《Cloud Shrouding the Sky》 Blessed and Kicked Out ¡°Cloud! Wake up it¡¯s morning already!¡± Slowly opening my eyes, I can see the manager of the orphanage I¡¯m in. If I could, I wish this day will never happen but who am I to protest right? I am just an orphan with no money, power nor relative to rely on. Today is the last day I will be living here in the orphanage, I reach the age of 10 this year and will be forced to leave after taking the coming of age ceremony. I move from my bed and pack my things into a small bag that has been prepared by the orphanage manager. After all things has been packed into the bag, I make up my bed and look around the room once more. Good bye my comfortable shelter, outside world here I come! After walking for 15 minutes I arrived at the temple, it¡¯s already bustling with children from the vicinity of the city. Today the temple will hold the coming of age ceremony which will decide our future occupation. Although its already divided into several lines, the queue still extends towards the temple entrance. Maybe if it¡¯s made to be one line it will extend outside the city. At noon, after several hours waiting, my turn has finally arrived. I enter the room assigned by the temple priest and there was another priest waiting for me inside. ¡°Step into the circle and close your eyes¡± I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s to cut the time or because it¡¯s his character but the priest commanded me as soon as I entered the room. The priest then raised both of his hands and direct it to me. ¡°By the will of the God, may you be blessed in this life ! [Blessing]¡± I waited for several minutes but nothing happened to me. Did the ritual fail? Can I open my eyes now? Please say something! ¡°Open your eyes child¡± I was startled when I heard the voice because it was a voice of a woman not a man. I opened my eyes and look around. I can only see myself and a woman standing in front of me wearing white dress. There is something about her aura that makes me feel comfortable as well as want to worship her. ¡°Uhm, sorry I was supposed to be at the temple receiving my blessing but where is this?¡± ¡°This is the God¡¯s realm, you must be confused why I summoned you here right?¡± ¡°I guess, since it¡¯s too sudden¡± What the hell is she crazy, she called herself God. But then how did she teleported me into this room, is she a space magician? Although its rare but it isn¡¯t like there is no space magician in the world. ¡°Cloud, or should I call you Shane, I call you here to receive what¡¯s yours to begin with¡± ¡°What?! How did you¡­ I mean¡± Shane, that was my name in the previous life. After I was killed by a slasher on a random day, I was sent to the other world as a baby. My family lived in a frontier village and when I was 5, there was a monster horde that kills both of my parents. Since then I lived in the orphanage but well it¡¯s all in the past, I¡¯m glad that I retain my previous life memory else I will be too devastated by my parents dead. It¡¯s impossible to know this if she is not a God. ¡°Do you trust me now?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s the only possible explanation. So why do I reincarnate with my memory intact?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not by my will but your soul that evolved. It is the first case I face this kind of thing since the creation of this world but maybe the Creator has His plan on this¡± ¡°Evolved, what do you mean?¡± ¡°Your soul has evolved to be able to regain its past memories so as you grow, some knowledge will appear on your head suddenly. These knowledge are accumulation of what you learn in your previous lives. But you will not gain it all in an instant, you must reach the level of understanding before you gain the information.¡± ¡°Level of understanding? I don¡¯t get it¡± ¡°In other word, each time you level up a skill to level 10, 20, 30, and so forth, you will unlock a new knowledge according to what you learn. Since it¡¯s the first time this is happening, I don¡¯t know what will happen in the future so I decide to help you a bit. You will receive an extra skill that I have chosen for you and can choose your own blessing in order to gain all your previous knowledge¡±Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Why would you want me to gain it all?¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it interesting, you are the first case and I am bored, it¡¯s gonna be my entertainment as well as your capital to live a life on the new world. So what blessing would you want?¡± ¡°God of Knowledge¡¯s Blessing¡± ¡°Ah what a good choice, a blessing to let you learn anything faster. I am satisfied with your answer, I will add another surprise for you later, good luck¡± After she said that, my vision went dark again and as I opened my eyes, the priest hand still up in the air and a light descent above me. A screen then popped out in front of me, it looks like status screen from a game.
Personal Information
Name Cloud Job None
Age 10 Level 1
HP 160 MP 100
Skills
Skill Name Level
Comprehension 100
Physical 5
Active Skills
Skill Name Origin Toggle Cost
Tutoring 50 Comprehension OFF 10 MP/sec
Learn 70 Comprehension None 100 MP
Appraisal 100 Comprehension None 10 MP
Passive Skills
Skill Name Origin
All language 30 Comprehension
Fast Learner 10 Comprehension
Mind Map 90 Comprehension
Eidetic Memory 100 Comprehension
Blessing
God of Knowledge Learning speed multiplier
Remaining Skill Points 0
Wow I got so many skills because the God of Knowledge¡¯s blessing. It¡¯s weird since usually people will only get 1 or 2 skills from their blessing but I got a whooping amount of 6 skills, I guess this is what She meant by another surprise huh? Skills are the main branch of active or passive skills. By leveling skills you can get either active or passive spells when you reach a certain level. So all the skills I got is because of Comprehension which is already lvl 100 or max from the beginning. Uhm, my stats is not overpowered, that¡¯s good I am not some kind of monster like creatures. As for skill, let see, what skill is mind mapping, I have never heard of it before. --- Skill Information --- Learning Gain all important information about a book after you read it once, also give a chance of learning a skill if the book you read contain information about it --- Skill information --- Mind Map Able to make a map of place you have seen or visited on your mind and visualize them The hell, all the skill I earned are cheats. With Mind Map and Eidetic Memory I will be able to have permanent map of the area I have visited. All language makes me able to read any book, Fast Learning will make me read a book faster and Learning can make me get a skill from it. These skills are creating synergy with each other, and the God of Knowledge blessing multiplier is not known yet but at least it will double my learning speed. With these skills on my arsenal, I don¡¯t need to worry about the future. ¡°So what blessing do you get kid?¡± ¡°God of Knowledge¡¯s Blessing sir¡± ¡°Un, I suggest you get into the academy and learn for several years. In the future you can become either researcher or scholar¡± ¡°Yes, thanks sir¡± The temple will record every kid blessing and gave them to the kingdom. These records will be used by the kingdom to search for talent that will be used for the kingdom¡¯s interest. But mostly the one who are nurtured is the one who receive God of War¡¯s blessing. Ah my future will be bright alright but the present it is so gloomy and dark. I don¡¯t know where to go since they orphanage kicked me out now. Usually kid like me will go to slum and do crime to survive. What the fuck did the kingdom think to make such a rule as kicking kid from the orphanage after the coming of age ceremony. At least make us stay until we can get a job or something, it isn¡¯t like there isn¡¯t a job for a kid but usually it involves doing chores and there are not many of them. The other job that don¡¯t require a skill is to become adventurer but for a child to be an adventurer means certain suicide so no one would do it unless they are desperate. But it¡¯s not like doing illegal things is safer. Orphan who were caught by the guards doing crime inside the city wall and cannot pay the fine will be directly sold as a slave so it¡¯s the same as gambling. But then what other choice I have, sigh the future is bright but I don¡¯t know if I could reach the future now. I guess I have to go to slum and see what happen for now. Chapter 2 - Hired A month later in the business district, I observe the people around looking for a prey. I usually targets a noble or greedy merchant so I can lesser my burden. Although its more dangerous since they have guards around them but at least an innocent person money. Noble have so many riches that they can feed the entire slums for a year with no problem but they choose to spent it on luxury. Now I know how the poor people in my previous world felt when they saw the rich people who spent money like nothing.
PERSONAL INFORMATION
Name Cloud Level 1
Age 10 Job None
HP 400 MP 100
SKILLS
Skill Name Level
Comprehension 100
Physical 25
[NEW]Thief 10
ACTIVE SKILLS
Skill Name Origin Toggle Cost
Tutoring 50 Comprehension OFF 10 MP/sec
Learn 70 Comprehension OFF 100 MP
Appraisal Max Comprehension NONE 10 MP
[NEW] Hiding 10 Thief OFF 10 MP/sec
PASSIVE SKILLS
All Language 30 Comprehension
Fast Learner 10 Comprehension
Mind Map 90 Comprehension
Eidetic Memory Max Comprehension
[New] Sensitive Ear 10 Thief
BLESSING
God of Knowledge Learning speed multiplier
Remaining Skill point(s) 0
As my job also include physical ability like running, my physical abilities also increased as well. My HP became 300 since each points of Physical abilities will raise my hp by 12, attack by 3 and defend by 2. Physical abilities doesn¡¯t give skills but give you stat buffs. As I was looking around, I heard a commotion coming from the adventurer guild. A girl was surrounded by 3 adventurers. The other only seems to watch as three of them about to bully the girl. The three adventurers physical abilities average is level 10 and they all have sword mastery skill at level 10. They also have their armor and weapons equipped although it is sheathed.As the bulkiest man about to grab the girl, I reach the girl faster than them and pull them to my side and run outside. ¡°Huh what? You dare to take my prey, Chase that brat!¡± All of them chased after me, I tried to juke them into an alley but alas my luck was bad, the girl tripped and injured her leg. The group finally caught us, now I can only fight, sight¡­ ¡°You wait here don¡¯t move, let me hold them until the guards come¡± I said to the girl and she can only nod to me. ¡°You brat, how dare you taking my prey. I will beat you up until your parents doesn¡¯t recognize you¡± A man come forward and try to punch me, but having 25 Physical ability, I saw it on slow motion and easily dodge it. The man seems to be startled but then my fist arrived at his face knocking him onto the wall. ¡°This brat is not normal, unsheathe your weapon¡± The other two then come after me after unsheathing their sword. I tried to dodge but alas its two versus one, some of their slash managed to injure me but its not fatal.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Haha brat let see how much longer you survive¡± Suddenly a knowledge of appears on my mind, its bare-handed fighting. Ah so I have lived as a martial artist before, good timing. As they slash again, I caught on their wrist and turned it. ¡°AHHHH!!!¡± Both of their wrist was broken and their weapons dropped on the ground. I took one of the sword and as I approached one of them, ¡°Ah¡­ no please don¡¯t. Forgive me, I still want to live¡± Suddenly a loud shout can be heard from the other direction. ¡°Freeze, drop your weapon or we will use force!¡± ¡°Ah¡­ Mr.Guard help me, this boy wanted to kill me¡± Seeing the guards, Mr.Villain who begged his life glad and crawl towards the guard. As I don¡¯t wish to worsen the problem, I drop the sword on the ground and the guards detain me to the guards post. ¡°Name?¡± ¡°Cloud¡± ¡°Age¡± ¡°10 years¡± ¡°What?! You are not lying aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°No I am really 10 years, its only been a month since I got my blessing you can check it¡± ¡°Okay, why do you break their arms?¡± ¡°It¡¯s self defense, don¡¯t you see my scar, they tried to kill me¡± After I said so, the guards who interrogate me looks at my body that full of slash injuries with confused looks. ¡°Then why is that girl leg injured?¡± I began to explain the accident from the adventurer guild until the alley when they detain me. The guards didn¡¯t just accept my testimony and lock me in prison. After several hours, I was freed out of jail by the guards who interrogate me. They seems to get the stories from the girl and the adventurer guild so I was freed. ¡°Wait a minute boy¡± As I walked out of the guard post, an old man stopped me. ¡°Do you need something?¡± ¡°Yes, I am the butler of Flaming family, Steve. Let me first thanked you for saving my family young miss¡± ¡°Ah the girl is from Flaming family, then why does she wondered around the adventurer guild, its dangerous you know¡± ¡°Ah, yes yes.. we have already told young miss several times but she wont listen. After listening what happened to the young miss, master got so angry that he fired all of miss personal guards and locked the young miss inside her room¡± ¡°So what¡¯s your business with me ?¡± ¡°I want to offer you a job as young miss personal servant. After master heard what happen, he felt grateful to you and thus offer you the job. Will you accept it?¡± ¡°Can you explain it first, what is my duty as her servant?¡± ¡°That involve protecting and taking care of her needs. But don¡¯t worry, there are still maids that will help you in taking care of the young miss¡± ¡°Okay, I accept the job, so when do I start?¡± ¡°Anytime you want¡± ¡°Then I will start to work today¡± ¡°Ah, that¡¯s good, follow me to the Flaming¡¯s family mansion¡± We arrived at a huge mansion on the noble district. But seriously I thought the name just coincidentally the same as the Count but it seems that Flaming family is the count¡¯s family. I entered the house and was led to the office on the second floor by the butler. As I walked in, I saw a blonde middle aged man sitting behind a desk. Countless amount of papers could be seen on the table and the Count seems to analyze them one by one. ¡°Master, I have brought the boy¡± ¡°Ah, you must be Cloud right, I am Count Alfred Flaming, the father of the girl you protected¡± ¡°Ah, nice to see you, my name is Cloud. Please pardon my lack of manner as I am just a mere commoner¡± ¡°Be at ease, I understand your condition, so assume you agree to be Elizabeth¡¯s personal servant?¡± ¡°Yes master¡± ¡°Great, I heard you beat three F ranked adventurer on your own so your talent must be decent. What did you do before this Cloud?¡± ¡°Uhm, I live on the slums for a month now, I do chores around the town time to time to get money for food¡± ¡°Ah typical orphan, okay then go meet El for now¡± ¡°Yes master¡± As I leave the room, Steve showed me the way to the young miss room. As I knocked the door, a girl voice could be heard from the room. ¡°Who?¡± ¡°Ah young miss, its me Steve, I brought your new servant¡± ¡°Come in¡± As I entered the room, I looked around because it¡¯s my first time on a girl room even in my previous life I didn¡¯t get to see a girl room. This room is huge, almost the size of my apartment from my previous life. The girl seems to be dazed as she saw me. The silent keeps for a few second before Steve start the conversation. ¡°This is Cloud, he will become your personal servant from now. Alright you can get know each other for now, if there is nothing else then I will excuse my self¡± After that Steve left the room and closed the door. Damn oldman what should I do, I am still virgin and you left me with a girl in a room. ¡°Er, Cloud right, you were the one who saved me back then right?¡± ¡°Yes young miss¡± ¡°So, tell me why do you save me back then?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, I acted on impulse¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you afraid of those guys?¡± ¡°I am afraid but I don¡¯t know why but my body seems moved on its own¡± The girl frown, he stared at me for a while before stomping the ground and seems to be angry. Damn what should I do in this kind of situation? ¡°Uhm miss, is there anything you need from me?¡± ¡°Am I ugly?¡± ¡°No miss, you are really beautiful¡± ¡°Really? Then why don¡¯t you say you safe me because you charmed by my beauty?¡± The hell, is this person a narcissist? Ah fuck it let¡¯s praise her more, for job and money I will throw my dignity once. ¡°Ah, miss I am sorry but I am not in position to admire or hoping to court you as I am a mere commoner. If I am a noble with at least the same status as you, I will not hesitate and pursue you¡± ¡°Really? So it¡¯s like that, humph yes you are right you better know your place commoner¡± ¡°Yes¡­ yes¡­ miss I don¡¯t dare¡± ¡°Alright Cloud, it seems that you are exceled in close range combat¡± ¡°Ah no miss, I am just a beginner at bare-handed fighting, I managed to beat them by luck¡± ¡°To gain that kind of skill although you are only beginner, no wonder they said adventurer is so strong¡± ¡°Ah, so the reason you visit the adventurer guild that day is to proof this?¡± ¡°Yes, and because of that I was injured and scolded so hard by dad. Cloud, teach me how to fight¡± ¡°But miss¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s an order!¡± ¡°Yes miss¡± ¡°Good, let¡¯s start tomorrow¡± Chapter 3 - Free Education? Sure, Why Not! ¡°Alright miss, let¡¯s end the lesson for today¡± ¡°Huff¡­huff¡­ why do I never win against you!?¡± ¡°But if you win then what use am I to you?¡± ¡°Ah¡­¡± Elizabeth face blushed red because of the exercise she got from me. We have trained for a month now and her abilities soaring day by day. The improvement due to tutoring skill, with this I could teach her with the simplest way so that she can understand the subject faster. But since i couldnt activate it for to long, the progress is not monstrous like me. ¡°Good job Cloud, young miss has been progressing so fast in her training¡± ¡°Ah Steve, it¡¯s my duty as young miss personal servant to fulfill her wish¡± ¡°Cloud, I would like to ask something to you is that okay?¡± ¡°Sure, as long as it is within my ability I will try to fulfill it¡± ¡°Good, can you enter the Royal Academy with young miss?¡± ¡°What?! But I don¡¯t have money to pay the tuition fee¡± ¡°It¡¯s alright, Master will pay for your tuition but you must study well and protect young miss well¡± ¡°Well if it¡¯s free I will take it, as for protection it is already my duty so no problem¡± God Bless Flaming family, let this family be prosperous all age. At first I thought I would work here for several years until I got enough money for the tuition fee of the Academy. But then like a meat pie dropped from sky, my boss decided to pay for it, I couldn¡¯t thank Flaming family enough. From now on, whatever happen I will stay with young miss since she is like my lady of luck. I mean, after I met her good things seems to follow me. I was freed from the dangerous job of pickpocketing, I got a job that paid well, and now free education. If she isn¡¯t my lady of luck I don¡¯t know what else to call her. Three weeks later, I and Elizabeth riding on Flaming families carriage arrived at the Academy City. This city is a neutral zone between kingdoms. This city created and guarded by powerful group of people that seeks to find a place where all knowledge can be gathered together. There was a story that a king for certain kingdom want this area because of their research and knowledge that basically exceed all kingdoms in the continent at that time. He deployed his troops to siege the city but the next morning the other kingdoms heard the news of the kingdom army defeat. The king was dead and his family uprooted from the smallest child that just born until the elders. Since then no one dare to go against the Academy City. The vicinity of academy city then became a trade union because so many merchant wish to settle their business in the area. After the accident,the other kingdoms and empire create their own Academy. The reason for this was because they realized how important an academy is. Although they started late but at least the other kindoms hadnt started yet at that time. Every year, they also sent nobles children to attend the academy in hope that they will be able to get knowledge as many as possible and share it within their kingdom. The Academy doesnt care about this but because the Academy wants to make sure everybody can get the same opportunity of education, they limit the number of noble joining the academy and set a tuition fee. By setting tuition fee and restricting the amount of noble, commoner with enough money can also join the Academy. Since then the kingdoms and empire also started picking talented commoners to be sent to the academy for free. In return they have to share their knowledge by working for the kingdom. But from time to time, there were always some commoner who came to study without the help of a kingdom or empire. These people either came from merchant family or their family had started saving money from previous generation in hope for better future generation. ¡°Miss we have arrived at the academy¡± ¡°Yes, let¡¯s go Cloud¡± As we exited the carriage, the academy could be seen within our vision. My first impression of the academy was too huge. I mean if we compare it to the size of the city, almost half of them was the Academy area. We then walked into the Academy and was greeted by the guard of the academy. ¡°Good morning, may I help you?¡± ¡°We are new student and hope to report our arrival¡± ¡°Ah new student? Walk straight from here and you will see a big building, report your arrival there¡± ¡°Thank you¡± After that we did as the guard told us and we found a big building almost the size of city hall in my previous life. This is the administration building and all the activity within the academy must be first registered here else it will be illegal activity. ¡°Good morning, how may I help you?¡± ¡°Ah, we are new students, my name is Cloud, and this is my young miss Elizabeth Flaming¡± ¡°Okay, let me see your admission paper first¡± ¡°Ah here it is¡± ¡°Okay, welcome to the Academy City, here is your room key, map, and student book¡± ¡°Thank you¡± After we left the administration building, we went to the dormitory area to find our lodging. Because miss is noble, she can bring with her 2 servant to tend her in the Academy but she only brought me here. When we arrived, I once again astonished by how huge the academy, even the dormitory is occupying the other half of the city. Academy city was divided into two district, Academy itself and Normal district. Academy district is located in the inner part of the city and protected by walls around it. The other district is located outside the walls, there people who seeks for fortune by working as academy staff or by opening shop at the city lives. Since Academy City is a neutral zone, it becomes a great place to find stuffs from all over the empire. We entered the building and found our room. It¡¯s the same as young miss bedroom and all the furniture were top class. Because young miss only brought one servant, I will be sleeping here as well to tend her needs and protect her in case something happen. ¡°Well, the room is decent but there is only one bed here¡± ¡°Ah don¡¯t worry young miss, I will be sleeping at the sofa. It¡¯s okay¡± ¡°But¡­ well if you okay with it I guess then we got no problem¡±The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Miss can I have a moment please¡± ¡°What is it Cloud ?¡± ¡°Later our stats will be shown to the academy so I want to make a confession to you¡± ¡°Speak!¡± ¡°I was a thief before I met you, I was an orphan and its hard to find a job after I got kicked out from the orphanage. With nothing else to do, I could only steal the others money to survive¡± ¡°You¡­¡± ¡°But I never steal money from the poor, I choose either noble or merchant because they got so much money that its not a problem even when I rob them a hundred times¡± ¡°Well I already know that from father, he already looked about your background when you start work as my servant. For noble family like mine, its easy to get information like that. It¡¯s okay it is already in the past so I will not talk about that but if I found out you do that again I kick you out¡± ¡°Yes, young miss thank you for your concern. I promise that I will never do that again¡± I decided to speak to young miss to prevent complication since the academy will check each students status before joining in the academy. The academy use this opportunity to record the student improvement as they study in the academy as well as prevent dangerous criminal and spy from entering the academy. Noon, at the dormitory. ¡°Miss, its time for lunch and after that the Academy want us to report to the administration building to check our stats¡± ¡°First lets go to the Academies cafeteria I heard that their food is decent after lunch we will head to the administration building¡± ¡°Okay¡± We walk towards the cafeteria, it seems that some students also had arrived even earlier than us. Although the Academy open all years but the curriculum still hasn¡¯t started yet. But seeing so many students here, I can guess that the academy was made this huge for a reason. I mean if its back on earth, the cafeteria size would be like a small department store. Our food expense was included in the Academy tuition fee but if you like something special to eat, you can also order the chef to prepare it for you. The free food couldn¡¯t be called luxurious but not so simple either. At least its enough to fill our belly so its good. After we ate the all our food, we went to the administration building. There were also some students waiting for their turn of examination. I am a little bit nervous since I have thief job on me but I am only a servant so I think it will not be a problem hopefully. ¡°Next, hand over your student id¡± ¡°Here¡± ¡°Okay, stand in position [Reveal]¡±
PERSONAL INFORMATION
Name Cloud Level 1
Age 10 Job Servant
HP 520 MP 100
SKILLS
Skill Name Level
Physical 35
Thief 10
[NEW]Martial Arts 25
ACTIVE SKILLS
Skill Name Origin Toggle Cost
Hiding 10 Thief OFF 10 MP/sec
Stealth 20 Thief OFF 20 MP/sec
[NEW]Swift Attack 10 Martial Arts NONE 10 MP
[NEW]Finger Thrust 20 Martial Arts NONE 25 MP
PASSIVE SKILLS
Sensitive Ear 10 Thief
Dagger Mastery 20 Thief
[NEW]Breath 10 Martial Arts
[NEW]Bare-handed Fighting Mastery 20 Martial Arts
BLESSING
God of Knowledge Learning speed multiplier
Remaining Skill point(s) 0
PERSONAL INFORMATION
Name Elizabeth Flaming Level 1
Age 12 Job Noble
HP 220 MP 100
SKILLS
Skill Name Level
Ellegance 12
Physical 10
Martial Arts 10
Warrior 2
ACTIVE SKILLS
Skill Name Origin Toggle Cost
Swift Attack 10 Martial Arts NONE 10 MP
PASSIVE SKILLS
Manners 10 Ellegance
Breath 10 Martial Arts
BLESSING
God of Berserker Damage +50%
Remaining Skill point(s) 0
