Foggy, that's how Zen felt. He felt like he was dreaming,he was in an unknown location surrounded completely by nothing but fog.
His hazy mind only seemed a little confused at where he was but he didn't question it as he strangely began to move almost unconsciously trying to find a way out of the fog .
He honestly didn't feel like he was even moving,it felt more like he was just watching a realistic 3D movie and nothing was in his control
After an unknown period of time he suddenly noticed that the fog ahead was a little bit thinner
He walked forward and saw something strange. It was a prison cell however it was just the front bars and they were simply standing there not attached to anything
Looking through the bars he could see a strange darkness that made it look like the space around him was different from the space in the prison bars.
Zen leaned in to have a closer look and suddenly an enraged voice yelled
"Hollow! LET .ME .OUT!" As a hand was suddenly thrust out through the gaps in the bars and towards Zen as it tried to grab him
Zen's eyes fluttered open as he woke up, he turned his head and realized he was on a bed in a room that looked to be an infirmary.
"You're awake, nice to see you in the land of the living,partner "
Zen turned to where the voice had come from and saw Maximilian on a white sofa with the same calm but energetic smile as usual .
Maximilian stood up and walked towards Zen on the bed before surprisingly taking a 90 degree bow in front of Zen.
He stayed that way for a few seconds before raising his head and speaking in an apologetic tone
"The medic said you fainted because the potion was tampered with, I'm to blame and I'm sincerely sorry, I really didn't know about the potion"
Maximilian was expecting Zen to be absolutely furious but was surprised when he just said
"Okay" and said nothing else
"Please just let me expl...huh?.....you believe me?"
"I know you didn't try to kill me,if you did you wouldn't have brought me here, and if you wanted to capture me i doubt we'd be in an infirmary, speaking of which, where is here?"
Maximilian scratched his head feeling a bit embarrassed that he had rehearsed his apology so many times and was even prepared in case Zen wanted to break their partnership however he still replied
"Oh right, you were unconscious, guess what, this is earth "Maximilian said enthusiastically
"This is sentinel city? The academy?" Asked Zen
"Well...yes and no, this is the city but before we can actually get into the academy we need to pass another qualifying round, bummer am i right?, the whole thing in that dungeon was clearly an accident but the academy just said they 'overestimated' the quality of participants this year and ignored the whole thing like it never even happened "
Zen lowered his head in thought and his eyes suddenly fell on his gloves and in a grim tone he asked Maximilian if anyone had taken off his gloves.
Maximilian feeling the weight behind his words was curious
"No, I was here the whole time and they didn't take any of your clothes off except your jacket" Answered Maximilian as he pointed to Zen's jacket on the edge of the bed.
Zen looked at the black jacket on the edge of the bed and picked it up, he searched the pockets looking for something but what he was looking for was gone
Seeing Zen's actions Maximilian chuckled and took out three small brown beast crystals from his pocket
"Is this what you're looking for?, You're lucky i grabbed it,if those greedy bastards got their hands on these they would be in a forge somewhere by now "
said Maximilian as he tossed the cores in his hand to Zen who caught them in his hand
"Anyway I've got to make a call so I'll step out for a second and let you get ready , you've got another test ahead of you after all".
After saying this Maximilian stepped out as the door closed behind him a chilling light suddenly flashed in his eyes
"Someone wants me dead" he muttered coldly
Zen who was on the other side felt the strong murderous aura from the other side and couldn't help reevaluating his new partner however he quickly shrugged it off and focused on the screen in front of him
[Detected that combat has ended]
[Analyzing host's performance]
[Damage taken from enemies: 0]
[Damage dealt to enemies HP: 50000 points]
[Soul skills used: 3]
[Souls equipped: 1]
[Profession skills used: 0]
[Class skills used: 0]
[Battle time: 5 minutes, 38 seconds]
[Hostiles detected with minimal effort]
[Successfully made a tactical retreat]
[Evaluations attainable: Fail, poor,pass, average, Good, Great, excellent, perfect, immaculate, transcendant]
[Host's evaluation: perfect]
[Reward: skill(automatically received)]
[Skill : phantom form]
The moment he read through it all it disappeared and a new one showed up
[New quest received]
[The Hunter.... or the hunted?]
[Quest objective]
(1) Protect Maximilian Hunter
Reward???(Will be received when quest objective 2 is complete)
(2) Find out who wants Maximilian Hunter dead and put a stop to their actions.
Reward:???
[Would you like to accept this quest?]
«Yes» «No»
"Hohoho,this looks like fun"
Zen slightly flinched but quickly recognized the voice
"Freya?"
"Yep its me, but no time for that now , quickly accept, unknown quest rewards are always the best "
Zen wanted to say she had no way of knowing that as she had only seen this kind of system in novels but he just sighed and selected accept.
[Successfully accepted quest]
Zen ignored that and thought
"Status screen " and the next second the system screen appeared and noticed a few differences
[Name]Zen Hollow
[Level 1]
[Exp: 0/100]
[Species: (Base - human) (bloodline - ?????)]
[Class: soul sage???]
[Profession: Assassin(Arcane)]
[True name/soul name:???]
