I was wrong.
"I challenge you, Autumn Anderson. As the sword of justice for the first years in Gomas Academy, I will avenge the innocent life that you have taken." Lumina pointed the tip of his sword at me.
"Uh… what?"
"You purified a non-corrupted entity and led them to their death. You murderer, fight me!" Lumina bellowed.
This was crazy. To explain what was happening I would have to go back to five days ago.
* * *
Five days ago, Gomas Academy…
Today was the first day of class after the whole Tower test event that spanned for a total of five days and four nights. Out of the 1000 students who were admitted into Gomas academy, there were only 891 students left. Some students got offed in their respective Towers by monsters, others decided they didn't want to be here anymore and ran away.
With a total of 109 students gone, the rankings had to be readjusted. The final rankings would depend on the points gotten during the Tower test and the overall group points.
Though my original plan was to not get any points for myself and be reduced to a very low final ranking, that plan got thwarted when I participated in killing the final Boss and also the fact that the points of the three corrupted students whom I purified got transferred to me. I had gotten a total of 178 points which I had no care for.
I hoped that the overall group points my group got would lower my final ranking and cause my amount of points to be void. But that was being too optimistic. Whether I liked it or not, I would still find myself among the top 500 in the final rankings, if not top 100.
Gomas Academy had ten classes for each year, and they were named after letter A through to letter J. The class a student was in indicated their strength and worth. Bench warmers and space fillers occupied Classes E to J. Classes A to D were the real deal. But each semester, a student's class changed.
Some moved from J to I or even to D. Others got moved from C to F. It was based on the student's performance. Students who remained in class J for over three semesters got booted out of Gomas Academy since they were considered unfit to be Hunters.
Those kinds of students would end up being mercenaries or running black markets around the place or even become illegal Dungeon and Tower raiders. There was a job for everyone in today's society. How fitting.
I was heading over to the hall to check my final ranking and see what class I had been placed in. Today, I was dressed in the academy's uniform but my Inquisitor Gun was still placed in a holster hanging on the belt of the fanny pack I was wearing.
This made students wary of me. I wondered if they were afraid of the Inquisitor Gun they were seeing or if they were afraid of me or if it was a combination of the two. I had a feeling it was the latter. Oh well, I knew it would be like this from the start.
A lot of students were still filing into the hall by the time I arrived. I wasn't in a hurry since class was starting one hour from now. I bypassed the crowd, who were searching for their names on the large notice board in front of the hall, and went to sit down.
Since the hall was noisy, I decided to tune out people's voices and lose myself to my deep thoughts. The only thing worth thinking about right now was that system person and their pranks.
I had forced my way into Drake's dorm room yesterday and demanded that he call off his stupid prank on me but he swore on his life that he wasn't the one. Of course I didn't believe him then, I had to ransack his entire room. I also interrogated the people in his dorms about his whereabouts the time I had received those messages.
I even went as far as to call my father and have him question Drake about the matter. But still, all his points and pleads proved that he wasn't the one. My other suspects were the other members of my family but they were also innocent of the charges I laid against them.
If I had to go outside my family to investigate who had a grudge against me and would want to pull such an expensive prank on me to somehow toy with my mental health, I would have to make everyone in the world my enemy.
It was funny how there wasn't a single person whom I could say wouldn't go this far to drive me mad. If anyone around me was to be given an opportunity to make my life hell, they would take it up in an instant. I mean, what good have I done for anyone to be treated as a normal human being with basic rights?
All my actions as an Inquisitor, Hunter, and human have hurt people all around me. Even my tiniest actions have had effects on people and given them a reason to hate me. I was no saint just because I purified the world of corrupted entities.
[You have four more days to complete your weekly quest.]
The message window popped in front of my face. A deep frown made its way on my face.
[The system wishes you good luck on your weekly quest.]
[The system wants you to know that no kind act is too little or too big.]
What was this? Some sort of a positivity motivator? Argh, this was so annoying.
The crowd in front of the notice board began to dwindle. I took it as a sign to go ahead and check my own final ranking. I walked to the front of the hall and counted those still standing in front of the notice board to be six people.
I didn't need to shove them out of the way so I decided to stand a meter behind them and look at the notice board from there.
[1. Lumina Voss: Accumulated Individual Points - 274, Accumulated Group Points - 626]
[2. Kim Dooshik: Accumulated Individual Points - 229, Accumulated Group Points - 626]
…
[10. Autumn Anderson: Accumulated Individual Points - 178, Accumulated Group Points - 208]
Really? REALLY? They have got to be kidding me. How the hell did I make it into the top ten in the final rankings? I thought I would be at least sixty-something or maybe even fifty-something. But number ten? I was ranked number ten? Just how?
I began looking at the points of the students below me and I realized that the first years were a bunch of trash. Most people on the list were only able to scrape up one or two points and I was sure that was just from the participation points a Hunter got from being in a Tower when it was being cleared.
"Ah… fuck," I muttered to myself as I saw that I was placed in Class A. I was about to facepalm myself when I heard someone say,
"Tommy!"
Oh, no. Not that pest. I was prepared to break into a sprint when a being jumped in front of me.
