In an elegant private study, Malgath Friana was sited behind his desk.
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~SMACK!!!~
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A firm fist crashed onto said desk.
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"Who the hell does he think he is!"
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Never in all of his long lifetime, had someone disrespected him this much, not only did he make light of the test he himself prepared, but he also ignored his advice and choose to sleep instead.
To say he was furious would be an understatement.
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"I swear if I ever see his face again, I'll..." but before he could finish his rambling, someone knocked on the door.
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~KNOCK~KNOCK~
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Entering, without waiting for an answer, was a dwarf wearing a lab coat, the same dwarf that took care of the status calculation.
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"Hey! Who allowed you to come in."
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"Sheesh, aren't you in a bad mood." ignoring the elf's complaint, he lazily sat on a nearby sofa.
"So, what's got you so riled up?"
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"Sigh, it's nothing, just some dumb brat sleeping during the test." sipping on some tea, he calmed down a bit.
"Hengon, I'm grateful you came in person to help with this year's exam, but don't you have a company to take care of?"
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Hengon Greymane, the founder and current head of Avalon Technologies, the world's best artifact manufacturer. He normally never leaves his lab, so most people don't even know what he looks like.
Such an important person volunteered to help with this year's exam, even if they were friends, this put Malgath a bit on edge.
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"Bah! Don't mention that I have some free time, plus I got to test my new machine and see a few talents. Rather than that, I have something interesting that'll brighten your mood."
Pulling out a phone, he fiddled with it for a moment, then the projected a hologram showing a list of name and numbers.
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"As you can see, two participants got a full mark on your test."
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"OH! Interesting indeed, I even made the test a harder this year."
"Who are they?"
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"The first, is one of the daughters of the Hanabira clan. She finished in record time with 40 minutes to spare."
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"The half blood? I guess she put a lot of effort in order not to fall behind in the succession race."
"But what about the other?"
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"His name is Theodore Lettore, he's from a simple background, and for his stats, there's nothing really interesting in that regard."
"He apparently was in one of the batches you supervised yourself."
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"Really? I might have seen him, do you have a picture of him?"
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"Sure, hold on a sec... and here."
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Pulling up the picture on the hologram, Malgath immediately froze
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"You have got to be shitting me!"
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###
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"ACHOO~~"
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"Is someone talking about me?"
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I was currently in the middle of my strength workout, just because I had passed the entrance exam didn't mean I could slack off.
Well, I say I passed, but I still needed to wait for the confirmation notice.
It has been a few days since I took the test, so it shouldn't be long before I receive it.
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Finishing my workout, I used [Heal] on myself like I usually do.
But today, I refrained from using [Modify]. Why, you might ask, well because I discovered a huge flaw with the skill, a flaw that nearly killed me.
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[Modify] cannot create, just as the name indicate, it can only modify the subject.
This means that while I was using it on myself to strengthen my muscles, I was pulling away resources from somewhere within my body. And that somewhere was the food.
Since I didn't get more hungry, I failed to notice that I was eating too little to match my regular body needs.
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At first, it was fine, since my body compensated by using the fat stored.
But two days ago, I passed out while using [Modify] because I didn't have enough resources.
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So right now, I'm putting [Modify] on hold until I recover from the damaged I caused to myself.
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Apart from that, nothing really happened.
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"Dinner's ready!"
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"Coming!"
Being called, I quickly finished and joined my mom.
We talked a bit about random stuff, I tried asking about her job, but she seemed to not want to talk about it.
From what I've seen, she tried to not talk about work as much as possible when she's at home.
Having had bad experiences with jobs in my previous life as well, I understood and stopped asking about it.
Her look suddenly became serious and she said.
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"Look, I'm happy you awakened, and I know you want to get stronger, but you should stop pushing yourself so much."
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"I know." Not really knowing what to say, I gave a simple answer.
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"No, you don't know! If you know why did you end up passed out! Do you know how worried I was?"
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"I'm sorry." Due to my mistake, I made my mother worry about me again.
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"I don't want you to be sorry, I just want you to be safe. Promise me you won't let this happen again."
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"I won't let this happen again."
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"You have to promise."
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I was a bit hesitant, on one hand I would make sure nothing of the sort ever happened, but in the other hand I had to get stronger, much stronger.
Back at the written test, I peeked at Malgath stats out of curiosity, the man is a monster, a monster I can never hope to reach even if I push myself in these ways.
__________________________________
Name: Malgath Friana
Race: Elf
Age: 186
Class 1: [High Spirit Mage]
Class 2: [High Elementalist]
Subclass : [Teacher]
----|Status|----
Strength: 156.523
Defense: 78.428
Agility: 112.751
Mana: 179.456
Spirit: 225.851
Intelligence: 202.325
Perception: 150.61
Dexterity: 80.102
Charisma: 182.948
---------------
--[Potential stats]--
Strength: 12.6 / 20
Defense: 8.5 / 20
Agility: 11.1 / 20
Mana: 15.8 / 20
Spirit: 18.6 / 20
Intelligence: 16.4 / 20
Perception: 13.1 / 20
Dexterity: 9.2 / 20
Charisma: 18.3 / 20
--------------------
Class skills:
---------[High Spirit Mage]------------
[Gather Spirits]-LV17-24% : Gather Spirits, so you can use them.
