heir of a Count house and the other was an old house that was on the verge of disappearing from history. The academy didn''t want to cause trouble as executing them could cause unforeseeable troubles for the kingdom. I learned from my father that the academy was the reason why those two houses paid uspensation. If not they could have dragged their feet or paid us much less. It was also another reason why I didn''t me the academy much. With those hugepensations, my father was able to get rid of some dissidence against him in the family. Some were paid, as those members were just against my father because they thought he made a profit from the battle while they lost their children. Withpensation and exnation from my father has eased the tensions between them. It made it possible to eliminate most of the scum from my family. For that, I am thankful but I am not someone who would let go of my grudges especially when the opposite ones had tried to kill me. I would get them one way or another but as they paid thepensation, I can''t go and kill them without proper reason. For now, I had to let go of them but I had a feeling that William wouldn''t let go and he woulde after me. The reason why I am not defensive is that I learned some information about Rutgurd''s family. As the sole child of the present Count Rutgurd, William would have inherited the seat after his father. It used to be like that but that changed with his expulsion from the academy. Normally he should have lost his chance of bing the next count but his father pulled some strings and made it into apetition. Whoeveres out of thispetition as the winner would inherit the count''s title andnds. It was open to all the family members who are from the same generation as William, with him included. The same generation as William means that the age difference can''t be more than five years. Anyone who is five years older or five years younger than him can participate. This reducedpetition for William to the seat. William was expelled at the end of his fourth year at the academy. Five years his younger makes to an age where the person who has yet to enter the academy would enter a yearter. Of course, thepetition was settled to be held three yearster and that would make the youngest one that could participate would have justpleted his second year at the academy. There is no way a student who justpleted the second year would be able topete against William. It''s not just the ones of that year but the ones who are from the younger years may notpete with William in any way. The ones who are a threat to him are the ones who are older than him. So he couldn''t be careless. He can''t properly concentrate on thepetition if he turns his mind on to me. So there was no way that he would make any moves against me, at least not until after thepetition ended with him as the winner. Elisha on the other hand was also restricted maybe for too long to even care after. Her family is at the edge of ruin and if she concentrates herself on me, it would push her family off the cliff. They would never get a chance again in their lives. It was not as easy to be a noble as it used to be. Centuries ago, the kingdom was unstable, with enemies on all sides trying to end its existence. It was easy to gain a title as many houses had fallen to the enemies and also could have gained merits easily in those wars and get promoted to nobles. Now in this era, that was not the case. Unless you go to the race battlefield, any gain merits there, the chances of gaining a noble title are slim. Of course, most of thends were already divided. So if you wantnd, you have to carve up some from thend that was under the monsters'' control. In this era, pioneers are low. There was no reason to leave what they had in the kingdom and settle down innds infested with monsters and safety was at the minimum level, whereas deaths were highly possible. Unless there are high profits or the ce where they live is endangered, no one would be willing to move to the wild areas to start new towns or viges. So there was no way that the Siren family would lose their noble title in this economy. Once it was lost, it was almost impossible to regain that back. It means, unlike William who cane at me in another two years, for Elisha it may take a decade to do so unless she marries some rich noble whose rank is minimum of a count. With how recent the scandal was, no one would be willing to take her hand so readily. Some day they would, as she was beautiful, devious but beautiful. In a few years, the noble circle would forget about this scandal as there is always news thates to light from time to time that is worth more to mention than an age-old scandal. Well, before that could happen, I would be quite powerful and wouldn''t need to fear a count. So I can take a mission without fearing that someone will stab me from the back. All the enemies that I had were either taken care of or had grown deep underground. They wouldn''t surface anytime soon. It also doesn''t mean that there are no dangers for me out there. I would be careful but no need to be paranoid careful. I can take the missions where I have to go away from the academy like any other mission where I can''t be far away from the capital. --- When I arrived at the mission hall, the situation was as I assumed. The hall was filled with fourth and fifth-year students. Everyone has learned that the early bird gets the worm. When I was in my third year, my ssmates dyed their arrival and lost the best missions. Of course, not all best missions appear at the start of a semester or the year. It depends on what was happening in the kingdom, but those times were when the chances of the best missions to appear were high. Before the start of a year or semester, there would be one month gap and that means, the missions that appeared in those gaps are avable on the start day. It means more missions are avable and that means the chances of good missions appearing in those days are higher whenpared to other days. With previous years as an example, all the fourth and fifth years are present here to take the best of the missions avable here. If they were anyte there might be no missions to take. I made a good choice bying here early in the morning. If I had arrived any timeter, then the chances of getting even a slightly good mission would be gone. The only problem was the queue that I see in front of the registration windows. They were very long. First I have to get a mission pamphlet and then register the mission. It''s going to be a while. Chapter 183: My new mission The queue was long and it took more than an hour before I could get out of the mission hall. With too many people who were of the same mind, the queue time was so long. It was not all like in those novels where other students werezy and the MC would stumble on one of the missions that would be the greatest mission of his life. He would go on to earn a lot more than what he was supposed to through the mission. It would not only increase his wealth but also his fame. There are many things that could change his fortune such as bandits who have a lot of loot, forgotten legacies or natural treasures that would improve the talent or strength of MC. I on the other hand don''t think those things are possible in the manner that the MC would gain. I did gain some fortunes but they could have be disasters if any one of the things had changed. It was different from what MC would gain in many stories. Of course, there are stories where MC would go through hell before gaining anything but those stories have too much plot armour that would protect MC no matter what. Yeah, what''s up with their masters who never appeared before suddenly appears when the MC was about to die? It''s not like the MC would have a treasure on him that could stop a death blow and warns his teacher. No that would be something that ones who are facing the MC would have but not the MC. What''s with that? Do the MC''s teacher would have divination? If they could do that, can''t they stop that idiot before they make a mistake and make enemies with people that he shouldn''t? No, they won''t. They watch as MC decimates an entire family because of a small issue and would only interfere when MC is in danger. In most of the stories, the conflict arises because of the female lead, one of the female leads. Those bitches won''t like someone they knew growing up, someone who wouldn''t seek other women for pleasure. Someone who would care for them from the bottom of their hearts, no they would always go for the MC who has no moral values, has no qualms with murder but speaks about morals as if they were the Father of Morals. They say that they don''t like harem but won''t do shit hen MC goes after tons of girls. I hate those types of MCs, but those are the favourite stories of face-pping genre novels. The novels where the MC would punish a pure evil boy who was after the female lead has be very rare probably because other than those two, I don''t see any other way that the MC can face p a second-generation kid, which wouldter involve his death followed by the deaths of the kid. Once that was over, I had no idea how thew allows the killer to get the dead person''s assets. These stories happen in an Urban background. Are governments dead in those novels or they themselves are bad that they don''t care about murders? Ah, thiszy life is killing me. I am starting to remember all those stupid novels that I read to pass the time back on Earth. I should pull myself back into a proper training routine or else I would be a weak idiot. Idiot because I am wasting time thinking about useless things. Weak because instead of training I am thinking about those useless things. --- The mission I got was simple. It goes like this. -- Mission: Two merchants, along with their twenty escorts disappeared near Endis town. Travel to the town and find out what happened to them. Meet with the mayor of the town for further details. Time Limit: None Reward: 1,000 points -- It appeared to be a simple enough mission looking at that. Two merchants disappeared and I need to find out what happened to them. Yeah, there are twenty more missing but they don''t matter that much because the ones who are paying for this mission were probably rted to those two merchants. The escorts take the business of protecting clients because they can''t afford the living expenses of their families. Even if there are people who care if they disappear, their families wouldn''t have enough wealth to pay for search or rescue missions. Coming to the disappearance, there are two reasons why those two might have disappeared. Well, three but one of them is connected to another. The first one is that they were killed and eaten by the monsters. It was prettymon in this world. It was the reason why while travelling no one would travel alone. There would be escorts with them who are paid to protect them in case of any attacks. The second an third reason would be that they are either kidnapped or killed by some evil assholes. These evil assholes could be bandits or some evil cultists. If they were kidnapped, there would be a rescue mission. If not, then the only mission would be for revenge. What the next mission would be depends on what I uncover. if they were killed by the monsters, then there would be some obnoxious missions on the adventurers guild mission board to kill the monsters. If it was bandits or cultists, the mayor may probably move his ass from his chair. These situations are when I failed to kill those perpetrators. What would happen, I have to wait and see. --- Well, now that I got my mission, I left the academy immediately. I went straight to the capital as usual. From there got no idea where to go. I mean I know how to reach the ce but I never visited that ce. When I registered for the mission, they gave me a map and instructions on how to reach that ce. I had to use the teleportation hub. They could send me to the city near my destination. From there, I had to get to my destination using a ride, as it was pretty far away from the city. It''s the only way to reach. Damn, I miss Google Maps. There is no GPS technology here. If such technology exists, it is not avable to the civilians. I hope some professional with expertise in those departments invents them sooner rather thanter. It would make travelling pretty convenient. --- I reached the capital in a few minutes. Once I did, I walked straight to the teleportation hub. "One ticket to Kelvin City", I told the man at the ticket counter. After I got the ticket from the counter, I went to the booth that had the teleportation circle that would bring me to Kelvin City. There were others who too were on their way to Kelvin City, waiting in the booth. With me, the minimum that is required has been fulfilled and the teleportation hub staff teleported us promptly. Mmm, I never spoke about these rules about teleportation right? Teleportation may be convenient and time-saving but the cost of running that is very high. To make profits, there should be at least five people who are present or had to wait for half an hour before they would be teleported to their destination. Of course, as long as you are someone important, even if you arrive alone, you will be teleported. This was why, it took less time for me to reach the academy from my home whenpared to the time that it required for me to reach home from the academy. Since I am the son of the ruling viscount, the teleportation hub staff in the Winter City would usually not waste my time. Moreover, Winter City was only connected with three other cities other than the Capital City. Most travellers are to the capital. So I wouldn''t need to wait for too long as anyone who wants to use the teleportation circle, would probably want to leave for the capital city. --- Within a few minutes, I was in Kelvin City. I have no idea where this city is, with respective to the kingdom. i should know about that if I want to make it here by myself without wasting so much gold. It took me a few more minutes to reach the city gates, the south gate to be exact. It is where the coach to Endis town would be avable or at least that was written on the instruction letter that I got with the mission. "Where to, Sir?" one of the coachmen approached me as I waited at the city gates. Much like buses on Earth, there are coaches that were drawn by tamed beasts used for travel. Personal coaches are small and can amodate a few people but the ones here arerge enough to amodate a hundred at the same time. "Endis Town", I told him. He apologized that he wasn''t going that way but directed me to the one that was going that way. I quickly found the one that was going in that route. I paid for a seat and entered the coach, which started to move after fifteen minutes of my arrival. Chapter 184: My Journey to Endis Town (1) The coach was slow, so slow that I was bored of the travel. Luckily, I kept a lot of books in my storage. I picked one and started to read it. From the coachman, I learned that it would take three days to reach Endis town. It is quite a long journey considering that we are not travelling on foot, but rather on the back of a beast. This way is much faster than travelling on foot, and that''s if the person were amon man. If I were on foot, I would reach Endis Town a lot faster than this beast. The only issue was that I didn''t know where it was. I could have learned from the locals but as I decided before I want to enjoy this second chance at life. I don''t want to rush my life as this is a life that I would have for hundreds of years as long as no one kills me in the middle. Yes, I kind of became a bitzy with my training trying to slow down my life. What I need is to find a bnce in my life. I want to enjoy my life and for that, I need to be strong enough to survive whateveres my way. So training is a must but I don''t want that training to eat my life and stop me from enjoying my youth. In a few years, I would be considered old ording to Earth''s standards. Even that is true on Ragos as not everyone would be able to live such a prolonged life as of now. Most of the people died before they were hundred due to old age. Even among the awakened not all would cross a hundred years, as they would die either fighting a monster or another enemy. After crossing into my thirties, I would be considered old. There is no other alternative. So I have to do whatever that young men have to do before that. If I miss this chance, I may not get another chance. This is why I chose to ride the beast, which would consume a lot of my time. In this way, I can read peacefully and also could mingle with others. I mean the academy was supposed to be for that purpose but others were mainly concentrated on improving their ranks and many were way too arrogant and were not my choice of friends. This made my friend''s circle very small. I need to expand it a little bit. After all, living as a loner for a long time wouldn''t be so great. In a long life, it''s best to have a few friends in all ways of life. It would make life much easier. This was something, people wouldn''t understand in a feudal state. Feudal state is not always bad. It has its own pros but not many can rise their opinions in such states but things get done quickly and easily and won''t drag on for too long. Anyway, I spent the time mingling with a few around me and reading a book or two as the journey progressed. --- "We''ll rest here for the night", the coach driver said as the beast stopped moving. As soon as the driver spoke those words, everyone got down from their seats. I too followed them down. I have been sitting for too long. It''s better to stretch my legs a bit. When I got down I saw that we are not alone. There were other coaches that arrived at the ce. It was a rest stop, where the travellers would rest for the night when they had to travel long distances and there was no human habitat in sight. It used to be the same on Earth until modern times. Humans on Earth were smallpared to animals in ancient and medieval times. There were huge cities andrge empires but the poption was small, which made the travel between ces dangerous. If someone went out to travel, they had to spend a lot of time in the wild. Many times, they would sleep in the wild too if the distance between their starting point and destination is too long. It was not as if there were cars or aerones that could bring people hundreds of kilometres away in a few hours. They had to make multiple stops, unlike the machines that can run for hundreds of kilometres without rest. I mean no a man can''t run a few kilometres without making some pit stops. The beasts are simr to that. However, as they were supposed to be used as transport vehicles, the beasts that were used in this line of work were of low rank. There are many beasts in this world that are very strong and huge but are not powerful, sometimes even timid. These are the ones that are tamed for domestic purposes. Unless you have awakened, no one would be idiot enough to tame a violent beast, even if it was a cub at the time when you took it and raised it yourself. The violence in its blood wouldn''t disappear. It would always bite in your ass one day or another. The reason why the awakened dared to tame them was because of magic. Unlike the unawakened ones, the awakened have ess to magic, no matter what their profession is. Even a swordsman would have magic, though it was quite negligible but magic does pass through his body. This was what was needed for making contracts with beasts. Without the magic pathways, they can''t be involved in anything that is magic. If there are no pathways, magic that enters their bodies would be a toxin, which would slowly damage their bodies. Yes, even without being awakened, one can make contracts but that would be slowly killing oneself. So any unawakened ones would use timid and non-violent beasts for domestic use in farming, transport etc... The only issue was that during transport, they could be easily spooked and they were usually trained to not fear small threats that could be easily dealt with. You can understand that they can be of no use when there are threats, unlike the violent beasts turned mounts which would help their masters to fend off the threats. This is why there are guards apanying the travellers, and the reason behind the hefty prices of travelling. --- I found a tree near the camp, climbed a branch and made it my ce of sleep for the night. Sleeping on the ground means, giving chance to any monster an easy chance at pouncing on you. Of course, there are a few monsters that can climb trees easily but I can only eliminate a few. Moreover, there are bandits who roam the wilds. They would attack the travellers and steal their belongings. Many times they would kill the travellers, and kidnap children and women. These kidnapped people wouldter be sold into very. Though it was illegal and frowned upon, there are many who actively seek ves and paid a lot. The bandits are someone whomitted a lot of crimes, for which there is only the death penalty. So they don''t care about the very issue, as it would give them a lot of gold too. They would also take fighting men as they are much in demand in nations gued by constant wars but keeping the fighting ones as ves was not easy. many times they rebel while in transit or in the dens. Even trying to subdue them would not be easy. It would cost them more than what they would get. So they never take fighting men as ves and always choose to kill them to avoid further trouble. Being on a branch of a tree instead of on the ground would give me arge area of sight. I could see into the distance and if I find someone who shouldn''t be here, it would give me time to get ready and act, rather than getting caught with my pants down. Not literally but you should understand what I am trying to say. --- While I found myself a cosy ce to rest, the people around the camp started to eat. Everyone was eating cold and hard rations as there was no way one would cook here. Even though there are a lot of people, there are always dangers. The campfires are already signals that could attract the monsters and bandits in the forests to the camp but they were essential. If one starts to cook, the smell of the food will attract even more monsters. Though they eat raw, that doesn''t mean they have no taste. It was just that they couldn''t cook anything good themselves. Moreover, to cook they need cooks and cooking utensils, another burden to carry on such long journeys. Unless the travellers have space equipment, they wouldn''t bring items like this. I didn''t offer because they are not my friends and showing you wealth unnecessarily could cause greed among people and dangers. It would be like inviting your own death on purpose. While the ones in the camp were eating, I too took my food from my storage and ate it until I was full. I made myselffortable on the wide branch so that I wouldn''t fall off in the middle of the night and disturb my sleep. --- Rush! Rush! Huh? What was that? I quickly woke up from my sleep feeling that something was wrong. Chapter 185: My Journey to Endis Town (2) Rush! Rush! Huh? What was that? I quickly woke up from my sleep feeling that something was wrong. I hope nothing is wrong or my sleep time is over. I quickly scanned the surroundings to see why my brain jolted me awake in the middle of the night. Soon, I saw the reason why it did that. There are movements around the camp and those movements don''t belong to the campers. They are human but I can say that they are not of the campers because of the way they walked towards the camp. Also, why would so many people would appear around the camp at the same time and sneak around like that? They are all bandits, that I am very sure about. It was a good thing that I reached Tier-6. If I was still at Tier-2 or something like that, there was no way that my senses would have recognized danger that far away. With them too far away, I can prepare for the inevitable battle. Hmm, let''s see how many are there. One, two, three..., fifty-seven, fifty-eight, fifty-nine and sixty. Wow, a lot of them appeared here. Were they not afraid of the guards that came with the travellers to the camp? If they are unawakened or below Tier-3, I can easily eliminate them, but if there is anyone whose rank is Tier-4 and above, they could cause damage to others. I may not be a saint, but if I could help save lives without causing me future problems, then I would. Moreover, battles are the best ce to make a few trustful friends. --- I quickly and silently climbed down the tree and went to find the guards of my group. The coach I came with hired a few guards, who looked powerful enough but I don''t know their ranks as Ick the skills that can identify or analyse things. If they are powerful, then there would be casualties, which I can alone can''t prevent. Moreover, I can''t let others know how powerful I am. This was because, people gossip, a lot. If they see my prowess, then when we reach Endis Town, then everyone there would know about my prowess. It means whoever was behind the disappearance of those two merchants would get alerted. There are no indications as of now that other humans were responsible for that, but I need to be careful, or else my first mission this year will fail. No matter what, I have toplete the mission. As I said, I am not a saint. I won''t help others if helping them could cause losses to me. I am already on my way to alert the guards and they can take from there. After all, that''s what they were paid for. In a way, if I clear those bandits without much help from the guards, it would be considered as if I am taking over their jobs and ies. Give support and remain in the background unless the situation is dire enough. Though it won''t be as I will eliminate a few of these bandits which would definitely reduce the burden on their shoulders. I walked towards one of the guards who was still awake and kept watch. It was like he didn''t detect the bandits as of yet. ''Do you know that there are bandits around us?" I spoke when I was a few feet away from the guard. The guard was startled when he heard my voice and turned around to see who sneaked upon him. He only calmed down after seeing me. As a guard, they have to remember who the passengers are in case of an attack. "Man, you startled me and what do you mean bandits?" the guard asked. "The ones that are currently surrounding the camp", I said. "What? I don''t see any", he said as he strained his eyes to see if there were any movements. "I have a high-end skill that would alert me and I sense that there are about sixty bandits, maybe even more", I said and walked away. I know that the guards wouldn''t trust others easily. So I have to say that I can sense them because of my skill. Whether he believes me or not, I can''t do anything about that. I already warned them about the impending doom. Whether they believe or not has nothing to do with me. If they did, the casualties may be confined to a minimum number, even zero. If they don''t, then that''s their problem. As I said, I am not a saint who was born to solve the world''s problems. --- I don''t know what the guard did with the information that I provided him with. I on the other hand found a good ce to ambush those bastards. Now because of them, my sleep was disturbed. I am someone who wouldn''t wake up in the middle of my sleep. If I did, then that would be the end of the sleep for the day. Even though I am awakened and my body can take on one night without sleep, it was something that was part of my life. As a Tier-6 ranker even if I don''t eat or sleep for a few days, I would be totally fine. Of course, there would reduction in prowess because the body needs sustenance to survive and sleep to work better. Without them, problems would arise. I want my body to be at its peak state, no matter the time. I should work as it should. These bastards arrived and disturbed that routine. --- The bandits slowly crept into the camp, thinking that no one was the wiser. When the first one crossed my ce, unaware of my presence, I didn''t act and let him enter, for I knew another behind that one. If I act on this one, then that would give an easy chance for the other one to attack me from behind. So I waited till the second one crossed my position. Once they were in sight, I acted. Just one skill and both were down. Once they were down, I searched their bodies. It was not like I was alone. If there are any valuables, others would pick them up if I go now to attack others thinking that the items can be collectedter. Loots are always a problem, no matter where unless you are alone. Everyone would im that the loot belongs to them and that would cause shes among the people. While I was looting, fights broke out throughout the camp. I already defeated two of those bandits. It means that I did more than I should. Now they have to work and earn the right to live for now. Many would think that it was wrong and should help the people but I say the opposite. Help should be given when asked. If you help every time when others are in difficulty, they will never learn to rise out of those difficulties. They would be so used to being saved and in the absence of such help, what awaits them was their downfall. What the goody two shoes have to learn is when they should help others and when they shouldn''t. Not helping others is also a form of helping them. --- Ha, ha, that''s the end of the bandits. Now because of those bandits the entire camp is awake but the movement has to be postponed as the guards are too tired to provide protection during the travel. This was not the unique situation of the group I was travelling with but of the entire camp. There are others who were staying here for the night and they too decided to move a bitte so that the guards wouldn''t be too tired. After all, if the guards are too tired, then it would be disastrous to the entire group in minutes. The bandits nearby may have been dealt with but there are other bandit groups or even the group that attacked us may not be the entire bandit group. Moreover, there are monsters in the forests which are a threat to people. The dy in starting means that our arrival at Endis Town would be dyed too. Well, there was nothing to do much anyway. Those two merchants would most likely be dead. So there would be no rescuing them, at least that was my opinion. If they were, the bandits are not idiots to keep hotmodities for long. They should have sold them to vers a long time ago. There is no saving them now. After I reach Endis Town, what I could do was to take revenge for the fallen. It was the only thing for me to do. Thinking that they were still alive, is stupid, though I can''t say that to others. I would be considered rude and I don''t want others to think that I am heartless. I care but only for certain people and no one else. Anyway, now that my sleep was gone, let''s see if there was a good book to read. It would be some time before they move. Chapter 186: My Journey to Endis Town (3) Due to those damn bandits, the journey may take longer than it should. It was almost noon when we started to move again, and by evening we found another camp to settle down for the night. Based on what I was able to collect, we should have been at another campsite, one that is much bigger than this. If not for those bandits and the guards tired and injured while battling them, we would have been at the original site. Last night, I didn''t pay much attention to what was happening after the battle with the bandits ended. I killed a total of four bandits by the end of the battle. After ambushing the first two, I didn''t seek anyone but two idiots thought that it was a good idea to attack me, seeing that I was alone at that point. The contributions they made to my wallet are so meagre that they would bring shame on the entire bandits. They didn''t even have a gold coin, nor a silver coin. What they had was ten copper coins and that''s it. There are their swords that they attacked me with but they are too rusted to even salvage. Only Mother Earth can do anything at this point. It would take a few hundred years but I believe soon the world would refine the swords into...hmm, I have no idea what happens but whatever it is converted into, I believe they would be good and that''s it. So I left those weapons there itself. I don''t think that they remain there. With so many people in the camp, someone might have definitely picked them up. The most likely cause was because of the bandits they feel threatened. Though those weapons are rusted and could break sooner orter, to them a rusted weapon is better than no weapon at all. Though the bandits were dealt with, it was not a guarantee that they were all there is. The area around Winter City is safe with fewer bandits as my parents would send soldiers to patrol and clear any posible bandits that pop up. Even if they can''t they would post in the adventurers guild, which would mean someone would clear them up sooner orter. Normally, the soldiers would patrol so that monsters wouldn''te too close to the towns and cities. If they form homes near human habitats, then that would spell disaster for the humans living in those towns or cities. If a monster habitat were found near human habitats, they would cleared as quickly as possible. This is not just the routine of my parents but of all the ruling nobles. If they want their territories to prosper, then they have to prevent their territories from being the centre of disasters. It would kill the working force and no merchant would be idiotic enough to cross intonds where their safety doesn''t exist. Normally to the merchants, safety doesn''t exist most of the time as they venture into differentnds and that was something that they were of, but they hope that there are some safe points along their path of journey. Even though they would travel to nations that are very dangerous for travel, there are cities and towns that are safer. They would use these ces as their rest stops in their travel. There are guards who are hired to protect them during their travels but these guards are still humans, who would get tired and can''t properly guard if it is for too long. They too require rest once in a while. This is something that the merchants understand. The good ones understand and the reason why they can keep their business afloat. A good merchant has to know his surroundings and the people in those surroundings well. Without knowing those things, they would surely fail at their business, after all, without knowing what the people would need, what or how could they sell their products to the people. So, if the merchants see that a noble''s territory was not safe enough, then there was no way that they would ever set their foot in thosends. It means, there would be no trading and that means no more prosperity for thosends. Unless thesends produce something that is not avable anywhere else or has a huge demand, then they may try to enter thesends despite the security concerns. They won''t risk for a meagre profits but if the profit margin is very high, there are a lot who would. So there are always assholes that can rule their territories even if they don''t efficiently rule theirnds. These bring bad names to every noble out there. Sure, many nobles are arrogant and there was a reason behind that and not every arrogant one is a bad person. They were arrogant because of their ancestors who spilled their sweat and blood for the nation and as their descendants, they feel that they have the right to be arrogant. The problem was they were arrogant itself. What they should feel was pride, not arrogance. Pride of their ancestors was something no one could take away from them and shouldn''t. Being conceited could bring down their house. This is something no one should have, not nobles, not kings and not evenmoners. Anyway, as I said not every noble would concern themselves with bandits and monsters in the vicinity as long as they won''t cause his profits to go down. Only in such situations would they act. --- Time passed and we reached our campsite before the sunset. This is not the campsite that was supposed to be our rest site for the night. Due tost night''s attack, we startedte from the previous campsite, and couldn''t make it to the original campsite but this was good enough I was told. I can hear the river running nearby. A river means, the chance to swap away the grime that got attached to the body for the past two days. Also, it is a source of water for many of the travellers. Not everyone has space storage and that means they have to carry the water and food supplies. This is the biggest reason why travel takes a long time. There are no airships for civilian transport. I mean there are none for the military either except for the one that I saw. Teleportation is costly and can''t be connected to every town and vige there is in the world. With how the world is, trains are not a safe way to travel either. Unlike normalnd-based vehicles, trains need rails and these can destroyed by monsters, which would derail a train and would injury the people on the transport. There is a way to make travel safer and that is by building safetys around the path of travel but that means burning a lot of resources unnecessarily. Unless thends are rich in resources, no one would be interested in using their resources in such a way. I wouldn''t be that''s for sure. This was because hiring adventurers or sending soldiers to sweep the problems along the path would be much cheaper. Moreover, many adventurers choose to be escorts as they would pay with a little effort. Most of the time, they wouldn''t face any threats and that makes escorting the best way to earn a good amount of money. If suddenly something blocks such a business, it wouldn''t be a surprise if many of those adventurers be bandits themselves. I mean that happens from time to time whenever their way of livelihood is threatened. Most of the bandits that roam the will and kill innocent people were also innocents once, who lost their way of life due to several reasons and sought to banditry to get out of trouble, which only dragged them into a deeper chasm of troubles. What I say is that solutions to a problem sholdn''t bring new problems. --- Ah finally, Endis Town. The travel burned like three of my days. I should first find an Inn to clean myself and then meet the Mayor of the town. For three days, I couldn''t take a bath. Sure there was a river to take a bath at the campsite where we stoppedst night, but I didn''t. Though I am not shy about having sex with girls I like, I won''t move in the crowd naked. I just scrubbed myself with a wet cloth, especially my armpits. Man, those are very smelly. If I go and meet the Mayor like this, then it is almost synonymous to insulting him. There is a saying, First Impression is the Best Impression. So I can''t have him thinking that I did that on purpose and have a bad impression of me. Unless someone kills me in the middle of my life, which is something that I would avoid at any cost, I have to meet people, a lot of people. Meeting with a few of them would happen more than once. If the person forms a bad opinion of me when we first meet, then the next meeting will be disastrous. That I can say with one hundred percent guarantee. So, the first thing that I did was find an Inn that has hot water and booked a room. Chapter 187: The start of my hunt (1) Once I freshened up, I went to meet with the mayor of the town. Normally, I would visit the guild for inquiries about missions, but for some reason, I had to meet the mayor in order to get more information. It says either the mayor is taking the missing case seriously or someone powerful or rich wants answers and the mayor has no other option. I believe that it might be someone looking for answers. There was no way that the mayor of the town to get involved in such things personally. I mean unlike nobles, mayors are not permanent nor hereditary. They serve their term and leave the town. Yeah, sometimes mayors stay for life in their position but they wouldn''t be too vested in the missings of a couple of merchants unless more than two disappeared. If there were more than this disappearance in the past, then he certainly would get involved. Well, unless he was a saint, he wouldn''t involve himself in such situations. If he is a saint, I would feel pity for him and his descendants but I would respect him. If the reason behind his involvement is other than noble, then this would be a professional transaction. There would be no need to exchange pleasantries with such people for too long. I mean if it was amon man who ignored such things, then I can''t me them but as the mayor of the town or city, whether they are the permanent rulers or not, they have duty to protect the habitat''s citizens and make sure that the surrounding areas are safe. If they are not safe they have to act swiftly and make preparations to make it safe. If the surrounding areas are not safe, then the trade with the outside world would be reduced. Reduction in trade means, a reduction in the ie for the habitat. It''s not just ie, the habitat would lose ess to various resources that are not avable nearby. I mean, no region would have every resource present. Many of the resources had toe from other regions. In order for the goods to arrive at their destination on time and without any losses, the route of travel should be safe. If that was a problem, then the arrival of goods would be dyed or cancelled. Both of the options are not good choices. If this mayor has posted the mission just to cover his ass or due to external pressure then friendship with such person is a moot point. It would only bring disadvantages to me. Everything has its own disadvantages but they should have advantages too. As long as the advantages are higher or equal to the disadvantages then it is worth the effort. Let''s see if this mayor is worth the effort or not. --- I arrived at the Mayor''s residence within a few minutes after I left the Inn. The town was not that big and the Mayor''s home is something that is easily recognizable and something that everyone knows about. When I arrived at the Mayor''s gate, one of the guards who were guarding stopped me and asked, "State your purpose?" "I am from the Royal Academy, here to take the mission about the missing merchants", I told him. "Wait here", he said and disappeared into the mayor''s mansion. Yes, though the town is not big and can be considered a medium town, the residence of the mayor is not small. I wonder how he could afford such a residence. There are a few reasons for that. The noble under whom this townes could have presented him with this mansion when he took as the town''s mayor. He may be a descendant of a rich person who has entered politics. It is not an umon scene. He may have done something great for the town in the past and the town built him this using their savings. Any of the above can be the reason for his luxurious residence. Not everything has to be obtained through illegal means. The guard returned a minuteter, "The mayor likes to see you. You can meet him in the room that is on the third right after you enter the hall", he said as he resumed his duties. With his directions, I reached the room where the Mayor was in at the moment. --- "Hello mayor, It''s nice to meet you. I am Magnus, a fourth-year student from the Royal Academy", I greeted the old man, who is supposedly the mayor of this town. "Ah, nice to meet you too", he said. "I assume you are here about the missing merchants, right?" he asked. "Yes mayor" I answered. He then took out a small file and handed it to me, "This contains all the pertinent information about the mission. You can take it with you", he said. It appears that the mayor is either not interested in solving this missing merchant mission or he knows that there was no use in trying to or he thinks that I can''t do anything as I am still a student. I don''t think that I am the only one who took the mission. Maybe from the Royal Academy but there are four more academies and there are adventurers who usually venture out into the wilds and they could have taken it. Since he said that I could take it with me. It means that he wanted me to leave. So that''s the main reason why I feel that the third reason might be the right one. "Thank you Mayor", I said and bugged out from there. Since I am not wee there, it''s best to show them what I can do. Once they see that I am the one who solved their case, then they will show the respect that they should have shown me in the first ce. I mean, we are strangers and I understand that they don''t respect me but I came here from the Royal Academy to find out what happened to the merchants. It''s not like I would eat their resources. Moreover, I bring a small boost to the town''s ie. So they should have shown the decent courtesy that a guest has the right to. They didn''t, just because I am young. No need to sh with small people. they would bow on their own when they see how good I am at what I do. Now let''s return to my room at the Inn and see what the file says. --- It was true. There is a lot of information here about the missing party. No wonder the mission said to collect the data required from the Mayor of the town. The two merchants that went missing are Adrian Sivel and Norton Sivel, brothers and also cousins of Count Sivel, the noble who rules over this little town. No wonder the mayor was involved in this matter. The two merchants were from a side branch of his own family and losing two family members is not good for his reputation especially if that happens in his territory. This also means thepetition would be very high. Though the remuneration posted was small, the gratitude of a Count is nothing to be scoffed at. If someone could find his cousins and bring them back alive, then the Count would certainly grant something grand. I would like to get such a reward, but the problem lies with theck of evidence about anything. Those two left Endis Town one fine morning, along with their guards but they all disappeared mysteriously. It happened almost a month back. Many searched but couldn''t even find any traces of fights. I mean if anyone had attacked them, then they should have fought them right? If those two were alone, they might have given up without resistance. Most merchants wouldn''t know how to fight. Even if they did, at most they would know some basic fighting and nothing more. If there are monsters or bandits that attacking them, they could fight the low-level members if they knew how to fight but if the number is high, they would lose the fight. With that many guards, there is no way that they were attacked by low-level monsters or a few bandits. No, if it were monsters, they are definitely high-level and if the culprits are bandits then there should be a lot of them and certainly some awakened among the mix. Well, not all bandits are some farmers who lost crops and joined banditry. Many of these people are evil and want to kill others and this is the only way for them to do that. There is a military but there are supervisors who would scrutinize your every move. Moreover, the ones who join these bandit groups are those who don''t have good talents and can''t reach higher positions. It means that they would forever stay as cannon fodder in the army. Moreover, they have to follow someone else''s orders, which they wouldn''t ept no matter what. --- Anyway, I should start looking for this group. To do that, I should do what they did and when they did it. So the hunt has to wait till the morning. Chapter 188: The start of my hunt (2) I stayed at the Inn till morning. It doesn''t mean that I did nothing. I went over the file that the mayor had given me about the two missing merchants and their guards. The file included the findings of other teams who failed to find what happened. There was a detailed report on what they did and how they did it. Hmm, how does the mayor know about this? There was no way that the investigation teams would voluntarily give their methods to the mayor. Every person has a certain way of doing things and that way may not be useful in all paths but useful in certain ways of life. These methods would be their way to live a life in this world. No one would give up their livelihood voluntarily. Either they were forced or there were spies who observed and recorded everything that these investigation teams did. What''s the use of that? I mean if they were asked, though they won''t spill their secrets, they would certainly tell what they did. They would give an outline of what happened during their investigation and what they uncovered. There was no need to send spies to watch them. It''s not like they were paid before the mission waspleted. If they were paid beforehand, then they should be worried whether they would work or not. There are incidents where they would abscond, which would be a loss for the employer. There are no such problems here. The reward was after the mission waspleted, not before. Moreover, if they are worried that the teams would show some false reports to im some of the rewards for their hard work, they check the results whether the results are right or wrong but that is not what happened. The Mayor put watchers on these teams beforehand and that means, there are watchers who are observing me and recording what I am doing. It meant I couldn''t enter Nexus for the time being to train. It''s not like it was unexpected. I expected that things might not go my way on this mission. It''s not that there is evidence of such a thing happening. No, I learned that things wouldn''t always go the way we want unless you can manipte fate. This was because what happens in this world doesn''t depend solely on your actions but on the actions of everyone in the world. The decisions of others would impact our future depending on how we live. For example, if two high-rankers fight near the ce you live without any restrictions. Unless you can either escape or have a defence to protect yourself, you are most likely to die. Of course, if some powerful enough interferes and stops the battle, then you may have a chance to live. It means that even though you have nothing to do with that battle, your life is not in your hands. It depended on someone else. This is why people would say that Weakness is a Sin. You can write your own fate when you are strong enough but my question was how strong should one be to do that. There was never an end to the strength levels, but there was a restriction to reach those levels. All races try their best to be the most powerful but when would one say that they were the strongest? By the time one bes strongest, they will find that there are levels above what they have reached. There was never an end. I mean one could be the strongest of a vige at first but when they see towns and cities, they would try to be the strongest in the region, then the kingdomes, thenrge empires and then many continents and then the world. The world is not the end. There is much more in the universe. After reaching what point would one could be considered as the strongest. There is no answer. This is why I say that no one can write their fates. The more you try to do so, the more difficult it will be. Rather than that, it''s best to experience the life before and see where it would lead to and try to enjoy the way. --- Sending some spies to watch the investigators is considered over the line. Even if the teams find out about this transgression, I don''t think that they would make any fuss over it. Original content from M-VL-em|p,yr Even if the things were done ording to the Mayor''s words, there was still a Count above him. No one would know whether it was the Count or the Mayor who sent the spies to watch and record their movements. Even if they did know, there was nothing that they could do. Reading the reports I feel that those voyeurs were observing me as well but I have no idea how. I didn''t feel anything from the time I left the Mayor''s residence till now. If there are any watching, I can say that they are not amateurs, who would have triggered my response by now. I think unless I actively seek them out, the chances of finding them are low. Maybe because there are too many people and this after all the Mayor''s territory, everyone here in the town is watching and reporting me. If that''s the case, there is a chance that I won''t be able to find them out. There are very few ways that one may that they were under surveince. One is that if the watcher has malicious intent against you, then you can pinpoint them using the reverse search method. Second is if they use any detection methods on you. Detection is almost considered an attack. Though there would be no damage, if a person used the detection method then his magic wouldnd on you. It can considered synonymous to attacking a being whose armor is higher than your attack damage. This was why if someone has detection techniques, they would be reluctant to use them on monsters when they are out in the wild. This would alert them of their presence. If the attack is supposed to be a surprise attack, then using a Detection technique might be the death of them. Unless it was necessary they wouldn''t use detection techniques on anyone or anything. If the ce is crowded it may not be easy to find who used the technique but there are always people who are good at finding others even in a crowd. Though I was not like those people, I did find Dorian scanning me back then. I mean he could be the only one who was in that position on that day and it was easy with the way he was looking at me. He earned a few ps for that and that ended in his death a yearter. I was lenient and allowed him to live as it was my father''s territory and I didn''t want the people to think that my family was a tyrant family. He only diedter because he crossed a line. Now, however, I am not in my father''s territory. If there are any spies and if I get a whiff of any of them, then there is a chance of me killing them. I mean, I have a lot of secrets that I hold to my dear life. If they were leaked, my life would be in danger than it was before. I like a quiet and nice day where I don''t need to wake up to someone trying to kill me. I mean in two years, I may face that asshole William but I don''t want to add more. So before I get strong enough for this world, none of my secrets will be revealed and even then, I am not on keen to show all my secrets to the world. I read stories where many people would use someone because of their bloodline or skills for their own purposes, covered as something that would be useful for the world. Let''s just say that I show that I have a high-purity dragon bloodline, and then the chances of my descendants having simr properties are very high. So in the future where I am not present, others could make use of this strength using illegal and immoral methods. My descendants may be ves because of my strength. I can''t let that happen. So what the world would know would be a tiny part of my strength. they would never know what I am actually capable of. So if those spies see something they shouldn''t, then they wouldn''t be alive the next moment. Anyway, that''s for tomorrow. Let''s check the maps of the surrounding areas. It could make my life a bit easier tomorrow. --- I woke up early in the morning before the sun came up. I freshened up, ate my breakfast and left the town. This was simr to what the merchant group did as they left the town. Though not everything is in detail, these was the likely possible things that they did before they left. Let''s see where it leads to. Chapter 189: My Hunt Begins I woke up early in the morning. Then I freshened up and ate my breakfast before setting off from the town. This should be the routine that the merchants and their guards followed on the day that they left. The file doesn''t have full details, but this was the time that they left the town through the west gate, which leads to Orlon town, famous for Orgalite, a magic metal. It was said to be light in weight but conducts magic well. This is useful for professionals whose ss is Magic Swordsmen or something along those lines. Though it is useful for them, not everyone would prefer it. Many use Mithril for their weapons and armour. This was because Mithril is stronger than Orgalite. The advantage of Orgalite is for people who prefer Agility-based battles, rather than head-on battles. Orgalite is very simr to Mithril but is weaker but lighter. This made it a favourite metal for weapons and armour of Agility-based warriors who also have magic abilities. So though it is not as popr as Mithril, it still upies a higher rank whenpared to other metals. The presence of Orgalite ore near Orlon town, made the town fill with a lot of miners and also a lot of adventurers. The miners are present to mine the ore while the adventurers protect the ore. Monsters eat anything that was present in