Vale opened his dormitory room door and stepped outside. A gentle wind blew on his face and hair, and he enjoyed the fresh air. The sun shone boldly on this morning, and no clouds appeared in the sky.
Vale had classes he needed to attend that morning, so he walked out of the dormitory building. He waved to his only friend, Marco, who was an orphan like him and had come to the academy five years ago. They were the same age.
"You seem very busy lately. What are you doing?" Marco asked, stroking his neatly combed blue hair.
"I am training myself to prepare for the annual test. We have less than one month before it begins. If we don't pass, the academy will label us as talentless and force us to work for free for 20 years. I want to avoid experiencing that," Vale replied.
Vale and Marco shared a friendship because they both lacked talent for magic.
"I'm always amazed by how you never give up. But Vale, if you fail to pass the test, would you join me and go to Madam Shirley?" Marco tapped Vale's left shoulder.
Madam Shirley was the teacher of transformation, one of the branches of magic techniques. Vale had heard that she liked to gather young male slaves to suck their vitality to maintain her beauty. Rumors around the academy said that even though she was beautiful, she was actually old.
Even though she sucked the vitality out of her male slaves, she enjoyed the "process." She often let her male slaves live until they were at least 40 years old. For her favorite male slave, she allowed that person to live up to 80 years old.
Although following Madam Shirley might not be the best way to avoid working for free for the academy, for orphaned students like Marco or Vale, it was definitely better than being forced to work for the academy.
"That will never happen. Even if I fail, I still have my own way," Vale replied.
If Vale didn't have his system, he would have likely accepted Ms. Rosaline's offer to leave the academy. However, Ms. Rosaline was his backup plan. Because of that, Vale was willing to spend a lot of time increasing his relationship with her.
"I'm relieved to hear that. You know, I am Madam Shirley's favorite among the new students, but if you came, you would undoubtedly take my place. She has been asking about you," Marco said.
Vale realized that he often caught Madam Shirley looking at him strangely while she was teaching the class.
Vale and Marco chatted until they arrived at the classroom. Vale walked in and saw that students his age had already filled the class. He sat at a corner chair.
After a few minutes, the illusion magic teacher, Mr. Eldon Caprine, walked into the classroom and started the lesson. Vale was not focused on the lesson, however. He was thinking about how to complete Chains Quest 2.
The difference between Chain Quest 1 and Chain Quest 2 was the target that Vale would face. In the previous one, he only faced students who were younger than him and only at apprentice magus stage one. But in the current one, he would have to face apprentice magus stage two or three who were good at magic-spelling.
If he just came into their room, he would have been beaten by those students. As a result, he must plan a proper strategy, so he could complete the mission without too much trouble.
"It may take three days or more to complete the mission," Vale whispered.
Vale could become an Apprentice Magus stage two without the magic radiation stone, but it would take two months to reach that level, and the annual test would have been starting in less than one month.
At 2 PM, after the class ended, Ms. Rosaline called Vale to come to her office. Vale then went to Ms. Rosaline's office. He had come to her office several times in the past, so other teachers didn't look at Vale with strange eyes. There were many teachers who had strange hobbies, so most teachers weren't concerned about other teachers.
Vale knocked on the door. A few moments later, Ms. Rosaline's soft voice could be heard from inside the office.
"Vale, is that you? Come in."
Vale opened the door and walked into Ms. Rosaline's office. He greeted the female teacher, "Good afternoon, Ms. Rosaline."
"Afternoon, Vale. What have you been doing lately?" For the past few days, Vale had been busy preparing voice-changing and height-changing potions. He also sought targets while acting as a black-masked man. Lastly, he was practicing the new meditation technique that he got from the system.
"I am preparing for the annual test, Ms. Rosaline," Vale replied with a nervous face.
"Hmm, really?" Ms. Rosaline suddenly observed Vale closely. She walked towards Vale and put her right palm on his chest. He quickly felt a wave of internal mana as if it detected his body condition. Sensing that, his eyes suddenly lit up sharply, and Ms. Rosaline would detect the changes that happened in his body. This was a terrible situation.
"You… where have you gotten that?" Ms. Rosaline questioned as she realized the change in Vale's body.
"That… I can't tell you, Ms. Rosaline."
"If it's a secret for you, then I will not force you to tell me about that." Ms. Rosaline walked back to her chair and sat down. She then added, "But Vale, no matter where you got that, you pay a lot, don't you?"
Vale nodded quietly. For him, activating the system, which might have a hidden purpose, was a high price. Of course, in this cruel and dangerous magical world, the price that the system charges for all the help that it provides is good compared to evil magus and ancient beings. Even if Vale gave up all his life, they most likely wouldn't move a single finger to help Vale.
"Because of that, Vale, if you need something, just tell me, and I will help you as much as I can."
Ms. Rosaline was very caring about Vale. She didn't force Vale to reveal his secret, considering she could do that if she wanted. But Vale felt Ms. Rosaline was a bit disappointed in him. It was not about the secret, but it was about how much Vale trusted Ms. Rosaline.
"If I pass the annual test, I will tell you where I got the new meditation technique," Vale suddenly said.
[Ding! Host detected wants to reveal system. Warning! If Host reveals system to others, system will punish Host.]
"Is that true? I am glad you trusted me. Thank you, Vale." Ms. Rosaline smiled gently, she then took something from under the table and put it right in front of Vale.
"This is a small gift from me."
"This … magic radiation stone!"