"Everyone settle down, we have a new classmate joining us. Adam, introduce yourself."
The teacher signaled Adam to come forward.
"I am Adam, 12 years old, I came from the wasteland. Any questions?"
A girl in the front, that was previously student 2, was frantically waving her hand, "Ooh! Ooh! What's your trait? What category, Mind, Body, or Spirit?"
The whole class suddenly quieted down as if they wanted to make sure that they didn't hear wrong.
"I don't know what you mean."
The teacher informed Adam, "Traits are things given to a few special people, they are usually embedded into them when they awaken it. No one knows how or why this happens but historians speculate it is related to the awakening of mana a few thousand years ago. Traits are mainly categorized as Mind, Body, or Spirit. Mind relates to intellect related. Body relates to physical enhancement. Meanwhile, Spirit is related to mana."
Adam nonchalantly said, "I don't have any." While snickering inside.
Adam's classmates suddenly lost all interest.
"Traitless? How boring!"
"You don't have any? Nice try but you aren't fooling anyone here. They only put the best of the best here. Right now, there isn't a single traitless person in this class."
"Wahhh!"
Adam peered at where the baby noise was coming from. Is everyone seriously ok with that random baby?
"Why did we get you? Why couldn't we have gotten Beast King Richard! He has way more potential than this weakling! The other kids are saying that he already has enough strength to compete with an elite!"
"Man, news travels fast when it comes to this kind of stuff."
Beast King Richard? What kind of cringey name is that? I knew Richard wanted to be cool and all but he is going to regret this in the future. Hehe, can't wait to mess with him later. Anyways, time to act oblivious.
"Oh! Then please don't mind me then. I don't know either why I am in this class, so please, completely ignore my existence."
"Way ahead of you!"
"Everyone, settle down! Adam, we'll give you your uniform tomorrow. Now take a seat."
Adam sat at the back of the classroom and the rest of the class instantly forgot what just happened. While on his seat he opened the book which he stole from one of the people in front while he was walking through and read it.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
In the principal office, Sir Steward, Nero, and Lady Isabelle were discussing matters that happened earlier.
Nero said, "Well, we are alone now. Quid pro quo. Go ahead"
Lady Isabelle nodded.
"Who was that kid?"
Sir Steward answered, "His name is Adam, a seemingly promising student from the wasteland. From what I can tell, he is quite the schemer and a kid I would compare to a devil."
Nero spoke up, "Why did you say he was an old man earlier?"
"When I was bound up, I heard a few voices talking about how the old man's job would be to sell me and the profit would be shared among everyone else. I heard the old man go on the caravan and ride off. I didn't see any of their faces, including that kid."
"Is this, Adam, the most promising kid this time around?"
Sir Steward with a sly grin on his face said, "Intellect-wise he is above and beyond, that I would likely compare it to war tacticians. Combat-wise it would be Richard, or by going by what he is calling himself, Beast King Richard. Just saying, I approve of his self-proclaimed title. They are both 12-years-old."
Lady Isabelle was visibly shocked at what Sir Steward said. Titles were only given to those with status and prestige and it's usually given by the people with power or the masses. Having Sir Steward approve of a title for such a young kid was shocking, even she herself has no title.
"Where were you kidnapped?"
"I was kidnapped roughly 2 days ago, considering the speed of the caravan, it would only take you a few hours. May you please provide me with a map?"
Nero grabbed a map from the shelves and laid it flat on his desk.
"Around this area."
Lady Isabelle pointed at the general scale of where she was.
"They had a camp if even they tried to clean off the place the traces would still be fresh."
"That's enough for today, go on to your family. We will be handling all the problems from here on out. All parties involved would be properly punished and rewarded respectively."
"Wait a minute! I-I would like to personally reward Adam instead. I did him wrong earlier, no matter the context or how he did it. The matter of him saving me is still a fact that I cannot deny.
Sir Steward thought to himself, that it was interesting. What Adam said happened, truly, the pride of a noble can't let themselves feel inferior no matter what.
"No problem! Well, there are no other issues then you may go."
Lady Isabelle and Sir Steward bowed and left the office.
In the corridor, Sir Steward left a few words for, "Adam is in Classroom 1 and Richard has a classroom all to himself and his subordinates."
Lady Isabelle now got confused, Adam is in Classroom 1 and not Richard? And how did Richard get so many subordinates so fast?
Sir Steward simply smiled and walked off leaving a confused Lady Isabelle behind.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The school day ended and dawn came.
From the beginning to the end of the class, Adam's only presence was his introduction. No one came to talk to him, everyone ignored his existence as if he was a ghost and at the end of the day, everyone actually forgot him.
Adam as the last person was in his classroom, felt it was time to figure out what was going on with the baby.
He stood up and looked at the closet where he heard the baby noise was coming from earlier.
"I've been looking at this closet the entire day and there is no way in hell the baby isn't there!"
As he was about to open the closet, a voice sounded behind him.
"Nice rags, Adam! It's been a while."
Richard was behind him looking crazy.
Adam nervously laughed, "Ah-ha-ha-ha! Fancy meeting you here Richard, who knew we would end up in the same school?"
"This is the only school in the entire kingdom."
Adam scratched his head, "Oh, that! Well, it's been nice meeting you but I have to go now so-"
"Leaving so soon? Last time I met you face to face was last year ago. Come let's chat for a bit."
