As we walked to the stadium, Taren nudged me and asked. "If you don't like her, why didn't you say so? Why give her hope?"
I sighed, thinking back to the encounter. "She looked so innocent that I didn't want to hurt her; you heard her, right? I was her first love."
"So are you going to accept her in the future?"
"I don't know; if I don't like someone else by then maybe I will, or maybe she may start liking someone else." I said, shrugging my shoulders.
"She said she would wait."
"That's an empty promise made on the spur of the moment; I'm not sure if she still likes me by that time, but I will consider it.
"Wi–"
"No talk about love anymore. Let's quickly get into the stadium." I cut him off.
Murmur!
Upon reaching the study hall, we heard the murmurs of the students. It looked like all of the first year students were present here.
"Why is it packed with students? Isn't this only for the participants?" I asked.
Taren shrugged, "I don't know; maybe they want to watch the winner."
The moment we stepped inside, everything stopped slowly. All eyes turned toward me. The room fell silent, and I could feel the weight of the gazes on me—some curious, others fearful, and a few openly hostile.
"What's going on?" I muttered to Taren under my breath. "Why are they looking at us like that?"
"Not us, you."
"Me?"
"I told you about you turning into a different person and mercilessly killing students, right? Maybe they are still shaken by that. Man, thinking about that gives me goosebumps," Taren said while shuddering a little.
He leaned closer and whispered, "It's okay if you don't remember; just act mighty and smile widely."
"Okay." Taking a deep breath, I puffed out my chest like some kind of deranged peacock and strutted through the crowd with a wide smile. Seeing my smile, he gave me a thumbs.
As we walked, the students parted before me, making way for us, and I looked at them and scoffed. 'Great, no one will dare to mess with me. Satisfied, I took the seat.
"That's one hell of a smile." Tare said as we sat down."
"Well, let's sit here," we sat in the empty chair.
Flinch!
"Sigh, it's they again."
"Who?"
"Them," I turned my head in the main cast direction. As Taren looked at them, he too flinched.
"Why are you flinching?" Seeing him flinch, I asked with a smile.
"Because of you."
"Me?"
"Yeah, now they think I'm with you."
"Aren't you?" I asked
"…Yeah"
"Just ignore them; they are just a bunch of kids."
Hearing me loudly say that Taren's eyes widened. "Why are you picking a fight with them? Do you wish to die quickly?" and whispered
"I don't wish to die, but seeing them, especially Asher, I get the urge to smash his head and rip out his fucking eyes." Hearing all my words, Asher's face contorted with anger, but he didn't say anything. ignoring me, they walked silently.
"Why, man, why this much hate between you guys?" He asked, looking at their leaving figure.
"Well, because…"
I didn't complete my words, as I felt Jadel's feeling. Somehow it even grew stronger, making me want to do childish things. 'What's up with these complicated feelings? It's as if someone is intentionally influencing me.
"–del, Jadel, are you listening?"
"Huh! What did you say?"
"I asked why you guys are on bad terms."
"Eh, you don't know," to my question, he shook his head.
"I only heard rumors about you beating up people, and you're on bad terms with them. But seeing in real life, you're not like the rumors said to be if we exclude the crazy thing."
'So that's why he is sticking with me. He doesn't know what Jadel did to Alicia'
I smiled at him, "You don't have to know."
"Huh?"
"It's best if you don't know. Trust the person you see, not hear."
"Okay then"
"Good"
After a few minutes, Vice Principal Sebastian arrived at the stadium, his presence commanding the attention of every student present.
"Good afternoon, students," he began, his voice steady and clear. "I won't keep this speech long or bore you with unnecessary details, so listen closely."
He paused for a moment, allowing his words to sink in.
"For those of you who didn't have the chance to participate or who didn't win your battles, know this: you will have more opportunities in the future. As you all know, the Supreme Royal Academy and Elfilial Academy have been long-time friends, and we frequently hold competitions between our students. Those who perform well in these competitions earn significant rewards."
He glanced around, ensuring every student was paying attention.
"So, don't feel discouraged if you didn't get a chance this time; many more will come. You just have to be ready when they do."
Sebastian allowed a brief smile before continuing, "And now, as the moment we've all been waiting for arrives, we will announce the top 10 teams and present their rewards."
Buzz! Buzzz!
The air suddenly filled with buzzing sounds of watches, announcing the VR battle result. "That's your team's scored points; now I will call out the winning teams from bottom to top."
"Haha… well as expected…" a knowing laugh escaped Taren's mouth. "But it's still hard to believe.
Hearing Taren's remarks, I got curious. Opening the message, I looked at it, and the result astonished me to my core.
"Does this mean... I really went insane?
[Royal Academy: Congratulations. Your team has scored 8800 points thus becoming 1st in ranking]
'Is this for real 1st rank?'
Peui! Peui!
With a sound, the holographic screen manifested in the air, showing the top ten winning teams.
