Slap!
Alden slapped himself across the face. "Neo, you are like a magnet for trouble. First Carol, and now this Liam guy.
And why did you tell them your name and class?" Alden looked at Neo in disbelief. "Are you an idiot? What if tomorrow his cousin comes? No, he will definitely come for revenge and to take back the points you took."
Though Alden gained strength, he had been bullied for years, so the fear of bullies was deeply rooted in his heart.
"And why did you beat them so much? What if you get in trouble with the dormitory supervisor? If they beat you, they won't get in trouble, but you will if you beat them. It's just how it works." Alden started panicking, thinking about the worst possible scenarios.
"Alden, calm down a little," Neo spoke, surprised at Alden's reaction. "Don't worry, I will handle everything myself."
"No, you can't handle it," Alden argued. "You don't understand. If you beat him, his second-year cousin will come, and if you beat his cousin, then someone even stronger will come."
"Also, they can report you to the dorm supervisor for having weapons in the room. They can bribe the dorm supervisor as well."
"Calm down!" Neo raised his voice. "One thing I know for sure is they won't report me to the dorm supervisor. They want to take revenge on me personally. I am sure of that."
Alden did not say anything. He took a few minutes to calm himself down.
"Neo, go wash your face," Alden said after calming down. "When Owen wakes up, let's not mention this." He looked at the peacefully sleeping Owen. "I fear that if he learns of this, his second personality will come up."
Neo nodded in agreement. "Don't worry." He assured him. "The spiritual energy has a slight healing property, so tonight I will cultivate all night. This little scar will disappear."
Alden nodded. "I will cultivate all night as well."
He went into the bathroom, and Alden sat on his bed.
He took the brown martial arts book for dual wielding he received from Linda. "Teacher Linda, I will not disappoint you," Alden muttered as he opened the martial arts book, determined to master it.
It took him a few minutes to finish reading the book.
The book was mostly about the basics of using dual swords, and there was only one special move at the end.
'Teacher Linda said this is only the first part of the martial arts book for dual wielding. In the next part, there must be more special moves.' Alden thought.
However, in the room, he could only read the martial arts book. He could not actually practice. If he did, he would disturb his roommates, and most importantly, he did not have his swords. Thus, he decided to ask if the system had a solution.
'System, can you help me? I want to practice martial arts, but I don't have weapons or space to practice.'
[Host, the system suggests you try training in the mental world]
The system responded immediately.
'System, what do you mean?'
[Host, you are the owner of the mental world. You can create weapons there and train. But this can only help the host memorize the martial arts book and the moves.]
[It is still only mental training. To achieve the best results, it is recommended for the host-to train physically. Martial Arts have a lot to do with the instinct. So if the host trains physically, he will be able to train his instinct]
Alden nodded in understanding and then focused on reading the book. In an hour, he completely memorized the martial arts book.
When he put away the book, he noticed that Neo was on his bed, sitting cross-legged, cultivating.
Alden was previously so immersed in memorizing the martial arts book that he did not even notice when Neo had come out of the bathroom.
Alden was tired from reading for a whole hour. But he was determined.
He crossed his legs and focused on entering his mental world.
Swoosh!
The scene suddenly changed, and Alden found himself in his mental world.
He did not waste time and immediately concentrated on materializing dual swords.
For a while, he gathered the pea-sized white particles of mental energy around himself.
When there were hundreds of mental particles floating around him, he imagined the dual swords in his hands.
In no time, the mental particles formed two swords in his hands, identical to the ones he used earlier today. The only difference was the white color of the swords materialized from the mental particles.
With the swords formed, Alden started practicing dual wielding following the book.
...
The night passed. The first rays of the sun penetrated into the room through the window, bathing the room in dazzling light.
Alden slowly opened his eyes.
"Ahhh!" He stretched his body, yawning. Instead of feeling tired after cultivating all night, Alden felt refreshed.
'System, why do I feel refreshed instead of tired after not sleeping all night?' Alden questioned internally.
[Host, when cultivating, you enter a half-asleep state, and your body rests]
'It is a lot harder to learn the dual wielding.' Alden thought, cracking his neck. 'I practiced all night and barely mastered 10% of the martial arts book.'
As Alden pondered the question of mastering the dual wielding, his eyes fell on Neo.
'Ohh, right. I wanted to see Owen's and Neo's status windows.' He remembered. Yesterday, when Alden came out of the bathroom, he wanted to use Inspect on Owen, but he totally forgot about it when he saw Neo in such a state.
'Inspect.'
