"And our super rookie. The student who ranked first in the entrance test, rising above the five heirs themselves. Please put your hands together for Noah Evans." BEEP!
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[Alert! External influence detected]
[Alert! External influence detected]
[Alert.....]
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A series of messages flooded across Noah's face as the system window opened abruptly. He stiffened. What was happening? He'd never seen the system reacting this way.
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[Alert! External influence detected]
[Displaying influence information.....]
[Name: █ █ █]
[Category: █ █ █]
[Race: Dragon ?????]
[Designation █ █ █]
[Threat Level: Black]
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Noah took a step back. What the hell was going on? Threat level black? He'd never seen a threat level this high before. He looked around wildly. There must be something causing the system to react like that. It had only ever turned on by itself like this when he had first unlocked it in Knightsville. He tensed his legs, ready to run. He didn't know how high a threat level of black was, but he was sure it wasn't something anybody over here could handle.
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[Enabling auto-defence protocols!]
[Purging threat]
[Estimated time: 10 seconds]
[10]
[9]
[8]
[7]
[Pausing....]
[Identifying name....]
[Updating information...]
[Name: M█ █ █r]
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The screen distorted as soon as Noah tried to read the text in front of him. He had no idea what was happening. "Noah? Please move towards the other students." He could hear Elizabeth's icy voice.
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[Threat has been nullified]
[Disabling auto-defence protocols]
[Notice!]
[System will go into sleep mode for the next 2 hours. Level up, Shop and Portal functions will not be active.]
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Sleep mode? "Status," he said in his mind There was no response. "Status!" The system wasn't working. He walked towards the heirs. Two hours wasn't a big deal. He wouldn't be able to grind some experience tonight, but that was alright. It wasn't like he'd fall behind.
Noah stood in front of the five heirs as he looked towards the audience. Perhaps somebody over here was responsible for this. He'd find out soon enough. Nobody would be able to hurt him anymore. Not after everything he'd gone through. He clenched his fist. He'd beat it out of every single person over here if he needed to. He'd find the bastard who'd dared to attack him.
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Ethan twirled a pencil as he stared at Ada in boredom. He felt like he'd gone back to elementary school. For the last week, all they were being taught was basic stuff that any sixth grade kid would know. It was like KGS expected them to be battle crazed freaks who didn't spare a second towards their studies. It wasn't like they had a written test or anything.
"What is a gate?" Ada's voice rung through the entire room. He glanced at her. Their eyes met. "Ethan! Tell me. What is a gate?" He slowly stood up, feeling all the contemptuous gazes on him. He sighed. "A gate is a doorway to 'Hell'" He sat down. "And? Don't give me an incomplete answer like that. Stand up!"
Ethan glared at her. He cracked his mental knuckles. Alright, woman. I'll show you what this nerd is capable of. "Gates are portals to a dimension known as 'Hell'. The term 'gate' refers to the entire structure encompassing monsters, the landscape and the core. In short, everything inside the entrance where a pentagram is inscribed is called a gate."
"Gates are called so as they themselves are a doorway to our universe. The entire structure is a doorway. This can be proved by the fact that gates whose cores are not destroyed can produce monsters endlessly. These monsters come from the 'other side' of this gate. Gates, however only open or 'crash' on their own when the number of monsters inside them reaches a certain threshold. This is an advantage to humans as we can enter these gates whenever we want while monsters cannot exit them as freely." He sat back down smugly. Ada stared at him for a moment. "I didn't ask you that much." She glared at him.
"At least my answer wasn't half-assed," he muttered. "What was that?" "He said that he's sorry." Ethan could hear an extremely girly voice right next to him. It was so fake that he was ready to puke. He turned around. It was Luna. He stared at her wordlessly.
This girl had been clinging to him for seven days now. Any ordinary 'prank' would have already ended by now. But you could never tell. People were capable of terrible things. He wouldn't be surprised if she was laughing about him with the other students behind his back as she acted like an angel in front of him. He hadn't seen her doing it openly though.