As the level of the skill became higher, i felt the decrease my leveling up speed. Although due my comprehension i could train much faster, i can feel the frustation of leveling a skill. No wonder they say that people normaly only have several skills on their arsenal. If with monstrous ability, comprehension, i could only progress at this speed, then i wonder how many years they need to level up. Of all blessing in the world, Elizabeth got the blessing of God of War so no wonder she like to get into a fight and hate to lose against me. Although her blessing adds 50 percent damage to her attack but it still lacking compared to my defense. But something is not right about my stats, how can they didn¡¯t see the comprehension and all its skills. Well I guess its my little secret with God but im glad that they cant see it because its too overpowered. I wouldn¡¯t want to get the top brass attention because of my skill because im still weak now. ¡°Thief Skill?!¡± Hearing that the people around stopped and looks toward me. The hell you don¡¯t have to yell it so loud until the entire building hear it don¡¯t you? ¡°Ah¡­. Its because¡­. So¡­.¡± ¡°It¡¯s because he follow me in secret, I like to go around on my own but he always follow me in secret so he got that skill. If he was not my servant I would have thought he was trying to rob me¡± ¡°Ah¡­ yes¡­.yes that¡¯s how it is, but im surprised miss notice me following her¡± ¡°Of course who do you think this lady is humph!¡± Elizabeth proudly praise herself, but I gladly accept it if its not for her maybe I¡¯ll be kicked out from the academy. ¡°Ah.. so that¡¯s what happen, then I guess there is no problem but try not to use it too often¡± ¡°Yes¡­ yes¡­ I understand¡± ¡°But boy your abilities also topnotch for your age. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if you are 20 or something but to think you are only 10 years old. Your miss is also great although its isn¡¯t as impressive as you¡± ¡°Ah¡­ yes its because of my duty to protect young miss¡± ¡°Good, I have recorded both of your stats, you can leave now¡± After the commotion, we left the administration building. I¡¯m really glad that I passed the test, now im officially a student at this academy. But my lady of luck sure helped me a lot this time so my debt to her keep increasing time to time. ¡°Miss¡­¡± ¡°What is it Cloud?¡± ¡°Thanks for today, if its not for young mistress saying I stalked you then I would not be able to study here¡± ¡°What are you saying, you are my servant so of course you must be study here with me. Beside it wasn¡¯t lie right, you do stalked me back then. If not why the hell would you know where am I and save me¡± ¡°But¡­. Sigh¡­ yes I was charmed by young miss beauty back then so I cannot resist to stalk you¡± Damn it my man dignity about to be buried underground. I wish I could dig a hole and hide in it for a month. But really, I have to get used to her narcissist attitude. Thus our life in the Academy City will finally began. Chapter 4 - Do you want to quit? It¡¯s the first day of school, I woke up at dusk and slowly walk outside afraid that I would awake the young miss. I always started the day by doing morning exercise like jogging and doing horse stand. I learned it from the martial arts memory by the way. Actually there are several other things that I got from the memory but I haven¡¯t tried it until today because of my job. I must accompany Elizabeth every day until night so I got no time to practice except in the morning and when I spare with her. After doing my morning exercise, I woke Elizabeth up and help her to prepare herself for today. To us it¡¯s important day because today we will meet our friends that will accompany us for the next four years in the Academy. ¡°This is your breakfast young miss¡± ¡°Thanks Cloud, have you eaten?¡± ¡°Yes I had eaten earlier¡± Elizabeth ate the breakfast which consist of bread and jam. I also served her a tea as a usual, it has already becoming a habit for me to serve tea for each meal. Maybe because she was a noble, but she seems to enjoy drinking tea. After the meal, we head straight to Elizabeth class. Although mostly we will be taught the same subjects, but apparently a noble student has more class than a commoner and servant. They add manner, chivalry, dance, and some noble subjects for the noble students. As we arrived in the class room, many students with their servant also present inside the class room. They apparently start to introduce themselves to each other. This is not in order to make friends but to build a connection since they are noble. ¡°We have arrived young miss, then if there is nothing else I will go to my class¡± ¡°Un, good luck Cloud¡± ¡°You too miss Elizabeth¡± After that I went to my class, the situation is not so different from the noble class but here they are making friends not building connection. Ah, maybe that¡¯s not true either maybe there are some nobles who truly seeks friend and commoner who seeks to build connection with noble servants. But whatever it is we will know each other and work together for the next four years. ¡°Hello, my name is Kane, a servant of Miss Sophia Scarlet of Scarlet Family. May I know your name?¡± ¡°Ah, my name is Cloud, Miss Elizabeth Flaming of Flaming Families servant¡± ¡°Nice to meet you Cloud, hope for your cooperation for the next 4 years¡± ¡°Nice to meet you too, I hope for your cooperation as well¡± ¡°Ah Kane from Scarlet Family right?¡± ¡°Oh, if I am not wrong you are Jake, young master Catherine Burtons from Burton Families servant right?¡± ¡°Yes, glad that you remember me, and he is..¡± ¡°He is Cloud, Miss Elizabeth Flaming of Flaming families servant¡± ¡°Ah nice to meet you, I hope for your guidance for the next for years¡± ¡°Yes¡­yes¡­ me too¡± After we talk for a while, the bell rung and we got back to our seats. A lady holding a book entered the class room and went to the podium. ¡°Good morning class, I will be your teacher for this semester. My name is Claudia Northenberg, lets take attendance first. When I call your name, I want you to say your name and introduce yourself¡± One by one, the student in the class including me, Kane, and Jake introduce ourself. The ratio between servant and commoners is leaning towards the servant side because the expensive tuition fee of the academy. ¡°Aurelia¡± ¡°My name is Aurelia I am from Borg. I went to the academy because I am interested in alchemy since my family own a potion store. I hope for your cooperation in the next four years¡± ¡°Sena¡± ¡°Sena from Grizola, that¡¯s all¡± ¡°What¡¯s with that cold attitude, who the fuck did you think you are, you are just a commoner not even a noble servant¡± ¡°Right!¡± ¡°Shut Up! If you ever dare to make a commotion on my class once more, I will kick you out from my class for a week, understand?¡± ¡°Yes I am understand, I am sorry miss Claudia¡± ¡°Okay let¡¯s start our lesson¡± I guess its not because she was looking at her classmate in disdain its just that this girl is the quiet type so she can only talk a few words. At least her tone doesn¡¯t seems she look down on us. But I heard something interesting, this teacher will ban me from study for a week if I make a commotion in class. One week, I guess I can study and learn the collection of knowledge from my soul memory during that time.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Also since I have comprehension and god of knowledge blessing, I don¡¯t think I will be left behind in my study. Reading books on the library also an option, since I have to be with miss all the time beside class, I guess being banned from joining the class for some time is my only option to level up my skills. Else my comprehension talent will be wasted. ¡°As you all have already know, God¡¯s blessing will be descending when someone reach the age of 10. The blessing that you gain is random and it usually comes with special unique skills. But God also fair, although not everyone can get good blessing, there is also many skills that you can get on your own. The first type is job skills which gained by doing a certain job for a certain amount of time. It gave you several skills related to that particular job when you hit certain level. All kind of jobs can give you skills either it is farmer, cook, archer, swordsman, knight, merchant and the others. Skill derived from main skill tree doesn¡¯t have level but their power level is in accordance to the level of the main skill tree. For example, Sword Mastery from Swordman job can only increase your proficiency in training and using the sword. If we compare two persons who have the same Sword Mastery but have different Swordsman skill level, then the person who have higher Swordsman skill will be gaining more advantage. It isn¡¯t because he got the other skills that came with swordsman job because the proficiency is in accordance to your swordsman level too. The second type is self-learned skill and self-created skill. Through hard training, human can also gain certain skill or make it their own. For example by training battle technique or a certain sword arts to a certain level, it can become a skill. The second type will not derive any other skill but it will give you significant buff. These type of skills cannot be leveled up by skill points and can only be leveled up by hard training. Because of that, people rarely got these type of skills. The third type is skill that gained with skill points, although you can increase the skill level of skill you have with skill point but you can also use it to gain another skill. If you focus on your skill point, you can see a list of skills and the how many points needed to learn it. Raising skills is not that easy and you need a large amount of time to master a skill. So people usually only focusing on a certain amount of skills through his life. But there is also another way of raising it, you can use skill points that can be gained each time you level up. As how you level up is by gaining experience through killing monsters. Although it is dangerous, it is the fastest way to level up skills. Although there is a maximum cap on skill level, there is no one who ever reach the max cap on level through the history of the world. The highest record is 1305 which mean 13 max level skills, but it was already more than 10,000 years ago. As of now, Sword Saint has the highest level of 612. Any question?¡± Listening to the teacher explanation, I was shocked to the core. I thought that I have already understood about the status screen and the skill system of this world. But my guess was totally wrong, I didn¡¯t even touch the tip of the iceberg yet. But after listening to the teacher explanation, I learned the significant impact of my soul memory and comprehension. With soul memory I can get second type of skills easily, added with comprehension which can make me master the skill in short amount of time, I can¡¯t even imagine how many skills will I have in the future. There is also the third skill, As I got comprehension I will be able to max all my skills easily so the remaining skill points can be used to gain another skill which I can¡¯t learn from my soul memory. I had known that comprehension is an overpowered skill but I hadn¡¯t realized it was to this extend. I¡¯m really excited to try and see what will my comprehension and soul memory bring me in the future. As for now, I cannot wait to learn from my memory and train on it. But there is also young miss that I need to take care. Although learning skills is important but I really owe her too much. I cannot let her down for my selfish reason. She is the reason I can get to this academy and learn about the skills too. Without her, don¡¯t even talk about training, I would still be risking my life robbing noble or merchant in the city right now. After the class ended, I went to Elizabeth¡¯s class. There I met Kane and Jake again because apparently their master is Elizabeth¡¯s friend. ¡°El, is this your servant?¡± ¡°Yes, This is Cloud, Cloud this is Sophia Scarlet of Scarlet family and Catherine Burton of Burton Family¡± ¡°Nice too meet you miss Sophia, miss Catherine, my name is Cloud, Miss Elizabeth¡¯s servant¡± ¡°Ah, what a nice servant you got here El, oh right this is my servant Kane and that one Catherine¡¯s servant Jake¡± ¡°Yes, we have already know each other as we are in the same class¡± ¡°That¡¯s right young miss¡± ¡°Oh my, our servants are friends, then that¡¯s good¡± After accompanying them for a while and having lunch, we back to our class to continue with our lesson. After all the class finished for the day, I went to miss class and together with her we back to our room. ¡°Miss can I request something?¡± ¡°What is it Cloud?¡± ¡°I know that it is impudent for me to say this, but can you manage yourself without me?¡± ¡°What is the meaning of that question Cloud ?! Do you want to quit being my servant?¡± ¡°No my lady, I would have never do that. You got me a job, salary, place to stay, and education. Even I cannot repay all of it. But I want to become a better servant for you, so I ask permission for miss to skip the class to train myself¡± ¡°What are you talking about Cloud ? Do you realize how many people who wants to get to the academy but cannot afford to do so ? But you actually wanted to skip class and train yourself? I thought you were happy back then when you heard that my father would pay for the academy tuition¡± ¡°It¡¯s not like that my lady but I have special circumstances on my own¡± Sigh, its really hard to get excuse from her. It¡¯s also not within my position to ask for something like this but I also cannot delay my training. If it¡¯s her maybe I can trust her with my secret. ¡°Miss, I have secret that I had hid from you and all people around me¡± ¡°You¡­ speak what lies have you told me¡± I opened the status screen and give her permission to see it. I learned that the spell Reveal wont show all of my skills so I tried to show her my status screen and see if she can see it. ¡°Can you see it miss?¡± ¡°What is this?! I¡­ you¡­ its not like what shown when the academy revealed our status, how is this possible?!¡± ¡°This is my secret and only you, me, and the god who know it¡± ¡°So this is why your skills are that high, really, who are you Cloud, how can¡­ sigh¡­¡± ¡°I am what I am miss, I am your personal servant and will always be by your side whatever happen. As your servant, no, you are the only person I can fully trust to share my secret with¡± ¡°Since its already like this then what else I can do, alright I permit it. But how can you skip class?¡± ¡°Ah, the teacher said that if someone disturb her in class, she will ban them from joining class for a week. With comprehension, I will be able to catch with the lesson easily when I am done with training¡± ¡°Okay, just don¡¯t do that too often less you will be dropped out from the academy. AND, you must remember, when I need you, anytime and anywhere you must come¡± ¡°Certainly miss¡± I don¡¯t know why and how but I feel that I can trust her. Maybe it¡¯s because she is my lady of luck, maybe it is because she helped me to this stage. Well whatever it is, I have already got permission for my training. But now that Elizabeth know my secret, I cannot go from her side and it¡¯s like a rope that bound me together with her. Chapter 5 - Training ¡°Student over there wake up!!¡± ¡°Uh¡­ Ah¡­ Sorry Miss Claudia¡± ¡°I have warned you twice but it seems that you treat it as empty threat. Even when standing on the back of the class room you dare to fall asleep. Fine from tomorrow you are banned from joining the class for a week!¡± ¡°No miss I¡¯m sorry it won¡¯t happen again¡± ¡°Get out!¡± ¡°Yes, [low voice]: Thank you¡± ¡°What did you say?¡± I ran out of the classroom before she managed to catch me. I finally succeed gaining 1 week training time. I tried to pretend to be sleeping the very next day after getting permission from Elizabeth but then she just yelling about me and punish me to stand on the back of the class room. But fortunately the second time I did that again, I hit the mark and she banned me from joining the class. Now let¡¯s plan what to do with my 1 weeks of time. Weapon training will be taught in the academy so there is no reason to waste more time in it. Reading books in library? Sounds boring, although maybe I can get some skill from there but there will be enough time in the future to visit the library. Ah, I did get some training method from my soul memory after I got martial arts skill didn¡¯t I? Okay, let¡¯s train it for now, I ran full speed into the academy training ground. The academy facilitate whatever the students need including training ground where students can test their skills. They provide training dummies, magic formation, duel ring, etc. When I arrived at the training ground, there were already many seniors who trained there. These people were from specialized class. Every student in the academy must attend 1 general class for 1 year before they will be registered in specialized class they choose. Although you can choose your own specialized class but the academy will also consider your mark. If you have no talent or good mark on the class that you choose then you won¡¯t be able to enter it. For example if someone has no talent in magic they won¡¯t be able to choose the magician class. I plan on taking the magician class in the future but I am not sure of my aptitude. The reason for choosing that specialized class is because books about magic and its instructor is rare to be found. Magic tends to be a national level secret because of their destructive power. Although magician itself is not that rare but magic that can devastate a country within second are hard to be found. This is because every kingdom and the academy tried to guard them so that it cant be used for some individual purpose. There was a time where a kingdom where the academy stood today was devastated by a powerful magic. The land turned into a desert where no one could live. It needed several years and the cooperation of the Academies founder to restore the land to what it is now. I recall the knowledge that I got when I trained in Martial Arts. It seems that for each level of progression on my Martial Arts skill, it will reveal something better and better. At first it only teach me the basic technique of bare-handed fighting like locking your opponent, and basic punch and kick technique. But then it escalates into the behavior analysist of the enemy, through subtle movement made from the enemy what can you gain and what is your response. Upon learning this, I learn how to strike on the right time and doing feint. I tried using it with Elizabeth during our sparring and she got tricked by it. It made her mad at me and I was forced to teach her the behavior analysist. At first she seems to be confused of what it had to do with fighting but then when she realized the effect when she fought me. After that, she tried so hard and learn it, after that she kept bragging about how she is invincible now and no one can beat her. Well at least that¡¯s until I beat her in her own game, as I had the knowledge from my soul memory, of course my behavior analysist mastery will be better than her. For now, let¡¯s train my body and leveling up my martial arts with the body enhancement I got from the soul memory. The first thing to train is flexibility of the muscle, with enough flexibility I can move in many different ways to execute various martial arts technique. I trained on it until the end of the class and went to pick up Elizabeth.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. The next day, I started to train with my muscle strength because sometimes to execute complex technique you need to put burden on your body. With enough muscle strength, you can lessen the burden put on your body thus lowering the chance of injuries during execution of the technique and battle. I put all my effort in training because I only got one week of time before I have to go back and doing class again. Third day I started doing stamina, then agility and concentration. My regime keeps stacking up day by day and I can feel the result. My body flexibility would beat a gymnastic athlete by now, I can even bend the strange way like those martial arts heroes in film on my previous life. My strength is also decent, at least it¡¯s above the average of a normal adult. As for speed, I can probably outrun most of the student in the Academy. ¡°Hey, what¡¯s that kid doing?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know man, he started doing it several days ago but I don¡¯t see the point of the training¡± ¡°His sets of practice are weird, but he does keep improving day by day¡± ¡°What improvement, its just a child¡¯s play, he is running around, doing push up, and the other weird things. It is better to train by swinging weapon and sparring, not playing like that child. After all he is only a child¡± ¡°Hey, want to bet who is gonna win if you fight with him ?¡± ¡°Of course I would win, the hell you talking about, I can beat him less than five minutes. Sure lets bet then, easy money here I come¡± Although they seems to be far away about 20 meters from where I was, I could hear their conversation because of sensitive ear. With this I can to conversation on the other side of a wall if I wanted to. Hearing they mocking me I didn¡¯t feel angry or anything because they don¡¯t know. But then when he said he would beat me in 5 minutes, a smirk drew upon my face. Fine, bring it on! ¡°Kid, what are you doing these days with those shitty activities?¡± ¡°It¡¯s my training regime¡± ¡°The hell its training regime, it looks like a childs play to me. Prove it to me by sparring with me then maybe I will have another look on your ¡°training regime¡± thing¡± ¡°Why should I, I don¡¯t fucking know you anyway, fuck off!¡± ¡°What a cocky bastard, let me teach you a lesson¡± With that said, he tried to grab me but I evade his hands. Seeing that his hands grab into thin air, the students seems to be mad and rush at me. ¡°Damn you fucking maggot, I will beat you until your family doesn¡¯t recognize you. Raaagh¡± Oh here he comes, the berserker mode of a morron. At least that¡¯s how I describe it, without knowing your opponent, you just rush at them like you are superman or something. I look at the rushing ¡°berserker¡± heading my way and then doing side-step while keeping one of my leg in his path. He magnificently fall on to the ground face first. There is a joke from a country on my previous life calling this a man that has high nationalism that he kissed his homeland. The ¡°berserker¡± woke up with his face swollen, seeing this I restrain myself from laughing. ¡°Stop evading you maggots, face me like a man¡± ¡°Sure¡± ¡°Raaagh¡± He rushes at me again, I readied myself and then launch forwards meeting him. Before we collide to each other, I launched a punch straight onto his chin. He magnificently fly several meters before dropping again onto the ground fainting. Seeing this, his friend rushes to where we are and checked the condition of the ¡°berserker¡± ¡°Dude, you are too tyrannical¡± ¡°Well, he asked for it, who asked him to rush like a madman¡± ¡°Cough¡­ but at least have a mercy on him. Look at this face, even a pig is more handsome that this swollen face. Alright it¡¯s your win, I will bring him to get treated by the teachers¡± After they left, I go back to my training again until the bell rang. As per usual I went and pickup Elizabeth from her class. When I arrived, Elizabeth was talking to her friends and their servant were waiting behind them. ¡°El, I heard your servant managed to beat a senior from knight class¡± ¡°Really? I haven¡¯t heard about that¡± ¡°Oh, talking about your servant, there he is¡± ¡°I have come to pick you up young miss¡± ¡°Un, Cloud do you really manage to beat a senior from knight class today?¡± ¡°Knight Class? Well I don¡¯t know about that but I did spare with someone this afternoon¡± ¡°Are okay, any injuries?¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine miss, I am unscratched¡± ¡°Wow, your servant is truly great El, he managed to spar with a senior and left unscratched. I wonder where you find him, I would like to find a servant like him¡± ¡°Eh¡­ my father picked him for me so I don¡¯t know, its getting late lets go back Cloud¡± After that we left the classroom and went to our dormitory. On the way, she didn¡¯t even talk a thing to me, is she mad at me? But why does she mad at me, I don¡¯t think I did something wrong. Well, whatever just follow her for now. As we arrived in our room, she finally talked to me, ¡°Now I know why do you want to train for a week¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°You must be trying hard to get ahead of me so you can keep your job right?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Un, I understand your passion, good job Cloud. I am tired, go prepare the water for me to wash, I want to wash myself and then go to sleep¡± ¡°Yes, my lady¡± What the hell is she talking about, training so that I can keep my job? Well its certainly better for me to get stronger so that I can protect her. But what is it have to do with my passion. I don¡¯t know what she is thinking but well I will let it pass. And thus my one week of training ends. Chapter 6 - Magic ¡°Oh, you really do attend the class again exactly after a week. Didn¡¯t you find my class boring and decided to sleep back then? What¡¯s the use attending the class if you are not even interested in learning?¡± ¡°You misunderstood teach, I am excited in attending classes and learning new things. I admit it that it¡¯s my fault for falling asleep on class. I promise I will try to not fall asleep again¡± ¡°Try to not fall asleep again, not promise you will never fall asleep again? Nice wording young man, whatever then let¡¯s start todays lesson¡± This teacher really hates when someone not paying attention to her lesson, I am glad that she not ban me permanently from attending class. I look around and the class is silent as usual, there are some empty seats inside the class are they sick? Wait, don¡¯t tell me those guys got kicked out of the class like me. Sweats dripping on my forehead, this teacher so vicious. I better not try to challenge her in the future, else I will be permanently banned from her class and she won¡¯t be hesitated to do it. ¡°Okay, I think that the previous introduction on the basic is enough from the previous week. Student who just came back from exile please catch up and ask from your friend. From now on, the class will be divided into some subjects from specialized class. This will help¡¯s you identify your potential thus making you be able to choose what specialized class you will be in later. A tip from me, don¡¯t slack while doing these lesson because you will be assessed starting from today. If your mark is not good, then don¡¯t even hope from getting into any special class in the future. Okay, so I will introduce you to your magic teacher, Mr.Riley¡± With that, a man came into the classroom and takes the podium. He is wearing a robe and bearing a book, as for his age maybe around 30 to 35. As the man entered the room, miss Claudia excuse herself and went out of the room. ¡°Thank you miss Claudia, Good morning class, my name is Riley Owen will be teaching you introductory of magic training. So without further ado lets get ahead into magic, can someone tell me what is magic?¡± ¡°Spell to blast people apart?¡± ¡°Way to wreck a country in a second¡± ¡°That¡¯s enough, well yes magic can blast people apart and wreck a country but that¡¯s not what I am asking you. So magic is way to use energy we call mana to project something we desire. It can be something to blast a people to pieces like that student say, or power to erase a country. Basically you can do whatever you want if you know how to use that energy¡± ¡°So, every mage can be a threat to any nation since they can destroy a nation in a second?¡± ¡°Nice question, if any mage can use their imagination to destroy a country then aren¡¯t they dangerous? The answer of that question is yes if they have the ability to do so. Basically human have difficulty when it came to manipulate mana so we create spell to assist us in projecting our imagination. These spells require incantation to be able to work, usually more complex the spell, the longer the incantation will be. But there is also some people who can cast any magic without any chant, why? Because they are talented and born to be a magician, not only that but they worked hard to achieve the peak. Of course if you work hard, you will achieve what they can but it needs effort and long time to be able it. Although the destination is the same, it depends on your aptitude wheter you reach it in short amount of time or long amount of time. In the end both genius and normal aptitude have the same possibility of reaching that stage. Ah, what are we talking about again? Oh yeah, destruction of a country, as you know that magic require spells to be able to be projected into the reality. So in order to prevent world destruction, all kingdoms make a pact to seal the high ranking spell and never use it to another country. If they fail to do so, they will be the world¡¯s enemy and will be taken down by the cooperation of the kingdoms around the world¡±Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. After the explanation, he took us to the training ground and told us the way to sense mana. As I tried sensing mana around me, it finally came. Soul memory about magician finally unlocked, hmm? The way to train mana is different from what the teacher say, lets try it. Oh, I can sense it, fuck its better doing it this way than what the teacher told us. Opps, better keep it secret less the people will interrogate me and its annoying. After sensing the mana, I try to manipulate it as the memory told me. So this is what they mean by the difference of genius and a normal aptitude huh. After I tried to manipulate the mana, its as smooth as ordering my limb to move. I can do whatever I want with it and met with no obstruction. While the other still haven¡¯t managed to sense mana yet, I already able to manipulate them. The next thing is imagining what I want and chant the spell. But I¡¯m not gonna do it here because its risky, too many people are watching. I don¡¯t want to be the main attention of people, its not my style. ¡°All right that¡¯s enough for today, lets continue it next time. You can also practice it yourself when you have free time. For you who aspire to be a mage, you must work hard, even if you have the talent its useless without effort to improve. That¡¯s all, class dismissed¡± ¡°Thank you, teacher¡± ¡°Yes, ah Cloud please stay and follow me to the office¡± Hmm? Why did he call me, what did I do? I just know you today so I don¡¯t think I have made any mistake. He also didn¡¯t know me before, so what else is there? Is he able to sense the mana movement from before? ¡°Do you know why do I call you here, Cloud?¡± ¡°No sir, I don¡¯t think I know you before so I don¡¯t know why I am here¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t you manipulate mana when we are on the training field today?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know what you-¡° ¡°Don¡¯t try to lie to me, I can sense the mana movement. You don¡¯t think I as a teacher isn¡¯t sensitive to the movement of mana do you?¡± ¡°No sir, you are right, I am able to manipulate mana¡± ¡°Are you familiar with magic? Have you got your training before?