In front of a campus the size of several stars stood a boy.
He was a boy who had lost everything and everyone, but had gotten a second chance, also called 'Regression'.
The boy, who was named Ace, wore black sweatpants with white lining, a thin black T-Shirt, and white shoes.
His black, wavy hair was swept back as ears that made the boy look like an elf protruded out of them.
With not even a smidge of facial hair, the boy scrutinized the campus before him using his crimson pupils.
He nodded slightly as he started walking towards the campus. He held the scabbard on his waist lightly as he kept observing his surroundings.
With the early part of his school life being the most delicate, Ace didn't want any trouble. He only wanted a normal first year at Academy 07.
Having a normal first year didn't mean he wanted to hide his skills, though. Ace was completely fine with revealing his strength as long as it didn't put him in any danger.
One of the reasons he didn't want to hide his strength was the bullying he was put through in his past life at this school. In his past life, Ace was a loner as well as a weak student, which made him prone to several bullies and people who wanted to alleviate their anger.
Back then, he was used as a punching bag and treated very poorly by students he looked up to and wanted to be like.
Now, he had another chance. He had another chance to prove that he wasn't a toy and that he wouldn't be treated like dirt on the side of the road.
Making up his mind, he opened the humongous black door that separated him from the most prestigious school in the city of Bryxton, Academy 07.
Immediately, he was met by enormous buildings, thousands of students, and majestic scenery.
Ace let out a gasp even though he had studied here for a total of four years at the majesticness of the campus.
The viridescent greenery complimented the futuristic architecture while also contributing to maintaining life on Earth.
As he walked towards Dormitory D, he was yet again met by the sensation of anger and hatred as he saw the beige building.
Soon, he was the center of everyone's attention as the students directed their stares towards him.
He was annoyed by all the attention, but he couldn't alleviate his anger.
'Wait, I should use that!'
He quickly used the skill he had gotten from the Akashic Records, [Indifference].
As soon as he did, his emotions died down as only indifference remained on his face that was now devoid of any emotions.
"Um, hello?"
A shaky voice entered his ears as he turned his head to look at the person who spoke.
As he turned his head, he saw a girl, the same age as him, looking up at him with a suffocated expression.
She flinched as she saw Ace's expression, but maintained her composure soon afterwards.
Making up her mind, she spoke…
"Umm, could you get rid of your aura?"
She asked as she rubbed her hands together.
Ace looked around and saw everyone staring at him with a fearful expression. He then looked at himself and noticed his leaking aura and killing intent.
Even though [Indifference] was activated, it didn't stop his aura from leaking out, and considering that most students are ranked F- at the beginning of the first year, it must have been very suffocating and uncomfortable for them to feel an rank F+ aura.
"Ah, I'm sorry."
Ace apologized as he retracted his aura. Having been lost in his thoughts, he didn't notice the aura leak even when he broke away from his train of thoughts.
The girl flinched once again due to the Ace's indifferent face, and then scurried away apologetically.
Ace chuckled at the recent development, but that only made his expressionless face look scarier.
He entered the Dormitory D and went up to his room. As he opened the door, he was met by a plain old one bedroom apartment.
It was the room he stayed in in his past life.
As he looked around Ace spotted an old brown desk meant for studying, a little bathroom with a small shower, a sink, as well as a toilet, and a large bed with white bed sheets.
Groaning at his boring room, he put down his belongings and headed to the Public Training Room immediately.
As he arrived at the Public Training Room, he was bombarded by hundreds of people practicing their newly acquired skills.
Some were swinging their weapons while some channeled mana throughout their veins. Some used elemental magic while some practiced martial arts using their own body.
Ace quickly found a spot in the corner and unsheathed his black long-sword. The sword looked majestic as light bounced off of the blade.
The [Sword Saint] skill has four levels and seven moves. The levels symbolize the user's mastery over the blade and swordsmanship using the skill itself, while the moves are the trump cards of some sort.
Having seen the #1 Conscientious Ranker use the skill, Ace knew what the skill was and how it worked.
The only catch was, the #1 Conscientious Ranker, Noah Williams never achieved the fourth level or the sixth and seventh move.
Ace knew that if even Noah Williams couldn't do it, Ace had no chance. However, Ace had a bigger problem named the 'Deity of Destruction' to face, who is thousands if not millions of times stronger than a mere human.
As Ace was swinging his blade while improving his technique, a voice entered his ears.
