Anastasia turned around to see the girl who addressed her.
She was rather tiny standing at around 5'2.
She had red hair that was cut short and had freckles around her face.
She didn't have any striking features but nonetheless she was cute because of her novel appearance.
Her name was Scarlett.
Scarlett when sensing Anastasia's gaze couldn't help but smile.
How could she not?
Before coming here she and Anastasia were best friends.
They had studied from first grade together back on Earth and virtually there was nothing one didn't know about the other.
But lately Anastasia had been rather cold and detached.
She didn't mind it too much as she just attributed to her being thrown in the new environment.
It was the normal reaction to the bizarre situation they were in here.
"Over exerting yourself is bad you know?"
"..."
Anastasia didn't reply and just kept staring at her sword.
"You are taking this whole thing seriously? Man I cannot understand you at all..."
Scarlett couldn't help but sighed deeply.
Was this dumbhead... no genius of a girl really taking this whole fantasy thing seriously?
Yeah she understood the dangers this world contained and how they needed to be strong physically and mentally but...
With their talents , even if they trained just an hour a day, wouldn't they be ahead of 99 percent of people in this world?
Wasn't that enough?
Besides instead of training shouldn't they just explore the world?
Golden rock is about two times the size of Earth and the continent of drake is about the size of their entire solar system...
Just the wonders , landscape and the things to be explored and to be seen appealed Scarlett so much.
What about going home?
Well she wasn't too much interested in going home and such.
Her family was basically a disfunct one.
If not for her studying and athletic skills , she wouldn't have gotten into the elite school.
But could the same be said for Anastasia and the others?
There were some nerds in their group who were constantly burrowed in the library.
They trained minimally and attached themselves to the books.
People who wouldn't study books for more than two hours a day were now practically spending their lives in books as it wasn't as tiring because of their increased cognitive ability and mental resilience.
Anastasia was a step above them.
Is she was not reading , she was probably training.
Is she was not training , she was probably reading.
Basically the students were divided in terms of their goals.
Some like Scarlett wanted to explore the world.
Some were interested in returning back.
Some had their own fantasies, both disturbing or for personal gains.
Some like Anastasia were too engrossed in improving themselves that they wouldn't even care what the end result would be as long as they stood in the top.
For now the people that wanted to go back were few and between. Scarlett even though wouldn't want it, would just go back if the situation compelled her to.
But Scarlett was sure.
As more time passed , the number of those who wanted to go back would reduce and everyone would just want to live here while pursing their dream life.
The possibility of the things they could do here was endlessly compared to places like earth.
Seeing that Anastasia wasn't going to answer , Scarlett held her by her hands.
"I think the mood is not right , let s just eat and come ok?"
The head captain would surely won't want us to underperform."
Anastasia didn't budge but when Scarlett just put some force , she went alongside with her after a sigh.
Meanwhile on the other side a boy was watching all of this with a neutral expression.
'Isn't she becoming too strong?'
He thought and grit his teeth.
'Shit all those fuckers who stand for peace and shit are gonna be a major hurdle.'
The boys fist's curled up and because of the force , blood was oozing out.
The boy was none other than Asmodeus.
Even though he was humiliated on the first day , he recovered quickly after he found out his talent was amazing.
He had an unique ability that allowed him to walk the path of an Assassin.
Unique abilities didn't really give a single ability.
Unique abilities pertained to a path.
If someone wanted to become a knight then they would have to learn the skills that a knight would have.
This had lots of problems.
One couldn't really find abilities easily as they could only be either taught by someone who knew it or by some written form like scrolls or books.
The former was difficult to find and the latter were expensive and not to mention it would also be difficult to find the ability you desire.
But unique abilities solved that.
In each tier , they would be given an ability to learn by the unique ability itself and it would be so powerful that no one could beat them in their field given that both are in the same tier.
As Asmodeus got a path pertaining to Assassin , he had got an ability as well and due to his high talent , he was learning it pretty well.
[THE EYES OF THE SHADOW]
An ability that literally gave him ten times enhanced vision and ten times enhanced senses in any surroundings.