¡± ¡°No sir, I am only a servant so let alone got a teacher to teach me magic, even I just know about magic¡± The teacher went silent, crap did I say anything wrong? ¡°So you are that type huh? Genius!¡± ¡°Uhm, I don¡¯t know what you are talking about sir, but I am just manipulating mana¡± ¡°Exactly, do you want to enter the mage specialization class, Cloud?¡± ¡°Well I am not disagreeing on the idea but-¡° ¡°That¡¯s enough, from now on you will be registered on the mage specialization class, thus after a year you will officially enter the mage specialization class, that¡¯s all for now you can go¡± Isn¡¯t this a scam, you don¡¯t even ask if I am willing or not? Although I do want to enter the mage specialization class but I don¡¯t think I will be able to join it this way. And what the hell with this teacher, he kicked me out after his curiosity is fulfilled. Ah fuck, I have to tell this to Elizabeth less she will be angry if she knew I went to register without her permission. Later, on the canteen when Elizabeth was about to eat I decided to bring out the matter. ¡°Miss I have something to tell you¡± ¡°Again?! Isn¡¯t your one week training just ended, how can you ask for more¡± ¡°It¡¯s not about that miss, it¡¯s different thing¡± ¡°You want to quit? Keep dreaming you will be my servant for life¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not about that miss, I was selected to enter the mage specialization class¡± ¡°Eh not quiting, good. What did you just say?!¡± The others turn their gaze into our direction. Crap, you don¡¯t have to shout it out loud don¡¯t you? Fortunately you didn¡¯t mention about the mage specialization class, less the whole school will know about it. ¡°Keep it down, miss don¡¯t tell the others. I am too not comfortable with it¡± ¡°But its mage specialization class you know, unless you are have the aptitude, you will not be able to enter it. Our kingdom even have a policy to give away a title of nobility to someone who manage to be a mage¡± ¡°I want to talk about it to you first when he asked me wheter I want to join the class or not. But not letting me finishing what I say, he just registered me there so what can I do now?¡± ¡°Are you stupid Cloud, people even begging to be a mage, yet you want to decline the offer to enter the specialized class?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not like that, im worried about what you think of that. Since I am your servant, I cannot decide before consulting to you¡± Elizabeth went silent for a second there looking stunned. When she got back to her mind, said, ¡°That¡¯s right, as this lady faithful servant you indeed have to report first before making any decision. Although its regrettable that the teacher doesn¡¯t let you inform me first before making the decision, its alright. This lady will allow you to enter the mage specialization class, be thankful¡± ¡°Yes, thank you for your permission my lady¡± I wonder where this lady switch is, I hope I know when it goes on so that I can prepare for it. Often I caught off guard by this narcissist mode switch and bewildered by what she said. I wish I could turn it off forever but nah, it¡¯s her special trait it¡¯s what make my master interesting. Chapter 7 - Battlefield Early in the morning, we were gathered on the training field by miss Claudia. When I looked around, I can see the face of my fellow classmate. They were paying attention at the class as the one who teach is Miss Claudia. The one who usually feels drowsy in the morning now focusing and trying not to yawn. ¡°Good morning everyone, today I will be your instructor, we will do close combat training. This morning will just be introductory and later in the afternoon, you will be divided based on what you excel in so try to show your abilities as much as you can, understand?¡± ¡°Yes¡± Then we were asked about our combat experience wheter we train in particular weapons or style, etc. After that comes warming up by running around the field and other small exercises. As we finished the warm up, Miss Claudia brought us to the battle arena and told us to spar. ¡°Alright Cloud and Kane go to stage¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Kane is a servant from marquis family so he is trained in combat. Marquis family territory usually located at the border of the kingdom so when dangers approach the kingdom, they kinda like the first layer of defense of the kingdom. For this reason, every member of marquis household will usually be trained in combat so when danger situation happened at least they can fend it off and run away. ¡°Ah, I heard you beat up a senior from Knight preparation class, Cloud. Please have a mercy on me¡± ¡°Okay, please guide me¡± ¡°Guide me too¡± Then we proceed to take our stance, because he said he trained using sword and shield, a set of weapon equipment was provided for him. Because it¡¯s only a spar, no real weapon will be used so its relatively safe. But if you underestimate the power of weapon, then you are wrong. In the hand of an experienced person, even a wooden sword can be more dangerous than an iron one. As he knew that I beat a senior the other day, he seems to warry of me and took defensive stance. I approached him while observing his behavior. Then when I entered his strike range, he went into action and swing his sword. I evaded the sword and rush toward him, seeing this he raised his shield and took defensive position once more. Ah, this is irritating, while he is behind that shield I cannot attack him because my field of vision will be limited. I afraid that suddenly a sword will fell upon me if I¡¯m not careful. I retreat out of his strike range and he lowered his shield but he seems to observe what I will do. Let¡¯s try it, I rushed at him once again. He swing his sword and I evade it once more, he then proceed to raise his shield but I side stepped and went around him. He seems to be confused as I disappeared from his line of sight but then he realized what happen and turned around. But its too late since my fist already swinging toward his chin, but I stopped before it hits. ¡°Stop right there, the winner is Cloud. Good job you two¡± ¡°As expected from a person who can beat a senior student, I almost faint when your fist is heading towards my chin. Also what the hell with your movement, I just distracted for a second and then you vanish like a ghost¡± ¡°It¡¯s just my luck is good, your defense is also solid. If you managed to block the attack with your shield back then, the situation will be awkward for me. As my attack failed, maybe you will be able to strike and win against me¡± ¡°Yeah yeah, thanks for the lesson Cloud. I guess i need more training to be able to protect my master¡± ¡°Yeah me too, I managed to find a certain area I lack thanks to you¡± If it¡¯s a real combat, I will surely win much faster. I can just kick the shield along with him when he take defensive position. But if I did that, people will know of my monstrous physique and I will be bothered with so many question as the result. ¡°Okay, that¡¯s all for this morning. I have collected all your data, after lunch please gather here again once more. I will pick your class according to my data about your abilities, sparring like this will be held each month in order to assess wheter the class picked is suited for you or not. If there is no improvement, then I will consider to move you to another class. Okay class dismissed¡± I rush towards Elizabeth¡¯s class because the distance is quit far from the training ground. I mean its basically going to another part of the city. As I arrived, Elizabeth and her friends are chatting while sitting on their seats. ¡°Humph, you dare to be late. Tell me your excuse, if its good maybe ill consider forgiving you¡± ¡°Ah, its because we are having practical class on the training ground so I came a bit late. Kane and Jake will also be late so please understand it my lady¡± ¡°Practical class? What is it like?¡± Elizabeth asked/ ¡°Uhm, we were asked for our combat experience and then sparring against each other. I faced Kane during the fights and it was fun. Our teacher said later we will be divided to each class according to our mastery¡± ¡°Oh, so what was the result of the spar? Did you win against Kane?¡± Sophia asked. ¡°Yes, I barely managed to win against him¡± ¡°What barely, more like you wrecked me. From the beginning I had no chance to win. Ah, sorry for my late my lady, we were delayed because we went to the training ground. I guess Cloud assume told you¡± Kane said. ¡°Yeah, from the beginning Kane stand no chance against him, I don¡¯t know if it will be like that in real combat but Cloud skill is terrifying¡± Jake said. ¡°Once again we were impressed by your servant El, so will you tell us where can we recruit someone like him?¡± ¡°You guys already have good servants, why do you wants to find a new one?¡± ¡°We were only tease you El, it¡¯s true that we got our own servant and they are irreplaceable because we grow together with them. And you know, there are certain secret that we share between master and servant so its not like we can replace them¡± ¡°Well you are right, lets go grab food for lunch¡± Elizabeth said. After lunch break, we head back to the training ground after we drop our master in their class. As we walked into the training ground, we could see that the students were already gathered there. ¡°Okay, so lets begin the combat class assignment, Kane you are assigned to knight class, Jake spear class¡­¡± name after name were called but my name hasn¡¯t been called yet. Is there some kind of mistake, all my classmate had already been called but not me. ¡°Okay, that¡¯s all, you can go to your assigned combat class now¡± After they have dispersed and no one left, I asked the teacher. ¡°Uhm, what about me, why didn¡¯t I get called?¡± ¡°You are special Cloud, I think you had many battle experience right?¡± ¡°Nope, I just fight 3 times in my life so its cannot be called many¡± ¡°What?! The how did¡­ that response, speed and flexibility, all of them were so good that if you told me you are C rank adventurer or a new B rank adventurer I would believe it. Yet you say that you barely fight before? Okay, let me test it once more, lets spar for a bit¡± Miss Claudia said. As I have no way of declining her, we entered the arena. Each of us take our stance and observe each other. It¡¯s my first time sparring against a teacher, I guess if she is a teacher then her skills are top notch. But should I go all out or not that¡¯s the real question. ¡°Ready when you are Cloud, you can begin anytime¡± ¡°Okay, watch out here I come!¡± I rush forward while observing her behavior, she seems to observe how my attack will go too without letting her defense down. I throw a few punch out towards her trying to feel the water first. She read my moves and block it all without any problem. I retreat back a couple of steps while maintaining my awareness. Yup, she is a teacher indeed all her moves are top notch without wasting too much energy. Then lets raise the difficulty should we, I lung forward again and now I launch a few fancy technique not just a normal punch. She seems to be surprised by my move but then she fended all of it again.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. I step back again and take a deep breath. Taking her down will be much difficult than I thought, will I have to use my skill? I mean with finger thrust maybe I can hurt her but it will not make her lose just make a scratch. When I still thinking about what to do, she begin to move. She rush toward me and throw out a few punch combined with kicks. I read it all and try to block it, fortunately I managed to block it all but as the result my arms and leg goes numb. The hell with this strength, it was like I was hit by a car. ¡°Oh, I think that¡¯s enough. You are holding back aren¡¯t you? I can see you restraint your strength while attacking me but then when you took my strike you cannot restraint it any longer. But seriously Cloud I hit you with my all and you still standing like nothing happen¡± ¡°That¡¯s not true, my arms and leg are numb. I don¡¯t think it will go off soon¡± ¡°Well whatever you say, I know that your combat experience is not normal. You can choose your class for now because we don¡¯t have class that specially dealt with bare-handed fighting¡± ¡°Can I try each class on my own because I haven¡¯t wield any weapons in my life so I want to try it first¡± ¡°Okay, I will notify the teachers about your special condition, you free to enter whatever class you want¡± ¡°Thank you miss Claudia¡± Several months passed since and now it¡¯s the end of our first year at the Academy. The academy will held Assessment Trial for the students of each year to mark their progress. This also be a show off for the geniuses within the academy. Each students will be tested by several subjects like alchemy, history, arithmetic, language, etc. Later the ranking for each subjects will be announced and the one at the top will be rewarded by the academy. The most anticipated test is called Battlefield. Basically its battle stage that allow anyone to fight with everything they have. This event will last for a week and many top brass from each kingdoms around the world will be attending the occasion. Aside from seeing how the talents from their respective kingdom progress, they also search for new talents that can be recruited. ¡°Cloud, how is your preparation for the Assessment Trial?¡± ¡°Its goes well miss, how about you?¡± ¡°Of course this lady is prepared, who do you think this lady is. Since you are my training partner all this time, don¡¯t you know how strong I am? Maybe I can beat you now¡± ¡°Don¡¯t go too far miss, I know you are strong but if the situation turned worse, just give up and try again next year. We have another 3 years to compete and see who is stronger so it¡¯s not necessary to win the first Assessment Trial. ¡°Un, I know you are worried to lose your job. It¡¯s not like everyone have the chance to work under a great lady like me¡± It doesn¡¯t get better, its getting worse. That narcissist side of her, I have gotten used to it but really it turned much worse than when I first met her. A few days later, all student of the Academy were gathered for the Trial. ¡°¡­Without futher ado, let the Assessment Trial this year begin!¡± An old man with white hair and long white beard declare as he finished with the opening speech. This is the first day of Assessment Trial, today they will test us on each subject after that the preliminary stage of Battleground will be commenced at noon until dusk. The first thing that tested is Arithmetic, it kinda like math quiz so its easy for a person from earth like me. The second was History and Language, I suck at this at first but then I holed my self in the library for a week. Now, even a librarian knowledge would be under me. Then come the last test ¡°Okay, you guys try to create the best type of concoction, powder, pill, medicine, elixir whatever you want. We will assess the process, type of product and the quality. So don¡¯t try to make something you doesn¡¯t even have a confidence on it or you will fail. Let the test begin!¡± Ah, I remembered how frustrated I was when I began the alchemy class. All the ingredients were not the same as the one on Earth. I even unlocked my soul memory about Alchemy but the name of ingredients were also different. If I don¡¯t have Eidetic Memory, maybe my head will explode because I have to memorize the name of the ingredients, its characteristic, function and how to get them. But that¡¯s all in the past, now I could do an advanced concoction with ease. But I don¡¯t think I should show off too much in the competition. I¡¯ll make an intermediate healing potion, just slightly above average quality so I can barely pass the test. I even have to restraint my producing speed in order to not get the plus mark for production speed. ¡°That¡¯s enough, step back from the table and wait for your turn to be assessed¡± The teachers were walking towards each student table and ask them about their product. The question that were asked including what type of ingredients used, the process of making it and the final product effect. Sometimes they will also ask about miscellaneous question test the student comprehension on alchemy. Then its finally my turn, the teacher who came to my table is a senior teacher which teach specialized Alchemy class. He observed my work table and then look at the potion I made. After observing the potion for a while, he asked me. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°First year student, Cloud is the name, sir¡± ¡°So explain the process of making this potion¡± ¡°Yes so I use the spring grass as the base of the concoction and mash them until they became pulp, add spring water¡­¡­and after cooling it down for 15 minute, it is done¡± ¡°Good, now why do you use spring grass instead of blue grass which usually used on potion?¡± ¡°Because spring grass characteristic which rejuvenate your body even after the consumption so it makes this potion have another effect which is slight regeneration for 5 minutes after consumption. It makes the potion healing effect higher than the other potion¡± ¡°Are you from an Alchemist family? How long have you trained Alchemy?¡± ¡°I was raised in an orphanage and then hired by Flaming family so im not from an Alchemist family. For how long have I trained Alchemy, it should be about 6 months since the lesson about alchemy started 6 months ago¡± ¡°Oh, is that so? Wonderful, then register for Alchemy specialization class for the next year¡± ¡°I can¡¯t do that sir, I have already been registered by Mr.Riley on Mage specialization class¡± ¡°What?! Just how talented are you boy¡­ well if its Mage specialization class then there is nothing that I can do. But if you want to learn more about alchemy, feel free to join the Alchemy specialization class¡± ¡°I will consider it if I have the time¡± After that we talked for a while and then he left my table. Huff¡­. Its only an intermediate healing potion not a God Elixir, yet he invited me to the Alchemy specialization class. Fortunately I didn¡¯t show him the advanced one, else he will straight register me like what Mr.Riley did. I head to the canteen because Elizabeth and me decided to meet there since we didn¡¯t know where the test will be held. As I arrived at the Canteen, I look around but it seems that she hasn¡¯t finished her Assessment yet, so I ordered food for her first. I brought the food and found a table and picked a table on the second floor since the first floor already filled with students. After a quarter hour of waiting, she finally arrived and took a seat on the table. She brought with her friends, Sophia Scarlet and Catherine Burton. ¡°Have you waited long Cloud?¡± ¡°No, I just waited for a few minutes before you arrived my lady¡± ¡°Good then, are these foods for me?¡± ¡°Yes, I ordered it earlier since I thought that it will be crowded later¡± ¡°Good job Cloud¡± ¡°Ah, what a nice servant, and we didn¡¯t even know where our servant went¡± Sophia said. ¡°Yeah, haven¡¯t you seen Kane and Jake, Cloud?¡± Catherine asked. ¡°Ah my assessment test is different from them so I haven¡¯t meet them since this morning. Oh, there they are¡± I said while pointing at both of the guys who arrived on the second floor while bringing food within their hands. ¡°Oh, you have arrived earlier my lady. I am sorry to make you wait, we are getting food for you because Jake thought it will be crowded with people¡± ¡°Oh, so you guys have the same thought as Cloud. Well done guys, we also just have arrived too so its okay. Thank you for thinking about us¡± ¡°Its our duty my lady¡± ¡°Since Cloud arrived here earlier than all of us then the test must be too easy for him, right Cloud?¡± ¡°Ah its not like that miss Sophia, its just that the examiner got to my table first on the Alchemy trial so I could come here earlier than all of you. How about your examination Jake, Kane?¡± ¡°Ah it sucks, why do we have to learn all that subjects, isn¡¯t it enough to be good at sword?¡± Kane said ¡°Yeah, for me it was hard because I cannot memorize too many things at once, maybe these subjects are really not my thing so I will only focus to hone my spear¡± Jake said ¡°Well for retainer like you us, its not too important to learn those things. Just a general knowledge is enough but its better if you master it because by doing so you can help your master doing their job in the future¡± ¡°I know that your aspiration is to be my faithful servant for life Cloud, but you don¡¯t have to work that hard for me. This lady is quite capable so just stay beside this lady, that¡¯s enough for this lady¡± ¡°¡­.¡± The others went silent, as usual Elizabeth¡¯s narcissist attitude can sometimes make me wants to bang my head on the wall or dig a hole and hide in it. How can you say such thing in front of the others, sometimes Sophia and Catherine also ashamed by her way of thinking. But because we know that how she was, we can only be silent and keep it in our heart. After we ate the food, we continue to discuss about the test and how we did in it. We also talked about the Battlefield preparation, since all of them have spared with me so I know the extend of their talents. They are quite skillful if compared to the other classmate but not that good to get them into the top leaderboards. ¡°Ah, it¡¯s time for the Battlefield, lets go to the training ground¡± ¡°Okay¡± The training ground was modified into an arena with several ring where students will be competing against each other. We head to the registration area on the corner of the arena to get our number. Later the number will be called when our turn is up. ¡°I got number 512, what number are you Cloud?¡± said Elizabeth ¡°Number 256¡± ¡°I hope that you don¡¯t get defeated too early Cloud. Don¡¯t bring shame to this lady face¡± ¡°Ah, yes¡­yes I will try my best ahahahaa¡­¡± Then Sophia, Catherine, Jake, Kane told us their number one by one. It seems that the Battleground is like a tournament which use elimination system until they found 100 people. Then the ranking will be decided by points gained from the match against all people who passed the elimination stage. The top 10 list will be student representative for the Academy. I don¡¯t know what benefit will a student representative got but I¡¯m not interested in it since it will cut my training time. In the first place, I participate the Battlefield because I want to compare how my skill compared to the other students in the Academy. It also let me gain combat experience against different type of people so its like hitting 2 birds with one stone. ¡°Participant number 256 vs 189 on Arena 9¡± ¡°Ah, that¡¯s your number Cloud, don¡¯t you dare to lose on the first match¡± I went up to the Arena, there wait a student with a sword on his hand. He also wore a set of leather equipment, looks like he made his preparation for the battlefield. I on the other hand went on stage with only a bow and quiver filled with some arrows. It¡¯s not because I am confident that I can win without having any armor but It¡¯s because I don¡¯t have one. Luckily armor made of metal was banned since it won¡¯t be fair for the poor student like me if they allow it. Looking at me that had no weapon he seems to be dissatisfied with me as his opponent. ¡°Where is this guy from, even a commoner would at least wore a leather armor. Yet this bumpkin only brought a bow and some arrows¡± ¡°Nice too meet you, my name is Cloud. Lets have a good fight¡± ¡°What good fight can I expect from a bumpkin like you, better surrender before I beat you kid¡± ¡°Thanks for the recommendation but I am okay with it¡± ¡°Overestimating your ability, let see if you dare to say that again after I beat you up¡± ¡°Arena number 9, participant number 256 versus participant 189, are you guys ready?¡± ¡°Yes¡± ¡°Begin!¡± Chapter 8 - Lyon Rastrom As soon as the teacher said that, I pull out an arrow from my quiver, load it onto the bow and take aim. My enemy also didn¡¯t stand still like a fool, he probably thinks that I am an archer since I don¡¯t have anything except a bow and arrows. He drew his sword and rushed towards me, seeing this I unleash the arrow but he managed to evade it. Oh, it seems that my enemy has some skills, to be able to evade an arrow at that condition, but its not time to relax. In a second, I already in his range of attack, so he swings his sword while he scream ¡°Thanks for the easy win kid!¡± Unfortunately for him, I easily dodged the sword and with a few back flip, I already out of his attack range. Seeing this, he seems to be shocked and look at the place where I was. I took out another arrow, and load it to my bow again, this time it will not miss. Because he was still shocked that his attack missed, he didn¡¯t see at the incoming arrow. Careless, although you are skilled but anything can happen in battle so don¡¯t ever blank out of your mind even a 0.1 second. Swish! Tak! The arrow hit his armor and he magnificently flew out of the Arena. ¡°Winner 256!¡± No cheer? Well there are so many battle like this in the other arena so the attention of the crowd is not only focusing on my Arena at this moment. Since the contest is just among student, the arrow I was using was not sharp, instead I was using a wide-surfaced arrow head to add knockback effect when it hits. After a while, the students who flew out at the arena woke up and went to the teacher. He seems to be not satisfied with the result and debating with the teacher. But, his action is futile because he lost out of his own carelessness. Now, let see the other arena shall we? ¡°Arena one 512 vs 598, Ready? Fight!¡± Oh, that¡¯s Elizabeth¡¯s number, her opponent is a man using a sword, his body also protected by layers of equipment. Elizabeth¡¯s rapier flew towards the man, and he seems to be overwhelmed by her swordsmanship. I know how it feels when you face Elizabeth. Since joining the academy until now, aside from school we also keep training our ability by sparring with each other. I also use teaching during our private lesson so her growth is extraordinary. Since I was allowed to test each class, I many of my soul memory got awoken. Swordsmanship is one of them, it¡¯s just that my soul memory contains too many ways of using sword. I have memory of the way to train and use Broadsword, long sword, rapier, katana, etc. basically all type of sword. So, I also taught that to Elizabeth, not only how to use it but how to counter when you meet a user of one. Ah, it seems it already over, Elizabeth keeps attacking her opponent in a weird angle that hard to defend. After a few bouts with each other, he ran out of stamina and gave up. They both bow to each other and walk out of the Arena. As she walked out of the Arena, she seems to see me and then ran into my direction. ¡°Did you see that Cloud? This ladies power is so great that he gave up¡± ¡°You were too harsh to him miss, with your skill it isn¡¯t hard to make him surrender within 10 moves. But you overwhelmed your opponent until he ran out of stamina to be satisfied, if the others know your real skill they will say you are ruthless¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it more fun this way? Also, he could learn from his mistakes during the battle this way¡± ¡°Sigh¡­ okay, everything that you do is always correct. Forgive this lowly servant for not knowing your true reason of doing it¡± ¡°Humph, it¡¯s good that you acknowledge it. You better learn more from this lady¡± ¡°Anyway, the reason I got here because I want to invite miss to see the others fight, do you want to watch their match miss?¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Sure, let¡¯s go¡± On the other side of the Arena, I met Sophia Scarlet who was watching Kane who was on the Arena number 4. Her fight seems to end earlier than Kane. Looking at her attire, I guess she won because not even a scratch could be seen on her. Kane moves blocked his opponent sword with his shield and then pushed him. As the opponent was out of the balance because the shield bash, Kane swing his swords toward his opponent neck stopping right before it went in. ¡°Winner 138¡± They bow towards each other and left the Arena. Kane who saw us proceed to walk to our direction. ¡°Nice work Kane¡± ¡°Thank you miss, your fight ended earlier than me, how was it?¡± Sophia said. ¡°No problem, I win easily¡± ¡°As expected from my lady. Ah you are here too Cloud, miss Elizabeth¡± ¡°Well done bro, have you seen Jake and miss Catherine?¡± I said ¡°Nope, miss Catherine fight should be on arena 7, wanna go see together?¡± ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go¡± When we arrived on the Arena, we were already too late as the people on the arena already walked out of the ring. We saw both Catherine and Jake beside the ring talking to each other. After we greet and chatted for a while, we learn that we all won our first fight. ¡°But seriously Cloud, our opponent¡¯s weakness can be easily identified not like when we sparred with you as our opponent. If we compare them, it¡¯s like fighting with a 5 years old child who equips weapons and armors¡± Jake said. ¡°Hey hey, don¡¯t get too cocky you guys, this is only the first battle not even the first round of elimination round has ended yet. Stay focus, I am sure that later, you will find someone who can fight at your level or maybe they can fight better than you. At that time, don¡¯t even let your guard down even for a second¡± ¡°Yes, teach! We will surely remember your words and keep it inside our heart¡± ¡°What teach, I am your friend and about the last word, I don¡¯t have that kind of preference you know¡± ¡°Damn Cloud, it¡¯s not like that. I like woman too!