Chase walked over to Michael with a huge grin. The weapon on his side clinked and clanked as he skipped over to him.
Michael once again squinted at him and called out (Through Analysis) inwardly. Though it isn't necessary, he thought it would be best to call out the names to avoid similar spells from clashing in the future.
______________________
Name: Chase Soliel
Age: 15
STR:47
AGI: 49
______________________
[ Using: ??? ]
[ Happy, Exhilarated ]
Michael's eyes widened in surprise but soon furrowed. Some of the previous scattered messages had now merged.
Chase was still using a skill who knows what, but Michael didn't bat an eye on it. Whenever he used the skill on him, it always appeared so it doesn't surprise him anymore. Though he was still a little bit worried.
He then immediately looked at Chase's body and squinted at all the messages that appeared before deactivating (Thorough Analysis).
Michael's eyes glowed dark red that swirled inside his iris before fading, revealing a blue hue upon deactivation.
He figured that the mana consumption of the skill is in every second, so he made it a habit to stare at the messages quickly, turning (Thorough Analysis) off as fast as possible. He thought it was a good way of preserving mana.
He can only keep the skill activated in a total of 15 seconds.
Either the skill takes a lot of mana, or he has a minuscule amount. Regardless, reserving mana can be a saving grace, especially so if he learns more skills. Hence, trying to limit the depletion.
In a battle, mana exhaustion is fatal. A warrior's lifeline is mana.
Michael is thoroughly preparing himself for when he has to put his life on the line. A time that may come sooner than he thinks.
"Like it?" Chase asked with a slight smirk seeing Michael leering at the items on his belt.
"O-Oh yeah, they're great. Where did you get them?" He questioned with his eyes shifting from left to right.
"You'll find out soon," Chase said with a huge grin gripping the scabbard proudly.
"I can't wait. Haha." Michael laughed awkwardly, avoiding eye contact.
[ Leather Scabbard (Dyed) ]
[ Durable Iron Sword ]
[ Hardskin Belt ]
[ Low-Tiered Grimoire (Ragged) ]
[ Hardskin Book Pouch (Tattered) ]
Yellow holographic messages hovered beside Chase, right next to their respective items.
Michael assessed every one of the objects. They may not have any descriptions, but their name is more than enough to gather information.
'Leather and hardskin are separated, it's most likely that the hardskin is from a monster of some sort.' He thought, staring at the messages back and forth.
"What's wrong? Is there some girl behind me or what?" Chase asked, turning his gaze at his back.
"You know there's no girl here." Michael refuted with a sigh.
"Let's go? It's something urgent, right? Everyone is already heading to the arena." Zack reminded them as he stood up.
"Yes," Chase nodded, following behind Zack.
"Michael?"
"I'll be there in a bit, go on without me," Michael said looking at the tray of food, disappointed. He wasn't able to take even a single bite.
But he isn't the kind to waste food.
"Suit yourself, we'll be at our usual" Zack yelled before walking off with Chase.
"Yeah", Michael replied.
He put his food in a bowl from the dinnerware on the counter, bringing it into his room. He quickly placed it on his desk and covered it with a wooden saucer before going to the building in front of the dormitory.
The atmosphere outside was slightly foggy from the early hour. However, the bright light from the sunrise made it barely visible. They usually start at dawn but everyone overslept, thankfully it turned out that there was an announcement.
If not, only God knows how many laps they would have run as a punishment.
Michael was startled when he saw the rising sun, thinking that training should have already started. But he dismissed the stressful thought, he didn't mind running more laps since that's always been his plan every day.
He admired the morning breeze before jogging to the building.
Upon entering, he was greeted by a flight of stairs going down. Rowed seats were laid down in a rectangular shape on the whole first floor with a sunken, ovular battlefield in the middle. Kind of like a boxing stadium.
There were a total of 5 rows.
The stairs were made out of black slate while the seats were out of mahogany with red puffy fabric which Michael assumed to be made out of foam.
In the middle battlefield, a stage was seen set up with exactly ten chairs in front of it. Having two columns with an equal amount on each side.
Currently, this is their third time being called here.
'That's new.' Michael thought.
He noticed he was the last one missing and quickly ran down. He sat in the second column at the end, just behind Zack.
"Is this the usual? From what I remember, this is the first time we sat in the middle of the arena." Michael teasingly said with a smile.
"Oh shut up. You of all people should know what I mean." Zack dismissed the statement.
"Embarrassed now, are we?" Michael added with a smirk, crossing his arm and turning his head to the side a little bit.
"Embarrassed, my ass. You're just sometimes annoying. Aren't you supposed to be mature?"
"Yeah, yeah, Eggnog. Can't I have a bit of fun?" He chuckled followed by a teasing smile.
"Eggnog?!" Zack exclaimed with a visible blush.
"Brings back memories, doesn't it?" Michael spoke with a sinister grin.
"Please don't mention that again…" Zack pleaded in a low tone whilst covering his face in shame.
He looked at him and laughed again.
"Anyways, where's Chase and sir Duke?" Michael asked.
"As soon as we entered, sir Duke asked help from Chase and left through that door,"
Zack explained pointing at the said door, his cheeks still slightly red.