This ability wasn't mentioned with stars as usually any ability was mentioned with but the looks of it , it was definitely not an ordinary ability and would probably above six stars or more , in the legend category.
It would be all good if only he was the one who had an unique ability or the best of all.
But... every one of his classmates had an unique ability pertaining to different paths like fire , lightning , swordsmanship and even marksmanship and from what he observed their prowess were on par with his or even higher.
While he was ahead of most of them , if they put more effort into their training like he did and didn't laze around then he was sure...
He would no longer be the Asmodeus everyone feared. He would just become another Joe and worst of all seen as a clown.
He didn't want that to happen.
He just closed his eyes.
After some time opening his eyes as if gained clarity, he went to a building located some distance from the training grounds.
The building came into his view.
It wasn't too massive or too small.
It had a big name board depicting "Special training facilities"
Without waiting , he went inside.
There were some students and also some knights here and there along his way.
After some time he reached the second floor.
The corridor was long and empty but not minding he soon went to a room.
The room was dimly lit.
There was no one currently inside the room except him.
It was room that people used to train stealth and nimbleness if they wanted to specialise in it.
At the corner of the room , there were some dummies.
He went near to a dummy that had 1.3 written on its torso.
It was made up of sacks and hay and looked like those dummies used in the medieval periods.
In fact every dummy there looked the same , except for the numbers written on their torsos.
There were numbers from 1 all the way to 4.
As for the dummy , instead of a stick that went through the middle and connected it to the ground , it had prosthetic legs just like a human.
It also had prosthetic hands.
Asmodeus went behind the dummy and opened the cover that was protecting a button in its head.
As soon as he hit the button , the dummy jolted.
Slowly it started to move.
Its movements were rusty and mechanic.
Asmodeus went and stood in front of it.
As soon as it saw Asmodeus , its hand split open and a sword came out.
Taking the sword in hand , it got ready to attack.
His grip on his dagger tightened.
"Light steps..." he muttered under his breath.
As soon as he said that , he just disappeared from the spot.
The dummy was jolted and looked here and there with even though it had no eyes.
The air around it whistled.
As if from thin air , Asmodeus whistled through aiming for the dummy's head.
But..
*Strike*
The dummy turned behind just in time and blocked the lad's dagger.
Due to the force behind it , Asmodeus stumbled on his legs.
Without giving him time to react , the dummy slashed at the right side of his shoulder.
In a hair's breadth , Asmodeus was able to drift pass.
He then went to the far back and maintained his distance from the dummy.
The dummy seeing him retreating, chased him.
As it had no eyes , it looked quite scary.
'It seems I can only defeat an opponent a minor level above me if they are not aware of me from the start. Is light steps not fast enough or is it that I can't express its full prowess?' Asmodeus thought.
Using the walls near him , he climbed to the ceiling and hid himself in a space.
As he thought more about where he was lacking , he came to a conclusion that his latter presumption was probably correct.
Light steps was an ability he had gotten from the bastards that summoned them here.
It was a two star ability.
A two star ability if executed to its full power was more than enough to fell the dummy in front of him that had the prowess of a peak first tier.
A two star ability theoretically could be used to its full efficiency only when wielded by a second tier practitioner.
But that was not always true.
As long as one learned an ability fully , then they would at least be able to execute it without any trouble.
No matter the stars one could learn the ability as long as they understand the essence.
If not for that fact , he would not be able to learn [THE EYES OF THE SHADOW] at all.
Usually when one used an ability , there was a lot of loss of Energiya.
But when one started to understand its essence and was mastering it step by step , then this consumption of Energiya would reduce.
Even when the consumption of Energiya is reduced , the practitioner can still deal an decisive blow as even little bit of Energiya is deadly if used efficiently.
But there was a limit to this though.
Asmodeus at best thought a tier one practitioner could learn up to three star abilities perfectly and anything beyond that he could still learn but not be able to use it efficiently.
Perfection only came when the ability was fully learnt and at the same time executed efficiently.
For example , considering he did learn [THE EYES OF THE SHADOW] complete theory but still he was in the first tier.