¡± Jake said. We laughed together and then went to get food for lunch. After that, I fight two more opponents and win against them easily like the first one. Kane, Jake, Catherine, Sophia, and Elizabeth also won their match. And that¡¯s marked the first round of the Battlefield. ¡°I congratulate all the students who passed the first round of the Battlefield, for those who got eliminated try your best to learn from the fights and I hope that you will be able to win in the next Battlefield. Rest well tonight for tomorrow the battlefield will continue. Tomorrow, the second round will be held and only 100 students will be left to enter the final round robin stage to determine the school top 100 battle ranks¡± After the closing speech we went to the Academy Canteen and had a nice diner. After that, we straight go to bed to refill our energy for the next day. ¡°Good morning miss, today is the second round of the elimination round. Better go prepare yourself and do some warming up before going on stage. You don¡¯t want to ruin your image don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Of course I know, thanks for the remainder Cloud. Today, this lady will show everyone that no one can beat me muhahaha¡± ¡°Yes yes, just go ahead and clean your droll first miss¡± ¡°Ah, this is not my droll, its uhm¡­ it¡¯s a dew, yes, it¡¯s a morning dew not my droll¡± Noon, at Arena number 5, my first opponent was a second year student academy. He was from combat class and specialized in lance and shield. Totally my worst opponent because I only brought a bow with me. He also wore an armor which makes things worst. I tried to shoot him with several arrows, but he always managed to hide behind that ridiculous big shield. Also by using that shield, he can move and enter within my range with no worries. Because the duration of the fight takes too long, my arrow ammunition depleted rapidly. Now I only got 5 arrows left, I have tried using archery as best as I can but it¡¯s not working so let¡¯s fight the other way. I sling the bow behind my back, I take a few deep breaths and then taking a stance. My enemy didn¡¯t lower his defend either, he watched every move and when I start rushing at him, he raised his shield immediately. Not this time bro, as soon as he hid behind that fuckin shield, I send a flying kick right towards the shield. My enemy was magnificently fly out of the Arena, after the judge call it, cheers broke from the spectators. I rise my hand and then bow towards the spectator, after that I walk out of the Arena. While I was walking out of the Arena, I saw Elizabeth with tattered armor and ran towards her. ¡°What happen miss, who did this to you?¡± ¡°Sob¡­ Cloud, I lost my match¡­ and he¡­ and he¡­ mock this lady¡­¡­. waaaaaa!!¡± ¡°Miss, calm down, it¡¯s okay it¡¯s just a match, we can try it again next year¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care Cloud, you must get revenge for me, this lady won¡¯t be satisfied unless you defeat him¡± ¡°I get it¡­ I get it, tell me who did this to you, ill beat him until his parents won¡¯t recognize him¡± ¡°Really ? Can you really beat him?¡± ¡°Oh, are you questioning my skill? Questioning I, Cloud, the servant of the great Elizabeth Fleming?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, just you wait Lyon Rastrom, my faithful servant will take revenge for this shameful act of yours¡± Lyon Rastrom huh, the first ranker among third year students, but really miss really unlucky to be faced against a third year during his fight moreover it¡¯s the top of the third year students. But no matter who you are, even if your skill is higher than Elizabeth, no one is allowed to bully my lady of luck. Just you wait Lyon Rastrom. Chapter 9 - Final Round (1) ¡°So, have you got the information about that person Jake?¡± ¡°Un, according to our family intelligent, Lyon Rastrom is the son of a Duke of Sarazark Kingdom. He is a sword user and managed to enter the top 100 from the first year of his study at the Academy. Apparently during the match, he played and mock Elizabeth during the fight. Although his skills are higher than Elizabeth by a lot but he didn¡¯t end it fast, instead he seems to drag out the match. He mocked and taunted her until she madly rushed at him. After lady Elizabeth exhausted her stamina, he began his attack. Because her stubbornness lady Elizabeth didn¡¯t surrender until the end but it makes him strike her more and more. Hearing this, I was so mad and report it to miss Catherine and Sophia, Kane also there when I reported so they knew about it too. They were so mad that they almost rushed towards his place but I somehow managed to stop them because I know he is not our match. So after that I began to ask around to find the reason why he did that to Elizabeth. What shocked me that the reason he did that is because of you Cloud¡± ¡°Me? I don¡¯t even know him; how did he have a grudge to me?¡± ¡°Remember the senior you beat up on the training ground at the start of our first year?¡± ¡°Yeah, what of it?¡± ¡°He is Lyon subordinate after he told him how you defeated him. Because of the rumor of that senior defeat, Lyon began to be mocked among his peer. But of course, being the strongest among the third year students, no one would straightly mock Lyon in front of him. So everyone just talk behind his back, but Lyon somehow got this information and I heard that the senior you beat was sent back to Sarazark It seems that he played with the match is kind of revenge of what you did to his subordinate. I think he wanted to say don¡¯t mess with him or he will come to get them. Unfortunately, lady Elizabeth met this person first before you, after he heard that you are her servant, he did that to her. I think he would do the same if he met you first¡± ¡°Dammit, so she was hurt because of me?! This Lyon or whoever is it seems to be cocky, he overestimated himself to much! Where is his room, I will show him what is the consequences of messing with my master!¡± ¡°Calm down Cloud! Do you want to get yourself dropped out of the academy?¡± ¡°If that will make for what he did to her I will do that!¡± ¡°But then who will protect her if something like this happen again?! Moreover, are you sure that she will agree if you did something like that?¡± ¡°Sigh¡­ sorry for losing my self, I¡¯m blinded by rage. I¡¯ll go first. Thank you once more Jake¡± ¡°No problem Cloud, if you need my help again just say it¡± God dammit why did this kind of thing happen to her, it¡¯s my fault so why direct it towards her. No this is not the time to think about it, I must apologize to her. I tried to cool my head first before entering our dorm. ¡°Oh, you are back Cloud¡± ¡°Yes, I am back my lady¡± ¡°Cloud! What happen, why are you suddenly kneeling on the floor like this¡± ¡°Miss I am really sorry, you are humiliated because of me. I don¡¯t know what to do miss, you and your family are so good towards me but I made this kind of thing happen to you. I deserve to be punished miss, I am really sorry¡± ¡°What are you talking about, Cloud?! Explain it to me first don¡¯t kneel in front of me all of sudden without a reason¡± After that I explained what Jake told me to her. She seems to be surprised that she got bullied because of me. After the stories end, she became silent for a moment. She approached me, and bend her knees to me who was still kneeling on the ground. ¡°My¡­my lady you don¡¯t have to bend your knees, just tell me my punish- ¡° ¡°It¡¯s not your fault, Cloud. I know that you must feel guilty because of this. But I am not gonna blame you, ever. I know you better than anyone else, you would never do something that harm me. So stop blaming yourself Cloud, standup¡±Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. ¡°But I, as your servant, endangered your safety my lady and it¡¯s a heavy crime for me¡± ¡°Okay, I punish you to get revenge for me, if you can¡¯t do it then¡­ ill punish you even more. Punish him even more than what he did to me, in the Arena. I know you would rush to him as soon as you heard that I want you to punish him but I don¡¯t want to lose my servant in the Academy. I still have four years and I only got 1 servant, you. So don¡¯t ever get dropped out before me, understand?¡± ¡°But, that is not punishment, it is my duty to get revenge on him because in the first place I am the reason why he harmed you. Please reconsider my lady¡± ¡°Stop it Cloud, just do as I say, this is an order¡± ¡°Yes, as you command¡± I need to be serious from now on, I plan to finish at around rank 100 on the Battlefield but because of this I cannot lose before I punish that guy. I have limited resource in terms of equipment so I need something else to coup with him. Fortunately, I have been training my martial arts all this time. Because of that my Martial Arts reached level 70 a month ago. As the level goes up, I can feel that even with my comprehension, it¡¯s getting harder to level a skill. At level 50, Martial arts skills gave me an active skill called Spirit Enhancement with this I can fortify my body with internal energy thus raising my fighting capabilities. It also came with a passive called Sense Presence which can detect the presence of living things nearby. I tested this skill and was shocked because the radius of area of the detection is 100 meters around me. It means that no ambush will ever succeed against me unless they teleported right behind me. Then at level 70 it gave me a toggled active skills called rampage, it multiplies my fighting capabilities in sacrifice of losing stamina and health every second. I tried to test this skill too and my limit when I use this skill a month ago is 30 seconds. The after effect of using this skill, I will feel sore all over my body because the strain to my muscle when using this skill is really harsh. Then the last passive ability called Kinetic View, with this I can see the movement of my enemy in slow motion during a fight. It makes me able to analyze and predict every enemy attacks and thus blocking or evading it. With these skills I can rest assured of my victory against my enemies. ¡°Arena number 3 256 vs 311, Ready? Fight!¡± As soon as the teacher said the last word, I dashed towards my opponent. He seems to be surprised because of that but quickly came to his mind. He readied his spear, taking a defensive stance, when I was in his range of attack, he swiftly swiped his spear towards my direction. My response is to jump forward and kick him on the chest. Because he used a spear, it takes too long to retract it when it already swiped forward like that. Thus he became a sitting duck and that¡¯s where my flying kick came into play. Like my previous opponents, he straightly goes out of the Arena because of my attack. ¡°Wow, he beat third year senior and in one hit like his other matches¡± ¡°I guess this year Battlefield will be more interesting because of him¡± ¡°It¡¯s because the opponent is too weak, later when he goes up against those students from the top 100 ranks, let see if he still capable of doing that¡± ¡°Top 100? You are overestimating that newbie, he is only a servant. Oh, I heard that his master was hurt yesterday by Lyon from third year. I cannot wait to see what will happen when they met¡± ¡°Seriously? Lyon hurt a girl, dude that¡¯s low¡± ¡°Sssshhh don¡¯t say it out loud, if Lyon heard what you said, then you are over dude¡± The crowds seem to talking about me after my win in last fight. But really top 100 huh? they estimated that it will be harder for me when it reached the top 100 ranks, but is that really so? From what I heard that Lyon is among the top 50 of the ranker last year so maybe I can test myself against someone in the top 50 before I fight with him. ¡°With this, the Elimination stage of the Battlefield for this year has finally ended. I congratulate the one who managed to survive this far. For those who were eliminated, there will always be next year. Well unless you are in the fourth year. The name list of students who managed to enter the next round will be displayed outside the training ground so make sure to check it out. The next round, the final rank which will decide your rank in the tournament will be held tomorrow so rest well for today and I hope to see a good fight tomorrow¡± After that, I fight another 2 fights before the Battlefields finally entered the top 100 ranks battle stage. Students who were qualified to enter the top 100 ranks were displayed on a board outside the training ground. Most of the list still dominated by 4th years students and then 3th year students. But then something that makes everyone shocked happen this year. There are 6 students among the first year who managed to enter the top 100 ranks. Normally you would think that people make such a big fuzz on such a small number of people. But normally only 1 or 2 genius that can enter the top 100 ranks during their first year. And these guys tend to soar high year after year, for example Lyon. Although he is my enemy, there is no doubt that he Is a genius, entering the top 100 ranks in his first year alone. Among the 6 first year student who are qualified to join the next round are me, Catherine, Sophia, Jake, Kane and a person from my class. If I¡¯m not wrong her name is Sena from Borg Kingdom. I heard that she brought two swords during the fight but never drew more than one sword during the fight. I guess no one is capable of forcing her to draw her second sword during the elimination round. After the announcement, I went straight to the Academy Canteen and eat with the gangs as usual and then went to sleep. I wonder how will the top 100 ranks students will perform. It is also a stage where I can test my limit and how powerful I am right now. Then there is also Lyon, just you wait for I will crush you on the Battlefield! Chapter 10 - Final Round (2) Today as I wake up, I straight went to the field and do my morning regime. After that I went to have breakfast while Elizabeth kept nagging at me that I must beat Lyon. I kept reassuring her that I would do so but she just won¡¯t stop to remind me again and again. As I arrived at the Arena, the principal as per usual is standing on the podium reading his speech. But really isn¡¯t it enough already, I mean it¡¯s not necessary to read his speech everyday right? I went to the contestant area after the speech and met Jake, Sophia, Catherine and Kane there. ¡°Cloud, yesterday I managed to find Lyon¡¯s list of subordinate, friends and people who are close to him. Surprisingly, half of the contestant were in close relationship with him so I suggest you keep your defense up okay?¡± ¡°Un, thanks for the warning, I will not let my guard down until I beat the one who hurt my master¡± ¡°Ah, here is the list of the people you need to pay attention if you met them in the Arena. The people which written in red ink in this list are the one who got to the top 50 last year, so they were strong and probably stronger this year¡± ¡°You even go this far to collect information for me, you really are a good friend aren¡¯t you, Jake?¡± ¡°What are you talking about Cloud, the one that¡¯s hurt was my master friend, and also my best friends master so its normal that I have to go this far to teach them a lesson not to mess with my friends or their acquaintances¡± ¡°Well, let¡¯s get ready, it¡¯s about to start, the final round of Battlefield¡± ¡°Jake you are up¡± said Kane. ¡°Good luck to you guys¡± After that he left for his match. A while later, my name was called and I went to the Arena. My opponent was using a morning star and a shield. He is also wearing full body armor looking like a proper warrior ready for battle. ¡°Match 5, first year student Cloud against third year student Grant. Are you guys ready? Begin!¡± I¡¯m not sure if this is a coincidence or not but my opponent was on the list Jake mentioned, and it¡¯s a red name too. When the match began, he straightly taking defensive position while swinging his morning star ready to strike whenever I enter his attack range. Morning star is a short ranged weapon in shape of a spiked ball that chained to a handle. The problem is you have to swing it for it to deal serious damage to your opponent. So the attack speed is not so good, usually the user of this kind of weapon either very agile or like Grant, very defensive. Now how do I settle this problem. I start by walking casually towards his direction while maintaining my awareness. Then as I entered his range of attack, he directly swings his weapon at me. I evaded his attack and rushed towards his direction but then he retracted his weapon as fast as possible and then swings it again at me. Seeing this, I was surprised at first but then I came back to my right mind and evade it again. ¡°Oh, you managed to evade it again¡± ¡°To use something heavy like that recklessly, I really appreciate your talent¡± ¡°Well that is obvious since-¡° ¡°It was like a fucking barbarian with no brain¡±This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. ¡°What did you say?! I dare you to say that again you fucking child!¡± ¡°No brain, looks like a pig, reckless, what a combination¡± ¡°Let see if you can talk like that again when I smash you to a pulp, Gaaah!¡± After my provocation, he swings his weapon over and over again like a madman. I was surprised once again by his stamina and durability, attacking like that moreover its already 5 minutes and he can still swing it again and again. Did no one told him that it will put too much burden towards his wrist? ¡°Gasp¡­Gasp¡­Gasp¡­ Stop evading you fucking monkey!¡± He swings it again towards my direction but this time, he didn¡¯t retract it like he would usually do. No, rather than saying he didn¡¯t retract it, the truth is he couldn¡¯t retract it. Since he is attacking like a madman for a long time, the burden he put on his wrist was keep piling up until his wrist couldn¡¯t withstand it anymore. The result is, he couldn¡¯t even move his hand for a while. This is my chance, since he was still shocked that his arms couldn¡¯t move, I rushed at him and slap his face. He then awoken by my slap and tried to raise his shield to defend himself for the time being. But how can I allow him to do such a thing. I directly kicked his body making him drop to the ground. Then I proceed to hold him on the ground using my body and slap him over and over again. Since Lyon hurt Elizabeth, an acquaintance of mine, I will make sure his acquaintance will get the same treatment as what he did to her. Now let¡¯s begin the show shall we. ¡°I- ¡±*Slap* ¡°Sur-¡° *Slap* ¡°Sto-¡° *Slap* ¡°I¡¯m so-¡° *slap* More and more slap happening, the audience turned silence while watching Grant under me trying to surrender but he couldn¡¯t because I always slap him when he tried to do so. The teacher watching this also seems to be shocked as well. The rules said unless you surrender, faint, or death, the match will still continue. But no one seems to be realized how terrifying this rules can be until today. The teacher wants to stop the match but the rules states that the match isn¡¯t officially over yet. He couldn¡¯t just get in and interfere the fight as it will raise the objection from me saying that he is not fair because I didn¡¯t break any rules. Finally, without anyone helping him, Grant could only takes the hit until he faint. ¡°The¡­ the¡­. The winner of this match is¡­ is the first year student, Cloud¡± Hearing this, the audience that was silent until now finally came back to their mind. But they could only smile weirdly since they are trying to process what was happened before. It supposed to be a fight between apprentice warrior, they expect both party to show their skill from what they learnt at the Academy. But what they saw was a student swinging his weapon madly and was exhausted until he couldn¡¯t lift his weapon nor shield. Then he was hold by his weapon and slapped again and again without being able to surrender. Then finally he faints in agony and pain, seeing this all of the audience began to discuss about what happened. ¡°What did I just see? Was that a fight between student of the Academy? But it looks like 2 kid fighting with each other without any skill, tactic or strategy. Moreover, that fatty swing his weapon again and again without thinking what will happen to his body after he was provoked by the other kid. Geez¡± ¡°That boy is so ruthless to his opponent, that fat kid must be ashamed to death right now¡± ¡°He should be, who the fuck swings a weapon recklessly like that. What the other kid said was right, he looks like a fucking no brain barbarian¡± ¡°But isn¡¯t Cloud gone too far with the fight? He can just end it with when Grant couldn¡¯t lift his weapon anymore but he..¡± ¡°I guess there must be some kind of grudge between them for he to go that far to humiliate him¡± ¡°Yeah I think so too¡± Discussion like this could be heard on the audience seats, but none of that affects me. This is just beginning, let see if those bastards friends dare to go against me on stage. If they dare to do so, I will just beat them again and again like Grant. I who just finished the fight directly went to the participant area. ¡°Cloud, that was amazing, never would I thought that doing that kind of thing on the Arena is allowed¡± ¡°Then pay more attention to the rules Jake, how was your match?¡± ¡°It¡¯s as easy like taking a candy from a baby. After sparring with you all this year, these match are kinda like fighting with a five old childs¡± ¡°Don¡¯t let your guard down, Grant have decent skill to begin with but he doesn¡¯t have the brain to match it so he lost to me. But if he at least thinks more calmly about the situation and not swinging his weapon like a madman, it will be harder for me to win¡± ¡°Harder right, not impossible, I don¡¯t think any kid here will be your opponent Cloud. But I will keep your advice in mind¡± Chapter 11 - Final Round (END) In the participant area, a bunch of guys suddenly head towards my direction. The one who lead them was a young man with a tall stature. Long hair which was ponytailed makes him looks so manly. He looks like older than me so did the others that follow him. As he stopped in front of me, he said ¡°Are you the one named Cloud?¡± ¡°Yes¡± ¡°I am Lyon Rastrom, I will get to the point. I am here because you beat up Grant and Theo¡± ¡°I did beat up Grant but who is this Theo?¡± ¡°Do you remember a senior who challenge you into a duel?¡± ¡°Ah that madman who charge like a bull?¡± ¡°Stop insulting my subordinate, listen kid, I came here to warn you not to touch my people or you-¡° ¡°Heh, so that kind of guys are your subordinate, I wonder how hot-headed the leader is. The first one is like a bull, charging towards the enemy without thinking. The second one also like a madman swinging his weapon over and over without paying attention to the burden that he put on his body. Then I wonder how will you fight in the Arena, like madman too?¡± ¡°How dare you to speak like that in front of Duke Rastrom son, you are only a fucking servant!¡± ¡°Oh, another hot headed person, so it is true that your group are bunch of hot-headed madman¡± ¡°Enough kid, I won¡¯t tolerate any more insult coming from your mouth. Since you are my junior then I came here by a good will to warn you the situation you are in. But it seems that you won¡¯t get it unless you are beaten to a pulp. I hope you survive until the moment when we met on the Arena kid. But let me warn you, when that day happen, I will show no mercy, Let¡¯s go!¡± After Lyon and his gang leaves, the other participant who watch as the event goes start to gossip around what happen between me and Lyon. Of course I paid no attention to their talks and focus on the Battlefield. Then people started to realize that Lyon and me is like fire and water. From that on, whenever I met someone who have close relationship with Lyon, I beat them up, shaming them in front of the audience. For the other participant that have no relationship with Lyon, I only send them outside of the Arena with a kick towards their chest. After several battles, people who have relationship with Lyon started to get warry of me. Usually the would surrender even before the fight happen saving them some face of not getting beaten up on the Arena. After several battle, Jake was unlucky to met several seniors on his fight, because of that he piled up some loses that he finished at rank 66. Kane and the others were lucky enough to face easier opponent but because it is only their first year, their momentum finally stopped and they finished between rank 40-50. But this result is already good since they are only first year, this means that they will certainly be top figures on the upcoming battlefields next year. The most surprising result came from the girl who were entering the top 100 with us. Sena managed to beat 3rd even 4th year students on her own. But unfortunately her momentum stopped because she met Lyon. Because what happen between me and him, she got dragged in the problem and got beaten up severely by Lyon. Although I don¡¯t know her well, but she was beaten up because of me so I gritted my teeth and clenched my fist. I swear that I will at least break a bone or two from that motherfucker Lyon. Although I faced so many of Lyon subordinate but I didn¡¯t face him on the top 100 battle so we both got into the top 10 of the Battlefield. ¡°Oh, impressive kid, you are really waiting for me to beat you up right?¡± ¡°Heh, leader of madmans are getting too cocky because his wins against juniors, what a brag¡± ¡°You!! Just you wait until the moment we met, because that¡¯s the moment where I will beat you up to a pulp¡± ¡°Oh, so scary, as expected from the leaders of madmans¡± ¡°Humph¡± After that he left to the other area, but surprisingly the next moment, my name and Lyon was called to fight in the Arena. Finally, after waiting for so long, this time has finally come. Lyon Rastrom, we did not know each other prior to Elizabeth¡¯s battle against you but you dare to hurt her. So be prepared for I, Cloud, Elizabeth Flaming¡¯s servant will come to get revenge for my master. I went up to the Arena where Lyon already waits for me there. He is wearing a full armor with a long sword seathed on his waist. The so called longsword is a double edged two-handed sword which is not too heavy to wields. It can slash, thrust and do everything a sword can do but the advantage is the range of attack, because of its size, long sword has a wide range of attacks. The cons of the longsword is that it must be held by two hands to stabilize it so the user can¡¯t use a shield to protect themselves.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Top 10 match of the Battlefield, first match will be the first year students, Cloud against third year student, Lyon Rastrom. Are you guys ready? Fight!¡± For this match, I plan on using all my power to show him the gap between our strength. So I went up without wearing any armor nor weapons. I only use the standard student uniform from the Academy and that¡¯s it. Since my best skill is in Martial Arts, then I will let him have a taste of it. ¡°[Steel Body] [Spirit Enhancement]¡± Steel body is a skill that I learnt when my Martial Arts reached the level of 30. It reinforced my body defense so that it as though as steel. Because of that normal weapons won¡¯t be able to hurt me. Coupled with Spirit Enhancement which multiply all of the aspect of my body, then for Lyon to win this fight is impossible. Lyon who saw me stand in position began to smirks as he draws his long sword and then rushed on my direction. He swings his sword towards me but I evade it easily making his body staggers forward. I¡¯m not planning on attacking him yet since I want him to taste what a humiliation is really like. But as expected from a person who can enter the top 10 of Battlefields, he quickly regain his body balance and then swipe the weapon toward me. The objective of this attack is to slash me and because of the range of the attack was wide, majority of people is not capable of evading it. But it is different for me, I jump to the air to evade his strike. He seems to be shocked that his surprise attack missed the target. With a loud shout, he tried to attack me again, this time I didn¡¯t evade it, I caught the blade with my hand before it hits me. ¡°Got you kiddo¡± ¡°Oh, is that so?¡± He who thought that I fail to evade it and barely managed to caught the blade start to put pressure on the blade while I easily defends against it. After a couple second putting the pressure on his sword, he seems to realize that it won¡¯t budge even an inch. But then he keeps putting pressure to the sword to the point where normal people would be split in half if they were in my position. ¡°Oh, did you do something Madman Leader?