Jake unconsciously said, "Yes." And the system showed another message.
[Accepting the Legacy. Legacy is upgraded by one rank due to Akashic Eyes' rank.]
[Showing the list of possible upgraded Legacies. Please choose one.]
[1. Complete Fire Immunity
2. Complete Poison Immunity
3. Complete Curse Immunity
4....
5....]
The list continued to dozens of numbers. Jake couldn't contain his curiosity to read them all. He really wanted to leave these people who were surrounding him.
"Henry, right. Nice to meet you. I am still sick, so I hope you can excuse me," Jake said, making up a reason to leave. Luckily, his body was skinny after absorbing the fox's legacy, so he looked frail in people's eyes. With that, he managed to leave the crowd.
Jake looked around and made sure no one was following him. After that, he ran away and looked for a quiet place.
After running around for a while, Jake arrived in the backyard garden behind a classroom building. Many people were gathering in the stadium, so he was alone here. He finally had a chance to check his new abilities.
Sitting down and resting his back against the wall, Jake summoned the status window. He immediately clicked one of his abilities, and another blue screen appeared in front of him.
[Name: Center Shift
Rank: F
Description: Apply a special mana, allowing the user to use attraction force or repulsive force at a time. At this rank, the user can only apply Center Shift to their hands and feet.]
This was an inherited talent from his mother's side. He had an older brother, but he didn't inherit this talent, making him the first person to have it, excluding his mother.
[Center Shift] was a gold value talent. Even though the current rank was F, he could rank up any skill to S if he worked hard enough. When this ability reached rank A, he could apply [Center Shift] aura all over his body, and the range of effect would be greatly increased.
This ability was extremely deadly. In the battle against the Nine-tailed Demonic Fox, his mother used this ability to pin down the Nine-tailed Demonic Fox to the ground and create a massive crater that could swallow an entire village in the process.
Of course, his current [Center Shift] was incapable of such a feat. He wouldn't dream to achieve such a feat at the moment.
"What matters now," Jake muttered as he clicked his last ability.
[Name: Akashic Eyes
Rank: S
Description: The eyes of the truth and origin. Grant the user four abilities. Unravel, Heavenly Access, Ability Creation System, and Heavenly Mirror.]
[Unravel: Allow the user to see through any secret. Passive.]
[Heavenly Access: Allow the user to access the Akashic Record.]
[Ability Creation System: By consuming experience, the user can create an ability card for themselves.]
[Heavenly Mirror: Allow the user to use any ability for a certain period. Locked.]
Unlike [Center Shift], [Akashic Eyes] had reached S rank, the highest rank of an ability. However, even at the highest rank, [Heavenly Mirror] was still locked. It made him curious about the way to unlock it. He had a feeling he could always find the answer anytime.
Jake was also curious about the other abilities of [Akashic Eyes]. From his deduction, it seemed he had coincidentally used two abilities before. It happened when he shook Henry Brightson's hand. That was the time when he used [Ability Creation System] and [Akashic Record].
[Akashic Record] recorded Brightson's talent. After that, [Ability Creation System] copied it and upgraded it to a gold value talent. There was a long list in front of him, so he guessed he had to choose one first.
Jake took his time to browse the list. It was a tiring process, but he didn't want to miss the chance. Most of them were absolute immunity related abilities. While they were not bad, he felt he could find a versatile ability. After scrolling through the list for a while, he finally found the one suitable for his taste.
[Name: Overcome
Rank: F
Description: When the user suffers from damage, there is a chance to create a greater resistance ability. Allow the user to use Invulnerability.]
[Invulnerability: The user can't be harmed by any means for a certain period. Locked.]
While the description was vague, Jake could access the Akashic Record, gaining a deeper understanding of the ability. Basically, if the user suffered from fire damage, there was a chance to automatically activate this ability, creating a [Greater Fire Resistance] that gave the user 75% resistance against fire damage. The ability would respond to any type of damage. However, the user needed to endure the damage first to build their resistance. Just like a saying, high rewards is equal to high risks.
If Jake chose this ability, he needed to be diligent in taking a lot of damage, which was something tiring for a lazy person such himself.
[Do you want to choose this ability? Cost 0 EXP for the first time using the Ability Creation System.]
Jake clicked yes. While this ability would tire him out, he had to call himself an idiot if he wasted the opportunity to have a very rare ability. Besides, he had an idea how to make use of this ability to the maximum potential the lazy way.
[Recording the ability to the system. Beep. The progress was successful. Creating the card!]
A golden card suddenly appeared in front of him, and Jake immediately took it. He looked at it and saw the description of [Overcome] ability.
"So it becomes an ability card first. Can I sell this then?" Jake wondered. He had a feeling he could do that, but he wouldn't because it was a gold ability card, the rarest card type.
Without further ado, Jake poured mana into his hand, turning the card into light particles. The particles entered his body, and a system message appeared before him.
[Congratulations! You have gained a new talent!]
Jake checked his status window and confirmed he gained the third talent. After that, he tried to use the [Ability Creation System], but it showed him a message.
[Locked. Available at level eleven.]
Jake was a bit disappointed that this skill had a limit, but overall he was happy to have it. At least, he had something to look forward to when he leveled up. It motivated his lazy self a bit.
"Okay, I have cleared almost everything I was curious about. There's one thing left." Jake stood up and turned around. He saw his reflection in the window. A handsome man with chiseled jaw and hawk-like nose. His black hair was styled into the side bang. Overall, he had to admit he was attractive enough. Sometimes, he was grateful to inherit his mother's face. However, this time, he didn't want to admit his beauty like a narcissist. There was something he was curious about. His eyes. His sclera was black, and his iris was white. This was his eyes' original feature inherited from his mother because she was not a human. His eyes were the same, even though he gained an eye ability.