Then he presumed that he would only get about 4 times enhanced vision and senses.
Well anyways he was not interested in too much boorish theory.
As long as he got at least one percent better everyday , that's all it mattered.
He stepped down.
As he stepped down , the dummy sensing him came to attack him.
This time he didn't use fast manuevers.
He activated the ability [POINTY DAGGER].
He calmly waited for the dummy to come to him which didn't take more than five seconds.
As soon as it came near him , his right hand moved.
First , at incredible speed he attacked the dummy at its neck who dodged it at the last second.
His dagger then went to attack the abdomen. The dummy defended the area but it was a feint.
His dagger changed trajectory and was aimed at its solar plexus , but...
The dummy sensing the feint at the last second moved its sword vertically.
If it connected then Asmodeus 's hand would be no more.
Just at the last moment , he moved his dagger behind , the sword meeting it.
Due to the force behind the sword which was more than Asmodeus could handle , his dagger went flying the air.
Seeing that Asmodeus was left with no weapon , the Dummy decided to strike him in his heart , ending his life then and there.
Asmodeus kicked the dummy in its right leg which made it to stumble a little and gave him an opening.
Attacking intricate spots on the dummy's waist and legs , he made it to drop to its knees.
Using the chance he took the dagger which just fell near him and slashed horizontally aimed at the dummy's head.
Silence returned to the room.
The dummy 's head fell to the ground.
Its body without any energy fell to the ground.
Asmodeus just gazed at the body of the dummy.
Before he knew it , he fell to the ground as well panting heavily.
"Woah..." he stopped to catch breath "I would have been killed this time for real."
This reminded him that he was an assassin , not a warrior who was specialised in close combat situations.
If it had been either Kai or Anastasia , they wouldn't even break a sweat.
Even while being the same tier and level as him , they could even take down a peak first tier who was close to breaking through the second tier.
With more good abilities , he was sure that they could even beat the early second tiers with ease.
Thats how scary they were. Every single one of the students.
In just one month , it could be said that they were sufficient and wouldn't have a hard time living a normal life and could defend themselves against ordinary folks and warriors.
After ten minutes of catching his breath , Asmodeus stood up , took the head in his hand and slung the body of the dummy over his shoulders and put them in a spot where there were three dummies in the same condition.
He then went to an isolated corner near the entrance and saw a table.
In a notebook that was placed there , he wrote about the condition of the dummy he used and wrote that it needed repair.
After seeing that everything was done , he exited the room.
---
The queen's office.
Ellis wore a spectacle and was seemingly writing some letters.
She was currently in the queen's office which was much more extravagant than the king's office.
While the king's office looked practical and simple , this looked too overbearing.
Honestly Ellis had no idea why there was a difference between the two rooms.
It was probably due to the fact that most kings of Erlands were always away from home participating in battles or adventuring as a result not caring about the aesthetics of their office room.
Just as she was reading the letter , a knock came on the door.
Without even waiting for her approve , the door opened.
A boy with blond hair , golden eyes and an otherworldly face came into the room with a smily expression.
"Miss Ellis " he said.
Ellis seeing the youth returned the same expression.
The boy closing the door came and sat in a chair in front of ellis.
Ellis eyed the youth and just smiled
"You look lively today."
The boy's face was contoured with happiness.
"I know right? today I just learned an important step in my unique ability. I think it won't take much longer for me to learn it completely."
The boy huffed his chest and replied proudly.
"Is that so? good for you I guess."
Ellis just shook her head and went back to reading the letter.
"Miss Ellis... not fair you know? I have done something awesome and you don't even appreciate me."
Kai said in an almost pouty way.
Ellis didn't reply for some time.
After like two minutes , she put down the letter she was reading and looked at Kai and sighed.
"Honestly what do you want me to do?
You are stronger than me now... technically.
What do you expect the weaker to do for the strong?"
Kai quickly refuted her words.
"Thats not true.
Miss Ellis has one of the highest talents when it comes to scholarship.
If not , how could you have published many articles under a pseudonym that are even highly praised in continents like the count's shore?
Most of us students cant compete with that talent.