¡± ¡°Shut up you asshole, I will split your body in half¡± ¡°Too cocky until the end huh, as expected from the madman leader. I think this is enough, let me teach you what despair means¡± I put a little strength on the sword and it broke into two. Seeing this Lyon was dazed and before he managed to came to his right mind, I use Finger Thrust towards several of his accupoints rendering him unable to speak. Now, lets begin shall we? I punch his nose and slap him a few times. He tried to evade my attacks but to no avail. Then I punch his face more and more until his face is covered with blue marks. Not only that, I proceed to bend his right hand towards his back making him wanted to scream, but it didn¡¯t come out. Maybe the audience would think that he bear the pain and hold his scream like a man, but I can only sneer when his hand broke. ¡°These hands were used to hurt my master, since it has done a great sin, I will punish them¡± I took the other hand and break it too, because he cannot let his voice out, he started to cry and kneel to the ground. His hands are magnificently dangling on his side, seeing this, I hold his face and stared at his eyes directly. ¡°It¡¯s hurt isn¡¯t it? Then you can always surrender anytime you want¡± Because he still couldn¡¯t speak, he obviously couldn¡¯t surrender either. Now what to do with this retard, since the battle still going on, I can¡¯t possibly say he lost to the judge can¡¯t I? Well let¡¯s go back to the previous way of forcing the battle to end. I raise my hand and slap his cheeks so hard that he falls to the ground. Maybe because his agony and shame, he finally fainted and then the battle ends. The venue came to a long silence once more, they thought that Lyon is a tough warrior that he can bear the pain of having his arms broken. Yet he suddenly lie on the ground, fainted upon receiving the thunder loud slap from Cloud. The people then remembered an occasion where the audience was silence like this, right it was the time when Cloud defeated Grant. ¡°Student, you¡­ you¡­ have done it again. *Cough, the winner of this match is first year student Cloud¡± After the announcement, the crowds finally came back to their mind. Just like that, the battle ends? This is the top 10 not the top 100 and he can win just like that? How mighty is this student actually is, to win with a slap not only on the top 100 but also on the top 10 fight? Will we see the same thing again until he became the champion? Question like this started to appear on the audience mind, but for Lyon¡¯s acquaintance, they worried about another matter. ¡°Isn¡¯t that student too vicious? He even broke his opponents arms and then raise a big slap upon his face, he should be disqualified right. I mean for a student, he is too ruthless¡± ¡°Yeah, I agree with his opinion, Cloud should be disqualified from the Battlefield. Not only he broke his arms, he is not letting the opponent to surrender. Moreover he has done such a thing twice¡± ¡°Right, disqualify him!¡± ¡°Silence!¡± Finally a senior figure of the academy spoke up and they can only shut their mouth while waiting for the decision. The teachers seems to discuss this problem after the fight against Grant on the top 100 round, but because Cloud didn¡¯t repeat the same thing, they just let it go. But today, the same thing happens again. Not only that but Lyon¡¯s hand were broken and from what the doctor told them, it at least need 3 months before he can move his hands again and another 3 month for the total recovery. ¡°The Academy hereby announce that Cloud will be disqualified and his achievement until now will be annulled. Also regarding the rule of the Battlefield, we will review it once more and make a judgment wheter we should change it or not¡± With the final decision of the Academy, the crowds began to discuss about what happen again. But that¡¯s all have nothing to do with me, my purpose was fulfilled and I don¡¯t plan to enter the top ranks of the academy either so it¡¯s not a problem for me. Aside from that, I finally have the confidence of my strength, although I never fought with another person from the top 10 list, but at least me beating Lyon so easily means that I won¡¯t even have a problem if I were to fight again those guys, beside I haven¡¯t use Berserk yet. Chapter 12 - Aftermath After the battle, I went to the audience seat to find Elizabeth and the others. I found them sitting on the front row while discussing about the match. Jake and Kane were the first one that notice my arrival and they nod to me. I wait until the girls finished what they have been discussing before they saw me. ¡°Ah Cloud, when did you arrive?¡± Elizabeth said. ¡°Here he comes, the most loyal servant on the Academy that will turn into a brutal person if someone dare to hurt his master¡± Sophia said. ¡°But miss, I will do so if you were the one that was hurt¡± Kane retorted ¡°Alright, sit down first Cloud, you must be tired after the battle¡± Catherine said. ¡°Thank you¡± ¡°But really, they disqualify you because that fucking bastard was hurt, it¡¯s not like he became a cripple, right?¡± Elizabeth said ¡°Miss, your language¡± I said ¡°Ahem, sorry. But it¡¯s not fair Cloud, you could have been the winner of this year Battlefield or at least enter top 5 no top 3¡± Elizabeth said. ¡°I don¡¯t mind miss, my purpose to go this far has been achieved so it¡¯s okay¡± ¡°Ahem, you guys, we are also here so don¡¯t ignore our presence. But I do agree to what Elizabeth said, if you were not disqualified maybe you can be the winner of this year Battlefield¡± Sophia said. ¡°None of it matters to me, at first I am only targeting to finish around the rank of 50 but because of my promise to my lady then I am forced to go this far¡± I said ¡°Do you love her Cloud? You know that it¡¯s hard for you guys to get into a relationship with your status, right?¡± Catherine said. ¡°Wha¡­what are you saying Cath, My rel-..relationship with Cloud isn¡¯t like that¡± Elizabeth retorted ¡°But he seems to follow whatever you said, even sacrificing his future for your sake. If you were able to get first in the Battlefield, even becoming a noble of a kingdom is not impossible. But instead you let the chance go and decide to stay by her side¡± Catherine explained. ¡°The current me is the result of my lady, without her maybe I was already dead on the street either bullied by thugs or executed by a noble. Because of her I can get this safe job with a good pay, my daily needs also fulfilled moreover I can study at the Academy. She also not restricting my freedom and I can live like a normal student. For this, how could I be selfish and only think about myself, in the first place the present me cannot exist without her help. So, my future also cannot exist without her help, then it is normal that I sacrifice something that I got from her for her sake, right? Because without her help, none of that will exist in the present nor the future¡± ¡°Brother, you are the best servant I have ever met. If only I can be like you even only 10 percent of it, then I am already satisfied¡± Kane said ¡°That¡¯s right Cloud, I really admire your way of doing as a servant and as a friend¡± Jake said ¡°Where the hell did you find this kind of servant Elizabeth? We also want one like Cloud!¡± Sophia and Catherine said at the same time. Hearing what these guys said, I can only thank the God from the bottom of my heart. They are really good people, they see me as a friend without minding my status as a servant. As for Elizabeth, she remains silent at first, her cheek reddens maybe because she is shy. But it¡¯s not for long, she suddenly stood up and said. ¡°That¡¯s natural, this lady here have a great skill of identifying people, so its normal that the one I choose will be a great person. For you guys, its 100 years too early to be able to do as this lady does muhahahaha¡±Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. There she goes again like usual, but I am glad that she able to go back to her prior self. When he got beaten by Lyon, she had been down and only thought of revenge towards him. But now since I got her revenge, she seems to go back to her usual self so I am glad. As the others, they can only remain silent and sigh because of what Elizabeth said. Luckily, they know how she is, if the other person heard what she said, they will probably be offended by what she said. After my disqualification, the tournament continued on with the schedule. But because my disqualification and Lyon that was not able to fight again because his hands were broken by me, the rooster were only containing of 8 participants. All of them were fourth year students, because their experience on the previous Battlefield couple with the Academy lesson that they gained for 4 years they have been in the Academy, they all pretty powerful. If I were to compare it to Lyon, they can probably win against him under 10 moves. Watching the fight, I also gained some insight from it. The first match is a lance user against a battle axe user. Although the range of a lance is better than a battle axe but in terms of variety of the attack, a battle axe has superiority. But is it not deniable that a person who use lance usually have a shield with them because once the lance is launched, it cannot be easily retracted as normal weapon. At first, the battle axe user dominated the fight, but as he couldn¡¯t win the fight because the lance user defensive moves, the situation changed. Although he was attacking using a variety of attacks but it cannot penetrate the defense of the lance user. Coupled with the attacks of the lance which he must evade or block, his ruins slowly approaching. He became exhausted because of the long fight, seeing this the lance user grab the chance and went to attack. But the match not ended just like that, as a student who have been through 3 battlefields during his years in the Academy, the battle axe user not easily gave up. He kept dodging the attack and find a chance to attack. But alas due to his extreme exhaustion, he finally caught by the lance user attack and the battle finally ends. Cheers began to raise from the audience, after the match, they shake hand with each other and bow towards the audience graciously. As expected from a noble, I am sure that the battle axe user dissatisfied with the result but he could maintain his image in public. Although he lose but I felt no bad intent from him, so I guess he accepted his defeat. Battle after battle passed by after that, and then the top 3 was chosen among the 8 remaining participant. The first contestant who managed to enter the top 3 was the lance user, his name is Garret Humphrey. He is from a knight family from Borg. The next one was a rapier user, surprisingly she is a woman named Laura Farren from the same kingdom as me and Elizabeth, Luxen. The final contestant was a magic user named Lucian Rowell. First top 3 battle is Laura against Garret, the fight progressed like how it went when Garret fights with the battle axe user. Garret took the defensive position from the start while Laura keep attacking Garret while also evading his lance. Although the defensive position of Garret was solid but Laura¡¯s attack was fierce so the fight became thrilling. After several minutes passed, sweat could be seen on both Laura and Garret. Although he is taking defensive position but because Laura fast paced attacks, Garret was forced to use his heavy shield over and over again. That coupled with heavy lance makes his stamina drained faster than Laura. In the end, Laura attacks managed to get pass his defense and injured him. Because of the injury, Garret movement became slower and Laura used this chance to attack the other parts of Garret bodies. Feeling that he had no chance to win, finally Garret forced to surrender the fight against Laura. Cheers once more broke up from the audience side as the final result of the fight. After that the tournament was put on hold for 15 minutes and Garret were brought to the healers. The next fight is between Garret and Lucian, because he received healing magic from the healers, Garret body came back to his prime once again. But the fight truly became a one-sided fight, because Lucian keep barraging Garret with fire magic from the beginning until the end of the fight. Because Garret not used to move during a fight, he became a sitting duck roasted by Lucian magic. Because the fight took no longer than 3 minutes, and Lucian also not wasting too much mana from the fight, the tournament grand final finally proceed. Seeing how the battle against Garret went, Laura took the initiative to attack Lucian as soon as the fight starts. Although Lucian can use magic but the incantation would be too long against a speed type fighter like Laura. Surprisingly, Lucian not cast offensive magic this time but supportive magic, Accel. With this, he moved at a high speed matching Laura. Because of that, it became a tag game where Laura tried to stop Lucian from casting magic while Lucian tried to evade Laura¡¯s attack while he kept chanting offensive spells over and over again. But in the end, after Lucian¡¯s Accel buffs end, Laura managed to caught up with Lucian and end the fight. With the final battle finally comes to an end, the Battlefield of this year was finally over. The winner were granted bountiful reward by the Academy. As for Lyon, he finished at rank 9th while I was on the 100th rank because of the disqualification. The first year student who managed to enter the top 100 got a special privilege of entering the Student Council which consist of geniuses from the Academy. Although I am in the last position but it still within top 100 so I also given the privilege to enter the Student Council. Chapter 13 - Meeting the Headmaster After the Battlefield, I began my day with my training regime. But today, I am going to do something different from as my Martial Arts finally reached Rank 2. At first I was shocked by what happened when I checked my stats. My Martial Arts skill became level 1 again, who would not be shocked when all his training gone in a blink of an eye like that. But fortunately, it¡¯s just a rank up of the skill, the so-called rank up happen when one skill reached level 100. By ranking up a skill, you are not getting any additional active and passive skills instead your existing skill will be fortified as your rank rises. For example, previously I can only use my finger thrust to seal my enemy acupoints but now as it leveled up, I can make a dent on a piece of wood. Although it seems pretty much the same, but if you test it on another person, maybe instead of sealing the acupoints, you will permanently sever the meridians making them a cripple. Also, since I ranked up, I began to unlock another part of the martial arts memory. When I investigate upon the content, I couldn¡¯t help but shocked once more. In the realms of martial arts, there several steps which someone must step if you want to be a real martial artist. The one that I have been training until now is the first step which is body training. People of this stage learn how to use their body and train them until they max out their body capabilities. The next step is the beginning of cultivation, energy sensing stage. Although I had spirit enhancement skill, but it is only an automatic skill which I don¡¯t know the principle behind. If I were to say it in other terms it would be like when someone fired a gun, you don¡¯t know what happen inside the gun when you pull the trigger, you only know that a bullet will be shot from the gun. So, using a skill that you gained from leveling up main skills is the same as you pull the trigger without realizing what happen behind it. But my unlocked memory told me how to sense the energy so that I can store and circulate it on my body. Doing this will allow me to learn the principal behind the spirit enhancement skill so that I can use it more effective and efficient. Not only that, as I train, I will be able to temper my body so that it can exceed the boundary limit of a human body. Surprisingly the technique to sense the energy is almost the same as magic training. The only difference Magic will only make you able to use the energy called mana to create a phenomenon out of your imagination. But cultivating energy will makes you be able to strengthen your body by refining each organs and parts so that it can exceed the human limit boundary. Since I had been training mana for a whole year, then sensing energy became easy for me. With only a few minutes, I am able to sense and circulate them into this part of my body called dantian. Basically, it where the energy will be stored. When I managed to sense the energy, and circulate it, I entered the stage 1 of Energy Sensing stage. After that, I began to circulate it throughout my body beginning on the first step of the refining, skin refining. The energy focusing on my skin, breaking down its cells to the very basic and then fortify it with energy making a new kind of cells that build up my skin. The new skin looks like a new-born baby skin, white and smooth without any crude. Then I tested the result using a sharp rock, I tried to make a cut on my skin but to no avail. Only when I put strength on it did it managed to slice through it. Although it looks like not a big of a difference but it is only the beginning of the refinement. Later on, even a sharp sword cannot put a mark on my skin, but for now, this result already satisfies me. I refined my skin for 2 hours then went towards the Canteen as per usual to get Elizabeth¡¯s breakfast. As I arrived in the room, Elizabeth was still sleeping, I prepare the table and put the food I brought on it then woke her up. I helped her to prepare for the day and then had a breakfast with her. During the meal, she couldn¡¯t stop talking about how I should break Lyon¡¯s leg too or the official truly blind that they kicked me out and so on. I could only listen to what he said with a smile because none of it is important to me, the most important thing is my master safety and happiness first. ¡°Cloud, it¡¯s almost been a year since we met, right?¡± ¡°Ah, now that I think about it, one year ago, was when my blessing ceremony held. It¡¯s also the time when I got kicked out of the orphanage and went rogue¡± ¡°Can¡¯t you please not talk about bad things? Isn¡¯t remembering our meeting more important than that?¡±This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Ah, yes, yes, of course it¡¯s more important hehe¡± ¡°Humph just forget it!¡± Ah now I have really done it, once Elizabeth mad, it¡¯s so hard to calm her down. But it has been a year isn¡¯t it, a year from when I met the God and got Comprehension as my unique skill. My progress so far is beyond what a normal person can do and it¡¯s still growing. So many memories to unlock, so many skills to learn and so many new experience waiting for me. At noon, Elizabeth and her friends, Sophia and Catherine are having lunch together on the canteen as usual. As their servant, me, Kane, and Jake also presents there. We are talking about the Battlefield and what to do from now on when suddenly a teacher is approaching us. ¡°Sorry to interrupt you, but is there someone named Cloud here?¡± ¡°Yes, my name is Cloud, is there something I can help you with?¡± ¡°Can you come with me right now? The Headmaster asked you to come to his office¡± ¡°Okay, miss I will leave first, can you manage without me?¡± ¡°Just leave, I don¡¯t care¡± Elizabeth who are still mad at me said. ¡°Then let¡¯s go teach¡± After that I was lead into the administrative building, at first I am confused since the headmaster called me why would the teacher brought me to the administrative building. But now that I think about it, I never see the headmaster office around the Academy. So maybe it is located at administrative building, so I just follow the teacher to the building. As we entered the administrative building, there are already many people doing their business there. We walked straight to the corner of the building where a massive circle with runic symbol can be seen. This is kind of circle called magic formation, this particular magic formation was put here to serve as a lift for the people but its use is restricted for teacher only. So, if you want to use it, you must be accompanied by a teacher. As we step on the formation, the teacher began a slight incantation and the formation then slightly glows. The next thing that I know is my vision was blinded by the light and when I opened my eyes again, the scenery has changed. It¡¯s a long corridor with some doors on the way, the teacher then led me to one of the door and knock on it. ¡°Headmaster, I brought Cloud here with me¡± ¡°You may go in¡± said a voice from the room ¡°There you go Cloud, you can enter now. If there is nothing else, then I will excuse myself¡± ¡°Ah, yes¡± I can only nod and enter the room. First think when I entered is a desk with a middle-aged man sitting behind it. Then I look around and it looks like a big boss office during my previous life. At least that is what the tv showed me, table with sofa, wall decorated with pictures and the room also decorated by antiques. While I am lost in thought, it seems that I forgot that this room¡¯s owner is right in front of me. ¡°Ah, sorry about that, head master I presume, I am amazed by your office¡± ¡°Glad that you like it, So Cloud do you know why I called you here?¡± Straight forward type huh, ¡°I am not sure either, probably it has to do with something I did on the Battlefield, right?¡± ¡°Yes, it is regarding of the Battlefield, I watched the fight between you and Lyon Rastrom during the Battlefield and I am impressed by it¡± ¡°Ah if you are talking about what I did to Lyon I am not going to apolo- sorry?¡± ¡°Your battle technique, uses of skills, although it was an overkill but I do admire your talent. You are eleven years old this year, right? Yet you already acquire the Spirit Enhancement of Martial Arts, its impressive considering your age young man. I already investigate on your result from when you enter the academy and I was shocked by your progress young man. In less than a year you managed to level up Martial Arts skill until level 50, that¡¯s a great accomplishment. But that¡¯s not what I called you here for. The reason that I summoned you this time is to offer you a chance of going with the top 10 students from the Battlefield to go to a place to learn. How is it, are you interested in this offer young man?¡± ¡°I am sorry but I have to decline that offer¡± ¡°What?! I don¡¯t think there is a good reason for you to decline this offer¡± ¡°There is one, my master, my place is beside her so I will follow her wherever she goes, that means if she isn¡¯t included, then I am sorry but I can only decline your offer, headmaster¡± ¡°Are you sure about this? With your talent, even a king would grant you a noble rank so why would you still insist of being a servant. You just have to say that you want to quit and probably Flaming family cannot do anything to you. What else is the problem?!¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious? Without her, the present me would not exist so my life will be dedicated for her sake¡± ¡°You! I get it, get out!¡± ¡°Then please excuse me¡± Shit I think he is mad at me for declining his offer, but I don¡¯t think he can do anything to me. At least for now I am free to do what I want. After the headmaster summon, I went to class like usual and ate dinner together with Elizabeth. Finally at night, I went to sleep just to find myself in a nostalgic environment I was summoned about a year ago. Chapter 14 - Gift ¡°Hello Cloud, how is your life?¡± ¡°God? Well thanks to your gift, I met a great person that changed my life. So I am happy with my life¡± ¡°Then that¡¯s good, I call you here because my gift that I promised to you back then is ready¡± ¡°What gift? Isn¡¯t Comprehension is the gift you gave me?¡± ¡°No, the comprehension skill came with your evolved soul, it makes you able to grow faster compared to a normal person. But my gift had yet been received by you Cloud because I have only finished it just now¡± Hearing the explanation, I am truly shocked. The cheat skill that I thought I received from the God is from my evolved Soul? Then what else do you want to give me? Another cheat? Well, whatever it is since it came from the God itself then I am sure that it¡¯s good for me. ¡°Thank you for the thoughts Cloud, now receive my final gift to you, I hope that you can use it to your interest¡± With that said, my vision went dark and as I open my eyes to look in the surrounding area, I am still on my bed in the dormitory. To my surprise, I see the gift that God gave me right away, Isn¡¯t this¡­ Game Interface? There is minimap, health bar, mana bar, experience bar, clock, log message, and a row of icons on the bottom of my field of vision. I read the log and find this notice [Initializing System] [Registering Player] [Player Cloud has successfully logged into the System] [Welcome to the System, Cloud, have a nice day] What the hell is this, isn¡¯t this a game interface, how can it suddenly appear in my field of vision, isn¡¯t this too weird? Then, what would I do with this interface, there is not even a manual or a tutorial on the System, how am I supposed to use it. When I thought about it, then suddenly an icon is blinking from the row of icons on the bottom of my field of vision. I tried to touch it and then another screen popped out in front of me nearly startling me to death. The screen that popped out is like an in-game help or faq screen where the basic of the game is explained. From what I learn, I can hide and access everything on the interface on my mind or I just can touch it like how one use a touchscreen gadget. The icon on the bottom of my vision is consist of inventory, status, party, chat, and the help screen. First inventory, let me access inventory, duh. Then status, let me see my status without appraisal, previously if I want to see my status I would have to use the appraisal skill and the status screen would show up, but now it became easier with the icon. The next one is party, according to the help screen explanation, I can create a party with non-player that will let us distribute exp and show each other status so this is really useful. The last one chats, it¡¯s kind of a way to communicate within a party. This kind of features, if I don¡¯t test it then I cannot calm my heart. So, let¡¯s test it right away, at least that¡¯s what I think but unfortunately, it¡¯s still dark outside and Elizabeth is still sleeping. Without anything to do, I can only train outside until morning. My skin refinement this time is more bountiful than the last time as a few impurities finally scrapped out of my skins. It¡¯s kinda like taking off your old clothes andthen wearing a new branded one. I feel very comfortable and my confidence raised to next level. When the sun finally come out, I ran towards the canteen after washing myself because I was stink like hell. First, let see how the inventory works, after getting the food I went outside and when no one was around I put the food into my inventory.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. [Academy Breakfast Set x2 stored] Oh, the notification finally shows up on the log screen, now let see the inventory. It was there, I can see the Academy Breakfast Set on the top of the list in the inventory. Then I tried to take it out and in several times until I satisfied, but then I feel a chill on my spine. Oh crap, I am too focused on this thing, Elizabeth must be up now and I am nowhere near her so she must be mad right now. This feeling of mine, I wonder when I got it but then something amazing were written on the log. [Elizabeth¡¯s rage feeling is transferred to player Cloud] What the hell is this log, I mean isn¡¯t it too precise, can it read someone thought as well? I wish it could do because sometimes I messed up about guessing what Elizabeth got in mind. But that¡¯s for later, I ran as fast as possible into Elizabeth room, where she stood there crossing her arms with an ugly expression on her face. ¡°Oh, you are finally here, close the door please¡± ¡°Yes miss¡± I answered and then close the door, but before I can turn again, she already throws a tantrum towards me. ¡°Good, where the hell did you go at night?! Did you find a girlfriend and plan to abandon me?!¡± ¡°No miss, I would have neve-¡° ¡°You would never what? You left me alone in my room all night, what if a thief broke in or even worse an assassin? Would you be able to defend me then? Answer me!¡± ¡°No¡­¡± ¡°Good, now tell me what you did last night¡± ¡°I was training on the training ground¡± ¡°Like I would believe at that excuse, you must be meeting someone right?¡± ¡°No miss, I got a gift from God last night, so I cannot rest and wait to test it out¡± ¡°Like hell would God gave you a birthday present, make a more logical excuse, what the hell is this?¡± Without waiting any longer, I stopped her by inviting her tomy party. I can see that a screen was popped out the second I invited her to my party. Seeing this, Elizabeth must be really shocked and confused be. She went silent for a while and I stay silent too because if I were to talk now, she probably would throw a tantrum at me again for not listening to her. ¡°What is this, Cloud Party? And why are you keep silent Cloud?¡± ¡°Because I don¡¯t want to interrupt you, miss¡± ¡°Okay, I permit you to explain this thing on my vision¡± ¡°It is an invitation to my group, with this even when I am away, you can still contact me¡± ¡°Really? Then I accept¡± [Elizabeth Flaming has joined your party] ¡°Eh, what is this, HP, MP, EXP, level, isn¡¯t this your stats Cloud?