It was the chirping of the birds that woke Eldric up.
"Ugh..." Still feeling dizzy, Eldric stood up slowly, almost fumbling twice. Taking a deep breath, he reached inside the pocket of his school robe and took out a small yellow paper.
Rubbing it carefully, he looked at the changes on it.
[06:30 AM]
"Phew... Not late."
Looking at the time, Eldric sighed in relief. Though he had already learned that after the awakening, the body would undergo evolution he was still somewhat surprised by the time it took.
Compared to yesterday, his body was now filled with energy. Now that the dizziness disappeared, he walked inside the bathroom, took off his shirt, and looked at his reflection in the mirror carefully.
"Wow."
Even though he had innumerable thoughts rushing through his head, this was all he could say at the moment.
Compared to before, his body has now changed drastically in appearance. If before he was still somewhat frail and normal, then at this moment, his body looked like an ancient Greek god.
"Tch... Tch...
This killer body... This handsome face... How can someone be so handsome and good-looking as me in this world?"
The more Eldric looked, the bigger the smile on his face got. By the end of the sentence, he was almost grinning from ear to ear.
"Wow... Started already?"
And just when he was admiring himself in the mirror, making various poses to check out all the muscles, he heard a voice filled with disdain behind him.
"Shoo... Shoo...
Go away."
Waving his hand without even looking at the girl floating beside him, Eldric kept on admiring himself in the mirror.
"Sorry to burst your bubble, but you aren't exactly the definition of good-looking. I would say you are above average in appearance."
The girl slowly spoke while shaking her head.
"Hmph... What does a little girl like you know?" Eldrich snorted in displeasure. Ignoring her he still looked in the mirror with a smile on his face.
The girl kept on looking at the boy in front of her speechlessly for a while before gritting her teeth and speaking while trying to suppress the annoyance in her voice.
"Just how long are you going to look in the mirror exactly? Might I remind you that you have just awakened? You still need to familiarize yourself with the new abilities that you have gained."
As soon as she finished speaking, Eldrich patted his head. He was so engrossed in his own beauty that he almost lost sight of what was important.
Thinking for a moment, he walked out of the bathroom, sat on the bed, and took a deep breath before slowly speaking.
"Panel."
As soon as Eldric spoke, a small light blue transparent screen popped out in front of him.
[Name: Eldric Stormborne]
[Profession: Brawler]
[Vitality: 1]
[Power: 1]
[Agility: 1]
[Skills: Fierce Strike]
Looking at the simple panel in front of him, Eldric didn't know whether to be excited or disappointed; Excited due to getting this game-like panel, or disappointed due to how simple it was.
Moving his finger towards the skill, Eldric tapped on it.
[Fierce Strike: Strike with great power, causing massive damage.] +
Looking at the simple explanation about the skill, he was left speechless.
When Eldric first came to this world and learned about the awakening and professions, he imagined everything to be like a game. But after learning more about this world and seeing the panel in front of him, he realized this world wasn't exactly like a game.
Though there were some initial similarities like the panels and professions, the rest of the things were completely different.
There was no gaining experience to level up by killing monsters. There was no increasing your stats by working hard. The only path forward was to go through further evolution. As for how to evolve further... They never taught that in school.
"Sigh... Let's see what I can... Wait."
Before Eldric could finish his sentence, his eyes stopped at the properties of the skill.
[Fierce Strike: Strike with great power, causing massive damage.] +
At first, Eldric didn't notice anything strange, but after looking carefully, he finally noticed the '+' sign behind the skill.
"What is it?"
Narrowing his eyes, he carefully touched the '+' sign. And the moment he did it, a small new window opened in front of him.
[Fierce Strike: Can be evolved]
[1 x Fang of the Blue Wolf. 1 x Dusk flower.]
Looking at the new menu suddenly popping up, Eldric was stunned for a long time. Till now, he had never heard of anything like skill evolution. They have always been taught that once you get the skill, there will be no changes to it regardless of how many evolutions one goes through.
But now...
Taking a deep breath, Eldric didn't suddenly scream in excitement or ask from the girl floating beside him. Even though he wasn't completely sure, he had a rough idea that this was something exclusive to him only.
"What..? Are you disappointed?"
Just when he was looking at the panel in front of him, the voice of the girl echoed beside him. She was still floating beside him, with eyes glued to the space in front of Eldric.
"You can see it?" Pointing towards the panel, Eldric asked while narrowing his eyes. Though it has been a universal truth that one can't see another person's panel, Eldric wasn't sure whether this rule applies to this girl or not. After all, her origins were still a mystery.
"Wow, one day out of the school and you have already forgotten the basics." The girl looked at Eldric while shaking her head in disappointment.
"Didn't you learn that one can not see another person's panel?"
"I see." Eldric didn't speak further but let out a sigh of relief. It seems like the girl beside him wasn't omnipotent.
After looking at the panel for a while, Eldric closed it before going for a bath. He still has no clue about the things that were needed to evolve the skill further.
"Forget it... Let's just focus on one thing at a time."
He still needed to go to school for one more week to learn about all the basic knowledge of the panel and the other important things.
.
.
It didn't take long before Eldric walked inside a large lecture hall that was slowly beginning to get crowded.
Looking at the entire hall, he finally took the seat at tge top corner of the hall which seemed empty.
Taking a glance, he could see that the ones sitting in the hall were all the students who awakened yesterday. And at this moment, almost all of them were excited while talking to each other.