Even the ones who were good at studies before or have become good because of their talents , I don't think they can compare with you."
"If you say so... I guess... Those are minor articles on minor topics that are almost irrelevant. What I did was just to explain already discovered things more clearly..."
"..."
"Well let's keep that aside... What do you want me to do, Im asking seriously.
Words of praise won't be as valuable as what you have done deserves something better than mere words.
In fact for all of you guys."
Kai nodded his head. He could understand where Ellis was coming from.
"How about you give me a reward personally? you are quite rich right?"
"Hm... Yeah I ought to reward you... but Im afraid I don't have anything fit for you."
Ellis shook her head.
"I see... may I know why Miss Ellis?"
"Well for starters. Im not as rich as you think Im.
For Erlands... Maybe.
But its rather laughable when we think that Erlands is actually the weakest country in Golden rock probably only ahead of some countries in the north of Mortal's valley and some countries in the desert of the great west."
"When it comes to resources , my family only has resources suited for a mage , not any worth mentioning for movement arts.
Well it doesn't matter as you are a cultivator and also use arcane arts.
But there is a rule in my family.
The members of the family can only access the items in the treasury which match their own tier except in cases of emergencies signed by the family head.
Even though the family head is mom and I can convince her , she cannot do it technically as it against the family rules.
Even if she gets me an item under her name , she would come under pressure from the rest of my family.
So at best I can only give you a one star item which I think you probably know are only trash."
Ellis finished her long speech.
Kai seemed to contemplate what Ellis just said.
"Then what about the treasury?
While Im not overbearing , I do think it's necessary to reward not only me but us.
We were just ordinary people back on our world.
Although we had duties for our age , most of us probably didn't follow a rigorous schedule like this.
As the de facto leader of our group , I just think it would do a lot good if you reward us generously so all of us can work even better.
Your rewards are already generous as you provide us a good life... but you know what I mean right Miss Ellis..."
Ellis replied.
"Thats indeed true Kai.
We are in favour of rewarding you guys.
In fact some of the ministers have planned to give out rewards and gifts when you all reach the second tier , which I reckon won't taken more than two months from now.
But doing it right now is... quite impossible.
While the treasury has many treasures even that is not enough to distribute to all.
Well at the first the treasury is not accessible at the moment."
Kai had a contemplating look.
"Why is not accessible?"
"It is only accessible to the king."
"But aren't you technically also the monarch and have the same authority as the king?"
"Well thats true legally and technically.
But in the case of treasury , its different.
While the queen's opinion matters in almost all affairs , in the treasury it does not.
Only the kings alone have access to it and the queen or the prime minister can only access it on written consent.
No one else is allowed to access it at all."
"Oh... I see.
Mr. Bayezid is a good guy.
Without him , us living this comfortably wouldn't be possible.
Its a wonder how he convinced you to marry him in just nine months he was here."
Kai seemed to nod his head comically.
Ellis didn't reply but instead wore a bitter smile.
"Oh.. I almost forgot to tell you this. Kindly convey it to your mates."
Saying that , Ellis took a sheet of paper from her drawer and handed it to Kai who silently read it.
"A dungeon?
You mean , we will be participating in a dungeon?"
Ellis nodded her head.
"All of you are in the middle level first tier without exceptions.
In 10 days or so , we expect all of you to reach the high level of the first tier in your respective arts.
What use is of power when you don't use it practically?
So the king specifically arranged for this set up.
From there onwards , you would be escorted to dungeons in Erlands every week or so.
You guys would also be taken to fight monsters if any are sighted."
"I will convey it then."
Ellis and Kai then talked what happened that day.
As days went on , they seemed to become good friends.
Kai found it enjoyable to talk to her.
He would also enquire everyday about the baby she was bearing.
He was very eager to see the baby.
Ellis had friends.
But as she was currently occupied with the job of a monarch , she couldn't meet them.
Not to mention her information chamber which needed hours of work too.
Her personal training in the mixture , she wouldn't know when the day passed.
Speaking to Kai everyday was like a stress buster.
Speaking to the jovial boy elevated her mood and it was the part of the day she looked forward to...