When he looked back, he saw a lanky-armed boy sneering at him.
"Hey, did you not hear me? I challenge you to a duel!"
The lanky-armed individual yelled right in Ace's face.
'Leo.'
Ace knew this guy in his past life. Leo Kadz was one of the biggest and baddest bullies in his previous years at Academy 07.
Leo was the leader of bullies as well as one of the Kings of Academy 07, King of Strength.
Even if Ace had not personally been bullied by Leo before, he still had a bone to pick with every single bully in the school.
The only problem was, Ace didn't know what rank Leo was at the starting of the school year, considering he never talked to him nor interacted with him in any way.
Knowing that, Ace agreed to duel impulsively. He didn't know what Leo was planning or why he asked for a duel, but he decided to find out later.
"I accept."
Ace's response earned him a deathly silence from everyone in the entire room. His words caused an eruption of murmurs that even the former King of Strength couldn't resolve without a duel.
Leo's expression was distorted, proving that he clearly wanted Ace to decline. But, a smirk soon appeared on his face when he realized he could just pummel the latter.
"Then come. There shall be no wager, and you can use anything you like to fight."
His smirk caused Ace's blood to boil. Soon, the two were standing opposite to each other.
Ace's face was nigh-expressionless, while Leo's face contained a smirk. They both wanted to humiliate the other using any means possible.
A middle-aged man in black-and-white clothes soon entered Ace's field of vision as he announced the duel.
"Begin!"
The referee announced, and both Ace and Leo disappeared from their spot.
Unsheathing his blade, Ace prepared a vertical strike to cut off Leo's arm, while the latter activated a skill named 'Berserker'.
The SS-Rank skill Berserker along with the A-Rank skill Full-Body Martial Arts was the reason Leo was later recognized as the King of Strength.
Being from a high-profile background, he was awarded multiple high-ranking skills from a young age, two of those helping him reach the top 100 in the Conscientious Rankings.
Whoosh!
Ace immediately closed the gap and swung at Leo's arm, which the latter avoided by sidestepping and then running off to the side.
Soon, red veins erupted on Leo's body as his expression became filled with anger and hatred. His body fumed as his literal soul palpitated.
This was the SS-Rank skill named Berserker.
Not having trained it regularly, Leo's mastery over the skill was still lacking. However, the skill combined with Leo's rank was a severe threat to Ace.
Having not learned any basic aura or mana skills, Ace could only use his blade and his petty sword skills which had not been refined to fight this battle.
Leo bent his knees and took off towards Ace, leaving a crater where he previously stood. Ace planned to swing horizontally, but quickly gave up on the idea after Leo activated the A-Rank skill, Full-Body Martial Arts.
With the skill, he formed a fist filled to the brim with aura, waiting to dig into Ace's first.
Boom!
Ace's blade and Leo's fist collided, as the spectators gasped. The shockwave caused by the collisions caused wind to blow in all directions.
Both Leo and Ace screamed as they maintained the fist and sword lock.
"You're so done."
"Oh, am I now?"
The spectators rolled their eyes when they heard Leo and Ace making small talk.
There was only one thing in the spectators' mind…
'How can they talk so casually while in such a deadly situation!?'
Even the referee, who was in the B-Rank, gasped at the sheer strength of these two youngsters.
He gasped as he imagined what they would soon become.
The both of them soon backed off after realizing that they were in a stalemate. Ace questioned his dexterity and whether it actually had an effect, but then remembered he didn't have a good movement skill to pair with his sword skill.
'Wait, could I…?'
A strange thought appeared in Ace's mind as a non-existent light-bulb lit up above his head.
Then, a smile emerged on his face, which utterly perplexed the lanky-armed individual standing opposite to him.
Even the crowd made strange faces when they witnessed Ace's expression, which looked disgusting as smiling while using [Indifference] didn't fit.
Thankfully, due to [Indifference], no useless thoughts appeared in Ace's mind, and his concentration was on his current task.
He strategized how he was going to bring his plan to fruition, and then started performing the moves needed for the plan.
Watching this, Leo rolled his eyes as he charged at Ace.
'Man, couldn't you wait a few seconds!?'
Ace screamed at Leo inside his mind while moving his feet at inhumane speeds. Due to his abnormally high dexterity, he was able to perfectly perform his tactic to victory.
Whoosh!
Thud!