the natre and that include ores. There are a few monsters that prefer metal ores to consume, rather than soft foods like meat, fruits or roots. Moreover, the metals that they prefer are notmon metals like Iron, but magic metals like Mithril. So no matter how many times they are driven away, these species of monsters will return to eat their metal foods. This would be disastrous to the miners. These monsters would see them as thieves who are stealing their food and those monsters would let that happen. They would do one thing that they can do. Kill the thieves and that means the miners would die if these monsters return or make their homes in the mines. To avoid such a problem, there are guards specially appointed by the miningpanies or adventurers would act as temporary guards. For them guarding a mine is easy money, though it would be quite boring most of the time. If the mines were upied by these monsters then the adventurers are hired to clear them out. Of course that depends on the estimates of the ore in the mines. From what I hear, the presence of Orgalite is pretty high around the town. So there are a lot of miners and adventurers in that town. The problem was the excess presence of this metal in and around the town. It makes the growth of crops pretty difficult. Though there are trees present in the forest, it was said that they were mutated. The trees absorbed Orgalite over the years and became pretty hard. Cutting them down would be a hassle but if they could, it would them a small fortune. Due to the low supply of wood and the high demand for it, the price of orgalite-infused wood is very high and many can''t afford it. Much of the wood that is produced is used as handles for Magic weapons. Anyway, where was I? Yes, the two merchants and their group were on their way to Orlon Town. As I said, the food production of this town was low but there are many people that still live here, most being Miners and Adventurers. These would still need food to eat. The monsters that appear around here are the ones that eat the metals. The meat obtained from them would be contaminated with the metals, which would kill even an awakened in such amounts if eaten. So there was no source of meat either. Almost all the food that the town eatses from other ces through the merchants who travel long distances bringing them food items while collecting the ores from here to transport to other areas. Simr to other merchants, my missing victims were on their way to trade. From what they brought in Endis, I can guess that would be the only reason for their travel to Orlon. It was mentioned in the file that these two brought a lot of salt and fish from Endis town. Around twenty kilometres south of Endis there is a sea town, where people''s livelihood depends on fishing and producing salt. They didn''t go to this seaside town because it''s very small and it''s a one-way route. It means to leave that town, one can only return to Endis again. There is another way and that is through sea but there are no ships or ports that can support ships. They must have thought that it was a waste of time. Though those two items might be cheaper if they went to that small town, there wouldn''t be much profit after deducting the transport costs and time consumed. So they brought the items in Endis instead. After they got their items, they went on their way to Orlon. Let''s see what could have happened along the way. --- It has been more than an hour and nothing as of yet. To see what could have happened, II had to slow down to the speed of a caravan. Though there are only two merchants and twenty security guards as per the mission parameters, those idiots forgot about the servants. To them, those matter not. The merchants were of high priority because of their noble blood. The guards are next because they can fight and that''s something one can''t easily find. Compared to the total poption, the percentage of awakeners is low and high-level rankers are pitifully low. So most of the fighting force consists of the low-level rankers. Though they are weak among the awakeners, with so little proportionpared to the total poption, everyone who has awakened is needed in one ce or another. The servants on the other hand aremon people and are easily receable. So there not a mention of them in the file. Even in the original mission pamphlet at the academy, there was only mention of the two merchants and to find out what happened to them. They were not concerned about the guards but at least for them, there was a description and data regarding them. About the servants, there was none. They were totally ignored. It is bad that they showed no concern about the lives of those servants but they didn''t even think about them from the investigation point of view. Did no idiot think that there were servants? I don''t think that they are all idiots. At least one of the teams that came here before me should have thought about this but there was no mention about it. Whether it was deliberate on the part of the team or the watchers, I have to find out. I mean, from the investigative point of view, if there was a description of those servants, it would be much easier. If the group was attacked, then the guards should have fought with whatever that attacked them. The merchants may have fallen because they couldn''t let go of the goods but the servants, they have no reason to die here. They would have ran. Even if not everyone survived, at least one could have. The possibility is very high. Without having the descriptions of everyone in that caravan, how did they think that I could investigate properly? No wonder everyone who came before me failed to do so. It was almost as if they didn''t the investigation to be sessful. What could be the reason behind that? As far as I know, they shouldn''t be one. The Count wants his rtives alive or to take revenge for their deaths. So no one should be hindering this mission but it feels as if they are. I mean someone should have thought the same as me about the servants. They would have said something to the Mayor but when he gave me the file, the new file that I just got yesterday had no changes. There should be two reasons for that. One is that they don''t have any descriptions of the servants. The second was that they were trying to hide something. Which one would be? --- Huh, what is that? As I was moving along the road, I heard a pretty strange sound. It felt as if it was calling me. Wait, calling? Is someone or something here? I didn''t hear anynguage or at least anynguage that I can say it''s anguage. I mean anynguage is made of words, or at least to my understanding but I heard no such words, except for the fact that someone or something is calling me. Did those two merchants and their guards hear this? There was no mention of any investigation team diverting at this point. They continued their investigation past this point but found nothing. Did they miss something here? I should check it out. Chapter 190: My hunt begins (2) I slowed down and followed the call, at least where I think that call originated from. I am not sure. That is why I moved slowly, observing everything on my path and the surroundings, just as I did until now, starting from Endis. Nothing seems to be problematic as of now. I even found the watchers who kept an eye on me from Endis. There were three of them. They were very good at what they do and I couldn''t find them till now. I believe that the reason was because of the call I heard and the changes in my movement, which caused them to change their movement. Not knowing why I changed my direction, they were cautious and released one of their skills that can survey the surroundings and it alerted me of their positions. Once I got their coordinates, I used the Tag & Track skill to mark all three. From now on, even though their stealth level is so much higher, I can still track them. Now that I know where they are, I can sense what they are up to. If they make any moves against me or if they find out anything about me that can''t be made public, I''ll eliminate them promptly. If the stupid old mayor makes a move against me, then I can use the academy as my backer. The Mayor after all sent someone to spy on one of the students of the Royal Academy who came to help them in the first ce per their request. So, they should have treated me much better than they did. Now adding some spies who are watching me, would make things only worse for the mayor, even if the Count is behind him and doing these things through him. I have nothing to fear, as the academy would back me up if the mayor thinks that he can make a move against me. Moreover, they owe me for the fiasco with Dorian and William. Without my proof, they would have hung the wrong person for crimes that were not crimes. Well, the wronged one would have been me, but still, I did them a lot of favour and they owe me for that. If required I would take that favor. Anyway, that was only after the fact that I will have to kill those spies and the Mayor makes a move against me. Unless that happens, I don''t need to fret. Now let''s see who the mysterious caller was, who was making those sounds. --- I can''t make out which direction those sounds areing from. More than that, there is something that I discovered about these sounds. I am sure that I am not hearing them but "hearing" them. The sounds seemed to be reaching my mind directly rather than following the normal procedure of going through my ears. This was because of the notification that I received a few seconds ago. -- Your MIND DEFENCE skill has levelled up. -- Yeah, I had this skill for ages but didn''t have a proper way to improve that. Anything rted to the mind is rare, whereas rted to the soul is almost non-existent. That is why instead of wasting time looking to improve my Mind Skills, I rather used my time on improving what I could unless there was a need to improve a skill that is usually not easy to do so. One of the ways to improve any skill is to use it. Unlike attack skills that can be improved by directly using them on others, defence skills are a bit different. Someone has to attack you and that attack power shouldn''t be too high than your defence skill level or else it wouldn''t matter. My mind took that sound as an attack but it is weak or else with a Level 1 skill, I would have been a puppet for whomever was on the other end. Hmm, I should concentrate on improving my defence skills this year. I don''t have that many and what I have are at very low levels. For now, my rank is more than enough to act as a way to defeat others but there was nothing that could protect me from surprise attacks. I mean I have a lot of resistances, which can be considered as Defence skills in a way but I don''t have resistance to every attack. It means I am vulnerable to a lot of attacks, including mind attacks and soul attacks. My Soul Power may be high but I don''t have a way to protect myself against soul-based attacks. Though there was almost no information regarding souls, I don''t think that there was none. There should be but the information might be ssified and probably requires merits to read the information. I mean, Soul Attacks are dangerous. Even if the kingdom has information about these types of attacks, I don''t think that they have skills that can heal injured souls. Though I don''t have any information, I can guess that damage to souls may end the life of the person or reduce them into a cripple of some kind and no one would be able to help them. I mean there are skills that can help regrow lost limbs. Even if those skills fail, there are prosthetics that I didn''t see in this world as of now but one day maybe someone will invent them and that won''t be long, I assume with how developed this world is. I doubt that even with the world having magic, damage to souls or even the mind may be difficult to mend that easily. So it is best to avoid damage to those two or else one can forget about living a life. I can say that I am lucky enough at this point. Whatever is calling me, isn''t using too much power. The power is at the limit where my skill can block its interference on my mind and improve my skill level at the same time. This can be considered as luck on my part. I should be well prepared for my next adventure, thoroughly. Only fools would depend on luck. Moreover, I don''t think luck would be on my side always. --- Hmm, those three were following me. I wonder whether they are following me or following the sound. Maybe I should test that a bit. I am getting tired of these fools. I can''t use everything that I have. If I did so, then that information would be recorded and would reach the table of the mayor. Once it does, there is no way that it will disappear. I can make it disappear but that would take time and more the time that it takes to happen so, the more people would know about my secrets. It would be a hassle. I waited too long. I didn''t want to end those three and be a possible target of the mayor but I see no other choice. With the restrictions brought upon me by the presence of those three, I couldn''t do my job properly. If I had to find out what happened to those merchants and their group, then I have to use the skills required at that moment but doing so would expose their existence. Before I am strong enough to protect myself, most of my power would be a secret. If others see that I am powerful at such a young age, they would try to woo me to join their factions or would kill me if I refused. Even if they take action as a son of a noble at the bottom rung of the nobles, I can''t directly retaliate. It would entangle my entire family into the bloody affair, which wouldn''t be easy to get out of. So the simple way was to keep my powers secret until it was time to unveil them to the world. Once I have enough strength, they wouldn''t dare to do anything that may incur my wrath upon them. The problem was that though my rank is near my goal, my skills are nowhere near where they were supposed to be. The final decision is that I have to get rid of those pesky watchers that has been following me from the time I left Endis. Even if that puts me in the crosshairs of the mayor, I can easily defend myself if that is brought to court. Afterall, they are watching me from the dark and that could make them assassins waiting to kill me. rather than waiting and die, i could say that I acted before they did. There is now way that anyone would find fault wth me. I can even pose a question on why they were following me, which would shut up the mayor. Moreover, my family has no connections here and I wouldn''t return to region again. So there would be no need to be afraid of the mayor. No matter what, his reach wouldn''t be able to stretch all the way to the capital or my home. Let''s kill those damn flies. Chapter 191: My Hunt (1) It''s going to be tricky. If I had to eliminate those three pesky flies, then I have to be smart and fast about it. They are someone who should have been used to being in the shadows. They should have seen a lot from the shadows, and it won''t be easy to pull them out of the shadows. Even if I by chance did that, I should eliminate them before they can contact their employer. It would be a hassle if they were able to do so. They are not strong and I could eliminate them easily but they are still professionals. I don''t mean that they are awakeners. No, I mean that they are good at what they do. They kept a distance between each other. Even if they were attacked by an AOE attack, not all three would die. At least one of them would be able to survive the disaster unless the attack''s radius is ridiculously high. I didn''t think that would be possible for someone with a skill level less than 50. It is not easy to cross level 50 and someone who can achieve that wouldn''t be a nobody and they wouldn''t have heard about them. In their presence, they wouldn''t do such things as spying on them and recording their data. My issue was that. Though I am at Tier-6, not one skill has reached even Level 30. If I was at level 50 or something, I can proudly show my rank as it usual for Tier-6 to have a skill at Level 50. Since it would be far too difficult to improve beyond level 50, from then everyone would try to bring more skills to that level, rather than trying to improve the skill that was at level 50. In this way, the improvement in their strength would be far more than improving a single one. This was because the person would have various ways to defend themselves or fight if the opposite one has resistance to the one he excels in. This is why any sane person wouldn''t have a single skill but multiple skills. Having one skill at even level 100 wouldn''t mean shit if someone surprised you with an attack that you have no defence against. Let''s say that you have a Light Arrow Skill at level 100 and that means, unless one has a high resistance towards the Light Element, they are sure to die or at least would be critically injured. Without proper treatment, they are sure to die. This would be especially true if the victim had Darkness-based affinity or ss. Light is considered as a threat to the Darkness. Of course, the opposite is also true. Simr to how Light is a threat to Darkness, Darkness is also a threat to the Light. So if the one that was supposed to be a victim attacks you using Dark skills, then you would be dead too. That is why resistance is very important. They can offset any attack, based on your resistance level and the attack level. It doesn''t mean that a level 100 resistance can stop the damage of a level 100 skill. No, the attack is abination of the skill level and the rank of the person. Unless a person has defence skills, it is not possible to stop an attackpletely. Of course, even if theyck skills, they could have protective artifacts that can save them from surprise attacks or attacks that they have no defence against. This is the problem I am facing at this moment. I have no idea what those pesky flies have in their possession. I have no idea about their skills. I have nothing on them, except where they are at the moment. I mean, I can''t even hear what they are saying to each other at this moment. I can feel the movement and they are making hand signs but I have no idea what they mean. It''s not like the hand signals are universal. Sure when arge group like an army is involved for better understanding amon method would be used. If they use umon methods, there is a high chance that they will misunderstand them. In fact, I read that there are several such incidents. There was a mage who misread the hand signal and fired a Fireball at the warehouse instead of up into the sky. That warehouse stored magic crystals, which ignited by the Fireball blew up the entire warehouse and much of the surroundings. So to make sure such incidents won''t repeat, the entire military of the kingdom follows a single hand gesture guide. I read that guide and what they are using is not from that. Though there is amon guide, it is said that special forces use their own signals. Sometimes even teams would change their hand signals in order to confuse the enemies if they had eyes on them. So I can say for sure that the hand signals are from their personal guidebook. There is no easy way for me to interpret those signals. Unless they do things repeatedly, I would have no way to discover what those signals would mean. Hmm, one of them took out a device and he typed something. I can''t see or guess from here as I could only sense them, not see them. This was the third time he did after I discovered them. Every time that he did, another one had given him a particr signal. All three times, the same signal is followed by the same action, which means the signal is used to order the other one to take out the device and type something. I have no idea what he did with the device but I believe that he may be updating the mayor, the one that put them on my track. It was not the only thing that I got from that. One of them gave the other a signal after every half an hour. It means there might be constantmunication between the Mayor and these flies. So I would have utmost half an hour to trap them and kill them before the Mayor starts to wonder why there was a dy in their updates. I know that these three are shadowing me because they were ordered to but I don''t like flies and the ones that sent those flies. Squatting these flies would send a message to the Mayor or whoever was behind this to not mess with me. Sure these three may have families, who would be saddened by their deaths but I am not a saint and they should have thought about this before taking up this job which could end them. Shadowing someone would lead them to think that there are assassins out there to kill them. Otherwise, there was no need to hide in the shadows. So only death awaits them, once they are found. --- Finally, they fell for the trap. Now it is time to act quickly before they can escape or contact the outside world. I mean they would be definitely equipped withmunication devices and protection artifacts, as they are venturing outside where the dangers appear from any side and at any minute. While travelling, it''s best to be on guard, even if there are no visible dangers. Dangers in this world wouldn''t be visible to the eyes but would depend on other senses to see them. If sensing dangers is simple enough to get caught using your eyes, then the death rate would have been quite low. So I was quick to respond. As soon as they fell into the trap, I started attacking them. [Shadow Bolt] [Blood Drain] [Space sh] It wasn''t easy to deal with these flies. Once I attacked they started to disperse in different directions. So I had to use different attacks to attack them and stop or slow them down. "STOP". "STOP...We are not the enemies". "STOP...We are from the Mayor", they cried out. "Do you take me for an idiot? Who would believe you?" I shouted back, making sure that if this incident was recorded, then I had no idea that they were actually from the Mayor. It''s best to portray them as assassins who came to kill me. Only then, no one could point fingers at me for this transgression. I didn''t stop my attacks and within the next few minutes, they were dead. Oh, yeah, let''s collect their souls. It has been long since I captured a human soul. They should have a lot of secrets to spill. Unlike in their entire life where they would have been trained to not spill secrets if captured, that doesn''t extend to the souls. Everything would be exposed to me and soon I would have the secrets that the Mayor is hiding about this mission. Also, I have to find that sound. Wait, where is that sound? I can''t hear it anymore. What the hell happened? Did the fight scare the creature? Ah, I have to broaden the search by a lot. Damn the Mayor. Damn, those pesky flies. If not for them, I could have known what was calling me and maybe learn about what happened to those merchants and their group. Chapter 192: My Hunt (2) I got rid of those pesky flies but the sound that I was hearing until now has disappeared. I removed them from the equation so that I could find what and where about that sound but now I don''t have any trace of it to find about it. I am screwed. The sound probably is the only way that I could find out what happened to those two merchants and their group. The investigation teams searched everywhere. They searched every nook and corner. They didn''t leave anything in the path that they took. The sound was an anomaly. There was no mention of it in the file. So I believe that the sound might be the possible way to find out but with the sound disappearing, I need to find a new way. Before that, let''s loot those idiots. I need to leave this ce before the Mayor bes suspicious and sends more of his henchmen to investigate why those three missed their regr updates. --- (3rd POV) "What the hell happened for them not to send any information? Did they enter an area where there is no signal?" an old man kept muttering as he paced along the room. The old man is none other than the Mayor of Endis Town. He had sent some watchers to keep an eye on the student from the Royal Academy. He came here to take on the mission to find out what happened to the cousins of the Count. The watchers were to observe him and update him every half an hour. Everything was going fine until now. After the boy took the mission, he went straight to the Inn where he booked a room for himself. He stayed inside and didn''t leave the Inn till the next morning. The time at which he left the Inn confused him. All the investigators started investigating the moment they got the details but the boy waited till the next morning. Moreover, he left the town just as the sun was rising. The mayor didn''t understand the significance at first. He thought that the boy may be over his head taking this mission alone and he would fail but after thinking for a while, a bulb suddenly lit in his mind. The merchants left the town at a simr time, more or less. This was recorded in the file that was given to all the investigators who came to find out what happened. No one paid any attention to that point but the boy did. Is that point important? The Mayor has no idea but he understands that the boy is trying to solve the puzzle by looking at it in a way that no one thought to look at. There may be a chance that the boy could solve the problem, though he was not hundred percent sure about that, the mayor had a feeling that the boy had the highest chance of clearing this mission. This was he instructed three watchers to follow him, instead of just one. There was no need to send three to follow just one. In usual cases, one was more than enough even to follow two to three people, unless they decided to divide and move in different directions. Sending three might appear as an overkill but in the mayor''s eyes, it is still low. He didn''t understand why he felt like that but he was someone who always followed his instincts and they never failed him. So he issued an order for those watchers to update him every half an hour and they did until now. Thest contact was an hour ago and after that, there was no contact till now. There is a chance that they crossed the signal limit. Though the technology has developed and signals can be reached even if you are outside of the human cities, the coverage is notrge. In the past, once someone crosses a human habitat, that would be the end ofmunication, unless you use some magical way tomunicate but that''s used as an SOS signal, in case of emergency, not to actuallymunicate. As the world progressed, with outposts along the roads, the signal coverage is now quiterge. So unless you go deeper into the forest area, the chances of losing a signal are almost nill. The only reason why that could have happened would either the outpost signal transmitter was damaged or under maintenance or the watchers were attacked and are dead or at least theirmunication devices are. If it has to do with the outpost or that the mission took them deep into the forest, then it was well and good. The issue was that he was feeling that something bad had happened. He has a feeling that they are either dead or their devices are damaged. There were three watchers and each had their ownmunication device and it would be too unbelievable for all three to get damaged at the same time. So there is a high chance that they were dead. Maybe the devices got damaged in whatever fight that happened. The Mayor was someone who would like to take chances. He was never the one who would put his fat in someone''s hand. He wanted to make sure that nothing went wrong. He quickly pulled out his phone and called his secretary. "Mary, call the Night Stalkers. Tell them I have a job for them and to meet me at the back of the mansion in half an hour", he said and ended the call. After ending the call, he left his office, which was a part of his mansion where he lives. He quickly went to the back of his mansion, to await for the Night Stalkers, who are the best and worst of the mercenaries in Endis. --- Now that it was done, I should check out the area around here. After all, the sound stopped around here. I mean it could have stopped because we were fighting or because I reached the ce I was supposed to. If it was the first reason, then there was nothing that I could do but if it was the second reason, then sooner orter I would find what happened all those days ago. Chapter 193: The end of my hunt Now that it was done, I should check out the area around here. After all, the sound stopped around here. I mean it could have stopped because we were fighting or because I reached the ce I was supposed to. If it was the first reason, then there was nothing that I could do but if it was the second reason, then sooner orter I would find out what happened all those days ago. I hope I can find out what that sound is. No matter how I think, I couldn''t understand it. The sound felt like a calling. As I said, it is not anguage that I heard and it doesn''t qualify as anguage with respect to the standard terms at present. It could be anguage but not native to Ragos or simply can''t be defined by the standard terms of Ragos. The standards are based on thenguages that were known to the civilized races of Ragos. There could be a new race that is emerging or it could be a deadnguage that no one speaks anymore and someone or something is using thatnguage. As long as that thing didn''t have anything to do with the disappearance of the merchants and their party, it won''t be problematic but I feel that the sound is the reason behind their disappearance. It is going to be a problem. --- I searched for an hour around the area where I stopped hearing the sound. I was immersed in the fighting and didn''t recognize that the sound stopped. So it took a minute to adjust my mind and find the position where that happened. I found the position quickly but even after searching for an hour, I didn''t find anything, Wait, what is that? I am standing in front of what appears to be an entrance to a cave. I cautiously entered the entrance which led me into a big cave. It was a big cave, but what fascinated me was the markings on the cave walls. They are not drawn randomly, though someone of lesser intelligence could say they are random. They are purposely ced in the spots where they are supposed to do something. There are a few questions. What is it? Whether it would be dangerous? Can this lead me to the missing party? I mean, they could have deviated from the path just like I did, after hearing the sound. That could have easily led them here. If they were led here, what would happen afterwards? The answer could possibly be in these markings. Let''s check this. This one looks promising. Maybe this one would tell me what happened to the merchant party. I chuckled when I thought that, but still, I didn''t think like that just to be funny. I have this feeling that there is much more than what meets the eye here. These markings are not just any random drawings. As I said before, they looked as if they were where they were supposed to be. If that is true, a bigger secret is behind this. If I can solve that secret, then I am sure that I can solve the puzzle of the missing party. The question remains, How? --- The first thing I did was to see if there were any residuals left behind by the party if they stopped here. Anywhere someone visits, there would be something left behind. A trace of their presence there. It need not be a major one but could be a minor one. Nothing. There was not even a single trace that anyone was here ever. That can''t be possible. Even if humans didn''t, a monster or two must-have. It is an enigma and I feel that the markings would give me the answer. I can''t read them, maybe they are like runes that do something when needed. Let''s see if something happens if I touch them. I know that horror movies'' first rule is never to touch unknown things. There are many things that you don''t understand and it''s best to leave them as they are. Many horror movies start with some idiot touching something that he shouldn''t. Though I have never read about the mentioning of ghosts in this world, there is a high chance that they exist in this world. There are souls in this world belonging to both humans and beasts. This is a magic world. So the chances that the ghosts exist are very high. Thinking by that logic, I shouldn''t touch anything in this cave but I need answers and I believe that these answers are found in these markings. Though I am not someone who would act recklessly, I can''t be a coward. I need to verify things once in a while. There won''t be always someone to check out things for me. --- Huh, nothing happened. I started to touch every marking on the wall that was essible to me. There are markings that are way out of reach, at the top of the cave. Except for the markings that I couldn''t reach, I touched every marking but nothing happened. There might be three reasons why nothing happened. First, the ones that I need to touch could be the ones on the top of the cave. Second, they need to be touched in a certain pattern. Third, it needs something to activate the markings, most likely an energy source. There is a chance that all three are the reasons why nothing happened. I can only check them one by one. The first two would take some time and effort, so let''s try the third one and see if it works. If it does, it would save me a lot of time and effort. Let''s inject some magic power into this marking. Whoosh! --- Huh? Where am I? This is not the cave that I was a second before. Wait for a second, after I injected some energy into one of the markings, a lot of energy gushed out of the other markings...it looks like it transported me to some ce outside of that cave. The question is, IS this a Secret Realm? A Dungeon? or just a random ce on Ragos? Chapter 194: I found the secret... Where am I? This is not the cave that I was a second before. Wait for a second, after I injected some energy into one of the markings, a lot of energy gushed out of the other markings...it looks like it transported me to somece outside of that cave. The question is, IS this a Secret Realm? A Dungeon? or just a random ce on Ragos? Anything could be possible. There is a high chance for it to be a secret realm or a dungeon. There is evidence for that but my instincts are saying so. They are also saying that this was the reason behind the disappearance of the merchants and their party. If that is the case, then they would have contacted someone but they didn''t. If it was a ce in Ragos, then they would have but if they weren''t technically in Ragos, then there would be no contact. Though the dungeons and the secret realms are present in Ragos, schrs believe that was not the case. They believe that only the portals exist in Ragos, while the region we refer to as the dungeon and secret realm are somewhere in a different space. The reason why they say that is because of the sizes of these ces. If they were truly on Ragos, digging near this should have opened to the insides but they did. They do be unstable and the portal copses but never opens to a new way in. --- If they were truly stuck here as I feel, then it''s going to be a problem. There was no way that I could search for them inside. If they still stayed at the entrance or nearby then it wouldn''t be a problem. If they had ventured deep into this dungeon/secret realm, then there is no way that I could search for them in a short time. It would take months if not years if I wanted to search every nook and corner of this ce, which I don''t have. I am not going to waste so much time on such things. I have other things to do. Moreover, staying here means that I wouldn''t have any connection with the outside world. As he was away from the academy and his parents were busy, he would send them a message regrly. Previously, he had to call every night, but with too much work on their shoulders, speaking regrly became a premium. I can''t make them think that I am in danger and that''s what they would think if I go offmunication for a long time. It would be like adding stress, an unnecessary burden on their already burdened shoulders. I already told them that I would be out of the city''s boundaries on a mission and the signal would probably be out of reach. They shouldn''t be worried if I can''tmunicate for a long time. Even though I said that I would give it a maximum of ten days. If I find nothing, I will leave this ce. Even if the mission fails, it matters not to me. I would miss a few points. With aplete secret realm under my control, there would be nock of meat. --- It has been a week since I entered this ce and I couldn''t find anything. I have a feeling that they did enter this ce but why can''t I find anything...wait, I see something. I ran to the ce where I could see something partially buried. I dug it up to see what it is. It was a g and not any g. I recognize it. This is the g of the Merchantpany that those two cousins of the count own. It was described perfectly in the file that the Mayor gave me. I was right. The presence of this g means that they entered this ce and are probably dead. It has been so long. Their bodies may have been eaten and buried in whatever ce that they ran to. If my suspicion that this ce was a dungeon or a secret realm was true, then there was no way that even a piece of their bodies could be recovered. The parts that can be eaten would have been eaten by the monsters that killed them. The inedible parts would have been consumed by the dungeon/secret realm. It was a known and proven fact. If a person dies in a dungeon or a secret realm, within minutes the body would disappear. Thend would absorb everything that was present there, even the spilled blood from the battle. These ces even heal faster than the world. Unless the damage was caused by a high ranker, there damage wouldn''t be permanent. --- Now that I found a clue about the missing party, what should I do? I am not going to stay here anymore. What I wanted answer to was another question. Should I give this information or not? I mean, this is a secret realm or a dungeon, which I am not sure but I am reclining to it being a secret realm. There are differences between them, and I see them but I can''t say with a one hundred percent guarantee. Whether it is a dungeon or a secret realm, it''s worth a lot. If I just give the information to the Mayor, then he would be the one who would benefit from this. Though I was being paid a thousand points by the academy forpleting the mission, it was too low and that was to find out what happened to the merchants. I can keep it for myself. I can get a lot of resources but I don''t live here. So it would be a hassle toe here, and someone may find out about this sooner orter and it would be upied by the ruling noble. So it''s best to sell this information directly to the Count.It would be like a 1+1 thing. I can tell him about his cousins and at the same time about this ce. I would earn a lot easily. It won''t be a loss for me. Now let''s get out of this ce and find the Count. Chapter 195: I met with the Mayor (1) It took me two days to find the entrance of this ce. Hmm, shouldn''t the portals of secret realms should open at a certain time? This should be everyone''s thought. There was a reason why I found the portal that could let me leave. There is a secret cheat code for the portal to open. This was something that I learned from the Nexus. Yes, there is a library in there but for some reason, I could only take a few books from it. The other books are restricted. I am sure there''s information on souls in there, which I want but there was nothing I could do. There was no mention of why most of the library was restricted. So the only thing I could do for now was to wait. Anyway, the secret cheat code to open a portal was to kill the boss of the secret realm. Once the boss is dead, a portal will open and they can leave the secret realm. Of course, there is a restriction on that cheat code. The number of monsters you killed after entering the secret realm shouldn''t cross five percent of the total monsters inside. The issue is if ten people enter the secret realm at the same time, give or take one or two hours, depends on the realm, then they are considered as a single entity. At that point, it won''t count individually but totally. If that happens, then you have to wait till the time when the portal opens on its own. Luckily, only I entered at this point. Though the merchants and their party entered this ce, They did so long ago. So they don''t count. If they did, I would be stuck in that ce for a very long time. --- Sivel Manor, Westport City After escaping from that ce, I didn''t return to Endis, rather I went to Orlon town. The reason was that if I went back to Endis Town, there was a chance that the mayor would cause trouble for me. So instead I went to Orlon, which is on the way to Westport City, where the Count lives. I am going directly to him, bypassing anyone who could cut into my profits or cause trouble for me. I mean I discovered a Secret Realm/Dungeon which would provide the region constant supply of resources and that means they would be pretty rich. For the discovery, they have to pay me a certain price, irrespective of what the ce could provide. This was because it was not umon to not know what the secret realm or the dungeon provided for years. Yes, it takes years to fully understand their value and by that time, nothing would be the same. The finder could have died or moved far away and that means that one who was reaping the benefits could skip the pay and no one could say a word. This was why, a standard price was introduced. The first way to get paid was to ask for the Standard Price for finding it. Though the price may end up being on the low end if the dungeon/secret realm was revealed to have high quality or huge quantities of resources, it was paid instantly. There would be no dy or cheating. The second was to wait until the inspection was over. It would take years but you would be paid as per the value of the ce. The chances of getting swindled are very high though. There is a chance that they would silence you if the true worth is more than they can afford. The secret realm/dungeon I found might belong to the Count as it was found in his territory but they have to pay a tax to the kingdom, which most of the people are not interested in doing so. Everyone would like to improve their resources not reduce them. There is only Ie Tax here but even then most would escape from paying it. Though there are agents who are assigned for tax purposes, they can''t do anything to the rich. The ones that have to pay taxes on time are the middle-ss and low-ss citizens. The rich have many ways to escape from paying the tax. They can intimidate, bribe or use many other ways to keep their wealth intact. If the Count was such a person, then he would definitely wouldn''t pay me what I was owned, if the payment was for a future date. So I decided to take the standard price, though I have a feeling that I would be losing a lot through that option. Moreover, I never found the source of that sound that led me to that cave. There are many secrets buried behind that cave. If the count haspetent men, then all those secrets would belong to him. There is nothing I could do about that. If the cave was far away from the ruling territories, inside the wilds, then I could have kept it quiet but it was not. With how close it was to the Count''s territory and the searching that had been done for the past month or so, there was a high chance that the cave would be discovered sooner thanter. It was too far from where I live or study, making it difficult to make use of the resources effectively. So I decided to sell the information and make something out of that. Moreover, the clue to their missing cousins has to do with that ce. With two pieces of information, I could get a favour from him in the future, if he was a good one. Let''s test that theory. Westport, the city where the Count lives. It took me five days to reach here from Orlon Town. Once I did, I freshened up in an Inn before I went to meet up with the Count. Well, he is a Count, a rank higher than my father''s. Moreover, it was etiquette to appear before other nobles clean, rather than appearing as if you had been living in the wild. The Count''s mansion was very big, bigger than the Mayor''s and also grand. "Halt, what''s your purpose?" the guards asked me. "Hello, I am here to meet Count Sivel". Chapter 196: I met with the Mayor (2) The Count''s mansion was very big, bigger than the Mayor''s and also grander than that of the mayor. Of course, it is and it should be. That is the mayor of a small town, this is the Count of an entire county, which extends beyond what a small mayor can control. I didn''t stop for long to watch other people''s homes. I have a business with the Count and I intend toplete it as soon as possible, so that I may return to the academy at once. It has been a while with Ang. Thest time I saw her, she was upset with something and so our time together was very short, if not none. I hope that things calmed down by the time I returned and that would be sooner thanter. "Halt, what''s your purpose?" the guards asked me as they halted my approach. "Hello, I am here to meet Count Sivel", I replied to them. "The Count would not meet with anyone without a purpose", they stated. "Tell him, it''s about their missing cousins and there is also something important that I had to discuss with him", I stated my purpose to them, though vaguely. I am not going to discuss something important as a secret realm/dungeon with a bunch of guards. The guard nodded understanding about it, "Wait here. I''ll go and inform the Count", he said as he disappeared inside. I mean, even after I tell the Count about it, it''s not like he was going to spread the news of its existence at this point in time. It wasmon when a new dungeon or any levelling ce was found, the nobles would use them to improve their family first and then the guards and the ones who signed up to be a part of their family, before letting the people of their territory are allowed to enjoy the benefits. It may appear as a wrong thing but it is not. It is after all their wealth, something that they have to keep guard. They have to maintain order around the entrance or there would be unnecessary conflicts that could lead to deaths. The dungeons after all give out the best of rewards for first clearance andter clearances may have chances of getting better rewards than the clearances that happen after it was cleared a hundred or thousand times. As the number of clearances increases, the chances of getting better rewards decreases and after a time they settle at a particr range. Until that point, the ruling family would maintain the sole entry eligibility to their family itself. Moreover, everyone''s goal would be to be strongest and if there are too many strong as them, then they wouldn''t considered as strongest, just strong. This is the main reason, why the nobles keep the news a secret, for years, even if that means reduced ie. After all, entering a dungeon is not free, unless you find that in the wilds. To enter a controlled dungeon, you have to pay a fee. Though the fee is not high, with how many people enter the dungeon daily, the ie would not be small. Though there is a loss of ie, they don''t care about that because, without required strength having a huge wealth doesn''t mean anything. Someone strong coulde and take away their wealth in seconds if they are not strong enough to protect their assets. "The Count wants to see you", the guard spoke as soon as he returned. "Follow me", he said, which prompted me to follow the guard into the mansion as he showed me the way to where the Count was present. --- "Boy, you told the guards that you have something to say about my missing cousins and also something important. I hope that you know what will happen if you waste my time", the Count spoke to me in a stern threatening tone. Indeed I do. So instead of talking bullshit, I simply pulled out the g that I found that belong to the merchantpany of his cousins and ced it before him. His hands started to tremble when he saw the g, as he instantly recognized it. "Why did you have this?" he asked in a shaky voice. "Lord Count, let me introduce myself. I am Magnus, a fourth-year student from the Royal Academy. I epted the mission to search for your missing cousins. In that search I found this g", I said. The Count now understood that I did find something and didn''te empty-handed here. "Where did you find it? Did you find anyone?" he asked me. I signed, "To your second question, No. I didn''t find anyone or anything besides this after a search of more than a week. As for the first question, it was something that propelled me toe directly to you instead of the Mayor of Endis Town from whom I properly epted the mission". "It doesn''t matter that you came here instead of going to the Mayor. Now tell me", he asked with a bit of pressure. It looks like he genuinely cared about their disappearance. "In search of them, I came across a secret realm or a dungeon, I have no idea which. It was inside the dungeon/secret realm that I found that g", I told him. Hearing my words, the Count gasped in surprise. he wanted to find out what happened to his cousins but found a treasure. "How sure are you?" he asked. "I am sure that that ce exists but I am not sure what it is. A few features made it appear as a secret realm, while a few features made it appear as a dungeon. You have to investigate and form your own conclusions, Count", I said. "How much?" he directly asked me. --- The mayor paid a lot, a lot more than the standard price to keep my mouth shut about this dungeon/secret realm. Even if he hadn''t paid that much, I am not someone who invites unwanted problems. Since he paid so much, I drew a perfect map for him to find the cave and how I identally activated the portal. In addition to paying for the information about the secret realm/dungeon, he also signed that Ipleted the mission and cancelled the mission from other ces. It means the mission is no longer active and no one can take it anymore. Now that everything is done, it''s time for me to return to the academy. Luckily, there is a teleportation hub here in this city, which means that the time for travel is reduced by a lot. Chapter 197: I am back at the academy The deal with the mayor went smoothly. The mayor paid a lot for the information that I brought to him, a lot more than the standard price to keep my mouth shut about this dungeon/secret realm. Even if he hadn''t paid that much, I am not someone who invites unwanted problems by yapping my mouth around. In addition to paying for the information about the secret realm/dungeon, he also signed that Ipleted the mission and cancelled the mission from other ces. It means the mission is no longer active and no one can take it anymore. Since he paid so much, I drew a perfect map for him to find the cave without an issue. I also told him about the markings on the wall and how I identally activated the portal. With that done, I have no business here. Now, it''s time for me to return to the academy. Luckily, this journey wouldn''t be as problematic as the journey here. There is a teleportation hub in this city, which significantly reduces travel time. Of course, the teleportation wouldn''t take me directly to the capital, I have to change once in order to reach the capital but that won''t be much of an issue. --- One hourter... Man, the traffic was surely very high. It took me too much time to reach the capital. This was not something that I usually faced while travelling between my home and the capital. Well, that was because in Winter City I am the son of the Viscount and that reduced the waiting time. The traffic between the Capital and Winter City is very low and that made the waiting time much less than whenpared to other cities. With the city at the border of the kingdom, there was not much movement between the capital and my home, though there was a direct link, which was not a privilege that every city has. The only reason why Winter City has a direct teleportation link is to suppress monster tides that could erupt here. As I said before, my home is very close to Orlum Forest, which is home to arge monster poption and many of these monsters are of high rank. This is why, even though we know that there could be dungeons in the forest, no one would explore the forest and establish a post there. They are afraid of the monsters that could easily attack their ce and reinforcements are not easy toe by at that ce. Anyone who has settled there would most likely perish. This was why no one dared to establish a settlement there. Even though there are many high-rankers, they have other ces to take care of. They can''t concentrate on the forest unless a monster tide appears. It was left to the mid-rankers and the low-rankers and they can''t do anything substantial either. What they could was to cut down the small time dangers that were growing in the forest and that too in the outer regions only. No one would dare to enter the Inner regions as that area is considered dangerous even for High-rankers. Though a high-ranker could easily fend himself off while facing a high-ranking monster, there are too many monsters in the forest and that means they wouldn''te out of the ce unscathed. they could easily die too. The presence of a huge number of monsters in the forest would lead to a Monster Tide. The reason a direct link was established was because in a way my home is the frontline in case there are any monster tides. If the frontline copses, many other provinces would fall easily. To prevent that, there is the need for a direct route of supplies and soldiers. For that, a direct teleportation link was established. Thest monster tide happened three hundred years ago, but the link exists as no one would know when that would erupt again. Until then, it worked as a civilian route, rather than as a military route. Teleportations were originally intended for military purposes. They had to react as soon as an enemy appeared inside the borders of the kingdom, whether it could be monsters or foreign armies. A faster mobilization means fewer losses and faster results. In addition to that, supplies needed to be supplied constantly or wars are easily lost. This was why every kingdom built a lot of teleportation nodes between the central area and ces where the military would be needed mostly. Monster tides won''t happen every day. There are ces where monsters appear attacking humans every now and then. There are also ces where monster tides wouldn''t appear even in a century. Moreover, with time most of the boundaries with other nations have stabilized except for a few ces, and that means there was that much for the military to move here and there. As the need for their movement decreased and these lines became a faster route of travel for the nobles and rich. They can save a lot of time, though it costs a lot. Even though these opened for civilian use,mon people usually can''t afford the high prices. Also the transport of resources through teleportation costs a lot. So many merchants take the traditional routes for transport, making them still the most used transporting routes,pared to the teleportation routes. --- I should go meet with Ang in the morning. Aaahnn, I am tired as of now and need sleep. Though I am Tier-6, I do need sleep. While searching for the missing party, I didn''t sleep much. Only one or two hours a day, did I sleep. This broke my usual routine and made my body feel difort. I need relief for now and sleeping is the best way to heal a body. Moreover, if Ang is in the mood, I may have to spend a lot of energy tomorrow and for that, I need to be at the peak. If I am not, then Ang would not be the only one to be disappointed by my performance. Chapter 198: I spent some time with Angela After returning to the academy, I rested for the day. Though it was evening and there was still a lot of time in the day, my body was dead tired because of the search andter travelling. My body needed a lot of rest and rest I did. The next morning I was spry as a chicken. Please note that I am spry not fry...hahaha(selfugh). Anyway, after waking up in the morning, I cleaned up myself and had breakfast. I ate a lot, as I missedst night''s supper because of my sleep. I thought to rest for a while and wake up for supper but I overslept and didn''t wake up till the morning. So there was no supper and my stomach was angry about it. After filling my stomach, I went to see if Ang was avable. Thest time I saw her was before I took the mission and left the academy. At that time her mood was not good and I missed having sex with her because of that. Without Inari, I am missing regr sex sessions. When she was with me, I would have sex whenever I felt to have sex. Now that option is no longer avable. I miss