A dangerous glint appeared in Richard's eyes, he slowly drew a sword and started to infuse mana into it. A sinister smile was craved on his face.
Adam threw up his arms, "H-Hey, don't be rash now. This we are on school grounds and it prohibits students from fighting each other unless it's in a specified space for combat."
"You think I care?"
Richard dashed forward and sliced towards Adam.
The chairs and tables were thrown aside but surprisingly it didn't break.
Adam narrowly dodged it.
"You beast! You really are the beast king!"
Richard once again sliced down aiming to split Adam in two.
Adam dashed backward causing the closet to fall down.
The closet opened and there it was, the source of Adam's distress, the baby quietly sleeping.
The impact forced it to wake up. Meanwhile, Richard was still slashing at Adam, and Adam was still fervently dodging. Due to his body not being mature and his only technique attacking while hiding in the dark, Adam was starting to bleed due to some cuts here and there.
Backed in a corner, Adam took a chair and used it as a weapon.
"Listen, Richard. Let bygones be bygones. Otherwise, I will have no choice but to use force. Don't make me!"
"The hell are you going to do with a chair? Smack me? Hahahaha-"
Adam smacked Richard with a chair.
"Yes."
Richard screamed in fury as he held his sword and swung down hard. While Adam placed down the chair and slid under it bracing for impact.
Sword met chair. Chair met sword. Sword cracked. Chair won.
Adam had noticed earlier that the chairs and tables didn't get destroyed despite Richard's monstrous strength. It was a 'gamble' but Adam won in the end.
"I don't need a sword to deal with you! Ahhh!"
Richard forcefully took the chair from Adam and started to beat him senseless.
"Hey, that's unfair! Timeout!"
Adam dashed away and managed to get some distance. Looking around for anything he can use, he gave up and jumped through the window.
Seeing Adam run away, Richard threw the chair away and ran towards him. Seeing Richard try to jump out the window, he closed the window ever so casually.
*Bump*
Richard hit his head on the glass window.
"Seems everything in this school is reinforced with mana, makes sense."
Richard got up madder than ever, as he was about to open the window to get his revenge, Adam taunted him.
"Hey, Beast King Richard. You should change your name to... uh...what's that behind you?"
Adam pointed to someone behind Richard.
"I won't be falling for that again! You should learn some new-"
A gigantic hand covered Richard's entire head.
"Eh?"
That hand then squeezed down, hard, like really hard.
"Ahhhhhh!"
Richard was squirming in pain.
"What feeble mortal dares wake me from my slumber."
That man had a baby's bonnet, so it was safe to assume that it was the baby that was previously woken up.
"Well, its time for me to go. Have fun!"
Adam swiftly ran away while silently taking deep breaths and running away in an awkward manner. These wounds really hurt, better get to the doctor.
In an inconspicuous street near the slums, Adam entered the small run-down building with a half-broken sign saying "Welcome."
"Doctor, I got some serious wounds!"
A man in a white dirty coat went downstairs.
"Oh, pipe down! If you can still talk you're fine!"
The doctor took a glance at Adam and waved his hand. A green glow glowed and seeped through his wounds closing them.
Adam threw a few gold coins towards the doctor.
"It's been a while since you got wounds like those, so what organization did it?"
"Well, not really an organization rather an individual. Remember when I told you there was a monster growing in the wasteland?"
"Hmm?"
A gigantic grin appeared on the doctor's face.
"So that means you already enrolled in the school, right? "
"Yeah, so hurry up and give me the cloak. They are getting smarter and smarter."
"Yeah, yeah. Just let me get it."
The doctor opened an inconspicuous hatch in the middle of the room. As it opened, lights lit up the white room below.
"So this was where you've been making all those stuff, huh?"
"Might as well show you. Things are gonna get a lot more interesting in the future. Remember this is the place where history is going to happen!"
The doctor went near a blue-tinted glass box containing a simple black cloak. He pressed his hand on the glass and infused a substantial amount of mana. It took some time for it to open.
"This might be the second most valuable thing I have ever made in my entire life! And that's saying something. Hais, sometimes I envy you kid, what a goddamn cheat."
"Well, the number of people who know my trait could be counted on two fingers. I made sure of it unless you have something to tell me?" An insidious grin appeared on Adam's face.
"Dear me! Threatening the same man who healed you a few minutes earlier. How cruel!"
The doctor playfully joked around.
"I am not joking this time."
"I would never! I know what happens to people who cross you. I did it once, never again!"
"Good."
"I sometimes wonder how far I would get if I got that trait instead of you, ah. If one would take a single glance at it they would think its rather pathetic but dear god are they wrong." The doctor was laughing as if he had gone crazy.
"You made your point, now shut up."
The blue-tinted glass all of a sudden turned transparent then ceased to exist. The doctor stepped out and went upstairs. On the second floor, there was an odd scribble in the middle of the room. The doctor summoned flames and a massive explosion ensured. Meanwhile, Adam took the cloak and went on a platform, he sent mana into the platform and then he vanished.
Adam appeared on the other side of the kingdom.
"Leave no evidence, that should take care of the rats. Gotta meet with the doctor now."
Adam wore the cloak and a smile of relief appeared on his face. He took the cloak which he was previously wearing into a spatial ring he was wearing, leaving no trace behind. Under the cover of moonlight, Adam enhanced his body with mana and moved at an unprecedented speed.