Levi headed to one of the shooting ranges in the academy. The ones where he trained during his practical lessons were only exclusive during the classes. His aim now was to make his art reach 100%.
It was 6 p.m. and there were fewer students in the range which was ideal for Levi. He looked around for an empty spot and saw the one person he did not want to meet. How could he not notice her, after all she was the most striking person and stood out from everyone in the area.
Her hair was long and flowed in the wind, while her eyes sparkled like the ocean on a sunny day. She had a unique style that complemented her blue hair and made her look even more enchanting.
'If only she did not have a shitty personality.'
Levi said to himself as he looked for a new spot, far from where Irene was. She too noticed Levi when he entered after all he was an eyesore to her.
' Did he just avoid me?'
Irene felt irritated but she kept practising. However, she could not help but keep on glancing at Levi. The shot he managed to do during their class was still vivid in her mind. The power, trajectory and magic behind the arrow were something every archer aspired to achieve.
Levi's performance was disappointing as he struggled to execute the same technique. He frequently missed his targets while shooting arrows due to his incorrect form, lack of strength behind the string, and uncontrolled breathing.
'And here I thought that he was not just some loser. *Sigh*. I guess some people are born pathetic.'
After humiliating Levi in her mind, she decided to leave.
Once Irene left, Levi stopped his act. He had already noticed Irene checking on his skills and he did not want to attract any unnecessary attention. There were still other students in the area but none of them cared about him.
It was now time to train for real. He held the bow correctly, took deep breaths, fixed his posture and did the thing he was the best at focus.
[Essence] activated and he let go of the arrow.
*Swish*
The arrow pierced the holograph's head and then bounced off the wall behind it.
*Ting*
[
90 points
]
The training ground's system gave him a score and Levi was satisfied with it. His art also increased by 5%. He kept practising again and again until his art reached 90%
He then thought for a while about his [Essence]
'Right now, I focused on hitting the target at its head at a higher speed but did not think about the strength I put behind it. Hmm...What if I do this?'
Levi was again ready to take a shot, but this time he focused on his power, as well as accuracy. He had one thought inside his head. To pierce the wall. He let go of the arrow and the arrow moved even faster. It pierced through the holograph's head and its tip managed to pierce the wall.
*Crack*
Everybody in the arena heard the noise of the arrow hitting the wall and turned their head to where the noise came from. Levi had already fled from the scene once the arrow pierced the wall so nobody knew who had done that.
He headed to his dorm and once he got inside, he checked his stats.
[
==Arts==
Common Archer Style(75->100%)
---------------------------
Common Archer Style---> Intermediate archer style
--->Description:
An art that every archer must learn to master the basics and move further to complex arts.
The archer will now be able to imbed his arrows or any other projectiles with mana. (New)
]
Levi succeeded in breaking through the common stage and mastering a new technique. Being able to coat his arrow in mana would help him a lot for tomorrow's battle.
' Time to move on to the next plan.'
******
Levi's next plan was to make sure that, the academy was ready for the attack that was going to happen. In the game, the academy had no idea about the upcoming attack after all it was meant to be a surprise attack
The awakeners who were going to attack were part of a demon cult and each one of them was at least C rank in the game. A total of 45 "evil" awakeners would attack and almost 200 students would lose their lives.
That was not even the hardest part. The most troublesome of them all was a demon, the silk demon. It looked like a silkworm and one would think it was harmless until it opened its mouth and started to release millions of silk thread in an instant. Though the threads were made of silk, they were stronger than most metals.
Even Levi, who was the top player in the game had only managed to decrease the casualty to five students and that was on the impossible level. Now he was in a different league and this was not just some pixels moving on a monitor, it was the real world.
'Since this is not a game anymore, I do not need to save other students except the heroes and I also have to survive.'
But some part of him wanted to do the impossible- complete tomorrow's event without anyone dying, and for that, he had to do something. He formulated a plan for it.....just did not know how to execute it.
His plan was simple-inform the teachers and the guards around the academy. But how was he supposed to do it? He could not just be like:
"Oh professors, tomorrow night our academy will be attacked just be ready."
Instead of the intruders, he would be killed first.
'*Sigh* I did not want to do this but this is the best option.'
******
" Whose shift is it after this?"
" I don't have any idea?"
"Bring four steaks and some fries right now."
The sound of plate clattering, people shouting, the sizzling of food, and the aroma of the spices in the area was roaming around the academy's cafeteria.
It was currently 7 pm and it was one of the busiest times of the day as they had to prepare dinner for almost ten thousand students. Most students preferred to eat in the cafeteria rather than cooking by themselves. How could they cook, when all their life food has been served to them right after they wake up? This noble rich children did not know about the real world. They probably think steak comes out of a machine-cooked. They refuse to touch a commoner but do not know everything they use was made by one.
As they were ready to serve the food, they heard some sizzling and smelt something burning. The head chef in the room shouted immediately.
"Which one of you fools managed to burn something? Leave your job if you cannot do such simple things."
He was about to ramble even more when he recognized the smell.
'This is not the smell of food burning, this smell.....is of grass being burnt.
He then rushed out to see a stack of grass burning. At first, he did not understand who did it, but soon his world turned upside down. He could see a pair of eye-devoid of any life, staring straight at him. He then noticed the bow in his hand and knew what was about to happen.
He rushed inside his kitchen and shouted
"WE ARE BEING ATTACKED. GET AWAY FROM THE KITCHEN AS FAST AS YOU CAN."
The staff believed their boss's words as he was not the type the guy to joke around and run for the exit as his life depended upon it. Panic began in the kitchen. The chefs left their utensils on their floor and started running.
Once all of them got out of the main kitchen, they looked back and nothing had happened.
'Was the boss joking-'
*Boom*
The entire cooking building exploded, with the sound being so loud that most of the school heard it. Students in the cafeteria rushed outside to witness the building being consumed by flames. Fortunately, the mages arrived soon after and used water magic to extinguish the fire.
Fiona also arrived at the fire spot. She looked at the head chef beside her
and asked him.
"Was there any kind of gas leak or some issues with the gas pipeline?"
But the chef did not answer. His pupils were dilated as if his mind was consumed by something.
"Professor, tell me have you ever been in a situation where you almost died?"
Fiona was taken aback was his question but decided to answer him as he might be hallucinating cause of the shock.
"Yes, I was working as an adventurer before I became a teacher. I did have close calls during those times, but I was never afraid."
The head chef did not say anything back, he kept looking at the building, and a one particular spot behind the building.
"I also never had any close calls in my life but today I almost died."
He then pointed to the spot he was looking at.
"I met eyes with something sinister. Those eyes were empty as if there was no life in them- there was no love, fear, hatred just emptiness. How could something like that exist unless-- Yes that's what it was."
"Today I met eyes with death itself."