"Excuse me… what?"
It took a good moment for the woman to actually process what happened and force herself to perform any reaction to my words.
"It's like I said. I caught the glance of the girl a little bit earlier on, and I can confirm that albeit a bit different, she still has a talent prone to grooming. I just think it would be a waste to leave her behind."
Considering how I almost clashed with the girl that I was speaking about, someone might find it strange how could I act in her defence right now. But that was exactly why this moment was perfectly right to act like a mature person rather than a naive and hasty protagonist of some low-effort novel.
"I believe this senior here was personally overseeing the training of his daughter, while I kept the truth about my talent hidden away. That's why I believe it's perfectly fine for him to be surprised about the outcome of the selections. Not to speak about how I don't think his daughter was even tested today!"
Instead of using this opportunity to demolish this man by carefully probing the female, I simply acted just a bit out of my line, hoping to turn him into a good friend of mine!
Why should I create enemies for myself for no reason? If the price I had to pay to keep this part of the world welcoming was as small as just a tiny bit of my pride, then I would have to be an immense idiot to not take the deal!
After all, most of my doubts about the credibility and the intentions of both the girl that dared to stand against me when I bullied a random man and her father that was most likely the same person that the guard told me about back when I was moving from the prison…
This entire doubt about their intentions came from the suggestion of the guard, who was most likely confused about my reactions. Given how I was basically on the level of figuring out the basic controls in this new life of me, it was perfectly normal to make the guard feel suspicious that something… bad happened to me!
From that single doubt, the entirety of how I saw the situation and events around me changed, making me misunderstand the intentions and ideas of this pair from the very beginning.
Thinking about it in moral terms, I was actually the one in the wrong in the entire situation! While I lived my life as a part and later an important piece of a huge criminal organisation, it didn't mean I was striving to commit acts that would haunt me in my future dreams.
"If that's what you say…"
Still stunned by the sudden turnaround of the situation, the female at least backed out, diffusing her aura to the usual cold ice. Her eyes clearly hinted how confused she was, but in the very next moment, she somehow managed to regain her composure.
"Indeed. Let's test her. Even our reports outlined that she was the most likely candidate out of today's selections."
Suddenly, the entire tension in the atmosphere just disappeared. It seemed that everyone understood what was the axis of the conflict, and seeing how simply wrong it was, no one was willing to bother with it anymore.
From that point on, everything thankfully happened outside of my sphere of influence. Moving out of the array, I stood by the side, watching how the same girl that I unreasonably threatened a few moments ago stepped right in the same circle with her eyes stealing unsure glances at me.
On this point, I couldn't help but get curious just what could be the hook that allowed me to properly use my blind blackmail earlier on?
But instead of thinking about this, I finally managed to find some time to recall and look through the messages that I received. Given how I received all my rewards right off the bat, I still couldn't help but regret that no additional ones came my way after the end of this huge reveal.
For some reason, levelling up both my skills and knowledge about this world brought a lot of immense joy, something that I didn't feel for ages. It was a simple thrill that made me excited about reaching the new heights, with the route to this destination as simple as it could get.
Obviously, I was both ready and willing to take any necessary hardships head-on. Assuming that I could somehow go through this new life of mine effortlessly would be akin to wishing for the opposite to happen. But it didn't change the fact that this kind of trill was something that I dearly missed back on earth, where just a single promotion could take years for one to accomplish.
After looking through my messages, I could finally sort out all the news properly and summarise my status. Just by wishing for the main card of my status was enough to summon it right before my eyes.
*Pavlo Oegari:*
*Overall level - 11 (Novice)*
*Social - level 4 (1/3)*
*Technical - level 2 (1/2)*
*Creative - level 5(0/3)*
*Unique constitution: Universal Cleaner - Makes growing all aspects of skill possible
Level 1 - Increases all cleaning aspects by 1 without the penalty to the growth rate*
*Force: Detergent*
*Creative Innovativeness (-1 to Creative growth cost)*
There was still a lot of things that I didn't understand. What is that force? Is this system of mine really that broken to make me cultivate detergent instead of qi? How could my creative cleaning aspect, something that I assumed would be rather tricky to improve, manage to rush ahead?
Those few were just the most basic ones, with the flashing line of *Creative aspect skill can be created* and its Social aspect counterpart that brough my attention capable of completely turning my head into a complete mess. Thankfully, before I could totally fixate on the futile attempts of solving those equations, the girl that I helped finally managed to finish her tests and without any surprise, earn the approval of the teacher.
At this point, the male examiner's body was already back in wherever he came from, most likely subjected to intense medical treatment. With just the two girls and me standing in the last known location of the desk, a sudden ball of light quickly enveloped our entire group. This random girl that I helped only stood there awkwardly, not even given the chance to properly say goodbye to her father.
"You don't need to worry about anything. From now on, the sect will take care of all your needs. While in the beginning, the comforts might not amount to much, once you will start showing the results, the academy will be sure to incentivise your activities."
For some reason, the female teacher decided that soothing their potential worry of the economical aspect was the most important one. After all, one's sustenance laid at the very bottom of the Maslov's pyramid, making it the obvious choice. But in my opinion, this woman failed to realise one crucial aspect that made her plans fall short of their desired outcome.
Starting with the girl, she was too emotionally unstable to actually think about anything reasonable. Suddenly separated with her entire life, she was standing near someone who started a relationship with her by blackmailing her, only to step in and do her an insane favour randomly later on and to top it all up, she was about to enter what one could only consider a priority place!
On the other hand, I didn't really care about my initial financial situation. Just from my system alone, I could guarantee rather rapid growth for myself. No matter whether I would have money or not, cleaning was something that I could always do just by myself, and maybe even earn money out of it. While it would obviously degrade my standing in any social group, that was a low price to pay for free stimulus to the growth of my power.
"As for the beginning, once we arrive at the academy, I will leave you in the hands of one of your seniors. The lessons won't start for the next week yet, so I guess you would like to have some means of effectively using your precious time."
Hearing the woman's words, I couldn't help but feel excited. It was clear that behind her words, a way greater meaning was hidden. While some could mistake it for just a nitpick, I could see how serious the teacher's eyes were when she mentioned the aspect of time.
Suddenly, the ball of light that surrounded our trio disappeared, giving way to the most magnificent sight that I ever saw in my life. If I ever thought that modern, earthy architecture was impressive, then the truth of the world just broke that arrogant outlook of mine.
Consisting of an entire chain of numerous floating islands, the academy seemed to have the shape of a normal pyramid. Starting at the ground level, one could climb from one floating island to another, with the carvings on the buildings scattered all over the place clearly indicated that getting higher meant getting stronger and richer.
Looking up from the very bottom position of the location, I couldn't help but feel just… small.
*Storyline progress fulfilled.*
*Host finished the prologue.*
*Reward: Bringing up all the aspects to the level of the highest one*
*Result: Lost Creative Innovativeness*
*All cleaning aspects are now level 5*