Going through a teleportal was something strange for someone like Erix.
This was the first time he had gone through an actual teleportal. It wasn't like the one he took when he was on the bus. The process wasn't painful, instead, he felt dizzy once he came to the other side.
It was as if his body was decomposing and recomposing itself immediately after.
The academy was situated at the center of a special city where those in the military could live. Like this, they could be able to do other stuff that wasn't fight-related, other things like running convenience stores and health care operations.
The war was quite traumatizing for a lot of people so many wished to have a somewhat peaceful and normal life where they wouldn't have to bother about their safety.
Because of this, the city was built to be large to accommodate such people.
But before he could admire the futuristic city a little more, Erix needed to catch up with his group. They had already walked a lot when he was daydreaming.
The moment he caught up with them, the giant building construction of the academy came into view. It was so large and grand that he almost stopped again to look at it, but alas Shota was there.
"Careful, Erix. There are too many people here. I might lose you to the crowd if you keep on stopping now and then." He said as he took Erix's hand to not lose him. He looked like a child that was lost, so to not really lose him somewhere, he needed to stay like that.
"Y-yes, you're right," Erix answered and began to walk again. "But should we really stay like this?"
"Wait, don't tell me you're shy," Shota asked with a smug, and Erix began to blush in the ear. His teasing was getting a bit much for him. "Haha, alright I will stop." He laughed. "Yeah, I would be annoyed if you get lost among so many people."
"Oh, I'm sorry," Erix replied as he looked down and continued to be dragged by Shota.
'I forgot I should be playing along with his every move, not the other way round,' Erix cursed inwardly.
Hearing that, Shota felt Erix must have misunderstood his words, understanding it like 'a high level was complaining'. And he knew Erix didn't have the best experience with those people, so he quickly cleared things up.
"I'm sorry, Erix. Don't get it that way, I was only concerned that you might get lost in the crowd. And I don't want you to have a problem with the high levels," Shota meekly said while at the same time letting go of Erix's hand.
Erix didn't say anything and just decided to continue walking. This was also a reminder for him to stay at his place.
Without saying another word, both continued walking. The teleporter had dropped them a little farther from the academy, so they just needed to walk for a while.
During the entire walk, Shota was racking his brain to see if he would come up with something to make up for his error but unfortunately, nothing came up.
In the end, they walked silently until they got to the academy walls, the dormitory precisely.
"You all, listen carefully because I won't repeat myself." Leo finally said after a long silence from the teleporter. "Our business for today ends here. Classes begin tomorrow morning, so until then you're free to do anything you wish provided it's not against the rules. Curfew is at 11 pm, and all students must be in their dorm by that time, is that clear?" He asked as everyone said yes.
"Fine, your dorm room number will be displayed on your watch in a few minutes. You will share your room with 2 other first-year students so don't be surprised if there is someone already in your room when you get in. Room numbers are never to be swapped or exchanged. Any action contrary to what I've just said now attracts drastic punishment. Every other information you need to know will be forwarded to your respective wristwatches. Like I said today, you're free to explore the city or you can check out your dorm right away," Leo said as he began to walk towards the teleporter that just opened with a snap of his finger, and in the next moment, he left the students alone.
After a few seconds, Erix noticed that his watch displayed a different number than it did before.
RMN 107.
That must be the room number of Erix's dorm.
After that, many students started leaving to go find their rooms with the number sent to their watches.
Natasha was the first to leave in their group of four. She didn't want to stay with the group for reasons known to her, so she went into the girl's dorm that was just beside the boy's dorm.
Ambry too, since he wasn't welcomed by Shota, decided to go to his room. He needed to find people below his level and beat the crap out of them. He was awarded level 2 and a low E-Human rank while Natasha was level 4 and a high D-Human rank.
So after some time, only Erix and Shota were left in front of the dormitory's entrance door. They didn't say a word to each other, and in the end, Erix decided to go explore the city first before entering the dorm.
The reason is to get accustomed to his new surroundings, and as well, buy food with the little money he had on him.
