Free Web NovelChapter 48: Day 1
Yesterday, he had briefly skimmed through the token in the afternoon, which contained his schedule for the coming days.
The first class was supposed to begin at 7:00 AM.
Unfortunately, before going to sleep, he had completely forgotten to share this detail with the others.
Apparently, Sara had contacted Blade to check on him after noticing that he hadn’t left his residential area. By the time he was shaken awake, it was already 7:10 AM.
He quickly threw on black hooded trench coat, pants, and boots he had received from Lucy. After recalling his friends back into the Nightmare Domain, he sprinted out the door.
Briefly scanning the token again to confirm the location, he left the house after bidding Blade a hasty farewell.
On his way, he noticed the residential area was completely empty; likely, everyone was already attending their classes.
He noticed there were nine other houses similar to the one he lived in.
The rest of the student housing consisted of smaller units stuck tightly together with no space between them, and they didn’t have front gardens either.
Because of the way they were built in long, single-story rows, it looked exactly like a traditional dormitory.
Maybe they might turn it into a multi-story building in the future, he mused.
Realizing the walk was taking too much time, he started to run.
Because of yesterday’s level-ups, his base physical speed was actually quite decent. He used [Wind Dash] frequently combining it with brief explosive bursts of [Wind Overdrive] to further enhance his speed.
Only flashes of green could be seen as he blurred down the paths and within minutes, he reached the academic area.
Standing in front of him was a two-story building, its length made it look as massive as a four-story building compared to the other structures around it.
In the token it was mentioned he was assigned to Class 1-A.
He entered the corridor, quickly spotted the correct classroom and stood awkwardly in front of the door.
Night:
(≧﹏≦)
The teacher, who was in the middle of a lecture, turned and looked at him. Lo and behold, it was the exact same man in the wizard getup who had ambushed him at the Academy gates on the first day!
Was this a coincidence?
The man with the white beard stared at Night for a second, trying to recollect where he had seen the boy. Upon remembering, his face twitched in annoyance.
"Are you the new student that just got admitted?"
Night nodded.
The man pulled a pocket watch out of his robes and said with an exaggerated sarcastic expression:
"Apologies. It seems my watch is ahead of time. Or perhaps everyone in the Academy has the same problem?"
Night could hear giggles and snickers erupting from the students inside.
Embarrassed since he was undeniably at fault, he apologized. "I am sorry, sir. I slept late and forgot to set an alarm."
Night:
(>_<)
The man wanted to annoy him more but stopped himself, gesturing toward an empty seat. "You may attend today, but tardiness like this will not be accepted again. This is not the Commoner’s Zone. You must learn to behave like a proper student of the Human Vanguard Academy."
He probably meant well or maybe it was just his petty way of isolating Night from the other students right from the start.
As soon as he said that, most of the kids who were laughing and enjoying the situation suddenly adopted expressions that Night didn’t think seven-to-ten-year-olds were even capable of having.
They were looking down on him...
Night:
(._.?)
What a way to ruin the first impression, Night thought with a sigh. These kids are already looking at me like I am a beggar.
He took a quick glance around the classroom and saw that no one had summons out with them. Maybe summons were not allowed to roam openly during class hours.
He sat at an empty desk in the front row.
As soon as he sat down, the man now his official teacher continued the lecture. "As I said earlier, it is possible for a human to reach Level 20 quite easily. Even if he or she has never killed a single monster, just by regularly practicing their skills or just eating highly nutritious food, they can level up passively."
"But after Level 20, is it possible to do the same?"
Immediately, many kids raised their hands. The teacher pointed at a student, indicating she should answer.
A girl with black hair and dark eyes answered confidently, "Yes, it is possible."
The teacher then asked, "Zera, could you please share how? As you can see, some of us from ’less fortunate’ backgrounds might not be aware of this."
Hearing this, the whole class laughed knowing full well who he was referring to.