¡± ¡°Yeah miss, and I can see yours too. This thing let us know what the other status is and we can also communicate with each other using the party chat or individual chat¡± ¡°Okay, let''s try it¡± After that, she went silent and tap on the private chat option. A link was made and then Elizabeth sent her message towards me. It seems that this time she tried to use the typing message one so I read it using the log. [Elizabeth: Cloud can you see this?] [Cloud: Yes miss, I can see your message. You can also communicate with voice directly instead using message] ¡°Ah ah, Cloud can my thought be heard by you?¡± ¡°Yes miss, as long as you open this channel, we can talk to each other even if we are apart¡± ¡°Then that¡¯s great¡± After that, Elizabeth says that she want to test if it really works as long as she wants so we talked about various things while eating the food I took out from my inventory. If other person entered the room at this moment, they would be confused because I and Elizabeth were staring at each other for a long time without talking. Also, our expression changed from time to time while we are eating our food. The conclusion of our conversation is Elizabeth is satisfied with the party and then thus I was forgiven. Then the problem is, is it really okay for me to get all of this advantage? Okay, let¡¯s calm down a bit and think about what really happen here¡­. Did I just receive another cheat? What the fuck, this is so crazy, with my comprehension, I can already be called a cheat, and now with the System then what else there to describe my situation. I mean, a person need at least 10 years to rank up a skill but I only need a fuckin year to do it. Now with the system added, It became more unreasonable, unlimited inventory, party system including experience sharing and chat, log, and lastly mini map for my mind map skill. I mean with this kind of advantages, isn¡¯t being Godlike is just a matter of time? Chapter 15 - Inevitable Afternoon at lunch break, Sophia, Catherine, Jake, Luke and me are having lunch on the canteen. Elizabeth was not here because she was called to the administrative building because apparently, her father sent a message addressed for her. As we are talking about our training plan, Elizabeth approach us with a gloomy face. I can see that her eyes are red, seeing this I stand up from my seat and ask her. ¡°What happen miss? Didn¡¯t they call you because your father sent you a letter?¡± ¡°Did someone hurt you El? Who is that bastard, just told us we will beat them up!¡± ¡°Yeah, El tell us what happen...¡± Question after question are being thrown out at Elizabeth but she is not responding to any of the question and her face keep getting gloomier. Seeing the situation getting bad, I excuse myself to accompany her back to our room. As we arrived inside our room, tears broke out from Elizabeth¡¯s eye, she threw herself onto the bed and burry her on the pillow. Seeing this I don¡¯t know what I am supposed to do, I can only stand by the bed waiting for her to calm down. [Elizabeth: Cloud, you are fired] [Cloud: What? Why? Did I do something wrong?] [Elizabeth: I also don¡¯t know, but father said someone force him to sever the tie between us] I blankly stared at the last chat a few minutes while Elizabeth still sobbing on the bed. Who is it, I don¡¯t think there is a benefit to separate me and Elizabeth so, who did this and for what reason? Is it because I hurt Lyon, but he will still be lying on the bed for a couple months from now. There is no reason to separate us now if he wants to hurt Elizabeth, so what is the real reason? Fuck! [Cloud: Then, I can¡¯t stay at the academy, right?] [Elizabeth: Father tried to keep you within the academy but the academy didn¡¯t let you to stay] What? Who has the influence to even intervene with the academy business? I mean isn¡¯t the academy supposed to be the mightiest organization in the whole world. Then was the one who pressured Elizabeth¡¯s father and prevent me to stay at the academy is the same person? Then what is the real purpose, wait a second is it because I deny the headmaster yesterday? ¡°It¡¯s okay miss, you don¡¯t have to worry about me, I am okay. We also have the chat so we can chat whenever we want. Although from now, I cannot see you face to face but at least if you need someone to talk to, I will always be there for you¡± [Elizabeth: The problem is not you, but I am not ready to let you go, Cloud, do you know that?] ¡°But miss, we can¡¯t do anything right now. We just have to accept the situation first, if the person who wants to separate us can even meddle with the academy then, I think they are very powerful and have a lot of influence so, it¡¯s best if we do as they wish first. I promise you miss, maybe it will take a long time, but I will definitely return to your side so, please don¡¯t be sad and wait for my return¡± After I comforted her, Elizabeth finally calmed down and finally fall asleep. I cover her with blanket and get out of the room. I need to confirm whether this has to do with me denying the headmaster offer from before. So, I went to the administrative building and asked to meet the headmaster. After getting the permission from headmaster to use the magic circle, a teacher accompanied me to the headmaster office. As I went in, I can see the headmaster is doing his work on the desk as yesterday. ¡°Good evening, headmaster¡± ¡°Ah, you are here, Cloud, what can I help you?¡±If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°The reason for my visit to ask whether you are the one who forced miss Elizabeth¡¯s father to fire me¡± ¡°Un, that¡¯s right, so?¡± ¡°Is it because I decline your offer? I said that I won¡¯t go because I have my duties as miss Elizabeth¡¯s servant, so was it because of that you decided to force her father to fire me?¡± ¡°Since it looks like you will deny whatever I offer you as long as you are still her servant then I was forced to use this move¡± ¡°Why? If you really want me to go, can¡¯t you just wait for 1 year, you probably knew the reason why she didn¡¯t enter the top 100 was because she met Lyon on the qualifier. But all her friends were nearly on the top 50, so if you wait for another year, she will definitely enter the top 10 for sure along with her friends. So please don¡¯t separate me and her, I beg you¡± ¡°Then why don¡¯t you just agree to my offer and go, I promise you as long as you fulfill this, I won¡¯t meddle with your business again¡± ¡°In the end, I will still have to go, okay, I agree to your condition but how long will it be?¡± ¡°Haha good, tomorrow morning you will go with the others so be here at 10. As for how long it is, it depends on your result of training, if your result exceeds our expectation then you will be back in no time, but if your result is disappointing then sorry but maybe it will need several decades before you two can meet again¡± ¡°Then I¡¯ll excuse myself to prepare for tomorrow¡± I left the office with rage within my heart, I know that it¡¯s not fair for me and her but there is nothing we can do to oppose them. We are talking about the most powerful organization in the world here, even a kingdom might disappear if they will so. Yet, Elizabeth only a noble of a kingdom and I am merely her servant. If we tried to oppose them then no one would protect us from them because no one in the whole world is willing to oppose a mighty organization like the academy. [Cloud: Miss, the academy wants me to go to train with the top 10 students of the Academy] [Elizabeth: So, in the end you cannot stay by my side, right?] [Cloud: I know it¡¯s hard for you miss because I feel it too, I reluctant to be apart from you even for a day. But there is nothing we can do at the moment since the one who wants to separate us is the Academy¡­] After I explained the reason why they want me to leave, Elizabeth went silent for a couple minutes before she said [Elizabeth: But why Cloud, WHY?!] [Cloud: Miss, I promise you I will train as hard as I can so that we can reunite again faster. But for now, I will do whatever they told me so that they will not do anything like this anymore. Or maybe if it took too long, you can visit me by getting in the top 10 on the next year battlefields.] [Elizabeth: Okay, but promise me something, never forget about me and when I call you through this channel, you must answer me no matter what, understand?] [Cloud: Yes, I promise, no matter what happen I will allocate sometime to chat with you every day] After that, the chat was disconnected and I went silent until night came. Under the moonlight, I reminiscence what happen during 1 year I was together with Elizabeth. Although it was only a year, it¡¯s the happiest time of my life, and I will never forget about it. Oh, that¡¯s right, I forgot about Jake and Kane, but well I guess I just have to ask Elizabeth to tell them. For now, let¡¯s go back to the dorm first and pack my belongings. As I arrived at the dorm, I went straight toward Elizabeth room because all my things all still there. When I opened the door, Elizabeth was still lying on the bed, sleeping. I carefully walk in and closed the door afraid that I might woke her up. From this side, I can see her face clearly, the face that I will miss during my trip and the face of my goddess of luck. Without me noticing, tears started to fall from my eyes, I guess I really don¡¯t want to be separated from her. While I was still looking at her face, she suddenly woke up and look towards me. I wipe out my tears in a hurry but then she jumped out of the bed and then ran and hug me while crying. ¡°Cloud, I really don¡¯t want you to go, can¡¯t you just stay? Please just stay, I¡¯ll do whatever you want if you stay here with me, please! *Sob¡± ¡°Miss, I know, I too am not ready to be separated from you, but alas we cannot do nothing against the academy, you know that too¡± ¡°But how can they separate us like this, we were only together for a year and it was fun for me, I was very happy and yet why do they have to separate us! *sob¡± Hearing this, I cannot say anything anymore I can only grit my teeth and clench my hand while being hugged by the crying Elizabeth. I know I might be not as powerful as the Academy right now, but I promised, this feeling to make my lady cried like this and to make me separate from her, I will return it 10-fold, no 100-fold, even 1000-fold worse than this. Strength, I need more strength, enough slacking with this enjoyable life, at least without her by my side, I cannot enjoy my life anymore. Just you wait, I will find out whoever it is that forced us to break up when I am strong enough and I will make them regret their choice of separating us. Chapter 16 - Departure Early in the morning, inside the administrative building, along with the top ten winners of this year Battlefield, I was waiting for the headmaster. Seeing my presence, the others seems to be confused and discussing me. Although everyone seems to be interested in me, but I wonder why no one approaches me, is it because of the result of the match between me and Lyon? ¡°If I were not wrong, you are called Cloud, right?¡± the one who was asking me is a battle ax user who loses to Garret Humphrey during the Battlefield. His posture is so big and tall that I have to look up to see his face. Although I am still 11 years old, but my height is about 155 cm which is about the average of a 14 years old kid. So, it could be said that the figure in front of me even among his peers are taller. ¡°Yes, can I help you?¡± I answered. ¡°What business do you have here, kid?¡± ¡°I was told to wait here with you guys by the headmaster¡± ¡°Bah¡­ as if I would believe you. You must be here to beg for the headmaster to let you go with us, right?¡± ¡°Whether you believe it or not is not my problem¡± ¡°Stop getting cocky kid, you think you are strong because you enter top 10 on the Battlefield?¡± he retorted while staring with a fierce gaze at me. As I was shorter than him, it looks like I am being lectured by an adult. What the fuck is this guy problem anyway, it¡¯s not like if I was here he would be kicked out of the group. If my memory corrects and I am certain of it, I had never offended this person before so why did he pick a fight with me. ¡°Kid, you dare to ignore me, stop getting cocky, taste my fist!¡± with that said, his right fist is heading toward my direction without waiting for my response. Of course, an attack this shabby won¡¯t even bother me but I evade it anyway. Seeing that his attack missed its target, he throws another punch and I easily evade it too. This time I caught his fist with my hand, because of his hand size, I cannot grip it in my hand so I can only stop it with an open hand. ¡°So, would you tell me why would you do this?¡± ¡°Shut up kid!¡± with that said, he kicks forward aiming at my abdomen. Seeing that he is being ruthless towards me, I cannot hold myself either. I jump backward and his kick missed its target, then without waiting for him to response, I land a flying kick towards his abdomen. His body magnificently fling across the hall and hit the wall. He quickly gets up on his feet although his face is twitching because of the pain, but before he can even say or do anything I was already in front of him. This time my kick were more ruthless, it aimed towards his head but because he is also experienced, he blocks it with his hand making a crack sound as my kick landed on it. Because the impact, he fell on the floor while holding his hand in pain. Then I proceed to the next step, I raise one of my leg and stomp the leg he used to aim at my abdomen. Because the hall went silent during the fight, another crack sound could be heard across the hall along with a scream of a man. He screamed miserably as his hand and leg were broken, he cried and asked for help but no one came to help him because they were wary of me. ¡°Then, anyone else wants to try me?¡± I said while looking at the other winner of the Battlefield. The other contestant seems to evade my gaze and went silent for a while. I don¡¯t know if he attacked me because someone ordered him but I don¡¯t care. What I know is I am being attacked and whoever attacks me don¡¯t get off that easily. With this, maybe it will be harder to get friendly with the others but I don¡¯t care. I don¡¯t want to enter this trip, I was forced to enter this trip! So, if anyone messes with me while I am in a foul mood like this then don¡¯t blame me for being ruthless.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Cloud, can you stop at that please?¡± A middle-aged-man voice sounded after a long silence. The one who came is the headmaster of the Academy. With a magnificent robe, he walked toward us while waving his hand. After that, several teachers came and rush toward the man I beat up. The headmaster throw a smile and me then look toward the other student. ¡°I think there is no need to introduce him anymore, right? He is Cloud, although he was disqualified from the Battlefield and positioned at 100th rank on the Battlefield but due to a special circumstance, he will be joining you guys on the trip. So, please get along well, won¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Then, let¡¯s get moving shall we, I guess that student won¡¯t be joining us due to his injuries so let¡¯s forget about him. There are several things I would like to tell you before you guys coming with me on this trip. This trip will take you months, years, or maybe decades to complete but I promise you whoever complete this journey will be gaining glory and riches more than you ever imagine. Also, I must warn you that you might lose your life during this trip so if you guys don¡¯t want to go then say it now¡± Seeing that nobody raising their objection, the headmaster nod and then led us towards the magic circle. Along with an incantation that was different from when the teachers brought me to his office, the magic circle shone and we were brought to a dark bright room with a massive magic circle in the middle of it. Seeing this, not only me but the other students were shocked and gasped out loudly. ¡°This magic circle is a long-teleportation one that will transport you to another world. This magic circle is a top-secret so forget if you plan to cancel your trip now because the moment you see this magic circle, you are bound to do the trip or else we will dispose you¡± ¡°What?!¡± the students exclaimed, then clamor began to rise among the students. Well I guess I too am surprised by his remarks. The other students seemed to start to get bad feeling about this trip and start to coward. Then a female student walks forward and say, ¡°Headmaster, I don¡¯t want to do anymore, I quit from this trip. Can you bring me back to the academy, please!¡± ¡°Ho, why do you think you can escape from the academy after you know its secret?¡± ¡°My father is a duke, if you kill me, then he won¡¯t let you go you know¡± ¡°Hahaha calm down, even if he is a king, he will become the world enemy if they knew that your father will attack the academy. Because this secret is known by all the kings in this world and we have an agreement to hunt down whoever hold this secret without academies permission¡± ¡°What?! I don¡¯t want to do this anymore, please just let me go, I will not tell the secret to anyone, please *sob¡± maybe because she was so scared that she started to cry. Seeing this, the others face became paler since they knew that they cannot escape from the trip. Different from the others, I can still keep my calm because it¡¯s not surprising to me anymore that the academy would use this kind of method. But really, they have an agreement with the kings huh, it seems that the academy influences is rooted deeply even among the kingdoms. ¡°Hey, it¡¯s not that you will directly die when you transferred right, so what¡¯s the fuse? Since I will be troubled too if no one joins the other side this year then I will tell you a secret. The world you know now is just a tiny little piece of the world. The place that this magic circle will transport you to another side of the world. If you want to return, you just have to do one thing, be strong to get the academy acknowledgment. Alright, that¡¯s all that I can tell you now choose to die or to get onto the magic circle!¡± Seeing that the others won¡¯t even move, I start ahead by stepping on the magic circle and stand on it. If they can even move the kingdoms to be my enemy, then it¡¯s impossible to escape from here. At least I have to do as he said first and see from there what step should I make next. Maybe because the others are still hesitating even after I got onto the circle, the headmaster raised his hand. The students who saw this panicked thinking that they will be killed started to rush towards the magic circle. As we stepped into the magic circle, the thing on the headmaster''s hand was revealed, it was a blue stone as big as a fist. The headmaster then chants an incantation while holding the stone in the air and then the stone exploded into pieces. Along with it, the magic circle started to shine and we were blinded by the lights. When I opened my eyes again, we were on a podium with the same large magic circle on it, there were also several other podiums on the room. When we were looking around, we could see another group of students looking around just like us. But when I looked towards their appearance, I was dumbfounded because of their ears. As soon as I saw it, I know what they are and exclaimed, ¡°Elves!¡± Chapter 17 - Labyrinth Hearing my loud exclamation, the other students switch their gaze towards the direction of the so-called Elf. For a normal human, if they see the elves appearance, the first thing that will appear on their mind is beautiful. They are the prime example of perfection. Their appearance can easily attract every normal human present from either the same gender or the opposite. ¡°Whoa, who are they, how can such perfect being descend on this world, are they angels?¡± ¡°Cloud called them Elf, right? I¡¯ve never heard of this term before, is there any of you with knowledge regarding this?¡± ¡°No, It¡¯s the first time I heard that term¡± ¡°Me too, anyway they are really beautiful, if one of the lady over there marry me, I would do anything for her¡± ¡°Dream on you pig!¡± ¡°What did you say?!¡± A discussion began to rise among the students who arrived with me, at this moment, they are forgetting about what happen back at the academy. As we are discussing while pointing towards the elves, they seem to notice our presence. Different from our praise, they seem to be mocking us within their group, although we cannot hear what they say but the students are not stupid, seeing the situation, they begin to stop discussing and show angry face towards the elves. ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to move from that portal, newbie?¡± a voice called us just when the situation about to change into a fight. The voice originated from a middle-aged man wearing a robe just like the one that headmaster used. I can see that there are another people wearing the same robe as him on the elves group and the person is also an elf. Who are these people, and where is this, the questions I got keep piling up after I transported into this place. ¡°Come on, follow me. I will guide you to the base, hold your question for later, for now just follow me¡± hearing this, the student seems to be confused and at first, and they are about to ask whatever question they have on their mind. But after he told us to hold our question, we can only follow him to whatever direction he guides us. We then entered a tunnel which leads us to another teleportation magic circle, I noticed that the elves group went into different tunnel than us, their destination, is it difference from us? As we entered the tunnel, the guide chants a spell that produces a ball of light that lasted for a while. This tunnel is so weird, I mean it¡¯s just a normal tunnel of course but there is no decoration, doors or anything worth of noticing. I know this sounds crazy but for a tunnel, this long made without any purpose, isn¡¯t it weird? As I am thinking about it, we arrive at another room with a magic circle. ¡°Along the way, we will use several of these transport magic circles. So, stop wondering where the magic circle will lead you and begin to get on it, shall we?¡± the guide told us and then we move according to what he said. After a little chant, the magic circle shone and we were brought to another room again. This time it¡¯s a dark and smelly room, I can hear the students are about to protest when the guide voice rang out. ¡°Shut up, don¡¯t leak out any voice or you will die. Now, let¡¯s put our hands together and follow my guide again¡± As he said that, the students swallowed back whatever they wanted to say and start holding hands with each other¡¯s hands. After that we started to walk slowly while making sure that our hands still connected to each other. This time, the guide didn¡¯t use his light ball spell although the room is so dark. Along the way, although it¡¯s subtle, I can hear voice of something snoring from afar, and I can also sense that it is a living thing. Then, the reason why he told us not to leak any sound and not using the light ball spell is this thing? He doesn¡¯t want us to disturb his sleep, that means either it¡¯s a high ranked person than him or¡­ MONSTER! From the snore, I am 100 percent sure that it isn¡¯t a human, then the next possible cause is because he afraid to wake the monster up.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. But then why do the Academy keep a scary thing like that here, if the guide isn¡¯t capable of dealing with such monster, then why bother told them to guide us. Is this some kind of test from the academy? After I came here, my questions keep piling up with no one to answer it, and I hate it when I am in the dark. After a couple hours of walk, we arrived at another magic circle room and were asked to do the same thing again. This time, we also arrived at another same fuckin room with a magic circle on it. Our guide than wave his hand and bottle of liquids appeared like magic on the floor. ¡°Cover your body with the liquid, don¡¯t protest, I know its smells bad but endure it¡± Well as he said, this stuff is really stinks, even a dumpster is better than this thing. The worse thing is that we have to put it all over our body. The students especially female, their faces were pale as they were about to puke from the smell but they endure it since it¡¯s more embarrassing to puke in public. The boys aren¡¯t so well either, disgust can be seen on their face but we cannot do anything about it since it is the guide order. We are too afraid to defy his command right now because we afraid that if we defy his command, he is going to kill us. Well, for me I know that this guide is not that bad it¡¯s just that he didn¡¯t say that there are monster lurking around. Even from this room, I can feel their presence and it¡¯s more than one not like before. As we leave the room, we entered another tunnel that lead us to another big room, this time although its dim, we could see it clearly. Minotaur, bull-headed person that were famous in my previous world, they exist? The other students seem to gulp once they saw the Minotaur, the worse thing is this Minotaur was not alone, there are several other Minotaur either fighting with each other or sleeping. Doesn¡¯t this particular monster live in a labyrinth, how come they appear¡­ unless we are in a LABYRINTH!! Holy shit! As the journey went on, we arrived at another teleport room, this time we directly rushed and stood on the magic circle as if we were in hurry to leave from this place. The guide let out a smile and chanted the spell once again and the magic circle shone. When we opened our eyes, well of course we were on a magic circle once more and in another room. This time, the guide didn¡¯t tell us any particular command and just led us through a tunnel. As we exited the tunnel, we can see it clearly, it¡¯s a huge room with many tunnels like the we¡¯ve been through. Robed people can be seen patrolling the area, they are also armed with varieties of weapons and armors. ¡°Okay, we have arrived at our destination. It seems that we are the first one arrived here. So, let¡¯s wait for the others first, shall we? While we are waiting, I will explain several things to you. This place is a top secret of the Academy called teleportation labyrinth. Now along the journey here, I asked you guys to do several weird things. The reason for that is to avoid traps and monsters that were placed in this place. The teleportation circles within this place can lead you into a deadly trap and ruthless monster if you are not careful. The Academy won¡¯t be responsible if your life in danger because of your own action so, let me give you this warning first. By any means please don¡¯t wander in this place without a guide like me. By filling this place with tunnels, traps, monsters and countless of teleportation circle, one cannot easily find our secrets. The secrets that we are protecting in this place is your so-called world and several other worlds, in other words, this place was made to protect your world and the other worlds.¡± What?! Hearing this almost everyone was shocked, so there are other worlds besides the one we are living? How come we are not heard any of this before at the academy and only hear it now? It seems that the Academy is more than an organization that educates students, there are more than what seen on the surface. I mean if they have secret this big, and they have a big influence in every single world, then the Academy is really cannot be underestimated. My knowledge about the academy seems only reach the tip of the iceberg, what a scary organization! Now that we were told this scary secret, I am sure that we are not allowed to leave this place. Shit I am really going into a deep shit trap, I don¡¯t want Elizabeth to know about this place and its secret. But I also want to be with her again, so it¡¯s a difficult choice. If she were to be told the secret, we would not be able to escape from the Academy since we know its secret, but if it''s only me¡­ Shit I really hate this kind of situation when I am powerless to do anything. The other students probably also reach this conclusion so they shut their mouth and not asking any question about returning back. Chapter 18 - Arrival After waiting for a while, a group that we met earlier came to our view. The elves group has finally arrived but the number of their group is not the same as before. Also, when I inspect their face, shock and fear can be seen on their face. Just what on earth happen to them, not only me, our guide seems to notice the face of the elves too and approach them. ¡°What happen Sylva?¡± ¡°Geez, these newbies are too proud of their abilities that they ignore my command. One of them was enchanted by the illusion and wandered around. The last thing we heard from him was his scream from afar, probably from seeing the man-eater plant. But after that, these newbies finally following what I asked them word by word¡± ¡°Well, casualties are not so rare during the transfer and it¡¯s only one newbie too so it¡¯s not bad¡± ¡°Yeah, your group why is it so small? Was there someone who ignore your command and died?