"Door?" Michael turned his head. "Doesn't that lead to the armory?" He added.
"How do you know?" Zack questioned.
"What do you think I've been doing staying up all night?" Michael questioned also with a confident smirk.
"Masturbating?"
Hearing the remark, Michael almost puked blood "PFT! What the fuck?!"
"Rude," He sighed as he took a scroll out of a pocket inside his sweatshirt.
Zack squinted at it and tilted his head in confusion before his mouth dropped and his eyes widened. "Don't tell me?"
"Yep, it's a map." Michael proudly said, opening it confidently.
It revealed an intricate layout, with accurate measurements akin to modern blueprints. It was slightly messy with a few smudged bits, but that was already expected from the slow-drying ink.
Zack laughed. "Just where do you learn all of this random stuff?"
"Let's just say I prefer essential life skills than the knowledge school wants to pass down from ancient times."
"How is this an essential life skill?" He laughed more.
The others were disturbed with their outburst and glared at them, specifically at Michael.
But at this point, he could care less. What's more to do with a 'broken' reputation? It's better to be hated by these ignorant and disgusting 'heroes' than to be loved.
Michael could only wonder why such human trash was chosen. One would think that they would be at least normal. Not show-off scumbags.
Not even a week has passed back then and he was already pushed to a corner. They kicked, punched, and threatened him for no particular reason. But he only stayed quiet.
He pitied their pathetic attempt of asserting dominance. It just shows how weak they really are.
Nothing is lower than fighting back at these cowards; he didn't want to lower himself into their levels. He just grits his teeth and takes it all in.
It wasn't the first time he experienced something like this so he managed to stay calm and collected. So much so that he forgets these encounters unnaturally fast. He would walk up to the dining room indifferently as if nothing happened.
"Mapping is more useful than you think," Michael said, ignoring the real trash.
"What's with the change of tone?"
"It's hard thinking when there's a foul smell in the air." He answered with an aloof expression.
"Now that you mentioned it...I do seem to smell something awful." Zack sniffed facing Michael.
"It's a figurative speech, Zack."
"Then what's that s-"
Bang!
The door suddenly slammed open, cutting off Zack and catching the attention of everyone.
"Good morning, heroes!" A voice resounded from the dark hallway behind the door.
A 6'2 man came inside followed by Chase carrying a crate.
"Yahallo," Chase waved with a smile.
The man had long blonde hair and an attractive face. He wore a very loose red tunic with brown leather pants and a black belt on his waist. On his back was a cloth-wrapped weapon one and a half meters long.
Despite the height, the man had an average build. But it was in no way thin; it was packed with muscles. It was the ideal body.
The man looked like an elf but he had human ears.
His eyes glowed bright green as though it was an emerald, with an iris that was so clear it felt like an abyss but a gaze so sharp it could cut you.
Everyone was captivated by the man, regardless of gender.
He grabbed a strand of cloth from his pocket and tied his hair with it. He tied it into a ponytail with leftover short bangs in the front.
He then took out the weapon on his back and unwrapped it, showing a mighty, iron longsword.
"Meet my partner, Elster." He said proudly, brandishing his sword for all to see.
"Today, you will be picking out your weapons. The partner that will lead you to life or death. A partner that will charge with you into battle." The man said with extreme vigor and enthusiasm.
"So it will be extremely important. One could say this is like picking a profession." He added.
The man briefly stopped and asked with a whisper. "Could you hand me a dimensional ring, Chase? The one I told you about earlier."
"Yes!" Chase yelled with a salute.
"Here, sir Duke!" He threw a titanium white ring with a blue gem after quickly rummaging through the contents of the box.
"D-Duke?!" The whole group shouted in surprise.
The full-clad, 6'5 gigantic brute is a handsome gentleman? He's actually thin?
Why was his armor bigger than him? Can he change his size with magic? Is that really Duke? Questions erupted from the students.
"Seriously?!" Michael exclaimed along with (Thorough Analysis) inwardly.
______________________
Name: Duke Braun
Age: 33
STR: 7891
VIT: 9129
______________________
[ Heh, I bet they didn't expect this ]
[ Proud, Elated, Confident ]
"It really is him!" He yelled. 'Damn what a monster…' He thought at the same time.
"But first, the important announcement." Duke continued, paying no heed to the shocked reactions when in truth, was actually ecstatic.
"I'd like you to meet your new instructor," He said, catching the ring exactly on his ring finger mid-air.
"Your survival and magic teacher, the esteemed second general of the Reina Kingdom!" Duke shouted with pride as he pointed at the dark corridor which he came out of earlier.
Instantaneously, a shadow jumped out of it and in a split second, a person gracefully landed on the stage.
Blood-red eyes glowed from underneath its hood, before taking them off.
Revealing a gorgeous silver-haired woman.
Her skin glistened and her tied hair shined from the shallow light from the windows. A 5'7 woman stood with her back against the crowd with visible daggers on her waist.
She wore a short jacket up to her abdomen and a white undershirt with long black pants.
Her scarlet red eyes looked at the boys with an aloof expression, bewitching them, some even drooling at the sight.
But the indifferent face soon turned into one of contempt.
"Disgusting pigs." She said in a condescending tone.