《True World》 Prologue: The Incipient Saga Prologue 00 The Incipient Saga --- --- --- In an alternate world, among a grassy trench, a dark-haired young child is seen laying on his back. With his brown leather shirt and black pants, a dark red liquid slowly oozes out from under him. If someone were to examine more closely, one would notice that the crimson pool was from the boy¡¯s blood. And the source of this out pour was the large opened hole in abdomen area of boy¡¯s upper body. *gasp* *gasp*... The child continued struggling to trap in as much air as he could before he slowly began to feel a creeping numbness over his body. The boy seems to have been shot. But, no living beings - or any life forms for that matter - could be seen within the vicinity of the dying child. Right before the boy was about to lose consciousness to the eternal void, a black rectangular box suddenly appeared out of thin air in front of him. [Cheers! You Are The First To Be Selected By ***! You Are Eligible To Receive The Power To Reach The True World. Do You Wish to Accept??] [Please Choose Y/N] *huff* *huff*... This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. The child weakly gazed at the screen before him for a few seconds before slowly raising his cold right hand towards it. *Beep* The screen flicker briefly and changed before him. [You Have Accepted. You Are Now Granted The Ability ?Kami¡¯s Mind?] [You Will Be Transferred To A Dimensional World...Conquer Each Sphere To Reach The True World...Progress: 0%...Initializing Teleportation... ] At that moment, a bright blue-ish beam of light shone down on the fading boy. The child was engulfed in pure white and quickly lost conscious. Then, everything became still. When the boy slowly opened his eyes, he quickly realized that the pain that was plaguing his body was gone. He looked down at his stomach and was shocked to see that the wound had completely healed. Even his shirt was restored When he finally looked up and saw the same black screen hovering above him, he knew that it wasn¡¯t all a dream. [ Transfer Complete. Welcome to Dimensional World: Martian Sphere ] To be Continued... Chapter 1: The Monster Chapter 1: The Monster --- --- --- He was a monster. A being whose existence should not belong in this world, nay, in this entire universe and all that is beyond. Amidst a dense river-like crowd made up entirely of silvery armored men, a white-haired young man can be seen walking slowly through the mass as if he was taking an ordinary stroll. But with each step a wave of agonized screams would sweep throughout the battlefield. Accompanied with that, explosions of a thousand hue lit up not only the pale sky, but the dull ground as well. Once the light has died down, one would instantly notice that the ground has changed color. A deep crimson red had replace the dullness of the earth. And the space in which nearly three thousand soldiers once stood was no where to be seen, except for the red river that appeared in their place. As each flash occurred, the numbers of the soldier quickly dwindled down. Bloods sprayed everywhere before they finally found peace on the ground. The young man continued to move forward. His white hair gently blowing in the wind. Strangely, no matter how much blood splashed around in the air, the young man¡¯s hair, which was as white as the winter snow, remained pure and undyed. Similarly, his emotionless expression did not change even as the soldiers around him howled in pain before silence ensued. Merlin could only stand mortified at the spectacle that he was witnessing before him. He was previously stationed at the back of the huge army, commanding the soldiers to engage the young man who was slowly, but surely, approaching them despite the power of nearly 2,000,000 soldiers. As he watched nearly half of his soldiers get decimated by the lone warrior, he instantly recognized that the flashes were actually caused by something one would call ¡°magic.¡± Magic. A power that could easily influence the course of events through the activation of one¡¯s soul energy, in other words, ¡°mana.¡± In this world, there are multiple types of magic, but they can all be categorized based on their level of difficulty, power, and cast time. In this way, they are ordered as follow from the weakest to strongest: Low-level Magic: ex) a single small fireball Mid-level Magic: ex) a single huge fireball High-level Magic: ex) multiple enormous fireballs Grand-level Magic: ex) a fiery comet that strikes down from out of space. Most people end up only being able to use low-level magic, while some improve to mid-level, a handful may reach high-level, but no one has yet to be able to cast grand-level magic. But, unfortunately to learn magic, less to even to use it, one must have the aptitude and talent for it. If not, a normal person attempting to learn such arts would take nearly hundreds of year before finally able to grasp its essence, which in other words: it¡¯ll be impossible. Because of that, even now in this world there is only at maximum 1,275 individuals with the ability to utilize this power. They are granted the title ¡°Mages¡± in recognition of their talent. Merlin is one of such beings. Although these mages are scattered across the 7 Kingdoms that inhabit this world, however, each and every one of them had gathered on this bloody battlefield. Their objective? To stop and eliminate the young man that is gradually approaching them. But this has proved to be nearly an impossible task. Even with the combination of all 7 Kingdom¡¯s soldiers and mages, the monster could not be stopped. With a wave of his hand to the right, a huge, fiery explosion appeared and blew away nearly a thousand soldiers. A subtle flap of his left hand, an eruption of ice pierced the helpless masses. A forward step of his right foot, the earth began to crack open as hundreds of poor men fell to their end. Lights continued to flash around him and replace those caught up in it into puddles of their own blood. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. Even so, Merlin was not merely petrified because of this monstrous display of strength. It was the magnitude of the spells he was using. Normally, a mage would at most be able to use 3 magical spells at a time upon the formation of each magical crest, with those especially talented in magic being able to use 5 at once. Although this was the common norm, the approaching man before him completely shattered what would be regarded as logic in this world. As the man utilized one spell at a time from each brief movements of his body, various magical crests appeared in the sky around him and shot out powerful blasts that completely disintegrated his enemies. From Merlin¡¯s guess, there were around at least several hundred crests appearing at once. But the shock did not end there...each one of the spells used were all considered to be Grand-level magic. ¡°¡®A-Angry God¡¯s Thunder¡¯...¡¯Asura¡¯s Redemption¡¯...¡¯Crystallized Comet¡¯...even ¡®Inferno Hell¡¯s Blare¡¯...t-this cannot be possible!¡± Merlin could only mutter quietly under his breath. The scene before him was surreal. How could one man possibly possess such inhumane strength? Where did he come from? Why have no one ever heard or witness him until now? How come he desires to destroy our kingdoms? What did we ever do to offend such being? Only several days ago, the kingdom of Camelot had received a letter that declared war against not only them, but all the other 6 Kingdoms as well. That is why they had assembled such an gigantic army, only to find a young man walking towards them. And once they started to engage the young man, the situation ended up as now where nearly half of the soldiers and mages were effortlessly killed off. As if they were mere flies. As if it was natural as breathing air. But even as Merlin tried to organize his thoughts, he was still unable to understand why the young man wanted to annihilate the kingdom, no, the world itself. While he continued to pondered on the matter, he did not notice that all his forces of mages and knights had been completely wiped out until a beam of white light directly appeared before him. The light seemed to shine brighter than even the sun itself as Merlin struggled to see through it. Upong further scrutinizing the blinding whiteness, he immediately realized that the armies were no more and instead, he saw the figure of a young man standing in front of him and holding a light that was shaped like a longsword in his right hand. The sword made out of light seemed to stretch into the Heaven itself. As the young man¡¯s striking dark eyes, which seemed to be the abyss itself, locked eyes with the old mage, Merlin knew it was over. He had failed to protect his kingdom, much less, this world from this monster. As he continued to helplessly stare at the young man, Merlin could only wryly smile as the beam of light came down towards him. ¡°...I¡¯m sorry I couldn¡¯t protect you, King Arthur...¡± Merlin gently whispered as suddenly he was enveloped in an intense, white radiance. Then, all became one with the empty darkness. To be continued... Chapter 2: New Sphere Chapter 2: New Sphere --- --- --- [ Congratulations! You have successfully conquered Dimensional World: Arthurian Sphere] As the white-haired young man glanced at the hovering black screen in front of him that seemed to have popped out of mid air, his lips slowly curved upward into a faint smile. This was probably the eleventh dimensional world that he had conquered following the domination of the first world, Martian Sphere, in which he had abruptly been thrown into. But, what exactly is a dimensional world one may ask? Well, it is simply as the name implies: a dimension, or variant, of a world. Well, a dimensional planet of the ¡°True World¡± to be exact. For it was said that long ago there was originally a single world, which was called the True World. It was a timeless sphere where nothing died, flowers bloomed each season, diseases are unable to live in the environment, and the beings that lived there were in harmony with each other. In short, it was nothing short of what one would describe a paradise. But, because of the stubborn peace that is evident across the True World, the population there grew to an extreme until finally the inhabitants decided to mold various ¡°worlds¡± for their people to live in. They planted some of their infants on each world and sent them through the cracks between Time. These spheres became known as the dimensional worlds. As time continued to flow in these dimensional worlds, it became harder and harder for the inhabitants to recall the True World and soon it became impossible for anyone to actually reach this paradise anymore among the thousands of variant worlds. Though that is, until now. As the young man, who looked to be around his early twenties, walked around the barren land that once hosted more than two million brave soldiers and mages, he slowly surveyed his surrounding. Seeing not a soul in sight, he then faced upwards toward the sky as if he was waiting for something to appear. Suddenly, a stream of blue-ish light shone down on the spot directly onto the man. As the young man was enveloped in the silky light, he closed his eyes as he prepared for his new journey into the unknown. This was not the first time that this phenomenon has occurred. Along with numerous other dimensional worlds that he had ruled over, this stream of light would appear each time to teleport him to another new sphere. Although at first he had tried to resist being sucked into this Gray Hole, he quickly realized that no matter what spelled he castes or what force he swung with his fists, it was to no avail. Whoever or whatever that had created this teleporting light simply had far too much power. At least, it had much more dominance than him. It was futile to even resist. And so the young man continuously ended up in different worlds, overtook them, and was then again was teleported to the next. By conquering each sphere he was elevated closer towards his grand goal, which was to one day land on the original sphere known as the True World. And as he later found out, there would no Gray Hole appearing unless he was able to conquer the The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.world he was teleported to. (Author¡¯s Note: Gray Hole = opposite of Black Hole...get it? lol It has the same properties, except it¡¯s gray colored. It sucks one in with a tremendous force. ) As the light intensified, the young man closed his eyes and waited for it to die down. Suddenly, as bright as it was previously, everything suddenly became pitch-black. The transfer was complete. As the young man slowly opened his eyes, he saw that he was inside a room of some sort. In front of him was the black screen displaying the same message each time he was teleported to a new world. [Transfer Complete. Welcome to Dimensional World: Earthian Sphere] What¡¯s more, the man noticed that his body had once again undergo a transformation that followed upon landing on another dimensional world. His appearance was reduced to that of a 15 year old child. Even his previous white hair has changed back to deep black. After All, his original hair color was black to begin with. It was only when he¡¯s straining himself with unleashing huge powers does his hair change to that of white color. But even so, he retained his original soul and memories .It is unclear why this occurs each time upon teleportation to a new sphere, but it is of no concern for the man, or as of now, the boy. He still had his abilities and vast knowledge intact, which ensure his survival even if his physical appearance was reduced to that of a mere youngster. He was still the ancient conqueror of various worlds at heart. The screen in front of the boy changed and a new display appeared. [What would be your name here? Please choose from the list below...] Then, a list of names suitable to use for the sphere he was on appeared on the screen. It seems that his name also changes accordingly to the new world that he had stepped in. With each name change and long passing of time on each dimensional world, the boy slowly began to lose grasp of his original name. He can only faintly recall the sphere that he was previously born into. As the boy surveyed the names, he reached out and tapped the fourth name on the list. The screen flickered and changed once again. [Your new name is set: Vinci Noboru] The screen then dissipated into thin air. As Vinci surveyed his setting, he noticed that he was in an abandoned building. There are clamoring noises outside. Without a shred of hesitation, Vinci began to walk towards the hole where a door was originally suppose to be planted. When he walked through the opening, the scene before him left him completely baffled. When he finally found his voice, his tone was that of disbelief and awe. ¡°Just...what the hell is this??¡± To be continued... Chapter 3: Ephemeral Epiphany Chapter 3: Ephemeral Epiphany --- --- --- The scene before Vinci was something that he had never seen before. Even from the various dimensional worlds that he had traveled to, none could compare to the scene before him. There were folks sitting in metal objects that floated in mid air as they glided across the floor. The buildings had hundreds of glass windows and seemed to stretch into the Heaven itself. The people wore elegant clothings of seemingly fine silk and cotton, and each one were eye-catching in their own fashion. The colors of their outwear were simply too diverse that it made Vinci feel a bit nausea as he tried to track each one of them. What¡¯s more, even though the boy had appeared out of an abandoned building so suddenly, not one person even took a glance at him. They were all busy scurrying around towards their destination. The streets were filled with loud noises as people walked, laughed, yelled, and screamed their way through the busy setting. The metallic objects made deafening noises as they honked at each other. Vinci was temporarily overwhelmed by the scene before him, but he refocused himself as he began to search for an informational outlet. He asked a nearby female inhabitant as to where to he could find such source, and the lady directed him to a large dome building. She called it the ¡°World Library Center for Learning & Advancement¡± and said that he would be able to find every and any information he needed. As the boy entered the building he passed through a two black slab-like objects stationed at each side. On the side of the object read ¡°Metal Detector Series 0275.¡± Once through, Vinci was delighted to find that there seemed to be an endless supply of books stored in the shelves that seemed to stretch towards the ceiling. He quickly asked a man who sat behind a brown desk about where he could find information about the world. Vinci was then given several books in regard to what he asked for. Faintly smiling, the boy opened the first book, ¡°Earth¡¯s History, Culture, & Progress¡±, and began to read¡­ -5 minutes later (in terms of Earthian Sphere¡¯s sense of time)- ¡°Hmm...so those metallic floating objects are what the inhabitants of this sphere called ¡°anti-gravity cars¡±...the tall buildings are what they deemed as ¡°skyscrapers¡±... and those fascinating outfits are what everyone term as ¡°fashion¡± huh¡­¡± Vinci was mumbling his conclusions after he had finished reading the books. Well, to say ¡°read¡± would actually be a lie. It¡¯ll be more accurate to say that he ¡°absorbed¡± the books¡¯ knowledge. He simply placed his hand on top of the books as the informations began to rapidly flow into his head. This was all due to his ability: ?Kami¡¯s Mind? ?Kami¡¯s Mind?: An ability that grants its user with keen insights, universal language comprehension, a godly body, and a monstrous learning potential. This meant that anything could be learned by the user upon he or she placing their hands, or any part of their body, upon the said ¡°learning material.¡± The knowledge would instantly be replicated and transferred to the user''s mind and they would be able to utilize the knowledge however they desire with perfection. This is not limited to simple information, but also martial techniques, magics, or any type of arts. Once the wisdoms are absorbed it will be permanently etched into the user¡¯s mind. There are no adverse effects and no cap on the amount of knowledge the user can hold. Moreover, the user¡¯s body will change accordingly to host the new knowledge For example, if one were to learn a Grand-level magic spell, the ability will make it so that your body will be able to have the capacity to learn it. In this sense, every time the user learns something, their aptitude and capacity increases dramatically. This is truly an ability that may rival even the mythical gods since if one were to, per say, meet such beings and touch them, they would instantly gain unimaginable powers. Even if not, this ability is already a monstrous cheat in the realms of mortal and worldly dimensions. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. Due to Vinci¡¯s ability, he was able to easily and rapidly grasp information and power in whichever world he was in. Moreover, this ability allows him to carry over the power he had cultivated in his previous adventures thus making him into a monster regardless of which sphere he was thrown into. Even now, Vinci could unleash his deadly power on this world but he was not one to be rash. In fact, after an accident on a dimensional world called Nether Sphere where he almost died from arrogantly displaying his powers in front of thousands of mythical creatures that inhabited that world, he became extremely cautious. That¡¯s because it was fact that he could die. He was not immortal. No matter how much knowledge and strength he gained, if he was shot through the heart or experience any fatal injuries, he would by all means, die. And thus, he decided from that point on to fully comprehend the world he was in before planning to take over it. After All, with his ability it wouldn''t take that long and as of now, there are no signs from the black screen that says he has to conquer a world before a certain deadline. After Vinci had placed all the books back to their respective shelves, he thanked the man, who he found out was what the people called ¡°librarians¡± gatekeepers of knowledges, before rushing over to another room that was filled with cubic objects that sat on long rows of brown tables. These cubes are called ¡°computers¡± and they were massive bulks of precious informations. As Vinci walked towards a computer he noticed that the screen was on. It displayed the word ¡°Googole¡± with an empty rectangular box under it. Seeing this, the boy¡¯s eyes lit up with delight. If he remembered correctly, this screen is called a ¡°webpage¡± and the page displayed is what people would refer to as the largest information search engine on this planet. In other words, an enormous amount of data. Without a second to waste, Vinci hurriedly placed his hand on the screen and moments later, his eyes widen in surprise as a ridiculous flood of information attacked his brain. ¡°W-what is this...amazing...this amount of information far surpasses those that I had gained from the other spheres...haha...this is so incredible that it¡¯s almost scary.¡­¡± Vinici could only patiently look at the screen in awe as the knowledge continued to flow into him, showing little signs of stopping. After nearly four hours, the information was finally finished loading into Vinci. As Vinici slowly glanced around him, his lips gently curved upward into a smile. He now has the entire knowledge of this sphere, in which these inhabitants called ¡°humans¡±, named ¡°Earth.¡± It seems that the reason why he was able to understand this world so quickly was due to the enormous information network called ¡°internet.¡± Because almost everything is placed in this cyber network, it was quite easy to fully grasp an understanding of exactly how Earth was like. And it was truly a place far from the True World. As Vinici reviewed the information he gained about this sphere, he could only wryly smile as he realized it might be more difficult to conquer than he had originally imagined it to be... To be continued... Chapter 4: The World Called "Earth" Basically, here is what Vinci had gathered about Earth. It is now in its stage of year 2500, where technology has greatly advanced and the discovery of ancient ruins gave birth to the development of magic and lost martial arts. With this boost in prosperity along with the natural land shifts of the planet, the seven continents united as one under the new title ¡°United World.¡± The lands merged together and in its place new countries emerged to replace old ones. They label themselves under the old term ¡°Clans.¡± There are 7 major clans: The United Sages Clan, The Rossia Clan, The Crimson Dragon Clan, The Rising Sun Clan, The Greymony Clan, The Golden Phoenix Clan, and Kingdom of Sand Clan. Moreover, with the emergence of magic and ancient martial arts the world categorized its power and use through ranks. Vinci immediately recognized this and realized that the magic rankings were very similar to the ones he had seen before, though with a slight variation. They are classified and ranked as following: Magic Spell Rankings (low to high): Low tier Magic Mid tier Magic High tier Magic Grand tier Magic Transcendent tier Magic Strangely, the people¡¯s ranks are not decided solely based on magic. Instead, as Vinci found out, they were grouped based on their inner soul power, aka SP. The higher ones¡¯ SP is, regardless of their battle specialty, the higher one¡¯s ranking will end up at. The SPs are used to activate not only magic spells, but martial art techniques that would normally require something called ¡°Qi.¡± In this way, Soul Power is a universal inner substance that acts as the median for various skills. The levels of soul power are ranked below: Soul Power Rankings (low to high): Novice Rank Master Rank Grandmaster Rank Duke Rank Monarch Rank Overlord Rank Heavenly Rank Spiritual Rank True Rank Furthermore, the world was ruled by power. As the years aged by, the humans began to lean closer and closer towards the principle of the ¡°strong ones survive and the weak ones die.¡± It was sphere where only the powerful can have success. But even so, education is still prevalent across the clans, with those in higher education recruited for their mental talent to assist with Earthian problems. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. On this matter, many of Earth¡¯s devastating problems were indeed solved over the past couple of hundred years. But, it only paved way for new ones to emerge. As of now, the planet is faced with issues regarding the environment, poverty, and magical beast attacks. ...Yes, you read that correctly. Magical beast attacks. As mentioned before, due to the unlocking of ancient ruins many blessings came out of the tombs. But at the same time, it also unleashed many of the supernatural beings that were only told in stories long ago on Earth. The phenomenon was similar to that of the Pandora Box. And so, the monsters that came to be on Earth were coined Magical Beasts for their ferocity, mythical status, and immense strength. These monsters were no exception to the ranking system and are ranked accordingly to the Soul Power rankings. That is because these beasts are also receptors of Soul Power and are free to use it at their disposal like humans. That is what makes these beast so feared and different from normal ones. ¡°Aah~ This is such a drag...they even got a ranking system in...that means there must be powerful individuals on this sphere...which means I might have some trouble conquering this place for a while.¡± Vinci grumbled as he began to walk towards the library exit. He was finished learning everything there is to learn about this world. But that was still not enough for him to put his plan into action yet. As he stood at the mouth of the library, Vinci thought about all the things that needed to be done for him to fully fit into this sphere. And why does he need to fit in?? Simple. And that is to gather even more Intel and hopefully increase his standing in this world. Because as Vinci deduced, the previous eras of people all bow down to those higher in power. Not simply to those with just brute strength, but those with high intelligence and charisma. Vinci decided to first increase his ranking in this world before deciding on how to conquer it. After all, once you¡¯re up there everything becomes much more easier - as shown by history on Earth. But first, the boy required a passport and various documents to show that he is a citizen of Earth. And since neither his parents are on Earth nor anyone he know for all he cares, he had to rely solely on himself. ¡°Alright...I guess I¡¯ll go to the Government House to ¡°validate¡± my existence here, huh.¡± The boy grinned as he leisurely began to head towards his destination. To be continued... Chapter 5: Settlement [fixed] Chapter 5: Settlement Author''s Note: I had to delete this chapter & revise it as I realized that some part of the story was getting out of original story line. But it is fixed now, so enjoy! I will be writing up multiple chapters before releasing them several at a time, so please bear with me! --- --- --- Several days have passed since Vinci was initially teleported to the sphere known as Earth and absorbed all the knowledge known there. In those periods of time, the boy visited to the Government Building, where all matters regarding citizenship and legal information in the United World are processed, to register his alien existence. The process was quick and simple, since Vinci had disguised himself in the appearance of an adult using ?Full Mimic?, an ability that he had absorbed through ?Kami¡¯s Mind? which allows him to completely transform into anything he desires. Moreover, since it was not simply an illusion even with the high-leveled revelation magic that¡¯s often performed in the Government Building to ensure credibility, one would not be able to see through Vinci¡¯s disguise at all. With the appearance of an adult, Vinci had registered himself as a divorced father, Chuck Noburo, of a single child, Vinci Noburo. Then, he also took the time to set up his living location and to confirm all other legal matters so that any governmental problems would be avoided in the future. These required legal documents to accomplish, which only ¡°real¡± inhabitants that were born on Earth would have. Although Vinci was not originally born on Earth, this issue was of no concern to him. With his skill ?Real Imagine?, he is able to replicate anything that he imagines provided that he is able to visualize it. That is why he would continuously ask the receptionist to provide examples of the documents needed. The skill was magic and detection proof, too. The endless skills and abilities gained through ?Kami¡¯s Mind? were all indeed useful, after all. Once all the miscellaneous legal items have been procured and confirmed, Vinci quickly moved on to the next step: to register his enroll in school. There were three reasons to do so. First, many young adults called ¡°teenagers¡± around Vinci¡¯s age were all enrolled at the educational system called ¡°school.¡± So, since Vinci appears to be merely a 15 years old child it would only be reasonable for him to follow the norm as such to fit in. Second, there is only one school on Earth called ¡°Arena Academy.¡± As to why, the reason is unclear. Some says it¡¯s the government¡¯s way to help ¡°better manage everyone.¡± Some says it¡¯s to erase rank discrimination by having everyone learn together early one. Regardless, because there is only one institution, there are portals spawn across the Clans in the United World continent. These teleporting doors allow students to travel to and fro the academy despite different clan locations. And as of now, Vinci is situated in The Rising Sun Clan where there are such portals available in various streets and cities. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Third and most importantly, it was because of the fame and power one can receive through the completion of this thing called school. The academy only receives application from those with high Soul Power, so not everyone can be accepted, only those with high potential are granted admission. And thus, the ones who are able to successfully graduate are regarded with high respect, with many of them reaching high ranks in SP. Following the debut of magic and martial arts, all the traditional school systems around the world were abolished. In its place was the new system called ¡°Class Division.¡± With this new system, traditional terms such as ¡°grades¡±, ¡°college¡±, ¡°high school¡±, ¡°kindergarten¡±, etc, does not exist. All the traditional constitutions were condensed and termed from Class 1 to Class 8. The classes corresponds to the ages set by the administrators. The legend below sums up the average ages of student found in each Class: Class 1: Ages 4-5 Class 2: Ages 6-7 Class 3: Ages 8-9 Class 4: Ages 10-11 Class 5: Ages 12-13 Class 6: Ages 14-15 Class 7: Ages 16-17 Class 8: Ages 18+ (age limit is 22) Other than the new school system and the advanced information gleaned from previous years of advancement, education was quite similar to that of a few hundred years ago. And so, Vinci had applied for the only school available in the United World and, after passing an additional written test which was filled with intricate questions that were rendered useless by his abnormal mental memory, he got accepted in with relative ease. *** Inside the comfort of his new home, Vinci was preparing for his first day of school tomorrow. Today he had received a package in the mail containing the School uniform and other various school supplies. ¡°Notebooks...check!...pencils...check!...uniform....check!...roster paper...check!...and my bookbag...check! Alright, I think I¡¯m prepared.¡± Vinci glanced through his checklist once more before finally revealing a big smile as he climbed onto his bed. ¡°I hope everything will be fine tomorrow¡­.¡± He muttered as his mind drifted off into the darkness. To be continued Chapter 6: Arena Academy (1) Chapter 6: Arena Academy (1) Author''s Note: Hello, readers. If you had read Chapter 5 and did not previously see an "Author''s Note" at the top of the page, please go back & re-read some of the parts as I have went back and edited it. I took out some elements that were detrimental and unnecessary for the story line, so please check back as you will feel more updated to the current plot. If you read Chapter 5 and saw an "Author''s Note", then please disregard this notice. Thank you! :) --- --- --- ¡°Ho-oh~...it seems we have quite the number of talents this year. Good, good...¡± As the evening sunlight shone through the window carved behind a large marble desk, an elderly lady with shimmering emerald eyes can be seen sitting behind the table wearing a smile as she shifted through the papers before her. Although the passing years have taken away much of her once youthful appearance, with her overflowing silver hair and an air of indomitable elegance, her charm was still evident even now despite the few wrinkles that were barely noticeable on her face. As she was reviewing the regular enrollment applications, knocking came from the wooden grand door at the end of the room that faced the elder. *knock knock* ¡°...Come in.¡± A lady clad in a business dress who seems to be in her late twenties entered the room. With her crystal blue eyes hidden behind her round spectacles, her long brown hair, her silky skin, and her slender proportion, she was without a doubt whom people would label as a ¡°first class beauty.¡± She wore a splendid poker face as she monotonously spoke to the elder in front of her. ¡°Good evening, Headmaster. Here are the documents confirming the late enrollment for the rest of students this year. There is only a male student who passed the School test, and given the test results, so the committee decided to accept his late enrollment application.¡± ¡°Ho?