her both emotionally and sexually. I wonder how Inari is doing now? Maybe I should go look for her after I graduate from the academy. --- As soon as I entered the hall, Ang sprung upon me, attacking my lips with hers, not even giving me time to properly respond nor to even breathe. She must have missed having sex. As I observed before, she is much more hornier than I am and theck of sex for more than a month and a half must have frustrated her to no end. I didn''t stop her, instead, I too attacked her lips with much vigour. Whening to sex, I can say I have better staminapared to many. I literally have a skill for that, but that is only for the stamina part and nothing else. Maybe I should find some sexual skills. They are not rare but most are used by the people working in pleasure houses. If I try to get them openly, then they would surely associate me with those houses and that would be very bad for my name and my house''s name. As a son of the noble, I can''t be associated with people thinking that I work there. Going there to enjoy is okay but for a noble, to work there is considered the lowest. No one would go there to work, even if their ss by bad luck is rted to pleasure. Ang who has been missing her regr sex, was a bit ferocious. She even tore my shirt, which is not a good thing. It means that I have to wear a new shirt when I leave and that would raise questions. Entering the hall wearing one shirt and leaving wearing another, it would look quite dubious. So I quickly removed my pants before she tore them too. After I undressed, it was her turn. Once that part was done, we enjoyed each other''s naked bodies as if our lives depended on it. Well, at least she did. --- "Ha, ha, if I didn''t know any better, I would think that you are a subus", Imented about Ang''s lust and vigour. Shested longer than she used to. Sexual Stamina is something I am proud of but she defeated me in that category. How? I have no idea, but that doesn''t matter. What matters is that I could now enjoy having sex one hundred percent with her. It''s no fun if she gets stored too soon and I have to do all the work. Sure I would dominate but both have to equally work to have the maximum pleasure, which wascking with Ang all this time. Now that problem no longer exists. "Ha, ha, thanks, I needed that", she said, "Now get up and get clothed". Iughed, "What clothes?" I said as I showed my torn shirt. When she saw what she did, she chuckled, "Sorry, I was..." I stopped her, "It doesn''t cost much and I won''t go bankrupt after losing a single shirt", as I pulled another shirt from my storage ring and started to wear my clothes. --- "Now can you tell me what happened back then with your sister?" I finally asked her about what happened at the beginning of the year, as we got dressed. Ang sighed, "I can''t keep that away from you. Our father had asked us to return home and he intends us to marry off", she said. "Wait, What?" I shouted. "I am sorry Magnus. There was nothing I could do", she sighed again as she broke the news. "You are powerful and so is your sister, can''t you say that you like someone else?" I asked her, though I am sure that would fail. I mean he was someone who birthed them, though technically their mother but his involvement in that was important too. He protected and raised them till they were strong enough to protect themselves. So he has every right to decide their future, while I have no right to ask her to stay with me. They can say no to the proposals that their family brings, as they are the ones who have to marry and have to live with them. "If it was just my father''s decision, then it wouldn''t been a problem but it was my family n''s decision. Many elders'' interests are bound to our marriages. So they wouldn''t let go", she said. I can understand that. In big families that look like a n, there are several factions and every faction would look out for themselves. They would sell their family members for benefits. Even the head''s children wouldn''t be safe from their politics. Seeing me sighing, she spoke again, "We stalled for two years, saying that we were bound to the academy as we had long decided to take on the roles as teachers here. After the end of the next academic year, there would be no stopping. If you want me, then you have to do something within the next two years". Chapter 199 : Changes in my plans for the future "We stalled for two years, saying that we were bound to the academy as we had long decided to take on the roles as teachers here. After the end of the next academic year, there would be no stopping. If you want me, then you have to do something within the next two years". These words echoed in my ears again and again as I walked back to my quarters. What she said was true. For me to have any chance of gaining her and her sister (To Ang it was just her but for me, it''s both of them), then I have to show my power within the next two years. I need to do something great that everybody couldn''t recognize me, at least for a generation. What could I do? What is there to do? I have no idea but I have decided that I couldn''t be just in the back drop for me to gain what I wanted. I need to do something great so that I would get whatever I want easily. The problem was that nothing came to my mind. There was nothing that I could do in these two years to make my name known throughout the kingdom. Even if there were none, I hope that there would be something someday but I have to be prepared for that day to have the maximum result. There is only one way for that to happen and that is for me to be stronger than now, much stronger. The rank is okay. At my age, reaching Tier-6 can be considered out of the world but at Tier-6, at least a skill should be at level 50 but there is not even one that crossed level 30. I need to improve a lot and I have to put my time and energy into improving my skills and only on that. Also, if there are any treasures that increases the attributes, I need them. Let''s see my status for a second. "Status" -- Name: Magnus Frostwolf Age: 18 Titles: Son of Viscount; Great yer; Hidden Smiden; Dungeon Conqueror; Primary ss: Draconic Warlock Secondary ss: Soul Arbiter (Unique) Affinity: Shadow, Blood, Space Bloodline: ck Dragon (25% purity) Technique: ck Dragon Essence Breathing Physique: Devourer Physique (EX) Talent: Ritualistic Summoning (EX) Trait: Silk Smooth Skin(A bit Improved); Sleepy; Aurum Skin; Sexy Smile; Rank: Tier-6 Level: 0 Health Points (HP): 3,447,066,328,117 Strength (STR):215,000 (+100%) Endurance (END): 250,000 (+100%) Dexterity (DEX): 1,579 Agility (AGI): 198,800 (+100%) Intelligence (INT): 31,887,756,200 Magic Power (MP): 6,575,255,105,300 Soul Energy: 105,500 (+200%) Charm: 3,009 ss Skills: Shadow Bolt; Blood Dominance; Draconic Magic; Shadow Curse; Blood Heal; Shadow Shift; Blood Lock; Draconic Pressure; Shadow Merge; Blood Drain; Soul Judge; Soul Prison; Soul Container; Nether mes; Shadow control; Blood Boil; Shadow Clone; Blood Clone; Space sh; Soul de; Soul Ascension; Soul Avatar; Shadow Storage; Blood Rain; Space Break; Soul Arrow; Soul Defence; Soul Lock; Special Skills: Rank Booster; Status Disguise; Refined Skills: Shadow Bolt Volley Lvl. 21; Blood Drain Field Lvl. 10; Skills: Evade Lvl. 20; Dodge Lvl. 20; Sprint Lvl. 20; Alertness Lvl. 15; Devour Lvl. 9; Fusion Lvl. 20; Split Lvl. 20; Demon Gaze Lvl. 5; Strengthen Lvl. 21; Tag & Track Lvl. 6; Night Vision Lvl. 17; Spatial Storage Lvl. 14; Mind Control Lvl. 9; Mind Probe Lvl. 9; Mind Defence Lvl. 1 >> 3; Dragon Blood Evolution Lvl. 20; Scent Recognition Lvl. 20; Sexual Stamina Lvl. 7; Perception Lvl. 20; Pet World Lvl. 3; Parry Lvl. 14; Resistances: Physical Resistance Lvl. 22; Light Resistance Lvl. 15; Poison Resistance Lvl. 10; Magic Resistance (Non-Attribute) Lvl. 10; Space Resistance Lvl. 9; Fire Resistance Lvl. 14; Water Resistance Lvl. 12; Mind Resistance Lvl. 1; Wind Resistance Lvl. 11; Lightning Resistance Lvl. 9; Weapon Arts: Advanced Staff Arts Lvl. 3; Intermediate Movement Arts Lvl. 7; Intermediate Hand Combat Arts Lvl. 5; -- If you look at that, my INT, HP, and MP are way above my other attributes and that is a loss. As a spellcaster, my INT and MP are supposed to be much higher than other attributes but there is a limit. With improvement in physical attributes, I can''t properly utilize the true power of my INT and MP. This was why when I fight, it still takes some time before I can defeat opponents whose rank should be around mine. I didn''t know that at first. I only thought that they were pitiful and wanted to improve them. Moreover, I saw them as my weak points and weak points have to be covered in order to save yourself. After entering Nexus, I didn''t just rapidly improve inbat but also in knowledge. In one of the tomes that I have ess to, it was said that all attributes go hand in hand. Original content from M-VL-em|p,yr Depending on the ss you awakened, one would be higher than the others but the disparity shouldn''t be too high. If that happens, then it would be a weakness of that person. For example, if a warrior has an INT of 1 and a strength of 1000, then what state would he be? He would be a brute and wouldn''t think before charging into battles, and would die easily because he wouldn''t see the trapsid out nor he would have a strategy to properly defeat the enemies. For a spell caster, every time magic was used, it would cause a burden on the body. Without END at the correct level, then it would slowly deteriorate. Lucky for me, my HP is also very high and the reason, I didn''t see any problems, except for the fact that my magic was constricted by the body because of my huge vitality but that''s not a solution. Other attributes are also useful, as they would help in the survival of a person. AGI is very useful if you are in a precarious position. No matter the movement skill you learn, without the proper foundation i.e. AGI, you can''t get out of the precarious position. Coming to my skills, and resistances, they are very poor. I mean, very few touched level 20 and not one has reached level 25. At Tier-6, I need to reach level 50. In numbers it may look like that I have reached half of the distance but that is wrong. As the level increases, the difficulty of reaching the next level increases just like in the rank. I need to concentrate more on improving them and with Nexus in my hands, it would be rather easy. Coming to weapon arts, I can take extra help from Ang. After all, I think she wouldn''t want to leave me and marry someone that her family brings. This would be my routine for the next two years until I graduate from the academy unless something important pops up. I hope nothing pops up until I am ready. Chapter 200 : My next four months (1) With a proper n, anything could be achieved easily. Of course, just nning is not enough, one has to follow that n or else no matter how great the n is, it will be worthless. This was something I didn''t hear but from experience. On Earth, I kind of suffered from procrastination, a lot. I would aim high, and prepare a process for it but when it came to realizing the n, I would always tumble. It kept me from reaching the heights I wanted to reach. I was not happy with how I lived on Earth, and that is something I am not going to repeat again. Wait, did my Procrastination trait follow me to this new life? I mean, I would talk and talk, sometimes going into topics that were not the point of interest at that time. I always wondered why I did that. I was not a talker usually but here, I am talking too much, unnecessarily much. --- The question that remains is what to improve first. Whether I should concentrate on one skill or multiple skills at the same time. I mean there is no way that I could truly concentrate on a single skill because many skills are usually interconnected. If I concentrate on any weapon art, I would indirectly improve many skills like Evade, Dodge, Parry and Strengthen. It would even improve some resistance based on the enemies I choose. Of course, I don''t have too manybinations at this point but there are some. So even if I choose a path, I would indirectly improve other skills too but that doesn''t matter. I can consider them as a bonus. Now the question was, what skills I should choose? Let''s have a brief look at the skills that should be improved because they have the best chance of improving faster than others. -- Skills: Evade Lvl. 20; Dodge Lvl. 20; Sprint Lvl. 20; Fusion Lvl. 20; Split Lvl. 20; Strengthen Lvl. 21; Dragon Blood Evolution Lvl. 20; Scent Recognition Lvl. 20; Perception Lvl. 20; Resistances: Physical Resistance Lvl. 22;Fire Resistance Lvl. 14; Water Resistance Lvl. 12;Wind Resistance Lvl. 11; Lightning Resistance Lvl. 9; -- Of these skills, I don''t have the resources to improve Dragon Blood Evolution. Moreover, it improves my rank faster. So there was no need to invest in that one. To survive in the wild, Scent Recognition and Perception are very important but I am not nning on visiting some wild areas in the near future. So these two would have to take a back seat. Fusion and Split are cloning skills that are very useful in improving other skills faster. So, I would use them no matter what but they are not on the front. They belong to the guaranteed bonus category. Whether it was in the wild or in a battle, the other four skills were important for my survival. So I have to choose from these four. I should choose Evade and Dodge as my first skills to improve. There is a reason why chose those two. Originally I thought of improving only one but both these skills are almost the same but with a slight difference. The difference was whether the opponent was a close-rangebatant or a long-rangebatant. Other than that, there are no differences. When you battle arge group of monsters or other enemies, there would be a mix of both close-range and long-rangebatants. So in order to avoid them, it''s best to learn both. if I learn one and neglect one, though I would be powerful, but the chances of getting injured would still be high. Even my high HP might not help if I had to fight under certain conditions. As I said before, this world has a lot of skills and many of them are weird ones. There are a few attack skills that deprive the attacked''s HP not in number but in percentage. Yes, if the attack sessfullynds on the target, instead of decreasing the enemy''s HP like -100, or-5000, or something along the line, the decrease would be in percentage like -1% or -5%. The only chance for the opponent was to not let more such attacks fall on you. This was because, the lost HP wouldn''t cross 5%, no matter how much Magic you use. I said this before too. In this world, every skill would have restrictions. No skill would be an absolute. There would be something that could counter it in one way or another. There is another disadvantage to using such a skill. As it would only deal in percentage losses, even if you have 1 HP, it wouldn''t kill you instantly. It would at best take 0.05 HP and you would still have 0.95 HP. The problem was that no one would know a single skill. They would learn around five to ten normally. Though at a young age or when their rank is very low, they would concentrate on one or two skills at most, by the time they reach Tier-5 or before thirty at most, they would have a multitude of skills in their arsenal. So the disadvantage of that skill while fighting someone with low HP wouldn''t exist. It was not just this. There is also something called True Damage. This is something that would ignore the defences of the enemy. It was like armour cancetion skill. So no matter how much powerful armour you wear, as long as the other has True Damage skill that can rival your defence, then you are done for. This is why it was one of the most sought skills in the world, but it was very rare and would not see even a single drop of the skill in a hundred years. If it drops too much, then the armour and defence skills would lose their use. So, the best way was to not get hit in the first ce. --- Anyway, even though I choose these two, I know that other skills improve alongside them. It means that I would be happy as it would give me some rest to mind as there wouldn''t too much thinking for me to prepare ways to improve them. Now, what remains is to improve these two skills no matter what. Chapter 201: My next four months (2) Deciding on what to concentrate on is just the first step, After taking that step there are many more steps to take or else taking the first step would be a waste. Now that I have decided to concentrate on Evade and Dodge, I will set up my training in Nexus to maximize the gains of these two skills. Just because I would be busy with this, I can''t ignore Ang but I can''t spend much time having sex with her either. So most of the time I had to spend with her would be for training. There is no other way. I have only two years before her family would take her away, no take them away. Since I am aiming for both sisters, I need to be more than good enough. --- Four Months Later... The semester hade to an end and it was time to take rest and return home but my mother was still away and with her away, the burdens on my father were too much. His work would keep him away and that would make me returning home almost meaningless. There is a purpose for these holidays. The academy wants us to be connected to the family and keep us grounded. Too much work would only harm the body and mind. Spending some time with people would refresh minds and that would indirectly increase the efficiency of the people. It is not just for efficiency, but to remind us that there are responsibilities to us. If one is isted for too long, then there is a high chance that one wouldn''t be concerned about the well-being of others. This could make them psychopaths who would revel in the misery of others or apathetic to people''s burdens and would do nothing to elevate their burdens even if it is as simple as snapping a finger for them. The academy was established to make the youth into the guardians of the kingdom, not psychopaths or anti-social. People have to connect with each other or else they won''t protect each other no matter what. Even if my father may not be avable, I should return home. Who knows, may be he can get a free ten minutes, where we can speak or I can help him in the office and lessen his burden a little. There is a small problem though. I have to improve as fast as I can and that means no distractions. It''s not like I would inherit his title in the future and have to know all those functions. That is a trouble that my brother has to bear alone until he marries someone, who would be his partner as my mother was to my father. I mean, I even forgone sex in these four months. Do you know how difficult it was for me to make Ang understand what''s at stake? She understood the stake but as horny as she was, she was reluctant to stop our sex sessions. I think she was of the opinion that I wouldn''t be able to impress her father, which would make her father give her to me, rather than to someone else. She wants to make as many memories as possible before the inevitable break. I can understand her thoughts but she doesn''t know what my true rank is. If I tell her, they could elevate some of her concerns but once those wordse out of my mouth, they would no longer be a secret. Once those words left my mouth, they would spread to various people. So I decided to keep them secret for now and that made it almost impossible to make her understand that I am capable. In the end, she understood and epted, but on the condition that we would have unforgettable sex before the end of the two years. She still has doubts and wants to remember our time together. I would give her that one day but I would make sure that wouldn''t be thest of our time together. With her help and Nexus, my status changed a lot. Let''s have a look at it. "Status" -- Name: Magnus Frostwolf Age: 18 Titles: Son of Viscount; Great yer; Hidden Smiden; Dungeon Conqueror; Primary ss: Draconic Warlock Secondary ss: Soul Arbiter (Unique) Affinity: Shadow, Blood, Space Bloodline: ck Dragon (25% purity) Technique: ck Dragon Essence Breathing Physique: Devourer Physique (EX) Talent: Ritualistic Summoning (EX) Trait: Silk Smooth Skin(A bit Improved); Sleepy; Aurum Skin; Sexy Smile; Rank: Tier-6 Level: 0 Health Points (HP): 3,447,066,328,117 Strength (STR):215,000 (+100%) Endurance (END): 250,000 (+100%) Dexterity (DEX): 1,579 Agility (AGI): 198,800 (+100%) Intelligence (INT): 31,887,756,200 Magic Power (MP): 6,575,255,105,300 Soul Energy: 105,500 (+200%) Charm: 3,009 ss Skills: Shadow Bolt; Blood Dominance; Draconic Magic; Shadow Curse; Blood Heal; Shadow Shift; Blood Lock; Draconic Pressure; Shadow Merge; Blood Drain; Soul Judge; Soul Prison; Soul Container; Nether mes; Shadow control; Blood Boil; Shadow Clone; Blood Clone; Space sh; Soul de; Soul Ascension; Soul Avatar; Shadow Storage; Blood Rain; Space Break; Soul Arrow; Soul Defence; Soul Lock; Special Skills: Rank Booster; Status Disguise; Refined Skills: Shadow Bolt Volley Lvl. 21 >> 22; Blood Drain Field Lvl. 10; Skills: Evade Lvl. 20 >> 25; Dodge Lvl. 20 >> 25; Sprint Lvl. 20 >> 27; Alertness Lvl. 15 >> 17; Devour Lvl. 9; Fusion Lvl. 20 >> 23; Split Lvl. 20 >> 23; Demon Gaze Lvl. 5; Strengthen Lvl. 21 >> 26; Tag & Track Lvl. 6; Night Vision Lvl. 17 >> 21; Spatial Storage Lvl. 14 >> 15; Mind Control Lvl. 9; Mind Probe Lvl. 9; Mind Defence Lvl. 3; Dragon Blood Evolution Lvl. 20; Scent Recognition Lvl. 20; Sexual Stamina Lvl. 7; Perception Lvl. 20 >> 22; Pet World Lvl. 3; Parry Lvl. 14 >> 18; Resistances: Physical Resistance Lvl. 22 >> 26; Light Resistance Lvl. 15; Poison Resistance Lvl. 10; Magic Resistance (Non-Attribute) Lvl. 10 >> 15; Space Resistance Lvl. 9 >> 12; Fire Resistance Lvl. 14 >> 17; Water Resistance Lvl. 12 >> 14; Mind Resistance Lvl. 1; Wind Resistance Lvl. 11 >> 13; Lightning Resistance Lvl. 9 >> 10; Weapon Arts: Advanced Staff Arts Lvl. 3 >> 4; Intermediate Movement Arts Lvl. 7 >> 9; Intermediate Hand Combat Arts Lvl. 5 >> 8; -- Chapter 202: My next four months (3) A lot has changed in my status in these four months. After returning from the mission from Endis town, I didn''t venture out at all, nor did I dive into the dungeons that were essible in the academy. Even though to the world I am still a Tier-2 ranker, as a fourth-year student, I can ess higher-level dungeons but they are not useful for me in any way. Diving into those dungeons at this time would be a waste of my time. If it was before my talk with Ang, I would have done that but not anymore. For the present me, ranking up was not the problem but levelling up my skills was the biggest issue and so I concentrated on that, and only on that. The results prove the fact of how hard I have been working in these past four months. Let''s have a brief look at what improved in my status. -- Refined Skills; Shadow Bolt Volley Lvl. 21 >> 22; Skills: Evade Lvl. 20 >> 25; Dodge Lvl. 20 >> 25; Sprint Lvl. 20 >> 27; Alertness Lvl. 15 >> 17; Fusion Lvl. 20 >> 23; Split Lvl. 20 >> 23; Strengthen Lvl. 21 >> 26; Night Vision Lvl. 17 >> 21; Spatial Storage Lvl. 14 >> 15; Perception Lvl. 20 >> 22; Parry Lvl. 14 >> 18; Resistances: Physical Resistance Lvl. 22 >> 26;Magic Resistance (Non-Attribute) Lvl. 10 >> 15; Space Resistance Lvl. 9 >> 12; Fire Resistance Lvl. 14 >> 17; Water Resistance Lvl. 12 >> 14; Wind Resistance Lvl. 11 >> 13; Lightning Resistance Lvl. 9 >> 10; Weapon Arts: Advanced Staff Arts Lvl. 3 >> 4; Intermediate Movement Arts Lvl. 7 >> 9; Intermediate Hand Combat Arts Lvl. 5 >> 8; -- Shadow Bolt Volley didn''t improve because I concentrated on that but it was inevitable after the battles I did in the past and also while I was training I had to fight sometimes. As I said, inevitable. Evade and Dodge, which I decided to concentrate on increased by five levels. It was not enough though. I need to reach level 50 in at least one skill. Moreover, I can''t focus just on improving my skills all the time. I would have to improve my rank too. Though improving my rank at this moment is not important, I need to reach Tier-7 as soon as possible and only when I do, would I be able to protect myself from all the dangers that are present in this world. Sure there are dangers that can threaten a Tier-7 but at this point, they were not looking at me. I have a few enemies. First, there are still those damned elders who tried to assassinate me a few years ago. Most of the filth from the family was cleansed but some filth remained. I don''t know what the consequences of that would be. I didn''t say anything about that because, even if my father got rid of all the filth, as time goes on, bastards like them rise from time to time. It''s amon urrence. So no matter what I do, elements such as them would exist, no matter what. There is also my Ex-Fiance Elisha and her family. Though the fault is on their side, they should be ming me and my family for their losses. From that day, I think the bonds we formed with the Siren family were severed and there was no way to bind them again. They could look to cause trouble for me but I don''t see that happening anywhere in the near future. The Siren family suffered a lot and it would take a lot of time to recover. I would be safe until then and before they would be on their own feet, I would be much more powerful than now. There was no way that they could hurt me at that point. So there was no reason to think about them. The main problem was William Rutgurd. He was now bound by the Heir Selection Competition chains but that would be over by the time I graduated. Since his position in the family would depend on the oue of thepetition, he should be working vigorously. William was said to be a genius. if only he didn''t take the route of going after the fiances of others, he could have been still the heir of the Count and have graduated from the Royal Academyst year. He had only one year, but by doing shitty things he got expelled and now his position was in danger. So he wouldn''t bother me before I graduate, but after that, I am sure that he would find trouble with me. It''s not just because of thepetition but I am still a student of the Royal Academy. With the recent collision between us, if anything happens to me, all eyes would turn towards him, but after graduation, the academy wouldn''t concern themselves if we survive or not out in the world. I believe both reasons are what prevented him from causing trouble for me. So if I am Tier-7 and have a skill or two at level 50, then there is no way that I woulde out of the bad end when William causes trouble for me. --- Anyway, though I concentrated on Evade and Dodge, those are not the only skills that improved. Due to the high-intensity training, a lot of skills improved. Spatial Storage increased by a single level. Sprint, Alertness, and Perception increased by two levels. Fusion and split increased by three levels. Night Vision, Parry increased by four levels. The highest improvement in addition to Evade and Dodge was in Strengthen skill, which increased by five levels. In addition to skills, a few resistances improved too. Lightning Resistance increased by a single level. Water and Wind Resistances increased by two levels. Space and Fire Resistances increased by three levels. Physical Resistance increased by four levels. Magic Resistance (Non-Attribute) single-handedly improved by five levels. Coming to weapon Arts Staff Arts increased by a single level, Movement Arts increased by two levels, andHand Combat Arts increased by three levels. Anyone can say that I improved a lot, but for me, it''s nowhere near enough for the uing crisis. I need to find more efficient ways, as there was no extra Time to use for training. --- Anyway, it''s time to return home. Maybe help my father a little, which may indirectly help me spend some time with him. Chapter 203: I found a solution? I returned home promptly as the academy announced the end of the semester and the start of the holidays. I felt weird because, even back on Earth, there are always exams before holidays but in the third year and this year, there are no exams for semesters but a final exam would be conducted at the end of the year. This would continue to the fifth year but the year-end exam would be the graduation exam in the fifth year. Though I felt weird, it didn''t bother me much as I used to suck at exams. These were the times when I would pull my hair if I could remember an answer to the questions. Though exams were supposed to check the quality of a student, they were too burdensome in my opinion. They cause a lot of depression in many of the children but it was something we can''t get rid of. Exams are important, otherwise, how would one check the progress of their civilization? By having talent in the forefront, the progress of any nation would be faster. If an uneducated,zy fellow takes the reins, the chances of that happening are slim to none. I should say that the chances are none but even sometimes an uneducated one can surprise. They can lead and let other talented to take over the work. In any case, absence of the talent would lead to the downfall of nations and civilizations. --- After returning home, I greeted my father. We chatted for a while but as he was busy I had to leave. I went to my room to freshen up andter returned for dinner, but my father was not present. I had to have my dinner by myself, as I was informed sometimes my father would have his meals while working in his office. With my mother away, the workload of the viscounty fully falls on his shoulders. If there were enough trusted ones in the family, he might not have been burdened like that but due to recent scenarios, most of the important work was handled by him. He would only relegate unimportant work to others. Even if he did give someone the chance to work on something that is considered important, he would check the work personally. This only added more work for him, rather than reducing it. If this continues like this, then he won''t have a day to rest and enjoy life. I should speak with him when I have the chance. I mean, there should be someone that he could count on to take on the burdens, rather than bearing all the burden by himself. Micromanaging is the worst way of managing work. It not only wastes the precious time of the ones at the top but also the time of the ones working under them. Moreover, micromanaging everything would lead to a rift between the employer and the employee. Sure it may appear as a good thing, that the employer watching everything and making sure that no mistakes are made but that would make things move slowly and that''s something that everyone hates. It decreases the efficiency of any organization and that''s exactly what my father was doing. Even though he doesn''t trust everyone, the elders that stood with my father and other neutral elders who are not against him, could help him a lot in this endeavour. Maybe I should speak with my mother who could make my father think properly. Mmm, that''s exactly what I actually should do. --- My Bedroom, In the Night... Hmm, Time...Time... Huh, I never thought about that. I didn''t have enough spare time to allot more time to the training. So the best way to improve was finding better methods to improve but what I use are the best methods that I know. The Royal Academy already has the best avable methods and resources to improve the skills. Moreover, I use what''s avable in the Nexus which is much better than what''s avable in the kingdom. Where can I find methods that are much better than what I already have in Nexus? There is only a single possibility where I can increase my skills at a much more rapid pace than what''s possible at this moment. The possibility is to increase the time I have on my hands. I have read about time magic in many novels, where the MC gets a legendary item that can alter time. While inside the item''s dominion, a hundred years might have passed, but outside, it would have only been a year or so. The problem was that I didn''t have any such item. Of course, I can remedy that if I learn Time Magic but in the books that read, there were no mentions of such possibilities. There are mentions of Time Magic and how convenient or powerful it could be if it was wielded properly. That''s the maximum mention of the Time Magic and there was nothing else besides the theories about its usage. There are mentions of how people tried to find Time Magic but none were sessful. The world was not helping either. In its thousands of years of records, there was no mention of any skill book rted to time dropping ever. Without the help of the world, there is no way that anyone could find out about it. Maybe there are records of Time Magic in ancient civilizations. If there were, none were made public or nothing was found as of now. Maybe there was something in the sections of the library that I was unable to ess for now. There is a chance that there is something about Time Magic and many things that could change the world but the question was how to ess them. There was nothing in the guidebook about this. I searched the entire book, word to word to see if there was something when I couldn''t enter some parts of the library. Hmm, wait, was the answer so obvious? Maybe. This changes everything that I nned for the next year and so. I have no other choice but to see if that is the solution to my problem. I won''t lose anything anyway. Chapter 204: The solution to my problem is... Was the answer to my problem so obvious? Maybe, I was not sure about that. This changes everything that I nned to do for the next year or so. Even though that''s the case, I have no other choice but to see if this is the solution to my problem. I won''t lose anything anyway. In the kingdom, there were restrictions ced on what knowledge one could have ess to and that was associated with their rank. In the academy, there was the knowledge that would be essible to only Tier-6 and above, but as a privilege of being a student, any student can ess them and I did that. This is why I have more knowledge about this world than I should at this point. The point is that these restrictions were ced not just because the powerful wanted to hoard all the knowledge but because the knowledge was powerful and dangerous. What would happen if you give a match stick to a kid who has no idea about actions and consequences? At an young, the brain wouldn''t be too developed to understand what they were doing and what could happen because of their actions. They would just do as they see fit. This is why anyone would advise people from having things that are dangerous within children''s reach. That''s a recipe for cmity. It is even worse with this world''s knowledge. It would be like giving a child the key to a nuke or something along the lines. If anything goes wrong, it will be a disaster. Moreover, the control was to stop the advanced knowledge from spreading to the traitors or people with evil intent. This was what my parents told me back when I was a child and asked about the restrictions. Though it may appear as if the higher-ups are hoarding the knowledge, they are doing it mostly for the safety of the people. if such knowledge was avable to everyone, then the number of disasters that the world has to see would be too many to count or even give a shit about. Moreover, most of the knowledge was gained due to their sacrifices or of their ancestors. So they have every right to withhold such important information. They would be only wrong if they stopped others from obtaining suchnguage from other sources, as long as the way they obtained this knowledge was not illegal or criminal. I say this because there are many geniuses that had fallen before they could reach the top because they pissed off the wrong person. Many times, the problem was the genius who in the arrogance of being most talented would conflict with an established force and that would end in their early demise. This is not a novel, but real life. In those novels, they show that the MC would appear in amon family and would be talented. Later he would have conflicts with the ruling factions because of their policies. In some books, they show that the ruling factions are truly wrong because they wouldn''t let others improve just because they fear that they would be reced. That is wrong. Thinking that you have power in your hands is an illusion. As long as you have such an illusion, the path you walk will lead you down to the pit. I would certainly won''t stand with such types of idiots but in many books, they show that every rich is a bad person because they won''t let others into theirnds to improve themselves. The founders who upied a dungeon or a wild area where there were a lot of resources did that by clearing all the dangers from the ce. They did that because they wanted their families to rise and prosper, not for any pauper to appear in theirnds and seize their resources. You may think that it is not fair but the MC would do the same damn thing if he was in their position. I have read many such hypocritic MCs where they see blocking them as considered injustice while they can block others from doing exactly the same and call that justice. Moreover, if anyone can go through thends and plunder their wealth, would there be any order in the nation, not just chaos? If the order of the nation is just to cover the darkness of the nation then one has to break it up and build from scratch but that would not be the case most of the time. Why I berate many MCs because they act against the established factions because they have the resources that they want and they use Unfairness and Injustice as a smokescreen to get what they want. People in real life would think like that too and get themselves killed. Stupids, wait, I am side-tracking again. --- Anyway, I believe that the ancients may have had the same order. They could have kept the knowledge that was deemed dangerous from the hands of people who can only bring disaster if they have it. The ancients were said to have progressed farther than what we have today. There is a chance that they might have tinkered with Time. Why wouldn''t they? The term was coined as Space-Time Continuum. There are secret realms, space storages etc...where space is the base. So I say that there is a high chance that they tinkered with Time too but as it was now, they could have ssified it as Forbidden Knowledge or High-ranker knowledge. Do you understand where I am getting at? I think, as long as reach a certain rank, a certain amount of knowledge would be avable for me. I had Nexus from the end of the first year and I was not at Tier-6 back then. It means I should have known there were restrictions but I didn''t. The reason was that the library is veryrge here and back then, I concentrated more on training and took slowly with reading the books. Only after crossing Tier-6, did I see that there were certain restrictions in the library but I failed to make a connection between them. Totally My fault. Now, what I had to do was to rank up faster. Chapter 205 : Spending the holidays at my home It''s my fault for not seeing what''s right in front of me sooner. The solution for my problem may have been so simple but my high INT failed to grasp it for so long. Now that I know that there is a chance for me to enter the restricted part of the library, what remains for me to do is to rank up as soon as possible. Of course, there is a chance that what I thought might not be true but I have no other choice. I need to level up my skills faster and for that, the conventional way of training is not enough. I need to look for something out of the box. I believe Time Magic is the only way for that, but since I couldn''t find anything about Time Magic in things that I have ess to, the only way was to find if anything was avable in the library''s restricted section. There is a high chance that there would be nothing about what I want in the unlocked par after I reach Tier-7 but I have to give it a try. Maybe it would be only avable after Tier-8 or even maybe at Tier-9, who knows. Even if that chance exists, I have to give it a try. There was no other choice for me. --- To rank up faster, I need to hunt high-rank monsters and they are not easy toe by. The dungeons where they are avable are all upied by powerful forces, which means they are not essible to others. Letting others enter low-level dungeons is one thing but a high-rank dungeon is a different thing. This is what separates the powerful from the mediocre. To stay at the top, the differences between the power levels should be very high. If everyone had ess to the same amount of resources, then there wouldn''t be any difference between them and that is something anyone would ept. People think that the nobles, rich and powerful are unfair and unjust, and then they are fools. Even the ones who say those words at that point only say that because they didn''t have ess to those resources. If they were in the same position as those unjust nobles, they would do the same. Everyone is greedy and selfish. Everyone would want to help their family to improve, rather than others improve and surpass them. No one would willingly let that happen. If anyone says that they do, then I would definitely beat them up. I am not saying not to help others but anyone''s first priority should be to themselves, then family and only then others if possible. Breaking this order would mean they should be considered as traitorous scum. Family is what gave birth to you, and raised you. Now turning your back on them is considered as a betrayal. Unless your family is a scum family in the first ce, turning your back on the family is not what a good family member would do nor should they. So family resources should kept for the sole use of the family, not outsiders. Unless they enter the family through marriage or through servitude, we don''t owe anyone anything. --- Now that my training was steered in a different direction, I started to make preparations for that. First I need ess to high-level dungeons or wild areas where I can find high-ranking monsters. Both are not possible at this moment. So I chose another method. I decided to open the third secret realm. If you remember correctly, I had ess to ten secret realms. One was the one that was controlled by the Royal Academy. The portals to the other nine were in an inactivated state. I activated one some time ago and now I need to find another one, which would give ess to high-rank monsters. Hunting low-rank monsters would have almost no impact on me at this point. Only by hunting the high-rank monsters could I be able to improve my rank, since I am already at Tier-6. This is why I sincerely hope that the secret realm will have a lot of high-rank monsters. They are not easy toe, but since these eight secret realms were most probably out of people''s reach for centuries, if not for a few millennia. There is a high chance that many monsters in those realms should have reached high ranks, as long as there are resources to support them and I hope the realm that I open does. To activate a secret realm''s portal, I need a lot of resources. Once I did that, they would consume more to maintain that but the Nexus would take care of that. There was detailed information about that. The Nexus was full of ancient formations, which support the workings of the Nexus. I have no idea what they are but it was said that they are in the library. I didn''t see any such book, and that means they are in the restricted section. This was such a hassle. If the Nexus stops working but the restrictions were still in ce, then I am screwed. I don''t know what would happen, but I don''t think anything good will happen in such a scenario. To make sure that the Nexus is still working optimally, I need to improve my rank. After I am at the top, it doesn''t matter much if it works properly or not but I need to make sure that it does for the next sessor. It never said if the previous one maintained it properly. Even if he did, from that senior''s words, he was from a distant time in the past. He was dead for a long time and I don''t know whether as a dead person, he still maintained Nexus properly or not. --- Before I knew it, it was time for me to return to the academy. The month passed as if it was nothing. As I grew up, I felt that I couldn''t enjoy life properly. I mean, once I used to know what I was able to do in a month''s time but now, I can''t. A month was gone as if it was just a day or so. Anyway, I should return to the academy now. I need to show Ang that I am much stronger now than before. Even if I grow strong, I need an opportunity to show that I am strong. There are none, and I could only wait for it for now. Chapter 206 : Second half of my fourth year (1) In the month that I stayed at home, I did a lot. First, I helped my father as much as I could. I called my mother and made my father think about delegating the tasks to others whom he could trust and not micromanage everything. There are many things that wouldn''t need his oversight. This may cause some corruption but we wouldn''t lose that much anyway, as we are now. Life is not just about having gold in our hands but should be able to use it along with our loved ones. If they can''t be used like that, no matter how much you earn, it''s worthless. He was missing a lot and there was no improvement in him since he crossed to Tier-6 sometime ago. If my skills were better, I could oust him easily in a fight. He needs to concentrate a bit more and reach Tier-7. The strength of a family is determined by the number of high rankers in the family. When I was a kid, there were none. Even my mother was a mid-ranker to be precise. She crossed to being a high ranker only recently. You may see my rank and think it should be easy but I am an anomaly. Due to certain reasons that can''t be disclosed to others, I reached this rank faster than anyone before me. Maybe there could have been geniuses who could have reached my rank by my age but there are none as of now, at least not in this kingdom. So reaching Tier-7 in a kingdom such as ours, one would be considered akin to gods and everyone respects them, no matter their origin. So if a family has multiple Tier-7, then they can increase their area of control, but that''s not easy as most of the time would be required to concentrate on that, instead of other things. Moreover, expanding their territories would face many restrictions like the territories of other nobles or stronger monsters in the area. upying or not upying an area depends on the economic point of view. If the ie is less than the expenses, then there is no need to waste resources or time on projects like that. When someone wants to expand their territories, what they want is profit and a way to further improve the strength of their house. If the expansion didn''t support that, there was no way anyone would try to upy new territories. The only ones who would even be interested in low-resource territories are the ones who have no territories at all. To them, it would be like starting a great future. Moreover, when someone who has nothing to support their backs opens newnds, the kingdom has some incentives for them such as Tax benefits. If I open, as a son of a viscount, I would get less benefits but the number would be decided based on my family''s fortune. Since my family can be considered as one of the poorest viscounties, I would get good benefits. The benefits would rise if someone openednds for human habitat at the borders. This was because there were foreign enemies and dangerous monsters nearby. Since the ce would be pretty far away from reinforcements, the chances of getting damaged are very high. So as an incentive, frontier towns at the borders of the kingdom would receive benefits better than towns that are established inside the kingdom. Anyway, I hope my father would give up some responsibilities and free his hands to improve his rank and thereby increase the power of the family. After all, we are at the borders and can expand thends without having conflicts with others, except with the monsters. --- I scrounged up everything that I had and converted them into resources to open the portal to the next secret realm. I hoped that the new one would have Tier-7 and above monsters but as of now, I didn''t find many. There were a few Tier-7 but since I don''t know where I entered the secret realm, I am still hoping that there are a lot of Tier-7 and above monsters. At present, I may not kill Tier-8 but Tier-7, I can kill them. With every increase in my level, there would be a lot of increase in my attributes. It means that sooner thanter I would be able to sh with a Tier-8 and woulde out on the top. With the help of the secret realm, I was able to increase my rank by two levels this month. As a Tier-6, I would get +3,125,000,000,000 HP/MP and +312,500,000,000 INT per level. HP/MP = 2*3,125,000,000,000 = 6,250,000,000,000 INT = 2*312,500,000,000 = 625,000,000,000 My new status looks like this now. "Status" -- Name: Magnus Frostwolf Age: 18 Titles: Son of Viscount; Great yer; Hidden Smiden; Dungeon Conqueror; Primary ss: Draconic Warlock Secondary ss: Soul Arbiter (Unique) Affinity: Shadow, Blood, Space Bloodline: ck Dragon (25% purity) Technique: ck Dragon Essence Breathing Physique: Devourer Physique (EX) Talent: Ritualistic Summoning (EX) Trait: Silk Smooth Skin(A bit Improved); Sleepy; Aurum Skin; Sexy Smile; Rank: Tier-6 Level: 2 Health Points (HP): 3,447,066,328,117 >> 9,697,066,328,117 Strength (STR):215,000 (+100%) Endurance (END): 250,000 (+100%) Dexterity (DEX): 1,579 >> 1600 Agility (AGI): 198,800 (+100%) Intelligence (INT): 31,887,756,200 >> 656,000,000,000 Magic Power (MP): 6,575,255,105,300 >> 12,825,255,105,300 Soul Energy: 105,500 (+200%) Charm: 3,009 ss Skills: Shadow Bolt; Blood Dominance; Draconic Magic; Shadow Curse; Blood Heal; Shadow Shift; Blood Lock; Draconic Pressure; Shadow Merge; Blood Drain; Soul Judge; Soul Prison; Soul Container; Nether mes; Shadow control; Blood Boil; Shadow Clone; Blood Clone; Space sh; Soul de; Soul Ascension; Soul Avatar; Shadow Storage; Blood Rain; Space Break; Soul Arrow; Soul Defence; Soul Lock; Special Skills: Rank Booster; Status Disguise; Refined Skills: Shadow Bolt Volley Lvl. 22; Blood Drain Field Lvl. 10 >> 11; Skills: Evade Lvl. 25; Dodge Lvl. 25; Sprint Lvl. 27; Alertness Lvl. 17; Devour Lvl. 9; Fusion Lvl. 23; Split Lvl. 23; Demon Gaze Lvl. 5; Strengthen Lvl. 26; Tag & Track Lvl. 6; Night Vision Lvl. 21; Spatial Storage Lvl. 15; Mind Control Lvl. 9; Mind Probe Lvl. 9; Mind Defence Lvl. 3; Dragon Blood Evolution Lvl. 20; Scent Recognition Lvl. 20; Sexual Stamina Lvl. 7; Perception Lvl. 22; Pet World Lvl. 3; Parry Lvl. 18; Resistances: Physical Resistance Lvl. 26; Light Resistance Lvl. 15; Poison Resistance Lvl. 10; Magic Resistance (Non-Attribute) Lvl. 15; Space Resistance Lvl. 12; Fire Resistance Lvl. 17; Water Resistance Lvl. 14; Mind Resistance Lvl. 1; Wind Resistance Lvl. 13 >> 14; Lightning Resistance Lvl. 10 >> 12; Weapon Arts: Advanced Staff Arts Lvl. 4; Intermediate Movement Arts Lvl. 9; Intermediate Hand Combat Arts Lvl. 8; -- As anyone can see, hmm, not anyone, just me, I have improved by a lot. Chapter 207: Second half of my fourth year (2) From the status panel, it was clear that I improved a lot. Sure it may appear that I only improved by two levels in my rank and the skills didn''t change much except for the movements in one or two and that too didn''t improve by many levels. This normally shouldn''t be considered good, but if you look at my rank now and the levels of those skills, I say the improvements are pretty good. At Tier-6, improving by two levels in a month is considered a wonder. Even though it is, it is nowhere near the growth rate that I want. If I grow like this, it would take years before I could reach peak Tier-6 and after that, there would be a Tier-7 promotion mission, which I need toplete too before I could be allowed to ess some of the restricted parts of the library. I hope that the knowledge that I need is there. Even if it is not there, it is not a loss, though I may have to double the efforts to improve my skills from that point. There is something I learned from the knowledge that I was able to ess in the library. An increase in the Rank and skill levels had to go hand in hand. An increase in rank means that the improvement in skill levels would be difficult to achieve. This was because the skills improve as we practice more but for a high ranker, fighting an enemy would take seconds if the enemies were of low rank. This means there is no chance to use skills multiple times and that means less improvement in the skill levels. As the rank increases, they can''t just practice against a dummy. It would be very costly to do so. No one could support such costs. This is why the ancestors woulde out once in a while and fight each other. I thought this prevented someone from reaching level 100 as that could break the bnce between the kingdoms here. This was what we were taught through the books but it seemed to be wrong. They kept it a secret for whatever reason I can''t understand. Anyway, since they were considered to be at the top of the world, the resources required to support them could destabilize a kingdom like ours. It should be the same for the other four. So they devised a perfect n to improve themselves and keep each other in check. If you observe this as a factor, then many events that didn''t make sense are now clear. Each kingdom wants to conquer and upy each other but that is very difficult to do so. For example take this as a scenario. There are five nations A, B, C, D, and E. Nation A defeats Nation B and wants to upy it but how could C, D, and E would stay still? If Nation A seeds in its endeavour, then that would mean it would grow stronger than it is and then it would be one of their turns to lose their territories next. They can never ept that. So they would prevent from Nation B losing the battle either directly or indirectly. For suppose, Nation A offers to divide Nation B into four parts and distribute among all, there is a chance but it most likely would fail. How would they divide the territories? Would they say that set the area of the territory as the standard for the division? This is not a guarantee for equal division. Somends would have huge mines or somends could produce food inrge quantities every year. This means that they are worth a lot more than areas that don''t produce quality products or in quantity. If it were a discussion between two parties, then it would be easy but there was no easy way that all four would agree to the division terms. Everyone is greedy and everyone wants the best of thend. If they lose out here, then they could be the next that would be split in three ways. No one can ept that. Everyone wants the best and that is an issue that can''t be solved easily. So even though our kingdom has four neighbours and always fighting each other, the kingdom stood. Though there are always changes in the borderlines every now and then, they are not significant enough to say that the kingdom is doomed. Every kingdom keeps the other in check. No one wants others to gain momentum and destroy them. Everyone wants to keep their freedom and the reason for the survival of the five kingdoms even though they have been fighting each other for a long time. --- Wait, what am I discussing? I again started to discuss something that was not needed at the moment and made waste of time and brain power. Coming to the point, the rank and the skills had to go hand in hand or the skills would lose out. This is exactly the problem that I am facing but I have Nexus, where I can set the enemies to a higher rank. Though they won''t give any EXP to improve my rank, they are very useful to improve my skill levels. This was why, even though I am at a very high rankpared to what I should be with my skill levels, I still made sufficient progress. Even if I reach Tier-7, it won''t be a problem. I can set them to Tier-9 or even higher if there is a rank higher than that. I problem I have right now is to show that I am much more capable than what I am showing without spilling every secret out. For that, I need an event, but I don''t see any on the horizon. I hope one will happen before I graduate. To be on the safe side, let''s say that the event happens in thest semester before I graduate, that leaves me with twelve or more months to prepare for it. Let''s set it for twelve and be prepared for it. Chapter 208: Second half of my fourth year (3) I have twelve months whether I like it or not. It''s the maximum number that I have, maybe less or more, I can''t know that. To use as a standard, I decided that it to be twelve months. In these twelve months, I need to make sure that I make the most of every second that I can spare. Even if there is no event, I should do something that could attract at least Ang''s family. It won''t be an easy thing as I was aiming to get both of them. Even