"NOW, YOU WILL ALL CHOOSE A WEAPON!" the man barked, his voice echoing across the massive stadium. "LET ME MAKE THIS CLEAR: THE ACADEMY WILL PROVIDE YOU WITH ONLY ONE WEAPON PER YEAR! YOU CANNOT CHANGE IT ONCE YOU CHOOSE—ONLY PURCHASE ANOTHER, WHICH IS NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE FOR MOST OF YOU! THESE WEAPONS ARE NOT ORDINARY; THEY ARE RELICS IMBUED WITH SPECIAL ABILITIES THAT WILL ONLY MANIFEST IF YOU CAN AWAKEN THEM!"
He tapped something on his watch, and suddenly, glowing magic circles appeared across the stadium floor.
Warp.
A large-scale teleportation array. It can transport a massive group to a hidden location in an instant.
Whoosh!
A blinding light enveloped us, and before I knew it, we were in an entirely different space.
Damn.
Is this a weapon maniac's paradise?
The room was colossal, its walls lined with weapons of every imaginable type, all arranged with meticulous precision. The ceiling stretched impossibly high, illuminated by floating mana orbs that bathed everything in a surreal glow. According to the novel, this was only one floor of many—the true extent of this arsenal was mind-boggling.
I caught sight of Selena glancing in my direction. For a moment, I thought she was going to say something, but she turned away just as quickly and melted into the crowd.
Is she still mad at me?
But why?
Before I could even think of calling out to her, she disappeared.
Well, whatever. I'll deal with her later.
I refocused on the room, scanning the rows upon rows of weapons—swords, spears, bows, and a variety of others I couldn't even name. Everything looked impressive, but I wasn't interested in most of them. I already knew the weapon I wanted.
It was a weapon mentioned in the novel—one that the protagonist's ally switched to after realizing the path of the spear wasn't for him. He picked it during the second semester after a traumatic event in the sixth arc of the game. The ally had failed to protect someone he loved, but the protagonist stepped in and saved her. Ironically, this girl had been infatuated with the ally the entire first year, but her affections shifted to the protagonist after that arc. NTR, much?
Not that it matters to me.
I won't even need this weapon after the grading exams. I'll be shifting my focus to alchemy, and I won't stay at this academy past the first semester. This is all temporary.
'You've been obsessing over a novel all morning. What's novel is that?'
The voice in my head startled me. My eyes widened.
'Wait… you can read my thoughts?'
'What did you think? You're literally communicating with me through your thoughts, and you think I can't read them?' Nelia replied, rolling her eyes in my mind.
Fair point, I guess.
I ignored her and started climbing the stairs. Unlike the others, I didn't stop at any of the intermediate floors. I kept going until I reached the highest floor accessible to first-years. The room here was as bright and awe-inspiring as the lower ones, with mana bulbs casting a radiant glow over everything.
"All right… where's that sword?" I muttered, scanning the room.
As I walked forward, a strange feeling prickled at the back of my neck. I turned sharply, catching someone peeking at me from the doorway. The moment our eyes met, the girl casually walked in, pretending to inspect the weapons like she hadn't been spying.
"Rizel," I muttered as our eyes met, she then waved at me, her expression utterly shameless.
Great.
"I didn't see you there," she said, sauntering toward me.
"Yeah, I'm sure you didn't," I replied dryly.
I ignored her and moved toward the display where the weapon I wanted was located. To my surprise, it wasn't as hard to find as I expected. I reached for it—only to feel another hand grabbing the same weapon.
I turned to her, glaring. "What are you doing?"
She smiled innocently. "I'm considering this weapon too."
Should I kill her?
I mean, I could probably hide her body somewhere here—no one's around to see.
'She's stronger than you, idiot,' Nelia scolded. 'Don't even think about it.'
I glanced at Rizel's watch. Level 6.8.
Damn.
I forced myself to back down.
"So?" I asked, crossing my arms.
"Let's share it," she said with a straight face.
I blinked, completely dumbfounded.
Is this girl an idiot? Or is she deliberately trying to annoy me?!