Free Web NovelChapter 5: First Quests
Alden stared at the system interface in front of his face, reading the quest descriptions once more. He carefully considered if he could actually complete both of the missions without completely ruining his new life.
The first mission was simple enough. He just had to make a solid impression in front of the rest of the class. He could probably figure out how to do that somehow.
But what really worried him was the second quest. The system explicitly demanded that he display some kind of villainous trait. Acting like a blatant villain would instantly attract a massive amount of unwanted attention, which was the exact opposite of what he wanted. He had absolutely zero interest in becoming a target on his very first day.
But the reward for completing this specific quest was massive... a guaranteed breakthrough into the D-rank.
Going by the original Alden’s memories, the poor guy had trained like an absolute madman just to break past the limits of his pathetic E+ rank. But his frail body simply wouldn’t let him. He had been completely stuck at the E-rank for over a year now.
’This is actually a perfect opportunity to finally break through to the next rank... but what can I even do? I am definitely not talented at acting like a villain. I have never even participated in a school play or a drama club in my past life. What the hell should I do...?’
Just as he was deeply stuck in a dilemma, trying to figure out a solid plan to complete both quests at the exact same time, a sharp voice broke his concentration.
"Student Alden... Are you going to say something, or are you just going to remain perfectly quiet? You are completely wasting the class’s time right now. If you have absolutely nothing to say, just sit down immediately..."
Carasina spoke in a flat, heavily annoyed tone. Alden had been standing there in a total daze for quite a while, just staring blankly at the empty air in front of him.
Alden looked away from the system screen and stared directly at her. A reckless idea suddenly sparked in his mind. He opened his mouth and replied.
"Yes... I am wasting class time? So what? It’s not like anything actually special or productive is happening here anyway."
The entire classroom gasped quietly. Alden didn’t stop.
"You are just asking every single student for their basic introduction, acting as if you really care about what they want to do or what their future goals are. But let’s be honest. Ultimately, you are only going to memorize the names of the first few students—the ones who have the highest chance to shine and bring glory to this academy."
He crossed his arms, leaning fully into the villainous act.
"It’s not like you are genuinely curious about every other student in this room. You are just doing this entire introduction routine as a basic formality, just so the lower-ranked students won’t think you are actively looking down on them."
The surrounding students started to mutter and whisper loudly after witnessing his sheer audacity to openly disrespect the class teacher on the very first day.
Carasina stared at him. Her expression instantly turned freezing cold at his bold accusations.
"Student Alden, I highly suggest you watch your tone. I order you to sit down right now and—"
"Just shut up, and let me finish speaking," Alden cut her off sharply.
The room went dead silent.
"I have been noticing for quite a while now. After the some of the elite students in the top 100 finished their introductions, you became completely disinterested in learning about the rest of us. It is like the lower-ranked students don’t even matter to you at all. Just because they have a lower chance of becoming great figures..."
He narrowed his eyes.
"You are simply scanning the room, identifying and searching for which specific students to give your special treatment to. You only want to train them wholeheartedly so they will become powerful assets, eventually boosting your own reputation."
Carasina’s expression turned deadly cold. The air around her shifted dangerously as she spoke.
"Are you openly trying to say that I am showing blatant partiality toward my students?"
"Exactly. You are definitely showing it. I can easily read it right on your face."
Alden looked at her completely calmly on the outside.
’Of course, I am just bluffing and guessing right now. God, please forgive me for this. This is literally the first time in my entire life that I am actively disrespecting an elder or a teacher.’
[Ding!]
[The mission ’Display a Villainous Trait’ has been successfully completed!]
[Reward successfully received! You can trigger your rank breakthrough at any time...]
Carasina narrowed her eyes dangerously and opened her mouth to snap back at him.
"So what if I am? Who the hell are you to judge what I am doing or how I should act in my own classroom?"
Alden looked at her. In an instant, he completely dropped the arrogant attitude and smoothly changed his tone into a highly respectful and polite one.
"No, ma’am. I think you completely misunderstood my intentions. I simply meant to say that instead of wasting your valuable time on basic introductions, you could have started the very first lecture immediately. You could have tested the students with different practical methods."
He bowed his head slightly.
"You could easily find out the true capabilities of the students through actual testing, rather than only judging them based solely on their entrance exam ranks. Power and actual capability are two completely different things. If you are judging people based entirely on their current power level, then that is a flawed approach. You should measure them based on their capabilities and their raw talent. Not by what they currently are, but by what they could eventually become."
Alden bowed a little lower to show his apology.