to get eptance for a single one from their family would be a hassle, forget about what I have to go through for both of the girls. Moreover, as of now, I only have one girl and have to try to gain the remainder of the twins on top of how to make sure that their family would agree to that. It''s going to give me a headache. --- Anyway, what I should concentrate on this semester is to increase my rank as much as possible. Also, I need to attend a few fighting sessions with Ang or she might think that I gave up on her. Though the chances of me impressing her family look bleak in her opinion, she hopes that I should do my part in trying to impress them. Whether that try would seed or not, it doesn''t matter. For her, I need to give my best and I should too. This means I had to show her that I was doing everything in my power for that to happen. So, I can''t keep it all to myself, like I usually do but I can''t show her everything about me, not now anyway. Though I like her, there is no way that I would spill some of the secrets that even my parents have no idea about. I didn''t say anything to them for fear that they would spread like wildfire. There was a saying, Even the walls have Ears or something along those lines. It means once a secret was known to a single person, it wouldn''t stop there. It would be known to others in one way or another. The best way to keep a secret was to not tell anyone about the secret. No matter what the other person says, secrets will never be secrets once theye out of your mouth. Whether on their own choice or under some other circumstances, those would be spilt. Even if the person that you trusted and told the secrets don''t spill that doesn''t mean that they are safe. While you are telling that person, someone else could be hearing that. This is why most of the discussions about the information that is considered important would be discussed only in a secure room back on Earth. Anyway, this was why I didn''t tell my secrets to my parents and there is no way that I would tell others before telling my parents. Even to them, I wouldn''t tell them about my past life. Past life is the past and that is where it should be. It should be helpful for me to make better decisions but other than that, it belongs in the past and forgotten section. It shouldn''t be discussed in this life. When the time is right, I would tell them about my true ss and my talent. Others, no, I don''t want to give them a heart attack. They already knew about my bloodline and if all my talents came out, then I don''t think it would be a good thing even after I be powerful. Someone would feel envious or threatened enough to rally others and make a joint attack, as they would see me as a threat. I don''t have genocidal tendencies but if I was cornered and had no way out, then the only way for me would be killing and when I say killing, I mean a lot of people would have to die. It would cause a domino and others woulde after me, either because they see how powerful I am or because they me me for the deaths of the ones who came to kill me. It won''t be a pleasant oue. Having too much talent is never a good thing. Everyone will be jealous of you or afraid of you and they would be ready to see you fall or make that happen. It is amon thing. No one wants to have someone who would be able to reach a stage that would be far away from them. People by nature are greedy. Though they show many emotions, I believe that greed and jealousy are two emotions that could cloud everything and destroy them. I mean, there were stories where brothers kill each other such as the firstborn son was jealous of his brother because he was way more talented than him or because as a second-born, they get nothing while the firstborn would hoard everything that their parents had. Happenings like this are not something that happened once or twice. Throughout the ages, these types of incidents are numerous. You should understand, that if one gets jealous over their own brother, then what about their ssmates or someone in their city? If you are talented, then you should have a sufficient background to protect yourself. Even if there is a background wouldn''t mean you are safe. Let''s take my family for example. Since my family is a viscount family, people ofmon origin or noble origin who are less than a viscount wouldn''t make any moves against me, unless they are cocky like Dorian. They would be afraid of retaliation if they did something that they shouldn''t do. This would keep them in check. Coming to nobles, who are viscount and above, if they are allies or neutral, they would try to have a marriage alliance with us. It''s the enemy families that we have to concentrate on. They would never allow a talent to live to their full potential or they could be their doom in the future. Forget about the enemies, even an elder tried to kill me using assassins because he was afraid of my father. If he had known how talented I was, he may havee personally toplete the deed. I would have been dead if that were the case back then. Luckily I didn''t promote my talents and due to that, I am now at Tier-6, moving towards Tier-7. Chapter 209: Second half of my fourth year (4) Once I returned to the academy, I started to use every minute that I had to hunt or use the skill Rank Booster. I even had to reduce my rxing time with Asya, instead, the time turned into a hunting-together time. This is the best I could do to spend more time with her. When Inari was present, I could have been absent for a long time and it wouldn''t have mattered, but being alone is not a healthy habit for any creature. Istion breeds many negative emotions and the positive ones would take a back seat, which would make one aggressive towards others. Continue reading at m|v-l''e-NovelBin I don''t want that to happen to either me or Asya. That''s why I regrly make contact with my family, Ang and sometimes my ssmates but I would keep the unnecessary contact to a minimum. Speaking with my ssmates is now out of the question, as they are always away from the academy on missions. Most fourth years are but a few aren''t. They would rather dive into the dungeons where their chances of survival are almost one hundred percent. Though dungeon diving is dangerous, the dungeons in the academy were explored too many times. There are detailed reports on how to defeat the monsters in there. Everything that happens in those dungeons was already known to us. So there are no dangers unless you go into a dungeon that''s way beyond your power. So if one chooses hunting to earn the academy points, then dungeons in the academy are the best way to earn that, rather than the missions. The problem was that evenpleting an entire dungeon wouldn''t yield as many points as a mission would. Completing a mission is not as easy aspleting a dungeon. Everything has its own pros and cons. The best course for one is not the best course for others. Everyone has to decide what''s the best course for them. So there are still a few students from the fourth year in the academy, though I think none are from my ss. All the students in my ss are battle maniacs. Though they weren''t at first, they should have been frustrated enough to be battle maniacs to prove their strength and ovee others. Hmm, thinking about the battle maniac ssmate, Malia, the girl who would always be the second in the ss, would give me dangerous looks every time before and after the exams. I believe she wants to reach the top rank but in the past three years, I stood as a big hurdle in front of her, stopping her from reaching that goal. So I don''t think that it would be weird for her to have some animosity towards me. I mean we are all humans and if there was someone who is stopping us from reaching our goals, we would certainly be pissed at them. The good thing is that she didn''t try any backhanded methods against me. I believe that she wanted to gain the rank through her own efforts, not using devious means. It would hurt her pride if she did something like that. Prideful people are the mostpetitive of all. If you face a prideful one, it''s best to withdraw from the race. This was because unless you lose, there are only two oues. They would continue to hound you until they win fair and square. This is the best oue if you win whateverpetition that you bothpeted in. The second one is the worst one. They can''t ept the failure and would try to eliminate you. This could lead to either your death or possible endless fighting. The person would only try to eliminate you if he has a background. If they don''t have any, they already lost to you. So there was no reason to start a war with you unless they were thinking of killing you using devious methods but as I said Pride. Their pride wouldn''t allow them to backstab. Whatever they do, they would do out in the open, whatever the consequences might be. They don''t care about consequences. Their only concern would be about the moment. If they failed to kill you and instead died in your hands, you may not face any legal troubles but family troubles are a separate matter. The family of that prideful person would certainlye after you until either you or they were dead. Yeah, that sounds like a cliche novel, I know but things like that do happen but in real life, it''s the single person who would die, rather than an established family who were wealthy and powerful. In novels, there is a term to describe the situations where a singlemoner who has nothing but his own personal strength would overwhelm powerful houses. It''s called Plot Armor. It''s something that would destroy the novel itself. I mean, if you want to have a powerful hero, then there are other ways to do that, rather than destroying the descendants of previous heroes. Yes, they can destroy the enemies of the nation or be pioneers in various industries that can propel the nation forward. No, almost all of them would have a first enemy in the form of a noble. They are the hero''s money bag. Generations of wealth earned by the family would be lost due to a small conflict that would lead to the destruction of their family. How would that happen, I wonder? I mean with huge wealth, they don''t need to send their family members one by one to die at the hero''s hands. They can send assassins and eliminate threats within hours. Of course, they would do that with others but when ites to the hero, they would send their own family members who would die in the hero''s hands and that would create a rift between them, which would end in their destruction and their wealth in the hands of the hero. This wealth would act as a startup fund for him to reach the top of the world. Such cliche. --- Wait, I did again. One moment I was thinking about something relevant and the next I wouldpletely go off-topic. Though it is not entirely off-topic as there were certain links, those thoughts are not needed. This has been happening a lot recently. When I was young, I wasn''t like this. This is bing a problem and I should find a solution for that or I would be wasting more energy on thoughts that are not needed. Chapter 210: End of my fourth year (1) Five Months Later... The time burned away as if it were nothing. Recently that was a problem I started to face, a problem without a solution for now. If by chance I either learn Time Magic or get my hands on an artifact of Time Magic, maybe I can enjoy the time. I prefer a Time Artifact, rather than Time Magic. Moreover, if the artifact is something that can change the flow of time in an area, then it would be for the best. This is exactly what I need for me to progress quickly. Time Magic would be wonderful but I am not sure if I can learn anything rted to Time easily. If I had an affinity or if my secondary ss was of Time Magic, then it would have been possible to get my hands on the Time Magic skills but without the help from the system, I don''t know if any such skills exist in this era. So what I was hoping was that I could find something even though not much usefulter but at this point can help me improve faster rather than something that would only cause more trouble. Yeah, if I was able to learn Time Magic, it would useful in the long run. I would chose to learning Time Magic rather than depening on artifacts or something that can be useful only temporarily. Artifacts are items and items detiorate. In the recent ear, no one was able to produce an artifact. Every artifact that was known or unknown, all came from the past and that would be thousands of years ago. Even if they were preserved well, that doesn''t mean they are one hundred percent free from deteoration. They would break on usage, but no one would know when that would be. So even though I would be happy if I find any artifacts, I won''t be too happy about it as they would be only of temporary use. The problem was that, I need something to boost me temporarily and artifacts are the only way for me. Learning Time Magic and using it to improve myself would take a long time and that''s something I don''t have at this point. The only way to make Ang mine was to impress her parents and for that to happen, I need to do something that is dangerous. It would even lead to death if I was not cautious and act recklessly about it. The best way toe out of alive from any situation was to make sure I am powerful enough. --- In these five months, I opened two more secret realms. I know that the second portal I opened may be good but not good enough for what I am aiming for. So I needed more ways to improve and for that I had to hunt a lot of the materials. The materials that were not essible for me on Ragos, I got them through the Cosmic Market. With those materials I opned two more, leaving only five more portals in inactive state. These two realms helped me to improve my rank level increase from level 2 to level 28, at an average of more than 5 levels per month. As a Tier-6, I would get +3,125,000,000,000 HP/MP and +312,500,000,000 INT per level, which was something already established. HP/MP = 26*3,125,000,000,000 = 81,250,000,000,000 INT = 26*312,500,000,000 = 8,125,000,000,000 The improvement in my attributes has already reached trillions. Even though for my INT it is still a single-digit trillion, that''s only for a quarter of the rank. There is still two-thirds of Tier-6 to fill up. Once that happens, the INT would shoot up to a value, where skills that reduce attributes by numbers wouldn''t matter at all, even if they are level 100 and the person was at Tier-9 or above. I don''t think even a Tier-9 was supposed to have such high attributes. I mean who would have the resources to improve attributes to such a degree? If no for the 50x bonus from the beginning, I would never reach such a number. Now let''s check my status for a bit. EVen I didn''t check in the past five months. I need to see how much it improved. "Status" -- Name: Magnus Frostwolf Age: 18 Titles: Son of Viscount; Great yer; Hidden Smiden; Dungeon Conqueror; Primary ss: Draconic Warlock Secondary ss: Soul Arbiter (Unique) Affinity: Shadow, Blood, Space Bloodline: ck Dragon (25% purity) Technique: ck Dragon Essence Breathing Physique: Devourer Physique (EX) Talent: Ritualistic Summoning (EX) Trait: Silk Smooth Skin(A bit Improved); Sleepy; Aurum Skin; Sexy Smile; Rank: Tier-6 Level: 2 >> 28 Health Points (HP): 9,697,066,328,117 +81,250,000,000,000 >> ??? Strength (STR):215,000 (+100%) Endurance (END): 250,000 (+100%) Dexterity (DEX): 1,579 >> 1600 Agility (AGI): 198,800 (+100%) Intelligence (INT): 656,000,000,000 +8,125,000,000,000 >> ??? Magic Power (MP): 12,825,255,105,300 +81,250,000,000,000 >> ??? Soul Energy: 105,500 (+200%) Charm: 3,009 ss Skills: Shadow Bolt; Blood Dominance; Draconic Magic; Shadow Curse; Blood Heal; Shadow Shift; Blood Lock; Draconic Pressure; Shadow Merge; Blood Drain; Soul Judge; Soul Prison; Soul Container; Nether mes; Shadow control; Blood Boil; Shadow Clone; Blood Clone; Space sh; Soul de; Soul Ascension; Soul Avatar; Shadow Storage; Blood Rain; Space Break; Soul Arrow; Soul Defence; Soul Lock; Special Skills: Rank Booster; Status Disguise; Refined Skills: Shadow Bolt Volley Lvl. 22; Blood Drain Field Lvl. 11; Skills: Evade Lvl. 25 >> 27; Dodge Lvl. 25 >> 27; Sprint Lvl. 27 >> 29; Alertness Lvl. 17 >> 20; Devour Lvl. 9; Fusion Lvl. 23 >> 26; Split Lvl. 23 >> 26; Demon Gaze Lvl. 5; Strengthen Lvl. 26 >> 28; Tag & Track Lvl. 6; Night Vision Lvl. 21 >> 22; Spatial Storage Lvl. 15 >> 16; Mind Control Lvl. 9; Mind Probe Lvl. 9; Mind Defence Lvl. 3; Dragon Blood Evolution Lvl. 20; Scent Recognition Lvl. 20; Sexual Stamina Lvl. 7; Perception Lvl. 22 >> 24; Pet World Lvl. 3; Parry Lvl. 18 >> 19; Resistances: Physical Resistance Lvl. 26 >> 27; Light Resistance Lvl. 15; Poison Resistance Lvl. 10; Magic Resistance (Non-Attribute) Lvl. 15 >> 18; Space Resistance Lvl. 12 >> 14; Fire Resistance Lvl. 17 >> 20; Water Resistance Lvl. 14 >> 17; Mind Resistance Lvl. 1; Wind Resistance Lvl. 14 >> 17; Lightning Resistance Lvl. 12 >> 15; Weapon Arts: Advanced Staff Arts Lvl. 4 >> 5; Intermediate Movement Arts Lvl. 9; Intermediate Hand Combat Arts Lvl. 8; -- Huh? What with the "???" status? Did the system fail to provide a number? Even though my attributes number reached trillions and about to reach the next mile stone, showing the number should not be a problem right? I mean there is still Quadrillion, Quintillion and so on. I could have shown the number but why did it? Hmm, even my INT which is not same as HP or MP is shown as ???. WHY? Chapter 211: End of my fourth year (2) WHY? Why did my status start showing ??? for three of my attributes? I have no idea. I mean HP and MP may have be a big number that it was not easy to show what''s the value of it on the status panel, without causing a slight irritation to the eyes, trying to figure out the number, but what about INT? The value of my INT is nowhere near HP/MP. Its value was something that when HP or MP was at a number did show up on the status screen. Is there a fixed number for each attribute before the status starts to show the "???" ? Probably. I don''t know for sure and there was no such mention in any of the books I read so far. Hmm, maybe that was because no one was able to reach such a range or that knowledge is not public and would only be open to the high rankers. I mean what''s the point of telling everyone that their attribute number would be a ??? after a certain number? There are no gains and the information is useless to most. So I believe that it was not mentioned in the books. I mean the other option was that no one was able to reach such a number but that can''t be possible. In thousands of years, someone should have reached such a number. Even if they had no 50x bonus as me, there are many who gained 10x bonus ording to the books. If we add the resources that can improve attributes to that, then there is a high chance that someone should have reached the number, where their status turned into ???. Saying that didn''t happen would be an absurd. Of course, there is a third option, where the persons who got to that status kept their mouths shut about it and didn''t inform anyone, probably fearing that it could attract attention from others. Well, if such a piece of news was leaked, then their enemies would certainly be terrified of their potential. So they would definitely try to nip before they could further improve but won''t be stupid to do it alone. They would definitely bring others using any tactic that could work. They could show others that the person with such a status could be a potential threat to their way of life. If he thinks of doing something, then there would be nothing to stop that from happening. He is already at a stage that could rival any top powerhouse and as he increases his rank, he would be beyond anyone''s reach. Readtest stories on m_v-l''e-NovelBin People are always afraid of others having too much power. They would never allow others to have too much power. Even in regions where a king or an emperor rules supreme, it would be just on the paper. The nobles would have a lot of power. Even rich merchants do have a lot of sway. Individually, the nobles or merchants may be lower than the king or emperor, but whenbined they can oust him easily. This is why the king or the emperor would always be wary of the powerful nobles. This was because, those powerful ones could sway others through their power or wealth and could bring down a kingdom or an empire, as long as they were prepared to pay the price. Moreover, they themselves would have armies that could easily upy small portions of the kingdom even if they were alone in the fight. If by chance any talented people rose among the powerful nobles'' families, then it would be a headache to the royals as they could genuinely threaten their rule. It would be the same if someone from the Royal Family had a lot of talent, especially if that person was the Crown Prince. If that happens, once he ascends the throne, he could crush the ones who stand against him easily and not fear the consequences. If it were any other member of the royal family, though they may be a threat, they can be dealt with by making the crown prince afraid of his own brother. If the crown prince has a brother who is more talented or powerful than him, then he has everything to fear about his right to ascend the throne after their father. So there is a chance that he would try to eliminate his talented brother. --- What I am saying is that everyone would see others as a potential threat to them. If the other person is more powerful than others, then the threat level is automatically increased but as long as the power is more or less equal to thebined power of their allies. If the power crosses the threshold, even the allies could be enemies. People like talented persons but if that talent could be something within their reach, that was something they couldn''t ept. This is why I hid my talents even from my family, fearing that jealousy would be the death of me and it almost did even though I didn''t spill any talents that can be considered powerful. The only things that I said to my parents were my Shadow Affinity and my Bloodline. Even with only that, I still attracted the elders, who tried to get rid of me. --- Reaching the position where the attributes would show ??? instead of an actual number is also a talent. I mean at Tier-6, it won''t be possible no matter what. Now, I have another big secret to keep for myself. Even if I was at Tier-7 or even Tier-8, I don''t believe telling others about this would be a good thing. This was because I don''t believe anyone has the resources to reach such a position easily. They should have expended a lot of resources, high-quality ones at that. They are not easy toe by and would have cost a lot. If otherse to know about the matter, they would certainly act either to jealousy, greed or even fear. Jealousy because someone else has it instead of them. Greed to gain the resources that could help them to reach the same rank as the person. Fear of being attacked as the person most likely emptied his coffers and has to refill them sooner rather thanter. Any of these factors could lead to an attack on the person who achieved something unachievable. Chapter 212: End of my fourth year (3) So keeping someone''s talent and achievements to themselves would be good too in a way. Spreading the news of their achievements might bring fame but also bring danger to them, dangers that shouldn''t have anything to do with them in the first ce. As time passed, I was getting more and more confident about the choice that I made by keeping most of my talents a secret. At first, I felt a bit of guilt for keeping the most important parts of my life a secret from my parents but time proved to me that I made the right choice. I am alive because my enemies underestimated me. If they had thought that I was a true threat to them, then their ns and implementation would have changed. I may be already dead if they thought so and did so. There was a saying that one has to have trump cards to win a battle. If every move of yours was known to the enemy, then they would only battle you once he had everything to counter your moves and that means you wouldn''t have any superiority in the battle. No, you would not be on equal terms, unless you have something that your enemy has no idea about and that something should be able to overwhelm your enemy. This is why a trump card is required. Everyone should have one to keep themselves at least alive in the event that they can''t win the battle. I have a few, which I brought from the Cosmic Market, which would make the others not understand the principle behind that and fail to stop me from escaping in the event I can''t defeat my enemies and have to disappear from the battlefield. The best escape method was using a teleportation device, which could teleport us to a random ce or a specified ce depending on what type of device we were using. So many high-rankers would seal the space around them to stop their enemies from using teleportation to escape. Using teleportation was verymon, so everyone would try to have a way to efficiently seal the space but that''s not always possible. Affinity in Space can be considered very rare. One can''t see it even in a million awakened. Even if their ss is associated with Space, not everyone has an affinity with Space. This makes it very difficult to lock space around them. Without good affinity with space, one has to use space sealing devices, which when damaged can open the seal. Moreover, if the opposite one has an affinity with it or if he has a teleportation skill that is at a very high level, then they can escape from the blocked space. There are also other devices that break a seal, even a space seal. Moreover, if you seal the space, that also means you can''t use space-rted items unless you disable the seal first. if the opponent by chance gets an upper hand in the battle, then you would be a cornered animal, who couldn''t escape from bing a piece of food on someone''s te. So normally no one would be foolish enough to prepare such methods of containing enemies unless they are sure to win the battle. It would be pretty awkward if the seal that was supposed to be the bane of their enemy became the bane of them. --- Anyway, forgetting about those confusing attributes, some of my skills improved. It was inevitable as I was fighting enemies that could bring me EXP and though the improvement was not as much as I would get using the training methods, they were still better. The reason why I get better results in skill levels if I use the training is because of the settings I use. Since I don''t die in the training hall, I keep the settings to the maximum difficulty. Hunting monsters was a different thing entirely. If I go out and try to hunt Tier-9 monsters, I would die. Though I have attributes that are far higher than a Tier-9 monster (possibly), Ick the experience and skills that a Tier-9 possess. Moreover, monsters can''t reach Tier-9 that easily without improving their bloodlines. This is why dungeons are required to rank up after Tier-7. A dungeon wouldn''t have real monsters but fake ones. They are created directly from magic and the reason why they sprout out after an interval of time. Different dungeons have different time intervals depending on the type, rank of the monsters and also where the dungeon is present. If the magic power in the area is sufficient, then the dungeons will quickly sprout new monsters, which would increase the rate at which the people would get EXP and increase their ranks. Of course, there are certain dangers if the dungeons are present in a ce with a high level of magic power. The monsters would sprout faster after dying and that would make the people who entered the dungeon fall easily. No matter how powerful one is, one can''t fight a battle for a long time without proper rest and food. This is why not all dungeons were conquered or imed ownership over. One can say that a high-ranker can clear a low-level dungeon but dungeons do have some restrictions. Not every dungeon would allow people to enter the dungeon as they wish. Only the ones who has satisfied the conditions can enter. Of course, there are no minimum conditions, but rather the maximum conditions. It means a Tier-0 can enter any dungeon but a Tier-9 can''t. --- The year-end exam ended simr to how it ended in the past three years. I came out on the top, with Malia following behind me. Man, she was really pissed than before. Next year it would be our graduation. So I think that she wanted to show off for at least a year before we graduate but seems she has no chance of doing that. Anyway, now that the exams are done, I get to go home. Chapter 213: Thinking about my past and future (1) The fourth year is over and done. There is only a single year before I would graduate. This is not enough for me to reach Tier-7 and find something that could help me improve my skills faster. Moreover, I don''t see anything big happening in the next year. I don''t know how to impress Ang''s family. Those thoughts are eating me up. Every day, I think about how to do that, but I can''t find a solution. Maybe I should duel with her father? Either that or I duel with the bride that her father was thinking about for her. Man, why can''t it be simple? This is a fantasy world for heaven''s sake. Can''t the parents be a bit more understanding about their children''s choices? I know that the parents would be thinking about what''s best for their children, though not in ways that they think about. They chose the partners for their children, based on how stable their life would be. They can''t decide whether they are truly for each other. That can only be decided by the two who are marrying. I know that parents understand that but they still try to marry off their children to whom they think is the best. Though they wanted the best for their children, it always wouldn''t be the best choice. Only if both parents and the children have a proper understanding of each other before marriage can they I mean, after all, the parents are not the ones who have to marry and live with someone that they don''t like. Even though I don''t like arranged marriages, love marriages are not good either. Most people would fall in love in their teenage years, the period when their hormones dictate their actions, rather than logic, which is not a good thing. These hormones would make it possible for them to fall in love easily. Though it is not a wrong thing, it''s best to know about the other person better before falling in love with them or deciding to dedicate your life to them. Let''s talk about my own life. My family has agreed to a marriage pact, which tied me to another girl, someone I didn''t know. We were supposed to get familiar when we reached of age but that didn''t happen. This was she fell in love with someone else, a wrong person I should say and now her entire family suffered because of that. After the Siren family was forced to pay for the damages that my family suffered during the battle that should have ended that family. They had to pay the principal along with interest. Moreover, they had to pay for the conspiracy to kill me. It kind of ruined them. When that happened, William didn''t do anything to help her or her family. In fact, he was not in a position to do anything. The Rutgurd family on the other hand had spread rumors that Elisha had bewitched William intomitting those atrocities. In their words, because of her, their family heir who was the genius of the Royal Academy, supposed to ascend to the heavens fell to hell instead. With their resources, they easily shifted all the me onto her and her family. This was something I learned after a long time. I didn''t know about that even in the third year but only came to know about that three months ago. The only reason even I found out about this was because of my mother. After she reached Tier-7, her status in the kingdom improved and many things that were kept secret from the people were known to her. One of those things was the military intelligence''s report on the Rutgurd Family. After what William did came to light, the royals were afraid of doing something drastic that could affect the kingdom. There were nobles in the past who erased many people of lower origins to keep their names out of the mud. They were afraid that Rutgurd might do anything to my family. Sure, losing a small viscount family may not cost much but having unstable elements like that would be dangerous, something that enemy nations can take advantage of easily. So the military has kept the family under surveince. Luckily they didn''t do anything like that but they spent a lot of resources to spread the false news about the Siren family. Rutgurd wanted to keep their name free of any such dark marks and shifted the me to another. Though this was not a good thing, the military had no right to intervene but recorded everything that they did. This was to ckmail them if they went out of control in the future. The only reason why my mother got to see it was because of her potential. She reached Tier-7 around fifty years of age, which was something ridiculous. The previous record was eight four years and now it is fifty-two, more than thirty years reduction. Though she couldn''t create a record that would be forever inked down, for now, she holds the record of such a feat. Many at the top must be thinking that she could reach Tier-9 if nothing bad happens. So the report can be said to be said as a small favour from the higher-ups. At least that''s what I think so, though my mother didn''t say anything. It''s like saying to my mother that the Rutgurd family could retaliate against our family. Discover hidden content at m,v l''e-NovelBin Rutgurd family has at least two who crossed Tier-7, though what their present rank is, no one is sure. Most families hide their ancestors. They are the family''s trump card. theye out into the open only when they perceive that the family is in danger. Anyway, if they retaliate against my family, we can''t do anything against them. The only reason that could be holding them back was the academy and in a year, I would graduate. I already know that William could do something, as that would be the same time when their family''s heir would be selected. It feels as if it is fate. Chapter 214: Thinking about my past and future (2) It feels as if it is fate at y here. The time I would graduate would be when the Rutgurd''s family heir would be selected. Whether William wins back his position or not, he woulde after me, at that time. This was because I would graduate and the academy has no reason to support me, unless I take up a position in the academy but to do that I have to reach Tier-4 at the least. To the world, I am still trying to reach Tier-3 at this point. So there was no way to convince them to let me join after this year unless I showed them my real status. Once I do so, they would definitely be suspicious of me and could hire someone or use artifacts that can show everything about me. They would want to know whether I am real or not. I mean, I would be someone who hid their true status for so long and I am not a weak person. So there is now way that they would trust me from the get-go. If they hire someone to find my details, then everything about me would be in the out. I mean my talents, not other secrets like that I remember my past life or Nexus or that I can ess a lot of secret realms or the cosmic market. These things would be safe but once they see my status panel, they would start to wonder what else I am hiding. Once these things are out, then all woulde out, slowly, one by one. If everything about mees out, then it could cause a huge war to get hold of me. Even my own kingdom may see me as a resource, rather than like a human. If that day everes, then I would be no different from a ve. The terms may differ depending on whose hands I fall into, but the status would be the same. So going back to the academy after graduating is a No Go. Whatever problems that appear in front of me, I have to face them by myself. William is sure toe after me in a year but how dangerous would that be, I have no idea. If he bes the heir then he could use a lot of resources to do that but if he fails, then he would have less resources but there would be a lot of resentment against me. To people like him, they are perfect. They could never do something wrong. Everything they do is the right thing. Only others can do wrong. So he would push the me onto me, even though he was in that situation because of what he did. He was the one who used pawns toe after me. Not once but twice, that I know of. He could have attempted more than those two times that I know of but that doesn''t matter now anyway. I am not dead and he was facing the consequences for his actions. I always thought that if he was intelligent, he could have escaped from the expulsion and also would still be the heir. I mean, I knew that he was behind Dorian but I didn''t act against him, because I believed that he would make some stupid mistake, which would give me a better chance of throwing him in a pit. Though I have evidence of Dorian meeting with William and Dorian''s confirmation, that was not enough. I needed a lot more proof to convict him and the reason why I waited instead of directly going after him. It yed well in the end. William incriminated himself and caused his expulsion by creating rumours about the death of those five students in the secret realm. He may have graduated if he didn''t start those rumours. --- There is another reason why I thought that he was not intelligent. If he wanted to have Elisha, he could have appeared before my family and paid what the Siren family owed us for helping them and could have cancelled the pact. No, he was greedy. He wanted to eliminate me, which would be a disastrous move before he could assume the position of a Count. Even then, without proper reason, he can''t kill me but he could have easily influenced someone to go after me, either directly or indirectly. Then, even if he was found out, it would be impossible to get revenge on him or demandpensation. Now I understood why he didn''t choose the easy method to get Elisha. The military along with that file about what the Rutgurd family did to the Siren family in the dark, gave another file. The information in this was the reason why they thought that the Rutgurd would go after our family. Some old ancestor bitch from that family has a feud with some ancestors of the Frostwolf and Siren family and that was centuries ago. Those ancestors are dead but she wanted to exact revenge on us, the descendants. Since our side of ancestors was gone, we didn''t know any such feud and were in the dark about the machinations of that old bitch. I almost died because of that bitch. If I improved as my siblings did, there was a high chance that I would have died. She used William on us. His original plot was to make Elisha fall in love with him, and then cause fissures between us. He changed that when he actually started to like her and changed the plot to kill me directly. He removed the fall of the Siren family from the menu. His only goal was to see that I die and then my family to fallter. It can be considered my luck that there was a traitor who ced that summoning ritual in the library. I summoned a demon, whom I eliminated and was promoted skipping ranks. That incident made me reach Tier-6 faster than anyone ever before. Speaking of the summoning, it has been a long time since I did any summonings. I was afraid to summon demons or other extra-terrestrial beings that could destroy this world. So I stopped using them, though I think I can change that. Chapter 215: Thinking about my past and future (3) Summonings, there was an entire section about them in the Nexus Library, which for the most part I have ess to. I totally forgot about that, even though I saw that there is a section dedicated to that. The reason can be said that I was too busy to use that knowledge. Truth be said, I didn''t use those after sending Inari back. Summoning means, that theye from somewhere far away. From where? I have no idea but those ces are their homes and I am essentially kidnapping them from their houses. I didn''t feel much at first when I summoned Inari toplete my promotion mission but as time went on, I felt quite bad that I pulled her away from her home. That''s the reason why I didn''t summon again. Beast Taming and Summoning are both professions that essentially kidnap others and make them serve you. I am starting to have mixed feelings about those. Though I tamed Asya, she was alone. She has no parents or siblings who could take care of her in the secret realm. She would be food for the bigger monsters if I left her there. So I took her with me. In the future, if she wants freedom, then I would grant her that without a second thought. After all, beasts are to be in the wild, not in buildings or pet spaces. These spaces could be considered to be safer than the wilds, where she would have to fight monsters and also humans who maye after her to get materials by killing her. Even though that is a fact, I''ll let her decide her fate after she understands all the facts. It is her right to decide what''s best for her but I won''t let that happen without her having the proper information. --- Anyway, that was for the future, not now. Even though I''m not particrly eager to do summonings or something like that, I need to understand about the summoning. There is a reason for that. A summon can change the course of a battle. Summoners are usually weak themselves but with the summons that they bring almost no one can defeat them, unless they are sessful in dealing with sneak attacks. Beast Tamers and Summoners are weak. So if a fight erupted with them, the best way to deal with them was to eliminate them rather than fight with their beasts directly. Assassins have better ways to deal with them, as long as they don''t have any shadow summons. This was something every beast tamer or summoner knows. So they would try to contract a shadow-based beast as soon as possible. Shadow-based beasts are simr to assassins and they can easily detect assassins in their proximity and could render them useless. The problem was that catching them would not be easy. Unless you have the background that supports you to get them or if your luck is so high that you would stumble upon them and subdue them yourself, it is almost impossible to get them. Shadow-based monsters are like assassins. They live in the shadows and won''t show themselves easily. Also, assassins won''t act against an opponent unless they are sure about their chances. So unless they see you as easy prey and take the bait or you have a way to pull them out of the shadows, you won''t be even able to see them. This is why it was not easy to find a shadow-based beast to tame. Summoning would also not be easy. As far as I know, no one in the present era has ever sessfully summoned a shadow beast. The reason behind that, I don''t know. Maybe there are no shadow-based beasts in the summoning ne from where these summonse from or like how I did demon summoning, there may be a different summoning method for shadow beasts. I don''t know but I believe that there should be something in the Nexus library. I should read and if there is a way to summon a shadow beast, then I should try it but if and only if the beast truly wants to be my partner would I let it stay with me. Otherwise, I would send it back. With the chances of William''s retaliation or maybe even the entire Rutgurd family retaliating against me, I need to keep guard 24X7, but that won''t be possible. I need a partner to do that. Moreover, I want to catch them off-guard. So I can''t use Asya, who would be very visible to everyone if she came out from her pet space. I need a shadow beast, which can watch me from the shadows when I need rest. I may be Tier-6 but my body would need rest or else it wouldn''t be in shape to fight the enemies. So I would take pretty good care of my body, no matter what. --- Speaking of summoning, I wonder how Inari is doing back at her home. I mean she was away from her home for more than two years and many things should have changed in those two years. When she returned home, I don''t think everything was as they were before she was gone and the culprit behind that was me. I took her away from her home but I had no choice. If only I had a better option to choose among the choices that I was given for my promotion mission, then Inari would have been never pulled away from her home. Back then I thought I would feel less guilty by using a stranger for my promotion rather than doing such nasty things with ones I know. It was true for some time but as I started to know her more and more, the guilt started to build up more and more. So, I had to send her back home, hoping that it would eliminate some of that guilt but there was no such luck. Now, other things are haunting me. The guilt is only increasing. Why are my promotion missions like that? Chapter 216: Thinking about my past and future (4) I me my promotion missions for all this guilt, that seems to be umting as time went on. Even after I sent Inari back to her home, these guilty feelings didn''t disappear, rather they are increasing by a lot. Why can''t my promotion missions ever be normal? I skipped the first three promotions from Tier-1 to Tier-3 but from there the nightmares started for me. My Tier-4 promotion mission brought me Inari but that was because the other options were not suitable for me ever. They are all weird. Even that option was but that was the best out of them. Moreover, the system started to be sassy. The skill descriptions started to be vague and at times berating me for not even understanding such simple terms. I can''t understand what''s that about. There is no way that everyone''s description of skills was that way. If it were, then it would have been mentioned in a book somewhere. Moreover, it started after reaching I killed that demon, not before. It was as if something changed at that moment. What, I have no idea. I don''t mind it being sassy but when ites to the promotion missions, it is bing difficult for me. The missions continued to be weird and even the options to choose from reduced as my rank went up. It makes me wonder if the Tier-7 promotion mission would be only a single option. It would mean that I have to do apulsory mission and have no other choice. If I don''tplete the mission, then that would mean that I can''t reach Tier-7 ever. Thinking about that, my brain is heating up. Since I can''t do anything about that, I need to push that problem for the future me to solve, which future me, I have no clue about that. I may not solve that, but maybe I can find out the reason why it acts the way it does. There are still many volumes that I still can ess in the Nexus library. Maybe I can see if that information is avable in the sections that I skimmed over as I had other things to concentrate on. If there is no information, then there is nothing that I can do about that. --- I still have a month of holidays, which I originally thought to dedicate to my training and improving my rank. I have yet to reach level 30 in Tier-6. There are more than 70 levels yet to cover and each level would require a EXP more than the previous level. It means the difficulty of reaching Tier-7 before the end of the first half of the fifth year has reduced. It matters not. I don''t see anything big happening in six months either. Nothing goes in your way, you should mould it to your way. It''s the only way to survive. If you don''t recognize or forget that, then that would be the end of your life. I know that Ang was able to hold off until the end of my fifth year, which would conclude her contract with the academy. After that, her family would see someone to marry her. Though she may have pushed that away, I am sure that they were searching already ready to present when the twinsplete their tenure and return home. It means that I don''t have much time to improve myself. What to do? I have no ns now on how to convince her parents. So I decided to improve as much as I could and let fate decide what would happen. So that means, I would hunt or use the skill Rank Booster to improve as fast as possible but those ns changed when I returned to home after the fourth-year exams ended. A surprise was waiting for me. My mother was home but neither she nor my father cared to inform me about her arrival beforehand. Now with her home, things changed. I would hunt monsters and improve my rank but I can''t do as much as I wanted to. So my increase in this month would be less than it was in the past five months at the academy. There was nothing I could do. My mother can''t leave easily anding here now would be a rare chance for us to spend some time together. I already know that the n to gain Ang through absolute strength may have taken a nose dive, and I need a new approach for that. Since that was gone, I can spend as much time as possible with my family now and can think about somethingter for that issue with Ang''s family. --- Since my mother returned, my father spent more time with us than he used to before. This was because of the "advice" of my mother. Before I startedst semester, I spoke with my mother about the difficulties that my father faced. So we spoke with him to make use of the family and reduce work on him. It wouldn''t be good for the family if the entire work was done by him alone. I thought that after my mother''s advice, he would have listened but he didn''t. He continued as he did before. My mother found out about that and the reason why she took leave and came home. After she arrived, she changed how things were done. Yeah, she arrived a week ago before I came home. Now, my father has responsibility for doing things that are the most important but other things were done by members who we know are not against us. Everything that the family did would be recorded and my parents would have ess to it. if they think that it needs to be reviewed then that would be what they would do. As things changed, my father had the time to spend with my mother and me more. --- The month was over before I could do anything with it. Now it''s time to return to the academy for the fifth and final year at the academy. Chapter 217: Start of my fifth year (1) A month of holidays. I believe that they are so few. The number may look as if they are sufficient but they are not. I didn''t know how they were gone but before I knew it, those thirty days were spent. My mother who arrived before me, had to leave within another week of staying with us. The leave was granted for two weeks and that was the travel gap to Valtis City. There are only two journeys to and from the city. Other than these scheduled journeys, more journeys would be added if the need arises but this is not such a time. So she had to leave within a week of my arrival, as the next one would be after another two weeks. Her leave didn''t extend that much. The work at Valtis City is too important to grant its residents leave for too long. If they were gone for months then their work would be dyed and that can''t happen in the military. Late can be a part of other divisions but that can''t be part of some divisions like Military, Medical etc... These divisions are crucial for the survival of the kingdom. Lives would be lost if there was any tardiness in divisions like this. So the military would be especially strict about this as they determine whether the kingdom would survive the attack of the enemies or not. So my mother has to leave. --- When my mother was still around, I could only enter Nexus and level up at night. This was because she knew that she had to leave and opted to spend more time with me and my father. We had no other choice. During that week, there wasn''t that much improvement as I did not do much work. After she left though, I had too much time in my hands. My father returned to his office. He was back to his previous behaviour but a bit better though. He was avable to spend time with during lunch and dinner, which was more than what I got during thest holidays. Moreover, I kind of ckmailed him that if he was absent I would tell my mother about him. So he had no other choice but to attend lunch and dinner on time. So for me, unless it was time to eat, there was no one watching over me, which gave me time to enter Nexus and improve my rank. The secret realms that are open for now may not be enough for me. This was because, in secret realms, the monsters grow in a simr way to how they do in Ragos. Sure there would be more magic power avable for them than that would be in Ragos. The growth rate would be high but not as high as in Dungeon. In dungeons, once the monsters were cleared, they would respawn after some time. It was because those monsters were not real monsters but made of magic but they could kill you and give EXP when are killed. No matter how many secret realms I have, the number of monsters would decrease as I keep hunting them. They would recover but that would not be for years in the future. Without monsters, my n to quickly rank up would falter. This was what many faced in their lives and couldn''t move forward because they had no way of ranking up. What I need is a dungeon. Why aren''t there any portals that lead to dungeons in the Nexus? or are there? I didn''tplete the tour of the Nexus. I only saw what the guide showed me. Maybe there is more than what the guidebook showed me. The old ruins are like that. Though they say one thing, there are many things in hiding. Moreover, this guidebook could be from the time when Nexus was created. Theter owners might have added new features for their own pleasure, which are not visible directly. Your next read awaits at m v|l-e''-NovelBin I should thoroughly check the Nexus. --- By the end of the month, there were some changes in my status. Let''s have a look at my status. "Status" -- Name: Magnus Frostwolf Age: 19 Titles: Son of Viscount; Great yer; Hidden Smiden; Dungeon Conqueror; Primary ss: Draconic Warlock Secondary ss: Soul Arbiter (Unique) Affinity: Shadow, Blood, Space Bloodline: ck Dragon (25% purity) Technique: ck Dragon Essence Breathing Physique: Devourer Physique (EX) Talent: Ritualistic Summoning (EX) Trait: Silk Smooth Skin(A bit Improved); Sleepy; Aurum Skin; Sexy Smile; Rank: Tier-6 Level: 28 >> 31 Health Points (HP): ??? Strength (STR):215,000 (+100%) Endurance (END): 250,000 (+100%) Dexterity (DEX): 1,579 >> 1600 Agility (AGI): 198,800 (+100%) Intelligence (INT): ??? Magic Power (MP): ??? Soul Energy: 105,500 (+200%) Charm: 3,009 ss Skills: Shadow Bolt; Blood Dominance; Draconic Magic; Shadow Curse; Blood Heal; Shadow Shift; Blood Lock; Draconic Pressure; Shadow Merge; Blood Drain; Soul Judge; Soul Prison; Soul Container; Nether mes; Shadow control; Blood Boil; Shadow Clone; Blood Clone; Space sh; Soul de; Soul Ascension; Soul Avatar; Shadow Storage; Blood Rain; Space Break; Soul Arrow; Soul Defence; Soul Lock; Special Skills: Rank Booster; Status Disguise; Refined Skills: Shadow Bolt Volley Lvl. 22 >> 23; Blood Drain Field Lvl. 11 >> 13; Skills: Evade Lvl. 27 >> 28; Dodge Lvl. 27 >> 28; Sprint Lvl. 29; Alertness Lvl. 20 >> 21; Devour Lvl. 9; Fusion Lvl. 26; Split Lvl. 26; Demon Gaze Lvl. 5; Strengthen Lvl. 28; Tag & Track Lvl. 6; Night Vision Lvl. 22; Spatial Storage Lvl. 16; Mind Control Lvl. 9; Mind Probe Lvl. 9; Mind Defence Lvl. 3; Dragon Blood Evolution Lvl. 20; Scent Recognition Lvl. 20; Sexual Stamina Lvl. 7; Perception Lvl. 24; Pet World Lvl. 3; Parry Lvl. 19; Resistances: Physical Resistance Lvl. 27; Light Resistance Lvl. 15; Poison Resistance Lvl. 10; Magic Resistance (Non-Attribute) Lvl. 18; Space Resistance Lvl. 14; Fire Resistance Lvl. 20 >> 21; Water Resistance Lvl. 17; Mind Resistance Lvl. 1; Wind Resistance Lvl. 17; Lightning Resistance Lvl. 15 >> 16; Weapon Arts: Advanced Staff Arts Lvl. 5; Intermediate Movement Arts Lvl. 9; Intermediate Hand Combat Arts Lvl. 8; -- As you can see, even though I didn''t get to spend as much time as I wanted on ranking up, I did good. My rank level increased by three levels. This only happened because my mother was gone by the end of week one and my father got busy again with his work, which gave me sufficient time to improve by three levels. As I improved my rank, some of my skills improved as well. Though the improvements are very low, they were there. Chapter 218: Start of my fifth year (2) There are not many changes in my status panel in the past month but there were a few. I think with the resources I got ess to, what I gained was more than enough. I need to continue to improve and not think about what could happen in future. Whatever was supposed to happen in the future would happen. There is no need to stress myself for that. Even if I don''t reach Tier-7, I believe I can impress my future father-inw. What I am not sure about is whether I can get both of the twins or not. I am from a noble