The girl giggled and said, "Yes, Teacher."
She looked at Night with half a smile and explained, "Progressing after Level 20 without killing monsters is possible, but you will need very high-quality treasures or resources, which are far too costly for just anyone to afford."
"While progressing through the sheer practice of your Aspect or skills is technically possible, it is incredibly difficult. If you are talented enough to progress like that, then you are probably good enough to easily kill hordes of monsters anyway."
"But there is another option called a ’Profession’ that gets unlocked at Level 20."
"Professions are -" She was abruptly interrupted by the teacher.
"Excellent, Zera. That’s enough," he praised. "Next, we will look into..."
Watching the situation unfold, Night didn’t know how to react.
This looked like thinly veiled bullying, but he didn’t know how to respond without causing a scene.
For the rest of the lecture, he kept a blank face acting as though whatever was happening was completely unrelated to him. But how could destiny let him live peacefully?
After another twenty minutes of lecturing, the teacher suddenly clapped his hands and announced:
"Now, it’s practical lesson time."
As soon as he said that, all the students got up from their desks and pushed them to the edges of the room. Seeing this, Night followed along.
He could feel curious glances lingering on him from time to time.
(°_°)
In the middle of the classroom, a large circular mark was painted on the floor. Previously, because of the desks, it had been hidden from view.
All the students stood outside this circle, many of them forming small groups of friends.
The teacher then appeared in the dead center of the circle in a flash.
"Today, we will be having one-on-one duels. Using lethal attacks is strictly prohibited."
"But it won’t be like that for much longer," the teacher added with a grim smile. "I have heard that in the Dream City, they have come up with a new technology that will allow combatants to go all out even kill each other in a fight and they will be revived immediately with no injuries."
Hearing that, some kids looked incredibly excited, some looked terrified and a few even started sniffing realizing their school days were about to get much, much worse.
As if completely used to this reaction, the teacher continued, "Since we have a new student joining us today, how about we initiate him into this Academy with a fight?"
He pointed directly at Night. "Come into the circle and prepare for a duel."
Night started walking toward the spot. The other kids looked highly curious.
Despite his "commoner" background, they figured he must be incredibly strong since he was allowed to join the prestigious Academy right in the middle of the semester.
The teacher looked at the gathered kids, seemingly wanting to choose a good opponent. Some of them shrank back, some stood unmoving and a few even hid behind the more confident students.
Looking at this, the teacher thought: This is what absolute safety does to the next generation. Despite being of noble blood, half of them are cowards.
Even though the teacher was pissed at Night; first because the boy had made him tuck his tail and run thanks to the Headmaster’s intervention that day and second because he had the audacity to arrive late to class today.
Lucky for him he was in a relatively good mood today, so he let it slide. On a normal day, he would have made him cry like a baby for such audacity.
He had his ways to make them suffer.
He was 62 years old this year. Even though he wasn’t insanely strong, he had things going for him. He had survived the brutal times before the System arrived and lived to tell the tale without any support or a powerful family backing him.
That was exactly why he had been chosen as a teacher.
The old saying is not wrong: Beware of an old man in a profession where men die young.
Then, his eyes fell upon one particular kid. The boy had jet-black hair and eyes. Even though he was only eight years old, he carried the steady, confident bearing of an adult.
This was one of the impressive ones. The boy should be able to deal with the newcomer easily, even if the new kid had some tricks up his sleeve after all the new kid seemed to be related to Sara somehow.
"Alex, you can fight with... fight with..." The teacher paused. It was then he realized he didn’t actually know the new kid’s name. Looking at Night, he asked, "What is your name again?" freeweɓnovel.cøm
Seeing this, Night’s lips twitched. It wasn’t like he knew the teacher’s name either.
"I am Night."
The teacher raised an eyebrow. "Just Night?"
Night nodded, thinking to himself: You might just turn and run away if you heard the rest of my name.
Night
(✧≖ ͜ʖ≖)