¡± The headmaster slightly raised an eyebrow when she heard that. It has been nearly decades since the School had actually accepted a student¡¯s late enrollment application. After all, the process becomes much more difficult for those who apply late to Arena Academy. One¡¯ll either have to be stupid or absurdly confident if they dared to apply after the regular School admittance deadline. Normally for regular admittance, the students only had to place their hands on a crystal ball to measure their Soul Power, and if the word ¡°Novice Rank¡± appears on the face of the ball, then their registration is complete. This was the minimum rank one must attain in order to be enrolled in the academy and to begin cultivating their potential. But for late enrollment students, not only do they have to possess the required ¡°Novice Rank¡±, but they also have to take an additional written test called SAT; Soul Aptitude Trial. The exam consists of as much as 200 questions, which each problem tests one¡¯s knowledge of current world, such as magic, historical events, technology types, and much more. The test must be answered within 4 hours, and the scores are scaled from 200 to 2400. Apparently, the test was so difficult due to the enormous knowledge and memorization required that the creators decided to award the test-takers a free 200 points just for daring to take it. The School only accepts students who score at least 2000 or above. Though, the highest recorded score in all of World United was only a mere 1910, so this requirement was clearly to prevent anyone from getting accepted in late enrollment. Though if the students had connections with any of the seven major clans, the School is willing to turn a blind eye to this extra test if they did bad. They are even willing to admit the student even if they do not meet the required "Novice Rank" as long as they have the connections or an amazing SAT score, though they are therefore then labeled as "No Rank." For the record, there are no one identified as "No Rank" in Arena Academy so far. But other than that, late enrollment was simply ¡°not¡± possible for the common aspirers. ¡°Hmm, so which clan is this child from, Sina?¡± The headmaster looked at her faithful secretary. ¡°None, Ma¡¯am.¡± ¡°...excuse me?¡± ¡°The student is not affiliated with any of the seven great Clans. According to his background, he is a regular human with quite a regular background. Nothing of the extraordinary.¡± ¡°....¡± The headmaster became silent and closed her eyes as she thought for a moment. ¡°If this child was accepted without any backgrounds supporting him, then that means¡­¡± The elder swiftly opened her twin emerald jews as she fastened them onto Sina. In a quiet voice, she questioned, ¡°What is his test score?¡± ¡°....¡± ¡°? What¡¯s wrong? Please answer my question.¡± The headmaster was briefly perplexed when her secretary failed to quickly respond back. This has never happened before, especially with Sina who was almost like a machine that instantly responded to any inquiries. ¡°...He scored a 2400 on the written exam, Ma¡¯am.¡± ¡°....¡± The elder once again became silent. ¡°A perfect score? How is that possible...perhaps the child cheated? ...No, no, that¡¯s impossible. With the test itself taking nearly a 360 degrees change in format and questions each year, there is practically no way to practice nor prepare any hidden cheats for it. Moreover, since the SAT is administered by three Heavenly Ranked professors, any magical deceptions are rendered useless. Perhaps we have a genius? No...even the top one only scored 1910 at best, so......" This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°There is another thing regarding his application, Ma¡¯am.¡± Sin¡¯s voice suddenly interrupted her thought. ¡°Hm? What is it?¡± The elder¡¯s interest was piqued when Sina had interrupted her. This was another usual behavior her secretary had exhibited since the start of her job... ¡°It¡¯s the crystal ball examination...it shattered when we tried to measure his Soul Power rank. But because of his SAT score, we decided to still admit him, though we had to brand him as No Rank for now...¡± ¡°?!¡± This has never happened before in the history of the United World. The crystal ball was an object of almost indestructibility and it has the capacity to measure anyone¡¯s Soul Power from Novice Rank up to Spiritual Rank. This is because in the United World although there are numerous practitioners from Novice Rank up to Monarch Rank, there are only a few hundred beings who¡¯ve reached the Overlord Rank, less than 10 in Heavenly Rank, 4 in the Spiritual Rank, and so far, none were recorded to ever reach the True Rank. As the difficulty increases to reach each rank, the amount of power gained once the rank is achieved is staggering. Therefore, as no one has been recorded to reach the True Rank, there are no items available yet to be able to perceive such immense power. If one is said to have the ability to change the geographic of the world upon reaching the Spiritual Rank, then the mere thought of the immeasurable strength one could wield if one were to actually enter True Rank is indeed frightening... With a subtle movement, the headmaster turned to face the window behind her. Although her green eyes remained serene, faint sparks of excitement can be seen deep within them. As the elder carefully thought for a while, finally, she spoke once again, with a barely noticeable hint of awe in her voice. ¡°...What is the child¡¯s name?¡± This time, as if to make up for her previous failure to respond, the secretary Sina immediately replied, ¡°Vinci Noburo.¡± *** As Vinci glanced at his surrounding, he was appalled. Right now, he was situated between a noisy mass of about 100 students in a large hall-room called an ¡°auditorium.¡± Everyone was chattering away and, although there were seats for each student, most of them were either walking around or standing up and again, chattering away. While still there were those who were using slim rectangular blocks called ¡°cellphones¡± to exchange contact codes called ¡°phone numbers¡± with one another. It seems that many traditional human behaviors were still prevalent even in year 2500. If it¡¯s right now...maybe I can annihilate everyone here before their talents bud, so that my job will be easier in the future... Vinci quietly thought about this as he surveyed the gathered powers. Although Vinci was normally a quiet and gentle boy on the outside, due to his many near death experiences on various dimensional worlds, he would once in a while conjure up cruel, if not irrational, thoughts abruptly¡­ But before Vinci could dwell on this rash plan any further, a voice boomed right near his left ear. ¡°WELCOME, STUDENTS OF ARENA ACADEMY!¡± He immediately turned around due to the voice, only to find an empty seat beside him. Huh? This is...Mental Projection? It was one of the many magical spells Vinci learned when he absorbed all the information stored in the domain called ¡°Internet.¡± It was quite amazing the number of skills that were actually taught and revealed in the cyber world, though the higher Ranked spells can only be obtained through the real world. But even so, due to Vinci¡¯s many journeys across several magical dimensional worlds, there are very very few spells and techniques he do know of or how to use them. Anyways, the skill ?Mental Projection? allows the user to project their voice to whoever¡¯s mind they desired. It was ranked as a Mid-tier magic, but if one were to cultivate it to a higher level one would be able to shatter other¡¯s mental capacity or place them under one¡¯s direct control. At that time, the spell¡¯s ability would be on par with those on the High-tier rank. Vinci looked towards the rectangular, wooden stage at the front of the large room. On the platform, the culprit who used the Mental Projection turned out to be an ancient lady dressed in a long, white robe with golden lines at the edge of the clothe. Although her appearance was that of an elderly, her glistening emerald eyes and previous strong voice refused to submit to such naive assumption. Moreover, there were only few barely visible linings on her face, and the only clues that indicated her to be one of the ancients were her withering gray hair and the rectangular, golden tag she wore. On the badge, it revealed: {Elder Ember, Headmaster} After the sudden greeting from the headmaster, all the students quickly scrambled to their respective seats. Once everything calmed down, headmaster Ember observed the crowd as she briefly glanced around. Suddenly, her eyes hardened and stopped once it found Vinci... Chapter 7: Arena Academy (2) Chapter 7: Arena Academy (2) --- --- --- Huh? Is she staring at me? wondered Vinci as he noticed the headmaster¡¯s intense eyes upon him. But as quickly as the tension came it disappeared when the elder turned and finished grazing through the crowd with her jade eyes. As the headmaster was about to begin speaking again, a delicate lady in business dress quickly rushed up the stage and placed a black, cylindrical object in front of the elder. It was a ¡°microphone¡±, an item that is able to project one¡¯s voice similar to the Mental Projection spell. Quietly, some of the students in the crowd sighed in relief upon seeing the microphone being used. Headmaster Ember cleared her throat and once again spoke, ¡°Ahem!...Good morning, students. I would first like to congratulate all of you who made it into Arena Academy. As all of you know, our School is the one and only institution in all of United World. But even so, we are not a charity foundation. We do not present our treasured knowledge just for anyone who applies to us. Only those who are talented will be accepted, and today the fact that you are here means that you would one day go on to achieve great things¡­¡± The introductory from the headmaster lasted for approximately 30 minutes before the students were dismissed to Class. Although the lecture was quite boring in Vinci¡¯s perspective, he did pick up some new information. First, statistically speaking, he found out that there is a total number of 224 students in School, with 28 students in each Class. Second, each student is to be given a silver, rectangular device called ¡°+Arena.¡± The students are to use this gadget to not only view their own personal data in school, but to use it as mean of ¡°fighting¡± other students. In other words, violence is allowed on campus as long as there are no deaths. The academy apparently encourages this due to the theory that by promoting the students to engage in battles revolving around the use of their Soul Power (SP), they would be able to increase their ranks faster. It also mimics the cruel, real world outside of school as dangers from magical beasts and criminals lurk on every corner. Moreover, the students will be able to view their current SP Rank on this device each time after they measure their SP using the crystal ball. Their Rank will automatically be updated on +Arena. It also serves as a the student¡¯s identification plate. It works the same way as an ¡°ID¡±, an item that allows other to recognize the said user, which was prevalent in the old school system back in the years 2000. ¡°Hmmm...this is quite interesting...¡± muttered Vinci as he looked at his +ArenaBB screen while walking towards his class. He was assigned to be in Class 6 since he looked, and was only, a 15 years old boy on Earth. Students that were 14 to 15 years old were placed in this Class due to school system. And for the record, Vinci was the only one out of all the other Class 5 ¡°freshmen¡± students in the auditorium to actually be in Class 6. He was a year older than all of them. Vinci stopped in front of a brown door when he saw the letters on it: ¡°Arena Academy: Class 6¡± There were multiple voices on the other side of the door, though only a rough voice was audible among them. ¡°...So class, today we will be having a new student...he should be here soon...I want you all...got it?...¡± Vinci took a deep breath as he slowly opened the door and walked in. Immediately, the entire class became silent and nearly 28 pairs of eyes were fired at him. ¡°...Ah! So you are the new student? Ahahaha, nice to meet you! From now on I am your homeroom teacher, Mr. Mercer. How about an introduction, eh?¡± The rough voice was directed at Vinci. When Vinci looked towards the source, he found a man who looks like he was about in his late 30¡¯s with a husky, muscular built. Despite the man¡¯s large stature and his short spiky hair, his charcoal eyes emitted a cozy warmth that belied his rough appearance and voice. This man, Mr. Mercer, was Vinci¡¯s homeroom teacher. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°Ah!..u-ugh, my name is V-Vinci Noburo! It¡¯s a pleashure to m-meet you!¡± Vinci was taken aback by his classmates¡¯ sudden movement and his teacher¡¯s prompt greeting that he inevitably twisted the quick introduction that he had prepared since yesterday. Although Vinci was able to understand any language easily due to ?Kami¡¯s Mind?, there weren¡¯t many chances to speak during his quest among the dimensional worlds. After all, he always attacked before he was able to converse with any of the inhabitants, and because of this when suddenly confronted to having to speak in front of a group of people, he was momentarily shaken. ¡°Pfft! D-did he screw up his introduction? HAHAHAHA what a funny fellow!¡± ¡°Hehehehe...hehehe¡­¡± Giggles and snickering rose from some of students in the class. As Vinci stood helplessly in front, his face was dyed with an usual wine color as his heart felt a slight shaking. Even his face began to feel abnormally warm for some reason. It was a sensation that Vinci had never experienced before, but this uncertainty lasted only briefly. Recalling his knowledge, this type of feeling would be best categorized as ¡°embarrassment¡± in term of emotions that were broken down into certain names on Earth, such as anger, sadness, happiness, etc. ¡°Alright, quiet down everyone! Today is Vinci¡¯s first day at Arena Academy, so I would hope you all to get along with him! As for now, I want you, Cecilia, as the class president, to show him around the school during the break period. Since compared to the other new students admitted, the School does not provided a Guide for students enrolled in Classes above 5.¡± As if on cue, a golden haired girl stood up when she heard her name mentioned. Immediately, Vinci was once again momentarily speechless when he saw her sea blue eyes looking at him. Her long, sun hair and milky white skin coupled with an undoubtable air of confidence instantly caused Vinci to be enraptured by the beauty in front of him. The girl stared at him for a while before once again taking her seat. ¡°Ahh~...and your seat, Vinci...hmmm, ah! There¡¯s an empty seat at the back of the room, you will be sitting there from now on, ok?¡± Vinci weakly nodded as Mr. Mercer pointed to a seat in the very back of the class. The classroom was arranged with long, brown tables that stretched onward in a circular formation. The chairs were replaced with long, green benches that were coupled with the oval-like tables. The room was quite similar to that of a university classroom, a setting that was recorded in historical books back when institutions for young adults called ¡°university/college¡± existed. (Author¡¯s note: The seatings look something like this: https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTUY82PraJImbDmWz5mFjZ0PVcaLEL6Jq0mU-QtIuVAo6dYkp_t ) As Vinci settled down in his seat, he quietly cursed himself in different languages learned from various dimensional worlds as he replayed his blunder repeatedly in his mind. And because of his ability ?Kami¡¯s Mind?, it would not allow him to forget anything once that he had once seen or learned. Therefore, it meant that this painful memory would forever be stored into his mind till the end of time, never forgetting a single detail¡­ Vinci silently groaned as he endured through the class lecture. While Vinci was busy scolding himself in his mind, he did not notice the snickering of the four students sitting a few benches away from him. They each wore a wonderful mask of contempt as they sneered at Vinci. Then, they slowly turned and began to chat among themselves. When they turned around again to look at new student a few rows behind them, their lips curved upward into a sinister grin... ___________ Author''s Note: If at some point, you feel that Vinci''s character is somewhat incoherent, considering his previous cold attitude and battle experiences, etc...you''re right. Please note it''s made to be so on purpose. I''ll spoil a little and say that you should find out the reason why somewhere in the 20''s chapter. :) Chapter 8: The Princess Chapter 8: The Princess --- --- --- On the screen of the device called cellphone, a page with various texts are visible. This page is what the humans refer to as a ¡°chat page¡±, hence a cyberspace where folks gather to chat even if they are far from each other. Many languages used in such chat rooms are still prevalent even in the year 2500. (i.e. LOL = Laugh out loud, etc.) (Author''s note: Do "google" them, if you are unsure, though there''s very little used here...) In the chat room... [@Ian69] - Kekeke, did you guys see that dork today? [@Angus219] - LOL, you mean the transfer kid? I did, man. Btw, did you guys heard the rumors about him? It seems that he¡¯s a No Rank. [@Batomi617] - Really? [@Ian69] - ROFL. Why did the School even accept him? Tch, our academy¡¯s standard must be really slippin¡¯. He probably got in cuz of his test score or something. A nerd. [@Batomi617] - hmph! A weakling dares to even enter this School just because he¡¯s a bit smarter than everyone else. Guess we¡¯ll have to teach him the laws of the jungle here, huh [@Angus219] - oooh~ the transfer is gonna get rekted LOL. Let¡¯s get him next period, the Training period, since you know¡­we can challenge him to a little ¡°harmless¡± match. ;) [@Ian69] - yupp [@Batomi617] - ardd [@Angus219] - Then it¡¯s settled. Btw, guess what guys?.. [@Ian69] - Hm? [@Batomi617] - What is it? [@Angus219] - DEEZ NUTS! HA! GOT ¡®EMM. Mannn, this never gets old even now LOL. [@Ian69] - ¡­. [@Batomi617] - ...I¡¯ll kill you Angus. [@Angus219] - ¡­. [@Angus219] - I¡¯m sorry, Boss. *** ¡°Haaa...this is so boring¡­¡± muttered Vinci as he tried to keep himself awake. He has been stuck in the class since early morning and now it was nearly noon. Since the abolishment of the old school system, the Academy runs on a three period basis: first are the Lessons Classes that run from morning to noon, followed by a Break Period where the students are free to roam the school which lasts an hour, and finally the school ends with a Training Period that runs till the afternoon. As the students around Vinci frantically rushed to jot down as much notes as they could, the boy was blankly starring the black board called a ¡°chalkboard¡± in front of him. Starting from the beginning of class till now, although his teacher Mr. Merci taught with enthusiasm, Vinci felt that the lessons were quite boring and useless. That is simply due to the fact that Vinci had absorbed the knowledge in ¡°Googole¡±, making him into something similar to a super living computer. Everything ¡°new¡± that Mr. Merci taught the students were deemed useless for Vinci. He already knew the concepts down to the miniscule details. As he suppressed the urge to yawn, a noise rang throughout the school. It was the School Bell, which only rings to indicate the transition into one¡¯s next period. It was now the Break Period. Vinci quickly got up and was just about to bolt through the classroom door to get some fresh air when a voice called out to him that made him stop. He turned out and found the same golden-haired girl from this morning walking towards him. When she finally was only a few feet away from Vinci, she stopped and began to speak. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°Hello. My name is Cecilia FlameHeart. As your class president, it my duty to act as a guide for you and show you around the school. Please come with me.¡± Without even hearing Vinci¡¯s response, Cecilia walked past him. Vinci, who was unsure how to answer, hurriedly followed after her. *** While Vinci was following around Cecilia, he had tried to strike up a conversation a few times with her. This was due to his deep desire to improve his conversation skills so that he would not repeat his initial mistake that morning. But, try as he might, he quickly found out that the girl Cecilia was a person of few words. In fact, with her freezing aura and expressionless face, it was quite hard for Vinci, or anyone for that matter, to get close to her. In a way, it seems she¡¯s purposely rejecting Vinci as she answers Vinci¡¯s questions in a little as a single word to as much as a single phrase. But, thanks to Vinci¡¯s persistent attitude fueled by his previous embarrassment, he was able to learn a few things about her. It seems that Cecilia is the daughter of The Rising Sun Clan¡¯s leader. In this sense, she could be counted as something like a noble - no, a princess would be a better terminology to describe her. Although it is now considered ¡°modern times¡± on Earth, ancient words such as ¡°nobles¡±, ¡°princess¡±, ¡°prince¡±, etc, seems to be making a comeback debut in this era. As the world is beginning to follow the concept of ¡°the strong eats the weak¡±, it was inevitable for beings that stand above men to be granted a higher title in respect of their strength. The fact that Cecilia was a noble, and a princess at that, signified that she was someone of not only great standing, but high potential. Indeed, being on par with the other major talents in school, she was the youngest person to reach Master Rank while only being in Class 6. Most reach that level only after they go through rigorous training in Class 7. Moreover, it seems that merely having immense wealth will not grant you the title of a noble. Only the strong ones in the 7 Great Clan are privileged with such title due to their great influence and power. Vinci also learned that Cecilia was the same age as him, and although she was a princess, when the boy started to call her ¡°Princess Cecilia¡± the golden-haired girl only glared at him. It seems she doesn¡¯t like to be refer as such. As the tour came to an end, Cecilia abruptly turned towards Vinci. As her blue eyes hardened, she spoke, ¡°What is your Rank?¡± ¡°Uhh..I-I¡¯m uh...the school said I¡¯m a No Rank¡­¡± Vinci accidently stammered in his first few words as he was once again taken aback by these sudden actions. Immediately, Cecilia¡¯s eyes softened for a moment before returning back to their original coldness. She turned her back to Vinci and mumbled something under her breath, ¡°...seems like I don¡¯t have to worry about you...less competition..mmm¡­¡± Vinci tilted his head as he wondered what the princess was saying. Suddenly, she turned back around. ¡°Alright. I have shown you around the school. My duty as your guide now ends here. Good luck.¡± Once again, without waiting for a reply, the golden-haired girl walked passed Vinci towards the school building. Just as Vinci was about to tell her farewell, the school bell rang. As Vinci sighed, he slowly trudged towards his next class, the Training Period... Chapter 9: The Mock Battle (1) Chapter 9: The Mock Battle (1) --- --- --- The Training Period. A class time near the end of the School where the students are to travel to the battleground respective to their Class number. The students are to either battle each other in a mock match or to practice their techniques alone. Moreover, as long as the students do not kill someone during practice, extreme violences such as breaking bones or even permanent injuries are allowed. Because of this rule, the Training Period is in a sense a battle royal, where the students who receive fatal injuries and rendered unable to practice Soul Power are kicked out of school. It was one of the ways the School used to weed out those who fail to keep up with strong. Although it is possible to train with other classes, one can only train with those in a higher class than them. One cannot train with those in lower Classes. But naturally, due to the difference in skill level, very few students actually do so. *BOOM!* *BOOM!* Vinci stood silently observed the students as some of them fought with each other. Since this was the Class 6 Training Ground, many of the students were using spells ranging from the low tier to a few in the mid-tier. As the training ground was structured to imitate that of a giant colosseum, the surrounding walls were reinforced to withstand any spells up to the Grand-tier. Moreover, the colosseums were placed next to each other in order from Class 5 to 8, since students from Class 1 to Class 4 are still in their learning period. Therefore, they are exempt from the regular School Rules until they are placed in a higher Class number. The colosseums are also located directly behind the school building. To Vinci¡¯s right side, he could sense an abundance of Soul Power being discharged from the wall beyond. It was coming from the callosum to the right of theirs, the Class 7. ¡°Hmmm...are all those mid-tier magics?...Oh, there are a few High-tier ones as well...how interesting.¡± Vinci quietly thought to himself. Suddenly, a shadow covered the sky. When he looked up he saw fat, brawny person in front of him. He resembled something of a giant pig. As the pork spoke, he called himself ¡°Batomi¡± and referred to the other two persons that seemed to emerge from the the pig¡¯s very fat as ¡°Angus¡± and ¡°Ian.¡± The short, scrawny one with an annoying sneer plastered on his face was Angus. The taller and more athletically built one who wore a splendid smirk on his face was Ian. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. As the the introduction was finished, Batomi looked down at Vinci and sneered, ¡°Sooo, I heard you passed the written exam to get here. So you must be smart, heh. But you must take care of your body too, you know, so how about you join us for a little mock battle, eh? We¡¯ll go one at a time of course, no holding back either. Oh, but since your slender built is like that of a girl¡¯s, if you don¡¯t want to get hurt that¡¯s fine. But in exchange, you¡¯ll have to do our homework from class every day and call me ¡°Boss¡± from now on, hm? With that, the trio bursted into laughters. Their crude noise quickly attracted the surrounding students as they stopped their practice and began facing side where Vinci and the three were standing. ¡°Aiyaaa, poor transfer student, to think he caught the eyes of those delinquents¡­¡± ¡°Tsk tsk tsk...well it¡¯s only obvious I guess, since I heard he was a No Rank after all¡­but it¡¯s kinda cruel given that it¡¯s only the first day...¡± The students around them began to murmur as they looked at Vinci with eyes filled with pity and contempt. No one stepped out to help. Vinci looked at the laughing three students before him as he smiled wryly. It seems the boy was caught up in a process what the humans called ¡°bullying¡±, where the three boys before Vinci are termed the ¡°bullies.¡± Although this nasty process was practiced in many parts of the world in the past, even now it was still rampant in today¡¯s society. The boy faced down and took a deep breath. When he raised his head once again to confront the trio, his previously gentle eyes were gone. Instead, a strange light was evident as his eyes narrowed at the the three stooges. ¡°I accept. All three of you come at me together.¡± The three stopped laughing at once when they heard Vinci¡¯s bold declaration. Immediately, Batomi glared at the so-called ¡°weakling¡± before him. ¡°Hmph! I see you are a stupid one, huh. Alright, we will grant your wish and let you taste hell.¡± Then, Batomi, Angus, and Ian leaped back and bent their knees as they got ready for battle. Without another word, Batomi motion his two minions forward. At once, the two began to sprint towards Vinci with a malicious grin stuck on their face... Chapter 10: The Mock Battle (2) Chapter 10: The Mock Battle (2) --- --- --- Vinci faintly smiled as he watched the three students sprinting towards him. Although he did not explicitly shout for joy, in his heart he was filled with an intense emotion called ¡°excitement.¡± After all, this would be his first battle since arriving on Earth and Vinci couldn¡¯t help but feel delighted knowing that he could now be able to see the strength of the humans on Earth. To his right, Vinci noticed that Ian who was quickly approaching reach out his palm towards him. ¡°?Fireball?!!¡± A basic low-tier magic spell was unleashed upon Angus¡¯s shout as a blast of fire shot from his palm. Vinci lightly turned and stepped to his left as the fireball and evaded the attack. But that was a mistake. Suddenly, a black shadow slammed into him from his back. *BOOM!* ¡°Kh?!¡± It was Ian. With a swift movement, it almost seems as if he had teleported behind Vinci before unleashing a lethal punch towards his victim¡¯s back. Although teleportation was a possible magic spell, it was at least ranked in the Grand tier. Instead, what Ian used was not magic, but actually a martial arts technique called . The skill allows the user to almost instantly and fluidly traverse the ground at a rapid rate. Although martial art techniques are different from magic spells, they are also categorized and subjected to same format as the Magic Spell Ranking. They are ranked as following: Martial Art Techniques Rankings (low to high): Low tier Art Mid tier Art High tier Art Grand tier Art Transcendent tier Art The that Ian displayed is ranked as a Mid-tier Art for its incredible movement and high difficulty in learning it. Although Vinci was momentarily knocked off his balance, he tried to quickly turned around to face his attackers. Unfortunately it was too late. As he was busy dealing with Agnus and Ian¡¯s coordinated attacks, Batomi had stood back and started gathering his SP. Just as Vinci had regained his balance, Batomi had finished his preparation. With a murderous glint in his eyes, he smirked as he directed both of his palms at Vinci ¡°Haa...?Berserk Lightning?!!!¡± A sudden discharge of lightnings came raging towards Vinci. The lightning covered roughly a radius of 5 meters as lightning spewed everywhere. With no place to run, the barrage of lightning found its prey and dived in. The ground exploded as the Vinci received a direct hit. Clouds of dust flew up and embraced the spot where the boy was attacked, as if to protect him from getting further abused by the offenders. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Wa-wah?! He used a mid-tier spell on him!...such ruthlessness¡± ¡°The transfer kid is done for...a direct hit...if this don¡¯t kill him, he will definitely not be able to practice Soul Power anymore¡­¡± The spectators began murmuring to one another once again after witnessing the brutal attack. The fact that someone would use a mid-tier spell on someone who had No Rank can be said to be an overkill. ¡°Bwahahaha! This is what that wimp gets for going against us! Remember this! If any one of you go up against us, this is what¡¯ll happen to you! Ahahahaha!!¡± Batomi roared as he turned to glare at the students who had began to crowd around to watch the slaughtering match. It then became clear why Batomi had initiated the match. It was to show off his strength to the Class by using someone weak as a guinea pig. As students began to realize this, some of them restrained themselves from immediately attacking and quietly glared at the arrogant pig in front of them. Suddenly, a black shadow bursted through the murky fog. ¡°¡±¡±?!¡±¡±¡± Instantly, the three attackers became startled. As Batomi turned to look at the spot where Vinci once stood, loud cracking sounds rang throughout the still colosseum. *cracccckkk!* *c-craccck* Immediately, Batomi found the source, or ¡°sources¡±, of such noises. But, he could only stare in disbelief when he saw Vinci brutally subduing his subordinates. With a single swift movement from Vinci, both of Angus¡¯s arms were twisted backwards as the scrawny boy howled in intense pain. Ian, seeing this, quickly retreated backwards using . But alas, it was to no avail. Vinci glared at the escaping Ian and after slightly bending his knees, he instantly appeared before Ian without a sound. ¡°?! T-This is ?!! H-how can someone like you use th--¡± Ian never finished narrating his disbelief. With two blurred movements from Vinci''s arms, Ian¡¯s teeths shattered and his left leg was shattered backwards at a grotesque angle. Somehow, his tongue was also damaged in this process. ¡°Mmm?!!?¡± Ian could only squeal in pan as he had lost the ability to express his agony in words. He quickly crumpled down to the ground as he writhed in pain like a worm. After subduing Ian, without even looking back, he used once again and appeared behind Batomi... Chapter 11: The Mock Battle (3) Chapter 11: The Mock Battle (3) --- --- --- . A martial art movement technique that was a class above that Ian had used during his battle with Vinci. A High-tier Art. This technique allows it user to, as the name implies, instantly cover a large area of ground with a single step, hence the singular word ¡°step¡± as compared to the plural ¡°steps¡± in . It was also an extremely difficult skill to learn, even more so than , as it required an incredible amount of SP and talent. Therefore, there are very few people able to use this technique. Yet, as Batomi watched Vinci easily crushing his two underlings and using that High-tier art with relative ease, he couldn¡¯t help but shudder. ¡°How is this possible?? I thought he was suppose to be a No Rank...so how come could he use martial art techniques that require SP? DAMMIT, WASN¡¯T HE JUST A NERD???!¡± Batomi could only scream in his head as his body was frozen from witnessing Ian and Angus having their bones shattered by the ruthless being before him. Suddenly, the said being disappeared. ¡°Huh? Where did he g--¡± As Batomi became startled by having lost Vinci even when he was right before, a sudden blow came from his back. *BOOM!* ¡°Ah?!¡± Batomi¡¯s fantastic three hundred pounds body of meat easily flew a few meters to the front as he laid sprawled on the ground with his stomach kissing the earth. He felt an intense throbbing pain from his back area where a blow was directly landed. Just as Batomi tried to get up, he felt an incredible force pressuring him down. When he peeked behind, Batomi saw Vinci¡¯s foot firmly pressed down on his back. Instantly, he froze. As Batomi had traced the foot up towards Vinci¡¯s face, he quickly noticed the boy¡¯s cold, dark eyes. He felt as if he was being sucked into the black void. It was a frightening and unpleasant feeling. ¡°P-please don¡¯t kill me! I-I was in the w-wrong!...p-please spare me!¡± Batomi did not hesitate and began to plead for his life. Having attended the academy since Class 4, he knew when to bow down before those with overpowering dominance. It was one of the ways the weaks are able to survived in Arena Academy after all. But his pleas failed to penetrate Vinci¡¯s mind. The black-haired boy¡¯s eyes hardened as he raised left arm in an act as if he was holding something. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. ¡°...?Zeus¡¯ Thunderbolt?¡± Instantly a stream of lightning appeared in his left hand. The lightning quickly condensed and formed the shape of a short spear as incredible amount of lighting were discharged from it. At the same time, the students that were witnessing the scene before them were bewildered. ¡°N-no way...did he say Zeus¡¯ Thunderbolt?!