family, though I am the youngest and would get almost nothing from my family after I graduate. I can only work for the family if I want to earn money or find a job for myself elsewhere if I don''t want to work for the family. There is no other way. Even then, with my strength, I am sure to impress my future father-inw very much to ept me and his daughter Ang. epting that both his daughters to me may not be easy unless I can reach Tier-7 and have one or two skills above Level 50, which is almost impossible to attain. So I am going to forget about that for now and do what I can for now. That is to improve as much as I possibly can and see if there are dungeons or time artifacts buried in the Nexus. I hope there are. If one or both of what I looking for are avable, then I should consider myself as the Child of Luck. ess to dungeons is not easily avable and they can''t be moved easily. It would burn a lot of resources. So normally no one would do so unless their core territory is far away and the dungeon is very precious. To move a dungeon, first, they have to conquer it. Only after that, they could be moved. This is the problem with the dungeon movement. The one who conquered it first would be the only one who can move it. Of course, that right isn''t indefinite. Depending on the rank of the dungeon, the time changes. The higher the rank, the higher the time one has to move them and the lower for the low-rank dungeons. It can be said it was a type ofpensation from the world. The low-rank dungeons can be easily cleared and almost everyone would use them. upying them for too long without any definite solution can hinder others. No, not can, would hinder others. So they had the least amount of time before they had to be moved. This is to prohibit assholes who like to hoard all the good things and never would let others have them. Maybe I should find a dungeon and tie that to the Nexus. Then I would have a dungeon that would give constant EXP and also resources. --- After returning to the academy, which was bing like a walk I would take around the veranda as I improved, I went to see Ang. Since I was home, we could onlymunicate through our mobiles but speaking face to face is something that can''t be reproduced that easily. He had a match. Ang was looking at whether I was improving or not. Though I didn''t say that I am at Tier-6, she should be well aware that I may possess a talent for fighting. Anyone could guess that if they see my fights. Most of the fights that anyone outside of Ang saw were like an elder brother putting his younger brother in his ce. No that wouldn''t be urate. It would be like an adult toying with a child. It''s an urate description. So, no one has any idea how powerful I am truth to be told, except for Ang. Even though I hid my secrets from her, I don''t think that she was dumb enough not to form her own conclusions about my strength but she said nothing. She understood that it was not her ce to speak about something I didn''t speak and that was true. Though I like her and trust her, I think that it''s not the best time to spill the secrets to her. One day I will but that''s not today or anywhere in the near future. After we had our spar, she was satisfied by my improvement. I went to the students center, to collect my keys to my new quarters. As the students of the fifth year, we are in a different area. Our residences are now near to the staff residences. When I entered the area, I could feel it. The Magic here is much more in quantity or qualitypared to the residences that we had in the before years. Though this world is not a cultivation world where one would improve by absorbing the energy into their core, magic-rich environments are useful, especially if you are a spellcaster like me. We use magic to cast our skills and that''s not infinite. We need to meditate or rest or use some magic restoration potions to cast skills again once the Magic power in the body depletes. It would happen while in battles or while training. So if we train in magic-rich areas, we can easily recover the lost magic and can train more. Training more means improving more. It was well and good but I have one question. Why did they allocate a magic-rich ce to the fifth-year students who wouldn''t be in the academy most of the time? --- I woke up early in the morning, did some warm-up exercises, and freshened up before having my breakfast. I left my quarters and went to the mission hall. I didn''t run. No walked as if I were amoner who had no powers. This is my fifth andst year here at the academy. So I want to savour as much as I can before I graduate. Once I graduate, there was no reason for me to return to this ce ever. I need to watch and see my surroundings as soon enough I would not be able to do so. Slowly, I did reach the mission. Then I went to the mission board, where the missions are pinned. Let''s see what type of missions are there for me. Chapter 219: My Final Mission at the Academy (1) After the spar with Ang, I returned to my new quarters, which I like very much but I won''t be able to enjoy them much as most of them are not at all useful for me. Moreover, I would pick a mission in the morning and that means I wouldn''t be here to enjoy anything. Even more so with the Nexus and the number of secret realms I have ess to, I can recover much better than here. So it would be a waste to assign me such a ce but it is what it is. They don''t know that I have a better ce to train and recover. I can''t me them on that but as a fifth year, they should have expected that I may not live here most of the time. Maybe they did and the reason why they assigned our quarters in this area. If they had done that in the first year, the improvement would have been much more than what it was. My status panel would have shown a different data than it is now. Giving us these resources in the fifth year should be considered a waste. Most of the students would be away on missions and could not enjoy the benefits much. Sure they would return to their quarters once in a while after their mission seeds but that maybe only once a month. This was because the missions would give more points than for diving into a dungeon. Unless the dungeon is very high ranked, no one can enter many points through dungeons. This was because most awakened can enter and clear the low-ranking dungeons and that means the materials at that stage are abundant, even though those are in high demand. It means the items gained in those dungeons are not costly. Low cost means fewer points that can be obtained from them. Low points mean that they can''t progress further easily. It would mean, they would not be here no matter how much they like to train here. To gain points they have to leave the academy. For me, points may not be an issue but fourth and fifth-year students have toplete at least one mission in a year. So, even though I don''t need the points, I need toplete a mission. This was why I decided to be at the mission hall early in the morning. Sooner Iplete the mandatory mission, the better. I can use the remaining time to improve my skills and rank. --- As usual, when I arrived at the mission hall, there were a lot of students in the hall. All of them are fourth and fifth years. It looks like the third years are yet to be aware of the saying, Early Bird gets the Worm. I know that there are no third-year students because the queue for third-year students is different from other students. So it would be easy to spot them and there were none. I walked towards the mission board, where I could pick the mission. I am not looking for a mission that grants me more points, and my priority is to return quickly. So the best mission would be that would be over quickly and not far away from the capital. With the presence of the Capital in the area, there won''t be any major outbreaks near the capital, unless monster tides appear. Even then, the guards can easily take care of the small monster tides that appear near here. Huh? There is a collective mission for the fifth-year students. These are usually are but once in a while, they pop up. Most of the time, they are repetitive missions to collect herbs or other materials that are consumed a lot. The thing was that this was a request to repel the monster tide. I pulled out one of the pamphlets. There are a lot more nearby that gave simr information. So there was no need to worry that I was taking away the information and blocking others. --- The mission was regarding a monster tide that was going to happen in three days. Arge town known by the name Repest is going to face this disaster and so they sent requests for help. We are not the only ones that got this. Adventure guilds got them too. So there would be a lot ofpetition but there would also a lot of chances for improvement. A monster tide means, a lot of EXP. It would help me to quickly increase my rank. The suspected monsters are to be in the rank up to Tier-6. Though hunting Tier-6 may not yield much EXP as I am at Tier-6 myself and also might expose my secrets, I have to ept this. If there are Tier-6 then that means there are monsters that are lesser than Tier-6 and their number would be very high. If could clear these lower-level monsters, though individually they may only me very small EXP as I already crossed their ranks, the collective EXP would help. Moreover, I need to make a name for myself. My targets would be up to tier 4. Though others might wonder how I did those, others may attribute that I trained my skills more than I did to increase my rank. It wouldn''t be the first time it happened in such a manner. There are others who concentrated on skills rather than rank when they were in the academies. This was because the academies have better equipment and once you graduate, you can''t use them. So they make better use of it, while they can. --- As I read the information, I was more than sure that this was the perfect mission for me. Though I may not be someone at the pinnacle in a single step but in taking a multitude of steps. If I be one of the most recognized person by the time this monster tide ends, then that would be a plus for me. This could make it easier when I meet Ang''s parents. I mean they would surely check what I aplished. Even if it would be a meagre tide, that would be more than enough for a student. Moreover, the points that I gain depend on the monsters that I would be able to kill before the end of the tide. The more the monsters, the more points I would earn. The points distributed would also change depending on the quality of the monsters. Having decided that I went to the counter to register for the mission. Chapter 220: My Final Mission at the Academy (2) The mission was more than perfect for me. There would be a lot of monsters for me to rank up and also increase my skill levels at the same time. Sure there would be people and I might have to show some of my trump cards but that wouldn''t make them surprised if they are veterans of war. Only the newbies would be surprised by that. A veteran would have an idea about things like that. They should have seen many in their lifetime. I mean who wouldn''t have their own trump card? They may appear weak but they are actually strong. These types of incidents are not considered as something new. The veterans of war should have seen such incidents happen more than they remember. Moreover, I was always at the top, even though my rank alwaysgged behind others. They should have long known that I was honing my skills first, rather than increasing my rank. So there wouldn''t be much surprise when I kill monsters beyond my rank. Cross-rank killing may not bemon but it is not something that was never has been heard of. It would be possible at lower ranks where the difference in ranks wouldn''t mean much difference. Explore stories on m,v l''e-NovelBin It would be a surprise if I was at Tier-6 and kill a Tier-7 creature, though that was something I had done more than a few times. That was something I wouldn''t show at this point. It would attract more attention than what I signed up for. Yes, I wanted to be recognized by Ang''s parents but for that to happen I should be alive. Even in a peaceful kingdom, there should be people who can''t ept others overtaking them and are envious of other people''s talents or greedy enough to try to snatch every good thing that pops up. Though this world is a magical world, that doesn''t mean that it was not developed and is in medieval age Earth. No, using magic as the base, there are many developments but everything didn''t improve as it did on Earth. In some areas, Ragos is more developed while in some areas Earth is. This was due to the environmental difference. Due to monsters present here, the airways and railways are not as notable as on Earth. Though they were absent, Ragos has teleportation hubs. Even though they are costly, they can be used to travel thousands of kilometres in seconds. Also, from what I read, sciences are very advanced here, when ites to biology, botany or zoology. Due to magic, it is centuries ahead of Earth or at least that''s what I was told but they were under different names from what was used on Earth. Each world has its own advantages and disadvantages. So I believe there are ways to transfer something like Bloodlines or even maybe talents or at least someone should be definitely experimenting on them. So drawing too much attention would attract not just good ones but also bad ones and you may end up on a table. Even on Earth, where many organizations working to break down human trafficking, and illegal experiments, they are still happening with almost all of the Earth''s surface mapped out. Ragos is a where such a feature is not avable and there is a ving business, though it''s illegal in many areas. So experimenting on humans would not be a paranoid fantasy. It''s better to be safe than to feel sorry afterwards. Well, if you end up dead, you can''t feel sorry anyway. Even legal experiments are fatal in many cases and that''s why many do experiments on rats and like before moving onto humans, but illegal experiments would directly use humans and since they are done in the dark, there would be constrictions on the budgets. It means that they would try to be cheap and make the best results which would lead to a lot of deaths. This is why I would not show my true strength unless there is no other choice. If I was alone, then that would be different but there are many that I care and if someone powerfules after them, then there would be nothing I could do. I don''t want to arrive at a position where I have to avenge their deaths. No, I want to be in a position where I can live safely and happily with the ones I care about. --- "Hello, I would like to take on this mission", I handed the girl at the counter my ID and the mission pamphlet. I wonder why the academy only ces girls at the counters. Almost every counter, not just this registration counter but almost all of them are girls. I have never seen a boy at the counter. Didn''t they hear about gender equality? Shouldn''t it be possible for boys to have such safe and easy jobs? Why would only girls enjoy such safe jobs while boys have to go out to die? Do they not care or are they preparing for the future where organizations usually use females as receptionists to attract more customers? Maybe that could be the reason behind that, I hope so. The girl quickly registered my mission and returned my ID and two pieces of paper, "The monster tide was said to happen in three days, maybe even before. So it''s best to leave as soon as possible and also once you are there, you need to go to the mayor''s office there and give them this paper". "This is to identify you as someone who was participating on behalf of the academy. Once they register that, they will give you a badge which you have to wear on your body. How to reach Repest town was on the other paper", she said. "Thank you", I nodded and left the mission hall. Now that I have registered the mission, the only thing remaining is to reach Repest before the monster tide starts. There would not be much trouble, as there was simple instructions on how to reach the town were given to me by the receptionist. There is no direct way to reach the town but there is a teleportation to the nearest city, from where it''s only two hours by horse. Even without using horses, I could be at the Repest town within a few minutes once I arrive at the nearest city. So it''s considered to be so close for someone like me. --- I soon left the academy and headed towards the capital. Chapter 221: I reached Repest I soon left the academy and headed towards the capital, which I reached before you couldplete reading a single page. INT is an attribute that is not just for casting skills but also for how you fight, and how you move. Everything changes with an increase in INT. This is why it should be remembered that even though Warriors don''t use magic, they need INT or they will be defeated before they start the battle. It is true. If someone has low INT then they could be easily dragged into a trap using Taunt skill or other skills that work in a simr way. This is why the Berserker ss is considered as a Double-Edged sword. The Beserkar ss is considered a powerful warrior ss, as their skills essentially double or triple their strength, which means their attack power also increases. The greatest drawback of this ss was that the skills essentially deplete the INT attribute while the skills are in an activated state. The skills would transfer the attributes to the STR temporarily while the skill is in use. This would cause the person to act without thinking about what was happening around and that would lead to fall if the opponent is clever enough. INT determines how one thinks and moves. Sure AGI is what makes us move but INT determines where to ce our legs while we are moving and determines the pattern of movement for the best results. As my INT has reached unprecedented levels, though I can''t use it perfectly due to physical constraints, I can use it for purposes like this, making my movement speed improve. Even without using any skills, I can move much better than before. --- Once I reached the Capital, I bought a ticket to Racher City. The Racher family ruled the city, which they named after themselves. I had to wait for twenty minutes before the circle lit up. In those twenty minutes, a lot of people appeared and most of them are students from the academy or adventures. I presume that they are on their way to the same ce as I am. After all, there is a monster tide that is going to happen soon. It means a lot of benefits for the adventurers. They wouldn''t miss something like this. Adventurers go out into the wilds to hunt for profit and a monster tide like this is the best way to maximize their profits. Though it is considered as dangerous, the profits that could be earned through this are not small. If they go to the wild to hunt for monsters, they should watch their back not just from monsters but also from other adventurers, sometimes even their own teammates. The greed of humans can''t be underestimated. They would even backstab their own teammates if they found something precious. If there are more items to distribute equally, there is a chance of dividing among them but the chances of precious items appearing in suitable quantities were notmon. So whenever there is a monster tide, adventurers would flood that area. Here they can gain a lot without worrying about greedy teammates. Unless you have an enemy in the team, you don''t need to worry that they would backstab you. This was because of certain rules of conduct during a Monster Tide. Along with these adventurers, my fellow ssmates and batchmates are also here. There are fifteen in this group. There are still three days before the tide urs. It''s plenty of time for more people to take on the mission. Only a fool would miss out on such an opportunity. Since students from my academy are going to be there, I can say that students from the other four academies will also be there. No doubt about that. --- I finally reached Repest. Others that came with me, would take time as they had to depend on the transport coaches that would transport people from ce to ce for a price. Once we were teleported to Racher City, I simply left the city on my own. There was no need to depend on those coaches as the distance between the city and my destination was not that much, which made it easier for me to reach the town quickly. Hmm, now that I am here, I need to find the mayor''s office and register myself. If I don''t register, then I won''t receive the badge and without the badge, even if I kill all the monsters, they won''t be recorded as my kills and that means no points from the academy. Yeah, in a monster tide, no one would have the right to collect the monsters except the town that the monsters invaded. The War Badge would record the kills that the mayor''s office provides us after registration. These badges would record our kills andter depending on the kill count, the rewards are allocated. It is more than a fair way to pay as during a monster tide, one can''t control the way that they could fight and could smash all the major parts of a monster that are precious. It would mean that they can''t collect anything from their fight. This is also a loss for the city too. This is why the rewards are based on the rank of the monsters and the number of monsters you killed, rather than the type of monsters you killed. Some monsters are more valuable than others. Usually when you hunt in the wilds, hunting certain monsters would yield more than other monsters. The reason why anybody takes a risk was to gain riches and settle down faster away from death as much as possible. It means they have to find all the money that they can when they have the chance. So adventurers, would hunt the monsters that are in demand, not some sewer rat monsters, whose parts are of no use, maybe to prank someone or use for illegal activities. So no one would go out their way to hunt them, unlessmisioned. This would not be the same during a monster tide. Everything changes. Chapter 222: Monster Tide (1) Monster Tide is entirely different. Everything would be different. Here there would be no personal gains, except for EXP. One can''t gain any materials from the killed monsters and if anyone were caught doing that, then they would be fined and would be banned from participating in any quests for at least a year, depending on what they stole. Sometimes the punishments would be even more. Even with the punishments, there are still would dare every once in a while. It was said that many escaped the punishment as it would rather be chaotic and not everything could be found about, even with the cameras recording the battle. Cameras could be destroyed during battles and with no cameras, if the materials are profitable enough, there are more than a few who would dare to collect monster corpses from the area. --- Considering that no one would be able to take away the monster corpses, all the corpses would belong to the town or city that the monster tide attacked. The helpers would be rewarded in other ways depending on their contributions. This was done for many reasons. If the helpers can collect the corpses, then the support personnel would get nothing as they would be at the back where the wounded are treated. Treating wounded costs a lot and who would pay them if the corpses are all looted? Second, if the warriors are concentrated on preserving the materials of a monster, they have to attack in a specific way but that takes time. During hunting in the wilds that would be fine as they have gone to get rich not just get EXP. So preserving the pricey parts intact. Doing that so during a monster tide would lead to more deaths. So monster corpses can''t be looted even if you kill the best of the monsters. I mean, if you are too concentrated on keeping the best parts viable, then you would create a blindspot, which would make it easier for the surrounding monsters to attack and cause damage to you. Moreover, by clearing monsters faster, it would give breathing room for others too and they would have enough energy to fight more monsters and survive. In scenarios like this, every action would have far-reaching consequences. Whatever one''s decision might be, it would not just be them who had to face the consequences but others too. the number of people who had to face the consequences of their actions would increase as time went on. Let''s just say that you were assigned to protect a part of the wall. Instead of swiftly eradicating the monsters thate your way, you try to kill them without destroying the pricey parts and that makes you kill less. The monsters that are supposed to be dead instead attacked your neighbours. Due to the heavy intensity of the monsters, they fell and that made a few monsters free to attack others. It continues like that unless someone powerful intervenes but in a battle like this, no one would have the energy to do so. It may even cause us to lose the battle. So it''s best to swiftly eradicate the monsters you see, instead of trying to make profits out of them. --- After arriving at the town, I went to the Mayor''s office to collect the War badge. It is important as without that, I wouldn''t earn any points. The process was smooth. As I am a student from the Royal Academy, the process of getting the badge didn''t take long. I had a note from the academy to attest that I am from the academy. So it was easy for me, which was not the same for the ones who are not affiliated with any organizations and even for the adventurers from the adventurer''s guild. Unless an adventurer is famous, it is not easy to vet the people who are participating. Even though they are calling for help, they can''t let anyonee here without proper verification. There are times when some criminals enter the area during monster tides and cause a lot of damage from the rear. Since most would concentrate on the front where the monsters are, the security at the rear would be almost zero. The ones who stay there are support and logistics personnel. Warriors who are wounded or exhausted would be brought to the area to recuperate. So the rear end would always be vulnerable and was taken advantage of many times. So before letting anyone participate in the monster tide, verification became mandatory. Since Ie from the academy, it was kind of an assurance that I would not cause any trouble during the monster tide. Everyone would have to concentrate on the monster tide or else lives would be lost easily that could have been saved otherwise. No one could be distracted to keep an eye on things on our side. They had to keep an eye on the monster''s side to see if there were any anomalies. They are prettymon. Though this monster tide was said to have Tier-6 at most, a Tier-7 could enter the scene. There were many incidents in the past when such a thing happened. The monster tide was supposed to be within a certain rank or certain number but were wrong on both counts. If the cross happens to be below Tier-6, then it won''t cause much trouble but Tier-7 and above are different breeds. So if a monster of that calibre appears suddenly, the losses would be substantial. The leaders who oversee the defence have to keep an eye on such entrants. If they had to divide their vignce, then sneak attacks would be possible and that means many would die, and defences may break down. Once frontline defences broke down, the town would be a battlefield. It means that the town would be devasted. Though the kingdom officers had already relocated unnecessary people from the town to the city, there were still a few people who had to stay behind to oversee the workings of the town. Also, they couldn''t bring everything with them, except what was important. A battle in the town means, everything would be destroyed and has to be rebuilt. The kingdom though how generous it wants to be, can''t allocate too much to rebuilding and that means many people have to live a life, that can be considered as the worst. Chapter 223: Monster Tide (2) During the monster tide, there would be a lot of damage to the ce where it happened. It is not something that can be changed unless someone can stop the monster tide before it happens. No one has such power. Even though there are powerhouses who can stop smaller monster tides, it would be underneath them to even think about those small monster tides. In the kingdom, there would be a lot of monster tides happening from time to time. Most of them are considered small monster tides. This was not because they are actually small but the highest monster would not cross Tier-3 in those tides. Sometimes there would be a Tier-4 mixed in that but unless there is more than one Tier-4 monster, it would be ssified as a small monster tide. After the small monster tidees the medium monster tide, where the highest would be at Tier-6, maybe even Tier-7 which is controlling the tide. Simr to the small monster tide, unless there is more than one Tier-7 monster, the category of the monster tide would be medium. Thest one is arge monster tide, where Tier-9 monsters would be involved but most of the time only Tier-7 and Tier-8 monsters appear, with a rare performance from Tier-9 monsters. Also, these are very rarepared to the other two. If arge monster tide urs every now and then, then that kingdom would be fated for doom no matter how you look at it. The damage and lives lost from a singlerge monster tide would be huge and if that is a recurring event, no one would be interested in staying in that ce, no matter the benefits, especially themoners. Even if someone was interested in staying, the losses would be very high, which would cause cracks in their defence, making it easier for their enemies to act. So no one would be foolish enough to stay in a ce where there are frequent monster tides where monsters that were attacking them are Tier-7 and above. --- The kingdom wouldn''t want to deal with such a mess on a regr basis. So they wouldn''t officially encourage anyone to settle down in suchnds. Of course, even though there was no official encouragement, if there was someone who wanted to settle in such ces, the kingdom would grant them special privileges and nothing more than that. This was because, usually the monsters wouldn''t raid a ce where there are no resources. They would target areas near huge resources or magic concentration. This would be the main cause for their attacks on the settlements. Of course, human settlements would also be near huge resource points or where magic is in high concentration. So shes are bound to happen. Though the kingdom needs a lot of resources and would always be on the lookout for them, the kingdom can''t properly utilize them even if they find something, as long as those resource points are near the area where the monsters are high in number. To upy a resource point, they first need sufficient capital. They need to invest a lot of resources first before they can expect any profits in such an endeavour. If the kingdom has no problems other than the monsters, then they can truly concentrate on them but that was not the case here. There are four other kingdoms that arepeting with each other in order to absorb the other kingdoms and be an empire. Moreover, there are troubles with demons. Though Glessaria is far away from that ce, that doesn''t mean we are friends with the demon race nor are they with us. There are many spies who are working covertly with those demons. Even in my own family, there were many. They were uprooted but what about other families? So these types of endeavours are not something that the kingdom can bear. Moreover, if the kingdom encourages them, then the kingdom is liable for the damages that would ur during monster tides. They can''t bear that burden. If they don''t then that would cause resentment among the public. Though themoners may not be able to do anything, the awakened could cause a lot of damage. The kingdom was not in the idea of creating trouble for themselves. If someone wants to open bordends, they are more than wee to and the kingdom would give some support but that''s it. The troubles that they face are their own and the kingdom is liable to that. This caused not many to venture out and establish their own territories. If they sessfully did so, they would be a part of the kingdom, even if the kingdom did nothing to help them. If they fail to do so, then the kingdom has nothing to do with you or your "territory". That is a hassle and not many would try to do so. --- Two Days Later... It has been two days since I arrived at the town, waiting for the monster tide to appear. I know that the monster tide was informed that the tide was supposed to ur in three days and still there is a day for that. Hoping for a disaster to happen a day before is not a good thing, in every aspect that one can think of but I was bored to death here. I can''t enter the Nexus, as that would cut me off from the outside. While in Nexus, I couldn''t see what was happening outside. If the monster tide appears before the specified date, then I might miss it. Moreover, if I am inside and someone enters my room to call for the battle, then things might get problematic. Everyone has secrets. Everyone knew about that, but those secrets would only keep you safe as long as they are a secret. Once it was known, then everyone would be on to you to get that, if they can get it. So, in those two days, I did almost nothing. I ate, slept and did a small workout, which was nothing. The mayor''s office did assign me some duties though to patrol a part of the town. This is to find if any underground monsters dig from under the walls to enter the town bypassing the defences. If there are any, then we have to stop them and destroy those dug-out entrances. Roar! Thump! Thump! Huh, what was that? I immediately ran to the top of the battlement. From there everything could be seen easily, and I could see them clearly. AIR HORN!!!! That''s the monster tide. It is here and its a day early. It''s time to earn some EXP and some fame for myself. Chapter 224: Monster Tide (3) I was patrolling around the town, specifically the part to which I was assigned. I have to find out if any monsters broke through the defences using the underground as a way to enter the town. It was amon method for monsters to use such a way. Normally people see that monsters belong to three categories based on their living habitats. They are Land Monsters, Flying Monsters and Sea Monsters. These three are how monsters are broadly ssified but what most people forget about are the underground monsters. Many think that the Flying Monsters or the Sea Monsters are the most dangerous ones but that is wrong. Underground monsters are the most dangerous of all. The sea is home to a lot of monsters and in the deep sea, it was said that there are a lot of dangerous monsters. There was a rumor that in the deep sea, Tier-9 monsters aremon as if you seemoners in a nation. Flying monsters, they can fly and would be a hassle to kill them in a fight as they use their flight as best as they can. If they were losing, then they would just fly away, unless someone could restrain flight in the area. So many consider them as dangerous but we can see flying monsters and sea monsters mostly stick to the coastal areas and also they don''t usuallye out of the sea. Unlike them, underground monsters live underneath us. They could be living under our cities and we have no idea about that. When they attack, unless you are blessed awakener of Earth element, it''s almost impossible to find if there are any underground monsters in the vicinity. One wrong step and you are done for. Underground monsters are the most dangerous as no one would be able to see their attacks before happening. Sometimes even strong monsters would fall prey to weaker underground monsters. This is why whenever there is a monster tide, not just the frontline where we have to fight is strengthened but also the rear where the support stays. The workers closed all the sewers and evenid ayer of concrete on almost everything. A lot of defence formations were arranged too, making sure that if anything tried to slip in, it would have one hell of a time breaking through it. My work was to watch that these don''t break before the war starts. Once the war starts, we have to leave for the frontline but if they break before the war, then it would make it easier for the diggers to get in while everyone''s concentration was elsewhere. The support personnel are very important during any situation that says battle. Though in society they live without much power in their hands, they are still the most respected, though it is not always shown. They are very much needed in situations like this and most of them can''t protect themselves. So the defence measures for them, and by extension to all members that came here to fight. --- I was patrolling the area that I was assigned as I did for thest two days. It was then I started to hear the sounds, the sounds of roars and heavy feetnding on the ground that were in a hurry to reach somece. That somece is here. The town of Repest is where they are trying to reach. I was sure that the monster tide was here, but unless I see with my eyes, I can''t say that. Quickly, I ran towards the town wall and climbed onto the top. From the battlements, I can clearly see the monsters that appeared near the town. How did they reach here so quickly? Why was there no warning? I mean, the town should have prepared for their arrival, at least one or two hours before their arrival. The scouts failed to ry the information. It means that either they are in cahoots are they are dead. This is very bad. The town was not prepared for their arrival. Though it was known that sometimes the estimates were wrong, the scouts would inform if there were any changes at thest minute. When they receive the signal, the town or the city that is facing the monster tide would prepare for the uing battle but they would have at least an hour or near to it. It was not the situation at present. They are near the town and would be upon the walls in less than twenty minutes, and that''s me being generous. I fear they may be even before. Though there are sentries and other patrollers who were near the wall, the number is nowhere near to cover the entire wall. The number of helpers who arrived at the town to resist the monster tide is very high. They are more than enough to stop the tide but we are caught with our pants down. In any monster tide, the fighters would not be able to fight continuously. So others would take their ce, while the ones who first fought would take a rest to re-energize themselves. Moreover, in a battle, there would be ones who get injured or die and those spots had to be filled. If there are holes in the defence, then that would make it easy for the monsters to enter the town and wreak havoc inside. Once they were able to enter the town, it would be a two-front war and such wars are not favorable if one wants to minimize their damages. Monsters have no such problem. Most monster tides happen because there are too many monsters in the area andck of resources. So they are sent out to kill humans to get our resources or die trying. Either is a good oue for them. They would either get more resources or reduce the mouths that needed to be fed with their resources. So, the monsters would show no mercy to us. It means we have only one thing to and that is to hold the line with the ones that were already here, including me until others cane and strengthen the defence line. Experience more tales on m v|l e''-NovelBin This is going to be a bloody battle. Chapter 225: Fighting the Monster Tide (1) This is my first monster tide. I have fought a hoard of monsters but that was a simtion in the Nexus, not actual monsters. There I know that I won''t die no matter what. There I can fight until I am dead tired but that would not be the case now. If I am tired, I should get ample rest before I start to fight again. I need to keep my energy energy from falling below a certain level. In battles like this, what would happen no one has any idea. If any high-ranker monsters appear near me and I have no energy to fight, then that would be my death. Even if they are not high-ranking monsters, if there are too many monsters, then I may not be able to fight the battle and it could be the end of me. So I need to have some energy to fight at all times. Energy depletion is not an option. I have a lot of Magic Power, and that would never deplete even if I am fighting a small army of monsters but my Endurance is not very high. It may be high enough for a spellcaster like me but that''s not enough if a high-rank monsteres at me, while I burned most of it. In Nexus I never had that problem as I knew that was not real but just training and I would never die even if I exhaust myself thoroughly. There I exhausted myself on purpose and that was to improve my skills faster. As the skill level improved, it became difficult to improve the skill further. I need to search for various ways to improve my skill levels further. Only in my exhausted state would I gain the maximum benefits of training. This is something that I found identally while experimenting with the training. From that day onwards, unless I had something important to attend to after the training, I would exhaust myself every time while training. It gave me the best results after all. So there was no reason to abandon such a good method. At this moment though, this is not a training session. The monsters here are real and if I fight them exhausted, then that could lead to my death. Even though I am Tier-6, I am still a mortal, not an Immortal who can''t die. Sure I would live a little longer than others but that was it. I can be killed and there is a time limit for me even if that didn''t happen. I would never be able to live beyond that limit. --- The thing was I don''t need to be a hero. Sure bing a hero is the best way to get famous and that would easily clear the path for me to get Ang, maybe even both of the twins but that is not the right way. Heroes tend to die early and they would always have someone hounding at their back. They have to live saintly and that is not me. I know I wanted to be famous for using something like this. I mean I can use this monster tide to be famous but that would put a mark on my back. A Tier-2 was able to stop a Tier-6 monster tide!!! No one would be that dumb to see that there are many mistakes in that sentence. They would instantly know that I am hiding a lot, which they may not know easily but they would know that I am hiding and that would be more than enough toe after me. I was stupid. I was thinking with my little brother rather than with my Brain back then. I was so charmed by that subus Ang, and when she said that her father was looking for bridegrooms for her, I panicked and believed that only by showing my strength could I gain her. What''s my goal? To live a peaceful life, and enjoy this life as much as I can. Getting a name and fame at this point of life could almost means I am marked by others forever. Getting marked after actually bing powerful was one thing but at this point in my life, I don''t consider myself strong. I mean, there are at least three ranks that I have to attain to my knowledge. I have no idea about whether there are more ranks. None of my skill levels have reached half-rank. Continue reading at m|v-l''e -NovelBin Every skill has 100 levels, and none are even close to level 50. How can I consider myself strong? Sure there will always be a stage above us no matter what stage we reach but I need to be at least considered strong enough before I get famous where I would be recognized by everyone. There was no need for that. What I need right now is to be recognized as a genius, who is very good at fighting. That would be more than enough for me at this stage. Anymore, it could cause a lot of problems for me, instead of making life easier. Okay, enough with all the spection. The monsters are almost here. For now, let''s concentrate on fighting these monsters and make a name for myself, a name that would make things easier for me not more difficult. --- (Third PoV) The monster tide arrived before the anticipated time and that caused quite a stir among the people. Even if it appeared before time, they were supposed to be warned but the warning never came. Even then, the awakeners who were on the wall prepared themselves to hold the line, until others came. Roar! Thud! Thud! The monsters neared the town as time passed on, and they had to fight something like this while they had their pants down. Yes, since the battle was not supposed to happen till the next day, not everyone was in their gear. Most armour is restrictive, especially the armour of heavy warriors. Today was supposed to be a patrolling day. So except for the weapons they carried with them, most of their gear was absent. This is going to be a bloody battle and they know it, yet they stood ready for the battle. Chapter 226: Fighting the Monster Tide (2) (3rd PoV) Everyone is tense, but there is nothing that can be done. The Monster tide is upon them and what they could do was to fight the monsters with everything that they got. Luckily, people do know that sometimes the estimations are wrong and the tides may ur before the estimated date. So the defences are already up. What the defence line was missing were the people who were supposed to hold the line. Since it was supposed to happen the next day, no one was outside, except for the ones that were on duty. Everyone else was taking a rest so that they would be at their peak when they would fight the monsters the next day. This was a situation that was not expected but was something they were dealt with. Now, they have only two choices fight or flee. If they fight, before others cane, there is a chance that they will die. Deaths in a monster tide aremon but the probability of death at this point is very high, unlike when everyone is here. They can flee but they would be forever recorded as cowards and no one would ever would like to work with them in the future. No work would mean no money and without having money, it would be difficult to live a life. Sure one can hunt monsters but they won''t be able to sell them to the guilds as they would cklist anyone who would fail to do their job. Whether that would be permanent or temporary would be on many factors but abandoning before a battle would definitely be a permanent cklist. So they can only sell the hunted monster corpses to shops but merchants are known to haggle a lot. It means the gains through such transactions would be very low. Discover hidden stories at m,v l''e-NovelBin No one can live such a life and the reason why no one has yet made a move. --- "Attention everyone. This is Commander Nelson, taking control of the battlefield temporarily. You can see that the monsters have appeared before our estimate and caught us with our pants down but that doesn''t mean we would give up and ept defeat". "No, we would stand up and stop those monsters no matter what. All we needed was to stand up for a few minutes before the remainingrades joined us in the battle. I know that it may be impossible to stop their advances with our meagre numbers but remember that if we falter, then the town of Repest would be history and maybe even more towns and viges". "I know that many of you are not from the region and have no reason to fight to death for the survival of someone else but remember this. Every action has a consequence. Today it may be the town of Repest that was facing this disaster. Tomorrow who knows, maybe it will be your home". "If you are ready to leave because this is not your home, then don''t expect help from others when the same thing happens to your home", the broad-shouldered middle-aged man in heavy armour shouted out loud. His words got the attention of everyone on the wall at the moment. It was not just them who heard those who heard those words but the entire town did, at least the ones who were in the town did. The man knew what was going through everyone. The monsters are almost upon them. The number isrger than they expected and also appeared before their expected time. The number of deaths would be definitely more than what they had estimated before. When a monster tide appears, the higher-ups would take every step to minimize the damage. To do that, they would need to know howrge the monster tide would be and what ranks appear in the battle. Once they have the data, they will prepare for it and always think to minimize the damage caused at the lowest cost. They will also estimate how many deaths are likely to happen. The kingdom may care about the people but they don''t have unlimited resources to protect everyone. Instead of using the resources for certain defences, they would use humans as defence and pay death benefits. If there were no one who depends on that dead one, it would be better but that would never be the case. It may appear cruel but this assignment is voluntary and moreover, if the kingdom thinks about every death and how to prevent that, the kingdom may have to file for bankruptcy. Though such a term may not exist here, such happenings are not non-existent. Kingdoms could fall if they invest too much in every thing that is considered to be the right thing to do. It''s not like they won''t but they can''t do that. If the world was less dangerous and was at peace, maybe they should be investing in that but that''s not the case. If they stupidly do things like that, their treasury would dry up and that means the rulers have to increase taxes. Increasing taxes means discontent among the people. Increased discontentment means, chances of an increase in traitors, bandits or rebels. None of these are considered good. As amander of battle, he was privy to such information. he knew that because of the discrepancies, there would be a lot of deaths, but if deserters appeared, the number would grow beyond controble. After that, even if the monster tide was stopped, it wouldn''t be a win for the kingdom. Even if the kingdom doesn''t bat their eyes over a few deaths wouldn''t mean that the kingdom wants to lose its fighting forces. The military may be the main fighting force but they are securing borders from enemy nations. They can''t stop anything that''s happening in the inside of the kingdom. For that, adventurers are required. Every now and then, they would go out and hunt monsters. It would usually keep their poption in check or else there would be more monster tides than before. Losing too many of her may cause a domino effect, causing more deaths in the future. This is absolutely not something the kingdom wants. So themander has to raise the morale or instill fear in them from deserting and reduce teh deaths as much as possible. Chapter 227: Fighting the Monster Tide (3) (3rd PoV) Themander was able to instil fear and morale in the troops that were on the wall. Many were considering to desert but they knew that if they did so now, they would be branded as deserters and no one would hire them in the future. Even if they did, that would be for a dirt cheap price. Once they were branded as deserters, no guilds would be interested in buying their hunt either. So they have to sell that for cheap too. There is another choice for them though. In fact, there are many choices. They can sell in the ck market, which was not regted by the kingdom or any guild that operates in the open. Though it is illegal, many turn a blind eye to the operations. It was said that the ck market was run by some powerful nobles, which is why it has survived to this day. The problem was that no one would be willing to partner up with deserters, as they would be afraid. Adventuring means fighting with monsters most of the time. If that person deserts them when they are in the middle of a fight, the chances of losing their lives would be higher. So no one would dare to trust their lives to such a person. So the cklisted deserter would have no choice but to hunt solo and sell what he can hunt. If that is hard, they can be bandits though that would put them not just on the ck list but on the death list. There are a lot of bandit groups that roam the wilds. Though the kingdom tries to put them down, there would always be one or two new bandit groups sprouting every now and then. Most of the bandit groups consist ofmon people. They are usually farmers who lost theirnds and couldn''t make a living. There would be awakened too but their numbers are usually low. Most awakened can make a lot based on their strength. Unlike other professions, as the number of awakeners is lower and the demand is higher, they would make money. The ones who be bandits among the awakened are either evil or lost everything to someone powerful and wants revenge, or something along the line. If there are awakened among the bandits, they would be the leaders. If they are not, then there is already a leader who is awakened. As a bandit, one can just pige everything from travellers. If what they pige is useful they can use it or sell it in the ck market. Once you get cklisted, everythinges back to the ck market. Whatever you wanted to do would lead you to the ck market. The problem would if you became a bandit, you would make it into the wanted list of the kingdom. Everyone would be on the lookout to hunt you for the bounty. So you can''t enter a town or the city if you are wanted. If you can''t enter a city, then you can''t ess the ck market. Though it was called a ck market, it still operates in a city, not in the wild. So to ess it you have to enter a city. To make sure that they were not recognized, some would wear masks when they were out on banditry. If no one knows that they are bandits, then they can easilye and go to the cities and sell their items in the ck market. This is something that happened more than a few times and still happening. This is why it became difficult to deal with these bandits. When they used to openly attack others, their faces were recorded and would be hunted when they were identified but they are not idiots. they too learned with time and learned to mask their faces and any other identification details as much as possible. They are also bing very strategic. They would never attack arge caravan, no matter how enticing the goods are. This was because there were many times that the kingdom eradicated bandits using such a rge caravan with treasures" strategy. Sure there are many greedy ones that still fall for such schemes, but the intelligent ones wouldn''t. Even if they are intelligent, they are doing something that they shouldn''t do and would slip up one way or another. Once that happens, they would get caught and executed. There is no way out if you be a bandit. --- There are many ways to survive even if you are branded as a deserter and are cklisted and banditry is just one of the such ways. Though that may be the case, they don''t want to do it but some have ideas about how to make sure that they get away and not end up on the cklist. They were just waiting for the right time but the words of themander stopped those thoughts. If they are cklisted by chance, then no one would be willing to help their families too. It would not just be them who would be an outcast but their families would have to face the humiliation too. So when the timees when they would need help, no one would be willing to help them. Though themander couldn''t say everything, everyone understood what would happen if they desert. This made most give up their options of running away but there are still a few who are looking to escape a certain death. To them, it doesn''t matter whether they are cklisted or not. Life is all that matters. The future is for the future. There is no reason to get stressed about that now. What happens would happen. --- "Long Rangebatants, get ready, the monsters are upon us. Once they were in range, attack them as you wish, but don''t waste your energy", themander ordered the troops out loud. The first to engage the monsters would be the archers, mages and every other long-range attacker. Even though they would be thest toe face to face with the monsters, they would engage first because their attacks can reach the monsters when they are at a distance. Their attacks are mainly not to kill but to disrupt them. This is to make it easier for the close-rangebatants to not get overwhelmed by the monsters. Magnus is about to begin his first monster tide battle and as a long-range attacker, his position is on the wall with other long-range attackers. Chapter 228: Fighting the Monster Tide (4) (Magnus''s PoV) Once the monsters were spotted, everyone got into positions. Since I am a warlock and that means a long-range attacker, my position was on the wall, from where I would attack the monsters. There was no need for me to go face-to-face with them at this point, that would be forter. "Long