"Do you understand?" Scott asked Luke before leaving. Luke received the summary from his system as he was heading towards his class. 'So they want me to be more reserved.' He opened the door to see everybody glaring at him and why wouldn't they. He completely shattered their ego and possibly a couple a bones in their body but they weren't that severe. Vanessa watched him as he took his seat back at the class before resuming her teaching. "Luke,why don't you take the lead with this problem." She said making the mood of the worsen. Elaine and Ciara just like the rest of the students were forced to sit through this though Vanessa's intention was to sour their moods and possibly train more earnestly. As always his system took over and went through the process and distribution of mana during combat. Giving a detailed explanation of it's in and outs leaving the class gritting their teeth as they couldn't find any flaw,he went back to his seat. "As expected of the son of a noble." Vanessa commented though her plan was meant to be a two edged sword for both Luke and the students. If he failed then the rest of the class would recover from their hateful moods thus making her teaching much more easier but if he was able to explain it then it would motivate the class to strive higher since the test was on the horizon.
But what she hadn't expected was not only was he able to give a crystal clear explanation,he also raised his own opinions regarding the same on how to improve it's proficiency in ways she herself hadn't even thought about. She thought he would completely flaunder it up as he was known not to be the sharpest knife in the set and resulted in thinking he cheated somehow. Luke didn't care whether his methods were unorthodox or not as he couldn't bother himself with such trifle matters. Elaine was both shocked on how he was able to calmly explain it but someone else barged in the class with a lively expression on his face. Taking his seat, Connor looked back at Luke momentarily before looking forward. Luke knew underneath that smile was something more sinister but he went along with it. The class went on as usual with it coming to a close. "Are you okay, Connor?" Ciara asked with a slight worried expression. "I'm okay Ciara but your ex really packs a punch. It was meant to be a simple spar but he really doesn't hold back." He said jokingly but one could sense the bitterness underneath those words. "When did he become so good is my question at both theory and physical combat?" Elaine asked.
She felt that she wasn't fighting Luke at all rather someone else more powerful. "Ciara, you two were together for sometime right? So can you explain this." She asked Ciara in the empty class with everyone out except for Luke who was asleep at the back. "I..I don't know. The last time I was there, he was still the idiot I knew. It's obvious that he's cheating somehow." Connor was in deep thought about something. He momentarily thought Luke was similar to him, having a system as it would make much more sense. A low grade student with nothing special or any big achievements suddenly becoming a stellar student couldn't come without something else helping him and in his case was a system. Hell even the body he was in wasn't his as he transmigrated from another world in as a result of an accident. "Wait! There was something odd the last time I was at his place." Ciara suddenly shouted but not loud enough to wake up Luke who was asleep. "Let's go someplace else first." She said with the trio then leaving the room. The walked down the halls as they were heading out the school gates. "So what was it?" Elaine hurriedly asked. "Blood." Ciara said leaving the two wondering what she meant. "What do you mean blood?" Connor asked with a quizzical look plastered on his face.
"There was blood the last time I was there. It was all over the place but I ignored it before leaving. There was someone standing at a distance with two sickles made out of what seemed blood wearing a dark hood but I only dismissed it then." Elaine and Connor were surprised when they heard this before Elaine asked another question ,"Did this happen the same night when the kingdom knights were running naked out at night?" Ciara responded with a nod. Connor though he arrived later knew about the incident with the knights. It was talk of the kingdom as it was both shameful yet sort of hilarious. The culprit who did this was never found as the knights had no recollection of what happened so the case was thrown under the rug. "Maybe the person who instigated that was also the person who slaughtered the house of Yashmore. Though why wasn't there a single complaint about this?" Elaine pondered for a bit. Connor on the other hand suddenly said as he was heading back ,"I forgot something back at class. I'll go get it." Elaine and Ciara didn't think much of it before they went to their respective carriages bidding each other goodbye. As he was about to head back, Luke was standing not far from him with a calm expression. "You have a system, don't you?" Connor asked expecting to see Luke's face to falter. "Yes and I should say the same ,All grand system." He said letting a small laughter. Connor was baffled with what he heard.