"I will go ahead first. I'm kinda famished so I wanna grab lunch outside," Erix told Shota before turning around to walk away, while subconsciously praying Shota won't ask if he should come along, but unfortunately, a voice was heard calling from behind.
"Hey, Erix, you don't mind if I join you because I'm famished too? Also, I can show you around the city since I know the city very well." Shota said with a smile. This was his opportunity to make up for his errors and he didn't want to miss it.
Erix gritted his teeth in frustration before nodding, but not even once did he turn to look at Shota or slow down his pace.
"Erix, wait," he said to stop Erix. "I'm sorry for what I said earlier, it wasn't appropriate." Shota finally blurted.
"Oh no, please don't be," Erix turned and answered immediately while waving his hands to show it was nothing. "You didn't do anything. On the contrary, it was normal for you to say that. I know you were just watching out for me, so don't be sorry about anything."
"Then did we make up?" Shota asked. He guessed Erix only said that because he was shy and didn't want any problem, so he just decided to play dumb and go with the mood.
"We never broke up though."
"Yay!" Shota rejoiced as he put his arm around Erix's neck. "So which number is your room?"
"107, how about you?"
"Really? Mine is 107 too. That means we are roommates." He smiled widely.
"Wow, w-what a coincidence," Erix said while inwardly cursing his fate.
'Does this mean I will have to be bullied behind closed doors every day? Shit! My bad luck is just too much.'
Erix was having this thought before Shota suddenly interrupted him.
"Why don't we head to the city already, I'm famished?"
"Y-yes, why not?" Erix said before leaving with Shota.
They both left the school and entered the city. It was a lot bigger than Erix's old city. The buildings there were at least 3 times the size of a normal building in his place and the street was a lot more crowded. As they explored the city, Erix noticed Shota was always looking around the place in shock like something he once knew but had changed. 'Wait, he said he knew the city more. How come? Has he been here before?' Erix thought. "Wow, this place has gotten a lot more developed than last time," Shota finally said, eyes still roaming the whole place. "Ehmm, if I may ask, how come you have been here before? I never knew some students managed to come here before now." Erix asked, even though he wasn't sure Shota would reply... Shota didn't answer immediately, he first let out a deep long breath before saying. "Trust me, I really hate babbling about my family's name but I will say they were the reason I was here in the past. My family is one of the powerful low-key Original no
Having heard the boy, the first thing Erix did was to check his level. His prior worries evolved into fear when he realized the boy was a level 4. The boy had blonde hair that fell past his collarbone. His blue eyes looked completely void with terrible black bags under them. He had a pair of headphones hung around his neck. "Hi, there? Why were you standing out there for so long?...... Anyway, I'm Ronin Shin, but you can call me Rin, and nice to meet you." Rin said as he pulled out his hand for a shake. Erix quickly accepted the handshake. He didn't want to make a bad first impression. Who knows, the boy might bully him more if he does. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry, please enter." Rin apologized as soon as he realized his wrongdoing. He quickly stepped aside to let Erix in. For the second time that day, Erix was shocked beyond measure. He had a mixed reaction. One was surprised and the other was amused. 'What the f**k is wrong with the high levels here? First was Shota and
"There is no need for that, Rin. I will always be there for him," Shota said with a straight emotionless face. His countenance changed the very moment he realized Rin was from Norxus clan. Why? Nobody knew. Erix was flabbergasted by their strong reaction. He did not expect his story to resonate with them so deeply. "Fine guys, I can take care of myself. You don't have to worry about me," Erix said, trying to calm them down. "If you ever get into a problem, and Shota isn't there, please do let me know. We are roommates now, or maybe friends if you don't mind," Rin said, wiping off invisible tears from his eyes. In Erix's mind, he was thinking the word friends was a huge stretch. He would consider them as on the 'not gonna bite soon' list at most. He'd yet to grasp if they were being truthful or not. For now, he will try to stay on their good side and see how things play out, never letting his guard down a bit. "I once said it, don't worry about him, I will always be there f