¡± ¡°...oi oi...if I¡¯m not wrong...i-isn¡¯t that a High-tier spell..the one where it¡¯s in the upper tier in terms of high destructive power¡­¡± ¡°W-wait..if he uses that...wouldn¡¯t Batomi die!?¡± Fortunately, due to the commotion caused the students and the fact that no one was practicing so they could see the match of the No Rank versus the three Novice Ranks, a few teachers came to ascertain the situation. When the teachers saw the lightning spear Vinci was holding in his left hand, they instantly became alert upon realizing what it was. More so, because the student he was trampling on seemed like he did not have any defensive spells to protect him, then if it were to be a direct hit...it would most likely cause death. Immediately, the teachers shouted for the other students to get back. ¡°Stop! Stop the match right now!¡± One of the teachers, a female one, had shouted for Vinci to cease his attack, but similar with Batomi¡¯s case, the cries were calmly ignored. Seeing this, the teacher quickly shouted out a defensive spell, ¡°Protect him, ?Expecto Aegis?!!¡± A silvery, pentagonal light appeared below Vinci as it fully shield Batomi¡¯s entire body. But Vinci, with his foot still perched on Batomi¡¯s back, remained forever still. The teacher frantically continued to yell towards Vinci ¡°Give up! This is one of the top defensive High-tier spells. Your attack won¡¯t go through it. Now step away from the boy and we can talk this out carefully in the school office¡­¡± Before the teacher could get close, Vinci suddenly remembered an old phrase he had learned from Earth¡¯s past history. A phrase that debuted in the year 2012 to express one¡¯s desire to not bother with other¡¯s problems or to declare that one do not care for what others are saying. Thinking about the latter meaning, Vinci quietly muttered under his breath, ¡°....nobody got time for that.¡± Then, without a hint of hesitation, he plunged the lightning spear down towards Batomi... Chapter 12: Aftermath Chapter 12: Aftermath --- --- --- According to the Magic Spells and Martial Art Techniques Rankings, each tier of skills gets stronger as it increases. Although the same tier skills are often similar to each other, they are, unfortunately, not all made to be equal. Depending on one¡¯s Soul Power rank, a person with a higher ranked SP would overpower the other person if his/her SP rank is lower, regardless if they¡¯re both using the same tier skill. Then why, as Ms. Aiko wondered, could the boy break through her defensive spell that was considered one of the top High-tier magic? As she helped the other teachers with repair of the colosseum, she could only shake her head in incredulity. But when she looked at the enormous hole in the ground before, she could slump her shoulders as she realized it was not just her imagination. The boy Vinci had actually broke her high defensive spell and caused this giant crater in this ground simply from a single attack. Ms. Aiko had heard about the boy from the other teachers when she was in office getting ready for class. She was the teacher for Class 7. Apparently, the student was said to be labeled as a No Rank, but despite that he was still admitted due to his incredible SAT. But because of the digits that were uttered after that, she instantly became doubtful whether he was actually granted entrance for his intelligence. He was probably admitted because of his powerful connections, was what Ms. Aiko thought at the time. But, as she was patrolling the school ground while her students were off training, she noticed a few teachers heading toward a group of students that were neglecting their practice routine. When she got closer she became shock at the scene she saw before her. The said boy, Vinci, was stepping down on a larger boy as he held an intense lightning rod in his left hand. It was unmistakably a High-tier magic spell. And no less, the No Rank student was using it. But shock as one may be, Ms. Aiko was a still a teacher. Even with the changing technology each day, the duty of a teacher never changes. And that is to protect the students and allow them to grow into meaningful adults. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Yet, even as she deployed a high defensive spell to protect the boy under Vinci¡¯s feet and shouted for him to halt, she realized that he would not stop. After muttering something, his left hand came down with the lightning spear and the whole colosseum was engulfed in a blinding life. A loud sound permeated throughout the field *Kkkkkraccck!!* And that was when Ms. Aiko realized that her defensive spell was broken. After that, a deafening noise followed *BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!* Once the light faded and the dust settled, everyone slowly opened their eyes. In front of them, was large crater with Batomi laying in the middle. All the parts below his left shoulder all the way down to the left leg was torn off. Ms. Aiko could only stare in disbelief as Vinci slowly emerged from the gray clouds, gently patting the dusts off his clothes. After that, two of the teachers had to send detain Vinci and they marched him off to the Headmaster¡¯s office. The heavily injured boy, Batomi, was immediately bombarded with high level healing magics as they tried to reduce the bleeding. The rest of the students were dismissed for the day. And, that was how it arrive to now, with the teachers having to clean up the student¡¯s own mess. ¡°Haaa¡­.I don¡¯t get paid enough for this, do I?...¡± grumbled Ms. Aiko as she once again focused on trying to restore the broken ground using her restorative spell ?Recuperative Soul?, which allowed her to restore anything that was non-living. But even so, her eyes slowly drifted towards the direction of the school. As she stared at the boy being led by two teachers, she could only silently wonder to herself ¡°Hm...is that boy...really a No Rank..?¡± As the sun began to set, Ms. Aiko could feel a new wind silently blowing through the Colosseum¡­ ------ Author¡¯s note: I will be lengthening the chapters following this, though the release might take a bit longer, so please do bear with it! Thank you all for reading! :) Chapter 13: Mensa Corps Chapter 13: Mensa Corps --- --- --- ¡°Ughh...I actually lost myself in the moment. Dammit..to think that I lost my cool just from getting knocked around a bit..and it didn¡¯t even hurt too...¡± Vinci sighed as he stood in the headmaster¡¯s office after being led by two of the school teachers. Even though Vinci remembered that he was directly hit by the lightning blast Batomi had casted towards him, he strangely did not feel any pain. In fact, none of the attacks inflicted upon him by the trio made any meaningful impacts on his body, though he was slightly shaken by the sudden attack. ¡°Was it because their attacks were too weak? Or perhaps I¡¯m too strong..hmm...I guess they were small fries after all..¡± As he stared at the two teachers explaining the situation to Headmaster Ember, he noticed that her smile didn''t waver. In fact, it seemed to have stretched even a bit¡­ Once the two teachers were dismissed from the room, only Vinci and the headmaster were left. The elder now faced to look at the boy with a glistening interest in her eyes. ¡°You are quite lucky, boy. The students you heavily injured somehow managed to survive, though with that they will be crippled for the rest of their life...and as unfortunate as it is, they¡¯ll be expelled from school starting tomorrow.¡± ¡°...¡± Seeing that Vinci did not answer and only continued to return the same calm expression, the headmaster heartily laughed. ¡°Oya? You seem quite calm...are you not afraid that you will expelled along with them for breaking the school rule?¡± To this, Vinci finally spoke up. ¡°...It was them that started the match and although I admit I went a bit overboard, as per the school rule, they did not die. Thus, I have not killed. I see no reason why the school would banish me.¡± ¡°Hoo~¡± The headmaster was surprised when the boy answered her with unwavering confidence and calmness. ¡°Hahaha, very well. It is as you have said, because there were no deaths you will not be held on any accountable punishments. But remember, one must learn how to control one¡¯s strength if one were to survive in the world. Even though we value those with great power, nonetheless this is still a modern society. We are not, in any sense mere barbarians that only knows how to kill.¡± ¡°...I understand. I will keep that in mind for the future.¡± ¡°Mmmm...then you are hereby dismissed.¡± In his mind, Vinci sighed in relief as he turned around and started for the door. Although he was expecting to accompany the headmaster longer due to his rash actions, he was surprised he was being let off so easily. The School really does follow the principle of ¡°survival of the fittest¡± huh...Well, there is no reason for him to complain, though. ¡°Ah! Please wait!¡± Vinci stopped and turned around when he heard the headmaster¡¯s voice call out to him. ¡°Take this.¡± The elder handed him a white letter that had a golden round sticker sealing it. ¡°Um...this is¡­¡± ¡°Mmm. It¡¯s a membership invitation letter from the Mensa Corps.¡± Mensa Corps. A prestigious, intelligence organization widely known across the United World. This union specializes in the networking of vast information across different clans. Membership is also extremely difficult to gain for this organization as it only selects those with either high SAT scores or those who are able to show innovative practical use of their intelligence (i.e. inventing a new magic spell, proving new spatial theories, etc). Besides the 7 Great Clans, there are very few individuals whom the corps associate with. ¡°Huh¡­but...¡± Vinci had heard about this organization from Googole, though he didn¡¯t understand how they could have heard of him¡­ ¡°Ahh~ If you¡¯re wondering how they know about you, it¡¯s because Arena Academy is responsible for reporting the Ranks and SAT scores of all students to the government. That way, they will be able to keep the database for all citizens up to date. We report the information immediately after one finishes the School exam.¡± ¡°...I see.¡± That explains how the organization was able to get a hold of him. Although he was unable to take the crystal ball examination due to it shattering during the test, he was extremely confident in the written test portion. He later found out that he had scored a perfect mark on it. ¡°That was probably what caught their attention¡­¡± Vinci thought as he looked down at the letter. Vinci then looked up from the letter and faced the headmaster. ¡°Headmaster Ember, please tell the organization that I accept their invitation.¡± ¡°Oh? Are you not going to think about it for a while?¡± Although headmaster Ember said that, she knew very well the prestigious and influence Mensa Corps had. Just by being able to receive a random letter from them would count as a miracle in itself, but to get an invitation letter at that...one would probably faint from the overwhelming happiness. ¡°Yes. If a useful organization such as that comes asking for me to join them, I see no reason to refuse.¡± ¡°Mmmm...alright, I give them your response.¡± Vinci faintly smiled and gave his thanks before turning around once again and walked out the room. ¡°To join just because it is a ¡®useful organization¡¯ huh¡­¡± The headmaster lightly chuckled to herself as she slowly shook her head. She did not understand what the boy was thinking at all. *** When Vinci opened the door to his classroom, there was no one there. Though that wasn¡¯t a surprise as it was late into the afternoon and school had ended quite some time ago. The boy quickly went and picked up his bag. After making sure that his supplies were all safe, he turned to leave but suddenly froze before taking another step. In front of him stood Cecilia as she blocked the doorway. The princess coldly glared the boy who went rigid upon noticing her. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. After a moment of staring at each other, she broke the silence, her icy tone filled with subtle indignation ¡°...Why did you lie to me that you were a No Rank?¡± ¡°Uh..I-I didn¡¯t lie! T-the school told me that I-I was a No Rank..¡± ¡°Liar!¡± Cecilia snapped at Vinci¡¯s pitiable attempt to conjure up an excuse. ¡°Then how was it possible for you to use Soul Power?¡± ¡°I-I¡­¡± Vinci had no rebuttal left. It was true that he was assigned as a No Rank, but even so he was able to use Soul Power. His actions and statements just don¡¯t add up. As he stood there, unable to answer the princess¡¯s question, Cecilia promptly turned around. She softly muttered under her breath as she left ¡°...Don¡¯t ever come near me again.¡± Still unable to give a satisfactory answer, Vinci could only continue staring at the ground. After a while when he was certain the princess left, he slowly let out a deep sigh. ¡°Haaaa¡­.I really screwed up huh¡­¡± He then once again proceed to exit the classroom. This time, there was no one blocking him. *** Once Vinci arrived home, he quickly went to his bedroom and shut the door. Knowing that he will be living alone, he had purposely arranged to have a decently sized, two-level house purchased. The house sequentially consists of two bedrooms upstairs, one bathroom, one living room, and one kitchen (not that it would be put to use anytime soon..). And because he was able to use ?Real Imagine? to produce the proper funds needed, ¡®money¡¯ was not a problem for him. Moreover, ¡®money¡¯ in the United World is known as ¡°SMU¡±, Standard Monetary Unit. It is universally employed in all the Clans in the continent and can be earned through being under employment, or exchanging body parts from magical beasts for payment, with higher ranked magical beast parts being worth equally more SMUs... *Plop* He laid on his bed as he replayed the events that transpired today. Not only did he almost kill someone, he instantly lost the trust of a beautiful girl the same day he had met her. As Vinci thought about this, he buried his face into the soft pillow. After a while, he lifted his head and, in a tired voice, he called out, ¡°True System, open.¡± A black screen appeared out of the thin air in front of him. On the screen, the following was displayed: [box border=2 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=3 width=140% bordercolor=#232323 bgcolor=#232323][/box]
True System
Current NameVinci Noburo
Earthian Sphere Progress1%
Rank???Storage56% Full
Ongoing Event: ------
Vinci groaned when he saw that he made little progress on Earth even after arriving a few days ago. ¡°Usually by now I should at least be at 40% if it was any other dimensional world...but it doesn¡¯t seem it¡¯s the same for Earth..haaa¡­¡± ¡°True System, Close.¡± The black screen flickered briefly before dissipating. True System. That was the name Vinci gave it---no, it would be more appropriate to say it was ¡°planted¡± in his head. Thinking back to the day when this screen had first appeared, he remember the rush of adrenaline that came after he had selected [Yes]. Instantly, the methods of how to call forth the black screen, its name and functions, and all the other miscellaneous information were ¡°downloaded¡± into his brain. After arriving on a dimensional planet, Vinci noticed that the True System only displays rather basic information, such as his progress thus far in dominating a planet, numbers of sphere he won over, the amount of space left over in his spatial storage, and the ongoing Event. These information also changes depending on the sphere he is in. The spatial storage was one of the few functions of the black screen. Merely by touching an item, Vinci is able to transport that said item into a void-like space for safe-keeping. No one is able to steal from there and no matter how large the item is, it will still easily fit inside his System¡¯s storage. Then, there¡¯s the Ongoing Event. As Vinci came to realize over the ¡°years¡±, the black screen does not randomly appear when he¡¯s on a dimensional world. It only shows up when there is an ¡°Event¡± for him to accomplish. Upon completion of each event, Vinci¡¯s ¡°Progress¡± percentage on that said sphere will further increase, propelling him closer to ¡°world domination.¡± As of now, Vinci is quite perplexed that there weren¡¯t any Events popping up for him to do. Moreover, there weren¡¯t many information about the origin of the black screen itself, leaving Vinci alone drowning in his curiosity. Did it come from this so called ¡®True World¡¯ that the black screen had first asked him about? How was he selected to be able to go to that mythical world? How is it possible for this screen to appear directly in front of him, yet no one can see it? Are there others like him?? A billions of questions had initially warped through Vinci¡¯s mind when he was first introduced to this ability. Though, as time passed on, he quickly shoved this questions to the back of his head. For now, he wanted to focus on reaching this ¡®True Word¡¯ that was advertised to him at the beginning. Perhaps the answers to his questions will then be revealed¡­ ¡°Haaaa¡­.I guess I¡¯ll just go to sleep now...no use worrying about anything here...once I conquer this sphere I¡¯ll just be warped to a different one...better to not have too much connections...must...stay¡­.on¡­.task¡­..¡± Vinci¡¯s eyelids slowly fluttered shut as sweet sleep embraced him... Chapter 14: The First [Event] Chapter 14: The First [Event] Author''s Note: Finally decided (and learned) to use text boxes...thanks to SickAnime for the help! Very nice person :) --- --- --- The moon is glowing in the cloudy black sky. The city is in deep hibernation as it recuperates itself after a busy day. But somewhere in the most inner parts of the Rising Sun Clan, a large mansion stands towering over the neighboring buildings. In one of the many rooms of the grand house, a man is seen staring out a tall glass window shaped like a door with an over arch at the top. The man looks to be in his mid 40¡¯s, with three strips of white hair protruding from the left side of his front black hair all the way to his back head. Clad in an exquisite golden robe, the middle aged man continues to gaze at the moon outside. His eyes are cold and unreadable. Behind him, the shadows stirred briefly before two silhouettes suddenly appeared. Positioned in a slightly bowed manner, the two shadowy figures waited in silence for the man before them to speak. Then, a thick voice resounded throughout the room. ¡°Speak. What is it?¡± Hearing this, one of the shadows then proceed to speak. ¡°Yes, Clan Master Earl. We are here to report that a rare talent was discovered in our Clan yesterday.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Since each Clan consists of only a singular city that represents them as a whole, most humans refer to their city, as they would to their country, simply as ¡°our Clan¡± or ¡°my Clan¡±, etc. In this sense, city names are quite insignificant as only the Clan name itself is relevant. ¡°Tell me about him.¡± The man whom the shadows called ¡°Earl¡± became a little interested upon hearing that a new talent was discovered. The Rising Sun Clan is always seeking to recruit those with great talent just like the other neighboring Clans. Although many humans live in each Clan, not every one of them can be considered a Clan member. Those that are not considered as Clan member are usually refer to as ¡°Clan citizens¡±, populations that simply reside in a Clan but are not directly connected to it. Take this for example. On Earth¡¯s previous rich histories, these clans were originally known as countries. In each country there were once those who watched over the well beings of their territory known as ¡°Governors¡±, while there are those that simply reside in each country, otherwise known as ¡°Citizens.¡± Not all Citizens can become a Governor, as it requires specialized knowledge and long years of training. This concept would similarly apply to how each Clan functions, with those with great potential ascending the societal ladder to become actual Clan Members, while those that are only living in the Clan stay as Citizens. Basically, the normal people living in a Clan are referred to as Citizens, while those that are actually part of a Clan are referred to as Members. The one who commands a Clan would be referred to as a Clan Master. The shadow that had spoken up previous continued his report upon the Clan master¡¯s request. ¡°Yes. According to our network, there is a male child who applied late for Arena Academy about three days ago. He passed the entrance exam and scored a perfect mark on the SAT.¡± ¡°Ho~ Hmm...so this child must quite the genius the United World had yet to seen huh...to score such a record...then what about his Soul Power Rank? I¡¯d assume it¡¯s equally on par?¡± ¡°About that¡­¡± The second shadow who had been keeping silent for a while suddenly spoke up. ¡°...o-our agents told us that the crystal ball shattered when the boy was being tested so we were unable to ascertain his rank...but it seems that the academy had considered him as a No Rank, yet still admitted him due to his test score.¡± ¡°....Hmpf! So he¡¯s just a weakling with a rather profound knowledge? Although I will admit he might be quite intelligent, if he is weak physically he will not stand a chance here in this Clan that runs on power. You may both leave now.¡± Even though it is known that the term ¡°No Rank¡± did not always pertain the meaning that the said person is unable to use Soul Power, due to the fact that many people who were labeled ¡°No Rank¡± were actually inept, the Rank quickly became associated with those are ¡°useless.¡± If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Although it was possible for one to break through the No Rank if one trains hard enough, the amount of time it takes would be extremely long. Thus, the ones who are marked as No Rank are often ignored without even given the consideration that they might one day grow out of that infamous rank¡­ Moreover, in Vinci¡¯s case, because the one and only crystal ball the Arena Academy had was shattered, they were unable to quickly replace it. Therefore they could only assigned the boy a temporary No Rank until the School could get their hands on another crystal ball. But, the Earl was unaware of this. And since the boy was labeled as a No Rank, he immediately lost interest thinking that the child would be of no use for the Rising Sun Clan. After all, he thought, even if he were to ascend out of the No Rank in the future it would probably take several long years to accomplish. The Clan Master of the Rising Sun was not quite the patient man either. As Earl waited for the two presences to leave, the second shadow quickly spoke out, ¡°We have received intel that there was a school fight in which the child was involved in. Witnesses said that he was able to use Soul Power to call forth magic spells -- and it was a High-tier magic at that¡­¡± ¡°What? Are you certain?¡± Earl slightly raised his eyebrows when he heard that. In the history of the United World there were no records of any one being able to use High-tier magic if they were marked as a No Rank. The SP required was simply out of reach for those who were considered inept. ¡°Yes, and the boy was reported to have severely disabled three students in the fight.¡± ¡°Oh? So he was fighting a group huh¡­¡± After thinking for a moment, the Clan Master ordered the two shadows ¡°Bring me this child.¡± ¡°¡±As you wish.¡±¡± In a split second, the two silhouettes receded into the surrounding shadow and disappeared. *** As Vinci slowly arose from his slumber due to morning sunshine, his eyes instantly widened when he saw a black screen in front of him. [box border=2 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=3 width=140% bordercolor=#232323 bgcolor=#232323]New Event: Achieve the Position of ¡®Headmaster¡¯ at Arena Academy...+19% Progress[/box] ¡°...Huh?!¡± Vinci blinked several times as he stared at the screen. Although when it came to events, or ¡°missions¡±, that the True System displayed, they were usually abnormal and many times, random. Even so, Vinci knew from experience that each Event that the system displayed was meaningful in some type of way and upon completion, would definitely push him closer to sphere domination. ¡°But still...to have this kind of random event out of blue...just how are these missions made in the True System?...and what the hell does becoming the Headmaster of a school do? To think it¡¯s important enough to be able to increase my domination progress by nearly 20%...¡± Though Vinci was quite pleased that an [Event] has appeared at last, there was still something that he was troubled by. And that is the [True Event]. According to his experiences, whenever this special event appeared, it marked the final event that Vinci had to complete in order to conquer a sphere. Although he wasn¡¯t thinking about it yesterday, the abrupt pop up of an [Event] suddenly reminded him of this. And because he knew that the [True Event] would only appear after several [Events] are completed, judging by the slow rate that the [Events] are appearing, he was troubled by the thought that it might take quite a long time before he¡¯ll even begin to dominate this sphere¡­ The boy quietly murmured to himself as he quickly got dressed. Once he was finished, he started to head towards a portal spawned a few blocks away from his house. ¡°Haaa...oh well...at least this time the event doesn¡¯t seem to be that hard¡­now how should I proceed...¡± Vinci faintly smiled as he entered the portal. Chapter 15: The Daughter of the Crimson Dragon Clan Chapter 15: The Daughter of the Crimson Dragon Clan --- --- --- Upon passing the portal, Vinci instantly arrived in front of Arena Academy. A huge school that towered over him with a rectangular, black gate positioned in front. He walked through the gates and hurriedly walked towards his classroom. ¡°Hmm..why is everyone staring at me?...and what are they whispering about¡­¡± As he was walking through the school ground, he could feel many stares directed at him. ¡°Hey...isn¡¯t that the new student in Class 6?...¡± ¡°I heard he disabled three students in his class on his friday day at School¡­¡± ¡°But isn¡¯t he a No Rank?? Pfft, the ones he beat up were probably weaklings anyway...¡± ¡°Hmpf! I don¡¯t see what¡¯s so special about him..¡± ¡°Seems like another prodigy appeared at this School..ughh, more competition..¡± The students around him were silently whispering as they glanced at the new student walking past with mixed feelings of awe and contempt. When Vinci finally arrived in front of his classroom, he walked in. Once again, Vinci found himself to be the attention, though this time there were only 24 pair of eyes, excluding the three expelled students...and Cecilia who remained facing the black chalkboard. Though, as quickly as the heads were turned to look at him, the students turned to once again face the board. ¡°Hey! Get seated down, will you Vinci?¡± Mr. Mercer scolded when he saw the boy standing there since Class has already started. ¡°Oh! U-uh, yes sir¡­¡± Vinci quickly went and sat down in his respective seat. ¡°Huh...the students doesn¡¯t seem that fazed by what I did yesterday...does that mean events like that are natural occurrences? Hmm¡­¡± The boy had noticed the strangeness of his classmates when he saw that each and every one of them had a calm expression, even after witnessing the chaos yesterday. Thinking that this must be the norm here at School, Vinci shrugged and proceed to stare blankly at the board for the next few hours¡­ Though, Vinci was only half correct in his reasoning. It was true that fierce battles were commonly found in Arena Academy, so fatal injuries were more or less a daily spectacle. But that was different for Vinci. Because he was a No Rank, none of the students had believed he was capable of using Soul Power. But not only was he able to use it, he used an upper Mid-tier magic. Due to this, many of the students in Class came to slowly fear Vinci a bit. They didn¡¯t know what else he could do as he was a No Rank capable of using mid-tier magics that most of the class were struggling to do. But they didn¡¯t want to show weakness in front of him either. Those who showed weakness in School were often the ones who get eaten the earliest...so as to conceal their worry, they resoluted themselves to wear a calm expression when the boy arrived to class. As Vinci stared at the chalkboard, he tried to focus listening to his teacher. ¡°Alright class, following from yesterday¡¯s introduction on a quick history of Earth, we will be learning about the different levels in this world, such as SP Ranks, magic tiers, etc¡­.¡± But before he knew it, he had already lost track of the lesson itself.. *Ding dong~* Finally, for what seems like decades, Vinci¡¯s first period class was over. ¡°I guess I¡¯ll go walk around the school again..¡± Vinci thought as he got up and left the classroom. *** After once again browsing through the school, Vinci sighed as he started to head towards the Training ground. He was outside walking on school ground now. ¡°This is...so boring. I mean, maybe because this is a relatively safe zone called ¡®school¡¯, but still, to have nothing interesting happening and to only these mundane lectures coupled with two more periods of boredom...ahh..¡± Vinci grumbled in his mind. This was the first time since coming to a dimensional world where progress was slow and nothing stimulating has happened. Normally by now, if it were similar to the other dimensional worlds, Vinci would have been using all his power to forcibly conquer this sphere. But because of his cautious nature, he suppressed the urge to do so until he was certain there weren¡¯t any beings with unexpected great strength on this planet. ¡°Haa...the only interesting thing that happened to me from all those previous days was meeting that girl Cecilia¡­¡± The boy was interested in the golden-haired princess. Since everytime he spoke with her, he couldn¡¯t help but wonder why he would abruptly lose his speech ability. After absorbing ¡®Googole¡¯, and with the help from ?Kami¡¯s Mind? universal ability, Vinci was certain his language skill was no less than those top scholars on ¡®Earth.¡¯ But strangely, before the girl none of the right words seem to come out¡­ ¡°Too bad she hates me now...haaa¡± This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. While Vinci was lost in his thought with his head slightly tilted down, a honey-like voice pierced through his mental cloud. ¡°Are you Vinci Noburo?¡± ¡°Uh..huh?¡± Startled, Vinci quickly looked up. In front of him stood a silver haired girl whose ruby eyes shone like blood and who wore a black dress. The girl was looked to be about the same height as him and in her right hand, she held a small black, Chinese fan embroidered with beautiful midnight feathers. Behind her stood several other students who looked to be older than Vinci. ¡°Ah, uh, yes, I am. I don¡¯t think we have met, but you are¡­?¡± The crimson eyed girl smiled and proceed to speak with a tone of confidence. ¡°My name is Emi Luther, sole daughter of the great Crimson Dragon Clan. I am currently attending Class 7. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. The girl named Emi made a slight bow upon finishing her introduction. ¡°O-oh! Um, likewise.¡± Vinci awkwardly mirrored the bow back. ¡°So...what does the daughter of the Crimson Dragon Clan want with me?¡± ¡°Simple. I wish to have you work under me as one of my underlings.¡± Emi smiled and motioned to the group of students behind her. ¡°...Excuse me?¡± ¡°Ara? Did you not hear me? I said I wish to have you work under me. For the Crimson Dragon Clan. Shouldn¡¯t you be happy?¡± ¡°But why me?¡± ¡°Ahh...that¡¯s because I saw your battle yesterday. I was finishing up my training and was about to leave when I heard the commotion and went to look, and thus found you. I want that abnormal strength of yours even though you¡¯re a No Rank. Plus, you are not affiliated with any Clans right? After all, you¡¯re only a ¡°Citizen¡± residing in the Rising Sun territory... ¡± ¡°I see...then...if I may ask, if I were to work under you, does that mean I will be a part of the Crimson Dragon clan?¡± ¡°Well, that is not exactly correct. You will be working solely for me until I graduate from this academy. And once I succeed the Clan as the next Clan Master, I can easily place you into the clan. So, working under me will be beneficial for you in the future and ---¡± Before she could finish, Vinci flatly intervened. ¡°I refuse then.¡± ¡°?!?¡± Emi stopped talking and looked at him with surprise. ¡°H-huh? And why would you refuse? This is a once in a lifetime chance you know¡­¡± ¡°Well, if there is no immediate benefit to working under you, then I see no reason why I would do so. It¡¯ll just be a waste of time.¡± ¡°A-a waste of time?! You dare say it¡¯ll be a waste of time working for me??!¡± The silver-haired girl narrowed her eyes as her face took on a faint glow of red. ¡°Hmpf! Fine then. If you are unwilling to work under me, then I will simply crush you.¡± With a sudden raise of her left hand, the students behind her began to take out their +Arena device. ¡°Since this is not the Training ground where one can freely battle without needed consent, my beloved followers will be challenging you right now through +Arena. Don¡¯t you dare run away.¡± Emi glared at Vinci as the students behind her began to tap on their screen. Moments later, *ping* Vinci looked down as he took his +Arena out of his pocket. On the screen a notification was displayed. [table]You have been challenged by Nominya Fetterlu. Accept?YESNO[table] *ping* Another similar notification popped up, this time only the name was different. *ping* *ping* *ping* *ping* *ping* Vinci¡¯s device began to rapidly make sound as notifications after notifications surfaced. Shortly after, when the sound stopped, Vinci judged that there was around nine battle requests. At the bottom of the screen, a convenient {Yes to All} box appeared. ¡°Haaa...this is such a drag¡­¡± Vinci looked up to see the silver-haired princess glaring at him. ¡°Hmpf! You better prepare yourself! All of my loyal followers are Master Rank practitioners. And don¡¯t even think of running away, or we¡¯ll find you next period during Training Class¡­¡± ¡°..Yup, there¡¯s no way out of this but to fight huh...¡± He inwardly sighed as his finger reached to tap the button at the bottom. Although he was fond of battles, he disliked to fight ones that have no immediate benefit for him. ¡°Guess I¡¯ll finish this quickly...my next class is starting too¡­¡± Vinci quietly thought as he lazily directed his gaze at his glaring opponents. A new message was then displayed.
You have accepted All challenges. Match starts in 3...2...1..Begin!
