It had now been three days since the announcement of the expedition, that means there were only four days left.
Mason had been training his swordsmanship every day, he only had two days left to master the basics and he didn't feel like he was getting close.
'My talent in swordsmanship is terrible, I know I won't make it in time. Let's just pray Remi doesn't ask me a favour that's too difficult to do.' Mason thought.
He had also been learning about cooking beasts, Mason had talent for cooking ever since he was young. He was now already a Beginner Chef, something that would take usual people a couple of weeks to achieve.
Cooking wasn't something very useful for staying alive, but Mason knew it was something he could get girls with. So he practiced until there was no tomorrow.
He had structured a plan for the week before the expedition. Every morning he would train swordsmanship, he would then take a two hour break and study cooking until 4:00 PM.
When he was done studying he gave himself some free time, he could do what he want. He was bored a lot of the time though, so he usually started training again.
He had been repeating this for three days now! It was an endless cycle of training and studying. The torturous thing was that he had to train in the swords even though he knew his talent was bad.
"System, how much does basic mastery of the sword cost in the shop?" Mason asked.
[That would be 3000 points, Host.]
Mason had truly contemplated buying this, but he decided he'd stick to his plan and save up for a premium spin instead. He didn't mind losing a bet to Remi, even if he was very competitive.
The week before the expedition was also exempt from classes, this was to give the students more time to improve themselves before they dived into a dungeon.
Students that didn't feel like they were ready to enter a dungeon were also allowed to stay at home. This would automatically place them at the bottom of the student rankings though.
Mason was studying his cooking skills with a book while laying on his bed when Remi walked in.
"Welcome back, princess." Mason said lazily.
"Mason, come with me for a second. It's something you have to see." She said with a serious face.
Mason's face immediately switched from a lazy look to one of seriousness.
'She isn't usually this serious around me. What's happening?' He thought.
When he walked through the halls of the dorms, he asked Remi what was up. Remi just answered that she couldn't explain it in words and that he had to come see for himself.
After arriving at the spot, Mason saw a group of guys staring at a girl with lewd faces. It seemed they had just beaten up the student that she was walking with and she became a target.
The guys were obviously after her body and they weren't in a place with cameras.
Mason looked at Remi and they nodded at each other. Then they started walking towards the group of guys.
"Damnn, look at these big guys. It must be nice picking on someone who is obviously weaker than you, huh." Mason said
"Who the fuck is this punk?" The leader of the group asked the others.
"I don't know him, the girl next to him is the princess. We should get out of here, offending them isn't worth it." one of them said.
"No, why should I? You guys can run away if you want to but I'm staying, my family is second only to hers. She isn't able to hurt me either." The leader said.
"You know him?" Mason asked Remi.
"Yes, I do. That guy's name is Allan Silvanon, his family is the one that runs the Mage Association in our country." Remi told him.
Mason got surprised for a moment, this guy picking on girls was a member of that sort of family? Did his parents not love him or something?
"Well, Allan. I'm truly horrified of your family status. However, I don't give two flying fucks either." Mason said
"Nobody has ever been able to stop me from what I think is the right thing to do. That includes our little princess over here."
"If you leave right now, I'll let you go with a warning. If you think you're strong enough to beat me, go ahead."
Allan had a confused look on his face.
'Who is this prick? He dares to say that even though he knows my status, I'll kill him today!'
"Lets go, come with me to the arena you little shit." Allan said to Mason.
Remi worriedly looked towards Mason. She knew Allan was also a contender for strongest student in their year. She scaled herself on the same level as Allan, so she didn't think Mason would be able to beat him.
"Are you sure you can beat him, Mason?" She whispered to him.
"Of course I can, I'm the strongest in our year after all." Mason said, trying to lighten the mood.
"Sure, sure. Don't you dare die." Remi said.
"You've seen me fight before, right? You should know that my style of fighting isn't something a mere stuck-up piece of trash can compare to." Mason said, he tried to casually flex but saw the worried look on Remi's face.
"Don't worry Remi, I'll win." he said.
Remi just nodded as they approached the arena.
Allan walked up to the man at the door and he said he wanted to organize a fight as quick as possible. The man at the door said it would take a while but when he saw who he was talking to he quickly told him he would get it done.
It only took half an hour before the arena was ready for their fight. Many people were looking forward to a fight between first-years. Since this would be the first one this year.
Mason didn't mind the cheering, the thing he did mind was that people were betting and that he only had a 1% chance to win according to the people.
'I'll show them what I'm made of today, so nobody will dare disrespect me in the future.'
And so, the bell rung and Mason's first ever fight in the arena had started.