"Don't [Akashic Eyes] have a tangible form?" Jake pondered. Even Aunt Mercedes, the Possessor of Magic Eyes, had unique eyes because of her eye ability. Why didn't a powerful eye ability like [Akashic Eyes] have a unique form?
As he pondered about that, his eyes transformed. His white irises turned black just like his scleras. After that, miniature stars appeared in his eyes. These stars formed a singular motion and moved toward his shining white pupil.
"Oh, it does have a form. What can I say... They are pretty," Jake said sincerely.
As he was absorbed in admiring his eyes, a feminine cough snapped him back to reality. Jake calmly turned his head and saw a beautiful woman standing beside him. Her wavy, golden hair flower onto her back. Her white dress made her beauty shine. She wore a blindfold, but anyone would agree she was extremely beautiful when they saw her. Though, Jake felt no attraction for her because he thought of her as her real aunt. Her identity was none other than Mercedes Norrington, the empress of Beryl Empire and the person who requested him to attend Beryl Academy.
"It seems our Jake becomes conscious of himself," Mercedes teased in her soft, warm tone.
"Aunt? Aren't you supposed to give a speech to new students?"
"And why are you, a new student, leaving the ceremony?"
"Oh, well. I have my reason, but I don't want to go back," Jake replied as he put on a weary expression.
Mercedes sighed. "Figured. Your mother will scold me if I let you laze around."
"Please don't tell mom. Let's just make it our secret," Jake begged while clasping his hands.
Mercedes giggled. "Okay, but I hope you won't laze around with my request."
Jake closed one of his eyes. "You want this academy to win this year's something something tournament, right?"
"The Young Heroes Tournament," Mercedes corrected. "I am sure you can accomplish it. You are her son, after all."
"Alright. Easy peasy. You can count on me."
"Hehe, as expected of our Jake. Oh, also. I want you to look after my Marilyn. This will be the first time she lives among other people. You are the one I can depend on, Jake."
"I get it. Don't worry. Aunt can go back to the ceremony and focus on your speech. Leave the academy matter to this nephew," Jake said. He grabbed her shoulders and turned her around. "See you later, Aunt. Goodluck with your speech."
"Hehe, I have memorized my speech so you don't have to worry...."
While Aunt Mercedes was speaking, Jake sneakily retreated to the alley between two buildings. He had a feeling his aunt would try to bring him to the ceremony back, so he decided to escape. No way he wanted to listen to a boring speech. He'd rather sleep somewhere. He really wanted to laze around.
Jake grinned as he ran away from his aunt. He confirmed his mission in this academy. His aunt wanted this academy to win the Heroes Tournament, but she didn't specify he had to attend the tournament. So, he had a secret scheme.
"Attending a tournament sounds tiring. I will train my fellow classmates to be powerful. They will be powerful enough to win the tournament!" Jake declared his plan. If everything went according to his plan, he could laze around and enjoy a slow life in the academy. He wanted nothing more than lazing around.
---
A few days later, Jake attended the academy for the first time. Even though he skipped the opening ceremony, he naturally knew about the class he entered through Aunt Mercedes. He walked along the corridor and arrived in front of the auditorium. As he entered it, he saw two lines of luxurious sofas. Line A was facing line B, and there was a number on each of the sofas. He walked toward the A-1 sofa while ignoring the curious gaze of other students and sat on it.
These two lines of sofas represented classes and ranks. Line A was for Elite Class A, and there were 12 sofas in total. As for the sofas on the opposite side of line A was for the students of Elite Class B; the total of the sofas was the same with line A. That meant there were 24 students in the Elite Class. Even though Class A and B would have different classrooms, the students in this auditorium were the most talented first year students throughout the academy. Jake, who was sitting on the A-1 sofa, was the most talented first year student.
"This is annoying," Jake muttered as people were eyeing him. If he could skip the Classmate Introduction Event, he would've done it. Alas, his attendance wouldn't be perfect if he did it. Even if he was a lazy person, he still had a sense of responsibility.
As soon as Jake sat on his seat, a male teacher clapped, breaking the tension. "Now that the last student has arrived. Let's begin the introduction. I will do it first," said the male teacher playfully.
"My name is Fang Whitehound. I will be the class A's homeroom teacher," the male teacher said. He had long black hair that was tied into a ponytail. His face was pretty. As he smiled, some ladies blushed.
The female teacher at his side harrumphed as she fixed her glasses. She was quiet while Fang Whitehound did his introduction, but she kept sending cold glare to him. After Mr. Whitehound finished, she assumed an indifferent expression and introduced herself. "My name is Skye Green, and I will be class B's homeroom teacher."
The students gossiped when they finished their introductions. He overheard that these teachers were famous rising star heroes. Some of them admired those two because they were still in their twenties, but there were also people who complained because they thought the homeroom teachers didn't have experience in teaching.
Fang Whitehound only smiled at their complains and calmly replied, "I know both of us don't have teaching records, and some of you think of us as greenhorns. I won't say anything about that, but I will prove my worth as a teacher this year. I, no, both of us will make you stronger, strong enough to win this year's Young Heroes Tournament!"
Jake smiled when he heard that. Those teachers' goal was the same as him, and he was glad to find allies.
"Now let's not waste time. I won't bore you anymore, so let's begin. "Let's start with the A-1 seat. Please stand up!"