range, attack now", themander ordered us. Once themand was out, thousands of magic skills lightened up the sky. There are also arrows from the archers but in the presence of spells, they are almost invisible. I too started my attack. In order to not attract too much attention from others and also from the monsters, I kept to basic skills, not my AOE attack skills. Attracting the attention of either party is not good, and with the smaller number of human defenders at this point, it is easy to discern who attacked who. I hope others will be here quickly. Even with my high number in the attributes section, I could be easily overwhelmed by numbers. For me to use my skills without attracting anyone''s attention was to use the skills when no one would be able to discern whose attacknded where. The Monster Tide is a walking EXP packet that was delivered and I need to make the most of it. If I had dungeons, I wouldn''t need to worry about these things but I don''t. So I have to make do so with what I get. If I miss out on this, there would be no way for me to find some high-level dungeon that I could visit every now and then, without raising suspicions from anyone. It would be absolutely impossible, at least not at my rank and skill level. If I had stealth-type skills and that too at level 70 or above while I am at least Tier-7 rank, then maybe I could fool others but reaching such a height is not easy to do so. So, a chance like this can''t be wasted no matter what. I need to make the best of it. Your next read is at m v|l-e''-NovelBin I attacked only Tier-3 monsters and below. Even though I am only Tier-2 to others, it was not umon to cross-kill at that rank. So no one was surprised when I started to kill Tier-3 monsters. I also made sure that I didn''t cross that rank. I never went for Tier-4 or above monsters as that would attract too much attention. As time went on, I was sure that no one would be paying attention, so I increased my attack frequency. I made sure that no one would be able to discern about that. --- It was not just me but everyone was killing faster than they usually do. They had no other choice. The defences wereid down based on how many troops would be fighting the monsters at the same time. Now the number is not there and so we had to halt their movements as much as we could. Everyone increased their attack frequency and I did too. The monsters started to cross the first defence line. There are only three defence lines before they can enter the town. The wall where I am standing is the third and final defence line for the town. Slowly, these monsterspletely broke the first defence line. A lot of adventurers and others who came to help fell. It was very bad. Though I know that the monsters consume everything to improve their strength, this is my first time seeing them eating humans. Puke!!! I couldn''t hold myself and puked my breakfast. The puke was in front of me and the smell and sight of that didn''t help me much. Already the visuals of human internals and monsters eating are making my mind fuzzy and now my own puke which was the result of that scenario is making it worse. Luckily, a few spaces beside me are vacant, as not everyone has arrived to take their ces. I immediately changed my ce. Well, this long into the battle, no one would care about their ce anymore. Where are those bastards? There were sirens when the monsters were spotted from the top of the wall. The battle with these monsters has started and is ongoing for a few minutes which should have been more than enough for those sleeping to get ready and get their asses here. What''s holding them back? Wait did any traitors appear or any underground monsters dug through the ground and entered the town? Only these two scenarios should be the reasons that held them back froming to the front line. If those are not the reasons, then...I don''t know what I should do with them. I mean, a lot of the warriors who took positions in the first line of defence are dead. If they don''t appear soon, the second and probably the third line will fall as well. Then even if we win, the losses would be too much to consider it as a win. --- A few minutester... Luckily for us, before too many deaths happened, others who were resting appeared at the defence line stopping the monster''s movement. If it had broken, then the monsters would have appeared near the wall and that means we would have be the prey for them. Once we fell, it would have been the turn of the town and the troops that were still inside. That didn''t happen. They were stopped before they broke the defence once and for all. I mean, many would have been shivering especially the ones on the wall, whose speciality is long-range warfare, not close-rangebat. Once the enemies close the distance, that would mean the end of them. This is why I learned how to fight at close range. Though I learned close-rangebat, my true power was still in long range and that means, it''s best for me that those monsters stay at a distance from me, rather than near me. Though I kept my distance, I have a feeling that I might fight them in close range soon. Chapter 229: Fighting the Monster Tide (5) My feeling was right. It seems I had to fight the monsters at close range. This is not good. Maybe I can survive but what about others? Maybe a few might have learned close-rangebat methods but I don''t think that there would be many. Moreover, I don''t have any skills that may be useful for attacking at close range, and I wonder if anyone here would have such a method. Even if by chance they did, would being a spell caster, the levels of those skills might be very low. It looks like this town is doomed. --- Two Hours earlier... This is more like it. Now with many troops appearing at the defence lines, the advancement of the monsters was halted. Moreover, with so many troops it gave me the perfect cover to use my AOE attacks, though my skill is not an actual AOE, rather it is a multi-target attack skill to be precise. I used [shadow bolt volley] and none were the wiser. None of the defenders had the time to pay attention to me at this time, as the first defence line was broken and the second line almost did before the remaining troops joined us and strengthened the line. With one of the three lines gone, no one had the time or strength to observe how others were attacking. Moreover, I keep my attacks to only Tier-3 and below, which are not the core monsters. I am thinking about moving to Tier-4 as my target, but I should do that subtly, without others knowing. Hmm, even if others don''t see, this war badge would record that. I have no idea how it works but what I know is that it has to be on our body for it to work. The person at the counter told me to wear the badge during the battle or else it can''t count the kills. I can''t let anyone know that I can kill Tier-4 monsters or above. They would be my EXP packets and nothing else. I believe that I killed a lot of Tier-3 monsters and that would suffice to show that I can handle well even if my opponent is a rank higher. Moreover, I would move on to Tier-4 and above, but that''s after I kill a decent amount of Tier-3 and below monsters. I came here to show my prowess and gain some points along the way. Though my main concern was EXP, those two are also the reasons behind my arrival here. So I need a bnce way to achieve all three goals. I know that Ang''s father will be arranging her marriage after this year is over and I need to show my power but I am still Tier-2 and a student at that. There is no way one would believe that I killed a Tier-4 by myself. Thinking that killing a Tier-4 might clear the way for me to Ang is so wrong. No one would believe that a Tier-2 killed a Tier-4. They would automatically assume that I have cheated. It would be a hassle and it may even block me from getting Ang. So it''s best to impress others in a modest way. No shy shenanigans. --- Half an Hourter... I left to the rear of the nk, to rest my body. Though I am not in need of rest and recuperation, I had to do that to keep up my disguise as a weak person. This is such a hassle. I could have been reaping a good amount of EXP from this tide but "being a weak person", I can''t show more than I should. If not for the fact that I might be a target due to other''s greed or jealousy, I would have done a lot in this tide and also saved many from their unfortunate deaths. I can''t do anything because I am not alone. I have a loving family, which I don''t want to lose no matter what. If I be a target, so would they. So I yed the part of a weak Tier-2 warlock and decided to rest for a while. --- I returned to the battlefield after resting for a few minutes. I didn''t go to the same sector as before. Since the defences were in such disarray no one was where they were supposed to be. This gave me a path to use to attack Tier-4 monsters. Once again I started to attack the monsters but this time I attacked Tier-4 monsters. To make sure that there would be no witnesses, I threw the badge in my personal space, rather than the space ring. Though the clerk said that keeping the badge in the space ring would disrupt its functioning and would stop counting the kills, to make sure that would be the case, I threw it in my personal space. After killing my first Tier-4 here, I took out the badge and checked it. The count didn''t increase and the highest kill was that of Tier-3. Knowing that it worked, I threw that back into my personal space and went on hunting more Tier-4 monsters. I could kill Tier-5 but killing them would surely bring both the defenders and monsters attention on me. The highest monster here is a Tier-6 but there are only four as far as I can see and they are at the back of the battle and were doing nothing. Well, I can''t say that they were doing nothing, they were just ordering around other monsters. So the main concern of this tide was the Tier-5 monsters. If I kill them, I would be noticed. Even though my badge would not show the kills, killing a Tier-5 and attracting everyone''s attention is suicide. Though nothing would happen to me at this monster tide but my fame would be spread too much and that would bring the attention of the evil people, who like to kill or experiment on geniuses. If that happens, my family would be implicated too. That is not a good thing. So I decided not to be greedy and stick to killing Tier-4 monsters only. --- Roar! Huh, wait, did I hear the roars from the rear? Did I hear a monster roar from the inside of the town? Oh, shit, we are so fucked. Chapter 230: Attack of the Underground Monsters (1) We were screwed at the highest level. Those were roars of monstersing from the rear and that means there are monsters in the town. How did they enter the town withoutpletely breaking the defence lines that we hadid out to stop them? There is only one answer and that is Underground Monsters. Now that those monsters became part of the tide, then anyone would say that we are utterly screwed. Even though I have sensory skills, it would be quite difficult with too many magic skills flying around. There are many who are using Earth magic. Unless they have an affinity with Earth element, it would be difficult to differentiate between who is who. This makes it very difficult for me to understand where the underground monsters are. If there were no people around, maybe it may be easy, though never verified, as I never went to the areas that are famous for underground monsters. I read them about in books though. There is a separate section about these monsters in the Nexus library, though that was not the case in my family''s library nor in the academy''s library. Speaking of libraries, there are a few more books that I have yet to read in the academy''s library. Though the students have ess to all books, they restricted them by dividing the books into two parts. The first part was essible to students from year one to year three. Only year four and five students can ess all books. When I was in my first year, Ipleted most of the books from the first part. Afterpleting that I forgot about that. As I spent most of the fourth year at first to rx and then to improve after the bad news from Ang, I had no time to read those books. I should read them before the year is over. There are a lot of books in Nexus than there are in the academy but those books are written in a time long before now. Sure, much of what existed back then was far advanced than now but much of the knowledge worked during those times. Much has changed by now and some wouldn''t be the best ways as they used to be. So, it''s best to learn modern knowledge in addition to ancient knowledge. I could use whatever was needed, whenever that was needed, making the best use of everything that is avable to me. Wait, why am I speaking about libraries and books? Damn, my mind did that again. What I should be concentrating on should be the underground monsters that were able to gain ess to the rear of the frontline and into the town. Now that the town was breached, we are royally fucked up. In the front, there are monsters that were fighting all this time. Now there are underground monsters that entered the town. The real problem was not those underground monsters, as they usually don''te out to fight. The problem was the tunnels that they made, which would make it possible for monsters to enter the town without fighting the frontline. Once that happens, we will be facing attacks from both sides. The ones on that, who would be facing this new attack front, are not warriors who would fight the monsters in close range. They are long-range attackers and once those monsters reduce the distance between them and us to zero, we long-range attackers are fucked up, especially archers. Mages, Warlocks etc... who use magic skills would have some defence skills or teleportation skills which are far more powerful than what Archers could get from the market. This is why I say they are more fucked up than us. Hmm, thinking about defence skills, I don''t have any either. Except for a Mind Defence skill and a few resistances, I never learned anything else rted to defence. Until now, I never needed them. Since most of the time I spent at home or at the academy, I felt quite safe. Even though I went out for a few missions, since no one knows my true power and has no reason to doubt that I am not Tier-2, I had it simple. I didn''t take missions that could cause damage to me, until now. Even when faced with all those monsters in the Nexus training halls, I didn''t think about getting a defence skill as I was never in danger in there. Even if I wanted them, it was not easy to get hands-on defence skills as they are very much in demand. Out of all the divisions of skills known, the highest demand for skills belongs to the defence category skills. What most people want is to live longer and enjoy it, whenpared to killing others. Unless they are someone who is sadistic and just wants to kill others just because they feel like it, most people wouldn''t choose the option of killing at first. So defence skills are pretty much in demand, as they would save your life, which is most people''s first concern. This makes it almost impossible to get them. Once they appear, they would disappear as if they never appeared. As soon as anyone hears that a defence skill is up for selling, many would swarm that area, trying their luck to buy that, but even such scenarios are very low. The only chance one could have defence skills was if they were able to gain them through their luck or if their families had such a skill in vaults. Yeah, unless there was a need, no one would be stupid enough to sell a defence skill. Most of the time, they are exchanged for some other skill or resource that was not easy to find. Gold would never be an option in situations like that. I was neither lucky enough to find a defence skill nor there is such a skill in my family''s vault. I mean there could be a defence skill in the family n''s vault but I am sure that my parents don''t have one. Those skills are usually reserved for n heirs or talented youngsters. I am not the heir nor have I shown them my talents, making me an average one who is good enough. Continue reading at m|v-l''e -NovelBin Luckily, I have Evasion skills, which would be very useful in a few minutes. Chapter 231: Attack of the Underground Monsters (2) With the Evasion skills in my arsenal, I am more than sure that I can escape those monsters attacks but I am not so sure about others. I have Evade, Dodge, and Sprint skills and these have crossed level 20. Though that may not be very high but with my high AGI attribute number, they should be more than enough for these monsters. I don''t think that Tier-5 or Tier-6 monsters appeared here. Most likely they should be only Tier-4 and below, which are not dangerous for me in the first ce. There are only two reasons why I am thinking of precautions and those are the huge number of monsters and those damned underground monsters. Even though I am very strong, these quality-less monsters could easily overwhelm me through their huge number. There is a saying that even ants can overwhelm a snake with their huge number. I mean, those ant colonies should have thousands of ants living in there. Even though fighting a snake is stupid and the number of deaths would be staggering, they can still kill the snake by overwhelming the snake with their numbers. Now considering my situation, those monsters are carrying out the orders from higher rank monsters. There was no way out for them, except to kill or be killed. Unless those high-ranking monsters retreat or call for retreat, these monsters won''t stop with their attacks. They would continue to attack us until they were dead. There was no other choice for them. Being weak is the original sin, I should say that would be a very aptparison in this situation. Since those monsters are weak, they are easily controlled by those high-ranking monsters, making it possible for them to make those low-ranking monsters attack us first, thinning us out and weakening us before they take action. This is their usual M.O. First, they would send the hordes of low-rank monsters, which are of no importance. Those high-ranking monsters are not idiots. They know that those monsters would not be enough to bring every one of us down but that''s not their orders anyway. Those monsters are to clear the lower ranking humans from defence and tire out the high rankers. This would make it easy for those monsters when they attack. Sometimes, there would even be a high-rank monster, an unseen one, which would be controlling every monster present through the visible ones. It can be considered a trump card of the monster tide. There is nothing these low-rank monsters can do to survive, just hoping that those high-rank monsters somehow die before them. This would free them, and they could run away from the battlefield. Monsters are no different than any other race. They always chose survival above anything else. They would fight for theirst, only if they had no choice other than that, which is what their condition is at this moment. This is something that the higher-ups know but that''s where the trouble lies. It''s not easy to kill the high-ranking monsters with too many low-ranking monsters alive. If someone tries to attack those high-ranking monsters, hoping to end the monster tide before time, that would be something that can be said easier than get done. The high-ranking monsters are not idiots as I said before. If someone appears to kill them, they won''t engage with them, rather they would turn their subordinates to stop the high-ranking humans from reaching them. Even if those monsters failed to stop the humans, by the time the humans were able to reach them, they would be exhausted which would give the monsters an advantage. In those cases, the chances of humans failing and dying are higher than getting the job done. the higher-ups know that too and the reason why they wouldn''t be eager to kill those high-ranking monsters early. Even though there are assassins who can approach them undetected, the chances of killing such high-ranking monsters in one shot would be very low. To make that possible, they have to send a high-ranking assassin for that. They can''t send just one, as that would alert other higher-ranking monsters and would lead to the death of that assassin, whether he was sessful or not. Even if the higher-ups send the required number of assassins for this, they should act perfectly to eliminate all of them at the same time. That would be a very hard task and not easy to aplish. Even if one of them escapes, then that would be the death of those assassins. Unlike monsters, reaching a high rank is not easy for humans. The only reason humans can fight against arge number of monsters is their ingenuity. The civilized races all have weapons, potions, scrolls, etc... which are very useful in fighting or surviving a monster that was more powerful than them. If not for the aids, weak creatures like humans would have long stopped existing in this world. Read new chapters at m_v-l''e|-NovelBin Even though we have those resources that improve the survivability, it was not easy to reach a high-rank as that would require that person toplete the promotion mission on their own. This is why any high-ranking person was valued much more than others. Unless the probability of survival is higher or if there is no other choice, higher-ups wouldn''t send high-rankers on such missions, especially assassins, who are the weakest ofbat professionals. The only reason they are feared was that one shot that they get and most of the time, that would be more than enough to kill the enemy. In this tide, they are certainly not sure if those are the only Tier-6 or if there is a Tier-7 monster. It would be a waste to send the assassins in such situations. --- My other concern was about the underground monsters. Though I never came face-to-face with those underground monsters, from what I read about them, they are more than enough to give me the creeps. I don''t want to face those damned monsters. Most of these monsters are worm monsters, which creeps me out. Moreover, no underground monster would ever show their full bodies above ground. If they see that the situation id bad for them, they would just slip back into the ground. Once they do that, it would be difficult to kill them and it would be stupid to follow them into those tunnels. Following monsters into underground tunnels, which would be their territory, is nothing but stupidity. I am not that stupid. Chapter 232: Attack of the Underground Monsters (3) I am not stupid. I am not going to face those worms at all, much less follow them back into their territories, where I would be vulnerable in every way. Going into the enemy''s territory is a stupid move in general. In the case of the underground monsters, it would be far worse than just being stupid. It would be on a whole new level. Entering those tunnels means death for sure. Unlike while fighting above the ground, where thendscape wouldn''t be so congested and restrain our moves, it would be totally different in those tunnels. No dangerous moves can''t be executed as that could bring the stability of the tunnel and would copse, leading you to be buried alive. If you are powerful enough or not injured by that fiasco, there is a small chance of escaping but those chances are low. It was not just the attacking that would be hindered, the movement skills would be useless in there as there is no way that these tunnels would run in a straight line. Using movement skills in those curved tunnels is very risky as they could lead to colliding with the rocks inside and potentially injuring us, making it easy for the monsters to hunt us down easily. Yeah, normally when it was monster hunting monster scenarios out in the wild. In those scenarios, no monster would venture into these tunnels dug by these underground monsters but now it is different. They are all controlled by high-ranking monsters. It means their targets would be only the humans and monsters would not be on the list. So those monsters can easily enter the tunnels. If any idiot enters the monsters thinking that there are only the worms, they would definitely be in for a surprise. They would surely be weed by the hundreds, if not thousands of monsters that would be in those tunnels. I mean, those tunnels are definitely for that purpose. The worms would create paths, I mean tunnels, which would lead directly into the town bypassing the defence lines. The monsters wouldn''t need to fight the frontline troops who are obviously very good at close range and can halt them, while the long-range attackers from the top of the wall can eliminate them. Fighting there would be like voluntarily letting them kill you. Though the low-ranking monsters may be dumb, the high-ranking ones are not. They led such a battle and wouldn''t leave without getting some benefits. Losing all the monsters quickly would only lead them to retreat without gaining any benefits. That is something they can''t ept. So using whatever means possible they need to gain a few benefits. Now using the worms, they created tunnels bypassing the defences. Using these tunnels, the monsters would arrive in the town. Only healers, wounded and other support personnel are at the rear. They are the ones who didn''t hone theirbat moves. So they would die quickly if we didn''t move to save them. if they die, there would be none to take care of the wounded and that would mean there would be too many deaths, creating holes in the defences. Moreover, the first line of defence from the rear is us, who are only good at long-rangebat. if those monsters gain the distance between us, we are doomed to fall and with the loss of long-rangebatants and the support, others would fall too. It''s only a matter of time. If we leave the positions, the front-line attack capability decreases and if we don''t, we are sure to die slowly one by one and then the town will fall. Unless new reinforcements appear, we are in a bind. As I said, we are royally fucked. --- (3rd PoV) Just before the Underground Monsters appeared... Though it looked as if the ones fighting on the frontline were facing all the difficulties, the ones at the rear were also facing their own battle. With the first line broken, there are many deaths and also many injuries. Many with broken arms and legs, many times ripped bellies appeared at the rear. The healers were busy with healing these injuries, while other support personnel had to go to the front line to bring the injured. Under usual situations, the fighters were the ones who would usually bring the injured to the rear to get healed. With the first defence line broken, everyone is trying their best to push the monsters back. So there was no one free enough to bring the injured. Even the exhausted ones would have not much rest time as once they recovered from exhaustion had to start fighting again. There was no true rest for anyone. This was not how it was supposed to go, but whining wouldn''t change and that''s something everyone understood clearly. So they followed as much as they could with the changes but that was not easy as these personnel are actually required at the rear. They have a purpose here but that was disrupted, making it problematic at the rear. The only sce would be that the fighters at the front are pushing the monsters back to the first defence line. As long as that line holds, the workload on the rear would be reduced. Hoping for good conditions soon, the healers and other rear-end workers started working withoutining. Things were turning for the better, maybe it would return to the state that it was supposed to be. So it would be a waste of time and energy to bicker and whine about those matters, instead of concentrating on the work. Everything started to get better at the rear and then... Boom! Suddenly the earth fractured and something came out of those fractures. Roar! Roar! Monsters!!! Monsters appeared at the rear, and these were not normalnd or flying monsters that the frontline troops were fighting against. These are giant worms, which are usually underground, only to surface for food. With the appearance of the underground monsters, tranquillity at the rear broke down. The fall of Repest has begun. Chapter 233: The fall of Repest has begun (1) The fall of Repest has begun. The fall didn''t just start now. It started hours before even the monster tide appeared near the town. Yeah, the first step of the fall was that the town didn''t get the warning regarding the monster tide''s move up in the invasion timeline. The scouts failed to report back to the town. This made it easy for the monsters to catch the defenders with their pants down. Though once they were in the eye line from the top of the walls, and the town was alerted, it was alreadyte enough for the monsters to take advantage of the situation. The few readily avable defenders made themselves into a makeshift defence to stop the monsters until the others joined them, but they couldn''t hold on much. The first line of defence broke down easily, killing many of the defenders and injuring many more. The injured were carried to the rear but even they were not ready. The good thing was that they knew not to trust the estimate and were prepared for an earlier attack of the monster tide. So preparations were done but the personnel were not at the positions. So even if every preparation was done beforehand without the personnel, it became a hassle. Other defenders and healers appeared but not before a lot of damage has already happened. Even then they fought with all their strength and started to push the monsters back. The healers worked till exhaustion to heal the injured fighters, making sure that they were ready to get back to the frontlines in no time. Such hard work paid off. The defenders were sessful in pushing back the monsters back to the first defence line. Though most of the defences ced there were broken, it was still better to push the monsters to here, rather than fight near to the town, where it would be possible for the monsters to slip by and reach the walls. If they reach the walls, there are no close-rangebatants there, only long-rangebatants. It would mean death to those defenders as they are usually weak at close-range battles. From there it would be easy for them to breach the walls and reach the town. Though most of the town residents were relocated, not all were. To make this battle sessful, there are still people needed. So manymon people are still there with many nonbatant awakeners. They would be worse than the defenders on the walls. They most likely never killed a monster in their lives nor fought anything either. So once the monsters appear in the town, that would be a death sentence to the support staff in the town. There is no other oue. This is why, before the battle even began, the town was fortified in every possible way possible. Even the ground was fortified with concrete and other defence measures, so that no underground ground monster may find a route into the town bypassing the defenders. The town and the support should have been safe with all that measures but they weren''t. --- The underground monster burrowed tunnels from under the walls of the town. They knew that as long as the defences stood tall, the town would never fall. To destroy these defences many steps were taken. The scouts were stopped before they could ry the information to the town catching them off-guard. Even that was not enough. Though the defenders are absent, there were measures well prepared long before, making it difficult to destroy the defence. With the sacrifice of thousands of monsters, the first line of defence was broken and only two were left but the defenders appeared before that could happen and pushed the monsters back to the first defence line. This irked the high-ranking monsters to no end. They ordered the worms to dig tunnels under the walls. They saw that the defences may still stand even after 90% of their forces fell. That is not a good oue. If that happens, the high-rankers from the humans could easily deal with them. Their deaths would happen for sure in that situation. That is something they can''t let happen. They needed to break the defences before the scenario where the humans would get the advantage. There is only one thing they could do and that is to get rid of the defenders on the walls. Of all the defenders, those ones are the ones causing the maximum damage. The high-ranking monsters are intelligent enough to under what is happening. They knew that the defenders on the walls were using magic in very high amounts, while the ones on the ground were not using that much magic. The defenders on the ground are physically strong but are weak in the magic category, while it is the opposite for the ones on the walls. These high-ranking monsters have a lot of experience fighting other monsters and humans too. They can easily understand that for humans, there are not many who are both proficient in magic and at the same time have great physiques. One or the other would becking for them. So to eliminate those magic users, the best way was to get close to them but the defenders on the ground won''t let that happen. Those troops knew that once the magic users were down, then the entire defence would go up in mes. So the best way to get to them is from the back. The only way was through the underground. If any flying monster appears, the magic users would bring it down before they can approach them, because those are very much visible. Even though the flying monsters had a chance of reaching them, with their long-range magic attacks, the flying monsters were dropping dead easily. They ordered the worms to dig tunnels for the monsters to enter the town, and attack those magic users from behind. There is no way that humans are prepared for such an asion, and they are sure to fall quickly using a pincer attack. Once the magic users are down, the defence won''t stand for long. Victory would be soon theirs. Chapter 234: The fall of Repest has begun (2) The victory of the monsters is all but assured as long as the magic users are dead. To make sure that happened, they silently sent their underground monsters to dig tunnels under them and kept quiet about that by making all defenders concentrate on them, making them forget about what was happening underground. The high-rank monsters are not dumb and they know that humans are very clever. They should be watching out for any surprise attacks, especially from underground. Even monsters have skills that can detect movements underground. There was no reason to not believe that humans don''t possess such skills. It was most likely that they do have such a skill and that too in more than one. So the monsters were very careful when they executed their n of infiltrating the town using the underground as a means. The worms were ordered to dig, much deeper than what they usually do and then towards the town before turning upwards after they bypassed the walls. The worms did what they were ordered to do so and everything worked in their favour. The humans failed to find out about those worms digging under their feet. Though the process was long and it took a long time to do so. They were sessful in their endeavour and were able to dig tunnels from the rear of the monster tide directly into the heart of the town where the support personnel were located. Now the pathways are created, it''s time for them to act and do what they came here for, to destroy the town. --- Themand was alerted once the roars of the monsters and the cries of humans came from the town. They understood that the monsters were able to breach through the defences and reached the heart of the town. From there the rear of the defence is in danger. The support personnel can do nothing to those monsters. Even the ones who went there to rest or to get healed may not be able to stop those monsters. How much help they can be? They are out of energy or can''t exert their power in the fight. It was the reason why they were there in the first ce. Themand is not made of idiots who think that those injured and weakened persons can help in this situation. There would be no such help and themand has to move some fighters from the front line to there quickly or else those monsters would be on the rear, where only long-range fighters are present. Though some of them are experienced enough and can fight even at close range, most of them would die in a direct confrontation with the monsters. Themand can''t let such a thing happen at any cost. After all, among those long-range attackers, were mages and other spell casters, who are the ones that cause huge damage in a battle over arge area. Unlike the close-range fighters, the ones who use magic as their primary attack method usually cause a lot of damage to the enemies in battles like these. They may suck at one-to-one fights but in battles like these, they are the mainponent. Themand can''t lose those fighters and once they do, it would be the end of this battle one way or another, unless a Tier-7 or above professional appears. They already sent a distress signal as soon as the Monster Tide appeared. At that point, they sent it because the scouts failed to inform them about the tide that neared the town. Either those scouts are dead or they turned against humanity. Only those two reasons would justify the reason why no one was made aware of the monster tide appearing before their time. If the scouts were dead, then that means either the monsters that appeared were far more dangerous than the initial estimation or someone leaked their possible locations to the monsters. If not for that, there is no way for someone to find Tier-6 Assassins. Ten Tier-6 Assassins were sent as scouts and no one has reported back, making it almost impossible to act sneakily against the high-rank monsters in the tide. These assassins are from the military itself. So the chances of them being traitors are not very likely. So either someone else turned against the kingdom or the monsters are very dangerous. In either case, calling in reinforcements from the capital is the right move. Stay connected through m-v l|e''-NovelBin When themand thought that once the capital sent reinforcements either would be fine, found themselves in a new dilemma, the underground monsters. Those monsters dug tunnels into the town directly bypassing the defences. Now that they are vulnerable in both directions and are doomed to fall. To avoid that catastrophe, now they truly need reinforcements, no matter what. Without the reinforcements to sweep away the monsters, Repest is certain to fall. --- "I need a few spellcasters and a few warriors to follow me into the town", themander shouted out loud. Everyone knew what was going on, once they heard the roars and cries. Monsters somehow entered the town and their backs are now vulnerable. They now have to fight on two sides and that would not end in their favour no matter what. Even though that was the case, they had no choice but to fight with all their strength now. Even the ones who had thoughts of deserting the frontline now may not have a choice of escaping the fight. There might be some chances of escaping while fighting but those chances would be very low. Once themander gave the order, a few spell casters moved from the wall to deal with the pests that entered the town. Once they clear these pests, they can return to the front line where it would be much safer for the spell casters. Unlike the spell casters whose lives were at stake and who had easy ess to the town, the warriors who were on the ground fighting couldn''t return to the town, without leaving gaps in the defence but it was something that couldn''t be avoided. So a few followed themander into the town. Chapter 235: The fall of Repest has begun (3) (Magnus''s PoV) I followed themander into the town. There are others as well but the number is quite low. Before I did so, I sneakily pulled out my war badge and ced it on my armour, making sure that it wasn''t fully visible to others. There was a reason for that. It is so that no one will find out that I haven''t worn it till now. If anyone says that they didn''t see the badge on me, I can easily unveil the badge showing that it was always there, just not visible to everyone. While I was among thousands it was well that if they can''t see the badge but if it was still not visible, with only a few here, then it may cause some suspicion about me. So, I discreetly pinned to my vest, covering it with my overcoat. This is the perfect way to make anyone doubt whether they saw my badge or not at the frontline. --- After the spell casters arrived, themander didn''t directly lunge into the town to save the personnel. He knew that they were important for the survival of the frontline but if we died before saving them, then all would be for nothing. He is not afraid of dying or sacrificing us, but what he is afraid of is that our deaths may be in vain. I can clearly see that in his eyes, or at least I think so. If not why would he be so cautious as we moved? Seeing that I was ''weak'', he put me at the rear as we advanced into the town. Everyone who volunteered are Tier-4 and Tier-5. I stood out like a sore thumb. They are all old veterans, who saw a lot of battles like this and the reason why they volunteered. The young have not volunteered as most likely they didn''t truly understand why breaking the monsters that entered the town is very important or thought that their own lives are worth more than others to simply die by entering the centre of the town at this moment. I can''t find fault with them. They should have their own reasons. Maybe if they die, there will be no one to take care of the family members that they leave behind. They may have small kids, who would grow up without their parents if they die here. As I said before, I am not a saint and I don''t expect others to be one. In fact, being a saintly person is stupid in the first ce. If there are no people depending on them, that would be fine but if there is a family, then dying for others or to earn some money is the stupidest thing to do. Who would take care of the family that they left behind? No one. Not a single one would truly take care of the family that you left behind. If they do, that would be just to get the benefits of doing so. Without benefits, it would be rare to see someone genuinely trying to take care of someone else''s family. They should be saint-like beings to do so, but the chances of idiot saints appearing at the same time and ce are abysmal. If the world is filled with saints, then there would not be so many sufferings in the world in the first ce. Sure there would be deaths caused by monsters, but many deaths in my kingdom don''te from monsters. Only seventy-five percent of killings are due to monsters. The others are due to other humans. This is just an estimate based on the data known. The real percentage may change when things if the causes of every death were to be known. Just think about it. A few years ago, I was almost assassinated in the wilds. If I died, then I would have be food for the wildlife. Even if my parents tried their best, they would not have been able to locate me and would have written me off as dead due to a monster. All unknown deaths in the wild are attributed to death by monsters. Unless there was proof otherwise, those deaths have nothing to do with other humans. You can understand now. Even with so many written off as deaths caused by monsters, a quarter of humans are dying at the hands of other humans. This is an rming factor that can''t be discarded. Though most of those deaths are caused by wars with enemy nations, there are still murders happening every now and then. Some are done by evil people, but some are done due to envy and greed over someone else''s good life. The higher-ups knew that many more killings of that kind were happening in the wild but there was never enough evidence to prove such. There was nothing much to do without enough proof, except to issue warnings every now and then. The kingdom is not a babysitter to watch over every small thing. They can only do things within their power, and expecting them to do more than they are capable of doing so is nothing but being foolish. --- Wait, why am I getting distracted in the middle of the battle? Let''s concentrate on that, or I might not know how I died and it would be rather embarrassing in the afterlife if I got myself killed so easily even after reaching Tier-6. --- "Hold", themander signalled us to stop. He should have something wrong with our situation. Even after half an hour of walk, we never came across any monsters, except for the fleeing people, who were running into the buildings to secure themselves or towards the frontline where most of the fighters are located and is probably safer whenpared to the town. Not seeing any monsters till now is very weird. There could be an ambush waiting for us but luckily, a few shield warriors joined us, increasing our defence strength. If there is one, then those shield warriors can take care of that, I hope so. Rumble! SHIT!!! "Run". Chapter 236: The fall of Repest has begun (4) "Shit, everybody run", themander shouted. We are so fucked. That rumbling sound came from underneath us. The work of the underground monsters at their finest, I should say. How the fuck no one was able to sense their arrival until they are almost upon us? We got alerted because of the rumbling sound made by the earth, rather than by the worms. For some reason, no one was able to sense their arrival including me. Why that was, I couldn''t think of any reason. Though I scoured a few books that were not avable to others from the Nexus library, I didn''t gain every word from the library. There are many sections that are still not avable to me. If only I had ess to all the information, the things I do would be quite different from what I have done and doing right now, possibly. Anyway, it doesn''t matter how they were able to sneak upon us. The main issue was about how to escape the cmity we are facing at the moment. It was not just the underground monsters that we had to face but also other monsters that would spring from those tunnels, while our group was scattered across. It would be one thing when we are a tight-knit group, able to support each other but since we were forced to disperse in various directions, the ability to support each other has decreased by a lot. It means we have to fight the monsters handicapped, in a way. --- The worms didn''t attack us, just drilled holes leading to the surface and disappeared back into their holes. It means they are the fighting forces, rather they are support forces, making it easier for the monsters to attack ces that are usually hard to. "Everyone get ready and be alert", themander shouted, warning us about the impending monsters that are going to spring up from those holes in the ground. Even though that may be the case, he still told us to be on alert if those worms attack us suddenly while we are engaged by the monsters. The monsters don''t care whether other monsters like or die, as long as the humans are dead, but that was not the case for us humans. We can''t have friendly fires, hurting our own troops. This is not a game, where friendly fires are nullified and the yers can fight as they wish without the concern of hurting their allies. This is real life, where a careless attack might reap the life of your ally or, worse someone you know. So one should be always on alert while on a battlefield, not just watching for enemy attacks but also for misfires from their allies. One mayugh at it but in history, there have been many misfires that reaped the lives of their allies, which cost them the battle many times. It was not a fact that can be overlooked. Death of allies means that there won''t be anyone to back you up in a battle. This is why in the academy, there were many team battles during our training in the first two years. Fighting individually and fighting in a team are totally different. In this world, there is a system but it only shows us the status screen, for promotion missions and learning new skills, and nothing else. It is useless otherwise. If like those in-game novels where there is a party function, where no one can hurt their party member, was present then things could have gone much easier but that would have caused the cessation of all the privacy one has. One can''t have everything. To have one, they have to sacrifice something and that is a rule no one can ignore. Even if they think that they overcame that problem, they would be in for a surprise when the revtion of what they sacrificedes out. Yes, no matter if one thinks that they have outmanoeuvred the power of bnce, they themselves had dug a pit for themselves. For example, let''s say that... Wait, why am I again thinking these ridiculous things? Is my brain not in my control? Hmm, that may be the case. I mean my INT value is too much. I don''t think no one would or should have such high INT. Even though there are benefits such as better performance at using magic and learning, there are drawbacks too. Everything has pros and cons, nothing is with just one thing present and the other absent. It''s just difficult to determine those. The drawback with my high INT was that I think too much, much more than what is needed. I am getting too distracted by this. I should find a way to improve my STR and END as soon as possible. I believe they should act as some kind of counteract to these distracting thoughts. It''s more like I hope so. Ah, there are too many things for me to do. --- Roar! [Shadow Bolt] Damn that fucker. Where did ite from? Even though I know that my perception may not be high but I don''t think that they are that low to not sense the monster, until it was upon me. Luckily, all that training paid off. I shot a shadow bolt at the monster reflexively without thinking a second. My body worked on its own, without a proper order from my brain. This is good. As long as my reflex actions are good, I can survive without getting injured from this nightmare of a monster tide. I mean, how did they break that easily into the town? How didn''t we get informed that the monster tide was nearing the town and would be before the estimated time? Now I can''t even hear or sense the monsters until they are very near. Something feels very off about this. Well, it doesn''t matter to me. That was for the higher-ups to figure out. What''s important for me here was to survive this shit without losing any parts of my body. As long as that is achieved, everything else falls on the shoulders of someone else. Chapter 237: Reinforcements (1) Now the greatest problem I have to solve is to survive the monsters. Ah, I shouldn''t have taken this mission, but this is a lot of EXP, which I couldn''t ignore. If I hadn''t taken the mission, I would have regretted it but taking it also is making me regret my decision. Who would have thought that a monster tide of the Tier-6 category would escte to this? Every preparation was done in terms of defence. I mean, there are formations and extra defence walls built to stop the monsters. Most of the town was covered in an extrayer of concrete or defence formations, which were supposed to slow down or even stop the underground monsters from entering the town, but everything went wrong. First, the scouts didn''t inform the town that the monster tide appeared before the estimated time. Many should have thought they were dead, which is why no information was sent. Why are they dead? I don''t think with Tier-6 monsters present in the monster tide, they would have sent someone weak to spy on the monsters. We all know that the senses of monsters are excellent, much better than humans. Many monsters have smell detection skills, which is what helps them to survive in the wild. Some have even better eyesight than Tier-9 beings. Read thetest on m_v-l''e|-NovelBin So getting found out by the monsters is very high unless you send experts from our side. Even with that, either those who made a mistake that made them get caught but even then every one of them getting caught is of low probability. At least one should have survived, or long enough to send a distress signal. Even if there was no information, a distress signal is a shorthand for dangering. The higher-ups would have gotten alerted and we wouldn''t have been caught with our pants down in the first ce. It means that the monster''s sensory skills are almost perfect or there is a Tier-7 or above monster hidden in the tide and it is the true master of all these monsters. If that is true, we are fucked. There is no way that anyone here can fight a Tier-7 or above monster but that may not be true. If there was such a monster, they should have sensed the human powerhouses stationed here. They would have personally attacked and obliterated the human powerhouses. It would have been quick and easy. They wouldn''t need to go around like this, unless that Tier-7 or above monster has a handicap. Just like how not human awakeners are good forbat, not all monsters are good forbat but those types of monsters are usually scarce as the strong would be the only ones that survive in the wild. Other monsters would have obliterated their species, if there were such weak monsters with the potential to reach such a rank. Even my pet Asya, which is not good atbating face-to-face, can control the minds of its opponents. It is how it wins a fight and grows. Sure, being my pet it leaches off some of my EXP but monsters grow by eating. This is why they were always on the hunt to kill other monsters to evolve themselves. Eating unique monsters is not something they would let go of. --- Anyway, if the fault for the failure of the scouts was not the monsters, then that means someone has turned a traitor. Rather than the monster leading the tide being a unique monster, the chances of human traitors among us feel more realistic. Yeah, there are human traitors who believe that the monsters are what should rule us, not other humans, demons or any other race of the world. Humans who believe this belong to Monster Cults and there are more than one. Only people such as them would have betrayed could have weakened the human measures against the monster tide. I mean, all scouts failing to report! Monsters broke through underground into the heart of the town and no one was able to sense their arrival! Now while fending them off, no one was able to sense them until they were upon us. How was that achieved? I don''t think that the monsters have such knowledge to do things. I know some higher-rank monsters are intelligent than humans but intelligent doesn''t mean knowledgeable. Something very fishy is going on here. --- "Don''t give up. We have already called for reinforcements as a precaution when the monster tide showed up and something felt off back then. All you have to do is to hold on until then", themander shouted raising up the morale again. It was not easy to hold on against the influx of the monsters. A few of us died but those positions were quickly filled by the ones who came from the front line. This is causing some gaps in the frontline defence and that is something that we can''t let happen anymore. We can only hold with what we have and hope that the reinforcements appear in time. The higher-ups have already called for reinforcements from the capital and that is very good but it is not easy to do so. Sending away troops to another ce means weakening the ce where the troops were. The higher-ups in the kingdom have to make a decision that wouldn''t cause damage in another ce, trying to save some other ce. It is not an easy decision to make. Monsters are not the only enemies that the kingdom has. Other human nations may take this as a chance to poke the bear, hoping to get some benefits. So the kingdom can''t recklessly send reinforcements either. It also means that the reinforcements may take time to arrive if they were sent. So, we are hoping that they will send some reinforcements, and until then, we can only fight and survive. This is going to be a long day. --- BOOM! "Ahhh, reinforcements", some shouted. Huh, it looks like reinforcements are here. So this would end soon and I can get out of this hell, sooner than I thought. Chapter 238: Reinforcements (2) Your adventure continues at m v|l-e''-NovelBin (Third PoV) "How can this happen?" the Chiefmander of the capital troops mmed heavily on the table as he asked themanders that were present at the meeting. Though they didn''t say anything, their expressions told everything. "You ask us, who should we ask?" this is what they all thought. Everything they knew, the chief knew. There is nothing extra that they only knew. They can''t answer themander that. They can''t say what they thought either as that could be considered insubordination, especially now that the situation they are facing is very