[Direct Spirits]-LV16-12% : Direct gathered spirits the way you want.
[Spirit Buff]-LV14-43% : Use gathered spirits to buff to one's stats.
[Direct High Spirits]-LV9-63% : Direct high ranked spirits the way you want.
-------------------------------
---------[High Elementalist]----------
[Manipulate]-LV18-57% : Manipulate the elements.
[Imbue]-LV16-84% : Imbue an element onto a target.
[Change]-LV16-55% : Change the elements.
[Fuse]-LV8-78% : Fuse multiple element together.
-------------------------------
---------[Teacher]----------
[Teach]-LV9-46% : help those you consider your students understand what you teach them.
-------------------------------
Skills:
[Hole of Spirit]: Instantly gather all the spirit in the vicinity. Once used, it will have a 10 days cooldown.
[Territory]: Create a territory with a radius of 100 meters. Within that territory, allies will be buffed and enemies will be debuffed. Last for 1 day, and once used it will have a 5 days cooldown.
_________________________________
If I want to ever be as strong, I'll need to push myself even harder.
But I can't go against my mother, so in the end I promised.
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"Alright, I promise this won't happen again."
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"Good! Now wait here while I fetch the desert."
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~DING~
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while she was away, I received a phone notification.
[Hello, we are pleased to inform you that you have been selected along with six hundred other youth to join the Crossroad Academy.]
[Please be present at the given location, the 10/09/2160 at 8 am. Be sure to bring a change of cloth and all cleaning necessities.]
[Cordially-the teaching team]
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"So it's in two days, I should be able to recover by then."
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"Hey, what did I tell you about your phone at the table."
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"Sorry." I put away my phone and decided to tell her after dinner.
'Sigh... I just started getting used to living with someone after so long, and I'll soon go back to living alone.'
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###
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"Hurry up, we're going to be late!"
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"I'm coming! I'm coming!" looking frantically everywhere in my room, I couldn't find it.
"Fuck, where did I put it?"
"AH, there it is. I finally found it."
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"Come on, hurry up, what do you need that outdated thing anyway?"
She said, pointing at the iPod I was holding.
I bought it not long ago, it would be a shame to leave it here.
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"It's not outdated, it's retro."
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"Okay, okay, just hurry up and get in."
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Getting in the car, we took off towards the portal gates. Thanks to magic, we can now teleport all around the world, there's at least one gate in every country.
Unfortunately, doing so cost a lot of money, more than a plane ticket. The only reason we're using it now, is because the crossroad academy is located on an isolated island in the middle of the ocean, and it doesn't have an airport.
Thankfully, the cost of transportation is covered by the school, if not, I would have never been able to afford it.
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Arriving at the gate, I was ready to go in as I was already a bit late and the coordinates would soon change.
But being hugged by my mother, I couldn't move, she was oddly strong when she wanted to be.
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"You be safe out there, alright."
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In my past life, I had no one to call family, and I was okay with it, but this feels nice.
I feel the need to make sure she's safe no matter what, and I need to grow stronger for that.
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"Yes, don't worry."
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"Good!" kissing me on the forehead, she sent me off.
"Now go get them."
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With that, I stepped into the gate just before it was too late.
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As I stepped in, the scenery changed immediately from the concrete forest that is the city, to that of an actual forest and mountains.
Of course, I was only seeing this through a window, when I looked around I found myself in a room surrounded by teens, just like at the entrance exam.
But the atmosphere was really different, it was suffocating, all of them were stronger than me, it's to be expected since all of them past the test.
I tried using [Reader] skill to find the main cast, without success, it was too crowded.
Meeting them now wouldn't be a good idea anyway.
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"ATTENTION!"
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Snapping me out of my thoughts, was a two-meter tall beast man with huge muscles, he had black hair, dark brown eyes, wolf ears and a wolf tail.
As he yelled, everyone's attention turned towards him.
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"Now that I have everyone's attention, I will direct you to the dormitories."
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"You will place your baggage in the room that's been assigned to you via text message."
"Afterward, you will be called in groups of sixty to receive a tour of the various facilities available to you."
"These groups will be the same as your class for the coming year, so be sure to get along well with each other."
"Any questions? No? Then follow me."
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Following him, we quickly arrived to six similar building, but the inside were far from being similar.
From left to right, each building separate students based on rankings, the first one is for ranks 600 to 501 the second from 500 to 401 and keeps going like that until the last building made for the top 100.
And with every increment of 100 you get better training facilities, this system focus on the elite by giving them all the good resources while trying not to waste them on the slower or less talented students.
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Looking at my phone, I awaited my room number.
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DING~
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"AH, there we g- HUH!?"
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[you have been assigned to room 600.]
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What the hell is this? I knew I would be low rank since my stats were lacking.
But this low, what would have happened if I didn't show off and get a perfect score?
Never mind that, I need to drop off my stuff, it's getting bothersome caring it around.
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Entering the room with my number displayed on it, I was shocked by how small it was, it was even smaller than my past life apartment.