¡± ¡°No, I also don¡¯t know why but it¡¯s only 8 kids for this year¡± ¡°Oh, the other groups have begun to arrive too¡± As he said that, I look at the direction he is pointing, from the magical circles around the room, bright lights started to form one after the other. After a couple seconds, groups of mythical creatures appeared from them. Well I said mythical creatures because there were figures like wolverine, centaur, dryad, naga, etc. I don¡¯t know if they are called the same here but based on the fiction knowledge back on Earth, I can identify them one by one. This event last for an hour before the last magic circle shone and the last group finally arrived. After that, some lion-like man gathered all the guides and were discussing something. After half an hour of long discussion, the lion-like man stepped into the huge magic circle in the center of the room and roars out loudly. My ears had almost exploded from the loud roar of his, the others were not different either, they stopped whatever they are doing right that moment and paid their attention to the lion-like man. ¡°Good, it seems that most of you kids have survived the journey. So first I have to congratulate you for your tiny accomplishment. The route which you guys came from is different from one group to another. As you have probably notice, along the way, there were dangers lurked around between the portals. It¡¯s because this place was designed as a maze to confuse the intruder that can invade your world so that your world doesn¡¯t have to perish, at worst, the other worlds that was going to perish if such thing happens not yours, hopefully. But that¡¯s all the explanation about the current circumstances, now let me explain about what you will face from now on. The place you are going to be transferred is the same world, with different destination. The first and most basic rule from now on is to never speak about any of this labyrinth after you have transferred to that world. In case someone leak the information and it is known by us, then be prepared to be hunted down as a traitor. Now as you might have notice, there are variety of races among you guys. There are humans, dwarves, elves, nagas, beasts, etc. From now on, don¡¯t see them as something or someone different than you, you will live with them and meet with the residents of that world which is also no different than your guys¡¯ races. They all are living in harmony so I want you guys to do the same and forget about racial differences. The next thing is, you will be transferred to a different destination but the first thing you must all do when you have transferred is to go to Vanguard. Oh, and the terms of Defense Center Headquarter, it is not commonly used in that world so better address it by Vanguard from now on. I know that It is hard as you will be parted with your original world. But if you work really hard, someday you will be given chance to return and meet again with your loved ones. Last but not least, I wish you all good luck kids, now begin the transfer!¡±If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. As he said that, we begin to move and step on the magic circle in the center of the room. After we all gathered in the center, the guides begin to surround the magic circle and hold their hands together. Then they started to chant simultaneously. I notice that the guides here didn¡¯t use a stone like the headmaster used when he transferred my group into this world. But then if they all needed to join force to activate this magic circle, exactly how much mana needed to activate this particular magic circle? Before my question answered, a blinding light began to shine from the magic circle and blinded me for a while. When my vision returned, I along with several others were on a hill. When I looked around, I noticed that there are several camps and bonfires all around us. Further from the hill on the north side was a city, and apparently, it was dusk when we arrived here because the sun then began to rose from the distance. Without anything to do, we began to sit down and wait until the sun rose and the city gate open again. While waiting for the city gate to be opened, I look around and find that there are 5 people who were transported here including me. Two wolverines, one male and one female, a female naga, and a male elf. The situation is kind of awkward for me at the moment because they seem not communicating either and it¡¯s too bothersome for me to start a conversation in a situation like this. The only one I can see communicate with each other is the wolverines because they are of the same race. From what I see they are either brother and sister or a couple. Damn it in a situation like this, seeing they are comforting each other makes me somehow envy them. But what can I do, I don¡¯t have any friend I can talk too, hmm wait a minute, isn¡¯t there a way to communicate with someone I know? [Cloud: Miss, can you see hear me?] [Elizabeth: CLOUD! Why haven¡¯t you message me for a while? Are you starting to forget about me?] [Cloud: Of course, not, it¡¯s just that I was busy so I couldn¡¯t contact you] [Elizabeth: Humph, reasons, there must be a pretty girl over, there right?] [Cloud: Well, there were many of them if you are talking about elves] [Elizabeth: Elves?] After that I started to tell my journey from when I gathered in the headmaster office until I arrived at this place. [Elizabeth: Wow, that headmaster is actually that screwed. So, you are in a different world right now?] [Cloud: Yes miss, and next year try not to enter the top 10 of the Battlefield so that you won¡¯t be in my situation in the future] [Elizabeth: But Cloud, I really miss you] [Cloud: Miss, please understand, you are really precious to me and I don¡¯t want you to be in danger] [Elizabeth: ¡­. O¡­ookay] [Cloud: Ah, the gate has opened, it¡¯s time for me to go, if you need anything just contact me miss, I promise I will contact you as soon as I can] [Elizabeth: Be save Cloud] As the gate, open, the camps began to be dismantled and people started to line up to enter the city. We also join in the line and wait for our turn to enter the city. The guards checked the people who are about to enter the city one by one carefully. I don¡¯t know why but they also use Reveal on them but well maybe the security in this city is so strict that they have to look at their stats one by one. After waiting for half an hour, finally my group turns have arrived. ¡°State your business here¡± ¡°Uhm, we want to go to Vanguard headquarter?¡± ¡°Vanguard? AH you guys must be the immigrants, okay then please get your status first over there¡± Immigrant? Oh well, we will just have to follow their instruction. But the other people face who heard that we were immigrant changed. It seems that the term of immigrants is not a good thing looking at their reaction. We were brought to a mage who then started to chant without any talk. After we passed the examination, our belongings are checked not sure why because we don¡¯t bring anything except our clothes here. The reason we didn¡¯t have anything on us is because they told us that things from another world cannot be brought to this world so we will have to leave them behind at the labyrinth. Well, there is not particular valuable things in my belongings either since all the important things are within my inventory so I don¡¯t mind it. But I don¡¯t know about the others since they seem to reluctant to part with their things. After all the procedures are done, then we are allowed to enter the city. Chapter 19 - Another World City If you want me to describe the city in one word, I can only say amazing. I mean, it looks like a capital city of my kingdom. But there is not castle or palace here that means it is not a capital city, the walls although the gate is protected but I rarely see any patrolling guard on them. So, it means it¡¯s not a fortress either, so the conclusion is it is only a normal city yet the quality is rivaling a capital city back home. The road is paved and clean, there is apparently drainage system which I could not found even on my kingdom capital. I mean, the moment I look at it, it easily remains me of a modern city. Well if you ask why, well because aside from carriage that represents car, there are fucking flying ships on the air. I mean come on, isn¡¯t that the same as an airplane on Earth. This city technology is so damn advanced even more than my capital city. At first, Ididn¡¯t notice the flying ships when I arrived here, maybe because it is dusk and I focused on the environment first. But now that I enter the city, when I look up, dozens of flying ships could be seen in the sky. My group member is also not so good either, the male wolverine even has his mouth opens showing his sharp teeth and fang. If I don¡¯t know a wolverine and seeing this first time, I would probably think that he is a hungry beast that invaded the city. We really look like a group of country bumpkins in this city. After a while staring at the sky, we finally came to our mind and continue our journey to the Vanguard branch in the city. Along the way, I noticed that this city is really built like a city from Earth. I mean if you look at the road, there is a pedestrian area on both side of the road, the road also wide and can easily fill 4 carriage at a time. It almost looks like a road on Earth, bthe one who are using the road are carriages pulled by horses not car. 30 minutes of walk from the gate and we arrived at the business district. Here we can see many shops and street vendor are busy promoting and selling their goods. I think that this district is the heart of the city where most of the activities are concentrated so it¡¯s probably in the center of the city. Our destination, the Vanguard branch also located in this district. When we arrive, the location is packed with bunch of people, I don¡¯t know what they do but this place looks like administrative building back on the academy. Lines of people are waiting to do whatever their business in this building. ¡°Welcome to the Vanguard, how may I serve you?¡± ¡°We are immigrant, we were told to go here¡± ¡°Ah, please proceed to the second floor and ask the receptionist there¡± ¡°Okay, thank you¡± We walked to the stair onto the second floor where we were greeted by a bunny girl. I mean not in bunny costume or that erotic costume but a girl with rabbit ear. Well seeing that there is a wolverine, a bunny girl isn¡¯t that surprising anymore to me. She warmly greeted us and asked about our purpose, after we answer her question, we were then led to a room. ¡°Manager, the immigrants are here¡± ¡°Ah yes, thanks, you can go now¡± The voice came from a beautiful middle-aged woman, she wears a formal attire for work with glasses. She then told the bunny girl to leave us and proceed to close the door. Without any words, she walked to a shelve on the side of the room and pull a book from there. A part of the wall then moved, revealing a secret door, she then gesture to follow her and we were led into the secret room.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. ¡°Okay, so welcome to the DCHQ, Jokai branch. My name is Selene, manager of this branch¡± ¡°Razz, proud warrior of Moon Embrace Clan¡± ¡°Ginz of Moon Embrace Clan, I am Razz¡¯ little sister¡± ¡°Nevrel, Night Elves Clan¡± ¡°Kaelyn, North Sea Naga¡± ¡°Cloud, Luxen Kingdom¡¯s Flaming Family servant¡± When I said that, all people in the room turn their gaze towards me, what is it wrong that I am a servant? ¡°What an interesting background, a servant huh¡­ well okay, the reason you were told to go here is because the administrative service on the whole continent is done by Vanguard and no one else. We don¡¯t have anything like kingdom or nation here, we are one. Well although there is also a city of preferences for the races like dwarves tend to like volcano area, elves like to be around the forest, naga likes to lives near the sea and the others but we are not separated either by race or nationality. So, you must get used to it because we are intolerant of racist person here in the DCHQ. The term DCHQ is not an organization headquarter but this continent or the world as a whole in case you couldn¡¯t figure it out. Also, looking at your expression, you guys don¡¯t even know each other but that¡¯s not a problem since later on maybe you will even separate by the ranks even more. Well aside from administrative purpose, bringing you guys here also because it will be your home for the next 1 year. So, the other world people like you guys have to work under Vanguard for at least a year before we can decide what role should you do in this world. We will pay your wages based on your specialty, and your accommodation will also be provided. For food, we only provide you with two meals a day, breakfast and dinner. If you are not satisfied then go buy your own food using your wages. Now any question before we proceed further?¡± ¡°Is it mandatory or we can choose not to do it?¡± Nevrel asked. ¡°Well, we insist that you do it or else you will be seen as a threat and we don¡¯t like hidden danger so probably we will probably dispose you. Any other question?¡± ¡°What exactly are we doing on Vanguard?¡± I asked. ¡°Good question, next I will explain the jobs that are available here. Although I said that the Vanguard are responsible for the administrative business on the continent but we also do several other jobs for the society. We have general shop to control the market price of commodities so if you are talented in this particular subject then feel free to tell me. Next is production including alchemy, enchanting, and crafting for you guys that are interested feel free to tell me too. Lastly the administrative job, sorting mail, being courier, etc. But seeing as the requirement to get here is to have battle potential, most of you guys are probably muscle headed people. For you guys, we have subjugation quest and miscellaneous request from the people around the city. All things I mentioned are available for you who have potential and interest in them so feel free to choose and let me know what you want. Okay, so that¡¯s the explanation so let¡¯s start from Razz, what is your choice¡± ¡°I am proud warrior of the Moon Embrace Clan so I will choose the subjugation line of work¡± ¡°Uhm, I am also with my brother since I don¡¯t have any other specialties¡± Ginz said. ¡°I will also choose the subjugation line of work¡± Navrel said. ¡°Well I am interested in production line of work¡± said Kaelyn ¡°I choose the production line of work too¡± I said ¡°Interesting, okay then I have noted all your request. I want all of you to gather here the first thing in the morning to do the test. For now, I will tell one of my subordinates to bring you to your inn so let¡¯s get out of this room¡± After we left the room, the bunny girl led us to an inn named Dream. The inn is almost empty since it is in the afternoon. The people who can be seen around are customer who are here for the food or someone like us who are going to rent a room. The clerk is a man with bald head, his body is muscular like a body builder. Along with the man, is a girl who served the customer around the dining tables. ¡°Welcome to Dream, are you here to eat or rent a room?¡± ¡°5 room for these guys please, sent the bill to Vanguard¡± ¡°Oh, immigrants aren¡¯t they?¡± ¡°Ah miss, make it a double room for us since we are siblings¡± Ginz said. ¡°Okay, Jack make it 3 single room with one double room with breakfast and dinner¡± ¡°Right away, please follow me¡± ¡°Okay guys, follow him and have a nice day¡± I was led into the room at the end of the hallway on the second floor. As soon as the innkeeper leave, I straight went to bed because I haven¡¯t slept since my departure from the Academy. Chapter 20 - Test ¡°Alright, the two over here are seniormembers of Vanguard. They usually went hunting outside but I called them here to test you guys¡± Selene said. A man and female are standing in front of us along with Selene. Although the man builds not as muscular as our innkeeper but I can feel that he is a veteran from his gaze. He is wearing normal clothes for the occasion, I wonder if he went like this to hunt or he wore it because it¡¯s only a test. The woman body is voluptuous with a slender waist and big rack, I think that every healthy man will droll over her. But when I look further down below the waist, what I see is not beautiful legs but a snake like tail. (She is a naga) ¡°Nice to meet you, my name is Steven, and this is Jharra¡± the male said. ¡°Nice to meet you¡± we all said in unison. ¡°Okay, first thing, let¡¯s do some warm up, do whatever you want, I want to see what kind of warm up you guys do¡± Well since it¡¯s a warm up, I just stretch all muscle possible on my body using several stretching moves. Then I ran several laps around the room to warm up my body. When I felt that it is enough, I went back and wait for the other guys to finish. While waiting for them to finish, I also observe their warm up routine, the wolverine sibling was sparring against each other, the naga well she did nothing, and the elf is meditating on the ground. ¡°Okay, since the warm up have finished, now let¡¯s begin with a spar¡± The siblings and theelf are facing against Steven as their training partner while me and the naga, Kaelyn are facing against Jhara. The first match is Razz against Steven, when Jhara declared that the match started, Razz almost immediately rushed towards Steven with fast speed. His claws are ready to tear apart Steven like a beast hunting their prey. But then Steven turn into a blur and vanished from his place, Steven then appears behind Razz and tried to attack him. Razz who felt the presence behind him lunged forward and do a role before turning back to evade the attack from Steven. What an agile movement and fast reflex, his presence detection is also superb. From his movement, aura, quick-witted decision, and techniques, I can only say it¡¯s astonishing, if the group of students from the academy were to face Razz, then they will stand no chance. After the attack, both of Razz and Steven take another stance while observing each other movements and behavior. Then out of a sudden, both side rushed towards each other and clashed a few times before a sword managed to place itself on Razz¡¯s neck. ¡°Good, the foundation is there, you pass the test¡± Steven said. ¡°Thanks for being lenient¡± Razz said. Although he passed the test, from his voice I can sense bitterness of losing. It seems that its Razz first defeat and to another race at that. From his movement, I can conclude that in term of agility, a wolverine has an advantage against a human. But due to the difference in power and experience, Razz lose the duel. Next is Ginz against Jhara. Now, this is interesting because according to my earth logic, a naga must have disadvantage while battling on the surface. When the battle proceeds, it became more intense and shocking for me. Jhara who I thought would have disadvantage on the surface showing such agile movement that if she doesn¡¯t have a tail I would not be this surprised. Her weapon of choice is a trident, although this is the first time I saw the real trident, I couldn¡¯t help but admire her skill. She could use it so fluently whether it¡¯s thrust or sweeping using the trident. Then there was Ginz, who surprisingly more of a strength type, she was so powerful that every punch she launches would produce terrifying sound. In midst of battle between Jhara and Ginz, I suddenly realized that the wolverine, whether its Ginz or Razz didn¡¯t use a weapon in the battle, they used either their claw or fist. The battle lasted for a while before Ginz decided to surrender.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°Good, you also have nice foundation and monstrous natural talent¡± That was what Jhara said after the battle, although the battle was intense, it seems that the tester still holds their strength to our level. If they choose to be serious, it doesn¡¯t even need 5 seconds for either Razz or Ginz to be defeated. The reason I said this because from seeing the technique they used, whether it''s Steven or Jhara, they began from probing, then raise the level of difficulty at a time until the opponent surrender. They don¡¯t even break a sweat while doing so. Then the test continues, Kaelyn against Steven, the battle also last quite a while but it seems that Kaelyn¡¯s movement wasn¡¯t as proficient as Jhara. She seemed to have a hard time dodging Steven¡¯s attack, while on the other hand, her attack although it¡¯s not at the level of Jhara, it was magnificent. Her weapon of choice was a dual blade, when she attacked, she didn¡¯t look like in battle but on the dance floor with the dual blade as her dancing equipment. The movement, although restricted, I could see the beauty in it. Then there was Nevrel who surprisingly choose to fight with a bow. I mean, it¡¯s not like a bow is a rare weapon or weak weapon. It¡¯s just that we are currently indoor with restricted space of movement, yes it was advantageous for the archer because the enemy cannot hide. But the enemy can just rush towards you before you even prepared the arrow and then you will become a sitting duck waiting to be slaughtered. That was the first thought when I saw him taking a bow as his weapon of choice. But then my prediction was broken from the start of the battle, Nevrel who holds the bow never stood still. He beautifully moved while releasing arrow after arrow, even the spectator have to dodge the arrow that directed towards us once in a while. While Steven can block, or dodge the arrow, it makes him stop his movement, letting Nevrel distance himself every time Steven got close. But in the end, the difference in experience really led Steven to win the battle. After a while into the battle, Nevrel released another arrow which Steven blocked, but when Nevrel moved to another location, Steven suddenly appeared in front of him and the battle end right at that moment. It¡¯s not that Steven teleported, just that he finally able to predict Nevrel movement and then guessed where he will move so that he could catch up to him. Then it¡¯s finally my turn, I am going to go against Jhara. Seeing the battle from before, I know that I don¡¯t have the advantage of movement because of racial traits. If she could move like that even on the surface, I cannot even imagine how terrifying battling with her in water. But luckily for me, it isn¡¯t water so she doesn¡¯t have the advantage, but neither do I, it makes me feel nervous. I am not planning to use any weapon, not because I don¡¯t want to but because I haven¡¯t trained in any weapon proficiently. So, it is better to use my fist which I have used since I saved Elizabeth. We began with a bow towards each other and then proceed to take our stance. I rushed towards Jhara, who then thrust her trident towards me as fast as a bullet. I dodged to the side but then she sweeps her trident towards my direction. Without any space to move, I could only jump into the air only to meet Jhara¡¯s trident again because I jumped so high that it made her able to get the time to sweep her trident upwards. Luckily, I could dodge it in time by a little mark so the trident missed me. Then I distanced myself and catch a few breaths before rushing again only to meet the same situation. But this time, I flicked her tridents, making it unstable and led me closer towards her. I throw out a punch which made her staggering a few steps backward. I who was so happy at that time because I could land a punch, dazed for a moment. But then Jhara¡¯s trident came toward me at a faster speed, although I could dodge it, the attack didn¡¯t stop but continue. From her face, I could see that she was pissed, but I don¡¯t know why. Ah I screwed, I thought and then I magnificently flying from her sweep and the battle end. When the battle end, I realized what I did wrong to her. She rubbed her enormous racks that were hit by me during the battle. What the fuck, so that was the place I hit, and I hit it with all I had. No wonder she suddenly turned serious and unleash her anger towards me. Although I wanted to apologize, I couldn¡¯t do it because how am I supposed to say sorry for hitting a woman breast. Ah, the second day of arriving in this world, I already managed to offend a girl, a veteran at that. The future¡­ I wonder how am I supposed to resolve this misunderstanding. Chapter 21 - Goblins ¡°From this test, I concluded that you guys are all talented enough to be in subjugation line of work. But some of you choose to be in another line of work instead. But because Vanguard needed as many people as possible in the subjugation line of work, I made a decision to put you all in the subjugation line of work as your main job. But you can also choose another line of work during your free time. Any objection?¡± ¡°What? Then why do you ask us for our line of work preference in the first place?¡± ¡°Uhm¡­ formalities, but anyway congratulation and welcome to Vanguard, your first mission will be in a week. In the meantime, you can do whatever you want whether it¡¯s a tour around the city or try the other line of works. But I have to remind you, don¡¯t ever leave the city or we will consider you a runaway fugitive. Okay, dismissed¡± ----- separator ------ One week later, in a forest just outside the city, my group along with Steven went to the forest 1-hour walk distance from the city. Our first mission is to hunt for goblins that have been attacking people on the highway to the city. The minimum requirement is to kill 10 goblins and bring the proof of subjugation which is its left ear back to Vanguard. Because this is our first mission, Steven is here to observe and guide us on what to do. I activated my game interface which can be turned on and off whenever I wanted to. As we entered the forest, red dots appeared on my map. A group of 5 goblins is wandering around not far from our place. I signaled the team to stop and give a few gestures. Before we went for the mission, Steven taught us few basic gestures used to communicate on the mission. The information I transferred to them was that there are 5 goblins ahead, be prepared to ambush them. I also mentioned the approximate distance and direction between us. They gave me a nod showing that they are understood to what I convey to them. After the preparation completed, which is only consist of drawing our weapon from its sheath, Steven gave us the command. Razz and Ginz are our melee fighter so they began to approach the goblin group carefully without attracting their attention. After they were close enough, I unleash an arrow followed by Nevrel¡¯s arrow. They both hit the mark, and as the goblin still recovering from the dead of their group member, Razz and Ginz already chopped of the rest of them. Oh, and about our naga, although I know that there was only one group but Steven insist that we must stay alerted all the time so she was tasked on the rear. ¡°Nice team work, now slice of their ears and collect them¡± Razz and Ginz directly sliced the goblins left ears and put them in a sack. This left ears will be the proof of our subjugation mission. Without it, even if we kill a village of goblin, the guild will not consider the mission finished. The rank of the mission this time is the lowest rank, F. Although a goblin has no threat level but if they are in a pack, depending on the size, the threat level could be increased to F or D rank. The threat level is how you rate the difficulties of beating a monster, although it¡¯s mostly based on the strength but there are also different factors which can change the threat level like numbers, environment, special treat, abilities etc. It started from F, E,D,C,B, and A, according to the monster threat level, subjugation mission will be rated by a grade equals or above the monster threat level. ¡°We are lucky to meet a group of 5 goblins at once this time, if we manage to encounter another one then the mission will be completed¡± ¡°Then what are you waiting for, lets search for another group, shall we?¡±The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. We then proceed deeper into the forest, it is not long until the radar showed a group of red dots again. But then I saw another one in the different direction than the group. Seeing this, I convey the information again to them. By the way, they assumed that I have high-level awareness and tracking skill that I could catch the enemy presence from far away. After receiving the information of the other group, we decided to go face them one by one so that no goblin can escape. Using the same tactic, we managed to kill both goblin groups and then collected the ears. But this time we rotate the position for each goblin groups. The one who suggested it was Steven, he said that everyone has to experience each position in order to be ready in case something wrong happened. Now that we have 15 goblins left ears, we have accomplished our objective. But Steven''s face seems to be sour about it. ¡°What¡¯s up to Steven, is something wrong?