[HP 100/100]
[Sp 10/10]
[AE 100/100]
Strength: 11.6]
[Agility: 13.5]
[Endurance: 12.4]
[Intelligence: 12.8]
[Charm: 50](bloodline effect)
[ Wisdom(class specific stat): 10]
[Souls 1/3]
[Skills]
[Shop]
[Quests]
Zen's eyes locked on the things that had changed and he was suddenly sure of something that he wasn't before, the system was learning, the longer the system stayed with him the more question marks were disappearing and the more detailed the facts were getting , he wondered if even 'those' would appear on the screen eventually.
While on the topic of changes Zen was reminded about how his stats had improved overnight
Zen thought about it and the only thing that caught his attention between the time the system had left and the time it returned was that girl he'd met on the rooftop of that building,he looked at his hand as he remembered that electric shock that happened whenever he touched her and he couldn't help feeling that they would meet again,if only he knew it would happen sooner than he thought.
Zen pushed away all the distracting thoughts and decided to explore the system for a while, he tapped on the soul tab but something different happened
[Error, system combat tutorial has ended, requires level 10 to continue]
"Well this is new" said Zen as he went to the shop tab
[Unlocked at level 10]
"Hmmmm"
Zen eventually decided to tap on the skills tab and this time something happened but Zen quickly noticed a problem
[Skills]
Soul movement Lv2,stealth aura lv5, predator aura lv?(Bloodline effect), superior vitality lv3 (bloodline effect), unnatural charm(bloodline effect), predators glare ....
Zen skimmed through the list that was surprisingly long considering his level with some of them being passive skills or bloodline skills, some of them being things that were useless in combat like theoretical knowledge and some other vocational skills, with a few being farther from combat than others like Advanced Chess mastery, musical skills and even a few other things he'd learned
Speaking of his bloodline skills, Zen was starting to get curious exactly what the bloodline was and none of the skills exactly hinted to what it might be,perhaps the system would show him after enough time had passed.
Zen kept skimming through the list and his eyes suddenly landed on one he wished they hadn't
Soul blade Lv1
Zen's eyes suddenly went blank as his fingers trembled and his mind was overwhelmed with a few memories filled with bloodshed,a few of them in particular had images of a pure white translucent glowing blade that seemed to carry an unnatural amount of power
"Hey, Zen!,snap out of it!"
Freya yelled out seeing what was happening to him.
Hearing her voice, Zen's eyes became focused again although his breathing had become a bit ragged
"Are you okay?" Freya asked worriedly
"Azrael,i want you to know we're never going back there,ever, you can finally live your life , you can be happy now, so I want you to live your life and never let anyone make your life anything you don't want it to be, you're free now, no one gets to decide your life, not Q or anybody else,okay?"
Zen didn't say anything but deep down he felt it was very unlikely that he would never have to go back, whether willingly or not, that being said he agreed with the other things she said and what looked like a shadow of a smile appeared on his face, perhaps from one of the others or maybe even something left from the original.
Zen simply nodded and looked back to the system screen although he still seemed a bit shaken up, truthfully he wasn't but his body had reacted instinctively to the memories,it seemed like there was still some trauma from that day.
Zen looked back at the screen, he wanted to see where the list ended and when he did he was surprised for different reasons
[Transcend (Ultimate)]
[???(Ultimate)]
[Bloodline burst (Ultimate)(bloodline effect)(1)]
Zen was confused with these skills, not just because of the ultimate in the name but by the fact that it was only the last two he didn't know about.
He himself knew the transcend skill but he had no idea where from, he'd been practicing it since he could walk, when he first did the strange movements and babbled out an incomprehensible word at the age of one, Riley and Freya had just seen it as cute and didn't pay attention to it but as time went on it became apparent that something was wrong, it was almost like an obsession that had been carved deep into his very soul, he didn't even know where he learnt the name of the skill but something in him was obsessed with it and Zen himself didn't know why but he did know one thing,it wasn't an ordinary skill
Zen and the fragments were the only ones who knew this but all those times he took the right stance and said the word 'Transcend' correctly he had never lost a fight, although at first he doubted it, he realized there was something to it, even when he thought there was no chance of victory he would win, but there were a few times it wouldn't work, whether it was a cooldown time or he had said the word wrong or took the stance wrong, he didn't know but he was sure all those times he won weren't luck, and now the system was confirming it
Looking at this skill he tapped on it but what popped up was a bunch of question marks, it seemed he wouldn't be getting his answers easily
Zen didn't bother looking at the second one because if the title itself was question marks then the chances of the description being the same was quite high. Looking at the last one which was also a bloodline skill , Zen was getting more curious at what this bloodline was, and with unanswered questions he tapped on it
[Bloodline burst(bloodline effect)
The evolved version of the skill [talent explosion]. A hereditary skill possessed by only the strongest races, ignnite the essence of the??? bloodline as well as the users own innate talent and obtain the hidden power passed through the blood of the??? race
Requirements:???
Tries: 1
"So I can use it once?, but wouldn't that mean I fulfilled the requirements once before?
Having seen enough Zen left the skills screen and returned to the stat screen being left with more questions than answers .