Chapter 16: A Formidable Ally Chapter 16: A Formidable Ally --- --- --- 15 seconds --no, 10 seconds was all it took to completely wipe out Emi¡¯s group. As soon as the match began, four of students rushed at him as they bared their fists at him while the rest stood back and began mumbling. ¡°Martial arts fighters at the front to keep the enemy busy while the rest stay back to conjure up a large attack spell huh..this is actually quite the common tactic against a normal enemy...though, too bad I¡¯m not exactly normal¡­¡± Vinci had not moved from his spot when the battle began. As his opponents drew near, he reached out his right hand faced down and quietly uttered ¡°Devour them all, ?Nilfielm?¡± Suddenly, all the students froze as mini magical crests appeared under their feet. They were paralyzed by the spell. And before long, a black smoke quickly slithered out of the ground as it shot towards the students. ¡°Kyaaa!!!!!¡± ¡°AHHHH!!! WHAT IS THIS?!!¡± The students screamed as the the black smoke consumed them from their legs up. After a short while, there were only blobs of black smoke where the students were standing. Emi looked at the scene before in horror, but was unable to move from her spot. ¡°Enough. Cancel, ?Nilfielm?¡± Vinci¡¯s voice calmly rang out as he lowered his hand. Then, as quickly as the dark smoke came, it slithered back into the ground. But what was revealed after the black smoke disappeared caused Emi to drop her hand fan and immediately turn her head to the side as she held her hands over her mouth. The students who were in black mist had multiple parts of their body seemingly torn off, no, ¡°chewed¡± off would be a better way to describe it. There were unnatural teeth marks on parts of their shoulder where their arm should have been. Those were nowhere to be seen now. The scene with the nine students and their mutilated body was too much even for the princess who¡¯s commonly known for her strong-personality . ¡°Ahh~ did I overdo it again? Well, at least this time I toned down my attack so they didn¡¯t die...but this bleeding¡­..I guess I¡¯d better heal them before they really die of blood loss.¡± ?Nilfielm? was a High-tier magic spell that only serves to completely annihilate and devour its enemies, leaving no trace behind. Fortunately, Vinci had lowered his power output and stopped its usage before the students were fully gone... Vinci once again raised his right hand. ¡°Seal the wounds, ?Salvation?¡± Immediately, the open wounds on several students¡¯ body where their arms, legs, and side part of their stomach once were, sealed shut. Not a drop of blood flowed out from the wounds again. Although both of the magic spells that Vinci used can be considered High-tier magic that required enormous amount of Soul Power, the boy looked to be relatively calm even after using them consecutively. The students could be heard quietly groaning in pain even after their wounds were healed. Some were even sobbing. After all, they had lost their one or both of their legs and arms in the battle...they won¡¯t be able to fight ever again. Satisfied, Vinci lowered his right hand and briefly looked at Emi, who had her hands over her mouth and desperately trying not to vomit. Without another word, he walked passed her and head towards the Training ground. *Ding dong~* The bell has rung. *** Upon arriving on the Training ground, Vinci noticed that many of the students were avoiding him. ¡°Haaa...this must be because of yesterday¡¯s fight¡­¡± He scratched his head as he tried to think of what else to do. Suddenly, someone tapped him on his right shoulder. Vinci turned around and saw a teenage boy grinning at him. The male student looked to be a bit taller than him, with yellow short hair, black eyes, and a handsome facial feature. ¡°Yo~ new student. Nice to meet you! I¡¯m Athan Greymony, Class 7. My favorite color is blue, I¡¯m turning 16 this year, I like eating teriyaki meat, my home Clan is Greymony - aha, but I bet you already figured that out, oh and I¡¯m also the eldest son in my family, and currently I¡¯m a Master Rank. Now, how about you?¡± Vinci continued to stare at the smiling boy before him whose words continuously fired out like a machine gun. Then, as if breaking out his daze, he spoke up, ¡°Ah, uh...it¡¯s a pleasure to meet you as well. I¡¯m Vinci Noburo, Class 6. I¡¯m a No Rank.¡± ¡°Aha~ just as the rumor said! You really are a No Rank huh~ even though you could use Soul Power? Hahaha, interesting~ interesting~ And your calm yet polite attitude~ Mmmm, I¡¯m already liking you a lot!¡± Athan grinned as he patted Vinci on the shoulder. ¡°So, how about you and I become friends, hm?¡± He winked at Vinci as he put his arm around him. His eyes were twinkling like the stars when Vinci glanced at him. ¡°Ah...then I will be in your care¡­¡± Unable to quickly find a reason to resist, Vinci could only helplessly comply with the cheerful boy who was now his ¡®friend¡¯, and his first one in his entire life to be exact. He haven¡¯t met anyone whom he could become ¡°friends¡± with since starting his journey...it was quite a lonesome adventure for him. ¡°Friends huh...if I¡¯m not mistaken, that¡¯s a relationship revolving around trustworthy companions who are willing to be at your side through ¡®good times and bad¡¯...hmm, well I guess having one wouldn¡¯t be so bad...these ¡®friends¡¯ might even help me in the future, too¡­¡± Vinci quietly reasoned in his head as Athan was happily laughing at his reserved manner. Finally, the yellow-haired boy took his arm off of Vinci and with a wider grin this time, he asked, ¡°Sooo, I see that there is no one in your class right now that¡¯s willing to practice with you? How about you and I practice with each other then? Although I¡¯m a Master Rank and an upperclassman asking for a match, I¡¯m sure that won¡¯t be a problem with you...¡± The attractive boy¡¯s eyes shone a mysterious glint as he said his last line. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s fine with me. Then, let us have a fair match.¡± ¡°Haha~ awesome. Likewise, please go easy on me~¡± As the two positioned themselves apart on the training ground, some of the students around them began to murmur. But, the two did not seem to care as they stood facing each other. ¡°Are you ready~?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°oK~ Here I come.¡± Athan smiled as he began to spring towards Vinci while mumbling silently. ¡°Oh? He¡¯s trying to cast a spell while trying to get close to me? Interesting..¡± Vinci thought as he got ready to evade the oncoming attack. But before he could see what attack was unleashed, with a single step Athan blurred towards Vinci¡¯s left side at an extreme speed. ¡°?!...This is..??¡± Just as Athan arrived at Vinci¡¯s on his left side, Vinci instinctively moved his body backwards to dodge. ¡°Pierce all, ?Freezing Bursts?¡± Upon Athan¡¯s completed words, an icy blast of several cold spears shot forth from the magical crest formed from his left palm. ¡°Tch. An area attack huh and a Mid-tier magic at that...guess I won¡¯t be able to dodge it in time.¡± At the immediate danger, Vinci quickly muttered, ¡°Shield me, ?Athena¡¯s Wish? A golden magical crest appeared on Vinci¡¯s right as the icicles came in contact with it. *BOOM! BOOM!* Several loud noises exploded as the icy spell found its target. But, when the explosion calmed down Vinci was no where to be seen. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°?!¡± Athan quickly retreated by springing backwards when he saw that Vinci was not in front of him. Suddenly, as he was landing, a fist came flying from his left side. Athan quickly parried it with his left hand and after deflecting it to the side, he turned his body to unleash a high right kick toward Vinci. *psh!* Seeing the kick, Vinci merely raised his left hand to grab the leg when his right fist got knocked away by Athan. Holding tightly onto Athan¡¯s leg, Vinci was just about to cast another spell when he felt Athan twisting his body. ¡°!!¡± The boy quickly let go and stepped backwards as Athan had managed to place his left palm on the ground and twist his body backward to unleash a left kick towards Vinci¡¯s face. ¡°This guy...he¡¯s strong even in martial arts techniques hm..¡± Vinci thought as he stared at the opponent before him. After regaining his balance, Athan once again faced Vinci. The two looked at each other for a moment, each acknowledging the other¡¯s prowess in magic and martial arts, before they burst forward towards one another again. As fists flew and legs raised, attacks parried and defenses broke, the two went at each other in a flurry of martial arts techniques. Athan shouted, ¡°!¡± as his fists seemed to have multiplied and came flying at Vinci at once. But Vinci, who had his body involuntarily trained and honed through several life and death experiences on other dimensional worlds, was able to easily dodge within the oncoming barrage. Even without using special martial arts techniques or magic spells, his body -- and his senses-- was already monstrous enough to pick up attacks that were normally difficult to perceive without the aid of magical buffs. That was how he was able to unleash devastating attacks during the turmoil with Batomi and his gang without the use of martial art attacks. A mere forceful punch from him was enough to appear as if it were a blur and shatter the bones of his enemies with ease. ¡°!!¡± Blasts of ice exploded from Athan¡¯s palm at Vinci. But the dark-haired boy easily countered, ¡°¡± ¡°Kh!....!!¡± ¡°¡± ¡°Hiding in your clones won¡¯t help!...!!!¡± *BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!* The ground around them shattered and exploded as it was unable to endure the impacts. As the two continued to exchange blows in the battle that had somehow escalated to a contest of martial arts, Athan couldn¡¯t help but secretly admire his opponent. ¡°How is this possible...for me who is not only strong in magic, but martial arts technique as well to be unable to find a weak spot in his defense...is he really a No Rank? Hahaha¡­¡± Athan grimly smiled as he thought about this. Because he was momentarily distracted by his thought, his defense weakened for a split second. But this split second was all Vinci needed. After all, on the battlefield, it doesn¡¯t even take a second of carelessness before someone is dead. With a swift movement from him, Vinci forced both of Athan¡¯s arms back. With his practice partner¡¯s defense completely down, Vinci moved forward and turned his body as he quickly formed a glowing sword shaped energy in his right hand. As he finished his body turn and slashed the glowing sword towards Athan, it stopped a few centimeters away from his throat. In two moves, he had broken his opponent¡¯s defense and successfully launched a fatal counterattack. Athan slightly paled when he saw the glowing sword. ¡°Ah~ I concede. You really are strong, Vinci¡­¡± Athan raised both of his hands in defeat as he slowly shook his head. Vinci nodded as he slowly lowered his energy blade. He looked at Athan in a slightly new light now. Although he had held back quite a bit, he was surprised that Athan was still able to keep up with him. This not only impressed Vinci but made him a bit happy that he had befriended a strong ally -- even if it¡¯s temporary.. ¡°But man...to think you could even use condensed Soul Power as well...you really are filled with surprises huh.¡± Athan looked at Vinci was a slightly puzzled expression. ¡°Condensed Soul Power huh...the process where one molds their soul power and then causes it to animate in real life. The SP that¡¯s condensed could be transformed into anything the user desires and holds relatively high destructive power...so that¡¯s what they call this power...¡± Vinci looked down at the glowing sword shaped energy in his hand. He never really thought much about it as he often used this power on various dimensional worlds, though the naming for channeling this energy wasn¡¯t called ¡°SP¡± as it varied from world to world. He tend to use it since it was much more durable and powerful than regular weapons found on most worlds. And with growing use, it became easy to instantly form this energy as if he was breathing air. Once the battle between the two ended, Vinci hadn¡¯t notice that the loud noises around him were coming from his classmates who began to once again frantically gossip among themselves. They had witnessed yet another impossible scene. ¡°Hey...isn¡¯t the guy he was fighting that Athan from the Greymony Clan?...¡± ¡°Yeah...but wasn¡¯t there a rule that stated that the upperclassmen can¡¯t fight with the lower classmen??¡± ¡°Well, it looks that although that Athan had asked Vinci first, Vinci accepted it, so it was a mutual agreement¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s not important! Didn¡¯t you guys see that battle?? Vinci won against that Class 7 student from the Greymony Clan!!¡± ¡°Maybe Athan went easy on him¡­?¡± ¡°¡±¡±Hmm¡­.¡±¡±¡± The students in Class 6 all had on a complicated expression as they looked towards the two boys standing together in the battlefield calmly chatting. But only one student wore a cold, serene expression the whole time. Although her facade was broken slightly when she saw Vinci able to use condensed Soul Power, Cecilia instantly regained back her posture. *Ding Dong~* As the bell rang, all the students began to walk towards the School to pack up and leave. Cecilia stood behind and gazed at Vinci¡¯s back as he followed the other students. Slowly, her facade fell apart. Now, she wore an uncertain expression on her face as she watched Vinci disappear into the distant. After reflecting on her own actions, Cecilia had come to a conclusion herself that she had no rights to get angry at Vinci. In the first place, the two of them weren¡¯t even close so if Vinci had lied to her at the start then it was quite understandable. And having realized this, she quickly became dejected as she recalled how she had lashed out Vinci on his first day at School. And thus, she decided to find Vinci and properly apologize only to witness the incredible practice match between one of the top upperclassmen and the new student, Vinci. Once the battle had ended, Cecilia didn¡¯t know how to approach Vinci anymore. Or more like, it became even harder to approach him as now there were simply too many questions whirling inside her head. Even after Vinci had long disappeared into the distance, Cecilia was still looking in the same direction that he left. Her perplexed expression still remains. ¡°...Just...who are you, Vinci Noburo?¡± Chapter 17: The Rising Sun Clan Chapter 17: The Rising Sun Clan --- --- --- *Zzz!* As Vinci walked through the respective School portal, he arrived in his neighborhood. ¡°Ahh, today was quite a long day...to think I¡¯d have two battles on the same day while having to hold back at the same time..¡± Vinci mumbled as he began to walk down the dark alley towards his house. *Fwoosh! Fwoosh!* ¡°?!¡± Vinci stopped when two shadows swooped down from the sky and landed in front of him. As he tried to see who they were, he quickly realized that it would be impossible. Both of the strangers were clad in pure black clothings from the tip of their head to the soles of their feet. They were both completely wrapped in darkness. As Vinci wondered who they were, the left shadow spoke up, ¡°Greetings, Mr. Noburo. We are from the Rising Sun Clan. As per our Clan Master¡¯s order, we have come to fetch you.¡± ¡°...And why is that so?¡± To Vinci¡¯s question, this time the shadow on the right spoke, ¡°Because he wishes to meet you.¡± ¡°Meet me huh...well, if it¡¯s the Master of a Clan that wants to see me it might be worth a visit¡­¡± Vinci thought as he studied the two ink-dyed figures standing before him. ¡°Alright, I will go with you guys.¡± ¡°¡®Then, allow us to guide you.¡±¡± The two shadows walked forward and the left shadow placed its raven hand on Vinci¡¯s shoulder. The grip was firm and filled with confidence. In an instant, the surrounding became white¡­ *** ¡°It is just as you had said, Headmaster Ember. Our report stated that when our agents went to check on the boy, Vinci Noburo, at his house there was no one inside. Instead, they found traces of Teleportation magic being used outside the house¡¯s vicinity. The boy was most likely kidnapped by the Rising Sun Clan as you had mentioned.¡± The secretary Sina stood facing the elder in the dimly lit room. The only source of light was from the crescent window behind the desk where the elder sat. It was now past midnight and school had closed several hours ago, but strangely the two women had remained in school. ¡°Mmm¡­ I knew the Rising Sun Clan would eventually make a move on the boy sooner or later, but this is a bit too soon...well, perhaps not, given his record-breaking test score...and that unusual display of strength¡­¡± The headmaster smiled as she thought back to how she had secretly tailed the boy at the beginning. She had watched over the boy since the moment she locked eyes with him during the School introduction ceremony. At that moment, she had placed a tracking spell on the child that was prepared before hand. After that, all she had to do was ¡°will¡± the spell to latch onto the specific target that she had set her eyes on. Once the tracking spell was successfully placed on the boy, headmaster Ember was able to clearly see all of the boy¡¯s movement in her mind from a bird¡¯s point of view. She simply had to think of the child for the tracking spell to activate and transmit a mental live footage of the boy¡¯s current actions, thought she made sure to not use the tracking spell when the child went to do his ¡°business¡± in the restroom¡­ But because of the tracking spell placed on Vinci, the headmaster had already seen Vinci get taken away the moment the two dark servants appeared. Moreover, she was able to see all the battles that Vinci had took part of these two days-- including the one with Emi¡¯s group. The elder was quite astonished when she saw the boy¡¯s overwhelming strength against his nine assailants. And her amazement only furthered when she witness the child fight on par with one of Arena Academy¡¯s top warrior, Athan Greymony. If there was a ranking system in this school that determines a student''s¡¯ battle prowess, the child Athan would no doubt be ranked in the top five¡­ ¡°Should we not go help him, Headmaster?¡± Sina¡¯s question brought the headmaster back into reality. ¡°Oh...ah, it¡¯s fine, it¡¯s fine. I¡¯m sure the Rising Sun Clan will not do anything to the boy...after all, they should know better than anyone what I¡¯m capable of if they dare harm one of my students..¡± The headmaster¡¯s eyes let out a murderous glint as she intertwined both her hands in front of her solemn face. To this, the secretary hurriedly lowered her posture as she gave a slight bow. ¡°I understand, then we will not take part in this as you wish.¡± ¡°Mmm¡­¡± The elder then turned to look out the window behind her. ¡°I wonder just what are you up, little Earl?¡± *** When Vinci opened his eyes, he found himself standing in a grand room. The walls were colored brown like wood with large bookshelves each planted in the four corners of of the spacious room. As he turned to observe his surrounding, he noticed that the two shadows were standing behind him now, one on each of his side, as they maintained as slightly bent posture. ¡°So, I presume you are Vinci Noburo?¡± A deep voice boomed out and Vinci immediately turned to face the source. In front of him, he saw a middle aged man dressed in golden-white robe with three stripes of white hair on his otherwise dark head. The man was smiling at him. ¡°Yes..I am. And I¡¯d assume you¡¯re the Clan Master?¡± ¡°That is correct. My name is Earl FlameHeart, Master of the Rising Sun Clan.¡± ¡°Ah~ so he is Cecilia¡¯s father then¡­¡± Vinci quietly thought as he looked at the man before him. ¡°And today, I asked that you be brought before me because I have a proposal for you that you might be interested in¡­¡± Earl continued as he eyed Vinci. ¡°...Would you like to join the Rising Sun Clan as an official member?¡± ¡°?!¡± Although each Clan in the United World was large, it was not easy to become a member. Normally, to become one, the person would have through a rigorous training menu before finally deemed worthy enough to be admitted. And upon admission, there are various benefits to be apart of a Clan, though more or less if one is just a member, they would simply be viewed as ¡°pawns¡± for the Clan. Knowing this, Vinci unhesitantly replied, ¡°...I refuse.¡± ¡°? And why did you?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have much of a desire to work under someone else. Especially if the benefit doesn¡¯t outweigh the work required --and being a ¡°slave¡± to a Clan seems like it would be a drag..¡± You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. Earl slightly narrowed his eyes at Vinci and spoke, this time with a hint of menace in his tone.. ¡°Oh? Well then, since you refused I cannot let you leave so easily now....ahaha, don¡¯t look at me like that, I will not kill you.¡± Vinci had begun to glare at the man when he talked of not allowing him to leave easily. The Clan Master continued to speak, ¡°Instead, how about we do this: if you can endure the Soul Power that transmit at you to a certain extent, then you are free to go.¡± The master smiled as he stared Vinci. By making this proposal, Earl had wanted to test the boy¡¯s Soul Power level. After all, measuring another¡¯s Soul Power doesn¡¯t have to be limited to just using a crystal ball. By transmitting one¡¯s SP towards another person, they are able to gauge how strong the other¡¯s SP rank is at depending on how that person reacts to their SP aura. If a person¡¯s SP is stronger than the other person, the latter would inevitable either show expressions of pain or faint completely. That is because emitting one¡¯s SP is similar to that of a killing intent. The SP aura emitted by the person ravages the enemies¡¯ body system in order to gauge their level of skill while at the same time implanting their dominance in that person¡¯s body. Only highly advanced individuals in the upper Ranks are able to do this. Lower ranks would only be able to merely emit killing intents, but not quite able to gauge their opponents rank. Vinci stared back at the Clan Master before nonchalantly replying. ¡°Fine. You may try me.¡± Earl¡¯s smile widened upon the boy¡¯s agreement. ¡°Alright, then I will begin now¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯ll start by emitting a bit of SP at him..¡± Earl thought as an explosion of invisible energy blasted towards Vinci. Vinci did budge a bit as his expression remained calm. ¡°Hmm...good, seems like he might actually be able to use some SP..alright, let¡¯s take it up a notch.¡± Another wave came rolling towards Vinci, this time it is a lot thicker and heavier than before. But even so, Vinci¡¯s expression was unreadable. ¡°Ho...this boy, he could withstand a Grandmaster Rank¡¯s SP energy...I knew he was not so simple! Haha!...hmmm let¡¯s see how long he can last!¡± This time, Earl took a deep breath as he tilted his head upward. When he leveled down his head, his eyes suddenly opened as an incredible amount of aura burst forth from his very being. The papers on his desk scattered as the room slightly trembled. Even the two shadows that was quietly standing in the back let out a slight yell as they quickly fell backward. They couldn¡¯t withstand the aura that Earl was projecting towards their direction, though it was mainly at the boy. Earl had expected by now the boy would¡¯ve at least fainted, but he stood there stupefied as he stared the boy before him. Vinci¡¯s face was still as serene as ever, and his posture remained upright and unmoving even before the explosive invisible force that is directed at him. Even a normal person ignorant to the knowledge SP would have fainted by now. ¡°H-how can this be...t-this should¡¯ve been my full power that¡¯s being emitted towards him, but yet he¡¯s not bothered¡­.are you telling me that this boy¡¯s Soul Power is beyond that of a Heavenly Rank practitioner?!?¡± The man slightly paled as he tried to process the impossible scene before him. Suddenly, a cold voice interrupted his thought, ¡°May I leave now?¡± Earl instantly focused back on the boy. This time, a chill ran through his body when he met the boy¡¯s eyes. The child¡¯s eyes reflected strange lighted as he silently gazed at the clan master. ¡°A-ah! Why, yes, you are free to leave now. No, wait, why don¡¯t reconsider your decision before? I¡¯m willing to even make you my direct subordinate -- no, how about as my direct disciple if you join us?¡± Earl had now realized the boy was a priceless existence. If it was true that the his SP rank is at or above a Heavenly Ranked practitioner, his power would be an enormous advantage for the Rising Sun Clan. But even if not, to be able to endure the aura emitted by a Heavenly Rank user is more than enough to deem that person a monster -- especially if that said person is only a mere 15 year old child. ¡°Haaa...this is the second time someone has asked me to join their Clan...why don¡¯t they understand that they have no use for me¡­¡± Vinci thought as he narrowed his eyes and firmly replied, ¡°I still refuse. Like I said before, I am not looking to join anything as of now. Now, good bye.¡± ¡°W-wait! Then, how about I make you my son-in-law if you come to our Rising Sun Clan?¡± ¡°...hah? You¡­¡± Vinci slightly tilted his head as he looked at the grand man who''s now desperately pleading with him. ¡°Haaa...alright, I¡¯m will help your Clan if you need me, but I will not join you. And I don¡¯t want to be your son-in-law...you should at least think about how your daughter might feel, making such a rash decision by yourself¡­¡± The clan master¡¯s face instantly brightened upon Vinci¡¯s words as he ignored his last few remarks. Even though he was unable to get him to join his Clan, if he were to have the help of someone talented like him the Clan itself will definitely prosper in the future. ¡°A-ah...thank you very much. Well then, Nelo, Selo, please escort our guest back home.¡± The two shadows who had been staying back slowly came forward as the left shadow once again placed its hand on Vinci¡¯s shoulder. This time though, the hand was slightly trembling when it came into contact with the boy¡¯s shoulder. But Vinci simply kept quiet. In another instant, when Vinci opened his eyes he was inside his house now. The two shadows were no where to be seen. ¡°Hmmm...to transport me directly into my house...well, at least that saves me some walking time.¡± Vinci shrugged as he started upstairs toward his room. ¡°It really has been a long day today...haaaa...¡± --- Thank you all for reading, you awesome people! :) Chapter 18: Tokyo Center City Chapter 18: Tokyo Center City --- --- --- The School is closed today. For the past three days, Vinci attended School with no problems this time around. This was probably most credited towards Vinci¡¯s practice match with Athan, which many students witnessed. Even some of the students from the other Classes left their Training ground just to observe their match. It seems like Athan whom Vinci had befriended was quite popular with the other student. Moreover, although Vinci was bombarded with a few unexpected events, he did not forget about the Event he received on True System. But, since he felt that there was no need to rush, he decided to put it on hold briefly for the time being until an idea springs forth. And recently, Vinci could someone watching him constantly from somewhere, and though the aura was faint, Vinci could easily discern the invisible presence because his senses were many times superior than a normal human¡¯s. He was able to recognize that a spell was being employed on him. Tracking magic, at that. Though by whom, Vinci had a slight idea but did not dwell into the matter since if his hypothesis was correct and it was ¡®that person¡¯ who had casted a tracking spell him, then that means there would possibly be a chance when ¡®she¡¯ would come to him for a fight before he does so himself. Or he could use the unconsented tracking as a reason to outright attack her...but that would be too troublesome. But nonetheless his decision to slowly take his time coming up with a strategy may have possibly been greatly influenced by his indolent nature. It was an inborn characteristic after all... Anyways, after cruising through five days of School, the students now arrive in a rest period that spans approximately two days called ¡°Free Time¡±. This short break from school occurs after each consecutive five days of attendance. They are free to roam the city in the Clan or simply stay home as they wish in these two days. Vinci, who is now briefly free from school, decided to visit the city of the Rising Sun Clan named Tokyo Center. Although city names are often neglected due to the fact that there¡¯s only one or two in each Clan, and most of them being insignificant, some cities would actually surface accordingly due to their importance, size and popularity. And Tokyo Center is one of such cities worth mentioning. In the Rising Sun Clan, this sole city that rests at the heart of the country is a valuable source of income and revenue. Since the merging of continents, many cities have been merged respectively, so many things normally found in other cities are instead all found in one. Each year the Tokyo Center city rakes in several million SMUs for its source of popular shows known as ¡°animes¡±, its attractive graphic novels known as ¡°mangas¡±, and its unique culture. Although it is now the year 2500, many countries, or Clans as they¡¯re called now, still retained much of their previous cultures and lifestyle. The only difference now is that people are not referred to as either Japanese, American, Russian, etc, but as ¡°Citizens¡± in their respective Clan. But the number one reason why the city known as Tokyo Center was so well-known is mainly due to its highly advanced technologies. It is one of the giants in the electronic and technology industries. Because of this, many people flock to this city to purchase the latest leading machinery in the United World. As Vinci left from his house and began to walk in the direction of the city, he saw a long floating bus slowing down to a stop before a red sign. ¡°Ahh..there¡¯s the bus...hmmm should I take it..?.....Nah, I guess I can just teleport myself there.¡± Vinci stared at the bus as it sped down the road. In the United World, there are various modes of transportation. These include taking the bus, underground train, airplanes, boats, teleportation, and summoned familiars that are able to transport its master. All the machineries float in the air due to the unique material called ¡°Skystones¡± discovered in the ancient ruins, which when imported into a machine¡¯s core, allows it to levitate in mid-air while the stone acting as an almost endless supply of fuel. And as for summoned familiars, the details would be for another time. *Zzzp!* Vinci lightly floated down the ground after using his teleportation magic. ¡°Hooo...this place is quite large.¡± The boy had arrived in the middle of a busy sidewalk as people hurried along the way. As Vinci began walking around the city in search of a building known as ¡°bank¡± and another known as a ¡°mobile shop.¡± Why? That¡¯s simply because Vinci had come to the city in order to register for a bank account and to purchase the rectangular block called ¡°cell phone.¡± He had neglected to cover these items at an earlier date ever since he arrived on Earth. But, after carefully thinking how when he actually began earning SMUs in this world, he would require some sort of item to store all the cash. Using his True System¡¯s storage ability would be quite wasteful as he only wants to stuff the ¡°essential¡± things that could come in handy during a dangerous situation. And so, he came to the conclusion of creating a bank account in order to store his monetary gains in this world. Also, Vinci had thought that since he made a ¡®friend¡¯, he should probably get a cell phone as well. After all, it was one of those cultural phenomenons in current society where people are always trying to keep contact with one another and the best way to do that is to get the other person¡¯s cell phone digits. He would be prepare if Athan ever asked for his cell phone number. Mm! While walking around the streets, Vinci suddenly froze in front of a shop displaying a variety of colorful books. ¡°W-what...aren¡¯t those the beings whom I¡¯ve met from my previous conquered worlds?! But...how does these Earthlings know about them¡­no wait, this was included in the information I''d absorbed before...¡± Although Vinci had absorbed nearly all the information related to Earth, he had stored many of them into the back of his mind to prevent over flooding. Otherwise, his brain would''ve "exploded" from the vast rush of knowledge... And as such, the shop Vinci noticed was what one on Earth would refer to as an ¡°Anime Shop.¡± The outlet featured many animes and mangas¡¯ wallpaper outside the shop to attract customers. But the moment Vinci had caught sight of some of these images he was quite startled. The beings he saw on these fantasy covers resembled closely with those that he encountered in the other dimensional worlds. Well, the monsters at least. Interested, Vinci walked into the shop as he picked up a book titled ¡°Craymore¡± and began reading. ¡°Hmm...although the names are totally different, the monsters described here are strangely accurate to those with which I encountered...¡¯Yoma¡¯...beings that feed on human flesh huh...although there weren¡¯t any ¡®humans¡¯ on Archipelagian Sphere where I encountered them, they were quite vicious. Especially on that small island-like region, man, it couldn¡¯t even be called a ¡®world¡¯ at all...probably a failed sphere? Hmm...whatever, it¡¯s over anyways. Man, even though I saw these kind of stuff from the Internet I absorbed, seeing it in reality was different story...¡± If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Vinci placed the book down as he surveyed the shop. ¡°¡®Dracula¡¯...¡¯werewolves¡¯...¡¯kraken¡¯...¡¯yokai¡¯...¡¯demon lord¡¯...¡¯ten-tailed beast¡¯...their descriptions on the abilities and strength are a bit off though the depictions are quite on point hmm¡­these humans, aren¡¯t they quite frightening to be able to discover these creatures? The Internet I took in only talked about people called "authors" making up these ''stories'' and ''characters'' from their imagination... I wonder if they know how to travel between dimensions then? Hmm...but there''s no record that indicates such progress on Earth''s history so far.....ehhh, how conflicting! I guess it was the right choice to first observe this world before taking action mmm! mmm!...¡± The boy closed his eyes as he nodded to himself. After looking around some more, he left the shop and again, started to pursue his original destination(s). *** After searching around for a while, Vinci finally found the building with sign ¡°Bank of the World¡± at the front. He entered the building and proceeded to a desk where a smiling female receptionist waited. ¡°Greetings, how may I help young sir?¡± ¡°Eh, I want to register for a ¡®bank account.¡¯¡± ¡°Most certainly, sir. To set up your account, may I please inquire if you are a student currently attending School? It was clear for receptionist to see that the customer before her was a child, but it was a different matter to ascertain if he was a student or just another young customer. Thus, the question was to answer this. ¡°Ah, yes. I am attending Arena Academy. (not like I could say any other ¡®school¡¯ haa..)¡± ¡°Alright. May I see your +Arena device?¡± ¡°Hm? Oh, sure.¡± Vinci pulled out the black rectangular block and handed it over to the lady. The bank clerk looked down to examine it for a while before looking up with a fresh cheerful expression on her face. ¡°Alright, thank you for your cooperation. Since it is now certain that you are a student, we are able to directly connect your new bank account to your +Arena device. This will be convenient when paying for items and if you want to deposit any SMUs, you may simply teleport it over to our bank using our bank¡¯s teleportation system. This is linked up directly to your +Arena as well, and should not consume any of your SP. Also, because you are a student, there will be no initial fee for setting your bank account, nor any interest rates, and of course, neither will there be monthly maintenance charges. You will be able to use your bank account completely free of any charges. Will that be fine with you?¡± ¡°Oh? What does this have to do with being a student, miss?¡± ¡°Ara? You don¡¯t know? Students are given special privileges because they are recognized as the rising cores of the next generation. And since there is only one school in the entire continent, students are often exempt from being charged by anyone. They can practically do purchase whatever they desire in their respective Clan -- completely free of charge. After all, each one of us do desire to be remembered by some of the students that would naturally rise in fame over time¡­¡± Noticing the lady¡¯s embarrassed smile, Vinci understood. ¡°Ahh...I see, thank you for enlightening me.¡± Now, seeing that there¡¯s no reason to reject such a convenient offer, Vinci easily accepted. The lady then took his device and went to a room behind her. Several minutes later, she returned with Vinci¡¯s gadget. ¡°Thank you for waiting! We have successfully incorporated your bank account into your +Arena device. You will now be able to use and deposit your SMUs at anywhere anytime. Thank you for choosing us!¡± Vinci thanked the lady as he received his device and left. Although any bank would have been fine with Vinci, it was by pure chance he found the ¡®Bank of the World¡¯ to create his account. But, of course, he wasn¡¯t going to tell that to the kind lady. So he left. Next, Vinci arrived at a mobile store, Wireless Dial. And as if to confirm the bank lady¡¯s explanation, the moment Vinci showed the store owner his +Arena device, the proprietor told him that there will be no fees to his phone usage and on top of that, his +Arena could be customized to install functions similar to that of a regular phone. The owner said that it would make the +Arena closer to something called a ¡°smartphone¡± or a device where one can call from a touch of a finger on the screen. With almost the same anticipated process, the owner took Vinci¡¯s +Arena to the back of the store and came out a few minutes later with his new device now equipped with the function of a phone. When Vinci opened his +Arena¡¯s screen, at the center there was now a small rectangular button on it with the image of a telephone labeled ¡°Phone.¡± Beside this icon to the right, there was the usual rectangular button with the picture of a two swords crossing each other, creating an ¡®X¡¯. This was the button, labeled ¡°Battle¡±, used to initiate a match with another student by simply clicking on it and typing in the student¡¯s name, though Vinci has yet to even open the app itself for practical use. It was ¡®just a hassle¡¯ in his eyes, after all, to fight meaninglessly. Once again, Vinci thanked the owner before proceeding out of his store. After looking around a bit more and seeing that there was nothing else to do, he decided to end his adventure and embark home. The sun was lowering and turning orange by now. ¡°Hmm...seems like +Arena is quite a versatile gadget huh..but how come the School didn¡¯t tell us it could be linked with many other functions¡­could they have wanted the students to find out for themselves? Ahhh, whatever! At least I was able to finish what I came here to do..¡± Vinci quietly mumbled to himself as he activated his teleportation spell and a blinding light engulfed him. Once the light settled down, Vinci found himself at the heart of his home, the living room. Although it was not yet nighttime, with his long journey in trying to find his destinations, Vinci began to head towards his bedroom. Outside, the sky quickly became a dye of night blue as ¡®lamp posts¡¯ set up around the neighborhood began to lit up one by one... Chapter 19: Nascent Storm Chapter 19: Nascent Storm --- --- --- Now is the second day of Vinci¡¯s Free Time. As he sat cross legged on his bed, his eyes was closed. With his brows tightly knitted together, one could easily tell that he was in deep thought. The boy was in the middle of contemplating how to become the headmaster of his school. ¡°Hmm...should I just go directly attack her? No, no...that would stir up too much trouble...maybe request a formal duel with her?..¡± As Vinci said this, he glanced over at his +Arena laying on the drawer near him. Although Arena Academy gave off an astute and grand feeling on the inside, the true situation was closer to being like a battle royal. And going off this idea, it also meant that a student can challenge anyone within the academy if they desired --- and this includes teachers and even the headmaster. But, this was only a theory Vinci had. He himself have not heard of any one challenging a teacher to a duel, much less the headmaster herself, but then again he was quite new and had only attended school for a week. After thinking for a while, Vinci reached for his +Arena as he opened up his device and tapped the ¡°Battle¡± icon. He immediately typed in the ¡°Headmaster Ember.¡± Within a second, a basic profile of the headmaster with her picture at the center popped up on the screen. Under her image and name there was simply a large rectangular green button labeled ¡°Request a Duel.¡± Vinci¡¯s eyes lit up when he saw this. ¡°Yessss!! I can formally challenge the headmaster! But...how do I convince her to give me the headmaster seat if I do win?...hmmm¡­.¡± Although the boy was in joy a moment ago, he quickly became quiet again when he realized that he still had not completely solved his issue at hand. ¡°Arghh, whatever. I¡¯ll just challenge her for now and win, then I¡¯ll think about what¡¯s next.¡± As he said this, Vinci¡¯s tapped the large green button on the screen. Suddenly, a box appeared on his screen. ¡°!?¡± [table][Special Warning]You are requesting a duel with the Headmaster. If you are victorious, you will be eligible for the title of Headmaster at Arena Academy. Because of this, this duel will be treated as an official qualification match for the title. The current Headmaster is allowed to utilize anything, anyone, and everything to confront you. There is no restrictions to who or what the present Headmaster may bring and use in the match. But, only You are permitted to fight. No one else are allowed to assist you. Do you still wish to challenge?YESNO[table] Vinci¡¯s stomach churned with excitement as his eyes widened. Sparkles could be faintly seen within them. ¡°This is it!!¡± The boy would have never thought that to challenge the headmaster through +Arena would have meant an official match for the title of a headmaster. He thought he would have to request for it later if he were to win, thinking that it would just be another ¡®regular¡¯ match. But to think this kind of condition was incorporated made Vinci¡¯s heart leap with glee. Without another second of hesitation, he selected his choice. The box disappeared only to be replaced with another one right after. [You have issued a Duel to Headmaster Ember. Please wait for response.] *** *ping* Headmaster Ember glanced over at her +Arena resting on the desk. Although it was still during the Free Times, she was still diligently sorting through paperwork at her desk in School. When a notification noise rang from her device, she had slightly raised an eyebrow. It has been ages since anything came from her +Arena. Although everyone at Arena Academy were required to have one, the headmaster was the only one that had simply left her +Arena on her desk and neglected it year after year. Moreover, the headmaster¡¯s device only had the battle function and nothing else, so there was simply no need to keep it on her at all times. After all, there were barely anyone at school that had dared challenge her. So she had a slight look of confusion when her +Arena actually had a notification. And when she picked up the device and looked at the content, her perplexed expression turned to that of complete shock. On the screen, a box had appeared. [table]You have been challenged by Vinci Noburo. Accept?YESNO[table] This was a challenge request. For her. As a headmaster. ¡°This...haha, interesting!...But...why does this boy want to challenge me? He wishes to become a headmaster? Hmm¡­¡± Although there were almost no one that dared to challenge the headmaster in school, it was a different story outside of the facility. That is because the position of being a headmaster of the only School in United World is largely significant. If someone from one of the seven major clans, or any other smaller clans, actually manages to become the headmaster then naturally they would do everything in their ability to ensure that the students from their respective Clans get the utmost treatment while slandering the other students in School. Therefore, the headmaster has to be someone that is impartial to all sides. But even still, there are those that wishes to take over the headmaster position by sending over assassins and challengers in hope of taking down the current headmaster. If that is to be fulfilled, then the Clans would immediately be able to swarm into the School and debate over each other for control. But why don¡¯t they do so right from the start? Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.That¡¯s simply due to the current headmaster¡¯s strength and politics. Although there are no SP rank requirements needed to be headmaster, the ones who¡¯ve ascended this position have historically been at least on or above the Heavenly Rank. Headmaster Ember is one of the four beings known to have reached the Spiritual Rank. Thus, it is extremely difficult, or nearly impossible, to actually defeat her in a front to front assault. Moreover, if all seven major Clans were to group up and attack the Headmaster simultaneously, they would become the laughing stock of the world, especially if they were to fail. The risks were too high. Therefore, only assassins and hired mercenaries were sent by several Clans in order to tire out or somehow injure the headmaster. They decided to patiently wait for an opening. After all, even Spiritual Rank practitioners are at least subject to human emotions and physical limits to a certain extent. While the headmaster was in deep thought, her secretary Sina walked into the room. She had also stayed behind to assist the headmaster, so her assiduity could be said to be on par with Ember. ¡°I have come to report that preparation for the annual Magical Beast Examination is finished¡­.is there something bothering you, Headmaster?¡± Sina had noticed the complicated expression on the elder¡¯s face. ¡°Ahh, it¡¯s nothing. I had just received a duel request from the child, Vinci Noburo.¡± The secretary¡¯s eyes widened as she looked towards the +Arena in the elder¡¯s hand. ¡°Are...you going to accept, ma¡¯am? He is just a child after all, and a new one at that¡­¡± ¡°Hmm...that¡¯s what I was thinking as well, but that¡¯s more so why I cannot simply decline. It might cause him to think that the headmaster herself had shrank away from the match because she was ¡®afraid¡¯, thus fueling his defiant behaviour. After all, this child seems to be in his rebellious phase as a teenager. These type of thoughts are not uncommon. So, I¡¯m thinking I should cut the bad buds before it actually grow into real trouble¡­¡± The headmaster paused and thought for a little more before finally looking down at her device and while smiling, tapped a button.
You have accepted Vinci Noboru''s challenge. Match starts in 3...2...1..Begin!