Eldric wasn't the only one who went through such drastic changes in appearance. Everyone sitting there went through the same. If one had to point out then the most drastic changes were in the appearance of the girls sitting there who seemed to have transformed overnight.
"Well... They all look decent." While Eldric was trying to identify people around him, the voice of the young girl echoed beside him.
"Have you taken a fancy to someone?"
Listening to her question, Eldric snorted in disdain. "What are you even talking about? They are all kids."
"Eh!?" The girl floated beside him for a moment while looking at him from top to bottom before tilting her head.
"If they are kids then who do you consider an adult?"
The moment she finished speaking, Eldric let out a smile.
"You see... Those below the age of twenty-seven are all kids. I believe that a girl can only be called a woman when she reaches the age of twenty-seven.
That is the age when innocence is transformed into maturity and a girl is truly grown up."
"Uuuhhh..." With every word Eldric spoke, the face of the girl floating beside him kept on changing. From initial expectations to confusion to finally bewilderment. For a moment she even thought that there was something wrong with the brain of the boy in front of her.
"What!?" Looking at her expression, Eldric let out a cold snort. "You might not believe it, but I knew someone like this.
You see, she was a teacher and I was a student. And over time, our bond grew stronger and the distance between the two of us got closer.
Even if none of us said it, the truth was that the two of us were in love with each other.
And you know what? I was even going to confess to her."
The more Eldric spoke, the more proud he became of himself.
"Uh-huh... And what happened then?"
Engrossed in his memories, Eldric didn't even notice that it was someone else who asked this question.
"Tch... What else...
The day I was going to propose to her, I woke up in this god-forsaken world."
"So it was all a dream then?"
As soon as this question was asked, Eldric let out a snort.
"Even If I explain to you..." Turning his head to answer he spoke further. "You wouldn't understand."
But the minute he turned his head and finished speaking, his body froze.
He didn't know when, but sitting beside him was a woman in her late twenties with deep blue eyes who was looking at him with a smile.
"Gulp...
Who are you?"
The first thought that came to his mind was that this person was perhaps another soul that only he could see. After all, when he came here, he didn't see anyone sitting there. As for the matter of her being another student, it was definitely impossible. After all, the age of awakening is eighteen.
"Never mind me. Go on... You were saying something about having an affair with your teacher?"
The more she spoke, the wider the smile on her face got.
Eldric didn't speak but went completely silent. His smile, as well as his talkative personality, was now suddenly gone, replaced by a calm expression.
"I apologize." It was a brief apology before he added further. "I was just thinking about the dream that I had a long time ago."
"Tch... Boring." Seeing no response from Eldric as well as his poker face, the woman shook her head in disappointment before standing up and walking toward the front of the hall.
'Clap... Clap.'
As soon as she reached the front of the hall, she clapped two times. And the moment she did, the entire hall which was full of whispers and noise before went silent.
"Since it's almost time, then let me begin with the introduction."
With a nod, she spoke further while looking at the students sitting in front of her.
"My name is Ellina and I am a professor from Valoria University. I was invited here by your school to teach you some basic knowledge.
Another purpose of my visit is to scout out talents."
Listening to Ellina, Eldric narrowed his eyes while looking at the woman standing at the front.
She was almost six feet tall, wearing long grey robes that covered her entire body other than her head and hands. Her hair was tied up in a bun, supported with the help of a long black hairpin. Her skin was as white as snow and her face looked like it was carved by a skilled professional out of the best jade.
Eldric had to admit this was perhaps the most beautiful woman that he had ever seen in his two lifetimes.
While Eldric was admiring her beauty, Ellina spoke further.
"Now that all of you have awakened, there are a few things that you need to know and understand.
First of all, bring out your panels."
As soon as she spoke, everyone in the hall began to look at the empty space in front of them.
"Panel." Eldric too called out his panel
[Name: Eldric Stormborne]
[Profession: Brawler]
[Vitality: 1]
[Power: 1]
[Agility: 1]
[Skills: Fierce Strike]
"Okay, now say the word 'Home'," Ellina spoke further.
"Home." Almost everyone spoke at the same time.
Eldric too followed suit. And the moment he spoke, the screen in front of him suddenly blurred before changing completely.
"What the..."
At this moment, on the screen, his details were gone, replaced by two icons.
The first icon was that of a building named 'Auction' and the second icon was that of a tower named 'Trials'.
"Now..." It was at this moment that the voice of Ellina echoed throughout the hall once again.
"At this moment you could see two icons in front of you namely 'auction' and 'trials'.
Just as the name says, the auction is where you can buy or sell items."
With a brief pause, she spoke again "Touch the auction icon in front of you."
Everyone followed suit and soon a new window was opened.
"The auction doesn't use the outside money. It has its own precious currency named 'tokens'. Since you all are newly awakened, each of you has received fifty tokens as a newcomer gift.
Be very careful with how you spend these."
Looking at everyone staring at the space in front of them in a daze, Ellina spoke again.
"Close the auction for now. You can check it later.
Now focus on the second icon in front of you."
As soon as she said, everyone closed the auction panel before clicking on the 'tower' icon in front of them.
Eldric was no exception and the moment he did it, a small msg suddenly popped up.
[Cooldown: 6 Days Remaining.]
"Some of you might already know this, but this is called 'Tower of Trials'. And it will only open six days after your initial awakening.
This is the only way you can go through your first evolution. And only after completing the trials, you will be eligible to join a College."
"Now then... Let's take a walk towards the secret realm. Your remaining class will be held there."
With a smile, she turned around and slowly walked out of the hall, followed by an excited crowd whose noise almost reached the skies.