problematic. An hour ago, they received news that the monster tide appeared before the estimated time and there was no warning from the scouts. There was no contact from them. It was as if they disappeared up into the air. The message was to send for reinforcements as the estimated number of casualties increased and the chances of the town falling increased too as they were caught with their pants down. To rectify the situation, they needed some reinforcements that would fill in the gaps in the defences that would appear as the battle went on. The higher-ups were deciding on that matter. They can''t just pluck some troops assigned to a location where they were needed, and send them to Repest to resist and end the monster tide. No, they can''t do that because doing that would open gaps in the defence that the enemies can utilize. The higher-ups can''t make such a decision without a proper argument. They need to properly consider the pros and cons of moving the troops that were already deployed. If anything bad happens because they moved the wrong troops, then that would be the end of their career. No one would want that to happen, ever. Moreover, they believed that even if the reinforcements were dyed the town''s defences could hold on for a few hours. Before that, they would send the reinforcements required and would end this problem at the same time decreasing the casualties and damage that could be caused by the monsters. Everything was still under their control and they had yet to lose control over the situation. It was then the news came that the monsters broke through the defences and were able to enter the town. they didn''te in a conservative way after dealing with the defenders and breaking the walls. No, they used underground monsters for this purpose. The underground monsters dug tunnels facilitating the monsters to enter the town. Unlike what they had to face to break through the defence forces and the walls that stopped them from entering, this way was easier. Moreover, they directly entered the core of the town, where only the support personnel and wounded are located. They are not someone who can stand up against the monsters. The support personnel can''t fight and the wounded would not be in a state to fight, making it easy for the monsters to eliminate them. After they were eliminated, their target would be the spell casters, who were usually the ones that caused a lot of deaths among monsters whenever a monster tide appeared. The spell casters, though usually suck at one-on-one fights, when ites torge-scale battles, they are the backbone of any army. The only problem as mentioned was they couldn''t fight enemies that were near them. There are veterans who sought to bury this weakness by learning some closebat skills or weapon arts, but they are very few as training in a skill that doesn''t have anything to do with your ss is a burden. Whenever one ranks up, they get ss skills and they are at the highest level. What the professional has to do is understand that skill well. They won''t need to suffer as if they are learning something new. Of course, even if you get a powerful skill, your rank may restrict the true power of that skill. That was not much of a problem. As long as you rank, you can experience the full capacity of the skill. The problemse from skills that people learn, rather than granted by the system. These skills start from level 1 and end at level 100 but to this day none were able to reach level 100. There were even rumours that maybe level 100 don''t exist or maybe it was not the end. This can''t be verified as of now until someone reaches level 100. Anyway, the issue was there were not many who could challenge the monsters once the rear end of the frontline from the town''s centre. Once that happens, the fall of Repest is guaranteed. The warriors that are fighting on the ground are not weak but most of their skills are not AOE skills. They can''t do much damage to multiple targets as spell casters do. They are well useful for guard duties, to protect something or someone but in these battlefields, unless they cross to Tier-7, they don''t impactrge areas at the same time as the spell casters do. Without the spell caster''s support, they would be overwhelmed by too many monsters at the same time. they can''t fight more at the same time and it is why everyone believes that once the spell casters are gone, they will fall quickly. --- "Now that monsters have breached through the town, there are only two options before us and not much time. One is to order the town to retreat from the town. Two we immediately send reinforcements to support the town from copsing", the chief spoke. Seeing that none of them responded, "Now damn it. Say something about what we should do", he shouted which caused some answers to spill out of their mouths, but they appeared to be arguments rather than solutions. The reason why they didn''t say anything in the first ce was because if their idea brings any damage to the kingdom, then they would be the ones that get punished. Of course, the rewards would be theirs too but the risk was too much now to act. "Shut up everyone. I want a solution, not arguments. If you are too afraid, then I would take the responsibility myself. My decision is to..." Chapter 239: Reinforcements (3) "Shut up everyone. I want a solution, not more arguments. If you are too afraid, then I will take responsibility for it and I have made a decision. I have decided to send reinforcements from the Western troops, where the chances of enemy attacks are low", the Chief announced. "As you have ordered", themanders agreed and proceeded to ry the orders to the troops. He decided to use Western troops for two reasons. They were near Repest town, and the second reason was that they had a sh with the enemy nation a few months ago. This makes it possible that the enemy wouldn''t act for some time again. SO taking troops from this one is the logical choice, as taking soldiers from any other divisions may attract attacks from the enemies. The chief wanted to curse the damn greed of the kingdoms. Monsters are the enemies of every kingdom and empire but they are never united even during a crisis caused by the monsters. The chief knew that it would be hypocritical of him to criticize others when he himself did what the enemies would do to them. Of course, as a military man, he didn''t like that one bit, but orders are orders. He has to obey orders from the king. There is no other way out for him. Though he carried out the orders, he was never in favour of them. He even wondered if power corrupts people so much that they won''t see the big picture. There is nothing wrong with him thinking about it like that. All the kingdoms are human kingdoms. Even if they aren''t, monsters are themon enemies of humans and it should be enough to not cause more trouble for the nations that are facing a monster crisis. Though that would be an ideal world, it''s not a real world, where everyone is always looking for personal gains, even if thates at the price of someone''s misery. They wouldn''t care and that''s the reality of this world. Now because of the fear that the other nations may take advantage of the transfer of troops, the reinforcements are dyed, which only made it worse for the town and also for them. The reinforcements that they had to send have dramatically increased in light of the new information about the breaking into the town. Explore stories at m,v l''e-NovelBin The chief wondered if there were even higher tier monsters present in the tide, "Also add that two Tier-7 are to go with the reinforcements", he added. He has a feeling that some powerful monster that they didn''t see is ying the war from the shadows. If not for that, there is no other answer for why the battle is going in this way, rather than the anticipated way. Sure that could be because of the cult members, but those cult members often work for the high-tier monsters who want to make humans their ves or eradicate humans from the face of the world. So he had a feeling that a higher-ranking monster was behind this and using the cult pawns to make the town fall. He can''t let that happen and the reason why he ordered to add two Tier-7, just in case. It''s better to be safe than sorry. Themanders got confused by they did what they were ordered. It was not their role to question their superiors. It would be for the royalty to question these orders if they want to. There is no need to stress about something that doesn''t concern them. Soon orders were sent to the Western Troops, and the soldiers packed their weapons and other supplements for the uing battle. They were already briefed on what they would be facing and they packed their supplies ordingly. --- (Magnus''s PoV) Reinforcements! Ah, finally the reinforcements are here, which would remove all the stress umted on my shoulders. With their support, it would be easier to remove these pests from the town and secure the rear of the frontline. Once that was done, the frontline could concentrate fully on their duties of eliminating the monsters without worrying that the monsters coulde from the back and attack them. So the reinforcements should soone here. This is very nerve-wracking. These fuckers for reasons are moving in a stealthy manner. Until they were upon me, I couldn''t sense them. [Shadow bolt] Fuck that was close. I was distracted by the news of the arrival of the reinforcements, and that fucker almost took advantage of it. [Shadow Bolt] [Shadow Bolt] Those fuckers took advantage alright. Half of us are dead. Everyone who came along with themander to stop the monsters in the town was either injured or dead. Even I got a few scratches from those fuckers. The situation doesn''t look good at all. The morale was all-time low and even themander couldn''t do anything until the shouts of reinforcements were hearding from the frontline. It rejuvenated us, enough tost till those reinforcements came here. --- It took more than fifteen minutes after I heard the shout about the reinforcements before any of them appeared near us. It seems that they went directly to the frontline rather than securing the town first. Idiots. Don''t those idiots know they have to secure their rear first, before eliminating what''s in front of them? Who are the idiots that trained them? It matters not to me anyway. As long as this battle is over, I can return to the academy and lie down for a few days. I mean, it''s very difficult to stop myself from doing more than what I could do. Constraining myself from killing Tier-4 and above monsters is an arduous task than I believed that to be. I need to vent the stress one way or another. It was a mistake to show that I am weak when I am strong enough to fight the top yers of the kingdom. I need to reach Tier-7 and show others I increased by another rank. It''s a temporary solution, not a permanent one. I need to show this world what I am capable of, sooner thanter. After all, peace can be attained through war. I can''t have a stable and calm life if one thinks that I am weak. Only when I show that I am strong, would no one be going around to cause me trouble. Chapter 240: The end of the monster tide Finally, it was done. The monster tide is over. I can finally return to the academy now, though that would take a few hours. Truth to be said, it was not over but it was taken over the reinforcements that came to help us. Most of the defenders are already tired and are in no position to fight anymore, and that included me. I may be strong but those damn monsters, would spring from unseen ces, and that too without sensed by us before they are right in front of us. I have no idea how they are doing that. If they were like the assassins I can understand but the monsters that I faced don''t belong to that category. How they are achieving this is a mystery, something that the higher-ups had to think about, not me. For me, since the reinforcements have arrived, it''s time to rest for a while. --- It took more than three hours before the battle was over. After taking a rest for an hour, I had to join the battle again because even though the reinforcements came, they were not too many. It was said that two Tier-7batants came with the reinforcements but they were nowhere to be seen. It''s mostly likely to improve the morale of the troops. It''s a nice tactic but they are deceiving these poor sods who thought that those Tier-7 would hold the monster tide back if anything disastrous happened. Continue your saga on m|v-l''e -NovelBin [Shadow Bolt] I kept spamming Shadow Bolt, sometimes Shadow Bolt Volley and I didn''t wear the war badge this time. I removed it after I was once again assigned to the frontline once my rest time was up. I saw how many kills I have and they are more than enough for me. Though I lost a lot of points, I learned a lot. Though I may be strong when considered at an individual range, I am not infallible. If the numbers are good enough then smashing me would be as simple as smashing an ant. Moreover, I learned from this monster tide is that not everything you read is true. There are many things that you don''t know to make assumptions about something. There is always something to improve, and when you stop trying to improve is the day when you truly die. This is not something I learned now. No, this is something I remembered after facing this tide. I always thought I was very good at perception, though with the meagre level, I never thought to be at the epitome but believed that I was good enough but I was proved wrong. If I hadn''t learned that now, one day that could be the death of me, that I was sure about. So I could never stop learning. Anyway, since I am still young, I don''t need to worry much about that. There is a lot of time for me to know all the things that were there to know. --- The battle ended when huge bombardment sounds were heard one after another,ing from the rear of the monster tide. What could have happened? I have no idea but once those bombardments stopped the monsters started to retreat. A few fought to the death but most monsters retreated from the battlefield. The battle ended with a lot of deaths of both monsters and the humans. If you think logically, no party won this battle but monsters don'' work like that. For them, though they failed to destroy the town, causing this many human lives should be considered as a win. Well, that is my opinion. Whether the kingdom would arrive at the same opinion as me or not, I don''t know and frankly speaking my mind that is not my problem. --- "Everyone, the battle is over. Academy students can directly go to their academies and show their badges there to redeem rewards, while adventurers who are registered in the adventurer''s guild can do that there. Others have to wait for some time as everything is a mess here and it would a few hours to get everything in order before we can start to distribute the rewards", themander announced. Once that was announced, I immediately left for Racher City, which is the nearest city to Repest. I wonder what the situation with the city might be after what happened these days. The civilians are usually relocated to nearby cities during a crisis like this. Since Racher City is the one nearest to Repest town, they had to bear most of the burden of receiving the refugees. Usually, once the crisis was gone, most would choose to return to their homes. Not many would befortable to settle away from their homes. So they would choose to return to their lives, though destroyed, that would be where they would befortable. Most would return as long as the crisis is not big but not all would return. These people would be usually who have no permanentnds there or whatever little riches they have are now gone. Since they wouldn''t gain anything by returning or have anything to return to, some would settle in the cities to where they are relocated temporarily. These people would make the temporary settlements into permanent ones, causing the poption of the city to increase. Usually adding a few to the cities wouldn''t be much of a burden for a few days, but permanently is a totally different issue. If those newly settled ones can''t find jobs to earn a living, they would form a slum area, where everything would cost nothing but those areas are also where the crime rate would increase at an exponential rate. This would be a problem for the city, so most cities wouldn''t encourage refugees to settle in their cities but that doesn''t mean, they would evict them either, unless theymit crimes. The reason why no one would evict refugees was...well, I don''t need to say why. If they do that, they will have a nightmare on their hands. So unless crimes weremitted by them, they can''t do anything. So let''s see how Racher city is faring, in one or two hours. Chapter 241: Return to the Academy It took me more than an hour to reach Racher City. There was a reason why it took me so much time to reach Racher City from Repest Town. I was dead tired. Who wouldn''t be after going through such an ordeal? I mean what has happened with that monster tide? There are a lot more monsters than initially established. With many deaths, the burden of the monsters that they should have taken care of was divided and fell on the ones that survived. Then there were those stealth monsters, which started attacking us after they broke into the town. When the reinforcements came, I thought that I would get a good amount of rest but I was wrong. After an hour of rest, I was called back on to the battlefield. I had to fight for two more hours before the monsters retreated after some threatening sounds came from the rear of the monster tide. Those sounds came because of a fight, I am sure about that. Who is fighting? If I think about it, I heard that two Tier-7batants were sent as reinforcements but I didn''t see them. It''s probably those Tier-7 who are fighting. Who are they fighting against? If I take a guess, then it probably would be the ones that are controlling the monster tide, the boss monsters in essential. It would only exin why the monsters retreated after those sounds were heard. I can say that the boss monsters were defeated and there was no reason for the monsters to fight us anymore. So they retreated. Even though those monsters retreated, all that fighting essentially burned out all my stamina for the day, maybe even for a few days. I need rest and that is the reason, why I left the town promptly after themander said that we could collect the rewards back at the academy. There is no point in staying in the town anymore. There is a chance that the monsters could return to the town, even though the bosses were defeated. I don''t want to get involved in such matters anymore. Yeah, the bosses were defeated and the reason behind their retreat but even if one of those bosses were alive or if there is some high-rank monster among the retreated monsters, then there is a chance of them regrouping and returning. It is not my headache anymore to deal with that if that happens. As I said, I am dead tired. I need to return to the academy, my bed. --- When I reached Racher City, I was surprised by its transformation. It was much different than when I was a few days back while travelling to Repest town. The changes to the city are not much different but there are now refugee camps camped outside the city walls. There are a lot of camps here, and I don''t think that these people are just from Repest town. When a monster tide urs, not just one settlement would be disturbed. Arge area of settlements would be. Most of these people should be from the viges that once stood in the path that the monster tide took to reach Repest. Unlike towns and cities, viges do not have such high-security measures. The vige walls could probably stop low-rank monsters, and that too when they are in single digits, not when they turn into a monster tide. So when the monster tide appeared, they had no choice but to abandon everything and take refuge in the city, but the city may not be able to amodate such arge influx of poption. This is why the refugee camps are allocated outside the walls. By cing them here, once the monster tide was gone, the city could easily send the vigers back to theirnds. Viges are very important for the survival of the kingdom. Though they might appear poor, they are vital as they produce most of the food required by the kingdom. Even if these people are not awakeners or rich, their survival is very important for the survival of the kingdom. So the cities would give refuge status when needed but also would send them back to the viges, as without their food production, it would be burdensome for the kingdom. Without enough grain, the prices of food would increase, and that would not be a good thing for the kingdom. Moreover, if the vigers don''t go back, they would be part of the slums in the cities, which wouldn''t look good for the city. Though not all bad in slum areas, without proper job opportunities to buy food, they would either steal or mug others in order to fill their bellies. Though it may not appear as an evil thing as they are just trying to fill their bellies, it is still a crime. If there is a lot of crime, merchants wouldn''te to the city to trade and the city would suffer as time goes on. It was something that they wouldn''t let happen. --- Anyway, It took me more than an hour to reach the teleportation hub after reaching the outskirts of the city. This was because of the increased poption, the traffic became problematic. It ate my time like it was nothing. If the traffic gets congested like this, nothing could ever be done in time. Once I reached the teleportation hub, I got a ticket to the Capital City. It burned only a few minutes of my time, as there are a few who are going to the capital. After reaching the capital, I left for the academy as fast as I could. I need rest and I can''t wait for long. --- Ah, I am finally back at the academy. Let''s get to my quarters and rest for today. I can collect my mission rewards from the mission hall tomorrow. I was too tired to do that for now. After returning to my quarters, I took a quick bath first and before that, I ordered food, a lot of it. I am tired and with that, my stomach is crying for food for some time. So after ordering I went to bath, and got out before the food arrived. I ate till my stomach was full of the delicious food from the academy. My belly was practically protruding outwards. Once that was over, I resigned myself to my bedroom, fell on my bed and forgot about everything else. Chapter 242: Relaxation Ah, what the hell? I slept for more than a day. How in the hell that happened? It was dark by the time I woke up. I was surprised at first that after all that tiredness, my body needed only a few hours to rejuvenate but man, I was wrong. Not thinking much about how my tiredness was gone in only a few hours, I went to the bathroom to freshen. The reason why I didn''t see why I slept for more than what I thought I did was because of the rumbling happening in my stomach. I am hungry, even though I ate a lot before I went to sleep. I thought that I would sleep for a long time after what I went through and the reason why I ate a lot but all that food disappeared as if I never ate anything. After I freshened up a bit, I took my mobile to order food from the academy canteen and that was when I saw the time and date. An entire day was missing. I, who went to sleep yesterday just before dark, woke up, today after dark. I slept a full day and I didn''t even recognize that''s what happened. There is nothing that could be done about that, but I learned an important lesson. Even with all my attributes, stress is something that I would feel in such conditions as I faced in that monster tide. The reason was because of my decision toy low-key. If I show every ability of mine at this point could cause more damage than bringing any profits to me. That was a good decision. Many may say that is not a wise decision and one should cleave their enemies as they face but they always forget about coteral damage that happens in such scenarios. In certain scenarios, for the greater good, epting that coteral is unavoidable is admirable but I don''t have any such situation. So acting like protagonists would only do more damage than good. --- I didn''t know what to do for the night. So I decided to spend some time with Asya [A/N: Pet Fox, if anyone has forgotten]. It has been some time since I spent some time with her. Since I have no idea what kind of power would be staying at the Repest town or the types of defences that areid out in the town, I let her stay in one of the secret realms. If there are any formations that can detect beasts present in the town, it would cause a lot of trouble for me. So I have to take that decision. I ced her in the secret realm so that she would be free to hunt and eat as she wanted, rather than be confined in the pet world space, which I assume would not be sofortable. Thinking about Pet World space, Inari had to stay there for a long time, as long as I hadpany or I went outside. No one could learn about her presence, which could spell disaster for not only me but also my family. When Inari used to stay with me, in the beginning, there was no secret realm for her to stay as she pleased. She could only stay in the pet world space, which I assume should be rather ufortable but she didn''tin much. I never thought about that, but now she is away, I am thinking too much about these things. I miss her, more like I miss her sexy body but I miss her nheless. I think every now and then what to do after I graduate. There are many ideas about that but not every idea is feasible. There is an idea to travel the kingdom, maybe even the world as much as I can. To do that, one should have a lot of wealth in their pockets and even then they should have a lot of strength to achieve such a feat. Read new chapters at m_v-l''e|-NovelBin The world is not all unicorn and rainbows. There is a lot of darkness hidden in this world and that''s from what I can concur using the knowledge and information avable to me. The conditions might be even worse. Let me give an example. If a merchant wants to travel from kingdom to kingdom, they are sure to hire an escort guard to protect them. This is not just to protect them from the monsters roaming the wild but also bandits who are much more dangerous than those monsters. Most of the time, monsters attack directly and this could sensed beforehand, letting the guards prepare well enough to fend out or eliminate the threats. Bandits are a different type of threat, one that is almost fatal to the travellers, unless they are stronger than those bandits. These bandits wouldy out traps. They would sneak attack them in the middle of the night when most would be sleepy after their lengthy journeys. Most people would usually let go of their guards when they see that their destination is near. Until you reach the safe ce, letting go off guard is a stupid thing. Unfortunately, when travellers know that they will reach their destination in an hour or maybe half an hour, they would let go of their guards as they would be very tired after travelling for a long time. This is something those bandits bank on and attack the people. So to protect themselves, merchants usually use powerful escorts as their guards. The thing was sometimes, these escorts would be in cahoots with the bandits to get rich quickly. There were such incidents as well, making the economy almost fell to rock bottom. Fearing the bandits and the escorts who may be in cahoots with each other, merchants started to stop travelling and trading, causing a lot of losses for many kingdoms. After that, proper guilds were established to make sure such things didn''t happen. Even after that, things like that happened a few times but the guilds always took care of those backstabbers quickly making most of assholes with ideas of making quick money to destroy those thoughts. So for travelling, strength is important or else you may end up in a ditch and your family would never see you again or would know what happened to you. Chapter 243: The bet that didnt go well (1) Man, I was so hungry, after sleeping for a day. I ate a lot, like a lot more than what I ate after returning from the monster tide. After that, I spent time with Asya in the secret realm. When I first brought her, she was so small that she could be held in my arms, but now she has grown to a height as tall as me. I believe in a year or so, she would be so grown up and would be much taller than me. Her growth speed is kind of weird. It was increasing as she grew up. At first, the growth rate was so small that I wondered if she ever would group, but as time went on, the growth rate increased as if it were on rocket fuel. I wonder howrge it would grow before stopping. It doesn''t matter how big it can reach. All that matters is that it would be strong enough to protect itself and intelligent enough not to fall into traps, which could im its life. Though I am keeping Asya a secret for now, that would not be the case in a year or two. She would be seen by the entire world, if they were watching, though I doubt that they were all watching me, except for a few factions in the kingdom. I know one faction that is keeping an eye on me, the Rutgurd family. Also, there are the remnants of that elder''s faction which tried to assassinate me way back then. Wiim should be preparing for the unavoidable fight that we would have to fight sooner orter. Toe out victorious in the confrontation, he would need to learn if I have any Trump Cards. As long as he prepares counters for my trump cards, the advantage that I have will be gone and I will lose. Unlike Dorian, William is not an idiot. He should have figured out why his ns had failed and why he was expelled from the academy. Though he may not know the reason, he should have at least guessed that I am the reason. He should be preparing himself for the inevitable confrontation. It''s not inevitable. He could stop now but I understand his mindset. People like him don''t let others trample over them, even if they are the sole reason themselves for that. They would not stop. The elders from my family, I doubt they have the resources to watch me, not after the cleansing that happened recently. Even if they have the resources to surveil, I think they would be much interested in my brother who would be the next viscount, if nothing bad happens. So, the Rutgurd family is the only possible threat that exists for me at this time. I have to make sure, that I won''t get more enemies. It would be a hassle to deal with too many enemies. -- The night passed on, as I spent ying with Asya. Now that the morning is here, I should go to the mission hall and collect my rewards. If I dy anymore, there is a chance that they may mark me as dead. I did see a few academy students die in that battle, some from the Royal Academy. They should be marking anyone who has yet to appear at the hall after the tide was over as dead. I saw that those monsters had eaten many dead humans on the spot. So they can''t tally the dead unless they cross-check with the people who collected the rewards and those who didn''t. I don''t want to be crossed as dead andter to deal with the hassle of why I waste and shit. It''s better to collect as soon as possible. With the decision made, Ipleted my morning routine and after that, went by the mission hall. I wonder how many points I would get with these kills, probably a lot. --- (3rd PoV) "Oye, did you know that the monster tide at Repest was far more dangerous than anticipated and a lot of people died there?" Celine questioned her twin sister Ang. Ang seemed nervous, but still answered, "Yes I do". "Is he back?" Celine asked, understanding why her sister was nervous. "No, I don''t know. It was said that a few students died there too and he was yet to show himself at the mission hall", she answered fearing what could have happened. Celine sighed, "It''s all my fault. If I had not made you do that, maybe he would be still here". "No. it''s not entirely your fault. Even I wanted to know and that''s...", Ang cried a little. "It''s okay", Celineforted her sister, "He is strong and nothing should have happened to him". "Then where is he?" she asked in a sad tone. Celine didn''t know how to answer her question because she knew that there was a chance that he died in that monster tide. It should be the only reason that exins why he didn''t show up till now. The casualties are still unknown, as many humans were eaten by the monsters on the battlefield. There are only estimations, no true data. Experience more on mvl The chances of him dead are very high, because they knew what truly happened. Originally, the Monster Tide was supposed to have a few Tier-6 bosses but it waster learned that there was a Tier-7 boss. The only reason, the town didn''t get destroyedpletely was because of the timely arrival of the reinforcements, who came with two Tier-7batants of their own. They easily eliminated the Tier-7 monster, once they found it. Even for those two, they didn''t find anything wrong at first after they arrived. It was not until the moment the Tier-7 monster slipped for a second, which caused its demise, did those Tier-7 finally understood why this monster tide acted differently. So from what they knew there was a high chance that he died in that monster tide. If not, he should have returned by now. Creak! Celine was stunned to see the person who just entered the room. Ang turned to see who it was. She heard that someone entered the room but Celine became silent. When she saw who arrived, she was happy and ran towards him. She hugged him tightly. Chapter 244: The bet that didnt go well (2) (Magnus''s PoV) Once I did my morning routine, I went straight to the mission hall. I was alreadyte to collect my rewards. If I dy anymore, there is a high chance that they could mark me dead, after what happened at Repest. Soon I reached the mission hall and went straight to the counter and handed them my war badge and academy ID. The clerk who was serving was surprised after checking the war badge, probably because of the number of kills recorded there. "Is this really your badge?" she asked me with a frown on her face. As I thought she suspected me, thinking that I might have stolen it from an adventurer or someone else. I nodded, "Yes, it is mine". After giving me a suspicious look, she turned to verify the details. There was no reason to be afraid as that war badge is truly mine. I wonder what would have been her reaction if I had worn it on myself when I killed those Tier-4 and Tier-5 monsters? It might have not ended with a simple frown. She could called the academy staff and could have called me a fraud. I mean with the rank I am showing, if I had shown the real kill data, even I would do the same thing. Well, that''s what I would do, what she would do maybe even more drastic than that. What would be worrying then would be to show that I really was capable of killing those monsters. Once I was able to prove that, I would get my points but at what cost? I think I said what could happen many times. There was no reason to waste my brain cells again on that matter. --- After a few minutes, the frown on the clerk''s face disappeared. It looks like the data was verified and I did nothing wrong. A few minutester, she smiled and handed me my ID, "Sorry about before". "No problem", I said and left the hall. She returned my ID but not the war badge. I believe that since the war badges are issued by the government, they belong to them not me. It was given to me for the kill count during monster tide and now that the work to record those kills was done, it has to be returned. Truth be told, I would have liked to keep that badge. It is a very intriguing piece of innovation. I mean, it can record my kill counts. How was possible? Maybe there is information about such devices in the Nexus library but having a practical device would push the absorption rate faster. having only theoretical knowledge pushed down the brain would not hold on for long. Only by having practical knowledge alongside theoretical knowledge would make it possible to learn knowledge faster. On Earth, I have seen this. Many countries that can''t properly have practicals at the time of teaching to easily engrave the knowledge into the minds of the people, would only teach theoretical knowledge. Though there would be many sharp minds that would only need to hear the knowledge to grasp what and how about it, there are many medium or low-level talents, who would need such help to rise to the peak. Some nation leaders due to corruption, instead of using nation resources in a proper way to develop, use them for personal interests. Of course, for many nations, it is because of various other reasons like war,ck of proper resources etc... Whatever the reason might be, many national talents immigrate to other nations hoping that there they could have better chances than in their homnd. It is a great loss of talent for the country but many couldn''t do anything about that. Hmm, why am speaking about Earth? Anyway, if I had that device and if there was knowledge about this in the Nexus, then I could have learned something astronomical. Experience exclusive tales on mvl I hope that there is a treasury room buried deep within the Nexus inessible to me. In this way, if I get ess to that ce, then many of my problems can be solved and I can reach a higher state. Ah, but those are just my dreams, not reality. --- Once I was done with the mission hall, my next destination was Ang. It has been a few days since I left for the mission. Also, she should be at least worried about me, since I didn''t contact her after the monster tide. She should have heard the details about the monster tide and should have at least tried to contact me. During the monster tide, I threw everything into my personal space storage. I only retrieved it the night I got back but threw that back into the space storage. I forgot about calling her and even if she did, the signal wouldn''t reach my mobile if it was inside space rings or any type of space storage. That was something I forgot about as I was too tired to remember anything about that. Last evening, I spent most of the time with Asya, who is in a secret realm, where signals don''t work simrly to that of space storage. I could have called in the morning but since I already decided to visit her, there was no need to call her before that. Now that I got my points, I should hurry and meet Ang. --- As I opened the door to the training hall, where Ang would usually be at this time, there were two girls and who would that be if not for the twins? Both Ang and Celine are present in the room. I raised my hand to wave at them but Ang fell on to me and clung to me hard. Also, I can hear the sobbing sounds from her. Even Celine looked a little sad, looking at her face, which seemed to have brightened up a little. Was Ang crying for me? Stupid. I should have came here before I went to my room to rest and slept like a log. Idiot. The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone! Chapter 245: The bet that didnt go well (3) I am really an idiot, aren''t I? I should have called her, at least after I returned to the academy. I am sure that I am the reason that she is crying. She should have heard the devastation that happened at Repest. I should have called her, at least yesterday evening. Maybe her worries would have lessened. "I am sorry, I should have called as soon as I returned. I didn''t think. Sorry for being an idiot", I apologized to her before saying anything else. With the misery I have indirectly caused to her, this is the least I could do to her. There is no other way. Instead of thinking and analysing useless data, if I need a good and stable life, I need to think more about the people around me, rather than some future scenario. I should start living in the present, not the future. Living in the future would be how you would lose everything that you have now. So instead of thinking about the shitty future that may or may not be happening in the future, I should live more in the present. I want a peaceful life and for that to happen, I need to stop picturing various future scenarios. I mean, I need to think about the future but that should upy a small portion not the entire portion of my thoughts. Without proper nning for the future, how could one proceed in life? So preparing for the future is important but living in the present is much more important than that. --- "Ang, I''m sorry. I should have called you once I returned to the academy. The thing was...", I continued to tell her what happened during the monster tide and what I did after I returned to the academy. I skipped the part where I spent time with Asya in the secret realm. Instead of that, I said that my body was still tired and only woke up because of hunger. Once I ate to fill my belly, it returned to sleep. Only in the morning did I wake up and after having breakfast I went to the mission hall because they might mark him as dead after what happened at Repest. Once I was done with the mission, I promptly came here, only to see her crying and hugging me as if I would disappear if she let go of me. I apologized to her a few more times, hoping that could ease the situation but she said something I never thought to hear. "No, it''s all my fault. I should have never made that bet", Ang muttered in a low voice. Though she said what she did in a low voice, I heard it perfectly but had no idea about what she was muttering about. --- Why would she say that? How could this be her fault? What does she mean by "I should have never made that bet"? What bet is she talking about? I need answers, but now she is crying and it would be insensitive to talk about that. Let her be more stable when I would ask her about this. "You look tired. You should go to sleep," I said and turned to Celine. "Miss Celine, can you take your sister to sleep? It looks like she needs it more than anything." Celine nodded in agreement. "Come on Angy, you need to sleep. He is going nowhere for now. So you can spend as much time as you want after taking proper rest". It was quite troublesome to get Ang to her bed. She got attached to me like a Ko. It was difficult but not impossible. She was tired and looked sleepy with all theck of sleep while she thought I was missing. So her body gave up resistance easily. After prying her from me, Celine took her sister to the bedroom to get her proper rest. I waved to them, "We''ll talk tomorrow", I said as I too returned to my room. There is nothing for me to do for now. So I would be returning to Nexus, where I decided to spend the day. Ick information about this world. By reading most books avable to me, I thought I learned most about it. Even reading all the books that are avable doesn''t mean I know everything about this world. There is a lot that is not avable in books or lost in time. Moreover, I didn''tplete the library of either the academy or the Nexus. The reason why I wanted to dive back into the books was because of those damn monsters that attacked me and the group that went to clear out the monsters that entered the town in the middle of monster tide. Those monsters that attacked us are not stealth monsters but they acted like one and I have no idea how. I need to find that. If information such as that remains unknown, that would be a danger to my life, which I can''t let happen no matter what. No sane person would let that happen when it regards to their life and death. What happened at the monster tide, is something that can''t be replicated easily I believe but I need to know for sure about that and the reason why I decided to dive into the books for now. I also have to dive into the books that are avable in the academy''s library, which were not essible before the fourth year. Since this is thest year before I leave the academy for good, I need to absorb everything that there is in the academy library. After I graduate, unless I be a staff here, I won''t have permission to enter the library. So whatever the academy can offer, I need to make the best use of everything before the year is over. Moreover, once I graduate, I don''t think that I will have much time to read or train. I would be facing a lot of things, that would make those things take a back seat. This year would be thest before I would face the hurdles of life without proper backup. Chapter 246: The bet that didnt go well (4) There was a reason why I decided to go to Nexus instead of the academy''s library. I wanted to make a catalogue of everything that there is avable to me in the Nexus. There are sections that are locked. So I have to forget about those and record the names of the books and what they delve into, so that, I can first read the books in the academy library that are not avable here. Of course, if those books that were not here were done and I had time, I would read them too but this is to make priorities in case anything happens and I can''t be able to read all the books in the academy''s library. So, once I made the index and details of unread books here, I would go to the library in the academy. --- It took me almost an entire day to write down the names of the books and what they were about on a few sheets of paper. They are required when I go to look for books in the academy''s library. In the morning I went to the mission hall to receive my rewards for the monster tide and to make sure the academy didn''t mark me as dead. I can change that but that may lead to a meeting with the higher-ups, which I don''t like. Back when I killed Dorian, without proper enquiry, they called me to the office under the scrutiny of an entire academy. I still remember the faces that those students made. Even after the academy dered I was not guilty, there were a few faces who didn''t ept that, not until William''s and Elisha''s expulsion happened. Only then did those judgemental faces disappeared but what does it matter, whether they disappeared or not? It was the end of year two and after that, I met my yearmates when we took the year-end exams. I saw a few faces when I went to the mission hall to take missions when the year started, and a few times here and there. So whether their judgements disappeared or not, it didn''t change the fact that I had to live for a while under their judgemental eyes. Normally I won''t give a shit about what others think about me but many of these children are from noble families and that means their parents are nobles. My parents are nobles too. Even though there was not an official organization, the noble circle existed for a long ago and would still continue to exist as long as there were nobles. My parents as nobles are a part of that and in those circles, the noble parents of those children should have viewed my parents in a lowly manner. Even if my parents never came to know or kept that from me, I didn''t like to bring shame to my family, though that was never my fault. The academy just checked with one person, who can only see what happened a few seconds before that and nothing more. Based on just that, they almost made me the Viin of the Royal Academy. It was only through my own evidence, which I collected for months, that I escaped from that tragedy. So believing that someone wille help you out is the stupidest and most idiotic thinking. No one would help others, only you can help yourself. Anyway, since that day, I didn''t want to meet any of the higher-ups. They do owe me for helping them get the evidence on the real culprit. Sure they helped my family to settle with the Rutgurd and Siren family quickly but that was what they owed me for causing me to lose face in the academy. Not just me but also my parents. I am sure, it could be one of the reasons why the military offered my mother that secret job. Just because she reached Tier-7, the higher-ups wouldn''t give her such a high-paying job, even if she is the youngest to reach such a rank. I believe it waspensation either for what my parents went through in that small time frame or what my siblings had to go through. I am sure of that. So the academy owes me for helping them get the evidence detailing the real criminals. There is less than a year but I should keep that open till next semester. I should think of a good one for that favour they owe me. It also doesn''t mean I like to be in front of them. The headmaster is powerful and he might pick some clues about my true power. So keeping them at length would be the best. After collecting mission points, I went to Ang where the sad episode happened. I can''t call it an episode as it took only a few minutes of my time. So I used only an hour or so of my time for these in the morning. After that, I entered the Nexus. It was only after night that I was able to retire. There are too many books in the Nexus. Maybe I should have gone to the academy''s library and recorded the titles and summary of books avable there, instead of this. It could have save some time for me. --- Early in the morning, I got a call from Ang, waking me up. She said she had something to talk about with me urgently. It was still dark and I couldn''t be seen entering the training hall at this time. If it was a public training room, it wouldn''t be a problem but that was a staff training hall, where only staff or personal disciples were allowed. Even though the entire academy sees me as Ang''s personal disciple, I am a boy, and entering her training hall at his ungodly hour would lead to various rumours. It is to create rumours but difficult to diffuse them. It would cause destruction before even it shows signs of disappearance. Once they were lit, there was no going back. So it''s best to not cause any rumours. I am in the final year and I hope it ends without any twists and turns like the first two years. I told her I would meet her at the regr time. Now that she woke me up at this ungodly hour, I needed to do something or I would doze off and I wouldn''t be able to wake up and meet her in time. That can''t happen. Chapter 247: The bet that didnt go well (5) What to do? I have no idea. Ang woke me up early in the morning before it was even dawn. Did she wake up early because she slept early in the day? I thought she didn''t sleep for a few days. At least that was the impression that I got when I saw her. I thought that she was sleepless and cried because I didn''t contact her after the monster tide, thinking that I may have died and was unable to contact her. That is why, instead of speaking with her, I told her sister Celine to take her to the bedroom so that she could get much-needed rest. Did she have enough rest? What does she want to speak with me at this ungodly hour? Does this early call to speak with me have anything to do with the bet that she was ranting about when she saw me yesterday? Don''t go down that rabbit hole. It won''t be good for mental health or physical health for that matter. If there is something to say, I hope she will say it without holding it back. I''ll find out about that in a few hours. No need to waste my brain cells stressing on that for now. Now, I am awake and don''t know what to do. How can I use these few hours in a proper way, so that I won''t waste any precious time? Training? No. I can''t start training this early and that too without any food in my belly. Only a training maniac would start this early without proper food or rest. Wait, I am wrong there. Even if they are training maniacs, they can''t proceed without proper food. They would lose their stamina fast and would end up in bed. The same goes for if they don''t have proper rest. Sure with high rank, there would be a reduction in the need for rest and food but without proper diet and rest, the results obtained wouldn''t be optimum. That wouldn''t be what a training maniac would want to be the result. So they prepare well for their training. Usually one would think that a training maniac would always be training. Maybe that would be true at the initial stages, especially when there is no guide, but people change and adapt with time. So even training maniacs wouldn''t start their day by just training. Maybe a light workout is okay but heavy training is not something that is rmended or should be done. --- Speaking of training and all that, let''s see how much my status changed. I didn''t have time or energy to check after the monster tide. Let''s see how much I improved. Maybe I can use this time to prepare my schedule for the next few months based on what I achieved and what I want to achieve. "Status" -- Name: Magnus Frostwolf Age: 19 Titles: Son of Viscount; Great yer; Hidden Smiden; Dungeon Conqueror; Primary ss: Draconic Warlock Secondary ss: Soul Arbiter (Unique) Affinity: Shadow, Blood, Space Bloodline: ck Dragon (25% purity) Technique: ck Dragon Essence Breathing Physique: Devourer Physique (EX) Talent: Ritualistic Summoning (EX) Trait: Silk Smooth Skin(A bit Improved); Sleepy; Aurum Skin; Sexy Smile; Rank: Tier-6 Level: 31 >> 35 Health Points (HP): ??? Strength (STR):215,000 (+100%) Endurance (END): 250,000 (+100%) Dexterity (DEX): 1600 Agility (AGI): 198,800 (+100%) Intelligence (INT): ??? Magic Power (MP): ??? Soul Energy: 105,500 (+200%) Charm: 3,009 ss Skills: Shadow Bolt; Blood Dominance; Draconic Magic; Shadow Curse; Blood Heal; Shadow Shift; Blood Lock; Draconic Pressure; Shadow Merge; Blood Drain; Soul Judge; Soul Prison; Soul Container; Nether mes; Shadow control; Blood Boil; Shadow Clone; Blood Clone; Space sh; Soul de; Soul Ascension; Soul Avatar; Shadow Storage; Blood Rain; Space Break; Soul Arrow; Soul Defence; Soul Lock; Special Skills: Rank Booster; Status Disguise; Refined Skills: Shadow Bolt Volley Lvl. 23 >> 25; Blood Drain Field Lvl. 13 >> 14; Skills: Evade Lvl. 28 >> 30; Dodge Lvl. 28 >> 30; Sprint Lvl. 29 >> 30; Alertness Lvl. 21 >> 23; Devour Lvl. 9; Fusion Lvl. 26; Split Lvl. 26; Demon Gaze Lvl. 5; Strengthen Lvl. 28 >> 29; Tag & Track Lvl. 6; Night Vision Lvl. 22; Spatial Storage Lvl. 16; Mind Control Lvl. 9; Mind Probe Lvl. 9; Mind Defence Lvl. 3; Dragon Blood Evolution Lvl. 20; Scent Recognition Lvl. 20; Sexual Stamina Lvl. 7; Perception Lvl. 24; Pet World Lvl. 3; Parry Lvl. 19 >> 20; Resistances: Physical Resistance Lvl. 27 >> 28; Light Resistance Lvl. 15; Poison Resistance Lvl. 10; Magic Resistance (Non-Attribute) Lvl. 18 >> 19; Space Resistance Lvl. 14; Fire Resistance Lvl. 21 >> 22; Water Resistance Lvl. 17; Mind Resistance Lvl. 1; Wind Resistance Lvl. 17; Lightning Resistance Lvl. 16; Weapon Arts: Advanced Staff Arts Lvl. 5; Intermediate Movement Arts Lvl. 9; Intermediate Hand Combat Arts Lvl. 8; -- How about that? Ah, such a marvellous piece of status. My rank level raised from level 31 to level 35, probably because I killed a lot of Tier-4 and Tier-5 monsters, without others noticing that I did that. Though I didn''t include these kills when I collected mission points, there were many kills of monsters that range from Tier-1 to Tier-3. That is why it increased by four levels. Of course, the push to level 32 was not that much and from what I concur that it would take some time before I reach level 36. Many skills have improved as well during this monster tide. It is true. The greatest results woulde when one is under stress. While I was training, I knew that there was no threat and my body didn''t utilize its full potential. During monster tide that wasn''t the case. Though stress may help in improving skill degradation, it is not a good thing. If one gets under too much stress, instead of helping the person, the stress would cause them either to give up or cause mental problems. Either is not good. Even though the monster tide helped a lot in improving my skill levels, it could have easily caused my death. Though stressful situations are helpful to utilize the body to the fullest and improve skills, dying is entirely another matter. I am trying to improve my skill levels to survive, not to die. So a situation like that monster tide is a no go in the future. Chapter 248: The bet that didnt go well (6) Looking at my status panel, I can say that I improved a lot, but there are many aspects that need improvement. Let''s take a look at my attributes. With every increase in rank level, there are improvements in HP, INT and MP. The improvements have crossed millions per level a long time ago. Now the total attribute value is showing ??? and nothing more, even after the level improves. The problem was with the other attributes. When I awakened, I saw that I have a Devourer Physique, and that can make improvements to my attributes as long as I eat nutritious food but that stopped happeningtely. I saw that the improvement depends on what Tier Monster meat I eat. As those attributes increased by a lot, the value that I would get automatically has gone to zero or maybe I would get a few numbers in a few years. I didn''t think much about that because, with all the spending that I had, I couldn''t afford meat higher than