Then, she looked up at Sina. ¡°Sina, I want you to visit the administration office and ask the workers there to redirect this challenge that the child had sent me to all the Class 8 students. It doesn¡¯t matter if they all accept or not, but I¡¯m sure some of them definitely would. Then, I would like you to notify all the staffs in this school to be on standby and ready for battle tomorrow. Tell them to not do anything yet and stay within their classroom or within this school until I give the signal.¡± Sina was flabbergasted. ¡°I apologize for my question beforehand, but why do you have to go so far for just a mere child? Even if he had won a battle or two and scored a perfect mark on a national test, I do believe it¡¯s a bit overboard¡­¡± ¡°Hohoho~ I understand where you are coming from, Sina. But to deal with overly confident children like this, we adults have the responsibility to teach them the unfairness of this world. Not everything can be simply solved or won so straightforward as a 1v1 match.¡± ¡°...I understand. Then, I will immediately go prepare as you¡¯ve wished, ma¡¯am.¡± Sina slightly bowed and then turned and left the room. ¡°Hohoho~ tomorrow will be quite the interesting spectacle for me¡­¡± The headmaster doubted that Vinci would actually plan to attack immediately on the same day the duel request was sent, after all her location was unknown to him, or any other student for that matter, during the Free Times. The boy did not know that she would be at school right now and searching the entire city would simply take too long. But moreover, the elder was never planning to fight in the match herself, regardless if it was today or tomorrow. Although she had talked about putting the child in his place, she had given that job to the teachers and senior students. She felt that with that many talents and powerful people, it should be enough to frighten the arrogant boy. But soon, she would find out that it wasn¡¯t a mere child she had agreed to confront¡­.but a monster in human skin. Chapter 20: Chaos Chapter 20: Chaos --- --- --- Today, the boy finally decided to put his plan into action. It was time for him to challenge the Event. Just yesterday, Vinci had received the notification that the headmaster had accepted his battle request. This meant that he could now formally challenge her and achieve the headmaster position if he is the victor. With a happy-go-lucky mood, the dark-haired boy attended School regularly, and because of his infamous actions known throughout school, he passed the day without any difficulties. When the afternoon came by, Vinci quickly packed up and began to head downstairs towards the headmaster¡¯s office. There were three only floors in the School, with all the staff offices being on the second and the students¡¯ classroom being on the third. The first floor was for lockers and restrooms. Though the floors are little, the width of the school stretches tremendously, making the School look larger than normal. All the students by this time have already left the school ground and had headed home. When Vinci arrived in front of the headmaster¡¯s room, he looked down and then proceed to place his hand on his bookbag. In a low voice, he called out ¡°True System, store this.¡± In an instant, his bookbag was engulfed in a blue light and dissipated into the air. Then, a black box appeared briefly before dissipating. [True System Storage: 56.01% full] ¡°Alright...now I don¡¯t have to worry about forgetting my stuff later on.¡± With a satisfied expression, he lifted his head and faced the door before him. Then he stretched out his hand pushed open the door. But before he could, he felt a hand clamp down tightly on his right shoulder. Vinci turned around to see a tall male, with light brown hair and piercing eyes staring straight at him. Although there were no uniforms or badges to indicate if one were a student, the boy noticed the +Arena device in his right hand showing that the tall gale he was facing was indeed a student. ¡°Eh, did you need something? I¡¯m kind of about to engage in a duel¡­¡± At that, the tall student snorted, ¡°Hmpf! Of course you¡¯re about to engage in a duel. Or shall I say, duels? You damn brat, how dare you challenge all of us Class 8 students and then dare run away to the headmaster! If we upperclassmen don¡¯t cripple you today, then all those trashes here would think they can challenge us as they wish.¡± ¡°.....¡± As Vinci listened to the angry gale in front of him, his expression remained serene. He understood that this was one of the ploys that the headmaster must have used in order to stop him from directly fighting with her. ¡°Then, this must mean that she had prepared some other obstacles to hinder me...hmph! So she wants to defeat me without even raising her hands, eh? I¡¯ll show you then!¡± Vinci quietly thought inside his head as his heart flared up. ¡°Alright. I will accept your challenges, Mr. Upperclassman.¡¯ ¡°Hmph! What are you even talking about? It¡¯s you who challenged US! Whatever, follow me. We¡¯re all waiting outside for you.¡± The tall gale glared at Vinci before nodding his head towards the school ground outside. Vinci turned to look out the windows behind him. He could see several figures standing on the ground looking up at him as the evening sun shone on their faces. Vinci sighed as he began to walk downstairs towards the building¡¯s entrance. The tall student who had noticed Vinci¡¯s sigh and thought that he had resigned himself to his demise let out a soft chuckle as he imagined the pain that he was going to inflict on the boy¡­ When Vinci arrived outside, all the eyes of the Class 8 students were glaring at him. Some even had killing intents directed right at him, though Vinci simply ignored them. As he walked towards the older students, his face was one of extreme boredom. As Vinci approached them, some of the students had on looks of disdain as they began to discuss among each other. ¡°Hey...are you sure it¡¯s him?¡± ¡°Short black hair...sharp and dark colored eyes...wearing a indolent expression...and seeing that Guma is escorting him...yup, it¡¯s got to be that kid who challenged us all.¡± ¡°Heh! That brat is so dead. If I don¡¯t break some of his bones today, I won¡¯t be called Tae-sung!¡± ¡°Hahaha, be patient. Everyone here must at least take a turn beating him a bit, otherwise how we gonna keep our face as well?¡± ¡°Hehehe, right!¡± After a bit more discussion, the group of students turned toward Vinci who was now standing a few feet away from them. They then glanced over at the tall gale named Guma next to Vinci. Upon noticing their gazes, he gave a subtle nod. Immediately, without a word, one of the students at the front jumped towards Vinci. ¡°DIEEE YOU BRAT!!!¡± Vinci, who was carefully surveying the group, quickly reacted to the threat before him. Knowing that the tall student Guma was to his right side, he instantly sprinted to the left. As he did so, several other students came charging towards him and even Guma joined in on the raid as he started to pursuit Vinci right after he leaped away from him. The students that did not move were already preparing magic spells as they unleashed them one after another towards Vinci. ¡°?Frost Bolts?!!¡° ¡°Don¡¯t even thinking of running away! ?Hydro Pump?!¡± ¡°Ha! ?Wind Slash?!!¡± *BOOM!* *BOOM!* The earth exploded as several magical crests appeared and blasted towards Vinci, though they all were unable to hit their incredible quick target. But, because of the magical attacks, it bought enough time for some of the students to catch up to him as they lashed out with murderous intent. With their bodies strengthened due to the magic support spells from their standing classmates, seven students instantly appeared in front of Vinci as they blocked his path. Then, the students from the front along with ones who were approaching from behind Vinci leaped towards him as the he was forced to engage in pincer attacked. As Vinci dodged and parried a flurry of kicks and punches, he was slowly directed farther and farther away from the School building until he finally noticed that his back was no longer facing the school, but his front was. ¡°Hmm...did they want to prevent me from escaping into the School so they led me away? Haa¡­¡± One of the male students facing Vinci suddenly raised his fist as he slammed it down on the earth. Suddenly, several cracks appeared as it zig-zagged in the direction of Vinci. As if on cue, the students that were fighting Vinci quickly jumped back as the attack went straight the boy. Noticing this, Vinici quickly did a backflip as he tried to distance himself from the earth assault. And just as he did so, the ground he was standing on a moment before exploded. Vinci repositioned himself as he once again faced the group of students that were slowly closing in on him from the front. ¡°Tch, holding back while fighting them is so annoying...if this keeps up, the headmaster might leave before I get to fight her¡­¡± *KSHH!!* *KSHH!!* Several of the School windows shattered as figures flew down from the openings. Once they landed, they began to rush towards Vinci and the group. The Class 8 students stopped and turned back to see what was happening. Upon seeing what it was, some of their faces turned slightly pale. It was the teachers. They quickly saw that several more of the staffs came dashing out from the school entrance towards them. ¡°Dammit! It¡¯s the teachers!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t panic! We are all engaging in an official duel! They cannot do anything to us!¡± ¡°But then why are they rushing at us with such serious looks on their face??¡± ¡°Dammit, how would I know?!¡± Some of the students were in panic when they saw the teachers all rushing towards them with grim expressions. Although they were under the protection of the duel being official, it was still quite a scary scene seeing several powerful instructors charging towards them. Once the teachers reached the students, they slowed to a stop as they glared at them. The students at first thought the instructors were glaring at them, but they soon realized that their teachers¡¯ target weren¡¯t them --- it was Vinci. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. Seeing that the teachers were not interfering with the match, but instead seems to be on Class 8¡¯s side against Vinci, the students silently cheered in their heart. If even the powerful teachers wanted to punish Vinci for whatever reason, then today the foolish boy was definitely not getting out of this School in one piece. It was over for Vinci, was what they all thought. After all, not even the top Class 8 student dared to offend a teacher because of the overwhelming difference in strength. The upperclassmen were all merely Grand-master Ranks while the teachers were each at least Duke Rank with some who had already entered the Monarch Rank. And Vinci seemed to have offended several of them at once, which judging by the current numbers present, was around thirty four teachers. But, even seeing the group of teachers glaring at him and positioning their battle poses behind the students, Vinci was still not fazed. Rather than feeling fear, what he felt at that moment when the teachers appeared was annoyance. To him, having more people popping up to hinder him only meant more work and more time wasted. Seeing that the teachers were on their side. the students once again faced Vinci with new brimming arrogance. But at this point, Vinci was tired of playing around with them. He narrowed his dark eyes as he coldly stared at the mass slowly closing in on him. *Whoosh!* A dense pressure suddenly discharged from Vinci¡¯s body. The two advancing groups stopped as an aura that did not belong from this world engulfed them. The teachers and students¡¯ face became pale as they realized what kind of pressure they were feeling from the boy in front of them. It was a massive killing intent. One, that is almost inconceivable coming from a child as young as Vinci. Under this strain, two of the female students fainted as the rest of the people tried to stop themselves from trembling. Vinci coldly surveyed the crowd for the last time before fixating his gaze on a part of the School building, presumably the headmaster¡¯s room. He then began to slowly walk forward towards the direction of the school. The teachers who saw this clenched their teeth as they began incantations for their attack. They could¡¯ve afford to back off because it was the headmaster who ordered them to stop Vinci. Even under his tremendous pressure, they had to retaliate or else they risk losing all their faces not only as an educator, but a higher level SP practitioner. They would become a laughing stock to the outside world if words got out that several teachers weren¡¯t able to even stop a mere young child because they were afraid. So they attacked. The students who saw their teachers straining to activate their magic attacks, finally forced themselves to suppress their fear as they once again came charging at Vinci. But, the boy did not as much put them in his eyes. He merely focused on a single glass window of the School. The window that leads to the headmaster¡¯s office. As the students and teachers came rushing with an onslaught towards Vinci, the dark haired boy remained impossibly calm as he walked over towards the School. But before any of the attacks from the frenzied mass could reach Vinci, he murmured under his breath and four magical crests quickly appeared on the ground around him as energies burst from each insignia. The four blasts instantly intercepted the magical attacks that were fired at Vinci as the energies clashed and were then consequently negated. The sudden bursts also caused some of the students that were charging at Vinci to leap back in surprise. As the groups paused to collect their wits, small crests suddenly flourished under their feet. Soon, they quickly realized that they were unable to move. As if on cue, black smokes began to rise from the ground as it slowly crept towards its immobile targets. One of the teacher recognized the dark gas he hurriedly spat out a spell, broke free, and jumped back in panic while shouting, ¡°Quickly get away! He used ?Nilfielm? !!!¡± ¡°¡±¡±?!?¡±¡±¡± Several shocked and confused expressions rippled across the faces of both the upperclassmen and teachers. The spell ?Nilfielm? was indisputably classified as a High-tier spell, but it was inconceivable for the present audience to grasp the idea that a mere young child was able to use such a spell. But some of the students¡¯ shock quickly melted into fear as they realized that they were unable to break free from the spell. Although several students and all the teachers were able to use protection spells to struggle out of the spell¡¯s paralyzing property, around five of the students were unfortunate to be unable to break free. These poor students were subsequently engulfed in the black smoke as muffled screams could be heard from within. When the malicious smoke slowly cleared away, the students within that were laying on the ground were revealed to have either lost an arm or a leg as they screamed in agony. But this event took merely two minutes and during that time, Vinci had been nonchalantly walking through the baffled hordes. As if the screams were the sound of alarms, the students and teachers were forced to regain their senses as they swiftly turned to glare at Vinci. But this time, there was a hint of fear and awe in their gazes. Especially the teachers. When they had received the order from the headmaster to subdue to a Class 6 student, they were perplexed. If it was for just one kid, then wouldn¡¯t one teacher be more than enough already? But since it was a direct order from the headmaster, they did not dare question it much further and followed along. But after witnessing the boy¡¯s impossible blood thirst and his ability to cast a High-tier spell made them realize that the student before them is not that simple at all. But alas, alert as they are now, it was all futile. As Vinci continued to walk towards the school, seven large crest formations flashed in the air above the students and teachers surrounding him. Without waiting for them to voice their surprise, the crests fired out various magical spells. Powerful types of lights, fires, darkness, and lightning spells blasted the crowds. The ground shook with each impact as the crests continuously fired into the screaming crowds. Although the teachers were able to dodge most of the attacks, the upperclassmen were unable to cope with the sudden shower of spells. They easily fell prey to the onslaught from the sky. Once the rain of attacks stopped, there were only two students out of the original 28 left, with both being quite injured. The teachers had also been cut down to a mere number of 29 from their initial batch of 38. Several of standing teachers were injured as well. It was an unprecedented loss from just fighting a single child. Vinci continued to walk straight. From the start of his walk, he had not once stopped as chaos ensued around him. If the teachers had a grim expression before, then now they wore the mask of death as they glared at Vinci with eyes that could kill. They were fully serious now. Ten of the teachers slightly lowered themselves as tiny crests appeared behind the soles of their feet before bursting towards Vinci at an incredible rate. They raised their hands as they neared the boy, ready to unleash devastating martial art techniques. At the same time. The rest of the teachers quickly spread out and formed a large circle around Vinci, making sure to keep a relative distance as they all raised both their palms at him. Magical crests appeared in each of the teacher¡¯s palms as they all shouted at once in unison. ¡°¡±¡± ?Prism of Gravity?!! ¡°¡±¡± A magical crest flashed under Vinci¡¯s foot as it quickly expanded its size. Suddenly, the large crest began to shine as lights lit up the orange sky... Chapter 21: Vinci x Headmaster Ember (1) Chapter 21: Vinci x Headmaster Ember (1) --- --- --- ?Prism of Gravity?. Like its name, this magical spell is ranked as a High-tier for its ability to instantly sealing any beings or monsters¡¯ movements upon activation. This spell required several strong practitioners to activate due to the large amount of SP needed and is often used on Monarch Ranked magical beasts for purposes making it easier to capture or kill the beast. As its effect is to force several thousand tons of gravity down on its victim, which could easily kill a person therefore the spell is usually used on only high ranking beasts. And by using this spell against Vinci, this also meant that the teachers are now viewing the boy to be as a threat equal to that of a Monarch-ranked magical beast. As the lights glowed from the large crest under Vinci¡¯s foot, it signified the activation of the spell in its full force. The air around him condensed and slowly thickened as the current itself seems to be ¡°pulled down¡± to the ground. Only the teachers rushing at Vinci were not affected since the spell was specifically targeting Vinci. But it might as well not have even existed. When the spell was used, there was only a second pause in his steps before he regained his momentum. As he continued to walk within the crest the ground cracked with each step he took, creating deep impressions of ¡°footprints¡± in the earth. The surrounding teachers that were holding the spell all had a look of incredulity as they stared at the boy who was casually moving about in the high gravitational space they had cast. One of the teachers that was dashing towards Vinci noticed that he did not slow down even though the gravity spell was activated quickly turned to shout at the standing teachers. ¡°Oi! Why aren¡¯t you guys putting any energy into the spell? Don¡¯t hold back! Stop him!!¡± But the teachers had nothing to say. They were already pouring all their SP energy into the spell, but it was evidently having no effect on Vinci. ¡°I-impossible...how can this be?! What is he??!¡± One of the male teachers who was supporting the spell stammered as he questioned the scene before him. Not even Monarch-ranked beasts were able to move within the prism, yet the boy treated the effect of the spell with an indifferent attitude. Did this meant the boy was much more fearsome than a Monarch-rank magical beast? How could someone so young have such power? Before the teacher could think any further of the questions that were zipping through his head, he heard screams in front of him. Upon focusing once again on the scene before him, he saw several of the teachers that had went up to engage Vinci, while in the spell formation, being ruthlessly crushed. Even though the teachers were rushing at the boy with a flurry of martial art attacks, Vinci was nonchalantly waltzing through the blurs of fists and kicks as he easily slipped through them. As he lazily dodged a handful of bodily assaults, he suddenly paused briefly before flitting through a gap in the teachers¡¯ defense. Upon passing them, Vinci stopped. The teachers who were battling him a moment ago had all frozen in place before crumbling down to the ground twitching and unable to get up. None of the surrounding teachers in the circle saw how Vinci took down his opponents, much less the two injured upperclassmen who were standing a few feet away from the circle of teachers and busy healing themselves. But nonetheless, they all understood one thing. The boy was able to take down the ten teachers in an instant without anybody being able to see his attacks. The nineteen teachers remaining had started to hesitate now. They glanced at Vinci and their previous hateful eyes were now replaced with a glimmer of fear just like the students. Vinci had taken out at least forty one person and injured several more, while he himself was barely even scratched. Their large number in people meant nothing to him. And realizing this, the teachers became weary as tried to think of what to do. But they didn¡¯t need think any further. Since Vinci was not planning to give them to luxury to do so anyway. Noticing that the circle of teachers had release the hold of their spell and began to slowly back away a little, Vinci mumbled something under his breath as his started to walk forward again. Before any of the teachers could react, a crest rapidly appeared under each of their foot before it flashed a blinding green light, causing the teachers to cover their eyes, and sequentially exploded. Pillars of emerald light came beaming through each of the crests as they buried the teachers in their intense flare. When the lights finally twinkled down, the teachers fell down to their knees, bloods trickling down their mouth, before collapsing forward on the ground. Vinci strolled past his fallen assailants as he continued towards the School building¡­ *** ¡° ¡®R-Reprisal of the Soul¡¯....is he a monster?!...¡± Kyran Azarov stared at Vinci from the side as he watched the boy heading towards the school. Kyran is one of the top upperclassmen in terms of strength and wits, being the eldest son of the Rossia Clan. There were very few people in School whom were stronger than him, thus he came to view the other students with disdain. But now, even those few students whom he thought were powerful were all sprawled on the ground, clutching either their leg or arm in acute pain. Kyran¡¯s blue eyes flickered with fear as he froze in place, unable to approach the monster walking away from him. Although he had initially wanted to teach the boy a lesson for daring to challenge the heir of the Rossia Clan so arrogantly, he did not have one ounce of that desire now. Especially after witnessing Vinci¡¯s display of strength and the previous spell he used, ?Reprisal of the Soul?, which was considered a Grand tier spell, how could he even think of fighting the boy now? As far as he knew, only the teachers and a few of the Class 8 students were able use this level of magic. Moreover, the one Vinci had use was quite top class since the spell¡¯s ability is to instantly attack its victims at point blank range from the ground with a blinding green light. Even if each teacher was a high ranker, taking a Grand level spell head-on would be fatal. Especially one, that only attacked the ¡®soul¡¯, and not the physical state. That¡¯s why the teachers seemed to have not taken damage on the outside, but inside their body, they were already heavily injured. And seeing this, all Kyran wanted to do was get away from Vinci. With his brown hair reaching down to his ears, straight nose, fit body, and masculine facial features, Kyran could be call handsome in terms of appearance. That is, under normal circumstances. At this moment, his face was twisted in an ugly expression completely filled with fear and despair. The girl standing a little behind Kyran was no different. Her beautiful oval face, slim figure, black hair, and equally black eyes would have marked her to be no less a great beauty. But like Kyran, at this moment, her charm was easily overridden by her uncontrollable fear surging up from the depths of her heart. This girl, who goes by the name Irina Babylon, is the next heir of the proud Kingdom of Sand Clan. She placed second best in her whole Class alongside of Kyran, so it could be said that her abilities no more inferior than him. And if one were to talk about her Clan, it could be said that although the Kingdom of Sand is not as pompous as the United Sages Clan, they are nonetheless a prideful country and the members there always seem to hold an air of confidence around them at all times. They were taught to never fear others but to be brave in their heart and push forward. Cowards were not accepted, though this naturally applied to other Clans as well. But Irina, facing the wreckage in front of her, were unable to conceal the dread that was oozing out from her very being. She found it quite difficult to contain the trembling of her body as she watched Vinci¡¯s back while holding her breath. She feared that if she made even the slightest sound, the monster would turn around and finish them off for good. Although killing was not allowed in a duel, due to the erratic fear that the two star students were gripped with, they had temporarily forgotten. *** At the same time, the headmaster was standing pacing around her room now. There¡¯s a dark expression on her face. At the beginning of Vinci¡¯s battle, the headmaster was calmly sitting in her office as she viewed the scene in her head using the tracking magic she had previously placed on the boy. So even without going out, she could see the entire view on the school ground just fine. But as the battle progressed she felt that the boy was seemingly ¡°holding back.¡± Because of that she thought of how cheeky the child was and seeing that the upperclassmen were not enough to subdue him, the headmaster finally gave the order for the teachers to attack. And that proved to be a miscalculation on headmaster Ember¡¯s part. She soon realized that even the teachers were not fit opponents for the boy. As she saw from the tracking magic that was relaying the battle in her mind, several of the students were instantly taken out from a successive firing of magical crests in the air. Then, even though the teachers had begun to make their move they instantly struck down with another batch of magical spells. The boy had used several magical crests at the beginning before switching to a single Grand-tier spell which instantly finished off the remaining teachers. To be able to multi-cast magic spells at once was a feat only those profoundly talented in magic could pull off. Although there is an unlimited amount of spells one can use at once when multi-casting, the most recorded number of spells used at once was only eleven, and the person who did it was considered an unmatched genius of his time. And if one does not have the talent for multi-casting, even if one were to reach higher ranks, they could at most pull off a dual-cast, but no more than that. Moreover, the power Vinci displayed was inconceivable. Especially that blood lust that was emitted from the boy. Even the headmaster herself immediately stood up after feeling the bone-chilling aura. It was even able to reach the far building from the school ground. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. ¡°How could a young child like him wield such power?? And that blood lust...¡± The headmaster was once again baffled. After hearing about the boy¡¯s SAT score for the first time and after following him around for a few days, the headmaster had come to accept the fact that the boy, Vinci, was a unique being. He was an anomaly that would bring a raging storm to this large continent. And perhaps one, that could not be stopped at any cost. As she watched the boy arrive in front of a wall of the school building in her mind, she knew it was inevitable to fight the boy herself. She stopped pacing around the room and turned to face the wall behind her usual desk. She stood in the center of the room as she waited for the boy to arrive. *** Vinci stopped in front of the school wall. He was far left from the school entrance as he looked up at the slightly dyed red wall in front of him. He closed his eyes as he used his inhumane senses to pinpoint the headmaster¡¯s location. She had a ¡®particular¡¯ aura out of all the people he¡¯d met so it was easy to spot. It seems there is another person with her in the room, though the other guest seems to be trying to hide his or her presence. Vinci ignored it as he took a few steps back before slightly bending his knees and then charging at the wall. Before he crashed into the building, he leaped as he literally ¡®flew¡¯ up towards the wall. Because Vinci¡¯s body was special, there were many godly enhancements to it which allowed him to learn almost any martial techniques or skills. His body¡¯s strength and endurance alone would already make him a huge threat even without the use of magic or martial skills. As he neared a certain part of the wall, he raised his right fist. *Bam!* The wall caved in as Vinci¡¯s fist met it with a loud bang and his body flew into the crumbling space. He noticed the headmaster standing calmly in front. As he was just about to land, a shadow darted out of a corner of the room. It was the second presence he had detected before coming up here, but he didn¡¯t expect him or her to attack immediately. That was naiveness on his part. Before he could balance himself on the floor, a woman with round glasses wearing a business attire sprinted up to him while he was still in mid-air and reached out her right palm towards him. ¡° ?Air Bullet?! ¡° *Boosh!* A giant ball of air exploded from the blue crest in her palm as it blasted Vinci out of the opening he had just flew in from. As Vinci fell down, Sina immediately dashed after him and upon jumping into the air, she slightly bent her knees and chanted a spell. ¡°?Air Boost?!¡± Another magical crest appeared behind her soles. Upon straightening her knees and ¡®jumping¡¯ off of the crest, Sina instantly blasted down like a human bullet after the falling Vinci. Vinci, who was falling with his back to the ground, faced the lady who was quickly nearing him even though they were in mid-air. As he fell, the wind ruffled his hair, covering the upper part of his face from the nose and up. But before he completely fell to his demise or allowed his attacker to catch him, Vinci gently whispered while he was in free fall, ¡° ...you¡¯re wasting my time.¡± With that, turned his right arm until it was perpendicular to the wall beside him. Upon a slight whisper, instantly a large brown colored magical crest appeared on the side of the School. And without any warning, the wall distorted for a moment before a enormous rocky hand reached out. Sina, who was caught unaware, fell prey to the attack as the giant-like hand clutched her within its grasp. The hand raised itself into the air before forcefully flinging her into the ground below. *BOOOM!* Dusts of cloud flew up wildly before settling down. There was a large, round crater where the monstrous hand had threw its victim, with Sina lying unconscious in the middle of it. At the last minute, she had cast a high level body protection spell to help lessen the damage, otherwise her body would¡¯ve been shattered to pieces due to the impact. But alas, it was still not enough to fully absorb the powerful hurl. At the same time, another small hand had formed out of the wall and caught Vinci in its palm. The dark haired boy picked himself up as he stood on the earthly palm and looked up at the hole in the wall where he fell out from. Suddenly, someone darted out from the breach and landed softly on the ground below. It was headmaster Ember. Vinci turned around to direct his gaze at her below. With a leap, he easily landed on the dusty ground below. The two giant arms also quickly retracted back into the wall before the crests disappeared. The two stared at each other for a while before the headmaster broke the silence. ¡°To be able to even use the Grand-tier spell ?The Earth God¡¯s Arms?, you¡¯re really full of surprise, boya...tell me, what are you seeking to battle me?¡± ¡°To gain the position of headmaster.¡±, Vinci replied as he continued to coldly stare at her. His eyes were like a hungry predator who has found its prey at last. ¡°And if you were to achieve that, what would you do next?¡±, the headmaster further questioned. ¡°...I haven¡¯t thought that far..¡± Vinci quietly said as his face expressed a splendid uncertainty. There was a pause in the school ground as the world seemed to stand still for a few seconds. The headmaster stared at Vinci with a blank expression before bursting into laughter. ¡°Kahahaha! Interesting! Very interesting! You don¡¯t even know what you want to do with the headmaster¡¯s position, and yet you¡¯re fighting me to attain it. I¡¯ll tell you boyah, the responsibility of a headmaster is much more than it seems. If you¡¯re prepared to inherit it, then come! But I won¡¯t let you take it that easily¡­¡± The headmaster glared at the boy standing a few feet away from her. ¡°...I don¡¯t want the responsibilities. I just want the title.¡± Vinci answered flatly right after the headmaster¡¯s speech. ¡°....¡± There was another pause in the fiery battlefield as the world once again stopped to take in the boy¡¯s bold words. ¡°Ku!...Kuhahahaha!!! Ahahaha!¡± Headmaster laughed as she covered her eyes with her left palm. After a while, she slowly lowered her hand as she narrowed her eyes at Vinci. There was an evident coldness now present in those twin emerald jews. ¡°Alright, boya. Let¡¯s do this. If you are able to defeat me, I shall give you the title of Headmaster and help you take care of all the school responsibilities that comes along with it. You¡¯ll just have to do the main job of the headmaster, which I¡¯ll tell you only if you win. How does that soun--kh?!¡± As the headmaster was about to finish her proposal, an tremendous amount of killing intent exploded towards her. And the source was the boy in front of her, Vinci. This time, the blood thirsty aura was many times stronger than before, his thick pressure seems to ¡®melt the air around him.¡¯ Headmaster Ember was at once taken aback by the sudden strain around her. She stared at Vinci with eyes of disbelief. The level of aura she was feeling from Vinci this time was several times her own -- and it was still increasing! Vinci faintly smiled as he coldly focused on the headmaster. ¡°I will...gladly accept that offer.¡±, he said in a low tone as he thundered towards the elder at a frightening speed. Headmaster Ember, seeing this, immediately swiped her right hand in front of her as four magical crests appeared and each blasting a different spell at the approaching boy. She was able to multi-cast as well. Vinci saw the fired magics as he waltzed through the attacks with relative ease, dodging and slipping left and right. The headmaster smiled as she shook off Vinci¡¯s oppressive blood thirst. She was a Spiritual Rank after all, one of the four monsters in this world. How could she let some mere killing intent stop her? Even if it was tremendously powerful, it was not enough to completely shake the old monster. Then, just as Vinci arrived in front of the headmaster and delivered a blow with his raised right fist at her, he fell forward as his hand slipped through the elder¡¯s body as if she wasn¡¯t even there. ¡°?!¡± Alarmed, Vinci tried to regain his posture but alas, it was too late. Without missing a beat, the headmaster that Vinci attacked dissipated before a second headmaster Ember, the real one this time, appeared in front of the falling boy. With a swift raised of her hand towards the boy, a magical crest appeared on Vinci¡¯s chest. Before he could react, the elder slammed her palm upward towards Vinci¡¯s chest. *Ka-boom!!* Vinci did not fall back. Instead, a huge pressure had blasted straight through his chest and out from his back as column of air could be seen piercing through Vinci. It an attack directed to destroy his internals and inner energy. ¡° Kh!?¡± Small trickles of blood slithered down the corner of Vinci¡¯s mouth as he tried to escape, but it was of no use. The attack from the elder earlier had temporarily immobilized his body. Even if he had a godly body, in the end it just meant that the attack the headmaster used on him was monstrously powerful enough to briefly paralyze him and cause him to bleed. And that slight moment of immobility from Vinci just what the headmaster needed. As Vinci laid forward with the elder¡¯s palm still firmly pressed against his chest supporting him. headmaster Ember moved forward until she was directly besides the boy, her arms in a pulled back, arch position but still secured on his chest. As she stood still, she began to chant various spells at once. Suddenly, layers after layers of magical crests began to formed in the elder¡¯s right palm that¡¯s pressed against Vinci¡¯s chest. The boy, unable to move, could only wait as the crests slowly piled up on top of each other... Chapter 22: Vinci x Headmaster Ember (2) Chapter 22: Vinci x Headmaster Ember (2) --- --- --- ¡°Khh¡­.this young body is really hard to coordinate...now I screwed up and can¡¯t even move, tsk...This old lady...she¡¯s quite strong huh...¡± Vinci could only helplessly think to himself as the magical crests on his chest quickly layered on top of each other. Because of his body underwent changes whenever he was transported to a new Sphere, it was difficult for him to adjust to his new body proportion. Especially if he was only in his new body for barely a few weeks. And ironically, as a veteran fighter, he had made the amateur mistake of relying too much on his physical strength rather than resorting to his magic abilities. He had underestimated his enemy. This could possibly be due to the fact that his victories on the other planets have dulled his battle sense a tiny bit, even if it was only for a moment. As Vinci glanced at the magical layers, judging by the different crest colors, he surmised that there were around eight of them. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, boya. But this is the end. As this is a duel for the headmaster¡¯s position, the normal school rules won¡¯t apply. If you die from this¡­.I pray you will be wiser choosing your opponent in your next life.¡± The headmaster gave him a dim smile as she focused all the energy into her palm. The air around the two began to swirl as the pressure became heavy. ¡°Hmph!¡±, the headmaster let out a quiet grunt as she forced her palm into his chest. *KAA-BOOOM!!!!