He used the skill on Neo.
[Name: Neo Walker]
[Realm: 1 star warrior]
[Beast Pet: Stone Man]
'What? Is that all?' Alden could not help but be disappointed. He thought he would get more information. 'What about his skills? Or his mental strength?'
[Host, you can only see the realm of the target. And host, you can only see your skills, not the skills of the others.]
Alden nodded. He was not satisfied, but he had no choice but to accept it.
'Inspect.'
He used his skill on Owen this time.
[Name: Owen Lakspur]
[Realm: 1 star warrior]
[Beast Pet: Lightning Eagle]
'Ohh? Owen actually has another beast.' Alden was surprised. 'I thought the little sparrow that died yesterday was his only beast.'
"Ohh? You are awake?" While Alden was looking through Owen's status window, Neo finished cultivating and opened his eyes. "Good morning." He greeted.
"Good morning." Alden closed the system windows before his eyes and greeted back. He then looked at his wristwatch. It showed 6 a.m.
He then looked at Owen, who surprisingly, was still asleep.
"Let's wake him up. And then head to the cafeteria to eat." Alden suggested. "I am starving. I have not eaten since yesterday."
Neo nodded in agreement and stood up from the bed. He tied his hair and walked to Owen.
He woke Owen up, and after they washed up and took care of their hair, they left.
They went into the cafeteria and stood in the line before the self-serving counter.
Same as yesterday, Alden took a bit of everything, Neo took only meat, and Owen took only fruits.
They found an empty table, and after they ate, they left for the academy.
As they walked down the corridor leading to the academy, Neo told them the story of how his mother tricked him into eating vegetables.
It was meaningless talk, but seeing the cheerful Neo telling it, it lightened the mood a bit.
True, it was the second day, and they did not feel the uncomfortable feeling in their stomach, but Alden could not help but worry.
He worried that the students Neo offended yesterday would come back for revenge.
Soon, they came out of the corridor and were inside the yard of the academy tower.
Alden checked his wristwatch. It was 7 a.m. They came a lot earlier than yesterday. That was probably why there were a lot of students around, just sitting on the green grass, chatting away.
Alden and the others walked toward the tower. They entered inside, and after entering an elevator, they chose the tenth floor where the classrooms were.
The corridor on the tenth floor was full of students, again, probably because it was still early.
Alden and the others entered their classroom 1-A.
The atmosphere in the classroom was the same as yesterday. Everyone chatting away. However, unlike yesterday, when Alden and the others entered, gossip immediately spread about them between the students.
The gossip was mostly about how Owen handled Carol and how Neo lost to Chloe.
"Fu.ck!" Neo cursed as he led the way to two empty tables. "Now everyone thinks I am a weakling." He threw an angry, fierce gaze at Chloe.
But Chloe just sat on her seat, her head held high up, and she looked straight forward. Unbothered by the comments she heard about herself and unbothered by Neo's gaze.
"I hate to admit it, but she is strong," Neo admitted.
Alden looked around the classroom, his face red.
With his sharpened sense of hearing, he could hear the girls talking.
"He is so hot."
He heard a girl say.
"I want him."
"I love him."
Several girls made comments about him, making him blush. Alden could not help but lower his head in embarrassment.
But who could blame the girls? The new Alden was simply too handsome. The blue uniform he wore was stuck to his body, making his muscles poke through.
"Hoho!" Neo laughed. He had heard the comments the girls made about Alden as well. "Alden looks like you will be able to pull a lot of girls with your new look."
"Stop it," Alden said shyly. He put his hands on the table and buried his face, pretending he would sleep.
But out of the corner of his eye, he saw something that made his blood freeze.
It was Carol. He stared intensely at them, his face twitching in anger.
'Is he plotting revenge on Owen?' Alden thought.
Swoosh!
The door suddenly opened, and the teacher entered.
The students all straightened their backs and stopped chatting.
'Wha...'
Aden's eyes widened in shock. Not just him but everyone in the class was shocked.
The look of the new teacher was questionable.
The teacher wore a black uniform, or at least what was left of the uniform.
His entire left arm was missing, replaced by a mechanical one. He walked barefoot, his feet dirty. His curly black afro hair, the shape of a rectangle, was reaching one meter up, and it looked like it had never been combed since the teacher was born.
In his hair, there were branches with green leaves and a bird standing on a branch. He was missing his right eye, and there was a green snake around his neck.
"Hello, students." The teacher greeted them with a smile as he stood behind the teacher's desk. "I am Terof."