_______________________________
1 8800 P: Jadel Wayner and Taren Reisig
2 4960 P : Asher Blake and Aaron Krieger
3 4010 P: Elfs
4 3600 P: Marcus Vall and Shreya Magica
5 3510 P: Aiden Wayner and Lucy Lukostrelec
6 3010 P: (Elfs name)
7 2360 P: (Elfs name)
8 2030 P: Alicia Asclepius and Ken Starlo
9 2020 P: Kento Starlo and Seisha Krieger
10 1060 P: (Elfs name)
________________________________
"Team 10, come to the stage and take your reward."
Two elves entered the stage and received their reward.
"Is that a skill orb?" Taren asked
"Yeah, seeing that color, it's definitely an artificial skill," I said.
"I think the same."
There are two types of skills: natural skills and artificial skills. One is naturally born; the other is created with cores.
"Rank 2: Come to the stage and receive your rewards."
'Rank two getting a natural skill orb, huh, that's unfair for others.'
Clap! Clap! Clap!
A loud round of applause resounded in the area as they received their rewards. Soon the principal called us.
"Now, with really unexpected results, Rank 1 come to the stage and receive your rewards.
There was no applause or cheering; all we got was just a pindrop silence.
Clap!
But soon, one clap broke the silence, and soon another clap resonated. Like a chain reaction, more claps started to fill.
We walked to the stage and approached the vice principal. Taking the reward he handed over to Taren first.
I approached him and extended my hand to receive the reward. "Next time, be gentle when killing students, okay?" He whispered with a smile. Feeling intimidated, I nodded my head.
'Shit? That's clearly a warning.'
"What did he say?" Taren asked as we walked to our seats.
"To be gentle when killing next time."
"Eh!"
***
***
***
"All the skills they gave were E rank. Wonder what type of skill it will be," he said, looking at me expectantly.
"Well, its a good thing they only gave us E rank skill; otherwise, I would have to exchange the skill with a low-ranked skill."
Taren furrowed his brow. "If you can't use skills, does that mean you can't learn powerful techniques?."
"I can learn them." I said with a sigh, "But I can't use them effectively; above 2 stars, the efficiency will decrease."
He raised an eyebrow. "Do you trust me a lot? You're easily giving out your weakness."
"Then why ask me fucker?" I said acting irritated.
"Well… Ah.. I was just curious… I didn't think you would give me." He said, an idiotic smile appearing on his face.
I chuckled softly, "It's not because I trust you."
"Then why?"
"I have plans to overcome that." I said, keeping my voice steady.
"How?"
"That's a secret."
"Okay," he nodded his head, not trying to pry into it.
A timid voice suddenly cut through the conversation. "Ex-excuse me..."
I turned to see Ezreya standing there, her friend Efline just behind her. Seeing that, I stifled a groan. 'What now'
"Ca-can you please g-give me y–"
"Contact info right, okay," I interrupted, trying to keep my tone polite. 'Man, she is taking forever.'
"Re-really"
"Yeah, I don't mind." I extended my wrist towards her. "Show me your watch."
She nervously extended her hand, and I tapped my watch against hers, sharing my contact details.
"Th-thank you" she stammered relief flooding her face.
"Mention not"
" I-I will contact you b-bye" she mumbled, turning away quickly.
Efline, however, didn't leave. "Don't make her cry. If you do, I will kill you," Efline warned me.
I smirked. "Don't worry, she is more beautiful than you."
"Ehh." Efline blinked, then her face flushed with realization.
"Die you bastard."
I laughed, dodging her punches. "Why are you angry when I've only just told the truth?"
'I should thank Mother for this soul bound.'
"Stop and go. They're waiting for you, and your friend might misunderstand our relationship."
"Huff– Next time I will surely punch that face."
"Go go," I shooed her.
Once they were gone, I let out a small sigh. "Why am I talking to them like we were friends? It's as if I have known them forever...' I shook my head. 'No, Don't think too much. I'm in this body now. This is my life. Might as well make the most of it before everything goes to hell.'
"So, what are your plans for tomorrow?" Taren asked as we walked to the dormitory.
"Tomorrow?" I thought for a moment. "Nothing going to class and training."
"You forgot? There will be no class tomorrow."
"Why?"
"Huh! You really forgot? Tomorrow is the Reborn Festival, so there won't be any class tomorrow."
"So if you're free and want to hang out together, there will be other friends of mine."
"Mmm. I don't know; I will message you when I'm free."
Taren nodded. "See you then." He waved as he headed to his dorm building. "Bye"
"Bye"
I entered the dormitory and reached my room. Opening the door, I entered, filling my mind with all the questions as I became alone.
Will I become crazy again? Actually, what happened? Is this the thing they said about Jadel before kicking him out? Is this guy's personality really affecting me?
"Arghaaa, there are so many questions, and I don't have any answers for them. Sigh—I better buy a calming skill.