The room turned silent as the spectators widened their eyes at the recent development. Not even a single murmur could be heard from the crowd, while everyone, even the two people fighting, had surprised expressions.
Whoosh!
The soft breeze swept by as no one dared to utter a single word.
Ace turned around to look behind him as he maintained his [Indifference].
It was a bloody mess. The floor reeked of a squalid scent, and was covered in a cherry-red substance which wouldn't stop dripping down.
The floor also contained a certain individual's arm.
Leo's eyes were fierce while his expression was disbelieving. He stared down at his own left arm, which was now missing.
Then, he stared at the person behind him while veins popped on his swollen forehead.
Ace's expression was still indifferent as he looked at the ground, and then Leo's shoulder which was missing an arm.
Leo's ears fumed as his body turned crimson. His clenched fist dripped blood as all of his skills activated simultaneously.
But, before he could charge at the person who cut his arm off, he was suddenly stopped by a certain individual.
The individual who stopped Leo was wearing a black suit. He had black hair which was cut at a length perfect for his sharp jawline. His face contained a well-trimmed beard, brown eyes, and glasses.
"I think this is over."
The individual, who was named Felix Edwards, spoke. Every single spectator nodded in agreement, still staring at the bloody arm on the floor.
Ace also nodded as he cheered internally. He had actually won!
'If I didn't spend all my money this morning, I would have treated myself to hamburgers today.'
He swallowed these words as he began walking towards the exit.
No one, not even Felix, the principal of Academy 07, dared to stop him.
After exiting the Public Training Room, he cursed at Leo for not letting him train today. And, it wasn't as if he could just go back in either…
As Ace limped over to his room, he smiled victoriously at the translucent blue screen before him.
[Flurry Steps - B]
He let out a toothy grin as he walked back to his old / new room.
*
*
*
In a certain room inside the most prestigious academy in the city, Academy 07, there sat a man with a well-trimmed beard and glasses.
The man was Felix Edwards, the principal of Academy 07.
He tapped his fingers on a beige-colored desk in front of him, causing several shockwaves the size of heads shooting out in every direction.
Having witnessed the fight between Leo and Ace, he was intrigued by the latter's performance and his opportunistic behavior.
He saw how Ace decisively created a skill in the middle of the duel.
If he had to guess, he would say it was a B Rank skill at the least, and because Ace had no notes of how the skill worked, he was fascinated by the child's dexterity.
"Phantom."
As he spoke, shadows suddenly clumped up together to materialize a man out of nowhere.
The man wore black sweatpants and a black hoodie. His face was covered by his hood and none of his skin was visible, due to him wearing gloves.
"Yes, my lord."
He spoke in a raspy voice, akin to that of a dying goat.
Felix tapped his fingers on the desk once again, materializing a line of words only using the shockwaves which disappeared in a split second.
Although it disappeared so fast that a naked eye couldn't view it, Phantom only nodded as he disappeared into the shadows.
The line of words said…
[Keep tabs on a boy named Ace Ambrosia]
*
*
*
Inside of a plain old room and on an office chair sat a handsome boy named Ace Ambrosia.
As bent down, he spotted his now twisted ankle, which had broken due to the complexity of the maneuvers Ace performed.
[Flurry Steps], an B Rank skill he practiced in his past life. Its maneuvers were simple to understand, but very difficult to perform.
Basically, it was to move your feet in any motion one wants, only for it to be faster than the naked eye can see.
Using your rapid movements, one can move extremely fast through the atmosphere, and also utilize wind magic even without an affinity for the element.
This was how the B Rank skill [Flurry Steps], worked.
Now, due to the rapid and strenuous movements of one's feet, along with the fragility of an untrained body, the use of such a skill would crush one's bones instantly.
However, due to the consumption of the Heaven and Earth Ginseng, such a tragedy was prevented.
At first, Ace was skeptical whether he could create such a skill, because if such a skill already existed, he wouldn't be able to acquire it so easily.
This was because in his past life, he had been bestowed the skill from a colleague.
"It's quite a lucky day for me. Had the skill already been created, I would have ended up in the infirmary. Now, it's the opposite."
There are four ways of acquiring skills. The first one is creation, where one creates a skill using maneuvers or actions that fit the criteria of skill creation. The only catch is that once a skill is created, a copy of it cannot be replicated only by performing the movements.
The second method is bestowal. Using this method, one can bestow upon skills they have learned to others using a mana connection.