* The eight layers of magical crests flared as they burst into Vinci. As he was immobilized, his body was easily blew away several meters back before crashing into the wall. But it did not stop there. The eight magic spells coupled with a Spiritual Rank¡¯s SP energy forced Vinci¡¯s body through the school itself before erupting out of the opposite end of the school and roaring continuing through into one of the Colosseums. Only then did Vinci¡¯s tattered body lay motionless on the Training ground. Like a ghost, the headmaster at once floated down a few feet away from Vinci¡¯s body. She easily covered the distance in a moment¡¯s notice and arrived on the ground where the boy had fallen. ¡°With this...it¡¯s over huh...well, I have to say he did an astounding job being able to reach me. But I guess this is the limit of a child huh...if only he were to mature a few more years¡­but ahh, it¡¯s a shame that he must have died just now from my attack...I got too excited, aiyaa¡­¡± The headmaster quietly thought as she shook her head in dismay. Just how long would a powerful talent like Vinci appear again? In a hundred? Thousand? Never? There was no telling. As headmaster Ember turned to leave while thinking of leaving the clean up to the teachers laters, she suddenly felt an intense chill that caused her body to involuntarily tremble. She quickly turned around. What she saw caused her eyes to widen as her complexion slightly paled. Laying on the ground face down was Vinci, but now there was an overly dark aura being emitted from him. The pressure coming from the boy,who was supposed to be dead, was terrifyingly heavy. The elder felt like she was being suffocated alive. It was a feeling that was a thousand times worse than any of the times she felt from the child. If the aura the boy had displayed before had surpassed the headmaster¡¯s and caused her to feel ¡®pressured¡¯, then this time the atmosphere was one that had exceeded the limit of what the elder could withstand. Her body was not helplessly trembling as she stared at the fallen boy. Slowly, she noticed a twitching from the body. ¡°K-kh...please...don¡¯t get up¡­¡± Headmaster Ember panicky thought in her head as she watched Vinci first raise his right arm to support his body before slowing rising from the ground. He was like an un-dead, slightly swaying around as his head tilted backwards, his wavy covering his eyes. But the elder could see a dim, but surely, bead of blood-red light from underneath the masses of tangled hair. And then the next thing that happened, made Ember hold her breath as she watched in awe. As Vinci tilted his head back for a few moments, his hair suddenly fluttered backwards as it flashed from nightmarish black to snowy white. At the same time, a new wave aura burst forth from Vinci¡¯s body as it washed over the headmaster. She was sweating now as she took the wave of pressure at its fullest. It was even stronger and more monstrous than the previous suffocating one she had felt. For a second, she literally could not breath at all. And she was only able to catch her breath when the pressure lighten up. ¡°Ack! *cough!* *cough!*...t-this¡­this child cannot possibly be human!¡± Ember stammered as she watched the boy slowly lowered his head and faced her. As Vinci faced the elder, his eyes now were like the ageless winter, an extreme coldness that only lightly let off steamy mists of murderous intent. Under his breath, he began to whisper at an expeditious rate, ¡° ?Chaotic Bolts? ¡° [Mid-tier Rank] ¡° ?Spears of Time? ¡° [High-tier Rank] ¡° ?Shadow Flame? ¡° [Mid-tier Rank] ¡° ?Aesir¡¯s Wrath? ¡° [Grand-tier Rank] ¡° ?Odin¡¯s Lightning? ¡° [Grand-tier Rank] ¡° ?Demon Lord¡¯s Last Slash? ¡° [Grand-tier Rank] ¡° ?Thor¡¯s Hammer? ¡° [Grand-tier Rank] ¡° ?Mystic Shower? ¡° [High-tier Rank] ¡° ?Death''s Knocking? ¡° [Grand-tier Rank] ¡° ?Eight Gates¡¯ Tirade? ¡° [Grand-tier Rank] ¡° ?Dance of a Million Shatter? ¡° [High-tier Rank] ¡° ?Ice Rapture? ¡° [Mid-tier Rank] ¡° ?Yuusha¡¯s Last Slash? ¡° [Grand-tier Rank] ¡° ?Hex Judgement? ¡° [Grand-tier Rank] ¡° ?Orb of Void? ¡° [Grand-tier Rank] ¡° ?Phoenix''s Storm? ¡° [High-tier Rank] ¡° ?Ares¡¯ Rage? ¡° [Grand-tier Rank] ¡° ?Royal Break? ¡° [Grand-tier Rank] ¡° ?Lunar Skewers? ¡° [Mid-tier Rank] ¡° ?Crimson Waves? ¡° [Mid-tier Rank] Several magical crests began to appear around Vinci as they covered the sky, the ground, and even in the mid-air itself between the elder and himself. ¡°?!...h-how can this be!! Boy...a-are you even human?!¡± The headmaster could only sputter as she glanced at the magical crests flashing around her in horror. The boy had cast twenty magical spells at once, easily shattering the world record of multi casting ten magic spells at once. And the child had did it with relative ease, making the latter world genius pale in comparison. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. But this was not the time to remain stupefied. Sensing the incredible amount of SP in in each of the magical insignia, Ember realized that if she does not properly defend against them she would most definitely die. With a swift movement, she tried to leap back out of the Colosseum to avoid the magic attacks, but she was a step too late. Without warning, all the magical crests fired at once towards her. Icicles of deadly cold, fiery flames, draining darkness, space rippling beams, and piercing lights flew at her in a flurry of dancing luminosity. The ground around her rumbled as it crumbled and eight black colored eights rose around the colosseum. A Grand-tier Rank sealing spell, ?Eight Gates¡¯ Tirade?, which has the absolute ability to prevent anything and everything from escaping within its confinement. The headmaster was trapped within the blazing attacks. Trapped...within the cage of a monster. ¡°K-kh!...I have to defend now!!¡± The elder anxiously raised both her trembling palms in front of her as she gritted her teeth to endure the monstrous pressure from Vinci. ¡° O¡¯ a-ancient gods above, offer me y-your almighty protection, ?Panacea?!¡± As headmaster Ember finished her incantation, a bright golden light enveloped her entire body. She had just cast a Transcendent-Rank magic spell. For many practitioners, being able to use a Transcendent Rank magic is almost impossible, but since Ember is one of the very few who¡¯ve reached the ranks of Spiritual she was able utilize this spell. But more than that, Transcendent Rank magics are rarely seen so not many people know of them, much less being able to learn one even. And ?Panacea? happened to be one of only three Transcendent Rank spells Ember was able to discover throughout her entire life journey. And it took her tens of years to master each of of the godly spells. Although each Transcendent Rank spell¡¯s power is colossal, it takes an equally gargantuan amount of SP energy to use. Simply using one would instantly drain Ember of her abundant energy tank even as a Spiritual Rank. Thus, she tend not to use it as she would be automatically unable to fight after a single Transcendent Rank spell. But at that moment, she could not hesitate any longer as the elder realized that she was unable to avoid any of the oncoming attacks. There were simply too many of them, and each of the spell had a great magnitude of power stored within to potentially deal a fatal blow to her. So, she employed one of the top protection spells from her ¡®bag of tricks.¡¯ *BOOM! BOOM! KRASH!! KSHH!! ZZZT! BOOM!* Explosions and dancing dusts erupted around the Colosseum as everything crumbled and shattered like glass. As each magic attack landed on headmaster Ember¡¯s body, it was instantly negated no matter the size or power. She was safe within the flimsy glow of golden light covering her body. The spell was truly worthy of the rank Transcendent as none of Vinci¡¯s magical attacks even scratched the elder¡¯s body. Not even the Grand-tier spells affected her. But alas, because of the massive drainage that follows upon constant activation of the almighty spell, the headmaster¡¯s SP tank was quickly used up. Slowly, but surely, the golden light began to fade away within the bombardment of the magic blasts. ¡°Ah¡­¡± The headmaster could only quietly gasp as the golden light completely disappeared. There was a slight pause as the elder stood there stunned before shortly after her whole figure was engulfed under a rain of sorcerous assaults. *BOOM!* After a while, Vinci released the spells as they all quickly dissolved. He slowly approached the spot where the headmaster was last seen before being covered under his attacks. As he arrived before the headmaster, Vinci saw that the elder¡¯s body was completely torn up. Legs are sprawl around the hair, tattered arms lay twisted at grotesque angles, organs and intestines splattered on broken ground, shattered bones, and melted skin laid glittering in the red sun. It was surrealistic sight to behold. But Vinci paid no heed to the wreckage before him. He was waiting for something. Before long, a black box flashed in front of him. Seeing it, Vinci faintly smiled but soon a regretful expression replaced his usual look as he read the texts. [box border=2 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=3 width=140% bordercolor=#232323 bgcolor=#232323]You have killed the Headmaster. Due to this, you are unable to receive the title of Headmaster.[/box] The screen flickered briefly before a new text box appeared afterwards. [box border=2 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=3 width=140% bordercolor=#232323 bgcolor=#232323]The headmaster may be restored back to Life to complete the mission for the price of... (-10% Progress). If not, you will automatically forfeit the Event..[/box] [box border=2 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=3 width=140% bordercolor=#232323 bgcolor=#232323]Revive the Headmaster?: Yes | No[/box] ¡°Ahh...this function..¡± Vinci thought in his head as he looked at the screen with a complicated expression. This was one of the many other functions incorporated in True System. Since many times when Vinci did [Events] on the other worlds, there were moments like this where he would actually kill or break the required [Event] element. During that time, the True System would appear to notify him of his mistake, but it would always give him a chance to restore the item in order to complete the [Event]...at the price of severely decreasing his Progress percentage, of course. And this time, Vinci had went overboard and forgot about keeping the headmaster alive in order to receive his title. After all, the headmaster may kill him and nothing will happen, but if Vinci kills her then he would be unable to get an official approval of the title ¡®headmaster.¡¯ ¡°Dammit...I guess I¡¯ll have to suffer some losses this time¡­¡± Vinci grumbled as he raised his hand to select a button. The black screen flickered and a new message appeared. [The Headmaster will be restored now. Please wait¡­] Suddenly, an eerie black light surged from the ground, where the pile of the headmaster¡¯s corpse was, as the broken parts slowly submerged into the shadowy pool... Chapter 23: Outcome Chapter 23: Outcome --- --- --- ¡°Ughh¡­.¡± Headmaster slowly opened her eyes as she awoke from her slumber. Immediately she noticed the white-haired boy standing in front of her, his shadow towering over her very being. She let out a subtle shiver as she gaze up at the boy with an expression filled with awe and confusion. ¡°Was I not killed under this boy¡¯s onslaught? How is possible that I am still alive...and completely healed at that!....¡± The elder wondered to herself as she slowly moved her limbs. All her wounds had disappeared and even her fatigue was cured. Her SP energy tank was full now. But, she dare not try the boy once more. She had already seen enough of the monstrous strength the child had effortlessly wielded. It was at this point, that the headmaster had fully realize one thing: the boy she had just fought was a being who has the requisite power of one being at or above the Spiritual Rank. ¡°Does that mean...this child is the same at me? No, above me? Then...he could very possibly be at the True Rank?! T-that¡¯s¡­.¡± The legendary rank that no person in the continent have yet to reach. And the boy standing before was a being possibly capable of standing at the pinnacle of this continent. The very thought sent a ripple of shivers down her spine. ¡°Do you still wish to fight me?¡± An icy voice rang out, scattering Ember¡¯s thoughts. She stared at the boy for a while longer, his eyes like the deep abyss, before she lowered and shook her head slowly. ¡°No...I yield. As per our deal, I will transfer the rights of a Headmaster over to you and I will assist you in the office work as well¡­¡± Headmaster softly said before slowly rising from the fractured ground. Looking around now, she saw that the whole Colosseum was in complete ruins, the grounds were heavily dented and the walls were barely even standing anymore. It was as if a natural disaster struck the Training ground, devouring everything as it swept past. Vinci, looking at the dejected elder, finally relieved the tension on his body. *Swoosh!* His white hair instantly flowed back to being jet black once again as the pressure around him slowly dwindled away. After surveying the ruins, the headmaster once again turned to face Vinci. ¡°Well, I will now excuse myself. You may find me in my office tomorrow as usual¡­.this mess will be cleaned up soon so don¡¯t worry about it. Well, then.¡± The elder gave him a light smile before disappearing into the distance. Shortly after, a black box appeared again in front of Vinci. [Felicitation! You have successfully completed the Event¡­+19% Progress...Current Progress: 20%] The screen glimmered for a while before another text box appeared. [box border=2 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=3 width=140% bordercolor=#232323 bgcolor=#232323]Because you have damaged a vital Event element and chose to retore it, there is a system penalty in place...Current Progress: 20%...applying penalty...Current Progress: 10%...[/box] Vinci let out a sigh as he saw his progress drop down to 10% before the screen dissipated into the air. ¡°Next time, I¡¯ll definitely be more careful¡­¡± Vinci grumbled as he turned to leave the broken colosseum. The orange setting sun had now turned into a deep red color as the sky melted into a light blue-ish hue. It was time for him to head home. *** From the beginning of Vinci¡¯s battle towards the near end, there was no one present after school to witness the impossible spectacle. That is, except for one person who was hiding behind a broken slab of the once-grand colosseum. And that said person was Emi Luther, daughter of the Crimson Dragon Clan. After having been utterly defeated by Vinci last week, rather feeling agitated or crestfallen, the heiress felt an intense feeling of attraction towards the boy. As she thought about the boy¡¯s overwhelming strength in her bedroom, she could not help but clutch her heart as her face redden with excitement, and glistening droplets of sweat trickled down from her pores. At that moment, she decided that she must ¡®have¡¯ Vinci on her side at all cost, even though she still felt a tinge of fear towards him from their previous battle. The aftermath of the scene was quite gruesome after all. With that thought, Emi had decided to seek out the boy personally after school the day the students return back to school from their Free Times. So after walking around the school, she found Vinci standing in front of the headmaster¡¯s room. With a large smile, she was just about to call out to him before she noticed another male student, who was taller than Vinci, approach him. The two seem to be discussing something, but Emi could tell there was acrimony written all over the taller student''s face. After a while, the two left and seemed to be heading outside to the school ground. And was how she came to witness the monstrous strength of Vinci as she saw how he easily subdued the group of students and teachers who came at him. Although Emi had an idea of the great power of Vinci, she did not think he would be this powerful. But that was not the end. As she continued to stay hidden and watched the match with widen eyes, it eventually came to a point where Vinci was faced against the headmaster herself. At first, when she saw how the the headmaster had easily subdued Vinci, she felt a tinge of anxiety. She didn¡¯t want Vinci to die. But at the same time she knew she was helpless to prevent the headmaster from killing him. Not even her clan dares to openly make an enemy out of the School Headmaster. The elder was a Spiritual Rank, one of the only four individuals, in this world after all. Her strength was almost unfathomable. When she saw Vinci blasted through the school walls, she quickly hurried out of the school and head towards the back side. She then found Vinci laying in the middle of one of the colosseums. The headmaster was already there before her. As Emi neared the two, she suppressed her aura as she tried to hide behind the colosseum walls and peeked into the Training ground from behind one of the large cracks. With the headmaster being at Spiritual Rank, it was foolish to even attempt hiding one¡¯s aura as the elder could easily detect it nonetheless. But, as she was occupied with Vinci, she had paid no heed to her hidden guest. Emi held her breath then when she noticed that Vinci was not moving at all. Was he dead? Just as she saw the headmaster was about to leave, an extraordinary amount of dark pressure burst forth from Vinci¡¯s body. Emi was instantly frozen in place. The killing intent being emitted was just too much to handle, after all, even the headmaster had trouble keeping her cool at that point. Emi watched as Vinci got off the ground and saw his black hair instantly change into that of pure white. At that moment, under the enormous pressure, she felt the world stop for a brief second as she thought to herself.. ¡°....what..a beautiful color..¡± Before instantly being engulfed under the strain once again. From that point on, she witnessed another absurd scene where Vinci used several tens of magic spells while the headmaster used a protection spell that Emi was unable to recognize. But the spell was definitely powerful as it instantly negated all the attacks that approached the elder¡¯s shining body. But, soon she saw that the headmaster was unable to keep the spell going and instantly fell under a shower of spells. After a few seconds, she knew the headmaster was dead. She could not feel her presence any longer. But, once again, Vinci shocked the poor girl as she watched the headmaster sucked into a pool of darkness before surfacing, completely healed and restored as before! She was on the verge of doubting whether what she saw actually happened or not. But, she quickly realized everything was real. Emi was able to feel the elder¡¯s presence once again. ¡°A r-resurrection spell?! That¡¯s impossible! In all of the United World, there has only been rumors and theories about such a spell...no one has actually been seen using it even once! After all, only those of the mythical True Rank might be able to pull it off, but even then it¡¯ll be almost...godly¡­.just how could he possess such power?!¡­¡± Emi screamed in her head as she stared at the scene through the wall cracks. Soon, she saw the two standing as they seemed to be chatting for awhile before Vinci¡¯s hair quickly cooled down to a deep black color. The headmaster was the first to leave before Vinci turned around and vanished from the Training ground as well. Only Emi was left lying behind the crumbling Colosseum as she tried to organize her array of thoughts. She had witnessed the birth of a monster today. ¡°Haa...haaa...haaa¡­.I¡­.really want him after all¡­..¡± Emi whispered as her breath became erratic. Her body trembled, part from joyful excitement, part from deep fear. The sun soon set as the night covered the wading sky with an azure blanket made of twinkling stars... *** A shadow flitted across the rocky ground at an incredible speed before promptly stopping in the middle of a road. The surrounding is filled with trees and there was not a speck of buildings in sight. As Headmaster Ember stood still, another shadow flew down behind her. ¡°...What is it, Sina?¡± The headmaster asked her loyal secretary silently waiting behind her in jaded voice. After being almost easily defeated by Vinci and then even revived somehow, the elder had wanted to quickly leave the site. Not just because of Vinci but because of the humiliation she felt. Her pride as a Spiritual Rank was utterly shattered by a 15 years old boy. And thus, she left through one of the school portals that led her directly to her neighborhood. And though it¡¯s called a ¡°neighborhood¡±, there¡¯s pretty much nothing but trees. Ember lives many miles away from the city, where she secluded herself in her large mansion in the middle of a forest. She was situated at the furthest part of the country, the United Sage Clan. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. The reason for her seclusion was simply for her own protection. As the headmaster of the only School in the continent , there are always times when people who are after her life appear abruptly and try to fit into the crowd to secretly assassinate her. So, by living in a mansion away from a large population, it would be easier for her to pick presences of unwanted guests. As the leaves gently rustled in the wind, a quiet voice spoke out, ¡°...Are you really going to hand over your seat to him, Ma¡¯am?..¡± A tone of uncertainty and weariness was mixed in Sina¡¯s voice. The headmaster paused for a few moments, and without turning her head back, she answered with a light chuckle, ¡°..Well, it¡¯s not like I have a choice now, do I? You must have already witnessed -- nay, felt that child¡¯s power after you woke up, no? His strength is many times higher than mine. Even if I refuse, he would simply take it by force like before...though at that time, I don¡¯t think I would be so lucky as to once again ¡®revive¡¯...¡± Sina had on a pained expression as she recalled her experience. It was true that she awoke a few minutes after being defeated by Vinci, but when as she was trying to stand up, she was immediately startled by the abnormal energy in the air. It was an indescribably thick killing intent. And having been with headmaster for many years, she quickly realized that it was not the elder¡¯s, but rather it was a familiar aura that she had felt a several minutes back¡­. It was from the young man, Vinci Noburo, whom had defeated her. The realization at first came as a surprise for the secretary as she swiftly moved towards the energy source and arrived outside the colosseum. But before she could enter, she froze for a moment before her heart plunged into the abyss of fear. She had felt the killing aura coming from the colosseum double --no, quadruple? She couldn¡¯t tell. But as soon as the pressured increased, she could not stop her shaking and collapsed to the ground. She remained there until the pressure finally disappeared before she overheard people talking inside. Sina instantly recognized that the voices belonged to the boy and the headmaster and as she focused in, she overheard their conversation about handing over the headmaster position and Vinci¡¯s undeniable victory. Her headmaster had lost. The one she had greatly admired and thought that no one would be able to defeat was put down by a mere child. And from Sina¡¯s knowledge, the headmaster have only been defeated once before, but that was in a battle against one of the other four Spiritual Rank practitioner. The shock didn¡¯t come to her lightly, after all, Sina had left her home in her own accordance to work for the headmaster when she could have stayed home and enjoy a life of luxury as the first daughter of the Rising Sun Clan. But, she desired to stay close to those whose strength she admired. To learn from them, in hopes of someday reaching that same stage they stand on. And yet, the one she had looked up to was defeated --not by another Spiritual practitioner, but a young child. Yet, another part of her for some reason felt that it was an inevitable outcome after tasting the pressure that the boy had exhibited. If she were to fight Vinci then, she doubt she would even stand a chance. Then, when she noticed the headmaster leaving the school ground and heading into a portal, Sina quickly followed her and arrived at this moment. ¡°...I understand.¡± Sina said quietly as she closed her eyes in defeat. There was no way for her to convince the headmaster to change her mind at this point, once she had decided on something. In addition to what Sina had witnessed herself and what she had heard from headmaster Ember, the elder herself had quite a stubborn personality, too. Headmaster Ember gave a slight nod and then once again disappeared into the forest towards her home. After the elder was fully out of earshot and eyesight, two dark shadows flew down and kneeled behind Sina. The shadows were covered in a black cloth from head to toe and no discernible facial features could be traced. ¡°...Go back and report to our Rising Sun Clan Master that the School¡¯s headmaster will be handing over her seat to the boy...and that he should wait for a while before doing anything...¡° Sina spoke in a calm manner as she ordered the two shadows behind her without bothering to turn around. ¡°And...relay a message to the Clan Master--- my father, for me...tell him that I have decided to support his decision to marry off Cecilia to the boy¡­¡± She said in a tired voice as Sina motioned the shadows to leave. The two figures gave an understanding nod as they leaped into the nearby forest and vanished. Only Sina was left alone now. As the beauty with the round spectacles looked up into the sky, she thought back to the day when her father had informed her that he was planning to engage her sister to an unknown boy. In School, the two sisters are told to not make direct contact due to the difference in position in the facility; it was measure to prevent nepotism in the academy. But, after the day is over Sina would return back home to manage domestic affairs or enjoy some time alone chatting with her little sister, Cecilia. The two of them were really close; the house servants would often see Sina smiling more when she was with her younger sibling than when she was with another company. And thus, as Sina questioned her father about the proposed partner she later found out that that boy was none other than Vinci. Although she could see why the Clan may want to rope in someone who had scored a perfect mark on the SAT just as an asset for the future, she could not understand why they would want to marry off her precious sister to that person who was a No Rank. It did not make sense. So the Sina, who was usually cool-headed, resorted to arguing with her father for the first time to defend her little sister from being married off to a ¡°weakling¡± and directly cutting off her would-be prosperous future. But now she could see why. The boy was an anomaly. Someone who would eventually rise to the top of this world. If Vinci had the ability to defeat a Spiritual Rank practitioner at the ripe age of 15, it was hard to imagine just what kind of monster he would be at age 18, when he could officially be called an ¡°adult.¡± Having Cecilia marry to such a talent would definitely benefit her more than it would hurt her, though she also thought about her younger sister¡¯s feelings. ¡°If Cecilia refuses to marry the boy, then I will not force her...and I do not think father will either...but I will support father¡¯s proposal for now..¡± Sina thought as she closed her eyes. After a while, she opened them before briefly turning around and diving into the nearest portal¡­ *** *SLAM!* Clan Master Earl stood up abruptly and banged his palm on his desk after hearing his two attendants¡¯ reports. ¡°Is everything what you said truly confirmed? T-that Vinci had managed to overthrow the headmaster and take over her seat?!¡± ¡°Yes, this is what Princess Sina had told to us.¡± The shadow on the right spoke with its body in a slightly bowing posture. Earl breathed a sigh of disbelief as he plopped back down on his chair. The boy¡¯s action completely perplexed him and his victory even more confused him. He knew the young boy he met nearly two nights ago was not normal but to have the power to defeat a Spiritual Rank practitioner at that ripe age? It was unfathomable. The youngest genius recorded in the United World was a boy who achieved the Monarch Rank at the age of 17. He eventually went on to become one of the four great masters of the Spiritual Rank. But even that person did posses the enormous strength he had today at the age of 15. But the reports he received from his underlings just now completely blew away the inklings of doubt Earl had in Vinci¡¯s actual power. He now understood that the boy was a monster, one who was still not fully developed and would continue to grow until perhaps even if the four great Spiritual Rank masters in this world grouped up to fight him, they themselves would still be unable ¡°to hold a candle against¡± him. (Author¡¯s note:¡°Can¡¯t hold a candle to/against¡± is a saying that means not [to be] equal to someone; unable to measure up to someone.) And Earl was able to secure such a monster to promise him help if he needed. If not, and some other Clan had managed to reach Vinci before him and rope him to their side, who knows just how long his Clan would last if the enemy decides to attack his country with Vinci¡¯s help¡­ The middle-aged man closed his eyes shivered as he thought of this. ¡°We have something else to report to you from Princess Sina, Master.¡± Earl opened his eyes as he looked at the left shadow. ¡®W-what is it?¡± He said in a deep, shaky voice. He was still recovering from the shock of the previous reports. ¡°Princess Sina said to tell you that she had decided to support your decision to engage Princess Cecilia with Vinci Noburo.¡± ¡°!!!¡± The Clan Master¡¯s eyes glittered when he heard this. He was extremely glad that his eldest daughter had finally decided to endorse his decision. When he had first told her about his plan to marry off his second daughter, Sina was adamantly against it and even argued with him. Since his oldest daughter was usually so composed that it was even hard for him to discern her true emotions, the outburst from her came as a huge surprise. And because of that, Earl had decided to put off the idea for now before telling Cecilia. But now that Sina was also supporting him, Earl felt that it was time for Cecilia to know as well, to ask her what she thought of it. The Clan Master promptly swiped his right hand out and pointed at the door. ¡°Go. Tell Cecilia I called for her to meet me here in my chamber.¡± ¡°¡±As you wish.¡±¡± The two black shadows spoke in unison before melted into the floor... Chapter 24: Memory Synchronization...[100%] *Author¡¯s sexy note:
So I¡¯m back and decided to continue this novel. I¡¯ve been seeing that some readers are getting impatient with the storyline (I was too, lol), so I¡¯ve decided to speed everything up a notch and start patching up some loopholes that many had issues with. I was advancing the plot a bit too slow, so it was getting confusing for some of the readers, so I¡¯m trying to fix that. I¡¯m still experimenting w/ the art of writing, haha. Also, since exams and jobs are ravaging me, chapter releases are erratic. I will try to release at least 1 chapter a week, and perhaps even multiple chapters in a row one of those days (hopefully). Thanks for reading! :)
[SPOILER! IF YOU DID NOT READ THE FIRST 23 CHAPTERS!] Basic Gist of Entire Story So Far: Vinci arrives at Earthian Sphere. Gains all knowledge regarding this sphere through absorbing Googole. Enrolls in School to "fit in" temporarily. Defeat 3 bullies, Athan Greymony, Emi Luther and her group. Athan becomes Vinci''s first "friend." Vinci''s emotional state is unstable and feels like he''s in love w/ Cecilia FlameHeart from the Rising Sun Clan. This said clan''s Clan Master Earl discovers Vinci''s talent & wants to recruit, but only being able to gain a small favor from Vinci in the end. First [Event] shows up requiring Vinci to overtake Headmaster position. Battles Headmaster Ember, got surprised attacked, power released, kills her and then had to revive her in order to complete the Event. Story starts after the battle between Headmaster & Vinci. Chapter 24: Memory Synchronization [...100%] --- --- --- *knock knock* ¡°Come in.¡± Clan Master Earl looked up as his door opened and a dazzling young beauty stepped into the room. ¡°Did you call for me, father?¡± ¡°Mm.¡± Earl gave a nod as he looked at his daughter. Of his only two daughters, his youngest one greatly resembled his deceased wife. It was as if he was looking into a split image of his wife, which caused Earl to pause for moment, as he wondered if he really should marry off his daughter yet...Marriage engagements are quite old-fashioned in this age after all. But the man quickly shook off his hesitation as he spoke in his thick voice, ¡°I called you here to discuss something...something about your future. I want to engage you to a nice young man I had met recently. I was informed of his great successes and talent, so I believe it would be a good idea to have you engage to him for the time being. It will without a doubt benefit you in the future. His name is Vinci Noboru. I heard he is a classmate of yours, so you might have already met him yourself. Now, what do you think?..¡± Cecilia¡¯s eyes widened as she heard Vinci¡¯s name mentioned along with the marriage proposal her father suggested. Although the talk about the marriage engagement was already a shock to her, the fact that her father wanted to marry her off to Vinci was completely beyond her. After Earl had finished speaking, Cecilia could only stand still as she watched her father in stunned silence. Various emotions filled her heart as she imagined herself marrying Vinci. ¡°I...I...don¡¯t know¡­¡± With that, Cecilia quickly turned and rushed out of her father¡¯s chamber. ¡°Cecilia!¡± Earl¡¯s voice boomed out, but it was already too late as the young lady had already exit the room in a flash. With a heavy sigh, the clan master slumped back down on his chair as he stared at the door in which his daughter had hastily left from. [/size] *** Sitting on a chair, a strange blue light was currently enveloping Vinci, who had his eyes shut. A black screen was hovering in the air in front of him. [table] [box border=2 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=3 width=140% bordercolor=#232323 bgcolor=#232323]Your Synchronization Has Arrived!Downloading Packages...[tr]Unboxing the Goodies...[/box] [box border=2 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=3 width=140% bordercolor=#232323 bgcolor=#232323][tr]Syncing Your Last Saved Memories...60%...85%...100%[/box] [box border=2 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=3 width=140% bordercolor=#232323 bgcolor=#232323][tr]Memories Complete![/box] [box border=2 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=3 width=140% bordercolor=#232323 bgcolor=#232323][tr]Syncing Your Last Saved Heart...20%..70%...100%[/box] [box border=2 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=3 width=140% bordercolor=#232323 bgcolor=#232323][tr]Heart Complete![/box] [box border=2 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=3 width=140% bordercolor=#232323 bgcolor=#232323][tr]Syncing Your Last Saved Skill sets...25%..60%...100%[/box] [box border=2 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=3 width=140% bordercolor=#232323 bgcolor=#232323][tr]Skill sets Complete![/box] [box border=2 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=3 width=140% bordercolor=#232323 bgcolor=#232323][tr]Syncing Last Saved Misc...5%..50%...100%[/box] [box border=2 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=3 width=140% bordercolor=#232323 bgcolor=#232323][tr]All Miscs Complete![/box] After a while, the blue light dispersed along with the black screen. Vinci slowly opened his eyes. There was now a slightly cold look in them. Looking around him, Vinci slowly flexed his arms as he got up from his chair. ¡°Damn, it sure took long enough for that synchronization screen to pop up this time around...I almost even forgot about it...oh wait, my memory wasn¡¯t even 60% in sync before, haa...¡± Vinci muttered to himself. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Incomplete memory synchronization. This is what Vinci suffers from each time he is transported to another Sphere. Due to the vast amount of information in his mind, it seemed impossible for the strange light to transfer all of his memories to another Sphere in one go. There is a lag in between the transfers. With each transfer, only about 30% of Vinci¡¯s memories are brought over, with these containing the most important and basic details of himself. In other words, each time Vinci is transferred to another sphere, there is a period of ¡°weakness.¡± His emotions will be extremely vulnerable, similar to an little child¡¯s. And the things that he had once experienced before, if he does experience them once again on a different sphere before his memories are synced, Vinci will feel as if those things he just experience was ¡°new¡± to him. In short, while he would understand a basic gist of what has to be done and some of his history, his emotional strength will be at its weakest. It could even be a call a split personality. And this period of weakness varies from transfer to transfer, with three days being the latest before the Synchronization Screen would appear before. This time, however, there was even a longer lag. Moreover, while the important details will almost always be transfer over each time, the amount of other memories that Vinci could retain after he transfer to a new sphere differs. This means that it¡¯s possible for Vinci to transfer to another sphere, only knowing about a bit of his past as well as his mission and ability, but he may not even remember the basics of combat or even general knowledge at times! Though, this has rarely ever has happened before. And this delay had caused Vinci to suffer some humiliation, both socially on the Earth Sphere and physically in battles. But now that Vinci had successfully retrieved the rest of his memories and ¡°emotions¡±, he was in a sense, ¡°back to his true self.¡± Vinci looked around him as he nodded in satisfaction. The tracking spell that he had felt before was now gone. While Vinci has a vague idea that the spell must belong to the Headmaster, he did not think much about it any longer. With his ¡°past experiences¡± back, Vinci was finally able to stabilize his emotions and effectively utilize his memories now, as they¡¯re all complete at this point. Just as Vinci was stretching himself a bit to get used to his body after his Synchronization ritual, a black screen suddenly appeared before him once again. *Bing*~ Reading the content, Vinci broke into a slight frown. [box border=2 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=3 width=140% bordercolor=#232323 bgcolor=#232323]New Event: Conquer The Seven Major Clans¡­+30%[/box] *Bing*~ [box border=2 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=3 width=140% bordercolor=#232323 bgcolor=#232323]New Event: Enter the Grand Land Region¡­+0.1%[/box] Regarding the double events that appeared at the same time, Vinci was not as surprised since this had happened before. What did surprise Vinci was the second event¡¯s mission. The Grand Land Region? Vinci had no knowledge of this place on this Earthian Sphere. It was a region that did not exist within the seven combined continents. If so, then where the hell is it? Without wasting any more time thinking, Vinci immediately closed his eyes as he employed a heavyweight spell. Several white spell crests appeared as they encircled Vinci¡¯s body. ¡°?Glass World?¡± The white spell crests suddenly enlarged as they burst into a blinding light. The lights seemingly passed right through the rooftop as if it wasn¡¯t even there and shot straight into the sky. And for a moment, a white blanket suddenly enveloped the entire world. In that very instant, it was as if the world became blind. All they could was a white in front of them. But just as quickly as the white blind had appeared, it likewise disappeared in the same manner. Clans and cities across the continents suddenly bursted alive with chaos and confused shouts. People were panicking because of the sudden strange phenonem. No one could explain what exactly had happened. Vinci once again slowly opened his eyes. There a glint of amusement in his vision. Because he was unsure about the place called the Grand Land Region, Vinci had decided to use a mass-consumption magic in order to find out. In particular, he activated the Transcendental-tier spell, ?Glass World?. With Vinci¡¯s complete memories now, his personality has taken a weird turn, or it could even be said that it ¡°had returned to normal.¡± He became more direct in his actions and was not as indecisive as before. Thus, he quickly decided to employ a searching-type spell which would provide him with a wide overview of this entire sphere. And with his current memory, Vinci was easily able to use much higher tiered arts at will now, as compared to the past where he was somewhat ¡°reserved.¡± Because of the spell, for a moment, Vinci was able to locate the mysterious region while looking at the Earthian Sphere in its entirety. And that single moment was all Vinci needed. ¡°Seems like this sphere really is a bit more complex just as I had initially thought...there¡¯s actually more continents besides the United World.¡± Vinci murmured. During the effect of ?Glass World?, Vinci was able to view the Earthian Sphere as if he was looking through a small glass. He could see everything. And from his perspective, he was able to see that there were several large regions outside of the seven merged continents called United World. There was even an even bigger world outside of the Clan, and even the continent, he was currently on...