"I sincerely apologize for my highly disrespectful behavior just now. But honestly, I am also completely fine with you prioritizing the elite students who will soon shine in the academy. Your primary responsibility is to make the strongest students even stronger for the ultimate benefit of both the academy and the nation. That logic is entirely correct."
Carasina simply folded her arms across her chest. She was completely caught off guard by his sudden, drastic change in tone. She finally calmed down her rising anger, stared deeply at him, and asked a question.
"So, Alden. Tell me, what exactly do you think is a more appropriate course of action for me to take?"
Alden looked up at her, and a small, calculated smile tugged on his lips.
"Well... I highly suggest that rather than just heavily focusing on the students who are already strong, you should also focus equally on the weaker students in the room. If you do that, our class won’t just get the basic title of the ’Strongest Class’ just because we randomly happen to have elite freshmen."
He paused for dramatic effect.
"Instead, we could actually earn the title of ’Unbeatable.’ If you train everyone, every single student here will eventually be strong enough to face and easily win against any other class. Doing this will not only massively increase your personal image and reputation, ma’am, but it will also make Class A the undisputed strongest class in the entire academy. And I bet you would definitely want a legacy like that. Am I wrong?"
Alden looked directly at her with that same small smile.
Carasina paused completely at his words. She looked at him—she really looked at him this time. She could clearly sense that he was probably just trying to manipulate the scene so that he wouldn’t get punished for his earlier outburst. But even so, his words weren’t actually wrong.
She had genuinely focused heavily on the few elite students present in the top 100 in her class. She had completely lost interest in the others because they were undeniably weaker and likely wouldn’t shine in the academy. If she wanted to stand proudly among the other elite professors, she had to make her teaching impression better.
This year, she had gained many incredibly strong students from prestigious noble families in her class. That meant she carried a tremendous responsibility, so she naturally chose to focus strictly on the strong.
But after hearing Alden’s speech, she understood that he was actually right. If she didn’t just focus on the elites, but also managed to raise the overall win rate of the bottom-tier students, her class really might become the strongest and most unbeatable class ever. Not just because it held powerful geniuses, but because it contained a completely unbeatable roster of students.
She knew it might be impossible to make the weak students truly unbeatable. But even if she just made them slightly better than they would have been without her guidance, that would be more than enough to prove her worth.
While she was lost in deep thought...
*Ding!* *Ding!* *Ding!* *Ding!*
The loud bell of the academy rang, signaling the end of the period.
Everyone in the classroom sat completely still in their seats. No one even dared to stand up.
After seeing the entire room remaining utterly silent, Carasina finally stood up from her desk.
"Thank you, everyone, for being present in the first class. Starting from tomorrow, the actual, practical study of magic will officially begin."
She looked down at the watch on her wrist.
"There is exactly a half-hour break before your next class is scheduled to start. Everyone should head over to the cafeteria to eat their breakfast now."
As soon as she officially dismissed them, everyone scrambled out of their seats in a wild rush. They all started quickly filing out of the classroom, but not before casting one last, bewildered look at Alden as they headed toward the cafeteria.
Carasina looked over at Alden, who was just sitting at his desk completely calmly. She met his eyes for one brief second, gave a small nod, and then walked out the door.
The moment the teacher’s heavy presence was completely gone from the room, Alden immediately slumped forward onto his desk, feeling absolutely, mind-numbingly exhausted.
[Ding!]
[The mission ’Make a solid impression on the class’ has been successfully completed!]
[Suitable Reward is currently being distributed...]
[You have successfully acquired a new skill: ’Hunter’s Mark’]
[Description: Marks a specific target by directly imprinting its unique mana signature into your memory. Once successfully marked, the target can be easily tracked by sensing its unique mana fluctuations from afar. This mark is highly effective against enemies of an equal or lower level than you. It remains completely active even if the target attempts to hide or conceal its presence using ordinary stealth techniques or magic concealment artifacts. You can continuously sense the marked target’s general direction and exact location as long as they remain within the skill’s effective tracking range.]
As Alden lay slumped lazily on his wooden desk, staring quietly at the system interface, a small, satisfied smile finally tugged on his lips.
A few seats away, a silver-haired girl was quietly observing him from the side. Her facial expression was completely blank and unreadable. But as she closely watched his face—which currently looked completely harmless, like an exhausted, innocent puppy—a small, almost imperceptible smile briefly appeared on her lips before vanishing just as quickly as it had arrived.
She stood up gracefully from her bench, noticing that almost no one else was present in the classroom anymore. She then quietly stepped out into the hallway, walking out of the class and leaving Alden completely alone to whatever strange delusions he was having.