The third method is inheritance. When a child is born, if the parents had a noteworthy skill, there is a low chance it might be passed on to the child, or perhaps replicated, which contradicts the rules of creation.
The fourth and last method is nothing. After one learns a skill, they could write the procedures needed for the skill and then apply mana to it, automatically making a skill manual.
Now, the most important task Ace had was to heal his ankle in less than a day, which would have been possible if he had a mana cultivation manual, but alas, he didn't.
Ace actually felt pity for himself once he realized he didn't have the most basic skills that everyone used on a daily basis.
Those were mana manipulation, mana cultivation, body augmentation, and aura manifestation.
All of those skills revolved around mana, and were used in almost every single skill.
However, for some reason that he didn't remember, he had never asked his family for these basic skills.
"Should I go to the library?"
He asked himself as he pondered. Even though he limped, he could still bear walking down to the library and acquiring four skill books.
However, it would possibly endanger his health in a way, considering he had just beat up the supposed strongest person in the school.
Well, that was only for now, because two people would soon surpass Leo.
'Well, if you add me, then it would make three people.'
Soon, Ace came to a decision.
He would go to the library, get the books, and return as quickly as possible so no one can spot him.
Ace got up from his chair as he walked towards the door, still limping from the sharp but bearable pain in his ankle.
As he walked out of his room, Ace sped up, not minding the increase in pain due to pressure on his ankles.
Walking throughout the entire Academy, he noticed that the pain had increased from 'bearable' to 'excruciating'.
He could no longer hold out, so he leaned on the wall inside of a long hallway as he steadied his breathing.
Thankfully, no one lurked around the library so as to compliment the quiet nature of the place.
As Ace walked into the library, his senses were bombarded with the smell and sight of books. Thousands of books at the least.
There were more than fifty shelves and a counter where a very uninterested middle-aged woman sat on an office chair.
She wore a red suit and had her feet on top of her desk, so as to show her arrogant attitude.
Ace couldn't fathom why they hired such a person to a job in the most prestigious academy.
Even in his past life, the woman was very rude and arrogant. Some could even call her a gold digger as she tried to seduce Felix Edwards back then. When she found out that principals don't make nearly as much as she assumed, she dumped him.
The interesting part was why Felix accepted her despite her personality. Was it because of her looks? No, those seemed average, if not below the threshold.
'I guess we'll never know'.
Ace walked to one of the book shelves in particular, ignoring the woman in red completely.
He searched through the bookshelf as he spotted a red book in the corner.
As he read the label, a smile appeared on his seemingly emotionless face.
'Oops, I still have [Indifference] on. Wait, why don't I keep it on at all times? Then, people will know not to mess with me!'
A strange idea appeared in Ace's mind as he decided on pursuing it.
A certain line was written on the cover page of the red book.
[Mana Manipulation]
It was the basic skill anyone needed to channel mana throughout their body. It helped increase one's mana strength and speed, which helped them cast stronger spells along with increasing their attack speed.
Then, he went to a different shelf and found a yellow book.
[Aura Manifestation]
Aura was the combination of one's resolve along with the surrounding mana, which ignited their body or weapon with something akin to augmentation, but a bit different.
Aura could be used on anything, whether it be weapons, books, or even people as long as the person holding the object had a strong resolve or will.
It strengthened the item along with bestowing various buffs while aura is ignited.
Ace found a blue book right beside the yellow book.
[Mana Cultivation]
Mana Cultivation was a skill akin to cultivation techniques from Chinese novels. It involved absorbing the surrounding mana into one's body to strengthen their core and increasing their mana pool.
Then, he found a black book.
[Body Augmentation]
Using mana once again, one could strengthen their flesh and bones by using Mana Manipulation to channel it while amplifying the amount of mana in the specific place.
While Ace remarked on the beginning of his long journey, a raspy but feminine voice entered his ears.
He groaned as he slowly turned his head towards where the noise came from.
"Hey, if you're gonna sign those books out, do it quickly. I don't have all day here, boy."
Ace groaned once again, swallowing the words he was about to utter.
'Well, actually, you do have all day. You have your entire life to sit around in a library pissing children off.'
But, he decided to take the easy way out.
"Yes, Ms. Spielburg."
He plastered a fake smile on his indifferent face which looked just as disgusting as moldy food to the woman in a red suit.
Soon, Ace was on his way to his room, still limping.
"Now, I can begin…"
A devilish smile appeared on his face.