Short post, but here''s a dancing potato :) Chapter 25: New Headmaster Chapter 25: New Headmaster ___ ___ ___ After discovering the vast unexplored regions besides the United World, Vinci had a slight amused smile on his face. While he could see the different lands on the Earthian Sphere, he did not know their names. The ? Glass World? had only granted him the brief ability of search and an extensive wide view of the world; nothing more, nothing less. Vinci saw that the Grand Land Region was separated by a large volume of water from the United World region. Even though it was called ¡°region,¡± with its scale and size, it was most likely a different Continent. And judging from the size of the land that Vinci had saw from the ¡°glass view¡±, that continent was at least two times larger than the United World, even with seven small continents combined! ¡°Interesting...this sphere is really quite large. But I¡¯m in no need to rush anyways. After I take over the seven Clans, I¡¯ll think about the Grand Land Region then¡­¡± Vinci thought as he ascended the stairway to his room. It was late at night now, and after a surprisingly long day, Vinci was ready replenish his energy through some sleeping. Even though he was powerful and could go without sleep, there was no reason at the moment for Vinci to do so. With his memories fully back, Vinci had likewise regained the ¡°missing pieces¡± of his personality. He was more than confident that in his own ability. Thus, he chose to simply relax -- a luxury most rankers can¡¯t even afford in their lifetime. Like this, the next day smoothly arrived. ---------- A fresh morning breeze gently blew across Arena Academy¡¯s front yard. Many students have been gathered at this moment in the field, chatting with their friends. Excited whispers buzzed like bees throughout the yard. ¡°Hey, did you hear? Someone challenged Headmaster Ember yesterday!¡± ¡°I heard there was also someone who dared to challenge the entire Class 8 upperclassmen!!¡± ¡°Wait, I thought then who was the person who fought the teachers? I heard it took several teachers to subdue that kid, but in the end they failed..¡± ¡°No, no, I heard it was a group that fought against those Class 8 guys.¡± ¡°Guys...I¡¯m sorry to hide it from you all...but, it was I, Genji Smith, who fought Headmaster Ember yesterday. I won in the end, but--¡± ¡°Bullshit! If you were able to win with your puny Master Rank strength, then why the f*ck would I still have to train anymore? I¡¯m a frickin¡¯ Grandmaster ranker already!¡± Various voices and dissents rang out among the dense crowd as everyone engaged in intense debates. No one knew who was the person(s) who were challenged the Headmaster, Class 8, or even the teachers. But none of them could think of a student, or group, in the school that was strong enough to contend against those top powers... At this moment, Vinci had arrived at school through the usual Portal route. As he stepped through the gates, some of the students who saw him quickly made way for him. Although they did not know that Vinci was the one who challenged all those ¡°major powers¡± yesterday, just by the strong reputation Vinci has in the school now after his constant battles were enough to make people fear and respect him. Entering the school, instead of going to his classroom, Vinci headed straight to the Headmaster¡¯s office. As he was walking through the hallways, Vinci saw Athan approaching. ¡°Sup, Vinci!¡± Athan said as he flashed a smile. ¡°Hello.¡± Vinci replied as he gave a slight nod. Although Vinci had recovered his previous batch of memories, the experiences he had up until now was still a part of him. And with his first companion having been Athan, Vinci naturally had a good impression of this carefree fellow. Even if he was cold, it was only towards enemies, and even more so only on the battlefields. ¡°Where you heading? Aren¡¯t you going to go to class?¡± Athan asked with a confused look. ¡°I¡¯m heading towards the Headmaster¡¯s office. I have some business with her.¡± Vinci calmly replied. ¡°Business? As in¡­?¡± Athan gently probed. Without hesitation, Vinci answered: ¡°To receive my position as the new Headmaster.¡± Athan¡¯s eyes widened for a brief moment before he burst out into laughters. ¡°Hahaha! Good one, man! I didn¡¯t know you knew how to joke as well. But since you don¡¯t want to tell me, it¡¯s fine. I have to get to class now, anyways, so I¡¯ll see you around!¡± Athan smiled as he patted Vinci on the shoulder before swaggering away. Vinci gave him a side glance as the latter walked away, but did not pursue the matter. He had already told him his destination and reason, what others wanted to believe was up to them. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. After a short while, Vinci finally arrived at Headmaster¡¯s office. Without any knocking, Vinci directly pushed opened the brown doors as he entered. When he opened the door, Vinci quickly saw that Headmaster Ember was standing on the side of the table while the her secretary, Sina, was respectfully position right besides her. The headmaster¡¯s seat was open. Vinci stepped into the room as he walked over to the desk and immediately sat down. The two of adults did not say a word. After a while, just as Headmaster Ember was about to speak, Vinci lightly held up a hand for her to stop. ¡°No need to tell me the tasks of a headmaster. I am not interested in that.¡± Vinci said calmly. The headmaster paused in her words. A slightly astonished and confused look settled in between her brows. ¡°Then..why did you challenge me? To test yourself?¡± Headmaster Ember asked. Vinci slightly turned his head as his gaze fell on the Headmaster. Immediately, the old woman felt as if she was put in a freezing hell! Even Sina, who was usually emotionless and business-like, was visibly shivering as her eyes shut tightly. Every pore of the Headmaster¡¯s body were trembling, yet amidst the fear, she felt that she had tasted this sensation before¡­ Yes...yes, it was same feeling as that time!...that time when Vinci had ¡°transformed.¡± Horrified, Headmaster Ember unconsciously took a step back as she looked up at Vinci. But there was no indication of any change in his aura, much less his appearance this time. Yet, the same feeling of terror did not ease in her heart. In fact, it even intensified a bit. The Headmaster suddenly realized that something was off about the boy today. She could not pinpoint exactly what it was, but she felt that the boy seemed...colder than he was before. And there was now a subtle dark air around him that was not present before. It seemed he was a slightly different person after yesterday, yet he was also the same boy as before. ¡°You do not need to know my reason.¡± Vinci¡¯s cold voice rang out, interrupting the Headmaster¡¯s thoughts. ¡°I came here today because I have a task for you.¡± Turning his head away, Vinci continued: ¡°I want you to tell me everything you know on the Seven Clans in United World. Of course, I hope you will provide information that is not publicly known already. Just know this, everything that can be found on the Internet, I will already have knowledge of, so do not waste my time.¡± After gathering herself, Headmaster Ember solemnly nodded her head in agreement. It was the only thing she could do at this point. She did not understand the being who was sitting comfortably before her. She didn¡¯t even know if the boy was actually even a ¡°boy¡±, or perhaps was some ancient demon who had disguised herself. All the Headmaster knew was that she at the complete mercy of Vinci. Going against him was simply not going to work at all. This was the first time the Headmaster had felt so powerless. But there truly was nothing she could do. When a disparity of power between two persons was large enough, any tricks would become useless before true might. The Headmaster sent Sina away as she prepared to carefully narrate secret knowledges that were only exclusive to those higher up, to Vinci. When she was done, she heard Vinci promptly give her a ¡°thank you¡± before she saw the boy vanish before her eyes. ¡°Teleportation magic¡­my god¡­¡± Headmaster Ember softly murmured to herself in shock. She was not aware of Vinci¡¯s full ability even after a direct confrontation. She had been killed too fast for her to carefully analyze Vinci¡¯s strength. And the reason why she was shocked at Vinci¡¯s teleportation magic because of the lack of people who actually use it. Even the Headmaster herself could only barely use this magic, and would reserve it at the end for emergency uses. Yet, a boy who was only 15 years old had effortless used such high level magic as easy as he was going for a stroll. Helplessly, the Headmaster slowly shook her head as she sighed to herself. A barely discernable smile slowly appeared on her face. ¡°If he could use a Grand-tier magic so easily, then perhaps we can now have the qualification to compete against those ¡°monsters¡± from the other Continents¡­¡± Headmaster Ember thought as she looked out the window. A bright glimmer had surfaced within her complicated eyes. Chapter 26: Three Princes Chapter 26: Three Princes --- --- --- After teleporting away from the Headmaster¡¯s office, Vinci appeared at a location behind the school building. Nonchalantly, he began to head towards the Class 6 Training Ground. He had been listening to Headmaster Ember speak over an hour or two, so by now it was around the time when Training Period was held. And as to continuing fitting in, Vinci decided to attend his classes as usual. Vinci lifted up his right wrist as he observed the golden, colored bracelet that was latched on there. During his conversation with the headmaster, Headmaster Ember had passed on this special bracelet to him. Vinci remembered she said it was a symbol of showing that the Headmaster¡¯s position has been truly inherited by him. He was told to wear it at all times. Putting down his wrist, Vinci did not say a word as he continued on his way. Walking into the Coliseum, Vinci immediately sat down on a nearby bench as he lazily stared at the students engaging in combat training. Across the field, Cecilia was practicing against another student when she noticed Vinci out of a corner of her eyes. Thinking about her father¡¯s proposal to her yesterday, a shade of pink appeared on her face as she shook her head to focus. Pausing for a moment, Cecilia looked towards Vinci when she suddenly furrowed her eyebrows. She felt that there was something was off Vinci today. Although she did not speak with Vinci after the incident last time, Cecilia was somewhat aware of Vinci¡¯s personality, or at least the general air he gives off. When she usually sees him from afar, Cecilia would notice that Vinci gives off a naive, and slightly cold, aura. But now, all she could feel from her glance at the boy was a body full of coldness. And there was even an indescribable sense of confidence brimming from him, albeit his ¡°bored¡± look. ¡°Am I worried about him?...No, I¡¯m just thinking too much..¡± Cecilia thought as her mind wandered back to thinking about her father¡¯s arrangements. But Cecilia could not ponder for long as she was forced to continue engaging in practice with her partner. Vinci had already noticed Cecilia¡¯s brief span of attention on him. But he did not pay her much attention. Although he was entranced by her beauty when he had first met her, that was only during the time when Vinci had yet recover his memory. His heart was easily shakable, his skills are slightly rough, and even his speeches were affected. Now that he was himself again, Vinci only appreciated Cecilia¡¯s looks, but as for any childish thoughts he had before he had long discarded them. He was even beginning to regret promising that Clan Master Earl a favor, just because Vinci had felt ¡°bad¡± before about the old man using his daughter as bait to lure him into the Rising Sun Clan. Especially now that Vinci would have to take control of that Clan. ¡°I guess I¡¯ll be more gentle with the Rising Sun Clan...maybe even see if they¡¯re willing to submit to me without me using any force.¡± Vinci thought. While Vinci was staring blankly into space, thinking about what to do for the Events, there was a distant, loud explosion sound coming from behind him. It seemed to have come from the other side of the school building, most likely the near the School entrance. Without even turning his head around, Vinci directly used ?Scanner? to survey the entire school area. Through the scanner, Vinci was able to see inside his head that near the main gate, there were three students lying on the ground, while two of them were staggering to stand up. These people must be Arena Academy¡¯s Class 8 students, the same ones he had fought before. At the moment, it looked like the Class 8 students had suffered a loss fighting against someone. A few feets away from the injured few injured students, stood another group of young people all dressed in jet black clothes. About eight feets away from the black clothed youths stood three old men, similarly dressed. Each person had a golden phoenix shaped emblem on their chest, including the youths. ¡°Oh? Someone dares to cause trouble at the Arena Academy?¡± Vinci mused to himself as he looked at the scene inside his head. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. The black clothed teenagers were speaking something to the fallen students, but Vinci could not hear what they were saying through the scanner. With, but a thought, Vinci instantly disappeared from his original spot as he reappeared on top of the school roof, facing the direction of the school¡¯s gate. Now that he was close, with his strong senses, Vinci was now able to hear what the people below were talking about. ¡°...hmph, you think mere students like you can block the way of our great Golden Phoenix Clan? If I want to go in, then I will go in. What the hell do you think you are even doing, trying to stop me?¡± A youth, with black eyes and short golden hair, standing in the front spat. He looked around 17 years old, seeming to be the leader of the three members behind him. Hearing the Golden Phoenix Clan¡¯s name mentioned, the Class 8 students there were frightened. This was a existence they did not dare offend, if they wished to lead a successful life after graduating. Some of them were even cursing themselves internally for having initially blocked these people¡¯s path. Just as the black clothed youth was about to continue taunting the Class 8 students, a sarcastic voice rang nearby. ¡°Oho? Prince Virsha Fenix is quite the benevolent figure! Beating some trashes up and then thoroughly mocking them. You are most definitely the best role model for us all...as someone who we should NOT be! Ahahaha!¡± Virsha¡¯s face darkened upon hearing those words. As a next leader of the Golden Phoenix Clan, when was he openly ridiculed like this? But before he could counter the owner of the voice, another voice traversed through the air. ¡°Is it wrong to take care of a few trashes? To dare block the way of a royalty, they should count themselves blessed they are even alive! If it was me, those five would have already died at my hands, be they students of Arena Academy or not!¡± The two Class 8 students who did not pass out, upon heard these words, instantly turned pale. They did not even dare make a sound at this point. Virsha turned around and saw two figures, each being followed by a relatively large group and three elders, approaching the school gate. His eyes narrowed when he saw who they were. ¡°Prince Mero Voidbone and Prince Dullan Firse!¡± Virsha hissed in his mind. The former, wearing an expensive set of blue clothes, short hair and blue eyes, was a direct descendant of the Rossia Clan, while the latter, who had brown eyes and light red hair, came from the Crimson Dragon Clan. The two princes looked to be the same age as Virsha. And both of their names, like Virsha, carried heavy weights in the United World. After all, they were the next in line to be the Clan Master of their respective clans! And naturally, all three were not on good terms with one another, as each vied to consolidate complete power for their own Clan. ¡°What are you guys doing here?¡± Virsha growled as he glared at the two princes. ¡°Haha, what a joke, why can you be here while we can¡¯t?¡± Mero smirked as he looked at Virsha. He was also the owner of the first voice Virsha heard. ¡°My Clan and I are naturally here for serious business. As long as you don¡¯t get in our way, we will naturally not care about what you do here either.¡± Dullan said with a serious look on his face. There was a trace of arrogance in his tone. While the three princes exchanged verbal attacks, the three elders behind each of the prince all gave one another a nod in acknowledgement. They knew that while their Clans were at loggerheads with each other, this time, the nine of them had come together in order to complete a very important mission. And that, is the elimination of the ¡°injured¡± Headmaster!
Author''s Note: The thought that the Headmaster is "injured" is all on the the three Major Clans'' part. Readers already know better. So don''t worry, it''s not a mistake. Although minor, it''ll be clear later on. :) Chapter 27: The Elders Challenge Chapter 27: The Elders'' Challenge --- --- --- With some of the Clans monitoring the powerful Arena Academy every hour of the day, news were bound to travel much quicker to the higher ups of those major Clans. Thus, when the Headmaster had supposedly been injured yesterday, reports were immediately sent to their respective Clan Masters. Although they did not know who fought the Headmaster, they had assumed that the Headmaster was ¡°injured¡± after the battle. And three particular Clans that had been vying to take over the Arena Academy for themselves were itching to make a move right after this. These three Clans are precisely The Golden Phoenix Clan, the Crimson Dragon Clan, and the Rossia Clan. The Clan Masters had spared no effort before sending out their three strongest elders and their brightest younger generation clan members to take over the Arena Academy. The younger clan members would be tasked with dealing with the students and teachers, while the elders would fight the Headmaster while she¡¯s still injured. The elders are to not, under any circumstances, to engage in battle with elders from the other Clans who have went to the Arena Academy until the Headmaster have been defeated. Moreover, the Clan Masters were confident that their younger clan members were in no way weaker than the students at the Academy. As Clans that are eyeing the seat of the Headmaster, they naturally did not send their members to the Academy. Instead, they personally gave guidance to their younger generations. With the Clan¡¯s huge resources and strong experts, nurturing clan members who were no weaker than Academy students is no exaggeration in the slightest, albeit few who choose to do so due to the large expenses. In the history of the United World, only the Golden Phoenix Clan, the Crimson Dragon Clan, the Rossia Clan, and the Kingdom of Sand Clan have been reluctant to send their members to the Arena Academy. And because the Kingdom of Sand was the most mysterious of all the Seven Major Clans, they often did not show themselves, much send their members to the Academy. The other three can be considered enemies of the Academy, though they would try to pretend to be friendly on the surface to hide their true nature. While the three princes were bickering, a shadow suddenly emerged from within the overcast shade of the school¡¯s building. Immediately, the elders and teenagers were alerted. They stopped talking as they stared at the emerging figure. The moment the groups of people saw who it was, they began to feel slightly nervous as they heightened their guard to their max. When the two Class 8 students saw the person coming from the shadow, a look of relief appeared on their face. With a polite bow, they cried out in unison: ¡°¡°We greet the Headmaster!¡±¡± Headmaster Ember looked at her students before giving them a slight nod. ¡°Take the other three children and quickly return inside the school.¡± The two students gave a breath of relief as if they had been released on amnesty before picking up the fallen students and leaving in a raggedly manner towards the school. Headmaster Ember turned to face the three groups as a cold light shone in her eyes. ¡°What business would the three Major Clans want from my Arena Academy at this time?¡± Headmaster icily said. She did not bother properly greeting these vile beings who only knew to covet her position and school. ¡°Haha, it is nice seeing you again, Headmaster Ember. It has been a while.¡± One of the elder from the Rossia Clan spoke up first this time. The three princes had already retreated behind their elders by this time. Right now, even though they possessed a high status within the community, it was still not enough for them to speak with the Headmaster. They simply did not have strength or status yet to do so. At this point, it was now the adults¡¯ turn to take the stage. ¡°Cut the pretense, Karl Voidbone,. I asked you, what do you want from my Arena Academy today?¡± Headmaster Ember said as she narrowed her eyes at the elder named Karl. Feeling the headmaster¡¯s cold gaze, Karl involuntarily shuddered in his heart as he cursed inwardly. ¡°Damn, even if injured, this old hag can still give off such a nasty feeling...is she really hurt?¡± Keeping his fake smile, Karl said: ¡°Since the Headmaster is so straightforward, then I will naturally get to the point. This time around, we, the nine elders present here, want to battle against you for the seat of the Headmaster.¡± Headmaster Ember narrowed her eyes upon hearing this. ¡°Just with you nine alone? Hmph. But if you three manage to win, then which clan will be the ultimate holder of my position?¡± She was attempting to sow discourse among the three clans. After all, the position of headmaster may only be inherited by one person. And Headmaster Ember had yet to completely transfer over her position to Vinci. Although she had given over the power to Vinci, it was not made official yet. Therefore, at this moment, she still retained her duty as the headmaster, but without the rights to her school anymore. That was why she had decided to come out and confront these old timers. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. As the headmaster, she naturally knew the strength of the nine elders from the three Major Clans. So it would be unwise to let anyone else confront them. And she did not dare request something of Vinci as of now. But other than those reasons, it was also because she hated those three Major Clans to the bone. After all, who wouldn¡¯t hate a person who has been constantly sending assassins after you and scheming behind the your back for several years in a row? Although she remained dignified for appearance, the headmaster was most definitely not on good terms with the other side, just like how they aren¡¯t willing to accept the headmaster. ¡°Headmaster Ember does not have to worry. Our clans have agreed to temporarily transfer the position rights to the Crimson Dragon Clan for the time being. We plan to sort everything else afterwards, so no need for the headmaster for worry about us.¡± Karl smiled darkly. Headmaster Ember snorted as she glanced at the other elders. But when her eyes landed on one particular elder in a golden colored robe, the headmaster narrowed her eyes. ¡°Even that old thing is here as well¡­¡± Headmaster Ember thought as her eyes lingered on the old man. The elder had a hair full of white, yet his face remained young, looking to be around forty or forty five years old. He was giving off a powerful aura, that seemed to be the strongest among all nine elders. Sensing that someone was watching him, the elder in golden clothes looked around and found the Headmaster staring at him. Slowly breaking out into a smile, the old man greeted Headmaster Ember: ¡°Hello, Headmaster Ember. It has been a while since we have met. I¡¯m sure you haven¡¯t forgotten about me, yet?¡± ¡°Adam Firse. First elder of the Crimson Dragon Clan. Five years ago when you tried to assassinate me, I have to say that your power was quite good. So naturally, how could I forget someone who had almost killed me before?¡± Headmaster Ember said icily as the cold light in her eyes got stronger. ¡°Haha, you praise me too highly, dear headmaster. I was merely an Overlord Rank back then, while you were still Heavenly Rank. Now that you have grown stronger, how could it be easy for me to defeat you anymore?¡± Although Adam had seemingly said it in a humble manner, there was a hint of sarcasm and arrogance in his words. The Headmaster did not even bother replying to him. ¡°This strange feeling...he must have ranked up over the past few years¡­¡± Headmaster frowned as she turned her gaze away. There was a barely noticeable tense expression on her face now. When one wants to level up to the next rank, one would naturally need to meet the requirement of having enough Soul Power. And to increase one¡¯s SP, that person would either have to continuously train their body through practicing their magic so that they could forcefully expand the amount of SP they have inside their body. Another way would be for that person to consume precious potions or focus on comprehending the mystics of either their magics or martial arts. By consuming strong potions, they could quickly increase their Soul Power, allowing them to quickly reach the next rank. Or if they could comprehend a large amount of the essences in either magic or martial arts, their soul will naturally expand after ¡°understanding¡± those foundations. A sign that one has reached the next rank is through being tested by a rank-discerning Crystal Ball. But others, through the use of powerful discerning magics, would be able to tell a person¡¯s rank with a glance. And it is even said that the higher the rank someone is, the stronger the pressure that person would give off, even without doing anything. That was another obtruse method of identification. And while Headmaster Ember was a Heavenly Ranker five years ago, she was still considered extremely powerful, considering the scarcity of such ranks in the United World. But back then, because of a surprise attack, she was heavily wounded by Karl. In the end, she managed to repel him using a magic spell that nearly consumed her entire soul. But throughout the battle, it was hard-fought one. Even though being a rank lower than her, the other party was in no mean inferior to her in tactics and battle prowess. If not for the difference in rank, resulting in the disparity of SP tank, Headmaster Ember might have really lost that day. Moreover, the Headmaster even suspected if Karl had truly ranked up and Heavenly Rank, then he would be comparable to the strength of a Clan Master! And that assassination attempt five years ago, Headmaster Ember had nearly died fighting Karl, who by himself. This time, not only was this difficult-to-deal-with Karl here, there are even another 8 Overlords to watch out for. And these nine were all here to challenge her today. A slightly uneasy feeling slowly sprouted in Headmaster Ember¡¯s heart as she coldly glared at the opposite parties. Chapter 28: Not the Headmaster Anymore?! Chapter 28: Not the Headmaster Anymore?! --- --- --- ¡°Now, Headmaster Ember, since us nine are here to challenge you, you will not turn us away, now are you?¡± One of the elders from the Phoenix spoke up this time. This person¡¯s name was Darma Fenix, a prestigious elder in the Golden Phoenix Clan. Wearing gray magician¡¯s robe, there was noticeable trace of arrogance in his demeanor. But he did not dare to flare it in front of the headmaster. ¡°I have always accepted challenges from those who wishes to take my position. As long as you are strong enough to defeat me, regardless of the method, then naturally I would accept.¡± Headmaster Ember said coldly. ¡°Except¡­¡± ¡°Hm? What is wrong, Headmaster Ember? Could it be you want to turn us down this time? Could there...be something wrong with your health?¡± Another elder chimed in. This person was another elder of the Rossia Clan, called James Voidbone. An evil smile was playing on his lips at this moment. Headmaster Ember narrowed her eyes as she looked at James. ¡°No. I am feeling fine. It¡¯s just, I do not have the rights to accept your challenges as the headmaster anymore.¡± She said coolly. ¡°What?! What do you mean, Headmaster Ember?¡± Karl asked as he grew startled. She does not have the rights anymore? How was that even possible! ¡°It is true. I am not lying. Just yesterday, I have already transferred my headmaster position to someone else.¡± Headmaster Ember said, a satisfied smile on her face having seen those arrogant elders become startled. ¡°You mean...the person you were battling yesterday?...You...lost?!¡± Adam said as his eyes widened in shock. To have defeated the headmaster, even though Adam was strong, he was not confident that he would be able to overcome the headmaster. Especially alone, as he had found out the hard way five years ago¡­ Headmaster Ember did not reply to his question, but merely gave a slight nod. But that confirmation had thrown the nine elders into deep shock. ¡°Goodness! To think there was somebody capable of defeating that old monster¡­¡± A womanly elder, from the Golden Phoenix Clan, whispered under her breath. ¡°Do we have any report on who that person was who fought the headmaster?¡± ¡°No¡­our spies reported that there were strange interferences that prevented them seeing anything inside the coliseum where the battle took place.¡± Another elder from the Phoenix Clan whispered to the womanly elder. Darma creased his eyebrows when he heard the elders¡¯ conversation. To have no report on someone who was capable of defeating the headmaster alone...this was going to be dangerous. The nine clan elders stood there silently contemplating to themselves. There was a deathly silence in the air. The Headmaster had on a calm, yet cold, look on her face as she held her head up high. After a while, Adam broke the silence. In a chilly voice, he asked: ¡°Do you have proof?¡± Again, without verbally replying, Headmaster Ember lifted up both of her hands. As her sleeves pulled back down, it revealed her bare wrists. ¡°¡±¡° !! ¡±¡±¡± The elders¡¯ emotions were thrown into chaos. If they had a sliver of doubt before about the headmaster''s words, then at this moment upon seeing her wrists, they had no choice but to believe her. ¡°T-the Golden Law Bracelet is on her..¡± Darma stammered as he stared with open eyes at the headmaster¡¯s empty wrists. The Golden Law Bracelet was the symbol of the headmaster¡¯s strength and authority. The bracelet is made with high quality materials, making it almost indestructible. Moreover, the bracelet also represented the highest order of protection law in the United World continent. Whoever owns this bracelet would be protected by at least 4 Major Clans, and this was only exclusive for those of a Headmaster status. This is to ensure that no one would dare to steal the bracelet openly, or face four Major Clans¡¯ fury. The only way to get the Headmaster¡¯s position was either to challenge the headmaster openly in due, or if the headmaster was to pass away early due to some ¡°unknown circumstances.¡± The headmaster is to keep this Golden Law Bracelet on them at all times, to ensure their sole identity as the Headmaster of Arena Academy. Frauds are impossible to find, and counterfeits of this unique bracelet are none. To not have the bracelet anymore, would mean that Headmaster Ember had truly passed on her position to someone else. Someone whom the three Major Clans currently have no idea about! ¡°Wh..who is it?¡± James said, his voice trembling such that it was almost inaudible. Headmaster Ember turned to James. ¡°That is for me to know, and for you to find out.¡± Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Several of the elders furrowed their eyebrows when they heard the headmaster¡¯s words. If this person truly inherited the headmaster¡¯s position, everyone is going to know how he/she is sooner or later. What¡¯s the point of keeping up some childish suspense? Or perhaps the headmaster is playing a trick on them?? ¡°Hmph, since you¡¯re unwilling to tell us who it is, doesn¡¯t that mean you may be lying? We¡¯ll all know who it is at some point, so what¡¯s the point of hiding it from us now?...Unless you never gave away your Golden Law Bracelet!¡± Adam¡¯s cold voice rang out. By now, there was almost no trace of cordiality in his tone anymore. The previous smile he had showned to the headmaster had also disappeared without a trace. ¡°Think what you want, but regardless I am no longer the headmaster of Arena Academy. There¡¯s no point in speaking with on these matters anymore.¡± This time Headmaster Ember directly replied to Adam¡¯s comment. Her voice carried an equally coldness. ¡°If you¡¯re unwilling to tell us, then we still wish to challenge against you. After we¡¯ve won, then we¡¯ll see if you¡¯ve truly lost your position or not!¡± Karl said as he looked maliciously at Headmaster Ember. ¡°Huh, what makes you all so sure that you can beat me, with just your Soul Forces alone? If you each brought along your Clan Masters, then it might be a bit troublesome, but with just you nine? Laughable.¡± Headmaster Ember said as she glared at the elders. Bring their Clan Masters? Although they could do that, it was not good thing to do. If a Clan Master were to challenge the headmaster and lost, their entire Clan will lose prestige. To lose their reputation would be an immense blow to any large country. Thus, no Clan Master would want to personally battle against the Headmaster. Even when they heard about the Headmaster¡¯s supposedly injured state, they did not dare trust blindly. Instead, they sent their top three elders to the scene to test the wind. If the headmaster was truly injured, even if the elders were to still lose, then the Clan Masters would immediately gather together and launch a full out attack against Headmaster Ember. And these Clan Masters were naturally the leaders of Golden Phoenix, Crimson Dragon, and Rossia. ¡°No need to hide it, Headmaster Ember. Our intelligence report has stated that you¡¯ve been injured during your battle yesterday. Right, you should¡¯ve be able to use your full power at the Spiritual Rank.¡± James said with a slight smirk on his face. ¡°Injuries?¡± Headmaster said with a confused expression. Although she was indeed heavily injured yesterday, for some unknown reason, she was fully healed right after the battle. She had none of her injuries before, right now. Of course, the headmaster was unaware that she had died once and was revived by Vinci later. If she had known, perhaps she would not be able to keep her calm around Vinci anymore. In the United World, a magic that could revive someone is unheard of. There aren¡¯t even a set grade for such a spell in this vast continent, which goes to show how rare, or even impossible, for such a spell to exist here. ¡°You can stop acting pretend, Headmaster Ember. Let us start the battle. At that time, let¡¯s see how long you can hide your injuries. Do you dare accept our challenge?¡± Darma said as he positioned himself for action. The other eight elders began spreading out and forming a wide circle around the Headmaster. ¡°Dare? Why would I not? Since you all want to fight me so badly, even if I¡¯m not the headmaster anymore, there¡¯s no need to back down from you lot. I accept.