"Tommy, congratulations! I saw you made it into the top ten! Though it was a bit of a letdown since you were number two before. I thought you were aiming for number one this time but you really let yourself go down. Go down… literally. You get it? Haha!"
Beatriz's voice was like that sound made when someone with long and sharp nails was scratching a white board. It drove me mad anytime she opened her mouth to speak. I got the urge to kill her and kill myself as well.
If there was a scale of 1 to 10 of how annoying people were, Beatriz would score a 100.
I opened my mouth to chase her away but her words came out before mine.
"But it's amazing how we're both in Class A. I might not be among the top ten or even top 500, but because of the whole Guiding thing, I was placed in the same Class as you." Beatriz said, reminding me of that horrible detail.
Murder is bad when the victim is not a corrupted entity, Autumn. Remember this, you can't kill someone just because you find them annoying.
My subconscious self began advising me but all I wanted to do was wrap my hands from Beatriz's red neck and strangle her to death.
"Oh, it's almost time for class, let's get going, Tommy!" Before I knew what was happening, Beatriz had already roped her hand around mine and started to guide me out of the hall.
As we walked in the direction of the first years' classroom building, I glared at the back of her red hair. Once we got to Class A, Beatriz and I became a spectacle to the students already seated. I could understand their point of view.
The fright they must be getting from seeing an idiot hanging around an Inquisitor who looked like he was seconds away from blowing the idiot's brains out with a gun.
"Let's go sit at the back! It'll be so cool! Come on!" Once again, I wasn't given any chance to oppose or refuse her suggestion because she was already pulling me up the steep aisle so we could settle down on the last row which was the highest point in the classroom.
The classroom was designed in a half semicircle style with enough space to fit a hundred students. There was also grand space at the front to give the instructors enough room to demonstrate whatever they wanted to. The only thing I was liking so far about Class A was the space.
Other than that, nothing else was noteworthy.
"Aren't you excited? I'm really excited!" Beatriz was bouncing on her seat.
I gave her a dry look. "Stop acting like we're friends. And stop pulling me along with you. Next time you try that, I'll chop off your arm, you hear me?"
She froze up for a second, feeling threatened but after that second passed, Beatriz continued to act like her usual self.
"What are you talking about? We are friends, aren't we?" She countered my threat.
"No, we're not friends."
"Oh, stop it," she slapped my bicep playfully. "That recluse, dangerous, mysterious boy act of yours is growing overrated. Accept that we're besties and move on."
I was too surprised by the idiocy of her words to say anything. Did she just use the word 'besties'? I hoped she didn't. Maybe my mind was playing tricks on me. I was going to pretend that I didn't hear any of that.
I turned away from her and looked straight ahead to the front of the class. As fate would have it, a male instructor walked into the classroom. He was tall and muscular. I wasn't really familiar with him but I wanted to believe he was either a B or A-Rank Hunter.
[You can use your Special Skill, [Omniscient Eyes], to check the Status Windows of other Hunters.]
I sat up straight after reading the message window that just popped up in front of my face. Really? That scam skill could do such a thing?
[The Special Skill, [Omniscient Eyes], has been activated.]
I looked at the instructor to check if this skill was really going to work.
Status Window:
| Name: Caesar Volkov |
| Class: B |
| Strength: 80% |
| Agility: 65% |
| Charm: 45% |
| Magic Power: 20% |
| Intelligence: 70% |
| Titles: Wall of Stone, Impenetrable Shield |
| Special Skills: Rock Manipulator (level 3), Tactical Swordsman (level 9), Full Body Shield (level 6) |
| Summary: He is very strong but lacks the magic power to back up his strength. Though he may come off as a muscle head, he is very intelligent and well known for his wisdom during battles. |
Did this scam skill actually just prove itself to be useful? It was indeed a scam skill if I could use it for these kinds of things. Imagine the power of being able to view other people's Status Windows. I wonder what else it could do.
I checked the skill information and saw that it was still reading the same thing as before.
| Special Skill Summary - Omniscient Eyes:- The user is able to see things which aren't visible to normal eyes. |
Tsk, I was hoping for too much.
"Good morning, everyone. I am Caesar Volkov, I will be this class's overseer instructor. Before we get on with any lesson, you will all be grouped in teams of five. One of the reasons for this is to aid you in having an experience in teamwork as pro Hunters always work in teams of five."
Oh, no.
"The teams will consist of one Guide, one sharpshooter, two swordsmen, and a team leader. I will read out the list now."
I knew it. I knew attending this academy was a mistake. For the rest of the semester I'd have to be teamed up with four losers. I was fine with basically anything but I dreaded having to work as a member of a group. There wasn't anything more terrifying.
"Did you hear that? Since a group only has one Guide, it means whatever group you're put in, I'll be in it too, you know? Since I'm your exclusive Guide." Beatriz spoke in an excited tone from beside me and her words sank deep into my head.
I had found out what was more terrifying than having to work as a member of a group. Having Beatriz as a group member was the most terrifying thing in existence. If that was the case, then I was done for. Absolutely done for.