The canteen was a large hall that was quite plain. It was filled with large tables that could seat four people on each side. There was no set of seats in the canteen meaning students were free to sit wherever they liked. However, that doesn't mean the high-level wouldn't set their own rules. Erix noticed that low levels sat next to other low levels while the high levels sat with the high levels. School had barely resumed, yet the social norms appeared to have already been established, just like they had been in his old school. Erix stood at the back of the last person in the queue. However, while waiting patiently for his turn, a boy came late into the queue. He nonchalantly nudged Erix out of line, and smuggled himself into the line. Erix was surprised by that abrupt push, and because he wasn't expecting something like that, he lost his footing and butt-kissed the floor. If it wasn't for the 1 point he added to his agility, he would have smooched the ground entirely. "Oh,
Erix's eyes widened the moment he saw the quest on the green screen. He's never hurt a fly before, let alone a human. 'This must be a joke, right?' Erix said to himself. 'What do you mean I have to kill him? How on earth am I gonna do that?' He asked the system but it didn't answer him. The system didn't give him any further information besides the killing quest. To confirm he wasn't seeing things, he decided to review it again and it turned out to be the same. As much as he was dying to pay back Bones for all he did to him, he'd never thought of killing him. Erix was someone with no ability, unlike Bones who had a blink ability, so that made him worried. But if the system really instructed him to kill Bones, then it must have ways of enabling him with it, Erix thought. 'Since it's the system's quest, I must do my best to accomplish it?' He mentally resolved. "Are you afraid? Come on, it's just a little time together like buddies. Alright, could you at least pay me your w
"What are you talking about, bro? Yours is way cooler. Spatial ability is very much impressive and I think it goes very well with combats at far range," Rin said as Shota went forward to finish off the last member that was still held prone by Rin's gravity. After a moment, the entire group was down, and people were now talking about what had happened a while ago. "Let's go check how Erix is," Shota said with a scrunched-up face. He was pissed at his recklessness. He blamed himself for what happened to Erix. Perhaps after seeing him hang out with Erix, the high levels got angry and wanted to prey on the poor level one. One thing was making friends with a low level and the other was protecting him to avoid getting intimidated by the boisterous high levels. Many hierarchy hassles came along with being friends with low levels. Though he promised he would protect him, he couldn't be there at all times. "Sure, but we should grab some burger for him because I doubt he had eaten much
Hearing what Erix said, Shota and Rin were kind of sad. They didn't expect this type of serious answer. And if what he said was true, then Erix must have suffered terribly during his childhood. Shota was sadder than Rin. He blamed himself for what happened to Erix. If he hadn't let him alone all by himself to the canteen, those bullies couldn't have done what they did to him.Shota decided to be more mindful of Erix. He had already once said something that wasn't appropriate, and even though Erix was always saying that it was nothing and that it was normal, in reality, it wasn't. For high-level people, it was a normal thing and a daily occurrence, but for the low levels, it wasn't something amusing. "Anyways," Erix said. "Can we go now? We have less than ten minutes left before classes begin." Shota and Rin nodded, and they headed to their classes. Rin also proposed a burger to Erix but the latter refused. Burgers contained plenty of vegetables so he didn't want to throw up like h
It wasn't that he didn't know what was awaiting him. No, on the contrary, he knew, since he had experienced the whole thing again and again. But today was different. He wanted to stand up for himself. Also, he was on a mission now so he planned to defend himself with all that he had, whereas before, he just got a beating, and didn't do anything. He didn't have any will to change before since he thought the military could resolve everything, but when he saw that he had just drowned in illusions this entire time, he chose to change. And this change could happen now, after punching this guy. Though he still has the kill quest to carry out tomorrow. 'But wait a sec, what the fuck is wrong with you, Erix? A few hours ago, you accepted a goddamn murder quest and now you're preparing to go head-on with a level three who could just kill you with only a swift of his ability. Just how many crazy things are you gonna do? Damn it! I should have realized this earlier, the system has its ways o