"Thanks," he muttered. Well, no need to be too cautious. He couldn't care any less about her. It wasn't like he had any friends over here. He had nothing to lose if she trash-talked him. She'd regret it later. He leaned on his chair as Ada droned on.
'The Ghost System', though a good book, didn't tell Ethan much about the world in which Noah lived. The Stella and Black families were hardly mentioned, even though they had a huge impact on people's lives. "Alright. Read pages 25 to 27 before you come tomorrow. And remember, missions are opening a week later. So prepare yourselves. If you slack off on your training, you'll have a poor start."
Ethan yawned as he looked at his watch. It was 8:30 a.m. The day had just begun. He gathered his stuff as he prepared to head out of class. The first period was always whatever your class teacher taught. Afterwards, each class paired with another one to learn the other subjects. Today, class 10 was paired with class 7 for Physics.
He walked into a class as he searched for a seat. Luna waved at him. Damnit. This stalker wasn't giving up. He reluctantly walked towards a seat next to her. It wasn't like he had a choice. All other seats were occupied.
"Quiet students," called out a voice as a teacher walked in. Tap...tap...tap. A strict looking man walked into the classroom as he glared at the students sternly. He had a wide moustache that curled up his facing. His round glasses and black suit made him look posh, like a noble. Ethan recognised this man.
Darius White. A crazy bloodline supremacist who harassed Noah to no end. He was the class teacher of class 5, and a frequenter of class 1 due to his immense influence. The expression on his face wasn't a stern one, as Ethan had thought. It was one of pure disgust.
The past week had been, to be honest, quite terrible under him. Ethan had no idea why he was teaching a class as low as theirs, but he didn't look any happier than they did. "Open your books to page 23. Any noise will result in your expulsion from this classroom. And, quite possibly, a loss of your points."
"Today we will be learning about rotation. Rotation is the phenomenon when....." To be honest, Physics would be quite interesting if Darius wasn't teaching them. Physics wasn't the boring subject of his past life, rather, it consisted of applying principles that they learned to their weapons.
Darius often produced various weapons and maneuvered them in many ways, showing them how they could fight more efficiently. But he never entertained any doubts. He always said things once, and shot down any questions as stupid or unnecessary.
"Angular speed is inversely proportional to length. So how would you apply this to your weapon? Let me show you. Do we have any spear holders here? You...the blue eyed kid over there. Stand up. What weapon do you use." Darius pointed at Ethan. He was surprised. Surely Darius wasn't picking on him? He pushed the thought out of his mind. Douglas wasn't powerful enough to move him. He got up to his feet.
"Yes, sir. I...." "Tsk, you've got no manners. Shouldn't you introduce yourself before you speak?" He shook his head. Ethan clenched his teeth. "Sorry, sir. My name is Ethan Miller. I use a kusarigama." "A kusarigama? You use that primitive weapon that was used for showmanship? Pathetic. I'd expect no less from a commoner. Sit down!"
He turned towards another person. "You stand up. And...." Ethan pulled out his dagger as he ran a finger against his surface. Darius had just laughed at his choice of weapon. He clenched it in frustration. He'd been spending the past week tryin to figure out how to use the kusarigama, but to no avail.
The weapon was full of flaws. It's chain was its weakest past, which coincidentally made up more than 90% of the weapon. Awakeners had heightened senses, and could grasp the slow chain easily. Up against a sword or spear that couldn't be stopped, his weapon was as effective as a toothpick.
He sheathed his weapon. He was seriously considering replacing his dagger for a sword. Alright. He'd give this kusarigama one last chance. After all, he could use the dagger well enough to defend himself. He took a deep breath. He was already in a bad position. He hoped that trusting the Mercator wasn't a bad choice.
Ethan sighed. It seemed like the Mercator was playing him. His heart was a terrible item that acted up erratically, and his weapon seemed like it was the worst one he could choose. He hoped that trusting him wasn't a bad choice. He stared at Darius as he continued to listen. Perhaps what he was learning today might be of use.