¡± Headmaster Ember said calmly as she glared at Darma. As the nine elders were not a part of the Arena Academy and were not in possession of the +Arena device, this battle agreement was all made verbally on each of their honor and pride. In this way, it could be said that outside of the academy, battles are often fought in this manner. A verbal agreement, or even none, could elicit a fight at any time. If it wasn¡¯t because of the headmaster¡¯s great strength and position, perhaps the nine elders would have directly attacked her. But because they were still unsure if she still had her position, the elders had still issued a verbal challenge, so that if they did win, then there would have been an agreement set up before already for them to take the headmaster position. If they had just simply fought directly, then even if they won, the headmaster may not honor giving them her position! Without another word, the nine elders began quickly closing in on Headmaster Ember; each of one silently chanting their spells as they prepared to launch a full out attack... Chapter 29: Skirmish On The Rooftop Chapter 29: Skirmish On The Rooftop --- --- --- *Boom!* *Zzt!* *Bing!* Explosions rang out on the School¡¯s front yard as Headmaster Ember fought against the nine elders. Ice beams and fiery magmas shot everywhere as the ten figures clashed against each other. By now, the entire school body has been attracted to the sound of battle. Many of the students and teachers were gathered around the school¡¯s windows, watching the magical fight that was happening right outside their school. The three princes and their followers were also all looking on with anticipation from the sideline. To be able to witness a battle between high class rankers were a event that seldom occurred. Thus, for them to see one with their own eyes could be said to be an invaluable learning experience for them all. None of their eyes left the fighting scene. Suddenly, Dullan noticed something in the distance. Raising his head, Dullan¡¯s furrowed his eyebrows when he saw a boy wearing all black, standing on the school rooftop. How long has he been there? Being the most perceptive out of the three princes present, Dullan often pride himself in his ability to notice the subtlest things and his strong battle prowess. Because of that, he was also the most arrogant out of all the princes. ¡°A lowly student dares to watch this battle between experts¡­¡± Dullan growled under his breath as he started to move around the battlefield, heading towards the school¡¯s direction. While they were unable to touch the students inside the school building due to a protective barrier, they would be able to deal with anyone who was still outside. And as of now, only Vinci was still outside. Even the students who were originally practicing in the Training Grounds have returned back inside the school to watch the battle from the windows. This was why Dullan targeted Vinci, as the latter was only target out there! Mero and Virsha, who had followed Dullan¡¯s line of sight, had also discovered Vinci standing on the rooftop. A malicious intent glimmered in their eyes as they followed after Dullan. After going around the yard, the three princes activated their own flying magic and leaped upwards, landing on the rooftop. Staring at the back of Vinci, Dullan sneered as he called out arrogantly: ¡°Hey, you! To dare secretly watch a fight between experts, you are looking to die! Right now, I¡¯ll give you two choices: you can either jump off the roof right now as atonement, or otherwise let us beat you to death.¡± The two princes beside Dullan wore a likewise mocking smile as they stared at Vinci¡¯s back. They were waiting for the poor bastard to choose a way to die, after all with all three of their SP being at the Duke Rank, they did not feel threatened by a mere student at the academy. Even if a Class 8 student were to come, they would powerless before the three as the academy would often only produce Grandmaster ranked graduates. As for Duke ranked graduates, there has seldom been any. Only with their fathers¡¯ generous use of resources and request of great rankers to teach them, that the three princes were able to step into a rank that was higher than many of their peers. To put it into an overall perspective, most Class 8 students were around 17 years old, but only at the Grandmaster rank, while three princes were of the same age but at a rank higher: Duke Rank. Vinci, who was still observing the battle that was going on below him, did not spare any attention to the three princes behind him. He had already noticing them coming towards his direction long ago, but did not bother with them. They were no threats to him. As such, even with the three Duke Rankers behind him, Vinci did not mind them at all. Seeing that Vinci did not reply after a long time, or even bother turning around, Dullan was enraged as he shouted: ¡°Damn, kid! What¡¯s your name? To think you¡¯re not even paying respect to a royalty!¡± ¡°Why ask for his name? We don¡¯t need to care about a dead man''s name.¡± Mero spoke up this time as he glared at Vinci¡¯s back. The latter¡¯s attitude had also infuriated Mero, who was originally arrogant as a prince to begin with, though not as self-centered as Dullan. Vinci continued to ignore them as he observed the event below him. Suddenly, a large lightning dragon appeared behind Vinci as it shot towards his back. But before it could hit him, the lightning dragon dispersed upon impact on a invisible wall that was guarding Vinci. ¡°What? He set up a barrier? But how could it have withstood my attack..¡± Dullan said as he looked in shock. He was surprised that a common student was able to block an attack from himself, who was a great royal prince. ¡°Let me try!¡± Virsha shouted, stepping in as he fired off six large fireballs towards Vinci. ¡°?Magma Balls?!¡± ¡°I want to see how long his barrier will last. ?Hail Shards?!¡± Mero joined in as a large blue crest appeared in the air above him, firing off several blue shards at Vinci¡¯s back. Dullan gritted his teeth as held both of his palms out, facing Vinci¡¯s back. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.A red sphere began to condense in front of his palms as energy swirled around it, increasing its size. Once the size of a soccer ball was formed, Dullan directed the red sphere towards Vinci once again. ¡°?Dragon Beam?!¡± *Boom!* This time, the protective barrier did not appear as the three attacks struck home. A large cloud of dust was blown up from the impact. ¡°Hahaha, I guess that was as strong as his barrier could get¡± Dullan smirked as stared at the billows of smoke in front of him. ¡°It¡¯s only to be expected from an attack from all three of us.¡± Mero said as he arrogantly smiled. Down below the school, several students were disturbed the ruckus above and wanted to see what was happening. Could a battle be going on at the rooftop as well? Some people were dying of curiosity but no one dared to go up and check. That was just be suicidal if they were accidentally caught in openfire. The ten people, who were still clashing against each other, did not seem to be aware of the explosion coming from the rooftop. They were too immersed in their battle, as even the slightest distraction could lead to their loss. None of them could spare to care about anyone outside the battle right now, unless something truly shaking happened. The three princes looked towards the smoke as it cleared, expecting to see the mutilated body of the student who had ¡°disrespected¡± them. But unexpectedly, they saw that there was nothing in the area where the student once stood. ¡°Did he got hit and fall down?¡± Dullan said as he narrowed his eyes. But right after his comment, Dullan felt a hand firmly clasp his right shoulder. Immediately, he felt as if he was drained of all his energy; he was unable to move in the slightly. ¡°Wh-who?!¡± Dullan barely shouted out in panic at his unknown attacker. Virsha and Mero who was besides him wanted to move back as well, but before they could they felt something binding them down. All three princes were unable to turn around to see their attacker, much less move. ¡°Man, you guys were so annoying. I could barely observe in peace. Since you guys wanted to die so badly, I¡¯ll grant your wish. You¡¯re each from a Major Clan anyways...so it would be shame if something, let¡¯s say, the Clan Master lost their son¡­¡± A voice came from behind the princes said, in an almost lazy manner. ¡°Since your Clans doesn¡¯t seem amiable, completely destroying them is the only option.¡± ¡°Wh-what?! You dare slander our Golden Phoenix Clan?!¡± Virsha shouted angrily as he strained to turn around to see who the culprit was. ¡°Audacious! You think a single person can shake my Crimson Dragon Clan¡¯s foundation?! Even if you¡¯re a part of some organization, you¡¯ll still be no match for my Clan!¡± Dullan furiously spat, having lost his fear in the moment of anger. Only Mero did not say anything, his eyes dart around rapidly in fear. He was only one who able to stay barely calm under the circumstance, as he felt that the person behind was not an easy opponent. To be able to restrain three Duke Rankers at once...perhaps even a Monarch Ranker may not be able to do that single-handedly. And here, someone was able to, showing that this person¡¯s Soul Force must be even higher than a Monarch Rank¡¯s¡­ ¡°Oh, really? I don¡¯t really care if you guys believe me or not -- after all, I wouldn¡¯t care for dead men¡¯s belief.¡± Vinci said as his voice turned cold. Raising his free right palm towards the sky, a medium sized crest appeared above him as it hovered above the four figures beneath. Noticing this, Mero quickly cried out: ¡°W-wait! Honor sir, you cannot kill us! I am a prince of the Rossia Clan, and the two besides me are princes of the Golden Phoenix Clan and Crimson Dragon Clan! If you kill us, then you will definitely be hunted down later on!¡± ¡°*Sigh*...did you not listen to what I just said? Regardless if you want to hunt me down or not, I will have to personally hunt you all down later anyways. And didn¡¯t you three try to kill me a few moments ago? Although I was not injured, do you guys take me for a punching bag or something?¡± Vinci said from behind them. The three princes face changed drastically when they head Vinci¡¯s words. Tried to kill him a moment ago? Then...Then...the one behind us is¡­ The image of the boy¡¯s back appeared in the three princes mind as they were suddenly filled with immense regret. Never could they have imagined that a student whom they had initially regarded would actually turn out to be a fearsome monster¡­ But regret was regret. Before any of the three princes could speak again, Vinci¡¯s cold voice rang out: ¡°?Sky Pillar?¡± A blinding blue light suddenly shot from the crest as it enveloped the four figures within. Screams of agony resonated from the within the light before they were cut off a second later... *Booooom!* The ten figures who were fighting below suddenly felt the ground slightly tremble as their face suddenly changed. Chapter 30: Sending Them On Their Way Chapter 30: Sending Them On Their Way --- --- --- ¡°Damn! Was the headmaster really injured?! How could she still have so much power left¡­¡± Darma cursed under his breath as he barely dodged a sharp icicle to the left. ¡°Our reports were off...Headmaster Ember was never injured!¡± Adam said grimly as he nimbly step between several beam attacks. ¡°So we¡¯re going to get beat up for no reason?!¡± Karl said indignantly. Now that they found that the Headmaster was not injured but instead still had their full vitality, the battle had turned for the worst. Under normal circumstances, while the nine elders could hold back Headmaster Ember, it could not last forever. Not even putting in the factors about skills, just the large disparity between SP level would cause the nine elders to tire out much quicker than the headmaster! While the nine continued to clashed against the headmaster, the ground suddenly trembled slightly. *Boooooooom!* The elders and headmaster quickly leaped away from each other as they all turned their head towards the sound of the explosion. ¡°What¡¯s going on? Did something happen on the rooftop?¡± James asked as he squinted his eyes, trying to see through the thick smokes on the rooftop. ¡°Oh no! The princes are not here!¡± A Golden Phoenix Clan elder spoke out in worry. ¡°What?!¡± The other elders were instantly alarmed as they looked around. In the end, their eyes landed back on the rooftop. ¡°Could it...the princes are up there?!¡± Darma said with a dark face. ¡°Look! The smoke is clearing!¡± Another elder shouted. They all stared at the rooftop as the smoke slowly cleared. ¡°It¡¯s no use, the angle is off. We will not be able to see what¡¯s up there without going up personally.¡± Adam said as he leaped towards the school¡¯s rooftop. But just as he leaped into the midair, being halfway up the school¡¯s building, a shadow suddenly shot downward. Its speed was impeccably quick, so much that before Adam could dodge or block, his vision was instantly covered by a large palm. Unable to resist against the force, Adam was abruptly pushed downward as the shadow, gripping Adam¡¯s face with its palm, smashed him into the ground ruthlessly. *Bam!* With another swing of his hand, the shadow threw a large ¡°stack¡± towards the eight elders. Like Adam, they were unable to move out of the way fast enough before the ¡°stack¡± slammed into them as well. But when the elders saw what the ¡°stack¡± was, their face immediately paled. ¡°P-prince Dullan!¡± ¡°My god! Prince Virsha!¡± ¡°Prince Mero! Prince Mero! What happened?! Speak to me! Ahh!!¡± The elders were instantly thrown into chaos and panic when they saw their princes¡¯ charred and mutilated bodies. If not for the barely recognizable emblems on their chest, indicating their Clan¡¯s status, the elders may have been unable to recognize them! Even the faces were badly damaged. ¡°Who did this! Ahhh! It must you! I¡¯ll kill you!¡± An elder from the Rossia Clan screamed in rage as he leaped towards the figure who had threw the ¡°stack¡± at them. Seeing the madly approaching elder, Vinci looked on coldly as he suddenly burst forward. Before the elder could react properly, Vinci had already appeared before him, gripping the elder¡¯s neck, and lifting him up high in front of him. Without any further words, Vinci applied force in his grip. *Crack!* The elder barely struggled for a few seconds before his neck was snapped by Vinci. Afterwards, Vinci¡¯s right hand, which was gripping the elder¡¯s broken neck, glowed a light purple hue as informations began to flood into his brain. A while later, the glow died out and Vinci casually let go of his grip as the elder from the Rossia Clan dropped lifelessly to the ground. Behind him, Adam was slowly getting back on his feet as he glared hideously at the boy before him. This was the first time he had been shamed by someone much younger than him. He did not even pay attention to the dead elder at Vinci¡¯s feet, in his rage. Headmaster Ember, who was standing further away, smiled in relief when she saw Vinci. A moment before, she had been worrying that a student at the Academy might¡¯ve been hurt at the rooftop because of the three princes. But if that student was Vinci, then there was no need for the Headmaster Ember to worry. Moreover, the three corpses before her was already proof enough that there was no need for her worry. If even she could not defeat the boy, how could merely three Duke Rankers do the job? This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°Y-you dare kill the princes! Our Major Clans will never let you off!¡± James growled as he glared daggers at Vinci. Vinci glanced around him for a moment before calmly speaking: ¡°Not only do I dare kill the princes, I am going to exterminate and take over your entire Clans as well. But before that, I¡¯ll be extracting some informations from you all.¡± ¡°What?! Insolent brat, we¡¯ll kill you right now!¡± James screamed as he pounced towards Vinci, rapidly chanting up an offensive spell. ¡°My life is not for someone like you to take.¡± Vinci lightly said as he lifted his index finger in front of him. ¡°Seal the space and time, ?Monochrome Pause?.¡± A tiny gray crest appeared at the tip of Vinci¡¯s index finger before it glowed brightly for a moment. The surrounding suddenly took on a black and white, almost monochrome, color. A light wind which was blowing across the yard a moment ago stopped, just like how the elders, headmaster, and students had stopped. Time, at this moment, was frozen. Vinci slowly stepped towards James as he placed his hand on the latter¡¯s head. His palm glowed a light purple as information once again flooded Vinci¡¯s brain. He repeated this process with the other seven elders before he nodded in satisfaction. ¡°Hmm, these people are really the high leveled members of their clans. I was able to get so much datas from merely just the nine of them, saving me time from going around to gather more intel. Even what the Headmaster had told me about them, could not compare to me directly getting an insider view.¡± Vinci said as he looked around him. ¡°Now, I guess I¡¯ll send them along the way.¡± Vinci said, his voice having turned as cold as the freezing winter. Positioning him right behind James, Vinci deactivated his ?Monochrome Pause?. Although this time-stopping spell was powerful, during its activation, the user would not be able to attack at all. Moreover, for each second the spell was on, a large amount of SP would be consumed. Generally, no one would be able to use ?Monochrome Pause?, much less keep it on for more than two seconds at best. But because of Vinci¡¯s immeasurable tank of SP, he was able to maintain the spell for a much longer period. ?Monochrome Pause? is also technically used as a support spell to escape a dangerous situation, rather than being used as an offensive spell. ¡°H-huh?! Wh-where did he go?¡± James let out a surprised cry when he saw that Vinci was not in front of him anymore. In the blink of a moment, the boy was gone from his sight. How was that even possible?! ¡°Hello, I¡¯m over here, gramps. And now, goodbye.¡± A cold voice resonated from behind James. A chill spread through James¡¯ spine when he heard Vinci¡¯s voice behind him. He had no idea how the boy even got behind him in the first place! But before James could leap away and gather himself, he felt a sharp pain on his chest. Looking down, James was baffled to see a huge hole in the middle of the chest. In place of where his chest and stomach had been, was a round bloody hole. *Phff!* James coughed a mouthful of flood as he fell lifelessly forward on the ground. Hie eyes were still wide with disbelief and fear. The seven elders their back matted with sweat when they saw what happened to James. They, too, were unable to see how Vinci had gotten behind James. They weren¡¯t even able to see how Vinci had attacked either. All they saw was Vinci placing his hand in front of James back, before a sudden hole was punctured. There was barely any incantations either. ¡°Voiceless Chanting¡­¡± Adam softly whispered as he stared at Vinci. By now, he had cooled down his feelings and was able to think level-headed once more. But even he was unable to keep his calm when he saw Vinci¡¯s display of strength. It was only now did the elders notice how young Vinci looked. ¡°Who is he...harboring such power at a young age¡­¡± Karl muttered as he looked at Vinci with dread. ¡°Could he be from another Major Clan? But that¡¯s impossible...I¡¯ve never heard a Clan being able to produce such a strong, young person before.¡± Another elder said quietly. They were all extremely wary in the presence of Vinci, now that they had seen his might. The seven elders had almost forgotten about Headmaster Ember, too. ¡°Wh-who are you?¡± Darma asked, his voice having lost the initial rage and arrogance in them. There was even a tinge of fear in his voice. Vinci turned around and glanced at Darma. With a faint, cold smile, he said: ¡°Me? I¡¯m the new Headmaster.¡± Chapter 31: Waging War Chapter 31: Waging War --- --- --- *Author Note: I will be off for a while again. (I had an inspiration on another story I''ve been working on before I came back from my hiatus, and TW was kind of like a side novel I am working on, perhaps an experiment of my mind if you will. Also a lot of family issues and real life pain in the arse are getting in my writing process, so I''m unable to multi-task while following a solid release schedule. I apologize for my slow releases and the on-and-off approach; this may or may not be dropped, but if it don''t, do expect random release schedules. Again, sorry! ) A deathly silence pervaded the air upon hearing Vinci¡¯s answer. The new headmaster? The seven elders were extremely alarmed by this point. They had never expected the new headmaster to be so young. In fact, they hadn¡¯t even consider such a possibility. After all, who would believe a mere 15 years old child to be the next headmaster? If the title of a headmaster was to be passed on so easily to a mere youngster, then it would not have the status and authority it wields today. But the strength the youth had displayed was definitely not simple either. And the elders slowly felt as if their reasons were leaving them. They had no choice but to swallow down Vinci¡¯s statement. ¡°You...You really are the new headmaster?¡± An elder from the Golden Phoenix Clan cautiously asked. ¡°There¡¯s no way...no way...a little child like you¡­¡± His face was full of disbelief and a barely noticeable trace of fear as he looked at Vinci. The youth¡¯s previous display of power had already proven to the world that he was not a mere child... Vinci glanced at the male elder, and without replying, he focused his piercing gaze to meet the elder¡¯s eyes. When Vinci¡¯s gaze met that elder¡¯s, the Golden Phoenix Clan elder felt a sharp pain at the back of his head. He squinted as he suddenly thought of turning away. But no matter how hard he tried, the elder was horrified to find that he could not move anymore. The pain at the back of his neck grew stronger as the elder felt his head began to throb painfully. ¡°Argh...Ahhhh¡­.AHHHHHHHH!!!¡± The piercing sensation became increasingly more vivid. It was as if something was simultaneously poking a thousand needles at his brain. Before long, the elder was screaming out wretchedly. His voice was high and ghastly like a pig being slaughter. The other elders turned to look at that elder in surprise. ¡°Old Henry, what¡¯s wrong?!¡± Darma asked worriedly. Unfortunately, Darma never got a response --and never will. Right after Darma¡¯s question, the elder called ¡°Old Henry¡± gave a final mad scream before his head exploded outwards. Brain matters and soft pieces of flesh spewed all over the place, slightly tainting the clothes of some of the elders, who were near, pinkish red. Old Henry¡¯s body then fell forward lifelessly on the cold ground, bathing in his own blood. The remaining six elders reeled back in terror, as each took several steps back from where the headless body laid motionlessly. ¡°Wh-what the hell is going on?!¡± The woman elder of the Golden Phoenix Clan screeched, her eyes were dancing with the feelings of terror. ¡°...Is it done by that boy? Old Henry looked directly at him be-before this happened..¡± One of the elders from the Crimson Dragon Clan muttered in fear. ¡°Impossible...then...he...really is the new headmaster¡­?¡± Even Adam, who was usually cold and aloof, could not keep from frowning as he softly murmured to himself. Even his his usual steady tone was shaky at this point. He, too, was having a hard time digesting the fact that a 15 years old devil had appeared before them. Seeing the surprised and fear on the elders¡¯ face, Vinci¡¯s faint smile slowly melted away, replacing it with an emotionlessly expression. Then, he looked up and began sweeping his gaze across the empty sky. As if he was talking to himself, Vinci began speaking out loudly in an indifferent tone: ¡°I have just answered that elder¡¯s suspicion. And now, since everyone¡¯s here, I will cut to the chase.¡± A pause. ¡°--I want unite the Seven Major Clans. Or in other words, I want to be the ruler of the United World Continent. If you are willing to pledge your allegiance to me through a blood contract, I promise that I will not touch any of your Clan members, nor interfere with your usual business. I only want the authority over your Clans.¡± Spoken up until here, Vinci gave another brief pause to let his words sink into the surrounding, before he continued: ¡°...But if you wish to go against me, you will leave me with only one choice -- and that is to completely exterminate all the members of your Clan...and you yourself, the so-called Clan Masters.¡± Vinci raised his head and coldly stared at the empty sky as he finished his speech. ¡°What is that child speaking about?...And...why is looking up at the sky the entire time he was talking¡­d-don¡¯t tell me...?¡± A Crimson Dragon Clan elder whispered to Adam as he gave Vinci a complicated look. But Adam did not reply, and only had a face full of disbelief once again while looking at the youth before him. ¡°No way...he couldn¡¯t possibly be able to sense the others¡­!¡± In truth, while the Clan Masters sent their elders to attack the Headmasters, they were also keeping an eye on the whole event from the leisure of their home. After all, to be able to see everything that¡¯s going on is the best way to keep updated and ensure no information is being misrepresented --especially for something as important as a match that¡¯ll decide the next Headmaster. Besides, the elders who were told beforehand about their Clan Masters¡¯ monitoring, no one should have been able to detect them, excluding the Headmaster. They never would have thought Vinci would have been able to detect the Clan Masters who were using a Grand-tier spying magic. But the more the elders came to realize this fact, the more they became frightened. After all, to be able to detect hidden magics that were on the level of Clan Masters meant that the person must at least be of the same rank...or possibly even higher! At a location far away, a castle stands lonely among a field of forests. Inside a particularly grand room, an elder in a golden robe decorated with expensive crystals was looking into a large, red crystal ball. At the same time, his two hands were elevated at either side of the ball, sending thin threads of mana into it. The elder looks to be around his late forty, with a head full fading golden hair. He was of ordinary appearance, with a slightly crooked nose, small black eyes, and a bit wrinkled skin. While his body appears to be skinny, there was a great oppressive aura around him that made anyone who¡¯s in his presence, feel a mighty pressure. Behind him, in the dark shadows, only two sets of glaring eyes could be seen, with one being of brown color while the other was a deep blue. There were traces of fear, anger, and unrest in their fierce eyes as they looked in the direction of the red crystal ball. At this time, there was a horrified look on the face of the elder who was directly in front of the crystal orb. ¡°Impossible...this boy¡­can sense us?!¡± The light golden haired elder whispered in disbelief. He was the Clan Master of the Golden Phoenix Clan, Venra Fenix. Naturally, the other two seated behind him were the Clan Masters of Crimson Dragon Clan and Rossia Clan. ¡°Dammit, what the hell?! Who is that boy? Is he a demon?! First he kills my son and now he¡¯s actually threatening us? Outrageous! ¡± An gruff, angry voice rang out from the shadow. It came from the set of blue eyes. ¡°Calm down, Yero. No use getting agitated. Now that he had killed our sons, he will naturally pay for it dearly.¡± A cold, monotous voice came from the pair of brown eyes. ¡°And so what if that boy could detect our magic? He may just be more sensitivity than others. And to want to take over the Seven Major Clans with just himself? Bah! Just who does he think he is! There is no need to mind his threat. No matter if he is a demon or just another monster, with us three clans combined, what can he do? Not even that Headmaster could do anything to us for several generations already, hmph!¡± Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Venra collected his wits as he continued to stare into the crystal orb. ¡°Darwin is correct. We cannot let anger cloud our eyes --yet. We need to find a plan to deal with this boy¡­¡± Yero grunted as his eyes narrowed, trying to calm his raging emotions. After a few moments, his heart once again settled down as he stared at the crystal orb in front of Venra. ¡°So what shall we do next?¡± Yero said in a low voice, dripping with venom. ¡°We shall continue to watch, and if there¡¯s any---¡± Before Venra could finish speaking, Vinci¡¯s voice came out from the crystal orb. The spying Grant-tier magic, [Hundred Thousand Miles Tracker], is able to oversee anything within a mile of a hundred thousands as its name stated. Even the littlest sound would not escape detection. ¡°I will give you ten seconds to decide whether to continue or stop. I¡¯m sure you can hear me just fine over there. If you choose to stop, just have your men retreat and later pledge your allegiance to me. If not, let them stay --I¡¯ll treat it as you¡¯re willing to wage war with me.¡± Vinci¡¯s cold voice rang through the hollow room. The three Clan Masters narrowed their eyes as anger and bloodlust once again burst from their body. This brat was being too conceited, wasn¡¯t he?! ¡°Hmph, a mere child daring to even speak of ¡®waging war¡¯ with my Crimson Dragon Clan...as I suspected, he¡¯s just another one of those barbarians who only has brute strength but no brains!¡± Darwin said in an icy voice. ¡°1...2...3...4¡­¡± A slow, emotionless voice began to ring clearly from the red, crystal orb. ¡°This bastard¡­!¡± Yero gritted his teeth as the flame in his heart was once again ignited. Venra frowned as he looked at the image in the crystal. His eyes never left the ball itself. ¡°Is this brat bluffing?...But why do I feel this uneasy feeling...as if I should say something¡­no, no, that¡¯s not right...this feeling¡­¡± Venra thought in his mind, as his eyes slowly widened a bit. ¡°...this feeling...is fear?!¡± After living a carefree and relaxing life for so long, due to his incredible status, Venra had almost long forgotten the sensation of fear, of dark foreboding. Today, he finally remembered that prickling sensation...one that he would often feel when he was a younger, right before a calamity struck him! ¡°...6...7¡­¡± Vinci continued to count, while facing the sky; the other elders did not know what to do as they stared dumbfoundedly at the youth before them. By now, they had come to fully realize that Vinci was able to sense their Clan Masters¡¯ spy magic. Even the Headmaster had on a face full of shock when she realized this fact as well. ¡°...9...10.¡± Vinci¡¯s eyes became colder as he stared emotionlessly at the murky sky. Lowering his head, Vinci closed his eyes as let out a soft sigh. ¡°Haaa, why did I even bother negotiating. This is not like me at all... Did I get soft because of the increased lag time in my synchronization this time around? To reason with these unreasonable people who came to kill...was quite unreasonable in the first place.¡± With his eyes still closed and his head facing downward, Vinci lifted his right arm into the air with this palm facing the sky. Without even looking at the elders, Vinci said lightly: ¡°Alright, you may all die now.¡± Suddenly, triple layered crest the color of blood instantly appeared on top of Vinci¡¯s palms. The smallest crest at the bottom had a diameter of six foot while the largest crest at the top had a diameter of fifteen foot. The strange, magic symbols on the crests shone brightly as a terrifying aura burst forth from Vinci¡¯s body. The bloody aura immediately engulfed the entire school ground as a heavy pressure descending upon the six elders. Only the Headmaster and students within the school building did not seem to be affected, with a warm white shield that appeared at some point, enveloping them. ¡°Gah¡­!¡± Darma looked on with wide eyes as his legs buckled beneath him. Unable to bear the pressure, he spurted out a mouth of blood and kneeled fully on the ground. Slowly, the other elders followed suit as they crumpled to the ground. Even Adam, whom Headmaster Ember had placed a great importance on, fell to the dirty ground without exception. ¡°N-no...this density of soul force...m-my god! A monster! No, a-a demon!¡± The woman elder of the Golden Phoenix Clan stammered with pure terror, as blood trickled down her mouth. ¡°Pl-please spare me¡­.please...I was wrong...wrong¡­¡± ¡°What the hell is this....¡± ¡°It¡¯s...over....¡± ¡°...Is...he even human?!¡± Comments of despair fluttered through the air, as the ground began to slightly tremble. None of the elders had any inspiration in them to stop Vinci. The amount of soul force they had felt from the magical crests of Vinci¡¯s had already stripped them of their hopes. The triple crimsoned colored crests suddenly glowed brightly with an eerie cinnabar hue, as Vinci muttered: ¡°Decimate these pitiable souls, ?Diabolic Domain?.¡± Instantly, the triple crimsoned crests expanded outward in a split second, covering the entire school ground. It only slightly missed encompassing the school. The elders, at the same time, ceased their movements under large umbrella of the crests. ¡°MMMmm!!¡± Noises rang out from the elders, but no one spoke a word. Veins bulged from their necks and arms, as if they were trying to push out against something with their entire might. Their body had been restrained under the three large crests, so much that even their own voice had been taken away¡­ Only the headmaster, who was looking around in bewilderment, seemed still able to control her own body. At this moment, Vinci¡¯s emotionless voice pervaded the quiet air: ¡°You should leave this field, Headmaster Ember...or you won¡¯t get the chance to...ever again.¡± Headmaster Ember felt a striking chill roll down her spine when she heard Vinci¡¯s words. Although she understood the boy was not threatening her, the lack of emotion and terrifying pressure Vinci was exuding, only made his words seem ominous. She had no doubt the boy would be able to keep his words¡­ Without any hesitation, the Headmaster quickly leaped away from under the giant crests as she landed at a nearby area. The elders¡¯ eyes were following the headmaster as she left. Their eyes pleaded with despair and fear, but the Headmaster could not be bothered to care for them. Even if she wanted to, this had already gone far beyond her ability to do so. A few moments after the Headmaster left the crest, earth suddenly shook violently before a sea of lava bursts from under the once, dirt-filled ground. The crests suddenly beamed down a terrifying heat energy at the same time, roasting the melting elders. ¡°AHHH!! It hurts!! Ahhh!!!¡± ¡°Help me! Ph-phlease! Ah! Aggg!¡± Agonized screams of death echoed from under the fiery crests. Although the elders¡¯ voice seemed to have returned, their body was still restricted. They had no power to escape or even defend themselves, This went on for about a full minute before the flames suddenly surged and the cries were cut off right there and then. Soon afterwards, the flames died down and the lavas receded back into the earth. The triple layered crests even dissipated slowly in the air. The elders bodies were nowhere to be seen. Because of the extreme heat, the area was filled with billows of smoke rolling about. But Vinci¡¯s figure stood conspicuously among the smoky environment. Lifting up his head, Vinci stared right at a particular area of the sky as he said in a voice, void of sentiments: ¡°You guys are next. Please wait patiently for me...I¡¯ll be there soon.¡±