It only had the space for a bed and a desk, with little room to move around.
At least the bathroom had a bit more space, but it still was very lacking.
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DING~
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"Already?"
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It seems like I'm in the first group, what good luck, this means I won't be with the protagonist.
With this, I'll avoid most of the annoying trouble that follows him in the first half.
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Heading to where my designated group was, I met my classmate, I tried making conversation only to immediately be looked down upon when my rank was mentioned.
Since groups were made at random, I wasn't with anyone with a rank near mine.
I was a bit sad, but it would also have its advantages to be considered weak.
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Soon after, a professor showed up, she had huge muscles, even bigger than the beast man I saw before. She was wearing a formal shirt with ripped sleeves, her hair was a deep brown, and it was worn in a vergil style.
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"Hello everyone, my name is Yasmin Quint, and I'll be your homeroom teacher for the rest of the year."
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Yasmin Quint, she is one of the four founding member of this school, but she is also the mother of Jogur Quint, the orc tank of the protagonist party.
Though her figure might look a little like an orc and her son is one, she really is human.
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"Now if you would please follow me!"
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We were first directed to an amphitheater classroom.
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"This will be your classroom from now on throughout the year, be sure to remember it in order to not be late tomorrow."
"Class will be held in here from 8 am to 12 pm, you will have a one-hour break to eat, then in the afternoon you will be doing physical training until 4 pm, which marks the start of your free time."
"Curfew starts at 10 pm, so if I see anyone of you outside your room after said time, I'll personally punish him."
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She said it with such a sadistic smile that it sent shivers down everybody's spine.
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"Now I'll show you the cafeteria, the training ground and the medical bay, afterward we will let you have the entire day to familiarize yourself with the school ground, think of it as free time."
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After that, we were shown a futuristic cafeteria where robots took care of everything, you just needed to input the type of meal you wanted, and it would be prepared at lightning speed.
With each meal being free, I won't need to worry about the lacking food.
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Next we went to the training area, and I was not disappointed, it's exactly what you'd expect from the world's best heroes making academy.
A huge football field sized arena, all sort of machine to train your muscles and even the state-of-the-art VR capsules, while not useful to train your physique it was the best place to train your skills.
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Then for the final part of the tour we went to the medical bay, just like the training ground it was full of last generation technology that I would have only dreamt of having in my past life.
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~Clap~
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"The tour is now over, but before I let you go, I'd like to add something."
"The school thinks that friendly competition helps improve growth, and I'm of the same opinion, as such, the scores of the entrance exam, and other future test will be displayed in the front lobby. Be sure to check it out, and don't be late, tomorrow."
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Sending us off, most of the students did as she said and headed for the front lobby.
I on the other end wasn't really interested, instead I headed back towards the training ground.
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Taking out my iPod, I looked through my playlist to find a fitting song.
Because I wasn't looking in front of me, I inadvertently bumped into someone.
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"I'm sorry, I wasn't lookin..."
I immediately apologized, but got flustered as soon as I saw who I bumped into.
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"Oh, it's alright, don't worry."
__________________________________
Name: Luke Iroas
Race: Human
Age: 16
Class 1: [Magic Swordsman]
Class 2: [Knight]
Class 3: [Sword Dancer]
Subclass: [Martial Artist]
----|Status|----
Strength: 3.021
Defense: 2.102
Agility: 2.850
Mana: 1.071
Intelligence: 0.802
Perception: 1.501
Dexterity: 1.732
Charisma: 2.981
---------------
--[Potential stats]--
Strength: 19.2 / 20
Defense: 16.5 / 20
Agility: 17.1 / 20
Mana: 18.6 / 20
Intelligence: 10.6 / 20
Perception: 14.5 / 20
Dexterity: 17.6 / 20
Charisma: 17.8 / 20
--------------------
Class skills:
----[Magic Swordsman]----
[Mana Sword]-LV0-55% : Infuse your sword with Mana to make it stronger.
[Circulate]-LV2-2% : Circulate your Mana into your body to make it stronger.
[Projection]-LV0-95% : Project the man within your sword to launch a long range attack.
------------------------------
----------[Knight]-----------
[Armor Wear]-LV0-15% : You have an easier time moving while wearing armor.
[Long Sword]-LV2-82% : Gives better understanding on how to wield two-handed swords/long swords.
[Parry]-LV1-64% : Gives better understanding on how to parry incoming attacks.
------------------------------
------[Sword Dancer]-------
[Footwork]-LV2-89% : Gives better understanding on where to step during a fight.
[Balance]-LV1-74% : Gives better understanding on how to move during a fight.
[Sword Dance]-LV1-6% : Move as if your sword was one of your limbs.
-------------------------------
Subclass Skills:
------[Martial Artist]-------
[Unharmed]-LV3-51% : Gives better understanding on how to fight without a weapon.
------------------------------
_________________________________
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"You're going to the training ground as soon as you arrived, you must be pretty serious."
"My name's Luke by the way. Wanna have a spar to train?"
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I bumped into the 'eager to make friends protagonist', not only that he wants to spar.
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'Well Fuck.'