The month passed by in the blink of an eye.
Fwoosh—!
I moved through the shadows of a simulated forest. I was a complete blur as I rushed forward, elusive and difficult to trace.
My movements were silent. My footfalls made not a single sound despite my rapid advance.
Fwhip—!
I arrived behind the warrior training dummy in the blink of an eye. The wind whistled as I stabbed straight into its heart.
There was a sudden pause just then. I stayed motionless as three mana programs appeared around my wrist.
[ Explosion (Conical) ].
BOOM—!
A fiery red release of flames and force blasted straight out of my dagger, tearing the training dummy apart. A metre-long cone spread out before me, turning the dummy's chest into dust and mana particles.
The shockwave then flung whatever was left of the body into the air. A rain of mana particles fell onto the soil before me.
I breathed.
That was my hundredth success in a row. I had a good feel for the Rushing Shadow Art now, cementing myself as an F ranked practitioner of its techniques.
Wiping my face with a towel, I exited my personal training room and showered. Being the topnotcher of the first years granted me privileges aplenty. My dorm room was massive, and the building I was in was exquisite. Complete with all the facilities I needed to nurture my own strength.
I was on the top floor of the Auclesius building, sharing the said floor with the rank 1s of other years. It was where the donations of many of Aelthrie's families pooled. A floor only for the best of the best.
Those students from Rank 2 to Rank 10 were all on lower floors.
Rank 11 to Rank 100 were in a different building entirely—the Agranium.
Rank 101 to Rank 1000 were in the Akris building.
Then from Rank 1000 and beyond, they stayed in various dormitories around the campus.
It felt good to be in first place. My skills were growing at a rapid pace thanks to these benefits and my talents.
I recently had my body appraised, and the results showed that I was on the brink of reaching E rank. Breakthroughs and bottlenecks only occurred from E and above, so I did not have to worry about that just yet.
[]=[]=[]
Stats:
Aspect — Level
Physical Ability: F+
Mental Acuity: F+
Charismatic Force: F+
Mana Quality: E
[]=[]=[]
This was good. Virion probably made it to E rank during the span of this one month, and I was about to catch up already. Lily was also probably at E rank as well, with only her Charismatic Force lagging behind.
I was weaker than the two and yet first place was mine. The power of information was truly a game-breaking advantage.
Getting out of the shower, I put on my uniform and wore the special cloak that the school had given out to spiritual mana users. I pulled the hood over my face and walked to class, carrying the books I would use throughout the day.
Moving from the dorm building, I walked beneath the magic canopy. My footsteps were light and virtually completely silent. Each action of mine was blurred as I moved around.
My engraved spells were doing their jobs nicely.
It was a fine morning today, but I knew that it would be ruined soon. I was just waiting for the moment when it did.
My annoyance was already growing with every second I walked in expectation.
"Those bastards—" Just as I was about to curse, something caught my attention.
From deep within the depths of my irises, a blue light flashed. I saw a hint of the future, as well as the aggregation of mana from behind a tree.
Vwhooom—!
Not even a moment after I walked past the tree, a fireball came hurtling towards me at a rapid pace.
But I already expected it. I saw the moment right before its activation and sidestepped in advance.
The fireball flew past my side, lightly singing my new cloak. It then hit the pavement behind me, burning a black scorch mark onto the asphalt.
Clap—! Clap—! Clap—!
"So the cheater really does know how to dodge." A voice filled with contempt rang out.
I looked behind me and saw a face that I don't remember creating. It was a guy with short cropped black hair and brown eyes. He was dressed in a cloak similar to mine, but he carried a wand in his right hand.
"A nameless insect has the gall to attack me in the middle of Aethercaller?" I asked sarcastically with venom lacing my tone. "Which master do you wag your tail to, dog?"
The dog's expression crumpled when he heard my words. His face was red with rage.
"Ha?! How dare you! Say that again and I'll show you—"
"Woof woof," I said, slowly. My lips curved into a crooked smile of mockery and pent-up rage.
I too was pissed off. This was a characteristic of Aelthrie's society that I added for fun, but now that I was experiencing it, it was something I dreaded.
I could hear the sound of grinding teeth from the dog in front of me.
"You—"
His expression grew ugly beyond explanation, and my crooked smile kept growing, "What? Did you understand what I just said?"
I scoffed,
"A dog. That's what you are."
"Y-you! That's it! I'll roast you alive!" The dog pointed his wand at me, and the programs for Fireball rapidly appeared around its length.
I laughed.
"I'll have you running back to your master then, dog."
I pointed my dagger at him and used it as a makeshift wand. The programs for Explosion (Conical) formed one after another.
Vwhoooom—!
Another Fireball came flying through the air, heading straight for me.
BOOM—!
Only to be nullified by a fierce explosion that blossomed from the tip of my blade. I then ran straight through the lingering flames, protecting myself with my cloak.
A blur of movement thus exited the blast radius, rushing straight up to the dog that did not know its place.
My dagger flashed a deadly glint as I anticipated the appearance of a Mana Shield.
But nothing appeared. It turned out that he did not even have the basics down. How pathetic. It was likely that he passed the entrance exam by pure luck.
My blade kept flying straight towards my enemy's heart. I chanced upon his expression at this moment.
It was an expression of horror.