¡± Razz said ¡°No, you guys did a great job, but it¡¯s strange to find these many goblins in a short-range area¡± ¡°Maybe they just wander around and coincidentally we found them in the same area¡± I said. ¡°No, goblins community, even If they have a village nearby doesn¡¯t have the quantity to leash this many goblin groups into a short-ranged area. They usually spread out individually because they lack in numbers, and the attack on highway too is weird because they usually only hunt inside the forest and stay away from our civilization¡± ¡°Then, should we report it back to the Van- ¡° Without finishing the sentence, I paused the sentence because I saw dozens of red dots on my minimap. Not only a group but a lot of them, and they came toward this direction at fast speed. I hastily convey the information to my group and we took our stance. Less in a minute, we finally see a group of armed goblins circling around us. Without any pause, they suddenly rushed towards us at full speed. The battle proceed quite a while because they have significant amounts of goblins inside the group. The weird thing is that they are attacking like a group instead of one by one. I myself were facing more than 10 goblins which attack in a group, so it¡¯s a little bothersome but manageable. As we have learned many things from the battle before, added by our experience before coming to this world, the battle is not too hard for us. After 10 minutes of a fight, the last goblin finally slain and we catch our breath. ¡°This is weird, they are beginning to attack in a group as if they have a leader among them. The goblin groups we were slain first must be their scout, we better move or their reinforcement will catch up to us. Although it is easy to fight even against some groups but we are not invincible so it¡¯s better to report this to the Vanguard first¡± ----- separator again----- About an hour later, we already reached the city and without any pause, we directly went to the Vanguard building. We split into two group, Steven went upstairs to report to the manager and we are to submit our proof of subjugation. After we submitted the goblin ears and received our reward for the mission, we head to the second floor. Steven greeted us and brought us into the manager room. We went to the secret passage again and met with the guild branch manager, Selene. ¡°I heard about what happened from Steven but I had to confirm it again with you guys just to make sure, so is it true that you met with three goblin groups scout and an army of armed goblins inside the forest?¡± ¡°Yes mam, we indeed met with those goblins and managed to beat them, if you are still doubting our words then check it from the clerk on the first floor, we had just submitted the 50 or so goblins ears to her¡± ¡°Okay, I will check it out later, but you guys sigh¡­. I know that you guys are the best in each your origin world but to think that you can beat groups of armed goblin by yourself¡­ It seems that the one-month probation isn¡¯t needed right, Steven?¡± ¡°Yes, I think so too but this isn¡¯t the time to mention that. The goblins movement this time is not normal, is it possible that it already broke once more?¡± ¡°I am not sure of that but we have to take precaution in case it did. If he really managed to broke it then we cannot do anything about it, so the only action we can take now is to prepare for his future action. Geez, the nightmare of never ending war, even imagining it from hearing what happened in the past already makes me shudder in fear. I hope that the goblins accident this time is only a rare occurrence not the beginning of the nightmare¡± Chapter 22 - Level up As Cloud¡¯s group finally dismissed from the Vanguard, they went to their lodgings for dinner. On the dining room, five of them sit around a table with several foods on it. The atmosphere of the inn¡¯s dining room was good, although there was no music whatsoever but the talks among the eaters filled the room with liveliness. Cloud¡¯s group who haven¡¯t had any food since morning eating their food silently. After the foods on the table were cleaned, they began to talk to each other. This is the first time they had the chance to talk among themselves since they arrived in the city. During the week, they given off by the Vanguard, each of them went on their own either to find more about the city and the world they are currently at. So, they rarely met during that week and only now that they had the chance to talk within the group. ¡°Cloud, your tracking skill was superb, even a wolverine like me cannot smell the monsters back then¡± (Razz) ¡°Thank you, Razz and Ginz fighting skills is also top notch¡± (Cloud) ¡°Well it¡¯s natural for me and my brother since our clan valued strength above all¡± (Ginz) ¡°I admire Kaelyn because I thought that since she is from water then she would be hindered on land but seeing her proficient movement on land, I wonder how scary it is to fight her under water¡± (Cloud) ¡°Hmm, you are also decent boy¡± (Kaelyn) ¡°Why is there no one talking about me?¡± (Nevrel) ¡°Well in terms of archery, as someone who uses a bow, I admire your archery skill Nevrel. You can unleash fast arrow with high precision even under pressure¡± (Cloud) ¡°Okay, it¡¯s enough for the evaluation of our battle skill. The problem is what we going to do from now on. As we were transported here together, I would love to stick with you guys than going on my own¡± (Nevrel) ¡°Yea, although we brother and sister thought that we are okay if we watch each other back, but now I think having you guys assisting on battle is much better¡± (Razz) ¡°Although you guys thought that my movement on land is good but I have to struggle very hard and expends more energy to do so than in the water so I would rather have someone else back me up in case I exhausted all my stamina¡± (Kaelyn) ¡°I do agree, beside we cannot leave a kid on his own, right?¡± (Ginz) As Ginz gaze directed towards Cloud, he felt uncomfortable. But realizing what Ginz means by a kid, Cloud felt a little annoyed. Different from him, the other guys reacted almost the same and laugh at the same time. They pat him on his head and treated him like a small child. Although it¡¯s a joke but it''s indeed a fact that Cloud is just a child in the group. In terms of age, Nevrel was the oldest since he was an elf that has long life expectancy. An elf life expectancy is more than 10 times of a human, about 1000 years on average. Kaelyn is 25 years old and considered a juvenile in terms of Naga. Next is Razz and Ginz who is about 20 years old, their clan didn¡¯t see someone age as the measure, they based the hierarchy on strength. Last is Cloud who were only 12 years old and were teased by the others since he was the youngest in the group. At first, Cloud disagreed with the notion. Although having a group is good for the others but since he holds too many secrets, It¡¯s better to be on his own. Also, hunting on his own would gain him more experience than hunting together with other people. From the hunt, he got some experience that led him to level up a couple of time. But the lacks of knowledge of the world makes it better if he were to stick with the group than leaving on his own. But then there is another reason why he is reluctant to stay within the group. This group main activity is hunting which means killing monsters. It¡¯s not that he is not capable of doing that but he felt that it was pointless. So what if he killed so many monsters, yes he will get money and experience to level up by doing so. But it¡¯s too repetitive and he cannot show his prowess just yet because he afraid that if he shows too much potential, Vanguard won¡¯t let him go.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. ¡°Can I have a word, guys?¡± ¡°What is it Cloud?¡± (Ginz) ¡°Since we decide to stick together, it doesn¡¯t bound only for mission right?¡± ¡°Yes, but what¡¯s the point of this conversation, don¡¯t you trust us?¡± (Nevrel) ¡°Ah, it¡¯s not that I don¡¯t trust you guys, it¡¯s just that I don¡¯t like fighting that much. As our group main activity is dangerous, we will need information to be safe while hunting. We also need a place to sell the loot from our hunts in the future¡± ¡°Your point?¡± (Kaelyn) ¡°I volunteer myself as the informant of our group. My job will be to collect information and making the connection with this world dweller.¡± ¡°Geez, it¡¯s such a waste to left you behind looking at your skill set. But you have a point that the group indeed need as much as information for our safe being while hunting. It¡¯s also because we neither have connections or relatives in this world that we must support each other in anything we could possibly contribute. If Cloud think that he is better on the information gathering aspect than in battle then there is nothing I can do to force him, I agree with having Cloud as the group informant¡± (Razz) The other guys eventually agreeing with Razz as well and the group finally established unofficially. As the day had become late, they said farewell to each other and back to their own room. As Cloud went back to his room, many thoughts came to his minds. There is another reason why he chose to be left behind in the city. The reason is because he doesn¡¯t want to show his abilities to public. Learning from the reason that he got transported to this world and separated from Elizabeth without any power to refuse makes him realize that it¡¯s not good showing off his little prowess like that. So, he wanted to be low-profile for a while in order to make people forget his existence first. Not completely but enough to make sure that no Vanguard notice him anymore. Because of that, from the moment he stepped into this world, he already limited his power to certain extend. The detection of goblins was a slip off because it is an emergency. But aside from the accident, he had only shown normal abilities from the test until now. If you measure it by the average abilities of the group that is. Although it¡¯s still high, it¡¯s not high enough to gain special attention from the Vanguard. Although battle power is important but since he is gifted with Comprehension, then he can easily achieve that in short time. For the time being, he needs to focus on miscellaneous skill that will help him and the group. Then he just needs to train his battle skill secretly until he is strong enough. Although it¡¯s impossible for the others, but for Cloud, it¡¯s not impossible anymore. Now he just needs to think about what the group needs first. The first thing is the financial problem, from small things like food, daily necessities to information and equipment, all of them need money so a good financial is a must for a group. The easiest thing is of course by completing missions from vanguard, but they only need to show the proof of subjugation, the rest will be sold to the guild or to the market. In order to avoid scam and maximize the profit, he must gather the market price for the group. ¡°It¡¯s decided then, tomorrow I¡¯ll begin researching the market. For now, let¡¯s read the log first¡± (Cloud) Because of the heat of the battle, he almost forgot to read the log from the battle this afternoon. Cloud accessed the log menu that he hide in order to not hinder his vision. Then rows of log appeared in his field of vision. For each goblin that he killed, he gained experiences making him leveled up several times. He is now level 5 and gains 10 skill points for each level, that means he got 50 unused skill points. The so called unused skill points can be used either to level up existing skill or unlocking another one with a certain price to pay depending on which skill you want to unlock. For example, if it¡¯s just a common skill like a farmer, it is only worth of 10 skill points. Merchant although common but due to its benefit will cost you of 50 skill points to unlock. The rare skill like magician worth of 150 skill points. Later on, to upgrade any of these skills, you only have to spend 1 skill point for each. So for example, if you want to master farmer skill, you will need another 1000 SP which mean you will need 1010 SP to fully master 1 normal skill. 1010 SP means 101 level which is impossible to be gained for normal people. So normally people would only unlock the skill and gain all the basic skill (upgrade to rank 2) and level up through grinding the job not by using skill points. Although most skill can be unlocked with SP, there are several unique skills that cannot be obtained using SP. For example, Clouds Comprehension can only be obtained by gaining the blessing from the God of Knowledge. So most people cannot obtain Comprehension although they yearn for it, and for that, most of the people unable to get many high leveled skills. At most, people only have 3-5 skill with all its basic skill unlocked. For that, people usually only pick one main job that they will expertise and pick at most 2 side job in order to not become a jack of all trades master of none. For example, a head of a family using farming/hunter as his main job and choose lumberjack and carpenter as their side. A housewife will choose maid, cook, and nurse, etc. But none of it matters for Cloud, he has the possibility to master several skills because of his maxed Comprehension. Chapter 23 - Later that night Night, at the inn where Cloud is staying. While lying on his bed, reading the log on his field of vision, Cloud suddenly stopped moving. His face began to change and question appeared on his head. The reason is because of the line on his logscreen. [Killed Goblin Scout, EXP gained, 10 copper coins gained] [Killed Goblin Scout, EXP gained, 10 copper coins gained] [Killed Goblin Scout, EXP gained, 10 copper coins gained] ¡­ ¡°The fuck, it dropped money too, but how did I didn¡¯t see it¡± Cloud hastily opened his inventory to be dumbfounded once more. The part of the inventory where his money is shown now contained some numbers instead of zero in it. A total of 60 copper coins was gained from the goblin hunt this afternoon. It means that he killed 6 goblins, the number is low because the others also killed almost the same number as Cloud. An average commoner spent around 5-10 copper coins per day for food, that means a goblin could be traded for a day worth of food. A night in a cheap Inn cost around 30-50 copper coins, so from the money dropped Cloud could live another day or two without work. Also, Vanguard rewards each member of the hunt by 50 copper coins. The reward is not usually that high but looking at the circumstances, Vanguard decided to raise the reward. But this mean another 2 days off is not a problem for Cloud. The reason why Cloud was so surprised is not because of the amount of the money he gained. But because the monster drop itself is not possible. Although the world has the level system like a game but it is still real world. So, something like a monster drop is not possible, in order word, the God¡¯s Gift is the one that makes it possible. After coming to this conclusion, a question appeared on Cloud mind. If it can drop money, then how about item drop? Sure enough, the fourth goblin he killed dropped something else aside from money. It dropped a weak health potion, although it is only a cheap potion but alas it concluded that items also dropped from the monster. The system that God gave him makes Cloud flabbergasted once more with its ability. He thought that he had already seen all of its capability but with this revelation, he began to wonder if there is still more that he still haven¡¯t learn about the system. Putting aside the thoughts of the system for a moment, Cloud remembered that he haven¡¯t contacted Elizabeth yet for today. So, Cloud began to concentrate and try to contact Elizabeth. The chat system almost works like a telephone. You call the person you want to communicate and wait for them to answer your call. After a couple seconds, Elizabeth answered the call. [Why so late?!] [Sorry miss, I just had a party to celebrate our first hunt] [Really? Quick tell me more] After that, he began to narrate the party member first to Elizabeth. Then how they were assigned to clear the highway from goblins. First goblin scouts encounter and then the ambush. Elizabeth remains silent most of the time, only asked a question when something piqued her interest. [Wah, it sounds fun to have an adventure like that] [But miss, it is dangerous] [I don¡¯t care, with a group like yours what is there to be afraid off] [Sigh¡­ at least wait for a year miss, let me settle in this world first and then I will call you here] [REALLY?!]Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. [Yes, I promise] [Okay then I will wait but only for a year] The call Cloud mentioned is one of the party feature called summoning call. As the party leader, Cloud was able to summon the member of his party with their consent. If they accepted the summon, they will be transferred automatically to the leader current position. He already tried the feature before departing to this world and planned to either use it to return to Elizabeth by making her the party leader or calling Elizabeth to this world. [But what about your father, miss?] [Ah, you are right, I haven¡¯t thought about it yet, can you just invite him to the party for the time being Cloud?] [Well it¡¯s no problem if its master] [Notification: Party invitation has been sent to Albert Flaming] After a while¡­ [Notification: Alfred Flaming has accepted your party invitation] [Dad?] [Ah, Elizabeth?! Elizabeth, where are you?!] [Calm down dad, we are communicating using Cloud¡¯s ability] [Ah I was working when suddenly a message appeared on my field of vision, I decided to accept and see what it does but then suddenly I heard your voice] [Yes, I invited you to this party, master] [What, Cloud?! That¡¯s Impossible, Cloud was sent to another world!] [Indeed, I am currently in another world, master. But my ability somehow able to make it that we can communicate with miss] [I am sorry Cloud, I couldn¡¯t stop the Academy. It is a tradition that whoever the Academy choose to be sent even if it¡¯s the Crown Prince that we cannot oppose it] [It¡¯s alright master, I know that even if you did retaliate, you cannot do anything] After that, Cloud began to tell the story of what happened until now. [Sigh, it¡¯s been hard for you, Cloud. I am so sorry] [It¡¯s alright master] [No, I couldn¡¯t protect you and also you don¡¯t have to call me master anymore since the bond basically nullified by the Academy] According to what Alfred told Cloud, Academy will sever any bonds of the person who was sent to the other world. So, Alfred as his official employee also got the notification of his departure just one day after he was transported and he couldn¡¯t do anything to retort the decision. So now, Cloud status is not a slave anymore even if he did return to the previous world. [Because of that, I also advise Miss not to be ranked top 10 at the battlefield] [Yes, I agree to that, Elizabeth you must do as Cloud says] [Alright dad, I also hate and don¡¯t want to be forced like Cloud. I am sorry for you too Cloud] [No my lady, it is alright, the fault is not with you anyway] After talking for a while, as the day has already so late, they decided to end the conversation for the day. So, Cloud went to bed and it didn¡¯t take long before he went asleep. But that night, Cloud went back in the white room where God had waited for him. Since it¡¯s already the third time, it¡¯s not surprising anymore for Cloud, more like he was confused what did the God called him for. ¡°Sorry to call you, here again, Cloud. But it is emergency since it is something beyond my expectation¡± ¡°No problem, so what can I help you with?¡± ¡°The gift that We gave to you, it evolved on its own and We cannot control it anymore. We don¡¯t know what will happen in the future but for now, it seems it did something good for you¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°The whole monster dropping gold like a game should not be possible. We designed the system to help you understanding things and your abilities on your daily life using the most familiar way, a game interface. But we still limit it to how a normal life should be. But now, it is evolving into more like a game feature than just a game interface¡± ¡°I see, I thought that You designed it this way but I guess I am wrong. So, what will happen to the interface, will you take it away from me?¡± Cloud began to panic, as the system basically so beneficial ¡°We tried to get it back to its normal course but somehow a power blocked us from doing so. We even tried to remove the gift from you but we failed. So, I guess for now you have to deal with it Cloud since We also don¡¯t know what it will become¡± ¡°Okay, I will keep it in mind. But will it have some kind of negative effect on the world if I keep using it?¡± ¡°It shouldn¡¯t affect the world since it is specially designed only for you but in case it did, we will deal with it so feel free to use it as you like. If you have any question, feel free to ask us through prayer. Since you are a special case because your evolved soul and the system, We will try to prioritize your prayer.¡± ¡°Okay, that¡¯s convenient, thank you for the notification¡± ¡°Well it¡¯s time, goodbye Cloud, have a good life¡± ¡°Goodbye¡± Chapter 24 - The Market Investigation As the sun rose up on the horizon, Cloud opens his eyes to the new day. He is ready for the recruitment day; the so-called recruitment day is the day when a Vanguard trainee will graduate and become an official member of the Vanguard. For the resident of this world, it¡¯s nothing special but for otherworld people like Cloud and co. It is a special day when their future will be decided. Aside from the formal recruitment, many powerhouses from this world will come to recruit a few workers for them. Usually, people who were recruited by these powerhouses will have an easier life because of their steady payment. The one who doesn¡¯t want to be working under someone else and the one with no talent will be left to find money on their own. They will either be an adventurer and complete quest and odd jobs listed by the resident of the city or find another job they suited in. But for Cloud¡¯s group, since they are planning on banding together, it is almost impossible for all of them to be recruited by the same person or faction. So, they will be forfeiting their chance and decide to struggle with the others who aren¡¯t catching the powerhouses¡¯ eyes. As he arrived at Vanguard, it has been crowded with many people. He directly went to the second floor and guided to the secret room again. There, his team mates had already waiting for him. The leader of Jokai¡¯s Vanguard branch, Selene was also there with Jharra and Steven by her side. Since everyone seems to be here, Selene started the conversation. ¡°So, today will be your graduation days, first I congratulate you guys. Although you guys graduated early, since you guys seem capable, I think you guys will have no problem living in your new world. Now before we continue, is there anything you guys want to request from the Vanguard?¡± (Selene) ¡°Miss Selene, we were aware that many power house will try to recruit us but we have decided to band together and form a group. So, we would like to decline all the offer from the outside. Regardless, we will try our best to fulfill our duty in case Vanguard need us to¡± ¡°Oh, interesting. Well, is what he said true? Okay, since no one object then I will allow it. I will reject the offers coming for you guys. But, I want to see a result, as a member of Vanguard, depending on your rank you will be obliged to do at least a mission of certain rank each month. Since you guys are newbies, you will have to finish at least 3 F ranked missions or a D ranked mission for each person this month, do you understand?¡± ¡°Yes, MAM!¡± ¡°Okay, dismissed¡± As soon as they were dismissed, Cloud excuse himself to the other since he planned to research the market today. Cloud exited the Vanguard and went to the market, as he arrived he was served with bustling liveliness of the market. He saw a stall selling barbecued meat and went there. The first thing he has to do is to collect information about the best place from the stall owner, then try the recommendation himself. ¡°How much for a skewer?¡± ¡°1 copper coin¡± ¡°Give me one, please¡± ¡°Here you go¡± ¡°Boss, I am new in this city, and plan to do living by hunting so can you recommend me the best shop to buy necessities and sell my game?¡± ¡°Ah if you are looking for daily necessities, go to the Jack¡¯s Store, he sold almost anything you need from rations to potions with a rational price. For weapons and armor, go to the south side of the market, there are many blacksmiths there¡± ¡°Ah, thank you, Boss. I will try your recommendation. Here is the money¡±If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°Yup, I received the money. Thanks for your patronage¡± Aside from gaining recommendation, Clouds move this time is like hitting two birds with one stone. He proved that the coins he gained from the system can be used as normal currency. But then he thought, if he were to slush too much money, will the country economy collapse then? But he decided to scrap that thought since it is too complicated, for now, he chooses to visit the shops the stall owner recommended. Jack is the owner of Jack¡¯s Store which is located on the western side of the market. The store is not that big but since it sells daily necessities, it doesn¡¯t lack costumers. Basically, everything from spice, potions, medicine and etc. are sold here. As soon as Cloud entered the store and went straight to the counter. ¡°Welcome to Jack¡¯s Store, how can I help you?¡± ¡°Do you have some health potions?¡± ¡°Which quality do you need?¡± ¡°Uhm the low-grade one¡± ¡°Here you go, It¡¯s 10 copper coins each¡±
Low-Grade Health Potion Made from 2 Healing Grass and Purified Water. Effects: Heals 25 HP over 3 sec. Market price: 11 copper coins
The appraisal showed once Cloud appraised the potion. But he is surprised by an additional information recorded in it. The market price, even the composition could be seen on the screen. Normally, identify would only show the item name and effect, but it seems appraisal is more potent than identify. Plus, he never heard anyone have appraisal skills aside from him so he didn¡¯t know the result would be this accurate. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± ¡°Is there something wrong?¡± ¡°No, I will buy 3 low-grade potions for now¡± ¡°Okay, thank you for your patronage¡± Since he didn¡¯t have that much money, he could only buy 4 of them. But since the store sells it lower than the market price, he got a good bargain anyway. He took note of Jack¡¯s Store and then went to the south side of the market. As the stall owner said, here Cloud found many blacksmith shops ranging from normal looking one until what seems to be luxurious weapon shop. As he walked pass a store, he saw a small person hitting something on an anvil from the window of the store. The window was opened since the smith is hot inside, but what stopped Cloud was the person who was working inside. Their average height was about the height of a junior high school student from Earth. These people were called dwarfs and blacksmithing was their natural talent from born. Because he is curious, he entered the store and was greeted by a dwarf by the counter. The dwarf was different from the other, while the other is top-naked showing their muscles and abs, he wore a shirt and smoke from a pipe. ¡°Welcome kid, do you need something?¡± ¡°Ah, I was curious since it is the first time I saw a dwarf in my life¡± ¡°This is not a zoo kid, so if you don¡¯t have anything else then the door is over there¡± ¡°No, I was here to look for a place that sells weapon and armor for a hunter¡± ¡°Oh, now we are talking kid. What do you need?¡± ¡°A bow please¡± ¡°Che kid, if you just want a bow don¡¯t look for a blacksmith, even a carpenter can make one. But since you have come anyway, we indeed make something like that since the market requires it. Here it is, a wooden bow of a superb quality, I guarantee the accuracy and sturdiness of the bow¡± Cloud held the bow and measure everything since he used to use a bow, he knows what must be noted when one choose a bow. From his assessment, this bow is indeed a high-quality one. The wood seems sturdy and the bowstring is durable too. But to make sure that everything is alright, he used appraisal on the bow.
Wooden Bow + 3 A wooden bow made with high-qualitymirkwood and saldalstring DMG+3 Requirement: None Market Price: 1 Silver Coin
¡°How much is this?¡± ¡°30 copper coin will do¡± ¡°Gasp¡­ Sorry?¡± ¡°What, if you don¡¯t have money then leave kid¡± ¡°No no, I will take it¡± ¡°Good, anything else?¡± ¡°No, thank you¡± ¡°Un, you are welcome kid¡± Although the man seems to be rude but the quality of his goods is superb. Plus, the price of the goods is half of the market price. Cloud wonder if the system has some problem or it is because of the store. Moreover, the goods have +2 in it, in the game things with a plus on its name mean upgraded version so even if it is not the right market price, it is worth to get. Since all his purpose has been met, Cloud rushed back to the inn where his group stays. He eats his meal and waits until the others back from hunting. In the evening, when the groups finally gathered again on the dining table, Cloud told them what he experienced today. The others then hand some money to Cloud in order to buy additional potion because they didn¡¯t have any potion currently. As the day became late, Cloud went back to his room, after he talked to Elizabeth like usual, he went to sleep.