Without thinking much Zen checked the quest tab and a new screen opened up
Daily quests:
100 sit-ups [0/100]
100 pushups [0/100]
Run for 10 kilometers[0/10]
Eat 1kg worth of food] [0/1]
Drink a gallon of water [0/1]
Practice with one weapon [0/1]
Reward:5 exp, 1 stat point
Zen raised an eyebrow looking at the quests, although he was fine with the first three quests, infact he did at least twice that much everyday back at his old place even if not all at one go but the third and fourth seemed way too exorbitant , his account record was empty, that didn't just mean it had no money, it meant it had never been used before, back where he used to live, money was unnecessary for multiple reasons so he never really had a need for it, and finally the final one seemed way too vague , how would he track his progress?, would the system tell him when he was done?.
Freya who had guessed what he was thinking suddenly spoke up.
"If you're worried about credits then don't be, sentinel academy follows a military like ranking system for students, and they award benefits including credits to students based on their student rank and ability level, although possessing an ability will increase your chances,the student ranking isn't based on abilities so all you need to do is get a high enough ranking and all your money problems will be solved, oh and regarding the last quest, you might want to take a closer look "
Zen looked closer and noticed that the last quest was slightly glowing, knowing what this meant he tapped on it and the next second a screen opened listing multiple different weapons and asking him to choose one
Looking at the list Zen realized he could at least to some point use all of them even if it came down to swinging it around like a newbie.
Looking to test the waters a bit, Zen selected dagger and the next second the quest changed
Practice swing [0/100]
Practice thrust/stab [0/100]
Zen looked at the quest and felt he was definitely not completing it today as he didn't even have a dagger or a weapon of of any kind.
Having seen enough for now, Zen closed the system screen feeling a bit underwhelmed
"Looks like you haven't even gotten into the academy yet your schedule is already fully loaded, guess you won't be able to just lay back and relax here "
"...."
Freya didn't seem to mind his silence, she was used to it more than anyone else , excluding two other people of course.
"Hey I know what we can try "
"...."
"We should be able to communicate mentally now, try it "
Zen thought for a bit but instead asked another question
"How do you know all this stuff?, and how are you in the system?, last time I checked, you were dead"
" You're a real pain sometimes Zen, even for me, anyway,i thought I was dead too,i have no idea how i got into the system, but if you want to know how i know about it then i guess I can tell you that, after the incident, although I can't exactly say when after,i woke up and realized I didn't have a body,a while later a screen popped up explaining everything to me including how the soul equip works, , after that I just went back to sleep if you can even call it that , next thing I knew i was in the middle of a desert, surrounded by sand elementals and in the mind of the pretty little piece of work currently on his ass in an infirmary"
Zen listened to her ignoring her little joke at the end, he knew she was only trying to make him liven up with a few light jabs but he also knew that wasn't going to work not for this one at least.
Zen,unable to get any new information from Freya decided to satisfy her curiousity and see if she could hear his thoughts, after all it would be weird if he suddenly started talking to her in public
Zen tried it a few times and it actually worked, Freya could hear him think, but only if those thoughts were directed to her, it seemed like the system had taken measures to ensure his privacy.
It was at this time that Maximilian came into the room with his calm smile having returned
"Hey there, hope you're back to a hundred, I don't think we can stay here for long because the last test's about to start "
Zen nodded and got out of the bed
"How long was i out?" He asked
"Not too long, truth be told i preferred to stay in here than stay out there and listen to some shitty speech by the head of the school, problem is i could still hear them a little bit from in here"
"Speech?" Asked Zen
"Yeah,a bunch of crap about the us being able to rely on the academy and the military being our friend no matter what, nothing but lies and empty promises if you ask me, there was also some other stuff but I had honestly stopped listening at that point "
Zen listened uninterested, he wasn't exactly interested in some speech either, they would most likely have nothing but bad things to say concerning him, even if they didn't realize it.
Zen put on his jacket and pulled up the hood to cover his face.
"I still don't get why you do that"
"...".
Maximilian didn't bother to ask again as he knew Zen wouldn't answer and decided to bring up something else
"Hey, weren't you ever curious as to why i didn't take the test on earth?"
"....."
Expecting Zen to be silent, he continued
"I'm glad you asked, For some reason my family didn't want me to do the assessment on earth,considering the fact that the school is on earth,i really couldn't find an explanation, he told me to pick a planet and when i saw that they were doing a recruitment on mars which was the closest one around,i thought, why not? and here we are "
"What's your point?" said Zen suspecting Maximilian was telling him all this for a reason
"I won't be able to take this test with you because technically I've already been admitted into the academy" said Maximilian akwardly expecting some reaction but the only thing he got was
"Okay"
Maximilian looked at Zen,a bit baffled, normally people would shout that stuff like it was unfair and stuff like that but this was the first time he got a reply like that , after a while he could only shake his head
"You're something else" Maximilian said,amused
After a few minutes in the hallway they reached a door leading outside. Maximilian held the door handle and said
"Outside this door is your competition, i won't be able to stick with you so make sure to play nice now"
Once he had said that, Maximilian opened the door for Zen to go