Tier-3. Sure maybe I can eat a few times but that would be it and I would be penniless. Moreover, my mind was on other things. So I couldn''t concentrate much on these things. Now that I have a little time, I should check about this. I mean, it''s a waste of my physical talent. It was something that could propel me straight to the stairs or was supposed to but with the limit of resources, I can''t make perfect use of it. It is one of the reasons why I even got a Devour skill on purpose. They were supposed to work in tandem but Devour skill can give me more skills if I devour the monster corpses. If that happens, the already fully cluttered status would be like a traffic jam junction. It''s not just the appearance that would be the problem but also the usage would be a problem. Those skills would have to sit there and would be of no use. They would be forever at the starting levels. If I try to improve them, then the time I can use on the skills that I already use would be reduced, which is not a good thing. I am at Tier-6, almost one-third on the way to Tier-7. So having at least one skill at level 50 is a must. If two or three reach level 50 by the time I reach Tier-7, then I would be very safe. I heard rumours that one of the conditions to reach Tier-7 was to have at least a skill at level 50. The more one have at level 50 by that time, the better but that was a problem not insightful knowledge. Though it might help one to have more than a skill above level 50 before Tier-7, reaching level 50 in multiple skills is not an easy task. The resources it would consume toplete such a feat are very high. The only reason, I think I can do this is because of the secret realms that I opened and the ones that were yet to be opened. With the resources that I have ess there, can feed families usually but I am using them solely for myself. Moreover, I have Nexus, the best training tool avable to anyone, as far as I know. It has all the best ways for me to improve at a rapid pace. Without these, I could have never reached this stage. Not everyone would have such dedicated resources. So that gives me an edge but that''s all. As far as I know, even with these resources, it would take a long time to have more than three skills at level 50 by the time I reach Tier-7. Maybe if I can work, I could make that four but that''s stretching to the point where it could break. More than that, it''s impossible as by that time, I would have certainly reached Tier-7. Also, wasting too much time on just improving multiple skills could leave me vulnerable. Explore new worlds at mvl Well, I am not weak but with what could happen after this year, I need to make sure that nothing bad could happen. --- Since there were a few more hours before dawn, I decided to use my skill Rank Booster for the remaining time. There won''t be new scenarios like that monster tide any time soon. Moreover, I don''t want to participate if such a monster tide arises again in the future. That monster tide was a dangerous situation that almost killed me. It was a No-No for me. So this is the best way to improve myself faster, especially as long as I can improve my dragon blood purity to a very high percent. --- I woke up from my meditation and it is time for my breakfast before I go and meet Ang. I know that Ang called me very early, then it would be very important but I have a gutsy feeling that it won''t be good news. I may lose my hunger. If I don''t eat regrly, then everything in my body will change, mostly not good. So I decided to eat before I went to her. Moreover, I needed toplete my daily routine, and in that time the breakfast would be delivered to me. So I wouldn''t be wasting much time. In addition to that, if I go to meet her without eating my breakfast, that could cause a few brows to rise. Spending too much time with her or at inappropriate times would be very suspicious. As I said, I don''t want to cause any more rumours before I graduate from the academy. Moreover, causing rumours of that kind would affect Ang more than me if she decides to return to the academy to teach. --- Once my breakfast was over, I went straight to the training hall to meet Ang. I hope that it''s not bad news, as I keep feeling since this morning after she called me. Soon I reached Ang''s exclusive training hall. I opened the door to see both the twins. It''s almost like Deja Vu. Chapter 249: The bet that didnt go well (7) After having breakfast, I went straight to the exclusive training hall reserved for Ang. No one can enter it without her permission and that is the reason why we did the deeds in there, whenever we could. When I opened the doors, I saw silhouettes standing in the middle of the training hall. Who could that be if not the twins? The twins are arguing with each other in a low voice. It reminds me of what happened less than a year ago, to be specific. They were both arguing just like now, and Ang was upset back then too. I learnedter the reason for that. Her father is bartering them both away for the benefit of the family. The reason, why I started to train again diligently after a gap of a few months. If I were to ask for Ang, if possible Celine too, then I should be an exceptional one. I need to achieve something that no one has achieved in their lives and that too in such a short period. Though the time I had was small, I believed that I could prove to my future father-inw, that I am a worthy son-inw. For that, I worked hard, harder than I used to. Whether I can Ang or not depends on whether I can impress her father. A lot was at stake here and I can''t let slip up. So, I ranked up faster, and levelled up my skills faster in order to be ready for the perfect opportunity. --- "Hey y''all", I waved at the sisters to grab their attention. They were so immersed in their argument that they didn''t even sense me entering the training hall. one thing that I learned about greeting women was that I should maintain a distance. If they get frightened, they may retreat to their holes, never to surface again. It would not be a good thing if you were trying to impress them. Readtest chapters on mvl The twins turned towards me when they heard me and I could see a bit of surprise on their faces. As I thought, they were too immersed in their argument and didn''t observe their surroundings well enough. What would happen if it were an enemy who appeared at this time? As a teacher of the academy, she should be well aware of this fact or she loosened up because she is inside the safe walls of the academy. Probably, but they didn''t even see me after I entered the hall. Only calling them seemed to have attracted their attention. Maybe I should speak with Ang about this. As someone that I liked, I can''t let anything happen to that goddess body of hers. When they saw me, they started to speak at a faster speed. I could hear bits and pieces of what they were talking about but couldn''t understand a bit. the only thing that I heard clearly was thest line that Celine said. "Sister, I know that I can''t stop you from doing this, but think of the consequences", Celine said and left the training hall. As I said Deja vu. The situation reminds me of that day almost exactly like that day. The day that brought all the frustration to me. I hope something like that don''t repeat itself, but as I said I had a bad feeling in my gut, much worse than I felt on that day. --- Ang started to tell me everything. As I feared in my gut, this is not a good thing. This all started with Celine finding out about us from Ang. They are twins and rarely keep secrets from each other. Ang kept the matter about us secret as long as she could but Celine was her twin. So spilled everything about us. Celine was surprised at first that Ang got a boyfriend but quickly gathered herself believing that I may be not the right suit for her. Celine didn''t trust that I cared for her sister and that I was only using her for her body. Ang rebutted that though. This was what they were arguing all those months ago and what made Ang upset. Even though she believed me, her sister''s words caused cracks in her belief, but not to the extent that she would leave me. Celine wanted to show her that I only cared for her body and would leave her after I graduated. So to prove who was right, they made a bet. They created a phoney scenario where their father is looking for bridegrooms for them and they have to leave the academy. I would have only two years to prove myself to my future father-inw if I wanted him to be my father-inw. The reason why Ang spilt the beans was because of the monster tide. She believed that I took that mission to improve myself faster and it almost killed me. She was not wrong about that though. I did take that mission to improve myself and also be a bit famous. It would be like a plus point on my resume. It was all for nought anyway. There was no one to impress anyway. --- I know what Celine did was to protect her sister from a possible use and throw-away situation, where her sister would get hurt. I understand her situation. Whatever she did, she has nothing against me but did that to protect her sister, but that doesn''t mean I am not angry at her. I am pissed. Ang disappointed me more than I can think of. She even believed that a little of what her sister said might be true. A crack enough to ept the bet. If she had believed in me, then she would have rejected that bet and should have said that I would never abandon her. She didn''t. I know what they did was to protect themselves but the torture I had to go through for almost a year is not an easy thing. If she had any doubts, she should have at least asked me about that. Though I understand her, doing this is not a good way to build a rtionship. I needed some time to think about it and that''s what I told her before bolting out of there. Chapter 250: What happened next? What I did may appear a bit over the line but it is not. I understand that Celine wanted to protect her sister from yboys and like but testing me like this is not a matter that can be taken lightly. I mean, after training for a long time in a gruelling way, I took a rest for some time. I decided to work as others do and enjoy life. This is my second chance at life. Though I am not sure how reincarnation works, I believe that past memories would be wiped out before taking birth somewhere else. This time that didn''t happen. So I wanted to live a life with no regrets. I wanted to have what I failed to have in myst life but circumstances made me work instead of enjoying my life. After a long time, I got my much-needed rest but they sprung this bet and I had to push myself back into the world of work, work and work. Sure that propelled me to be stronger and faster and that could help me survive whenever I find myself in danger but what about the cost? A life is supposed to be enjoyed and savoured, not to be like this. This life was my second chance and I don''t think I would take birth another time with my past memories intact. I needed to enjoy my childhood, my teenage years, and my youth as much as I could, because those years are very little. As I increase in my rank, I can live for a long time but those years wouldn''te along with me. I would be an adult after I cross twenty years, no matter how long I live. I needed to enjoy whatever remained of that but those twins crashed that because of their stupid bet. I understand what they based their decision on but they didn''t consider me. A rtionship means it should be considered based on two people and they forgot about me. They made a bet about me, which almost cost my life in that monster tide. I only took that mission because that is the only way that could give a high amount of EXP in a short time. For me, I didn''t need that before but with that bet in ce, I had to do that. I wouldn''t have done that if I knew that was a bet to see if I loved Ang or not. I could have grown normally while enjoying life but that lie changed my way of life, and almost got me killed. It pissed me off to no end. So, I stormed out of there. I need time to think about this. What could happen to our rtionship? Who knows. --- End of the Semester... Months went by after that incident with Ang and it was already the end of the semester. This semester, I gained a lot, as I turned all my time towards increasing my strength and didn''t meet Ang at all in these months. She knew that I was angry and so kept her distance too. I am someone who wants to be strong but at a pace that I can enjoy life not just concentrate on training all the time and miss out on what life has to offer me. Since I was a bit pissed, I turned on my full training mode as I knew I can''t enjoy life as long as I am feeling down with what those twins did. Instead of wasting my time wallowing, I trained a lot to be strong. Well, there is that William who could cause trouble for me in a few months. Even if he wouldn''t retaliate the second he gained his heir position that could point fingers at him and would cause him to lose his heir position again, most likely permanently. He would however cause problems for me in the near future. The time before he caused me any trouble would be less if he lost that position. Of course, if that happens, he wouldn''t have the resources of the Rutgurd family behind him, which he would have if he became heir again. So I needed to be strong, whatever the case might be, before I graduate. --- Now let''s have a look at my new status and that would be enough to show how much I trained. "Status" -- Name: Magnus Frostwolf Age: 19 Titles: Son of Viscount; Great yer; Hidden Smiden; Dungeon Conqueror; Primary ss: Draconic Warlock Secondary ss: Soul Arbiter (Unique) Affinity: Shadow, Blood, Space Bloodline: ck Dragon (25% purity) >> (30% Purity) Technique: ck Dragon Essence Breathing Physique: Devourer Physique (EX) Find adventures at mvl Talent: Ritualistic Summoning (EX) Trait: Silk Smooth Skin(A bit Improved); Sleepy; Aurum Skin; Sexy Smile; Rank: Tier-6 Level: 35 >> 50 Health Points (HP): ??? Strength (STR):215,000 (+100%) >> 220,000 (+100%) Endurance (END): 250,000 (+100%) >> 251,000 (+100%) Dexterity (DEX): 1,600 >> 1,900 Agility (AGI): 198,800 (+100%) >> 200,000 (+100%) Intelligence (INT): ??? Magic Power (MP): ??? Soul Energy: 105,500 (+200%) >> 125,000 (+200%) Charm: 3,009 ss Skills: Shadow Bolt; Blood Dominance; Draconic Magic; Shadow Curse; Blood Heal; Shadow Shift; Blood Lock; Draconic Pressure; Shadow Merge; Blood Drain; Soul Judge; Soul Prison; Soul Container; Nether mes; Shadow control; Blood Boil; Shadow Clone; Blood Clone; Space sh; Soul de; Soul Ascension; Soul Avatar; Shadow Storage; Blood Rain; Space Break; Soul Arrow; Soul Defence; Soul Lock; Special Skills: Rank Booster; Status Disguise; Refined Skills: Shadow Bolt Volley Lvl. 25 >> 30; Blood Drain Field Lvl. 14 >> 19; Skills: Evade Lvl. 30 >> 32; Dodge Lvl. 30 >> 32; Sprint Lvl. 30 >> 32; Alertness Lvl. 23 >> 27; Devour Lvl. 9 >> 12; Fusion Lvl. 26 >> 28; Split Lvl. 26 >> 28; Demon Gaze Lvl. 5 >>8; Strengthen Lvl. 29 >> 31; Tag & Track Lvl. 6 >> 9; Night Vision Lvl. 22 >> 26; Spatial Storage Lvl. 16 >> 18; Mind Control Lvl. 9; Mind Probe Lvl. 9; Mind Defence Lvl. 3; Dragon Blood Evolution Lvl. 20 >> 22; Scent Recognition Lvl. 20 >> 23; Sexual Stamina Lvl. 7; Perception Lvl. 24 >> 26; Pet World Lvl. 3 >> 5; Parry Lvl. 20 >> 21; Resistances: Physical Resistance Lvl. 28 >> 30; Light Resistance Lvl. 15; Poison Resistance Lvl. 10 >> 12; Magic Resistance (Non-Attribute) Lvl. 19 >> 23; Space Resistance Lvl. 14 >> 17; Fire Resistance Lvl. 22 >>23; Water Resistance Lvl. 17 >> 20; Mind Resistance Lvl. 1; Wind Resistance Lvl. 17 >> 19; Lightning Resistance Lvl. 16 >> 17; Weapon Arts: Advanced Staff Arts Lvl. 5 >> 6; Intermediate Movement Arts Lvl. 9 >> Advanced Movement Arts Lvl. 2; Intermediate Hand Combat Arts Lvl. 8; -- A lot has changed but I don''t know whether this is good or not for me. Chapter 251: My Improvements A lot has changed in my status panel in thisst semester. The thing is, I don''t know whether it is good or bad. I mean, I grew a lot stronger, which would help me survive longer than before but by focussing all my youth on training, I missed a lot of chances like I did in my past life. I hoped that I would not have any regrets like I did in my past life but I feel like I would this time too. Maybe having regrets is a part of life too. If that is true, then life sucks. --- Anyway, my level increased from level 35 to level 50. A total of fifteen levels increase. I achieved this using the Dragon Blood Evolution skill, which improved my bloodline''s purity to 30% Purity andbined that with Rank Booster, it was easier to reach level 50. I should concentrate more on this bloodline but the resources required are enormous and I can''t bear the costs too many times. From thest mission, I obtained a lot of points, which were more than useful for this. I used all my academic points to get the resources I needed to improve to the point that I did in these few months. With the increase in rank levels, I can feel my magic power increase by a lot, and also my vitality but even now I can only see ???in those three attributes. It doesn''t matter anyway, as long as there is improvement. Now, what I concentrated actually on was the STR, END, DEX and AGI. They didn''t improve after I reached Tier-6. I do know that was because my Devourer Physique was not working as stopped increasing the quality of the monster meat. Without an increase in the Tier of the monster, my physique stopped handing me any advantages that it used to give me. STR, END and AGI have already reached a 6-digit number long ago. Moreover, with those trials I took in Nexus, there was a +100% bonus. It means whatever number I reach, it would actually be double. The only problem was with DEX, which has not even reached the mid-4-digits. It was still far away from reaching 5-digits and also there is no +100% bonus like it was with those three. There was one other attribute that changed and that was Soul Energy. As I have no idea about Soul and such things, I didn''t poke that for a long time. Normally, having a higher number for an attribute means that it is very powerful but there could be some side effects that many ignore. First, the physical body should be able to handle such strength. My INT value has gone to a height that can''t be reached easily, but I did. Of course, that doesn''t mean that I can make the best use of that attribute, as my physical body is still weak. The mental burden on my brain to use such high INT is enormous. Though physical and mental attributes may not be required to be equal in number, they should be in a certain proportion for them to work properly. Your next journey awaits at mvl For Soul Energy, I face the same problems but I don''t know what the problems are here. So I couldn''t rashly improve my Soul Energy or I would have to face the consequences for that. Anyway, I finally found some books about Soul in the academy library. Apparently, everyone has to deal with that attribute after they reach Tier-7. This was something I didn''t know. No wonder people who don''t attend the academy or don''t have proper backgrounds wouldn''t reach Tier-7 unless they are lucky and encounter something fortuitous. Using my Devour Skill, I consumed a few of those monster souls that I kept in storage. The number reached an all-time high during the monster tide. The books said that there won''t be any problem, no matter the Soul Energy. It also mentioned that the higher the Soul Energy is, the faster one could increase their skill levels. It may appear as if nothing has changed much but the body has to adjust to the increased amount and that would take years. Though the dangers are none, without adjustment, the full capacity of the Soul Energy can''t be seen. It was also spected that Soul Energy can be used to cast some soul skills but to this day that was just a spection, at least for Glessaria Kingdom. If there are any such skills, they should be probably mentioned in the books in Nexus Library, in the ones I can''t ess. Since increasing Soul Energy would be beneficial and not dangerous, I increased it by almost 20,000. I could increase it more but I already have a +200% bonus. These books should have been written by someone who has not seen such circumstances as me. So, i would increase Soul Energy but at a steady state. I won''t miss out anyway. It was already stated that it would take body time to adjust to the improved Soul Energy to take advantage of such improvement. --- Almost every skill had seen at least a slight improvement in their levels. Except for a few, which I couldn''t concentrate on as they are usually very difficult, every other skill saw improvement. Of course, a level or two increase is not entirely because of the hard work I did in these four months but because of the work I did before. For example, Pet World was already on the verge of breaking to the next level and it needed only a slight push to reach the next level. This semester, I only improved it by a level. The greatest thing about my skills would be that a few crossed level 30, four to be exact and a skill at level 30. A few more are near to level 30. Some of the resistances have crossed level 20. If I progress the same way as I do now, I should be able to near level 40 in skills and level 30 in resistances before I graduate. Even with this many improvements, there are a few improvements that I couldn''t gain. They belong to the Mind Category as they are time-consuming. I already consumed a lot of time on Demon Gaze as that could instil fear in the enemies, giving me a chance to strike them down before they get a grip on their senses. I increased that because I was sure in a year or less, William would strike or send his cronies to deal with me. It won''t be a one-on-one fight. He already knows that though I am a Spellcaster, I excel at those fights. Mind control skills would be very useful but they take far too much time to improve and an heir like him should have some skills or artifacts to counter such skills. There was no use for them at this point. Chapter 252: Return to Home This semester I trained a lot with the possible attack in the future in my mind. From what I observed about William or heard about him, he was not someone who would give up in the middle. If he wanted something, he would fight for it until he got it. If there arepetitors, he wouldn''t fight against them, rather he would fight them and eliminate them. So there was a high possibility that he woulde after me. Whether hees alone or in force, would be only known after I graduate. Of course, he can''t attack me at my home and I can spend time on my family grounds making it impossible for William to attack me but that would be just wasting everyone''s time. I have decided to roam this world as much as I can in this life. In the past, I couldn''t fully enjoy what Earth could offer me but I won''t miss out on things like I did on Earth. After a few years of travel, I would settle as a merchant or a shopkeeper. Either is fine. Depending on the travels I would decide on what to doter. With my prowess, I can join the military like my siblings did but I am not interested in joining that. Joining the military means there would be no privacy. Everything you do will be recorded and scrutinized. Even if they weren''t recorded by devices, there are many powerhouses in the military who could easily sense what you are up to. There are many powerhouses in the military, who could easily sense any disturbances in thepound. Unlike in the academy where there are formations that can block others from intruding into the student''s life, there is no such thing in the military. I was able to ess Nexus because the formations in my quarters would block anyone from sensing the disturbances. If there was no such feature, I could never use Nexus. In the military, there is no such thing. There would be no personal rooms for the newbies. Unless I was able to reach higher ranks, I don''t think I was eligible to gain ess to such benefits. With me hiding so many details about myself as a secret, I don''t think that living with a bunch of other people in the same room would be good. It would be too stressful to keep myself from slipping up. I experienced that during the monster tide and that was only for a few hours. It was a horrible thing, one that I don''t want to experience once again. What I nned to do was to travel the world and then use that as an excuse for my improvement. I would show the world most of my true strength. It means after this tour, I won''t be Tier-2 or Tier-3. I would show that I have reached Tier-5. Whether I reach a much higher rank or not, I would show that as my rank. I mean, this would be believed as I would possibly face many dangers while venturing out. SO they would readily believe that. Anything higher could put too much scrutiny on me. To y safe that would be the best rank I should show. Of course, the time I spent outside should also be aligned with that rise in rank. A year or two would be good. The best thing about this travel would be that I can use an alias and use my full power without any restrictions. Of course that could only happen after I cross Glesseria and deal with the Rutgurd cronies who might be waiting for me. Discover hidden content at mvl Forget about those things. I have no idea where to travel. I need to n for that first. --- There was no semester exam and since I was at the academy, it was convenient to record my departure to home. In a few minutes, I was back at home. My AGI increased this semester and that made it easy for me to reach home faster than I used to. The only thing that would hinder me was the waiting time at the teleportation hub. Even if I use the one at the academy itself, I would face the same problem as no sane student would use that. To use the teleportation circle at the academy, we have to pay using the academy points, which are not easy to earn. Instead of wasting them here for a few minutes for an easy way, it''s better to use the gold that many of us have in high quantity. As I said before, there are escorts avable at the academy who usually traverse between the academy and the capital. This would be their daily routine. They ept gold, not academy points. Those points are only usable inside the academy and outside of it, they are worthless. After reaching the capital, one can use gold again to use the teleportation hub. So what''s the need to spend points that are not easy to earn for the sake of a few minutes? --- By the time I returned, the servants informed me that my father was in his office and my mother hadn''t returned after she left a few months ago. I don''t think I will see her until a few more months. Most probably it would be a once-a-year situation but I don''t like this. Though this would give her an identity besides being the wife of a viscount, this work keeps our family apart. This won''t do. I hope my mother finds another line of work. I can''t say to her to quit at this time as I still have a semester at the academy and moreover, I am nning to travel for a year or two. So pulling her here and not staying would be in rude. By the time I end my travel, if she still is in that secret department, then we should have a talk. Anyway, since no family members were here, I decided to take a bath and rest till it was time to eat. Chapter 253 The start of the final semester 253 The start of the final semester I went straight towards my room to take a bath and rest for a little while. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Though it can be considered as rest, it''s not truly rest as my mind wanders off to somewhere else. Things like that would happen all the time. My high INT which should be an asset to me, is causing a lot of problems for me like overthinking. With such high INT, I overanalyze everything turning me into a bit of a paranoid person. It is good to think deeply but overthinking is not good for mental health. It was not just for me. It applies to everyone. I should find a way to curb such excessive thoughts as soon as possible. It''s not just implicating my mental health but also causing a waste of my time and my brain cells, which should be invested in better things. As a Tier-6 ranker, I can live hundreds of years and that means there is a long time for me to waste my time on thinking useless things but that should be done when I am nearing my end of life not in my youth. It''s a waste of my youth to do those things now. The problem is I have no idea how to curb these unnecessary thoughts. Maybe there is a skill or something but that something is certainly notmonly known if it does exist. There is mention of such a topic in the academy''s library and also not in Nexus library. May be there isn''t such a thing or it is in the sections of the library that I can''t ess as of now. Anyway, let''s think about thatter as there is no proper solution to my problem. --- I took a small rest till it was time for dinner. When I went to the dining hall for my dinner, my father was already there seated in his seat. He was going through some files and didn''t see meing. "Father, this dining hall is meant to eat and exchange words with one other in the family", I spoke as soon as I neared him and sat beside him. It was not my usual seat but since there were only two of us, there was no need to sit at the ends of the table from each other. "Ah, Magnus you are here. I am sorry. I know that you woulde today but I was busy", my father apologized. "It''s okay Father. I understand that you have your duties but you should also care about yourself or else how can you properly take care of your territory?" I said to him. "What you said is true but with what''s happening...It doesn''t matter anyway", my father stopped himself from telling me something crucial to me. I wonder what it is but it is not my ce to probe into that. When he feels it''s time to tell me about me, I would naturally hear about that. I mean, I hide a lot of things from my family, so I shouldn''t expect otherwise. We spent talking to each other as we ate. It probably would be the only time I would get to speak with him by the looks on his face when I arrived at the table. Something is going on and it''s troubling him, making him work more than he usually does. Maybe I should offer my help in the morning. I should spend some time father as I was nning to go on a world tour after my graduation. I would be gone for at least a year or two. If Mother was here, then it would have been nice but she isn''t. There is nothing I can do nor could she about that. Anyway, I enjoyed my dinner with my father and after that, I went to my room while he went back to his office. Hmm, I should help him out from tomorrow. --- The holiday break is for a month but there is nothing much to do at home. My siblings and my mother are away, while my father is covered in a pile of work. I asked him if he needed any help but he declined. I helped him a few times but he is declining my help this time around. It means something has happened and he was not willing to share it with me. I think it was the same thing that he almost slipped about duringst night but I can''t ask him about that. Since I had nothing else to do, I turned my training mode on. I wonder when I would truly spend some time rxing instead of training all the time. It''s true, there''s no rest for the wicked. When someone is weak, they think that they can do anything they want but as they grow stronger they have to bear the responsibilities thate with that strength. Moreover, strength attracts more enemies. Even after you defeat powerful enemies more powerful enemiese. It''s a never-ending process. It is such a hassle and the reason why I hate to show my true strength. Even as a Tier-6, I have to live in fear of more powerful beings. Since young I only heard that Tier-9 are the peak of the world but as I progressed, I learned that there are realms above Tier-9 and many such existed during ancient times but they were destroyed. Civilizations that had thousands of Tier-9 and above beings were annihted and that means the enemies are much more powerful than them. It''s already bad that a Tier-9 can annihte a nation if there was no opposing force at Tier-9. There were beings above Tier-9 in this world and the ones who ended them. See, as I grow strong, there is no peace. When I was weak, I was a bit peaceful. From the looks of it, training would never end and my peaceful life may never happen but I should hope and strive for it. If not, its better to end myself now and bring an end to all future problems. --- Before long, the month was over and it was time to return to the academy to start my final semester. In the academy, there are many things to do and deal with, especially Ang and Celine. Let''s see how myst semester goes at the academy. I hope that there won''t be any new troubles awaiting me this semester. Your gift is the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation! Creation is hard, cheer me up! Chapter 254 The Final Semester (1) 254 The Final Semester (1) I returned to the academy for thest time. Yeah, this is the final semester before I graduate. Normally others would go out to do missions but I have enough points tost this semester. If they are not enough I would dive into the high-level dungeons which would give me enough points to survive this semester. Though the points were more useful than gold, they were not that important for me as I got ess to a secret realm and Cosmic Market, decreasing the importance of those points. Of course, they were useful in certain instances. That ends after this semester though. These points can''t be used outside of the academy and that means I have to empty the points that I have before I graduate. It means there is no reason to take any missions from the mission hall. The points that I gained from the previous mission are more than enough for me to sustain for this semester. I killed a lot of monsters. Though I didn''t show all the numbers, the number of kills I did show earned me more than enough points to sustain for five years if I was a normal student. I used most of them to increase my Evolution skill and thereby the bloodline purity. That skill consumes a lot of resources. If there are more people with that skill, the world may be an empty husk within a few years, I fear. Anyway, it isn''t. So there is nothing to fear about it. From tomorrow, my total concentration will be on my training. Once I start on my world tour, I don''t think I would get as many chances to train and recuperate as I would now. So it''s best to make use of everything in this semester. Though training is the main agenda, I need to speak with Ang. I need to mend some fences with her and maybe use this situation to get Celine, hehehe. Well, that''s for tomorrow. For now, let''s go to my quarters and think about what to say to Ang and also how to woo Celine to my side without causing any damage to my rtionship with Ang. With what happened, I believe whatever remained is a fragile line. I don''t want to break that. --- (3rd PoV) "Everyone, as you might know, another batch is about to graduate in a few months, five months to be exact", an old man spoke to the others who attended the meeting. This was an annual meeting where the old geezers of the kingdom would review the students who were graduating from the five academies. There are a lot of children of noble birth in these academies but not all are of noble birth. Manye from themon popce, without any background. These students from themon popce would have no ready-made jobs avable for them. The only way that they can sustain themselves would be by either joining an organization that can take care of them in exchange for their loyalty or by joining the adventurer''s guild and bing an adventurer. Unlike joining an organization, where there would be no freedom, the guild has no such rules of restriction but the guild is not a steady source of ie. To be an adventurer one has to wander the wilds in search of treasures or to hunt monsters for their parts. It could be very dangerous and fatal in many cases. Of course, joining an organization doesn''t mean that you would be out of that shit. The advantage would be that if you leave any family, they would be taken care of financially as long as you have served the organization well. So whatever route they take, has its own advantages and disadvantages. Mostmoners would join the military as it was the best way to earn merits and if you died while in the military, the kingdom would take care of the family. There are many filthy organizations that doesn''t care about taking care of the families of the fallen but the military is not like those filthy ones. So many chose it as their destination, though the benefits are low whenpared to some organizations. Nowing to the noble children, as many are not firstborn, they are not entitled to thend or property of the family unless they choose to work under the family. Not everyone likes the idea of being bossed around by their families. Many would want to be independent of their families but that is not an easy aspect. So they had to work under someone but knew that once they got entangled with their family, there would be no way to escape that. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om It was easy to break the politicals cast by others but family is a different thing. Once you are in, there is no way out of that mess. So a few youngsters would leave for adventuring or to join the military to make a name for themselves but they are very few as not many would like to leave their luxurious lives that easily. --- "Yes we know Arthur, there was no need to remind this every year. It''s a waste of time. Rather than these unnecessary pleasantries, it''s better to dive into the details", another old man spoke. "Ah, Thomas I didn''t see you there. I didn''t know we invited the brutes", Arthur shot back. "Say that again silk pants", Thomas berated Arthur. Seeing that the meeting might end before it even got started, the others intervened and calmed down the two. "Arthur, Thomas, that''s enough from both of you. It might be entertaining for a time or two but every time we meet, it''s the same with you two. We are getting tired of this shit and if you two continue like this again, we will remove you both from this meeting and any future meetings. Keep that in mind", one of the older ones warned them. Both Arthur and Thomas nodded their heads in defeat. They may be powerful but that older one was more powerful than them and he can kick them both out, which would be bad for them. So they could only keep silent from now on. "Now that''s over. Let''s speak about the matter for which we gathered this meeting. As Arthur said,..." Your gift is the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation! Creation is hard, cheer me up! ChaosSpawn The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone! Chapter 255 Final Semester (2) "Now that''s over. Let''s speak about the matter for which we gathered this meeting. As Arthur was saying before, in five months a new batch of students would be graduating. You can check the files given to you for their names and what they have aplished during their time in the academy", the old man said. Everyone could see the files on their tablets.N?v(el)B\\jnn The technology in this world is far better than Earth in some aspects. One maypare that it didn''t take the right route but the route it has taken is right for this world. There are no trains here. Once upon a time, they were developed but quickly scrapped because of the monsters. Roads are a different thing and Rails are different. Trains travel between ces on rails. If those are damaged then the trains can''t cross them. The only thing they could do was to go back and wait until the rails were repaired. There is no other choice for them. Coming to the roads, even if they are damaged, travellers can still use them as long as they are not bridges. Moreover, turning back would be far simpler whenpared to trains. The trains can''t turn back, they have to move back at a much slower rate. To actually turn back, they need crossings between rail tracks. It is a hassle. So trains were abandoned and were never developed again. Coming to the vehicles on the roads, they were drawn by tamed beasts. There was no need for engines as the world provided the best engines in the form of monsters. As long as the carriages are good and someone is strong enough to tame powerful monsters, the vehicles can move faster thannd vehicles on Earth. It may look like some aspects of technology were ignored but with the help of magic, Ragos can be said to be much more developed than Earth. The ignored aspects were there because they were either not useful or cost more than it was worth. What was seen in Glessaria was not the top of the world. It is but a small kingdom. To see the true marvels, one has to go to the empires. It was only there that one could see the true power of Ragos. It may follow medieval feudalism and appear to be backward whenpared to Earth but Ragos is more than developed than Earth. --- All the elders started to go through the files of the graduating students and their evaluations. These files are confidential and anyone can ess them easily. Either they had to have higher ess or had skills that could easily hack the records of the kingdom. Luckily, all of these old people here are either Tier-7 or above, making it easier for them to ess the records easily. The kingdom of Glessaria hides a secret that not many are eligible to know. The secret is about these old people that are now seated, and discussing the future of the graduating students. These people are above Tier-7, and they are in the low triple digits but to the outside world, half of them are hidden and supposed to be dead. Only a few of them would work in the light and are known to the outside world. These elders have multiple skills crossing level 50 and a few above level 80. There are a few people here who have skill levels nearing level 100. In a decade or so, they are sure to reach level 100 and also the ones that decide the fate of kingdom of Glessaria. This is what they do. They train in seclusion and would onlye out when something of importance takes ce like war and this meeting to discuss the future pirs of the kingdom. The students from the academies will soon graduate. So based on the evaluations so far, these old men would decide what jobs they are eligible for and based on that, the students would receive various job offers. These offers would soley from the nobles and royal family. In this world almost anyone that has power is a noble but there are few families and organizations that have wealth and some power but are not nobles. These families or organizations would send invitations too but most of these have no representatives here. Only guilds like Adventurers''s Guild and Mercenary Guild has a representatives here, but those are not too many in the first ce. Everyone here is above Tier-7. So if a noble family has no such person, then they would have no representatives here but they would get the data of a few students, the ones that the people at this table wouldn''t see fit for the jobs that they can offer. In the world of Ragos, only strength determines what you can have and can''t. This is something that everyone understands and makes do with what they can. Even if they are nobles, without someone in Tier-7, they can never exert much power in the first ce. So what they do is to reach Tier-7 and above as soon as possible. This is why, talents in the families are nutured a lot. the chances of one with talent would most likely to reach Tier-7 than the one that is not. "Okay gentlemen, now that we havepleted the review of the files. Let''s discuss where the students would be allocated. The first student we would discuss is Magnus Frostwolf, student of Royal Academy. He is someone who stood at the top not once, not twice but consistencely from the start. He would be a valuable asset, so let''s discuss...." --- Royal Academy... Magnus has just returned to the academy and was preparing on how to make sure that Ang would ept what he has in mind. He has no idea that his entire story is being reviewed by the top of the kingdom. Magnus is nning on how to get Celine, Ang''s twin without causing a ruckus, which he know would happen if Ang finds out what he actually nned for her twin. Ang is a jealous one and if she finds out that the man he likes is also trying to get her sister into his bed, there is a high chance that she will strangle him. So, he has to n carefully and make it happen like it is the natural way of happening. Otherwise he might even lose the twin he alrady have, instead of getting the other one that he don''t. "Alright, whatever happens, happens. Let''s try and see if it works. Moroever, its not like I am proposing to take her sister now. It would be a gradual thing", Magnus muttered to himself as he was on his way to see Ang. Chapter 256 The Final Semester (3) 256 The Final Semester (3) (Magnus''s PoV) Well, it is time to meet with Ang and in order to implement my evil n to get her twin into my bed as well. I nned it very well or at least I think so. If by any chance I didn''t then that may be the end of me. Ang is a jealous one. Even though she never said anything in direct words, there were many hints in the way she talked or the words she used whenever she caught me talking to other girls. Even though her words might not mean anything but just a wrong interpretation on my part, her actions speak volumes, I believe so. The training sessions that happen after those scenarios would be too brutal even for a training maniac like me. Wait, I am not a training maniac. I may train like a maniac because I knew that there were too many dangers that could snap my life in seconds. I can''t let that happen and in order to do so I need to be strong enough. To be strong, I need to train, a lot, like a training maniac. Anyway, after such training sessions with her, I would be bound to bed, instead of doing anything less. Even from someone who spends a lot of time training, she can extract the sap out of them, everyst bit of it. N?v(el)B\\jnn So I need to be careful while dealing with her about this matter. I need my poker face and the best acting that I have ever put out. A small mistake mightnd me in hell. --- Afterpleting all my morning things, I went to meet Ang at our usual meeting ce, her training room, which I didn''t visit much in thest semester. When I arrived at the training room, I didn''t hear anything but the moment I opened the door, I heard a few whispers. The room would usually dampen the sounds. If not for that, then the entire academy might have known about our affair by now. Even when someone enters the room, without being near to them, they can''t hear properly. The only reason I can is because of my rank. We knew that of course. So whenever we did, we closed the entrance and locked the doors. If by chance anyone enters, even if they don''t hear anything, they can see what we are doing. It would be more than enough to expel me and sack her from her job. If things like this were leaked, no academy would give her a job. We can''t let that happen. So we always took precautions. There was only one human and a fox that knew about this. The fox is Asya, my pet obviously and the human is Celine, Ang''s twin. Well, she was after all the cause of the cracks in my rtionship with Ang and I don''t me her as she was simply looking out for her sister. Well, a bit. I me her a bit for the troubles that she brought into my rtionship with her sister. The reason I don''t me her much was because she cares about her sister and these cracks that she brought in between me and her sister would help me get her into my bed. It''s a win for me. --- I could hear two people speaking. Though I didn''t understand what they were saying, I knew that they were the twins. So I went inside directly without calling either of them. The situation now is different from what it used to be. So I can''t just shout from the gate. What we have to speak, it has to be done in close quarters. Celine''s back was facing and Ang''s face was towards me. Ang looked at me in surprise. "Magnus, you are here," she said in a rather mixed voice, expressing sadness and happiness at the same time. I sighed looking at her and spoke, "Hello Ang". Celine turned towards me and saw how awkward the situation was and she knew that it was because of her. Though she didn''t say anything after seeing me, I can say from her facial expressions that she regretted causing her sister trouble, all because she didn''t believe me. "Magnus...", Ang started to speak but I cut her off. "Before you speak, there is something I would like to speak and then you can speak", I spoke and looked at the sisters. They both nodded and I took my n to the stage. The n was simple. I had ns to take a world tour after I graduated. Maybe not the very next day but after rxing a few days with my family, if that is possible. They were busy most of the time. So I decided to give a week or so for rxation, whether they were avable or not. Once that was done, I would start my tour. I would be gone for a few years and since the troubles between Ang and me were because of a misunderstanding with Celine, I said we could bond and know each other much in this tour. Yes, I asked Celine to be a travelling partner, not for the entire tour, but for a few months at most. After that, she would return. Whether I continue my travel or not depends on what was happening at that time. --- I returned to my room after having a talk with Ang. I never thought that it would be so easy to make her agree to my n. Anyway, I didn''t count how much she was in love with me and would do anything to make it right between us. Moreover, it''s not like I said that I would sleep with her twin sister. To her, this is so that her sister would understand me and I would understand her sister. It is a win-win situation. Anyway, now that is done, I need toplete all other activities that I nned toplete before the semester is done and that is toplete reading all books from the academy library. After this semester, I wouldn''t get ess to them unless I join the academy as its staff, which I have no ns to do. So, I need to get all the knowledge that I can from this ce before I graduate. The next five months will be packed with a lot of work. No rest for the wicked, it seems. Your gift is the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation! Creation is hard, cheer me up! Chapter 257 The Final Semester (4) 257 The Final Semester (4) Well, now that the first step of Operation: Getting Celine into my bed waspleted without a hitch, I need to make sure the other steps are perfect for the operation to go without a hitch. I can''t falter in any of the steps or else the entire operation would be voided. Anyway, the next step wouldn''t be until I graduate. So I have a lot of time to n this carefully. Yeah, I didn''t n the next steps as I was not sure that the first step would be a sess and definitely not like this even if the n has a sess chance. Ang epted my n without aint and so did Celine. Anyway, I do have some time to n what to do next perfectly. Before that, I have other things to take care of while I am yet to graduate. The things to do while on my tour, were something I needed to think about when I was tired or bored, but not now. Now, I need to think about how to make the best use of the academy before I can no longer use the resources of the academy. --- First, let''s have a quick look at my status panel. I need to prepare my timetable based on my status after all. Seeing the status I can determine what to improve now and what to improveter. I mean, not every skill is easy to improve. This is myst semester here and I need to make the best use of the resources that are avable as they won''t be avable to me after I graduate. Since there was no showing off to my future father-inw, I can improve in a calm manner. Sure, I need to show that I improved my "status" to others, as they might get suspicious if I stay at the low rank for too long but that won''t be a problem for long. I didn''t n the world tour just to get into the pants of Celine. No, I only added that to it, to make it easier for me to get her. No, the real reason I wanted to tour was to know the world more. Living in this small kingdom, the chances of knowing about the world would be minimal. I need to visit various ces in order to know the history of the world and also what the world can offer. I mean, not everything can be obtained in this small kingdom. If that were true, then the Kingdom of Glessaria would have been the ruler of Ragos a long ago, and not still fighting with the pesky four neighbors it has. From what I know, there are many kingdoms and empires out there. There are also different races, meaning what I could learn or get my hands on is very limited if I stay back in the little kingdom. To improve my strength, I need to learn what is out there and what I can achieve in the future. In my kingdom, most know that Tier-7 is at its peak and only nobles know that there is indeed a Tier-9 powerhouse. Above that, there are only myths. No one truly saw anyone cross Tier-9. If there is a Tier-10 or another rank beyond Tier-9, it is just a myth here. There are not enough resources in the kingdom for one to reach the rank beyond Tier-9. To check that, I need to visit one of the empires. if there is a rank beyond Tier-9, which I am sure there is or at least was, I am sure that I can find them in one of the empires, if they were still present. Moreover, this tour would perfectly cover my true strength. I am tired of showing that I am weak. I can return and show that I improved a lot in those travels I took. This way, i wouldn''t need to pretend that I am weak. It''s too tiring to act weak. Though it wasmon to go to the Magic Association to get the Rank Up promotion, I learned that there are other organizations out there that would do the same. So, even if I don''t go to the Magic Association branch, no one would think about the matter. I can finally live as I am. By showing my true strength, I can eliminate all the threats that are still lurking in the family openly. I mean, if I show now that I am Tier-6, then it would raise a lot of questions and everyone would think that I am hiding something precious. So, instead of eliminating enemies, I would attract more. It would be a losing situation rather than what is supposed to be a winning situation. Now let''s check my status panel first before thinking of anything else. There is much to do in the present. It''s best to stay in the present, rather than in the future. "Status" -- Name: Magnus Frostwolf Age: 19 Titles: Son of Viscount; Great yer; Hidden Smiden; Dungeon Conqueror; Primary ss: Draconic Warlock Secondary ss: Soul Arbiter (Unique) Affinity: Shadow, Blood, Space Bloodline: ck Dragon (30% Purity) Technique: ck Dragon Essence Breathing Physique: Devourer Physique (EX) Talent: Ritualistic Summoning (EX) Trait: Silk Smooth Skin (A bit Improved); Sleepy; Aurum Skin; Sexy Smile; Rank: Tier-6 Level: 50 Health Points (HP): ??? Strength (STR):220,000 (+100%) Endurance (END): 251,000 (+100%) Dexterity (DEX): 1,900 Agility (AGI): 200,000 (+100%) Intelligence (INT): ??? Magic Power (MP): ??? Soul Energy: 125,000 (+200%) Charm: 3,009 ss Skills: Shadow Bolt; Blood Dominance; Draconic Magic; Shadow Curse; Blood Heal; Shadow Shift; Blood Lock; Draconic Pressure; Shadow Merge; Blood Drain; Soul Judge; Soul Prison; Soul Container; Nether mes; Shadow control; Blood Boil; Shadow Clone; Blood Clone; Space sh; Soul de; Soul Ascension; Soul Avatar; Shadow Storage; Blood Rain; Space Break; Soul Arrow; Soul Defence; Soul Lock; Special Skills: Rank Booster; Status Disguise; Refined Skills: Shadow Bolt Volley Lvl. 30; Blood Drain Field Lvl. 19; Skills: Evade Lvl. 32; Dodge Lvl. 32; Sprint Lvl. 32; Alertness Lvl. 27; Devour Lvl. 12; Fusion Lvl. 28; Split Lvl. 28; Demon Gaze Lvl. 8; Strengthen Lvl. 31; Tag & Track Lvl. 9; Night Vision Lvl. 26; Spatial Storage Lvl. 18; Mind Control Lvl. 9; Mind Probe Lvl. 9; Mind Defence Lvl. 3; Dragon Blood Evolution Lvl. 22; Scent Recognition Lvl. 23; Sexual Stamina Lvl. 7; Perception Lvl. 26; Pet World Lvl. 5; Parry Lvl. 21; Resistances: Physical Resistance Lvl. 30; Light Resistance Lvl. 15; Poison Resistance Lvl. 12; Magic Resistance (Non-Attribute) Lvl. 23; Space Resistance Lvl. 17; Fire Resistance Lvl. 23; Water Resistance Lvl. 20; Mind Resistance Lvl. 1; Wind Resistance Lvl. 19; Lightning Resistance Lvl. 17; Weapon Arts: Advanced Staff Arts Lvl. 6; Advanced Movement Arts Lvl. 2; Intermediate Hand Combat Arts Lvl. 8; -- Creation is hard, cheer me up! Your gift is the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation! ChaosSpawn n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om Creator''s Thought The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!