He was stunned fixed in his position unwilling to believe that Luke knew about his system. The only people who knew about it were two parties. Him and the one who gifted it to him. "Transmigrator integrated into this body after an accident right?" Luke spoke as he approached him with his hands pocketed. The two stood side by side looking at each other. One had a fearful expression while the other one had a calm expression. "Unlike how the story is meant to be,you won't live long protagonist." Luke said as he approached his carriage and for a little teaser,he locked Connor out of his system for a day. Connor tried to access his system but nothing happened before he glared at Luke ,"What did you do?" He shouted but Luke left said without saying a word. 'Judging fro their conversation, they should start investigating soon. Probably the day after tomorrow.' Luke said as he was in the carriage. The day after tomorrow would be a day off for the students as it would last for three days before they resumed their classes. The day that followed it being a school day went on normally with Connor with a grave look on his face which was absent as the day came to a close. "We're going to look around for anything conspicuous, are you coming along?" Ciara asked Connor being the only one's in class. After an interaction with Luke yesterday,he tried to keep his distance away from him. "No. I have other plans though I wish I could have accompanied you two." He politely excused himself. "It's a shame you won't be there." Elaine commented as they parted ways.
*The next day.*
Luke was waiting for the two meddling Misses who were to arrive shortly. Everything was in order with nothing out of place though he seriously didn't want to he here as he too had other plans. Liam and Velair were already waiting eagerly at the ballroom for the two ladies to make their arrival as it was only protocol. (I'm not gonna bother with their descriptions so have a blast thinking what they'd wear.) "I greet the princess and the daughter of the counselor." The both made a small bow with Luke absent here. "You need not shower us with such praises,you are too kind." Elaine said in a proud manner as the two hosts stood up from their bow. "Where is Luke?" Ciara asked with a small frown. "He's training. If you would like us to summon him then do not hesitate to tell us." Liam spoke in a respectful tone. The bind spell was still active preventing him from falling on the ground shouting for help front the two as an impersonator portraying as their son. "Please this way." Velair said ushering a way taking the lead giving a small tour of the place before they arrived at their destination. Elaine and Ciara were familiar with the place as this wasn't their first time being here before they arrived at a well prepared garden. There was a gazebo which was piecing the place together making the scene more beautiful as it already was similar to how Ciara remembered it. They had their conversation with them discussing about the latest trends happening before the two duo started changing the subject targeting Luke. "Have you noticed any changes with Luke lately?" Ciara inquired. "Nothing out of the ordinary. Other than him wanting to train earnestly that is." Velair said with a laugh. "Then how did he transition from D rank to B rank?" Elaine asked the most obvious question everybody was thinking about at the academy. They all knew about Luke and how much of an embarrassment he was but him suddenly skipping an entire rank within a night certainly was mind boggling. "He always was a talented prodigy. It's just that he didn't want that much attention on himself was why he hid his rank." Liam spoke looking at the incarnations in bloom.
'What!?!' This rang in Elaine and Ciara's minds. There were appraisal tests conducted and yet it proved that he was D rank so the chances of this statement was a lie was increasing. "With his enchanted chain for a split second we thought that he was really D rank." Velair said as the subject of the conversation was approaching. "Elaine, Ciara. What a wonderful thought of you to grace us." He sarcastically remarked though lacing it with a touch of honesty. "Your mother said you had an artifact that could conceal your rank,is that true?" Elaine jumping straight to it. She was already aware that there were such artifacts but they were rare to acquire. Besides if the one he had could even fool the appraisal tests which were considered impossible to trick then it was evidently a high grade artifact. Luke dug into his chest to brandish a small silver chain with a dark stone ruby in the middle. "Here." He gave it to Elaine proving his point. She quizzically looked at it before putting in on. Her late C rank was masked seemingly reduced to early D rank. Ciara tried sensing it but she couldn't find any flaw. Realizing that it was true she commented ,''How did you get your hands on such an artifact? Judging by it's effectiveness, it should be rather costly." Elaine asked in a curious manner. "It's original price was rather expensive but if you have the right strings to pull in the black market then it shouldn't be that expensive." Luke without a second to spare lying. The artifact wasn't from the black market though his shadow was gaining it's foothold, he created it himself to go along with the lie he had weaved.
"So how much would you want for it? Name your price." Elaine asked in an amused expression. The silver chain glowed before appearing on Luke's neck buried by his clothes before he said ,"I can't sell this to you but I can gift one similar to this by the day we go back to school." Elaine wasn't that disappointed but seeing that she would later receive for free she didn't mind. They exchanged some words mostly quizzing about the hooded individual on that night but Luke had enough of this before using his mind control ability feeding them false information which they believed before their departure. A puppet of Andrew's appeared from the shadow's dropping a severed head infront of the family. "What is that?" Liam asked but Luke calmly said ,''Deliver her present on time." Materializing a small chain similar to his before tossing it to the puppet which later disappeared. "I'll be gone for a while." He spoke as he headed out of the mansion. "Where will ..." Velair asked but Luke shut her up before a grand black carriage appeared before them all. It was made from Ytterbium yet somehow enchanted to improve it's mobility. An entire carriage made of Ytterbium was unheard of as it would seem like a waste of resource but Liam and Velair watched Luke board it before leaving the premises.